It's been a while since I've blogged, so you know it has to be reeeeeeeeally important for me to make this update. Disney added a new race to 2010 - the Wine & Dine Half Marathon!!! Oh my gosh! Can we think of any event that is more perfect for me!? Who's in? We can even do a 2-person relay!
Reasons why this is my dream event:
1 - it's run at night! Finally, a race where I don't have to be up at the crack of dawn (or earlier).
2 - after party at the Food & Wine Festival - as you may recall, this has become a family tradition and I look forward to it every yr!
3 - it's only a half! so only half the training, half the pain, etc. you get the picture!
4 - did i mention Disney World? this place is becoming my magical second home, apparently
Hit me up if you want to go! We have a year to train, that's more than enough time! :)
Showing posts with label half. Show all posts
Showing posts with label half. Show all posts
Friday, October 16, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
stoking the fire
I have been going back & forth in my head on running again. On one hand, I want to run the Disneyland half in LA so I can get an additional cool Coast to Coast Disney medal. It's only 13.1 miles! But, it's Sep 6, theoretically a day I would be on my honeymoon. On the other hand, I could just do the Disney marathon again, maybe as soon as next year, and try for the Coast to Coast in that yr as well. But, who knows if I will ever be able to put the time in for training again, and do those 26.2 miles? I can't really predict the future.
But then as if all this back & forth wasn't enough to encourage my indecision, Disney sends me the marathon newsletter in my email...and I read it and get that yearning to do it all again. Darn those emotions!! And then I watched this 3 min marathon video and relived all the feelings...ahhhh I really want to do it again!
And p.s. I am not the only one who throws her hands up & yells "yeahhhh" :)
But then as if all this back & forth wasn't enough to encourage my indecision, Disney sends me the marathon newsletter in my email...and I read it and get that yearning to do it all again. Darn those emotions!! And then I watched this 3 min marathon video and relived all the feelings...ahhhh I really want to do it again!
And p.s. I am not the only one who throws her hands up & yells "yeahhhh" :)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
thanksgiving half marathon
I totally failed on getting caught up by New Year's...oh well! I think this is one post I needed to get done before next weekend though, or then I'd be 2 races behind!
So this is the Atlanta Weather Channel Thanksgiving half marathon. As I mentioned a while back, it had some substantial hills that weren't too fun. I looked at a map afterwards and saw that the last one that ran by the State Capitol building had been labeled "Capital Punishment" - har har. That one was definitely not fun. It was even worse than Cardiac Hill since it was about a mile from the end. But otherwise it was a pretty normal race. I got pretty claustrophobic in the starting corrals, but I made a friend (another old guy, hehe) and we chatted for a while before the race started and for the first half mile or so. Once we got to Lenox, the next 6 miles were basically the Peachtree Road Race. So I was a little bored there...not as fun as it was in July with all the festivities and such. There was only one Jelly Belly Sports Beans station, and that was kind of disappointing since I don't like the beans! I just have a hard time chewing and running at the same time. I much prefer gels! Running through downtown was pretty cool, especially at that time when there were lots of banners for the SEC Championship. I got another medal for finishing :) All in all, a good time, but I would probably not do it again. It's on Thanksgiving, which in theory sounded cool to work for the turkey, but in the end, it was so cold in the morning and all I could think about was the food I'd be eating later on. Talk about torment. Plus, if you do the Peachtree, this race is basically the same thing, just twice as long.
Anyway, here are some men in uniform finishing waaaay before me. Gotta give a shout out to our armed forces!
And here I come down hill to the finish (thank goodness):
There I go!
Danna came out to cheer me on! I had a lara bar stuffed in my mouth when we took this picture, that's why my cheek looks so oddly puffed out. Just want to give another shout out here to everyone who has come out to my races this year or offered words of support & encouragement in person, by phone, email, facebook, everything. It really makes a difference when you know you have people supporting every step of the way!
So this is the Atlanta Weather Channel Thanksgiving half marathon. As I mentioned a while back, it had some substantial hills that weren't too fun. I looked at a map afterwards and saw that the last one that ran by the State Capitol building had been labeled "Capital Punishment" - har har. That one was definitely not fun. It was even worse than Cardiac Hill since it was about a mile from the end. But otherwise it was a pretty normal race. I got pretty claustrophobic in the starting corrals, but I made a friend (another old guy, hehe) and we chatted for a while before the race started and for the first half mile or so. Once we got to Lenox, the next 6 miles were basically the Peachtree Road Race. So I was a little bored there...not as fun as it was in July with all the festivities and such. There was only one Jelly Belly Sports Beans station, and that was kind of disappointing since I don't like the beans! I just have a hard time chewing and running at the same time. I much prefer gels! Running through downtown was pretty cool, especially at that time when there were lots of banners for the SEC Championship. I got another medal for finishing :) All in all, a good time, but I would probably not do it again. It's on Thanksgiving, which in theory sounded cool to work for the turkey, but in the end, it was so cold in the morning and all I could think about was the food I'd be eating later on. Talk about torment. Plus, if you do the Peachtree, this race is basically the same thing, just twice as long.
