Umstead Trail Marathon - Raleigh, NC - March 3, 2012 - Part I

Umstead Trail Marathon course map from my Garmin

I wasn't sure I'd make it to the starting line, let alone the finish line of the Umstead Trail Marathon.  Last fall I was thinking that I'd like to run this race someday and so put it on my 2013 list.  But in late November as the race registration was about to open, I had this crazy idea to sign up for this year's race, despite not having been training up to that point for a race of this distance.  So that probably was strike 1.  But I was excited at the idea of a race that was more for the fun and challenge rather than for a PR or to qualify for Boston.  I was also interested because it was a small race, looked like lots of fun and was on "home turf" where I run every weekend.  Plus the cool t-shirts, pint glass and the possibility of "getting wood" (aka the hand carved wooden plaque that goes to the top 15 male and female finishers) was pretty cool too.

Pint glasses for prior years (borrowed from Umstead Marathon website)

So in December I started to ramp up my running, running more often during the weekdays in the mornings and running longer on the weekends.  That was going well until I felt my upper left calf was pretty sore after a typical 4 mile run on the road just before Christmas.  Then, instead of resting it, I figured I'd just run through it, as I had planned to run Jimbo's Boxing Day Bad Ass Mad Ass Dumb Ass Fat Ass Fun Run (which had a great t-shirt that I can only wear to bed after the kids are asleep!).  Jim really put on a great event.  The goal was to run as many laps as you wanted of a 1 mile loop at a park in Sanford NC.  Turns out I barely made it 2 laps before my calf "popped".  This is a signal to stop, right?  Well, my signal was delayed and I limped through another 4 loops before waving the white flag.  I then was forced to take several days off but when I ran again, things seemed much better.  So the training recommenced.

Best t-shirt that I can't wear around the kids

I ramped up the long runs and did them all in Umstead as training for the race.  Lots of running on Turkey Creek and Cedar Ridge (very hilly) and a little single track here and there.  I ran my longest run, a 22 miler that started out as a 20 miler but I was feeling good so upped it to 22.  At the end I still felt good but made the worst mistake of sitting on the couch with the kids the rest of the day.  I started to have a tendon/muscle soreness behind the left knee after that, likely related to the original calf issue and to not stretching after that long run, but it wasn't bad enough to not run.  So run on it I did.  Until the one day I had another bright idea that I'd better practice some single track running mixed in with bridle trail running.  So I got up early in the pouring rain one Saturday to run 10 miles before joining RTR for their regular single track Saturday run. Well I got about 3.5 miles out, just to the bottom of Cedar Ridge where the water crossing is.  I am a wuss so I turned around at that crossing and was heading back up when again my calf snapped, this time I am sure it was an audible snap (at least in my head it was), followed by a curse word or two from me.  Crap, now I had to limp back to the car another 3.5 miles.  That was painful but I hoped to run it off because walking back would take even longer.  I was at least smart enough to skip the single track run that day and to look into sports med docs the next day.

I made an appointment for later that week and his advice was "do not run on it if you want to be able to run the race".  Strike 2.  Well that was new for me, I never got that advice before.  So of course I followed it...oh wait, no I didn't.  The race was just about 6 weeks away at that point and I planned to follow the advice, but one day as I was heading out to the gym to do spin class or the elliptical or something else that I like much less than running, I saw how warm it was out and decided to just run anyway.  And it didn't feel bad, so I ran again a few more times, short runs of 3 to 5 miles.  That gave me a false sense of security however because when I went to the Inside Out Sports Chase the Grape Run (a run followed by free wine tasting at Sip across the parking lot, first Wed of every month) in early February, they decided to do a hillier than usual route and my behind the knee thing was hurting again.  Also my hamstring had been sore over the past few weeks and wasn't improving.  Uggh, guessed I should follow the docs advice afterall.  I tried water jogging classes a few times.  It was mentally painful for me because I have no patience (that is why I run, because it's fast).  Water running was slow and boring to me and when they mixed in some water aerobics I really felt I was being tortured as I am not a group class kind of girl.  Not that water running is easy, it's not.  I was the last one across the pool each time and women and men much older and much heavier than me were lapping me.  It was a good alternative to running, but one that I'd only do if I was forced to again due to injury.  Same with the elliptical.  I am not a fan.  But I was heading out for a week long business trip and so did the elliptical every day before my meetings.  By the time I returned home, I couldn't stand it anymore and after 1.5 weeks of this I decided to try to run again.  The race was less than 5 weeks away and if things weren't better I'd rather know and drop now.  I was not comfortable just doing water running and elliptical and then showing up on the starting line as my doctor indicated some of his patients had successfully done.

