Jingle All the Way 5k

This past Sunday, I ran the Jingle All the Way 5k put on by Pacers.  This has been an 8k race in the past but it was converted to a 5k this year because of construction.  I was excited to run this race because I'd heard great things about it and I had heard that Pacers races were really well organized.

So they had packet pick up available the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the race at any of their stores.  I went to the Pacers store in DC Saturday afternoon and packet pick up was a breeze.  There were a couple people in line ahead of me but it moved fairly quickly.  And since it was at the store, I was also able to buy a new pair of running gloves since I knew I would need them for the race.  The shirt was a really nice long sleeved tech shirt.  I love the red color.

The race started at 9am.  I liked that it wasn't super early.  Mike dropped me off at the metro and it was an easy ride into the city.  I was meeting friends in front of the National Theater.  I was a little early so I did a couple laps around the block to get warm.  Then I hung out in front of the theater and enjoyed checking out all the costumes.  There was one group dressed up to represent the 12 days of Christmas and that was awesome!  There was also another group in fun animal costumes and Christmas lights.  One of the things I loved about this race was all the entertainment from the other runners :)

My friends found me easily and then we went over to gather with the masses near the start.  We started toward the back of the pack but I still felt like there was always plenty of room in spite of the 4.836 other finishers. There were walkers but also plenty of room to go around. And it was awesome to run down toward the Capitol in the company of other runners, so many of them dressed up in holiday attire!  I sadly didn't take photos while running but will have to remember to do that next time (I'm pretty sure there will be a next time for this race).

 So how did my race go?  It went ok.  I initially thought I might try for a PR since I knew this course was flat. But I decided against that since this was only my second run after the half marathon 3 weeks ago and I was trying to avoid re-injuring my foot.  So I just stayed with my friends and had a great run with them catching up since we hadn't seen each other in a while. My official bib time was 41:03.  According to my Garmin, it was 41:55 for 3.19 miles.  My 5k PR was 38:54 from the Semper Fi 5k in May.

After the race, we were able to grab a banana and some water before taking a selfie and heading over to brunch.  There were photo opportunities and a photo booth with Santa but the line was pretty long so we skipped that.  There was an official post race brunch at the Hamilton but it was super crowded.  We headed over to another nearby restaurant with plenty of room.

Overall, this was a great race!  Definitely a fun one for the holidays and a great thing to do as a group.  I can see this one becoming a regular every year.

And don't forget that the give away for an armpocket is almost over! You have until tomorrow to enter.

Richmond Half Marathon

I've already mentioned that I had a great experience at the Richmond Half Marathon and it was my first half so I may be a little biased.  But I'll do my best at a neutral recap :)

The weekend started for us on Friday afternoon.  We left the DC area around 2 and didn't get to Richmond until and 6pm.  This was pretty much double the time it should have taken because of the amount of traffic. There was a back up on the highway for the ramp to get off to go to the expo and I was worried that meant it was really crowded, but we had no problems finding parking.  And while the expo was crowded, it didn't feel too bad. The bib pick ups were separated by bib number and there was no one in line for my section. Score!

I got my bib and then we had to head to the back of the expo to pick up the shirt.  I loved the shirt, it's long sleeved and black, which is cool.  I wore it the day after the race and it was super comfy. I also picked up some bondi bands since I'd heard so much about them.  I wore the one below for the race and loved it.

We drove to the hotel we were staying at, the Richmond Marriott.  It was located right by the start line, which was awesome.  The hotel was great.  They had a special pasta dinner deal, as well as free bananas, bottles of water, and granola bars if you wanted to grab them for breakfast. The restaurant and Starbucks also opened early race morning, even with an outdoor outpost for coffee. The marathon start line was right outside the hotel and the half marathon start line was only 2 blocks down the road.

I slept surprisingly well and woke up at 6am the next morning.  I had brought a peanut butter sandwich from home for breakfast so I ate that and got ready. I made a last minute decision to go with a long sleeved shirt due to the cold.

I left at 7 as the half marathon started at 7:30. My wave wasn't until 7:50 but I was nervous enough to want to get in place early.  The corral was pretty empty when I got there so there was some room to warm up.

