Twelve Months of Training and Travel

The medals came out recently. Some of you will have already seen them on your own or on Cynthia's report. I figured though I might as well add them since the bib was released today.
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LOVE the half medal. I am pretty excited to get it.

I also will be getting one of these since I did the WDW half in January.

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I wasn't in love with a the bib at first. After all the colors will not exactly go with my likely red/black and white color scheme. However it is very classic looking and fun. Not to mention the ribbon on the medal matches the bib! That is pretty cool. I am not sure I have noticed that to be the case on the other bibs before. Also, I do think that it will look great on Cynthia's outfit (at least the one I think she is wearing)


 
I love the enhancement to the DL medal! Really wish I was doing this race! I am debating on coming out that weekend any way. Just waiting to see if my company is giving us the Friday before Labor day off. They have the last few years. That is also the last weekend my AP is good for, so it is almost like I HAVE to go right?
 

Love the medals, they look AWESOME!!!

Have you got a "trophy" wall in your house? :goodvibes
 
Congrats on the contract and just having a few papers to send back.

I love the bag...it's adorable.

And the medals look great!
 
Love the new medals!

They are all pretty cool. Makes me wish I was getting more than just the one for the half.

Lovet those medals! Makes me wish I was doing the Disneyland 10K as I lvoe Stitch.

I am feeling the same way. Both the 10k and the double dare medal are so cool! Course that would have been just one more race to tackle.

I love the enhancement to the DL medal! Really wish I was doing this race! I am debating on coming out that weekend any way. Just waiting to see if my company is giving us the Friday before Labor day off. They have the last few years. That is also the last weekend my AP is good for, so it is almost like I HAVE to go right?

It does mean you have to ;) If you do, please make sure to let me know!!! Would love to be able to say hi :goodvibes

Love, love, love the Disneyland Half medal. It's just classic. :thumbsup2

It really is! I am excited to get it. I am not sure this will be a race that I ever do again. (course, never say never) So getting this to add to my collection will be very cool.

Love those medals as well!

As I mentioned above... it really makes me wish I was going to take home more of them. Had I realized that they would be so cute... Na... I still would not have been brave enough to add additional races to that weekend. :rotfl:

Love the medals, they look AWESOME!!!

Have you got a "trophy" wall in your house? :goodvibes

Steve got me a special bib holder. So I do have all my bibs in that. It is displayed nicely. The medals are kinda here and there in my house. Various drawers and such. :rolleyes: I need to display them as well.

Congrats on the contract and just having a few papers to send back.

I love the bag...it's adorable.

And the medals look great!

Thanks! The contract and bag were exciting to get... and the medal WILL be exciting to get. :goodvibes
 
I am going to guess that most of you reading know who the cast of characters is for the PHM trip. Still I thought I might as well do a bit of a "yup, we are going" type post.

Of course... the is me. This will be my 6th half marathon. I have ran the phm once before in 2013. It was my first half marathon. I am so excited to get back and run it again.


Then there is Cynthia. (are we all shocked? :rotfl2:) This will be her second half marathon (assuming she doesn't fit another in some time between August and February. She and I live in the same state... same county... but really probably more than an hour from each other. We met here on dis and at some point decided that the DLH would be a good thing to do together. She had her own series of thoughts that led her to decide she was doing the phm. If you want to read about it, check out in her TR here.

I would love to swap out this photo that happens to have her in it... with a great one of her at a recent race of hers. (just saying :rolleyes1)




So this will be our second race weekend trip together. I guess I still have not scared her away. ;)

What is also cool is that she discovered that we could form a team for the phm and get some extra perks. :woohoo: I guess if we are going to do a girly race we might as well go all out with the girly factor. :rotfl: I actually think this will be pretty fun. What perks do we get you ask? Well we will get a special sash and bib. There will be a special photo op for us before the race as well. There will be "additional" perks too...but it is not clear as to what those perks are. Yes, I see this being a very fun weekend indeed!!! I am SO excited for it! :hyper::hyper:

Now with the who figured out for this one I just have the WDWHM to still figure out. I still am not a fan of leaving Zoe with a stranger while Steve and I run. :rolleyes:
 
Ok, so it isn't really a "race" recap. But since I likely won't have a race in June to recap I figured I would give this that designation.

