Biggest Loser Half Marathon - Part 2 - RACE DAY!

 

Race morning came early... luckily we stayed in Seattle on the eve of the race at the recommended hotel which was about 3 miles from Gas Works Park where the race was to begin.  My friend Carrie, my younger sister Heather and I and grabbed the free breakfast.  There were quite a few participants with the same plan that we had at the hotel.  It was fun to see all of the early risers and race shirts in the Hotel lobby.  We left soon after and arrived at Gas Works at about 7:15am.  The half was set to begin at 8:00am so we were all good!  The weather was cool but no precipitation was predicted... great racing weather!  My sister and I wore our matching Sparkle Athletic skirts and received so many compliments throughout the race!  We saw others sparkling up the course as well!  Check them out if you haven't worn the sparkle! 

 

My sister Heather, Me, and Carrie!

Dan from Season 5 of the Biggest Loser

I had arranged a Meet Up for any folks from the Team #runDisney Facebook page to gather about 7:30am so we made our way over there to see if anyone would surface. 

Myself, Carrie, Lonnie, and Melissa made it... we ran into a few 

others later... during and after the race.

Kaylee - Taken - Post Race

Soon it was time to head to the Start line... this was Carrie's first Half so she set herself with like pace folks towards the back... Heather and I pushed (not literally) forward to be at about the 11:00 min pace signs... a good guess for us.  Soon the National Anthem was sung (by Dan) and off we went!  I carried my camera and got shots along the way.  This route was very similar to the See Jane Run Half I had run last July.  Starting in exactly the same spot and with the route going around Lake Union.  The slight variation was at about Mile 10ish with the route taking a turn more south for an out and back instead of north like it had in See Jane Run.  I much preferred this route even though the out and back is not my favorite... the running trail was much wider and allowed room for coming and going as well as just the recreational runners and bikers that were out in the middle of it all.  

The course was really beautiful and full of Fall color... we had some fun... I usually do not run with anyone training or otherwise... so it was different but fun to participate with my sister staying with me.  I run using intervals and this was something my sister does not do.  She was a trooper and stayed with me.  Actually pushing me a bit towards the end of the race to "obey my timer"and not walk as much as I normally would have had I been on my own!   I actually got a PR for this Half by 6 minutes!  That is huge and I attribute it to my sister and her keeping me going that last 3 miles.  We had a great time with the photographers!  All photos for this race were free - which was amazing!  Here are a few that the Race photographers captured of us!

We had a lot of fun!  

Here we are crossing the finish line!

Wahoo... the Medals and accomplishment!

After the race we picked up some of the free food being offered... lots of bananas, cinnamon rolls, oranges... and more.   We had some fun while we waited for my kids to arrive to run the Kid's Mile fun run... my husband was bringing them down from where we live... the kid's race didn't begin until 12pm.  They had a blast running it and got some pretty sweet bling for thier accomplishments!

 Carrie's boys and my 3 ready to run!

Racing with the Biggest Loser Race Series was great fun!  Love to do it again!  Very well organized and well supported all along the route!   My friend Carrie finished her FIRST Half that day!  So proud of her!  

 Very inspiring to see so many attempting races for the first time and challenging themselves!    I recommend this Race series to anyone looking to sign up in other cities!  Have fun and do it!

I also got to meet Jennifer Rumple who was on Season 12 of the Biggest Loser.  She was giving high fives at the finish for awhile.  So nice and really interested in meeting inspiring folks!

I realized I am really white and she has the most striking blue eyes!  Time for tanning!

I should add that this was my 5th Half since last January!  Pretty good for never running in a race before September of 2012!  On to Number 6!

If you haven't been a runner (or walker) all of your life... but came to it later... what inspired you to jump in?

When you got your last PR at a race what do you attribute it to?  

Coming soon... 

My 7 year old Daughter is going to guest post a recap on the Biggest Loser Kid Race!    Stay Tuned...!!!

4th Half Marathon... done!

