Thanks to all y’all for the kind words about my mid-April rocky stretch, where life’s wheels all came off at exactly the same time.
Some updates:
The Boy is less itchy; the Teen is less achy.
The Dog is still limping but improving.
My Mom is in a holding pattern — and if you know any good running routes/groups in the Lee, Fla., area, holler in the comments. I might be paying you a visit.
Arthur the Abscess remains my boon companion but, like the dog’s limp, is but a shadow of his former majesty. Right now, he resembles nothing more than a mega-zit and is fading every day.
Oh — and I ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon with 39,999 of my closest friends.
Shout out to BAMR Lydia for the awesome sign!
The Pittsburgh Half and I are in year three of our relationship. In 2014, it was the first 13.1 mile race I’d ever run. I chose it simply because, even though I haven’t lived in the Steel City for decades, I still think of it as home. Every time I go back, I wonder why I don’t live there still.
Frankly, my husband and I have pinky-sworn that if someone every randomly calls with a job offer for both of us, we’re packing up the kids and moving to the land of black and gold. We haven’t, however, gone so far as to actively look for jobs there, so the odds of that are very, very small. However, you are likely picking up what I’m putting down vis a vis Pittsburgh.
I digress.
One of my high school buddies — it is with her help that I managed to pass statistics — runs Pittsburgh every year. She has a loose plan to lace up her shoes until she simply can’t anymore. That is a plan I can get behind, even though there is a hill at mile 12 that is both cruel and unusual. The five bridges on the course make up for that blasted hill. Running across bridges always makes me feel like I’m getting away with something.
Bridge #3 with me and Arthur.
In 2015, even knowing about the hill at mile 12, I decided that I would try to PR. It started well enough and I was able to hang with the 2:30 pace group. Then sun came out and I lost my will to live. I was in the pain cave for so long that I thought about decorating it. A coat of paint and a new lamp can really make a pain cave more liveable.
Which brings me around to this year. Given my general level of life implosion during the last couple of weeks and my experiential knowledge of how generally hilly the course is, I had zero speed goals going in. My one and only plan was to enjoy the experience in a city that I love.
I kicked the event off by womaning (with Heather and Abbie) the AMR booth at the Expo. So many ‘burgh BAMRs came by to visit and/or lend a hand that it made the general schelping of boxes 100 percent worth it. If that weren’t enough — and it totally was, mind — the local Greyhound rescue was wandering the Expo floor with some of their charges. A pup named Ellie took a liking to me and would nose her way over whenever she and her person passed nearby. I knew my routine of keeping chunks of chicken in my pocket would pay off someday.
My cousin took this somewhere in the Strip District. Yes, I do have freakishly long arms.
Sunday morning dawned with rain. The only unpleasant part of the race was waiting in Corral D — the Corral of Reasonable Expectations — for the start of the race. Something about the combo of being crushed up against that many other people so far from the starting line while being soaking wet just rubbed on my last nerve. By the time my cohort crossed the timing mat, I was ready to bite my fellow runners. I took off way too fast just to get away from everyone.
No, not the smartest move I’ve ever made but I also didn’t get arrested for assault. Being an adult means choosing the hill you want to die on.
The worst of the rain and my rage had passed by mile two. My focus turned to upping my fun levels. I decided to take a selfie on every bridge. I high-fived just about every person who stuck his or her hand out. I did my best to absorb as much as I could, like the elderly African American man at mile 4.5 or so who just kept smiling at all of the runners streaming past and saying, “Hallelujah, babies.” While I got to the top of the hill at mile 12, I slowed down to simply take in a view of the city that you can only see whizz past while flying down the road at significant rates of speed in your car.
If you have the opportunity to shoot a selfie with a dude in a banana suit, do that.
The best part, however, were those brief moments where I got to see people I knew. My Dad, a cousin, and his wife popped up twice. Heather and Abbie yelled out my name after the second bridge. I’ve yet to figure out why those micro-seconds of seeing someone you know are like a hit of rocket fuel but, maybe, they are one of those parts of life that will always be a mystery.
Runner of Steel, with cookie.
In short, I achieved my goal. I’ll be back next year to execute the same plan.
I suspect I’ll finish in 2:50 or so.
Running the same race year after year gives you a chance to really know the course. For me, this is a good thing. For others, it’s a snooze. Are there any races you run every year? Or are you a one-and-done kinda gal?
Great report! I am definitely a creature of habit. That being said, I can’t get my running crew to often do the same races. So, I will occasionally run the marathon in my hometown solo, but usually all of our girls trips (spring and fall) are new, exciting venues (usually small and quirky). Oh, except for the two clothing optional races I do — it has been several years strong now.
