Inaugural Middletown Half Marathon and Legends 4 Miler

I had registered for the Inaugural Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Middletown Half Marathon (say that in one breath) so long ago I ended up being a moron and signing up for another race in Danbury the same day! Luckily they gave me a refund for my mistake. This race was being put on by Hartford Marathon Foundation and I was very excited to be a part of this inaugural half in my state, plus I knew Anne lived in Middletown and figured she MUST be doing this race.

After getting to the Quarter Marathon by the skin of my teeth the day before I made sure I arrived early to get a parking spot somewhere close to the Start/Finish line. I was in luck! Ain't nothing better than free parking!

I ended up only being one block from the Start/Finish Line as well as the post race festivities. At 10 am they were still setting up.

I was incredibly excited to meet Jeff Galloway again! I had no idea he went to school in CT AND was roommates with Amby Burfoot! Wow, what a small small world! I had Jeff sign my race bib.

Jeff Galloway, Amby Burfoot and Bill Rogers all together, The Legends.

I was so excited to get my picture with these two! Sorry Bill but I had no idea who you were. Amby holds a record for the most consecutive Manchester Road Races run, I believe he completed #50 this past Thanksgiving. That was how I knew who he was. And of course the adorable Jeff Galloway!

Okay so the shirts....let me first say I loved the Hartford Marathon Foundation truthfully until I found out they only accepted "elite" athletes to their team, how 'well-rounded' is that, (sorry I am a sore loser on this one) AND because lets face it, unless you put sizing instructions on your registration pages how am I to know that it's going to fit my boobs. If that's TMI, shove it because I LIKE to wear race shirts, especially right after the race to show my support and well show off where I just beasted it. I know the guy was doing his job but the douche working the table of shirts was incredibly rude and lets be serious Hartford Marathon Foundation, we BOTH know you are not struggling for money. You got JEFF FRIGGEN GALLOWAY to come to CT. Cut the act. So now I have a race shirt that unless I get a boob reduction I won't be able to wear. Isn't the whole purpose of a shirt to have people wear it and others interested ask about it?! Anyone ever heard of advertising?! Okay. now my rant is over. By the way congratulations to the HMF Team Members!

While waiting for the start Anne and I looked at the Nora Cupcake Truck to see what goodies we might want after.

Kim and Anne were doing the 4 miler and I was in for the half. I love these ladies so much and always seem to have an absolute blast with them! (Congratulations Kim on becoming part of HMF's Team, now SHE deserves it!)

One more shot of us before we ran, Kim, me, Anne and Pam!

Seeing the first aid tent set up made me think of RyRy. Look how Army-esk this is. HOOAH!

Volunteers were still hanging up the medals, blue for the half marathon and red for the 4 miler, as we made our way to the start.

I couldn't wait to cross this finish line.

On our way to the start. The half and the 4 miler would begin together.

Carolyn!!!! AHHHHH Skirt party, Anne, Carolyn and Kim. I wasn't invited but, it's okay. I still love them.

Carolyn and I were channeling Kristy the whole race! We sent videos to tell her how we were doing <3

Carolyn had a great support system with her too, Dyella who I had met at #runnerslove was there cheering her and me on! She took this great photo of us!

Okay so the race...hmmmm, lets see, we ran down main street and immediately took a left, UP. A. HILL. It was absolutely brutal. I had hoped to stay between  the 2:45 and 3:00 pacers but I felt like I had concrete in my shoes. Carolyn and I ran the whole race together with our only goal to beat 3 hours! I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun running and hated the entire course. We chatted and laughed and cursed the hills that just kept coming. We made friends with the 3:00 pacers and had a good time with them as they kept catching up and then falling back. The weather was phenomenal during the race, a little warm but perfect in my opinion. Anne finished the 4 miler and booked it up to the 8 mile mark with Phred her little furry munchkin child! I'm pretty sure I screamed when I saw her! IT was such a huge surge of adrenaline. Shit, this is what #runnerslove is. She just ran 4 miles and instead of relaxing and celebrating, she came to cheer us on. It gave me goosebumps to see her. Thank you again Anne, it really meant the world to me! Ugh, being able to have heart to hearts and seeing friends while you are running, there are few things better than that. Carolyn and I pushed each other and had a great time doing it!

