I ran the Hills and Hollows Half Marathon on Saturday, Sept 26th in Valmeyer, Illinois. This was my first race in Illinois. Next stop, Chicago!
Race Start.
I signed up for this race as a training run. I'm kinda sick of running Forest Park, and just wanted to have some fun! I'll just say that I loved this race!!! It reminded me a lot of the Napa to Sonoma Race, but with corn fields instead of vineyards. For the first 5 miles, the terrain was rolling hills...my favorite!
Beautiful Scenery.
For the next two miles, it was mostly downhill...ahhh. Perfect. But I kept reminding myself that I'd be going back up that hill eventually!! Valmeyer is interesting because Old Valmeyer is in the Mississippi River Floodplain, and after the 1993 floods the town basically moved location to the bluffs. The terrain was flat for the next 4 miles... as we were running in the floodplain. Once we got to Old Valmeyer, it was uphill, for like 2 miles. I only had to run 12 miles, so once I got to the 12, I basically walked it. That hill was killer. I did pass one person on the hill, so go me!
Check out that elevation!
I ran my marathon race pace, and I felt great at the finish (minus the big blister that formed on my toe).
Finish Photo.
They had basically all you can drink beer at the finish, so Josh and I stayed a bit longer than we usually do at races. They were playing good music and it was just fun! They were doing the race awards and I was surprised to hear that I won an award!! Second in my age group..
My Confused Look...
However, I was confused. I went up to accept my award and it said 25-29, second place. Ok, thing is I'm 32. They had a video camera on me while I was accepting my award, so I could never find the right time to tell them that I'm really 32. I looked at my race packet, and sure enough it said that I was F/28. I thought this was all of my fault, so I didn't say anything. (I checked my online registration later, and I put my birthday down correct, so I'm not sure where they got that I was 28). I looked at Josh's registration on his bib packet and his age was M/29. Um, he's 33. He got an award too, 3rd in his age group, 30-34! -- not sure how they corrected that one. Should I have told them that I'm really 32??
Needless to say, this was a very small race. But I loved it. I will definitely be back! I came home and I had this waiting for me in the mail:
Chicago, I'm ready for you!
Also, I attended a two hour headstand class on Friday evening, and I can actually do it! I've been practicing this for 8 months now, and still have a lot to learn...
I did it! I finally ran 20 miles. I didn't make it this far when I trained for my last marathon. It wasn't that bad! I did 17 just fine, but the last three miles were tough. Completely expected though. I'm not liking my new running shoe (Mizuno Wave Rider 16), so I wore my old WR 15s. It felt so much better! However, they are pretty worn, so I just ordered a brand new pair on ebay! I'm pretty stoked that I found the same shoe.
Like every time, my pace was all over the place. I'm not too worried about it, just want to get it done! My feet were pretty sore after the run, so I put them in a cold fountain for a bit. It felt amazing.
I am so anxious about this race!! I don't feel far enough in my training, but I do feel STRONG, and my leg and hip doesn't hurt like it did during the Go! Marathon training/race. I hope the energy from the race keeps me going! All I know is, I'm not dropping out!!
Ok, enough with my pep talk (my mind will not stop thinking about this race).
Josh and I both managed to get into SeaWheeze 2015!! This is my all-time favorite race.
It sold out in under 30 minutes.
I can't wait to see what lulu has in store.
With Chicago being three weeks away, I plan on running 20 miles this weekend (wish me luck), 13.1 miles the following weekend, and 8 miles the weekend before the big race. I signed up for the Hills and Hollows Half Marathon on September 27. I'm just using this as a training run, because running with others makes the long runs so much easier.
SeaWheeze 2014 was everything I thought it was going to be! Lululemon just keeps making the event better and better.
2012 SeaWheeze post: click here
2013 SeaWheeze post: click here
There's so many cool events and surprises! Josh and I got to Vancouver on Wednesday and basically started drinking Caesars right away! We also had dinner with Uncle Randy and Aunt Mary, biked around Stanley Park, and then met up with my friend Cristen and her husband, Ryan.