I was also going to PT 2x per week and that seemed to help.  I decided to try a short run one chilly but sunny Saturday, sticking to the ATT which is softer than the road and flatter than Umstead.  That was a great run.  I did 6 miles (probably more than I should have) at sub 8 mm pace (faster than I should have) because I was so happy to be running again I just couldn't help it.  I did 10 miles at Umstead the next day and it went well.  Things seemed to be on the mend.  I ran a 6 mile and 4 mile run that week on the road but this only aggravated the injury again.  So the next weekend I went back to ATT on Saturday and did 10 miles and to Umstead on Sunday and did 18.  Both felt pretty good.  I didn't want to risk running on the road at all now, so I joined Daren and his group for the earliest Umstead runs I've ever done.  5:30 am start (so I got up at 4:30 am) in the dark with headlamps, 2 days in a row, 10 miles each day, around 10 mm pace.  Those runs really helped to finish off my training.  They were followed by a Saturday 10 mile single track run of Company Mill and Sycamore (part of the race course) with Stephane and then a 10 mile Sunday run at Old Reedy Creek, to round out the weekend before the race.  I had my last PT appointment on Monday and I ran only once during the week before the race, 4 miles on the road on Wednesday.  That was pretty much it for my training and either I was ready or not.  I decided I'd rather DNF than DNS, so made up my mind that I'd just do my best and see what happened.

Work was crazy busy that week as were kid activities (tae kwon do, swimming, book fair, etc) so I didn't get much rest that week and didn't eat very smartly (chili, burritos, sushi, chick fil a, etc).  So this would be strike 3 and 4 I guess.  But wait, there's more...

My marathon experience is quite limited relative to many runners I know.  I had run 3 of them before this one, Marine Corp in DC, NYC and Boston.  All three were very large road races that had water/gatorade stops at every mile and the weather turned out to be perfect for all 3 of them (probably because John Williamson did not enter them!).  Well I suspect that John secretly did enter the Umstead Marathon at some point because as the week wore on the weather forecast got more grim.  Lightening, thunder, strong winds, heavy rain, etc.  Strike 5 (I think I lost count now).  And it went from 50%, to 70%, down to 60% and back up to 80% chance of rain in a few days.  Hmm, looks like I'd better learn to swim.  I feared (and a small part of me, just a small part, hoped for) a cancellation.  I was at Myrtle Beach in 2010 for the half marathon when they cancelled for snow and I was not prepared for that race so was totally ok with it being cancelled.  Plus my inlaws live there so it's not like I shelled out a bunch of cash to travel there only to have the race cancelled.  But this time I really did want to run, so figured I'd do it anyway if it was cancelled but others would unofficially run it (depending on the lightening situation).

On Friday late afternoon I picked up the kids from school and we went to pick up my race packet.  We were all excited to see what the Umstead mascot would be this year.  That's another pretty fun thing about this race.  The mascot, which is on the t-shirt, pint glass and award plaque, is kept a secret until the race packet pick up time.  I had put in my guess a few months prior, coyote.  I have never seen one there but know others have seen and heard them.  Other cool choices, as mentioned on the Running Down blog, were copperhead, opossum, bat, and of course the elusive stegosaurus (well just because you haven't seen one yet doesn't mean there isn't one!)  Duck, while kind of lame, would have actually been most appropriate given the weather conditions.  Well that or whale, which was my daughter Grace's guess.  But now she says she was only kidding.  As we sat in the car outside the Great Outdoor Company, my son Owen's final choices were coyote or water snake (also appropriate) and Grace chose bat or deer.  I stuck with coyote.  And the winner....bat!  A totally cool t-shirt and the blue color was awesome too.

Cool bat shirt!

After a trip to chick fil a for dinner (in retrospect not the smartest move pre-race), I spent time prepping my stuff for the race the next day (clothes, food, etc).  I finally went to bed, later than I hoped, with no rain in sight.  Ah, see those weather folks clearly got it wrong, afterall 80% chance of rain means 20% chance of not rain, right?  This happens a lot for our RTR Sunday runs, most folks will cancel when bad weather is predicted and then by the time we start running the weather turns out perfect and these are some of the best runs for those of us who do show up.  And then...at 2:58am, KABOOM!  Huge thunder clap followed by lightening, gusting winds and pouring rain.  Ok, well looks like my "perfect weather for marathons" streak is clearly over.  I slept on and off for the next few hours but kept checking the weather and the Umstead website (not sure what I expected to see there, hopefully the race directors were not up at 4am, but perhaps they were).  I got up at 5:30am and started to get ready and pack all the running gear I had just because I couldn't decide what to wear or bring for after the race.  It was raining but not much thunder so the race was likely still on.

