Last weekend the hubby and I took off on a mini road trip to Spokane to run their Half Marathon. One of the things I love about running races outside of my own hometown is the chance to explore a new place. I love going somewhere I might not otherwise spend time in, and I am always amazed at the fun things we find - every town is so unique. Here are my thoughts on the Spokane Marathon along with some important tips I learned this time around.
Spokane is an interesting little town. The streets are a little confusing, so I was very glad for the technology of today and being able to have GPS with you all of the time - though I have discovered it doesn't work as well when you are walking, then you just have to use it more as a map than a navigation system.
Our first order of business, after getting out race packet and checking into the hotel, was scoping out the race start. It's always a good idea to know where you need to be in the morning. Find out where the parking is, how far you are going to have to walk to get to the starting line and how far away it is from your accommodations so you know when to leave in the morning. We were lucky in the fact that our hotel was only a 5 minute drive from the park where the race was starting. We drove around for a while getting our bearings, as we didn't know what streets were going to be open, and what streets would be closed for the race. Several options were open to us for parking areas and we tucked those away in our brains for the morning. Then it was time to actually use one of those parking places and explore downtown.
Riverside park was where the race started, so that's where we started as well. It is a beautiful park along the Spokane River and Falls. We just enjoyed a leisure walk around the park, especially after being in the car for four hours to get here. We found a funky local burrito joint for dinner (yup, our pre-fuel wasn't pasta - burrito's for us!) and then went back to the hotel for a movie. Taking it easy and resting up for the morning.
It was rather cold when we got up, but we didn't want to bundle up too much and get too hot on the run. We also didn't want to be drug down by a clothes we were only going to wear for the first mile or so. Brrrr. Since we had about 45 minutes until the half marathon started we needed to find a warm place to hang. There was a small little foyer, where they were handing out day of race packets, so we sat down in there for a while to stay warm until closer to start time.
20 minutes to go, we decided to mosey over to the start area. As I mentioned in my post 10 TIPS FOR BEGINNING RUNNERS the start of a race is one of the most awesome places to be. Everyone there is ready to embark on the same journey, you all have running in common, and it's the nicest crowd you will ever be crammed into. No judgements, all support. We met several fun people while waiting- including a couple in their retirement who walk half marathons to keep themselves healthy and in shape. I want that to be me some day!
I will say that this race was very well organized, very well marked, and there were mile markers all along the way so you knew exactly where you were in your mileage during the race. I found that extremely helpful. Most of the races I have participated in before have mile markers every so often, but not every mile - I really (really) liked that.
Here are 5 tips to you that I took away from this particular race:
1. BE PREPARED. The key to running a good race is consistency. You have to have the base mileage to get you though - However, it is really important to do a few training runs at the distance you are planning of racing at. We stayed consistently around 7-9 miles in our daily runs. The good base made it so we could finish this race. With that said, once my body crossed that 9 mile mark, it was done. That's what it was used to, that's all it wanted to do. By the time I got to 10 miles my body was not happy with me. I felt like I was 80 years old running with bad hips, seizing glutes and angry ankles. Keep your base strong, but get a few good long runs in to train your body what the distance feels like. I will do much better next time because I will not let myself go into another race so unprepared.
2. STAY TO THE RIGHT UNLESS YOU ARE PASSING. If you are walking a marathon, my hat goes off to you!! That is really awesome. Just please be courteous and stay to the right of the course. Nothing is more frustrating than finally getting your groove on, only to have a bottleneck because there is a walker right in the middle of everything making people run around them.
3. KEEP DRAMA AWAY! Don't let drama and stress keep you from a good nights sleep. Don't check your email, don't read texts or answer calls. Just unplug, enjoy a new little town to explore and let everything wait until the weekend is over. Yes, I had a lot of unexpected (and I might add here unnecessary and stupid) stress the night before, that had I stayed unplugged I wouldn't have even known about until later. Running a race on a handful of hours of sleep is not easy.
4. KEEP FUELED DURING THE RACE. Make sure to drink the powerade that's along the course. It will keep your glycogen stores up and keep you fueled to the finish. I should have drank more and I noticed a difference when I did.
5. ENJOY THE AFTER RACE SNACKS!! Chocolate milk never tastes so good as it does after running a long race!! It's one of the best recovery drinks, filled with protein and sugar to refill your lost glycogen stores. Eat up! Chocolate milk, 2 bananas and 4 powdered mini doughnuts - that was our breakfast, and it was A-maz-ing! Besides, you just burned around 1,300 calories, so I think you can afford a little reward.
Once you finish, wear that metal with pride, you just accomplished something great, and something that not many people can say they have done. Sit and rub your sore muscles and start planning the next race, because as miserable as you felt during the last few miles, once you are done I guarantee you will want to go again - we runners are crazy that way.
