My ZOOMA Experience - a Non Race Report

My poor, sad neglected blog. This is long overdue - sorry. I have come here, started, and stared at the cursor more times than I care to admit. Truth be told, this was about much more than my race experience, although my race was a ton of fun too!

This past June, I was contacted by the lovely Tricia (while sitting in a hotel room at the start of my Grandma's marathon girls weekend) about being a ZOOMA ambassador. I was immediately intrigues, as I'd never run a race geared towards women, so of course I was in!

Lots of Chicago bloggers were heading up Friday - Kelly found the perfect house for us super close to the race venue at the Abbey Resort in Fontana, WI. However, I couldn't head up until early Saturday morning. Jenna's last home volleyball game as a middle schooler was Friday night - no way was I going to miss that. So I headed out in the dark early race day, hoping I wouldn't get lost.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was a little nervous about being the old lady in a sea of young hip bloggers. And about getting lost in the dark. But neither fear was warranted, so WIN!

I WILL say, rural Wisconsin could use a few more street lights - it's WAY dark early in the morning! I sat in my car outside the house with the most IL cars in the driveway and got it right on the first try. I ran in and got my packet from Kim, we took a group photo, and headed to the resort to board the buses to the start line.

I finally got to meet Tricia (who is just as lovely in person as she is online - very warm and friendly) and just before heading to the bus, I ran into my friend Sarah who won an entry to the 5k from SkirtSports. Her daughter came too, to cheer!

Kim and I hopped on the bus and we ran into another Sarah - SkinnyRunner sat right behind us! I may or may not have been a little star struck, but she was super friendly, and it was fun to chat with her before and after the race.

It was chilly at the start, and there were 7 potties for a lot of women. My one "beef" with the entire gig was that there needed to be a few more at the start.

My plans for the race were pretty simple and straightforward. Run with Kim. Have fun. Practice handling the hills well. And for real, I couldn't have been more pleased with how it all went. I had a ball. At the end of 10 miles we were averaging just over a 10 minute pace, with lots and lots of rolling hills, so I was super happy (and a little surprised) at how well we were doing. We were gabbing and smiling, and the course was beautiful. We ran into Kelly right around there when the hills finally started getting the best of us. But Emily was course marshaling at 11 which was a huge boost, considering the mountain we had to go up in that mile. Seriously soul sucking. I was having fun, though, so I didn't care.

The downhill that followed was equally tough (this was an out and back section of the course, which was also the 5k course. what goes up, must come down.) and with the finish in sight, Kim asked me if we were sprinting it in. Well, I'm not sure if what we did qualifies as sprint, but we gave it everything we had left!

Afterwards, we got our necklaces (instead of traditional medals) and a towel and bananas were offered. And then, there was a big after party!

some have said they'd prefer a medal, but I ADORED the necklace. and I've been wearing it since.

Afterwards, there was food, and massages, and wine, and shopping. Kind of like an after-expo. It was really fun to hang out and chat and eat. I met one of my running idols, Dimity McDowell of Another Mother Runner fame, and geeked out and got my picture taken. And I waved at Sarah Bowen Shea, who was busy with another mother runner (HAHAHA - I kill myself).

I left my book in my car, but they were nice enough to autograph a bookmark for me!

We also got to meet Sara Hall, which was very cool - it always floors me how genuinely NICE elite runners are. I don't know why I'm surprised, but there it is...

me in a Kim/Sara Hall/Skinny Runner sandwich. Squee!

The rest of the weekend was exactly what I needed. Fun and food (OMG the food!) and games and friends. Very chill, and so so nice to get to know so many girls better in real life. It was the epitome of the perfect girls weekend, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it all.

 

 

It wasn't a PR, and I missed winning Kim's "guess my finish time" contest by mere seconds, but this will rank up there as one of my favorite races ever. True to the ZOOMA mission, it was a fun fabulous weekend with friends.

