Romeo to Richmond Half Marathon Race Report

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Before I get into the Romeo to Richmond half marathon race report, I first want to say that I know I kind of dropped off the face of the earth for a little while there, but I have a pretty good reason: last Friday morning, two days before my race, I woke up with a horrible head cold. Uggggghhhhh. It was bad enough that I actually took a sick day, which I think is only my second one this year. I just don’t typically get sick. But it was pretty bad on Friday, with horrible sinus pressure and lots of sneezing and nose blowing and all that crap. 

So, I took the day off, slept in until about 11, and then spent the day doing as little as possible. Saturday, I got to sleep in again, which was nice (first Saturday in about four months since I’ve slept in!), but then I had to take Jamie to a school function, and then quickly wrap that up and head north to Romeo to pick up my race packet.

When I arrived (after an hour and 15 minute drive!),  I discovered that of the course that I thought would take me through three towns (Romeo, Armada, and Richmond) was actually only going to take me “near” them. It was not being run on the streets of these towns and townships, but on a bike path that used to be a railroad line.  This was not at all what I expected, and I was actually disappointed. One of the best parts about racing is seeing new and different places, and I was really excited to traverse this region and see the historic homes and downtowns. 

So, OK, shame on me for not reading the course description a little more closely. After I discussed it with the race coordinators at packet pick up, they suggested I drive through downtown Romeo on my way out of town, since that would be about the only time I could see the place.  So I did:

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It was a cute, historic little town, and I was glad I at least had a chance to visit it quickly before I headed out to visit my friends Amy and Jason, Who were graciously allowing me to spend the night. Luckier  for me, they live only about 20 minutes from Romeo, so a much better option for arriving early on race day.

I enjoyed a delicious dinner of chicken, rice, and vegetables with Jason and his daughters, while Amy was out at a euchre tournament with some friends. (Had things been different, I would’ve gone to the tournament!) I ended up going to bed about 9:30, and then I tossed and turned much of the night, which I typically do when I sleep away from home, because I’m always worried about getting up on time. And guess what? I didn’t! I had mistakenly set my alarm for 5:30 p.m. instead of 5:30 a.m., and I ended up waking up at 6:10 AM. Not how I wanted to start race morning.

Jason had told me the night before that it would only take me about 20 or 25 minutes to get to Richmond, but I think he mistook it for Romeo, because it actually took me a little over 30 minutes. By the time I arrived, I was cutting it close to make the shuttle that would take me over to Romeo, but after a quick pitstop at the high school bathroom, as well as a trip to the registration tent for safety pins, I was able to get on the bus with five minutes to spare. 

The ride over was uneventful, although I did get a chance to chat with a hockey parent from Romeo, who was proud of his son and his team for winning the state championship last year. Always fun to talk to hockey parents! We got to the starting line with plenty of time, so I did my stretches and even had a chance to use the bathroom three times! (Gotta love those small races!) I even decided to do a quick warm-up run of about five minutes, just because I had the time and because I know a lot of people swear by them. I will admit that during my training this summer, when Katie had me doing a 10-minute warm-up before every run, I found it to be beneficial. Did it help for this race? Eh….

The race started at a spot down the path from where we had been dropped off. It was actually right before the overpass for the freeway…nothing like starting off on a hill. :p

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I made sure to get my prerace selfie.

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The race started right on time, and then we were off! We ran along the Macomb Orchard Trail, which was definitely a nice trail as far as training runs go, but, to be totally honest, was a total dud for a race. :/  I took this picture as we ran over the north branch of the Clinton River:

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With its lovely pasture, barn, horses and cows, I had high hopes for the remainder of the trail, but that was pretty much the most exciting thing I saw. No offense to the people of the area, but that trail is really boring. It was pretty much 13 miles of trees interspersed with an occasional field. Again, great for training run, but when you’re running a 13-mile race, at some point, you need something to distract you from the fact that you’re still running, but there was nothing to engage my mind. I’ve mentioned often that I like to see new things on my run, but there was nothing new to see after the 1st mile.

I did chat with a woman named Cheryl, who was running the first half of the relay, meeting up with her daughter at the transition point. We were going at about the same pace for a little while, before she decided to walk, and she encouraged me to go on, but I walked with her for a few moments before I took off again. That was her first time running over 3.1 miles, so I was glad I had a chance to chat with her and give her some encouragement.

Later, I passed a woman in a purple tank top, who I could tell was struggling a little bit. I gave her a thumbs up and told her she was doing great as I passed her. She smiled and said thanks. 🙂 

For the first half of the race, I feel like I did pretty well. Because of my cold, and because it was also warm and somewhat humid (it was foggy when I left the house, and fog equals 100% humidity), I quickly tossed aside any thoughts of a PR. Instead, I figured I could do a 10:00 to 10:30 for the first half, and then I’d see how I was feeling, and if necessary I would dial it back to a 10:30 to 11:00 for the second half, which would still give me a decent pace. An overall pace of 10:30 pretty much became my goal. Not ideal, but not horrific.

On Saturday, I had stopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods with one of Jason’s daughters to get myself some fuel. While she bought candy (ha ha, typical 10-year-old!), I bought myself some Gu chews. I had bought some for JJ for his race in June, and had some left over that I used for my 10K back in August. I found I liked them, because I could eat half of one at a time, and it wouldn’t upset my stomach, but it did give me a little sugar rush. 

I started taking them every couple of miles for the first half of the race, and I was surprised at how well they worked. About a minute or so after I’d finish one, I got this sudden burst of energy, which gave me a feeling like I could keep running for miles.  Ha ha! It usually wore off after about a mile, but it was pretty helpful.

