The Rose Stank

Sunday, October 7, I ran my 5th half marathon, the Tyler Rose. It was being held at the Tyler, Texas Rose Garden as part of the annual rose festival. Myself and two of my running buddies drove to Tyler late Saturday afternoon, in time to attend the race expo. The race expo turned out to be a showcase of 3 vendors. We were a little disappointed, but received some samples to try. We all tried the Rehydrate which was pretty tasty. They also kindly pointed out we were the other group from Dallas. Black Girls Run, have running shoes, will travel.

After we left the expo, we headed for our hotel room. Several BGR members had booked rooms at the Fairfield Inn, which made it easier to communicate with one another. We got checked-in, dropped our bags off, then headed out to find something to eat. The desk clerk gave us the directions to the Olive Garden. The wait list at Olive Garden was 45 minutes to 1 hour, which gave us time to do a little window shopping.

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. After showering, we all relaxed to watch some TV. Chris was our "chaperon", she made sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed. She kept telling us to go to sleep. 5 am alarm, I wasn't ready to get up. We slowly moved around, got dressed and headed for a quick breakfast.

All the BGR members met up at the Rose Garden Convention Center. BGR East Texas showed us so much hospitality. They greeted us with signs of pinkness. The Collin County Cuties were sporting their new t-shirts. They were also celebrating Ami being a breast cancer survivor. So the color pink fitted perfectly with the day’s theme.

After taking several pre-race pictures and posing for the video, it was time to start the half. 8 am, the start clock went off. It was kind of slow getting started because the start chute was very narrow.

We all started off together until it was time to break off into our different paces. I was trying to keep up with Annie, but with a sore shin, I had drop back. Since Cheryl and Ve were doing this race as a training run for their marathon, they were keeping their pace between 12-13. I could hang with them.

Within the first mile, we had already encountered 3 hills. That's when I decided to start counting the hills. I knew we had a hilly course, I wasn't expecting what was a head of us. Before we reached the 6 mile mark, we were up to the teens in the hill count. Number 19 was a beast, it had to be over a mile long, by the time I reached the top, I was cussing.

Hill 20something, we started to notice the distance markers were not accurate. I had forgot to restart my watch after one of our potty breaks, but my distance was ahead of the markers. Ve's watch was also ahead of the markers. When my watch said 11 and the marker said 10, I was ready to quit. I had hit my wall. Cheryl quickly said get your mind focused.

At hill 34, I was pissed and extremely worn out. From my lower back to the soles of my feet, I was in pain. The raggedy roads on this course had taken their toll. This police officer must have noticed because he got on his loud speaker and said, this is the last steep hill, one more then you’re done, don't give up. Whew, I needed that boost.

As we rounded the last corner, there stood Annie and Chris. When I say a blessing to my eyes, it's just what my sore body needed. Annie said I'm going to run you through and she did. Chris stayed back to encourage the other BGR members behind us.

After a couple of seconds of rest, we headed back to the course to cheer the other ladies in. The policeman that encouraged us, was driving beside the Collin County Cuties encouraging them. This was Kimberly’s first half and she was in tears, so I ran with her even though my legs were killing me, she needed to finish strong. At the finish line, we had a BGR celebration. Even with the 35 hills of hell, some of the ladies PRed. Double celebration.

After the Injury

I really got into running to my surprise, fell in love with it. Then the injury occurred in September. Running in the incorrect shoes, on the wrong type of surface and not stretching properly. Shin splints, painful shin splints. The doctor told me I would have to rest, not quit, but rest. Did I listen, nope, I had two already paid for races in October, The Tyler Rose and the Allstate 13.1. I wanted those medals and I got them plus more pain.

After the Tyler Rose, the worse race course thus far in my running career, caused more damage. I had to revert to flat shoes, unfortunately, I only had one pair that I could wear to work. Then there was the Allstate 13.1; I promised my running buddy Chris I would run with her, this would be her first half marathon. Another big mistake for me. So after October 27, I sat my butt still. I have to admit, I had planned to sneak a race in on my visit to Atlanta, but commonsense stepped in.

On December 15, the training began again. I’m a little nervous of getting reinjured and I’ve gotten lazy on Saturday morning. I no longer have the desire to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to run, especially in the cold. My bed just swallows me up. While everyone else in BGR is finishing up their runs, I’m starting mine.

I’m sticking to the training plan, running at my pace. I was never really big on speed drills, but this time around, I’ll do them properly. I’ve done some reading on my own instead of just listening to the advice of more seasoned runners. When I run my two half marathons in February, I will not try to keep up with anyone, nor will I try to slow down for anyone. 2013 races will be about me slowly decreasing the amount of time to it takes me to complete a half.