The Team Ortho Monster Dash Half Marathon Race Report!

This morning I ran in the Team Ortho Monster Dash half marathon. I woke up at 5AM to get ready and then drove into Minneapolis to the Lake Nokomis start.

I scored a parking spot right across from where the bag drop area was located.

I walked up to the start line about 20 minutes before the actual start to see if I could see another Minnesota blogger who would be starting with the speedy front runners. No luck, Gregg, hopefully I will see you at another future race:) I wasn't sure how today's race was going to go considering last weekend's training run was a big fail. I knew it would not be a PR day but hoped for the best.

I lined myself up with the 1:55 pacer Tim. I figured that I would try to stay with him as long as possible and then fall back and run with the 2 hour pacer if I needed. Eventually after a few minutes the race started. Within the first few minutes I had the same girl step on the back of my shoes three times. I know that I have accidentally done this to another runner too. I did not do it three times. I was a little annoyed and ended up speeding a little ahead of the pacer to avoid getting hit again. I think she wanted to be right next to Tim:)

I felt okay the first four or five miles. I didn't feel fantastic and I would never say that I was in my groove. I was moving and not in pain:)

After I hit mile six I was feeling that yucky feeling again. It wasn't as bad as last weekend but I could tell that I would need to slow down. I walked through a water stop and lost my pacer and pace group. I stayed a little behind them for about a mile.

The course was very scenic and I tried to stay focused on the gorgeous views and my fellow runners. Many runners dressed in costumes:) I was very impressed with many people's creativity! I found myself laughing several times! My favorite costume hands down was a pregnant guy wearing a pink dress and blond wig! He adjusted his tummy and wig many times. Great humor! I don't know how anyone was able to run in a wig for the entire 13 miles. Wearing a wig would of drove me bonkers!

Mile seven was a rough one for me. There was a pretty long and challenging hill that kicked my butt. I was sucking some big time air! Shortly after getting over this hill a very nice woman was running past me and asked me if I was Julie. I said, "Yes, I am Julie." She told me that she reads my blog. I asked her how she found it and she told me that she found it through Rambling Renee's blog:) Renee is a fellow St. Cloud River Runner who lives in Rochester. She is an amazing runner and has been a PR machine! Renee has been nursing a toe injury but is getting back in the groove! I am always so flattered when people recognize me from reading my blog. It also amazes me how many non-bloggers read it. Shortly after this nice woman Katy ran by me and wished me good luck, I started to struggle and feel the mental pain.

I took a very short 30 second walk break. I was feeling low on energy agian and honestly started to wonder if I would be able to finish. WTH! Really? I was feeling so down in the dumps that I was thinking about not finishing! I started to think about what my running dad Denny told me. He told me that when we struggle it is mostly mental and that we have to know that other people/runners are tired too. We have to tough it out and continue on:) I talked to Denny last weekend and we spoke about my marathon and those last 6 horrid miles. He told me that next time I run a marathon I will shorten my time by not walking as much and dealing with the mental challenges that come my way. He also mentioned to me that I better train more and get my long runs in:) He he! Isn't that just like a dad? Well, after thinking about this coversation I started running again.

These guys were awesome! I told them I liked their costumes and they told me never again!! It was hard to run in those bad boys:)

The last few miles were hard and I kept running. The 2 hour pacer never passed me...woo hoo! I finished but not in 1:55. Finishing is winning...right Jill! After I crossed the finish line I got my metal and got in line to get water. When I was waiting in line Beth came up to me and said hi! I was so excited to see her! We met at my very first half marathon. We both ran in the St. Paul Securian Half:)

Beth was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy at the end of September. This is something that she has posted in her blog. She is doing great and looks fantastic:) Both Beth and her husband Mike are the nicest people and I feel so fortunate to have met them. I am in awe of Beth's courage and strength! She was given the okay from her doctor to run and ran in the Monster 5K today! Go Beth!

After talking to Beth I went to the bag pick-up. I then walked around for a bit and took a few pictures. I was bummed that I didn't see Minnesota bloggers Heather and Julie:(

Oh, and one thing that I would like to mention is that I am using this race as my virtual Pink Dress Run hosted by my blogger friend Fran. October is breast cancer awareness month.....what a better way to show support than by sporting pink! The only rule was to wear pink and choose your distance. So I wore a pink shirt and a weird version of pink sweat shirt:) Fran is from Holland and lives close to Amsterdam. She and I have the same obsession with high heel shoes and perfume:) Stop by her blog and say hi!

Here are just a few random pictures of runners in their costumes.

I love this!

Okay, check out this line! I got in line for the shuttle bus at 11 AM. There must be some mistake! Seriously, there is no way that this is really the line.....it wasn't moving! If you enlarge this picture you can see that the line turns left and continues up the block and then some!

Still waiting and taking more pictures. I waited in line for almost two hours! We found out that there were only two buses!!!!! We were all so cranky and cold after waiting for that ridiculous amount of time! Finally...a bus!! Oh crap it is not my bus! Wait a little more....

These are the people behind me. Can you believe this? Many smart people had cell phones and were able to call taxi cabs. I was not one of those smart people:)

Woo hoo, this is my bus:) I finally made it home by 2:30. I stopped at Chipotle in Maple Grove for a post race meal! There is nothing like a little Chipotle after a longer run:)

I checked my final stats....

Final time..... 1:58:49.

I placed 1481 out of 3563 total runners.

I placed 636 out of 2122 female runners.

I placed 86 out of 282 for my age group.

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!