Bride of Zoy 15K Race Recap

The best part about holiday weekends? You have an extra day to recover. It also means that we had the Bride of Zoy 15K here in Northwest Indiana. I waited until Sunday morning to decide if I was really going to  attempt the race. As Steve Kearney the race director says... "This race is not for wimps." Also the slogan for the race is “This course ain’t no cakewalk” – Larry James

 My friend Ali is also one of the race directors and insisted I would not be last and she would not shut down the race before I finished. So Sunday morning came and we made the drive to the South Shore train station in Chesterton.

Upon arriving I saw so many familiar faces but a small crowd. This was my kind of race. I ran into several girls who run in my age group and insisted to them they had nothing to worry about. They would certainly finish before me. I checked in and went over to the course map. A fellow runner Norm was there and we went over the course. I knew this was going to be no easy task.

Devils Slide @ Indiana Dunes

As they called us to line up I went toward the back so that the other runners would not have to worry about passing me. The first mile or so was on the Calumet Trail. This trail is mostly crushed gravel. Then we hit the road and mile 1. 9:40 my watch read... Whoa. Too Fast is what I was thinking. Then up the big hill and down onto the beach we went. I felt pretty good when we first hit the beach. I was able to make my way down near the water and the footing was not as bad as I expected. As we started making our way down the beach a fellow runner Marie approached me. I knew she had more in her tank than I did. So I said hello. Then I saw the runners coming down what they refer to as Devil's Slide. I said to Marie look at them coming down already. We made our way up toward Devil's Slide. The softer sand really was not easy for me to get footing or keep going. Marie and another fellow runner Maria took a pretty large lead on me at this point. As I turned the corner and I saw the hill I think I stopped breathing all together. I knew it was a hard hill but I had no idea how steep it was going to be. As I looked up I just thought just make it up. It seemed easier to follow the foot prints of the previous runners so I did that slowly... very slowly... all the way to the top.

Once I reached the top I was spent. I took a second to grab a sip of my water and regain composure. Then I started the trek back down the slide. As I made it back down race director Steve was down there encouraging all the runners. Then we started down the beach. I was trying to think logically how long we would be on the beach after coming down the slide but I wasn't sure. At first I felt good going down the beach. I even ended up passing a runner. Mile 3 passed and onto mile 4. Around mile 4.5 I really started to feel the beach. I was just trying to run 5 minutes and walk 1 to keep myself moving. The sun was blaring down and at this point is when I started to feel like my face was on fire. By the end of mile 4 I was hurting. The uneven sand was killing me. There were more rocks than sand and I just could not find footing. I tried to run and my body just was not pushing forward. Finally I thought I saw what looked like the turn off to the beach. When I finally approached the water table I was so tired. I looked down at my watch 5.3 miles in. Another runner asked me how far in we were and so I told her. We both made our way off the beach and out onto the road. We ran/walked together for a few minutes. She told me she had drove down from Chicago since they don't have trail races. Reminded me how lucky we are in Northwest Indiana. We have so many options when it comes to running as well as races at good prices. I was really trying to refocus myself to run 5 minutes and walk 1. I saw that we were turning off the road and back onto the Calumet Trail. Steve was there again telling everyone just about 2 miles to go. My watch indicated about 2.5 miles to go.

Once we turned onto the Calumet Trail I thought I would be able to keep a stead pace and finish strong. Then I realized the Calumet Trail was flooded in many areas. At first my thought was to go on the side that seemed less flooded. Then I realized that the flooding was not going to end anytime soon and I was wasting time and energy trying to figure this out. I decide to just run straight through the water. I was again really trying to focus on 5 minutes run and 1 minute walk. The time on the beach though had really tired me out. The pressure from being over 7 months pregnant was really starting to take a toll on me. I tried to just focus on run/walk combo. Finally mile 8 hit and I was estimating only about one mile to go but I was so tired. I decided to refocus my goals. Run .10 and walk 1 minute. This seem to work for me much better. I was getting close or so I thought. At mile 9.13 I thought to myself I can make it to 9.3... The problem was the close to 9.3 I got I could not see the finish. I knew I was getting close because I could see the train station in the distance. Finally I could see the finish with about 9.55 on my watch. I could see Maria, Marie and Michelle fellow runners finishing. I could also hear Ali and many others yelling my name. Ali started to yell the times. I was just trying to push as hard as I could. 1:57:46... DONE. HARDEST RACE EVER.

You know what makes me feel good though. I finished. I proved that even at over 7 months pregnant you just have to believe you can do it. I might have been one of the slowest runners out there but I didn't stop. I didn't give up. It was hard, in fact it was really hard but I didn't quit and that is always what matters most.

Ali caught this photo of me after I had changed into dry clothes.