First, why no June race? Well, the one I noted on the first page that I intended to register for was cancelled. :rolleyes: Then I hemmed and hawed about what to sign up for. I was really leaning toward the one that I knew a couple other people were doing. It was a bit farther away than I normally like though. I also have been feeling pretty negative lately when it comes to my pace and overall performance. Honestly, I think this month I have been terrified to see how I would perform during an actual race. While my May races went pretty well, I just had thoughts of how poorly I felt during the April race I did. So battling those negative thoughts - by the time I finally decided... registration was closed. Now, I could sign up day of but that would mean leaving even earlier in the morning (ok, so I am willing to get up at 3am for a Disney race..but not so much for a local one ;)) Zoe is going to attend her first ever slumber party tonight. So not doing a race tomorrow morning is probably best anyway. I just wish that I had planned better. Perhaps I would have done one earlier in the month. :rolleyes:

So what did we do though? Steve, Alex, Zoe and I did the RoadRunner Sports June Adventure run. :woohoo: I love these. Even if there were not prizes, they are a lot of fun.

Yesterday's theme was super hero. It was great because I got to wear my sparkle skirt. It was AWESOME (other than being a tad too big and when I had my pockets completely full it wanted to droop down a smidgen) I had people ask where I got my amazing skirt. :goodvibes

There were not as many vendors with booths for the prerun activities as there normally are. I got my vita-coconut. (LOVE that water) I use this often for recovery. On sale, the bottles run $2 each. Not on sale closer to $3. So getting an entire bottle to myself was pretty cool. (Steve got one too) There was muscle milk (didn't get a bottle. I didn't want to take in too much fluid right before running) Saucony was the shoe sponsor (none of us test ran a pair). Honey Stinger was there giving out samples. (YUM! LOVE THEM) Steve asked for a sealed package. :confused: I did not realize that was an option. I just ate the stuff he had out on plates. There was a massage place doing scalp massages (no thanks... hair was up and I needed it to stay up) A place handing out "shots" of medicine called First Aid Shot Therapy. I got one of each kind they had and tucked them into my skirt pocket. There was a couple different groups that were brining awareness to their cause.

Here is me showing her I "liked" her page so I could get extra raffle tickets.
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There is one of me eating a honey stinger waffle or chew (not sure which since I ate several) But it was not a flattering picture. Maybe I was trying to chew and swallow at the same time? :rotfl:

There are various prerun games. One was a trivia kinda. The first person to answer what the acronym "DARE" stands for won a prize. Steve was the first (and I think only) person to know what it was . So he one a rather nice water bottle.

Then it was finally time to get down to business. Last month and this month the event has offered pacer groups. We did not do this last month, but I was seriously considering it for this month. Usually, we just kinda wing it. We look at the map and try to navigate where we are and where we need to go. It involves a lot of stopping and inevitably someone gets frustrated. I liked the notion of just following a group. Problem was we had Zoe with us and could not just leave her to be with Alex on their own. (they would definitely have got lost). So abandoned the thought of going with a pacer. Then last minute I realized the 11 minute mile pace group was about to leave and I snagged my crew and decided we would go with them.

It was everything I had hoped it would be. :rotfl: I was able to run without stopping between points and I didn't have to try and follow a map. It was all in the hands of our pacers. Problem was the pacers... well, they were not very good a pacing. At one stop one of them (who was hearing some grumbling) told me she never times her runs so she has no idea what an 11 minute mile pace feels like. :rolleyes: Yes, I kinda wondered. I also wonder if the pace was suppose to be applied toward just the run time. We managed to get in almost 3 miles in about 30 minutes. Ok, that sound not far off, right? 10 minute verses 11. However, there were stops where we all had to wait in line to get our ticket or do the activity. Some activities were quick (hopscotch everyone?) While others like pushups were a bit longer. The longest stop our group made was for the slip and slide. We had to wait for another group to finish before we could start. Then one by one those who were participating took their turn. (not me, btw :rotfl2:) So yes ::yes:: we were hauling in between the stops. Zoe was such a trooper. She was so tired by the last stop. She was at the rear of the group an straggling by quite a bit. If it was not for it being the last stop I may have thought we should bow out of the pacer group. She made it though and we go back and entered all of our tickets into the raffle.

