Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos February 9th and 10th

[Maherae]

May our WISH team mates find clear skies and warm temperatures at their events this weekend! Have FUN! :goodvibes


Saturday, 9th
Big Vic (Vic) Valentine's Kiss Em to the Finish 8K; Destin, FL
thndermatt (Matt) Valentine's Kiss Em to the Finish 8K; Destin, FL

Sunday, 10th
Pungodingy (Angie) Half at the Hamptons; Hampton Beach, NH
thndermatt (Matt) Birmingham 1/2 Marathon; AL
lenshanem's DH Red Top Rumble (11.5 mile trail race); Cartersville, GA
TnTsParty (Tricia) Wishing Well 5K; Boca Raton, FL
aldisneygrl (Sandy/Allie) Winter Winds 2 mile run; Huntsville, AL



:cheer2: :cheer2: GO! WISH Team GO! :cheer2: :cheer2:

[princessrunner]

YAY WISH TEAM!!! GO, GO, GO!!!! :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[lenshanem]

Good luck everyone! :woohoo: :yay: :woohoo:


DH is doing the Red Top Rumble on Sunday. It is a 11.5 mile trail run. I'm a little worried for him - he has a bad cold and I don't think quite as prepared for it as he could be. Worst case he might have to walk some of it.

[Maherae]

Updated! Yay, team!! :goodvibes

[RedDragon]

Go WISH team!!

[wfloyd]

Good luck team.

Vic - Try not to be smooching on Matt til the end. ;) I don't think either wife would like it too much. :lmao:

Bill

[Tiger Lily 03]

Go WISH Team! Have fun at your events!
:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[scoolover]

Good luck all. Way to represent!

[Hey Mickey]

Go, team, go! :cheer2: Hope you each have a great run (or two)!

[Maherae]

Waiting anxiously to hear how events went. It is a gorgeous day today, so the Kissin' runs should have gone well!! :goodvibes

[Kristi1357]

:cheer2: Go WISH Go!:cheer2:

[thndrmatt]

Must be a beautiful Saturday, cuz here I am racin again!

The Kiss Em to the Finish 8k turned out to be somewhat of a solo event, as DW is still nursing the knee she worked over pretty bad doing the Goofy. Her PT is going well and she's hoping to return to running soon. Also of note there was no sign of the BIG VIC, I hung around for quite a while at the finish line and then later at the after party but maybe he phoned it in today?!?

I had a running buddy from base with me who claimed she generally ran "something around 9mpm" pace. She'd never run with a Garmin before so I was skeptical, but hoping she erred on the low side and would be closer to my comfortable 10mpm pace.

Not so much. I haven't run this hard since 10ks last year when I was 10 pounds lighter...

1: 8:21 (heart rate already avging 168 instead of 155-165 for long races)
2: 8:41 (she slowed down which gave me hope of a climb up to 9mpm...)
3: 8:39 (a slow first half mile made her accelerate for the 2nd half and I knew all was lost)
4: 8:31 (as she continued to put the hammer down, my heart rate was now 187, I was breathing at 50% faster than my normal rate, and was pretty close to keeling over, and knew I must be at least partially holding her back, so at the 4th mile mark I told her to finish hard and I'd be there in a min)
5: 8:54 (what seemed like significantly slower still was somehow sub 9)

Total 8k (5 miles): 43:05

Clearly she is the superior runner, beat me by at least a minute. I was running it more like a 5k, which doesn't really work when there's 2 more miles after that... But it was great to push myself, been a long time since I ran that kind of pace since I've been doing so much training just for endurance and not speed.

Better yet for the $15 fee there was a nice long sleeve t-shirt, and free gumbo and pasta salad afterward! Also huge strawberries, bananas, mmmmm.

But ack have to cut this short the expo in Birmingham closes in 5.5 hours and it's a 4.5 hour drive! :scared1: More on tomorrows half marathon when I get home tomorrow night!

[Maherae]

Way to go, Matt!! :banana:

SLOW it down for tomorrow!!!

