Race Recaps: 8K.9.10.11.12.13 and Dirty Dog Trail Run 5K, plus winter running woes

The typical cold, wintry weather that Ohio sees every year is not disappointing us this year, as it decided to show up early in November and stay a while.  Temps have been in the 30's and lower, and we've had a bit of snowfall - nothing major yet, but enough that it stuck to the ground overnight one night.  Yes folks...winter is nearly upon us!

Winter sucks the fun out of running for me....I try to keep up with the habit, but I find myself turning to other forms of exercise to supplement.  I've already started doing the 30 Day Shred in the mornings, and soon will be getting back to hot yoga (which is the BOMB in the winter, when it's cold out!).  Last resort is the treadmill that is stowed away in our basement, but I'll be honest: I can only handle 20-30 minutes on the treadmill before I feel like I'm going to go insane.  So, I pretty much avoid it whenever I can.

I've still been running over my lunch hour 2-3 days a week, and I'm still running races, but I find myself packing on the gear these days to keep warm.  I have Raynaud's in my fingers and toes too, which makes winter running very uncomfortable - I absolutely HATE running with numb toes.  I've been experimenting with some new items that I really like, and I purchased at awesome prices at Target (of all places!).  I got a C9 by champion winter running jacket that I've worn for the last 2 races and it keeps my core super warm!  This awesome C9 by Champion shirt has a built-in neck gaiter that is awesome for when you are standing around waiting before/after races.  Also picked up a pair of C9 by Champion flip-top running mittens , which do a great job of keeping my fingers pretty warm...when I wear them I normally only have 1 or 2 fingers with a Raynaud's "attack" (versus...well...ALL of them if I don't wear the mittens).  Target's stuff has been impressing me lately, to say the least.  Now, if I could just figure out how to keep my feet warm!  I've experimented with wool socks, 2 pairs of socks, tall socks, short socks...nothing works yet, but I'll keep looking.

P and I ran 2 races in this chilly weather so far, which I'll recap here:  The 8k.9.10.11.12.13, and the Dirty Dog Trail 5K.

8k.9.10.11.12.13 was a part of the "end of the world" series which included the 12.12.12 12K, 11.11.11 11K, etc.  This race was the 2nd to last in the series (they will only do one more, next year - the 9k.10.11.12.13.14 and then it's finished...or so the race director says :) ).  It was an 8k course, which started at 9:10PM, on 11/12/13 at a local running shop.  The course was around a local mall (super flat) and since it took place so late at night, there was minimal traffic.  It was 12 degrees outside when the race started, and I was not running it for time...I always run slower in the cold because my feet go numb.  I was just running it for the fun of it.  There were about 330 runners/walkers, so it was a decent sized race.  To my surprise, I got pretty into it (despite my completely numb feet) and ended up finishing in 48 minutes flat - only 8 seconds slower than my 8K time from the Ohio/Michigan 8K back in July.  I was happy with that.  All finishers got a certificate, which I'm keeping with my 12.12.12 12k certificate and my Leap Day 2.9 mile run certificate.

The Dirty Dog Trail 5K was this past Saturday, the 23rd.  It was a prediction race, meaning that before the race begins you guess what your finish time will be.  Winners are ranked not by finish time, but by how closely they guessed their times.  Runners/walkers could navigate the course with or without their pooch (although most participants had a dog).  P and I both ran, but I ran with Maizey and he ran "dogless".  The weather was cold - about 20 degrees but very sunny.  The course was 2 loops through Cedar Creek park - a park that I'd never been to before - and utilized grass, stone, and dirt trails (plus a wooden bridge).  I did not realize that the trails would be wood trails, so I SEVERELY under-estimated my finish time.  I came no where close.  The grass and gravel running portions of the path were fine, but the dirt trails got so torn up (particularly by the 2nd loop) that they were more slippery mud than anything else, and the wooden bridge was covered in icy frost so I slowed way down and grandma'ed it across all 4 times.  I also got lost on the 2nd loop because I forgot where the first turn-off was - thankfully I ended up passing P just past the point I had missed, and he hollered "You are going the wrong way!" so I was able to turn around and figure out my mistake and not waste too much time.  Oops!  Anyhow, Maizey loved it!  She loved being with all of the other dogs, and she literally pulled me for the first mile or so!  Finally she got a little tired, so she slowed down and we had a nice pace together.  I made a friend on the trail and we chatted about her beautiful yellow lab for a few minutes.  Maizey had a ball running up to everyone and smelling them/saying hi as we passed by.  The Dirty Dog Trail Run truly lived up to its name, as by the end of the run Maizey was covered in mud (and so were my new running shoes, plus halfway up my calves).  I am not sure of official time yet but it's somewhere around 34 minutes (I had predicted 28:50....so yeah, no where close!).  P finished in 32 minutes.  After a nice bath (and taking the hose to my new shoes), all was right again.  Plus, Maizey took a big old nap all afternoon that day!

This week I'm registered for one 5K and might potentially be doing one more:
Thanksgiving Day - East Side Turkey Trot 5K.  Burning a few hundred calories before I consume a few thousand!

