2019 GW Parkway Classic and 2019 National Women's Half Marathon

On Sunday April 28th I ran the 35th Annual GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler put on by Pacers Running for the second time in my life. This 10 Mile run begins at south end of George Washington (GW) Memorial Parkway at George Washington's home and historic site Mount Vernon and Heads 10 miles north on the parkway ending in Old Town Alexandria.

While the race views are for the most part fantastic as the course parallels the Potomac River this is one of my least favorite races because I don't like any races that require taking a shuttle to the race start....this means I have to get up extra early, get to the shuttle, and often times wait around for an hour or more until the race starts which can suck if like me you are a nervous pooper and like me both years had bathroom issues because of the long time waiting for the race to start and then getting frustrated because of the ridiculously long bathrooms lines and having to sit around outside in the cool weather. Both times I have done this race I have had a not that great experience solely because of these things.

If you aren't a nervous pooper like me and don't mind taking a shuttle and waiting around this is a great race. I ran it again this year because my boyfriend was running it for the first time and so were several people from our run club.

If you thrive on crowd support this race really isn't for you as there really isn't much until you get to Old Town. The post race festivities are always fun especially if the weather is nice. The first year it warmed up and was sunny after the run so it was nice to lie in the grass at the finish line festival and listen to live music and have my complimentary Port City beer. The second time it was pretty cold especially if you are sweaty and didn't bring extra clothes. Pacers always puts on great local races but in my personal opinion having to do a point to point race is not worth the price which is also pretty expensive for a 10 Miler.

GW Parkway Classic Medal

The week following the GW Parkway Classic I decided to sign up last minute for the 3rd Annual National Women's Half Marathon exactly one week after the 10 miler. I have a hard time motivating myself to do long runs once summer starts to come in and things get humid in the DMV so signing up for halves and 10 milers is something I do to get my miles.

Anyway this race had a decent price...cheaper than the 10 miler but no free beer. The race started and finished at West Potomac Park in Washington DC at 7AM which sucks if you do not live nearby because Metro doesn't open until 8AM on Sundays and parking is limited. Lucky for me I live about 3 easy miles from the start so race day I jogged over since I wanted to get more miles in anyway but I could've easily biked or scootered over or taken an Uber. It was a rainy spring-like day so I wore my race swag shirt to the start on top of the shirt I planned to wear during the race to keep warm until the race began as normally I don't like the stress of gear check lines and since I didn't like the race sway shirt (fitted) I was fine with leaving it at the start line. When I arrived at the start (about 15 mins to start time) I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a small field of mostly women and that there were plenty of porta potties and very short lines. I easily made my way to the bathroom and did my business and was already warmed up from my jog over.

The race course is pretty scenic as you make your way down and around the tidal basin and back up to Rock Creek Parkway where you run past the Kennedy Center and several miles out until the turn around at about mile 8.5. While not the best of the DC race courses in terms of scenery it was still pretty nice. Perhaps it was because of the rainy conditions or because it was an mostly women's race but there were not too many spectators along the course and most of the runners were pretty quiet. I really enjoyed this as I was listening to the 3rd Game of Thrones book with Audible and the quiet and peacefulness of the race really allowed me to relax and zone into the story. For me this was prefect since I had a stressful work week but for others like one lady on the course it was not that great....this lady started yelling and whining about how the runners were too quiet and how she thought they were lacking motivation. She tried to encourage others to cheer and hoot along with her but I think that many of the runners like me were enjoying the meditation time because no one really joined in with her....so again like the GW Parkway Classic if you thrive on crowd support and energy this may not be the race for you. 

When I finished up the race it was starting to rain a bit harder so I found a bike share away from the race course a rode home. Overall I really enjoyed the race experience and would do it again. This race happens to fall on the same weekend as the Flying Pig Marathon/Half Marathon in Cincinnati,OH which is one of my favorite races and I am signed up for next year so I will not be coming back for the National Women's Half in 2020 but encourage you to do so if you are around and are looking for a nice and easy peaceful half marathon.

Medal for the National Women's Half

For my next race the boyfriend and I will be traveling to Burlington, Vermont to run the Vermont City Marathon Memorial Day Weekend. I love traveling for races and staying a bit longer to explore the city/state. We've both been to Burlington before so for the majority of our long weekend we are heading to the mountains to check out popular breweries and enjoy nature after the race.

Savin Rock Half Marathon

So after my attempt at the Bel Monte 50K March 9th I ended up with a cold and in good old Sara fashion I decided not to take it easy and pushed through several mucous filled runs...but at least the weather was warmer out...a lot warmer probably in the low 70s.

