Victory in Virginia

State No. 30 is complete! At long last, I was able to run a race in Virginia.
If you follow this blog,  you'll remember I was scheduled to run a 5K at Virginia Beach in the fall of 2016, but Hurricane Matthew had other ideas. The race was canceled and my family and I had to leave our vacation early to evacuate.
Well, we ended up in Williamsburg for vacation this spring break and lo and behold I found the Victory at Yorktown 10K the Saturday we were there. Now, I would have much preferred a 5K, but there was no 5K option.
The race was cold, rainy and windy: the running trifecta. Not my fastest 10K. In fact, a few seconds slower than the Charles Harris 10K when my ribs were freshly smashed.
I wish the weather had been better because the course was through the Yorktown Revolutionary War battlefield, but it was hard to enjoy the scenery when I was just trying to avoid puddles and plod along in my rain poncho.

A fife and drum corps at the start

 The race started with the blast of musket guns and men and boys in historic costumes. I could only get a photo of the fife and drum corps that played at the start of the 1-mile fun run that started a half hour before the 10K. I missed getting a photo of the the musketeers. Because it was raining they quickly put their muskets back in protective sleeves.

Jill and me at the start

I've always said what I love about running is meeting new people at races. Here is Jill, a real estate agent who was running the race. We got to talking and, of course, I had to get our photo!

Victory at Yorktown monument

The race course passed the Victory at Yorktown monument twice. I got it on the way toward the finish line.

It's raining and windy! Can you tell?!

Finished!

Post race glory. Jill and I celebrate with a beverage

This race had a nice post-race celebration that included hot soup, sandwiches and adult beverages. I had a nice glass of red wine to warm me up after the race. (And some soup, which really hit the spot!)
So state No. 30 is in the books. I finally had a victory in Virginia!

An honor to run

Cooler fall temps have certainly returned to Atlanta. I was not quite prepared to pull out the long pants and long shirts for running. I was sure I'd get to wear my running capris at least once!
This morning I ran the DAV 5K with my friend Angela at Piedmont Park. It benefited disabled American vets. As you can see from the photo of us at the finish, it was a bright blue morning.

Me and Angela, post race

That was a far cry from last weekend's race. I attempted to run Strong Legs Run 10K again this year, but Mother Nature had other ideas. A thunderstorm rolled through around 4 a.m. and flooded some of the race course, so the race was canceled. Race organizers decided to continue with the 5K race, but that started two hours after my friends Erin and Carolyn and I got there. We decided to go get coffee to warm up and then nixed going back to the race. :)

Erin, Carolyn and me

So once again I had a race get canceled on me this fall. I just wish I'd gotten the email that this one canceled before I'd left the house! Oh well. The coffee and fellowship was wonderful.
I'm closing out on my races for 2015. It's been a great year, other than the tendinitis in my foot!
And in just a few weeks I should pick up another state!

Sleep deprived and wet

I ran that crazy time change 5K last night, or rather early this morning.
Last year it was so cold, tonight is was so wet!
It poured the whole three miles of the Anything is Possible 5K, where the race starts at 1:50 a.m., just before Daylight Saving Time ends. So, we "fall back" and finish the race before we start it. But here I am with Joy and Sasha, my intrepid and crazy friends who did it with me!

Joy, Sasha and me

Recognize that blue rain poncho? That poncho is about two and half years old and I have gotten more than my fair share out of it! I'd really rather not!
The bad part about the rainy race tonight was how few people showed up. Not surprising, but in nicer weather the Anything is Possible 5K is a near party atmosphere, with lots of music, lots of food.
We tried to get some food at one vendor and it ran out just as we walked up.
We didn't stick around this year. Back to our cars to dry off and warm up.
For this race, rather than a T-shirt, we get pajama bottoms. They came in handy for the rest of night. I'm still a little sleep deprived, but I'm nice and warm and dry now.
Until next year, crazy friends!

A new personal best, sort of

I'm beginning to think my friend Angela is my rain maker running buddy.
After all, we got water logged together at this year's Peachtree Road Race.
Well, at this morning's Wingfoot XC Classic 5K, we got a little damp, too.
This was the inaugural cross country 5K put on by the Atlanta Track Club. Last year, about this time, the track club had a 10K in Cartersville, which I really enjoyed and did well in.
This year they changed it up, so it was a cross country 5K.
Angela and I both joked that we "PR"d in our inaugural cross country race.