[escape]

Steve and I decided to sign up for a local Valentine 5k this morning. I wasn't sure I could do well considering that I haven't done anything in the last week (training-wise) and I was just not feeling quite up to par. However, much to my surprise, I placed 2nd in my age group (50-54), female division. Yay me! :cheer2: Had I been in the 45-49 or 55-59 (and higher) age group, I would not have placed. There were quite a few "older" speedy women out there. Luckily for me, just not in my age group. :laughing:

Steve placed third in the overall walker division. He had a ~12:45 pace which I think is quite speedy. I ended up with a 12:26 pace (W/R) which is speedy for me.

In addition to a nice t-shirt we received for entering the race, Steve and I both won door prizes. He won a chicken burrito from a local Mexican restaurant and I won a 50-minute sweedish massage from a local day spa. I like my prize better. :teeth: :woohoo:

By the way, we both got trophies for our efforts of placing in our divisions. I just had to share a picture of mine (his looks just the same). Quite cheesy (well, really cheesy :scared: :laughing: ) but nice a thought, I guess. I think I would have preferred a medal of some type. But hey, I'm just thrilled to be getting anything.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj111/dscapehart/Trophy.png

[kareneast]

Matt - Great job on the 8k. Awesome pace. :thumbsup2 - :wizard: to Cheryl for her knee.

Susie - Congratulations to you & DH on placing in your respective divisions. :thumbsup2 Way to go on getting out there after the week you've had.

To the rest of this weeks racers....
GO WISHERS GO!!!

[Big Vic]

The Kiss Em to the Finish 8k turned out to be somewhat of a solo event, as DW is still nursing the knee she worked over pretty bad doing the Goofy. Her PT is going well and she's hoping to return to running soon. Also of note there was no sign of the BIG VIC, I hung around for quite a while at the finish line and then later at the after party but maybe he phoned it in today?!?


I was/am still feeling the effects of my bout with pneumonia, so I decided to stay home. But given the beautiful weather we're having this weekend, now I wish I wouldn't have phoned it in. :rotfl:

Matt = Great time, and good luck today.

Susie - Congrats to you and your DH! Great job!

Good luck everyone!

[lenshanem]

Hope you feel better Vic. :hug:

Congrats Matt and Susie! :woohoo:

(Remember Matt you can count all these races you're doing as DOUBLE MILES for our team! Go Herc's! :cheer2: )


DH just called and survived the 11.5 trail run. (He had been sick and wasn't quite as prepared as he probably should have been...) His pace was 9:44. He actually hurt himself I think he said at mile 7. Tripped over a branch and fell hard. Says he's a little bloody, hope he didn't hurt himself cause our half is next month!

WISHERS ROCK! :rockband:

[aldisneygrl]

Reporting in : Finished my two mile run in 23:25! :cool1:

I was very pleased since I have only been back to running for two weeks. I wasn't last in the race or my age group! :thumbsup2 When I got to mile 1 and he said 11:44, I thought, wow, I've never done it that fast. I was hoping to finish in under 30 minutes. Then I thought it would be great if I could finish in less than 25. Well, I did! :cool1: :woohoo: :cheer2:

[Maherae]

Shan, so glad your DH was able to finish. Darn good pace as far as I'm concerned!
Sandi/Allie, :woohoo: Fantastic!!
Big Vic/Vic, I'm just now hearing about your bout with pneumonia..so sorry! Please take extra care!
escape/Susie and Steve, WAY TO GO!!!
thundermatt/Matt...????

[thndrmatt]

Must be any given Sunday, because I'm posting another race report! :thumbsup2

Today was the Birmingham Half Marathon, a thoroughly enjoyable race. Weather was exceptional, cool enough to be pretty cold standing around at the start but not to the point I had to wear gloves or a head covering for the race. Probably around 40 or so. A marathon was also taking place, and there were around 1k runners in that to go with the 3k or so in the half. This made it a large race, but nothing like "Disney large." After the first few miles the pack was spread out well enough, and those were on really wide streets so there was plenty of room to find a rhythm.

DW and I drove up from Florida Sat afternoon in about 4.5 hours, and stayed in the Candlewood Suites about 10 miles from downtown. Definitely a hotel chain worth checking out for those wanting a "cheap, but not too cheap" option when visiting major cities. I've now stayed there in both Austin and Birmingham with great experiences. The suites have full kitchens with refridgerators, freezers, microwaves, toasters, dishes, the works. They seem to cater mostly to extended stay type guests, but for $65 all inclusive that was well worth driving a few extra miles to the start to avoid the $180 they wanted downtown for the 1 night.