I am sure I was nervous for my other marathons and half marathons, but I was actually physically feeling sick a little about this one on and leading up to race morning.  I woke up at 5am most mornings feeling anxious that week before.  And even on the drive to the park that morning, I think my hands were shaking.  I felt under prepared already but with the weather conditions combined with not being a really savvy single track runner, I was pretty scared.  Once I got there and parked (in a mud pit that I wasn't sure I'd be able to get back out of), saw a few familiar faces (Jim, Shannon, Heiko, Michael, Charles, etc) and was introduced to some other runners I knew of but had never formally met, I felt a bit better.  In fact I almost lost track of time and then realized I'd better figure out what I was wearing (I settled on tank top and shorts, no long sleeves or arm warmers) and do a last minute potty stop.  I did that (ah the beauty of Umstead is you don't really need to wait on the potty line) and was on the starting line just in time.  It was the calmest starting line area of a marathon ever.  No one clammering to get up front, no one jumping into faster corrals (there were none of course) and everyone was still chatting calmly until the start.  This was no NYC or Boston, for sure.

My Umstead race experience - continued in part II.

2012 Race Calendar and 2011 Year End Summary

Happy 2012!  I usually reserve my blogging for race reports, but in the spirit of setting some goals for 2012, since that’s the thing to do as we end one year and begin another, I thought I’d do a recap on 2011 and a preview to 2012.

2011, let’s review….

I had a few running goals in 2011.  One was to PR, and maybe even run a sub 20, for the 5K.  And the other was to do a half marathon in under 1:35.  I achieved the half marathon goal in March, at the Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon.  A great race and a great mini vacation, a PR and sub 1:35 half.  The 5K goal took a bit longer to achieve, mainly because of the lack of 5Ks in the summer.  I ran a few in the spring and did well but had to wait until the fall 5Ks came around to refocus on this goal.  In the meantime, while I not only didn’t PR but actually ran my worst half marathon in recent history, I had an excellent vacation in California at the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon.  Great location and great event, I’d like to try it again sometime when I am more prepared.  I refocused on the 5K goal and entered my favorite fall 5K, the Run for Healthier Babies.  But just so I would have a “practice” race, I also entered the Run for Autism.  Turns out I pulled off the sub 20 in the autism race.  I think running more often in the mornings combined with losing a few pounds, the right racing shoes and Zensah socks really helped me to make the leap from a 20:34 PR (Mar 2011) to a 19:55 PR in October.  After similar sub 20 success in the Healthier Babies race I decided to do the Second Empire Series and ran all but one of my fall 5K races in under 20 minutes, proving it wasn’t a fluke afterall.  My current PR is 19:29 in the Jingle Bell 5K.  Another goal I added later in 2011 was to run under 33:30 in the Turkey Trot.  I did better than expected and finished in 32:16.   

Looking ahead to 2012…

I set out with an aggressive race calendar for 2012 when I was originally thinking about it a few months ago, but had to cut back on it some since it was obviously too much to do in one year.  As of when I am writing this, Dec 29, 2011, the only races I am formally registered for are the Umstead Marathon on Mar 3^rd and the Biltmore 15K on May 20^th.  Unfortunately due to what I really believe was a non-running related Christmas present wrapping calf injury, I am a bit worried about my ability to be ready for Umstead Marathon in time.   I’ll just have to take it easy and see how it goes.  I wasn’t even able to do 6 miles without lots of pain and stopping earlier this week, but rested 2 days and did 3 today with some, but considerably less, pain.  But I was able to do 18 with no trouble in Umstead including Turkey Creek only a few weeks ago, so hoping that this calf thing doesn’t set me back too much.  I would like to run Umstead in under 4 hours but we’ll see how it goes.  It’s not a BQ race and I’d be doing it for just the fun of doing it.  But I don’t want to suffer through it either, so hopefully this injury will heal fast and I’ll be back out there soon.  As for the Biltmore race, I am also excited about that one.  It’s a great course and a fun trip to Asheville and Biltmore.  So far that’s all that is officially on tap for 2012.

Umstead Marathon

http://www.umsteadmarathon.com/

Biltmore 15K

http://biltmorekiwanisclassicrace.com/

Still of course there are some other races I am pondering…

• March – Run for the Oaks and Second Empire 5Ks.  I’ve done both of these for several years now and I like them but I’ll have to see how I feel after the Umstead Marathon.
• September – Provided I am in town this time, I’d really like to run the Magnificent Mile, which I’ve never run before.  I’d like to get some speed work in over the summer to train for it.  I'd also like to do the Friesen Run with the Canes again.
• October – Either the Army 10 miler if we can get an RTR crew to go, or the ATT 10 miler locally.
• November – City of Oaks Relay, again if we can get an RTR relay team together it would be fun.  And of course the Turkey Trot, maybe the Surfside Beach one this year instead of the Grand Strand Myrtle Beach one. 
• December – This one really will depend on funding to be able to travel to another race, but I’d like to do the Kiawah Island Half, if not this year, maybe the following year.  

