Mini Me's FIRST Half-Marathon

Well she did it!  My sweet 12 year old accomplished something that most adults NEVER do!  She completed her FIRST (and not last) Half-Marathon!  My oldest son ran his first half marathon when he was 14 years old.  He hated it and swore he would never do it again.  At age 19 he has so far stuck to that oath.  Mini-me has wanted to run one for a couple of years.  I made her wait until she was 12.  She has trained hard all summer (something her brother did not do) and yesterday was the big day.

Race start was in downtown Boise at the New York Life building.  The race was called "Run For Your Life."  Our start time was 8:00 AM.  I was concerned about this late start time because I knew how hot it was going to get.  I wore my trail hydration pack to ensure we would always have lots of water on hand.

Our timing chips went on our ankles and we were ready to go!

Getting ready for the Start. We are close to the front at this point.  Mostly because the fast people had not lined up yet!

 

The Start.  We are on the left just about to leave the picture frame.

The race was pretty since the majority of it was on the greenbelt.  Mini-Me surprised me as she hit a 9:45 pace and said it felt good.  She stuck with that pace for the first 3 miles as we came upon the first aid station.  We walked only long enough to drink some nice cold water and then she was off again declaring with a smile, "I feel really good!"

As we continued running she confessed to me that she is "feeling really competitive".  She did not want anyone to pass us!  So she kept a steady pace through the next two aid stations.

Here we are at mile 9.  Mini Me is not smiling as big as she was before.  It was shortly after this photo that she experienced what it was like to hit the WALL.  She hit it at mile 9.5.  At that point aches and pains started to kick in and the heat felt more intense.  She really did a good job breaking through.  We had a few walk breaks, at an orange, and drank lots of water.

Here she is saying good bye to the last aid station.  It was at mile 12 which made her made because they said it should be at mile 11.5.  She called this mistake DUMB!!!

Closing in on the finish line she really found her second wind and started to pick the pace back up.  Once she saw the finish line looming she started sprinting.  I can not keep up with her when she sprints.  She had also made me promise that I would let her beat me!  There was no chance that I was going to catch her now!!

So proud of this little one!  She did great! I can't wait to run many more races with her...if I can keep up!

    Balloons at the finish line from her older brother and sister!

This is exactly what I looked like after my first Full Marathon!!

Leg massage from Daddy!!

FIRST PLACE IN HER AGE GROUP!!

(Let's be honest, no other kids ran the half-marathon! That emphasizes what an accomplishment this was for her to do!)

Yellowstone Half Marathon

I have not blogged in quite awhile.  My life has taken quite a few curves and side roads.  My oldest son left for Panama to serve a 2 year mission for our church.  Then my health took another weird turn and it took me quite a few months to get it all sorted out.  But now, I'm back!  (applause)  I am not the same runner I was....but I am back nonetheless!

This last weekend we went to run the West Yellowstone Half Marathon together; me, my sister Michele and the Bossy Bandit (Kris).  It was our girls trip to run a race.  This is part of the reason the blog is back!

Kris drove her NEW CAR!! It's such a high tech car, even Kris was unsure how to operate it.  Michele put her glasses on and tried to help.

 The drive began with a lot of deep thinking and sharing of some serious stories.  It was getting a bit too serious!  Luckily I had brought along the printout version of our blog from 2 years ago.  That got us laughing and having some fun.  When I was done Kris announced that the blog needed to be resurrected!  So here it is.....

It was predicted by our spouses that we would need at least 8 bathroom stops.  We were also on the look out for Share a coke bottles with MY name on it!  I found both Michele and Kris already!  At the first stop we found a Dan..... well Yippee!  We did take a lot of bathroom breaks though but just not 8!!!  A selfie to document it.

Road trip memories on the way there:

• Kris' car has voice recognition.  Michele and I spent several minutes screaming at her car trying to get it to call "Stud Muffin".  It never worked.
• Arguing over whether Kris will drive to the gas pump itself or if she will see if the hose reaches to her parking spot.

• Dave told us to look for the "indian lying down" formed by the mountain range.  We never saw it.  When Dave asked if we did, we lied.
• As we grew nearer and nearer to Yellowstone, suddenly we heard a BANG!  Because of the elevation the Lays potato chip bag had burst open.

• Michele decided to bring Pickle flavored pringles.  I hate pickles.  When she opened it the ENTIRE CAR STUNK so bad!  I was dying!

• I tried to explain a cool story about a lady who played the saxophone, Kris was confused and miss heard me.... not G rated.
• We passed a large building.  When we were trying to figure out what it was Michele dropped a knowledge bomb on us.....  "It's a churchy retreat."  No, no it isn't Michele.
• "Can I have some of the licorice rope please?  Wow, thanks for such a generous piece Michele."

