Goals for week 43: Ran 5-6 separate times, mileage more than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Bike once, swim once!
Monday: Ran 5 miles, taught Sculpt and taught Zumba
Tuesday: Ran 1.04 miles, taught Sculpt
Wednesday:Ran 3.22 miles, taught Sculpt
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Sculpt class,
Saturday: Ran 10 miles (Ran.25 in a warmup, 3.20 in a 5k race, Ran 6.55 in Quarter marathon race).
Sunday: Rest
Ran 19.26 miles
1 Zumba class
4 Sculpt classes
Good for week 43: Ran 5 separate times.
Not so good for week 43: Didn't bike or swim.
Totals for year:
Elliptical 24.72 miles
Running 714.59 miles
Swam 24,737.30 yards (14.55 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 133
Zumba classes 25
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 293.87 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 43: Run 5 or more separate times. Complete all scheduled classes. Bike once and swim once. Complete at least a mile on the elliptical.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Week 42 of 2014
Goals for week 42:
Run 5-6 separate times. Mileage back up to what it was a couple weeks ago 25 or more miles for the week. Bike once, Swim once of more yards than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Eat well!
Monday:Ran 5.25 miles with Tyler, Body Sculpt
Tuesday:Ran 2.06 miles, 2 Body Sculpt classes
Wednesday:Elliptical 1.06 miles, ran 3.04 miles,1 Body Sculpt
Thursday:Ran 7.18 miles (3.33 was with Meridith. 3.85 was alone)
Friday:Sculpt class, lots of walking
Saturday:Ran 7.60 miles, bunch of walking.
Sunday: some walking
Ran 26.19 miles5 Sculpt classes
1 Zumba class
lots of walking.
Good for week 42: Ran 6 separate times. Taught all of my classes.
Not so great for week 42: Didn't swim or bike.
Elliptical 1.06 miles
Totals for year:
Elliptical 24.72 miles
Running 695.33 miles
Swam 24,737.30 yards (14.55 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 129
Zumba classes 24
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 293.87 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 43: Ran 5-6 separate times, mileage more than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Bike once, swim once!
Run 5-6 separate times. Mileage back up to what it was a couple weeks ago 25 or more miles for the week. Bike once, Swim once of more yards than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Eat well!
Tuesday:Ran 2.06 miles, 2 Body Sculpt classes
Wednesday:Elliptical 1.06 miles, ran 3.04 miles,1 Body Sculpt
Thursday:Ran 7.18 miles (3.33 was with Meridith. 3.85 was alone)
Friday:Sculpt class, lots of walking
Saturday:Ran 7.60 miles, bunch of walking.
Sunday: some walking
Ran 26.19 miles5 Sculpt classes
1 Zumba class
lots of walking.
Good for week 42: Ran 6 separate times. Taught all of my classes.
Not so great for week 42: Didn't swim or bike.
Elliptical 1.06 miles
Totals for year:
Elliptical 24.72 miles
Running 695.33 miles
Swam 24,737.30 yards (14.55 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 129
Zumba classes 24
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 293.87 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 43: Ran 5-6 separate times, mileage more than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Bike once, swim once!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Running Dead 5K - Moline, IL - Saturday, October 11, 2014
It was a 5K on the side of the Mississippi river.The area was absolutely beautiful. We arrived nice and early and I asked at the registration if I could get a shirt. I was only going to do the race IF I could get a shirt since the fee was higher to sign up race day. Otherwise we would have both just volunteered and then went out to dinner instead.
The race started at 4 p.m. and since we arrived early we had a chance to walk alongside the Mississippi river and relax for a bit. Here is a picture that Jason took of the Mississippi River
I didn't take any pre-race pictures and I'm not sure why.
At about 3:30 Jason walked to the place where he needed to block off a street since he was a course monitor for the race.
I began to warm up. I did a .30 mile run then some high knees, some kick backs, some side twisting run things, some skips, then another .30 mile run, then walked about a half mile. I felt great.
I lined up near the front and when the gun went off I took off a little fast. I had a 7 minute mile pace to start. That is too fast for me and I knew I'd die off soon. But I felt good so I kept going. I only maintained that for about a half mile when I slowed a bit. My first mile was an 8.20 mile pace. Not bad. Mile 2 was a little slower, but not by much. I was still maintaining the 8.20-8.40 for most of it. There was a turn around at 1.30 and that worried me a bit because I remembered the race course being an out and back course on the internet. If we were turning around at 1.30 then the course would end up being REALLY short. But I figured that when we got near the finish line we would go past it and have another turn around to make it a 5K distance since this WAS a 5K right?
