Posts Tagged ‘race report’

Middle Cyclone: 2010 Tom King Half-Marathon Race Report

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

I PR’d by 10 minutes!

OK, that pretty much sums it up, but I’ll add some details.

The day started off well. Arrived to chilly temperatures, but no rain (unlike last year)! Packet pick up went smooth. I looked for friends, but didn’t see any so I headed to the start to merge in.

I started off feeling kinda tired and worried my lack of miles might hurt me. Within the first mile, I heard someone call my name. Curious, because it was female and didn’t sound like anyone who would be running my current pace. I look over, and it’s new runner friend, Liz (shout out if you’re reading). We had done a long run or two in the past and it was good to see a familiar face.

And speaking of familiar faces, the fun thing about this race is that it is an out and back on a small path. That means we get to see all of the runners after the turn around. Last year, I only knew a few other runners, Amy and Craig. This year, it was exciting because I knew a ton and cheered them on. Lots of Striders, lots of Bourbon Chase team members, including Tanya (who has some great thoughts of her own on the race) but not Amy (slacker). I also saw Melanie and other new runner friend, Chris (who both have nice recaps).

So Liz and I ran with each other all the way through the 10k mark. We talked and it was good for both of us to help distract us from those first few miles. She is also a good pacer and we kept a nice 8:30ish pace.

At the 10k mark, I knew I feeling good, and planned to pick it up a bit at a certain point. I was excited that I was feeling good as this was my first half-marathon since the Tom King last year and I really wanted to test the water and see how I’d do.

A little after the half-way point, I picked it up and left Liz. I looked at my watch and saw that I was averaging 8:05 miles. Awesome!

The rest of the race was mostly uneventful. I set a goal for myself of catching Chris. I wasn’t sure how far he was ahead of me, but we tend to run the same pace sometimes, so it seemed doable. He was wearing yellow and I thought I had him in my sights 3-4 times, but alas it was never him and I didn’t actually catch him.

I kept my pace even and  picked it up again as I rounded the corner towards the stadium. My favorite part of this race is running into the Titans Stadium and as I entered I was flying. I passed a few people, heard my name called and sprinted to the finish.

I received my medal from the Titans Cheerleader (!) and walked through to visit and exchange congrats to Chris (who wasn’t that far ahead of me!) and Tanya (who wasn’t that far ahead of me either!).

M was waiting for me outside the stadium and we went and enjoyed the breakfast buffet. The coffee and biscuits were awesome.

Great Race!

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Since You've Been Gone

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

*Brushes off the dust, removes the cobwebs*

*sigh*
Sorry for the aweful song choice, but sadly it FITS. I actually wanted to find a song from The Who in honor of the Super Bowl, but while I do have blue eyes, this isn’t a very introspective post and I don’t know anyone named Baba O’Reilly.

So, even though it’s a month into the new decade, here’s a recap of the past year and what I’ve been up to since my last post ages ago.

2009 Summary:
Miles: 1269
Hours: 196:46:25 (about 8 days)

3 Marathons: 4:00:36 PR
1 Half-Marathon: 1:55:49.04 PR
1 10 Mile Race: 1:32:25.82 PR
1 10k: 49:55.2 PR
1 8k as part of the two day Blackbeard Challenge with my PR OBX Marathon: 47:23 PR, 15/64 finish in challenge
6 5ks: 21:04 PR
1 Mile Race (after a 5k): 6:12
1 Bourbon Chase with 12/151 overall finish, 4th/80 in age graded division
1 Speed Session ending with a 6:10 Mile time PR

I had a fantastic year in running. I never thought I would get into running as mush as I have, but I’m really loving it. I ran a ton of races and never quit running for more than a few weeks (December after the Huntsville marathon).

Quick Summary of my fall races:
Bourbon Chase:
Most fun that I’ve had running. It was a fantastic experienc being part of a team and being competitive was great fun as well. Spending an overnight in a van, cheering on fellow teammates, running 3 times including one at 4:30am, celebrating with the team aftwards. Great fun, and I’m looking forward to doing it again!

OBX Marathon:
PR’d with my goal time of 4:00! It was a great course with a pain in the ass bridge to run up and it was awesome to race at a place where I’ve vacationed for years. I also loved running the 8k on Sat. and Marathon on Sunday for the Blackbeard’s Challenge. Only downside was the leg cramps I had around mile 23. Ugh.

5ks: Habitrot, Rudolph Red Nose Run, Run for Mercy
PR in Habitrot to impress the parents and kick-off a nice Thanksgiving. Age group award (that I missed out on) and fun and freezing Rudolph run. Competing with a final sprint for an Age group award (my first!) and running with friends for an awesome race that was directed by Melanie for the Run for Mercy.

