Hell Run take 2 - 9.29.12

Who hasn't updated this blog in more than a year?  This girl.  So--don't expect a lot of details.  Would you read them anyway, I doubt it.

This was the second time my hubby and I raced this.  I knew there were hills.  I knew there was mud.  I knew there was the god forsaken rope wall.  I did it anyway.

I didn't have  plan.  Just finish without blowing a knee.  I told Jason not to wait on me this time.  He handles hills better than I do, never mind the obstacles.  I wanted him to run his own race, so we split up right away.

All went well.  I didn't see Jason again until I got to the last obstacle.  A 20' wall that you had to scale with a rope.  Fortunately, Jason tipped me off to use the side of my foot for support (a 2" x 4") rather than my toe so it was easy.  There once on a photo on FB, but it's gone now.  

The Swag

The Details

My bib: 2038

181/266 overall

My chip time: 47:00, 14:56 pace

Run for the Health of It {4 Miler}

My friend, Amy, posted on facebook about a cheap race;  it was $10 before promo code with tons of swag.  In addition, there are known to be a lot of vendors on site.  I signed up without knowing I could make the race since we often go out of town over Labor Day weekend.

Since we were home, I headed out alone for this race.  I hadn't had any intentions of "racing" since I was starting to get calf pain again.

Holding back sounds fine and dandy until the race starts.  It was difficult to chat during the race since it was on a narrow bike path so in my earbuds went.  From there, I took off. (Thanks Trick Daddy)

When I got to midpoint, I couldn't get my breathing under control no matter how hard I tried.  I don't remember much of anything other than praying for the end.  

Just as usual, I didn't have any gas left in my tank to try to sprint the last stretch of the race.  I did get passed by a young teen and his dad, which made me smile.  I hope to do that with my boys one day.

The Swag

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 1732

254/441 overall

My chip time: 40:34, 10:09 pace

My Garmin time: 40:34, 10:38 pace, 3.82 miles

My splits:

1 - 11:17

2 - 10:19

3 - 10:27

4 - 10:25

All in all, great race if you are in town.  Race funds benefit The Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians Foundation (COPCPF) which support local charities.  Read more here.  

Tap N Run {4K}

This race was just for fun.  My bestie flew up from Florida for the weekend.   The schtick: 4K with beer every 1K.

Would you be surprised that we drank beforehand too?

Joyl, Courtney, Jenn, Sara.
We made shirts that said "desperate for girls night out"

We walked, laughed, a took advantage of photo ops.

No, not running from the cops.

Medals were conveniently bottle openers.

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 1215

984/1115 overall, 164/300 Age Class

My chip time: 01:02:11, that can't be right

My Garmin time: NO GARMIN!

This race was pure fun, even if it wasn't a "race" for me.  Lots of girl time and belly laughs was well worth the race fee. 

See ya on the run!

Capital City Half Marathon {Half} - 5.5.12

3rd half marathon in a years time, when it wasn't all that long ago I couldn't run A mile.  I'm injured.  It's hot & humid.  I just want to get this over with.

Races all over the place were deferring due to the heat.  My calf was still not 100%.  I didn't have any stellar long runs.  I was all about finishing.  My goal was a 12:00 pace and not to be slower than my first half (2 hours 41 minutes).  

Things were fine.  It was hot (have I mentioned that?).  CJ, my partner, wasn't feeling great{GI issues}.  We stayed together for the first half, broke up at a water station around mid point where she waved me on.  

At mile 8, I ran into Lisa from MIT.  I was hurting.  Not necessarily my calf, just over it.  I kept telling her that I was just so hot and was praying for a towel.  "I can't get the sweat off my face".  Then I say the most motivating thing I could think of "at least we only have an hour left".  Yeah, I should write a book.

Water stations were simply rinsing my face.  I couldn't cool down and there was just nowhere for the sweat to go.  How does a Florida girl hate the heat so much?  Oh yeah--A/C and stay the frick inside where you belong.

From here, I have no idea.  Except I knew there would be a hill.  Let's get this shit done.  No PR, just not a DNF.  

I really tried to stride the downhill finish, funny how tired you are after 2 1/2 hours in the humidity.  I just didn't have it in me.

