Yuengling Oktoberfest 5k 2014 Recap

My god, this race was disappointing. I can't say I had very high hopes considering how the Yuengling Light 5k turned out, but still. We arrived early to pick up our packets on race day, even though they "would really rather we didn't." Considering our other options were to drive the three hours round trip the day before to get the packets or have them mailed to us for $15 each, it wasn't a difficult decision.

The annoyances started out early when they were out of size small shirts at packet pick up. Why do I bother registering for a specific size if you aren't going to use those numbers to order the proper amount of shirts? We also got a big plastic beer stein with our registration. The race itself started on time and the course was awesome. It wasn't too hilly, the views were good, and the crowding wasn't bad.

 

The finish was where it totally fell apart. Rather than having the cattle shute style finish area like almost every other race in the world has, they decided to set this race up where you have to walk down to some tents and push your way into the crowd of people in the area to get your water, snacks, and finisher's cookie. The cookie was totally the best part of this race, by the way. It was adorable and delicious.
 

 

After we all finished, we decided to go see what was in the beer garden area and get something to eat. We had to sneak into the area past the fence and the security guard because the line JUST for the free beer wound all the way out of the garden and into the street. There was obviously no way I was waiting in that line, so none of us got our free beers that were included with registration.

I feel confident saying that I will never run another Yuengling race again. Both of them that I've done this year have been badly organized and incredibly crowded. Why run a Yuengling race when you can't even get your free beer at the end? Better question, why would you have ONE BEER TENT for the 5,000 runners who have free beer tickets?? For the money I spent on this race, I should have just stayed home, gone for a walk with my family, and bought a case of beer with them to celebrate.

Yuengling Light Lager Jogger 5k Recap

Oh, this race. I was so excited for this race. The race was held in Pottsville, which is about an hour and forty five minutes from my house so we had a really early morning. The race started at 9am, but we need to be there between 7 and 8:30 to pick up our packets.

We got there at the perfect time and walked right up to get our packets and our beer bracelets for after the race.  We found a sunny spot to wait until just before the start. They released about 500 runners every two minutes starting promptly at 9am.

The race, simply put, was awful. I started getting a stomach ache before the start and foolishly hoped that it would go away once I started running. It didn't. I spent 3.1 long, hilly miles fighting with myself to just keep moving. For the first time since I started running, I had to walk during a 5k. I wasn't happy. This was probably the most hilly course I've ever run, which would have been fine if I was feeling up to it, but I wasn't so nuts about it that morning.

I ended up with a chip time of 34:46, which I'm pretty sure is my worst 5k time ever. In the scheme of things, I am glad that this happened to me for this race instead of the Scranton Half the weekend before though. Besides, we signed up for the Yuengling Oktoberfest 5k in October, so I'll get my re-do then!

My very favorite food truck, What the Fork, made the trek down to Pottsville for the race, which meant I got to chow down on some pork tacos to make me feel better. When I got home, I also enjoyed some lemon lime Nuun in my cool new Lager Jogger pint glass!

A couple thoughts... The swag was awesome. The shirts are comfy and I like the design, but women's cut would be awesome since I swim in the unisex size small. Also, MORE PORTAPOTTIES PLEASE. There's not much I hate more than waiting twenty minutes in line to use the bathroom. There were definitely not enough bathrooms for the 2,000 runners plus however many spectators were there. The after-race block party was pretty awesome and I wish that I had been feeling better so I could have enjoyed it more. Oh well, maybe I'll be back next year to give it another shot!

Hawley Spring Run 5k Recap

May was a pretty dull month as far as running events for me, but I think I have at least 3 on the calendar for June (including this one that I'm recapping today). Today I have my recap from the Hawley Spring Run that I participated in this past Sunday. The race was very well organized with multiple water stops and an excellently marked course. The only thing that would have made the day better was if the race started in the morning instead of 2pm; it was almost 85º by the time we started running! 

The course was a mix of pavement, packed dirt, and grass (and I found out that apparently grass is a bit of a challenge to run on). It was an out and back course along the main road through Hawley and back along the railroad tracks that run through town. The back portion ran along a beautiful green field with flowers and a little path through the woods.

Even though it was hot as hell and it was a struggle to keep myself from walking the whole thing, I ended up finishing 2nd in my age group (20-29) with an official time of 30:58. Definitely not my best, but not awful considering how hot it was. Joe got first in his age group and finished 11th overall! He rocks. After we got our medals, we headed over to my grandparent's property for some rest and relaxation (and a cook out). #swamplife

And I finished off the day with a microwave s'more. Definitely not as good as it's campfire counterpart, but it'll do in a pinch. ;)

What's Been Goin' On

My training schedule worked for all of 9 days. I got too overwhelmed working on the book and now I feel like I need to focus all my attention on that and let running just be a stress-relieving activity until that project is finished. But I haven't written in a while, so I know you're dying to know what I've been doing besides slaving away over nail art.

