#ZOOMA Cape Cod Half Marathon Recap

I fear that to try to put this past weekend into words would run the risk of sounding either too cheesy or would cheapen what this weekend meant to me.  I'll try my best!! :-) 

Friday afternoon started with bus duty at school putting me leaving late from there and thus picking up Aubs late...and like any good snowball would roll...we were just late all around!  Before I knew it I heard Dani's voice at the front door as I chased Em to put her shin guards on!  Good thing it was a judgement free zone since Aubs went to soccer practice sporting a pink tutu and rain boots....hey at least they were dressed!!  Thankfully the hubby was there and was awesome to take charge as we jetted off to the Sea Crest Beach Hotel.

This sunset is amazing every year!!

What I haven't mentioned earlier was that I was part of a interview/video shoot with Feetures! which began at the expo!  After looking around quickly and of course a quick fun shot with Amy and Dani, I met up with Mary and Matt from Feetures! to start the filming. 

Dani, Amy, and I

It was certainly awkward at first but honestly they were so easy to work with and so incredibly friendly that eventually it felt like I was hanging out with friends!  I think it goes without saying that it is not an every day thing for me to be followed around with a camera, filmed running, or interviewed, but they both made it an awesome experience!!

Matt and Mary from Feetures!

After that I headed over to the Honest Tea Mocktail Party to meet up with the other ambassadors and give big hugs!  I can honestly say that this is an incredible group of ladies who I am proud to be a part of!  We spent the weekend laughing, encouraging, and celebrating each other....the best example of what runners are all about!!

Ambassadors: Angela, Danielle, Amy, me, Jess, Dani, Nicole, Jessica (and baby Will), and missing Kelly

The next day came early after a late dinner with Amy, Jess, Jessica, Dani, and Amy's husband (aka best sport ever!!).  We got to the Sea Crest (also the starting/finish line) and met up at Amy's room to stay warm and avoid the porta potties! 

Amy's porch....ambassador headquarters

Soon enough it was go time!  We took a few more pictures at the start (Jill ran the 10k last minute...wish I could have seen her more!) and then the 10k runners were off. 

Within 5 minutes it was our time to go!!  A quick wave to our camera man Matt and we were off!  I decided to run with Dani and Jessica for the half but we also started with Jess and Danielle as part of our pack!  The first 3 miles rolled through scenic Falmouth passing harbors filled with moored boats and classic Cape scenery capped off with a jog with Matt from Feetures!  His skills were impressive as he filmed and ran and didn't trip on anything! 8:33, 8:13, 8:09

We turned onto the bike path and welcomed some nice shade as the conversation flowed easily.  We talked about races, family, you name it while meeting new people (the sweetest girl who's running Cape Cod Marathon for her 26th birthday) and dealing with grouchy ladies in Beach to Beacon shirts who were pissed about being passed by some chickies in sparkle skirts!!  Seriously lady you didn't need to push by us...there was a huge open road...oh yeah and then we left you in our dust!!!  We passed a friend of mine who needs to be mentioned!  Jaime lost at least 80lbs and this was her first 10k...she however tore her meniscus the week before...but being determined she walked the whole 10k and cheered on every single person who passed her...WAY TO GO Jaime!!!!  8:27, 8:30, 8:32

Dani takes the best running selfies!!!

The miles were clicking by pretty quickly and even though I am HORRIBLE at figuring out my paces, I knew a PR was in my sights!  I was getting a bit tired and my stomach was cramping a bit partly from a veteran mistake of trying new fuel race day (duh!) and partly because the roads were beginning to roll.  A surprise showing by Matt our Feetures! camera man pushed us through mile 8 but I was starting to feel it!  He asked me how it was going to which I answered, "Feeling strong and hitting our paces...it's going great!".  After Jessica asked what paces we were shooting for...my answer, "I don't know...it just sounded like a good thing to say!!"  8:33, 8:31, 8:36, 8:38

Then the hills came and my fancy wheels fell off!  This is where I was the most thankful for my encouraging and amazing running buddies there by my side!!  Each hill brought stomach cramps and a stop to walk...as I watched that PR slip right on by.  Ugh!!  The back half of this race is not for the faint of heart...it was friggin HARD!!  I was not letting the wheels completely fall off and Dani and Jessica began breaking down the distance for me until we crested the last KILLER hill and let our legs fly down to the finish!! 9:05, 9:11, 9:19

We crossed the finish with arms raised having spent our journey together!!  I can't say enough about how awesome it was to run with these ladies!!