You can see the space in the corral in the photo above as well as everyone in their throw away warm clothes.  

Things seemed to start on time and we were shortly off. The corrals seemed to work well for me and I never felt too crowded or like I was weaving too much (unlike Disney). Here's the map of the race.

The first couple miles were straight down a Main Street downtown and there was a decent amount of spectators cheering. After mile 2, we turned right while the full marathoners turned left. This section seemed a bit industrial and there really wasn't much here.  There were some signs taped along the side of the road which were cool.  It was also a bit windy. I'm not sure why but I struggled a bit here.  But I felt better once I passed the 5k mark and we turned into a nice neighborhood.  There were spectators on this stretch again and it was nice.  I also ditched my gloves around this point but later regretted that. We ran through the neighborhood to Bryant Park.  This part seemed to get windy again and it felt a bit lonely.  But it was beautiful with a lake and lots of fall foliage. The park felt hilly.  None of the hills were long but several of the up hills felt steep for the time they lasted.  There was a DJ around mile 7 which was fun and then we ran out of the park where there were spectators again.  Around mile 8, I saw some port-a-potties with only 2 people in line so I decided to stop.  I think I only waited 2-3 minutes.

When I was done, I got out just in time to see the marathon leaders zoom past.  That was kind of cool to see, and also amazing that he had alread run more than 20 miles and I was at mile 8!  I kept on going and it really felt like the crowd support and entertainment really stepped up at is point.  There was some sort of music at every mile it seemed like.  There were also spectators handing out food (I took a star burst from an adorable kid) and beer.  Since we had been near the beer spot while spectating at the Marine Corps Marathon, I thought I'd give it a try here.  I was surprised how delicious that shot of beer was! There was a junk food stop and I took some gummy bears there. There was a drum line at one point, as well as Santa and people dressed up in Christmas outfits.  This part of the race felt like it went really fast for me which was great given that it was toward the end when I was tired. There were also some hills in this section and I do remember there was one that I had to take an extra walk break on (I was doing my usual 4/1 run/walk intervals). The crowd support just kept growing until the end of the race and it was wonderfully loud at the end when I finally crossed over the finish line at my first half marathon!  There was also a steep downhill toward the finish which felt fast but my quads sure were sore the next day. Mike saw my run by here but I missed seeing him because there were so many people.

My goal had been to finish the half marathon under three hours.  I was a little worried that my bathroom break would cause me to miss this time.  But I made it with a net time of 2:57:33!

I crossed over the finish line and was handed a medal.  And a hat.  And a blanket.  And water.  All of which was awesome but my hands were getting full. My blanket was still wrapped in plastic so I tore a hole in it and stuck the water in there and stuck the hat on my head.  There were lots of photographers after the finish line so I also stopped for some photos.

I then wandered over to find some food and took a banana, a granola bar and some trail mix, which I also put in the plastic wrapping with the blanket.  I kept going to the family meet up area where I found Mike who thankfully had some warm clothes for me.  I was rapidly getting cold at this point and I felt so much better once I stretched, ate the banana and put on the extra clothes.  We hung out a bit listening to the music and then walked back to our hotel.  It was probably about a mile away.  There was a shuttle but I thought the walk would be good for my muscle recovery.

I'll wrap this up since it has gotten so long.  I loved this race!  It was really well organized, the spectators and volunteers were amazing.  The cold was a downside but that wasn't in anyone's control. One downside that Mike dealt with is that the runner tracking didn't work well at all.  He just kept getting multiple texts that I had started the race (the 8k for some reason) but no texts about the finish or 10k split. I also heard that they had begun running out of food for the marathoners at the back of the pack :( 

This was a phenomenal half marathon and I would recommend it to anyone, especially for a first half.  They had a really generous pace requirement, plentiful water stops, and it was super friendly!

Tower of Terror 10 miler - Part 2

Ok, this is my last Tower of Terror 10 Miler post :) But I figured a couple medium length posts was probably better than one giant post.  So let's get right into it.