About .20 away from the finish line when we COULD HAVE GONE straight and gone down the street more and then turned around and come back to the finish line people were going straight into the finish line. Weird I thought, this can't be????? "If we go straight to the finish line then my time will be 22 minutes something and the distance isn't right. Something is WAY off by like a half mile off." Sure enough it was WAY off, it was tiny bit more than a half mile off. This made the race a 4K, not a 5K. I was bummed. I was set up to have another major PR in a 5K. I'm pretty sure I could have knocked another 30 seconds off my record, maybe more. I felt so good and I usually speed up at the end of the race. Oh well, every race can't be perfect, but having the distance off that much was a bummer.
I expected to place since not a lot of girls passed me and I only had 4 in front of me when I started, but I never expected to receive 1st in my age group or be 10th out of 100 women. Pretty cool. The next closest person in my age group behind me was 3 minutes and 10 seconds behind me. Now if I had to run another .55 miles would I have kept this lead? I don't know. I hope so and I was hoping to place in this race since the awards were really sweet looking, but you just never know who will sign up or show up. The full race results are HERE!
Good things about this race:
Chip timed for a gun and chip time.
Cute bib for your scrapbook
Great looking shirt.
Food after the race.
Sweet looking age group and overall awards
Race started on time.
Race course was flat.
Lots of volunteers
Not so great things about this race:
The course was short.
I took a few pictures and those are below. None of me this time.
 |
| Shirt with the medal. |
 |
| Up close picture of the medal. It is a wood medal with a ceramic piece on top. |
 |
| My race bib |
Timber trek - Amana, IA - Saturday, October 4, 2014
It was a super bitter cold day, like 48 degrees with a brisk wind of about 15 mph. However, even though it was cold I did have to complete this race. I have this thing that IF I register for a race then I do it unless I'm injured. Weather conditions do NOT deter me no matter what. I'm tough that way and I don't like to loose out on money that could have been spent elsewhere. I donate plasma to get extra money and I use that extra money on races, so I register for one, I do my best to complete it.
This year Jason and I talked Kari and her husband Noah into doing the race also. I have a bunch of pictures.
I already did a 5K that morning at one of my favorite 5K races around. Not only did I run that first race, but I ran it super hard and set a new 5k PR, so my body was a bit tired. Since I love this race I couldn't miss it so I had to do two races in a day!
Even though I started out tired, I did this race 8 minutes faster than last year. Also last year I was 15th in my age group out of 29 with an average pace of 14:10. This year I placed 6th out of 20 in my age group and had an average pace of 12:30 so I have improved a lot.
Results are HERE ! Some of the pictures are out of order and I tried to fix that, but it isn't working, so enjoy the pictures anyway out of order.
Good things about this race:
It's a Mud/obstacle race that is well thought out
It doesn't cost a ton to do like Warrior Dash
It is chip timed for a gun and chip time.
Food after the race
volunteers on the course to show you where to go.
Hard obstacles to complete so you feel like a boss when you are done.
5 miles of awesomeness.
Age group medals for 1st -3rd in each age group.
Bib for your scrapbook
Awesome looking shirt that I really like this year.
The race committee takes pictures of you on the course and doesn't charge you for them so you have memorable pictures for your scrapbooks and blogs.
They have door prizes although this year I missed them because I was getting dressed in dry clothes and they did the door prizes before the awards and last year they did them after. Bummer for me in case I was picked. :(
Instant results printed on a paper for your scrapbook.
Things that could be improved for next year's race:
The weather! Ha
This year Jason and I talked Kari and her husband Noah into doing the race also. I have a bunch of pictures.
I already did a 5K that morning at one of my favorite 5K races around. Not only did I run that first race, but I ran it super hard and set a new 5k PR, so my body was a bit tired. Since I love this race I couldn't miss it so I had to do two races in a day!
Even though I started out tired, I did this race 8 minutes faster than last year. Also last year I was 15th in my age group out of 29 with an average pace of 14:10. This year I placed 6th out of 20 in my age group and had an average pace of 12:30 so I have improved a lot.
