Robie Creek Half Marathon Recap

My awesome sticker from the race.

The week leading up to Robie I was excited but also nervous. My left shin had been hurting more than usual so I took the week off to make sure I could run the race. It was feeling better closer to the race, so I hoped it would feel ok to run on and if not I figured I could just walk, which I knew there would be a lot of for the first part of the race anyway.

Since the race didn't start till 12pm I went to watch the first part of my son's baseball game. I had had one of my usual pre race breakfasts, a bagel and peanut butter, but took a clif bar cause I knew I would need to eat something before the race started. I also was drinking lots of water cause the temps kept increasing. As I drove to pick up my brother I tried to eat some of the clif bar but only managed a few bites cause I wasn't very hungry.

Since the start and finish for the race were in different locations we had to go to one of two bus drop off points. Once we parked I was re-applying some more body glide when another racer approached us and asked if we new about the bus situation. My brother and I, as well as him, were under the impression that a bus picked us up there and dropped us off at the start. That wasn't the case! The bus only dropped us off there after it was over so we were supposed to car pool to the start. Luckily this guy offered to take us and we would meet at the end of the race, ride the bus back to my car and drive him back to his car (it didn't end up working out this way but more on that later). I was really glad my brother was with me cause I wouldn't have just got in a car with a random guy, all though he was very very nice, you just never know.

We finally reached the starting area and the sun was already blazing! We waited in line for the porta potties and decided it was a perfect time to take some pictures.

I decided to wear my black tank after all.

We were matching but not necessarily planned. He was already planning on wearing the red shorts and I offered him one of my unisex race tech-t's that I hadn't worn and knew would match his shorts.

Sun was too bright!

Side note: About that time I got a text from Gene saying my son's baseball team won and had beat one of the best teams in the league that had been beating all their opponents by a lot, we ended up beating them 6-0!!! Go Cardinals!!

We ended up seeing one of my friends from high school and chatted with him for a while. He had ran Robie last year in 1:44! He was hoping to beat his time this year. He is super speedy! I should have asked him how fast he runs a flat half marathon in. I told him we would see him about an after after he finished :)

Once we headed over to the start there live band playing which was added to the excitement. We grabbed a couple of cups of water and before we knew it it was time to start!

Band in the semi to the right, drummers in the center at the starting area.

Going under the dragon! Just under that is the starting mats.

The first mile flew by pretty quick. We started towards the middle of the pack so it was pretty tight and I weaved a bit to get try and get a stride going.

I saw a silver sparkle skirt up ahead and new it was a local blogger so I said a quick hi! Then a little bit up ahead a saw a patient from my work who I knew was also running and said hi to her. She was wearing a crab hat so she wasn't hard to miss :) There was a nursing home off to the right so there was a lot of the residence sitting outside waving and giving us high-5's.

After that we were going thru a neighborhood and there was lots of people standing outside their homes also giving us high-5's. I saw a few of them out there cheering us on while holding a cold beer, taunting us haha.

After a little bit we finally reached the dirt road and canyon area that really made the dry heat beat down on us.  At the water stops I was taking 2 cups of water cause the last thing I wanted was to get dehydrated. I had let my brother use my hand held but I was actually ok with just drinking from the water stops. In fact I actually stopped taking as much water and would only take sips cause my stomach started feeling full. I decided to take my gels based on hours instead of miles like usual. So at about an hour in I took my first gel. I gave my brother some sports beans and he took those every few miles too. I figured those would settle with him better than gels since he had never tried those.

Did I mention this was his first half? And that he didn't train for it? That's right he decided last minute to buy a bib off his friend. He is CRAZY. He is in very good shape and works out about 6 days a week though, but he just isn't a runner. He had only ran 4 miles the Wednesday before the race. See told he's crazy, maybe a little crazier than me! :)

I don't quite remember how often they had water stops but it felt like there was a lot of them and I was thankful. Some of them had misters thru them which felt great. We did lots of walking and running when we could. It actually felt good to walk, not necessarily because of the incline but more because it gave my body a chance to cool down. Every once in a while we would feel just a small breeze but it didn't last long. We were running near a creek for a few miles and it made me want to just walk thru it and get my feet wet just to cool down, I resisted though.

Up, up, up we go!

As the trail got steeper everyone was walking. I saw so many people walking with their backs hunched it was making my back hurt and I just wanted to tell them to straighten up. My brother on the other hand is such a joker and wanted to slap people on their butts and tell them good job when we passed them, he didn't though but we laughed thinking about how people would react to that haha. There was a water stop right before the summit where they were offering hot cheetos, whipped cream shots and sushi. All I could think about was gross warm raw fish. Yuck!

Finally about At about 8.5 miles and 2:02 hours into it, we finally reached the summit! I took another gel and a quick picture.

We made it to the top!