(a disclaimer - I received the entry for free as a ZOOMA ambassador, but all opinions are my own)

Race Report: Chicago Marathon 2012

So much to say about this one. And it wasn't even about me. But I was honored to be part of Michelle's marathon debut, and it was a day I will NEVER forget. So, long post ahead...

The weekend itself was crazy, as per usual in the Welch house. Saturday morning consisted of a whole lotta volleyball (Jenna had a tournament from 8am til 1pm) so I conned John into taking Friday and Monday off work, and I snuck out Friday morning to the expo with Jenna and a couple running club friends.

Not too busy yet...boy did that change before we left!

corral L for WINNER!

There was lots and lots of sign making happening in my house before the race. John had his own redemption brewing - CM10 was a comedy of spectating errors and I didn't see my peeps til 26. He was determined to do better this time!

Saturday night, I was lucky enough to sneak out for some pre race carb loading with Marcia and Jill. It was fantastic to finally meet Jill, and I was so glad that we could work this out! Although I am a terrible blogger and don't even have a picture. I was hoping to spot Marcia on the course a couple times Sunday morning...

I felt ready and packed up Saturday night, despite struggling with exactly what to wear. Sunday morning was a breeze, since a running club friend was chauffeuring 3 of us down. NO STRESS for me. We hung out in a hospitality room at the Congress hotel which was across the street from the start until we had to go outside. My sister and her friend made their way over to us while we were there and we waited together. Easy peasy.

Kyla, Michelle and me. Staying warm for as long as possible.

We were in the second wave which went off at 8am. Corrals closed at 7:45, so at about 7:30 we went outside. I had 2 mylar blankets from past races that we used to keep warm (so perfect! DO THIS!). We lined up with the 4:40 pacer and tried to keep calm. This was when I started to get nervous. I was running through all the people I was trying to see and locations in my head, I was trying to keep track of it all, I was getting a text ready to send out to our peeps when we crossed the line, I was hoping I'd be everything Michelle needed me to be. I was silently FREAKING THE EFF OUT.

So when Lauren found us in our corral and gave me a hug, I was so discombobulated that I introduced her as Kyla to my sis. No I'm not an asshole, really, I'm just in brain overload. But it was so awesome to see a friendly face that it calmed me down a little bit. So both sorry and THANK YOU to Lauren! Hope you had a great race!

I appreciated the wave start this year and the corrals. It only took us 17 minutes to cross the start and we were off and running. Michelle's garmin was being a little bitch so she turned it off and we went with mine. Besides being there for Michelle, my goal for ME this year was to try and soak in the experience more, and also to enjoy the hell out of myself. And to try to remind her to do the same, even when she wasn't feeling it.

We saw our family at about 1.5 and then again at 3. It was great getting hugs and smiles early on. The sign on a stick (inspired by Marcia's pumpkin) was a last minute decision that served us well throughout the day. Between that and the bright orange signs they made, I saw them long before we got to them, every time we were supposed to see them. It went SO smoothly.

John and James holding the sign next to my BIL and my niece on his shoulders

guy next to Michelle looks THRILLED

The early miles ticked off uneventfully. I could tell Michelle was not feeling the greatest, but for the moment, she was ok. Soon, though, she needed to pee. We stopped in the 8th mile for 8 freaking minutes in a potty line that never moved and then bailed. We made it to the 11th mile and managed to find a quicker line, and were in and out in just a few minutes. And then it was time to see our family again!

potty line photo op

gettin some love

hugs from mom

We saw Carolyn a few times on the course. We saw Andrea and her DO EPIC SHIT signs. I searched for Marcia early on and then again in charity village (around mile 14) but I never did see her. I saw so so many amazing and hilarious signs. (My favorite of the day was "Run Faster, I just Farted" - yes, I am so mature, haha!) I was having fun, but Michelle was wearing down some.

