My thoughts on Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon

Alright, so here's where we get honest. You already know how my Saturday went, how awful an experience Zooma Annapolis was for me. This is the post where I tell you what I thought went well, what went wrong, and whether I would ever do this race again.

The Good
* While I wasn't thrilled we had to pay for parking for the expo, it was only $5.00. I am pretty sure a parking garage would have cost us more. So, this goes in the good category.

* The expo was pretty nice, if a bit small. I liked that it really did focus on women's items. It was fun seeing the cute shirts and such around the room. I also liked that they had the typical expo stuff too for people who might need a last minute gu, gel, sock, or what have you. I grabbed a few shirts, a flower, and a card. 

* Parking at the race itself. The parking lot was huge and we were lucky enough to get a spot really close to the start/finish. After the race, it felt like it took forever to get there, but we were really close. 

* Pre-race bathrooms. Tons of port-a-potties. As much as I hate the port-a-potty, there was a nice long line of them waiting for us when we got to the start/finish area. I waited maybe 2-3 minutes to use it. Not too bad for a race of about 4,200, where I would bet 95% of the runners were women.

* I felt like there were enough water stops. I know many people didn't (and if you ran the 10k, I will agree with you that there weren't enough - they only had 2), but other than missing one from miles 4-7, I felt that they were pretty good. I did say I would have wanted a water stop around mile 5ish and if there hadn't been a screw up in directing runners, there would have been one. I still think there were enough overall (in the half course).

* Swag. In terms of items given out, it is probably only second to Yuengling Shamrock weekend. I received a bag and a t-shirt when I picked up my bib. When I finished the race, I received a necklace, yoga mat, and water bottle. Not too bad. 

* Black Girls Run. Hands down, THE BEST part of the race. These ladies rocked it! They were on the course running, they were on the course cheering, they were on the course volunteering. Was there nothing they couldn't do? I first saw this group last year at the Baltimore Women's Classic and loved the idea. This Saturday, I have a new found respect for these ladies. They cheered me on when I was dying. They spritzed me with water and gave me M&M's when I was dying. They gave me high fives. The lady with the spritzer remembered me from the course at the finish line and spritzed me again. She rocked. Can this white lady join? Because I would be honored to join such a fabulous group of women!

The Bad
* One of the reasons I signed up for this race was the amount of stuff you got. When I went to packet pick-up, I received a bag and t-shirt. Where was my water bottle and yoga mat? At the time, I didn't know this was a finisher item and not just a swag item. I was kinda upset at packet pick-up because of this.

* The Mocktail Party. We got to the expo originally at 2:20 p.m. and headed to our hotel about 4:30 p.m. We checked in, prepped, watched tv, and turned around back to the Lowe's. After paying a second time to park, we headed into the party. Which was nothing. It was in the same area as packet pick-up, but they didn't do anything to make it stand out. I RSVPed for me and hubby, but no one checked that. I don't care that everyone can go, they should. What I didn't like was the idea that you had to RSVP, then there was nothing special about it. We grabbed one drink, which was tasty, then decided to go to dinner. I really didn't think it was worth the drive back to downtown Annapolis for.

* The lack of communication at the start. I had no idea where to go, there were no corrals, and the only way I knew where to go was when the pace runners showed up. I am a slow runner (fact, not putting myself down), so I try to stay towards the back so those who are faster don't have to weave around me. Without any help, I could easily mess with someone's race. I try hard not to. But, more direction would have been nice at the start.

* During the race, my Garmin was always a bit off from the mile markers. Ok, I wasn't running the tengents, I get it. Then, it went to 1/4 mile off. That's when I stopped paying attention to distance on my Garmin and just used it for time. I thought I lost signal. I have a fairly old Garmin and that happens, especially with trees. Turns out, the race that was USATF certified was 1/4 mile too short. A goof-up with one of the police officers and where he was to be. OK. I am slightly annoyed by this. Not because I didn't run a full 13.1, but because the whole time I felt like I didn't know the true distance. It kinda messed with me mentally. 

* The heat and hills. I get it, they don't control the weather (only Pudge the fish does that), but the hills they did. It was insane. I know that this might be an irrational con, but here is where the race was lost for me (in terms of PR, not as in 1st place). I couldn't handle the heat of the day or the hills. Lack of training, very probably. But, knowing that the Mid-Atlantic in June gets hot, why didn't we start earlier? Sure, we started at 7:00 a.m., but Disney starts earlier and they know their weather. Yea...yea...the roads Disney races are run on are their own, but getting the roads open earlier in a town based on the water on a Saturday is never a bad thing. 

* There was a turn very late in the race (between miles 10 and 12) that we randomly backtracked onto streets we ran initially. By the time I got to this spot, there was no one to help direct. The two people in front of me skipped this portion altogether. I made the turn thanks to a traffic cop, but once on these side streets, there was no direction. Since I was so far back, there wasn't anyone ahead of me to watch what they did, where they turned. These two miles I felt so lost. I got discouraged. I didn't know what was going on. Another part of the race that messed with me mentally. If there had been people there who could direct us, that would have been great.

