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 :)

OBX Half Marathon Weekend

You really don't have to give me an excuse to travel to the Outer Banks of NC.  It's my most favorite place to go!  Beautiful weather, sunrises over the water, and this year, the Outer Banks Half Marathon!!!  Now, given this race is in November, the weather could be really nice, or really horrible!  We completely lucked out this year and had warmer than usual temperatures!  It was awesome!

The Run, Mama, Run Ladies decided to invade OBX :)

 

Pre-race Dinner Out!

Early morning pre-race picture with Rose and Crystal!

RMR Ladies ready to take on the OBX Half Marathon

Very happy runner with a new PR of 2:07:16 !! 

 

After the race, we headed down to the beach!  What a great race day !!  :) 

After the race, we all headed out to dinner.  Drinks on the menu included Rum Runners and Pain Killers.  Well those types of drinks could only lead to one thing ..... and who can forget the "wine thingy?"!!

Unfortunately, we had to leave the next day, but what a beautiful sunrise !!

Beautiful sunrise from our balcony!!

I'll be back in November 2013 to run this race again! 

Women's Distance Festival 5K

Well, I will say this was a great race in terms of organization and support.  But not so much a great race for me, personally.

My head was NOT in this race this year.  I'm in the midst of MCM training; its been a hot and humid Summer, and I did not wake up feeling great!  Honestly, I wanted to shut off the alarm and roll back over in bed, but when friends are expecting me to show up..... I show up!!

I met up with all the RMR ladies for the obligatory pre-race picture !!   This is why I got out of bed!  Good friends to suffer  run with!

Run, Mama, Run ladies! 

After the pic, we moved up to the Start line.  Still not feeling this race.....but we're off, and then my music wouldn't start.  Ummmm, I feel like hell, it's hot and humid, I NEED motivation!  While I made my way through the bottleneck of runners in the first 1/2 mile, I managed to get my music working and find my pace.  It wasn't great, it wasn't horrible!  Then Mile 2 - the great side stitch that would stay with me for almost a mile!  Then Mile 3 - "oh thank God this is almost over"!!   As I sprinted into the finish, I felt as if I was going to die, throw up, pass out, etc.  And my thought was ..... oh, I get to go run 15 miles tomorrow .....this sucks!

Me (far left - see, armband in hand - had to stop fixing music for photographer LOL)

Well, I don't look tooooo miserable yet!

So again, my head was NOT in the game here!!

The organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job, and I'm sorry my mood couldn't go along with the great race they put together!  Next year, I don't plan on any marathons, so maybe I can go back to enjoying 5K's again :)

Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon

Due to a series of changes in events, I was able to sign up for this race.  I had been looking at it for awhile and was glad I got the chance to do this one!  The weather cooperated for us and actually felt chilly that morning.  What a difference from the races just days ago!!

It all started off with a 3:30am wake up.  Yeah, when does 3:30 ever sound like a good idea??  At least we were carpooling, so Debbie graciously came by and picked me up at home, and off we went to get Michelle and Crystal!   We got to the race start with plenty of time to spare.  No traffic at that hour ;)

You'd think that since we got there so early, we'd be right up to the start, right ?  Wrong.  We decided to make a last minute Port-o-Potty stop!  Check out those lines ! 

Port-o-Potty Lines.....

So when we were walking over the starting line, guess what?  LOL   The race started without us!  Can you say "thank you for chip timing??"!!   We ended up at the back of the pack with the walkers, so we were going to have some major weaving in and out of the crowds to do.  Crystal took this as a  "sign" to stay with me for the race.  I had NO complaints about that.  Company is always better!!

RMR Ladies before the Start

I was so thankful to have Crystal with me for this race.  I felt like I had a nice pace (faster than usual), but it wasn't killing me (yet).  This course was really pretty running through downtown Annapolis and over the Navy Memorial Bridge (twice)!  It was mostly an out and back course, so it was nice to see friendly faces on the return trip, but unfortunately you also knew those great downhills you just had were going to be your uphills soon enough.

Crystal & I made it our goal to find the photographers :)  We did LOL

Around Mile 10 (right before the next uphill over the bridge), I realized that I would PR if  I was able to keep the pace up.  Never should have mentioned that little fact to Crystal.  She was going to get me that PR now ;)!!    Her words "come on, we only have a 5K left"!  It was a "tough" 5K!  I think with 2 miles left, she said she was going to threaten that "I can't let her beat me to the finish" like she does her kids.  I said "see ya later" LOL  Yeah, it was getting tough to keep going!  But her pushing was what I needed to get through it.  And of course, to top off any "Crystal & Jenni" race, what is needed ???  That right.....an uphill finish!  #^%!@@#$!%

But thanks to a great running buddy and awesome friend, I got my PR of 2:09:48.

Our Finisher's Necklace (instead of a medal)

We finished :)  Love these ladies!!

The awesome ladies SBS and Dimity from Run Like a Mother & RMR

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Jeremy's Run 10K

I'll start off with the "good" - as always, the RMR Ladies!  I really don't think I want to ever go to a race alone again!  These ladies are the best!!   And I got to meet up with my cousins I hadn't seen in forever beforehand too :)

Jeremy's Run is a race for a great cause, and since I got a great deal on the registration cost, I signed up for it back in January.....before I knew how HOT & HUMID it was going to be this weekend.  It actually felt "ok" temperature-wise when we got there, but slowly the sun burnt off the clouds.  The race started 30 minutes late giving the sun ample time to come out and make conditions brutal!  I actually did really well for the heat in the first 3 miles staying under a 10 min/mile.  The last 3.2 miles weren't so pretty.  Oh - and it was an out-and-back course, which was uphill most of the way back.  I walked more in this race than I ever have, finishing in my worst performance for a 10K at 1:04:18.  Even though its my worst time for a 10K, I'm very happy that I finished it, didn't throw up, and didn't pass out. 

Last HILL to the finish!  I'm in the pink on the right!

Then we headed to Starbucks for a lovely frozen coffee to make us feel better ;)!!

Run Like 'Nun' Other - Memorial Weekend 5K

For starters, HUMID!! HOT!!! Miserable, but that was just how my body felt today. I woke up feeling crummy hoping I'd be better at the race. After running just under a mile with Michael, I wasn't sure how I was going to get thru a 5K :/. The sun was blaring, the course was grass and path (I personally don't like running on grass), no water stops (which I'm so happy I carried my own today), and then wanting to throw up once I was done. Not a stellar performance in my part as I finished in 30:05, but I'm happy with finishing. I had to take walk breaks and drink because I got lightheaded and ugh, the side stitch. Ok ok. Enough whining !!

Mile 1: 9:00
Mile 2: 9:57
Mile 3: 9:56
Point 1: 9:15 avg

I was off to a decent start...

For the good part - always great being with the RMR girls :). Happy to have so many friends to run with and whine to about bad race days ;)

Next race is Jeremy's Run on Memorial Day and the forecast is HOT!! I'm hydrating like crazy hoping to tackle the 10k without a repeat of today!!

We did get to see a hot air balloon come down before the race. That was a 'good' highlight of the day LOL

The hot air balloon landing was a big highlight :)

RMR Ladies - hot and sweaty after the race!