I am snagging a few pictures of other people from the slip and slide. I am not sure how they didn't kill themselves. Just the fact there were bricks on the "slide" was cause for concern in my mind.

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Then we positioned Alex and Zoe just outside the wall of the beer garden and Steve and I went in to enjoy our beer.
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Maybe not parents of the year award material. :rolleyes1

Soon the raffle started. Lots of prizes. There was the standard free shoes, various restaurant gift certificates, cases of various products, various services and subscriptions to services. However new to this month was concert packages. Not being a fan of Led Zeppelin I couldn't have cared less but I am sure the ticket package for a concert of theirs was a big deal to those who one.

What did we win at the raffle? Well, nothing from mine or Zoe's tickets. Steve won a spa type foot package valued at $180 and a case of muscle milk. Alex had the winning ticket for a case of IPA beer. So yes, Steve claimed that one. He decided (I think much to a little concern from the promotor) to open it in the beer garden and let our fellow runners "have at it". It was GONE within no time flat.

Swag was thrown out too. In this though I got nothing (I was under an awning so that I could be closest to Zoe so it was hard to grab things being thrown) Zoe was able to get a water bottle. (the same kind Steve won for the triva game) Steve and Alex both snagged a couple cliff shots.

Can you see Steve in this shot reaching?

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Then it was time for the after party. It was held at a place called Naked Pizza. OH so yummy. There you get a ticket for buying food and drink. Guess who won a pair of shoes from our group? Steve! He was quite the winner last night.

So all total we snagged
  1. 2 bottles of vita coconut water - valued at $4
  2. 2 bottles of First Aid Shot Therapy - valued at $5
  3. 1 Honey Stinger Waffle - valued at $1
  4. 2 water bottles - valued at $10
  5. 2 cliff shots- valued at $3
  6. Foot Spa detox treatment - valued at $180
  7. One pair of Saucony shoes - valued at $160
  8. One case of Muscle Milk - valued at $40
  9. One case of Laguintas Beer - valued at $36

Total approximate prizes:
$439
 
That slip and slide looks fun, bug scary at the same time. :scared1:

Nice haul you took in, and congrats to Steve on the shoes. :)
 
That slip and slide looks fun, bug scary at the same time. :scared1:

Right? I just thought it looked too fun...but way too scary for me.


Nice haul you took in, and congrats to Steve on the shoes. :)


It was a nice haul. Kinda feel guilty. This is the 4th set of shoes that we have taken. Do know though that I think each group comes away with stuff. We don't take EVERYTHING. Although I know that it must seem like it. Maybe there were 5 to 10 pairs of shoes handed out. Not to mention several packages to the store that was valued at $400 alone. It is advertised as having over $3000 worth of prizes each month. I truly believe it.
 
I can't get over your hit rate on winning shoes at these things. Crazy!!!

It does look like fun but wow, that's not an 11 m pace if 11 min was supposed to be just running, poor Zoe!

I'm sad that the April race messed with your head. The only person you ever need to prove anything to, is yourself and you are way too hard on yourself my friend! Just relax and enjoy. Your adventure run seems like the perfect spot for that. If you want to run as my sister just for the sake of an event and what sounds like a pretty trail (she had surgery on tuesday so had to bow out and no refunds or transfers) you are welcome to her bib but it wouldn't show as you. I did ask when I found out. But...the trail part was a little concerning anyway for dust right? So maybe for the best anyway.

YAY for being a princess team! We will need to come up with a name :rotfl2:

I am considering buying one of those photos, I just can't honestly decide which one. I am also annoyed by the fact that a print quality digital version of one is $29. I could get them all for $60 but :scared1: or one web version (not print quality for $10. Super annoying. If they were more reasonable I wouldn't think so long about it but bleh.
 
