The Flying Pig "Race Report"

So, today I completed my second 1/2 Mary, The Flying Pig in Cincinnati. I thought it would be a great idea to do a race so close to my hometown so I could see my family and do a really cool race.....should have done more research on the race.

We got to cincy yesterday afternoon and headed to the expo after checking into our hotel. The expo was nice, small but nice. Lots of expensive stuff to buy, but resisted the urge.

Went to bed early, around 10, and got up at 3:30. Necessary, but wayyyy too early. Hubby got up shortly after, and got ready with me. I put my hair up in pig tails, since it was the Flying Pig.
We left for the race at 5:00, and got dropped off to find the start line. It was lightly raining, which meant that the potental for being miserable was very high. My issues with port-a-potties led me to stand in line for 25 minutes for a real bathroom, before making my way outside to stand in the rain with everyone else in the corrals.

It took me 10:00 to cross the start line and my first mile was not fast at all like I had expected. Weaving in and out of ppl, especially walkers, is hard work and dangerous, so the slower the better. There were 3 big bridges over the first 3 miles, and each with a pretty serious incline to bridge level, which sucked. The bridge joints were extremely slippery, so I had to pay close attention to those.

The race course was lovely, even though it was rainy. Running over the Ohio river and through the old part of Covington and cincinnati was great. I got to parts of the cities I never thought I would, and some I would never want to see.

The first 6 miles were fine, and I was picking up speed. Then came the hill....not just a hill, a mountain that climbed 900 ft. and spanned almost 4 miles of climbing. UGH!! I abondones my strict intervals, and walked a lot of the way up, which I'm sure is what destroyed my knees. Had I run it, I probably wouldn't have shredded my knees as badly as I did. Shortening my stride helped in one way, but led to the knee problems.

My pacing was doing well, under 15:00 average coming up to the top of the hill. There was a great botanical garden at the top of the hill with a butterfly conservatory, and oh, how I wish I could have stopped. The "downhill" was not so hownhill afterall. I had been texting my husband throughout so he'd know where I was. I have never been so happy to see a mile marker as I was to see Mile 11. It was midway down the hill, and turned out to be a really fast mile, even though I was in agonizing knee pain. Mile 12 was my fatest mile! And then the "Finish Swine" was in sight.

I lengthened my stride and pushed through the pain of my knees screaming at me, and decided to run across the line. My mom and hubby were along side the course cheering me on with about 30,000 other spectators. It was so exciting coming in to all those ppl cheering!

Coming across the line, I started crying a bit because this was such a hard race and I was hurting so much. Once I crossed, I got my timing chip cut off, and got my medal. It's pretty cool, with the flying pig on the front and the back of the piggy on the back. My left calf locked up on me completely, which felt like a charlie horse standing up, oh, so painful.....

I did some stretching, but hurt so bad I had to sit down for a minute. I called my husband and figured out where to meet and then made my way to the food tables. Fresh cut oranges, water, Swiss cake rolls, yogurt, bagels, chips.....so much food. Had quite a ways to walk to the car, which sucked bc I was already in pain, but it gave my legs a nice little cool down.

My finishing time was 3:12:46, with a 14:43 pace time. It was slower than I wanted to go, but 11:00 minutes faster than my time from Disney. I'll take a PR any day of the week, slow or not. This was a really hard course, that I thought I was prepared for, but not enough. Next year, I'll know better.

My legs are hurting tonight, and my feet are sore, but overall it was a great race experience and I PR'd on a much harder course.