National HALF Marathon 3/26/11

This was originally going to be a full marathon run, but lingering IT band irritation from the last few months of racing was on the mend but still looming. My weekly mileage for the last 2 months hovered in the 3-20 range (except for the week of Holiday Lake 50k). So I did the "mature" thing and decided it would be smart to run the shorter race.  My running friend from Cville graciously waded through the crowds at the expo (1 day only) and got me officially changed from the full to the half marathon. As I had no desire to fight DC Friday night rush hour(s) traffic, I opted to hit the road at 3am and meet my friend at her hotel in DC. I had a pleasant traffic free drive up, found the hotel, and found the RFK Stadium and free parking with plenty of time to line up.

Meet up with the Marathon Maniacs in the Armory for the pre-race photo shoot and got caught up with a few Maniac friends, I had to repeat several times that I was "only" running the half, a few seem disappointed which I found mildly entertaining and I could certainly understand their perspective (it is "only" a marathon, you can do it!). I wandered outside and found it eerie how few people were lined up only 15 minutes from the start, especially after hearing there were 16,000 runners in the 2 distances combined. Not sure where to go I just headed for the first open corral, which ended up being #4 (no-one was checking bibs), this ended up being perfect for my pace. Race started a few minutes late and it took me another 7 minutes to cross the start line. Temps were at freezing at the start and warmed up 10 degrees in the next 2 hours, sun shining the entire time. For the first 10 min after crossing the start line there were dozens of people with race bibs on heading in the opposite direction, late for the race start. Sunshine was gorgeous, and it was interesting to see a normally very bustling DC, in a very quiet and empty state. Early morning is my favorite time of day. Very few spectators other than the few underpasses we went through, with people lined up on the streets above cheering.

I had no idea where the course went other than it was in DC and it was a loop, however I did not realize that the entire first half would be shared by the full and half marathoners. After the finish for the half, the full marathoners continued on, although I am not sure where, or if they had to repeat the loop we just did. This is a similar strategy to the Charlottesville Marathon and Half Marathon and for the marathoners it is very disheartening to run past the finish line with several miles still to complete. There were 2-3 mile markers total, 2 were chalk painted on the ground and 1 was on the back of a bathroom sign zip tied to a pole (really!!! no mileage markers?!really?). The finish line was chaos, with the half finishers trying to first get medals but we were told that they were for the relay folks. About 5 feet past them were for the half marathoners but you had to push your way up to them to get them. Several people ended up missing the medals all together. Then it was busy and chaotic trying to get water and the after race goodies, not very well organized for a large race.

I finished 1:56:14 with an average pace of about 8:50 min/mile.
Nice technical finisher shirt (although they handed them out at the expo and they said finisher on them) and neat finisher's medal. I would not recommend this run for next year, but I am glad I still went to have a nice run and to mark a turning point back into running longer distances, because I sure do love running.

Sugar Hollow Cville Area Trailrunners (CAT) training run

3/13/11 8am (Meet at Greenberry's to carpool to the TH at Sugar Hollow)

Parked at the lower lot and headed up the North Fork Moormans River Trail, then turning North on the Appalachian Trail to BlackRock Summit. Climbing 7 miles and about 1,900ft to reach this view from the summit.

David and Drew

Becca and Drew

Christian had joined us for the first few miles on his mountain bike due to recovering from a stress fracture (he even wore his brace! awesome), he turned around to attend other commitments he had that sunny Sunday.
While David and Drew continued South on the AT looping back to the TH on the Turk Branch Trail for a longer run, I headed back down the trail that we came up to keep the mileage down to rest a healing IT band. On the way down I stopped to take a few pictures. The river was still running high 3 days after the last rainstorm, so there were several wet crossings and thus kept the day hikers away. I had the trail to myself until the last few miles from the car.

Gorgeous section of SNP, crazy that it took over a year of living here to finally explore this section! Another Charlottesville gem and another great day on the trails.

