Third half marathon in the books!

    This morning was the inaugural Longview half marathon. I registered for it long ago, primarily because... their logo design is so nice and I wanted the shirt and the medal. Umm... yeah... that might just be an artist thing. Anyhoo, it is fortunate that I am a cold-weather-running-lover, because it was in the mid-20s and dropping during the race, with icy gusts of wind periodically, and pretty flurries at the end. 

   But, what a nice sunrise. *Almost* makes it worth getting out of a nice, warm, cozy bed at 5:45 am. Blecch!

   I wore my fleece headband, silk neck gaiter, neon pink long-sleeved shirt, tights, and knee-high compression socks. And I am noting this so that next time I run in these temps, I will add gloves and a light jacket, because I was not quite warm enough. Most of the run I was fine, but I had a lot of trouble warming up afterwards. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here are Rafael and I in the starting chute. Rafael's company sent him to KC from Rochester, NY for the week to work, and he extended his stay to Sunday so that he could run this with me. My favorite Spaniard!

   And here we are afterwards, all smiles since we both achieved PRs! I beat my goal pace of 2 hours by almost a full minute, and Rafael killed it with a time of 1:41! Here we are in our sexy mylar blankets and the pace sign we blew past, with our medals, by the finish line. YAYYY!

   The course was a lot of doubling back, which is not my preference; I like loops, so I don't have to repeat any ground. But, the doubling up means you can look for people you know, and I picked out Jen K and Delia B! It Jen was right with me the whole race, and Delia and Rafael were in perfect position for me to cheer her on... him ahead of me, her behind.

   I downloaded this pace chart to give me an idea of what I wanted to try for. But as I learned at packet pickup last night, I didn't need to keep track.

   KC Running Company arranged for pacers. I had never used a pacer before and didn't know how it worked. But I grabbed the 2 hour wristband and figured it was worth a try. I have to admit that I wondered if I could do it, since my current PR was 2:03, and I haven't been able to train hard, with a nasty bout of tendinitis affecting my arches and calves. Dr. Green gave me the okay to run, and has been administering laser treatments to stimulate cell growth, in addition to recommending two Aleve 2x/day and Biofreeze. He also had a great quote that stuck with me: "Those who don't train hard enough won't make it to the finish line. And those who train too hard won't make it to the start line." So I took all that very seriously, have only been running when I felt like it, and threw in a new pair of compression socks at packet pickup. And I think it all helped.

   I met our pacers, Herschel and Ashley, in the chute. Both were friendly, and both had personal PRs in the low 1:30s and lots of marathon (and even some Ironman) experience, so I knew I was in good hands. "Smart Pacing" meant that the pace is adjusted every mile based on the road conditions (incline/decline) and allows for walking through the aid stations every 2 miles to hydrate. Herschel explained that Ashley would run in the front of our pack, and would aim to finish the race about 30 seconds before the 2 hour mark. Herschel would run in the back, and aim to finish 10 seconds before 2 hours. So, as long as you were ahead of Herschel, you were guaranteed to finish at the goal time. 

   What this meant is that you met your 2-hour group right at the start, and ran with them the whole way—like your own, personal posse! A pack within the race. And there was also a race within the race, King of the Mountain:

   This was a mile-long uphill stretch that started at mile 2. There were timing mats at the base and the top, and special plaques were awarded to the top 15 men and women who ran it the fastest, regardless of their finish time. But, since charging this hill would pretty much blow our energy for the remaining 10.1 miles, our group took it easy. At least, we did until mile 10. I still had enough gas left in the tank to get more aggressive, so I took on that half-mile hill and kept pushing as we curved back downhill to 11. For mile 12, I ran ahead of Ashley, and for the remaining 1.1, I kicked it up to 8:35. My final time was 1:59:03.4, 409th place out of 1523 runners, and 33rd for my age group.

   It's funny how time seems to move in slow-motion after a big race. After lunch I came home to clean up, post a few photos, and do laundry. (And of course watch the premiere of Northpole!) My hips are a little sore as always, I'm a little sleepy, and my tummy isn't too happy, presumably from the Shot Blox (energy chews). But other than that, I'm all smiles!

Cinco de Mayo 5-Que... Ole!

   Started off my Sunday right: a festive run to commemorate Cinco de Mayo with Allyson, Scott, & Tracy! We met at the Ave Maria church on southwest boulevard...

Estamos preparados para la fiesta! Ole!

Four races down...

   ... And clearly, they have affected my brain. ;)

   Aki & Taylor representing the four races I've done in two weeks: warrior dash, trolley run, corporate challenge 5K, and Cinco de Mayo 5-que. 

What all Warriors are wearing for Derby Day/Cinco de Mayo: the Viking sombrero!

More cuteness:

THIS... IS... SPARTA!!!

Nice day for a 5K!

