Bangle's Blog: Rehoboth 2017

So I tell people I traveled all the way across the country to run a race, and when they ask why, it never seems to make a whole lot of sense. What compels me to fly for six hours across two flights, then get in a van for a three hour tour of beautiful Delaware? I can race 13 miles anywhere. Well, it really comes down to the people. I had some magical memories of this frigid beach town from 2013 and 2015. And when you catch a genie in a bottle, you tend to go back looking for it.

2017 Rehoboth had the same agenda as usual. Show up late, share a huge awesome rented house with tons of favorite loopsters, eat, drink and be merry and throw a race in there too. Then party until they kick us out of multiple venues.

I started it off with a red-eye flight, which meant I only slept 1-2 hours Thursday night, and zombied my way through Friday before the Saturday morning race time. The awesome Caitlin picked me up and took care of me as we awaited the others for the party van ride. We arrived to the Rehoboth house about 5PM, where Chris took care of our nutritional needs with some fabulous lasagna. I filled up with a second piece and lots of bread not too long before bedtime. I figured carbo-loading, right? But I needed to catch up on sleep too, so I was soon sacked out, and hardly moved until 6:06AM (that's 3:06 Pacific) when Mr. Bacon woke me, since, you know the race starts at 7...

Everybody else was well into their pre-race routine. I managed to get dressed and get out the door about 6:35. But no breakfast. No coffee! And no pooping!! (OK, I tried, but that system had not opened for business yet). So I figured dinner would have to be enough fuel to get me through this one. Walked down to the start. Dumped a layer of clothes and did a half mile jog to warm up a bit, and then settled in to the start with Carissa and Abby who appeared to have goals similar to mine.

Goals. Well originally I hoped to beat my 2015 time of 1:37:27. Then I got sick, twice, in the last three weeks and didn't feel the need to go kill myself since I didn't feel 100%. On the other hand, I wasn't sick anymore, my legs were well rested, and the weather was PERFECT. On the other hand, I was sleep-deprived, and I really just came out here for the people...

Basically I decided to start conservative and just see how I felt and go with it. First mile close to 8:00, hopefully faster after that. If I felt good I hoped to eventually run 7:30's. Try to break 1:40, which would be three minutes faster than Florida a few weeks ago. That meant a 7:37 pace average.

The start was smooth and pace was about 8:11 at first check after about 1/4 mile. Carissa was slipping ahead but I didn't feel I could go with her so I let her go and stayed with Abby. Later in mile one I felt a little more mojified and was picking it up a bit and passing people and saw Carissa wasn't too far ahead. So I threw a mental lasso around her and gradually reeled her in. Pace was 8:05 when I saw her, but once I caught her and hit mile 1 it had dropped to 7:49. Oh, OK then.

Of course that meant we were actually moving faster than that. I stayed with C for the next 2+ miles until the marathoners peeled off. We were right behind a guy with "Kick ARS" on his shirt and his friend who matched our pace, so we settled in behind them while passing everyone else. Two and three were 7:36 and 7:35. It felt a little too fast, but not really. It felt good. So much for not racing. This was a good race effort for me, but felt manageable. Either I would hurt later, or maybe it would be a good day.

Plus it was fun to run side by side with the legendary Quadracool. We've been buddies for years now, but mostly from afar, so it was great to share some race time, even though we hardly talked the whole time. I absorbed some of her mojo and then she peeled off to do her thing, and I peeled off to do mine.

Which meant race harder. The "Kick ARS" guy was in the half so I followed him for a while, but I was feeling good and slowly moved by. I saw the 1:40 pace group up ahead about 100 yards, and decided I WOULD be passing them. It was just a matter of when. Once that was in my head I caught up pretty fast. Mile 4 was 7:26 and mile 5 was 7:25. I was picking off people one by one. Once I caught the 1:40 group of about 15 people I wanted to just stay with them for a while. Race smart and all... But I was comfortable at that 7:25 pace and to stay in rhythm meant that I had to slowly move on by. Which gave me even more adrenaline to stay ahead of them...Mile six was 7:19.

Gradually I stopped hearing them behind me and was on my own. But there are always people to chase. One by one I targeted prey and reeled them in. But there was one girl with MildSauce hair who stubbornly stayed about 50 yards ahead of me. I chased her for about 8 miles and never caught her. Never got to thank her for the pull. At one point I thought, maybe that IS Mild Sauce! Sneaking out to Delaware to surprise us! But it wasn't. Too bad.

About mile 6, dinner decided to speak up and say hello. That 3 pounds of pasta and bread and cheese was done percolating and ready to be expunged. I was concerned. No way was I stopping unless I absolutely had to. There were potties on the course, so plenty of opportunity, but, no. I was running sub 1:40 pace, and no renegade poop was going to ruin that! But it quickly became #1 in my thoughts. (Or #2!) I was still passing people but I was focusing on my colon too, and it may have tweaked my stride a bit. Plus I was getting tired. Mile 7 slipped to 7:26 (fine) but mile 8 was 7:37 (hmmm).

Now we were on the trail in the forest and it got much colder, so I internally whined about that too. And the lump was still there. The sphincter was still not involved in the conversation, but I felt like I had a three pound weight inserted in my belly. I really wanted it gone, and would have stopped if it were a training run, but this is a race, dammit! I got a little adrenaline in mile 9, aiming for the turnaround and seeing the faster runners coming back (including loopster Ken who rocked it!). Nine was 7:26 and I was happy to be back under 7:30, but I was tiring now, and I saw the 1:40 pacer was still not far behind me! I definitely wanted to stay ahead of him.

Mile ten was heading back on the cold trail and was the worst mile. My motivation was flagging and my pep was gone. Someone passed me. And then another one. I was cold and uncomfortable and not happy.

But I persisted. Miles ten and eleven were both 7:38. I was hanging on but it wasn't easy or fun any more. But at least Mr. Hankey was staying quiet. Mild Sauce's doppelganger was still in sight so I guess she was slowing too. I just wanted to get off of this trail and back in the warm sun and hard asphalt.

Once that happened, life was better. I still had some life in my legs after all. At this point I knew I had sub 1:40 if I hung on, and a shot at sub 1:39 with a decent finish. Mile 12 was 7:36, but with only a mile to go I allowed myself to step it up a bit. Reaching a toilet was motivating me to go faster. I started passing people again. It wasn't PR effort, but it felt good to run hard and still finish with a little in the tank. (or a lot, if you get my drift).

Mile 13 was 7:21 and a 6:44 pace for the last block got me in at 1:38:56.