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!