* The finish. A hot mess (pun intended). I crossed the line and apparently everyone who crossed the line had their name called out. Mine? Nope. I crossed the line solo with no one near me. I didn't see any water or post-race food. Hubby and I headed the direction a sign saying "Food" indicated. No food. No water. I was overheated. Hubby left me under a covering looking for water. Apparently, it was in a bucket of ice near the finish line - not marked, not manned. By the time I finished it was probably about 82-84 degrees. No volunteers to hand out water to those who had been on the course 3+ hours? And no food. By the time I finished, there wasn't anything in terms of food. I heard there were boxes of food, but I never saw them. I left shortly after getting my water, ignoring the vendors, the wine, the massages (which I heard were booked and if you were a later finisher you couldn't get one). The post-race was the biggest disappointment I've ever had at a race of this size.

* Shortly after the race, probably while I was still on the course, people were complaining about the race. About the shortness of the course, about how due to their incompetence people were denied their PR medals, how volunteers at the computers were rude, how people who were misdirected and ran only 11 miles rather than 13 were given a DNF and denied their swag (and wine!), how there weren't enough water stations, and the lack of food at the end. The organizers apologized and said they will take into consideration everything people had to say in their wrap-up and planning for next year. Then they announced to make up for it, all racers will get a discount on any remaining 2013 Zooma race. Ummmm...the races are in Texas, Florida, Cape Cod, and Chicago. I live in PA. Your discount to make up for my awful experience means I would need to either drive for hours or fly to a race. I can't imagine your discount is going to be enough to cover my flight. To me, this is a totally inappropriate response to a hot mess of a problem.

* Late Sunday, they put the official results. Yea! I knew I stunk it up, but I wanted to see it anyway. I plugged my race bib number into the search box and my name came up...with null next to it. I tried going through my name...null. As of Sunday night, it registered I was registered to run, but they had no time. Seriously?!? After all that, I had NO TIME???? I left a FB message with the race organizers and they said they would look into it. Monday, I got an email back from whom I emailed saying I needed to email someone else. Ugh. So, I email them. And now my results are on-line, but for 48 hours they were not. I was pretty upset for those 48 hours. I know it sounds silly, but after 3+ hours of heat, pain, and frustration I wanted proof I was out there!

* No medal. Ok, I knew this going in, so I'm not complaining per se about no finisher medal. But, I didn't realize how much a necklace does not compensate for a medal. Crossing the line and getting a silver necklace rather than a large shiny medal is anticlimactic. Sure, I can wear the necklace out in public without getting funny looks, but it's just not the same. Plus, the necklace is kinda blah. 

The back says Zooma 2013

Overall
Would I run this race again? No. No doubt in my mind. Sometimes you think, I need some space between the event and the next time. Not this time. It taught me several things:

* I don't like running in the heat
* I don't like hills
* I want a medal for 13.1 miles!

If you ran Zooma Annapolis 2013 do you agree? Am I just bitter? What was your worse race? Are there any races you would never run again?
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Zooma Annapolis Race Recap

Super long post. You may want to read in spurts.

Well, it's done. Yesterday was Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon day. It was not the experience I anticipated. Why? Oh...let me tell you.

Hubby and I left the house about 12:20 p.m., which was a little later than we anticipated, but not too bad. On our way down though, there was a truck in the lane next to us that caught on fire. We had NO idea how to tell the person. We were on a highway, how do you get someone's attention going 75 mph? Several people tried too, but couldn't. Eventually, the truck pulled over and all three people got out. There was a pretty high fireball, but it didn't explode. It was scary. I don't think my heart beat calmed down til we hit Annapolis.

We got to the hotel for packet pick-up about 2:20 p.m. We pulled into the Lowes, which I have stayed at before and parked. We were charged $5 to park in their lot, which wasn't great, but I'm sure a public lot would have been much more. We headed in and got in line for bib/swag. The lines took forever because people we picking up for others...not just one other, but multiple people. I saw someone walk out with 7 bags. Ugh. I got mine, which included my shirt, bag, and bib. I wondered why I didn't get the yoga mat and water bottle they promised. This upset me a bit.

I then wandered the expo and picked up a few things. I grabbed a Zooma 3/4 zip jacket and a purple shirt that I had seen before and wanted. Pricey. But, what isn't at an expo?

I also grabbed a shirt, card, and flower at Fellow Flowers, a great inspirational company that I've been told has been up a year and doing amazingly well! Their stuff was very reasonable. I also wore the flower in my hair the next morning. I liked the people at the booth and they had some really nice stuff.

After the expo, we wandered a bit to find a bite to eat. We hadn't eaten since breakfast and wanted something. Stopped at Fado's and had a yummy cider and this:

A yummy cheese dip with boxy chips! They were amazing! When the waitress saw we had more cheese, but no chips? She brought us out a whole new plate of chips! Yum!

We headed back to the Lowe's to get our car so we could check into our hotel. It was uneventful trip, other than Garmin getting us lost (what's new? Garmin doesn't like us.). Check in was quick. We got into the room, I laid out my gear for Saturday morning, and we watched A Knight's Tale for a bit.

Loved this shirt!