• Comparing what we had packed for the run, Michele had brought her YakTrax.  It was 90 degrees outside.  Good thing she brought those....she may just need them.  

Arriving in Yellowstone we went straight to our hotel.  We sent in Michele alone to check us in.  She was gone quite a long time.  She came out finally and announced that they had NO reservation for us and the ENTIRE town was booked.  We followed her back in....

To summarize, Michele was NOT happy.  They kept asking her if the room could be under any of name besides Kozel.  "No!"  She kept telling them.  They finally had to get the manager.  After digging through the compute he asked, "Do you know anyone named Kris Rayells?"  Are you kidding me?  How did the room get put under that name?  At least we did have a room now!  First order of business?  STRETCH!  That was a long car ride!

 

We then discussed what would be the best way to go to the race expo and pick up our packets.  After researching it on her phone Michele had it all figured out, "Step 1 we have to leave the hotel.  Then we need to decide if we walk or drive.  It is a 10 minute walk there or a half hour drive."  No folks that is not a typo, that is what Michele really said.  So we drove.

Our race shirts were awesome.  It only took 3 tries for Kris to get hers.  First it was too small.  Then it said 5K and then finally it was right!

The race directors had taken every one's names and made it in to the shape of Montana.  We each found our names easily, way cool.

The evening was spent shopping, eat WAY too much spaghetti (I neglected to show them the appetizer choice) and tipping bus boys.

We called it an early night.  I took my medicine and started getting pretty loopy and silly, noticing that Michele and I laid down in the EXACT same position!!  Then we all became experts on avalanches and saw a disturbing man fall on thumbtacks (well Michele closed her eyes on that part).

RACE DAY!!

We had special shirts made for this race.  They read as follows:

Kris - I am the oldest, I make the rules

Michele - I am the middle, I am the reason for the rules

Jodi - I am the youngest, the rules don't apply to me!

We loved the shirts until Michele said she felt like a newbie runner since we all dressed alike. Haha!!  Who cares right?  We looked and felt great!  Well if you don't count the fact that I woke up with a raging nose bleed and then realized that I forgot my hydration bladder!  I put on my pack (waterless) and use a small 8 ounce bottle that Michele had brought.  I didn't think it would be a problem....WRONG-O!!

At the start line we realized how many people were there.  Holy Cow there was 3,000!  My comfort zone is to race with about 400.  There was so many people, so many people!

Waiting at the start line while Kris stretched

Kris Stretching

The race itself wasn't too technical or steep hills that we are used to.  What was hard was the elevation!  I had no idea that it would affect me so terribly BUT it sure did.  We started at 6700 feet and climbed up to 7200 feet.

It started with a headache and a lot of thirst.  I could not get enough to drink!  This is not good when you are only packing 8 ounces of water between each aid station!  Then I got a bit dizzy.  We had left Kris in the first half mile because she had to go to the bathroom.  She just followed some guy into the woods to pee.  She also she has a new injury that forces her to really slow down.  Eventually I had Michele get in front of me to help prevent me from pushing myself to hard and let her set the pace.  I did let her know that when she handed me her baggie to put in her pack she needed to SUCK THE AIR OUT of it!!!  She ended up pulling a few minutes in front of me because I was struggling so much.  The scenery was beautiful though, the volunteers friendly and the course fairly easy. 

 The few bad things were of course the crowd.  Did I mention there were TOO many people.  Also the other runners were RUDE.  Oh my goodness. One lady went tearing through the mud and splashed all over Michele, with no apology.  So Michele took it upon herself to yell at the lady.  "Ah man!  You got me all muddy!"  Then Michele tried to make friends with her and asked her what her name was.  She told Michele her name and then ran off.  Wow, didn't even reciprocate the gesture!  Then there were the walkers.  If someone decided to walk they just POW started to walk.  No concern about those of us running behind them.  Oh don't get off the trail when you need to walk, I enjoy having to jump into the weeds to prevent myself from hitting you!  The major part of the race was spent zig zagging around walkers!  It was exhausting.  We saw one lady running with her daughter.  He daughter was struggling and the mom kept saying, "Just relax, you are fine."  The poor girl did not look fine and was almost in tears but mama dear did not care!  The worst runner award for the race goes to "lady with stroller".  This woman would barge in behind people and yell "Walkers to the right!"  She just pushed her way through and around people in a very brusk and rude way.  I ran next to a guy fart-er.  Now we all do it when we run, but this guy, wow.  Kris shared her biofreeze with someone, yes Kris to the rescue once again.