Your monthly adventures run seem to be so fun! You also seem to always come home with a great amount of loot!

Zoe did a great job keeping up with you all as well! Thats awesome.
 
I can't get over your hit rate on winning shoes at these things. Crazy!!!

It really is crazy! Course... odds are if you go often enough you will win a pair. For example the after party has less than 20 tables. If two sets of shoes are awarded that means that 1 in 10 tables will have a winner (and honestly, I am thinking there may be closer to 10 tables)


It does look like fun but wow, that's not an 11 m pace if 11 min was supposed to be just running, poor Zoe!

Maybe I just misunderstood what the pacers would be doing. Maybe they truly were factoring in stops. I find that hard to believe though because there is no real way to know who many people would be doing the slip and slide or how many would already be there that we would have to wait on. At the cross fit stop, there have been times I know we have waited 5 to 10 minutes to get through... last night we all were immediately able to hit the mat and do our push ups. So you just never know how long it will take. However given that it was just a bit under 3 miles and we were out a bit longer than 30... maybe they truly did keep us at 11 minutes. We were the slowest pace group and there were some who had to drop out because they were unable to catch up. Sadly that meant they would not get the bonus tickets (you had to start AND finish with the group in order to get your bonus tickets)


I'm sad that the April race messed with your head. The only person you ever need to prove anything to, is yourself and you are way too hard on yourself my friend! Just relax and enjoy. Your adventure run seems like the perfect spot for that.

I have been. It is true. I get wrapped up in silly stuff. At the end of the day, doing something I enjoy is what matters... not the pace, not the distance not any prize. Just gong out and having a good time is what I should focus on. The adventure run (even without a prize) is perfect for that!

If you want to run as my sister just for the sake of an event and what sounds like a pretty trail (she had surgery on tuesday so had to bow out and no refunds or transfers) you are welcome to her bib but it wouldn't show as you. I did ask when I found out. But...the trail part was a little concerning anyway for dust right? So maybe for the best anyway.

Thank you so much for the offer but as you probably figured out since I didn't frantically text you and it is now 10pm, I will have to pass. I wish you luck tomorrow! I want to hear all about it. I bet it will be an amazingly gorgeous course. Since Zoe has her first sleep over, it probably worked out for the best that I am not planning to be gone early in the morning.


YAY for being a princess team! We will need to come up with a name :rotfl2:

It will be so much fun! A name? I didn't realize we got to pick a team name too. How cool is that? Well, I guess it would be more cool if I were creative. Sadly I probably don't have any grand suggestions. :scratchin I will think about it though.


I am considering buying one of those photos, I just can't honestly decide which one. I am also annoyed by the fact that a print quality digital version of one is $29. I could get them all for $60 but :scared1: or one web version (not print quality for $10. Super annoying. If they were more reasonable I wouldn't think so long about it but bleh.

I came across a race today (yes, looking to fill a void I suppose) that actually includes your photos in the race registration. I think ALL races should do this. Or at least not charge so darn much for the images. I just kinda feel like data storage isn't very expensive so there should be a way to not charge so much... If there is a photographer there taking the pics I get that their time needs to be compensated. So add a few more dollars to each registration to cover that. It is becoming more and more of a pet peeve of mine. Kinda like at Disney when they print out your pics at some meals and then bring them to you but then toss them if you don't purchase. :rolleyes:


Your monthly adventures run seem to be so fun! You also seem to always come home with a great amount of loot!

They always are fun. The guy who organizes them is awesome at his job. There are always fun activities. I think it is next month he has scheduled tricycle races. The winning team is set to get some crazy prize package. It also is nice that there is a complete mix of ages, abilities and body types that attend. I feel as though that brings the running community together. As far as prizes go, I think there are always quite a few and depending on how many people attend most people have a pretty good shot of taking something home. Everyone should be able to come away with a items of swag and even if there are no prizes won, certainly there is fun to be had by all.