We got ourselves cleaned up and changed, then headed back to the Lowe's for the Honest Tea Mocktail Party. I'll be honest, I was disappointed here. They asked for you to RSVP to the event, which I thought that was because there would be drinks (Honest Tea), snacks, etc. they had to account for numbers. When we got there, the Honest Tea people had changed their table around so to make drinks mixing their different products, but that was it. No snacks. No separate room. No checking RSVP. I'm not saying they should have turned people away if they didn't RSVP, but what was the point of doing so in the first place? We had one drink and left. There was nothing making this worth our time of driving back down town. Complete waste of time.

We tried to get a table at a place down the street for dinner, but without reservations it was an hour wait. No. Thanks. I've got 13.1 miles to run in the morning. Gotta get to bed at some point. So, we went back to the Lowe's and got a table at West. We waited about 20 minutes for an inside table. Grabbed a drink at the bar and watched the O's. When we were seated, our table faced the TV's. Hubby was happy. :)

Dinner was tasty. We started by sharing a pizza. The waiter said it was just barely big enough as an appetizer for two, more like a personal pizza for one. Ummmm....no? It was much larger than we anticipated, so we added a shared mac 'n cheese and we each had a salad.

Cell phone pic, sorry for the blurriness

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel. Since everything was laid out, didn't have much to do. Put the ole jammies on, got our wake-up call, and hit the sack. That 5:00 a.m. wake up call would come pretty quick!

And it did! LOL! I'm not a morning person, so anything before 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. is early to me (no, I don't not have children). Got up and got ready. It was quick since everything was laid out and ready. Yea! We were ready to leave almost on time. There were lots of racers in our hotel. We saw all sorts of people heading to their cars, which made it easy to find Navy Stadium. LOL! Follow all the cars. 

We arrived on time, parked our car (really close to start/finish. Yea!), then headed to the port-a-potties. Figured night as well. Then did some stretching before the race.

Pre-race with Navy Stadium in the back

Hubby being creative with the camera and sun flare

The start was a little confusing. I didn't know which direction to go to get in line. There were no corrals or times. Hubby and I both went in because there was room on the side for spectators to sit. We chatted, then hubby decided to go outside against the fencing to watch. 

Here's where I'll be honest. As soon as I saw the weather was going to be in the low-to-mid 70s at the start, I'd been freaking out. I don't do well in the heat. I hate running in it. I hate doing lots of things in it. I even worried about that when I signed up initially that it could be really hot come race day. And as I stood there waiting for the race to start, I struggled not to cry. Which I had trying to hold back for the past 24 hours. I just knew this was not going to be a good race. I knew I would struggle. I knew that it would be miserable.

And we're off! We ran through the big Zooma inflatable start/finish and meandered through the Navy Stadium parking lot before heading into the streets of Annapolis.

Had a little difficulty at the start when my Nano didn't want to work. Honestly, had I not gotten it to work, I would quit right there. I was already doubting what the hell I was doing. But, it finally started playing and kept going. Maybe a mistake?

There were lots of little hills throughout the first part of the race around the stadium. Not too bad, but there. When we came back to Taylor Street, I saw hubby! He came to the one side of the street to cheer me on. We were just over a mile into the race.

It really was good to see him. I was disappointed on the other three sides of the stadium where people lined up to cheer. It surprised me how upset I was getting not seeing him. But, there he was. He saw me first and called my name. Then took some pics. From here, I was one my own...along with all the other racers of course. ;-)

We headed from here into downtown Annapolis. We crossed a pretty stone bridge into the city and around the pretty architecture of the city. It really is a gorgeous city! There were lots of hills here and basically that's all Annapolis is...hills. I'm not kidding. We went around town, down through downtown (I say this because it was a steep downhill), then past the Naval Academy. Slightly disappointed we didn't run through it, but what can you do?

Lots of hills and to this point, I'm running pretty strong. I'm running the hills and I'm thinking this isn't too bad. My times are keeping with that I need for a PR, even running a little ahead of schedule. I was ok with this, figuring the hills later in the race would slow me down and this will be my cushion. Had I known that there was so little flatness to the course...

We came through the city to the Navy Bridge and oh my good Lord. You want me to run that??? Twice??

It's hard to tell from this photo, but it's steep and it's not pleasant doing it twice. As we get to the top of this portion of the race, the 10k peeps get to turn back. Lucky bastards runners. At this point, I honestly considered making the turn and just doing the 10k rather than the half, but that would have been one pricey 10k, so I kept going. Over the bridge and into some weird race course. We ran along a highway for a bit, then turned onto a side road. It was disheartening because you never really knew what was going on. It just seemed to go on forever. And constant hills, very little flat ground to let you catch your breath.

When I got to the turn around point, there were three ladies there to cheer you on. They were amazing! They cheered, high-fived, and generally made you happy to have reached them. I have to give it to Annapolis, they had some great volunteers at this race. Many had the Black Girls Run shirts on and man, I want to join them! They were awesome! Cheering each other on when they saw each other on the course, keeping a positive attitude, volunteering, being fantastic to those who were running by. They embodied the running community to me yesterday. I seriously wonder if they'd take this white girl?