At mile 12 we realized we could make our goal a reality, we stopped for a photo op and pushed it the last 1.1.

Going down the very same hill we went up at the start of the race I found a woman walking, I told her to keep moving and although visibly winded she said "all right"! and picked up the pace. I asked if this was her first half marathon and she said yes, she looked like death and looked miserable, (hell I'd probably be too if this course was my first half!) I told her she could do it, only a little bit more to the finish. I told her finishing, not just her first half but THIS COURSE under 3 hours would be something she'd never forget and told her to keep running! The children in the background are hers, when they saw her on main street, they all ran out and finished the race with her. Thank you again Dyella for an awesome picture!

Carolyn although a fluttering, flying beast throughout the race, she slowed down before the finish and I caught up with her, we grabbed each others hand and sprinted to the Finish Line! We did it! We hugged and accepted our medals! I love the proofs we have and might actually have to buy a photo or two.

After I crossed the finish Anne was there waiting, every piece of my body hurt from my forehead to my toes. I knew I wanted to get Amby Burfoot to sign my bib so I quickly met up with him.

Although I can say, very confidently, that I will NEVER run this course again, I will give the 4 miler a try possibly next year. The overall event was too much fun to pass up.

And I got to meet Chris Trotta, we both follow each other on Twitter and got the chance to meet in person! He's incredibly sweet and down to earth. Congratulations to Chris on his Team HMF acceptance as well. (See I'm okay with him and Kim.)

After saying our goodbyes and noticing there was little to no food left, okay there was greasy pizza. Anne and I needed a drink. 

I was incredibly disappointed that I was unable to get a cupcake from Nora Cupcakes, the ones that they had for the runners, post race. Another negative check for HMF. However, a plus was Eli Cannon's pulled pork that was left, if I could have bathed in it, I would have been a happy girl. It was THAT good.

Anne suggested First and Last Tavern on Main Street and we walked, well I hobbled, to the bar. We sat and talked for I think and hour and a half. I had such a good time with her. It's always enjoyable to spend time with Anne. If you get the chance, do it. She's incredibly easy to get along with.

After two margaritas I headed back home to have dinner at my parents house. I needed to change out of my running clothes and shoes A.S.A.P.

I love my medal.

As you can see I got just a wee bit o' sun during the race as well.

I got to hang out with my girlfriends.....and Kemmy...

Finished another half marathon for 2014 AND got color....

And had my baby fall asleep on me at the end of the day.

You find a better Sunday. I dare you.

Savin Rock Half Marathon Race Recap

When looking to actually make 14 half marathons in 2014 possible I started looking around the state. I wish someone would just put them all on one website and make my life easier...but anyway, I found the Savin Rock Half Marathon in West Haven. It's only about 60 minutes from where I live so I registered very early and pretty much forgot about it...

I set my alarm fro 5.15am knowing I would forget something and need extra time to scramble for it. I don't know about you but I'm not really good at preparing for local races. I don't lay my clothes out the night before, and make sure everything is in one place? pfft, don't make me laugh... So I grabbed my Running Princess Glass Slipper shirt off the couch in the living room, grabbed my New Balance leggings from the basement couch, Miguels Nike long sleeve from the dryer, whoops left my socks on the floor on the side of my bed...sneakers? Shit. Where are my sneakers? Oh, hmm on Miguel's side of the bed, weird... runDisney Princess 2013 jacket, on the chair in the bedroom, Gu/Powerade Gel in the kitchen, rain jacket in my closet...back upstairs. Back downstairs into the kitchen to grab my powerade from the fridge...

(Ignore the hot mess that is our room...)

Are you as exhausted as I am!? I really need to start runDisney preparing my races around here.

The drive was actually pretty quick. Packet pick up, start and finish line were all at the Savin Rock Conference Center. I don't know why I didn't realize it but we were RIGHT ON THE OCEAN. How gorgeous is this view!