Well, I graduated college. And stuffed some awesome food into my face.

I went wedding dress shopping (no pics of that, sorry!) and put more food in my face.

Joe and I went to our first Run Around Scranton 5k, which actually ended up being 3.7 miles but who's counting?

Even though it was over 80º and hilly, I ended up running the 5k under 30 minutes, which was really super considering I ran in a convenient mart for a quick bathroom break not even one mile in! I discovered another awesome thing when I was checking out my splits after the race: I ran the second mile in 8:19. Hello, fastest mile ever. No, but seriously.

We don't have another race until June 2nd, so Luna and I have just been doing some walking and barking at horses lately. She only goes on short runs with me anymore since she can't hang with the big dogs for longer than 2 miles and I end up having to give her words of encouragement the whole way home.

I think we might be going to get analyzed/fitted for proper running shoes this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm also working on convincing Joe that we need more sushi and froyo in our lives. ;)

18th Annual Chester County Race Against Violence 5k Recap

This race was awesome! It totally made up for the not-so-awesome-first-5k experience last weekend and I'm so thrilled about it. First we had to do some obligatory pre-race pics, complete with grouchy grammy photo bomb...

This was our "team;" we got a slightly cheaper registration fee if we got five people to make a team, so Joe's sister rounded up two of her friends to complete our group. The race was organized by and benefited the Crime Victims' Center of Chester County.

We started almost exactly on time (8:30am), which was pretty great since we didn't have to stand around waiting for too long. We also walked to the starting point (the courthouse in West Chester), so that was a great warm up and we didn't have to worry about parking. The weather was absolutely perfect; it was around 50 degrees and sunny when we started and I didn't spend the entire first mile shivering like I did last weekend.

The course itself was perfect too. We ran on either paved streets or sidewalks the entire time and there were minimal hills. It was marked really well for the most part, although at one point a small group ended up going the wrong way and coming up a bit short on distance at the end.

I used my Map My Run app to make sure that I ran the complete distance this time and it ended up coming out to 3.14 miles in 30:49. That's a PR! I wish I had paid closer attention to the time on my app though because I definitely could have came in under 30 minutes if I had, but now I have a goal for next weekend!

When we had all finished, we headed over to the food tables for some bananas and water and decided to head home to shower. We went back out to walk around West Chester in the afternoon and it just so happened that there was a running store next to the froyo place! ;) I found the perfect race fuel there...

Overall, I had a great weekend and would definitely love to run this race again! I can't believe that I ran almost an entire minute faster than my training paces. I'm so excited to run again this coming weekend and I've already decided to add in some consistent PulseTread training (great app!) with my regular runs during the week.

Run for a Rescue 5k Recap

It's done! I ran my first 5k this morning and it was certainly an experience. It was a lot of fun but there were some things that I definitely would have changed if I could; first and foremost, I would have made it about 20 degrees warmer and less windy. ;) Joe and I got up around 6am and ate breakfast and got my brothers up and ready to go. We wanted to leave around 7:15 to get there by 7:45, but we ended up leaving a little bit later and got there a little before 8.

The website for the race said that runners should arrive at 8, but it didn't say anything about a start time, so we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to sign in and everything. It turned out that the race didn't actually start until 8:30, so got our bibs on and went back to sit in the warm car until the start time. I think there were probably around 50 runners maybe?

I've been to McDade Park before, but I think I was in maybe 4th grade, so I don't really remember it all too well. The course was really beautiful, but I was not prepared for it at all. I was expecting mostly paved roads and maybe some hills and man, I was in for a rude awakening. Within five minutes of starting, my socks and shoes were soaked from running through swampy fields (we got rain yesterday). This wouldn't have been a big deal to me if it had been 70 degrees outside, but it wasn't too great in the 45-ish degrees.

 

There were also two gigantic hills that we needed to climb as part of the course; one had a set of steps and the other was just grass. Again, wouldn't have been too big of a deal if I had been prepared for it, but they totally caught me off guard. I had really wanted to run the entire thing, but I had to start walking halfway up both hills. My last and most important complaint though is that the course was really badly marked. Joe was ahead of me the entire time, but at one point, he came up behind me and passed me, so I had to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. I'm honestly not convinced that I even ran the entire 5k, which is really disappointing but what can you do when no one really knows where they are supposed to be running? I talked to a couple other runners during and after the race and they all seemed to feel the same way.

 

So, in the confusion of trying to figure out where everyone finished, I ended up apparently finishing as the 3rd woman. Seth finished first out of everyone! I was super excited about the medal obviously, but I was more excited to get my jacket and sweats out of the car!

I don't know what my time was; I forgot to wear my watch and they weren't announcing it at the finish line or anything. I guess I'm just going to chalk this one up to a fun learning experience and hope that my next race is a bit more organized. We are heading down to West Chester next weekend and running a 5k on Saturday morning, so we'll see how that goes!