After turning around normally, it makes me happy because I know I have less to run than I ran. This time it didn't matter. I saw the 9 mile sign and texted hubby "Coming up to mile nine. Walking. Can't run." I wanted him to know since I had so hoped to finish under 3 hours. At this point, I knew it wasn't going to happen. I knew I was going to be lucky to finish below 3:10:00. Oh what a joke.

From that point forward I walked. There was an occasional downhill that I jogged, but the quads were unhappy and didn't want me to use them at all. They wanted me to sit down on the side of the road and never move again. Mentally, I can't say I wasn't with them on that. I walked. I tried estimating my finish time and came to about 3:05:00. That wouldn't be horrible, just 3 minutes slower than Shamrock in March and 4 minutes faster than AC from October. Ok.

On my way back over the hill, a poor girl was on the side sitting when the medical personal golf cart came up to her. I came up and asked if she was ok. Apparently she had just thrown up. Medical staff were giving her cold water. I'm not sure what happened from there, but I was a little scared. This girl was fit, she was thin and looked healthy. If she got sick, what about me? I was already nervous because I wasn't sweating the way I was early on. I was thinking I might be a bit overheated with heat dehydration. I contemplated stopping at a police officer and asking for medical personnel. I didn't. Mistake? Maybe.

As I'm on my way back to the stadium, there is a side street with people walking up it with bibs on. There is no course marshal or anything and the two people in front of me crossed the street and kept going. I asked the traffic person who said the race actually continues down the side street. Wha??? Good Lord. So, I turn left and I am the only person I see going my way. I have no idea where I'm going, but I keep plodding long. And this is where I felt completely lost. There were NO course directors out there. I finally caught up to someone so I could follow them, but wow. There was no one helping us back of the packers figure out what to do. This part of the race was just randomness for miles. There was a water station on both sides of the street, which was nice, but other than that, this part sucked! Hit the turn around from this part and started back. On my way, the gentleman who was my "guide" was on the sidewalk getting sick with two medics. Poor man.

I kept going. As I walked, I told those behind me where to go. I know I felt lost as I walked with no one ahead of me, so I tried helping those behind me. I got back to the main street and make a left towards the stadium. Up a hill (surprised?), make a left to a bit of a downhill (which I ran), then make one more right and wow...the stadium. The finish was close! So close that I actually said that. And the woman next to me asked what? I told her, "See that gray building? That's the stadium. We're almost done." She yelled out in surprised and thanked me. Apparently, she was feeling it too. She got ahead of me, lucky girl! But, I kept going. I got to the stadium, allowed an ambulance out of the stadium, and walked to just under a tenth of a mile, then started running to the finish.

And thank the good Lord, I am finished! I honestly didn't think it would ever happen. Yes, that clock said 3:23:17. It's not 100% accurate because that's gun time, but...

I crossed the line and waited for hubby to come around. A nice woman I saw on the course, spritzed me with water. When hubby arrived, we headed to water/food. On the way, I picked up my yoga mat, water bottle, and necklace. There would be no medal for me this day. We walked through the entire expo area and could not find water. Nothing. I stayed under a nice awning while hubby went back seeking water. Apparently, it was at the finish line in a black bucket that wasn't marked and no one there to give it to you. Thanks Zooma for caring about the back of the packers in 84 degree temps. I took my sneakers off and put on my brand new Nike cushioned flip flops. Love them!

I felt like crap, so I wanted out. No wine. No food. No expo. Though, the expo was basically the same people from the night before. I didn't see anything different. We walked to the car and the best thing ever was the air conditioning. I finally started feeling better. Hubby said we got late check-out at the hotel, thank God! I was able to head back to shower rather than just pack. A shower never felt so nice...minus out the chafing...in a not so pleasant place.

Changed and we headed to Pusser's for lunch. It was really the one thing I wanted to do. We had to wait for a table (not surprised!), so we sat on the deck enjoying a celebratory drink.

Painkiller

The reason I like this place is for the view. The food is good. The drinks are good. But the view? Amazing!

I had a yummy salad and sweet potato fries. Not typical post-race food (of which I got nothing from Zooma itself), but I was still overheated and wanted nothing hot. The salad was great and the sweet potato fries were sweet. Perfect! We hung around there until about 3:00 p.m., then headed home. It had been a long day.

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Can't blog...running...

This morning I'm running in the beautiful town of Annapolis in the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon. It's going to be a warm morning, but I am going to do the very best I can. I'll be back to let you know how it goes. If you want to be in the know, follow me on Twitter. I've got updates going on there!


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Trying to stay healthy!

In less than five days, I'll be running my sixth half marathon. Eep! The weather looks to be hot, which is what I feared when I signed up. On the bright side, no rain. Though maybe rain would be welcome...

Anyway...two weeks ago, one of my co-workers was sick. Some upper respiratory thing. I work with him closely at random times during the day. I did my best to keep my distance. I didn't want to get sick three weeks out from race day.

Last week, another co-worker was sick. He just came back from two weeks in France and caught some bug. Lovely, international germs. I did my best to avoid him and he did his best to stay away. So far, so good.