Biking Stanley Park (I'm in the yellow).
I knew the SeaWheeze Race Expo (or the Showcase Store) was going to be super crazy, so we got in line at 5 am. It was so worth it!! You either get there at 7 am (when it opens) and wait in line, or get in right at 7 am and have a good selection of clothing. Just as the previous years, the store was nuts... Ladies were grabbing clothes right and left, and stuff was just flying off the hangers. It's such a thrill, but I do feel a little nuts since I'm basically doing the same thing. Some ladies had piles and piles of clothing. I was about to grab a jacket, there were 3 hanging right in front of me. I looked away for a second, turned back to grab it... and they were gone. Crazy.
SeaWheeze Showcase Store.
But... Cristen and I didn't look any different.
Its'a cult... I swear (don't judge).
We were in the Showcase Store for about a 1.5 hours total. I love the goods I came home with!!
My haul (love)!
We didn't make it to the nooner yoga session, and instead toured Vancouver. We did go to the sunset yoga at the Convention Center. It was okay... I think the instructor wanted us to close our eyes the entire time....? Which felt odd to me. It felt long and drawn out. Obviously, it wasn't supposed to be intense since we were running 13.1 miles the next day, but it felt very repetitive and the savasana was soooooo looooong. Some people even sat up and started talking while others were still resting in savasana. That just felt weird to me.
SeaWheeze Sunset Yoga.
Race morning came early (as always). We made our way to the 7am start line, but didn't actually start running until 7:30 am. We were in the 2:20 grouping. At first, I thought that 10 minutes between waves was a bit ridiculous, but then while running, I remembered just how congested the course gets... It's seriously hard to pass people. I should have got in a faster corral, but we were running late and that's as close to the start line as I could get.
SeaWheeze Start.
The course was the same as the previous years, so I took the obligatory photo:
Mile 2 something.
The weather was much warmer though... There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and it was warming up. I think I could have done a little better if we had a cloudy sky. But compared to Missouri weather, it felt super good on the lungs. It's such a beautiful course.
This is the first SeaWheeze that I've run the entire course! Water breaks don't count obviously. I'm super proud of myself even though it wasn't a course PR. Funny how that works!
SeaWheeze finish!
I finished in 02:20:28... 5 minutes slower than last year, and 8 minutes faster than the 2012 SeaWheeze. The race medals were okay... definitely my least favorite out of the three SW medals. But we got a lulu hat at the finish line and some more of the Saje headache and migraine remedy. I didn't wait in line for the breakfast waffles, but hear it was fabulous.
We went to the Sunset Festival that night, and it was pretty awesome... such a cool part of the weekend. The yoga was good (although I liked last years better, but trying not to compare), and I really enjoyed The Colourists! Capital Cities were fun as well.
Sunset Festival Yoga.
Anyways, thank you lulu for an awesome weekend. I hope to be back in 2015. Let's hope registration goes well and I get in!
"There will be days when I don't know if I can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime knowing that I have." - Unknown.
Training has fully begun for the Chicago Marathon. It's been over two years since my last (and only) marathon, but it doesn't seem that long ago. Training for a marathon is super hard work... very time consuming and it hurts, and it gets boring. Every time after a long run, I question why I do this, and then as soon as the tiredness wears off, I'm ready to run again.
I ran 14 miles this past weekend, and it wasn't bad! The last mile was hard work, but I expected that. I *only* have 6 more miles to add in my long run. Totally do-able!
I'm feeling rather optimistic about the training, and I promised myself I'm not going to drop out (like I've done twice - - Chicago and Mo' Cowbell full). Obviously, I want to do better than 5:01:xx...
I first signed up for the Napa to Sonoma race, and then found out that the San Francisco Marathon race was the next weekend. We decided to extend our stay in California so I could also do this one. I signed up for the first half because you get to run over the Golden Gate Bridge. However, I also had a 5:52 am start... yaaaaawn.
Up bright and early!