Bib numbers had been emailed on Friday which was another first for me, for a local race. It looked like a large number of people were running the half. I went and told the volunteers my bib number and was given my shirt. I was a little more than a little disappointed that they were not tech shirts. Okay, IF you are doing men's and women's sizing, tech material is the only reason to have separate the two. Anyway...it's a cute shirt.

I spent about an hour in my car trying to warm up. I don't know why I felt so cold but my teeth were actually chattering uncontrollably just walking from the car to the conference center and back to the car. I had a really close spot too. I relaxed, listened to music to get myself into the zone and people watched. About 7:40, 20 minutes before the start I thought I'd pee just to be safe, I didn't know how the course would be set up and if there would be port-o-potties but I knew I really didn't want to stop unless I had to.

The line for the outside port-o-potties was dumb, like almost 30 people deep. There was no way I'd make it. I remembered seeing a bathroom inside. There were only 15 women in front of me there. I thought that seemed safer....NOPE. This is where I am slightly unfriendly at races. Unless you are disappearing to Narnia in the bathroom there is no reason to take 3 minutes to go. If you need more, maybe running today is not your best health choice. Luckily there were 2 ladies in front of me running the 5k which started about 15 minutes after the half. They let me go in front of them and I made it to the start line at 7:59. We didn't start on time so I had the opportunity to snap this photo. <3

Start Line.

I didn't know what the Shoreline Sharks Race Series was at the time, but I'm so in now.

I positioned myself in the middle of the pack. I was hoping I'd be able to find someone to keep a pace with. Well, let me tell you, these are some FAST runners. I ended up trying to stick a woman in a Shoreline Sharks long sleeve shirt on, it had an IronMan logo on the back. She had a GREAT pace and here stride seemed effortless. The first 4 miles were along the ocean. It honestly felt like we were moving like molasses. I kept thinking mile 3 was coming up...nope that's mile 2...At mile 4 we took a right up a hill. IronWoman, we shall call her, powered up the hill, I tried to remain close but could not keep the arms reach pace I had before. I stayed about a house or so behind for the next two miles until...oh wait...what's that... ANOTHER HILL. I tried to catch up while she was walking but nope.

At mile 6.2 I sent a photo to Miguel, Kristy and my parents with a very vivid expression of how I was feeling about the hills...

This is Mt. Everest. This is the hill that killed me. I tried my best to go to a run/walk/run method. I had only run prior to this point. I would run from cone to cone and then walk from cone to cone. It didn't feel good but helped a little. The downhill on the other side was pretty steep and covered in gravel...not cool.

Miles 8-13 Were tough, there was one, maybe two more hills thrown in the mix and once you hit 10.5, the last water stop it was all flat from there. The whole race I had kept my Nike SportWatch on pace to keep myself under a 13 mm. I glanced at the distance a couple of times but mostly was concerned about pace. Right before the last water stop at Mile 10.5 I glanced at the elapsed time. I had less than 3 miles left and I had been running for 2:04!! I knew with a little bit of perseverance I could PR.

That's when I passed by a cop directing traffic. He held his hand out like he wanted a high five, so being on the high I was...yup....I high-fived him. He looked confused at me and I kept running hahaha. Sorry Officer!

Then Mile 11....I hit the wall. Every part of my body hurt and I felt exhausted. Although we were running by the ocean again I could only muster to enough energy to go back to my run to cone, walk to cone method. I think one of the worst parts of running towards you goal is you know it's there, but it seems SO FAR away. I think it mentally messed with me. It wasn't until the end of Mile 12 when I saw this.

I knew I owed it to everyone in the Armed Forces. What I was doing although painful, paled in comparison to what they had and are going through. Touche, Savin Rock, touche...

 A quarter of a mile later I crossed the finish line to have my name called and glanced at the time clock. 2:41...2:41...2.41! I did it!

I PR'd. I took 9 minutes off my ING Hartford Half Marathon time which had previously been my best time to date.