Then yesterday, hubby got sick. It seems to me like he caught a stomach flu bug of some sort. He had stomach issues yesterday, then it turned into aches and a fever last night into today. He's been on the sofa since mid-day yesterday. He even called out of work! He never does this because he works from home. Usually he doesn't see the point. Today, he did.

So, here I sit trying to help him feel better and praying that I don't catch whatever it is hubby has. I'm hoping there is no incubation period that come Saturday morning I can't run. Hoping I can keep up what health I have until then. I've been lots of time training (though not as many as I should have...) to DNS because of illness!

Any suggestions? How to stay healthy when everyone around you is falling ill?


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Creature of habit

Pre-run photo. Please forgive the funny face. The sun was brutal!

I am a creature of habit. I think most runners are. We eat the same things before long runs/races. We do the same things on race morning to prepare. We have the same routine to prepare for a run. Once we find something that works, we keep it up.

Today, I was scheduled for 8 miles as my last run before Zooma Annapolis next Sat. (June 1). I had it played out in my head - where I would run, which direction I would go in. how far out before turning back. As I came to the cross street where my parking lot is, I was stopped. There was a 5k going on and I was being redirected. I couldn't park in my lot. I couldn't start my run at it's normal spot.

I was re-directed away from the race, so I parked my car in the next town over where I was planning on going. But, I had no idea what to do with myself. I had never done this before. I always run to Mt. Wolf, not start there.

And here is why I say I'm a creature of habit. I had to figure out an 8 mile run on the fly. Yea...it didn't work. I managed to find 2 miles, then turned around for 2 more bringing me up to 4. Yea! Just 4 more to go. But, now I had no idea how to get those 4 more miles. I tried. I managed one more mile before becoming so frustrated with the run, my time, and my hamstring that I stopped. I went back to the car. I came home.

Oh that hamstring comment? Yea. My right hamstring, right behind my knee hurt randomly throughout my run. It's the same hamstring I pulled back in 2010 after I ran the Baltimore Marathon Relay. It's the leg that my herniated disc effects. I have one week until Zooma Annapolis (have I mentioned this?) and I will not mess around.

So, today's run was not what I wanted. It was slower than I hoped. It was a bit more painful than I anticipated. It was frustrating. What I'm hoping is that it gets the bad run out of the way. This got the kinks out and come next Saturday while I'm running around Annapolis, I will have a great run! It will show today what a good run is.

But it sure does suck on the day of the crappy run....
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Zooma Annapolis Race Day Email

I got my first email from Zooma about race day information. Gulp. Less than two weeks. Scary. Yea...yea...I know. "Chris, this is half marathon number 6. You shouldn't be scared." Shush! I always kinda freak out a bit with the longer races.

Anyway...It gave a run down of the weekend's festivities. We'll be rolling into town Friday, so it was good to know when stuff was happening. 

2:00-8:00 pm  |  ZOOMA Fitness Expo + Packet Pick Up
The Loews Annapolis Hotel, 126 West Street, Annapolis, MD

5:00 pm  |  Course Preview + Q&A with Brae Blackley, ZOOMA Founder
The Loews Annapolis Hotel, Atrium

7:00-8:00 pm  |  Honest Mocktail Party, sponsored by Honest Tea
Runners and their support crews are welcome. Please RSVP here.
The Loews Annapolis Hotel, Atrium 

I'm excited about the race and the Mocktail Party. Never been to a race that hosted a Mocktail Party before hand. Fun! 

And since I got the email from Zooma, I wandered over to weather.com to see what the temps are going to be that weekend (more to the point, freak out if the temps are too high). Apparently, we are more than 10 days out from Zooma. LOL! Guess who will be stalking weather.com until I can get Annapolis weather. Anyone else do this? 

I'm feeling fairly positive about Zooma, though I'm not sure if I'll PR or not. I've been doing the intervals on the treadmill more often and I feel a bit stronger. I have an 8 mile run this coming Saturday on the advice of my running coach. Then it's keep myself from being injured until race day week. Yes, it has a name. It became more apparent I needed to focus on this after falling down the front steps the day before the AC Half Marathon in Oct.  

What do you do as you get closer to race day? Do you have certain routines? Any advice for the last two weeks?


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Zooma Mocktail Party

So, a little bit ago Zooma hosted a half marathon in TX. I read about this mocktail party they were hosting and I was very jealous. It sounded so fun!

Then tonight I saw they are hosting one for Annapolis too! Of course, I am sure this is something they do for all their races. I was just silly for thinking it was only a TX thing. LOL!

I signed up right away! How fun does this sound?

Join us for snacks, drinks, prizes, socialization with our fabulous race ambassadors,

and the chance to meet Tina Haupert from Carrots ‘N’ Cake.

Yea! And the best part is I can bring hubby! This race series is totally geared to the girlfriend weekend, but it's not a girl's weekend for me. I'm happy that I could include hubby in my "support crew."

This sounds like so much fun! A nice way to wind down before heading to the hotel and prepping for the morning. Race starts at 7:00 a.m. and they recommend getting there no later than 6:15 a.m. Eep! This is good though. Hopefully starting so early takes the edge off the heat!