 

The Bellingham Bay Half Marathon!  I was already nervous about my 4th Half Marathon... you can read all about how nervous HERE.   As the week wore on I added another worry... the weather.  The forecast was for rain.  Now... I live in Washington State so rain in the forecast is not that unusual in September but this forecast was for LOTS of rain... and wind too.  The worst of it to hit mid day on Sunday... great.  

I drove up to Bellingham (about a 45 minute drive north from where I live) on Saturday to pick up my bib and check out the mini expo.  The weather was terrible driving up... pelting rain and cold.  

The mini expo for the Races was being held in a nicer hotel in Bellingham.  The pick up went really smoothly and was quite quick!  There were pick ups for people doing the Full Marathon, the Half (that was me), and the 5K.  Signs were clearly showing us where to go.  It wasn't too crowded and there was a good mix of vendors.  We didn't take a long time lingering (I had 2 of my kids with me) but I did stop to purchase a new pair of shoes.  I have needed to replace my running shoes for a few weeks now and luckily there was one of the local running stores at the Expo that had a ton of marked down shoes!  Yeah!  I was able to purchase an identical pair of my current shoes at a $40 savings!  Yeah!

Okay... back to the race...

The drive back home was an adventure!  The rain had really started to come down and I was really glad to pull into the drive way with my kids.  I went to bed that night after laying out a ton of race clothes... layering and staying dry were my goals for the next day.  The Half Marathon was not set to begin until 9:30am... a very late start for me.  The Full and the 5K were beginning at 7:30am... I am sure because of course overlap they were planning the Half and Full to be finishing together.

As I drove north the weather seemed to be calm... still raining lightly but not a ton of wind.  As I pulled into Bellingham and found some free downtown parking about a block from the start the weather seemed to be improving (a little).  I made my way over to the staging area.   There was a lot of cover  and lots of runners were seeking shelter there as we all waited for the start time.

Finally the time to start was near and about 2,100 runners/walkers that were doing the Half Marathon made their way to the starting line.  No corrals or pace signs that I saw... it was really just a "line up where you want to" start.   Because of the weather I did not carry a camera while I ran... sorry no "during the race" photos.  The course began in the heart of downtown and headed north of town... laced through many beautiful neighborhoods and was fairly flat.  There were a few slight up hill grades but nothing terrible.  Eventually we were heading a little south again and at about mile 7 or 8 I glimpsed a little of the waterfront.  I had just run a 15 K Race a few weeks prior that took place all on the waterfront here so this was familiar territory.   The weather had held and really hadn't more than drizzled at this point... I did notice some wind but I was wearing 3 layers and was actually thankful for the wind because it cooled me off.

As we ran along the waterfront I was a little sad the weather wasn't better... it really is a beautiful view on a nice day.  Oh well.  The course was headed west now and back into the downtown area... then... what is that... oh it is the finish line but don't get too excited we took a sharp right hand turn and had about 3 1/2 miles to go.  It was fun to see some of the "faster folks" finishing for the moment I ran by going the other way but a little bummed I still had over a 5K left.  I felt great though and on I went.  We were on the trail now headed south along the waterfront headed towards Boulevard Park.  We ran along the boardwalk and then a sharp left up the ramp and headed north now to the finish...  only less than 2 miles to go.  

I snagged this picture off of google... from a previous year... 

Now for the hills... there were two serious hills climbing back into downtown... no negative splits for me... I walked a bunch more than I thought I would at this point but oh well.  My goal was a good strong finish... no point in killing myself.  I ended up with almost the exact finish time (a 30 second difference) I had back in July at the See Jane Run Half in Seattle.  I was glad and happy that the weather had held and I finished!  Yeah!  Half Marathon #4!  At the finish there was a ton of things to do... there was a band playing in a big grandstand and they had several food venues open as well as a beer garden.  I only snapped a picture of the grandstand...

Photo courtesy of the Bellingham Herald.

All in all a great race and I was so glad the weather held... later in the day the rain came but I was already home, showered, and cozy in my house!Here are some photos taken at the finish as well as the my shirt and the race bling! 

Great friends that I "ran" into at the race... Craig and Ann Timmer!

