2017 Queen Bee Half Marathon

Saturday October 7

Cincinnati, Ohio

All Spring, I had been thinking about the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon for my Fall race. I registered for Detroit’s race and began my training in the summer. Along the way, I became incredible friends with a group of girls, I run with all the time now. Almost all who were running the Queen Bee this year. Then, the super cool medal announcement came on social media. That was the icing on the cake. I wanted to register immediately. The problem was that my husband was on night shifts the weekend of the Queen Bee. Meaning I was on mommy duty pretty much that entire weekend. (And I am not the runner who is going to push a double stroller of 100 pounds for 13.1 miles). The day my husband came home from work and asked me, “Do you want to run the Queen Bee? One of the nurses at work said she would come watch the boys until I get home. I’ll stay awake until you get home from the race.”, I did not hesitate one second…”YES”!!! The rest was history.

With only a few weeks until race day, I adjusted my training plan to taper a week early. Usually I have two 11 mile long runs planned. This go around, it was cut down to one 11 mile long run to move everything up by one week. It also meant I was going to be running two half marathons eight days apart. I had officially become a crazy running person!

Training had gone well for me. I was running the fastest paces I had ever run. I was talking during our runs in the 8:30s. Even managed to hold an 8:30 pace for my 11 mile training run. The weather had finally turned a bit cooler after an extended summer. The week before, I ran the Crossroads We Run 10K and killed my previous PR. I had confidence that The Queen Bee was going to be a great race for me! Then, the weather forecast came out for race weekend. My confidence went out the window with the cooler temps. The nerves settled in and I began to consider readjusting my goals (but I am too stubborn for that). Race day was a low of 62 and a high of 85 with very high humidity and dew point. Disclaimer: I do not race well/fast in humid weather over 70 degrees.

Pre Race

With a 7:30am start and the sitter coming at 5:30am, it was like sleeping in for me! I had so many 4:15am alarms during this training session that 5:00am felt like a treat. I was able to sleep pretty decent until 2:00am. After that, it was a toss and turn kind of night. This is a typical night before a race sleep for me.

I was up and ready to go by the time the sitter arrived. The night before, I had thought about switching my outfit to shorts and a sports bra only. The weather really had me concerned. However, I was running this race because of my Moms Run This Town girls and I really wanted to wear our shirt! Just in case, I fastened my bib to my shorts instead of my tank top. On race day, I sported: MRTT tank top, Nike shorts, Balega hidden comfort socks, Mizuno Wave Rider 20s, Spibelt (chocolate hammer gel, license, extra pony tail holder), Garmin Forerunner watch, Tiposi sunglasses, and a Nike headband. While I got ready, I downed an entire bottle of Propel in hopes of getting a head start on the hydration. I rolled out of the garage at 5:34am to head downtown.

I parked in the Casino garage and ate my Pure Protein bar in my car (tradition for these races). Next, I hit up the porta potty. The plus side of getting downtown early is that you get to be the first one to use a fresh smelling one. After that, it was picture time! Our Northern Cincinnati Moms Run This Town chapter snapped our group photo with our impressive turnout. These girls are my tribe! I am proud of each and every one of them for getting out there on Queen Bee day!

Because I am incredibly stubborn (or stupid), I kept my goals the same despite the warmer weather.

2017 Queen Bee Goals:

1. Do not pee my pants.

2. Have a blast!

3. Time Goals:

A. Beat last year’s Queen Bee time (1:55:44)

B. PR (1:53:52)

C. Dream big and get under 1:50:00

4. Cheer on the other MRTT rockstar mommas!!!

While I was still going to attempt that dream big goal, I also realized that it was going to be tough to accomplish. Before the race, I let my girl, Sarah, know that if my PR was shot, I would wait for them and finish it together. (Two of the girls were running to help another get that precious sub two hour half marathon goal). I really hoped I would be cheering them on at the finish line, though.

The Race

Crazily, I lined up at the start with the 1:50:00 pacer. I really was excited to go for this big goal of mine. She took off quick! UPHILL, mind you! When my watch beeped for mile one I was shocked with the pace (8:14). I was waaaaay too fast. By mile two, I was already running behind her. I ran the perfect split for mile two, too (8:24)! Then, mile three hit and I cramped up. “GREAT”! I thought to myself, “Cramping up at mile three already. Really?!? Do I pull back and wait for them now? No way I can run this whole thing feeling like this. UGH!!!! UGH UGH UGH!!!!!”. Flashbacks from my Bahamas half marathon in January ran through my head. I reached the next water station and drank the entire cup. Meanwhile, I tried stretching out my left calf as much as I could. Then, I took off again.

Luckily, my legs came back to me (for a few miles). The 1:50:00 pacer was long gone. But my PR was still a possibility if I could pull it together and mentally get back into the race. Around mile five, Miss. Heather, came up along side me. She was the first of many MRTT moms I would encounter along the way. My favorite line from her was “I’ve been watching your red pony tail up ahead bouncing around. It’s been like a beacon for me” (or something like that). She kept me company for a couple miles and was crushing her goal with an awesome pace. After awhile, I noticed she was looking strong and I fell back telling her, “Have a great race”!!! She took off and grabbed her PR by seven minutes, followed by completing her second full marathon two weeks later! It was a pleasure to get to run those couple miles with her.

For the second half of the race, the sun started to come out. It was very warm and humid. I drank water at EVERY station (which was about every mile). Around mile eight, the left calf cramp came back. My immediate thought was, “NOOOOOOOO”!!! I did not want to stop. I wanted to finish this race strong. On the other hand, I did not want to hurt myself and not be able to race the next weekend in Detroit. It was somewhere during mile eight or nine when, Ms. Michelle, came running up beside me. While I was in pain and struggling mentally, she encouraged me to keep trying. She yelled to me, “Come on, Kelly”!!! She got me to run a bit farther! However, when those couple splits came through on my watch, I knew my PR was out for the day. I battled with myself for a few minutes.