Have you ran a race and got excited about something they hosted? 

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8 mile run

Saturday, I ran 8 miles on the York County Rail Trail. It was a rough start. I woke up later than I anticipated and normally that would mean I would put it off. But, I decided to go out anyway. 8 miles needed to be run and it needed to be done on schedule. Why, I don't know and I'll come back to this later.

So, I got myself up and got out of the house. I decided to try my Cytomax Cool Citrus I received in my Zooma training package.

I only had one in my package

I knew it was going to be a hot run (compared to last month's), so I had to have my water with me and since I had samples of items from Zooma and Stride Box, why not try them out? 

I arrived at the Rail Trail in York about 11:00 a.m. This is way later than I wanted to start out, but darn it! I wanted to get my run in! I helped someone whose first time at the trail wasn't sure of the path, then headed out. I have to say, the sections of the trail in York itself are really pretty.

I am not always a fan of the out and back. I like winding routes because it tricks me into thinking I've gone further than I have. LOL! But, the Rail Trail is out and back, so the goal was 4 down, 4 back. I got through the city and finally started hitting the part of the trail that's a bit more in the country...you could say...

That is a rooster and chickens on the rail road tracks. Seriously. The rooster kept crowing as I ran past. And they had no fear of people! I passed within a foot or two of them and they didn't even blink!

There were lots of people on the trail yesterday, but not so many that I felt crowded. That was nice. This may sound silly, but I worry about being along on the trail since it's surrounded by trees. But, yesterday was the perfect mix of people without being too crowded.

I hit the turnaround point at 52:09. A little slower than I would have liked, but I felt good. But, the return trip wasn't as strong. My quads were hurting the whole time. I honestly wanted to stop. I had no desire to keep going. I wanted to get to my car at mile 6 and just stop. Of course, with an out and back, you can't do that. So, I knew I had to keep going. Sadly, I slowed down. 

My Garmin had goal times for 8 miles that would give me a PR at Zooma. I kept looking at it, hoping to be within the range. I have two goals, a sub-2:50:00 and one that just squeaks me by at 2:51:14. Sadly, I missed both of those by about 4 minutes. I could say that I had to stop several times on the run for traffic and that if I hadn't I would have made it, but eh. I have no idea how long I stopped at each street so I can't honestly justify that. Sure, I know I lost some time, but I'm not going to say it all got eaten up by traffic. 

I got back to my car and hubby and I met at our normal post-run spot, Dunkin Donuts. I had a yummy blueberry iced coffee and 

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I can only have apple fritters on runs longer than 6 miles. LOL! The other donut is a toasted coconut, which my DD rarely has. Yum!

I mentioned earlier that I would come back to that Saturday run thing. I realized something on my run yesterday that if I want to succeed in a PR on June 1 I need to do. I have to adjust my running schedule. We are entering the busy season at work now and with that means I am on my feet all day. Friday, I was exhausted when I came home. My legs were pained and I could barely walk back to my car (I park half a mile away from my office every day). The last couple of weeks have been like this. Last Saturday during my 5 mile run my legs were tired the whole run and my time was awful. I was surprised yesterday at how well then held up the first half of my run. Then on the second half, my quads hurt the entire way. Hence why I wanted to quit. 

So, this means my long runs need to change. I have to move them to Sunday, which I do not want to do. I like running my long runs on Saturday morning. I like in a sense getting them over with for the weekend and knowing I can enjoy my Saturday and Sunday without worrying about feeling well for my run. But, my legs are too tired on Saturday after working three days on my feet. I think they need to rest for a day, even if I go to the gym and use the bike or something. I only have three more weekend runs before Zooma, it won't be too bad. Really. It won't be. 

The other thing about the run is I used Ctyomax for the first time. The Zooma course has 9 water stations in 13.1 miles (which is awesome!), so I decided to take water on my run every two miles. I have to say, I was impressed with the Cytomax. It had a nice taste - not too sweet, not syrupy, no aftertaste. The Cool Citrus flavor was refreshing, especially at the two mile mark when I still had ice in my water bottle. I think that would be the only thing I would say about it is that it tastes best when cold. But, that's not anything more than many a drink. I know I will be taking some of the Cytomax during the course to help. It's the first sports drink I've had on a run that I've liked. Hopefully it will be cold on the course!

Do you do your long runs on Saturday or Sunday? Have you tried Cytomax?

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One month

One month from today, I'll be running the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon! Eep! I haven't been as successful with my goals so far for the race, but I'm feeling ok about things. I haven't lost the amount of weight I wanted to and at this point I won't. I can still lose some, but not be where I wanted to be by race day. I've been working on lifting more and trying to incorporate more core. I got back problems people. Need that core solid!

I haven't been getting in my weekday runs as much as I should. I haven't kept up with all my hill repeats. I haven't always gone to the gym at night.

The positive is I still have a month to change things around. I have 8 miles this weekend. I'm looking into TRX classes at my gym next week (they are doing demos to determine interest). Hubby and I are still working on lifting and core. I start a new program tomorrow called Creative Change Bootcamp, which I'm hoping to delve into my food issues.