Angela tackles the sloppy course

Finished!

I've never run a full cross country race. I've run races that had a portion of cross country, but never one that was full on for the whole race. I can't say I'll be a fan.
But it's hard to know if I didn't like this one because of the sloppy, wet, muddy course, or if it was the uneven terrain that made it much harder for me.
At any rate, I'm glad I ran it. Not sure I'll do it again next year.
Then again, I may want to try to beat my "PR." :D

Swimming the Peachtree Road Race

For this year's Peachtree Road Race 10K, swim fins might have been more helpful than running shoes.
I expected light off and on showers, if any rain, and instead I got a steady downpour, a course evacuation, and really, really wet.
The morning started out cool, with light rain. In fact, it didn't start raining until I was heading into the MARTA train station. I actually had to make a run for it.
I met up with my co-worker Joann and her daughter Olivia, and we started to make our way to the start line via the train.

Riding along on MARTA

I found my wave start. As you can see from the photo, it wasn't really raining then, although it had been sprinkling on and off as I waited for Wave M to begin, around 8:25 a.m. or so.

Getting ready to start

Just about to start

 The course officials are very nearly starting the countdown for our wave to begin. I've even started my running apps for the race, when lightning struck nearby.
Officials stopped the race and evacuated the remaining waves to nearby parking decks at shopping malls. It was there that I found my running buddy Angela. She was supposed to be in Wave L, and if only we could have found each other earlier and been in Wave L, we would not have had a 45 minute rain delay.

Waiting out the rain delay

 Eventually, the course was repopulated with runners and we began the 6.2-mile race. Angela and I made one pit stop at mile 2. We both agreed we'd waited so long before the start, we both had to use the restroom again! Darn it.
We made it to the finish to find a muddy mess at Piedmont Park.
We both took off our shoes and socks and walked through the swamp bare footed. I was surprised more folks didn't do the same, but we appeared to be the only ones. And we were the only ones with clean shoes at the end!!

Finishers!

There were lots of things that sort of went wrong with this race this year. I'm not averse to running in the rain, so that wasn't really it. although I do wish I had grabbed my windbreaker and run with that. It would have provided a little shelter from the wet.
In my opinion what went wrong was when the course was evacuated and communication broke down. I'm sure that will be addressed, but it did dampen the fun. Those were my post-race comments to the Atlanta Track Club, which puts on the race each year.
The other downside was because of the monsoon, I didn't get to meet up with friends I expected to see after the race, such as co-workers Ellie and Joann. We had gone together to get our numbers days before at the expo and had planned to meet up after the race.

Expo fun with Ellie and Joann

The good parts about the delay were that I did find Angela so we could run together, and that the rain kept the temps very cool, which was a big plus.
In the end, the 2015 Peachtree Road Race 10K went swimmingly. A little more literally than I'd like.

Here's to a Fifty-One-derful Year

Well, my 51st year has certainly started out quite well!
I ran the One Love, One Heart 5K on Dec. 6 and came in first in my age group!
The weather in Atlanta that day was horrible. About an hour and a half before the start of the race, the sky opened up and it just poured down rain. I broke out the rain poncho and headed out.
I honestly did think that if I went to the race I might stand a chance of winning in my age group, simply because it's a small community race and the rain would keep some folks home.
But it really was a nice surprise that I actually DID win my age group, with a time of 36:11 no less.

First in age group!

And I was paid a very nice compliment, too. When I put my time slip in the proper age basket, I asked if I had won my age group because there were no other slips in the basket. The race director was nearby and said "Check her ID. She can't be 50!"
I hope that is a good omen for all of the races I have planned for the coming year. I hope it truly is a Fifty-One-derful year!

Getting some action

Here it is mid-September and I'm behind on the blog again.
I've got three more races completed and I've started training in earnest for the half marathon in November.
First, I did the Action Dash 5K on Labor Day with my friend Joann. This was one she suggested, as many members of her church were participating.
It was over in Piedmont Park, and wouldn't you know it, it absolutely poured for the race. Where was my rain poncho? Staying nice and dry in the closet. I didn't think it would rain that morning, so I didn't bring it.

Me and Joann, waiting out the rain delay

 It rained so hard, the race start was actually delayed by about 20 minutes. We were finally underway and Joann and I both got soaked.