Looking REALLY far ahead to 2013 and beyond some other races I’d like to do are:  

• Big Sur Marathon in California
• Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont
• Oregon Wine Country Half
• Chicago Marathon
• Outer Banks Half 

Well that is enough dreaming about cool races for now.  Happy New Year to you!  I wish you a 2012 filled with beautiful trail runs, exciting road races and an injury free year of achieving your goals, whatever they may be! 

P.S. - Update as of Jan 8^th, 2012 – I did a 22 mile run today, and felt pretty good so I am feeling better about the Umstead Marathon.  I also have a new mantra to use, thanks to my son Owen’s Tae Kwon Do instructor.  “Goals I set (sir) are goals I get (sir)!”.  I’ll probably leave out the “sir” part but it got me through the last few miles today!

Jolly Elf Trail Run 5K Cary, NC Dec 10, 2011

Jolly Elf Trail Run 5K Course

After running this race in 2009 I swore I wouldn’t do it again.  Of course you’ll note I said that about the Free to Breathe 5K, which I did this year too, but I was serious about this one.  However I didn’t have a choice.  If I wanted to compete in the series I’d have to run it, since I was out of town for 2 of the 8 races and you need to run 6.  I ran a practice run of the course a few months before so I could get familiar with the course again.  And…I got lost on the first attempt, despite having a map with me.  So since I had time and wanted to run farther I did a second attempt and did better but still wasn’t sure I had run it correctly. 

To clarify, it’s not that I dislike the Jolly Elf course, I do like it and do like trail running.  It’s trail racing, especially a race where speed is important, like a 5K, that I am not comfortable with.  But since I had to do it, I figured I’d embrace it and make it fun.  Since this was another holiday race, I figured I’d dress up in my Santa hat again or maybe I’d try a Christmas tree, using a tree skirt and a green shirt with maybe some real Christmas lights.  I checked out the stock in Target and all the tree skirts were too heavy and long and since I only do dressing up when the running is not impacted, that idea was out.  Plan B then was to do a elf theme, since it is the Jolly Elf afterall.  I was also doing some Christmas shopping so was passing by the girls department when I saw it…the perfect red tulle skirt with a sparkly silver waistband.  This would be the inspiration for my costume.  Of course it would only work as a tutu over my running shorts and I had to try it on to see if the waistband would fit.  I then found a green tank top and battery operated Christmas lights to add to the skirt.  I tried on the outfit and the skirt was a bit tight but another store had it in a larger size and they were still open so I was off to Target number 2.  I picked up the skirt and thought I’d check there for an elf hat, as they didn’t have one at the previous Target.  I was excited to find the perfect elf hat, with ears and all for under $5.  And to finish off the costume, as if it was fate, were the perfect red and green stripped, white fur trimmed knee socks, sitting right there by the cash registers!  An elf was born!

Ready to run! 

As the race got closer it became clear that while it wouldn’t be as freezing cold (28 degrees!) as 2009, it was going to be too chilly for a tank top.  On race morning, I tried some other options but felt I needed the green tank to complete the outfit, so eventually decided on a black cap sleeve Underarmor shirt to wear under the tank.  It turned out this was perfect since I was then able to pin the Christmas lights to the tank with the safety pins on the inside of the tank and still had the other shirt under it so the pins couldn’t be felt.  I added the tutu over some short bike shorts, the elf hat, awesome elf socks (over my Zensah socks) and a few bells on my shoes and wrist.  The battery pack for the lights fit nicely into the zippered back pocket of my shorts.  I was good to go!  Keith got up to snap a few pics including one with me and Jangle Bell, our Elf on the Shelf elf.  Owen was up just in time to see me before I left, but Grace was still snoozing when I headed out. 

Posing with Jangle Bell, our Elf on the Shelf

The race start was at 8:30, or so I thought, so I got up early.  But then before leaving I realized the 5K was actually at 9.  Still I knew parking could be a challenge so I wanted to get there pretty early.  Just like last time, I missed getting a spot in the lot by the registration desk by one car.  So I parked in the overflow lot, just like last time.  But since it wasn’t as cold, it didn’t seem as far to walk to get my bib and t-shirt as well as over to the start to get my chip.  I saw several running friends along the way.  Louise was there and Rusty, Rodney, Rusty’s son and Rodney’s brother and another friend were there, getting their elf stuff on. 

