On Sunday, March 25, 2018 I ran my 11th half marathon! WHAT? I remember my very first half marathon and never thought I would be 11 deep now. I always knew I wanted to participate in the Rock CF Half Marathon. It is a race that supports Cystic Fibrosis, a disease that took the life of my best friend when I was 21 years old. So needless to say, this charity is extremely close to my heart.
I was excited to run an early spring race here in Michigan. The race is on a small island in the Detroit River called Grosse Ile. It has a beautiful loop course that follows the river. I had heard that this race can be windy at times and boy that couldn't have been more accurate. Naturally, as almost every runner does, I checked the weather the days leading up (even hours) and mother nature was striking again. It was going to be a real feel of 11 degrees with 15 mph winds. I thought about not even running because a.) I despise running in cold weather b.) seriously, that wind? c.) my right leg had been hurting the week prior and I hadn't run all week and I didn't want to injure it anymore since I am in the middle of marathon training.
My husband, daughter, and father-in-law made the 3 hour drive to the East side Saturday afternoon. We stayed with a family member which was nice. We hung out for a bit then went out for dinner where I enjoyed some more carbs. Imagine that, right? Afterwards, I had to make a stop at Meijers to grab some KT tape so my husband could tape up my right leg. Headed home and went to bed fairly early.
Woke up pretty early, ate a banana, drank some water and gatorade, got taped up, and ready to go by 6:25. Since the race is on an island, they didn't really want a lot a traffic so we had to be shuttled to the start line. I met my friend and we waited for what seemed like forever for the next shuttle. By this time my feet and hands were already frozen and I didn't really know how this race was going to go.
After touring every side street in Grosse Ile, we got to the start line. I had to pee SO BAD and unfortunately I had about 10 minutes to spare before the race started. We found my friend Mary, and booked it out of the gym to the start. I was worried I was going to pee my pants during the race because I had no time to go.
Once we started the race it was straight wind for nearly 2 miles. I was still frozen at this point and I didn't know if I was ever going to warm up. My first mile was an 8:47 pace which I knew was going to be too fast for me. I ended up holding in the 8:40s for the first 3 miles! Miles 4-5 I slowed down a bit with an 8:54 pace, still not too bad for me! I was trying to stick with the 2:00 pacer because I wanted to hit sub 2 so bad! Mile 6 I had to slow down a bit and clocked in at 9:14. Gave myself a bit of a pep talk and got my pace back down to 8:56 for mile 7. Miles 8-10 I was just trying to survive through the bit of hills and wind and told myself that I was on track for a sub 2 if I can keep it up. I was so excited to finally reach the Navel Airport Hanger. After I got out of that, it was STRAIGHT WIND for the last 3 miles. I honestly didn't know if I was going to pull off sub 2 at this point. I pushed so hard and I couldn't move my legs any faster if I tried. Mile 13 hit and all I had to do was round the corner and across that line. I looked at my watch and it said exactly 2 hours. I was devastated. I knew I just had to double check the time and come to find out I got a 1:59:57!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I was on cloud 9 and still am!
I have another half marathon in June and I am so excited to see what I can do without walked through every water station, and hurt leg, and not taking a week off the week leading up to the race. I think I am going to add this race to my list of races each year! Such a great cause and a beautiful course!