CDA Half Marathon: I Survived! (Race Recap)

I ran/walked the CDA Half Marathon Sunday morning.

This was my second year running this race.  The course was entirely different this year: still some hills but very shady and beautiful.  I thought it was a great course.

The race benefits the Centennial Trail Foundation, so it makes sense to have the course feature some of the most beautiful stretches of the Centennial Trail.

I woke up at 5 for the 7:30 start.  Last weekend before my trail run, I felt like I didn't have enough to eat and had too much water before the race.  This time I got it right: I had 1/2 a bagel, banana and half a cup of coffee.  I also sipped some water occasionally up until about 15 minutes before the race started.  I drove downtown around 6 because I wasn't sure how tough it would be to park.  Needless to say, I got a spot 1 block away from the start, whoop whoop!  #winning  I walked down to try to exchange my shirt at late packet pick up in the resort, but they were only doing exchanges after the race.  I tried to use the bathroom in the resort across the hall from packet pick up and they had locked the doors!!  Boo on you, CDA Resort!  #notrunnerfriendly.

Marathoners started at 7 am and Halfers started at 7:30.  It was nice and cool, in the low 50s for the start.  There was an adorable kid playing his guitar and singing just around the corner from the start - he was rocking out! 

I planned to take walk breaks every 5 minutes so I wouldn't completely bonk.  I ran the first 2 miles and then started my 30 sec walk breaks.  I didn't end up doing this exactly every 5 minutes because I walked thru a few of the water stations and didn't walk any downhills.  I didn't take my gel until 1 hour in, which might have been a little too late because I started to feel pretty pooped around miles 7-8, and I think those may have been my slowest miles.

I chatted with a really nice woman around mile 10 - she was from Naples, FL!  She had the prettiest southern accent and we traded stories about the Sunshine State.  We parted ways at a water stop, but she totally zoomed by me shortly before the finish line.

My time was 15 minutes slower than last year.  Yikes!  That's a lot, but that is what I get for not getting the long runs and workouts in.  I have been running a couple of days a week, but just jogging along for 2-4 miles is not the path to improvement.  I am still glad that I did it and glad to have finished healthy.  Here's to a great start to summer. 

In Brief:
Expo: small, packet pick up is a breeze, shirts are good
Half Mary: About 900 runners/walkers, out & back course (marathoners do 2 laps, so you get to see them run by), some teeny hills, 1 moderate hill, shady with good crowd support, except for coming up out of Sanders beach - where was everyone??!!
Post-race: line for water (wish they had bottles, or some prepped!) was kind of long, bananas, bagels, oranges, cookies, beer garden (but we didn't stick around for it), cool medals (much better than last year)

Half Marathon "Training"

"Training" is in quotes because I'm not sure you can really call it that!

I'll be running the CDA Half Marathon on May 25.  My longest training run to date has been 7.75 miles, so not really where I should be to hope to PR.  I have been running roughly three times a week, and also trying to take a weight class and swim one day a week.  But neither my distance nor intensity has really been up to par.  I am going to be reasonable and aim to just finish and enjoy myself.  But my husband says I have to beat his old boss, gulp!

Part of the course for this year's CDA Half Marathon (and the Marathon)

I am also planning to run a 5 mile trail race on May 17, part of the State Park Series organized by Trail Maniacs.  I'm really excited for this!  My last trail race was a lot of fun, and Farragut State Park is gorgeous.  Hopefully we'll do some extra exploring as a family afterwards.

Then I think I probably won't do a race again until September/October.  We will be traveling off and on so I am just hoping to build consistency and speed and to enjoy our beautiful summer by spending as much time outdoors as possible.

What are your summer plans, running and otherwise?

Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon Race Review

It's been almost a month since I ran the Coeur d'Alene Half Marathon, so this recap is way overdue!!
I haven't seen any other CDA recaps online, so maybe this will prove helpful to someone thinking about running the race next year.

This race was a lot of fun.  I think I'll try to run it every year (but maybe not race it!), because it's on a beautiful course, the perfect size and just plain fun.