Saturday (maybe) - Holiday Hustle 5K.  This one depends on babysitter availability.  It's fun though, because it takes place at night and people wrap themselves in Christmas lights for the run!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Making the Most of a Cancelled Race

Whew!  What a month it's been.  I haven't been blogging very regularly, but I thought now would be a great time to catch up.

Racing season is (for me, anyhow) winding down...I normally try to run as many races as I can fit in until the end of November and then pretty much call it a year until March or so.  I still continue to run in the winter, but with the Ohio weather it's pretty unpredictable as to how many chances I'll actually get to go outside and run.  I have a treadmill in the basement just for that reason alone, although I absolutely DREAD the treadmill and try as hard as I can NOT to use it.  Since my running slows down in the winter, I also take up hot yoga in the cold months.  It's awesome - I love the heat, I love the sweat....it's amazing to go into class all bundled up on a snowy 10 degree day, and walk out in shorts and a tank top, carrying all the gear, because the cold feels SOOOO good after an hour in that 105 degree room.  I usually start up with hot yoga in November, so I'm looking forward to that.

Since my last post, I have only ran one organized race - and it's an interesting story.  P, myself and 4 other members of our running club had all decided to do the Towpath Half Marathon in Cleveland, which was to take place on October 13.  However - it the event takes place in Cuyahoga Valley National Park - which happened to be affected by the government shut down that played out.  We all waited with baited breath until they announced the Tuesday before the race that they were going to cancel the event and reschedule it to a November date.  Well, November is a crazy busy month for us, so we knew we couldn't make the reschedule date - but of course that didn't stop us from planning out a half of our own.  My husband and brother-in-law had the idea to put together our OWN half marathon on the 13th.  P mapped out a course, I busted out my scrapbooking stuff and, using some extra medals we had left over from cross country, made finisher medals.  Another runner's wife, along with my brother in law, acted as mobile water stops - driving their vans from place to place along the course passing out water, orange slices, etc.  She used my DSLR to take pictures for us too, as our unofficial course photographer.  We ended up having a few more running club members join us for the run since it was local.

Our group before the run

And we're off!

The run was really fun....P did a great job mapping it out and it was mostly flat (aside from one horrible, ghastly hill over by Fallen Timbers mall, which was steep but, thankfully, short).  Unfortunately, it was P's first long run since being diagnosed with arthritis in his knee, and he couldn't finish.  I knew he was hurting when we caught up with him around mile 6 (we were keeping a 10:15 pace, and he normally is around a 9:00 pace for long runs).  Around mile 8 he dropped out and had one of our water stop drivers pick him up.  While I felt really bad for him, I'm glad he decided to call it quits before he tried to finish and just made it so much worse.

Here we are, on our way to the hill...see it up there, around the curve?  

We ran from the south end/Maumee area all the way out to Whitehouse, ending at the Whitehouse Inn for lunch and drinks!

We had a lot of fun, as you can see from my "camera-hamming"

My sister in law and I mostly kept together for the whole race with the exception of the last half mile.  She picked up her pace a lot and I just couldn't keep up, so I held back about 100 feet behind her.

Neck and neck at the finish!

Here I come!

I made it!

I crossed the finish line in 2:16 - my best half marathon time yet.

And I had delicious french onion soup, a bloody mary, a beer, and a big glass of water for lunch :)

I've decided to retire my running shoes, which I love SOOOOO much - and get a new pair.  I've put a few hundred miles on them over the summer, so it's time.  I'm just going to get another pair of the same style, but maybe a different color.   They are, however, very meshy and breathable, so I might try the same style in a trail shoe for the winter.  That should give me a little more traction and water resistance - but I love the zero drop shoes so much that I can never go back to a "regular" stability shoe!

Upcoming races: I'm shooting to PR for the year at one of the 5K's!  Fingers crossed.
8k at 9:10pm on 11/12/13 (AKA "8k.9.10.11.12.13") - 11/12
East Side Turkey Trot 5K - 11/28 (Thanksgiving Day).
Holiday Hustle 5K - 11/30

I was on the fence about running Churchill's Half Marathon, which is in November.  This year they held 2 races - historically, it's been held in the spring (for 46 years), but this year they wanted to move it to the fall, so they are also having a fall half.  I ran the spring, and at first I thought I wanted to run the fall too, but they changed the course and there's a huge hill at Mile 12.  Not that a hill is the end of the world, but I dunno....for whatever reason, I'm not as excited about it as I was before.  Plus I will just be coming home from the waterpark with our 8 year old (we do a mother-daughter waterpark overnight every year that week, because the kids always have that Friday off for a teacher work day).  So...I'm just not sure.  Maybe I'll be there, and maybe I won't.

We went to a Halloween party over the weekend and I just want to show off our awesome costumes:

Fifty Shades of Grey, and a Sharknado

And last but not least, here's what I've been wearing on my nails lately (I've had my polish changed 3 times since my last update....yikes!  Really will try to get better at updating more often!).

