race recap

Recovery Week

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

After last week’s Cleveland Marathon 5K and half marathon, I spent this week listening to my body. This meant I did not get in a lot runs unfortunately! 

I woke up Monday feeling pretty sore in my quads, and my left quad/hip area in particular was sore. This is where I had an injury in the beginning of the training cycle, so I didn’t want to take it lightly. I went out for a few short runs, a few short walks, but that was really it this week.

This lack of activity worked with my schedule – I had a busy few days after traveling last week, and a training this week and catching up. My daughter finished school Wednesday, and was home Thursday and Friday. So, I didn’t have any lunch hours open for walks, etc. and also didn’t have time to myself during the day for any breaks. But we’re almost done with our month of MAYhem!

Here’s how the week looked:

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Cleveland Marathon 2024: Challenge Series Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

Do you ever feel a little bummed after a race? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m GLAD training is over because I can take some time to run whatever I want … but after so many weeks of prep and training, all of a sudden, it’s all done! 

It feels like a blur. Just a few days ago I was in Orlando for a work trip, and now I’ve had a whirlwind of a weekend with Marathon events (plus life! Which also meant we had a piano recital, baseball scrimmage, ballet recital and more).  

Since this is a weekly recap, here’s a quick look at my week before the race weekend happened – it included some short runs but I tried to keep it simple the week before the race. I had a lot of time on my feet between my work trip and some walks, and had a few runs, including:

Sunday: 5.07 miles before my flight out

Monday: 3.6 miles hotel gym

Tuesday: 3.75 miles hotel gym

Wednesday: off

Thursday: 1.7 mi walk and 2.12 mi run

Friday: Off

And then race weekend began! This year, it included:

FRIDAY AFTERNOON — THE RACE EXPO

For the past few years, I have volunteered at the Cleveland Marathon Race Expo with other Cleveland Marathon Ambassadors. I LOVE IT! It is my favorite way to kick off the weekend and get excited for the race weekend to begin. At the expo, I enjoy working at the packet pickup, helping people pick up their packets and get their bib number assigned. I also get to reunite with my fellow race ambassadors! It’s so fun to talk with people, get them checked in, answer their questions about the race, and feel the excitement with all the runners in one place.

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FRIDAY NIGHT — VIP RACE BANQUET

Friday night, I was invited once again to attend the VIP banquet with the Cleveland Marathon ambassadors. I feel so fortunate to be invited to this event and to be with those that plan and produce this great event. And, of course I love catching up with my other ambassadors. It is so fun to see my running friends all dressed up! We usually see one another in running clothes, sweaty, etc. But Friday night is our chance to dress up!

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SATURDAY MORNING — 5K

Saturday morning: I kicked off the day with the Cleveland Marathon 5K. I met the other ambassadors at the starting line to take a photo and wish everyone a good race.  Despite what my official time was on the race app, my Garmin had me clocking in at 8:15 miles, which is SPEEDY for me! I definitely wanted to take it east because of my Sunday race, but I got too into the race excitement and went out faster than normal.

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SUNDAY — HALF MARATHON

Sunday morning: Half marathon time! Again, my goals this year were to just have fun. I started the racing training season with a hip injury, so didn’t start right when I usually start. My feet were sore all day Friday from wearing heels during my work trip and being on my feet. I was still tired after a few days of long work hours and staying out late with coworkers. But after Saturday’s speedy (for me) 5K, I wondered if I could run a little faster? 

I kicked off the race with a pre-start photo with my other ambassadors. It’s so great to see them before the race – it really gives me energy to see them all before we go our different ways.

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But then, I had a LONG wait in line for the porta potties, and didn’t start the race 7:05, after my corral had already gone through and started the race, so when I crossed the starting line I was already dodging walkers and when I got to the first mile marker, my watch read 1.3 miles … so I knew my 13.1 would likely be longer.

I had debated wearing a tank top or short sleeved shirt – it was 62 at start, and my “tank top weather” is 67 or higher. But B convinced me to run in the tank top and I’m so glad! It was HUMID and I was hot by mile 2. Luckily, there were plenty of water stations along the course, and I made it a point to stop at each one to drink 1-2 water cups, plus some nuun. I stopped gave tons of kids high fives, grabbed an orange from someone handing out oranges in front of their house, and even ran through a hose and a water gun at different points along the course!

