Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos for April 19th, 20th and 21st!

[goingthedistance]

This morning was the Unser 1/2 marathon through the north valley area of Albuquerque, finishing at the Unser Racing Museum (multi-Indy 500 winning Unser family from Albuquerque).

Big, BIG BIG PR today. My old best was in the neighborhood of 2:13. Today's 1/2 I felt invincible and knew going into it that I would come in under 2 hours. Official time today was 1:46:45. That's a 26 minute PR on a half marathon!!! Garmin time 1:47:01 (didnt stop right at the finish line).

Splits
mile 1 9:03
mile 2 8:17
mile 3 8:09
mile 4 8:11
mile 5 8:07
mile 6 8:09
mile 7 8:20
mile 8 7:59
mile 9 7:58
mile 10 7:52
mile 11 8:06
mile 12 8:03
mile 13 8:00
last 0.12 0:47

CarolA - way to stick with it. Tough runs and courses make the flat and easy ones even easier and much, much more fun.

joan- good time, especially for a last minute 5k. Sounds like a good cause too.

Good luck to the rest of our racers this weekend!

Paul

 

[joan4mickey]

Paul that's awesome..I would love to do those times.

 

[Maherae]

Carol, Way to go!! You stuck with something that was clearly difficult, and you didn't give in!!! I hope there was at least a t-shirt!!
Paul FANTASTIC!! whoo hoo!! SMASH that previous PR!!
Joan, Great job!! Didn't it make you feel good to be able to do a 5K on the spur of the moment? and for such a good cause, too!

 

[crzy4pooh]

Carol - Great job sticking with it!!!

Joan - What a great cause for the race! Awesome job on your time, too!

Paul - WOW! Congrats on your PR - way to go!!!!


Good luck to all the WISHers racing tomorrow and Monday!!!

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

Carol, I'm sorry this was a difficult day. You did it though and should be proud of yourself. Some days are like that and you drove through it. You will be stronger now.

Joan, good for you to get out and do that race. What a pace! Great job!

Paul, Congratulations to you. This WAS YOUR Day for sure!

 

[thndrmatt]

Gotta do a blurb here, as not only did I do the Mullet Man Triathlon, but DW did her first ever Triathlon as well!

We managed an abusive swim in a choppy Gulf of Mexico and then a 100 yard run across soft sand into transition in 14:12 and 16:08 (swim course seemed long, especially when compared to last year when I did this event and had a swim split of 7:00).

She said she had real WISH shirt issues trying to get her sleeveless over her salty wet body so she ended up going without for the bike, other than that no real equipment malfunctions as we covered T1+the 17 mile flat bike course with constant crosswind in 56:40 and 1:05:10.

Threw on our running shoes and managed T2+the 4 mile run course in 38:39 and 48:11.

Eventually powered through the finish in overall times of 1:49:30 and 2:09:28.

186th and 268th out of 311 overall shows the caliber of athletes around here... We did get a lot of comments on the WISH shirt after the race wearing it around!

In other news, I'm sad to report that we will not be attending the Minnie Marathon weekend this year. I'll be deployed, yet again leaving within a few weeks of a major Disney race. And DW's hips/knees are not yet fully recovered from her Goofy experience (longest run has been the 4 miler today) and we don't want to risk reinjury going too far too fast. But as always (for the third time so far) I'll be back in a few months ready to race again.

I've got my training plan for my deployment all worked out, and my goals are to attempt a century (100 mile) bike ride on 23 August, and then we'll both be returning to Disneyland for the Half Marathon on 31 August!

I'll be back in early July, but you never know when I might sneak on here to post while over there...

 

[Kira G.]

Well, it was a wonderful day for my first race – the “Clean Air 5K” in honor of Earth Day! The weather was perfect Philadelphia spring weather; this has got to be my favorite season of all here. It was in the 60’s this morning, got up to the low 80’s today, and beautifully clear and sunny (the humidity and pollution come later in the year!). The cherry trees are blooming, the daffodils are up, and it was just a gorgeous morning.