Ahhhh…I loved running Pgh (relay…that was pre-ankle surgery when I was on restrictions)! Ran it with fellow Mean Mutha Runners (seriously, still have the shirt) Megan, Lisa, Jill, and Emily. Ask Jill about the hills. I mean, seriously, I double-dog dare you to ask her about the hills. The two flat-landers-bringing-the-Detroit-to-Pgh drew the hilliest portions of the race. She ran up, I ran down. The most hill we have to train on is roughly 15′ of elevation change, and its not even that steep. So we were undertrained for the hills!
There are indeed a couple of races I do every year, just because, why not? The PoHo Hot Cocoa in January, which started as an 8K and is now in a 5K/10K/10mi version, Jill and I’ve run every single one. I’ve run the Detroit Turkey Trot every year since 2007, well, less 2008 as we had a 3 week old in the house. Jill and I have run some version of the Detroit Marathon for just about every year since 2011, I missed a year due to having my ankle cut open and redone. Go figure.
There’s been only one race that I declared I was one and done on – and that’s because it was so poorly managed from the get…the Cocoa Classic, which seems to have completely disappeared from the Detroit radar anyways.
LOVE this post, thanks for reminding me why I keep signing up for races! I’ve been a runner for only three years, and we have the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon here in Fredericksburg. I’m running it this weekend for the third year in a row. We have a killer hill at mile 10, and another less steep but equally torturous one at mile 12. Sean Astin ran the race in 2013 (which was partly why I decided to sign up for it the following year) and last year my goal was to beat his time of 2:11:58. Ha. It was a hot and miserable day, I didn’t come close to that goal, and I felt like crap by the end of the race. I learned my lesson and this year’s goal is just to have a great time and hopefully beat my time from last year (2:24:07). In the unlikely event I do end up “faster than a fat hobbit” as we local runners like to say, that will be icing on the cake!! (OH, and Pittsburgh is one of my bucket list races. Whether it’s the full or the half I haven’t decided yet.)
Congrats on your race! Sounds like a good time :)
There are some races I do every year. I have done the 1812 in Sacketts Harbor and the BASE race in Cooperstown every year (this year will be 5) they have been run. There are other races I like to do on a regular basis. But I always like to throw a few new ones in there too. I like a mix between the familiar and the new. So far this year the new ones have been the Star Wars half at Disney and the 19k Right to Run in Seneca Falls. Upcoming is the Ben & Jerry’s Brain Freezer in Burlington (you have to eat a pint of B&Js in the middle of a 5k). Oh and there was a 10k in FL when we were visiting my mom.
Great report. Here’s a fun mini documentary on the spectator action along East Ohio Street. “hallelujah any how” http://youtu.be/8y2dsrW36Hw
I’ve run both the full (2012) and the half (2013) in Pittsburgh. I ran my second ever half – The Skunk Cabbage in Ithaca – three, no four years in a row. It holds my PR for the 13.1 distance at 2:29. I have run the Forks XV six times. I’ll miss it next year. I’ve run the half in asheville (sorry a is not working on my keyboard so it is a copy and paste system and no cap) on the Biltmore Estate three years in a row.
Great read….sounds like you truly enjoyed the experience. Having spent my formative years in Pittsburgh myself, I’d love to go back and run a half there one year and run through all the bridges… maybe next year I will put it on my calendar and see you out there…. If I ran Pittsburgh, I would definitely not be concerned with a PR and be more concerned with just taking in the surroundings and the experience.
Love your blogs! Love hearing from an everyday runner like me! I have run the Fort Wayne 1/2 marathon 6 times. This fall I plan on running it again. It is my home town and the route has so many good memories for me. It also has the best crowds. The different neighborhoods all do something unique. One artisitic neighborhood chalk paints about two blocks of the street and the people come out dress up in costumes of old settlers. Including Abe Lincoln on stilts. I love the neighborhood where the families come out with coffee and donuts and kids still in pajamas. Happy running!
“Being an adult means choosing the hill you want to die on.” Adding this to my list of favorite quotes.
Okay, next year I want in on 2:50:00 and some booth time. Where do I send my application fee of a case of Grape Nuun?
I grew up 30 minutes south of Meadville, went to Slippery Rock University, but spent most of those years in Pgh as my best friend went to Pitt. Pittsburgh is near and dear to my heart. My classroom is decorated in black and gold, and so is my heart. Like mentioned before, Pgh Half is on my bucket list. To be able to run the bridges and the neighborhoods would be a very emotional experience for me, that would cause me NOT to PR. However, that Eat N’ Park cookie at the end would make up for everything!