Results are HERE ! Some of the pictures are out of order and I tried to fix that, but it isn't working, so enjoy the pictures anyway out of order.
Good things about this race:
It's a Mud/obstacle race that is well thought out
It doesn't cost a ton to do like Warrior Dash
It is chip timed for a gun and chip time.
Food after the race
volunteers on the course to show you where to go.
Hard obstacles to complete so you feel like a boss when you are done.
5 miles of awesomeness.
Age group medals for 1st -3rd in each age group.
Bib for your scrapbook
Awesome looking shirt that I really like this year.
The race committee takes pictures of you on the course and doesn't charge you for them so you have memorable pictures for your scrapbooks and blogs.
They have door prizes although this year I missed them because I was getting dressed in dry clothes and they did the door prizes before the awards and last year they did them after. Bummer for me in case I was picked. :(
Instant results printed on a paper for your scrapbook.
Things that could be improved for next year's race:
The weather! Ha
 |
| Jason, me, Noah, Kari before the race began. |
 |
| Our race shoes. |
 |
| Before the race. Jason is being goofy. |
 |
| Another silly picture. |
 |
| Front of race shirt |
 |
| Back of race shirt. |
 |
| Our race bibs after the muddy race. |
 |
 |
 |
| crossing the small creek. |
 |
| Stepping in the mud. Gross, but oh so fun. |
 |
| Posing for my finishing picture. |
 |
| Our friends Kari and Noah post race. Wow they are muddy! |
 |
| The next day, cleaned up with our new race shirts on! |
 |
| Our finishing picture. |
    |
 |
Week 41 of 2014
Goals for week 41: Recover from the two races in a day. Run 4 or more times this next week. Swim once, bike at least once. Complete all scheduled classes.
Monday: Swam 1400 yards, Sculpt and Zumba
Tuesday :Sculpt, Sculpt again, biked 9.06 miles
Wednesday :Ran 4 miles with Tyler, Sculpt
Thursday :Ran 4.03 miles
Friday :Sculpt. Ran 1 mile, walked 2 miles
Saturday : Ran 3.2 miles, (2.55 was the race that was basically a 4K. .65 was warm up before race) walked a bunch.
Sunday : rested.
Totals for week 41
Taught Sculpt 5 times
Taught Zumba once
Swam 1400 yards
Biked 9.06 miles
Ran 12.2 miles
walked a bunch
Good for week 41: Taught all my scheduled classes. Swam once, biked once, Ran 4 separate times. Placed 1st in my age group in a race on Saturday. Met all goals I had set, but feel I should have had harder goals for the week.
Not so great for week 41: Should have ran more. Like on Monday or Tuesday. Didn't have a lot of mileage for the week.
Totals for year:
Elliptical 23.66 miles
Running 669.14 miles
Swam 24,737.30 yards (14.55 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 124
Zumba classes 23
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 293.87 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 42:
Run 5-6 separate times. Mileage back up to what it was a couple weeks ago 25 or more miles for the week. Bike once, Swim once of more yards than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Eat well!
Monday: Swam 1400 yards, Sculpt and Zumba
Tuesday :Sculpt, Sculpt again, biked 9.06 miles
Wednesday :Ran 4 miles with Tyler, Sculpt
Thursday :Ran 4.03 miles
Friday :Sculpt. Ran 1 mile, walked 2 miles
Saturday : Ran 3.2 miles, (2.55 was the race that was basically a 4K. .65 was warm up before race) walked a bunch.
Sunday : rested.
Totals for week 41
Taught Sculpt 5 times
Taught Zumba once
Swam 1400 yards
Biked 9.06 miles
Ran 12.2 miles
walked a bunch
Good for week 41: Taught all my scheduled classes. Swam once, biked once, Ran 4 separate times. Placed 1st in my age group in a race on Saturday. Met all goals I had set, but feel I should have had harder goals for the week.
Not so great for week 41: Should have ran more. Like on Monday or Tuesday. Didn't have a lot of mileage for the week.
Totals for year:
Elliptical 23.66 miles
Running 669.14 miles
Swam 24,737.30 yards (14.55 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 124
Zumba classes 23
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 293.87 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 42:
Run 5-6 separate times. Mileage back up to what it was a couple weeks ago 25 or more miles for the week. Bike once, Swim once of more yards than last week. Complete all scheduled classes. Eat well!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Ponseti Races 5K - October 4, 2014 - Iowa City, IA- HUGE PERSONAL RECORDS BROKEN.