Even with all my stops, I managed to finish FASTER than last year – at 2:02! And my Garmin read 1:59 at 13.1 (I finished at 13:45 mi), so I’m counting it as an almost sub-2 race 🙂

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Overall, I’m SO SO happy with how the race went. I had SO MUCH fun running the race again! I loved seeing my husband, his sister, her kids and my kids along the course. The crowd support felt so great and I loved every single person who stood out and gave out high fives, bananas, oranges, and more.

THANK YOU Cleveland Marathon for THE BEST weekend. For letting me be an ambassador AGAIN. I wasn’t sure if I should take on the challenge this year, but I’m SO GLAD I did. I’m so grateful for getting to run around my city once again and represent this wonderful race. I’m so grateful to be part of this great team!

Questions for you:

  • What’s your goal half marathon time?
  • What’s “too hot” for you to run?

I am linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

Recovery Week

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 7 Comments

Does anyone else get all the post-race feels? I’m feeling up and down this week, now that my half marathon is done. 

In case you missed it, last Sunday, I ran the Cleveland half marathon. I came in at 2:06ish, which isn’t a PR or anything, but still faster than I was last year. My 5K time on Saturday was also faster, which I’m considering a win.

But now that the race is over, I’m feeling up and down. Happy that I can just run whatever I want in the mornings vs. stick to a training plan, and even sleep in a little again … but sad because I’m not sure what’s next!

This week I took it easy. I was feeling a little sore in my quads on Monday/Tuesday, and my feet were sore overall most of the week, but I felt pretty good otherwise. Here’s how the week turned out: Continue reading →

Cleveland Marathon Weekend 2023: Challenge Series Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

Wow, what a week! I can’t believe that the Cleveland Marathon weekend has come and gone. Just a few days ago I was in Orlando for work, and then I made it home just in time for all the Cleveland Marathon festivities to begin.

The week included a few runs, but nothing crazy. I was out of town on business and on my feet all day, so I got in 15000+ steps all day each day. But I did sneak in a few runs at the hotel gym, including:

Sunday: 3.3 miles before my flight out

Monday: 4.4 miles hotel gym

Tuesday: 4.5 miles hotel gym

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday: off – no workouts!

The weekend included:

THE RACE EXPO

Friday afternoon: I LOVE kicking everything off with the Cleveland Marathon Race Expo. As you may remember, I’m a race ambassador, and get free entry. With that, I volunteer at the expo every year, and this year I was again at registration with some of my fellow ambassadors. It’s so fun to talk with people, get them checked in, answer their questions about the race, and feel the excitement with all the runners in one place.

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VIP RACE BANQUET

Friday evening: I continued the festivities with the Cleveland Marathon banquet. I feel so fortunate to be invited to this event and to be with those that plan and produce this great event each year. And, of course I love catching up with my other ambassadors. Not only did we get a photo of all us dressed up, but BERNIE KOSAR was in the shot.

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5K

Saturday morning: We started the day with the Cleveland Marathon 5k. I met up with my fellow ambassadors at the starting line and to wish everyone a good race. The weather was less than ideal– it was 50s and rainy the full time. But I was so glad it was that weather for the 5k and that the weather was still looking okay for the half marathon.

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HALF MARATHON

Sunday morning: Half marathon time! My goals this year quickly got pushed to the back burner and I was just hoping to have fun during the race. I was getting over being sick and my breath was still not all there. My feet were sore from wearing heels most of the week and being on my feet for several days. I was still tired after a few days of long work hours and staying out late with coworkers. But the race conditions were PERFECT and I ended up finishing a few minutes faster than last year, at around 2:06 (last year was 2:11). 

In case you’ve been following along Cleveland Marathon social media, you saw CourseGate 2023- they changed the course this year to focus on running mostly through just Cleveland, with only one outside suburb included (for the Marathon). There were tons of complaints about the course, but here was my take– I loved the new course! I didn’t mind all the turns, for me, it kept the run interesting and moving. I could look ahead until the next turn and just keep moving until we approached the turn. The crowd support was stellar – there were people out all over downtown since the course looped around several areas. Then when we got to Tremont, we passed the house from A Christmas Story (have you seen that movie?) and there tons of people out to support the runners. WAs it a perfect, painless run? Of course not. I got a cramp around mile 9 that didn’t go away. My big toe was hurting for most of the run, and I had a headache at the start that never went away (Blaming it on the lack of sleep). Did I break 2 hours, as I would’ve a few years ago? Nope. Was it super flat? No, and the Scranton hill nearly killed me. But I had fun, saw my fellow ambassadors and the weather was near perfect – a little warmer than I would’ve liked but still not bad!).

