Race Recap - 2015 Gazelle Girl Half Marathon

I ran the Gazelle Girl half marathon two Sunday's ago. Second 13.1 for the year, and while faster than austin, still not sub-2, which is what all half marathons that I've ran where I was not running on a broken foot were. (holy run-on sentence, batman!)

So, def. not my best performance.

But I can explain why:

1) bathroom needs kicked in early on, and I stopped at mile 5 at a port-a-potty for a darn long time.

2) I'm fighting off a chest cold that has made my lungs total slackers.

3) I used the chest cold as a crutch to take lots of walking breaks, probably when I didn't need them.

that last one is a killer. it's a demonstration of how I used an excuse to keep me from running my best race. And yes, I do really have a chest cold that I can't seem to kick. And yes, I needed to walk. But not as many times as I did. I ran 12 miles this past saturday with two walking breaks. total. I can run without stopping. I just need to make myself do it, even when it gets uncomfortable.

So yeah. lessons learned.

Packet Pick-Up: kind of lame, but a breeze. there wasn't much available at the expo - even a lot of the gazelle specific stuff seemed pretty picked over. It was a bit of a bummer, but I also didn't really need anything. Shirts were really awesome nike fitted. I went with a medium, my  go-to for women's specific shirts and it fit perfectly.

Race morning: one of my girlfriends who was running the race works downtown in the courthouse, so we just rolled up to her parking lot about 15 minutes before race start. it was perfect! I also somehow managed to catch Courtney, fellow oiselle bird (this is quite repetitive isn't it?), and another friend from home before the race started. Perfect!

please ignore my squinty eyes in the first picture - didnt even notice until this was on the computer. fail. 

Race: started around the 9:00 pacers, and felt really good for the start. Had my spotify playlist (will share very soon!), weather was pretty great, and we were off. Ran with B for a bit, and then waved her ahead once the race-beginning adrenaline began to wear off.

Stopped at a bathroom around mile 3, and then again at mile 5. after the extra-long bathroom stop at mile 5 though, my digestive tract was feeling good.

Then there were the coughing fits. not so fun. but again, not so much I could do about them. I really think that I used them as an excuse to walk more than I needed to though.

So walking breaks came every water stop and at various other points along the course as needed.


The funny thing was, every time I stopped and walked, once I started running again, I wasn't plodding along. My legs had tons of energy, and quick turnover. It was just the oxygenating that wasn't happening as planned. Even though in order for my legs to have energy, they needed oxygen too.

I knew there was a hill at mile 12, so I walked a bit extra during mile 11 to make up for it. Turns out that hill was seriously no big deal at all. I plowed up and it kept going.

So after the hill at 12, you end up right along the river again, and that was just what I needed. Ran in the last mile + .1, and finished at 2:10.

The all female race was pretty awesome. It definitely had the woman empowerment thing going for it.

Post race: went back to B's, changed, and then headed to propaganda doughnuts, and founders for (obviously) donuts, beer, and food.

Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5K 2015 Race Recap

Shamrock and Shenanigans 5K

I signed up for shamrocks and shenanigans pretty spur of the moment. I wanted to run a st paddys race, none of them seemed to work out with friends, and finally I just decided to run one. S&S made sense because 1) it was in ann arbor, and I've been meaning to get my butt to trader joe's for a restock; 2) it benefited Mott Children's Hospital's Save a Heart program. Where I worked for 5  years. So it was an easy choice.

I registered online a few days before. Registration fees were reasonable (~42 all said and done).

I decided to do packet pick-up morning of, which was actually kind of killer considering it felt like an hour earlier (you go DST). As I was skedaddling out of the parking lot to get to packet pick in time to get back to my car and drop off my shirt, I hit and patch of ice, and BOOM down I went. busting up both knees and my hand and ripping a hole in my really nice cw-x capris. ::crying emoji:: 😭

So that was embarrassing and unfortunate, but luckily I made it to pick-up, easily grabbed my shirt, bib, and a cute magnet, and then brought them back to the car, and walked back to the start with plenty of time to spare.

