I just wanted to go running!

Charlottesville 10 Miler

If you ever have the chance to go to Charlottesville, VA, I suggest that you go. Now, not only is it Thomas Jefferson's home, but there are many cool little shops and places to eat. I recommend Michie Tavern with its old world style of eating. The 10 miler was a great race. Lots of hills, but it was chilly so that helped. It started and finished on the college campus and it took you through the scenic downtown. I remember that course support was Outstanding and the finish area had plenty to eat. I had recently lost a friend before this race and his wife had asked that in memory of him to hash tag any miles as #milesforJim. After the race, I took my father in law to the Waltons museum just south of Charlottesville.

Casey Jones Shamrock 5k with Mike Land.

I did pretty good, ended up 4th in my age group again. I probably would have been a little better, but the half marathon was the day before.

St. Patrick’s Day Run Fest

This was a fun race up in Hagerstown, MD. I ran the half marathon, but there were other distances to choose from. My nieces and I ran the kids fun run. The oldest had been waiting on a chance to go run with her uncle. I dressed up a bit for the holiday, not too much, just a hat and bow tie. The course was a little hilly, the course support was awesome, and the finish area nice too. There was a band playing some oldies rock and a demo of some pressure socks that made my legs feel wonderful. I might run this one again.

Myrtle Beach Marathon and 5k

On March 4th and 5th I ran the 5k and marathon in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. My hotel was right on the beach. During this time of year, the deals are really good. The weather was fair for the visit with a little wind on the marathon route. The packet pick up and expo were nice. A funny story there, I checked my bib number on the computer and was getting ready to go in when a volunteer told me they were closed. I thought she was joking, but apparently they were taking a break for lunch, dinner?? I never asked, I went down and checked in at the hotel and came back in a couple of hours. It's a challenge sometimes to travel on pick up days. I hope that I build enough time in the schedule to get there. The Bojangles' 5k on Friday night was pretty big. It started beside the Broadway at the Beach and ended at the Pelicans Ballpark. Flat and fast, somehow I ended up 4th in my age group. Saturday was the marathon. I was lucky enough that the hotel was a close walk to the start and the temperature was mild. I started out okay and got into a great pace. I saw a young lady, Sally, rubbing her ankle and I asked if she was okay. She nodded and I pressed on, but she caught up to me and had to thank me for checking on her. She became my pace buddy until she broke away to finish the half marathon. During this early part of the marathon, I dropped a couple of my energy gels. This would haunt me later when I would have expected fuel at the designated water stops and couldn't fund any. At about the 19 mile mark I was looking for anything, I was dying, I think around mile 22 there were bananas and I ate a bunch. I felt good otherwise, but that slow down cost me the finish that I had hoped for. Now, at a lot of venues if you run multiple events they usually have an additional challenge medal for completing all of them. They haven't grasped that idea in MB. If you run the 5k and the marathon you should get the Flip Side, or the Beachmaster, the Flip Flop, the.... We left Myrtle Beach and went and spent the night in Charleston. We toured the U.S.S. Yorktown, the Charles Pinckney NHS, Fort Moultrie, and the famous Boone Hall plantation.

It's been a while! I have been running and acting this year at a blistering pace. And somewhere in there I've managed to go to work. I've run around 24 events since my last post, and I promise I'll put up some snippets soon. I have two more marathons lined up for the rest of the year, thing is, they are both within a week. Chicago and Baltimore. I'm checking off as many states as I can. 😊

It took me almost to the end of February to run my first event of the year. I was finishing up my local theater's run of See How They Run. I ran the the Sentara Colonial Half in Williamsburg, VA because I saw an article for it in Runners World. The course started and finished on the campus of William and Mary colllege. The finish was inside the arena, very nice if it had been cold out, but it was unseasonably warm. The course followed side streets and a paved trail. It would have been nice if it would have taken advantage of the scenic streets and buildings in the city. The course was hilly as expected for the area, but it had several areas that were on a slant and my legs struggled to stay stretched out. The students that were operating the water stops were very enthusiastic, but there could have been a couple more stops due to the increased temperature. I thought maybe the finishers medal would present some sort of colonial theme, but it was simple medal with a shoe print imprinted on it. Overall, a good run for the money, but there are many opportunities for advancement. Now, I do understand that they have been putting on the event for over 30 years, so they have been doing something right.

I did a tally of the events that I competed in for 2015 and came up with: 5 marathons 8 half marathons 1 25k 1 17.17k 1 10 miler 2 15k 10 10k 1 8k 1 7k 6 5k and 1 Krispy Kreme Challenge (5 miles and 1 dozen donuts) and 1 Cupid’s Undy Run (1 mileish run in the underwear in 4 degree weather) For an approximate total of 386 miles. This total doesn't include any training miles.

Rocket City Marathon!!

I had no intentions of running a 5th Marathon this year, but a work week in Chattanooga provided an opportunity to mark another state off the list. The Rocket City Marathon is run in Huntsville, AL and is in its 39th year. The start and end of the race are at the Von Braun Center. The expo was held at the Center as well with a bonus feature of a free chair massage from the therapy students at Virginia College. The weather this year was exceptionally mild with a starting temperature in the 50’s. The course wound through the city with a trek by the Space and Rocket Center. I was chasing a sub 4 pace for the majority of the course, but as the temperature rose my pace slowed. I ended up with a time that was in the top three off my marathon times. The finish area had some of my favorites, chocolate milk, fresh bread with peanut butter, Moon Pies, bananas, and lots of water. This put Huntsville on my favorites list for sure! :)

A Christmas Story Run 10k in Cleveland

So, I love the movie A Christmas Story, when I found out that there was a race in Cleveland that spotlights the house where the exterior shots were done for the movie I jumped at the chance. A perk of the registration was a free entry into the house. The house was bought and remodeled to look more like the the interior of the house setting in the movie, complete with the leg lamp in the front window. The owner has a museum and a gift shop across the street from the house. The 5k starts in downtown Cleveland and finishes at the house and the 10k returns to downtown. There were lots of movie appropriate costumes, I myself wore a beard and Santa hat. The had to have been dozens of pink bunnies. I finished up the race with a new personal record for a 10k. And then we went to the house and had a blast. After a tour of the house we went to the famous West End Market for a taste of Steve’s Gyros. Yummy!! It may have been a long drive from DC for a quick overnight, a race, and a return home, but it was well worth it.