The OBX Half and Full are very sentimental to me as they were my first half and first full. I have taken a break from them the past 2 years, but I am ready to return to my roots this November!
I’ve now done the half in the Illinois Marathon for 3 years. The year prior, I found myself on a relay team. It’s nice to be a hometown girl and not only know the route, but I get to train on it as well. The support on race day that is shown all over the course is amazing. I always wonder why I keep signing up – especially when I have a bad training run – but getting to high-five all the kiddos along the route makes it worth it. Oh, and there’s a group that offers beer and bacon around mile 8. There are a few local 5Ks and a 10K that I’m always out running as well. Our local running scene is pretty awesome!
This October will be my 3rd year in a row running the Maine (half) Marathon in Portland. It’s an AWESOME race. Great spectators, great views, great volunteers, really well organized, and GREAT swag bag. Some day I hope to make it my 1st full marathon.
I ran the Pittsburgh Half for the third (non-consecutive) time. It’s always fun! It’s also the ONLY half I’ve ever run, so I don’t actually have an honest comparison. I have decided that running into Charlie Batch the last two years makes it worth running (last year, at the finish; this year, at the start). And for the FIRST time, I had someone cheering me on on the course – my oldest son! Granted, I had to literally run through their tents to find him at Mile 1, but I did it and it was a DEFINITE boost. Like rocket fuel. Or Gatorade. Actually, watching him hand out water to the full-marathoners at Mile 25 was the best thing about the day for me. He’s a kid who has run cross country for years…almost always coming in last (until last year – he hit a growth spurt. LOL!). That means he knows what it’s like to run a race and not have a lot of folks cheering you on. That’s a life lesson that you don’t get from always being a winner. I’m so, so, SO proud of him!
My repeat race is a local 10k that makes my stomach turn to knots just thinking about it. I should pick a half and do what you do- turn up the fun.
Thanks for the video, Lydia! I love that guy. I remember him much older, though. Maybe there’s two (or more) of them?
I’m intrigued by Seneca Falls, Kathy. I need to look into that one. Do you know about the half through the Montezuma bird sanctuary? It’s June 26 this year.
And I don’t even need the case of grape NUUN, Marianne. I’ll do my best to remember to post when registration opens ….
I run the Girlfriends half marathon in Vancouver WA every October. It’s a special race with lots of significance in my life… I come back every year to celebrate with my girlfriends. We celebrate our health, our friendships, our families… It’s 13.1 miles of love!
I am running the Dam to Dam half marathon for the third time in 3-4 weeks. The first year was with my BRF and brother. Last year my son joined us too – not that I ran with him, he finished a long time before I did. This year my niece is joining the crew and we’ll have 5 of us! It’s a dam fine race with a dam medal that I love wearing the rest of the weekend. It was also my first dam race. The puns just don’t stop…
Great race recap, Adrienne! i’m so glad you had a blast out on the course. It was only my second time visiting Pittsburgh and I really want to go back and explore the city, maybe via the half next year, but maybe via uber. That video Lydia sent in was too funny. I haven’t ran in many races, but I can see how the spectators can make all the difference. I know Heather and I both were a little hoarse after cheering everyone on.
Way to go BAMR! I saw the hallelujah guy too…on the north side? Last year I enjoyed the every l scenery…this year I had a time goal in mind but I feel like I missed a lot of the breath taking views because I was in the zone. Next year I’ll have to find a balance between the two
Adrienne- The 19K Right to Run is SF was so successful that they have already set a date for next year. Altho not only a women’s race there was a theme of women’s rights. One of my favorite signs was “run like you stole the vote”. The volunteers were great. And we got our picture taken w/ Katherine Switzer. I ran Montezuma last year. It is a trail half, but not technical. Last year was their first time and there were some issues, but it looks as if they have addressed them. I would do it again this year, but have already committed to the Perth ON kilt run. They are trying to set a Guinness WR for most kilted runners.
The St. Jude half in Memphis was my first half (2012) and I have run it every year since (barring 2013 ice out)
Hi Adrienne! I met you at the expo. I run Pittsburgh every year too!
I can go either way on repeat races. But I gotta give you props for your Pain Cave decorating ideas – made me almost spit out my lunch with laughter. If I could only write like you… but that would probably require more education, which I’m not up for this… lifetime : ) Rock on!