Hermes Cleveland 10 Miler

By consistently focusing your thoughts, words and actions on the fire within your heart, you will live with the energy of enthusiasm. The fire of enthusiasm burns through the darkness disappointments and lights your path so you can see how to get to where you want to go. - Keith Cameron Smith

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend.

The past week seemed to go by very slowly for some reason and more and more I find myself focusing my thoughts on the marathon.  It is now 3 weeks away and of course I know in the back of my mind, I still have hurdles to climb to even GET to the start line.  But the only way to even have a chance to get there is to remain positive and of course, "pain free".

Tuesday and Thursday runs both went well.  Tuesday was on the treadmill and did the usual nice and easy 10:00 pace.  Would love to continue the 8:30 pace that I was doing before getting hurt, but this is the smarter thing to do, especially since our goal is to finish and stay around the 10:20 pace.  My friend Marla called me on Thursday and wanted to run in Antrim park and since the rain had subsided, I agreed.  Of course I was not prepared for the chilly weather as I had planned a treadmill run after work and my bags were packed as such.  It really wasn't that bad though.  Started off sorta fast (or so I was told by a certain someone..heehee)  But we did the whole 4 miles and I was proud that Marla stuck through it without stopping as she tries to gear up for the Cap City Half Marathon in 2 weeks that we are running.

Cleveland 10 Miler

I was not really nervous about the run for some reason or another.  Maybe it was because I've run 10 miles before.  Maybe it was because Jodi and Jenn were running 10 miles before as part of their 20 miles, so I was "lucky".  Yes, it was a "race" but still just a training run for the 3 of us.  Friday night I got a text asking if I would be up for running 15 instead of 10 so I could join them.  For a split second and for some odd reason I actually processed the question and contemplated it.  But only a split second.  No way, not worth it, no matter how I felt.  With my injuries during training, I have since promised myself that if I were going to make it to the start line, I now have to do it smart and that includes slight bumps in my long runs.  Last week, 8.5 miles....Had to stick with 10.  Maybe the fact that I have never run 15 miles before also had something to do with it to....lol

Having lived in Cleveland before, I was familiar with the area, but I still wanted to get there early.  Arrived well over an hour before the race, as did a ton of other people.  Some picking up their packets late, some, like Jodi and Jenn, doing their 20 miles as part of marathon training.  I made sure I had everything I needed from my bag and headed towards the starting area.  On my way there I noticed 4 women gathering around their cars trying to take pictures, so being the "shy" guy that I am, I go over and ask if they want help with pictures.  We start chatting and next thing you know they have ME in their pictures.

Too funny....2 of the girls have matching outfits (I still say it was planned....heehee) and they were Columbus Marathon shirts from last year.  I had my Cleveland training shirt on, so we had plenty to talk about.  We all hung around talking and made our way up the big hill towards the area to wait.  They all seemed really nice and ready to rock the race.  As we were hanging around the start area I noticed 2 of the main guys that run the race.  When I lived in Cleveland I used to work for Hermes (the company that put on the race) so I wanted to talk to them.  It took a second for them to recognize me since I shaved my head and they see thousands of runners each week and also have had plenty of people work for them.  Plus its been over 10 years.

Headed back to my 4 "new friends" and they had asked if I was going to meet Jodi and Jenn or if I had even seen them.  As they were lining up people to start I told them I had to find them so I would probably see them at the finish line.  Finding them was not as hard as I thought it may be, considering they were wearing their matching running skirts that they got for the marathon.  I joked with Jodi and asked her where the bagpipes were to complete the outfit, since they looked like Scottish kilts.  :-)

They seemed to do well the first 10 miles (although technically they did 9, so would have to get in another mile after the race)

The gun went off and the 2,000 or so runners headed out for a run around Lakewood.  I have a tendency to start off fast, since I'm still learning the whole pacing thing.  I found myself slowing down and checking my watch as well as Jodi and Jenn to see how they were feeling.  I had to remember 2 things....That it was a training run and that the girls just ran 10 miles, so I had to ease up a bit.  I had someone ask why I wasn't wearing the matching skirts and I just smiled.  The first 3 miles went off easy, but then I noticed that Jenn was starting to struggle.  Personally it was around this point I had a feeling it may.  Jodi and I took turns running with her, trying to keep her positive.  At this point we also saw the leaders (the crazy people averaging around 5-6 minutes per mile) make their way back on the other side of the road.   We finally made it to the turnaround point and Jodi decided that she would run up and grab water for Jenn so that it would help her.  Well, the plan backfired, as she would gulp them down AND keep grabbing more once she got to the tables, including Gatorade.  But the first 5 miles were complete and we all were at 51:40, which was a 10:20 pace and all things considered, great.....

The next mile or 2 were rough as all the water and Gatorade did not sit well with Jenn and she got sick.  She stuck it out, but we didn't know what to do.  I felt bad, but each time she said she was fine and told us to go.  Reluctantly we continued running as she jogged and walked to compose herself.  Jodi asked if I was going to run with her and my response was "depends how fast you plan on going"   LOL  We ran into Bridgette (one of the girls I met before the race) and chatted for a bit and we continued on, occasionally looking over our shoulders to see any signs of Jenn.  At on point I happened to look down and noticed our latest mile had been a lot faster, then the next mile was sub 9.  Jodi apologized since she just wanted to race done and over with as her legs and shoulders were killing her.  Of course what's funny is that for most of that mile it felt like I was pacing her and going to fast.  We hit the homestretch and I could tell she was having trouble.  Despite this we were almost sprinting, with her telling me that she just wants it done.  The last mile was around a 8:30, so she got her wish.

Once we finished I felt relieved, but as I looked over, I noticed Jodi was not doing well and that was a first for me.  I mean, despite her problems last year in her marathon she is almost "robot like" when it comes to her running.  Form, pacing, attitude, recovery, knowledge, etc....So seeing her keeled over was not what I'm used to.   I quickly got her to keep walking and get liquids in her, composed ourselves and we headed back out to get Jenn to help her finish.  That is until we hear them announcing her name as she crosses the finish line.  Both of us had this confused look on our face, but walked back to congratulate her.  I tell her congrats and that we had no idea she would be that close behind.  She looks at us and smiles and says "I think I just run better without you guys" and asks Jodi if she is ready to finish the last mile.  Jodi said she felt better and changed her mind and they went out to run their last mile.

The last 5 miles were slightly faster than the first.  51:14, which is a 10:15 pace....Our goal for the training run was anywhere between 10:15 and 10:30.  Ultimately our goal is JUST to finish the marathon, but keeping an overall pace like today would put us sub 4:30, which is a secondary goal.

All in all it was a great run....Jenn may have had a realization/breakthrough and still finished ALL 20 miles and for Jodi she looked human to me after a run/race which was a first for me to experience and I made it through another long run.  My legs are intact still and looks as though it can be marked off as successful.  I'm proud of what the girls did, completely their last 20 mile training run and knowing what they went through.  But as I told them, if it were easy or if they felt perfect after, then everyone would be doing it.  But everyone is NOT, so they need to acknowledge their work....Another step closer to all of us completing our first marathon

One more week down, one week closer, one more long run successfully completed. 

Stay positive because tomorrow will be your best day yet!!

Until next time....