1.  Course - The course wasn't my favorite part of this race.  The gathering place for the start is in the parking lot of Hollywood Studios.  You then run on the highway from there to the Animal Kingdom.  There is a ramp onto the highway that is banked so that you're running on an uneven surface and one leg is significantly higher than the other.  This was pretty uncomfortable but I had been warned about it in advance.  The good part of being on the highway is that people had room to spread out.  So while it was crowded and you had to do some weaving, you could run at your own pace for the most part.

Once you get to the Animal Kingdom, you turn around and go right back down the highway. You do not enter the park sadly. You go back down the highway to the ESPN Wide World of Sports. We entered the sports complex somewhere after mile 5.  There is a trail section here that I had been warned about in advance of the race but I didn't find it to be too bad.  It felt like a dirt trail and it wasn't too long.  It was dimly lit in places but never so dark that I felt like I couldn't see or like I needed a flashlight. The only downside is that it was a narrow trail and there was a lot of congestion in this section.  I tried to run it when I could but finally gave up and just walked along with everyone else around me.

Then we were in the stadium but for some reason this part is a bit of a blur to me.  I know we ran around a track and then we ran around in the baseball stadium and then we ran out of the sports complex and back on to the highway.  There was another banked ramp going down and I have to say that I walked most of it because I just didn't feel comfortable running on such an uneven surface with one foot so much higher than the other.

We entered into Hollywood Studios somewhere after mile 8 and ran around various back stage and on stage areas of the park until we finished at mile 10 in view of the Tower of Terror.  Overall, the course was mostly flat except for the highway ramp sections.  And the problem there wasn't the elevation change but the way the ramps were banked.

There was also a long walk from the corral to the starting line and a long walk after the finish line.  You could not stop during this line, you were herded on and on and on.  You received your medal, some water, a banana, a box of food (really yummy) but had to keep walking.  At that point, it felt like we were walking forever in a slowly shuffling mass until we got to a point where people went left for the bag check or park exit and right for the after party.  In hindsight, the long walk was probably good for my muscles as I was barely sore the next day but it was pretty miserable in the moment.

2. Entertainment - I was listening to a podcast earlier this week which said they thought the entertainment was lacking on the course.  I was shocked because I thought it was amazing how much entertainment they had managed to squeeze onto the 10 miles!  I guess it truly depends on your perspective.  And this was the first Disney race I had done so I didn't have much to compare it to.

There were a ton of characters, all villains to go along with the theme, on the course.  I remember the hag from Snow White, Jafar, the Queen of Hearts, Dr. Facilier, the Hyenas from the Lion King, Stitch, the Big Bad Wolf and Lotso.  I'm sure there are some I'm missing.  There were also characters from the Boo to You Halloween parade such as the grave diggers and the ballroom dancers.  And Hades was on an overpass as we ran back to Hollywood Studios taunting runners as they passed by.  He was hilarious. The lines were really long for most of them so the only one I actually got a photo with was Lotso.  But I did stop by the side of the road to take photos of some of the others.

There was also creepy atmospheric stuff.  For example, there was a giant spider on an overpass into Animal Kingdom and spiderwebs projected onto the wall.

There were animal noises as we ran into the Animal Kingdom area.  There was a giant inflatable eye ball and spooky music in a lake that we ran by twice while on the highway. The trail area had smoke and giant bugs in the trees. The baseball field at the ESPN area had lasers and empty baseball uniforms on the field as if the lasers had taken out the players.  You could also see yourself on the giant screen as you ran by and that was cool.

Hollywood studios was fun because you were actually in the park.  There was lots of crowd support in this area from volunteers and spectators.  There was a tunnel you ran through with smoke and music.  There was also an area where you were running through a portion of the backlot tour and could see the costuming area.  So as you can tell, I thought the entertainment was great for a 10 mile race! Even the mile markers were fun and themed with villains.

I will put in a reminder to make sure you know how your camera/phone works in the dark if you want to take photos.  As you can see, I didn't do so well with mine.  It took me some time to figure out how to get the flash to go on.