OPI GelColor - Casino Royale

OPI GelColor - You Don't Know Jacques (one of my ALL-TIME faves)

Right now: OPI GelColor - Keep Me Warm

Race report: Oak Openings Stampede Series of Races

Yesterday I ran the Oak Openings Stampede 25k trail race.  I don't have a ton of experience trail racing, but I DO have lots of experience running longer distances, so I thought...what the heck?  I'd heard it was a great race so I signed up to see what all the fuss was about.

I loaded up on a big old bagel with a generous amount of peanut butter that morning because I knew I'd need something that would sustain me on the course.  There were aid stations every ~2 miles or so, and they were stocked with various snacks as well as hydration, but I didn't want to have to eat too much while running.  I was also avoiding Gu as much as possible since the last time I used it at (Glass City Marathon in the spring), it gave me a heinous stomach ache and some horrible GI side effects (a google search told me I'm not the only one with a "Gu intolerance").  I haven't experimented with too much else than Shot Bloks and Clif Bars since then.  P is still sidelined with knee problems, but he volunteered and was working the 8 mile water station, so I gave him a Clif Bar and told him to keep it in his pocket just in case I needed it when I got there.

There was a great turnout for this series of races....they had over 250 people pre-registered between the 3 courses - a 5K, a 25K, and a 50K (which was the 25K loop, twice).  The weather was perfect - in the mid-50's when the race started at 9am.  It was not chip timed, and the start took a little bit as the 25K and 50K'ers all took off together.  But, I was ok with walking for a few minutes since I knew we had a LOOONG ways to go!

And they're off!  We are in grey long sleeved shirts.

 The course basically went around the perimeter of Oak Openings park.  It's mostly dirt trails and very narrow through much of it (scary narrow, in some areas...like there there's nothing next to you but a hill to fall down!).  I was NOT running for time, just running to do it and to finish...so my SIL and I decided to partner up and stick together for the whole run.  We fell into an ~11 min/mile pace for the first half, which put us in a nice spot...we were virtually all alone for most of the race....we could just barely see the pack that was up a couple hundred feet in front of us Thankfully, the trails were also EXTREMELY well-marked with flags and spray-painted trees, so we had no issues with getting lost or anything like that.

The first 10 miles or so were pretty fun, minus one area about 4 miles in where there happened to be a swarm of angry HORNETS just hanging out on the trail and stinging the crap out of people's legs!  I somehow managed to come out un-stung, but my SIL got stung twice...some runners got it MUCH worse....thankfully not far from the hornets was an aid station where they had a bee sting relief pen, so that was very helpful!  Aside from the bees, there were lots of tree roots to avoid, some downed trees to climb over, and the typical mud/rocks/hills/stumps/slopes/holes/spiders/woodland critters that one would expect to encounter while trail racing!   I was rather sure I would trip over something and fall and/or break a bone, but I didn't....I came VERY close lots of times, though.  The hills really started around mile 6, but my legs were still feeling quite fresh so they didn't bother me at all...in fact I felt very rejuvenated and up to the challenge, so I got in front of SIL and we even picked our pace up quite a bit for a couple miles, passing several people. Our Garmins weren't working due to all the trees, but it definitely FELT like we were maintaining a faster pace for a while.

When we got to the mile 8 aid station I was still feeling great.  This was P's station, and he made sure I drank some water and they also had orange quarters there which tasted divine!  We stopped and hung out there for about 4-5 minutes before we headed back on our way through the woods again.

Miles 8-10 brought on more hills.  My lower back started to get tired from leaning while running up so many hills.  At mile ~11 there was a random set of wooden stairs that you had to climb down to cross a bridge...I didn't realize how stiff my legs were until we had to walk down those steps!  One couple passed us right about in this area, and that was the last set of people that would pass us.  We fell into a position we'd maintain for the rest of the race...there were 4 people we'd pass, then they'd catch up when we stopped at an aid station....then we'd pass again....then they'd catch up....they were very good sports about stepping off the trails to let us go by each time though.  One even said very kind and encouraging words each time ("You look great!"  "Keep it up!" etc).  I thought that was so sweet.

It was around this time that I got hungry.  First I thought I was hearing a bullfrog croaking or something but no, it was my own stomach growling!!!   I started kicking myself for not getting my Clif Bar from P when I had the chance.  And we had JUST passed an aid station at mile 10.7 where I only had water and skipped out on food, too.  My SIL had brought her fluid belt and a Gu so I took just like 1/4 of the Gu with some of her water.  Thankfully it sat well in my stomach and gave me a little sugar so I could keep going.

Miles 12-13 were tough, our pace slowed to what I'd estimate a 12-12:30 min/mile We were running out of things to talk about, and were starting to complain about how much our bodies hurt. I let my SIL take the lead on the trail for a while.  My footstrike was totally not normal for me due to the uneven terrain (I'm used to road running, not trail), and as a result my right ankle was tight and hurting, and the middle toes on my left foot were sore.  The backs of my thighs felt knotted up.  Thankfully I was still in a good place mentally so we kept puttering along, waiting and waiting for that Mile 13 marker.  We just wanted to see it so bad, as it would mean only 2.5 miles left!