My partners in crime, Dani and Jessica!!

 I'm going with the finish time of 1:53:24...since that's what my watch said for 13.1.  The course was actually long and our official results are 1:54:18...if you want to get technical!  For me I'm sticking to the first time!!

Beachin it!!

After party did not disappoint...food, wine and relaxing on the beach was just the way for me to celebrate half #31 and spending the weekend with some really fabulous ladies!!  A big shout out to another friend of mine, Joan, who rocked her first 10k as well!!!  I am kicking myself for those walks since they kept me from getting that PR but I can't help but be proud of the race I ran!  This course has not heard the last of me though....next year I'll be ready to eat those dang hills for breakfast!!!  I have loved being a ZOOMA ambassador and being able to run with these ladies is icing on the cake!!

What's Your Brave New Route?

If you've been a reader for here for any time, you know that I just love me a virtual race!  They are super convenient because you can run them whichever day (usually) and wherever you want!  Sometimes you can earn prizes or massive, awesome medals, and other times you can support a worthy cause.  When I discovered Jost Running, I found out that I could do both!  Earn myself a massive medal....

and support great causes!  This month's virtual race at Jost Running supports the ALS Association.  You can register for a 5k, 10k, half marathon, or marathon.  I chose the half since I had just run Ragnar and I knew that I would be able to cover the distance no problem.

 The point of this month's race was to seek out new routes and go on an adventure with running.  It may seem weird but since we moved to our new neighborhood 2 years ago, I have not really explored the neighborhood and all it's side streets.  Basically I tried once and got WICKED lost and had to use my GPS just to find my way home!  That was how our neighborhood got it's nickname "The Bermuda Triangle"!  Since then I have focused on the same 2 routes each time I head out the door!  For this run I decided that after my usual jaunt on my one go-to route, I would add in snaking around my neighborhood like Dora the Explorer.  I was surprised by what I found...trails that I earmarked for exploring when I wasn't alone...houses that were awesome...neighborhoods I never knew were there!  I wouldn't say that I am an expert just yet on navigating my neighborhood, but I'm glad that this virtual race forced me to get out of my comfort zone and be "brave"! 

I was also pretty psyched when I looked down and saw that I had covered the 13.1 in 2:01!  I would have thought snaking around my neighborhood and not really focusing on pace would have resulted in a slower pace.  I'll take it and know that I am in a good place for my next half in July! 

There is still time to enter this virtual race yourself...get a sweet medal and support ALS!  Up next for me with Jost Running is The Crank it Up 10k to support the National Young Arts Foundation!  You can again choose the 5k, 10k, half marathon, or marathon.

Who's going to crank up the tunes in June with me?

I was provided a voucher from Jost Running to participate in the race but the opinions expressed are 100% mine!

#RagnarCapeCod Part 1

The bags have been unpacked...funky laundry has been washed (and rewashed)...sleep has almost been caught up on...and memories are still fresh in the brain.  Sounds like a great time to attempt to recap one of the most unique and awesome races I've ever run!  I figured I'd break it into three parts...a before, during, and after!  Today is the before.

In true style of a busy working mom, I had little to no time to pack until the night before!  Yikes!  I made a quick stop with Em after school to Bayside Runner to pick up some last minute essentials...

Em even grabbed a honey stinger waffle which she is now convinced makes her faster than a car!  A reflector vest, some fuel, and a blinking light later and we were home to wait for Jill who was coming to stay!

After some dinner and laughs the ladies were tucked into bed and I was faced with getting all of this...

into this awesome Apera Bag!  I have posted about these bags before but seriously this thing is amazing!!  I fit all of this stuff PLUS my shoes no problem!  Even better was that it was still comfortable to carry around all packed up.  The straps didn't dig into my shoulders or anything! 

The next morning I was up before the ladies to get in a shower and some quiet time (in hindsight perhaps I should have slept in considering I had 18 hours before my first leg!).  In no time the girls and hubs were out the door and Jill and I were ready for our teammate Kyle and his awesome mom to pick us up!

Kyle dropped us off with our other Van2 teammates and it was so awesome getting to meet them!  Lisa and Betsy had come to the Cape from Tennessee and Beth and Brian were here from Arkansas.  I have been a longtime reader of Lisa's blog and have gotten to know Beth through hers as well so I was really excited to meet them as well as Betsy and Brian who I've exchanged many emails with!  After some time and some collecting of supplies it was time to decorate the van (to the strange looks of many #swaggering folks around us!) and head to our first exchange in Duxbury.