It was a very cold morning when we woke up. 38 degrees and LOTS of wind.
I felt this morning that it would be the perfect weather for running without the wind. When I stepped out of the car I was bitter cold and grabbed my cheap running gloves that I could throw if I got too hot.
I had read on the Ponseti website shown here. the night before that they were ONLY awarding awards for 1st in each age group. I quickly looked up the stats for my age group from last year. The girl that won 1st in my age group last year did it in 27:28 so I knew I had to run super fast to even try and be first. However my PR (personal record) was currently 27:10 set in 2011 and I hadn't come even close to that in 3 years. My last 5K I raced hard I got a 27:56 so I wasn't sure I could get close to being 1st. Plus you never know who will show up. I dressed with a loose long sleeve shirt on so I could feel the cold whip my skin. I had running capris on, so my ankles and legs felt cold. I have been training hard to run fast, but wasn't sure if I could pull off a 27:28 or better.
I started running and felt awesome. I started at a super fast pace of 7 minute mile, but obviously couldn't keep that pace. I ended up doing my full first mile in 8:28. 2nd mile in 9:21, 3rd mile in 8:22 and the last tenth of a mile in .11. Awesome for me. Actually this is a miracle for me. I haven't ever gone this fast. I got a new personal record by 48 seconds. Super awesome. My hard work is paying off.
Scott also ran well. It was his 2nd 5K ever and it had been a year since his last one. He got a new record by 47 seconds. So proud of him.
Good things about this race:
Bib for your scrapbook
Volunteers on the course telling you where to turn
chip timed for accurate results
Bib chip timing so there is no chip to return.
food after the race
instant results so you can see how you did.
door prizes
Medals for first place
Things that could be improved for this race:
Don't take us on the cross country course, it wasn't mowed well and there were holes in the ground which made it dangerous in spots. Also there is one huge steep hill that isn't fun going out of the cross country course back to the pavement.
One water stop, but no one was there handing out water.
No one calling out splits.
There were only medals for 1st in each age group, which this time was lucky for me, but I feel every race should have 1-3rd place recognized in each age group.
The awards for Overall winners were the exact same as the age group winners, so that didn't make them special and I feel they should get something really nice. Heck if I was ever lucky enough to get First through 3rd Female Overall then I would hope for a big trophy, plaque, huge gift certificate or something special.
Full results are HERE !!!!!! Pictures are below:
I had read on the Ponseti website shown here. the night before that they were ONLY awarding awards for 1st in each age group. I quickly looked up the stats for my age group from last year. The girl that won 1st in my age group last year did it in 27:28 so I knew I had to run super fast to even try and be first. However my PR (personal record) was currently 27:10 set in 2011 and I hadn't come even close to that in 3 years. My last 5K I raced hard I got a 27:56 so I wasn't sure I could get close to being 1st. Plus you never know who will show up. I dressed with a loose long sleeve shirt on so I could feel the cold whip my skin. I had running capris on, so my ankles and legs felt cold. I have been training hard to run fast, but wasn't sure if I could pull off a 27:28 or better.
I started running and felt awesome. I started at a super fast pace of 7 minute mile, but obviously couldn't keep that pace. I ended up doing my full first mile in 8:28. 2nd mile in 9:21, 3rd mile in 8:22 and the last tenth of a mile in .11. Awesome for me. Actually this is a miracle for me. I haven't ever gone this fast. I got a new personal record by 48 seconds. Super awesome. My hard work is paying off.
Scott also ran well. It was his 2nd 5K ever and it had been a year since his last one. He got a new record by 47 seconds. So proud of him.
Good things about this race:
Bib for your scrapbook
Volunteers on the course telling you where to turn
chip timed for accurate results
Bib chip timing so there is no chip to return.
food after the race
instant results so you can see how you did.
door prizes
Medals for first place
Things that could be improved for this race:
Don't take us on the cross country course, it wasn't mowed well and there were holes in the ground which made it dangerous in spots. Also there is one huge steep hill that isn't fun going out of the cross country course back to the pavement.
One water stop, but no one was there handing out water.
