Sunday, May 27, 2018

2018 GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler Race Recap!

The GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler had been on my radar for awhile now.  My Dad ran it a few years ago just as I started running which made me curious about the distance and knowing it was close to my parents' house that made some of the logistics so much easier.  This year was my first year running this race and it did not disappoint!

My Dad got our packets on a fun run night at Port City Brewing so we had our shirts and bibs way ahead of the race.  He said it was super easy (as always) but didn't participate in the run.

Race day weather was mixed once again leading up until race day, but it ended up being a gorgeous morning.  The high for the day was supposed to be in the mid-70s with it being in the low 50s at gun time.  I'm usually always cold, but even in that kind of weather I thought long shorts, a tank top, and arm sleeves would be best.  (The sleeves can double as sweatbands when you roll them down!)


Race morning was more eventful than most.  My Mom was going to drop off my Dad and I by the start and she would pick us up at the end.  We get in the car and immediately my Mom knew something was off because the driver's side door was slightly open and the center console was flipped open.  She had forgotten to lock the car before coming in for the night, and somebody apparently rifled through trying to find money.  (All they ended up taking was an iPhone cable, but they left an E-Z Pass which was easily worth more.)  Thankfully, nothing irreplaceable was taken and nothing was damaged but it was still enough to be a little jarring and my Mom was eager to get back to the house to check the other cars.  At one point on the drive my Mom said "DAMN!  I had a bag of caramel M&Ms and I think they took those too!" 

My Dad and I got our bearings in at the start and got our bracelets for beer saying our ID had been checked right away since the line was short.  Seconds later, it had easily tripled and some of the race volunteers and employees decided to just go down the line checking IDs and attaching bracelets to keep things moving.  Afterwards we decided to visit the bathrooms before the lines got too long (and they really weren't that bad.)  The tulips at Mount Vernon were blooming and absolutely gorgeous!


We were still a little chilly that morning and thankfully there were some heatsheets and coffee available so we could at least stay a little warm while we waited.  It was then time to say hello to some of my Oiselle Volee and take a picture as a group!


Since my Dad was still around I said some hellos and caught up real quick with some of the ladies then broke off to line up in the corral with my Dad.

The race starts out with a lovely downhill, and the rest of the race was pretty hilly from there on out.  I told myself I would walk the uphills if the intervals on my watch lined up correctly, but I was not so lucky.  After meeting one of my readers (Hi, Karyn!) I started taking more walk breaks but made an effort to minimize them on downhills and the flat portions.  (Let's face it.  During a hilly race, that's the fun part to run!)  As we got closer to Old Town, the groups of spectators started to get a little bigger but there weren't many of them lining the course until that final stretch.  I was totally fine with the small groups of spectators because the scenery for parts of the race were gorgeous!

This is across from National Harbor and off to the left is the Wilson bridge.  

There were some really creative signs along the route, including this one that was good for a laugh.


Once I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch I was shocked again.  I had finished the race only 49 seconds slower than Cherry Blossom.  Considering the increase in difficulty between the two races, I was completely shocked that the two times were so close.


After getting my medal, breakfast burrito from District Taco and water, I was happy to see my Volee teammates gathered ready to hear the awards ceremony.  We chatted for a little bit then took another quick picture together, and parted ways again since I saw my Mom. 



She gave me a quick update on the car situation and that hers was the only one in the driveway that was unlocked and therefore the only one that was rifled through, but not the only one in the neighborhood that was hit that night.  After posting about it on Next Door, a bunch of her neighbors spoke up and said that their cars had been rifled through too.  One person said their purse was taken out and was found about a block away in someone's front yard with only the cash missing from her wallet.  Soon afterwards we saw my Dad walk through the finisher's area and we went and got our free beers from Port City.  (I think I got their Optimal Wit, a Belgian White Ale, and it was delicious!)  As we talked about our races, we watched people get their picture taken at the photo booth and George Washington came over to take pictures with race participants and their families.  Not an impersonator, but the one from the famous Washington Nationals President races that happen during the fourth inning of home games.