(Sadly this is probably my best race photo to date, and it's a forced smile haha)

I took my photo with the ocean to my back, how awesome is this medal! It's a RUNNING SHARK! As much as Disney races mean to me it's hard to put this race on that same level...this medal probably means the most to me out of all of them so far...

Not only did I lose my job at the beginning of the month, but for the first time in my life (well since I was 14) my future was up in the air... What would I do? Where do I go? How do I handle this? 

For the first time in a long time, I can truly say I am happy. I cannot remember feeling this amazingly calm and happy. It's hard to describe. I'm not stressed. I'm not angry. I'm not feeling negative. I feel like myself, the person I'm supposed to be. I had a lot of time to think during this course and I know my life is finally on the right path, even if I don't know where it goes, I know I'm happy.

I have the most amazing support team...that's all of YOU out there. Those who are constantly rooting for me, cheering me on, just showing me love. I'm eternally grateful and can only hope to return the favor for all of you.

Thank you.

100th Post - ING Hartford Half Marathon Race Recap

100 Posts! Can you believe it! 

Wow. This was supposed to be my 100th post. So I am still going to celebrate it as such! This was my first time running the ING Hartford Half Marathon. As most of you following me on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram know by now it was a huge PR for me. BY 10 MINUTES! I did not anticipate having such a phenomenal race, or having a blast doing it!


All week I-84 had these up! It's such a nice change from the normal "Delay: Exits 48-52". How pretty; It's so fantastic to see this and get pumped up!

Friday I went into work for a half day and left about 12.30pm to get to the Expo at the XL Center in Downtown Hartford. After getting lost in the parking garage I found the expo.

As you went down the escalator and walked to enter into the Expo the makeshift walls were lined with people to be inspired by. I saw my girl Kelly and had to snap a photo. She was the RD for the Hogsback Half Marathon I did at the end of September. I didn't know until reading her bio on the photo she struggled with an eating disorder. She is so perfect and sweet and nice that I guess it really is true that you don't always know someone just by looking at them. To me, she is perfect.

The Expo was nothing special. Although I appreciated the Cabot table, mmm mmm horseradish cheese. I did not like the set up and obviously had only ever been to a Disney expo so I have high expectations. I was unimpressed with the structure, including the fact I couldn't find the exit, and the variety of vendors.

After the expo I went and grabbed my baby boy from his grandparents house and brought him home to rest. After a quick grocery store run. I had my favorite pre-race meal. MEXICAN! Chicken burritos. Love love love. It's the right amount of protein and spice with the jalapeno I add. Then a rough night of sleeping... I was too excited and frankly nervous I wouldn't be able to find a spot to park.

The next morning I woke up, KT Taped my knees and got in the car. I had NO trouble finding parking and was able to end up in a free lot at the end of the street where the start line was.

Packed up my Island Boost in my Armpocket and left my warm car for the freezing air that was this morning. Although my Armpocket can usually handle the PowerBar Gels I normally carry this frustrated me a little to have the tops of the Island Boost poking out. Truthfully it was a blessing to not have to wait for water stops to take my gel though. I am in love with this stuff. (Island Boost did send me 2 of the Passion Fruit boosts in return for my views on their new chocolate flavor they are in the process of creating. Opinions are my own though :) ...that post to come!)

As soon as I saw the start line at the foot of the steps of the State Library I got goosebumps. They were still not ready for us runners yet. I had gotten here probably around 6.50am for an 8am start. I need time to stretch and get in the zone personally.

As I walked towards the back of the self seeding corrals I noticed some new friends were here to help. The NYPD had given their Saturday to come help make sure this event would be fun AND safe for runners.

And some snipers were also present at the starting area. In my honest opinion I felt no less or more safe with them there, I am fascinated by law enforcement and just love people watching at these big races. Some runners/spectators were making a big deal about seeing the snipers but I love that they are doing their job to let me be able to do what I love. 

I had arrived at the starting area so early I just kept standing where I was instead of moving. I kept seeing signs for pacing groups pass me and thought I'd be okay. More and more people started to fill in around me.

