Cleveland Marathon Weekend and Race Report

There are so many things that I love about the Cleveland Marathon! It's not just a race. It's a whole weekend of festivities with terrific people - the Marathon staff, my fellow ambassadors and tons of friends that are either running or fanning at the race. This means it's one of my favorite events of the year and I am always a little sad when it's over.

My husband Steve and I kicked off race weekend with a visit to the race expo on Friday late afternoon and got to see many of the staff, ambassadors and friends. The expo is always fun and there are some good deals to be had for us gear-loving runners! They also setup some pretty cool photo opps as well.

After that we headed over to the Hyatt Regency Arcade to get changed out of our casual clothes and grab a drink at the hotel bar until it was time for the annual Cleveland Marathon VIP dinner.

The VIP dinner is always a great time and I am glad that they include all of the ambassadors because it's a chance for us to chat about the race and our goals and to cut loose and have a good time together before the races begin. Here are some pics from this year's dinner. The one on top is of the race ambassadors. Can you pick me out? The one below is of my hubby and me.

Saturday was a relaxing day for us as we got all the housework and shopping done and picked out our race day outfits and made sure to carb load on some healthy, tasty food and maybe a beer or two.

Sunday morning we were up at 4am to get dressed, eat and get out of the house around 5. Because Steve was pacing the 3:35 group we had a parking pass for W. 3rd street right by the finish, which was nice! We ended up arriving around 6 with traffic and headed over to the start about 1/2 mile away for pre-race photos. Here I am below with the race ambassadors. Do we look excited?!

Unfortunately it was raining all morning and for much of the race but that didn't stop us from running and having some fun. I really felt great for the first 8-10 miles but I could feel the fatigue in my body and I was fighting a piriformis issue this week so I was forced to back off from running 7:50-8 min pace to 8:15-8:45 pace for the back half of the race. Steve finally passed me around mile 18 or 19 and I just tried to stay focused and keep on my pace. It was a hard fought finish of 3:38:10 for me (about 9 minutes slower than my HOF marathon time a few weeks back).  But this is still the best Cleveland marathon race I've run yet (course PR) and a second BQ for me in the last three weeks. I definitely am happy with that! Thanks to my friends out cheering on the course yesterday and taking these photos! The top one was taken by Elizabeth Miceli and the bottom was taken by Lesli Barni. I got a lot of great comments on my new Skirt Sports Lioness Skirt in holiday print!

After the race we headed over to the beer tent for our free Great Lakes Brewing beer! You can't beat a great race followed up with a good hoppy beer. We ran into many friends at the post race party including some Snakebite Racing teammates and CTC friends and my friend and fellow ambassador Stephanie below (bottom picture) who had a pretty big PR and our NERC friends Julio and Rosa (top photo) who also both had PR races! It was a great day to run for sure!

Finally Steve and I stopped on the way home at Winking Lizard for a late lunch and post race celebratory beer together.

It was a busy and fun Cleveland Marathon race week and I can't wait to do it all over again next year! Who's with me? Oh and check out this awesome medal below! I'm a little sore today but it was definitely worth it!

Hall of Fame Marathon Was a Successful Race

I'm happy to say that my race at the Hall of Fame Marathon in Canton, OH went well! I was a little nervous heading into the race because I had picked up a little cold last Monday and didn't feel very well for a few days. I just did everything I could to fight it (ZiCam nose spray, zinc lozenges, Emergen-c, extra rest, no running, lots of fluids and healthy food). By Thursday I was feeling better about my chances of trying to race versus sitting it out or doing it as a training run.

Friday I felt pretty good so my husband Steve and I headed to the expo at the Stark County Fair Grounds (where the race also starts) to pick up our bibs. I had done an easy 4 mile run before work in the morning so the rest of the day was rest and I took Saturday completely off because I was busy and wanted to be as fresh as possible going into race day. I had a very light week of running (only two 4-mile runs), about 30 miles of biking and a couple of core workouts beforehand so it was a very easy week for me and I felt rested. Saturday night I finished getting my stuff ready and we went to Melt for dinner. I love a good, carby plain grilled cheese sandwich (no fries for me though). We got to sleep early and were up at 4:30am Sunday to get ready.

Chillen pre-race with Steph & Steve

I always have GI issues the morning of any big race and this one was no exception. After going to the bathroom a few times and after a large dose of Pepto I was okay. I ate a bowl of cereal and drank my coconut water and we got ready to leave when my friend and fellow Cleveland Marathon ambassador Stephanie met us at my house at 5:20. We were on the road by 5:30am - figuring this would allow ample time for parking and a stop at the porta-johns prerace. We arrived and parked by 6:30am and we had plenty of time. It was a cold morning (low 30s) so I kept on some throw-away sweats until the race start. After a trip to the bathroom we made our way to the start and ran into some friends. We started about 10 minutes after 7 and the sun was coming up and finally warming us so I lost my throw away stuff and off we went!

Having some fun on the course!

After the 20 mile drop going so well a couple weeks back I had made up my mind that I wanted to run between 3:25-3:30 for the race (assuming the day went okay). I took off at around a 7:45 pace to see how that would feel and it felt pretty good albeit maybe slightly faster than I wanted. By mile 5 I had locked in a 7:50-7:55 pace which was my sweet spot. This is an ideal pace for me right now in the marathon and I was able to hold it through 22. I was disappointed that my last 4 miles I slowed down to an 8:27 average but it was hilly and very windy so it was hard to get any speed here.

When I finished and looked at my garmin it said 3:29:33 for 26.39 miles (7:56 avg pace) versus my race chip time of 3:29:33 for 26.2 (7:59 avg pace). Maybe the course was a little long. Had I held even an 8 minute pace for the final 4.2 miles I would have finished a couple of minutes faster but I can't complain about a new PR of almost 6 minutes! And since I am 40 in August my BQ qualifying time was now 3:45 so I beat my standard by more than 15 minutes! I was also excited to see that I was 2nd in my AG because 2 of the women in my AG were overall winners. So 2nd in AG, 11th female - I'll take it!

I'm also happy to say that my husband Steve had a BQ too by almost 10 minutes. Unfortunately he did not have the race he had planned but I know he has that PR in him. He'll be pacing the 3:35 group in Cleveland if you want to run with him. After the race we headed to Fatheads Canton with my friend Stephanie and enjoyed some hard earned burgers and hoppy beer!

The finish!

I'm excited to head back to Boston next year. It took me longer than I expected to re-qualify but I have made a lot of changes to my training this year that I think really worked well for me. I tried running super high mileage last season and that did not make me faster plus oddly enough I gained weight and wasn't as happy with my physique. This year I ran about 60-70% of the mileage, biked more between 3-5 days week and also added in core/lifting work 2-3 x a week. I feel much stronger and I also am leaner than last season. I also listened closely to my body and rested and cross trained when I felt I needed it and tried to eat cleaner especially during the week. I think all these factors added up to make me a stronger, better runner this season.

I'm recovering well this week and depending on how I feel and the weather in Cleveland I may go for another PR attempt to see if I can get closer to 3:25. No matter what I plan to have fun and not take myself too seriously. I also am learning to do that more. At HOF I actually had fun for much of the race and smiled and posed for the camera people and really just tried to stay positive and be thankful that I am healthy and fit right now. It's not always about the end result as much as it is about the journey in getting to our goals. My whole journey this season has been a good one so far!

Cheers to hard-earned PRs and BQ's! And Good IPAs!