The elevation must have effected quite a few people because all three of us saw a lot of people fall down.  I sure did feel like it several times.  Near the end I was so tired and dizzy that I contemplated sitting down on a rock and just waiting for Kris to come by.  But I figured that since I was at mile 11, I should just keep moving towards the finish line.  After the race I realized that it was a combo of poor hydration, elevation and my new medications that made this race so difficult for me.  When you have a bad race, you learn from it and then move on.

Second in coolness only to the scenery were our race medals.  They were intense and so heavy!  It almost hurt to wear it!  Fun day despite it all.  We can always manage to have some fun regardless of our circumstances.

We had one novelty that we don't usually get on our girls' trip races.  We got to shower before the drive home!  That was AWESOME to say the least!  And as much as we had sweat, it was probably good for the interior of Kris' car that we were clean and smelling fresh.

The ride home was pretty uneventful.  That is if you call getting of the interstate to get gas and go to the bathroom and then the exit to get back onto the freeway is closed and you have to take some long weird detour through the back roads of Declo uneventful.

We had a great time and like always, we learned a few things along the way.

• Apparently the name Jodi is so rare it does not show up on any Coke bottles
• Do not run in races with 3,000 runners on a trail system.  It is too crowded!
• The rock Indian does NOT exist
• The police will strip search some people right alongside the freeway
• When the GPS is taking a weird detour it keeps telling you to "Proceed with caution"
• Bacon sandwiches are as near to heaven as we are ever going to get right now
• It is a regular practice to skateboard along the highway in Montana
• When you pack for a summer race, water is more crucial than yak trax
• If making a hotel reservation, note that it can be in anyone's name!

But like always, whether we ran a good race, a bad race, or somewhere in between it is always a great thing because we simply ran.

I'll take a carrot cookie with a side order of PR!!!

Well, it was time for another RACE!  This was one that we have all done before.  I ran it in the fall of 2010 and 2011.  Michele and Kris had run it in 2009 and with me in 2011.  Last year it conflicted with the Race to Robie Creek.  This year....I don't exactly remember why we decided to run it.  It may have been because I needed a half marathon for my marathon training.  I don't remember exactly the reasoning but here we were.

Well, those who run with me know that I am a pretty big race T-Shirt critic. This shirt was long sleeves and better than some of their past ones.  Unfortunately mine was WAY TOO BIG!  I did not realize that they were uni-sex sizes and ordered a small.  I needed an XS.  My biggest gripe about their past shirts was that there was no date on them.  This year they had improved on that issue and I really liked the back.

It looks like we are real prisoners and this is our inmate number, pretty cool design!

Our race chatter actually started a few days before the race day.  Race time was to be 10:00 AM.  We needed to get their in time to get our packets and warm up etc.  I wanted to leave at 8:15 from Michele's.  Kris wanted to leave at 8:45 AM.  Let the battle begin.  I finally offered 8:30 as a compromise.  Then Kris started to send my hate texts yelling at me!

Kris "NOT SURE WHY YOU WANT TO STAND AROUND FOR OVER AN HOUR. IT ONLY TAKES 20 MIN TO GET THERE! :-) BUT WHAT EVER YOU WANT.

Me: "Hey!!!  It takes longer than 20 minutes.  Michele will probably get lost! Don't get snarky!"

Kris: "SNARKY? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM MY QUEEN? I KNOW THE WAY SHE WON'T GET LOST. MAYBE 23 MIN,"

Me: "We need bonding time."

Kris: "WE DO? Well, if that's the reason the BONDING TIME IT IS!!  :-P"

Now I did not know how long it would take, So we agreed on 8:35.  Ironically after we pulled away from Michele's house at 8:37, Kris realized that she had "forgotten" her peanut butter toast. Luckily we were close enough to turn around and go get it.  She ran in grabbed it and got back to the car.  What time did we officially pull out of the driveway at then?    8:45!!  That stinker.

It was raining before we even arrived at the prison.  Michele and I debated several times on what to wear, jacket on or off.  Eventually we both opted for jacket off.  Kris scolded us telling us how cold we were going to get.  We had already made her change out of tights into capris earlier that morning and we were STILL hearing about it almost an hour later.  

Jackets On??

JACKETS OFF!!

While it was rainy and cold we knew we would warm up.  It is easier to run while feeling chilly than it is when you are HOT!

Before the start there was an actual "high speed pursuit" that they staged.  A car drove by really fast being pursued by several police cars with their lights and sirens going.  That was kind of cool.  Then there was a BLAST (gunshot?) and we were off!!  We ran through the prison SWAT team lining the first few yards of the course.