The race course was a little wonky -- lots of loops downtown to start, and then down Main St to the stadium and back. They were clearly trying to get to 3.1 while closing the least number of streets possible, which I totally get, but was a little weird to start and finish.

thanks capstone photo

It was nice to run where I ran for my last two years of law school - up and down Main street with its hills was my jam. It felt very familiar.

The worst part was that we went up this very steep (but fairly short) hill TWICE, once before mile 1 and again RIGHT BEFORE THE FINISH. thanks race planners. I don't mind short steep hills, but I was pushing myself, and that last one was a little tough.

thanks capstone photo

Final time: 26:40, for 8:36's. not my PR, but also pretty damn good for not having done speedwork in a while.

At the finish we got medals and pint glasses(!) which I loved. always nice when you can add to the pint glass collection.

Post race was bagels, bananas, ICE CREAM (WHAAAA), and granola bars. i grabbed a banana and called it good.

So that was my first 5K of 2015! Weeeeee. 

Race Recap - 2015 Austin Half Marathon

So it has now been over a week since the Austin Half Marathon and I think I'm far enough removed from those vicious hills that I can write this without phantom pain my body. The Austin half was HARD. for many reasons, including my failure to properly train, but I think it was also just an objectively hard race. But definitely humbling. And because I didn't push myself too hard, I was able to jump back into running pretty quickly. so that's good too.

From the beginning:

Sign-up: through active, so lots of hoops and fees. I paid ~$105 to run the half.

Packet Pick Up: at a convention center in downtown Austin. They emailed us bib numbers ahead of time, and then we used that to get gear check bags and shirts. I ordered my shirt in a women's medium which i felt was pretty TTS for women's running shirts.

There were a few samples in the packet - but one of mine was a sample for men's collagen, which I thought was a little weird. If you're going to give out sex-specific samples you should separate the bags.

The expo was fairly large - lots of vendors like nuun and local running stores and larabars.

Race Day: the starting area was super close to our hotel which was so nice. I didn't use any porta-potties before the race, but I'm sure lines were long, and per usual there weren't enough.

race start was at 7AM, which I thought was a good time. It wasn't too cold at that point.

Race course: first three miles? all uphill. mother-&*#$er. then we turned and headed downhill-ish for 3. It was around mile 5 that I stopped to use the bathroom and the line took FOREVER. My watch indicated we waited 10 minutes in line for that bathroom.

At that point, we just said screw it, and decided to "run" and by run I mean, run a bit, and walk the uphills, and stop and take pictures, and drink beer and champagne and yesssss.

So we got pictures all along the course from kind individuals running with their phones who then texted the photos to us. It was kind of awesome.

I don't really remember specifics about miles 6-12, but I do know there were a ton of hills. 12 had a huge hill, that I probably could have ran but I was just not feeling it. so i walked it.

champagne! 

right towards the end I thought for the very first time during a race that i might throw up. This is probably due to the champagne and beer I drank on the course at miles 10 and 12.5ish. whoops. I luckily did not throw up and ran through to the finish (which my watch said was long, but who can really trust garmin's anyway), and got medalled, and taco'ed and all was good.

finishers!

This was definitely not a "push yourself" half marathon for me. It wasn't even really a "steady long haul" half marathon. It was really really hard. But I did it, and it was a reason to get out of Michigan in the coldest February on record. So I'll take it.

It was very humbling. I'm think I will definitely have a different approach to races from now on, especially ones that are hilly or in a warmer climate than I'm used to running in.

Santa Hustle Half Marathon - Indy 2014

On December 21, 2014, I ran my 5^th half marathon. It was the Santa Hustle in Indianapolis.

A friend had been wanting to do a Santa Run for ages, and this one worked in time, and was only a 3ish hour drive away – totally do-able. So we signed up for a race that gave us santa beards and santa hats and we ran like santa flies his sleigh.

I didn’t do much in particular to train for this. I ran a few long-ish runs on the weekends (6-8 miles or so), and ran a 15K on Thanksgiving at the turkey trot, but there was no 10 miler before the half marathon. Which worked out just fine, but wasn’t really what I had initially planned. 10 miles would have been nice a weekend or two before. My calves might no have been screaming at me for 3 days after if I had done the ten miler. But you know, whatever.