3.  After Party - as I mentioned, I didn't stay at the party after finishing the race.  But Mike was there for a couple hours so he's going to take over here to talk about the party :)

Mike here! (Hi!)

I got to the after party right around when it started at 10. The main attraction was the DJ set up at the giant Wizard hat. There were about 6 attractions open (Toy Story Midway Mania, Star Tours, Muppet Vison 3D, the Tower of Terror, the Rockin' Roller Coaster, and some Jack Sparrow based show). Additionally there were meet and greets for a number of the Disney villains (I remember The Evil Queen (from Snow White), The Queen of Hearts, Malificent, Gaston, Darth Vader, and Boba Fett). There were also a couple of shops and food places open. A lot of the park was cut off by the running route, so it was a bit of walk getting around.

It was really quiet when I got there. I was able to walk on to Toy Story and Star Tours and I could sit anywhere I wanted for Muppets. I stayed away from the Tower of Terror/Rockin Roller Coaster area as that was where the finish line was. As the evening progressed things got filled up with runners but it was never too crowded.

As a race observer, it was a little difficult because progress was texted to me at 5k and 10k. After I got the 10k notification, I made my way to a quiet area near where the runners were entering the park. I liked this better than observing at the DJ because I was able to yell a specific cheer to Chaitali as she passed by (which she appreciated). The downside was that with the convoluted way around the studio I got the text that she had finished just as I got there, so I missed her finishing. There were also issues with sorting out where the runners were coming out. There was a family waiting area and a changing area, but the runners were apparently released no where near either of those places. Chaitali wasn't in the best f shape when she finished so she called me to come get her. 

Overall it was an interesting little party, but a little confusing from the race watching aspect.

So that's it for our experience of this race.  Overall, we both had a good time.  Afterward, I decided that I probably wouldn't do this race again just because I wanted to experience other Run Disney races.  I was definitely impressed enough that I would choose to do another race at Disney World and we're thinking of going down next November for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon.  But it seems like they won't be having this race next year anyway, perhaps because of the rumors that there will be some major changes at Hollywood Studios.

Tower of Terror 10 miler - Part 1

So, here is my review of the Tower of Terror 10 miler.  This was my first RunDisney event, my first racecation, and my longest race to date.  Before this, I had done a 10k, an 8k and a bunch of 5k races.  So lots of firsts here for me and therefore this will end up being kind of a long post, broken into 2 parts. I also have a separate post from last week about the expo.

For those of you not familiar with this race, it is generally the first weekend of October and it is a night time 10 mile race.  It's Halloween themed so it has spooky elements and the characters are villains to go along with the theme.  The price of the race includes an after party at Disney's Hollywood Studio but any non-runners have to buy a ticket if they want to attend the after party or even see runner friends finish.

I'm going to start talking about my day before the race since I was concerned about fueling properly for a night race.  We had a big brunch around 11am at Ohana.  This included fruit, eggs, waffles, bacon, sausage, cinnamon bread and pineapple bread as well as juice and coffee. It was all you can eat, which was a plus. I made sure to eat a substantial amount but not so much that I felt uncomfortable.  An added benefit was that this was a character meal with Lilo, Stitch, Pluto and Mickey. The only downside was that we had to wait a very long time to be seated even the we had reservations.

We then spent the rest of the day relaxing at the pool at our hotel (the Swan) and napping.  I tried to think of a light meal for dinner that would be enough fuel but that wouldn't lead to GI issues.  A lot of the veggie options were fatty but there was a sushi restaurant at the Swan.  So I went down as soon as it opened, around 5:30, and had a couple veggie sushi rolls. There were several other runners there as well.  This approach to meals worked out pretty well for me for a race that started at 10 pm. After eating, I went back to the room to get ready and left at 7:45 to head to the race.

Hotel room photo of my Vanellope running costume (she's from Wreck It Ralph)

Meranda from Fairytales and Fitness was also staying at the Swan and we had decided to walk over to the race together.  One of the main reasons I chose to stay at the Swan was that we could walk to Hollywood Studios and the race start. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. And I was overwhelmed as soon as we got to the start!  I knew it was a large race and that more than 11,000 people were registered based on bib numbers but I don't think I really understood what that meant! My largest race before this was probably around 2,500 people. I was thankful for Meranda's company since I would probably have stood around looking lost otherwise!