We passed the marker and there was an aid station just up the trail from it!  And they had COOKIES!!!!  Yummy vanilla sandwich cookies. I stuffed  2 of them in my mouth and chased them with some water.  This was the home stretch, and I felt pretty good after that.  I loudly announced "If this was a half-marathon, we'd be finished by now!" as we took off back down the trail.  Nothing like a little delirious running humor!

(Side note: I'd love to know what anyone who was within earshot of us talking on this trail thought of our conversation, which ranged anywhere from talking about what to make for dinner, to discussing the movie "Sharknado".  Yes, we talked about literally EVERYTHING.)

Our pace had slowed to a shuffle-y type of run by then, but we just kept trotting along until FINALLY we emerged from the woods and the finish was just ahead!  As soon as we emerged we could hear our running group screaming and cheering for us from across the water.....I am not sure of official time (since our Garmins were like a mile off) but I believe it was 3h 15m on the clock.

Coming through the finish chute!  And we were not DFL!  Woo hoo!

Not bad AT ALL for stopping and hanging out a few minutes at every aid station on the course (plus a couple times to take sticks out of our shoes, fight bees, etc).  We got some really cool finisher medals (they look just like the trail markers) and after turning in our popsicle sticks, we hobbled over to meet with everyone.  I started stiffening up immediately.  I took my shoes and socks off and sat in the grass.  I was thirsty and felt a little lightheaded but that was remedied by some water and a banana.  P was there too....he'd been relieved by some other volunteers (remember, there was still a 50K race going on...some people were doing that 25K loop TWICE!  HUGE props to them...especially having to run through the bees again!).  Most of our fellow running club members waited around for us to finish.  They all had bee stings and one had fallen on the trail and injured his knee....but we all made it!

Medal front

Medal back

(Almost) All of us after completing the 25K.  Notice, I am far away from everyone else. Because I was very sweaty and stinky!

 I started getting cold because my running clothes were soaked in sweat.  I forced a smile through some group pictures and then we took off for home where I immediately showered in super hot water for half an hour and came out to the BEST grilled cheese EVER that P had fixed me for lunch.  A couple handfuls of yummy, salty potato chips later and I was feeling on top of the world again!

This race was super fun - VERY challenging (perhaps even more so than a marathon), and gave me a whole new respect for trail running!!  But I will do it again next year!

Thankfully I used my foam roller several times yesterday so I'm able to walk today...a little bit stiff but otherwise feeling good!

And....Nails of the Moment:  Honk If You Love OPI....Dark purple-y red creme. One of my favorites so far for fall!  The creme shellacs seems to stay on me better than anything that has glitter or shimmer in it, so I'm trying to stick with those.  This is just a quick snap of it with my iPhone, that doesn't pick up the reddish/burgundy type of undertone that it has in it in real life.  From now on maybe I'll try my DSLR for these.

Recapping August

The month of August felt like it flew by!  Cross Country started for the kids, school is back in now, and we've had a super-packed schedule so I just haven't made the time to write a new post.   I'll summarize the month:

Maizey came home August 2nd!  She's doing great and is huge, very sweet and extremely FLUFFY!

11 weeks old and growing!

August 3: I ran the Women's Distance Festival 5K for ladies only.  It was a great run - beautiful, sunny, warm weather and a huge turnout.  I finished this one in 28:25 and was 50/175 runners.  Not a PR, but I enjoyed the run anyhow.  Afterward they had a 100m high heel dash for both men and women, which was very entertaining!

Race start (pink top, black skirt on L)

August 7: P, the kids and I ran the Sole 2 Soul race out in Perrysburg.  Nice flat course that had two runs: 1K for kids under 12, and a 5K.  It's also a local race that's very heavily marketed toward cross country runners since it's just before their season starts.  They had over 100 kids in the 1K race and over 430 runners in the 5K.  I ran with our 3 year old in the 1K....he did great!  0.6 miles in 9:03 which is super for such a little guy!  Most of our oldest's cross country team ran it as well...they definitely stood out with their team shirts on!  I finished this one in 28:19.  It was super humid that day and I had to stop at the water stop.  I'm looking forward to fall races that aren't so humid!!  I'd like to PR sometime this fall....my pace always seems to fall around 9:00/mi.  I just need the heat and humidity to break so I can push myself a little harder without getting all gaggy and barfy doing so.

Finishing the 1K kids' race

Finishing the 5K

August 10: P and I, along with a few other members of our running group, ran the Run or Dye 5K.  It was something fun and different, but I don't have the desire to do one again.  Lots of people, crowded course, people just everywhere.  We treated it as a group training run and pretty much ran in a pack the whole time - after all there was no clock to time us, and no one wanted to wear their Garmin out of fear that the dye might ruin it - so we just ran along together at a comfortable pace where we could all chit-chat.   It was fun and we got very colorful, but I've gotten my fill of "just for fun" novelty "races" after this one. 

