April Showers Bring Race Discounts

Enjoy warmer weather and winter leaving with some money savers!

1.  Running to Remember (5/24/14) 8 AM Jackson Twp, OH): $5.00 off with MARATHON through 5/16/14

2. Andrea Rose Teodosio Memorial 5K (7/12/14, Akron, OH) $5.oo off with ARTHOF14 through 5/10/14

3. Daisy Dash 3 Miler and 1 Mile (7/13/14, Columbus, OH): 10% off registration or $5.00 off Mom/Daughter registration with DAISYMAY through 5/31/14)

4. Subway Fresh Fit Duathlon/Triathlon (6/15/14 Columbus, OH)- pick up a $10 coupon at Columbus Subways

5. Madison Mini Marathon (8/16/14, Madison, WI): $5.00 off with BR5MINI

6. Medi-Dyne: 20% off with RUNCHAT

Pro Football Hall of Fame 1/2 Marathon

Somehow, the Pro Football Half was my 1st half of 2014.  Partly work and partly Cleveland and her temperamental weather for this.  I was in Columbus for a conference earlier this week and wasn’t sure I’d make the expo.  A perk of the Pro Football Half was that you had the option to have your bib and shirt sent to you. Point me!!

 I left my conference Saturday afternoon and headed up to Canton anyways to catch part of the expo.  Part of the perks of this race was we got free entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum.  Vendors were scattered throughout the museum (not sure how I felt about that one) and the Second Sole store was located at the exit and the bib and shirt pick up located on their football field.  I caught church in Canton and then headed to Cleveland.  I also finally got to watch Spirit of the Marathon 2 (it’s finally on iTunes!!) before going to bed.  I should have either 1) gone to bed before 11 PM or 2) got a hotel room in Canton, as wake up call was at 4:40 AM.  It’s an hour-ish drive to Canton and we had to park at the Stark County Fairgrounds and get bused to the start at the HOF.  Lines to get into the fairgrounds were ridiculous, but at least we didn’t wait long to get shuttled over, and this was after I darted out of line for 2 minutes to use the bathroom.  Despite getting on a shuttle at 634/640 AM, we didn’t pull into the start until 6:56- the race started at 7 AM.  I ran and checked my bag and sprinted down to the start, where people were already in corals.  within 2-3 minutes, the gun went off and so were we.

The first 2 miles were pretty decent and I was loving my times.  I also probably went off a bit too fast.  The first few miles were flat and then we started hitting some minor hills.  They weren’t horrible, but were enough to notice them.  I slowed down and ran the first 10K in just over an hour, this after a quick bathroom break after mile 2.5.  We had some neighbor hood miles, some bike paths right next to the highway, some parks.  After mile 7-8, we were off in McKinley Park for a loop.  Somewhere after the 8.5 water station, my hamstring started to get sore on me.  I don’t know if it was the roads and their ridiculous pot holes or how I was running.  Going up the hill prior to mile 11 didn’t help things, but I was just glad to have 2 miles left at that point. We trucked on back towards the HOF and at 20K, we split from the marathoners.  We went around the Hall and up another minor hill.  Up until this point, I had been keeping an eye on someone with a shirt that said “Baby Boy on Board” and I wasn’t determined to pass her (sorry!!!).  We finished inside the stadium and I was just glad we didn’t have to do entire lap around the inside.  I was aiming for 2:05-2:08, but the hamstring slowed me down.  I finished in 2:12:20.  About 15 minutes later, the men’s marathon winner came through.  Behind him was someone who ran Boston on Monday and a 3rd person who’s run 300 marathons under 3 hours (what the what?!!)- can I have their times for the marathon?

We got some nice bling at the end and a fleece blanket at the finish.  They also had people massaging runners at the end and they worked on my hamstring, which was awesome.  I picked up my bag from gear check and trucked back to my car.  I got the shuttle to their fairgrounds and changed shirts before heading back on the road.  It was so hard to get out of town though.  The marathon was around a bulk of the roads surrounding the fairgrounds so it took me about 20 minutes of driving side streets to find a way that would connect me to I-77N (so frustrating!).  After getting home and showering, I had a massage over in Shaker Heights- not a bad way to end the day in my opinion!

Not a horrible race, but here’s what I think needs some work

• Pre Race- let the shuttles get through on the roads so it doesn’t take 20 minutes to get to the start.  Some people were still on their way over when the gun went off
• The parking situation: either some roads need to opened up for people trying to get out after the race or the route needs changed.  Having the race route go so close the fairgrounds made getting out of Canton such a hassle
• Exiting the stadium post race- no signs telling you where to go to exit.  It also seems counter intuitive to have the exit at the opposite end of gear check

April Deals

1. The North Face Endurance Challenge: 10% off Wisconsin (BIBRAVE10WI), Utah (BIBRAVE10UT) and Canada (BIBRAVE10ON) races through 4/31/14
2.  Cinco De Mayo 5K (May4, 2014, 2 PM Columbus, OH): $5 off with HUSTLE14
3. Universal Sole 4 Mile Classic (May 8, 2014, 7 PM, Chicago, IL): $5 off with USOLE5
4. Snohomish Half Marathon and 10K (May 18, 2014 Everett, WA): 10% off with MRSHALLBERG2014
5. City Sports: 10% off Boston Marathon Gear with RUNGEARGUY10
6. Finish Line $10 off $75 with 10SPRING75

Enjoy!

10 Mile Drop

When there’s a 10 mile race 30 minutes from your apartment, it’s a no brainer to sign up for it.  This morning’s race was the 20/10 Mile Drop put on by Lake Health Running.  Take your pick, 20 miles or 10 miles!!  I registered awhile back and was able to pick up my bib and shirt on Thursday (thanks to lecture getting out early enough).