If my schedule had allowed for it, I could have picked up my race packet on Friday downtown. However, I knew that was not in the cards, so I planned to be at the race when registration started, at about 7:30am. In hindsight I could have slept an additional half hour or so and gotten there around 8 or 8:15, but it was fine. I found parking about a 7 minute walk from the start, and got to the starting area at about 7:40. There was no one in line and I picked up my chip, bib and T-shirt in just a few minutes.

The only beef I had with the set-up was that they gave me my T-shirt when I checked in, but there was nowhere to stow it while I was running. I ended up just carrying it during the race, which was quite annoying! Also, there were some great give-aways (free National Park water bottles etc.) that I knew would be gone by the time I was done running, but I didn’t grab them because I had nowhere to put them. I had about an hour to kill after I got my stuff, and I really wished I’d had someone to hang out with.

There were about 1300 people in the race. Things got going about 2-3 minutes late (not sure why), but everything ran pretty smoothly. I discovered about ¼ mile after the start that I had forgotten to reset my Garmin since my last run (aaaaargh!), so I could not track exactly how I was doing – although I had a pretty good idea. There was hardly any shade in the race so I was really glad to have my WISH visor – it was comfortable and functional, and felt great.

I’ve been generally running 5 minutes/walking 1 for most of my training runs. For the race I ran most of the time except for about 3 minutes – one at the turn-around, and twice in the second half. My goal was to finish under 35 minutes, and I did it! I finished at 34:49, with an average pace of 11:14 minute miles! This was a great pace for me, and I was really satisfied with my time. I was 25th out of 41 women in my age group (40-44). The great thing about a first race is that it is inevitably a PR!!!

There was a lot of great food and drink at the finish – Philly pretzels, bagels, fruit, Cliff Bars, drinks, free coffee – it was awesome! Because it was Earth Day there was a lot of other great stuff also: free compact fluorescent lightbulbs, recycled paper towels & TP, laundry detergent etc. This was a really fun, well-organized race, and I would be happy to do it again next year!

About 2 years ago I started the C25K plan for the first time. I think I restarted that plan 2 or 3 times before January when I found the WISH boards. When I first embarked on this journey I really felt like running 3.1 miles was impossible for me! Today I did it in a race, and it was fun and joyful. Thank you to everyone!

Now on to the next challenge!

 

[aldisneygrl]

Well, I did my first race as a 40 year old! Ok, so I just turned 40 yesterday, but I had a new PR! I did the 5K in 35:29. I also got to use my new birthday present....my Garmin 305! I even had a local Fleet Feet guy show me how to mark my splits! Now I don't have to do the math in my head anymore. And we all know how that wasn't working for me. Although, my heart rate was up in Zone 4 & 5 almost the whole time. Guess I'll have to monitor that.

Good luck to everyone who is racing tomorrow.

 

[curiouser]

Well, Frank hasn't given a race report yet on the Old Oak Run but here's how I saw it...

After Frank had crossed the finish line, cooled down, got some water, ate a banana, translated War and Peace from Russian into Pig Latin... I crossed the finish line at 41:17.10. I did it, I finished. I am not happy with my time due to the big fact that the Nike+ had me running at a much faster pace. I have now realized that I need to re-calibrate my Nike+. I've gone through the highs (finishing) and lows (seeing my pace) but I learned a lot about myself and my running style. So those are good things. I just need to get out there keep going, especially since one of my birthday presents was a paid entry to Race for the Taste!!

 

[windwalker]

Yay WISHers, everyone did super!!!!!


GO WISH TEAM!!!

 

[Big Vic]

Everyone -

Matt - Be safe!

