Monday, August 19, 2013

Scioto Miles - 10 Mile Race Recap

As I mentioned in my last post, I had two big fitness milestones in the past month.  The first was completing my Zumba training and the second was finishing my longest race of the year, The Scioto Miles Summer 10 Miler.

When I signed up for this race a few months ago, it sounded like a great idea.  I love the Scioto Miles series.  This was a one way walk, start in Upper Arlington & end up 10 miles later downtown.  My friends were doing it too.  And Adrian was going to run it so he's be waiting for me at the finish line.  What could go wrong??

Then life happened, as it always does.  I set up a training plan to increase my mileage & be ready for this many miles, but it never happened.  Family came in 2 weeks before this race & I ate badly & didn't exercise nearly as much as I normally do.  The night before the race, Adrian & I were seriously considering bagging it & just keeping our shirts & hats as souvenirs.

But we knew that wasn't the right thing to do, so we ate right that day, went to bed early & got up at 4:30 to get downtown on time.  We took advantage of our free parking (thank you again State of Ohio!) and headed to the buses to get to the start line.  It was very weird being on a school bus again.  It took less than 15 minutes to get to the start line & after a potty stop, we were ready to go.  The weather was great, only 60ish degrees when we started in Aug in Ohio.  I don't think it got over 70 the whole time.  It was sunny, but not unbearable and there was a lot of shade on the course.
Adrian & I at the start line
Amy, Dana & I ready to walk!
 We started out and realized there were a LOT of uphills on this course.  Amy & I were channeling our inner-Janna to push thru all the hills.  We were holding pretty good pace, chatting away and cruising along.  The course was well marked, the road was closed & traffic was being diverted around us.  There were water stops every 1.5 miles which made it seem like the miles were flying by.

We hit mile 6, which tends to be where I hit the wall & I was still feeling pretty good.  My feet were starting to hurt a little, but nothing I couldn't handle.  Then around mile 7.5 I did hit the wall.  I didn't want to walk anymore.  I just wanted to sit down & be done.  Amy kept talking to me & kept me going.  So thankful I met her a few months ago!

We got on the Scioto trail downtown & knew we were close to the finish.  Around mile 8.5 we caught the woman who had been in front of us most of the race.  We chatted with her for a while & then Amy & I pulled ahead.  We had been at a steady 15ish minute mile the whole race and I was really proud of us.

Then at mile 9.5 we had our last hill...and it looked like a mountain.  I seriously almost cried.  My legs felt like lead and I didn't think I could make it up.  I honestly was going to quit with 1/2 mile left to go.  Amy started to pull ahead & I told her to go.  She yelled back it was either she go fast or not finish.  I took the opposite stance, either I went slow or I wouldn't finish.  I put one foot in front of the other and I finally got to the top, rounded a corner & saw the finish line...and Janna, Dana & Adrian cheering me on!  I crossed the finish line & collected my awesome medal.
The four finishers with our medals

I did it!  10 miles in the books!  And my longest race for the year done!  My official time was 2:37:41, but it really wasn't about time for me, I just wanted to finish.  This was my 10th race for the year, 3 more to go for my goal (although I'm registered for more than that).  This was a great race & I will probably do it again next year...although I'll make sure to actually train next year.  I'm already signed up for the  next Scioto Miles series this fall.

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