I brought my stuff back to the car and ran to the bathrooms a few times, thankful that there was really no line in the ones near the boat house (shhhh don’t tell anyone for next year!).  I warmed up a little and at the start saw Debra and Jeff and several other running friends.  This time I knew what to expect at the start, a big line across the field as there is no starting mat to get a starting chip time and a mad dash across the field to try to reach the turn off to the trail as fast as possible so you don’t get stuck behind other runners.  It was pretty muddy but at least it was warmer so the mud wasn’t frozen over like last time.  And at least I had on shorts and not tights that didn’t have a drawstring like last time, so I wasn’t spending the first 5 minutes of the race pulling up my pants! 

Prior to the start, the race director, gave a very detailed account of the course but the sound system made it challenging to hear.  And the funny part was at the end he was like, “well just follow the guy in front of you.”  Or maybe I just imagined he said that because a few of us were joking while he was describing the course that this was our plan anyway, to just follow the guy in front of us, really only that first guy needed the course debrief.  Still I was glad I had practiced the course so was familiar with it this time. 

As the gun went off (which actually I can’t say for any of the races I really remember how the start went, if it was an actual gun, a horn, or someone just saying “ready, set, go”), I made sure to take off pretty fast to get out there before the left turn and then right turn onto the trail.  Since I knew however that this wouldn’t be a PR and wouldn’t even likely be a sub 20, I wanted to just focus on keeping a pretty steady reasonable pace after ensuring I wasn’t blocked in.  As I did this, I noticed that another woman, Meghan, was pretty close to me and passed me as we turned onto the paved trail about .3 miles or so into the race.  But instead of focusing on passing anyone I wanted to ensure I didn’t go out too fast too soon, so I kept a steady pace.  The course makes a right turn and then goes onto an unpaved path for a bit, then around the baseball fields and turns right again back again through a parking lot and past the original starting area.  It was at this point that I hit a bit of a bottle neck due to some high school kids who started out fast starting to slow down.  This is around the 1 mile mark.  I couldn’t quite get around them and they were spread a few across and chatting as they ran.  Finally they noticed a friend of theirs had dropped from their group so they agreed to slow to wait for her and I was able to get past them.  I passed a few more of them before entering the woods again. 

Trying to weave around the high school runners around the 1 mile point 

This part of the course is more like a real trail.  It isn’t quite single track but it’s more challenging than a typical fire road would be.  This is a pretty fun part of the course and it felt like going for a nice run in the woods because by this point the runners had started to spread out.  I felt really good and had really not been looking at the overall time and distance, only the pace.  I passed Meghan around this point, which I believed meant I was second female overall, with Erin Dillon way out in front.  I kept going at a good even pace through the trail and slowed a bit but not too much as I went up the railroad tie/steps area.  The trail winds through a nice wooded area here.  I started to catch up to and pass a guy who looked like he was in pretty good shape but he did not look like a true “runner” given the clothes he was wearing.  He asked me how fast I was planning to run the race and I told him usually I’d aim for sub 20 but maybe not for this as it was on the trail.  He seemed a bit surprised and said something like he had not run in 3 years and that it must be nice to be in shape.  I am sure being passed by a girl (ok a 41 yr old “girl”), who was fully decked out in an elf costume with working Christmas lights was not something he had expected.  He tried to stay with me for a bit but eventually fell back. 

As I exited the wooded area and back onto the paved trail I saw Winston, a 14 yr old young man who I see at lots of local races who runs around the same pace as I do.  He was keeping a great pace.  He asked what pace we were going and I said around 6:30 or so.  Around this point we reached the 2 mile mark and honestly I was shocked.  I often get to 2 miles and feel “oh my god we are only at 2 miles!” so this is probably the first time I felt “oh my god how did we get to 2 miles already!”.  I felt great and was very happy that was the case. Winston fell back a little bit just after the 2 mile mark.  Not sure if he ever would find this blog but I truly believe he is much faster than he thinks.  I can tell by they way he is running that he definitely has more speed and energy in him but sometimes I think he doesn’t know it and he slows down in the last mile or mile and a half. 

Sprinting to the finish 

Results posted at the race

I was able to keep the pace and even increase it in the last mile a bit.  As we passed the baseball fields for the second time, knew the finish was very close and I was still feeling strong.  I turned off into the wooded area and through to the open field to the finish line.  I even passed a guy or two in the home stretch and as I neared the finish I saw to my surprise that the clock was still under 20 minutes so I sprinted to beat 20.  I finished in a chip time of 19:41!  This was likely due to the course, at least according to my Garmin (and everyone elses), being a bit short.  The race this time was WAY better, both in time and in experience, than in 2009.  And while it was a bit chilly, it was not bitterly cold so I was comfortable staying in my elf costume, with only an extra fleece jacket added on top.

