Guess What...

I have been accepted to participate in the Nike Women's Half DC!

I ran this race in April with Team in Training. I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend my free time fundraising again this year, so I entered the random draw to let fate decide. I got my email on Monday night. I must say I am really excited. I didn't tell anyone that I had entered. I didn't want to be disappointed if I didn't get in. Now I can tell everyone!

I now have a goal for the spring of 2014!

Runner's World is Coming to Boston!

I had heard that Runner's World was bringing a half marathon to the Boston area. I got the email to stay tuned for more information. Then I got the email. June 6-8. 2014 Runner's World would be hosting The Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon and Festival.

There is a whole schedule of events for the weekend.

June 6, 2014

6 PM: Kids Races

June 7,2014

7 AM: Runner's World 5k

8:30 AM: Runner's World 10k

5 PM: Pasta Dinner with the Editors

7 PM: Keynote Speaker: Sarah Reinersten

June 8, 2014

7:30 AM: Runner's World Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon

I decided to sign up for the Hat Trick. The Hat Trick is the 5k, 10k, & Half Marathon all in the same weekend. There is also an option to sign up for the Five & Dime (the 5k & the 10k). June 9th is my birthday so I figure I will literally run out of 26 and into 27. My friend Kevin has also signed up to do the Hat Trick so I will have company during the weekend. 

Will you be coming out to run in June with us?

Dinner Dates

My lovely friend Tony & I spent our lunch at work together. It was a lovely time. He's great.

It's My Favorite Day!

It's Halloween!!! This is my favorite day of the year. It's the only holiday I really love too. I've gotten to share my love of the holiday this year with my friend Chris. We are slightly out of control & it is awesome!

On Saturday I attended the Blacklight Run. This is a 5k that is the same idea as The Color Run, but with backlight powder. I've never done a color run so I was interested in doing this run. Even though they promoted the run being in Boston it was actually in North Andover. This is a little over an hour from my house. There was traffic getting into the parking lot. You were suppose to pay $10 for parking (my friend had to), but they just let me park. There was no direction to where the start of the race was or the check in process. My friend picked up my bib the day before so I just needed to pick up my shirt. It was very confusing to just get the shirt. After I got through that I made it to the start line.

Part of the course was in the parking lot, part was on a grass island, part was in a baseball field. This would have been fine if there was any sort of light along the course. It was completely dark. There were only 3 color stops. I barely got anything on me. My shoes have most of the color on them. At one point people were rolling on the ground getting color on them. Talk about a hazard! I saw no backlights along the course. There were lights, but they just seems like normal lights to me. There were no volunteers along the course letting you know where to go or to watch out for some hazards. At one point there was a girl yelling. I couldn't tell if she was a volunteer or just someone drunk or on drugs. I'm going for the latter. I got to the finish line & there were just staff members standing right in the middle. I don't know why they needed to have a powwow in the middle of the finish area. Luckily I had no injuries nor did I see anyone go down. I was pretty thankful for the flashlight on my iPhone. I wouldn't do another of these runs. A color run sure thing, but not a backlight run. 

How Could I Forget!?!

After I finished the Rock 'n' Roll Half 2 weeks ago I officially became a Half Fanatic. I'm #5050! That is a lot of people running a lot of half marathons. By doing the Disneyland Half, the AllState Half, & the Rock 'n' Roll Half qualified me for the Neptune level.

Yesterday I ran the B.A.A. Half. The course was hilly, but I expected worse so it wasn't that bad.

You run along the Emerald Necklace in Boston than back into Franklin Park. You ran through the zoo which was different. There was an emu running along side us. I saw a camel. I almost got hit by an acorn, but I live! My knee felt okay with using KT Tape. My hip flexor is tight, but I survived.

I have a 5k on Sunday & another fun run coming up, but I'm going to get my knee checked out so for right now I'm on a half marathon hiatus.

Electric Run

On Friday night I went down to Gillette Stadium to be part of the Electric Run. The Electric Run is a 5k during a rave. You run/walk & enter different "lands" of electronic music.

 Even though we signed up as part of a team, none of us were together. I drove in with my friend Tony. This was his first 5k & he is a big fan of electronic music.

We walked the whole thing. It was a fun run & I wanted to take it easy after running RnR Providence. The run was fun. It was different. The only thing that I wish was a little different that in between "lands" there was a little more light & some music! Besides that the run was awesome. We got to run inside of the stadium & they had a party at the end. It was a different experience for me being used to running. I wouldn't say I wouldn't do it again, but I'm not running to sign up for another one.

Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half Marathon

This past Sunday I ran the Rock 'n' Roll Providence Half Marathon. I've never done a Rock 'n' Roll event before so I was excited to see how it all went down. The race started at 7 am & they wanted you there by 6 am. My friend Carrick came with me to spectate on his first running event. We met up with my friend Kevin & we soon realized we should get into our corrals.

Start Line

My roommate from DC was also running. We didn't get to meet up before the race, but we did end up seeing each other on the course. That was awesome & pretty unexpected. They did a wonderful job with water & gatorade every other mile & had lots of support along the course. I usually have a negative attitude towards Providence, but I did find a new respect towards the city while I was running it. The course was great. I really enjoyed running by Brown University & all the historic homes.

Foggy, but beautiful.

At one point during the run I saw the 2:30 pacer & thought maybe I can not only PR again this month, but run a sub-2:30 half! I was going to be happy to be running even if I didn't PR, but I did keep this thought in the back of my mind. The last .1 mile was on a hill. I thought this was mean, but when I got there I went faster (against Carrick's wishes) & PR'd with a final time of 2:29:29! I was super excited to have reached a sub-2:30 half! I was nervous seeing that there were hills along the course, but I don't think they were bad.

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After the half Carrick & I went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo. They are getting ready for their pumpkin bonanza. I talked more about pumpkins than the animals which is unheard of for me! The day was really fun. I'm so glad I had a supporter out there waiting for me at the end. It made me really happy to know I had that support directly at the finish.