Another Half Marathon snuck up on me. A long time ago when we were setting up our yearly race schedule Melanie and Alexis decided we needed to do the Runaway Pumpkin in Lebanon Oregon-why because it looked like a good date and a good course. Of course if it is going to be a Halloween run you have to go dressed up-it's the law!!!!!ok it isn't but it sure is fun. Melanie and I set up a training schedule and we stuck to it pretty well-meaning we did almost what it told us to do. OK who am I kidding we pretty much let it guide us and then we told it what to do. Needless to say some of our longer runs got cut a little shorter. Our speed work outs ended up being more of a pace workout. We stopped anytime we had an ache, pain, or bathroom issues-we stopped A LOT. Heading down to the race both Melanie and I were avoiding talk of the race like the plague-just the thought of it made us want to cry. Then there was Alexis who was so chipper and gung ho about the whole thing, making goals, wearing whatever would be the most comfy for her, hydrating (uh woops forgot that), etc.. We knew we were doomed from the get go. When trying to come up with a costume we thought of a few ideas but then I remembered the saying "run like you stole something" and even though I would be running like my grandmother stole something I thought; this could work-Melanie the cop and I the robber. I found some Police gear at Target for MEL (but she wouldn't wear the mustache for the 13.1 miles-not sure why) and found some prison gear at Target too-however I had to add the jail numbers and the stuff on the back.
I was caught- Guess I can't go run!!!!!!!!
So my back states: "Run like you stole something" Department of Runaway pumpkin 1/2 marathon institute" The dress was cotton and a bit big 2x so it was like some cozy pajamas (until it hit the rain and became a whole lot of mess.) The number I gave myself on the front had to do with all my runs. I did- how many marathons, 1/2 marathons, 10k, 5k, relays and fun runs. (296142).
The three of us preparing to go conquer this beast. I am so glad that Alexis is running now and can join us-how cool is that. I would never have imagined this a few years back. The running and great speed came out in this girl a heck of a lot quicker than it did for me or Mel. I had to work long and hard and yet here she is on her first year busting out numbers that are ridiculous.
Of course we arrived to the POURING DOWN RAIN. I mean it was no little sprinkle, it was dripping off of us before we even lined up. Needless to say we started out a little on the soggy side and it only rained harder and harder as we ran. I do think we had one little light rain moment, lasted about 5 minutes.
The race started out great and Alexis went ahead of us from the get go. We knew we couldn't keep the pace that she wanted to average so we stuck back where we were comfortable, yet pushing ourselves. The first few miles really flew by. Besides feeling like I was swimming in jeans, (Cotton SUCKS how did people use to run in that stuff), my body felt great. Melanie was lucky with her cop glasses and hat because she didn't have to use her hands as windshield wipers. Half the time I couldn't see the rain hit my eyes so hard. As I ran I took periodical wringing out moments, just so I wouldn't weigh an extra 20lbs at the finish line. We kept a steady pace and kept Alexis in our view. Having Alexis ahead of us helped us to keep our minds off of our pace and on how great she was doing. The rain also helped us from not whining so much about our dumb bodies that normally plague us. We were able to run, talk, laugh, not stop-at all, drink very little, enjoy the scenery and have a great time. The course map did however have us confused because it made it look like the first 8/9 would be uphill some major, some minor and then there would be a major down and even out. However there was nothing of the sorts like that and so that was a little depressing thinking we were going to make up ground on the down hill and there wasn't any.
We chugged along and finished with an 8:52 average. We were both so pleased and actually really shocked. I honestly thought we would get a 9:30 if we were lucky. So I guess being cold, wet, and miserable can make you run at a better pace than you expected. It wasn't our best pace but it was darn tootin good enough.
Lex finished a good 2 minutes ahead of us. After mile 11 we didn't see her anymore because she kicked it into high gear pushing everyone out of her way (of course that is a figure of speech).
We had so many compliments on our outfits and people had a good snicker at the 2 of us together. However I must say no one else really dressed up that much. Heck we were even interviewed (we are famous). It was a blast and I would do it again with these girls any day. Maybe next time Alexis will have a sprained ankle so that she can run the same pace as us.
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