Post race

Me, Rodney, Rusty's son and Rusty in our elf attire 

I hung around for the awards while chatting with friends, taking some pictures and enjoying some hot cocoa.  David from the IOS Wine Run was there and Sarah had run the 5K with Mia, who did a great job!  When award time came, I picked my ornament from the pile and since I was second overall female I also got a pink water bottle and belt.  Since I have a water belt already, I wouldn’t ever use this prize and wished I had gotten the third place award of some nice gloves instead.  But I figured Grace would like the water bottle for hiking, which she did, so I didn’t attempt to trade it in.  I originally picked a dark bluish/black ornament but when I went back up to get an ornament for Linda who had to leave before the awards, I saw a Ho Ho Ho Run Run Run ornament so I got one for her and exchanged my other one for one of those too.  In the end they forgot to announce the winners of the most festive costume, but one of the race organizers told me on the way out that I was one of them so that was cool.  No prize for that I guess, but he did give me a dozen cinnamon donuts to take home! 

Race bling 

The Jolly Elf trail run was a great end to a great fall race series.  I finished 3rd female overall (link to results http://results.active.com/pages/page.jsp?eventID=1988749).  The series was a lot of fun but I was glad it was over so I could move on from the 5Ks to the longer distances again and to focus on training for the Umstead marathon, which I decided to enter just after Thanksgiving.  Not sure if I’ll do any other races before Umstead on March 3^rd, likely not but I may.  For now, I am looking forward to the Second Empire awards luncheon on February 4^th.  I’ll see all you Second Empire Series winners there!  Congrats to you all, it was great racing with you.

Jingle Bell 5K Raleigh, NC Dec 3, 2011

Jingle Bell 5K Course

This is my 3^rd year doing this race.  I am not sure I like the course very much, but I do like the event.  It’s so much fun to see everyone dressed up and with their jingle bells on.  In 2008 I ran this as my second race ever since moving to NC.   I ran the Second Empire 5K in Oct 2008 as my first “comeback” race.  The only running I was doing was on the weekend, usually pushing one of the kids in the jogging stroller.  I ran that in 23:xx.  Not too bad for not really training I’d say.  Then I ran the Jingle Bell.  Owen and Grace did the kids dash that year.  It was very cold however and quite stressful for Keith to watch both kids in the cold while I ran.  So the following year, I went solo but for some reason wasn’t feeling quite so well after the race.  I placed in my age group but asked someone to get my award for me because I was feeling nauseous.  So that year, not so fun.  I did 22:xx but it was not my best race that year for sure.  I skipped the race in 2010 so was happy to return in 2011 to do it as part of the Second Empire series. 

Ready for the Jingle Bell 

I wore my Santa hat for the race the last 2 times, so was planning to do that this time as well.  Last minute before leaving the house I decided to add a little something.  I had a garland that had some bulb Christmas lights hanging from it so I fastened them with safety pins after wrapping them around me.  Pretty festive and unobtrusive.  I don’t mind a bit of dressing up in the holiday spirit as long as it doesn’t’ interfere with my running.   I am not coordinated enough to pull off the real costumed running so you won’t see me running any Turkey Trots dressed as a turkey or anything!

The Jingle Bell 5K starts at St. Mary’s School off Hillsborough St. in Raleigh.  It’s a pretty big event, well organized.  And this year it was even warm enough to roam around outside.  I got a great parking spot right on the campus.  It’s blocked in by the race course but since I was staying until after the awards I didn’t care.  And it was right near the port a potties!  However, the one problem with this race is the lack of potties for the size of the race field.  Sorely lacking.  Not and issue early on, but once the crowd starts to grow, so does the line.  And per usual I had to go again right before the start.  I also knew that for this race I’d better line up early. Unlike the Triangle Expressway Trot, no one would be shy about getting right up on the starting line at this race.  There was absolutely no way the line would move fast enough to get me to the potty before the start.  However as luck would have it I saw another woman duck into a door in the school where the bib and chip pickup is.  So I followed her and sure enough she was heading to an upstairs bathroom that only a few knew about.  There was a line but short enough that I was able to go and get to the start 10 minutes ahead.  Whew!

Before the potty quest, I had gotten my bib and chip and double, triple checked that the chip and bib matched.  The number on my chip was hand written on there on a little round sticker, not like the other chips with the preprinted number.  Not exactly confidence inspiring given my last two races.  But I was surely sticking around for results and awards so if there was any issue I’d be there to fix it at least. 