We started running the Embarcadero, which is nice and flat. It was the early morning hours, so we got to see the sun rise. It was a bit warm though, and we didn't have a breeze. We then got to Mission Blvd, which is also flat. Then once we got to the Presidio, we started to see some hills... tiring hills. It was a pretty spectacular view seeing the Golden Gate in the distance.
Mile 4.
Running the Golden Gate was pretty awesome. I never realized how long that bridge was... I was on that bridge for 4 miles.
Golden Gate
I have to say I got a little emotional on that bridge. It was just a once in a lifetime experience. Once we got off the bridge, we had another uphill climb, but then we had a one mile downhill. It felt great on the lungs, but pretty much hurt my legs. After that, I pretty much walked the uphills, and ran whatever else I could.
Finish Line!
I finished in 2:17:12, a couple minutes slower than Napa to Sonoma Half. However, I clocked 13.35 miles on the watch... Overall, I'm happy with my time.
Overall:
2942 out of 7250
Women:
1234 out of 4052
F 30-39:
430 out of 1360
Age/Grade:
48.03% Place: 2907
Finish:
2:17:25 Pace: 10:29
Tag Time:
2:17:25
We finished in Golden Gate Park, which reminded me a lot of Forest Park. California is suffering a drought, and it was nice to see some green grass! The finish line wasn't all that exciting. We split from the marathoners and 2nd half starters, so it didn't feel like that big of a race at the finish. I basically finished and walked straight to the shuttle line. We were bused back to the start/finish line, where I met up with Josh.
#12 Half Marathon!
San Francisco was a good time, but it's a one and done. I'd love to do another Destination Race, lots of good amenities with that one! Here's one of my favorite photos I took on our last night in San Francisco, the night before the big race. It was a beautiful evening.
This was such an amazing race!! It was super low-key, but featured so many amazing things. For example 1) I bumped into Ryan Hall; 2) I got to hear Meb Keflezighi speak and share his story, and talk about his Boston win; and 3) hello, it's in Wine Country.
Meb Keflezghi
The race start was so beautiful!! We started at the Cuvaison Estate Winery, which has fantastic scenery.
Cuvaison Estate Winery
The race is a point to point race. You had to be dropped off at the race start (no parking allowed), or take a bus, which left from a couple of the hotels in town. I had Josh drop me off about an hour before the race start, so it was a lot of waiting around. They were playing good music, and although a bit chilly, the weather was beautiful. The perfect running weather!
There were no corrals to start, so you basically just waited where you thought you wanted to be. The horn blew, and we were off. The first .4 miles is challenging. You start by a quick steep downhill, turn left, and then for the next .3 miles, it's a steep uphill run. They call it Butt Burner Hill.
Butt Burner Hill
It wasn't too bad. We were moving soooo slow. Plus, there were a lot of walkers, and some were walking with friends in the CENTER of the ROAD. So irritating. But I ran, or slow jogged, the entire hill, and then we had a nice two mile down hill section. The course was amazing. Rolling hills, amazing views, and we had an overcast sky which was a blessing. There were hardly any trees, so there would have been no shade for the first 10 miles or so if it was a sunny day. Plus we had a light breeze, so I never really felt like I was sweating a ton.
I never once looked at my watch. I didn't care about my pace. I came in to this race undertrained, so I just let my body do what it wanted to do. I did have a stitch in my side at some point, and then it went away... and then I got a stitch in the other side. But overall, my lungs felt amazing. I stopped for some beef jerky at mile 7.5 (mmmm) and some Guinness at mile 9 (burp)... then some wine at mile 10.5 (refreshing). They had a live band at mile 7.5 because sometimes they had to stop the runners to let cars pass on HWY 121. This is a major link between Napa and Sonoma, so I was curious how they would handle it. I didn't get stopped, so I just kept moving through!.
This was my ideal course... rolling hills. Which is making me a bit fearful for the Chicago Marathon since it's mostly flat. I had some energy to sprint it to the finish! Which makes me hopeful for my Chicago Marathon. We'll see!
Sprinting to the Finish!
I ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in 2:12:57, a 10:05 pace. Not my fastest, but not my slowest. I'm super happy with my results, and getting ready to run this bad boy this Sunday:
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