13.1

Route:	The Nittany Valley Half-Marathon
Mileage:	13.1
Hillage:	Long stretches of relatively flat ground, with a gentle, hubris-inducing downhill near the beginning at mile 3, a long, steep downhill (the great Rock Road Ravine) after mile 7; two tough little uphills after mile 9 and 10, and a final, soul-crushing climb to finish the race. Total elevation change: Over 300 ft. Average Grade: 2%. But that's average. Here are some of the local grades:   Fox Hollow Rd. A gentle drop of 77 ft in 0.55 miles to the Rte 322 Bypass bridge, a 2.6% downward grade. Toftrees:  A 193 ft rise from the Big Hollow/Fox Hollow intersection to the curve at Fox Hill Rd. (1.6 miles): a 2.3% long upward grade. Rock Road Ravine: A 308 foot drop over 1.8 miles: 3.2% downward grade.  The steepest part has a 6% grade over 0.8 miles. That'll hurt your quads. Houserville Rise: A 96 ft rise into Houserville over half a mile: 3.6% grade. Final Rise: A 160 ft rise in 1.24 miles: 2.5% grade. The steepest third of a mile is a 5% climb. This is where the praying starts.

For some strange reason I thought it would be fun to run a half marathon.  I signed up in October for the Nittany Valley Half marathon in State College, Pa.  I read online that it was a tough course but it was a weekend I could get away so I figured why not:?!  

Now I understand "tough course" is an understatement.  It was miserable....and yet fun and exciting all at the same time.   Jeremy was kind enough to drive me and take pictures during the race.  

You can't see me in this picture- I'm in the back with the slow runners

This picture was obviously at the beginning because I'm smiling :)

 

 

I'm right in the middle of this one!  The first two miles were a big circle around the Penn State agricultural center so we passed by all the bystanders twice.  And look, I'm not even last!

This was part of the only down hill portion... It was awesome...until I remembered "what goes down, must go back up".  The up was miserable.

I think this was about mile 8...I may look like I'm walking but I promise- I was giving it my all- and I didn't walk the whole 13.1 miles!  My goals for the race were 1) to finish (bonus if I'm not last place) and  2) to run the whole time.  I did both :)

And here- finally- THE LAST STRETCH!  The final 5K was pretty much all uphill.  One really REALLY REALLY long, steep,  winding, uphill.... There were chalk markings along the way that said "you can conquer the spiral of death!" and "you're almost there!"  They weren't kidding in naming it the spiral of death.  Lots of people started walking up the hill...It was fun for me to finally be passing a few people ;)

After this turn I could finally see the finish line!! 

ALLLMOOOOOOSSSSTTTT there........



It took EVERYTHING I had in me to keep running. 

 

I was kinda in shock by this point...somebody handed me a water bottle and someone else cut the timing chip off my foot.  I found Jeremy and begged him to carry me to the car.  I then remembered that my toe had started hurting at some point in the race before finally going numb so I took my shoe and sock off in the car and figured out why it hurt.  I'll spare you the details but it was gross!  It's still all black and purple. 

 
I really just ran it so I could get a 13.1 sticker...and Jeremy surprised me with a pink one!!



(I don't know why it's sideways....)





Here are my race stats... Evidently I wanted to show I was an Okie in Pa so I combined my location and made it York, Ok :) 

Lauren Jacoby, 28*, York, OK  

Place: 682                            Place in my age group:45 
Total time: 2:28:50                   Pace:11:22

412 male finishers
320 female finishers
732 total finishers


So there you go...my first half marathon!