The weekend after Bel Monte I was signed up to do a local race, The St Patrick’s Day Double (5k+10k) on Sunday morning. It also turned out the my former run club picked that Friday as the day to re-launch themselves with a new partner bar so I had to go. Sadly turnout to the club was very low just a few of us who had been part of the club back when its heyday. The new bar was too warm, poor beer selection, and an ok menu and to top it off when we got back from the run our table had been taken over by folks looking to get St Paddy’s day weekend started...we squeezed into another table and I had some wings but the BF and I headed home after an hour. Fast forward to Saturday morning and I’m feeling terrible and star throwing up and end up have uncontrollable bowel movements...was it the wings from the night before?...not sure but I spent Saturday on the couch with some water rushing back and forth to and from the bathroom. So Sunday’s race also didn’t happen...I spent most of that day pretty much the same as Saturday... I tried to go out on a short run which ended up with me frantically looking for a bathroom. Monday and the rest of the following week I was no longer in desperate need of being near a bathroom but was feeling drained so I took it easy in preparation for my next race...the Savin Rock Marathon.

I didn’t know much at all about this race except that my BF picked it and signed up for it so I decided to do it as well and it was in Connecticut. My BF’s friend was also going to run it with us and we would stay at his pace in a Rhode Island and drive to the race race morning. I quickly learned my lesson to not trust my BF to plan for a great race experience and to tell me that the race was two hours from his friends house so flying in at 9PM the night before the race wouldn’t be a good idea.

The friend also turned out to be sick when we arrived so the BF and I piled into a borrowed car at 5AM to make the two hour drive to Connecticut. West Haven Connecticut is pretty much just a small town by the water. The race was two half marathon length loops around the town. Race morning I decided to drop down to the half marathon because like I’ve said before I’m a fair weather runner and it was cold and windy out and judging by our drive through the town to the race start this wasn’t going to be a very scenic race.

The race itself was very underwhelming. Most of it just wound around the neighborhoods of West Haven with about a mile or two of each loop along the water. Roads weren’t closed off for the race we had to stay to our right was best as possible as local traffic tried to get by us. Since it was a cold day on the second loop...according to BF...there were far fewer runners so the local police helping direct traffic weren’t always prepared when a runner came by so runners had to stop and wait for traffic to pass.

The course had a lot of hills which at times broke the monotony of running through neighborhoods whose residents didn’t seem to know or care that a race was happening and at other times added to the dismay of just wanting this race to be over with. There was about zero crowd support except for when the course ran by the start so family and friends of those participating could cheer you on.

When I was finally done I sat in the “convention center” waiting for my BF and sipping water as the post race festivities included bananas, pieces of plain bagels, water, and some non-alcoholic beer.

Before making the two hour drive back to RI we stopped in New Haven for some Frank Pepe’s Pizza and then New England Brewing for a few beers...the highlight and saving grace of the day.

I would not recommend this race if you aren’t a town local. At least I can cross off Connecticut for my 50 states 50 half marathons goal....for my 50 marathons goal I’ll look for another race and I won’t be letting BF plan our races again.

Bel Monte 50K

The month of March didn’t go like I had pictured it would...my boyfriend got a cold the first week of March and I thought my immune system had successfully fended off catching the illness but I guess 4 hours in the mountains in temperatures around freezing trying to not slip and fall to your death and having to traverse icy cold streams multiple times will really weaken your immune system...

So to back track a bit while my boyfriend had his cold I felt fine and was ready to head out to away Waynesboro VA to run the Bel Monte 50K. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that the beginning of March in the mountains would be cold and possibly snowy which it was. 

My friend Josh (he was running the 50 miler) headed to Waynesboro Friday early afternoon to beat rush hour traffic and have sometime to kickback before heading to bed early for our 430AM wake up so we could drive the 30 minutes to the race start and get our race packets. Friday later afternoon we headed to Basic City Beer Co. which was a surprisingly good brewery. The atmosphere was great, the beers were pretty good, and the food from the Hops Kitchen was surprisingly gourmet and they offered healthy options...so if you find yourself in Waynesboro checkout Basic City Beer Co.

If you plan on running Bel Monte I recommend signing up early and renting a cabin ASAP before they are all booked. The drive to the race from Waynesboro isn’t bad since I have an AWD vehicle and the snow wasn’t terrible...non 4WD or AWD vehicles did have some issues parking. Getting a cabin at the race start will allow you to sleep in a little, stay warm before the start, and shower after your run...all things I wish I had.