Rocket City Marathon
The most fun I’ve had running a marathon. Rode with Amy to and from Huntsville that day. Ran with both Amy and Melanie (and also another friend Cheryl) most of the way at a nice enjoyable pace. Finished with  Melanie who had a fierce sprint for the last quarter mile! It was great to run with friends and enjoy the race (my second marathon in about a month). I also completed my goal of running the whole thing w/o walking!
Plus, had a fantastic cheesburger and milkshake on the way home.

So there you have it. That’s what running I’ve been up to *insert bad some title here*

Stay tuned for my plans for 2010.

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It Takes Two: Smyrna Parks Race Report

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

It’s not just one, but two, two race reports in one!

I ran the Smyrna Parks 5k and 1 Mile race this past weekend. And I did awesome.

I took 1:30 off my previous PR (from the Striders’ Picnic 5k)!  And I came close to my 6 minute track mile PR from my speed sessions. Sweet!

The day started off HOT and HUMID. I registered and then ran a little warm-up half mile. I’ve been doing this in speed sessions, and I think it works well for races as well. I met up with a Bourbon Chaser teammate, Bill, wished him luck and headed to the start line.

At the start, I was surrounded by kids. There were kids everywhere because the race was open to Cross Country teams. It was a cool site to see all the kids out there enjoying running.

The gun went off and I started with a pace around 7:30. I felt good. I was curious as to what a good starting pace would be, because I haven’t run many 5ks, but this was a great starting pace seeing as I’m pretty sure I had negative splits the whole way!

This ended up being a fun race. First, it was FLAT!  I couldn’t believe how flat it was, and it felt awesome. Second, it was fun the run with all the kids around. Third, I ended up having a nice finish with a 22:42! I finished 6/12 in my age group, 100/380 total.

I finished, caught my breath, got a bottle of water and had to prepare… I was running a mile race in less than an hour! In between races, I hung out with some fellow Striders (the fast bunch, who shrug at 17:30 5k, saying it was nothing!) and tried to keep my legs loose.

Soon, it was race time. I felt like I was pretty hardcore when I lined up. There were a total of 42 who stuck around for the mile race. The gun went off and my legs felt TIGHT! It was tough to get through that first quarter, but I did. I kept a pretty good pace and saved a bit for my sprint at the end.. I ended up with a 6:12 time! Not bad for after a PR 5k!  And only 12 seconds off my best. I also finished 2nd in my age group (OK, out of 2.. but still….) I finished in dead middle 21/42.

That’s become standard for me. I have a tendency to stay in the middle of the pack.  But that’s okay, because I keep getting faster with new PRs.

Great races, great day…

…except for one fact: Our reward for running both races: They ran out of BBQ and Chic-fil-a.  Thanks Guys! Grr.

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Rain King aka Finally a Tom King Half-Marathon Race Report

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

I’m finally getting around to posting my Tom King Half race report.

The whole Tom King experience was great! This was my first half-marathon and it’s a big Nashville race, so I wanted to take part in all of the festivities, starting with the pasta dinner.

The pasta dinner was nice, mostly because of learning about Tim Borland. We munched on some pasta and good cookies while listening to his story of running 63 marathons in 63 days.. Crazy! He did it for a great cause and it was interesting to learn about.

Now. onto the race. Friday night, I was dreading the rain and cold.  After the race, I didn’t care. I figured out what to wear.. a few layers of shirts with my bright orange racing shirt on top so I’d be easy to spot and my shorts. No garbage bags, coats, jackets, parkas, gloves, warmers or complaints for me, thanks :-)

We arrived Saturday in time to get a few stretches in and finally, to the sound of bagpipes, we were off. For the first couple miles, I managed to keep my pace pretty easy to save my energy a bit. It was nice having run the course before to know how far to different points in order to judge my pace (well, that and my Garmin!) I was a little chilly in the beginning, especially my hand, but I warmed up and my hat and clothes helped me to not notice the rain. I kept the easy-ish pace going and stopped at a few water stops, which some I felt were in weird locations.

There were like 2-3 water stations right in a row. I’m not complaining really, but it’s just strange to have people offering me gatorade when I hadn’t even finished my last cup!

I picked up some GU at the one stop and was off. The course was an out and back so I eventually noticed the really fast leaders coming back the other way. It was exciting to see that 2 people were battling it out way in front of the next group. I also think that passing the runners going the other way helped me maintain my pace through the half-way point. It was nice to recognize fellow blogger Amy and give her a wave as well.

After half-way, I noticed that I was feeling great so I picked up the pace. The thing I love about starting slower, is that I end up passing a ton of people later on. I was constantly finding people to keep pace with and then passing them. With around 4 miles left, I was still feeling great so I really turned it on. I looked down at my watch and saw that I was going an 8 min mile.. That was my 5k pace from Janurary!! I was a bit nervous about keeping that up, but in the end I did!