Anyway, here are some men in uniform finishing waaaay before me. Gotta give a shout out to our armed forces!
And here I come down hill to the finish (thank goodness):
There I go!
Danna came out to cheer me on! I had a lara bar stuffed in my mouth when we took this picture, that's why my cheek looks so oddly puffed out. Just want to give another shout out here to everyone who has come out to my races this year or offered words of support & encouragement in person, by phone, email, facebook, everything. It really makes a difference when you know you have people supporting every step of the way!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
augusta half marathon
Ok here we go...my first half marathon - the inaugural Augusta Half Marathon.
First, I slept on an air mattress at my parents' house. Bad idea. It deflated in the middle of the night and I got pretty crappy sleep on the floor. Rise & shine at 5 am, out the door around 5:30. We got downtown, picked up my packet and timing chip. The chips were on a velcro ankle band. That thing really hurt me in the end, I have little cuts on my ankle where the velcro rubbed it raw :( I warmed up by running around a couple blocks, stretching etc.
Here I am with Dad stretching before the race:
It was very cold! My fan club had to bundle up:
And we're off! Ryan made sure the first song on my Shuffle was S.O.S from Mamma Mia. Perfect song to start with :)
The race started at the Augusta Common downtown, wound around through Downtown, then started up a long, gradual hill up Central Ave around mile 3 & 4. This hill was really not fun, but I trucked up the whole thing. It was a little sad too, to see this part of Augusta. I wondered what other runners were thinking while running this stretch. Run down buildings, burned down buildings, overgrown lawns...mostly at the bottom of the hill. By the time we got to the top, we were in the more prestigious Summerville area around Augusta State University.
It was around mile 4 or 5 that I heard faintly "purple shorts" - I was wearing purple shorts. Then a man comes up running next to me and I pause the music. His name is Ron and he says "I just wanted to say that you're an inspiration to me. I just keep trying to keep pace with you." Then I say "well we can be running buddies!" So we end up running the next 5 or 6 miles together, and they flew by!! It was an awesome, awesome time. He had some really great stories to tell about his past ultramarathon days, military time, what Augusta used to be like...I just thank God for him. I couldn't believe how fast & easy the race became after Ron started running with me, he was such an encouragement. Had I been by myself, I may have slowed my pace, but Ron challenged me to keep it up! I told him later that he was the real inspiration: 62 years old, with multiple surgeries and a hip replacement. Around mile 10 or 11, Ron had to walk, so we agreed to meet at the finish line. Here's a picture of Ron & I post-race with our medals:
After running through Summerville, the race took us around Lake Olmstead, which I really enjoyed. It was still early morning, and a mist was floating off of the lake. Looked so cool! Then after the lake, it was onto Calhoun Expressway. Ugh. A couple more small hills and the sun shining directly in my face. I closed my eyes a couple times because it was giving me a headache. Yikes. But I finally made it off the expressway, wound another mile or so through downtown and on to the finish line! At this point, there was a small group of us that were running together and encouraging one another. "you got this!" "you're an inspiration!" "keep going!" As I rounded the last corner, "We're All in This Together" came on my Shuffle, and I couldn't have been more energized. I sprinted to the finish line :)
I love this shot, if you could see my face, it would be pure joy:
Medal time!
All in all, it was a great race. Great weather, great fans (yay family!), great company, and really greatly organized, considering it was the first event. I ended up with a chip time of 2:19:22, which I couldn't be happier with. I don't know that I would do it again, but I would if Ron was! Hehe.
First, I slept on an air mattress at my parents' house. Bad idea. It deflated in the middle of the night and I got pretty crappy sleep on the floor. Rise & shine at 5 am, out the door around 5:30. We got downtown, picked up my packet and timing chip. The chips were on a velcro ankle band. That thing really hurt me in the end, I have little cuts on my ankle where the velcro rubbed it raw :( I warmed up by running around a couple blocks, stretching etc.
Here I am with Dad stretching before the race:
It was very cold! My fan club had to bundle up:
And we're off! Ryan made sure the first song on my Shuffle was S.O.S from Mamma Mia. Perfect song to start with :)
The race started at the Augusta Common downtown, wound around through Downtown, then started up a long, gradual hill up Central Ave around mile 3 & 4. This hill was really not fun, but I trucked up the whole thing. It was a little sad too, to see this part of Augusta. I wondered what other runners were thinking while running this stretch. Run down buildings, burned down buildings, overgrown lawns...mostly at the bottom of the hill. By the time we got to the top, we were in the more prestigious Summerville area around Augusta State University.