This morning, I was out the door by 7:30, which was like a vacation after getting up early for Cherry Blossom last weekend.  I headed off to Mentor Headlands Beach, which was the finish of the race.  They had buses shuttle people to the start, which is a huge plus, you just had to be on time.  The 20 milers had already been there and gone by the time us 1o milers wondered in.  At 8:15, the buses rolled out for the start off Ravenna Road 10 miles away.  We were there by 8:30 and I was able to use the bathroom prior to the bullhorn going off.  We were off and running by 9 AM and I was kinda wishing for an earlier start.  I couldn’t argue with the nice weather though because Cleveland’s weather mood swings are coming back on Tuesday.

The first 2 miles of the race were pretty good.  I was going under 9 minute miles, but later, the quickness caught up with me.  We were primarily on a bike path for this part of the race and coming up on the first water stop was wonderful.  We got to mile 3 and we had an annoyed driver on our hands.  I could see a car trying to cross the bike path, but there was a steady stream of runners.  Volunteers were at the intersection and trying to have a discussion with the lady and you could see her on 2 occasions try and get around the volunteers.  I thought she was going to plow over some of us.  After we passed the 3.5 mile mark (and the crazy driver), we went from downhill to uphill.  Sigh.  I hate uphills.  At least there was water and a kid holding a sign to hit ‘for more power’.  We kept on chugging, this time on open road, but it was well controlled with police and volunteers.  It was warming up too (which I can’t complain about after this winter) and I could tell I was a little dehydrated.

We chugged on through miles 4, 5 and 6.  We hit more residential suburbia and then another race day first.  Somewhere between miles 7-8, I see railroad tracks.  All of a sudden, the traffic rails come down and in the distance, we hear the train’s horn coming in the distance towards us.  For a good 15-30 seconds, this was the scene:

 

Whoops.  What can you do, but it was one of the odder events of my running life.  The last few miles were uneventful, but I was more than happy when we came past mile 9 and then with the last half a mile when we could see Headlands beach.  I was able to pass a few people at the end.  My official time was 1;34:29.  For the 10 miler, I was 128th/335 runners, 60th out of 241 women and 13th of 29 25-29 yo women.  I can’t complain about that.  Or what we got post race:

Grub and Bling

 

A good race for sure, especially since it’s 10 or 20 miles.  Good weather (finally) and a decent course.  Keep coming back to this race if you can!  Results can be found here

Final Four Deals and Steals

To mourn the end of March Madness, here’s extra money in your pocket…

1.  ODDyssey Half Marathon (6/8/14 Philadelphia, PA): $5 off with CherryBlossom through 4/11/14
2. Navy-Airforce Half Marathon (9/14/14, DC): $5 off with CBEX14 through 4/9/15
3. Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon (10/5/14, DC): 10% off with CB10 through 5/15/14
4. Iron Horse Half Marathon (10/12/14, Midway, KY): $10 off with CB2014 through 5/31/14
5. City Sports: 20% off 1 full priced item with CHERRY14 through 5/17/14 online
6. Rock n Roll Portland (5/18/14, Portland, OR): Free Pintglass with registration, use PINTGLASS at check out through 4/18/14

 

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

The right of Spring in Washington DC made its presence known this weekend with the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. I flew out from Cleveland to BWI Friday night. I made the mistake of not bringing my luggage with me, a problem when you finish up a late consult and you have a 6:50 flight out of Cleveland Hopkins Airport, which is 40 minutes from your apartment. I got to the airport an hour before my flight and got through security with plenty of time to spare. I got in to DC and to my hotel with the rest of the family.

Saturday, mom and I got up at 7 and headed to the expo to volunteer until noon. We checked in, but my name wasn’t in the master list, but it wrote my name and email down. Hopefully I get my guaranteed entry for 2015! We were in charge of directing runners to shirt pick up (to the left, to the left!). We preached out and met up with my dad, uncle and sister for lunch. After some R&R, we headed to church and dinner and watched some Final Four basketball.

This morning, we woke up earlier than I’ve been getting up to work to head to the National Mall. The standard have Christine check a bag because she’ll be done first was in full effect for post race long sleeved shirts.

After the elite women and men were set off, I crossed the start with the orange corral about 14:30 min into the race. The weather was perfect for running, 40s-50s with no wind, like we had on Saturday. The start was so crowded and I was hoping for things to thin out, but not so much. The crowds were out and cheering. Somewhere close to mile 1, we had the elite men pass us in the opposite direction who were around mile 4.5-5 (speed demons). After a solid first 2 miles, we were met with water and Gatorade. The first bathroom line was a good 20 people deep, time well lost. After some loops, we were running along the river through about mile 3.5. We found miles 4-5 and the first mile of the course was quiet. Around mile 5, the crowds picked back up and we headed out towards Roosevelt Island. The water stations around mile 6 were packed, as was the course. Come mile 7.5, the beer and Oreo stop was set up. You people rock!! I was keeping a steady pace between 9:30-9:45 minute miles. Things were going well until about 400 meters, until I started hacking up a lung. I hit the finish at 1:36:06 according to the Garmin.

I checked my results online and somehow my results came back as 1:50:54. The Race Joy person told me to calm town, but with a 14 minute difference, it’s a big deal. Apparently, all my splits except me crossing the start recorded, so my time defaulted to the gun time. I’ve already submitted my I want my time changed form so time will tell over the next week if it gets fixed….first race in 93 races where my time has been so off!