Have you ever experienced terrible weather during a race?    

What were your best strategies to get through it?  Layering?  Repeat positive mantras to yourself?  Stop for cupcakes?

Why am I nervous? 4th Half this weekend!

So... I am running my 4th Half Marathon this Sunday... and I am a little nervous.  Here are my first 3...

#1 - Tinkerbell Half at Disneyland - January 20, 2013

#2 - Heroes Half - Everett, WA - April 28, 2013

#3 - See Jane Run Half  - Seattle, WA - July 14th, 2013

Asking myself lots of questions all day long... 

Will the course be hilly?  What if I pass out? (I never have but you never know)  What if I trip and hurt myself?  What if it rains?  What if it is too hot?  Will the course be hilly?  What if my shoes bother me?  What if I get a cramp?  What if they run out of water?  What if I am last?  and on and on and on....

Geez.  Can I just stop already?  

The Half I am running is just north of where I live in the beautiful city of Bellingham, WA.  I have run a few races there but never this one.  There is a Marathon and a 5K happening as well.  I am sure because of course demands they are staggering the starts.  The 5K and the Marathon start at 7:30am and then the Half does not begin until 9:30am... oh my this is bothering me too.  I wish I was starting earlier.  I just want to dive in and get it done... I am sure it will all be fine... but I like to stew on all of this.  

Then I log into Facebook today and there is an article posted from Runner's World magazine all about race jitters and how to cope... you can see it HERE.

I am suppose to be tapering my mileage and how do I deal with the stress of the half this weekend?  I run 8 miles today.  ;P


How do you deal with pre race jitters?   Do you worry about silly things regarding races? 

Want to go running sometime? Uh ... actually no.

Yep... it happened again today... a friend that is also a runner said to me... "We should go running sometime."  Almost immediately I had a lump in my throat and I was doing everything I could do to be polite and just nod... and say... "Yes... maybe sometime."

This is me in this photo...running a 10K near our home in Washington State.

I have been running consistently for over a year now and I have learned some things abut myself in my short time as a "real" runner.  I like to run alone.  Actually I LOVE to run alone.  I have a busy family with 3 young kids.  My running time (even if it is on my treadmill with my headphones on) is my escape... my "ME" time.   I know that running can be a very social activity.  I am addicted to formalized races and the atmosphere that surrounds them.  Running groups and organized runs are just about everywhere you look.  One of my sisters who has been a runner for most of her adult life almost always runs with at least one friend.  I have not found this to be helpful for me.  Actually it stresses me out.  I don't enjoy it.  I tend to be worrying all the time about my pace being too slow for the other runner or maybe I am too fast (probably not the case).  What if they don't like the route I chose ... what if I want to walk and they think I am a wussy... what if they want to walk and I don't... oh it just stresses me out!

 This is not me in the photo... hard to take a photo of yourself if you usually run alone.

 I LOVE doing organized races but I LOVE to do them alone.  Now... if you have done any organized races you would probably tell me that you are not alone when you participate in those.  Actually you are...  I don't feel like I have to talk to anyone I know and my only pace setter... is me.  I have done 2 races in my running career with other people.    I ran a 10K last October with one of my sisters.  We had never run or trained together ahead of time.  She does not run with walk/run intervals like I do.  She agreed she would stick with me and do the intervals with me for this one run.  It was fine... the race went well... she ran ahead at times and then finished about 5 minutes ahead of me.  All good. 

My husband ran with me at the Neverland 5K at Disneyland .  It was fun... again we had never really run together before.  (He doesn't really run at all) We learned pretty quickly that our strides are MILES apart.  I could not keep up with him stride for stride.  We figured out a system fairly quickly that worked for this short race.  He would run ahead until he needed a walk break where then I would catch up and run with him for just a little bit and then he would run ahead again.  We never really lost sight of each other and finished quickly.  We were able to get those pictures we wanted together.  As for the running part... we ran independently but finished strong together!  It was loads of fun! (How can you not have fun at Disneyland?) 

Doing the races as a one time thing was okay... but not my favorite.