I didn't have any cheerleaders for this race, so the whole thing was a blur.   CJ's family was at the beginning and end, but I didn't see them until I had crossing the line. I told her hubby that we split up and she should be about 5 minutes--she was exactly five minutes behind me.  We didn't have any problems finding each other, surprisingly since the after party was f'n packed!  The calcium chocolate given to me must have been poison, because it nearly took me out.  I must remember to stick to bagels & bananas in the future :)

I am blessed with great friends from MIT, including Mandy who was blessed with some lungs that allowed her to scream for me on my downhill stride.  I meant to smile or wave, I'm not sure either happened.  My mantra is always "don't puke, you'll embarrass yourself".  Then it switched to "Holy Shit, Mandy's done already?".  Not that she wouldn't be done, but done enough to get photos, eat, visit, then find a place to watch the rest of the finishers.  Yeah, she PR'd.....

The Swag

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 5224

6383/8062 overall

My chip time: 2:35:38, 11:53 pace

My Garmin time: 2:35:41, 11:48 pace, 13.20 miles

My splits:

1 - 11:38

2 - 11:35

3 - 11:33

4 - 11:38

5 - 11:39

6 - 12:02

7 - 12:03

8 - 11:45

9 - 11:44

10 - 12:23

11 - 11:31

12 - 12:02

13 - 12:18

14 - 9:17

3rd Half on the books!!! One more PT session then I can focus on recovery and SPEED. I'm out for a major PR for my next big race, the Columbus Half Marathon (which is on my birthday BTW). Who says 36 is old?

See ya on the run!

Scioto Miles - 4.22.12 {15K}

Part 2 of the Scioto Miles series.  3 loops.  Ugh.  Part 1 went OK, but I wasn't looking forward to that 3rd loop.  

It started off weird.  I didn't bring my ipod, thinking I would be chatting it up with my friend, CJ.  She.was.late.  Fortunately, she was smart enough to wait at a point where she could jump in for the 2nd loop.  {thank god}

I was still recovering from my calf injury, so I did what any respectable runner with a race coming up.  Popped 3 advil, threw on compression gear, sucked it up.  

Seriously, may be the worst photo ever.  Sorry people, this sexy beast is taken.

Race went as expected.  I didn't race, just ran....paced myself around 12 minutes. I'm 2 weeks out from a half marathon with an injury, I just wanted to know I could run that far.  I can.  While having to pee.  No breaks, not even to hydrate. Yay!!

As I as chatting with another runner towards the end, I mentioned never having enough gas to sprint the end.  She yells "Let's go".   I took off, she did not.  #fail

The Schwag

Men's shirt, again.  I need to slow down during registration.

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 1032

My chip time: Race results were screwy, not sure where I am

My Garmin time: 1:44:30, 11:22 pace, 9.19 miles

686 /816overall

My splits:

1 - 10:32

2 - 11:16

3 - 11:18

4 - 11:35

5 - 11:28

6 - 11:41

7 - 12:10
8 - 11:39
9 - 11:07
10 -  9:47 - my attempt at a stride

Good race, nice after party, and GREAT preparation for my half!!

See ya on the run!

Scioto Miles - 3.31.12 {10K}

Training hasn't been going well.  On a frigid February icy run, I strained by calf.  Now knee deep in ice, compression, and physical therapy I'm trying to pick up the pieces of my training for the upcoming half marathon.  This 10K was going to help.

This route was similar to Breathe Deep, itty bitty tiny hills and turns just to keep your heart pounding.  I was racing, I didn't mean to, but when you're surrounded by fast people, you try to be fast.   

Weather was perfect.  I shed my jacket early.  Lucky for me, I have become a pro at running with things tied all over me.  This race was either a 5K or 10K.  Passing the finish line for Round 2 was less than desirable, but at least I knew what was coming.

Courtney and I maintained a consistent pace.  We took one walking break to hydrate, then walked one more hill.  Considering we were much faster than we anticipated, we were OK with that.

The tech shirt was really cute and comfy.  Somehow I managed to order a men's.  I was bummed to have missed out on a v-neck tech tee, but the men's is working out just fine.


