Race #2: Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin!

Hi friends! So here is part 2 of my initial installment to cover the second half marathon in my 50 states series... WISCONSIN DELLS! As I type this I'm sitting in a random awesome coffee shop in Chapel Hill, NC. I can't discuss the reason I'm in North Carolina but the reason I mention it is because on my drive back to Ohio I will be stopping in Kentucky for race/state number 3. More on that later. As an aside, I've had a fabulous day in North Carolina. I walked all over what was the surprisingly beautiful campus of Duke, had a beautiful salad from Whole Foods where a live band was playing some bluegrass and now I'm chilling at a coffee shop before I make the hour drive back to my hotel in Greensboro. I'm carbo-loading this week on fresh fruits and veggies, trying to avoid gluten since it really bogs me down, in an attempt to see if I can improve my race time. I've been drinking water like it's my job (and using the restroom just as frequently) since I did not feel adequately hydrated before my first two races. We'll see if any of this makes a difference. I'm dressing up for my next half marathon so if my total time is even slower I'll have that as an excuse (haha).


So On (to) Wisconsin!!

The Preparation: So at least in preparation for this race I was able to get a full days of sleep. As I mentioned in my first post, my awesome friend Matt drove all the way to Wisconsin so I could relax and catch a few Zzzs. I'm glad he did too because driving through Chicago traffic may be one of the most annoying things ever.  So I was definitely better rested for this race. As for running preparation, well, I did a few jogs this week. I'm not really sure how you "prepare" when you just sort of keep going... I know you aren't supposed to "race" this close together but I don't really run as fast as possible so I recover virtually immediately. It just feels like my long run for the week and to be honest I'm partially running all these half marathons so I keep a decent distance up prior to beginning my full marathon training schedule this fall. Anyways, we arrived early and had some time to check out the Dells. We grabbed dinner (well, what I guess was technically dinner but not too healthy nor appetizing to me) at a local cajun restaurant. This was on the recommendation of the owner of a cheese shop across the way. Moral of the story? Never trust cheese shop owners. I almost instantly had an upset stomach and woke up feeling miserable before the race. But we had fun anyways. We went to the local Ripley's Believe It or Not museum and had fun enjoying the cheesy (no pun intended) tourist trap that is the Dells. 

Race Day: Waking up this time around was easy. I did have an upset stomach but in honor of the tradition I had an anatacid pill and a rice krispy treat only this time it was Prilosec and a marshmallow dream bar from Starbucks. Thankfully by the start of the race I was feeling better. 

We woke up super early (5:30 AM) because I signed up for "day of" packet pick up and there was a warning that you had to pick it up between 5:30 and 6:45. Note that there was also a warning that this would only be available to the first few hundred that signed up for this service. As we drove into town I started to get a little nervous because there was NO ONE around. No sign of a race. Maybe a few cop cars but nothing convincing of a race to be taking place in an hour. Matt even asked me if I happened to have the date wrong. I didn't and thankfully the cops were there setting up for the race. After driving around a bit we FINALLY found where to pick up my packet. Whoever organized the race put the race timers in charge of this task and, although super nice, they had no idea what was going on with the packets. But it's okay I managed to get my bib and shirt (no other fun goodies this time). They hadn't put pins in the bags even, but the timers had some and they promised to wipe 10 minutes off my finishing time for all the hassle that morning ;-). I found out at this point that really there were less than 200 runners total (good thing I signed up early for day of packet pickup) which sort of explained the lack of any signs of a race... 

Finally I saw several other runners and we found the start line (yay!). This time we weren't grouped by pace, so I just sort of headed to mid-pack. I was starting to feel really pumped at this point... until the woman behind me told another runner "you know this is a really hilly course" at which point I thought my famous last words of "how hilly could it be?"

The Race: The start wasn't quite as exciting as Cleveland. This might have something to do with the fact that there was nearly 1/100th of the number of people and the megaphone made the person announcing the start sound like the teacher from Peanuts. But we were off! The first few miles were great. I was running a 9:33 pace and I felt wonderful. The temperature was great and there were lots of fun things to look at. I passed a band around mile 1 and lots of spectators. I was thinking this was gonna be a nice, fun run... until I got to about mile 4. At mile 4 the race became super hilly, shadeless, spectator-less, bandless, and the scenery was simply farmland. Now don't get me wrong, it was pretty farmland, but with only 200 runners we were pretty spread out and the sun was quite hot. Add to this the fact that we were just running on roads and dealing with occasional cars (fumes), weird smells (smelled like sewage at times?), and not always the best running conditions (one part of the race was on a road that felt really banked, that was tricky. Another part of the road was covered in all kinds of sticks making it somewhat treacherous. Ok that may be an exaggeration but I definitely had to watch my step). 

My phone randomly took this photo as a memoir of what I saw for 90% of this race.