 

[lourodrigis]

Today I ran my first race in the "40-49" age bracket. It was the Penn Relays Distance Classic 20K in Philadelphia, PA. It was an absolutely perfect day for running. The temp at the start was in the mid to high 50’s with a slight overcast. By the middle of the race the sun was out and the temp got up to the high 60’s but the humidity was still pretty decent.

The Distance Classic is one of the “open to the general public” events that mark the start of the Penn Relays, the famous track meet hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. I was surprised by the small number of runners but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that most of the people running appeared to be experienced runners. This was a “running” event and I didn’t see anyone walking to the finish line. Most of the runners looked to be in great shape so there was a little competitiveness in the air.

My goal for this race was to try to stay below an 8.0 mpm pace from start to finish. I finished in 1:37:05 for a 7:47 pace so I achieved the goal for the this!

Course

Most of the runners in this event were local so everyone was probably very familiar with the majority of this course. The race started on 33rd Street, just outside of Franklin Field, and headed east on 33rd Street towards the Spring Garden St. bridge. After crossing the bridge it was down a few ramps towards the Art Museum and on to MLK Drive (aka West River Drive). My guess is that 90% of the runners in this event run most of their LR’s along “the loop” around the Schuylkill River so everyone was probably very familiar with the terrain.

The course followed MLK Drive to the Falls Bridge and then headed along Kelly Drive (aka East River Drive) for about a ½ mile to a turnaround and then back up the hill to the Falls Bridge again. After that it was basically retracing our steps back down MKL Drive, through West Philadelphia, and finally ending inside of Franklin Field.

The Race

I basically ran about as perfect a race for me as I could. I stayed between a 7:30 and 8:00 mpm pace the entire race. The fastest split I had was 7:09 mpm on Mile 1-2 but that was due to so early adrenaline and some nice downhill grades.

I got a little tired around Mile 10 but hung in there and had paces of 8:01, 8:22, and 8:01 for the last 3 miles. It was a nice feeling running into Franklin Field with some gas in the tank and being able to give it some gas as I ran one lap around the track.

Highlights

PR – I have never run a 20K before so this was an easy PR. However, I am fairly certain that this was the fastest 20K I have ever run, including training runs and other long distance events. The nice weather helped but I think a lot had to do with the competition. It’s easier to run at a faster pace when you have lots of experienced runners around you.

Well Organized - Can't complain about the volunteers. I was in and out on the pre-race registration in seconds. The number of runners was fairly small so it wasn’t that hard to organize an event like this.
Scenic – The trails along the Schuylkill are as nice a place to run as any location in the country. With the exception of the short jaunt through West Philly this course is very enjoyable. Don’t get me wrong the West Philly portion isn’t bad but it’s just not that scenic. Finishing inside of Franklin Field is also very nice.​

Lowlights - I really can’t think of many. This was a nice race and for $20 you can’t beat the price.

The crowds were a little weak but I guess most of these runners were in it for the race and didn’t need much inspiration. I was just a little disappointed that there really were not many people inside the stadium for the finish. Oh well.​

 

[TXAng]

Carol – Sorry it wasn’t fun, but good for you for sticking with it and finishing!

Joan – Great time! What a wonderful cause to run for.

Paul – Congrats on the awesome PR!!

Matt – Great job on the tri! Sorry you’re getting deployed again - stay safe!

Kira – WTG on breaking under 35:00! Sounds like you had a great first race!

Allie – Congrats on a new PR!

Morgan – Congrats on finishing your first 5K! Sorry that your pace was slower than you wanted, but the important thing is that you got out there and did it.

Lou – Wow, smoking pace! WTG!

 

[dsnyfan21]

Morgan: Yeh for you ! You did it and that is what's important. Your first 5k, way to go. Now you can work on the other things and it will all come together!!. Good for you.

Matt: Great report on the TRI!! Sounds like eveything went well (except the shirt and the choppy GUlf!) I am sorry to hear that you are being sent out again. Please be safe and God's Speed!!