I made the drive in, found a great parking spot under a big no parking sign that had "M-F" in real small print that I guess no one noticed that put me within a block of the start and finish areas. Huddling in the auditorium that housed the expo was the name of the game as it was still in the 30s as the sun was rising. I should mention the entry fee at $65 was pretty steep for a non-Disney half, but the schwag was pretty sweet. A long sleeve cotton shirt picked up at the expo just for registering, and a dri-fit bright red short sleeve one for finishing. Filling out a quick survey for Verizon probably bought me some sales calls in the future, but they also were giving away free dri-fit shirts so that was well worth it for me. Three shirts, two of them dri-fit for once race! Expo was medium sized, the usual booths and taste test stations. Post race food was bbq sandwiches with chips and fruit to go along with the stuff they had at the finish which was the usual powerade water and bananas. All in all not bad bang for the buck, more on the bling later!

Having run a 9:48 average pace the week before in Tallahasse after taking it out slow and running negative splits later, and having ran really hard the day prior at 8:44 pace for 5 miles, I wasn't really sure how my splits were going to turn out today. I was actually really sore still from the fast race, and for the first mile or so I wasn't feeling much better, so I began to worry if chasing my friend was going to cost me big time. The large pack was yanking me along though, so I opened with 2 miles in sub 9:30 pace.

One thing I wasn't prepared for were the hills on this course. Early in the race they were just little upsie-daisies, no more than 20 feet high or so up to some intersections or around corners and down the other side. It's been a long time since I ran a hilly course, and it really was refreshing to use a variety of muscles. It just gets so monotonous running a flat course and clicking off mile after equal split mile, and I think that's actually mentally tougher in the long run. Having the top of the next hill to focus on, or flying down a downhill and letting the momentum carry you through the flats is a great way to break up a race into smaller pieces. Miles 3-5 headed out of downtown and up into the hills, with just sort of long gradual climsb occasionally. My gel plan was the same as last week, 4-8-11 mile markers. They actually had "E-Gel" out on the course in basically the same spots, but I stuck to the "don't try anything new on race day" theory and stuck with my strawberry banana PowerGels. For the second straight week I forgot to bring the stretchy waist pouch I got at Disney so again I was carrying the gels in my hand, which by the end of the races leads to a sore right shoulder due to the continuous clenching instead of just loose hands.

Mile 6 is where it got interesting. I knew that's where the elevation chart had showed the hill, but I just wasn't prepared mentally I guess. It was literally a mile long, and you could see the whole thing from the bottom. Worse yet, the pretty steep grade was continous throughout, until the last .2 miles or so, when got even steeper. The saving grace was they had a classic drumline playing at the top, and those beats really helped pump the arms up the hill. My pace dropped off a bit to over 10:00, and I began to think I'd be averaging about the same as the week before. We were rewarded with a brief downhill, but miles 7-9 were pretty much continuous rollers. Up and down up and down, fight up a hill trying to keep your heart rate under control, then fall down the other side trying to keep your legs from windmilling too fast. Eventually the marathoners broke off around the 9 mile point, which was interesting because right before they turned off the 4:15 balloons caught me. Quick math told me that sub 2:10 beating the week before was not only likely, but I was on 2:07:30 pace with what should be a lot of downhill yet to come. That was short lived excitement though as I then made a quick left turn into something that literally made me groan.

We were to run about 30 yards on a street before another right turn, but that street was like, "San Francisco" steep. I could have sworn I saw someone going down on all fours to climb up it. The bizarre thing was this area of the course was in a little German looking town with narrow streets crowded with spectators who were well out into the street. This left a little gap for the runners which almost made it like the Tour de France. People cheering on both sides, going crazy because they have plenty of time as you try to crawl past them. Up up up some more and finally we hit the water stop at the peak of the ridge. Garmin seems to think I did 600 feet of climbing, but the elevation sensor tends to not be the most accurate in my experience, so who really knows.