"She comes in colors everywhere....she combs her hair....she's like a raaaaaaain bowwwwww" - The Rolling Stones

In between Run or Dye and now: work got very busy, our oldest started back to school, we had ab huge back-to-school pool party, and one case of pink eye.  Yes, it was a busy 2 weeks!  It also got back into the mid-90's with 90% humidity, so I did not run much.  I tried to take Maizey for lots of walks as somewhat of a substitute.

In unfortunate news, P sprained his knee a few weeks ago and after hobbling around in excruciating pain for a while, he saw his Dr. who performed some imaging and found knee effusion (water on the knee).  P needs to see an orthopedic surgeon for treatment, but can't get in til mid-Sept....he's completely sidelined until then - NO running...although he's in so much pain that he probably couldn't run if he wanted to.  It really stinks, but he's taking it in stride.  My brother-in-law is also sidelined due to both an upcoming surgery and injury, so at least P has someone to commiserate with.

This past Sunday, my sister in law and I went on an 8 mile run together.  It was really fun and it felt GREAT to go on a nice, long run.  The best part was the mimosas we enjoyed on my back deck afterward :)  However, my calves have been pretty sore ever since, which just re-iterates what I already know: that I need to get back on a regular running schedule again!!   We are going to try to do our long runs together every weekend from here on out, so that'll be good motivation to get back at it.

Upcoming races:
Oak Openings Stampede 25K (15.5 miles) - 9/15/13
Towpath Half Marathon - 10/13/13
Churchill's 45.5th Annual Half Marathon - 11/9/13 (I did this one in the spring - and historically for 45 years it was in the spring...however  they decided to change it to November, hence the "1/2" tagged on the end.  It is in a totally different location, so I'm excited for the new course!)

Every two weeks, I go get a manicure at a local day spa.  I always opt for the semi-permanent, "Shellac" -type polishes because regular nail polish just does not last on me.  Through trial and error I found that I like OPI's GelColor the best.  I personally find that (on my nails) it lasts the longest, stays the shiniest, and makes it simple to match my hands and toes if I so desire (since most of their regular colors come in GelColor too).  I thought it might be fun to start posting what my "nails of the moment" are every two weeks, so here's the first round: OPI GelColor in "Vampsterdam" (I actually got these done last week Friday.  Just today I had to go back to get a horribly split nail repaired - it was so bad, she had to put some acrylic on it to build it up because it split down so far.  But now it looks pretty again!).   All summer long I went for the nice, vibrant pinks and fuschias and corals.  This last time I felt ready to tone it down to my usual burgandy/brown/dark neutrals.  I like this one; it's deep and dark but a bit "richer" than, say, Lincoln Park After Dark.   On the surface it looks like a creme, but in the right light you can catch the small glints of micro-glitter that are about the same color as the polish.

Now that life is coming down to a more manageable level of chaos, I promise to try to update more!

New running buddy!

Friday evening, we brought home a new running partner….meet Maizey!

Ok, so she’s not quite running-partner-sized yet….but isn’t she just SOOOOOOO cute???  She’s a 7 week old Golden Retriever. 

P and I are dog lovers.  When we first started dating back in 2001, I had an English Springer Spaniel.  Shortly after we got involved, he adopted Dave, our Dalmatian.  And a few months after that, I went to the pet store to get something and it just so happened that the Humane Society had one of those adopt-a-thons going on there too.  Being the softie (sucker) that  I am, I went home with whatever I had gone there to buy PLUS a little black lab puppy, Summer.

Summer ended up with a large tumor that grew on her rear leg, which we had removed in 2009.  It was a rough surgery with a difficult recovery for her.  In 2012, it started to grow back again.  We didn’t want to put her through surgery another time, so we just monitored it.  In April of this year, the tumor grew too large, so we put her to sleep.  She was 11 years old.  Summer was a wonderful dog and I miss her and think about her all the time.

Our springer spaniel, Corran, lived to the ripe old age of 15, until we had to put him to sleep in May.  He was so arthritic and had really bad muscle wasting in his back and rear legs.  He ended up not being able to maintain his body weight, and became very thin – almost emaciated – even though he always had food.  Putting him to sleep was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but it was also the most humane thing to do.  He was my first pet, so you can imagine how hard losing him was.

Since May of this year it’s just been us and Dave, our Dalmatian, who is currently 12 years old.  He never showed any signs of aging until Summer and Corran were gone.  All of a sudden Dave started acting like an old dog – he’d limp a bit when getting up from a laying position….some hearing loss…and his activity levels definitely decreased.  I’d buy him toys and he’d want nothing to do with them.   He became very clingy and always underfoot….we started constantly tripping over Dave.

We started sending him to a local doggie daycare every now and then, and taking him with us more places where there are other dogs.  He really likes being around other dogs, and it seems to have helped him perk up a little bit.

We started talking about getting another puppy and even went and looked at a few.  Then all of a sudden a friend of his posted on Facebook that his two Goldens had puppies that morning and there’s one that still needed a home.   We got ahold of them right away and that’s how we ended up with our little Maizey!  We waited a long 2 months for her but it was so worth it.  She was the biggest, fattest puppy in the litter and since we love big dogs, we were attracted to her instantly.  We went every 2 weeks to visit the puppies and let the kids play with them, and Friday evening we brought her home with us.  We are all just so thrilled to have her!!  Dave took an immediate liking to her and is already teaching her “how to be a dog” in our household.

