A cool day of racing in Little Rock!

Yesterday I ran my first race in over 5 months, the Little Rock Half-Marathon relay! By running with the Hot Legs running club, I was hooked up with another gal looking for a relay partner which saved me the agony of going the full 13 miles on inadequate training. I took the first leg which was 6.8 miles and nice and flat. The scenery included going over the Arkansas River via the Broadway Bridge twice, traveling through North Little Rock's Argenta neighborhood, a stroll past the Bill Clinton Presidential Library and the timing chip handoff at the Arkansas Arts Center.

One of the things that makes the Little Rock marathon "special" is their huge finisher's medals which are classified as the world's largest by Runner's World. This year they had pink ones for the girls and blue for the boys. The globe part spins and there's even a genuine faux diamond!! It definitely made me covet a full mary finish for next year so I can score one of those!!

I had decided to race in a skirt (aren't I a girly-girl??) so I was sporting my hot pink gym girl and a white long-sleeved technical shirt. It was pretty cool - around 40 degrees at the start - but B#1 dropped me off a few blocks from the start 15 minutes prior to the gun so I didn't have to wait around too long. My hands were really the only thing that were cold (forgot my cheap $2 gloves) so I just pulled them up into my sleeves until they felt better at about mile 1.

There was a good vibe among the racers before the race started and lots of excitement in the air. My goal was to do 12 minute miles and then a one minute walk break at each mile mark. I was sporting my new Polar monitor which tracks heart rate, speed and distance, but I've only run with it three times and honestly I haven't played around with it much .... yeah that was a mistake. So when I crossed the start line I started my Polar only to have it start beeping continuously. I wasn't sure why it was doing that, but I knew it was going to drive me crazy not to mention annoy the hell out of those around me. So I switched it off and played with it the first half mile until I figured out why it was beeping (some alarm for when I was out of my HR training zone). So basically I ended up missing the first half-mile of data which was my bad for not knowing how to use it better. Come to think of it, I'm lucky I didn't trip and fall as I was playing with it - luckily the crowd was still pretty thick.

Anyway, despite the technical difficulties, my race went really well!! I kept it under a 12 minute pace the whole time and I felt really strong. My only problem was the whole needing to pee thing. I went twice at B#1's apartment, and once right before the start, but still felt the call of nature a mile into it. The first set of portapotties were right after mile marker 2 and there were only FOUR!! I stopped, but there were 10 people ahead of me and the line wasn't moving at all. After about a minute I decided "screw it" and kept going. By the time I hit the second set after mile 4, there was no way I couldn't stop. Again a huge line and frustratingly slow, but it was either stop and wait or be in tears because I had to pee with every step. I was in and out in a flash. As a matter of fact the crowd in line were exclaiming how fast I was - I may not be a fast runner, but I can pee quicker than any girl that's for sure!! It's a skill honed over the years, mainly by needing to pee in inconvenient spots - like the side of the Kansas Turnpike, a well used trail in a National Park, a golf course and other places where someone might come by at any moment and see Jenn in a not so flattering position. So anyway, after my quick pit stop, I sprinted it out a bit and by mile 5, I was back with the group of people I had been pacing with most of the race. I didn't end up taking any walk breaks except for the potties so I was pretty happy with that. I was feeling great when I headed into the relay point and I handed my chip off to another Hot Leg who took it the rest of the distance.

Results:
My leg 6.8 miles = 1 hr 17 minutes 11 seconds
Pace = 11:21 per mile!!!! (CAN I HEAR A WOO HOO?!?!?!!!!)

Leslie's leg 6.4 miles = 1 hr 5 mins, 42 sec (pace of 10:16/mile)
Total for "Hot Legs T00" Relay Team = 2:22:53 (pace of 11:10/mile)

After the relay exchange, I walked three blocks to B#1's apartment. His place was right at mile 7 and he had a station setup for the Hot Legs Running Club. The gals really appreciated the food and drink as well as a real bathroom to use instead of a portapotty!

Here's me and B#1 after my finish. He handed me a Nebraska sweatshirt to wear, but my Big 12 loyalties lie with Mizzou so I turned it inside out. We hung out watching and intermittently cheering the walkers, then I took a little nap. We headed down to mile 26 right around noon to watch B#1's Dad finish (he was walking the full which is pretty impressive for a 73 year old!) as well as hang with the Hot Legs and cheer some of their finishers.

Afterwards we had pizza for lunch then dropped by a Hot Leg Party in the evening celebrating all of the various finishers. Overall it was a great day and a fun race experience! Did I mention that B#1 even got me flowers the day before to commemorate my first Arkansas race?? He bought a Little Rock Marathon water bottle to use as a vase which was just too sweet. Ain't I a lucky runner?? :)

So now it's full speed ahead to the St. Louis half-marathon!!!