I was planning on doing packet pick-up the morning of, but my friends who stayed at a hotel right across from the start picked up my goodies for me. The packet included: bib, dry-fit sweatshirt, santa hat, santa beard.

The sweatshirts ran INCREDIBLY SMALL. I ended up swapping out my women's medium for a women's large. Luckily, it wasn't an issue at all to get the bigger size.

I warmed up inside the hotel until about 10 minutes before the race, and then headed across the street for the start. 

I didn't bring my camera, so sadly no pictures, but the course was pretty nice. It started out in a state park in downtown Indy, and then traveled through the "downtown" area. The course was fairly flat, and the only uphills were very do-able short stretches that I ran up -- definitely nothing that necessitated walking.

Water stations were appropriately placed along the course, and there were a good number of port-a-potties available. Lucky for me, I didn't need them at all this race. 

Right around mile 13, I caught up with my fellow runners -- it was one of their first half's and he was suffering major cramps, so I decided to wait it out -- this was always a "just for fun" kind of race for me, so It was fine with me to stop and rest and leisurely take that last bit of the race in. 

The finish was almost at the start, and finished up going over the river again.

Final Time: 2:06.04. Not a PR, but not too far off from my previous halfs. (and only 13 minutes slower than my PR -- aka 1min/mile slower). Not too shabby at all. 

The medals were pretty big and substantial. Always a nice surprise.

Post-race refreshments included bottled water, bananas, granola bars, and a few other things I didn't bother with.

 I was just interested in seeing miss Maizey at the finish. And everyone had the sweetest things to say about the adorable pup. So all was right in the world. 

Trivium Racing Growler Gallop 10-miler Recap

Yesterday I ran the Growler Gallop 10 Miler sponsored by Atwater Brewery in Detroit.

 

I was excited about the race going into it – 10 Miles is a new distance for me (aka automatic PR), I love any race that gives you beer afterwards, and the course went through Belle Isle, which was where the Cocoa Classic half in the spring’s course went too.

 

I did packet pick up on Race Day. The race didn’t start until 4PM, so I arrived around 3, picked up my packet which was easy and quick, and then returned the hoodie we received to my car. Parking was very convenient – there was a secured lot right next to the start of the race where parking was available for $5.My hoodie was a little large (I got a medium and they were unisex sizing), but I was able to exchange it for the last small after the race.

 

Port-a-potties were adequate until many of the 5K runners showed up and then the line became incredibly long. I used the bathroom about 40 minutes before the race, but happened to chug water on the way in and ultimately had to pee again by the start of the race but didn’t think I’d have time before the race started. I just assumed I’d use a bathroom on the course. (spoiler alert: BAD CHOICE). The race started on time and the start was not overly congested. If anything, we were moving backwards to avoid being at the start.

 

The race course went down the riverwalk along the Detroit River. It had a lot of curves, right from the go, but it wasn’t too bad. There was a water stop a little after mile 1, which seemed a little silly, but I guess there weren’t a ton of convenient spots for them. I didn’t get water due to that bladder issues I already talked about. There weren’t any port-a-potties at that water stop, so I kept going.

 

 I considered stopping at both a gas station and a wendys that we passed while going down Jefferson, but assumed once on belle isle there'd be port-a-potties along the course.

I was wrong again. Finally, around mile 3 there was a public "comfort station" with bathrooms. There was some sort of event going on though, and the woman's bathroom had a long long line. I ended up using a family restroom that didn't lock and luckily no one walked in on me.

The rest of the course traveled all the way around the island. It felt long - I think it must have been much longer than the last race I did on belle isle, because a lot of it didn't look familiar as well. There was another water stop around mile 5? (had to look this up to confirm).

As the course went along, I saw a few clusters of port-a-potties, but I'm pretty sure they weren't placed by the race organizers, and instead were placed by the state, who now owns belle isle. 

I stopped again for a bathroom break at mile 7, where there was a comfort station right next to the course. but I was still running off the course to get to the bathroom, which is really just frustrating. 

There was a water stop at mile 9, which was the same water stop as mile 1. I'm still not sure how I feel about that stop. I did stop and get water, and walk for a bit while I chugged it down. That probably gave me enough power to push through the last mile, finish hard, and chick a guy :) but I also may have powered through without the water stop and finished faster.