The Schwag

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 952

My chip time: 1:09, 11:10 pace

My Garmin time: 1:09, 11:16 pace, 6.14 miles

686 /816overall

My splits:

1 - 10:56

2 - 11:13

3 - 11:20

4 - 11:40

5 - 11:28

6 - 11:09

7 - 10:23

All considering, I liked this race.

See ya on the run!

You're right.

Holiday Run - 12.11.11 {4 Miler}

I'd been running, just no races since Breathe Deep.  And by running, I mean 2 miles at a time.  On a treadmill.  Flat.  In the comforts of controlled weather conditions.  Cheater.

I'd never run Sharon Woods before.  I hadn't run 4 miles in God knows how long.  I hadn't run in 18 degrees since *last* winter.  I'm so going to rock this race.  

It was cold, but bearable.  I carried my small hydration bottle.  I didn't have a goal, but under 44:00 would be OK with me, but I had hoped for better.  Don't you always?

Just like usual, I took off too fast, but felt OK.  It didn't take long for me and everyone to start sucking air thanks to those hills.  This is when a LOT of people started walking and I started complaining.  I'm such a pleasure to run near :)  This is also when I started to hate other runners {I hate most people most of the time}.  Note: you are NOT cool sprinting down a hill and walking up 10 seconds later.  You are annoying.  mmmkay?  Is it just me?  Why do I care?  We just spend the entire race passing each other looking at each other's butts.  You judging me for running slow, me judging you for your sporadic run/walk.  

I felt alone for a lot of the race, it didn't seem that there were a lot of runners around me during the middle.  No, I didn't complain that much :)  I remember having a mile left, high five-ing one of the attendants because he was cheering me.  I also remember than moment when I ran out of powerade, I spent the final mile trying to suck the bottom out of the bottle for that last drop.  Not.even.kidding.  One day I will learn to hydrate throughout the day, not during the run.


Regardless, it was fun.  Plus, I got a long sleeve tech shirt.  Late, since I didn't pick up my packet beforehand and they run out, but got one.  And a medal.  Really, it's all about the bling.  And bragging rights, maybe a bit more about the brags.  Hello Facebook!

Judi, Lisa, and me

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 458

My chip time: 43:09, 10:48 pace

My Garmin time: 43:12, 10:46 pace, 4.01 miles

190 /284 overall

My splits:

1 - 10:08

2 - 11:28

3 - 11:17

4 - 10:14

See ya on the run!

Lungevity 5K - 11.12.11

When picking up my packet for the Columbus Half Marathon , I ran across Breathe Deep, a fundraiser 5K raising money for lung cancer.  I was instantly drawn to it, since I lost my mother to lung cancer back in Feb. 2007.  My BFF, Sara, who was with me turned to me and said "I'll do it with you". 

As long as my schedule allowed, I was in.  My boys would be with me.  Ever since Marie did a 5K pushing her trips, I had to try it.  Competitive? Maybe.  More like "I want those bragging rights".  Maybe this:

yeah, just a little :)


The race went fine.  Nice warmish day in November.  We didn't know the route before we started, but boy were those ittle bitty hills killers.  Even not pushing 100 lbs would have been trying.  I remember those during the Giant Eagle 5K.  I've haven't had a lot of experience with running with a stroller, well, I had run once with it.  But, it was only 3 miles, right?  


I forgot about the stress of having 2 little ones around.  Snacks, drinks, toys, potties.  I spilled my drink in their stroller trying to get it down a flight of stairs to get to the start line.  Then Keegan didn't want to sit in a wet seat.  I was instantly stressed.  I grabbed a shirt (sorry, Sara) and threw Keegan in.  We took off and immediately went up hill.  I heard behind me "already?" and it made me laugh out loud.  We had no time to warm up.  Speaking of warm, I overdressed.  I wanted to take my jacket off so badly, but I pinned my bib to both sides of the zipper.  Amateur.  Just one more reason I need a different fuel belt, so I can never touch a safety pin again.  Also, I was running with NO powerade since I spilled it before we started.  Insert panic.


Everyone passed me made a comment.  "Wow", "that's hard", "you rock", and my favorite from Sara's hubby "can I get in?".  I held my pace and was after a 40 minute finish.  I squeaked in.  Barely.