All the WISHERs did great this weekend!! Congrats!

 

[blizzard]

Tour de Airdrie 5K (Airdrie, Alberta, Canada)

First let me say, Leana, you picked a good weekend to be out of town!

Weather Conditions at the start of the race:
• Light Snow
• Temperature -12C (10F)
• Wind NNW 33km/h gusting to 46km/h (21mph gusting to 29mph)
• Wind Chill -23C(-9F)

A little background: This was my first ever running race. I decided to do this race about a month ago. At the time, we were well into spring weather, although around here the weather is extremely variable. Looking at pictures from last year, most runners were wearing long sleeves, but I was hopeful that this year would be warmer. (One week ago, the temperature here was 25C (77F), so my hopes weren’t unreasonable!) Anyway, things really started to unravel on Wednesday. That was my big run outside in preparation for the race. All of my running had been on the treadmill (at 1% incline), so I wanted to go out and practice my pacing and get the feel for outside running. Well, right off the bat, I didn’t press the right button on my watch, so I messed up the timing. I went out too fast, and was not running well. Worst of all, I’ve had some nagging ankle soreness (my guess is posterior shin splints), and my ankle was really sore after the run. I decided that I wasn’t going to run between Wednesday and Sunday to try to rest/recover my ankle. In the interim, I’ve had lots of time to look at the weather forecast. They considered cancelling the race based on the forecast, but decided to go ahead. With everything conspiring against me, I decided to completely give up on my time goal, and just go out and have fun.

The race weather was just completely brutal. Warming up, wasn’t really a viable option, as the wind and snow were just making you colder. Hardly anyone even ventured outside until they were ready to start the race. They started the half-marathon first (thank goodness I didn’t have to run that far today!). Then they started the 5K and 10K together. I think a lot of people missed the race start, waiting inside too long. The first leg was not too bad—wind at your back and slight downhill. The trail was mostly ok, although narrowed even further with the drifting snow. There was only room for 2 people across, so passing was sometimes difficult. I was trying to stay to the right, unless I was passing, and then I checked to make sure I wasn’t cutting anyone off. Between 2km and 4km, the route was uphill and mostly into the wind. I was pretty happy with how I did, as I passed a fair number of people on that stretch. There were some icy patches, and drifted snow which made the footing challenging. The last km started ok, as it was downhill, but this section had the worst of the wind and snow. We were mostly running right into it, and the path circles a lake, which meant there was no wind break of any kind. The snow had drifted over large portions of the path, and we literally were running through ankle deep snow for portions near the end. I was relieved to finally make it to the finish line, and I was sure glad I was only doing 5K.

I came nowhere near what I think I am capable of running for a 5K time, but I think with the conditions today, I did pretty well. By my watch, I finished in 36:30. Now that I’ve had a hot shower and warmed up, I’m looking forward to scrapbooking “My First Race”, as it certainly is a story to tell.

Me before leaving home:

The finish line area:

 

[joan4mickey]

Carol I'm speechless...

 

[AmyBeth68]

Carol!!! GREAT job under really tough conditions. Congrats on your first 5k .

Morgan: Awesome job on your first race too!!! You must be on !

Lou: I told ya' it'd be a smokin' fast pace . Awesome job!

Allie: Congrats on a new PR!!!


Kira: Yay for a great pace and your first race!!!! WTG!!!!

Matt and DW: Wow...you guys did awesome. Tell her congrats for her first Tri. That is surely something to be proud of! Stay safe during deployment...gonna' miss you at the Minnie!!!!

Paul: WOAH..that's an amazing PR! You must be flying high today!

 

[lourodrigis]

Carol - I knew I had it good for my 20K today with temps ranging from 55-65 and low humidity. However, I had no idea how good I had it. Oh my God! I give you lots of credit because I would have bailed if I saw snow at the start of a race. Actually the 10 degree temps would have got me even if there was no snow. WAY TO GO!!!!