Joann and I found some superheroes

The next weekend I didn't run a 5K, but I started training for the half in Savannah. It was hot and humid here in Atlanta, so the run just felt like a slog.
I ran the Kaiser Permanente Corporate Run/Walk 5K again this year with some co-workers on Sept. 12.
Last year we had a much bigger group participate, but this year it was just four of us. Others signed up, but traffic and a work event Sept. 13 kind of conspired to keep folks from the race.
But this weekend, fall really felt like it had arrived in the city.
My friend Erin and I ran the Wheelbarrow 5K in Reynoldstown on Saturday, one of the older neighborhoods in Atlanta. The start of the race was 55 degrees! I brought my sweatshirt, and almost expected to run in it, but then left it in the car.

Erin and me

The Kaiser race was so hot. 84 degrees through downtown Atlanta. But Saturday's race was so pleasant. I took almost three minutes off my 5K time from Thursday to Saturday.
I was on the computer tonight looking for races to sort of take me though the end of the year. I have races in mind, or I'm signed up, for races through the half marathon Nov. 9, but after that I'm pretty wide open.
The holiday season makes it harder to do races, but I hope I can keep fit following the half. it will be a time to consider what half marathon I might want to do in the spring. I'd love to be able to do a half marathon in the spring and then fall.
Now THAT would allow me to get in some racing action.

Oh my aching teeth

Here it is, the eve of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta and I'm nursing aching teeth thanks to a tightening of my braces this morning.
In hindsight, wish I had postponed the adjustment. It would be one less distraction for the 10K race tomorrow morning.
Once again, I'm having to pull out the rain poncho that got me through the Country Music Half Marathon back in April. The weather prognosticators are calling for 100 percent chance of rain for the race, all six miles of it.
At least it won't be a cold rain tomorrow, so there is that.
I ran the HBCU Alumni Alliance 5K last Saturday. It was hot and humid and hilly for that race around Grant Park in Atlanta. I was a little worried that we might experience some malodorous "treats" during the race, since Zoo Atlanta is in Grant Park and during one race two years ago I definitely knew we were near the zoo! What a smell!

Hot. Humid. Done.

Here I am at the end of the race. What was fun about this race was some of the sponsor give aways at the end. I won a $10 Home Depot gift card! Always appreciated as I am always in need of something for the house or yard.
Do they sell water wings at Home Depot?
I have a feeling people will take tomorrow's rain in stride and I expect to see some fun costumes as a result. A very small part of me thought it would be funny to run with my SCUBA mask and snorkel -- for about 2 minutes. Then it would not be fun or funny. And I'd be stuck with it for six miles.
The bad part about my aching teeth is I was again forced on a liquid diet. Soup for supper tonight, rather than the planned pasta, grilled chicken and marinara. I knew I would be able to eat the chicken.
But once the race is over, I'll enjoy my forced liquid diet a little more. I can finally have a glass of wine!

Running in liquid sunshine

Another run completed this Saturday in liquid sunshine.
I was lamenting on Facebook this morning that I was about to run a 5K and it was pouring outside. My running shoes had just dried from LAST weekend's race. A friend pointed out that Mother Nature knew I had experience running in the rain.
And I realized I was a complete runnerd when I thought "Damn, I'm going to get wet on this race," not "I'm sleeping in."
So, the rain poncho is getting quite the workout lately.
Today's race was the Cox Trot 5K in Chamblee, Ga. My friend Carolyn had signed up with her partner Susan, but Susan couldn't make it, so she invited me to take Susan's number. I think Susan got the better end of this deal today. She stayed dry!

Carolyn before the race

Me and Carolyn, ready to face the rain

Carolyn has a similar bucket list as me. While I am trying for a race in all 50 states, she's doing marathons in all 50 states. Last weekend she picked up Kentucky and is headed to Delaware soon. I told her I need to start traveling with her to run some 5Ks or half marathons to get a few more states in!
This morning's race was supposed to be a 5K, but it turned out to be abut 3.6 miles or so. That would have been just fine on a lovely spring morning, but in a cold rainy morning, not so much. What happened to spring in Atlanta? Tonight it is still raining and about 52 degrees, when the average temperature for the day is 77 degrees.
Well, the liquid sunshine means I've been enjoying some Earl Grey tea and snuggling with two very lazy cats.
Stay dry, friends!