“Keep going”.

“Do not hurt yourself”.

“Do not give up”.

“Save some legs and go for it again next weekend”.

“Do not let them down”.

“You can still get sub two”.

“Your girls are right behind you”.

“This sucks”.

“If I run on this leg, is it going to be ready next weekend”?

“Why the heck is it so hot in October”?

“Where is last year’s Queen Bee weather”?

“Next week, it will be perfect in Detroit”.

“Hopefully, even COLD”.

“DONE”.

When I reached the water station after mile nine, I grabbed the cup of water, said thank you, stepped out of the way to the curb, and I am pretty sure a few swear words came spitting out of my mouth. I am a competitor and I was pissed! Mad at myself; mad at my body; mad at the weather; MAD!!! I stretched out my calf AGAIN and began to walk mile ten. When I had told the girls I would wait for them, I was not thinking. There was no way I could stop, wait there, and then start back up again at that point. Walking, it was.

Mile ten was quite interesting. It was a walk/run/walk/run kind of mile. First, Teressa, joined me for a minute. I ran next to her as she told me how her run was going. She ran on as I pulled back to my walk. Next came, Vicki (who I had yet to actually meet in person). All the sudden I heard, “Kelly Priem”?!? I replied, “Yeah, that’s me”. I jogged along side her as she introduced herself and I wished her to a good finish. Back to the walk. After her, the two hour pacers tried to pick me up. Bless their hearts!!! They were so encouraging. I ran a bit with them until they got distracted with another runner and I could pull back once again. I have no doubt they would have gotten me to under two if I had wanted it. By then, I had made my decision and I was looking forward to seeing my girls!!! There were many other women who gave me a “come on” “almost there” “you can do it” “run with us”. What a fabulous race for women!!!

I started walking backward at times. I was thinking, “Where are you”?!? I knew they had to be coming. I kept looking for them. Then, I spotted the MRTT tank tops. I started waving my hands in the air like I had not seen them for months. As they got closer, I saw the smiles that appeared on their faces. In that moment, I knew I absolutely made the right decision for this race.

Sarah asked, “How are you doing”? I replied, “Well, I’m here. So, yeah…” She knew. Unspoken words.

They had been struggling, too. The two hour goal was gone before I got to them. The last few miles, we walked through each water station. Maybe walked a couple other times, too. But we kept moving forward. Multiple times I mentioned to Hilary about how I wanted to chop off my left leg. I told her she could walk ten more steps, then we were running again. The yellow fire hydrant bought her a couple extra steps. We talked. We laughed. We smiled. We kept saying, “this is the last incline”. Together, we ran it in to the finish line.

As we made the last two quick turns through the crowd at the finish line, I felt incredible pride come over me and wanted to share it with everyone. My arms were pumping up and down getting the crowd to cheer louder and louder for these amazing women beside me! The spectators obliged. Then, there at mile 13 was Ms. Kristin (another consistent Tuesday morning Dawn Patrol runner) with a homemade sign, her two kiddos, and tears in her eyes. What a moment that was!!! The final turn treated us with some other MRTT moms cheering our names out and snapping photos. Yes, my arms were waving up and down all the way to the finish line.

(Photo Credit: MarathonFoto)

(Photo Credit: MarathonFoto)
Half marathon number seven did not go the way I dreamed; it went exactly as it was meant to be! Running those last few miles in with Lisa, Hilary, and Sarah is something I will never forget. I will always cherish those miles and think back to them during my future races.

A few after thoughts:

*2016 Queen Bee was 20 degrees cooler. Just saying.

*Come to find out, another MRTT mom was struggling and kept thinking I would be coming up to her. Since I pulled back, I never caught up to her and feel bad about that. If I had kept pressing on I could have helped her get to the finish line.

*Many runners had good races. The ladies who had been training for a full marathon did fantastic! A few others had good races, too. Proud of each of them!!!

Post Race

The MRTT gals (supporters and runners):

(Photo Credit: MarathonFoto)

We picked up our special finishers gift (a bottle of wine this year) and took it easy for a few.

2017 Queen Bee Half Marathon 2:05:19

Thinking positively, “Well, it’s better than my Bahama’s finishing time”.

The official results…

As much as I would have loved to stay at the after party longer, mommy duty was calling my name. I knew Shawn had to be exhausted. I drove home, got a quick shower, loaded us up, and was out the door with the boys for the day so daddy could sleep. First stop was Buffalo Wings ‘n’ Rings. This has become a tradition for me after my Cincinnati half marathons. I crave a veggie burger and broccoli post race.

Our next stop was Kings Island. Of course, I wore my Queen Bee shirt that says, “Bee Happy”. Even when things do not go as planned, there are still reasons to be happy!!! A fellow bee called me out for my shirt and said she had the post race wobble going on. I believe walking around all afternoon actually helped my legs stay loose.

Another Queen Bee Half Marathon was in the books. Detroit Free Press Half Marathon went down eight days later.

(Photo Credit: MarathonFoto)

Thank you to all the strong, inspiring women who showed up at the Queen Bee! It was an honor to run those miles with each and every one of you. To my tribe, I love you for everything you are and everything you have done for me!!!

Thinking about running the Queen Bee Half Marathon or Four Miler? Next year’s race is on October 13, 2018. Check out all the race/registration details at: queenbeehalf.com

Have you ever ran a half marathon alongside a friend?

RunEatBeHappy