Against my gut feeling to take pictures for you all I went for the run instead. Miles flew by after a quick bathroom break at Mile .75....yes that point is placed accurately... I had to stop to pee before I had even ran a mile...fortunately that would help me the rest of the race. I took my Island Boost at Miles 3.5, 7 and 10.5 and felt amazing throughout the whole race. Island Boost is made with Coconut water so you don't need another source to add to a gel in your immediate possession  It helps the integration of the ingredients faster into your body as well. 

There were so many amazing runners around me. I felt bad for the kid in front of me who kissed the pavement about Mile 3. I was inspired by the man running with 1 leg, propelling himself with crutches. Spectators were out along the entire course. Businesses who could only have customers by foot were out in their aprons and uniforms cheering. There was music spaced out along the course, kids with blow horns cheering, just typing about it is giving me goosebumps again. Some families actually brought their couches out on the front lawn to watch. Puppies were everywhere!

My father and mother were waiting at the Mile 5 turn. I ran up kissed them both and kept running. At that time maybe .25 after seeing them the Pace Leader for the 2:45 half marathon time passed me... Talk about a boost of confidence. I. Meg. ME. I had been running faster than a 2:45 pace...holy moly! I wanted to break 3 hours this race but didn't know if I really had a chance. Seeing that I was able to maintain that for 5 miles, gave me the push I needed. Then came the half way point.

At this point all parts of my body were sufficiently in pain. My right knee has been a little touch and go since before the Princess Half, it was hurting almost from Mile 3 until Mile 7 where then my left hip and left knee started to pulse with pain. I think I was compensating too much and it backfired. At this point I was only walking from Miles 1-7 to take water or gatorade from the stops. Once I hit Mile 7 I realized I would have to take my intervals more serious. I began running 1:30 and walking 1:30. I also changed my watch to tell me my overall time instead of distance. My Nike Sportwatch was off by .25 on distance I became more concerned with my finishing time. I powered through Mile 8, Mile 9, Mile 10. We ended up running through Elizabeth Park, I have never been before. It was gorgeous. Miles 11 and 12-13.1 took you back out on the streets of Hartford. This is where I really began to see the finish line in my mind. It also helped a nice man began to yell at me in a Sargent's voice "I LOVE PAIN, I LOVE PAIN, MY GOAL IS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF ME, I LOVE PAIN!" Sir, I love you. Thank you for making me laugh and remembering not to take it too seriously. Truthfully Miles 12.5-13.1 were the longest of the entire half marathon. I kept a steady pace instead of sprinting. My whole body hurt and I just wanted to finish with satisfaction.

Ahhhhh the finish! These wonderful volunteers were handing out medals. I almost hugged the woman who gave me mine. As I was crossing the finish I noticed the time on the clock said 2:55 I thought. DAMN! YOU DID IT MEG!

After turning my phone off Airplane Mode the texts starting flying in. My fathers came through first. He sent me the same text I was going to receive from Runner Tracking. He was the person to announce to me my PR. There is no better feeling in the world.

Check out that gorgeous text. I PR'd my half time by 10 minutes!!! I had met my goal!!! AND I pretty much kept the same pace the entire 13.1 miles! I felt like I was on Cloud 9. A little disoriented, but elated! I was herded towards the finish line expo not realizing I would end up at the food tent aka Heaven on Earth.

I first snagged a bagel and then noticed Apple Crisp and then a wonderful man handed me a hot fresh grilled cheese and steaming cup of tomato soup. I initially skipped the cooler with chocolate milk but figured everyone else had to be doing something right by drinking it. I grabbed one and starting back to my car. I ate as I walked to not give myself any cramps from sitting down. I walked the entirety of Bushnell park including crossing over the race at one point to get back to Capital Ave where my car was parked.

Not only do I love Hartford with every piece of me but now I have a piece of it. It means so much to me to have PR'd in my hometown. 

After the race my mother and I met at Chili's and drank and ate. It was such a good time to just relax and talk with her. Afterwards I went home and celebrated with my boys. There are few better ways to spend a Saturday in my book.