Holiday Lake 50k++ Race Report (2011 Edition)

02/12/11
6:01:14 (Last year 7:05)
182/305, 36th Female (seeded as 47th).

Weather was amazing, perfect cool temps for running.
Good company, Cville and Chambersburg, PA running friends.
Accomplished goals of beating last year's time (my first ultra) and running faster than David Horton had seeded me.

Pictures courtesy of Chuck Stone from PA

First creek crossing

3rd and 5th aid station

Kristal and Brenda just before the turnaround

Finishing

LtoR Brenda, Me, Kristal (first ultra!), Chuck

Up Next (um, tomorrow): National Half Marathon in DC. Was supposed to be the full but I am trying to be conservative on mileage while I nurse an IT band injury back to health.

2010 Year in Review

*yes, I know it is currently March*


Firsts


-First time being 30
-First Ultra
-First 50 miler
-First time in Alaska
-First time ice climbing
-First time in a hot air balloon
-First time in South America
-First tooth pulled
-First stitches (placed after the tooth was pulled)
-First time buying an engine for my car, along with a clutch
-First time running in yak tracks
-First time seeing someone dressed as the Eiffel tower run a marathon
-First time in NYC
-First time going to Physical Therapy

Carlsbad Marathon 1/23/11

Carlsbad, CA Marathon 1/23/11 State #16

I did not head into this race with any intention of a PR. I had heard it was a little hilly and with the weather being forecasted for 55 deg F at the start and up to 70 degrees by the finish I knew the temperature was not going to help. I flew into San Diego the afternoon before the race from a 1 night overnight in Milwaukee and had just enough time to get the rental car, drive to Encinatas up I-5 to get checked into the Howard Johnson, and then drive 15 more minutes to Carlsbad and the race expo, under a tent in the parking lot of the mall. The first thing that struck me was the space heaters they had going, especially with the 60 degree weather outside, nice. I had forgot my sunglasses in my car in Virginia and while I did not need them for the race I needed them for the week long visit in town, and especially for driving, but they had nothing I liked in the expo.  I did buy 3 of those no-slip girly headbands at the expo for me and one of my running partners and her daughter.

Expo Tents

Early Dinner at a cafeteria style restaurant in the mall, had penne pasta with marinara sauce and garlic mashed potatoes, very good. A quick stop at CVS for Gatorade and back to the hotel for the night and to try to go to bed early and catch up on sleep, early wake up call at 4am for a 6am race.

6am start in the dark in the parking lot of the mall, with the first hour in the dark running around town.
About 7am we approached the section with views of the Pacific Ocean, with the high wave alert producing loud waves as they broke on shore and sunrise (although it was rising in the opposite direction it produced some amazing color over the water). I saw these little things in the water that looked like they might be seals in little groups but upon asking a runner next to me I learned that they were surfers, OOOH, cool.

Running with fellow Marathon Maniac Noel
Photo Credit Marathon Mitch

We meandered along the coast seeing more waves and more surfers, some who were trying to cross the road with their boards in between the runners, we then turned East-ish and ran out/back on a road past the Outlet mall and a small airport. Aid stations were well stocked, all with water and most with Lemon Ultima, which I have found I really liked but they offer it very rarely at races, the last one was Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, AK last June.  There were 4 gu stations which was great, and on 3-4 occasions we met up and then left the half marathoners on the course where our routes merged then diverged. Most of the time we were running faster than the half marathon runners which was a boost to the ego. 

I ran with Noel most of the race until mile 18 or so when his IT Band started becoming bothersome. Up until that point we ran a string of 7 x 8:30 minute miles and were feeling pretty strong with a 4 hour marathon in sight. I slowed down a bit after we separated and hit a low spot when my right IT band started to hurt quit significantly. However, when I got 4-5 miles from the finish I started to do some math in my head and if I ran 9 min/mile for the rest of the time that I could break 4 hrs 5 min which would be a 13 minute PR for me. My knee was more painful on the uphills and at this point the course flattened out as we headed to the finish line at the same spot as the start line in the mall parking lot. The temperature was heating up a tad too and had the run lasted much longer it would have started to become a little more exciting for me. 