So, one month til Z day! I'm still chasing that PR. I'm still chasing a strong run. Here's to a fantastic May!


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Trying for a PR at Zooma Annapolis

I had high hopes at Shamrock Half Marathon in March to beat my 13.1 PR of 2:51:15. Sadly, due to my own lack of training, there is nothing more to blame it on, I did not. It was my second fastest half out of five, but I didn't even break three hours. Blargh!

What did I do after Shamrock? I signed up for Zooma Annapolis with the goal of breaking my PR. One big reason I want to break my PR is at Zooma, rather than a medal for crossing the line you receive a necklace. That's all well and good, but I like medal bling. In order to get medal bling I need to PR.

Yup. I need to PR to get the above medal. It's pretty spiffy. In order to get it, I need to break 2:51:14. Maybe not PRing in Virginia Beach was a good thing. I don't have to strive to run even faster than March.

I've been doing hill repeats, which is supposed to help with speed. Plus, make it easier to run hills when you come across them. I think they are helping since I was able to run Saturday's hills-from-hell race and only stop for two side streets that were insane and for my normal walk breaks. I honestly don't think a year or two ago I could have run this race.

I went on-line and found a website that gave me the pace I would need to keep for each mile during Zooma Annapolis to run a just barely PR (2:51:14) and what my ultimate goal would be (2:49:59).

2:51:14 (Squeaking by)

Mile 1 ~ 13:04

Mile 2 ~ 26:08

Mile 3 ~ 39:12

Mile 4 ~ 52:17

Mile 5 ~ 1:05:21

Mile 6 ~ 1:18:25

Mile 7 ~ 1:31:29

Mile 8 ~ 1:44:34

Mile 9 ~ 1:57:38

Mile 10 ~  2:10:42

Mile 11 ~ 2:24:47

Mile 12 ~ 2:36:51

Mile 13 ~ 2:49:55

Mile 13.1 ~ 2:51:14

2:49:59 (Ultimate goal)

Mile 1 ~12:58

Mile 2 ~25:57

Mile 3 ~38:55

Mile 4 ~51:54

Mile 5 ~1:04:52

Mile 6 ~ 1:17:51

Mile 7 ~ 1:30:49

Mile 8 ~ 1:43:48

Mile 9 ~ 1:56:46

Mile 10 ~  2:09:45

Mile 11 ~ 2:22:44

Mile 12 ~ 2:35:42

Mile 13 ~ 2:48:41

Mile 13.1 ~ 2:49:59

I like this. I can work with this. This is tangable. I wasn't sure what I should be aiming for mile-wise for any of my races. This gives me what I need to focus on. I can see where I should be at each mile. If I'm ahead, fantastic! If I'm falling behind I can work on stepping it up. Plus now I can track my runs to see if I'm running fast enough to make these times.

I have a 10k on Saturday. I am going to write these numbers out and take them with me. I may not meet these, but it will give me a good idea of where I stand. What makes me laugh is I'm not a math person, but this so makes me happy. Such a dork...

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Found my shirt for Zooma Annapolis!

Warrior Princess

In 2011 I ran my first half marathon (Disney Princess) and my first duathlon (Keystone Warrior). I completed one. Ever since then, hubby has referred to me as a Warrior Princess. It's even on my Road ID.

When trying to decide what I wanted to wear to Zooma Annapolis, I knew I would need a tank top. The temps are going to be warm in June. I know this and I signed up anyway (stupid...). But, I figure a tank top will make me a tiny, itty bit cooler. I just wasn't sure what I wanted. I spent many nights looking through websites for a good shirt at a good price (I'm cheap).

Then I saw this shirt on the Raw Threads website and I fell in love. It's girly without being over the top and it's me. Literally. Warrior Princess. I had to have it. I debated a few hours, but in the end I decided to suck it up and order it.

It came yesterday. I was surprised as it was shipped Tuesday. Not bad Raw Threads, not bad at all. It came in a post office envelope, which was fine. It surprised me because it was in my mailbox and I wasn't expecting that (or that it would come so quickly!).

I tried it on and oh wow. It is ridiculously soft. It is a tech shirt, which is fab. But, it is stretchy and soft. Oh so soft. Can you tell I'm loving it? I'll be honest, I haven't done anything but try it on, but I think I made a fabulous choice in picking this shirt up for Annapolis. I also think it might be noticeable when coming to the finish line. Hopefully!

Have you picked up a Raw Threads shirt? Do you try to find just the right clothes for your big races?

I did not receive anything for this post. I found this shirt, liked it, purchased it and wanted to share. I am not employed by or have gotten anything from Raw Threads. I am excited about this shirt and wanted to share my opinion on it.


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Hill Repeats

I've heard rumors that Zooma Annapolis has some hills. While I run in a hilly area, I really don't do hills. I hate hills to be honest. I'm just not a strong runner, so hills hurt. I could obviously fix this, but I haven't...until now.

The past two weeks I have gone to a local park and ran hill repeats. Yes. Hill Repeats. There is a path that goes about a mile around baseball fields and children's play grounds. One section of it is very, very steep. This is where I ran during the week when I first started running and this hill killed me every.single.time.