After I finished my beer (I was savoring it so it took me a couple minutes), we walked to the car and headed home.  I got a quick shower and had an actual lunch before heading back home.


Overall I would definitely recommend this race and look forward to running it again next year.  Getting there and back is super easy (especially if you have someone to drop you off and pick you up at the end!)  The course is challenging but doable and scenic.  Packet pickup is super easy.  There's a medal involved so that's always nice.  The only gripe I had with the race is the color of the shirt this year since it was a weird olive green but I love the logo!


Friday, May 25, 2018

2018 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

I've run the Cherry Blossom a few times.  In fact this was the fourth time I ran it but only my third since I started blogging.  Here are my recaps for 2016 (the infamous windy year) and 2017 expo (where I volunteered), race.

Fortunately, this year was mostly uneventful except if you were watching the weather.  The majority of the week meteorologists were calling 5-8 inches of snow the day before the race, which was truly bizarre for April.  They kept talking about how if it does snow, it won't amount to much, blah blah blah...Still wasn't enough to NOT make me nervous.  (DC is basically crippled if there's more than an inch.)  Thankfully, by the time the expo rolled around the snow threat went away and it was just going to be cold and windy.

This year the expo was a little more leisurely.  Most years I've volunteered at packet pickup handing out bibs.  Oddly this year the slots were already filled by the time I tried to sign up just after the lottery period ended.  So I signed up to take some of the elite athletes back to the airport after the race.  It was convenient since the airport was basically on the way home.  My first year volunteering after the 2015 race I got to take Aliphine Tuliamuk to BWI, and it was right before her first marathon.

I went to the expo a couple of hours after it opened on the first day.  It was a beautiful day--sunny and warmer than it had been for awhile.  The expo was the same as its always been with similar vendors and nothing overly exciting was being sold by the vendors so I was fine to just get my bib, shirt and various snacks.  Bark thins was offering samples and they were really tasty!  Even my Dad (who hates coconut) really liked the bark with coconut in it.  Ragnar was there offering lip balm, blinking lights (Ragnar approved!), and the chance to win a really nice blanket.  (Spoiler alert:  I didn't win.)

The next day I started to pack my bag to stay overnight with my parents.  I knew I would have to dress warmly so I packed several options.  I ended up settling on this.


Oiselle Flyte long sleeve in violet and gaiter in big blue, flyout tights in curfew, and their runwear pullover.  Balega hat and quarter length blister resist socks in pink/wineberry.  As always, my garmin, aftershokz headphones, Blue Q coin purse (for an id and cash), picky bar, spibelt, honey stinger chews and a random lip balm I grabbed at an expo.

The next morning my Dad and I were out the door at 6am and headed to a parking garage close to the race, but far enough away the road closures wouldn't effect it.  (I had also reserved parking in advance using Spot Hero and full disclosure, if you use the link you get $7 and I get $7 for your first reservation over $8.)  We arrived at the staging area around the Washington Monument at 6:45ish for the 7:30 gun time, which worked out well.  We had just enough time to visit the portajohns and head over to the start.  Because the National Park Service was working on turf restoration, everything was a little further away than usual.  Other than having a little further to walk, it really wasn't bad.  The lines for the portajohns were unusually short because the race organizers were encouraging runners to start lining up 45 minutes before gun time.  We got in line with plenty of time to spare and we got to see the sunrise.

One side of the Washington Monument, over by the World War II Memorial and the Reflecting Pool

The Washington Monument on the other side after the sunrise, from the green corral.

And of course a pre-race selfie.

The race was about as it has been in previous years--pretty crowded the whole way but not totally unbearable.  But with every beep of my garmin signifying every mile I looked down in disbelief.  The first five miles were all under 11 minutes.  Then I allowed myself to start taking walk breaks, especially as we got closer to Hains Point.  The cherry blossoms were at peak bloom so I wanted to savor every moment around the famous trees.  (This was the second time that I've run the race with the trees in peak bloom.)  And they were stunning!



