Robie Recap!

It's been a week since the Race to Robie Creek half marathon and I'm still trying to figure out how to post my recap in a way that will really explain what happened last Saturday.  I might be struggling to explain it because I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.  The only way I've been able to describe it to anyone in person is by saying, "it was ridiculously hot and ridiculously difficult."  And it was. 

The fact that April 21st was easily the hottest day of 2012 so far in Boise made me nervous and the fact that Robie doesn't start until noon every year downright nearly terrified me.  The race directors sent an e-mail mid-week warning us about the heat and recommended everyone start hydrating and continue to hydrate through the entire week.  And I did.

Let's talk race time, shall we?  Noon.  Seriously.  Noon on the hottest day of the year.  The website says it will always be noon and don't ask them to change it because it's always going to be noon.  The early morning race starts kind of suck because I love my sleep and having to get up earlier than I would on a workday to get to a race isn't really my idea of fun.  That being said, noon is worse.  Having a noon start time gave me way too much time to freak out and stress about race strategy (because there's nothing like changing it on race day) and whether or not I've had enough water or fuel and which clothes to wear and the list goes on and on. 

Friday night I laid out a pile of clothes of what I thought I wanted to wear in the morning and went to bed at a decent hour.  When I got up in the morning I was still unsure of my choices.  My best running skirt is really heavy for some reason and I questioned if I should wear a lighter, less comfortable one.  I decided against it and then threw I took two alternatives and put them in a bag and then drove over to REI to see if they had any cute, lighter running skirts.  They didn't.  I drove over to Renee's house and hemmed and hawed over my decision of the day (as well as whether or not to wear my Garmin or a regular watch to keep my time) (and yes with the Garmin) and settled on the heavy running skirt and a tank top.  Robie was a Team Beef run for me but I couldn't bear the thought of having to wear a shirt with sleeves for the race.  I snapped a quick picture of me in my Beef shirt and then packed it in Renee's bag so I could wear it during the post-race party. 

Mike, Sean, and Lindsay showed up and we all walked a mile over to the race start.  It was already hot and I was already sweating just standing at the start line.  We didn't have to wait around very long before it was time to get running.  I didn't have a plan for when to walk vs. run and just decided to let my body take over and walk when necessary.  I think I ran about 2 miles before taking my first break to walk but I wasn't paying much attention.  I carried Clif Shot Bloks with me and ate them about every 3 miles.  I carried my hydration pack with me and had to fill it up somewhere near mile 6 at an aid station.  I caught up to Lindsay somewhere near there and we endured the summit together, which we walked.  It was brutal.  We finally reached the summit right around the 2 hour mark and began the 4.5 mile descent down to Robie Creek.

I felt like I flew down the mountain!  There was shade!  I was running!  I was running downhill!  In reality, it still took me about 50 minutes to go 4.5 miles but any type of running felt like flying after walking the summit!  I could feel myself slowing down at the end until some random guy yelled to us, "the finish line is right around the corner!  Less than 500 feet to go!" and I flew again.  Mike was waiting alongside the road and cheered me in (Yay! Thanks, Homeschool!).  I got my shirt, sweet bottle opener (in lieu of medal - awesome!) and some chocolate milk and water and then joined Mike along the finish line to cheer in the rest of our crew.  We sucked though and somehow missed all of them coming across the finish line which I attribute to me stretching...I don't know what Mike's excuse was other than exhaustion!  Renee got her bag after she finished which meant I got to strut around in my clean, dry Team Beef shirt for the afternoon as planned.  We finally got some food and I got some beer beer before getting in the for the bus to take to Lucky Peak and eventually get back to Boise.  There were a few other snags in the day (like sunburns and Sean and Lindsay's bouts with dehydration) but nothing that kept us from celebrating our Robie completions with dinner and drinks after we got cleaned up!

My final chip time says I finished the race in 2:52:25 and I'm confident I would have been a little bit faster if it hadn't been so freaking hot outside.  That can only mean one thing: I'll have to try again next year.