Get the name?  Maize and blue…Maizey!



These are just a few photos I took over the weekend – she’s very cute and fluffy!  She’s been really great so far, very friendly and very social.  She’s getting used to lots of kids and commotion in a hurry, which is good because we definitely need a friendly dog who can put up with all of that.  We are really looking forward to watching her grow up with the kids!

Race Recap: Big Ten Network's BTN10K - Chicago, IL

By now, if you have read any of my posts, you have probably inferred that I dislike most race t-shirts, unless they meet two qualifications:

1)      Women’s cut

2)      Dri-fit/technical material

Since most races (except for half-marathon distances and higher) don’t offer shirts in a combination of these two things, I usually don’t take the t-shirt unless it’s included in the price of registration. And if I do, I just get a size large so P can wear it.

On the other hand, my husband P is ALL ABOUT the race t-shirt.  A cool shirt design will sucker him into any race.  He’s easy like that.

We are big University of Michigan fans, so imagine how excited P was when he stumbled upon the Big Ten Network 10k/5k/FanFest, held in Chicago, IL.  For the registration price, you also got a technical shirt specific to the Big Ten school of your choice.  After he heard about that shirt, he was IN, no further questions.  Happily, I found that the shirts are ALSO gender-specific…and, since I’m always up for a trip to Chicago, we registered for the 10k – but not early enough to get our packets mailed to us.

Last Friday - the day prior to the race - we made the 4 hour car trip to Chi-town (3 hours, really…if you count that you gain an hour on the way).  There was no day-of-race packet pickup, so we took the day off work and headed there to get our stuff.  As soon as we rolled into town, we navigated straight to Fleet Feet sports to get our bibs and other race goodies.

Packet pickup was pretty well organized – I was expecting it to be a mess, simply due to the number of participants - the website said they had over 12,000 registered runners.  Pickup was a breeze though – we were in and out in 5 minutes. After pickup, we had some lunch and checked out what was in our goodie bags.  Aside from the BTN bag and t-shirt, there was also a snack sized Clif Bar (chocolate mint, yum), race bib/pins, a race info booklet, and a nifty little zip-tie to strap your gear check ticket onto your bag with.  

BTN 10K goodies

We headed down to McCormick Place (after getting lost in a really shady looking area), and after we checked into our hotel we decided to go out and have “a beer”.  We left at 4PM with the intent of returning around 7PM for some light dinner and shut-eye.  However that turned into us walking from our hotel all the way down to the Mag Mile (about 3 miles).  We kept stopping at bars on the way and had a drink or two at each.  I discovered my new most favorite summer beer (Revolution Brewing Rosa), which made the excursion totally worth it.  Around 11PM we finally wandered back down over the river, hit up a Panera for some light dinner to-go, and hailed a cab back to our hotel where we sat in bed and watched TV and ate soup and salad til midnight.  Totally not part of the plan, but it was fun and most definitely worth it.

The instructions in the packet said to arrive to the course Saturday morning no later than 5:45am (SPEW!)….but the gates to the starting area weren’t open til 6am.  Our hotel was running nonstop shuttles to and from the Museum Campus from 6a-9a that morning, so we knew we’d get there in plenty of time as long as we left around 6-6:15.  At 5am P stumbled sleepily down to the lobby to get us some large Starbucks coffees and I flipped on CNN.  I ALWAYS drink a big cup of coffee while I watch the news before I run.  I also had packed my favorite pre-race meal –whole wheat bread with a generous spread of Jif creamy peanut butter – so, I feasted on that as well.  P had cereal.

Race morning necessities

At 5:45am I was adequately caffeinated/awake, and breakfast was sitting good in my tummy, so I threw on my race clothes.  The “theme” of the BTN10K is, of course, “school spirit” -  so the goal was to put on as much “fan wear” as you could!  I sported my Michigan race shirt, Athleta Swagger skort, and knee high Michigan socks.  I wore block “M” earrings in my ears as well.  P was garbed up in his race shirt along with very stylish matching Michigan sweatband and wristbands. 

Looking very stylish

After we crammed ourselves onto one of the hotel shuttles with lots of other runners, we made it to the start line around 6:20a.  The temperature was absolutely perfect – I have no idea how we got so lucky in July!!!  It was the only random day, after a 2 week long heat wave (heat index 100+), where the high was only supposed to hit 70.  It was about 55 and sunny and I was loving it. 

The starting corrals were in front of the Adler Planetarium.  It was a teeming mass of humanity.  There were people EVERYWHERE and navigating around was a little rough.  We asked several volunteers where gear check was, but no one seemed to know; we just ended up following everyone else with bags and asking a couple of other participants before we found it.  The lines to the porta-potties outside the gear check area were huge….but inside the area, they had a ton of toilets and no real lines to speak of.  We took one last bathroom break then went and stretched before they announced that we needed to get to our corrals.  Getting to the corrals was a whole different story that I won’t elaborate on too much except to say that it was a giant cluster____!