I saw Pauline and met some of her new friends from work.  She was looking all buff as usual and festive with her cute earrings and red shirt.  I also saw Bill who runs sometimes with our group and we chatted about the Umstead Marathon, which I had just signed up for, since I guess I needed a new challenge now that the Second Empire Series was winding down.  He told stories of miserable looking runners that he’d seen out there last year.  Gee thanks Bill!

So after the potty issue was resolved, I dashed to the start and got right up there.  Before lining up and at the starting line, I saw a lot of the “regulars” (Debra, Rodney, Rusty, Emil, etc) who are running the series and chatted a bit until the gun went off.   I took off up the hill down St. Mary’s Street pretty fast to try to get right out there.  But was cautious to not go out too crazy fast because I have done that in some of the downtown races before with bad results.  I didn’t want to crash and burn around mile 2.  So I consciously had to slow myself down a bit with a goal of trying to run at a more even pace this time.  I noticed that for much of the race I wasn’t too far behind Kimberly but was cautious to try to not keep the pace faster than I was able to maintain.  I finished the first mile in around 6:15, so not too bad. 

Just before rounding the corner back onto St. Mary's Street to the finish 

Running straight down Hillsborough St. isn’t the easiest course.  It feels like you are running forever and can’t wait to get to the turnaround.  Again an out and back course which isn’t my favorite type of course.  But I kept focused on a constant pace and not slowing down but just looking at the current and average mile pace.  I hit the turnaround and was feeling a bit tired but tried to not let that feeling take over and slow down.  I finished mile 2 in 6:20, so a little bit slower but much more consistent pace than usual.  I just had to hang on one more mile.  Since this course turns back on St. Mary’s Street, it didn’t feel quite as bad as just running straight to the finish on Hillsborough.  Unfortunately I had about 2 blocks more to go before the turn then I thought, since the school is big enough that there are 2 more driveway entrances before actually getting to the corner of St. Mary’s Street.  I could still see Kim up ahead and Santa was standing on the corner cheering everyone on.  I gave Santa a shout out and turned the corner.  I knew it was a short way at this point so felt some energy to sprint.  Once I could see the clock I was even more motivated, because it seemed I would not only PR but maybe even come in under 19:30! 

Results posted on race day 

I crossed the finish with a time on my Garmin of 19:31, so hoped perhaps the chip time would be a bit faster.  Later that night when results were posted my chip time was 19:29, YAY!  I was 4^th overall female which put me as first in age group since there was no masters category.  I was really happy with a PR and the AG win and was also glad that the weather this year was finally warm enough to roam around outside and enjoy the day and the post run coffee and food while waiting for the awards.  I spent some more time chatting with some friends and then got my award, a $20 gift certificate to Omega Sports.  Another great 5K in the Second Empire series down, one last race, the Jolly Elf Trail Run, to go.

Hanging out with Mr. C!  

Grand Strand Myrtle Beach Turkey Trot 8K Nov 24, 2011

Grand Strand Turkey Trot 8K Course

I was really looking forward to running this race again.  On a whim I decided to run it last year.  In fact I had not really planned to.  I knew there was a race in Market Common, a fairly new shopping area near the old Air Force base in Myrtle Beach, but really didn’t plan to run it.  I kind of knew that no one else in the family would be jazzed about getting up early to go and I felt bad for leaving on a holiday morning.  But when I decided that morning to head to the beach to run anyway, I got in the car and figured, hey I could make it over to Market Common and just run the Turkey Trot.  So I did.  And I came in 3^rd overall!  My times this year in 5Ks were certainly faster so I was excited to see how much better I could do.  This time I let everyone know I was running it and I registered ahead of time so I could get a shirt that actually fit instead of the XL one I got last year.  I said that no one had to come but that I’d be running it and would be back as soon as I could.  But since Owen wanted to also run and Deb was coming for Thanksgiving too, Deb and Keith came too, along with Owen, who registered for the 1 mile. 

Owen not feeling very photogenic before the race 

Deb hoping this is the only time she sees this stretcher.  LOL!

We got there with more time to spare than we really needed and it was pretty chilly out so we hung around in the community center building for a bit.  We eventually asked about the 1 mile course and found out to our surprise it was not starting where the 8K starts, but actually starting back over where the 8K finishes!  Good thing we asked because we had little time to get over there.  Deb said she’d run the 1 mi with Owen so they lined up for the start while Keith and I cheered them on.   I waited until Owen and Deb finished before heading back over to the 8K start.  Owen did a great job, running his fastest 1 mile ever in around 10:30.  I bet he can go even faster next time, the key for sure was him having to do it without me to complain to along the way I think, that and he was getting a big kick out of being in front of Deb so that encouraged him to keep going.  Nothing like beating your nice Aunt who was kind enough to run with you huh? 