By the time I got to mile 6.5, the halfway point, I knew I was getting tired, but I wasn’t dying at that point. My average pace, as I discovered later, was 10:23 at that point. Not bad. But then…right about mile seven, I had the most unpleasant experience: a sharp, shooting pain on the right side of my right knee. After months of suffering through a duplicate injury on my left knee back in 2013, I knew exactly what it was: my IT band. But here’s the thing: I’ve never had problems with the one on my right leg. This was definitely a problem! 😮 I really wasn’t sure if I should continue, but I trudged along, hoping it would work its way out. It didn’t, but I walked through the next water station a little longer than usual, and then for a while, it didn’t hurt quite so much. Eventually, it came back. I determined that I would just keep running until the next water station, when I would walk again. Unfortunately, that water station wasn’t until a little after mile 10–almost two miles after the previous one! WTF?! 

When I finally hit that water station, I was in enough pain that I decided to just go ahead and stop and do a full IT band stretch on both legs. Yes, a waste of precious time, but at that point, I really didn’t care. I was more concerned about doing long-term damage to my knee vs having a “decent” finish to a meaningless race. When I started up again, it felt better, but then, within half a mile or so my other damn IT band decided to hurt. I was truly like “What the f*ck?” at that point. 

I thought about walking, but I felt that I would be giving up.  And I didn’t want to do that! So once again, I decided to stick it out through the next water station. By then, I was taking the gels every mile, but after the one at mile 11, they ceased to have much effect. 

When I got to the final water station, a little past mile 12 (again with the 2 mile break between water stations?!), I was really tired, sore, and discouraged, so although I usually make it a rule not to stop in the last mile of any run, I decided I need to this time so I could do another stretch break. If you’ve never seen IT band stretches, basically, you cross your legs, bend over at the waist to touch the ground, and do a count of 20. Not hard, unless you’ve been running for about 12 miles, and then the part where you have to straighten back up can be a bit disconcerting. After the first stretch, when I stood back up, I wobbled a little bit, and all the volunteers at the water station were concerned for me. How concerned? When I came up after the second stretch, they not only had extra water for me, they had even brought me a chair. :p I might’ve been looking rough, but I don’t think I looked that bad! 😉 

At any rate, I waved off the chair and began running/jogging again. Definitely slower than I would’ve liked, but I was really tired, and my right knee especially was still hurting. I only had about three quarters of a mile to go, though, and I just didn’t want to give up and walk with so little left. I’ll have you know, however, there were a lot of people walking that last, long stretch down the trail. I was proud of myself for not giving into the temptation! Not only that, but I did manage to push myself for the last 10th of a mile, and I finished strong. Unfortunately, there were no finishline photographs, so I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it. 😉 

After I finished, I grab my medal and a water and made a beeline for the nearest shady spot, where I promptly sprawled out on the ground.

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I must’ve looked pretty rough, because all of a sudden people who had talked to me during the race, several of whom knew me by name, we’re coming by to ask me if I was okay. Dude, did I really look that bad? :p

I managed to get a post-race picture before I headed out. 

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I had to get gas before I got back on the freeway for the long drive home, so I went into town, where I got a few pictures of downtown Richmond.

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Again, a very cute town, but to my surprise, on the way home I found out there was another section of “downtown Richmond.” The one farther south had a lot more old houses, and it was quite picturesque. No time to stop for pictures at that point, though!

I managed to get home and get ready in time to take pictures at JJ’s first football game.

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Oh my gosh, he’s so cute!!

After football, we went out for our traditional post-race dinner. 

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We went to Bagger Dave’s, where I got my usual, except they forgot the bacon on my burger. Dammit. :p Seriously, a hamburger is just not the same without bacon! We also got dessert, a brownie à la mode, but I was disappointed on that front, too. First off, it was really small, and secondly, it had an odd taste, which Jamie decided tasted like smoke. So, the chances are good that it was probably burnt. Despite dinner and dessert not being spectacular, the drink was really good:

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It was a sangria in a Mason jar, and what’s not to love about that? 

When all was said and done, my final finish time was 2:25:19, which equated to an 11:05 overall pace.  Certainly not my best pace (last year’s fall race, when I managed a 9:49), but also not my worst (my August half two years ago, with hills and humidity, when I barely pulled out a sub-11:30). My average moving pace was actually 10:49, which represents the fact that I took the time to actually come to a full stop twice to stretch. So, although I’m disappointed with my finish, I know that I did the best I could with the obstacles that I faced. I do think that my body was run down from the cold, and that might’ve even caused my surprising IT band issues. 

I’m glad it’s over, though, and I enjoyed my day off work on Monday. I stayed home all day and did nothing but pick up the house a little and then binge on Netflix while scanning old pictures. 🙂 Although I’m back to work now, I’ve taken several days off running entirely. I must admit, it’s been really nice to not have to wake up at 4:30 or five in the morning. I could get used to this…but hopefully I’ll get back on the wagon soon. 😉 Sleeping in is fun, but the scale’s going to reflect my lack of exercise pretty soon. 

I don’t know what’s next, and I’m not going to worry about it right now. For now, I’ll just be glad that that race is done!

Thanks for reading!

2 thoughts on “Romeo to Richmond Half Marathon Race Report

  1. Meg B

    HOOOOO-WEEEE what a race! I am impressed you drove all the way out there for the race. Too bad about the views. At least we know the Monroe half doesn’t disappoint!

    Reply
    1. steph Post author

      Ha ha, you’re right about that! Lots of things to occupy my mind in that race…especially if I have a partner that will allow me to act as official tour guide of Monroe! 😉 I would’ve definitely enjoyed the trail during a training run, but 13 miles was a LONG time on that path! :p Thanks for commenting, my friend!

      Reply

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