Besides the heat I was feeling really good and ready to run! The first mile down hill felt really really good. There was some shade and a breeze. I had to hold back a little so I didn't go to fast and risk tripping over rocks and falling. 

The shade and breeze were short lived and the dry heat was there once again. At about 11 miles in my brother was starting to feel the effects of long distance running. His legs were starting to cramp up and he was getting a side ache. We ran when he could and walked when he needed too. I was just so proud of him for doing so awesome and I stuck by his side the whole way. I was grateful for the company! I finally saw the 13 mile marker and started running ahead told him come on lets finish it strong so he sped up and we crossed the finish line together!

Garmin time: 2:49:28

Chip Time: 2:49:43

Gun Time: 2:52:55

129/181 in my age group

(Brother was 160/190 in his AG)

1740 and 1741 out of 2466 runners

The overall winner ran it in 1:21:34!!

Here's our splits and the elevation map:

After we crossed the finish line we got our "trinket" which was a bottle opener.

We also got our finishers shirt.

I wish they were tech-t instead of cotton

We then walked over to get our food, baked potato, rice and a cookie and then got in line to wait for our post race beverage!

I ate half of the baked potato and only a few bites of the rice cause I didn't really like it.

I did enjoy a few sips of my beer...

After about 30 minutes of hanging out we decided to go wait in line for the bus ride back to the car. At that point the line was extremely long! We ran into my friend from earlier who ended up running the race in 1:49. Still fast to me! We ended up waiting in line for about 45 minutes before we finally got to get on the bus. Only to have to get off 15 minutes later at the first stop and have to transfer buses for another 20 minute ride to where my car was parked.

We felt like we were back in school riding the bus again :)

My friend Juan who ran the half in 1:49 and his wife Jessica who was my best friend all thru high school and jr high

While on the bus I got a text from the person we road to the start with. We didn't have any service at the finish line which I had forgot and we had already agreed earlier if one of us finished early we would just ride the bus and he could would find someone to take him to his car which is what he ended up doing.

I think waiting for the bus ride was probably the only part of the race I didn't like. And it also added to me getting sun burned. I thought I was ok when I got home that day and it was just a tan starting but the next morning I woke up to my neck hurting where my shirt was rubbing. I ended up getting really burned on my right side where the sun was beating down as we waited for the buses.

Yea the really red area up by my neck really hurt. Now I just have a really really bad tan line!

Overall I was super happy I ran this race and even happier I got to share this experience with my brother! I definitely want to run it again next year but I really want to train for it and better my time now that I know what to expect. And cooler temps would also be nicer :)

(If you got to the end thanks for sticking thru the long recap!)

Click HERE for a quick video of us finishing. We are about 1:45 to 1:49 in. Someone is standing in the way of the camera though so you only see us just after we cross the finish line.

Robie Creek here I come!

So tomorrow I'm running Race to Robie Creek

My awesome personalized race bib.

Call me crazy but I'm pretty excited. I know it's going to be rough. I've accepted it and I'm ready to just have a good time.

The race is 8.5 miles up hill with some steep climbing! Gaining about 2,000 feet of elevation. Then it's 4 miles of "bone-jarring" downhill (you can find the race description here). Sounds fun right?

I'm actually not to worried about the climb. There will be lots of walking I know that. But it is going to be pretty warm out there. You see this race doesn't start till noon!
Check out the hourly the forecast...

I guess the bright side is it's not in the 90's or higher. They have been sending out email updates and announcing on the news that this will be the hottest temps they've had in a few years. Usually there's snow up at the summit but not this year. They are also offering Gatorade at the water stops this year which I guess they never have in the previous years of the race. I've been hydrating all week to prepare.

On Tuesday I got a text from my brother that he just did something crazy/maybe stupid.
He bought a bib to run this race. I'm pretty excited I get to run it with him! He can suffer with me haha. He came over tonight and Gene made us a pasta dinner which was yummy! I'm letting him borrow my hand held to use tomorrow, figure we can share it if we need to, I don't mind his germs :)

My sister Crystal and brother Jojo

I still can't decide on what to wear. Initially I was going to wear my red team sparkle with my blue run to remember shirt but I want to wear a tank top now and I don't have a run to remember tank yet. I was thinking about wearing my black tank top because it's the only one that I own that matches the red skirt. But not sure if it's a good idea to wear black when it will be warm out? The theme for the race is ninja theme: Samurai Sailtoad. I think black and red is totally ninja and I would be a sparkly ninja :)

Ok I'm rambling. I will think some more about what to wear. I need to go to bed soon cause my son has a baseball game in the morning. Check back for my recap to see if I survived Robie!


In the mean time go check out Running In Boise's blog. She has an awesome giveaway to the Boise See Jane Run Race. This was my big PR half marathon last year and I can't wait to run it again so I hope I win!