I read an article recently that totally explained how I feel about solo running.  For lack of just retyping what this person said I will post it HERE.

So does this make me an incredibly antisocial person in the running world?  (if you ever see me at a race don't talk to me... ha ha)  I am actually quite an outgoing person and love talking and lots of friends in other areas of my life. 

But for running... I will just say it... I love the "alone time" - me and the open road or me and my treadmill with my earphones in and I can go to that place of being alone (even when all 3 of my kids are in the room).

Do you like to run with others?  What is your favorite part about it?

Are you a solo runner like me?  What do you love about running alone?

See Jane Run Half Marathon - July 14, 2013

Summertime Greetings All -

I have taken a bit of a summer hiatus from writing... not from running though.  
Coming back with a review of a terrific Half Marathon I participated in recently.  See Jane Run is a race series that visits many cities across our country.  On July 14th, 2013 the See Jane Run Race Series was in Seattle.

My friend Carrie and I had signed up!  Carrie for the 5K distance and I had signed up for Half Marathon.  (You might have seen Carrie in some of my other race posts and will see her in future posts... she is a friend and is also training to participate in the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend at Disneyland in January 2014. You can read about my experiences at Tink Weekend in January of 2013 here, here, and here.)  

We made our way down to Seattle on Saturday the 13th to attend the Race Expo.  The Expo was held at a downtown hotel called the "W" Hotel.  Originally I had planned to make a family day of it and attend the Expo together.  A few days prior our plans changed and Carrie and I decided to just go down without our families.  I am so glad we did that.  The Expo was MUCH smaller than I had anticipated.  We had our bibs and shirts in about 5 minutes and were able to shop through the other booths quite quickly... seriously it took us about 10 minutes to see everything.  I didn't expect it to be like a runDisney run Expo but I did expect it to be bigger then it was.  Oh well.  Our tech shirts that we received for participating were really nice quality and a great color too.  This is a photo of the front of the shirt.

 

Carrie and I had also decided that driving all the way home on Saturday and then rising early on Sunday morning for the races would be much easier to execute if we were staying a bit closer to the action so we had made hotel reservations just a little north of Seattle to make our Sunday morning go a little more smoothly.  It was awesome!  After we had done our quick Expo stop we headed back up to our hotel and did a little shopping at the mall.  Both Carrie and I have busy young families so shopping with just the two of us with no children was a rare treat.

After our restful night at the hotel we were up early and headed south to Gas Works Park in Seattle for the Bag check and the start.  The weather was awesome and it staged the day to be great!   Below are some great shots we took prior to the race start.

There were quite a few people there and participating so as you can see from Carrie's photo ablove the lines for the porta pottys were long... but quick.  The 5K had 509 participants (502 females and 7 men)... The Half Marathon had 1,002 participants (976 females and 26 men)... obviously a race that was geared mostly towards women.  The Half Marathon began at 8am... soon it was time to line up and hear the start gun.  There were no formal corrals but they did have volunteers holding "wave signs" to have people line up with the appropriate sign that lined up with your anticipated minute per mile pace.  After the elites took off - it seemed it was a free for all... The second wave just kept going and I hope the 3 volunteers holding the wave signs didn't get carried away.  This Half course was beautiful and fairly flat.  The 5K start was at 8:30am and followed a bit of the same course as the first 3 miles of the Half course.  Here are some shots from the Half course.

The Half Marathon course basically circled Lake Union with sweeping views of Seattle and the Space Needle.   The finish line was back at Gas Works Park and was spectacular!  At the finish I received my finisher medal...

Carrie had run the 5K so she had been waiting for me (in the shade) at the Post Race Expo.  They had lots of fun things to see and do post race!  They had a photo booth that was FREE with props and fun! 

Besides the finisher medals and shirts... we also received a champagne glass with the See Jane Run logo etched on it.  And... they had a little fenced off "garden" area with one glass of free champagne for each participant!

We had a great time and enjoyed the SEE JANE RUN Race series!
Here are some photos to end it... definitely a race I would LOVE to do again!