Finish 4:04:35 State #16 and earned me my 5th Marathon Maniac Star for running 16 marathons (or longer) in 365 days.

The rest of the week was spent in San Diego playing tourist while my boyfriend attended a conference. I ran only once in the hotel gym due to my ongoing knee pain, but walked all over town. Ate at The Mission in East Village 3 times! Went to Balboa Park to the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Botanical Building, Air and Space Museum, San Diego Zoo, and Coronado Island.

Harbor Drive downtown San Diego

View from our hotel room.

In Balboa Park

Balboa Park Botanical Building

More Balboa Park

Pink Flamingos in the San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo Giraffe 

Ghiradelli powered marathon runner

Ferry Boat to Coronado Island

Downtown San Diego from the Coronado Ferry

Beach on Coronado Island

Me heading back to the city on the ferry

Very expensive sail boat in the bay

View of USS Midway from the water

UP NEXT: Holiday Lake 50k++ in Appomattox, Virginia February 12, 2011.

Escape from Charlotte!

So after 40 hours stuck in the Charlotte Airport, countless snacks from the US Airways Lounge, several trips to Starbucks, flying to a city that is a 2.5 hour drive from my original airport, and a car ride I am HOME.

Mississippi/Alabama Marathon Double Weekend

State #14 - 1/8/11 Saturday Mississippi Blues Marathon Jackson, MS

#15 - 1/9/11 Sunday First Light Marathon Mobile, AL

PART ONE - Jackson, MS Fri/Sat

First off, I had not done much running in the 2 weeks leading up to the double due to hosting a visitor and in turn spending a few days in Milwaukee leading up to the race, brrr. That coupled with not having done a double marathon before, I was heading into the unknown. I teamed up with Murray to share hotel and car rental expenses, he is another Marathon Maniac whom I had met in Maine at the Mount Desert Island Marathon mid October of last year. I chose to fly into and out of New Orleans and rent a car to drive as all 3 locations were just about 3 hours driving time apart and I hoped to sneak in a visit with friends that I knew from when I lived there from 2002-2005. The flight leaving Milwaukee Friday morning was uneventful, but leaving Kansas City the plane’s computer gave an error message, so mid-taxi to the runway, the airline IT person told the pilot to turn off the entire plane to re-boot the computer (isn’t that what all of us try first?!). Well, it worked and we were on our way and even managed to land in New Orleans 15 min early due to a very strong tailwind.



The drive to Jackson, MS was scenic with the bayous, cypress trees and spanish moss. The drive went by quickly and generally uneventful save the wind batting around the itty bitty rental car on the elevated interstate system. The expo was at the convention center and was well organized (except for me, I didn’t think to bring my ID with me so I had to walk back to the hotel, then back again) and we were staying at the very nice Marriott about 5 blocks away. Dinner at Sal and Mookie’s, a local Italian restaurant that was crazy busy but the wait went quickly with good conversation, 4 of us total heading into the double marathon weekend. A grocery store run on the way back to the hotel and to bed at 9:30p.



Woke up to a cold morning with a large number of runners hanging out in the lobby until the last minute. The best part was the hotel set out pre-race bananas, granola bars and gatorade in fancy glass and brass dispensers in the lobby. Their coffee that was set out in the lobby was actually pretty good. All at once people started spilling out onto the street and we followed suit with the start a 4 block walk.

Fancy Gatorade at the Marriott

Pre-race lobby at the Marriott - Staying warm

One of several Elvis costumes
Some running and some directing traffic

Start line

The course winds quickly out of downtown and stays in the neighborhoods for most of the course. It is hilly, but small hills that resemble a roller coaster cause if you were not going up you were going down. Everything was well organized, well stocked aid stations with water and gatorade and 3 gel stations. As the miles went on I started chatting to a young man that went by the name "Dub," whom was running his first marathon. I leapfrogged with Murray the entire course and we both pulled Dub along. They both finished together about 10 min behind me, I last saw them at the 20 mile mark.