Tower of Terror in the background during our walk to the starting area of the race

There was music and a DJ and a very festive atmosphere with lots of people in fun costumes.  I later heard there were some photo ops but I didn't see them. We met up with some friends of Meranda's for a bit and then decided to get in line for the port-a-potties.  The lines were already pretty long but someone came by and told us there were other ones in the runner area where you could only go if you have bibs.  So we went over there and there was no line at all! So definitely go for those if possible. They were also really nice with plenty of tp and a hand washing station outside. Meranda and I chatted a bit, I had a granola bar, and then headed over to my corral a little bit after 9pm.  The corrals went from A (first corral) to J (last corral) and I was in H. My corral was already more than half full by the time I got there.

I chatted with a couple people in the corral for a while, which helped with my nerves.  Everyone was really nice and it was easy to find random people to talk to. Pretty soon, we started to move. The A corral was led out first, then B and so on.  There was what felt like a really long walk to the start line.  There was music and announcers at the start line and a very lively atmosphere.  Things moved quickly at this point. Each corral went off with fireworks and fan fare and corral H was off around 10:20.

So,how did I do? It took me 2 hours and 30 minutes to finish.

I was not too happy with this at first. I should have finished in 2 hours and 10 minutes based on my estimated finish from my earlier 10k race.  I did my 10 mile training run in 2 hours and 18 minutes. I did my 11 mile training run in 2 hours and 28 minutes this past weekend. But I realized I stopped to take a lot of photos on my phone so of course my time was slow.  I also had a hard time with the crowds.  There was a lot of weaving and some places where it was too crowded to do anything but walk. I was doing my usual 4 minute run and 1 minute walk intervals but this resulted in extra walking.  Lastly, I got really caught up in the excitement of the race, went out too quickly, and forgot to fuel :( I had an extra granola bar and three mini packs of raisins in my flip belt but just forgot to eat them! I had nuun in my bottle initially but then just drank water.  I didn't want to try the powerade on the course since I had never tried it before.

So this all resulted in me not feeling too good after the race ended.  The soles of my feet really hurt, probably from all the extra walking the day before, and I just wanted to leave.  So I didn't really get to experience the after party.  I did feel much better about the race the next morning. My main goal was just to finish and have a good time, which I did do for most of the race. And I learned some important lessons for my upcoming half marathon. I'm glad I did Tower of Terror first so I got to experience a large race and learn my reactions. I definitely think that will help the half marathon go smoother.

At least I felt well enough for a post-race photo with my medal

That's it for now.  The next post will be less about my experience and more about the course, the entertainment, logistics, and the after party from Mikes point of view.

St. Andrew's Dash into the 80's 5k

So, this past weekend I ran the St. Andrew's Dash into the 80's 5k with a friend. I found it on the Potomoc River Running website since they were timing the event. It seemed like a good choice because we were looking for a low key 5k the last weekend of September. Plus, the 80's theme was a nice extra benefit.

It was a really small race.  There were only 205 finishers according to the results. The race was a benefit for a school in Clifton, Virginia and it was definitely a community event.  It seemed like most people knew each other and I assume we're involved with the school in some way. This felt weird to us at first since we were random outsiders, but everyone was really nice and we soon felt comfortable.

There was packet pick up at a PRR store the day before the race but they also had packet pick up the morning of the race, which is what we chose. The race started at the high school and there was plenty of parking when we arrived 30 minutes before the 8am race start.  Packet pick up was super easy and there were only 2 people in front of me. The packet included a tech shirt (not bad for the low registration fee) and several coupons.  We had plenty of time to put the stuff back in the car and use the bathrooms (real bathrooms in the high school!) before everyone headed to the start line.

There was a DJ playing 80's music, there was the school mascot, a prayer, and then we were off. The morning started out cool but it warmed up quickly. Thankfully there was shade on most of the course.  And there were gently rolling hills but nothing too bad. There were 2 water stops and a truck blasting more 89's music around mile 1 (and 2 since it was an out and back course).  