P registered me and I’m not sure what he put down as my projected finish time, but I was in the ABSOLUTE LAST CORRAL.  The only thing that was making me nervous about that was tripping over people and getting blocked in over the first mile or two.  I had a time goal in mind and I really wanted to finish in under 60 minutes, so I knew it was going to mean a LOT of maneuvering around people.

The race started at 7:00a sharp, but by the time us last-corral-ers even started moving forward toward the start, they announced that the lead runner had just passed the 5K mark.  By the time we made it to the start line, over 18 minutes had passed.  Just then, it hit me….I had to PEE.  AGAIN.  And it was definitely too late for that.    I turned my Garmin on as soon as I crossed the start line and told myself to get ready to settle in for a while.

As I feared, I didn’t get very far before I ran right into a wall of people.  Had this been a marathon, I would have just plodded along and waited for the crowd to thin out.  But I was running for a specific time.  People were everywhere with of course no traffic pattern (ie, no “slower runners to the right/faster to the left”- type of organization AT ALL).  I decided to be a little rude about it because I wanted to get away from the slower runners and walkers, so I was all about pushing my way through tiny spaces, cutting people off (while yelling “Sorry!” of course….I can’t be TOO mean about it!) and generally running just outside of cones, up on medians and sidewalks and just trying to get around as many people as I could.  I wasn’t the only one, trust me, so don’t be mad.

The course was an out-and-back right along Lake Michigan, with the start line just north of the Museum. It was flat and on paved park walkways – not very wide at all.  I was at the 5K split in 30 minutes – not as fast as I normally run but not bad for such a crowded start.  I really believed that I could make my goal if I kept going.  It would have to be a fast few miles, but I could do it.  My pacing was right on and if I could keep it up I could do it.

At mile 4-ish I wanted to stop for water.  FATAL FLAW.  So did everyone else.  I literally STOPPED and stood in line to get a cup of water. I watched people slip on the piles of paper cups that were built up all over by the tables.  I took a few sips while walking; merging back into the crowd was a mess.  I pushed my way back in and had to run on the side of the path in the mud and grass to pass all the people I’d already made such an effort to pass.  That was my slowest mile (10:01 pace).  I felt so defeated – I knew I probably wouldn’t make it.  I flip flopped between just finishing out the rest of the run at a comfortable pace, and busting my rear to try to make it to my goal – but I refused to quit.  My full bladder was making its presence more and more known with every step I took, so I tried to zone out, to look at everyone’s costumes, and to pass as many people wearing tutus as possible (don’t ask, I just really don’t get the whole running-in-a-tutu thing and they sort of make me angry).

I did not make my goal – I crossed the finish line in 1:01:11.  1 minute, 12 seconds under my goal of 59:59.  I tried really hard not to be bummed out and told myself that the crowded course did not help my efforts.  I really had given it my best shot, although I suppose I could have skipped the water stop which might have aided me a little more.  All in the past by that point….

P found me within a few seconds and handed me a bottle of water.  He was super happy with his time of 55:04, and I was very proud of him. We funneled into the “tailgate party” area where we got our medals.  We waited in line at the U of M tent to get our U of M sunglasses and football posters.  I was ready for that free post-race beer….until we saw the lines.  There were 2 beer tables and the lines to each were literally never ending and eventually crossed into each other.  It was like the one time I tried to go to Target at 7am on Black Friday and couldn’t even find the end of the line to stand in.  We said forget it and decided to just head back to the room to clean up.

We had missed the last shuttle back to the hotel by minutes (literally) so we walked.  We got cleaned up, hopped on the El up to Wrigleyville and continued our Chicago adventures from there:

Some rooftop bar in Chicago

The Bean

Would I do this race again?  Sure, I would – but I would not set any kind of time goal for myself.  The number of participants in 2013 was twice that of 2012 and I’m assuming it will be even bigger next year.  So I’d do it again as a “fun run” and as a reason to spend a long weekend in Chicago….but I would NOT put any pressure on myself to make a specific time though.  The course is not really proper for the number of people participating, although maybe if the number of runners keeps going up every year, that will change…I’m assuming that shutting down the major streets of Chicago would be an issue though. 



BTN10K race bling

Race Recap: Feet on the Street 5K

I wanted to do a race over the weekend, but not many people from our running group were up for it – only 3 of us agreed to race, and we couldn’t agree on one.   One other member and I chose to run the Feet on the Street 5K in BG – a run to benefit Wood Lane Residential Services, which assists adults with developmental disabilities.  The course was familiar (since I used to live there, and now I run in the general area several times a week) and I really liked the logo on the t-shirt.  Let’s face it – sometimes, it’s ALL about the race t-shirt.

