Flying Pig 2019 - Race Report

Day(s) before

Expo: This expo is huge.  There's a good mix of local booths (like UC and the dentist booth that gave me a new toothbrush), race booths (Bourbon Half Marathon), and just other fun stuff. I always stop at the place that's selling the past year shirts, and in cold years I stop at Good Will for throw away clothes.  This year I did not stand in line for the P&G Goodies, but that's totally a thing as well. The 'Official Shop' had a lot of stuff but it did not have an 'I'll run this marathon when Pigs Fly' shirt which was a thing that I wanted. Sigh.
 
Transportation to/from expo: This is my least favorite part.  The Fountain Square Garage and Race Street Garage were full and closed, so I just drove till I found another place to park. I hate driving downtown and I hate parking.  If I do another half or 3-way, I may consider Uber.

Expo SWAG: Definitely another standout. Half Marathon and Full Marathon runners get a race shirt, a "bag" of some kind (this year it was a very nice soft-sided cooler, and I've got several backpacks from past years), and a poster.  Plus, did I mention the P&G table.  Anyone can go there. 

Race Day

Start time: 6:30am, my corral started closer to 7am and there were 2 corrals behind me.  Rozzi's does fireworks for each corral.  It's a thing.  My corral could not hear ANY of the start line announcements, the anthem, the wheel chair start, nor the actual race start. I hope they get a lot of comments about that and I hope they fix it.

Weather: Apparently, I lucked out this year.  I started around 55* and finished around 70*.  For me, there wasn't sun until the last mile or 2.  But apparently the sun was real before then because I have sun burns on my shoulders and an official watch tan. There was very little wind.  My coach told me I had to dump water on myself at each stop.  I was sopping wet by the end, including my shoes.

Wardrobe: This was a source of some debate.  I had very little time to test the wardrobe because I trained in the polar vortex and not normal weather.  I packed 3 sets of tops/bottoms with me that were generally interchangeable.  The deciding factor was when Olive did her 10K, finished and said "don't wear the hot shorts".
Top: 2xu tank and a Brooks sports bra, no issues
Bottoms: Nike guys running shorts (because again, if Courtney Dauwalter can, I can too).  I found out the next day these did chafe along the wasteline/draw string area, but not totally painfully.
Feet: Smartwool socks which felt like they were giving me a blister but did not, and Altra trail shoes.  (Update there definitely was a blister/chaffing on the top of my little toe.  It relates to the seam in the toe of the socks, not at all the fault of the shoes.  I've never had Smart Wool do that to me before.) I told my coach it's what I trained in almost all winter.  Every other pair of shoes I trained in didn't feel right for such a long run, so I just did the wrong thing and wore my trail shoes in a road race.
Other: Pink visor.  Nathan Running vest.  The vest did not chafe but the water bottle was at a weird angle, so I had to kind of wrap the straw around one shoulder strap so it would stop hitting me in the face.

Transportation to start line: Thank goodness for Olive and Mom.  We drove, they parked. Runners: Parking takes a long time, get there before 5:30am.

Route: The first 8 miles are the same as the half marathon.  The hardest part for me was to be climbing up that hill and hear all of the half marathoners talk about being "half way there" and I'm all WTF, I am not!.
At the split, the full goes off into some wonderful neighborhoods in Cincinnati, Fairfax, and Mariemont.  (You've got to admire the race director for dealing with two cities/counties in Kentucky and three cities in Ohio.  Logistics anyone?) Special bonus for the locals to get to run on Columbia Parkway.  That was fun and I was super glad it wasn't sunny.
The full has more climbing than the half marathon, almost double the climbing.  Though still, the hardest climb is shared by both courses. I found this route super challenging.  I was thankful for every time I drove over, parked at the lock and dam and ran hills along the river in the ice and snow this winter.