It starts out in the Riverstone development (a kind of outdoor shopping area close to, but not in, downtown and just off of the interstate).  Packet pickup is super easy and there is not really an expo, but you can browse the stores in Riverstone and Fleet Feet set up a both too.  I liked the race shirt (tech long-sleeve, white) and I've already worn it a bunch.  Plus, it only says "Marathon" and not "Half Marathon" so you get to look like a full marathoner.  Ha!

The full marathon starts 30 minutes before the half, and then they kind of loop around so that the half start folds in to them so both groups are running together for approximately half of the half marathon distance.  (Does that make sense?  We ran together until the turn-around point for the half)  There were a lot more runners doing the half as opposed to the full.

The weather was gorgeous and cool at the start.  I rode my bike down to the starting line, and that was probably the coldest bike ride of my life, ha!  I found my training buddy at the start (we had done nearly all of our long runs together) but since she was aiming for 10 min miles and I was aiming for 9 min miles, we split up pretty quickly.

There are no pacers or waves, the race is small enough that its easy enough to just start at once.

The first mile was super crowded since we were all crammed in one lane on Northwest Boulevard, the main drag into downtown.  This police car was actually cruising down the lane next to us with an officer on the loudspeaker repeating "you are off the course!" to anyone who was running on the outside of the cones.

The route is gorgeous because it has a lot of shade, runs through some lovely neighborhoods and along the lakeshore and on our great paved trail.  The full marathoners continue out to Higgins Point and then retrace their steps back along the same route as the halfers.  There were plenty of water/gatorade stops and the volunteers were super positive and helpful.

The only downside was the finish was very disorganized and there were only 2 people pouring water into small cups for finishers.  There were tons of people waiting for water and this was just taking too long.  Individual bottles of water would have been much more efficient.  They have a live band at the finish so it was quite a festive atmosphere.  The full marathon was not a Boston Qualifier this year because of construction going on downtown, but the construction doesn't block the course, I think they just had to change it around some.  I would describe it as a rolling course, and hill training definitely helps.

Other than the lack of drinks at the finish, I would definitely recommend this race to start off your summer!

The final 400m, up the hill and then they turn right to the finish line.

My little guy enjoyed the spectacle!

Post race breakfast at Le Peep - a MUST!  It is delicious!

A Busy Start to Summer

We have had a fun and busy start to summer.  I wouldn't have it any other way and am so thankful for these adventures:

My husband was traveling recently for work, and here's a pic of the souvenir he brought me from London:

Royal Wedding Tea!

 We both got a good laugh out of how overly excited I was about this tea.  I guess he remembered that time I woke him up at 5 am in a hotel in Florida to watch the Royal Wedding!

Our little guy helped Dad pack

He got home just in time for the CDA Half Marathon.  I finished under 2 hours (barely - 1:58!), but 17 seconds behind my half marathon time in 2011, so I was still just a little bit disappointed.  But it really was a fun race, and I think I'll try to do it again next year!

Happy to be finished!

The weekend after the Race, M & I flew to New Jersey to visit some extended family and attend our college Reunions.  Traveling with a 14 month old on a full flight was exhausting, but thankfully my sister flew part of the way home with us, and then we had an empty seat in our row on our very last flight.

Getting some ice cream to cool off in the heat and humidity!

It was really hot and humid while we were there, but it was a great trip.  M got to see all of his cousins on my side of the family, and they are all boys and all so cute together.  His older cousins kept petting his head and saying "he is so soft!" and "he is so cute!"  Haha.

Cooling off after the P-Rade

My parents brought M up to Princeton on Saturday morning so he could meet my old college friends.  My sister (who is Class of '05) and I went up on Friday night to hit the Tents and visit with old friends.  Reunions with a baby is SO different than without!  I spent most of Saturday worrying that he was getting too hot, and searching for A/C.  I can't believe we used to live in the dorms with no A/C!  M had fun playing with the other '03 babies and cooling off in the courtyard by the Chapel, before we went to Mass.  It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got to see a lot of folks, but there were still lots of people that I didn't get to see or talk to enough.

In front of Nassau Hall!

Now we are thankful to be back home, enjoying our beautiful weather and enjoying getting back in our routine.  I got a few runs in this week, but mostly we've just been taking it easy.  And I'm way behind in my reading challenge (still on my Michael Pollan book!) but I'll get there!  We have some great gifts for D for Father's Day, so I'm hoping he'll be excited when he sees them!

Have a great weekend!