Wattle Waddle 5 Miler - November 28, 2013

The Wattle Waddle is a great Thanksgiving Day Race. It's the only one in our area that is a 5-miler.  It's fun to start off the Holiday with great friends, but for some reason, it's always so cold for this one!!  I was so happy I had bought those hand warmers!!  They were much needed!!  This is probably the last race of 2013, and I was able to finish it with friends and a smile!!

Women's Distance Festival 5K - August 10, 2013

Womens Distance Festival 5K - Frederick MD

This year I had the privilege of volunteering with the Frederick Steeplechasers Running Club as a mentor to other runners training for a 5K.  This was great opportunity to get out and help other runners find their love for running!  We trained over the Summer months and were actually quite lucky with the temps for our training runs.  It was an awesome training group and I was proud to be a part of their success!!

  

 It was a humid morning, so I didn't have my best 5K time, but I enjoyed being out there cheering on all our runners in the training group!!

An added bonus is running into High School friends after the race!!

Jenni & Lynne

 5K Time:  27:32 (8:51 pace). 

Marine Corps 10K - October 27, 2013

Marine Corps 10K - Washington, D.C.

New PR for the 10K distance - 59:11

Drenched 5K - July 13, 2013

Drenched 5K - July 13, 2013

The Drenched 5K was a new race that was held in Clarksburg, MD.  What better way to run a hot Summer July race, than to have water shot at you ??  Well, given it had rained for days with cooler temps, I was never so happy to see blue sky and sunshine!!

I met up with Elizabeth on race morning!  Always fun to have a friend along for races!  I don't think I ever race alone anymore :)

Elizabeth and me pre-race!

This race had a lot of energy at the start!  Great DJ, and having water balloons launched at us got the 1st wave pumped up and ready to go!  I decided since this was just a fun run, to go out in the 1st wave group.  That was the best decision as I saw later groups bottlenecked on course!

The 1st wave getting hosed!!  I'm in there! LOL

 The slip'n'slide was probably my favorite part of the course!  I slid right into the photographer (although I can't find the pictures :/)  But here is what I looked like after it LOL  Bubbles :)

After the race, I found Elizabeth (who finished her 1st 5K), and we headed back to the bubbles for some good photos and fun!

After I got home from the race, my husband helped set up a water trap for me.  The kids were really enjoying this WAY too much LOL

Michael barely let me get the car in the driveway before the attack!

The kids got good and "Drenched" before we called it a morning and went in for hot showers :)

So for anyone considering the Drenched 5K races, just make sure you go out in a very early wave.  They had a ton of bottlenecks for the later groups.  They needed more water features during the course, and they needed to tell the spectators to spread out !  Other than those issues, I had a great time with during the race, and then line dancing afterward, grabbing a beer and a hamburger, and just enjoying myself!

Paws & Claws 5K - June 29, 2013

Paws & Claws 5K - June 29, 2013

The Animal Welfare League of Frederick hosted their 1st annual Paws & Claws Run!!!! This was a   5K Run or 1 Mile Walk to benefit the AWLFC cat & dog programs!   374 runners and walkers (and dogs) turned out for this inaugural event!  I don't tend to run too many races in the Summer months, but the Lillard's group running for Sophie and Madigan were going to do this one, so I definitely wanted to join them to continue to show my support!   A great group turned out for the event!!   Here is the link to learn more about how you can help support them as well:  http://sophieandmadigansplayground.org/homepage.php

For a late June morning, it was actually pleasant out, just a little on the humid side.  This was my 1st 5K race for 2013, so I really had no goal other than to push myself and see where I was in timing.   I was pleasantly surprised that I only missed my 2012 personal 5K record by 10 seconds!!   I finished the Paws and Claws 5K in 26:20.  I came in #34 overall, and 3rd in my "new" age group of 40-49 women :)

For an inaugural event, this was very well run with a lot of vendors.  It was a lot of fun to see all the dogs out running today too!  I am happy to support the AWLFC!  Our cat, Tippy, was adopted from them :)

Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon

The Red Felts descended upon Fredericksburg, VA, this weekend for the Marine Corps Historic Half.  As I've learned, the Marines put on the best races. Well organized and awesome course support!!  And when you need a push, there's something about a Marine yelling at you to "keep going" "you've got this"!!  

Pre-Race:  About 40 Felters met up for dinner the night before the race!!  A bit overwhelming at first, but completely awesome to meet up with friends who I usually only get to chat with online! 

Race Day:  A 5am wake up call is never fun.  I always question my sanity about racing on race mornings :)  We unfortunately didn't make the large RFRC meetup due to the road closures, but we had a small mini-meet up at the hotel.  The hotel location was perfection!  Walking distance to the Start/Finish/Expo!  It was nice staying inside until it was go time!