Overall, the ten miles were hard but good, and the race was generally fun. 

At the finish we got medals, and then walked over to the starting area for post-race food and beer. They provided pizza, which I am always a fan of, snack sized bags of chips, doritos, cheetos, etc., bananas, oranges (my other favorite post race food), water and of course beer. 

My final time was 1:33.08 (9:19/mile). I can only imagine what it would have been without the various bathroom stops though. 

Also they said there would be gu/gels on the course and there definitely was not. this doesnt really bother me because I always bring salted caramel gu myself, but I'm sure people relied on that. 

My final gripe with the race is that when I signed up, the swag package included: a long sleeve shirt

a finisher's glass

a medal (for 10 miler's only)

2 free beers.

And in actuality, the swag package included:

a hoodie

a medal

2 free beers.

I understand they're a new race, and they probably didn't anticipate all the costs, but even as of a few days before the race, the website still stated they were giving out a finisher's glass, and a long-sleeve. The hoodie is great, but I like getting what I sign up for. Also its clear that they originally intended medals only for the longer race participants and then made it for everyone which is fine, but the price differential shouldnt be just for the increased length of the course. 

So here's my overall analysis

Pros: course, free beer, medal, distance (10 miles is unique -- not too far not too short)

Cons: TOTAL LACK OF PORT-A-POTTIES ON THE COURSE (and too few at the start). did not receive swag promised. also said there would be gels/gu and there wasn't. 

Paczki Run

On Saturday I ran the Paczki Run in Hamtramck, MI. It was so much fun! I was running with a few friends, not for time, mostly just to get a the paczki and the beer guaranteed at the end.

Oh, but I guess I should address something first - what is a paczki?

box of paczki

Only the most delicious fattening almost donut ever. It's a polish pastry that is basically a filled donut, but so much better than a regular filled donut. they're consumed before ash wednesday in polish-heavy places like detroit, and i love them.

So I was happy to run 3.1 miles for one. and for beer.

Packet's were simple -- bibs, a race map, and t-shirt colors based on paczki flavors -- so custard, plum, raspberry, and lemon.

I went with plum.

The polar vortex decided to be less vicious, and we were running in some high 20s temps.

The run was just around the Hamtramck neighborhoods. No difficulty finding turns, and the course distance was quite accurate. So yay's all around.

And afterward, just like we were promised, we got beer and paczki. Its an awesome thing.

ALSO! this is my 100th post. pretty fitting that a 75% polish girl like me is writing about the run where they give out a traditionally polish pastry at the end. kind of love it.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

What is the best themed run you've seen? 

Race Recap - Meteor 5K

RACE RECAP!

So Saturday was my race in Dearborn as part of the Martian Invasion.

On Friday night my mom and I headed to the race expo. I'm sure it was not nearly as fun as some of the other expo's that occured over the weekend (I'm looking at you more|fitness women's half), but it was still fun to pick up my bib, chip, and race shirt!

I LOVE the alien theme.  I think its so freaking fun.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, noshed a banana and some quaker oatmeal squares, and then was off to race.

My mom tagged along and was my handy photographer for the day. Thanks mom!

about to get started. nice that she told me about my tag sticking out

and i'm off

I went into the race with no expectations. I have never run a 5k before, and my longer runs usually hit around a 9 minute mile pace. Ideally, I was happy with under 30. I blew that out of the water.

Something about the competitive nature of races gave me super powers. My mantra was "you can do anything for three miles," and I did.

Despite not having run since Monday night (an easy 2 miles post-yoga), and despite still having the remnants of a cough/cold, I ROCKED the Meteor 5k.

My chip time was 24:26.1, and I ended up 2nd female in my age group, 6th overall in my age group (just shy of the cash prize!  bummer!), 19th female overall, and 79th place for the entire run. Pretty damn impressive :)

After the race I grabbed a banana and bagels, as well as PIZZA.  what a great idea for post-race food!

cutest picture ever. 

i apologize poor people for subjecting your post race faces to the blogging world

And my final reward to myself for the race was a very berry sundae from costco. 

source

SO GOOD