Then came the steepest downhill I've ever run in an organized race. All that climbing made me think that we were getting the shaft when it came to the compensating downhill, and we got it all back and then some. I think even some of the flats were really false flats up to that point, because it seemed like we descended a whole lot more than we climbed. I literally was having to maintain correct running posture just to keep from flying forward and landing on my face. So many people were leaning way back and slowing themselves down, whereas I just kept yelling "GRAVITY WORKS" and windmilling my legs down the hill arms a-flailing. We'd make a turn, then more downhill, then a switchback, then a downhill that was steeper still. My pace for the 10th mile was sub 9, but portions of it were actually sub 7, which is pretty ridiculous. This momentum carried me into the 11th with even more gradual downhill to go with a bunch of flats as we started heading back towards downtown. I started doing the math again and realized I'd gained even more time after back to back 9 min miles, and had a shot at going under 2:05. The tall buildings didn't seem to be getting any closer, but eventually they did, and a fun kick through the downtown area led to a great finish by the park and my name being announced over the loudspeaker as I crossed the mat. Still a far cry from the sub 2 hour race of last year, but a huge improvement over last week, and on a hilly course! I was again very pleased with how I felt late in the race (probably due to all the downhills miles 10-11) and with the negative splits towards the end. I'm thinking if I stick with something like 11mpm for the marathon I might actually manage to avoid the 17mpm splits I chunked through late in the race the last time I ran one by myself...

1: 9:28
2: 9:17
3: 9:19
4: 9:45
5: 9:53
6: 10:22
7: 9:39
8: 9:47
9: 9:38
10: 9:02
11: 8:57
12: 9:08
13: 8:37
.1 (.26 on mine): 1:56

Total: 2:04:47

Now the bling! I'll have to post a pic, the medium sized pretty heavy silver medal is actually the Mercedes logo, which looks pretty spiff! Something shiny something shiny! Will add the race pics with it later!

And now, it's taper time! Wait didn't we just do that?!? Ack, no races until the LA Marathon 3/2, what am I going to do with my weekends?!? :confused3

P.S. geez Anne can't you see I was in the middle of typing my short novel?!? So impatient! ;)

[Maherae]

WOW!!!! You really DID get to fly, Matt!!:woohoo: :woohoo:

Hey, I waited until almost 11 before I asked where you were! :rotfl: Even took into account the drive back!! ;) You did an excellent job in describing the course. I, for one, appreciate it. I'll not be doing THAT race any time soon. Looking forward to seeing your new bling!!

Hope Cheryl is doing well with her knee PT!! :goodvibes

[escape]

Matt - I felt like I needed an ice bath after reading your report. :lmao: Good job on whipping those hills. Great time! Where are those pics? :teeth:

Allie - great job on the 2-miler!

Shan - congrats to your DH for a great run despite the fall. I'll bet he's a little sore today. Ouch!

I was/am still feeling the effects of my bout with pneumonia, so I decided to stay home. But given the beautiful weather we're having this weekend, now I wish I wouldn't have phoned it in.
:lmao: Hope you start to feel better soon. :hug:

Well, I found out some disappointing news today. I didn't come in second in my age/gender division after all even though I won the trophy. There were 6 ladies in my age group. I came in 5th. I beat the sixth lady by 2 seconds (due to a last minute sprint). It seems that the first three ladies won trophies for something else (all were very speedy). Since they already won trophies, that meant the remaining three of us got the age/gender division trophies. It kind of burst my bubble when I saw the results but I still can't complain. I won a swedish massage! :teeth:

[Tiger Lily 03]

Congratulations WISH Team! Great job.

Vic, I do WISH you are feeling back on track soon.

[getnthinr]

Susie -- Hardware is hardware. Be proud -- You earned it by being "out there" rather than in bed (and a lot faster than me, but we won't go there). And I want Steve to teach me how to walk -- 12:45!!!!!!!!!!

Matt -- Love your race reports! I'm with Anne. I like rolling hills (for a change) but I don't think even a Mecades logo could get me out there. Now the free gumbo 8K may be calling me some day. :laughing:

Allie/Sandi -- I'm proud to call you my teammate! Whoooooohoooooo!

Shan -- Still think one of my favorite shirts is from a trail race, though I rarely wear it. Emblazoned across the back is "Road racing is for wimps" because the trail crew I've encountered thinks falling and getting "skint up" (de-skinned actually) is a requirement. Those hardcore trail runners are crazy! :scared:

Vic -- We still love you.