I’m not a very good trail runner...I’m a klutz and get very uneasy trying to find the right footing but I will shuffle along the trails and enjoy nature...when the weather is pleasant...race day weather stayed around the mid 30s and since it had snowed the day/night before there was about an inch of snow on the trail which quickly became packed down and very slippery as runners made their way through the race course. The first 8 miles of the race took almost 2 hours for me...not just because I was slow but because a lot of that portion was single track and lines of people quickly formed as we tried to get past particularly slippery sections that required very careful footing and for you to hold onto a tree and I can’t forget to mention that most of the race’s elevation gain was in the first 8 miles. After mile 8 things flattened out and the ice was pretty much gone but now bring the muff and multiple calf deep freezing cold stream crossings..after mile 8 for about a mile or two I was finally feeling good again like I could continue on with the race but once I hit the 4th stream crossing my feet were freezing and eventually the rest of my body tightened up. I’m a fair weather runner and if  I’m not feeling the run I will not continue especially in this instance knowing I would have to cross those 4 streams again and go back through those 8 icy hilly miles so at the mile 14 aid station I DNFd. Josh, who is a much stronger runner than I will ever be, pushed through 48 miles only to miss the last cutoff by 15 minutes and  DNF. Tough weather conditions and a tough course (curse you whoever told me this was a good beginner race) made for a tough race. The post race festivities were also lacking especially if you’ve run races put on by  EX2 and  Rainshadow Running or done trail races like Devil Dog 100 where there is tons of post race food and merriment and in the case of Rainshadow tons of post race beer. 

Would I try Bel Monte 50k again...probably not...would I recommend it...yes if you’re up for a challenge.

Hello It's Been A While....2019 Race Preview

So it's been a while since I last posted....

This past year I ran a few races but not as many as I had in previous years. I completed three halves, attempted two 50Ks, and completed my 4th marathon. My I ran more miles than 2017 but overall wasn't really feeling my running. Fast forward to December 2018 and things are getting more serious with my boyfriend of a year+ who is a crazy runner and come January 2019 I have a new spark for running. It could be the colder weather or getting competitive with my BF to see who can get more miles in....he always does but I still try to catch up on our Strava annual mileage....but what I do know is that in about a week I will once again be attempting to finish my 2nd 50K race and have already signed up for 3 marathons and a road 50K for 2019 and have been combing the internet for more races so I can do 50 marathons 50 states!

Given this rekindling of my love of running I've decided to pick back up on my blogging. I plan on doing a lot of races this year most of which will be out of town (I live in the DC area) and I also plan to stop by and check out the local brewery and food scenes as part of my travel so stay tuned for race recaps as well as food and brewery reviews!

Races I'm signed up for this year:

-March 2nd: #FITDC Herstory 5K (Washington, DC)
-March 9th: Bel Monte 50K  (Lyndhurst, VA)
-March 17th: Pacers St. Patrick's Day Double (Washington, DC)
-Every Friday Evening in April: Pacers Crystal City 5K Fridays (Arlington, VA)
-May 26th: The Vermont City Marathon (Burlington, VT)
-September 29th: BMW Berlin Marathon (Berlin, Germany)
-October 19th: Baltimore Running Festival Marathon (Baltimore, MD)
-October 27th: The First Ever MCM50K (Arlington, VA)

The 41st Marine Corps Marathon!

The 41^st Marine Corps Marathon! My first and now my third marathon and still a great race! So let me tell you a little about it…and the a few major differences from the 38^th MCM.

The Marine Corps Marathon, also known as the People’s Marathon, is one of the largest and most popular marathons in the United States with participants from all over the country and the world traveling to our nation’s capital to run 26.2 miles mainly through Virginia but also around several iconic monuments in Washington, DC.

To enter this race it is now done mainly through a lottery or you can pledge to raise money for charity or if you have run it a certain number of times or are a member of the military you can register early or the best way is if you run the Marine Corps 17.75K and finish you get a guaranteed entry!

When I first ran the MCM back in 2013 there was no lottery you just had to be ready to go once registration opened and refresh your computer every time the server crashed due to the amount of internet traffic trying to register….luckily that was the first year you got a guaranteed entry by running the 17.75K which I did J

This year I did not get into through the 17.75K or the lottery but was lucky enough to get a bib transfer when I randomly decided to run the MCM 6 weeks before race day…this however meant that I did not train at all…far less than my first MCM where I kind of trained.