I had a great time running with my friend and catching up.  It didn't feel tough at all.  So I was surprised to see our finish time.  My official chip time was 39:04 or an average of 12:44 per mile. This placed me at 77 out of 102 women. My PR from the Semper Fi 5k was 38:54 so only a 10 second difference! I definitely could have beaten it if I had pushed a bit more even though this was a hillier course.  Oh well, good to know for next time :)

After the race, there was more music in front of the school along with water, bagels, bananas, oranges, and clif bars. We stayed for the award ceremonies and the head back to DC.  overall, this was a great, low key race.  It was very family friendly.  There were kids races and a fun run in addition to the 5k.  There were a lot of strollers and kids in the 5k as well. It wasn't necessarily worth traveling for but it's a good option if you're looking for something easy, charming, and relatively cheap at the end of September. 

Glo Run DC

As I mentioned, I did the Glo Run with friends this past Saturday.  We had a phenomenal time, but there were a couple of logistical issues with the race.

The race was at RFK stadium and parking seemed plentiful, but one of the friends I did the race with lives in the area.  So I parked at her place, dropped off my stuff, and we walked over to the stadium for the race.  They had people directing traffic and it was pretty easy to tell where to go.  Packet pick up was available before the race at a running store in Virginia but we choose to just do packet pick up the day of the race.

This was where the first problem arose.  There was a tent which said Check In so we knew to go there to get our bibs.  There were separate lines divided by the first letter of your last name.  You were given your bib and a bag and then told to go to another tent to get your shirt.  When you got to the front of that line, you realized that there were different lines for different size shirts, but that wasn't marked anywhere! Then there was yet another line to pick up glow stuff and finally a fourth line to pick up the light up glasses.  Um... Why couldn't everything just be in the bag so we could stand in just one line?

Photo of the check in tent and lines/crowds

We finally finished up with getting all our stuff, got decked out, and hung out before the race enjoying the DJ and taking some photos.

The race started and we were off.  There were waves but they were just organized first come first serve, not by pace or anything. This was an untimed fun run so that was to be expected.  But I wish that they had said something about walkers staying to one side.  I'm all for walkers participating in events like this and that's how I started out doing fun runs last year,  but at least try to be cognizant of others around you and don't take up the whole width of the course.

The race was just in the parking lot of the stadium and set up with cones.  I felt like once you got past the initial crowd, there was plenty of room in most parts of the course.  And they did a good job of making it interesting.  There was music, glow tunnels, bubbles, weird glowy unicorns, and a whole lot of costumes.  

One of the glow tunnels

An official race photo in a bubble tent

Horrible photo but you can see one of the light up unicorns in the background

But I'm not sure that it was a full 5k. My Garmin only said 2.8 when we finished and my friend's RunKeeper also was less than 3 miles.  So we kept on running around the parking lot a bit after the course was technically done. I think one of my friends might have hated me at the moment but I'm sure she appreciated me later :)

You can see that I also forgot to turn off runkeeper right away so it was probably on an extra three or four minutes after we stopped running.

Overall our time was slow but I think the actual time we spent moving was pretty good.  We stopped for several photos so we were definitely not shooting for any time goals.  After the race, they did provide water, granola bars, and fruit snacks.  Additionally, there were several food trucks available if you wanted to purchase more substantial food.  The trucks had been there at the beginning too but I don't know if starting a 5k with a cheesesteak is the best of ideas.

Overall, I enjoyed the race in spite of the issues with pre-race packet pick up.  They did a great job with entertainment, and isn't that what fun runs are all about?  I have to say that I registered for the race via Groupon so did not pay full price.  At this point, I don't know that I would pay full price for a fun run.  I love that they provide such a wonderful entry into running for people and encourage people to get out there and be more active while having fun, but they are usually priced a bit high.

Rockville Twilight 8k

If there is one work I can think of to describe this race, it would be "fun!" It was just a really fun experience from start to finish and very well organized. The organization makes sense since it seems to be a joint effort between Potomac Rive Running and Montgomery County Road Runners Club.