The last 6 miles I found a second wind (or perhaps a first) and began to steadily pick up the pace and slowly pick off runners, I had a sub 4:30 in mind and wanted to build a slight cushion should I begin to slow down or some bonus hills sneak into the course.


Finished 4:24:41


Quickly showered then hit the road for the 3 hour drive to Mobile with Murray as a passenger to keep me awake and entertained.

PART TWO - Mobile, AL Sat/Sun

We arrived in town at 4:30 and checked into the Candlewood Suites Downtown, Murray got bumped to the front of the check in line due to his frequent customer status, we got a few stare downs. We walked the few blocks over to the expo then across the street for the included pasta dinner, enjoyed the conversation with the runners at our table, then headed back to the hotel. I skipped the 50 States Marathon club gathering in exchange for some additional rest.

There were almost 100 names total!

Southern Belles at the Expo and me :)

The race start was a short walk from the hotel and we timed things well such that the start gun went off a few minutes after arriving to the start. This race, similar to the day before wandered through the streets with oaks, spanish moss, and ferns hanging off the bark. However this course was largely flat with course road surface at times. I was less chatty than the day before but got several good conversations in during the run.

Finished in 4:39:58 with a sprint to the finish to beat 4:40, no chip timing for this race.


Showered, then hit the road to New Orleans. Stopped an hour into the drive because I was STARVING. At Cracker Barrel I ate a chocolate shake, pancake breakfast with eggs and bacon, and a side of biscuits and gravy. I hit the road once the rain squall passed and my stomach was full. Stayed with friends from when I lived in New Orleans, had dinner at an Itailian place in the french quarter. And then breakfast the next morning in the Marigny. Stopping by Touro Infirmary, I was curious to see if any of my co-workers were still there that were in the hospital during Katrina. Turns out 2 nurses where there working and I sat in the nurses station chatting away for almost 40 minutes catching up. That felt really good to connect with them.


Then on to the airport where the rest of the adventure begins.

PART THREE - Charlotte, NC Mon-Tues++

Stuck!!!! I arrived in Charlotte, NC at 5pm Monday with my evening flight to Charlottesville being cancelled 3 hours after it was scheduled to depart due to ice. So, I was rebooked on a morning flight and had a largely sleepless night on the cold floor of the airport. I used the mylar wrap from the marathon in Mobile as a blanket, and it actually kept me quite toasty. After a few hours I decided to get up to use the restroom and to try to relocate to a quieter area as the terminal they had corralled us into had 2 bars open until 2am when I moved, and they did not look like they were closing down anytime soon.

I found an alcove of a wine bar and joined 2 gentlemen that were already lying on the floor and sleeping, both in their business casual and their small personal bag. Those who had checked luggage were unable to access their bags. I was able to get 2 hours of sleep there, and when I got up for the day about 4:30a, I gave and then wrapped one of the gentlemen with the mylar wrap as he had commented how cold he was. Starbucks was open, so I got an Americano to start my day and migrate to the gate. Once I got to the gate and got in line to get my boarding pass the gate agent said that there were seats available on a mid morning direct Charlottesville flight, so I got a ticket for that flight at 10a and headed to get breakfast. After I dumped the plate of biscuits and gravy on the floor, then got a new plate, I sat down to eat and saw Murray walk by. He was supposed to be home Sunday night!!!! Not in Charlotte on Tuesday Morning.


We walk to the US Airways lounge at 8 am, and that is where we continue to sit at the time of this posting 2pm EST. I have a flight scheduled at 4pm to Richmond.....not real hopeful but not much else to do. I will post an update when something happens.


And now I have done a double marathon!