When Pigs Fly

Instead of making a million little posts like I usually do for these marathons, I am just going to make one humongous post. Sorry :)

Here. I'll make it easier by making sub-categories.

The Expo
I know. I know. No one wants to know about the expo. But, I think it is worth mentioning, because last year, Bill and I were in and out of it in 15 minutes. I wasn't all that impressed.

This year it is like an honest-to-goodness real expo!

I swear, the expo was about 8x bigger than it was last year! I take this to mean that the Flying Pig is becoming more popular, which makes me happy!

And of course, I got some cute stuff. Being someone who works in branding, I can truly appreciate how consistently the FP is branded. I picked out a black hoodie with a pink pig on the front. My NYC friends went crazy too, buying all kinds of cute stuff (Gina's baseball cap has a pig's tail on the back), which we all wore to the airport :)

They also had messenger bags this year, which I didn't like at first, but now I actually love.

The Start
It was quite rainy this year, but I think this worked to my advantage.
1. I didn't have to worry about horrible sunburn.
2. It stayed nice and cool out.
3. People seemed to be waiting longer to get to the start.

This last one was awesome, because when Bill and I got to Paul Brown Stadium I was able to walk right into the bathrooms. In fact, I was able to use the indoor bathrooms twice before running, which is great. It allowed me to run the entire race without stopping, which is a first for me, and HUGE because I get so antsy about the time I am wasting at Port-o-lets.

Bill and I followed Coach Ramon's trick and lined up a minute ahead of where we should be. This put us with the 9:00 mile runners. In a way, this makes me feel guilty. Obviously people are corralled in certain areas for a reason. And I hate when people slow me down, so I don't want to be the person slowing them down either.

However, I also remember the two previous Pig starts where I lined up appropriately and ended up plowing over walkers (who were NOT 10 minute milers).

Luckily, I think we were in the right spot. Everyone around us was doing about a 10 minute pace.

Into Kentucky
I actually felt good at the beginning of the race. Much better than usual. My goal was to keep a little more than a 10:00 pace for the first 10 miles and to stay consistent.

(Side note: After the expo on Saturday, we met the NYC friends at Fountain Square for some Graeter's. Gina asked Bill "Uh, are you confident that she's going to be able to pace you?" I was like "HEY! What do you mean? I am an excellent pacer!" Gina laughed and was like "I don't think so!" I backpedalled. "I totally am, just not at marathons. Oh. Right." I guess someone knows me too well. Hee hee.)

I was actually quite good at keeping pace. I don't have my watch right now, but from memory: our first mile was about 10:20, our second 10:23, our third 10:03, our fourth 10:06.

I remembered how awful the hills were, and I think because Bill and I were chatting they actually didn't seem that bad. The bridge from Covington into Cincy was the best surprise of all, because the hill was over much sooner than I remembered it.

Oh yes. And a band was playing Van Halen's "Jump". One of my all time favorite running songs.

Downtown into Eden Park

(That's Bill in the blue, and me next to him on the right)

Downtown was exciting because I got to run by where I used to work and that made me happy. In fact, I have lots of happy memories of downtown (some of them from running) so those endorphins were completely helping me forget about what was to come.

I think we logged some kind of 9:00 pace here. Whoops. But we pulled back into our 10:00 pace for the next mile. I couldn't believe I was already on my first GU.

I tried a new strategy with my fuel...since there were a million water stops, I decided to take my GUs on the 5, 10, 15 and 20 exactly. That way I didn't have to mess with GU and drink at the same time, saving time. There was always a water stop close by, so I never had to worry. It actually worked perfectly!

I also saw my Cincy friends here cheering! Yay! More endorphins!

Then I saw my parents and sister! Even more endorphins!

As I was running onto the Gilbert ramp I was trying really hard not to think about Eden Park. Btw, did they change the course? I swear we used to be in that limbo between Downtown and Eden Park for much longer.

I warned Bill that our next mile was going to be slower, but that was ok.

Eden Park
I was looking for the half marathon elites, but couldn't clap this year because I felt I needed to save energy for the hills that we don't have in NYC. (Sorry, elites.) I was in total concentration mode.

More Cincy friends!

The hill before Mirror Lake? Cake! I just kept thinking "tiki tiki tiki" (short, even, efficient strides) and powered through it. Amazingly? We logged a 10:12!

Then on the hill I was dreading most (by Krohn Conservatory) I see pink at my elbow and here "Emily and Bill! I hate you!" It was Gina. She hated the hills. Bill reminded her that we had told her that they suck. She said that was true, and fair enough. I told her that once she was past the eagle statue the worst of the hills were over. We climbed that hill. It was nothing! I told Gina about my stellar pacing and she was happy.

At the circle we had to break up because she was going to speed away for her half marathon PR :) I told her I wasn't going to lie to her, there were more hills to come, but that the worst were over.

I was so glad we got to see her.

I couldn't believe we were already in Walnut Hills! Bill and I were pacing great and felt pretty good!

O'Bryonville into Hyde Park
I was a little nervous about the hills to come. I knew the worst was over, but in my head I was remembering all of the rest of the hills in the course.

I passed by Bob's which made me happy. Yay! The Cincinnati mecca of running!

Bill stopped for a bio break and we broke apart for awhile. I was hoping he could catch up soon without working too hard and getting too far off pace.