Most people walked up all of the hills (when will I ever learn?). One hill was at a 4% incline which is much harder to run than I imagined it was (I think the treadmills are liars). Somehow I still managed to keep a 10:30 pace through much of the race. Around mile 8 we circled around and began heading back on the "in" part of this out-and-in course. I must not have remembered how hilly it was on the "out" part because I texted Matt around mile 10 to let him know where I was at and he replied by saying something to the effect of "everyone here is saying miles 10-13 are very hilly". And he was absolutely right. Just when I thought the hills wouldn't stop there was another one. Even the last mile was somewhat uphill. I literally felt like I was dying the last 2 miles and thought maybe I'd just have to suck it up and walk but I didn't. In fact this race gave me my first taste of what I believe was someone trying to make sure they "beat me" to the finish. A woman kept looking back and seemed to be tracking where I was at. I noticed if I got within about 10 feet of her she would pick up her speed, or start running if she had been walking. However I made it to the end and even ended up passing her (I guess the hills just finally got to her!) thus completing race number 2!  

After the race I had Matt drive the course so he could see how hilly it was.
This photo doesn't do it justice.

The Aftermath: The finish line wasn't nearly as exciting as Cleveland, but at least Matt managed to get my complete finish! (Why do I walk like a duck when I finish? Do I run normal? I guess it doesn't really matter...) I definitely did not end my race properly. I sat down immediately, didn't stretch, and didn't eat for another 3 hours. At least I hydrated. I chugged 2 bottles of water. I realized I must have majorly slowed down the last 3 miles. At mile 10 I figured if I ran a 12 minute pace for the last 3 miles I'd beat my Cleveland time - as it were I finished a few minutes slower which tells me I must have been basically walking at the end. However given the fact that this race was hotter, harder (hillier), and had way fewer spectators I would say that overall I ran much better. I kept a faster pace for most of the race and except for some side stitches in the beginning I felt pretty good throughout. 

My Medal! (and t-shirt) Not as cool as Cleveland's but still a medal!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Megan Vessalo #146

2:31:59 (Pace: 11:36)

Song of the Race: "Michigan State Fight Song", Michigan State Marching Band (what? it got me pumped!)

Overall: OK. I really try not to complain about anything that people have put hard work into organizing. I am appreciative that there was a half marathon in a state local enough to drive to and it was overall a good race considering how small it was. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this race to other people. I might consider running the Dells again when the marathon is also going on just because I bet more people are around. But overall the organization of this race was just okay and with so few runners and spectators it sort of just felt like I decided to go out for a challenging run rather than run in an organized event. But it was mentally and physically challenging and I definitely felt accomplished when I finished. And I got another medal to add to the collection... 

For more information on this race check it out HERE

Race #1: Cleveland, Ohio!

Welcome friends! My name is Megan and I am a 27 year old veterinarian with a passion for running. I've been running off and on for years, but since completing my first half marathon I've really gotten into this sport. So much so that I've joined the Fifty States Half Marathon Club so that I can attempt their challenge to run 50 Halfs in 50 States (hence the title. Creative, I know). This blog will therefore detail my adventures as I attempt to complete this challenge. 


So since I wasn't sure I'd be committed to this challenge, I waited to begin blogging until I had already completed at least 2 half marathons! Well this past Sunday completed number 2 in state number 2 and so here we are. This post will serve to update you on my first race which happened to be in CLEVELAND, OHIO (my hometown). Post two will be about WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN. 

Let me begin by saying, Cleveland ROCKS! Sorry, had to do it. So this was the start of my half marathon adventures. This is the one that got me hooked, though! This race had all the makings of an enjoyable first half marathon. I was following a training schedule religiously for several months and was planning on figuring out exactly what to eat the night before and how much sleep I would need. I even scheduled a trip to Colorado to follow and figured this was a large enough even that crowd support would blast me to an amazing finish. I set an unrealistic goal (for me) of a 2 hour marathon and was pumped...  


Here's how it actually went down: 
The Preparation I ran this race after a week of working. I work as an emergency veterinarian, and so I work the graveyard shift. I actually missed about 2 weeks of training before race day (so the longest run I ever finished was 11 miles), got a whopping 4 hours of sleep the night before the race and really had not been eating healthy. To make a long story short I almost backed out of running altogether the day before the race. My friend Matt (who is perhaps the world's best race day friend, more on this later) had picked up my packet for me at the expo Saturday so I could sleep a little, and he also happened to provide a 5 AM wake up call. Seriously if it weren't for him I would have overslept because my alarm didn't go off (or I subconsciously turned it off which is more likely). So I threw on some running clothes, opened up some young coconuts (sometimes I like to drink coconut water instead of water on my runs), tied up my laces, and figured I was already up so I might as well run 13.1 miles! We hopped in the car and headed downtown. 