I had been too busy to remember to mail in my pre-registration stuff, so I registered onsite the morning of the race.  The entry fee was $25, which in my mind is a little pricey for a 5K, but when I saw how much STUFF you got in the goodie bag, I quickly changed my tune.  This baby was PACKED!  Water bottle, coffee mug, dog treats, coffee, and tons of coupons to the local running stores, etc.  The t-shirt was a tech shirt, but it was unisex (men’s) cut, so I’ll be giving that to P.  (Side note:  if you are reading this, and are a race director, PLEASE consider adding women’s fit shirts to your races!!  The women will THANK you!)  In addition to the overloaded goodie bag, there were over 140 door prizes plus a 50/50 raffle!  I was majorly impressed with the incentives at this one.   They spoiled the runners rotten!

One of the local newscasters acted as the emcee, and we all clapped and cheered on the 1K walkers as they took off at 8AM.  While the walkers were out on the course, my fellow running club member and I stretched and chatted.  We did some warm-up jogs to the corner and back, and I felt some pain in the medial portion of my left calf, and on my right shin.  I chalked it up to residual muscle soreness from the 10K just 2 days before, but I will say it made me a little nervous.  My legs have been experiencing some weird pains lately  - I guess we’ll see what’s going on with that.

At 8:30AM it was time, so we all lined up behind the bright orange spray-painted Start line.  “Runners Set”…..and then “Go!” and we all took off.  There were just over 160 runners - a nice turn out.  The course was nice and flat and took us through the residential streets of BG.  It was HOT out, as July races tend to be - 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  One downer was that the wind that BG is normally so fabulous at providing was NOT there on race morning.  I’m not sure if it was because we were in a residential area with lots of houses and trees or what, but the air was thick and heavy.

There were timers at each mile, calling out times.  At Mile 1, the timer hollered “8:43!” to me, which seemed WAY off…and Garmin said 8:54.  Post-race, it was confirmed that the timers on the course were a little trigger-happy, so times were indeed off a bit.  The finish clock was correct though...and in the end, that's the one that counts!

The course had 2 water stops; I skipped the first one but did stop at the 2^nd one just past the 2 mile marker; I was parched.  I took two sips of water while walking, then tossed the cup and kept on going.  I normally don’t stop at water stops because I don’t want to lose those extra few seconds walking, but at these hot summer races, I try to listen to my body more – my body was telling me it needed a drink.  My leg pains were gone, but my lips and mouth were parched and sweat was pouring under my trusty Oakley running glasses and into my eyes (my Oakley glasses are probably my #1 favorite piece of running gear.  Money WELL spent!!!).

The entire first 2/3 of the race, this guy in a white bandana and yellow shirt was right in front of me.  His pace was just fast enough that I didn’t want to pass him too early because I feared he’d be going a bit TOO fast and I wouldn’t be able to maintain it, but I kept right at his heels.  Passing him became my motivation – well, that and finishing as fast as possible, because it was just really fricking hot out.

At mile 2.5 we rounded a corner to the final stretch of road that would lead us to the finish line.  It was at this corner that a ton of people in front of me just quit and started walking.  Aside from the fact that I was sweating buckets and the stale air was a little hard to breathe, I felt fine.  In fact, seeing the people stop just motivated me to keep going.  I turned that corner and it was at that time that I decided to pass Bandana Guy too.  So, I did.  I didn’t see him again til after I’d crossed the finish line, which made me very happy and smiley inside.  No offense to Bandana Guy (and thanks for being my motivator!).

As we charged up the last stretch, the clock came into view.  By the time I was in a spot where I could actually SEE what the numbers were (stupid crappy vision…) it was 27:44.  I was sprinting like a mad woman to get to that finish line BEFORE the clock flipped to 28 minutes. Honestly, it felt like someone was moving the finish line farther away as I was running toward it, because it sure took me an awfully long time to get there!  Of course, I forgot to turn the Garmin off til AFTER I got my popsicle stick (d'oh) so I had to wait for official race results to post, which just went up today - 27:59 - under 28 minutes (by a hair, but I'll take it!). I was 64^th through the finish line, and 4^th in my age group….I had missed placing by quite a bit, as the 3^rd place person was 36^th through.  Oh well.   It was still a PR for me, so I’m not complaining.

Mile splits broke down like this (per Garmin):

Mile 1:  8:54min/mile

Mile 2: 9:02 min/mile (I stopped and got a drink)

Mile 3: 9:07 min/mile (I have no explanation for why I slowed down there, except it was hot!)

Garmin reads 28:04 finish but remember I FORGOT to turn it off til after I got my stick.  Official race results have me marked at 27:59 finish. 

My running club buddy had finished about 30 seconds before I did, so together we went inside and checked the list of door prize winners.  He won something; I did not.  But, no matter….they had a nice layout of water and Gatorade and donuts/fruit/bagels/popsicles plus were giving away free jars of Biscoff Spread…

We stuck around for age group awards (we both were 4^th in our respective AG’s.  Wah wah wahhhh) and then headed home.  When I got home, I eagerly tried the Biscoff Spread as I’d heard about it but never had it.  It’s delicious!!!  It’s creamy like peanut butter, but tastes sort of like a graham cracker. 

Overall this was a fun race with lots of runner incentives (and what a good cause!).  I definitely plan on adding it to my race calendar for next year!