Plan/Goals: My plan was to run 4 minutes and walk 1 minute the whole way, and start off at least over 13:00/mile.  I'd been told by many people this is a negative split course if you do it right. Officially for my coach, my A goal was to catch and pass the 12:30 pacer, B goal was to catch and stay with the 12:30 pacer and C goal was to finish. 
If I'm being honest, my A goals was really to finish and feel good.  The paces were just a guide.  In the end, I'm glad I totally abandon my original plan, becuase I did finish and felt better with other people than I did in the dark alone times of Eden Park.

Execution: Short story: I ran a hard positive split.  The plan when somewhat out the window but I decided not to care. I was not truly suffering until the last mile and I finished with an hour to spare.
Long story: Miles 1-5 I was really right on track, using the up hills to rest and the down hills to my advantage.
The climb/Eden Park: This was my dark time.  I realized the half marathon people were over half way and I still had 75% of the race left to run, I felt like I was standing still on the climb, it was bad. This is the hardest climb of the race.
Obryonville: I started to feel better here, and by that I mean "I started to go downhill".  There were lots of cheering squads.
Hyde Park: I had lots of support and continued to enjoy the down hills here.
Madisonville: Is actually a very short part of the course.  Why are there so many hills there?  This is where I met Kathleen.  She's 67, retired teacher, likes tennis, trains on a treadmill... She was run/walk a 30/30 and I wound up staying with her on her plan 'till about mile 21.  I was a bit slower than any of my goal paces but I didn't care because I had company.  We worked well together and the miles ticked along nicely. As I said in my training "It was easier in my mind".  Kathleen and I had gone back and forth with another person named Nancy, and we picked her up for reals around mile 19. 
Lower east side: At about mile 21, Nancy and I went on ahead and stayed together 'till about mile 26.  Nancy turned 26 last August and has a goal of running 26 marathons in her 26th year of life.  This was number 19. Also, she was dressed as Captain America.  The lower east side was long in some places, and short in others, if that makes sense.  It's still a long way from the finish.
Back into downtown: It was here that I liberated a beer.  I needed a drink because the course now runs through where the old finish was, and I had to keep going another 0.2 miles or so.  Head trip. I was still moving, running from one cone to the next, and I was able to chase Nancy into the finish line and high five the pig. 

Nutrition: The plan was to start with a Larabar, then switch to chews, and to drink every couple of miles.  Around Mariemont, that plan went out the window and I did whatever I wanted.  I was actually okay at taking my salt tabs and I think that helped me get through the race as well.  This course has soooo much food on it.  Like, you could forget everything you owned except your clothes, show up to the start line and be fine.  There's so much water, gatorade, cookies, Swedish fish, tissues, popsicles, and alcohol.  Did I mention the alcohol?

Results:I finished in about 6 hours.  That's my slowest marathon ever, but ultimately I was happy with it.  I did really change my race strategy when I started staying with Kathleen but I didn't care.  I wanted to get to the end and not suffer, and that's what happened.  My reasons for wanting to run this race, and this course, and this year, had very little to do with an actual finish time and much more to do with the feeling of finishing.  I'm feeling good.

From today, I learned: I needed a better mental game for the earlier miles in Eden Park.  That was dark times.  I should've started with a lot more walking, and added in more running as time went on.  And I was right to run the downhills becuase those were crazy fun.  Also, the smartwool sock issue.  My little toe is angry right now.

SWAG: At the finish line, there's a medal, all of the water, a bag of snacks, pizza, mylar blanket, and then outside the chute there's beer for the runners. There are also tents selling food for purchase, and some tents giving stuff away to anyone, not just runners.

Remember for next time: At the end of this race I said I'd never run another marathon.  Note to my future self: You can register for another marathon when your MAF pace is under an 11:00/mile.  Also, it's Tuesday and I can still barely walk.

Bonus: Team Walk and Team Car were the bonus of this race.  The cheering support was amazing and really helped me break up the race in my head.  Since I didn't get an "I'll run this marathon when pigs fly" shirt, Olive made me a sign that said "I survived marathon training in the polar vortex".  Apparently a lot of people wanted a picture with that sign!