It was around mile 4 or 5 that I heard faintly "purple shorts" - I was wearing purple shorts. Then a man comes up running next to me and I pause the music. His name is Ron and he says "I just wanted to say that you're an inspiration to me. I just keep trying to keep pace with you." Then I say "well we can be running buddies!" So we end up running the next 5 or 6 miles together, and they flew by!! It was an awesome, awesome time. He had some really great stories to tell about his past ultramarathon days, military time, what Augusta used to be like...I just thank God for him. I couldn't believe how fast & easy the race became after Ron started running with me, he was such an encouragement. Had I been by myself, I may have slowed my pace, but Ron challenged me to keep it up! I told him later that he was the real inspiration: 62 years old, with multiple surgeries and a hip replacement. Around mile 10 or 11, Ron had to walk, so we agreed to meet at the finish line. Here's a picture of Ron & I post-race with our medals:
After running through Summerville, the race took us around Lake Olmstead, which I really enjoyed. It was still early morning, and a mist was floating off of the lake. Looked so cool! Then after the lake, it was onto Calhoun Expressway. Ugh. A couple more small hills and the sun shining directly in my face. I closed my eyes a couple times because it was giving me a headache. Yikes. But I finally made it off the expressway, wound another mile or so through downtown and on to the finish line! At this point, there was a small group of us that were running together and encouraging one another. "you got this!" "you're an inspiration!" "keep going!" As I rounded the last corner, "We're All in This Together" came on my Shuffle, and I couldn't have been more energized. I sprinted to the finish line :)
I love this shot, if you could see my face, it would be pure joy:
Medal time!
All in all, it was a great race. Great weather, great fans (yay family!), great company, and really greatly organized, considering it was the first event. I ended up with a chip time of 2:19:22, which I couldn't be happier with. I don't know that I would do it again, but I would if Ron was! Hehe.
Monday, October 27, 2008
my first half marathon
I don't have pictures to upload...yet. But I wanted to do a quick post on my first thoughts of my first half marathon! Yippee! I did it! :)
It was so fun. I know I've been saying that after pretty much every race, but seriously. It was fun. Click here to read a quick recap of the event written by one of my friends from high school.
So appropriately, my first half marathon held a lot of other firsts. This is the first race I've run that started before the sun rose. Yeah. Starting a race in the dark was verrry interesting.
This is also the first race where I've had a running buddy. His name is Ron and he's 62 years old. On top of that, he's had numerous surgeries and a hip replacement! Wow! Amazingly he comes up to me and says that I'm an inspiration and that he's been trying to keep pace with me. After getting to know him, I said "you're definitely the inspiration, not me!" It was GREAT having a running buddy. The miles really flew by after Ron joined me. We didn't finish the race together, but he was right behind me. I really really really wish I had a running buddy for the next half and then Disney next January.
And this race is the first one that any of my family could attend. I had a little tear in my eye after running past them at the start, screaming my name and waving hands in the air. Awww!!! It means so much to me having family there! And then later, coming down the finish line, I kept wondering, where are they?! And there they were, a foot away from the line, cheering me on! Such a great feeling!
And...I got my first medal. I didn't even know you got a medal for finishing. But I've got one! You'll see pictures :)
And my goal was to finish in 2:30 or less...I'm not sure my exact time but it was around 2:19. Yaaaaaay!!
It was so fun. I know I've been saying that after pretty much every race, but seriously. It was fun. Click here to read a quick recap of the event written by one of my friends from high school.
So appropriately, my first half marathon held a lot of other firsts. This is the first race I've run that started before the sun rose. Yeah. Starting a race in the dark was verrry interesting.
This is also the first race where I've had a running buddy. His name is Ron and he's 62 years old. On top of that, he's had numerous surgeries and a hip replacement! Wow! Amazingly he comes up to me and says that I'm an inspiration and that he's been trying to keep pace with me. After getting to know him, I said "you're definitely the inspiration, not me!" It was GREAT having a running buddy. The miles really flew by after Ron joined me. We didn't finish the race together, but he was right behind me. I really really really wish I had a running buddy for the next half and then Disney next January.
And this race is the first one that any of my family could attend. I had a little tear in my eye after running past them at the start, screaming my name and waving hands in the air. Awww!!! It means so much to me having family there! And then later, coming down the finish line, I kept wondering, where are they?! And there they were, a foot away from the line, cheering me on! Such a great feeling!
And...I got my first medal. I didn't even know you got a medal for finishing. But I've got one! You'll see pictures :)
And my goal was to finish in 2:30 or less...I'm not sure my exact time but it was around 2:19. Yaaaaaay!!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
onward
So my next race is this weekend! In Augusta, my hometown. Check out the map. It has a big hill that is several miles long right smack dab in the middle of the course. I am SO excited. Not! I wish I had seen this map before I signed up. Oh well. It will be fun right?
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