On Sunday, August 19th, I ran the Rock Hall Half Marathon in Cleveland, Ohio.
This was state #36,
and my 39th half marathon!
Tried to stock up on my foods - homemade bread, bananas, Justin's Almond butter - but I needed real food by the time we landed in Cleveland. I've been eating real clean due to my having an acute Crohn's flare two weekends ago, which was scary, frightening. Probably due to the stress of opening my new business:
Beyond Cryotherapy, LLC
Oh, yeah. So excited! I love cryotherapy! It has helped keep my inflammation down IBD-wise, and helped me to recover between long runs. In fact, probably another reason for my flare - I was so busy, I hadn't been to a cryotherapy session for weeks! Cryo does more for you than foam rolling, or ice baths - and you get a sort of "high" afterwards bc it helps release Beta Endorphins. In other words, it's a sort of:
Sexy Recovery!
And, you know what I say, an Athlete's Trifecta is Nutrition, Training, and Recovery - if you're gonna recover - at least make it sexy!
Anyway, thank God for Cleveland's Urban Farmer - all local produce, eggs, and stuff. It was a great brunch! #YumYum.
Next stop the Cleveland Hilton, not the host hotel, but pretty close to the start of the race, which was at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Do you believe, they told us our room was to be ready at 4pm, but we didn't get into our room until 6 pm? I was really upset - I needed a nap! We were up at 3am! I had a race the next day - and you all know how well you sleep the night before a race ...NOT!
At least we were able to take in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. IDK, maybe it's the time of year (pre-9/11) - but I was sort of sad going through this museum - there was Stevie Ray Vaughn, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bon Scott, John Bonham, Tom Petty, BB King, Roy Orbison, Muddy Waters, and Prince. Their music is part of who I am - it's part of my culture. It's sad knowing they are no longer with us.
I cried when I saw Aretha Franklin's memorabilia and the flowers from fans that were laid in front of the exhibit honoring her.
I cried when I saw video loops of Dick Clark's American Bandstand - Remember Dick? He was in our living room every Sunday - of course you got all your cool dance moves from watching Soul Train, but who didn't want to see Live Performances from the artists and groups that flooded your little Panasonic Twister Radio?
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| This was my 70's Spotify, Sirius XM and Itunes! |
And do you believe Whitney Houston is not in the Rock Hall of Fame? I know she was a pop star - not really a rock and roll star - but IDK, I think she belongs! What do you think?
Time to feed the machine some more - we left the museum, and walked to the Winking Lizard Tavern - I was not impressed. I don't like when you ask for a burger cooked "medium" and it comes out "raw".
We walked back to the Cleveland Hotel, only to have to wait some more - I was that person in the lobby half falling asleep, making not so nice faces at anyone who was loud - yes, I'll admit - I was super-duper cranky.
After my long awaited nap, we ate at a Steakhouse, called Red - The best steak, and Bordeaux ever!!! Only 1 glass, of course. Definitely go there if your in Cleveland!
And, actually, I slept pretty good!!!
The Rock Hall Half started at 7am. By 6am, I was dressed, fed, coffee'd up and using my Thera-gun in the hotel Fitness Center.
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| Love my TheraGun |
Before I knew it, we were climbing our first hill. For the 1st six miles, the race climbs a little, levels off, climbs a little, levels off, and then around mile 6, there are lots of descents for the next 3 miles. Then we got that little up and down again, with a few inclines near the finish. By the time we got to the finish - it was super humid, and I was looking for the race to end.
Even the smallest of inclines are tough for me. Like I said, I had been missing my Cryo sessions, and my left hammy has not been happy. My push uphill really suffers. In fact, we were trying for 1-mile tempo of 7:20 the other day, and I barely pushed out a 7:23. My legs were still tired from the race, but also, the incline in this route sucked out my legs and squashed my tempo. A few years back, I remember doing 3 of these - pushing out 7:20 with lots more ease.
What do you think of when you run?
Is it different from when you race?
Lately, someone asked me what I think of when I run - I usually pray - I go through the alphabet, and whatever letter I land on, I think of a person whose 1st name starts with that letter, and I pray for them.
When I race - I pray for myself - I pray for strength, oxygen, safety, persistence, God's blessings, and to get rid of any negative thoughts or feelings - I just pray.
Sometimes I hear people who have past rooting for me - yes, I heard Frank Zappa routing for me. No I wasn't glucose deprived. And no I am not off my rocker - but I'll tell you what was off - my watch was off - yeah so at the end of the race, you have a little hill to climb. I was running up, telling myself to run the best I could. Once you get over this little hill, your looking straight at the chute - holy-shmoly, I had to kick it in! Usually I try to kick in about the last 1/4 mile - but my watch said that I was at mile 12.9 once I got over the hill. Oh well, I just kicked it in and
Placed 3rd for my Age Group
1:45:18
This was the fastest half I have run in almost 2 years! I might just be starting to recover from the marathons! LOL!
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| Great Medal and I love my new shot glass! |
Anyway, Ohio is in the books!
Eat Right!
Train Smart!
Recover Cold ... Cryo cold!
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