Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Zooma Annapolis

I did it. I decided to pull the trigger on the Zooma Annapolis half marathon. The package was just too good to pass up, plus I wanted another half marathon this year. I realized I'm not a good summer runner, so unless I can find a half that's in a reasonably close distance in November I had to pick a spring race. Here's some of the reasons I signed up for Zooma.

You get a training package...in the mail...before the race.


I won't be able to take advantage of the Muscle Milk (sorry Zooma!) because of my weird milk allergy. I volunteered to let hubby have that for his training. Don't want to waste it!

Then, at packet pick-up you get your bib, as well as...

ZOOMA Signature Swag Bag, including a cute tech tee, yoga mat, reusable bag, and stainless steel water bottle (over $50 value)

Not bad! After the race, there is a great party with a necklace, wine, massage, shopping, and live music. How awesome is that? I am slightly disappointed there is no actual "medal," but the rest of the items are sure pretty spiffy. 

Though I'm a little scared. It has a 3.5 hour time limit and they say tons of hills (bridges). This does not bode well for me. I'm already thinking of how I want to tackle the training for this race. I'm almost wondering if I should focus more on hill training and speed work than really long runs. Zooma Annapolis will be my sixth half marathon and I'm thinking I have the ability to run it if I don't run many 10+ milers. Maybe, running a few less long runs and focusing on the hills and trying to speed up will help me not get swept in this 3.5 hour course.

What do you think? Would running fewer 10+ mile runs, but running more hills help me? Have you run this race? Any advice?

4 comments:

  1. I will also be at Zooma Annapolis! I have found that rather than substituting hill work for long runs, I have more success incorporating a few hills into my long run routes. I then usually also have a day where I focus solely on hill work - think hill repeats. Happy training & hope to see you there!

    Simone
    www.yourpaceormineblog.wordpress.com

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    1. Yea! I run in a very hilly area in general so short or long runs, there are always hills. LOL! I wish I could find a nice flat place to run sometimes, but no such luck. I'm hoping to do one day of hills just to get better at going up them. I'm not too bad, but if there are going to be many, I gotta prepare so I don't get swept!

      Hope to see you too!

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  2. I did Zooma Annapolis in 2009 and it is really not THAT hilly. There is the bridge in the beginning (which sucks, but has gorgeous views) and a few hills at the end but all the miles in between are very flat. It runs on an asphalted trail. The party at the stadium was great, I really enjoyed this race!! Good luck!

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    1. Oh that makes me feeling sooooooo much better! I heard about the bridge and for some reason thought there were multiples, meaning many hills. LOL! Glad to hear it's not as bad as I'm thinking. :)

      I'm also thinking of doing a 5k that night. There is a Glow-n-Run 5k locally that night and I really want to do it! This may just be the most insane thing I have ever attempted. LOL!

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