Zoe did a great job keeping up with you all as well! Thats awesome.

She did! I was quite proud of her. I don't go into anyone else's training much. I may boast and complain a lot about my own but I don't tend to mention each of my family. Each person in my family run...if even just a little. Zoe belongs to a running club a school. She qualified for their school fun run. (yes, they have to qualify and can not just choose to run it) She runs laps in our neighborhood (each lap is roughly a third mile) She is building her endurance to get to 9 laps. So I while I didn't think that she could pull off a 9 minute mile, I thought she could do 11. She did better than I would have expected though since that 11 minutes included long breaks. Steve was tracking the run and at one point or another he recorded an under 8 minute mile pace. We were flying a points. No wonder we lost a few people along the way. Yay for Zoe though for keeping up. Also for Alex... cause he had his own set of struggles. He was very thirsty at one point and when we hit a check point that had water bottles he guzzled one. Well, he found out that is a quick way to get a terrible side ache. Despite how much it took out of each of them though they are both excited to go again! :goodvibes
 
Once again - some serious loot! Woo hoo! Glad the entire family had fun at the race.

Yup, I have to agree that the slip n slide adventure looks a little precarious at best. :rotfl2: Glad no one got hurt on that thing!

Fun update!
 
It really is crazy! Course... odds are if you go often enough you will win a pair. For example the after party has less than 20 tables. If two sets of shoes are awarded that means that 1 in 10 tables will have a winner (and honestly, I am thinking there may be closer to 10 tables)

Well that is true, and for as much as you guys go, you should win! They should hire you to advertise for them!

Maybe I just misunderstood what the pacers would be doing. Maybe they truly were factoring in stops. I find that hard to believe though because there is no real way to know who many people would be doing the slip and slide or how many would already be there that we would have to wait on. At the cross fit stop, there have been times I know we have waited 5 to 10 minutes to get through... last night we all were immediately able to hit the mat and do our push ups. So you just never know how long it will take. However given that it was just a bit under 3 miles and we were out a bit longer than 30... maybe they truly did keep us at 11 minutes. We were the slowest pace group and there were some who had to drop out because they were unable to catch up. Sadly that meant they would not get the bonus tickets (you had to start AND finish with the group in order to get your bonus tickets)

It does sound like they were factoring stops. I would have interpreted a pacing group the same way you did, not how it played out. If that is the case it would seem they need to add a slower group so all can participate as the overall benefit of the pacer sounds good,


I have been. It is true. I get wrapped up in silly stuff. At the end of the day, doing something I enjoy is what matters... not the pace, not the distance not any prize. Just gong out and having a good time is what I should focus on. The adventure run (even without a prize) is perfect for that!

I know what you mean and it is hard not to. I have my own issues for sure. I feel like I am chasing an impossible PR and as a result, find myself "giving up" when I'm not on pace to beat it. That definitely came into play yesterday and I really need to get out of my own head. I do wish I had considered that the "trail" run aspect of it did make it not an apples to apples comparison as I'd likely not have given up as much as I did had I gone into it knowing that it was pretty much impossible given the different conditions. I was looking at them as pretty comparable opportunities and in the end, they really were not. I don't know that it would have changed anything, my stupid bladder kicked into overdrive and I literally walked 3 times, mostly to calm it down! The kicker is I missed 1st in my bracket by 1 stupid minute. which I probably gave up. I am rethinking my coffee strategy. I do wonder though if there is some relation to the warmer temps and the "issue" like maybe because it's warmer and I sweat more that speeds up the metabolism of it somehow? I did not have these issues in the cooler races. And it's not runners trots or anything like that but a seriously hyperactive bladder that definitely slows me down and takes over all rational thinking. Which can suck the joy out of the moment for sure.

Still it was odd, I KNOW when we checked the results at first, and then again with Michelle when she came in, it said 5th in my bracket. I have no clue what happened so was totally shocked when they called my name. Good thing Jeff wanted to hang out in hopes they'd call him. Kind of amazing though. His bracket 1st, 2nd and 3rd ALL finished in the top 10 of the whole race. Jeff was 11th. Which begs the question. Why is it exactly that guys are so much faster?