   This morning was perfect for the annual Kansas City corporate challenge 5K. It was so crowded at Burns and McDonald that I had trouble finding all of our teammates, but I found Robin and Henry, shown here, as well as Lisa T, Paul M, and my dive buddy who works at Cerner, Kyle.

   It's always a huge challenge for me to do a race without music. I really need it to keep me pumped and pushing hard. But this year the men and women ran together in the 5K, and I have to admit I love passing boys. Gonna have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat this chick! ;)

   I finished in 26:28; not a super fast time, but it is the superfastest *I* have run in a long time! WIN!!! 31st out of 167 in my age group.

   Turns out that warrior dash and trolley run last weekend were a great warm-up, and I posted another time faster than my training pace. If feels good to finally be getting back into competitive shape again. Just in time for the heat of the summer, when I have to stop running outside again. LOL

   After the race, I bumped into a woman named Jocelyn who works at Sprint. She and her husband are friends with Amie B. I really enjoyed talking with her and we connected on LinkedIn… Always curious to see where these random relationships will lead. It's one of my favorite parts of corporate challenge: getting to meet athletes from other companies.

   And now to start this weekend's work: trimming the yard, cleaning the house, finishing the Dog n Jog and Art Unleashed logos, and preparing for Taka's visit tomorrow!!!

Trolley Run: more photos

   These were posted on the Sportphoto website. Crossing the finish line, put your hands in the air!!!

Richard looks wayyy more serious than me. And Richard looks tired:

Me in a Richard sammich:

Nice day for a race!

   The severe thunderstorms, hail, & tornadoes held off this morning after all, and we were able to do the 26th annual Trolley Run. I'm glad, because it's one of the biggest runs in Kansas City, with at least 9000 runners registered as of Friday evening. It's a benefit for a children's charity. 

   The 4 mile course is flat to downhill most of the way, so it's a notoriously fast and popular race. But even that does not diminish my pride in finally sustaining a pace under nine minute miles. I averaged 8:41 per mile (34:43), for my fastest race since before my snowboarding accident in March 2013. For some reason I've really struggled to get my speed back up, but running sandwiched between Rich and Richard seemed to have done the trick. My calves and quads might be hating them later, but I love them right now. :)

   I picked up Madeline and Wayne at her house, and we drove close to the start line together. There we met up with Rich, Richard, and Chris and Haley Shields. Britten had dropped Rich off, and met us on the Plaza after we crossed the finish line. It was great to have the whole gang together on such a beautiful morning.

   This race is an out and back, rather then a loop, so it helps to have someone park on the Plaza. Problem is, we almost had too many people for one car… Almost! Somehow we fit three in the front seat and three in the back, and we all got back to the start line safely. Britten was our getaway driver! Good times!!!!!

Warriors ready!!!

   Let's start at the end this time… This is me, muddy, wet, and a little chilly, but happy:

   This is the medal, the free beer, and the T-shirt. (Yes, the medal doubles as a bottle opener!)

   This is the pile of shoes that racers donated to a good cause:

   These are my friends, who are clearly as crazy as me:

   Ease are the obstacles… this one is Goliath:

   This is the big, muddy lake we swam across:

   And that was the awesome day we had at the Circle S buffalo ranch in Lawrence, Kansas.

Running insights

   A few good quotes about running… And life in general:

Sunsetting on a long week

   I was tired from studying this week, working so hard this week, from expending mental energy on the test this morning, and then from diving this afternoon. But it turned out that this sunset was a compelling argument for me to get out and run tonight. So I took Taylor with me, and we polished off another 5 miles. Worth every moment! 

   My boy is almost 7.5 years old, but he still drags me the whole way. I'm hoping he'll be up for running the Westport St. Patrick's Day run with us! But for now, we are zonked after our run:

   Scott sent this to me, and it gave me a good laugh during this trying week…

Sunday Funday

   I woke up early-ish this morning and went for a 7 mile run, bringing my 2+ year grand total to 601.1 miles. I hit the 500 mile mark back on November 29 in Sonoma, California, so I've really increased my mileage per week since then! Going to try to keep it up as long as I can. Loving this cold, snowy weather, and of course the Sheebs love it too.

   Kismet, on the other hand, prefers to remain warm and cozy on my head. She is the weirdest/awesomeness cat ever.

   Later I met up with Polly and we drove downtown to pick up Michele & Ted, so we could all enjoy brunch together before they flew back to Columbus. We started out at eggtc. and had a huge meal, and then had dessert and coffee at Classic Cup on the plaza. It was so fun to catch up with them since I hadn't seen them since I visited Columbus in July for our reunion. Of course, this time was slightly less exciting since it didn't involve a ride in a classic Porsche. ;)

   Then I rounded out the day with more Olympics… What a surprise. Women's snowboard cross was on, and as expected it was full of mayhem and surprises.

   I can't wait to get out there and ride again!!!!!!! One of these days I might have to consider taking another lesson and trying to learn to do some jumps… get out there and show these whippersnappers how it's done.