So, this is where I am going for my hill repeats. I started on April 2 and decided once a week will work. The first week I was only able to do 4 hill repeats. My goal was 5, but on the third and fourth I had shin pain. Not worth injury. On average, I ran the hill in 45:50. Not great, but you gotta start somewhere.

Yesterday I went out for day 2 of hill repeats. The temperature was 40 degrees hotter than last week. Hello spring! Apparently, the mid-Atlantic goes from winter (Sat.'s 5k was 32 degrees) to spring (Tues. hill repeats 80 degrees) like that! Ugh. I was able to run 5 hill repeats without pain. Yea! My average time on Tuesday was 43:24. Not bad for one week! A decrease in 2.26 seconds. Yea!

Then I saw an article from Runner's World that said all hill repeats improve 5k time! This made me very happy! I not only want to decrease my half marathon time and be prepared for the hills, but I do want my 5k time to improve. I would love to see it get under 35 minutes.

I'll be honest, I'm not a big fan of hill repeats. Never have been. But, if I can speed up my time and run a steady hill at Annapolis, then it's worth doing it.

Do you run hill repeats? Have you seen an improvement in your speed?


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Zooma Training Care Package

One of the main reasons I signed up for the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon was because of all the cool and different things they offered. The first item that struck me was the training package they send to your home during training.

I received mine last week (after waiting longer than the 10-14 days the email indicated. To be honest, I emailed Zooma asking about it and I received a response. Apparently, the post office didn't pick up on three separate occasions.). I was a bit disappointed to be honest. I should have taken a photo, but I was anticipating a sweet little box as my package. Rather I received a padded envelope with the items. I did not get a photo as I was excited to see what was inside and just ripped the envelope open.

Inside, I found the following

Muscle Milk Light - Chocolate

Body Glade

Gu - Island Nectars

Cytomax - Cool Citrus

Perform Pain Relief

2013 Running Playlist

I'll be honest, I was slightly disappointed. I know that sounds awful, but I expected something nicer. A bit more. The only product I've tried before is the Body Glide. That's a good item to have! And with Zooma being in June, I have a feeling I'll be using a good amount of it. The rest of the products, I've never tried before. I'm curious to see if I'll like them. I've been a bit afraid of the Gu because of the texture. I've never really heard of Cytomax. I have a feeling Perform Pain Relief could be useful. And the Muscle Milk Light sounds promising. 

What bothered me was the Running Playlist. Not a single country song. I know most people don't think of country as good running music, but there are those of us who do. I had a good list for Shamrock that had country in it. There are good up-tempo songs that you could have added to the list. Right now I'm digging Miranda Lambert's "Momma's Broken Heart." That would be a great song for the list.

I am looking forward to trying out the items Zooma sent. Maybe it will introduce me to products I would have been too nervous to try. That is a positive from this package...giving me the opportunity to broaden my horizons and take the chance of finding something to help bring my running to the next level.

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Weekly recap

Week one of Zooma Annapolis training is in the books. It did not go as well as I would have liked. I had all good intentions. I got my 3 mile run in on Saturday and ate basically what I knew I would. I did well on Sunday, even hitting the gym for a walk/bike/core workout. Monday, I didn't get my 30 minute run in due to a snowstorm that lasted literally all day. We were able to get to our training session Monday night and get in a 15 minute stationary bike ride.

And that's where my week went downhill. I talked about that failed training session earlier in the week and how it effected me mentally and emotionally. I appreciate all the support you guys gave me! But, I let it take me down the wrong track. Hubby had to go into the office Tuesday/Wednesday (he works from home and only goes into Philly a few times a year) and I just didn't handle myself well. I snacked all day on Tuesday and didn't work out. Wednesday, I went to work and did ok all day, but killed myself afterwards. I skipped the gym, then had McDonald's for dinner. It wasn't pretty.

But, I learned something this week. Actually a couple things.

1. My diet (what I eat) is my downfall. It really is. I may not like to exercise, but it's really what I eat that's holding me back from reaching my goals. I am an emotional eater and no matter what, I fall back on it. I have yet to find something to replace reaching for that Tastykake or Snickers. I need to spend time on this. I need to find a way around this. I need to find a way to make meals that I want to eat throughout the week. My diet is my focus next week.

2. My job is physical. I didn't just figure this out. I've known it for months. But, I am seeing that 6 hours on my feet does not make me want to go to the gym after work. Many a day the bottom of my feet hurt and I'm tired. All I want to do is go home, eat dinner, and chill. This week I am re-working my training plan so I am not going to the gym on my full work day. I know that sounds funny, but if I am exhausted and bail on a workout, I feel like I failed my plan. So, rather than failing my training plan, I can re-work it so it works for me. I can play with how I plan my workouts so I get them in, but I listen to my body.

So that's this week. A bit of learning. This weekend I have a 5 mile training run. Sunday, the gym is closed for Easter, so if the weather is decent maybe I'll break the bike out and hit the trail. It's something I want to do more of this year - take the bike on the trail and ride.

With all this, did I manage to lose any weight? Well...

Goal for June 1: 15 pounds
-/+: -1.4
To go: 13.6
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