Owen sprinting to the finish! 

Owen and his race "bling" with Aunt Deb and me

Owen was all smiles now after his great finish.  Deb did well but probably vowed never to run with Owen again.    I headed over to the 8K start and they announced a 10 minute delay.  Grrrr!  Well at least this allowed time for another potty stop.  I line up at the front and saw a few other fast-ish women and guys up there too but it’s hard to know who is doing the 5K and the 8K because they start together and then eventually branch off.  As I took off I tried to remember not to go out too fast like in the Triangle Expressway Trot less than a week ago.  I just ran my pace, a bit faster than the goal pace of 6:35 or 6:40 and just ignored the fact that there were a few women ahead of me.  I hoped that most were doing the 5K anyway.  The first mile felt stupid easy.  I had to slow myself down and felt that I was jogging along.  Very strange feeling indeed.  Probably due to the cool weather, the extreme flatness, and the high from PRing the weekend before.  Still I knew it wouldn’t last so I had better slow down and settle into a pace I could keep for 5 miles. 

Me in the purple tank and black Zensah socks, near the start

Mile 2, hello headwind.  This was a challenging mile for sure.  I believe in mile 2 is when you split from the 5K and as suspected many folks were doing the 5K so turned right when I turned left.  I wasn’t 100% sure but pretty sure there was probably at least 1 woman who was doing the 8K ahead of me.  I ran up the main road in Market Common, Farrow Parkway, knowing that this part was the tough part last time for me.  It’s the part of the course where you get to 3 miles and then turn around so you can see everyone behind you and ahead of you, again a blessing and a curse.  I felt pretty tired but was determined to maintain my pace for the next 2 or so miles.  Once I approached the turnaround point, I did confirm that one of the women on the starting like who looked speedy was in fact ahead of me.  She was older than me for sure, and likely was one of those local front runners.  She was far enough ahead that it would not be really doable to catch her, so I settled in to second place and just focused on pace.  The woman behind me in 3^rd was also far enough behind me that she’d likely not catch me, so just keeping steady was the key.

I thought about the turkey dinner that was coming soon as well as getting some chai tea at Starbucks when I was done.  Soon I reached the lake that I knew was around the 4 mile mark so just a bit less than 1 mile to go.  You can actually see the finish on the other side of the lake which is somewhat comforting but still a long way to go, especially having to weave through the 5Kers who remerge with the 8K at this point.  I did a few “on your lefts” and got some bewildered looks.  Guess most folks running a 5K at the pace I run an 8K at are not everyday runners who know what “on your left” means.  But I gave it everything I had to get to the finish and ended up with a time of 32:17.  A whole lot better than my 35 or so time from last year. 

After the race

Keith, Owen and Deb were there at the finish.  It was funny because Owen mentioned that I’d be upset or that it took me so long or something and I was like “no, this was a great time Owen, way better than last time!”.  My pace was under 6:30 which was much better than I’d planned.  Then he spilled the beans to say that daddy thought I’d be upset because he had calculated my pace and figured I’d finish in under 29 or 30 minutes.  Of course he used my 5K pace for that.  I explained that if I could run an 8K at that pace, then my pace for the 5K would be faster. 

They all headed back for breakfast and I stayed for awards, wasn’t making that mistake again!  As it turned out, my time was correct but the results posted on site said I was 3^rd!  What the heck!?  I didn’t even notice at first since I was just checking to be sure my time was right.  I took a picture of the results but then looked at it again and realized something was not right.  I saw that a male (Matt) and female (Chris) with the same last name were listed as having come in at the exact same time, ahead of me and a few other folks who were up front.  That was certainly not the case, there was no couple running at breakneck speed who romantically held hands and crossed the finish together, no way.  Just as I was going to the timing booth to mention this, a few other guys were also doing the same.  Turns out that this guy and his wife were supposed to run the 8K but decided last minute to do the 5K instead….with the 8K chip of course since they didn’t realize this would be an issue.  So they fixed that plus some other errors (they had the overall winner as the female, so completely missed the first place guy entirely).   This and the fiasco the week before has opened my eyes to how often errors can occur, so I will certainly be watching this more closely from now on! 

Race Bling

As was the prize last year, this year was another painted tile with the turkey trot logo on it.  I now had a 3^rd and 2^nd place tile.  Just a few hundred more and I could redo our bathroom shower…bet Keith would LOVE that. 

I was very pleased with how I did at the race and was glad that Owen did well and more importantly felt good about himself after the race.  I was also glad that Deb and Keith could join us for a great start to the wonderful turkey day we had.