Packet pick up was at the PRR store in Rockville and it was very easy. They had hours on Friday, Saturday during the day, and right before the race. We went on Friday night and it was quick. We returned on Saturday at 7pm though the race didn't start until 8:45pm.  A friend of ours has an apartment a block from the start line so we hung out there for a while.  We walked over to the start line around 8:15 and it was a very lively atmosphere. There was a band playing and a lot of festival booths set up with various products.

The beginning was my only negative for this race.  It just seemed like a mass of people and I couldn't see any signs indicating where to start for different paces.  We also had a difficult time telling whether we were in the right place for the 8k or whether we were in the section for the fun run.  They both started at the same place but I think the fun run started after the 8k. We couldn't hear the an nicer very well so it was just confusing at the beginning. But everyone around us started moving and so did we :)

The race had 4-5 water stops, which is awesome for a 4.9 mile race!  There were also at least three places where they had set up a hose to mist water that the runners could go through.  This makes a lot of sense for a July race as it would usually be hot.  The weather here was an anomaly last week so it wasn't hot at all but it was nice to see they were well prepared. And they had on course entertainment in the form of bands set up at various places along the route.  This goes from amateur rock bands to a guy with a saxaphone.  The variety of music was cool.  A lot of the course was through neighborhoods behind the Rockville town center and people in the neighborhood were hanging out with lawn chairs, kids were out there giving five, and people were cheering.  It was such a great atmosphere!  And the volunteers were spectacular, as always.

The race was a little hilly through the neighborhood, but not too bad.  And it was mostly flat or downhill toward the end.

As far as my personal race experience, my goal was just to have fun.  I was using this to replace my long run which was supposed to be at an easy pace so I didn't have a time goal.  And I wanted to help out one of my friends that I was running with as she was struggling a bit.  So I stayed with her most of the time but at mile 4 she sent me on my way so I could finish strong.  You can see the variance in my pace here.

Another perk of the race are free race photos, which I love, even though they're not flattering. But maybe flattering is too much to ask of photos taken while you're running!

My official time was 1:10:26, or a pace of 14:11. Here is the info from Garmin which gives me a pace of 13:53.

The fun continued after the race was over with free beer for runners, snacks, more musicians, and random prizes.  It was really crowded so we opted out of staying there too long and met up with some more friends to go to a nearby restaurant for tapas and sangria.  Yum!  

This was a great race and I would definitely recommend it. It might become one I do every year because it was a fun distance, a fun event, and cool running at night.

Lawyers Have Heart 10k

Well, I've finished my first 10k and had a great time!  Thank you all for the encouragement along the way. Without further ado, here's my review of the race.

The race proceeds benefit the American Heart Society. Once I registered for the race, there were regular emails related to fundraising.  It was kind of cool because they would have different drawings for prizes and people could get entries based on the amount they had raised.

Packet pick up was at a Pacers store in DC.  They had pick up times on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning before the race. They mentioned that someone else could pick up the packet for a runner so Mike picked up our packets since the store was on his way home from work. He said he went right in, didn't have to wait long at all, and it was all very well organized.

Mike also came along on race day to cheer us on!

The 5k started at 7am and the 10k started at 7:30am. The race was in Georgetown and we knew we'd rather err on the side of being early.  My friend spent the night at my place so that we could car pool. We left the house around 5:45am.  The race organizers had sent an email listing the various parking garages, the opening times, and a voucher for $7 parking.  We saw one of the garages close to the start line opened at 6am so we planned to park there. Well, we got there at 6:27 and the street leading to that parking garage was already closed! The other parking lot was full.  Thankfully there was plenty of street parking since we were so early so we just parked on the street.  The meter didn't seem to be working but we thankfully didn't get a ticket.

It ended up being a beautiful morning.  The temperatures were in the 60s when we got there. There were a ton of people and already lines for the port a potties.  Also a long line for picking up bibs. I was glad we already had ours.  We saw off the 5k runners and then made our way to the beginning for the 10k. This was the largest race I've done so far and I'm glad I got to experience the feeling of corrals at the start being so crowded, being in the corrals for a while before actually being able to begin, having to look around before slowing into my walk intervals, etc.