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Overall, I’m really happy with how the race went. I had SO MUCH fun running the race again! But I’m looking forward to NOT waking up at 3-4 a.m. for the next few weeks!

THANK YOU Cleveland Marathon for a great weekend. For letting me be an ambassador AGAIN. For letting me run around my city once again. I’m so grateful to be part of this great race!

Questions for you:

  • What’s your goal half marathon time?
  • What’s your ideal racing weather?

I am linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Run Down.

2022 Cleveland Marathon Challenge Series – Race Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 4 Comments

Was it really only just a few days ago that I was running through the streets of Cleveland with thousands of others, in my first in-person Cleveland half marathon since 2019? 

Okay, okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. But yes, just a few day ago, I completed the Cleveland 5k/half marathon challenge series, running a 5k on Saturday and half marathon on Sunday. As a race ambassador, I was able to take advantage of some amazing perks. Even nearly a week later, I’m still feeling proud and grateful for the whole experience — so here it is.

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2021 Cleveland Marathon 10K Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

This weekend was the Cleveland Marathon! The race weekend includes several events, including a half marathon, full marathon, 5k and 10k.  As an ambassador, I spent the weekend working the Expo, and running! It was great to be back to an in-person race (my first one since 2020!) but there were several things different this year. Including:

  • I only ran one day — Saturday. This is the first year that the 5K and 10K were on Saturday and the half and full on Sunday — typically the 10K is the same day as the half and full, but they split them up this year, meaning I was only able to participate on Saturday. 
  • No challenge series for me! Because of that, this was also the first year I was unable to run the challenge series! The series includes running an event Saturday AND Sunday, and even when I was 9+ months pregnant with LM, I did the 5K (Sat) and 10K (Sun).
  • No half marathon and less-than-stellar training for me.  Since I’ve only been cleared to run for about 6 weeks, I was unfortunately not able to get back into the best shape and unable to run the half. Still, I signed up for the 10K, with the goal of running it without stopping and hopefully doing it all under 11 minute/miles (a modest goal for me) – one my fastest 10K time was in the low 50-minute range. 
  • New course. Typically, the 10K starts off with the marathon and half marathoners, but since it was a different day, it had a new course, running with the 5K race.
  • New season. Cleveland Marathon weekend is always in May, which means the weather is either SUPER hot, rainy, or freezing (it snowed one year that I ran it!). I didn’t mind having a fall race, though the weather could’ve easily been May.
  • Not feeling my best. I’ll admit that I wasn’t feeling my best on race day. Since I have a just-turned-3-month-old baby, I’m getting poor sleep (fun fact – my 3-YEAR-old woke me up at 11 pm and 1:30 a.m. the night before the race — that doesn’t account for my 3-month-old). Breastfeeding has made me semi-dehydrated. I’m not at my pre-pregnancy weight yet, so everything still feels a little awkward when running. And, I had fallen a week before race day when running and ever since then, my groin muscle has been off. And, I knew we had to rush from the race to another event for my son’s school, so I was anxious about that. 

With all that, my goals were:

  • Have fun. Remember that I GET TO RUN and am so grateful and lucky to be able to, especially 3-months postpartum!
  • Run without stopping. Try to run the whole thing in the 10 minute/mile range (my fastest training runs were close to 11 minute/mile pace)
  • Help out. As an ambassador, I was planning on volunteering at the EXPO and working the information booth. This meant I could answer questions and meet people who were running.

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Virtual Race Recap: Cleveland Marathon Virtual 5K

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 5 Comments

Well, here I am, 30 weeks pregnant (10 more to go!) and writing a race recap that I didn’t know I’d be writing.

It’s not a true race recap – like most of my races this year, there were no water stops, starting line, finish line or even crowd support. This weekend should’ve been the Cleveland Marathon race weekend. Every other year, since they announced it, I’ve participated in the Challenge Series (where you run on Saturday and Sunday and get a cool medal and additional swag!), but this year, the race is virtual right now, with a fall race (schedule TBD) in-person.

This year, I’m excited to hopefully run a fall race — I’m looking forward to have something to train for after giving birth and getting the okay from my dr (hopefully in early September). As long as the race is early October or later, i should be fine with running it hopefully!

But, I couldn’t let the virtual event just happen and not participate, especially as a race ambassador. So even though I’m by no means in racing shape these weeks, AND the fact that we were out of town, I knew I couldn’t NOT join the event. So, I signed up for the 5k, with the goal of running the entire thing (these days most of my runs are actually run / walks) and crossed my fingers to hope for the best.