I saw my family again at Hyde Park Square. Hurrah!

I also saw the Scooby Snax girl which made me happy even though I didn't take any of her Jolly Ranchers. I kept feeling like I had to pee when I saw Port-o-lets, but then I was fine after passing them. Funny what the brain does to you...

Still on pace.

Mariemont
(Smiling and happy in Mariemont)

Ok. I only remembered one hill in Mariemont.

This was a lie.

There were lots of hills in Mariemont. So it was a good thing that Bill and I still felt good.

We passed the guys giving out beer. We saw my family again (twice). We saw Bill's grade school teacher. We saw a little girl holding a sign that said "Your feet hurt because you are kicking ass." Bill thought it said "butt" but it didn't. Which made us laugh.

The miles were flying by, and when we passed 16 I couldn't believe it. I told Bill "10 miles to go! That's nothing!" And for the first time that I've said that, I actually felt it.

After the water stop by the bike trail (I stopped, Bill didn't) I lost Bill for awhile. And I felt like I was going fast. And then I kept seeing the distance between us widen. I got panicky.

We HAD to SLOW DOWN.

I couldn't help it anymore and yelled "BILL!"

That mile was a 9:28.

I was like "We have GOT to slow down. We can speed up when we get to 20 if we feel like it."

We slowed down. 9:56. Perfect. We were right on track for these past few miles (minus that one), logging 9:50s.

Tumbleweeds a.k.a. Columbia Parkway to River Road
I hate this part of the marathon.

Really. Really. Really. Hate. It.

For one, no one is there cheering (except for a small stretch by Delta). Secondly, this is where everyone's body breaks down. Because of this, it is hard to stay focused....you can't help but feel awful when people are wheezing, walking, passing out (for real), crying all around you. Also, there is no scenery (you are running on a freaking highway).

I was getting panicky at mile 18, but I didn't know why. I wasn't really feeling badly yet physically, but it was just this awful forboding thing. They were handing out GU here, and I took a vanilla one and then had this huge mental debate in my head about what I should do with it. Should I waste energy and put it in my pocket? Should I eat it now? Where was the next water stop? My stomach was growling, was that for real or a mind game? If I held it in my hand would my arm get tired? Should I just eat it? No. I should wait until 20. But what if I needed it now?

ARGH.

I now see this as where I lost it in the race because my mental facilities were obviously compromised.

I also noticed Bill breathing really hard.

We saw my family again. Bill was like "Smile and wave and pretend this doesn't suck!" We did. My parents think this is funny now because they were thinking "Wow. They look so good! Not tired at all!"

(We are good liars)

Now my toes were hurting. My knee was hurting. My back/abs/quads/hamstrings hurt, but not as much as my knees and my toes. The miles were no longer flying by.

Bill was struggling, so I decided not to shut up. I kept trying to help him by telling him things like "Really, mile 20-22 is the worst. After that, it's not as big of a deal." (True.) And "Just one more loop around Central Park by cutting off at 102nd...AND cutting off at 72nd!" "You are doing awesome. I am so proud of you." I meant for this to be encouraging, but I could tell it was annoying. He told me very nicely to stop talking to him. That made me laugh a little inwardly because I was thinking "I guess the shoe is on the other foot. Now he knows why I get so mad when he doesn't shut up :)" I think this was also because I was a little delirious.

I wanted to stop so badly.

We logged an 11:03 and I didn't even tell Bill because I knew he would freak out.

I tried to speed up a little. I knew that if I just resigned myself to a comfortable speed that I would never finish. And I knew that we could do it. Our next mile was a 9:56. I felt so much better. I felt like I could finish this thing on pace!

Bill felt like hell. He panicked and asked me what to do because he hurt so bad. I told him to keep running because walking would make it worse and we were almost there (mile 23?). He did for a minute or so and then said it hurt way too much, he was walking. I walked with him. He asked me what to do. I told him we were going to walk to the next mile marker and start running again. We were going to take water at the next stop and take it slowly.

We did this.

But.

When we started up again my knee was AWFUL. It was the most pain I have ever been in, running. Bill was a little in front of me and I didn't want him to know. I couldn't help it. It was so painful. I started sobbing, LOUDLY. I think I freaked him out.

We decided I was not walking anymore.

Which is how Bill and I ended up not finishing together. :(

When he had to walk again he told me to go on. If it wasn't for my knee I wouldn't have listening to him. He said he'd catch up to me in 10 seconds. So, when I saw our NYC friends (who came back to cheer after their half marathons) at the end I told them to get Bill and gestured behind me. Gina walked with him a little, I found out later, which he found very helpful.

I knew I was on my own, and all I could see was hills. (Yes they were small, but this was the end.) There was really hardly anyone around me as I was finishing, which is crazy. I heard "And Emily Mason from New York City!" Cool. I tried to smile for the picture :)
I WAS happy. That was a really really tough race.

(At the Finish Swine)

I waited for Bill, who finished 2 minutes behind me and gave him a big hug.

My dad asked if I PR'ed and I was like "Nope. But I PCR'ed!"

I don't know if that is a real thing or not, but I am making it a real thing. That's right. I had a personal course record of 22 minutes! Whoo hoo!!!!

And HURRAH for Bill, Donna, Gina, Jen, Pam and Susie!

(Yes, I am in pain here, but I am also trying to smile for the picture...I also like the bag of potato chips at my head)