Commuted to Anchorage with Emily and Laura for the Frightening 4K. We all started out running together and then slowly broke off into our independent runs. With Laura and Emily pushing me I ran a pretty good race and I am definitely happy with it. The race is down a nice long hill....only problem is that you have to run back up it! Candy and costumes everywhere...and not the cheap kind of candy either. The good stuff was out at the candy stops! Grayson would definitely enjoy this race and if the weather is good I definitely need to bring him to this one next year.
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Well...it's been a while since I've posted but I ran one of my bucket list races this weekend and it did not disappoint. I only wish I had some one here to share it with! We recently moved back to Alaska and I signed up for the Her Tern Half last week. I really only wanted to run the 1/4 marathon but decided that since there are rumors floating around that Her Tern (a store) is closing I had better run the 1/2 just in case it goes away next year. I hope not!!! This race (my 26th half) was just my style. They day before the race, I was able to make it to the Expotique, even though they do have race day packet pick up. I am glad that I went, but I wish I'd gotten there sooner. (I was a late day arrival because of the Bear Paw parade and a job expo---no new job yet, prayers appreciated) Lines at the Expotique when I was there were short for bib pick up and a little longer for check out. Quick easy and efficient. Oh and parking is free at meters on Saturday (I learned this only after I fed the meter a nonrefundable $1.50). Your race entry fee includes coupons that you can use at the Skinny Raven running store or the Her Tern Boutique. Armed with these coupons for $10 off Nathan Hydration, $25 off Brooks shoes or apparel, and $50 off a bag or shoes at Her Tern. Since our household goods have not arrived yet in Alaska I splurged on a new water bottle (ok not a splurge b/c reg price $15 take away the coupon and it was $5) and a lightweight race t-shirt because it's been "hot" here in Alaska (meaning 70s). The coupons were neatly tucked into a BAGGU reusable shopping bag. The race shirt was a nice wicking Brooks shirt that seemed to be true to sizing. This is a ladies only races so women's sizes only for the shirt....ok well there is one guy who gets selected to run with the women. His race number is 1...and he was outstanding at cheering us ladies on throughout the race! Race day morning proved to be typical Alaska summer weather (low 50s and overcast). I was a bit chilly while I waited on the race to start. I got there early and took the first photo of the inlet, which we didn't run by on the course. I did the early start and at my pace I'm glad I did. If you run a half in 2:30 or less you are encouraged to compete in the normal start, otherwise the aid stations aren't necessarily open for you. If you are like me (around the 3:00 mark +/- 10 min~or more or less that's just me), then the early start is for you. I hung out near the back of the start as I gave myself a low goal of 3:15 and a high goal of 3:00, this was due to an insane amount to calories and yummy camp food as well as little sleep and no recent training due to Midnight Sun Bible Camp, the week before, fishing on the Kenai, the week before that and the move in the preceding weeks. The early start began with a fancy schmancy Chevy vehicle leading the way (I'd say what it was but I'd get it wrong). You follow the vehicle for a lap around Delaney Park before heading down Happy Hill. The hill is a nice glide to start the race, until you remember you have to run back UP the hill at the very end. Once down the hill you run to a park and onto the Campbell Creek Trail. Since I don't live in Anchorage, I didn't know what to expect but was very pleasantly surprised. The trail is paved with a few small hills here and there where the route crosses a road. Gravel strips about two feet wide line the trail on both sides so if you want to get off the pavement you can. The trail is well marked and race organizers also put motivation signs along the road that were just my style, of course there were the cute spectator signs. Water and refueling stops were well run with two gel locations. Water stops were also marked by arches and banners. The organizers and fans used chalk to write additional messages on the trail. The course itself is beautiful and a reminder that in Anchorage, wildlife cautions are always needed. I was really impressed with this kind of race support. We spotted two more moose later on the trail. One on the way out, which I watched as the runners ahead of me veered to the left, and followed suit as another lone cow moose was eating. The second moose was the young bull pictured above which I actually stopped and took a picture of. Racers worked well together to alert each other to the wildlife. This is how I find that Alaskans take care of each other. While running in the valley, I often have motorists stop and tell me if there are moose ahead, especially if it's a mother and calf. Luckily, we did not see any bear on the course! This race was so different than crossing road, after road, in the DC/Baltimore races that I am use to. It was so peaceful I just let myself relax and reflect on all that has happened the last few weeks. Crowd support was scattered throughout the trail in little pockets of cheer....if you are someone who loves to run through the neighborhood block party you might be disappointed. If you are like me and you run to cleanse your mind and reflect on God's Holy creation you will love this race. The number of non-racers on the trail did progress as the race went on, but everyone was mindful of each other. The racers who started on-time started to catch me around mile 7.5-8. Some of these ladies were flying, but there only seemed to be a few places where the race bottlenecked with