Bad A$$ Chicks!

Girlfriends Half Marathon
Vancouver, WA

Overall Time: 1:53:04 (8:38 m/m)
Placing: 123/1393 OA, 37/338 AG 35-39

Fashion Report: Black Brooks capris, Dark Blue RVM New Balance LS Tech Shirt, Grand Columbian Triathlon hat, black “throwaway” gloves
Breakfast Report: Steel-cut oatmeal w/ brown sugar & milk, coffee, water
Race Nutrition: Vanilla Hammer Gel ~15 minutes before starting and at mile 8, water or Gatorade at all the aid stations (approximately every 2 miles)
Post Race Libation: Chicken spaghetti and pumpkin roulade chez Bannon with Hawk Crest and Wy’East wines

Mile 1: 8:31
We’re finally off and running. It was getting cold standing around. I’m glad I played wardrobe shuffle this morning. OK, so I’m not wearing any of the things I showed on Facebook yesterday but I’m much more comfortable especially since Jack Frost decided to visit. Ooh! We’re running through the farmer’s market! They’re already pulling espresso and it SMELLS.SO.GOOD but I have to keep going.

Mile 2: 8:31/17:02
We finish the gentle downhill out of City Center and we’re now running on the Columbia River. It’s pretty with the sun rising and the fog on the surface. I grabbed a water at the first aid station as the course went inland to follow a road by the train tracks.

Mile 3: 8:30/25:32
A bit of industrial (not)scenery as we make out way towards Marine Park. Kind of ugly really but more spectators than I was expecting lined the street. The way the course is laid out, it seemed pretty easy for them to get around to different parts of the course. Nice planning by the RD!

Mile 4: 8:33/34:05
I entered Marine Park and grabbed some Gatorade from the next aid station. Like attracted like as I settled in a pack of bad a$$ tri chicks, one of whom had just done IM MOO and we spent a few minutes discussing bike p0rn.

Mile 5: 8:28/42:33
My hands started to get sweaty so I ditched the gloves on the nearest park bench. We left Marine Park to run by some neat looking riverfront condos. First glimpse of the lead runners and the front runner did not even look like she was breaking a sweat. Saw another woman with the most incredible lion’s mane of hair and chuckled to myself as I overheard other runners mention that she’d probably drop another few seconds per mile if she cut it.

Mile 6: 8:33/51:06
I hit the turnaround and ran back the same way. I grabbed another Gatorade, made my way out of the park, and I heard my name. Hey, there’s Rachel. Hi Rachel!

Mile 7: 8:29/59:35
Most of the bad a$$ tri chick group dropped back at the last aid station and I tucked behind a couple of women wearing matching Hood to Coast shirts as I wound back through the industrial park. Almost time for my next sugar hit so I grabbed a vanilla Hammer from my back pocket.

Mile 8: 8:33/1:08:08
Gelled up with water at the next aid station and I was still drafting behind the same Hood to Coast runners until I almost got taken out by their children who were watching for them and started running back and forth across the race course. I danced and scooted around them and resisted the urge to dispense some Mommy Drive-By snark.

Mile 9: 8:39/1:16:47
The course turned off the river path and went through the tunnel to the ramp over WA-14 leading into Fort Vancouver. The run through the park reminds me of the Prairie Grove Battlefield 5K except that it’s paved, and not hilly, and still cool and crisp. But other than that, it was exactly like that race. I got out to the main road just in time to see the lead runners on their way home. Same leader but she definitely looks more focused now.

Mile 10: 8:45/1:25:32
The course started to get more rolling just past the next aid station. We popped out on to the frontage road just by the Fred Meyer and I see other runners dodging the same Hood to Coast kids at the next corner. *sigh* I turn corner and see the hill. Ack! WTF?

Mile 11: 9:02/1:34:34
This hill sucks. It’s short and steep and most unwelcome at this point in a half marathon. Who was the evil person that decided to do this? Definitely lost some time there. I pick up the pace a bit and go to grab a Gatorade at the final aid station. Hmm…all I see are water cups. Are they out of electrolytes? That can’t be good. Oh…there they are. I start wondering why the woman handing out Gatorade isn’t standing remotely close to the runners. Oh well! I just recovered from the first hill just in time to see…

Mile 12: 9:15/1:43:49
…another hill longer than the one before. It’s not as steep but I swear this one sucks more. Head down, shorten stride, take my mind off the pain. And they couldn’t put these hills at the beginning because?

Mile 13: 9:04/1:52:53
I’m finally finished with the stoopid hills and I turn down Officer’s Row for the home stretch. The path is chip seal. Ugh! Chip seal sucks to bike on but it wasn’t until now that I realize that it sucks to run on as well. I can feel EVERY.SINGLE.BUMP under my feet. The horrible path is finally finished and the course is back on the street as I run over I-5. Two more turns and I’m done!

Finish: 0:11/1:53:04
I saw Chad, Nathan, & Rachel just before I turned the corner to the final uphill. Check the watch and saw how close I was to a PR so on went the afterburners and I kicked it in. Now I really want to puke! I wandered around the finish chute not really knowing where I was and a volunteer actually held me up so they could get my chip off. Oy! I grabbed the post-race swag and went off to find my family and friends. It was a perfect Fall morning with a visit from the PR Fairy. I can’t ask for better than that.