Thank you so much for the offer but as you probably figured out since I didn't frantically text you and it is now 10pm, I will have to pass. I wish you luck tomorrow! I want to hear all about it. I bet it will be an amazingly gorgeous course. Since Zoe has her first sleep over, it probably worked out for the best that I am not planning to be gone early in the morning.

It would have been quite the drive. It really was lovely and pretty cool to do something so very different from any other race that I've done so far. It was not dusty at all thank goodness but the terrain changes were interesting for sure. Not hard, just different and you did have to pay more attention to footing as a result. There was one part, probably .5 mile total (as it was an out and back) that was pretty big gravel, almost like decorative rock size and that was not fun. Especially when an edge would poke right into my bunion/callus sore area! The main trail was packed dirt with some small gravel and was easy enough but still required a bit more attention than a road or paved path. I suspect it was perfect as a "first" trail run as in the world of those, it was pretty basic and easy, just not something I've ever run before, nor had Jeff. Just a gorgeous area though.

All that said, it was incredibly well run, I was very impressed, met one of the main promoters who really went out of his way to meet runners and engage. They do the Lake Sammamish Half as well. Amazing post race spread, great tee, nice bling and yeah, the bracket wood medal is pretty sweet. We both said we'd do it again.

It will be so much fun! A name? I didn't realize we got to pick a team name too. How cool is that? Well, I guess it would be more cool if I were creative. Sadly I probably don't have any grand suggestions. :scratchin I will think about it though.

I imagine we will have time on the name? I hope so anyway. There well could be something that happens at the DL half that inspires a name, you never know!


I came across a race today (yes, looking to fill a void I suppose) that actually includes your photos in the race registration. I think ALL races should do this. Or at least not charge so darn much for the images. I just kinda feel like data storage isn't very expensive so there should be a way to not charge so much... If there is a photographer there taking the pics I get that their time needs to be compensated. So add a few more dollars to each registration to cover that. It is becoming more and more of a pet peeve of mine. Kinda like at Disney when they print out your pics at some meals and then bring them to you but then toss them if you don't purchase. :rolleyes:

Yes, they all should! I had one race where they were free. I do get that the photographers need to make money, that their time and work shouldn't be free. However, the prices are out of line with those costs. If the pics were decent I'd gladly pay $20 to get several digital images. If they sold 10x as many as a result, it would be a win win I'd think. I am thinking of getting a 4 pack of prints, I can get 4, 4x6's for less than 4 digital versions in a package ($35) and then scan them on my end. I at least get a high res copy that way and a lot more for my $$ than 1 digital pic at $29. I got my first "get them now before they expire" email today.
 
I also have been feeling pretty negative lately when it comes to my pace and overall performance. Honestly, I think this month I have been terrified to see how I would perform during an actual race.
That stinks!...it seems like you've been consistently getting out there though. Maybe you should do a few runs without keeping track of pace - no watch, no running app, whatever.
Yesterday's theme was super hero. It was great because I got to wear my sparkle skirt. It was AWESOME (other than being a tad too big and when I had my pockets completely full it wanted to droop down a smidgen) I had people ask where I got my amazing skirt.
Woohoo, another Adventure run! :thumbsup2 I get compliments on my SparkleSkirts sometimes too! :goodvibes They are pretty awesome.
The first person to answer what the acronym "DARE" stands for won a prize. Steve was the first (and I think only) person to know what it was . So he one a rather nice water bottle.
Oh man, I remember DARE. I had to think about that for a bit to remember what it meant. Way to go, Steve!

Yay for using a pacer...even if it wasn't the best pacer ever. :rolleyes1 And yay for Zoe keeping up!!
This is an awesome picture! I'm with you, I'd never do that! Ouch!!

More great prizes! Steve should have bought a lottery ticket on the way home...that is awesome that you guys get all that cool stuff!
 
That adventure run sounds really fun and excellent job on scoring loot! You guys are really lucky. :cool1:
 














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