runners two abreast on both sides. I am sure it's frustrating for these ladies to have to skirt around the likes of me but I appreciate the chance to watch them run, and to finish with a group and enjoy the post race party together. I'd love one of my faster friends to run this with me and see if they could catch me with the head start. Around mile 8 my lost toe nail and the beginnings of plantar fasciitis caught up with me and I had to push through them with some slow walking. I'd never had PF before but by the time I got home, I knew that was what was happening. Therefore, the reason for the grimace in the image below. Just before the mile 13 marker, you run up Happy Hill....or in my case hobble, before a nice flat .1 mile finish. After the finish, men dressed in suits hand you the bracelet (no medal---see first picture). I don't mind not getting a medal and am happy for something different, since my medals are in ziplock bags and not hanging on the wall...yet. The post race party is just plain classy. A rose garden (don't forget your ID) with a custom champagne glass filled with a mimosa and a bag of kettle corn. Outside the rose garden, there is a stage with a band playing and socks and other prizes literally being thrown into the audience. There is also a food booth with wonderful baked goods and fruit (who catered this? I need to frequent their business). I nabbed a delicious carrot cake cupcake. There are vendors with prize wills and door prizes as well as the Kaladi Bros coffee truck. Did I mention there were free massages? Oh and baby pools filled with water to soak those tired toes in. Alaska builds a strong since of community and the local news published every racers name in the paper; including my slow 3:11:02. Thoroughly impressed with Skinny Raven's job putting on this race and I hope I can make it again next year. I can't wait to experience their other races in the months to come....now to lose that moving stress weight and prep for my next long race and the little ones in between: Anchorage RunFest - Skinny Raven 1/2 Marathon.
This is the third year in a row I've gotten to run the DC Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I feel fortunate that I've been able to get into this race and have had three totally different experiences. Year 1 - There was an incident along the race course and the race course was shortened so it was not a complete 10 miler. However, the blossoms were in full glory and it was simply an amazing run, albeit the lack the banana at the end of the course. Year 2 - Crazy wind storm came into town and the race officials were forced to take down all signage for the course. No blossoms were left on the course. Volunteers stood in place of the mile markers yellowing out times and encouragement. It was disheartening to watch so many cups blow into the Potomac River...which brings us to year 3: the switch from New Balance to Under Armor as t-shirt vendor and Metro SafeTrack---ie. no metro pre-race services. Pre-Race: Due to the lack of Metro Services we decided to stay a little closer in this year in Crystal City. Upon hotel arrival, we quickly hopped on the Metro to go to packet pick up. Our past experience, taught us that it is easier to use the Yellow Line to the Gallery Place-Chinatown and walk the remaining blocks rather than try to switch to the Red Line. Packet pick up was organized as always. However, I was very disappointed that they did not have any premiums left in my size. I paid extra for the upgraded shirt (although this year I think I liked the cotton version better) and we ordered these shirts upon registration in December. It doesn't make sense to me when this is a lottery race with registration completed so early that they would run out of shirts in your size. They also did not have any baggage check bags available, pins, or key chains that were suppose to be available at packet pick up. The purple wave runners picked up their bags in the back room so it kind of made you feel unwanted, especially when they didn't have any of the said items left. The expo itself was great and I scored a discount on the Baltimore 10 Miler (my last Maryland race for awhile), a Maryland Sweaty Band, and a Charm City Run Cherry Blossom Shirt. So I did my share of retail shopping this year! Update: To their credit, they have now offered the opportunity to request a key chain or pick up a shirt if you did not receive yours. I unfortunately, picked up a man's t-shirt on race day as an alternative, with an upcoming move, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to have a shirt. I did request a key chain. We then took the Metro back to Crystal City and made plans to meet up with other Sole Sisters in Arlington for dinner. The company was great, but again the restaurant service was questionable. We called ahead for a table as we had a large party, only to find out they gave our table away to another large party right before we arrived. The waitress was almost non-existent and one of our groups car got towed within 25 minutes of her arrival. We took the time to make sure that she got her car back and she generously drove us back to our respective hotels...so not a great start to race weekend. Race Day: One of our Sole Sisters who couldn't run generously offered to get up early Sunday morning to take us to the race. She ended up with a mini-van full and dropped us off much closer to the race than the Metro stop. Lines seemed extra long this year, but this may have been because so many people didn't run last year because of the weather. As I am a last coral runner, I said adieu to my friends and stood in the port-o-john line until race start. The port-of potty's were actually two deep and it would have been quicker if I joined the middle row. I was able to find my friend Julie and after maneuvering through the tight crowd I got to spend the coral time and first mile or two running back and forth with her. It's a wave start with just