One of the things we decorated our van with were these hilarious frogs...considering that I was already getting punchy, I decided to act out the poses...yeah too much caffeine already! These frogs became what we tagged other vans with later in the race!

Up next....DURING Duxbury and beyond!!

Newport 10 Miler Race Report

Can I get an AMEN for a race report?!  It has been some time since my last race and this is my first race of 2014 due to my back injury in February keeping me from running the New Bedford Half.  I must say that this was worth the wait!!

The ladies and I headed to Newport on Saturday to stay with my family.  We grabbed a cousin and headed to number pick-up at the Fort.  I even saw Amy and her husband Chris (aka race photographer extraordinaire!) Even though the weather was raw, I let the girls run around inside to get the wiggles out!! 

It is always neat for me to go inside the fort since growing up it was closed.  You could walk around the outside and I attended many concert festivals there...went cliff jumping...rode bikes...but never went inside.  It's a very neat place and on a clear day it's beautiful! 

I had little expectations for race day since I knew the course was hilly and a toddler/cousin sleepover meant I had an early morning wake-up, but I put on my gear...slid on the tutu...grabbed my water and out the door I went. 

My parents live about 15 minutes from the fort so the drive was easy and I got a great parking spot!  A quick half mile walk to the fort and I was holding guard at the cannon as the official greeter...just kidding but I really stood there for a while so everyone could find me!  It was so awesome to catch up with Amy and Chris, Jessica, and Janine and her mom! 

Janine and her mom were my tutu sisters for the day!! 

The race started promptly at 8am with the blow of the cannon and we were off!!  I spent the first mile getting to a spot where I had room and felt comfy but was surprised when I looked down at mile 1 and saw a 8:23 looking back at me!  I had trained with speed but again didn't know what the day would bring.  Taking in the scenes mile 2 clicked by and 8:17 was looking back at me....hmmmm I think I have some speed in these legs!...let's see if we can that again!  Mile 3 was out at the point...beautiful still and 8:07...BOOM this is a race here!!! 

View at Mile 3...never quite able to capture on film!

Miles 4-6 clicked by all under 8:30 pace and I was happy that even though my legs were working hard (lots of rolling hills) my lungs felt amazing and I was feeling strong!  My favorite cheerleaders were between miles 6 and 7 and I got a kiss from Aubs and cheers from Em and my sister and nieces!  Aubs even wanted to join in the race!!  After mile 7 we headed off Bellavue (aka mansion row) and down a steep hill before heading back up another steep hill!  It was mile 7 last year where my wheels feel off but this year I kept pushing...knowing that this year I am stronger...praying God to push me up those hills! 

It's not a Newport race unless there is a viking out there!!  Newport is the Vikings!

Mile 7 was 8:48 and I began mile 8 back with a 8:21 pace until I got the side stitch to end all side stitches!!  Seriously I couldn't breathe or take a single breathe!  WTF!!!  After a little walking and a lot of water guzzling (I am thinking the stitch was thanks to not drinking any water for 7 miles) I started getting passed by people I fought hard to pass so I was off again.  It wasn't pretty...probably looked like I was going to cry...and slowed my pace down but I pushed...stuffed my painful side down (still hurts today by the way)...and sprinted through the finish with a 1:25:09!!!! 

I walked back (after squatting down for a bit) and cheered on the rest of the crew!  I couldn't be more proud of myself today!  Those early miles where I was just feeling awesome and cruising along built confidence in me that I have been looking for!  A little more work fueling and speed and I'm ready to hit my sub 1:50 half!!!!  Many thanks to the kind lady that came up to me after the race and comment on how she was chasing the yellow tutu for 7 miles!  It feels good to be chased instead of the chaser!! 

Monday Motivation

Yesterday I shaved 12 minutes off my time from last year's Newport 10 Miler...12 minutes and if it wasn't for a HORRID side stitch from mile 8.5 to the finish it would have been even more (more to come this week!)!  One thing that I continued to say to myself in the latter miles was, "This is not last year!"  Last year I had an awesome first 6 miles and then the wheels fell off...hard.  I am a stronger runner than I was last year and I proved that to myself yesterday!  In order to make progress forward we can't look back...we aren't going back...we are moving on up!  Focus forward!! 

How do you keep from looking back?