On the way I checked out my race packet... let's see here... awesome tech shirt, score! Bib number and pins, check. What's this.... a prevacid sample and a rice krispy treat? Interesting. I hadn't really had breakfast (still not sure how I do with food before the race), so I figured the treat would do. Overall the race packet was pretty good, mostly because of the shirt, and anyone who knows me well knows I'm really just in this for the goods.

 Breakfast of Champions!

The Arrival We arrived downtown in plenty of time. I was a little in awe of how big the event was! So many people. So many very svelte, fit, more runner-ish looking people than me. I took little mental notes of what the serious runners seemed to be doing to prepare (jog, stretch, water, bathroom, bananas seemed to be the trend) and as you can probably imagine given how well my preparation had gone up to this point I didn't do any of those things. Why bother trying to do things right at this point? ;)


Because the event is so big, you line up based on your pace time. Now given my 4 hours of sleep I had given up on my dream of a 2 hour run and figured I'd run about a 12 minute pace, but I was feeling a little optimistic so I joined the 11 minute group. I was still basically in the back of the herd. On my way to what I like to call the land of "bringin' up the rear"s, I passed some of the top runners, many of whom were from Kenya, and immediately felt out of place. However once I got to the rear of the line with the rest of the 11 minute pacers I felt more at home :). 

This will not be me.

The Race Once I was in line I actually started to feel pretty pumped and excited. Nearly 20,000 runners (half and full marathon plus 10Kers) will do that to you (even when you are behind what felt like 19,000 of them). I didn't have to wait very long until I heard the faint sound of the national anthem followed shortly by the start of the race. It took nearly 20 minutes before I finally crossed the start line but before you knew it I was off!


The race was fun for me, being from Cleveland and all. It takes you by a lot of my favorite parts of Cleveland and there is decent spectator support which REALLY helps. Some of my favorite signs read "I don't know who you are but I am so proud of you", "Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, it's RUNNING time!", and "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon". There was also an awkward sign that read something like "That's not sweat, it's liquid awesome!"


I felt surprisingly well for almost the entire race. I was even running faster than I thought - my first mile was 10:33 and I ended up pacing an average of 11:13. We started at the Browns' Stadium, ran by the lake, through several neighborhoods, up Murray Hill, by the Westside Market, across the Lorain Road bridge, through downtown past the Indians' Stadium and finally back to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I really enjoyed running through my home town and sites I've visited many times throughout my life. It was so invigorating to look ahead of you and see thousands of runners, and exciting to actually see a fair number behind me as well ;). 

The Lorain Road Bridge which incidentally is
 where I got a speeding ticket a few months ago.
(But I fought the ticket and won!)

I really felt great until about mile 11 when I started to get pretty bad side stitches and was just worn out overall. I happened to hear a photographer yell out "smile, smile!" I had no idea who he was and was so focused on finishing I just ignored him and forged ahead (add this to my list of mistakes made, see below). I just kept telling myself "you're going to do this! you're going to finish a half marathon!" and, most importantly "you're going to get a medal!" When I saw the finish line ahead it was all downhill from there (literally there was a little hill on the way to the end) so I started just sprinting like crazy... only to find out that it wasn't the end. What I thought was the end was actually the markers for mile 13! The race took a sharp turn at the last minute and I still had 0.1 miles to go (which brought me back to a shirt I saw someone wearing that said "it's the last 0.1 miles that's the killer!")!! That doesn't sound like much, but I had just sprinted to what I thought was the end only to find out my legs had to work a little bit longer...  But it wasn't too much longer and I FINISHED! I finished in 2:27 which I was happy with (especially since my goal was to just finish!)

The guitar spins, how cool is that?

The Aftermath: After finishing, I relished in the fact that I had an amazing medal as I hogged one of those giant fans that blows water on you. I grabbed a banana and chose not to have ice cream, chips, or chocolate milk which were all things being offered to the runners (I can't imagine eating any of those things after running so far!). I tried to find my friend Matt who I will now explain why he is the ultimate person to have around on race day. Matt got up early, drove me downtown, attempted to get a picture of me crossing the start line and managed to get a video of me crossing the finish line (mostly). How many people would do that for you!? I enjoyed a little bit of the after race festivities but not too much because I had to get home to pack to go to Colorado for the week! All in all it was a great experience, so much so that once I was at the airport I found more races to run in June and signed up for 2 more. And so it begins...


Photos from the race: So I'm going to post an embarrassing photo, but just one, and only because it is hilarious. When the guy with the camera tells you to smile it's because those are going to be your official race photos. I happen to look like I am dying in every single one of my photos. I'll try to get ahold of Matt's video of me finishing although just as I cross the finish line he lost me and so the video actually shows someone else crossing the line... but you see me just before and after. And I got a medal so clearly that proves that I finished ;-) This is actually the one where I look least like I'm dying so you can imagine how awful the other pictures are.