Course:  Holy Hills Batman!!   I was warned about "Hospital Hill", but I had no idea about the others that were thrown in for fun.  Gotta love the Marines sense of humor !!   I found a really great pace for the first 3 miles, then hit the 1st hill and completely lost steam (and started feeling the affects of the humidity).  After mile 5, I just couldn't get my groove back and then luckily met up with a couple friends along course!  Always a pick me up!  Running is such a mental game for me.  At mile 10, I can usually "suck it up" and say "only a 5K to go"!  Mile 10 for the Historic Half is where Hospital Hill started, so the last 5K was primarily all uphill!  OUCH!   Luckily Will.I.Am came blasting through my headphones with #thatPOWER right then.  Miles 11-12 were really, really hard.  I wanted to stop, I wanted to quit.  Then I found Ed on course again - gotta love the RFRC shirts!  I finished strong for the last mile in and my time was 2:18:07 for the Half.  Not my best, not my worst, but definitely my most challenging race to date, both physically and mentally.  And being presented your medal (which are HUGE) by a Marine is humbling! 

Running has shown me that you CAN do it, not to ever give up, and running with friends is the best gift ever!  This weekend was wonderful even though I sit here the following morning nursing sore muscles!  

If you've never run a Marine Corps race, put one on your to-do list!  They are the most organized and well supported races I've ever had the pleasure of doing!   Looking forward to October where I can see all these wonderful people again and to run with the Marines!

Frederick Running Festival - Team Relay

            This year I really wanted to run the Frederick Running Festival, but I didn't want to run the Half Marathon.  There were some Run, Mama, Run ladies doing their 1st Half that I wanted to support, so I asked Crystal if she would run the Team Relay with me instead.  This way it was just a fun run for both of us, and we could cheer on our running friends as well!!   And since the race was on Cinco De Mayo, Team Margarita Mama it is :)

 

When I run these days, I always have 2 precious angels on my mind!  This year I ran for Sophie and Madigan, and for Boston. 

Run, Mama, Run Ladies

I ran the first leg of the Team Relay, which is 7.9 (just call it 8 miles)!  Once I started running through downtown Frederick, I really felt light on my feet and energetic.  It was the fastest I've ever run 8 miles.  1 hour and 15 minutes was when I hit the relay point!.   From there, Crystal took on the last 5.2 miles!

RMR Ladies with the Gecko

Crystal flew for the last 5.2 miles and we ended up with a sub-2 hour Half Marathon!  Awesome!  Our official time was 1:57:19.   38th out of 104 Team Relay groups!  I would definitely run the relay again!  It was a no pressure, just for fun, race!!

Boston .... heartbroken!

For so many people, Boston is the Holy Grail of races.  You have to post some times that make my head spin thinking about ever being that fast, and for 26.2 miles.  Runners train for MONTHS to race in a marathon.

But this year, the Boston Marathon ended in tragedy and heartbreak on so many levels.

• Heartbreak....for those lives lost too soon, and their families left to grieve.
• Heartbreak....for those injured in the blast, and the recovery they face.
• Heartbreak....for our running friends that didn't get to cross the finish line.
• Heartbreak....for the entire running community and their families!!

The only heartbreak that should have been in Boston yesterday should have been "Heartbreak Hill".

I'm at such a loss, sad, and downright angry!!  So I took my anger and sadness to the pavement! 

I ran in silence.  Just the sound of my feet on the pavement.  I ran past our flag at half mast.  I ran for 2.62 miles for Boston.  I ran with the images of a little boy in a white suit that was taken from this world too soon. 

RunJunkees - Virtual Run - Runners United to Remember

RunJunkees quickly put together a virtual run to both honor the victims and display unity in the running community.  The Facebook event can be found here with more details. There is no cost for this virtual race - just print out the race bib (found here) and run or walk, any distance, any amount of time!

 All I can do is continue to pray for everyone affected by this tragedy!!  I love my running family!!

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler - April 7, 2013

Well, after being "off" for months, it's time to get back on the horse (aka road)!!  I signed up for the lottery to this race long before my stress fracture and nagging hip injury!!   So after being good and not running per doctors orders, and completing my physical therapy, I'm cleared to run again.   Most likely my doc and physical therapist are not thinking "Hey, go run a 10 miler right away", but it is what it is!   I've decided to tackle the 10 miles instead of switching to the 5K.  I just like distance running (well, maybe I do)!!  At least I was going with friends, so I wasn't going alone :)

Met up with some RFRC friends at the Expo!

I decided to get a hotel room since this was an early morning DC race!  As an added bonus, Rose came up from NC to run with me, and we were able to go to the RFRC Pre-race dinner meet up!  So much fun meeting up with others that I had only met through the online group, and great seeing those I had met at MCM back in October!
 

RFRC Dinner Meet Up

Race morning was cold, really, really COLD!!  And the wind just made it even worse!  This is a Spring race, right?  The Cherry Blossoms were barely out for the race this year.  Even they were too cold!!  So we hunkered down and waited until it was time to head to the Start Line!

Crystal and Rose shivering!

My goal for this race - just FINISH !   And I did just that!  I actually ran the whole 10 miles after being off for months, and only getting a couple short runs in beforehand.  Crystal stayed with me the whole race, which is probably the only reason I didn't stop.  I finished in 1:43:11 (10:19 pace).  Definitely helped me regain some confidence that I could handle long distance running again!

 

Some of the RFRC Group after the race!

This was a nice race around the DC monuments!  I definitely enjoyed the scenery!  Just hope that if I do this race again, it's a little warmer :)