I wish I could have been Charlie Sheen this weekend for the simple fact that he has been "Winning" for about a month now. In fact he has been doing so much winning, I blame my "losing" on him. After racing the Flower City Half Marathon last year, which I came up 11 seconds short of qualifying for the NYC Marathon, I felt that it was time to take another crack at it. I chose Just a Short Run located right outside of Pittsburgh for the simple fact that it seemed relatively flat, and I had never been to the Steel City. So Catherine and I packed our bags and headed out around noon on Friday. Google Maps said it would take 4.5 hours. I didn't think that was too bad, and the ride would go relatively quick. The drive to Pittsburgh was peaceful as there were not too many cops or cars on the road, but once we got to the Pittsburgh area, this trip made a turn for the worst.
I booked a hotel located 30 minutes from the race site, and 5 minutes away from Pittsburgh. We arrived to the Pittsburgh area right as traffic was starting to pick up. We hit the suburbs and began looking for Exit 2, which would eventually lead us to our hotel. Well (un)luckily for us there was no such thing as an Exit 2 in Pittsburgh. Okay time to get of the highway and go ask for directions. We stooped at a Pep Boys in hopes they could lead us to our final destination. I asked the clerk how to get to the Quality Inn in Monroeville. He told me how to get to Monroeville, but was unsure of where the Quality Inn was exactly. The sales rep told us we would be facing some heavy traffic as we had to go through two tunnels which lead into and out of the city. After driving 4.5 hours the last thing we wanted to do was sit in our car in dead beat traffic. After we got the directions we were on our way; Sort of. We were stuck in traffic, not moving, not even a tiny roll. After getting through the first tunnel, which took us about 30-45 minutes we still had tunnel #2 to go. AT this point I was a little uneasy and ready to lay down and relax. We were FAR from doing that. As it took another 30-45 minutes to get through The Squirrel Tunnel we were finally on our way to our hotel, or so we thought (again). Once we arrived to Monroeville our directions at this point were completely useless and we had no idea where to go. We drove around in rush hour traffic until I finally decided to pull over and ask someone where the Quality Inn Hotel was. I walked into the gas station to ask the clerk if she knew the location of the Quality Inn. She had no idea where that was or if it even existed, so she asked her co-workers. Not one person had any idea where this hotel was. I turned to the line behind me of about 10 people and not one person knew where this hotel was. At this point I was ready to sleep in my car and just call it a day. I turned to Catie and said not one person knew where this place was! How can a whole city not know where this hotel was? Catie and I then decided to get some dinner and try to figure this all out. Dinner was probably the highlight of this day. As we ate dinner we got on our phones and tried to make some phone calls. After numerous attempts calling our parents, and local hotels, we found out that Hotels.com had the wrong address to our hotel and that it was actually located in Green Tree which was before the city! This meant we had to go back through both tunnels, drive through Pittsburgh and finally to Green Tree. After doing those tunnels once I was ready to cancel and book a hotel in Monroeville and call it quits. We hoped the tunnels going the other way wouldn't be too bad and that we would take our chances. At this point I had steam coming out of my ears and my stress level was out of this world. I felt horrible for Catie because she did not say a word and showed no frustration. On the other hand, I think I dropped more F Bombs in one hour than I have in my entire life. Once we ventured back through Pittsburgh, we FINALLY made it to the QUALITY SUITES in GREEN TREE, PA. Got that Hotels.com? Not Monroeville. Thanks a bunch. After driving for a total of 7 hours, we had made it to the registration desk of Quality Suites. We checked in, got our room keys, and drove to our room. The great part about it was our "room" was a mini apartment. It was equipped with a full kitchen, breakfast bar, desk, living room, queen bed, and a bathroom. It was huge it was just too bad we only spent 9 hours in the room.