Finally, the run I've been in search for...

Yesterday I ran 16.1 miles.

I haven't ran that far in a long time.

I started at Municipal Park which is right off the greenbelt. I did a half mile out and back on the greenbelt so I could warm up. I dropped off my arm warmers in the car and grabbed my handheld and headed towards downtown Boise. I wanted to run towards Camels Back park where I knew there was some trail entrances. I have been back living in Boise for over a year now and haven't been out to the trails so I decided today was as good as any day.

My shin hurt about the first half mile only. At about a mile and half into the run I stopped and sat down to stretch and also to take off my left shoe so I could stretch out my ankle. It felt like it needed to be popped so I rotated my foot to try to get it to but it wouldn't. It didn't hurt it was more just uncomfortable so I put my shoe back on and kept on running. At one of the lights there was this big beautiful dog with his owner. The dog sat right next to me and was up to my waist and kept nudging me with his head to pet him so I did. I asked the owner what his name was and he said it was Bear. I realized I recognized the voice and looked at the man, he is the announcer on KBOI radio and announces all the BSU football games! I said goodbye and went on my way.

It was warm out, I started my run at about noon but there was also some wind that made it cold in the shady areas. I got to Camels Back at decided to stretch out some more and take some chomps before I got onto the trails. There was lots of people out enjoying the day. I saw these two boys that were about 12 on their bikes reading the trail maps posted and they had their camel backs on ready for a trail ride. I thought it was so cool thee were out there enjoying the day and it made me think of my son and how I wish he would do that too! I foresee some family trail rides in our future :)

I looked at the maps and new I wasn't going to memorize the trail numbers so I just took off and decided to just see where they led me and hope I didn't get lost!

Towards the start of one of the trails

Each trail head is marked with the names and numbers

Post on the left has arrows pointing to each trail and their corresponding names and trail number

There was lots of walkers, hikers and cyclists enjoying the trails too. I even saw a guy on a unicycle out there!

I decided to just stay on the trails that lead me up hill with some decent elevation change. Crazy yes but I wanted a good workout and since I haven't been able to prepare very well for Robie Creek race I wanted to give myself a challenge so I don't die this Saturday.

The dirt trail felt really good on my legs and feet and I didn't feel any shin pain which I was very happy about (I have been getting treated for it at my work so I'll make a post about that later).

The views were absolutely beautiful. I was so happy and grateful to have such a beautiful area to run in. The miles were just ticking by and I really felt like I could be out there all day. Even though my pace was slow and I had to walk during the up hills I was having a great time.

Cyclist riding up hill

Runner coming towards me in the distance

I had my ipod shuffle with me but never once thought about turning it on for the entire 16 miles which is rare for me. Usually I need music for long distances but that run was just so peaceful.

I thought a lot about our Soldiers and said a prayer for them and their families like I try to do on all my runs.

Wear Blue Run to Remember

As I was climbing one of the hills I jumped to the side to let some cyclist come down and one of the ladies said great job this is a tough run! That made me smile and I said thanks!

When I hit mile 8 I stopped to take a gel that had lovely little note on it from this lovely lady.

First time I had peanut butter Gu and I really liked the flavor!

View of downtown Boise in the distance

I new it was time to turn around and head and I was wishing that my miles had been on the trail. I really felt like I could run 10 miles out their everyday.

Heading back down the trail was much faster than going up it and it was fun going fast!

As I was reaching the bottom of the trail I remembered that I ran that extra mile on the greenbelt so I decided to take another trail for a half mile out and back so I could finish at Camels Back and head towards my car with only 3 miles left. I had another gel at about mile 12 cause I was started to get hungry. When I got to park I refilled my hand held and used the restroom before I took off on towards Municipal park. I could definitely tell I was on pavement now. My legs felt heavy all of a sudden and the feeling I had in my ankle that it needed to be popped came back again. I tried to increase my pace but my legs were tired and didn't want to go any faster.  The last two miles were tough and I was gladly stopping at the lights.

I stopped to take a few pictures of the capitol building.

I finally got to the park where my car was and was happy to be done.

It took me 3 hours but I also had 1,196ft of elevation gain!

 I realized this was one of the best runs I've had in a long time. I really needed this run to remind me why I love to run and especially why I love to run long distances. It was one of those runs that I couldn't stop thinking about and had a smile on my face the entire drive home. And once I got home I talked Gene's ear off about it during dinner. 

Today I feel pretty good overall but my quads and hips are a little tight. I was also able to finally pop my ankle a few hours after the run. Today I had my chiro look at it and try to adjust my foot, it wouldn't and he said it felt a little locked up. It's a tiny bit swollen so I iced it but it doesn't hurt so that's good I think. I'll stay off it for a few days just in case but I really just can't wait to get back out there for another run, especially on the trails!