The awesome thing about this race was running into the stadium. You run in from the tunnel, around the field and finish at the 50 yard line while being shown on the jumbotron. I missed the jumbotron, but had an awesome finish. I even sprinted to  catch the guy in front of me, who in turn sprinted ahead of me at the last second. Fun way to finish and I got my medal from the daughter of a Titan’s cheerleader ( I had bend over so she could put the medal around my neck).

Wet and Freezing, I followed through the stadium to meet M. She had my nice dry, warm clothes to change into and we went and enjoyed coffee and breakfast with the other runners. Perfect!

All in all, a great race! The rain didn’t bother me and I think I like the cold because my I don’t feel any minor twinges and end up running pretty fast.

My time, UNDER TWO HOURS: 1:55:42*
Pace: 8:50

*Side note, how cool is it that I ran faster and probably passed a guy who ran 63 marathons in 63 days, his time was 2 hours!

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I Do Run Run Run the Zoo Run Run

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Okay, here’s my race report for the Zoo Run Run 5k on Saturday. I’d been looking forward to this race because I haven’t done a 5k since high school. I really didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been on a nice running schedule this month, and I’ve been doing some speed workouts too. My pace has been around the 9 min/mile and that being said I set my goal at an 8 min/mile for the race

After anxiously waiting until 2 (and after a snack of waffles, my new race tradition), we left for the zoo. I got set with my chip, my number pinned and did some stretching. I was impressed with the atmosphere, it was fun. The weather was a little chilly, but I’m not complaining because it could have been a lot worse..  It was warm enough for me to break out my shorts right before the race began.

At 3, the “gun” went off. I started in the middle of the pack and as soon as I started I noticed that I was flying (yay, Garmin). I kept the pace for the first .25 mile or so, but then slowed it down to my normal pace. I wanted to keep that as I warmed up. After about .75 miles, I increased the pace.

The course was a lot of fun. It was neat to run past the anteater pens, farm house, around the carousel, through the bamboo and past some animals. I saw the white tiger and some other strange animal (can’t remember the name). The only thing I didn’t like was that the course was pretty narrow in some spots, making it hard to pass.

As I wound my way through the course, I passed a decent amount of people (and got stuck behind some slow). I was excited that no one passed me after the first mile or so. I was feeling great going into the last mile. I was running around the pace I wanted, passing people and kicking ass on the hills (always one of my goals). I knew I wanted to push myself more though, so I kicked it up a notch at around mile 2.4.

A little after that, I got to run by the aquarium area, where my sister, her boyfriend and Maureen were. They cheered me on as I went by and waved. Onto the finish… which came quicker than I thought.

I left the zoo and went into the parking lot and looked at my watch… barely 3 miles. “Well, maybe it’s be a loop in the parking lot” I thought. It was, but still seemed short… and according to my garmin, the course was 3.02.. So who knows..

I looked at my time… 23:54.. a 7:43 pace.. SWEET!

I was excited to get my goal and went to enjoy the festivities…. after a while…  because they didn’t open the food until 4:00.. So that left us runners waiting a long time. (My only complaint of the day… couldn’t they have opened the food earlier, so runners could get in and out, then the walkers?)

The food was good though, pasta from Amerigos.. plus, they had BEER from BLACKSTONE… woohooo, what a great reward.

And on top of that, we made a stop at Krispie Kreme on the way home.. Definitely earned it! (And after a marathon.. a 5k feels so SHORT!)

Zoo Run Run
Time: 23:54
Pace: 7:43
Place: 127/???
Age: 18/53

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I'm a marathon runner!!

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Well, the exciting news is that I completed my first marathon! (in less than 5 hours too!) Here’s my race report (probably a bit jumbled!):

PRE-RACE

The weekend started off a little tense. We arrived at our hotel on Friday evening, and without going into details, had some troubles with our reservation. Advice: NEVER use the internet to book a room at Best Western. After a bit, we secured our NEW reservation at La Quinta Inn a few miles away. We then had to hurry down to pick up my race packet and make it to the pasta dinner (as we spent more time than we wanted arguing with Best Western).  We made it, got my packet and went to the dinner. It was nice bonus to get a hat in addition to a t-shirt! We had some pasta and some pumpkin pie and headed to our hotel.

We got to the hotel, which was pretty nice for a La Quinta. They were also very nice and had a nice sign on the bed which said that our 100% satisfaction was their policy (yay). I got my stuff together for the morning and went to bed around 10:30. I did not get to sleep until about 11:30-midnight however. I thought about it afterwards and that was because of the time change. My body felt like it was getting to bed at 9:30. It wasn’t the best night of sleep and I woke up once not wanting to race in the morning. I did get to sleep though, and woke up groggy around 5:30.

