Catching up...

I've been horrible at blogging. I know I'm the only person that reads this blog, which is fine because I really only blog about these races for me. So here we go...

Kirkwood-Webster Turkey Trot(s) - November 22, 2018
I again did the Double Helping, both the 3-mile and 6-mile races. I managed to get a course PR on both legs!! I even talked Josh into doing the 3-mile race with me this year. 

3-mile: 24:15
6-mile: 51:11

St. Patrick's Day Parade Run - March 16, 2019
I tried again for a course PR... didn't happen. I could blame it on extreme neck pain that I've been experiencing since December 31st... sucks. I also didn't do the Run for your Beads 5k during Mardi Gras and I LOVE that race. Anyways, I didn't start fast enough to get a course PR. 

Mi 1 - 8:00
Mi 2 - 8:09
Mi 3 - 8:33
Mi 4 - 8:24
Mi 5 - 8:08

I know, not bad and this is such an improvement from 3-4 years ago. 

2019: 41:40
2018: 41:17
2017: 41:16
2015: 45:37
2014: 46:19
2012: 1:01:09

London Landmarks Half Marathon - March 24, 2019
Now this race probably deserves it's own post... I LOVED THIS RACE. Everything about it. I got in on a lottery. I guess they didn't think someone from St. Louis would go to London for a race. They mailed the race bib and shirt a week or so before the race. There was no expo, which I liked because I didn't want to add that to the list of things to do in London. 

Obviously, we walked a ton around London the days before the race. There was also a huge Brexit protest the day before the race... roughly 1 million people out protesting. The night before the race, there were still a lot of people in Trafalgar Square, which was where our hotel was and where the race would start the next morning. The morning of the race, it was like a new day. The trash was all cleaned up, a big blue sky (which was the first blue why we had seen in London. Luckily, we didn't get rain during our entire trip!). 

The race start was a bit different for me. We all kinda hung around Trafalgar Square until it was our time to go. I was in wave 3: the Mexican wave. I didn't quite understand the Mexican part... the other waves included things like cheetah, diamond, chocolate, etc. Anyways, they called the Mexican wave and off I went to the start line.

I thought there would be different start times since there were 7 waves all with its own start times. Nope... there was one start gun and off we all went. The race course zig zagged all around London. I absolutely loved this course. There were so many people out cheering for the runners, mainly because this is a huge charity race, but I never once got bored. Also, the route was pretty flat so it just felt easy. Plus there was so much to look at! I went into this race telling myself to not push it. It's a vacation race so there was no need to go all out. 

I ended up finishing with a time of 1:56:55, which is not a PR but I feel a very good time for a vacation race. 

I would love to do this race again, but the lottery is quite competitive. 

MoDOT Work Zone Awareness 5k - April 13, 2019
5k's are incredibly tough. If I could pick between a half marathon and a 5k, I'd pick the half marathon. I went into this race wanting to place. The route is super hilly and well, rather boring. It's along the I-64 outer roads. However, the roads were closed exceptionally well being a MoDOT run race and all. The race started at the MoDOT Transportation Management Center so that's pretty neat for people that have never been there (lots of cameras showing road conditions across the region). 

The first half of the race was glorious. Mainly downhill and I was flying! 

Mi 1: 7:27
Mi 2: 7:52

Then... we had lots of hills to climb. Ugh, I wanted to give in and walk but I also really wanted to place. 

Mi 3: 8:34 (blah, but at least I was still in the 8s).

I ended up placing first in my division (F 30-39)! 1/15, so I'm super proud of myself. I finished with a time of 24:53, which is also a 5k PR (previous PR was a 24:57). 

Quivering Quads II - 2018

This was my third QQII and the second on this course. I love the course! It's very picturesque and there aren't too many hills! It is somewhat challenging though because you run right by the lake and you can fall in if you trip on a rock or branch.

I finished 26 minutes faster than the last time I did this race (2016).

Time: 1:25:18 (10:31/mile). I'm pretty happy with my pace for this trail run!

I am running the Skippo this weekend, but looks like rain may be in the forecast. I hope the trails don't get too muddy!

The Great Go! Halloween Half Marathon - 2018

Today's half marathon was number 36!! This is my fourth time running the Halloween Half, and this is usually a faster race for me. I know the course well and I've been able to PR on this course. Home court advantage! Anyways, weather was good, although a bit on the chilly side. I layered up and ran in a short sleeve for the majority of the race.