Kira - Now I know why there were not many people running the Penn Relays 20K today...they were at your race. I saw the balloons and the crowds at the Art Museum when I ran by. It looked like a nice event. Your post race spread was definitely better. Nice race by the way!

 

[CynthiaCindy]

My race report for the LAWS Run for the Shelter Half Marathon in Leesburg, VA.

Sorry, this is going to be a bit long - I'm pretty excited - this was an unexpectedly good race for me.

It rained the whole time. Actually, that's not entirely true, it did stop raining for a bit before the race started so that at the start time it was not raining, but then the rain started up again before I got to the first mile and never stopped. At some points it was light rain but at other times it was pretty heavy. I was soaked but, except for my feet, I was pretty comfortable for the entire race. It was around 60 degrees and I was comfortable in shorts and short sleeves. My feet were less comfortable because so much water got in my shoes that it was like there were little lakes in there and I was squishing and squashing around.

The race was run on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail which is actually the trail to which there is an entrance across the street from where I live, so it is the trail that I do 99% of my runs on. So that was kind of cool. We live near mile 4 and the race was run from mile 30 something to mile 40 something. I had never been out that far. The race started at the County fairgrounds (complete with parking in the mud). Out there the trail ran mostly past farmland and big expensive houses. All the trees were very green and it was kind of pretty. In a way, it was probably good that the weather was so bad. The trail is pretty narrow and on nice days there are always tons of bikers out (at least on the parts of the trail that I have run on there are) so it might have been a little tight with people trying to pass other runners and bikers trying to pass them.

The race was an out and back, which I know some people don't like, but I actually love. I like watching the runners going in the other direction. I knew that only the top 100 finishers got medals so I actually counted the people ahead as they turned around to see where I stood. There were about 130-40 (I didn't say I was good at counting ) people ahead of me, so I knew I had no chance, which is fine, I figured I didn't have much chance going into the race. In the end, I got something better than a medal - a PR I broke 2 hours! Going into the race, I thought there was no way that I would beat my National Half Marathon PR time of 2:01:11 (from 3 weeks ago). I actually ran the first 4 miles way too fast for me (all under 9 minute) because this was a very fast crowd. I figured I was going to pay for that later but wasn't too concerned because I had no real time goal. After the 8 mile marker, I checked my total time and realized that I had a very good chance of getting under 2 hours if I didn't fall apart. My splits did start to get slower and there was an uphill during the 12th mile and after the 12 mile marker, I didn't think I was going to make it, but then there was a slight downhill that helped me get my pace up and I was able to finish the 13th mile under 8:30 and then charged up the last .1 uphill finish (seriously, why do I always pick races that have uphill finishes? The 8k last weekend did too). Results have not been posted yet. I have a watch time of 1:59:24. I assume the official time will be a bit slower, but I know the clock had not yet hit 2 hours when I crossed the finish line.

Mike (Optimater) and I met up before the race and chatted and then he waited around until after I finished (which I really appreciate - thanks Mike!) after his smoking fast time, which I will let him tell you about. The only food that they had was bananas, but soon after I finished, the Papa Johns delivery man showed up. Lots of pizza! Totally hit the spot. After the pizza, my DH came back from the 18 mile training run that he was doing and we all chatted and then I was getting really cold by that point, so we left.

 

[CynthiaCindy]

Carol A - you should be proud of yourself for sticking with it. Sounds like a really tough course.

Joan - Great pace and sounds like it was for a great cause!

Paul - that is awesome - what a huge PR. You must be super excited!

Matt - great job on the tri. Please stay safe.

Kira - Congratulations on your first race!! And you met your time goal!

Allie - Way to go on the new PR!

Morgan - you finished your first race and you should be very proud!

Lou - yeah, smoking fast pretty much covers it.

Carol (blizzard) - um, all I can say is WOW! Way to go! (Did I complain about rain earlier?)