RACE DAY

After a breakfast of coffee, soggy microwaved waffles and juice, we made our way to the race, where it was cold! I wore track pants and a long sleeve tech shirt over my short sleeve shirt and was a little cold in the 40 some degree weather. I stretched, which warmed me up a bit and was ready for the race to begin. I looked around for my runner friend, Melanie, but didn’t see her and just figured I would see her during the race. After a few pictures, Maureen left me in the mass to begin. After an annoying 15 minute delay for stragglers, the gun went off!

I was in the back, so it took a few minutes to get going. As we started, I was surprised at how crowded it was. The first part was around a square and on a small service road, so it was a little tight. I liked it though, it felt nice to be a part of this big group. I started off at a nice easy pace and posed for a few pictures as we looped though the start once before heading into the park. The first few miles were a bit chilly, but I kept myself occupied by listening to other runners and enjoying the moment. I was surprised to learn that my initial pace was under 10 minutes!

Around mile 4 or so (maybe?) I saw a girl wearing a bright green shirt, who I recognized as Melanie. I caught up to her and ran with her for a while. We talked for a bit and it was a nice distraction for the middle miles. I ran at her pace and it was a good idea because it slowed me down and allowed me to save some of my energy for later.

We made it past a big point, the 10 mile mark and then then completed the first loop where the half runners separated off. It was nice to lose them and realize that everyone on the course was doing the whole thing. I was feeling really good during the whole first half. There were great cheering sections and Maureen was there to cheer me on which kept me going! Melanie’s dad met us along the course (somewhere, not sure how he got there) and took our picture. I was doing a good job at keeping hydrated at all the stops. As we went past the halfway point, my time was 2:25. I thought that was a good time, I was on pace for 5 hours and I felt good!

At the start of the second half, I quickened my pace a bit and started to leave Melanie behind. I knew she was using this as a training run, so I didn’t feel so bad about leaving her. This was the second loop now, and I knew it was pretty hilly. I was proud of myself because I managed to power up all of the hills without walking! I kept up my faster pace for most of the race. It was so exciting because I was passing a LOT of people and NO ONE was passing me!

It got a little tougher around mile 16 or so, but I kept myself motivated by thinking about the next water stop or cheering stop. I sure looked forward to the powerade! My one regret is that i didn’t grab any cookies or oranges at any stops. I did have my granola bar halfway though and my power gels, but the other food would have helped I think. I kept going and around 18-20 or so I ditched my top shirt to Maureen. It felt good to have short sleeves now.

Around mile 22, I think I hit the wall. I was tired! It wasn’t as bad as I thought though. The one thing I noticed was the my right knee was hurting. “Screw it,” I thought, and knew I just had to push through. I took a break and went to the bathroom. Standing still for that instant seemed to help and I got another wind to help push me through. I kept it going through mile 23 and up a big hill (still running up it!!). I finally did compromise and took my first walk break between mile 23-24 or so. I hadn’t taken any except at water stations, but they did help in the last couple of miles. One great moment came when I passed the halfway point time clock for the second time. My time was around 4:30! I couldn’t believe it, I might just get under 5 hours!

I was ready to be done around mile 24 and was really hoping for another water station. My prayers were answered as there was one around mile 25!! I got some powerade, got some strength and kept going into the last mile!

It was hard to judge where the last mile began though, because there was no sign for mile 25. I knew i was getting close though. As we rounded out of the park, a cop said there was less than half a mile left. I was pumped! I picked up the pace and rounded into the final descent toward the finish. I had already passed a 60 year old couple (I couldn’t let them beat me!) and as I “sprinted” towards the finish I passed a woman who had been running near me for the last couple of miles!

I crossed into the finish and heard the announcer call my name! It was awesome to hear that. I stood up tall and crossed the line strong! The finish was a blur of a guy taking the timing chip off, getting a framed plaque, and getting a picture. It was awesome to run across that finish line and know I am now a marathoner!!

After the race, I walked around for a bit with Maureen trying to keep loose. My knee was hurting but I didn’t care. I stretched a bit and cheered for Melanie when she finished. Maureen and I got some food and sat with Melanie and her dad. Pictures too. It was beautiful, 60 degrees and sunny and we sat enjoying the moment. Awesome Day!

Later that evening, Maureen and I had a great celebration dinner at Red Lobster then beers at the Big River Brewing. Great way to cap the day!

Battlefield Marathon: 26.2 Miles
Actual: 26.2 Miles
Gun time:  4:46:42
Chip Time: 4:44:30
Pace: 10:56
Place: Best 417th place ever!
Age Group: 25-29: Best 23/25 ever!

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