I decided I wasn't going to push it... especially since for the last month I hadn't really got a lot of miles in. I checked my pace after each mile and I was pleasantly surprised with myself. I was hanging around the 8:50s to 9:00 minute miles. Around mile 10, my knee started to hurt and then I finally checked my time at mile 12 and was happy to see that I was going to make it to the finish line under 2 hours. I ended up PR'ing the course with a sub-2 hour time (01:56:28 - 8:56 pace).

SeaWheeze 2018

Another year, another SeaWheeze!!

We arrived on Wednesday and the weather was lovely! Blue skies, nice temps. Rain had been in the forecast all week for basically our entire trip. So we took advantage of the blue sky and biked around Stanley Park.

The rain was expected midday Thursday so we made our way up to Grouse Mountain early in the morning to do the Grouse Grind. Very smart to do before a half marathon. We did it last year in the rain, and I really wanted to do it again sans rain. It's a hard climb!! We also overdressed because we thought we'd get rained on eventually. Also, I saw Chip Wilson at the trailhead. I wanted to get my photo with him, but you could tell by the conversation he was having with two other gentlemen that he didn't want to be bugged. He was "listening to his book audio" on the way up.

We got back to Vancouver City and then the rain started... I guess you can say that we got the real Pacific Northwest experience. We've been blessed with nice weather pretty much every time that we are here. After a little shopping, we made our way to packet pick-up and that was super easy.

I decided to volunteer this year, and I did that on Thursday evening. I mostly did it to gain a new SeaWheeze experience. Volunteers also receive a pin and a shirt. I took photos for 4 hours. I think people were mislead and believed me to be a "professional photographer," but I was basically thrown the camera and was told to take photos. It would have been nice to know the camera a bit better. Lighting also got difficult in the evening, so then again I had to figure out the best setting. I also received a lot of questions that I couldn't fully answer and I had one lady vent her frustration to me about not receiving the race shorts. I enjoyed volunteering, but I felt like I didn't have all the information to a) take photos and b) answer questions.

Now the SeaWheeze showcase store... and this one irks me. I LOVE the SeaWheeze and I LOVE the clothes. But this is the only part of SeaWheeze that makes me not want to do it anymore. I liked the fact that people had to register for a time to entire the store. I thought that was a fair process, even though it was a nightmare to even get on the site to register. I also liked the fact that I didn't have to wake up super early to get in a line, especially since it was raining. I woke up naturally around 4:30 am (since I'm still stuck on central time) and I started to read posts that people were already lining up.

They said NO LINES this year... if you arrive early you will be kindly told to leave. I knew that people were already in the "6:30 am line" that had later time slots, so I made my way to the convention center. I got in line and then I felt guilty that people with the 6:30 am slot were behind me, so I jumped out of line. I did that twice. They need to have better line management... I eventually got to pass people with later time slots to get in the store, but if you didn't hear what they were yelling, you were shit out of luck. I HATE this FOMO mentality. The store was crazy. So many people. It was annoying for me because I wear two different sizes, and both sizes were on opposite ends and I had to cut through a lineup of people that were waiting for reflective gear. That being said, I do love what I picked up in the store. I got exactly what I had my eye on, plus a jacket that I probably don't need. When I got out of the store, I seriously felt like a zombie. I didn't participate in the yoga this year... I wanted to do the noon session, but I was just too tired.

The run... I'm dealing with an injury (lower back and hammy). It basically started after the Iceland half in June and has been lingering ever since. Plus all the walking, biking, and hiking made my body even more sore and tired. There was a light drizzle for the first mile or so, and then it turned into a hard rain. Even though I was bummed that it was raining, it was nice to be in Vancouver during a different time of the year. I loved the fall foliage.

I had such a good run last year, so I was hopeful this year would be good too, but it just sort of sucked. My legs felt tired, the seawall was hard... I never felt 100% at any point. Around mile 10 I started to feel queasy and then I got scared that I was going to be sick the rest of the day. But the rain was clearing, and I decided to walk a little to let my heart rate go down. Walking actually made me feel better, and then I did a walk/run to the finish line. The course is super crowded from start to finish. I think all of the weaving makes it more tiring as well. I didn't PR the course, but I did get my second best finish.

I always love SeaWheeze weekend. It still is my favorite running event, I think I just need to stop caring about the showcase store so I can fully enjoy it.

Race recaps from previous SeaWheezes:
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012

Need for Speed 2018

I was doing well with speed work until we went to Iceland. After Iceland, I didn't go to one single session. Therefore, I wasn't expecting much of myself at this race. I told myself that I was going to run up the God awful hill, but otherwise I wasn't going to push it. We did have very nice weather for the event, so that was a bonus.