There were 2 other strollers in this race, including my friend Vicky, which also lost her Nanny (grandmother) to lung cancer.  Overall, the race wasn't too bad.  We dropped one toy, one drink, and got a little nascar at Mile 3 and got into the wall :)  But, we recovered.


Here are the photos from the day:

Team "Running on Memories" missing Vicky and Courtney.  

See the guy on the right?  That's Sara's father in law, Sam.  He was so inspired when he watched us run the half, he signed up for this race, trained for 25 days and placed FIRST in his age class.  He has never run a race before this day.  YOU ROCK, SAM!  

Balloons let off in remembrance.  Note: our balloons left early.  twice.

Vicky & Parker

The Details

The Course:

My bib: 1340

My chip time: 39:52, 12:50 pace

My Garmin time: 40:29, 12:32 pace, 3.23 miles

64/73 overall, 46/48 female.

My splits:

1 - 12:25

2 - 12:33

3 - 13:00

4 - 11:03

I look forward to doing Breathe Deep again.  This is a new race and I would love to support lung cancer research while running.  Next Race: BREATHE DEEP NEWARK on May 12, 2012.  Who's in?

See ya on the run!

Columbus Half Marathan - 10.16.11

I wonder if I will ever update this blog at a point when I remember what happens on race day?  I need to embrace the concept of draft posts.

Race Day - October 16, 2011

I went into this race hesitantly confident.  I knew I could finish, but was afraid that I wouldn't meet and/or beat my last half marathon time.  You see, this go 'round I didn't train with MIT.  There were 5 of us, we could do it alone.  Well, notsomuch.  All of us have kids, therefore, unpredictable schedules.  I didn't get in any "great" LSDs and my training really slacked off toward the end.  Oh, then the heat.....oh my god, the heat.  I started running hard core on the treadmill, just so I could breathe.

I met Sara early to carpool.  I always have this sense of urgency about me and am constantly reviewing and checking things that I knew I forgot.  OCD much? We had to park several blocks away and among the sold out participants, we had to find our friend Vicky with her hubs to hold my bag.  {insert panic here} It was at that time, I misplaced my bib.  Yeah, it was on the dash, but I freaked for just a sec.


We got to the corrals and couldn't find James, Vicky's husband.  Finally, several phone calls and the realization that there are TWO Tim Horton signs on that building, we found him.  Vicky had already made her way into the corrals, we never found her.  Starting the race, I realize that I forgot to put on my fuel belt.  Herewego....no nuun, no sportbeans.  #ohshit 
I did have my ipod though. #sighsinrelief

The race went well.  No complaints! I was able to spot some people that I knew throughout the race.  I ran into Amy around mile 3, where I spilled the beans about my monthly friend because that's appropriate "hey--how ya doing" convo for a race.  

Sara's Mother in Law took specific instructions to jump out in front of me so I would see her.  She did.  She.is.awesome.  Deb's husband caught this gem at Mile 8:

I was actually in the process of waving and saying "hi" to a three year old.  I promise I won't eat your baby.  

Here are the photos I lifted from the race:

The Details

The course:

Again--I have zero sense of direction, most of the time I wasn't really sure where in Columbus I was.

My bib: 15220

My splits:

1 11:16

2 10:59

3 10:51

4 11:20

5 10:54

6  10:51

7 11:17

9 11:01

10 11:08

11 11:10

12 11:19

13 11:08

14    9:1


The Swag:

What I learned:

I didn't need my fuel belt.  The water stations and GU they distributed was enough :)  Ps...I only ate half since it was new to me Clif Shot.

Sara and I after the race.

Vicky and I after the race.

The day wasn't over for me.  I went home, picked up kids, showered, packed, and drove for five hours to Michigan for training the following morning.  About half way there, I stopped for a dozen iced sugar cookies.  I didn't eat them all.  That day anyway.

I am so happy that I went from not being able to run a mile, to running TWO HALF Marathons in 2011!!!!!  Thank you MIT and all the wonderful friends I have met.

I really, really want my next half marathon at a 10 minute pace, but I don't think I can get there this time.  I don't have the time, effort, or ability to cross train like I should.  Or maybe I'm making excuses?