The MCM in 2013 had the expo at the Stadium Armory located in SE DC next to RFK stadium. This location then changed in 2015 to the Washington Convention Center in downtown DC. Stadium Armory I thought was the most convenient as it was metro accessible and had free parking.  The convention center was metro accessible but no free parking which I thought was the worst location for the MCM to put their expo but I was wrong because in the 2016 they moved it to the Gaylord Hotel Convention Center which has no free parking and is not metro or bus accessible unless you make a ton of crazy transfers and connections. One of my friends decided to get to the expo first thing Friday and ran into a ton of traffic and waited for a while to park for $6 for two hours. I was running late but had the same general plan and also ran into some traffic but did not as much as my friend…most likely several people had the same idea to arrive first thing to “avoid traffic.” I only stayed an hour and paid $3. On my way out of the expo the traffic had become even worse! This year’s location was definitely terrible and hopefully enough people will complain so that they can relocate it somewhere easier to get to.

This year’s race also did not have the benefit of an early metro opening to get runners to the starting line prior to 8AM. Metro opens at 7AM on weekends but has historically opened at 5AM for the MCM. This year metro refused to open early due to their SafeTrack program where they are trying to make as many repairs as quickly as possible by cutting metro operating hours, shutting down complete sections of track for periods of time, and inconveniencing commuters as much as possible because metro failed to do regular preventative maintenance and repairs on a regular basis and is now forced to do so after several close calls and accidents that injured commuters….any way so this meant MCM had to find other ways to get runners to the start. This included providing free shuttles from certain locations. My friend and I decided to take the shuttle from downtown DC but little did we know the lines for shuttles would be extremely long and just to get a shuttle would require 40 minutes of waiting…Uber and such had 300% surcharges…

Besides the location of the expo and the metro problem (not MCM’s fault) the race was still awesome!

Security this year was not as bad as the year before…as my friend who ran it told me…this was probably due to the trickling in of runners due to lack of transportation.

When you get to the race wait until you get further into the starting area to use the bathroom…you might see a few porto potties with long lines once you approach the security check point but if you keep going there are numerous porto potties with almost no lines at both the bag check area and by the starting corrals.

There are a good amount of aid stations but I suggest bringing your own water bottle (Nathan Quick Shot). I would fill mine up at each station so I could have it in case I needed water between aid stations and I was glad I did.

As I mentioned before I did not train for this race so around mile 13 my body started to get cramped probably from my piriformis flaring up and after that it was shear will power and my friends’ text of encouragement, and the spectators that took me the rest of the 13.2 miles to the finish. I was glad to finish but disappointed in my time. I was really hoping I would meet my goal time of 4 hours 30 minutes which I was on track for until 13 miles. Now I am very determined to stick to a training plan so I can beat my 2013 PR of 4 hours and 15 minutes.

 

I highly recommend running the MCM if you can get in. I think this will be a race I will do every year from here on as long as I am healthy and can get a bib!

Trail Running! (Ragnar Trail WVa and EX2 Adventure Racing)

I’ve always wanted to try trail running but where I live there really aren’t many good trails that are not at least an hour away…or a pain to get to (Rock Creek Park) so I didn’t hit the “real” trails for a while…I did the DC North Face Endurance Challenge 10K…wasn’t really a trail more like running on a dirt road with some mud but still fun.

Luckily this past summer my running club…The Argonaut Running Club (check us out we run every Friday at PM from Liberty Tree in DC)….decided to put together a team for the Ragnar Trail Appalachian relay. I had done Ragnar before but just the road one in vans. Ragnar Trail always seemed more appealing to me because Ragnar is fun, you get to camp at this one and hangout with your team instead of driving around, they have bonfires and music and games, and so much more!!

The finish line!

 

The trails at Ragnar where much more technical (hills, obstacles, etc…) than the North Face 10K where I was able to maintain my pace close to road pace…at Ragnar my pace definitely slowed but not my effort…these trails were tough!

me after completing my first loop (red - hard loop) each runner runs each of the 3 loops once

 

So let’s go back a second….Ragnar Trail…you can have a team of 8 or 4 (ultra crazy people)….you bring your tents, camping equipment, food, booze, water, etc…setup camp in your designated area and hangout under the stars! Ragnar also provides food and water, there are porta potties that Ragnar did a great job keeping clean, there are showers, there is beer, and so much more. You can arrive as early as 4PM Thursday and stay until Sunday. We opted to do just that half our team arrived later Thursday night and already there were tons of teams there who had taken the best camping spots. I recommend if you can show up on Thursday.