a few minutes between waves. This race is very tight as far as running space for about the first mile and a half. Once we cleared Memorial Bridge it started to thin out and I lost sight of Julie who zoomed ahead. I love the run run across Memorial Bridge to Arlington and back. I don't know why, but this is one of my favorite spots on so many of the major DC races. From there, the course heads up Rock Creek Parkway and turns around under the Kennedy Center. My friend, Beth, who took the Metro was able to catch up with me just as we turned onto Rock Creek. She reminded me that I was probably hot and should remove a layer so I stopped at the water stop and did so. I also used this opportunity to turn my headphones on. It worked and the next mile was one of my fastest of the day. Between miles 3-4, I really felt calm and relaxed and was enjoying myself. Here I also pumped into the RWB runners supporting their "The End is Far" race sign and I really wished I'd worn my #wearblue or #rwb shirt as I could have used the support. I pushed to mile 5 and realized that I only had five minutes of play-time or I wouldn't make the course time limit. I was tired but pushed on. Haine's Point (miles 7-9) did not disappoint. The blossoms were just past peak bloom and I was thankful for that one cool week that slowed the blossoms down. I pushed myself from Cherry Tree to Cherry Tree and tried to concentrate on the funny costumes: Mr. Incredible (thank you for always supporting), a penguin, a lemur, and a t-rex all were out to cheer the runners on. There are always a number of brides and individuals getting photos done under the cherry trees as well. I didn't stop to take pictures as I was worried about the time limit. (Thanks Melissa for lending me yours).
This was on my must do list this year. Not because it was once ranked a "Top 25 Must Do 1/2 Marathon" by Runner's World in 2013 but because I ran this two years ago, and it was the worst race I had ever run. Around mile 5 I got stung twice by something. The rest of the race I suffered from leg and stomach cramps but still finished with my worst time ever. The stings had bruises around them by the next day and I never did figure out what happened. This year I decided I needed to go back to run and prove that I could do better on a tough course. The first three miles are flat, fast, and happy on the C&O Canal Tow Path. After that, it's several climbs through some steep hills through Antietam Battlefield. This year had to be different. It started out with a week of rain before the race and a down pour while we waited on the race to start. There was no problem going slow those first three miles because the Tow Path had turned in to a mud pit. My ankles burned by mile two as I felt like I was running in sand as my muscles worked to compensate for the slick mud and cross country grass excursions. It was around this point that I bumped in to Shannon. She was a fellow Half Fanatic and just began chatting with me. We see sawed back and forth as she stopped to take many pictures of the gorgeous (even in the rain) course. It was fascinating to learn about the races she has done and all those that she has yet to do this fall. We discovered that we are both running the Balti-moron in two weeks and decided to meet up there. There were some serious hills as I remembered in Antietam, especially the ones that leads up to the tower by Bloody Lane. However, they just didn't seem as bad as I remembered. Well except for the one near the tower, that one just stinks. We had a constant drizzle and another down pour but Shannon did great at keeping my mind off of it. The marathoners also tend to catch up with the 1/2 marathoners in Antietam too and it's great to watch these super athletes run. Somewhere after THE Hill we picked up Elissa who was also not thrilled about the rain. She fell into our little chat interval team and was also very encouraging. She is running the 10K Across the Bay and I hope to see here there too. It was great hearing about all she had overcome and the races she plans to do in the future. Shannon and Elissa's support were invaluable for getting through the course and I was actually able to relax and came in with a time that was well under last time. I also had enough energy that I could go back and run in with my sister. Unfortunately my chip didn't get scanned when I came in with the girls but it did when I came in with my sister. The timing company was very accommodating and fixed the error. Luckily, I remembered Shannon and Elissa's names and was able to figure out my finish time based on theirs and had the pics to prove it!
Anthem Half MarathonWell, let's just say the weather for this race and my attitude toward it matched pretty well. There was rain for about the first 3-4 miles and swirly whirly cold wind for the rest. People gave up chasing their hats and I altered my goal to stay with two people. A gentleman who was clearly in the same mood I was; I tried to make a joke with him around mile 6 about the weather and his response was less than repeatable. A lady who seemed to be running the same intervals that I was just offset with what our run walk time was. I am happy to say that I passed grumpy Joe around mile 10 and lost my interval partner when she stopped for beer around mile 11. I was just happy that I stuck with it and finished. Thanks again for my dear friend Beth for being the hostess with the most-est and making sure I showed up to run! Her parking skills were perfect. In the lot of the pizza place near the finish, of course we paid for our parking and purchased a pizza for our post run indulgence! I will miss her when she heads west! Note the center picture below of Beth and I in our pre-race conditions.
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JK McDowellLong time back of the pack runner, science lover, Christian, educator, and mom. Archives
July 2019
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