There is this nice long downhill during the 1st mile. I was pretty conservative because I didn't want to tire myself out to get back up the damn hill. First mile was a 7:51. I knew I could have ran that faster, but again, I wanted to get up the hill. Second mile was an 8:02. Okay, not bad. Definitely not negative splits. The 3rd mile is always the toughest. I kept wanting to walk and I'd start to talk myself into it, but I just pushed and ran the entire sucker. Third mile was an 8:25, which I think it rather impressive on tired legs and a long climb. I finished the 5k with a time of 25:31, which was a minute faster than last year's race!!!

I'm pretty sure I have drool coming out of my mouth here... Another awesome finish photo!

Midnight Sun Half Marathon - Iceland

I'm writing about this one a few days late... I think I'm finally over my jet lag!

My husband and I have been wanting to visit Iceland for a very long time. We finally decided that 2018 was the year and of course I had to see if there were any interesting half marathons that we could do. I found the Midnight Sun Half Marathon and thought it sounded unique. Plus, I've never done an evening half marathon. We flew into Iceland a week before the race and toured waterfalls, glaciers, ice caves, and fjords along the ring road.

I didn't want to do this race... it was raining and cold, plus I was hungry and tired. Never a good mix. I kept trying to talk Josh into just doing the 10k race, but he kept pushing us to do the half. The race starts at 9 pm and I honestly just wanted to be in bed. But I knew that I'd regret it if I didn't do it.

I also didn't know what to expect about the race course. I read from the race website that it was challenging and demanding. Hmmmm, yah, that scared me too. Well, after the first mile I realized that I overdressed. We were running on road and then we moved to a biking/walking path. It was lovely!! We were running alongside small waterfalls and the lupine.

The course had rolling hills, and there were some pretty steep climbs between miles 3 and 7. Also, at one point it got pretty windy and I was so cold. But we also had an amazing downhill between miles 7 and 8. Then it was relatively tame, but I was so so hungry and so so tired. At one point, I was running with my eyes shut.

I pretty much hit the wall around mile 11. My right hip flexor was bugging me and I also started to feel nauseous. I finished with a time of 2:10:39. I'll take it. I walked quite a bit those last two miles. As I was coming towards the finish line, I heard Bonnie Tyler singing Total Eclipse of the Heart. There was a music festival going on close to the finish line and I thought that was pretty fun. I wish I could have enjoyed the finish area better, but I wasn't feeling so hot. I'm not sure if I just allowed myself to get too hungry or if I was dehydrated, but I was dry heaving. They give you free entry to the geothermal pool close to the finish line, and I'm bummed that we didn't get to go. Anyways, this is the most beautiful course that I've ever run. I also love some rolling hills! Just wish that I put more food in my belly before the race started!!

Summer Running

Make Tracks Through the Zoo: I signed up for this race because we got to run through the zoo! Right before the race started, the weather looked pretty threatening. Thunder and lightning. The rain cleared before the start, but then it was super humid. And the race had some mega hills. I enjoyed running through the zoo; the giraffes were very curious! I finished the 5k with a time of 26:58, a pace of 8:41. I also placed 14/283 in my division F 35-39!

KT82: This was my third time running the KT82 relay and it's a full day! It starts with a 4:35 am pick up and ends with a 10:30 pm drop off. The race took about 13.5 hours to complete. I had three legs and ran 13.35 miles total.

Leg 1 - I started out way too fast. My first mile was a 7:52. 3.2 miles total with an 8:11 pace.

Leg 2 - It had just started to rain and it actually felt cold. The first three miles were on the Katy and then we entered single track in Klondike Park. I would have liked the single track more if it wasn't muddy. I HATE MUD. 

1-8:20. 

2-8:21. 

3-8:41. 

4-14.3. HAHAHAH. I was very cautious on that single track. 

The last 0.93 was pretty much a steep downhill. IT HURT. 4.93 miles total with a 10:05 pace. 

Leg 3 - The last leg. I was happy that it was the last leg, but my legs were dead and I was tired. I played mental games and just tried to get through each mile. I ran through the first three miles and then I took a 10 second walking break when I hit the third, fourth, and fifth miles. I thought this leg was six miles and I told myself I'd run/walk that last mile. I knew at the end of my leg we'd exit the Katy and talk a steep uphill to the Lost Creek Winery. To my surprise (and happiness), this leg was actually only 5.2 miles!! I was so grateful when I saw people exiting the Katy at that fifth mile. 5.22 miles with a 9:22 pace. 

The 82 Problems but the KT Ain't One team finished with a time of 13:28:11. Another fun year with an awesome team!

Next Race: Next stop... Iceland!!