Once we passed the cherry blossoms I was about ready to be done.  Around miles 8 and 9 I get a little extra antsy to be done because you can see the Washington Monument but you still have a ways to go.  Then there's the only real uphill on the course that feels like torture because you can SEE the finisher's area.  You can hear the music.  But that dang hill stands between you and the finish.


Then once I crossed the finish line, I got my post race snacks (including cottage cheese which I ended up leaving by some volunteers because that's not really the kind of thing I want to eat right after running 10 miles) and my heatsheet because I was starting to actually get cold.  Then got my medal at the tent and waited for my Dad to finish.  Soon after we headed back to the car and I took a shower and had a real lunch while I waited to head back out to pick up some of the elite athletes from the host hotel.

When I showed up to pickup my athlete at the host hotel, it quickly turned into 4 because they could all fit in my car.  The volunteer coordinator scanned my QR code to check me in (since I get guaranteed entry into next year's race for volunteering), handed me my volunteer shirt and we were on our way!  All four of the athletes were from Kenya, but only one of them could speak English fluently.  We had an interesting conversation as I drove up 295 (usually scenic, but since winter lasted too long the trees were still bare) and I learned a lot about Kenya like how it's an 18 hour flight to DC from there (and a lot of the runners were coming just for the weekend!) The weather is the same year round AND it's at a high elevation so there are pretty awesome running conditions year round.  (Which is also part of the reason why Kenyans are such notoriously amazing runners--they get to practice year round while those of us in more temperate climates have to adapt to the other conditions!)

Before I knew it, I was dropping them off at the airport.  I was nearly home but their journey had just begun and it blew my mind that they would do so much to get here for the race.  After saying our goodbyes I drove the 20 minutes home, unloaded the car and took a nap with my cats.


Overall, the race is a great one to do at least once especially if you're from out of town.  It's always a gamble as far as the weather goes but the course is generally the same every year.  (There were slight modifications this year because of construction on the bridge we normally run out and back on.)  It's really hit or miss in terms of seeing the trees in peak bloom.  This year the trees were really stunning and that made it worth it in my mind.  The expo is pretty easy as long as you don't come right when it opens because the line is always long.  It's also really easy to get to since it's right across the street from a metro stop.  The only truly difficult part (besides training) is figuring out how to get there on race morning and even that wasn't terrible since we got there fairly early.  

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Thrifty Thursday for May!

 So glad it's finally warming up, however this summer like weather is a little much.  Spring race season is already winding down for me, so I'm already looking to fall race season.  (Yes, I will readily admit I am a total wimp when it comes to running in the heat.)  But onto my thrifting finds for the month of May!

These tank tops are fantastic!  High enough that it has a lot of coverage and silicone grip in the bottom hem so it doesn't creep up during a workout.  
Athleta Fastest Track Tank:  Originally $44, paid 3.50

I love track pant material.  Something about it being so lightweight and comfortable makes everything in that type of fabric my go-to when the weather gets warmer.
Athleta Allegro Capri:  Originally $69, paid $5

 Black leggings of any length are a must have in any wardrobe!  And added bonus, generally it can be acceptable casual wear, or under a dress that's a little too short.
Tasc Performance NOLA Fitted Capri:  Originally $58, paid $3.50

I love a good brightly colored water bottle with a small opening so I can get water easily during my workouts, but removable so I can add ice and the entire container can easily be cleaned.  
Tervis Water Bottle:  Originally $24.99, paid $2.50

It's never too early (or too late) to work on my outfit for the Jingle All the Way 5k in December!  When I came across these festive, slightly sparkly leggings for an absolute steal I couldn't pass them up!  And then when I got home and did some research, I was absolutely shocked at the original retail price of these leggings.
Terez Candy Cane Leggings:  Originally $82, paid $3.50


Anyone have any good thrifting finds?  Anyone racing soon?  My next one isn't until early June.  Although some May races have caught my eye, so it's possible my next race might be even sooner.