Catching Up

Lets play catch up with bullet points!

• Thanks everyone for your comments on my last post about switching marathons. I have decided to go ahead and run the Lake Lowell Half Marathon on May 5th and run the Famous Idaho Potato Marathon on May 19th. I think it was just a better choice for me. This also means I get to meet and run with these two ladies (here & here) at the Lake Lowell Half :) This also pushed marathon training back 2 weeks.

• My strength training has been going awesome. I've been doing about 2-3 strength training workouts a week. I am still using Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer. I don't follow every workout to a T but I have seen lot of strength improvement. Arms, back & chest are the area I've been working on most. I want to look good in those tank tops this summer! This past Saturday I did some kettle bell swings while Gene did some heavy rope wave exercise. We take turns usually doing 30 seconds. I always start sucking towards the end and can barely get the wave to go to the end of the rope.  Then we did some tire flips. Man that thing was heavy! I did a few of them before we called it a day.

• My mileage has been low these past two weeks. Part of it is cause I've been a little lazy in the running department (not the best thing since marathon training starts soon). I haven't had the motivation to get outside so my runs have mostly been on the treadmill. The other part is cause I've been experiencing some lower leg pain on my left leg. On Monday I did a 5 mile hill workout on the treadmill. I started at .5 incline for a mile warm up then did quarter mile repeats where I increased the incline from 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5,  then back down to 5, 4.5, 4 with a flat cool down. It made the 5 miles go by pretty quick. After the workout I felt a little bit of soreness on my lower left leg. I've felt this off and now for a few runs. But yesterday, the day after the hill workout, I could actually feel more pain than the day before. And it hurt more when I went up and down stairs. This obviously freaked me out and I was thinking the worst so I turned to the internet for answers, cause you know that's the easiest way to self diagnose yourself. I found that pain I was experiencing was just like posterior shin splints. I've never had shin splints so this wasn't the first thing that popped into my head. In fact I always thought shin splints were only on the front of the leg (Anterior Shin Splints). I found this picture that shows exactly where my pain is (Posterior Shin).

I tried some of the stretches that work the calf muscles that are tight (Gastrocnemius and Soleus) and I definitely feel the tightness. I also did some icing and wore my compression socks yesterday, which I read the compression can help. I did do some slow running today after my strength training. I did a walk warm up with some slow running then a walk cool down for a total of 1.2 miles. I could feel the pain, or more like soreness, at the beginning of the run and I could feel myself wanting to change my stride to compensate for soreness. Towards the middle of the run it started to fade and my stride was feeling more natural. I did some stretching after the run. I wore my compression socks again today and it actually doesn't feel as sore as yesterday. I can feel the tightness going up and down the stairs but not the way it felt yesterday.

 I read that hill training and speed training can cause it as well as outworn shoes. I think the hill workout I did caused the pain to become more apparent instead of just a light soreness I had been feeling the past few weeks. And also wearing my shoes longer than I should have and that may be were why I was feeling the soreness off and on for the past few weeks. I did get 2 new pairs of shoes recently and had a new pair on when I did the hill workout.

 For now I will wear my compression socks, ice, stretch and take it easy on the running this week and see how it goes :/ I have some K-tape at home and I also have access to it at work that I was thinking about trying to see if it helped any.

• On Monday I also registered for the Race to Robie Creek Half Marathon. This race sold out in 9 min and 49 seconds. What makes this race so special you ask? Well it's dubbed the "toughest race in the Northwest" and apparently there are 2100 people who are crazy enough to want to run it and I was one of them. I still am not sure what I got myself into. But this is one of the biggest races in Idaho and I have to try it at least once. You can read the course description HERE.  It starts at Fort Boise (elevation 2725′), 8.5 miles up Rocky Canyon and over Aldape Summit (elevation 4797′), to a 13.1 mile finish at Robie Creek campground (elevation 3065′). Translation: You run up hill for 8.5 miles, followed by a steep downhill till mile 12 where it finally flattens out. Should be fun right? 

I was pretty surprised I got in. I had been going back and forth on if I wanted to run it or not. When it was registration time at 12pm on Monday I logged in at about 12:05 and filled out all my info then hit submit and waited till my transaction processed 3 minutes later and I got my confirmation that it went thru fine. When I logged back onto facebook I read the race had already sold out so I just barely made. I was surprised by the amount of people that were pissed off they didn't get in and were complaining about the registration process. They use Active which is what a lot races use but if you have that many people wanting to register for a race at the same time there is bound to be problems and servers crashing. Guess it pays to have fast internet :)  They do have a second chance lottery drawing and from what I've been reading there's always people selling their bibs as it gets closer to the race. They have a theme every year and this year it's Samurai Sailtoad... I have a few costume ideas floating around in my head :)

Have you ever had shin splints?

Any recommendations on what I should do to improve?