All through the night teams are up and having a good time waiting for their runner to come back to the exchange so the next runner can take off. During my night run…I was terrified the whole time leading up to it…the woods were dark all I had was my headlamp but I wasn’t scared it actually felt exhilarating to be running out in nature in the dark in the quiet…I didn’t see too many other runners just a few that passed me and that I passed. When I got to the exchange I had the best runner’s high ever! I had boundless energy and ran the half mile back to our basecamp to chatter away to my teammates about how awesome the Yellow Loop was. Overall I had a wonderful time running this race and hanging out with my team. I can’t wait to do it again next year and I’m currently trying to convince others to do Ragnar Trail Richmond with me.

Cool Ragnar Trail medals!

Our team and our two volunteers after the race!

 

After Ragnar Trail I have a new love for trail running…I still don’t go out during the week to hit the trails due to lack of time….but I did sign up for 5 trail races this fall with EX2 Adventure Racing! I completed a trail 10K this past September which was awesome! And now I am in the process of completing their 4 trail race series the Fall Backyard Burn 10 Miler series! You don’t have to camp for these ones but they are still a blast and they have the best mini breakfast burritos at the end and they also have a ton of other food. I'll post more about this race series once I'm done

I highly recommend everyone try trail running. It is a lot of fun and the scenery is beautiful! Keep in mind you won’t go as fast as you do on the road and you may take a tumble now and then but it is all worth it!

2015 Turkey Trot and Black Friday Workout at Solidcore Old Town

Every year since I started running back in 2012 I have signed up to run a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning…so that is 4 turkey trots. My first Turkey Trot was the Alexandria Turkey Trot which is a 5 miler that begins at George Washington High School near the Braddock Road metro. Turkey Trots are a great way to get out with on Thanksgiving morning and burn some calories with your family and neighbors before enjoying your Thanksgiving meal.

My family has never been big into running so in 2012 I ran my first Turkey Trot on my own and had a wonderful time so I decided to keep participating every year…in 2013 I was staying at my aunt’s house in Fairfax so I decided that instead of driving 40+ miles round trip to the Alexandria Turkey Trot I would look for a local trot…I chose the Fairfax Turkey 4 mile trot which was holding its inaugural race that Thanksgiving morning…I’m not one with a lot a patience and that Thanksgiving was particularly cold. Being in its first year I am assuming the race organizers didn’t have all their logistic together…the race seemed poorly organized they ran out of shirts when I got there and the start was delayed so I decided to just go back to my aunt’s and run on my own and do the Alexandria Turkey Trot instead next year which I did once again on my own but I still had a great time! This year however I convinced my mom to join me since she had run the Mother’s Day Four Miler with me and wanted to exercise before our Thanksgiving feast!

My mom and I waiting for the race to start

Once again I had a great time at this Turkey Trot and more so now that my mom was there with me even though we don’t run together due to our vast pace difference. After the race my mom was convinced of three things 1.) we will definitely do it again next year 2.) she needs to get back into shape since she ran almost a minute per mile slower than back in May and 3.) we need matching turkey hats!

I highly recommend you do the Alexandria Turkey Trot if you are in the area. The race starts at 9AM which allows you to sleep in a little and packet pickup on race day runs pretty smoothly but definitely get there by 830AM. There is plenty of parking and the metro is close by so getting to the race is also very easy. If you are a faster runner I would recommend you get as close to the front as possible as there are no corrals and many runners who think they are fast try to line up towards the front causing a large bottle neck around the first two miles. The course is nice and flat and winds through the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria where the local neighbors come out to cheer on the runners.

My mom crossing the finish line!

For Black Friday I opted to go take a fitness class at Solidcore in Old Town Alexandria which I can best describe as a super tough resistance type training class. The class is performed on exercise machines that very closely resemble a pilates reformer machine where the instructor leads the class through an exercise routine that targets different muscle groups individually until failure for an intense full body workout while you listen to some heart pumping music. After the class I felt awesome! I was tired but I felt rejuvenated and after class I decided to reward myself with a a delicious donut from Sugar Shack located right next door! ...I also ran almost 4 miles that morning so I figured I could try a donut...  I got the Samoa donut which was delicious. Come Sunday my body was defiantly feeling the workout. I would definitely recommend you checkout Solidacore if you haven’t already. It may be a bit pricey for some but if it is your first time look for their 2 classes for $25 deal. Also, treat yourself to a donut at Sugar Shack ;)

 

Samoa and Maple Bacon donuts from Sugar Shack!