Just past mile 17, we saw Carolyn again. We stopped to stretch and get hugs and chatted for a second. When we started running again, Michelle's knee gave out. Her face told the story - she was in so much pain. The tears started and we walked. Slowly, she got to a shuffle, and she just kept shuffling, realizing that stopping was detrimental to finishing - she needed to keep running.

At a med station, we stopped for some biofreeze. They were out, but she got some lidocain on her knee and I got some vaseline for my HORRIBLE CHAFFING (numb legs plus not enough glide equals delayed reaction chafe. YOUCH!) and that seemed to make the pain tolerable for her.

We saw Charlyn and L on the back half of the course...she called out to us and I must have looked at her blankly because she explained how she knew us and the light bulb came back on (another "I am terrible with names" moment of the day). At the mile 18 aid station, Kayla called out to us, and again, gave us a boost. We saw our family again at nearly 21. And then Nora found us at mile 23. Some where in there was more Carolyn and at some point Andrea jumped in and ran with us for a minute. I felt like every time we needed a familiar face, there they were! THAT part of the day was amazing.

The last few miles were hard. I tried to find a comfortable pace, so I alternated between power walking and running slowly. This is that part of the course where the photogs are out like crazy so there was a lot of "fake it til you make it" going on. I reminded her to smile.

lots of this...

...and this...

but we felt like this...

and this was happening too, haha!

And then mile 25 happened. She saw the sign and something shifted in her. She really KNEW it was going to happen. And she started to run like she meant it! Our family was waiting just before the turn at 26, but we didn't stop.

We turned the corner and charged up that hill. We turned again, I grabbed her hand, and we ran down the chute to the finish. I sobbed like an idiot the entire way down. I'm not joking. I wasn't this emotional when I finished my own first marathon. I can't wait to see the finish line photos. We crossed, stopped hugged, cried. We got our blankets and medals and Michelle got a well deserved beer. SHE DID IT. And I couldn't have been more proud of her!

I have so much more to say about this day swirling in my head. Maybe tomorrow. This is enough for today. My sister is a marathoner. 5:23:52. She rocks!

Chicago Marathon, the Reprise...

So, there's this little marathon I'm running on Sunday...

This one is different though. I'm not nervous. I'm excited, but not worried. I don't think I've ever been this calm before a big race.

And I think it's because this one brings me full circle.

It's been fun this week to listen to my sister's giddy excitement and emotions and prerace nerves. It's been fun to remember feeling all the things she's feeling right now. Where I was at that point. Wondering if I had it in me to finish, and just what that was going to feel like.

Looking back at old posts, I'm in such a different place now. I trained for that race entirely alone, save for the virtual community of runners here. I met Kim for the first time at that lone 20 miler, but I started it alone. And then she ran me in, and I discovered what it felt like to have someone outside my family care whether I finished. She blew me away that day.

I ran the marathon entirely alone. Kim's face was the only familiar face I saw that day until mile 26. And I lost her right away (sad face).

Shortly after that Kim introduced my to running with a club, and my life as a runner has been forever changed. It's so much more FUN to run with a tribe. To sign up for group runs and hold yourself accountable to show up when you say you will. To chat and complain and laugh through long runs. To have runners come back to make sure you are ok when you have unfortunate accidents. Hehe. To be part of something bigger.

And not only have I changed in that I run with a crew, I've grown as a runner. I've accomplished so much in my short running career, so much that I am proud of. I've whittled away at PRs, taking significant time of each distance I've raced.

(An aside - when John and I got back to our hotel room after Fox Cities, I looked at my watch and turned to John and said, "Do you realize that today I finished the race, got my medal and shirt and food, walked back to the car and drove to the hotel, got a snack and made it up to our room faster than I RAN my first half marathon?" Crazy.)

So it's with calm and happiness that I go into this race on Sunday. A changed runner. I'm looking forward to experiencing it through my own wiser eyes, and also through the eyes of my sister. It should be a PERFECT day.