Running in the Park

When I heard the run was at a place called Shelby Farm I don't know why but I thought the run would be mostly flat. Looking back I can't even understand why I thought that. Friends had run a relay out there and had told me it wasn't flat. AND the course description on the website says "rolling" so who knows WHY I would have thought it was going to be more flat...

The training runs I did leading up were thankfully NOT flat. I didn't run quite enough miles leading up to race day, but at least I had been running...some...

My highest volume week was 20 miles at the beginning of September and my average was only 9 a week...but at least I was running...some...

My plan for the run was to run 3 minutes/walk 1 minute...the whole time...no matter what the elevation...

And I did that!

For twelve minutes...and then I walked extra at the aid station...and went to the bathroom (even though I had gone just a few minutes before, as I was leaving T2...). Then the negotiations started...I did run more than I expected that I might, but I was on the struggle bus for sure.

I LOVED the course for spectators....I had six people who came out to watch me, and there were 2 friends who were doing the relay that were done with the swim and bike who were out on the course watching, along with 3 other friends who were there watching their runner and other friends who was doing the whole thing.

The course winds through Shelby Farms in an interesting way...If you imagine a clock face...you leave T2 and run clockwise around the lake from "noon to noon"... then clockwise around the upper part of the park from "six to six"...then it goes counterclockwise in an inner circle from "six to six"...then you repeat the whole thing. Spectators have A LOT of opportunities to see their athlete. My sweet friends spread out all over the park so it felt like I was constantly seeing people I knew! It. Was. AWESOME! Not to mention the aid stations were all high energy. On top of that, the intersection where the course came back to a point (noon for the lower clockface and six for the upper clockfaces) was SUPER PACKED with people!

As if that wasn't enough, the course was BEAUTIFUL...truly fantastic...AND...there was on section that they had dedicated to St Jude (who the race was raising money for). They had "before" and "after" banners of patients who treated there.

I SOBBED the first time ...okay, and the second time...

Early on I came upon a guy from Huntsville whose kids participated in my kids triathlon (Kids Fly Tri). I ran with him for just a bit. He really made my day by telling me his kids loved it so much they did (or maybe just his son did) another triathlon the next month! That put some pep in my step!

With only a few miles to go I saw the friend I started the swim with and another Huntsville Ironman who was doing the race...they were off the course with Dwayne....I was STRUGGLING as I was running toward them. I had resorted to counting time (3 minutes is 180 seconds so I would start counting as I would start running 180, 179...and try to get to 0...even if I counted fast...even if I slowed down....it didn't always work but I know it had me running more than I would have otherwise!). When I saw them I heard them say something about how I looked strong. But I thought they had finished and had time to have their post race snack and they were rested enough to be out on the course cheering on friends! I realized not long after that they were just stopped taking a breather....they were still working on finishing the run! That made me feel MUCH better about my time.

See, back in June when training was going REALLY WELL I had set an A goal for myself of 6:30. I honestly felt at the time it might be possible to even get down to 6:15! But for some reason after the end of July the wheels sort of fell off the wagon so my A goal had revised. Realistically I was thinking 6:45-7:00. When I started the run I really felt that goal time was solidly doable.

But, as I mentioned before, I was a little behind on nutrition when I got off the bike. I didn't have a SOLID plan for nutrition on the run other than I planned to take Gatorade at every station and a gel at every third station. I was going to drink Coke when I felt completely empty and keep drinking it after that point.

The only issue was that I didn't feel like eating the gels when I was supposed to, Gatorade really stopped tasting good and I resorted to Red Bull instead of Coke way too early...

But, I kept doing the math and kept thinking 7:00 was doable...until the last maybe quarter.

October 4, 2023...I don't know why I never finished this post but it's been over a year. I wish I could remember the end better....I just remember passing two friends from HSV who were also racing. I thought they had finished so I whizzed by thinking what a slug I was...only to find out later that they had not finished yet-they were still working their way to the finish line....

I also remember how strong I felt. Even with a 7:05 finish (28th by the way...which is VERY FUNNY since I just wrote my IMChoo 23 report...I finished 28th there, and 28th at IMChoo 15!! I will be THRILLED to pieces if I finish 28th at Worlds!!

I didn't LOVE the bike course at Memphis, but I think that was a matter of expectation. I expected it to be the glorious rollers like Chatty has-that is the BEST BIKE COURSE EVER-but it was what I would call "hilly". Not hard climbs, but rollers ROLL into the next climb so you get momentum from one to the next. Hilly means you climb, descend, ride flat a bit and then repeat. Plus the road was rough. The run was super fun being contained in Shelby Farm. You get to see people the whole time! I'd definitely do this one again.

Thanks for sticking with me!!