The surface we started on wasn't road, but it wasn't trail either.  It was like a canal access road.  The dirt was soft, rocky and uneven, full of holes.  I was trucking along when all of the sudden....ZING!  I felt a shooting pain in my left knee.  Oh no.

To say the next 5 miles were hard would be a vast understatement.  The sharp pain in my knee would not dull, would not go away!  I even stopped and rubbed Biofreeze on it at mile 4.5.  That did absolutely NOTHING except make my hand smell like biofreeze.  Could I do this?

For this race I had two goals; one that I told everyone, and another that I secretly had with myself.  I told everyone that I wanted to PR on this course.  In 2010 I ran a 1:55:15.  In 2011 I ran a 1:54:50.  So, my goal was to beat that time.  But I also had this "secret" goal.  I really, really, really wanted to break 1:50 and be in the 1:40's.  

When I hit mile 6 in the race, I began to realize that my secret goal was not going to happen.  I began to have doubts that I would be even able to beat my previous time. I did some calculations in my head and figured at the pace I was going, I would be lucky to come in at 1:56.  (Note:  you would think I have learned by now from previous experiences.  Even though I have a college degree in mathematics, I am incapable of doing math on long runs.)

I will admit I had thoughts of just pulling back and taking walk breaks.  If I wasn't going to PR then what was the point.  I said a prayer in my head pleading for strength to do this.  And then I just plugged along.

Suddenly, I saw the sign for mile 10.  Hey, 3 miles left.  I can do this. I can finish! In fact I realized the chance to still PR existed.  I had done enough hard training runs that I in fact knew I could pick up my pace.  Besides I figured the faster I ran the sooner I would be done!  So I put my head down, stopped looking at my watch and began to push.

It was GREAT weather for a race.  There was constant rain and a breeze but no heavy winds.  I would much prefer that over a blazing sun.  I did not ever get cold, in fact I worked up quite a good sweat.  At mile 12 I reached the "killer" hill that is on this race.  I dug into the last reserves I had and just looked at my feet as I headed up.

Turning the last corner, I could see the finish line.  About 2 tenths of a mile to go. I finally stole a look at my watch.  I could not believe what I saw.......

Michele also loved the weather.  She has been following some of my marathon training an has really increased her pace.  She said near the end she started to pace with a guy.  He really helped push her in.  She even ran the entire hill!!  I was standing under the tent shelter trying to warm up.  I was soaking wet, all the way down to my shoes!  My dry clothes were in her car.  I thought I had until around 2:10 before I started looking for her.  Suddenly I saw her coming across the line!  I wasn't there to cheer her in!  I tried to run towards the finish but couldn't.  My knee was now iced and wrapped in syran wrap.  It was so stiff and sore that even walking hurt.  I hobbled towards her just as she was getting her finisher medal.  

She did AMAZING!  She came in at 2:05:35!  That was a PR for this course for her!! We then cheered in the guy who pushed her in!  

Thankfully I was able to FINALLY get on some dry clothes.  We huddled back in the tent to wait for Kris.  She said not to expect her a second before 2:30.  SO we tried to get warm while we watched them hand out awards.

When they got to my age group they announced "Third place with a time of 1:47:31, from Middleton, Jodi Meine!" That's right!  Not only did I PR on this course, I destroyed my previous time by over 7 minutes!  The best part was that I achieved my secret goal.  It was a big time mental victory as well.  And further evidence that I am incapable of doing math when running.

I was so proud of myself and of Michele and....Wait! Here comes Kris!!  We cheered on that gal as she trotted in at a 2:28:10!  WOW!  We are one rockin group of runners today for sure!!!  I told Kris we needed to check if she placed in her age group but she said, NO.  And we got ready to leave.

Michele had some yummy Carrot Cake Victory Cookies and a baby sprite for our celebratory drive home!  We all PR-ed for this course and had an awesome time!

I must say I have the greatest running partners around!  As I type this my knee is killing and I am hoping it feels better soon!  The results are in (see them here) and wouldn't you know it......

Kris got SECOND in her age group!!  When will she learn to just listen to what I tell her to do???

STATS:

111 Half Marathon Finishers

57 Women

19 Jodi's Age Group

13 Michele's Age Group

5 Kris' Age Group

Jodi......Age Group 3rd.......Gender Place 8th.....Overall Place 38th

Michele ....Age Group 5th....Gender Place 23rd......Overall Place 68th

Kris .....Age Group 2nd.....Gender Place 39th .....Overall Place 89th

WE ARE FABULOUS!!!!!

 One more really neat thing.....as I was driving home, the clock on the car hit my race time!!  :)