No one calling out splits.
There were only medals for 1st in each age group, which this time was lucky for me, but I feel every race should have 1-3rd place recognized in each age group.
The awards for Overall winners were the exact same as the age group winners, so that didn't make them special and I feel they should get something really nice. Heck if I was ever lucky enough to get First through 3rd Female Overall then I would hope for a big trophy, plaque, huge gift certificate or something special.
Full results are HERE !!!!!! Pictures are below:
 |
| Jason took this picture of me running in for a finish. |
 |
| Scott running in for a strong finish. |
 |
| After the race, Jason got this picture of me with my new medal! |
 |
| My race bib. 9 plus 4 is 13, so it was a LUCKY bib! |
 |
| Scott's race bib. He was super happy because his favorite number is 6. He figured that 9 divided by 3 is 3, plus 3 is 6, so he was happy with this number and considered it lucky. |
 |
| Running Wild race bucks!!! SWEET. I won these for getting 1st place. I will use them on my next pair of shoes that I buy from that store. |
 |
| Front of shirt. |
 |
| A close up of the race medal I received for 1st in my age group! It is a bit blurry but says "We race so one day all kids can run! |
 |
| Scott and I modeling our new race shirts. |
Week 40 of 2014
Goals for week 40 of 2014 were these: Swim once, more yards than the previous week. Bike at least once, more mileage than the week before. Run 4 more more times. Accomplish goal on Saturday of 2 races in a day!
Monday: Body Sculpt, Ran 1.05 miles, taught Zumba
Tuesday: Body Sculpt in the early morning, then taught Body Sculpt again at night
Wednesday: Walked/Ran 6 miles Taught Body Sculpt
Thursday: Ran 3.19 miles with Meridith and 1.5 miles alone.
Friday:Body Sculpt class and lots of walking.
Saturday: Ran 3.10 miles at Ponsetti races with a new PR., then ran 5.10 miles at Timber Trek that afternoon. Then lots of walking.
Sunday:Long walk
Totals for week 40:
Ran 19.94 miles
5 Body Sculpt classes
1 Zumba class
Good for week 40: Accomplished my goal of 2 races in a day! Achieved a MAJOR personal record in the 5K. 26:22 (48 second PR) and was 1st in my age group out of 11 women 40-44. then completed another race just 4 hours later and achieved 6th out of 19 in my age group in a muddy/obstacle 5 mile race. Did run 4 or more times. Completed all my scheduled classes.
Bad for week 40: Didn't swim or bike this week.
Totals for year:
Elliptical 23.66 miles
Running 656.94 miles
Swam 23,337.30 yards (13.26 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 119
Zumba classes 22
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 284.81 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 41: Recover from the two races. Run 4 or more times this next week. Swim once, bike at least once. Complete all scheduled classes.
Monday: Body Sculpt, Ran 1.05 miles, taught Zumba
Tuesday: Body Sculpt in the early morning, then taught Body Sculpt again at night
Wednesday: Walked/Ran 6 miles Taught Body Sculpt
Thursday: Ran 3.19 miles with Meridith and 1.5 miles alone.
Friday:Body Sculpt class and lots of walking.
Saturday: Ran 3.10 miles at Ponsetti races with a new PR., then ran 5.10 miles at Timber Trek that afternoon. Then lots of walking.
Sunday:Long walk
Totals for week 40:
Ran 19.94 miles
5 Body Sculpt classes
Good for week 40: Accomplished my goal of 2 races in a day! Achieved a MAJOR personal record in the 5K. 26:22 (48 second PR) and was 1st in my age group out of 11 women 40-44. then completed another race just 4 hours later and achieved 6th out of 19 in my age group in a muddy/obstacle 5 mile race. Did run 4 or more times. Completed all my scheduled classes.
Bad for week 40: Didn't swim or bike this week.
Totals for year:
Elliptical 23.66 miles
Running 656.94 miles
Swam 23,337.30 yards (13.26 miles)
Body Sculpt classes 119
Zumba classes 22
Biking minutes 762 (12.7 hours) Indoors
Biking miles outside 284.81 miles
Step classes 2
Yoga classes 6
Nia classes 1
Cross Fit class 1
Push ups on toes outside of teaching class:175
Goals for week 41: Recover from the two races. Run 4 or more times this next week. Swim once, bike at least once. Complete all scheduled classes.