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Here’s how the “race” went: 

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Weekly Run Down: Dash Across The Land Virtual 10K

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 9 Comments

This week included my 2nd race, the DASH ACROSS THE LAND 10K.  As I mentioned last week, I hadn’t properly trained for it, or at least to run it as a race. I knew I’d be able to cover the distance — I’ve been running 4-8 miles a day for 100+ days in a row now, but I hadn’t put in any speed training. My runs were averaging more than 10 minute miles (slow for me). I had had 3 runs out of the past 40 or so that made it under 10 minutes/mile (And those were 9:54 and slower).  So would I be able to get in the 9s for race day? Continue reading →

Cleveland Marathon Race Week and Race Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 8 Comments

Under normal circumstances, this post would’ve included a recap of my 2020 Cleveland Marathon experience. The taperingish the week of, followed by running the Challenge Series on Saturday and Sunday.

But as we all know, things aren’t really normal right now. Races are cancelled. So this week, instead of running Cleveland, I had an ordinary running-by-myself week. Here’s what it looked like:

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Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Race Weekend: Challenge Series Recap

/ Melissa (I Crashed the Web) / 6 Comments

As I mentioned in my weekend recap post, this weekend was the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon race weekend! For the past few years, I have been taking part in the Challenge Series, which involves running an event on Saturday (either a 5k or 8k) and then an event on Sunday (either a 10k or full/half marathon).

This year, being 39 weeks pregnant, I opted to participate in (notice I didn’t say run) the 5k/10k events. And since I was selected as a race ambassador, how could I say no?

Part One: The 5k

This is the first year that B and I haven’t lived downtown since I’ve been running the marathon events, so our morning tradition was a little different from usual. Typically, we’d roll out of bed, spend a few minutes getting ready and then walk to the starting line. This year, we had to figure out parking, traffic, etc. Luckily, the road closures for the 5k are minimal and don’t affect our commute, so we still made it downtown pretty easily.

Since I did the 8k last year, the 5k course was pretty nice – I loved being able to turn off early! We started in Public Square, ran around Brown’s Stadium, up E 9th to E 12th and pretty much then retraced our steps back to Public Square.

There are 2 serious (well for me) hills on the course, but the first mile was all downhill so I knew I could run it without stopping. This is a big deal, since there are only a few occasions recently that I’ve run a full mile without taking some breaks.

The rest of the course I ran/walked until we crossed the finish at just under 40 minutes, which put the pace at around 12:57 min/mile. (My Garmin clocked us at 3.3 miles, thus the change in pace, etc.)

Was it my slowest 5k ever? Actually – it was slightly faster than last weekend’s Sabre Run 5k! Also – B WORE FW! He had FW in a backpack and ran along side of me “just in case” (see comment above about being 39 weeks pregnant). How amazing is that?

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I’m so grateful for his support throughout my pregnancy and crazy running. Especially this time around when running has gotten more painful and I’m sure my attitude hasn’t been as great as it was when I was pregnant with FW. I couldn’t have done it without them!

Part Two: The 10K

Sunday morning, B, FW and I headed downtown even earlier for the 10K. Luckily, I was able to park in my parking garage and get to the are start around 6:30. Unluckily, despite it looking clear on the radar, it was raining/misting the whole walk to the start line, and it didn’t stop. Let’s just say I was nearly soaked before we had even started the race.

The 10K was a lot harder for me than the 5k. I was sore from the race the day earlier – my pelvis area, below my belly and feet were not having it. So, there was a LOT more walking than the day before.

Despite the walking and rain, we still finished in about 1:30, which I was pretty happy with for how I was feeling.  And, being so slow, I noticed much more than I typically notice when I run!

For example, I enjoyed the course entertainment. Even in running only 6.2 miles, we got to enjoy several bands. I also noticed (and appreciated) all the mile markers. And the aid stations. You know, just in case! Oh, and I always LOVE the Challenge Series swag. Especially the 3 medals!

And once again, a BIG thank you to B and FW for keeping me company. This was the longest run/walk/anything I had done in some time, and them being by my side made it so much easier.

AND that’s a wrap! Another Cleveland Marathon weekend in the books. 9.3 miles covered and that was PLENTY for my pregnant self this year.

Some questions for you:

  • Do you do challenge races – or races where you run 2 days in a row?
  • Ever run CLE before? (if not – I recommend it!! if you can’t tell!)

Linking up with My No-Guilt Life, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and MCM Mama Runs!

Disclosure: I’m a Cleveland Marathon race ambassador. I get complimentary admission to run the races in exchange for sharing my experience. As always, views are my own.