[lenshanem]

Wendy, ya I think they are crazy, too. :lmao:
I think DH actually likes trail running more than on the road. I got him a gift certificate for our anniversary yesterday for a new pair of trail shoes! :scared: Turns out he hurt his shoulder more than his knee. I don't think I'll talk him into running with me today...:rotfl:

BTW, his shirt was awesome! I keep meaning to google the company that made them... Long sleeve wicking and it feels sooo soft!

[TnTsParty]

Sorry I didn't post my race report here - been so busy I just posted to the Triple D's post so I am cutting and pasting it here. Obviously in my report where I say this AM it really means Sunday morning.

Well I did a 5k race this AM and it wasn't pretty. I cursed myself through out the whole race (am I crazy - my legs are dying after less than a mile and I signed up for a dang marathon!!!!!) My legs bothered me really bad - it would feel worse when I would stop and walk since I have a fast pace walk. All in all I guess I should be happy that I finished and that I wasn't last - I was about 30 from last. 2nd to last in my age group. Managed a time of 35:16

I do find that once I get past 3 miles my legs seem to feel better so maybe I need to start running prior to my races (I am sure I will once I get my milage back up to more than 3 miles!!! UGH) It was tough today but I am proud that I finished. And now am sitting here with my new race shirt (I am starting o get quite a collection) Unfortunately my personal photographer (i.e. my DH) didn't take very good pictures (I forgot it was on the wrong setting and he doesn't check that!!) so I am hoping the pictures will be online soon from the club (my new running club was the one's who put on the race) The race was to benefit a disabled veteran - they are presenting him with a Segway.

Coincidently enough the name of the race was the Wishing Well 5k (named after an Irish pub the club meets at after their Wed. night runs) but of course it made me think of my WISH team!!

ETA - forgot to say Congrats to my team mates that had races/runs this weekend. Everyone did great - and way to go Matt - 2 races in one weekend and not even near each other - and great pace times.

[Pungodingy]

I did the Half at the Hamptons on Sunday...here are a few highlights, and a few low ones too...

Registration was so easy, they had everyone’s name who had pre-registered on the wall when you came in, and it had your bib/chip number there, so all you had to do was find your table, they were set up in a big U shape and the signs were up high, so it was really easy...if you were one of the 1st hundred (I think) to register you got a free pair of shoes, and your voucher for them was attached to your bib. After getting your bib/chip, you just moved around the U to get your shirt (I really like it, it's bright blue and yellow, but I heard one woman say they were "absolutely hideous") and goodie bag (they had clif shots in Margarita flavor!) and then there was a small table set up where you could buy gels, hats and gloves, and some shirts.

It started at 10:30 for walkers and 11 for runners. There were 1070 registered, about 50+ were walkers. They had pacers so you knew where to line up ('course I didn’t have trouble finding the end...but?), played the National Anthem and we were off!

It started out as 32 degrees and sunny. This caused any snow in the roads to become slushy (=wet feet) Remember, I am slow. By mile 4, it was snowing. Hard (=wet top). By mile 7 it was raining. Hard (=wet everything else) and...by mile 9 it was sleeting. Painful needles of ice. The last 5 miles of the race went along the water. With winds that I heard got up to 40 mph. I believe it. And the waves crashing against the rocks made sure if there was any part of you dry, it was now wet too.

At the end, there was beer. Lots and lots of beer. And inaugural medals, with ribbons that match the shirts (blue and yellow)

Overall, I think it was a good race, the course was pretty flat, the weather could have been better, but?

[Maherae]

pungodingy/Angie WOW!! What a true WARRIOR!! :worship: Snow, sleet, rain, waves...sheesh, I'm freezing :cold: just reading this!! You did an awesome job!! Enjoy your new bling!!

[lenshanem]

Wendy, ya I think they are crazy, too. :lmao:
I think DH actually likes trail running more than on the road. I got him a gift certificate for our anniversary yesterday for a new pair of trail shoes! :scared: Turns out he hurt his shoulder more than his knee. I don't think I'll talk him into running with me today...:rotfl:

BTW, his shirt was awesome! I keep meaning to google the company that made them... Long sleeve wicking and it feels sooo soft!


OK, I was wrong. Not only did I talk him into running today, but he took ME on a trail run. And I'll just say - I HATE TRAIL RUNS!!! :lmao: I cursed more on that run than I did the past ten years. I don't know how they don't all kill themselves.