Women's Rock Half Marathon-Chicago, Illinois - Saturday, September 27, 2014
Well let me just start by saying you can't have perfect weather for races all the time and this was one of those days. It seemed like this entire summer and early fall that the weather has been just right for so many of the races. We woke up to 62 degrees with humidity and it only got hotter and higher humidity. So it wasn't the worst day, but it wasn't the best either.
Christy is my best friend from when we were little. I met her when I was only 6 years old. We lived just two doors down from each other. Only Robert's home separated our homes. Christy was my Maid of Honor in my wedding and I was her Matron of Honor in her wedding. We have kept in touch all these years even after I moved away from Illinois when I was 12.
She wanted to do her very first half marathon and I told her I'd run it with her. She booked this one in Chicago and so it was set. It was called the Women's Rock Half Marathon. They advertise that you will receive a necklace at the end of the race and a nice running jacket.
Christy's husband travels a lot so he was able to get us a FREE hotel room in downtown Chicago for us to stay in. It was super nice!
Good things about the race:
Nice bib for your scrapbook
Chip timed race and you get to keep the timing chip as a souvenir in your scrapbook
Nice running jacket, although it doesn't say Half marathon on it, so that is a bummer.
Nice finishing medal.
Organized for the most part.
Registration online.
good post race food
Things that could be improved for this race:
More water stops on the course - there were ONLY 2. I am serious. They were at mile 2 and 6.55. so you hit the mile 2 one again at mile 11, but you needed one at mile 4, 8 and 12. Plus being a super hot day even more would be appreciated, but 2 was not enough.
They need port-a-potties on the course. There were NONE. WHY? Ask them. Ok that's right I did ask them and they haven't answered my personal message on face book, my e-mail, or my post on face book. I guess they don't care to improve the race.
Instant results to print out for your scrapbook.
Volunteers on the course that know more about the race. The volunteers I would ask about where the water stops were they would say, "Oh I don't know where those are, sorry."
Here is my race story: I woke up feeling great. Started out the race and felt good until I was in the sun along Lake Michigan. Then I started to feel crummy at mile 3. By mile 5.5 I had to go to the bathroom and not just pee. So I'm looking around for bathroom, hadn't remembered ever seeing them,but hoped I would soon. I would ask every volunteer at every turn, where are the bathrooms. Every time they would say, "I don't know of any." This really worried me. So I held it in. By mile 7 and no bathrooms in sight I was sick. Very sick. My stomach hurt and I thought I would die. Running was downright super painful, but I plugged on. By mile 7.5 or so I finally saw an opportunity to empty myself. I saw tall weeds and a path to walk behind them. I didn't care who saw me by this point so I went back there and did my stuff. I felt somewhat better, but still overheated and miserable for the most part. There was only a water stop at mile 2 and 6.55 at this point. I was hoping for more water stops, but loosing hope quickly. Plus no bathrooms the ENTIRE course. Seriously this is the first half marathon in 17 that I have completed that didn't have bathrooms. There should be some at almost every mile and at the half way point for sure. Seriously.
Thank goodness there were public water fountains all throughout downtown Chicago along the running path. If those had been turned off or missing, then I am sure I would not have finished because at EVERY water fountain I would cup water and throw it on my head, back and face and then drink some to cool down. I was so hot and just couldn't cool off. Despite the less than ideal conditions both Christy and I finished with a time of 2:25:57 The full results are here.
Here are some pictures from before, during and after the race!
Christy is my best friend from when we were little. I met her when I was only 6 years old. We lived just two doors down from each other. Only Robert's home separated our homes. Christy was my Maid of Honor in my wedding and I was her Matron of Honor in her wedding. We have kept in touch all these years even after I moved away from Illinois when I was 12.
She wanted to do her very first half marathon and I told her I'd run it with her. She booked this one in Chicago and so it was set. It was called the Women's Rock Half Marathon. They advertise that you will receive a necklace at the end of the race and a nice running jacket.
Christy's husband travels a lot so he was able to get us a FREE hotel room in downtown Chicago for us to stay in. It was super nice!
Good things about the race:
Nice bib for your scrapbook
Chip timed race and you get to keep the timing chip as a souvenir in your scrapbook
Nice running jacket, although it doesn't say Half marathon on it, so that is a bummer.