I set my alarm for 5:30 am for a 8:30 am race start. It was a good thing we left early because, race morning was every bit as stressful as the day before. We packed our bags, loaded the car, checked-out and we were on our way. Well, once again thanks to a non existent exit we were lost again. We got to the general area of the race and had to stop and ask for directions because once again ours were useless. The nice thing was the first two people had no idea where this park was. Cool. Losing again. Thanks Charlie. On our third attempt, and after a hour of driving, an old man lead us to the correct spot. We arrived at North Park with exactly an hour until the gun went off. We still had to take a shuttle to the start, get my race packet and change. No biggie Ill be ready. Luckily the shuttle was on time, the registration was quick and I was changed with 30 minutes left to warm up in the 20 degree heat. That was a joke....it was freezing. I did not have the proper equipment so I ran in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and I was probably the most under dressed out of the 2,200 participants. Besides the man in spandex shorts and nothing else. I lined up near the front and the race began.
The first mile was completely uphill and on a fairly steep slope. Not cool. By mile one I was ready to be done and head back to the start. I was cold, out of breath, and my heart rate was probably over 200. I was hoping there would be a nice, prolonged downhill to negate that killer uphill. Luckily for me, and the 2,200 other runners there was a nice steep downhill which cranked on my shins and quads. SO the first two miles I felt like I just ran 5 miles at 5:30/MILE pace. I needed to settle down and grab a hold of the race. I needed to run a 1:23 to qualify and before ever coming to Pittsburgh I thought it was doable, but after everything that happened that morning, and the day before I would be happy to finish under 1:30. I did not feel like running, I was so stressed out, and Catie was freezing waiting for me at the finish line. I ran the first 5 miles in 33 minutes and felt like I just ran a marathon. What the heck was going on with me? My legs were freezing, tight, and not able to go any faster. I decided to really push the next 5k and hope that I could make up some time, and get this race back on track. I ticked away 3 miles in 18 or so minutes and headed back out for the second loop of the course. 8 miles in 52 minutes. I was alright with that but come to realize that running the next 5.1 miles in 30 minutes and 59 seconds would be a miracle. This course wasn't the flattest thing in the world, so I pushed right from the start. I ran the first mile of the second loop (9th mile) in 6:10, the second mile((10th mile) in 6:11 then hit a trouble spot and slowed to a 6:20 pace for the 11th mile. At this point my battleship was sunk and I knew I wasn't going to qualify. I ran as fast as I could for integrity reasons and finished 23rd overall, 1st in my age group in 1:24:40. On any other given day I would be extremely upset with this time. It wasn't what I came here to do, but given the situations that lead up to this race, the temperature, and lack of clothing, I was OKAY with a 1:24. My goal for a Half Ironman run split for the 2011 is a 1:24 so I am happy with where I am at. I know that I run faster off the bike, and I would much prefer to run 13.1 miles off of a 56 mile bike than a stand alone half-marathon.
Catie and I didn't stick around for the awards as both of us were freezing and everything was outside. We hopped on the shuttle bus and arrived at our car shortly after. I changed out of my race clothes and put on some dry, clean, warm, threads. The race was over now it was time to venture into Steeler Country. We arrived only 20 minutes later (and for once DID NOT GET LOST!) We strolled around the Strip District, went to Wholey's Fish Market, City Market, a street fair, and sat down at Pirmanti's Brother's to enjoy Pittsburghs finest sandwhich. We rode the Duquesne Incline, and walked past Heinz field and PNC Park. Sat down in Market Square, and saw the Theatre District. After walking for five or six hours we were both beat, and decided to pack it up and head home.
By no means was this trip flawless. We got lost numerous times, it was beyond cold, we slept a total of five hours, but not once did we argue or yell at one another. Sure I didn't reach my main goal (qualify for NYC), but for better or worse this trip was a trip of a lifetime. We got to spend time together outside of Brockport, we got to see Pittsburgh, we ate wine and beer jelly (which is absolutely AMAZING) I got her to walk through a fish market, we rode the Duequesne Incline, and saw a view of Pittsburgh most people don't get to see. Overall this trip although stressful, crazy, and tiresome, was an absolute pleasure thanks to Catie.
Let the high volume training......BEGIN!