My friend and I had agreed to do 6/1 run walk intervals and we stayed together for most of the course. It was a nice course. It started near the harbor, ran up an overpass to The Whitehurst Freeway, on M Street a but, and then on canal street before turning around and coming back.  You can see on the map below that the course is along the river but you couldn't really see the river for most of the race.

The course was relatively flat with the overpass being the most of the hilly part. 

There were plenty of water stops and around mile 4 they gave us a wet sponge that felt amazing when I squeezed it over myself.  There were tons of volunteers and they were amazing.  The course was shaded on the way out but sunny on the way back. I know you're not supposed to try anything new on race day but I'm glad I wore my new sunglasses I bought with birthday money. Sadly I don't have any photos of the course because I haven't mastered the ability to run and take photos at the same time.

Around mile 5 my friend began to flag and I kept going.  I kicked it into high gear when I passed the mile 6 marker. I had a goal of finishing in 1 hour and 20 minutes and as I approached the finish line I could see that the clock was around 1 hour and 22 minutes.  I knew we had been in the corral for a bit so I thought I could still make my goal and pushed it.  Long story short, I made my goal and finished in 1:18:52!

There was a generous pacing requirement for the race.  Basically, the roads were closed until 9:30am and everyone had to be finished by then. So that was 2 hours available for the 10k.  There was an after party with music, snow cones, and other food by the harbor after the race. They also had a guy in a heart suit and a guy dressed as a briefcase for people to take photos with.  I'm not gonna lie, that was a little strange.  The race organizers also had an agreement with one of the restaurants to open early for brunch. So we headed straight for brunch after the race.

All in all, I would recommend this race to anyone.  It was a good course, a lot of energy and people, a good cause, really well organized, and so many lawyer themed puns on running shirts to keep you amused during the race :). The only downside was the parking situation at the beginning.  So just know to get there early if you're driving.  I can definitely see this being a race I do every year.

Semper Fi 5k

I took part in the Semper Fi 5k this past weekend with two friends and we all loved this race. It was the 5th year of the race and the proceeds went to the Semper Fi Fund. I loved that when you registered, it told you how much of the fee went toward the race costs and how much went toward the charity. The Semper Fi Fund works to provide "financial assistance and quality of life solutions to Marines and Sailors, as well as members of the Army, Air Force and Coast Guard who serve in support of Marine forces, when they become injured in post 9-11 combat or training operations, or face life threatening illness or injury."

There was a limited time available for pre-race day packet pick up, only 2pm to 6pm the Friday before the race at a running store in Virginia.  However, there was  an email the day before the race confirming that packet pick up would be available the morning of the race which is what we opted for. The email also said that there would by plenty of free parking, which was definitely true.  We got there around 8am for the 9am race and got great parking right by the start line and registration tent.  Registration was super quick and easy. The race shirt ended up being great and I've already worn it for a run.

We spent the rest of the time before the race catching up, talking race strategy, and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

We knew that this was supposed to be a flat course and we were all looking for a PR. It also wasn't too crowded at less than 500 people.  My strategy was to run until at least the turnaround point (it was an out and back course) and then start my 6/1 run walk intervals. This turned out to be pretty successful for me.  I ran until the water stop (where they also had Gatorade), walked through the water stop and then continued running until the 20 minute point.  I took my first walk break and continued with my intervals.  It was a hot and humid morning but there was a nice breeze off the river which at least helped a little bit.  And according to the official results, I finished in less than 39 minutes!

I was thrilled with my time as my 5k time before this was more than 42 minutes.  I slowed down a bit as the race went on but not too much.

Post-race snacks included bagels, bananas, lara bar samples and water, of course.  After some water and a lara bar I ran a bit more around the park since my 10k training plan called for 4 miles.  My face was super red once I was done!

I met up with my friends and we all had a great race and we all had PRs! It was a well organized race, great volunteers, a wonderful cause, with a flat and scenic course.  We all agreed that we would do this one again.