Nice finishing medal.
Organized for the most part.
Registration online.
good post race food
Things that could be improved for this race:
More water stops on the course - there were ONLY 2. I am serious. They were at mile 2 and 6.55. so you hit the mile 2 one again at mile 11, but you needed one at mile 4, 8 and 12. Plus being a super hot day even more would be appreciated, but 2 was not enough.
They need port-a-potties on the course. There were NONE. WHY? Ask them. Ok that's right I did ask them and they haven't answered my personal message on face book, my e-mail, or my post on face book. I guess they don't care to improve the race.
Instant results to print out for your scrapbook.
Volunteers on the course that know more about the race. The volunteers I would ask about where the water stops were they would say, "Oh I don't know where those are, sorry."
Here is my race story: I woke up feeling great. Started out the race and felt good until I was in the sun along Lake Michigan. Then I started to feel crummy at mile 3. By mile 5.5 I had to go to the bathroom and not just pee. So I'm looking around for bathroom, hadn't remembered ever seeing them,but hoped I would soon. I would ask every volunteer at every turn, where are the bathrooms. Every time they would say, "I don't know of any." This really worried me. So I held it in. By mile 7 and no bathrooms in sight I was sick. Very sick. My stomach hurt and I thought I would die. Running was downright super painful, but I plugged on. By mile 7.5 or so I finally saw an opportunity to empty myself. I saw tall weeds and a path to walk behind them. I didn't care who saw me by this point so I went back there and did my stuff. I felt somewhat better, but still overheated and miserable for the most part. There was only a water stop at mile 2 and 6.55 at this point. I was hoping for more water stops, but loosing hope quickly. Plus no bathrooms the ENTIRE course. Seriously this is the first half marathon in 17 that I have completed that didn't have bathrooms. There should be some at almost every mile and at the half way point for sure. Seriously.
Thank goodness there were public water fountains all throughout downtown Chicago along the running path. If those had been turned off or missing, then I am sure I would not have finished because at EVERY water fountain I would cup water and throw it on my head, back and face and then drink some to cool down. I was so hot and just couldn't cool off. Despite the less than ideal conditions both Christy and I finished with a time of 2:25:57 The full results are here.
Here are some pictures from before, during and after the race!
 |
| A fuzzy picture taken from someone else at packet pickup. The race advertized hot men at the finish line giving you your Silver necklace. I didn't care about the men. To me they needed to pull up their pants. Being with Christy is all I cared about. |
 |
| Our shoes the night before with our timing chips on. |
 |
| Mashed potatoes with bacon that I ate the night before the race. |
 |
| Christy in the kitchen of our hotel room. The room was super nice. |
 |
| Our race bibs. |
 |
| The start of the race. |
 |
| The end of the race. Thank goodness that hot race was over. |
 |
| Back to Christy's home with our new jackets and finishing medals on. |
 |
| My finishing medal up close with my bib and necklace I earned. |
Kickoff to Kinnick 5K-Iowa City, Iowa City - Saturday, September 20, 2014
Jason ran this race as well and we met him at the end. I stayed with Allison.
Good things about this race:
Chip timed
Nice bib for your scrapbook
Race details online
Online registration
Lots and lots of good Food after the race
Ending on the Hawkeye field
water stop on the course
plenty of volunteers
Great race shirt that is dri fit.
Seemed very well organized.
Band on the course that sounded really great.
Things that could be better about this race:
Pace signs at the beginning so walkers DON'T line up in front of runners
No hills
Putting the water stop more at the half way point INSTEAD of at mile 1 where you don't need it yet.
Letting us get water on the field instead of having to wait until walking all the way out of the field to get it.
Cap the race at 1500 so there aren't so many people in the race.
Finishing medal since it's a cool Hawkeye race
Recognizing winners of age groups and Overall winners there at the race and not mailing the awards.
DOOR PRIZES, seriously you had sponsors, so where were the door prizes.
Photos the Race took
Race Results here.
Here are other photos that I took:
 |
| Jason's race bib |
 |
| My race bib. |
 |
| Our race shoes with the timing chips on. |
 |
| Allison, Me and Jason before the race started |
 |
| Allison and I |
 |
| After the race in the field. Pretty cool!!! |
 |
| On the hawk on the field. |
 |
| Allison after her race! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)