Friday Five: Race Rituals

Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia host Friday Five, and this week is all about Race Rituals!

I was thinking about this as I was reading over some of the other posts, and it's hard to think about any big things that I do.  However, there are some very small things that are very important to me!

1. Eat a Luna bar.  I find these are light enough that I don't have stomach issues, but keep my hunger satisfied.  Any kind seems to work for me, but I much prefer Peppermint Stick.

2. Flat Me.  I always lay out everything I'm going to wear the next day.  And then double, possibly triple check it.  And then panic that I'm still forgetting something.

3. A kiss!  I always ALWAYS need a kiss from my boyfriend, especially if I'm running without him.  For some reason it just makes everything right.  I don't think he knows this is a ritual, so shhhhh.

4. Leave late.  No matter how hard I try to leave on time, I always end up leaving at least 5 minutes late, and then panicking the whole way to the race.  I haven't been late yet, but there are some where I've had barely any time to spare.  This is probably a ritual I should change...

5. Drink beer.  I always drink beer after a race, even if it's just a sip.  This is also basically the only time I drink beer, so it is actually something special!

Do you have any race rituals? Link up if you do!

Lauren

Asheville Half Marathon

My birthday was on June 5th, so for my weekend I went to Asheville!  Ray and I had lots of fun, ate lots of local food, and had a nice weekend away.

But, of course, it included the Asheville Half on June 7th, Saturday.  I'm not going to go into a lot of details, I'll sum it up in a few words.  Hills.  Heat.  Hills.  Hills.

It was an inaugural race, but it was put on by the people who run the Cooper River Bridge Run, which is a 10k that's been going on for 35 years I think, in Charleston, SC.  Despite this history, I had a lot of problems with the race.  Some were being a back-of-the-pack-er issues (I ended up walking completely after mile 5 of so, ending just under 4 hours), which should not have been an issue since that was the advertised cut off time, and the race indicated they were walker friendly.  I also had/have an issue with my time.  My starting time was recorded, but I have no finish time.  I called their "office", which I believe to be a cell phone number whose voicemail box was full already, due to other complaints (I know this from their Facebook page).  I called originally June 10th, couldn't leave a voicemail, but was called back later that day from a different number because they saw the missed call.  I let them know what was happening, and they said they would look into it and contact me back.    I had actually somewhat forgotten about it, and ended up calling back on 6/24, and the phone was actually answered.  I have no idea by who, because they just answered with a "hello" despite it being an office phone, which threw me off as well.  Got an e-mail from the director that I was copied on, going out to two other people, the next day, just asking them to update my chip time to 4 hours.  First of all, I told them it was just under 4 hours, and I'd rather have the real time than just have them put a time in!  But, despite that, I haven't heard back from them.  I just e-mailed them again today because this post reminded me of it.

So, overall, I'm not too impressed.  They also advertised music every mile.  I didn't see a station for it each mile, and also most of the bands/musicians were shut down by the time I got there, so that was disappointing as well.

I highly doubt that I'll do this race again in the future, but I may definitely still go to Asheville for my birthday weekend.  Maybe I'll just spectate and cheer others on from now on.

I think that catches me up on race recaps.  I've been doing less because of the summer heat.  Have you taken a summer break at all?

Lauren

Savannah Bridge Run Race Recap

On December 7th, Ray and I ran the Savannah Bridge Run.  We ran the 5k, although they have 10k and Double Pump (5k then the 10k) options.  However, we had never conquered the bridge before, or any hills for that matter living in Savannah, so we opted to just go over it once.  According to the race website, the bridge itself is a "5.5% grade and 1.4-mile span" and then of course 1.7 miles after that (which had many smaller hills included!).  

Many people dress up in costume, a lot of which are shown below.  We didn't dress up, but his mom was Wonder Woman, along with the women from our local Moms Run This Town (also below).  And none of these at all are stolen from the professional photographer..... 

Like with the Pickle Run a few weeks ago, the race itself was hard, but the community was so amazing.  I had so much fun, and we might even do the Double Pump next year.  We'll certainly dress up.  I don't have all too much to say about this race.  We did complete it in 45:15, and my Garmin measured it long at 3.17 I believe, so about the same as the Pickle Run.

We did just join a local running club, and every Sunday morning they run the bridge, so that will be really helpful!

Did I mention it got to almost 80 during the race?  He took his shirt off about halfway through.

These are our war faces.

Has it been unreasonably or unusually warm for anyone else lately?

Lauren

Pickle Run Race Recap

On November 30th, my boyfriend Ray and I participated in the Pickle Run 5k on Tybee Island.  

This is the story behind it, posted on their Active.com registration page from 2012- "On November 25, 2008, Dylan Robert Hall was born here in Savannah, Georgia. Despite a healthy pregnancy, Dylan suffered meconium aspiration along with 2 other bacterial infections during delivery. The doctors weren't sure he'd survive his first night. On Thanksgiving Day, two days after his birth, Dylan had shown enough improvement so that mom and dad could hold their baby boy for the first time. As the days went on, "Dyl Pickle" proved to be a strong healthy baby that just happened to be born very sick. During the two weeks Dylan spent in the hospital, the Hall family discovered how lucky they were to live in Savannah where the level of care their baby required was just down the street. Many of the families had to drive long distances to visit their children in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery. This is where the Ronald McDonald House comes in. Established in 1987, the Savannah Ronald McDonald House has provided a "Home away from home" for more than 5,000 families. The House has 10 bedrooms with private baths, a communal living room and kitchen, dining and laundry areas. Each night volunteers from the community provide a home-cooked meal for the families to share. To celebrate Dylan's 4th birthday, the Huc-a-poos and Hall families invite you to participate in the 4th annual Pickle Run to support our local Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Coastal Empire."

This was a great cause to support.  I was also involved in RMHC a few years ago as part of a bake-off (shameless self-promotion - I took first place in the cake division with Boston cream pie cupcakes).  The one here in Savannah is especially in need right now because it has a mold problem, and they aren't even open right now, so they're desperately trying to re-open.  

According to my Garmin upload, it was 43 degrees and felt 38, but I think it felt much colder.  It was also overcast and very windy.  The first mile or so was on roads starting from Hucapoos, a local restaurant and the main sponsor of the race.  Then we hit the beach, and turned right into the wind!  It was almost bone-chilling cold, as it was humid so the water in the hair was freezing as well.  We tried to stay on the hard-packed part of the beach as much as we could, but it was still difficult.  With around a quarter of a mile left, we got back off the beach, onto gravel, and finished back at the restaurant.  The course ended up measuring 3.18 miles for me, and we finished in 45:27, a 14:18 pace.  I was shooting for under 15 mm due to the beach, so I'm decently satisfied with our time. 

After the race, we had breakfast pizza (Hucapoos is mostly a pizza place) and beer.  Each person also got a raffle ticket with registration, with the option to purchase more at $1 a piece.  They raffled off probably about 20 items from a wine basket, to a Yuengling sign, to paddleboard rentals.  Many many local places get involved in this race and donate, and it was an awesome community to be in.  I definitely want to do this each year they have it.  

I'll let the pictures try to show you how mean the wind was, and how sad the ocean looked.  And yes, that is a 6 pack of PBR in front of us.  But it's ok, we beat them!

What's your favorite local 5k?

Lauren