The Hynes Tavern 5-mile Race (Wild Rover Race #3!)

The third and final race in the Wild Rover Series was today: The Hynes Tavern 5-Mile Road Race in Lowell, MA.

Parking was a bit disorganized (at least, if you wanted to find the free parking lots), but we got a spot at the elementary school where I picked up my number and proceeded to spend half the morning in the line for the ladies' room (I'd forgotten what Comet cleanser smelled like!). At least we got there early...

The kids joined me, Michelle, John, and Laura for the pre-race picture:

The weather: sunny and gorgeous! It started off somewhat windy and cool (but nowhere near the snow and sleet we had the previous two weeks). I was wondering if I'd have to keep my jacket on for the run or not. And more good news: we were going to have actual chip time (mat at the starting line), rather than going by gun time. Which was nice, since it took me about a minute to actually cross the starting line.

Yeah, that's me waving... John too. :-)

Once we got going, it seemed like the wind instantly stopped and the sun got warm. That jacket came off after maybe 500 feet! I liked the course: out of Lowell into Chelmsford, around a cemetery and through some cute neighborhoods, then back into the city. Another course with a hill at the turnaround point, but this one wasn't as steep as the last one (thankfully). A good sign that it's all downhill from there is when you run past the town water tower. ;-) I had the iPhone going and mapped the route with Runkeeper. (Plug alert... I love this app!)

After a tough run on Friday, I was pretty psyched with my run today... lots of energy (and a nice little boost at the end getting cheered on by a friend and having my family at the finish line), and a better time than expected (a 10:14 mile), given the on-and-off issues my calf has been giving me over the past few weeks. Woo!

One thing I really liked about this race series was that it was the first group of races where we used the disposable timing chips ("D-chip"). No more chip collection at the end of the race (and fighting your way through the crowd of folks bent over trying to loosen these things from their laces), and no threats of being charged $$ for missing chips. The new chips came as a plastic strip attached to the back of your race number: detach the strip, loop it around your laces, and you're done. No problems attaching the chip, and there didn't seem to be any issues with accuracy... pretty nice.

What next? I dunno... I need to keep running, though, and quit slacking off. More snow for tonight and tomorrow (sigh), but no excuses... I need to find another race to sign up for to keep myself honest. :-)

All three "Wild Rover" medals together... the heart and crown were from this week. It's pretty big!

The Claddagh Pub 4-Miler (Wild Rover Race #2!)

The second race in the Wild Rover Series was today: The Claddagh Pub 4-Miler (in Lawrence, MA).

Friday and Saturday, we had beautiful weather: Friday got up to almost 60 degrees, Saturday cooled down as a cold front moved through. Today?

Snow. Of course! Yaaaay! Two storms worked their way through the area today. Storm #1 was the one that affected the race today: not too much snow ("a dusting"), but enough to make some of the running slippery. Storm #2 is coming through tonight, and is expected to dump 15" of snow on us. That's what happens, living in New England!

The course was interesting: flat for the first mile, a KILLER hill at the 2-mile turnaround point (someone on the website described the hill as a "knee-in-the-face" hill, which was pretty accurate), with the downhill and flat coming back. Map is here on Runkeeper's site. I walked the hill and had to watch my step on the downhill, for fear of sliding down (if I'd had a sled, I'd have made up some great time!). Despite the hill and the snow, though, I still averaged around an 11-minute mile. Yay!

Round three will be next week with the Hynes Tavern 5-miler in Lowell. I'm hoping it's more like Spring! :-)

First picture is pre-race: (L-R) Michelle, Me, John, Laura, Jen (Joe, thanks again for taking the pictures!)

This is the amount of snow we had at the start... not too much, but it was slippery in spots (John skated over to the starting line):

Of course, there are bling pictures. The medal is the second piece of the 3-piece Wild Rover Series medal, and the second hand in the claddagh. Next week we get the heart and crown at the Hynes Tavern 5-miler.

It's blurry, but here's a picture of the two pieces together:

See you next week at the Hynes Tavern race! :-)
(Update: sorry the pictures didn't come through the first time... hopefully, this edit fixes that.)

The Frozen Shamrock!

Well, the Frozen Shamrock 3-miler was today! This is the first in a series of 3 races sponsored by local Irish Pubs (the Wild Rover Series). The weather folks were predicting rain turning to snow, starting around midday, so I wasn't sure what conditions were going to be like. Luckily, the weather was pretty good at the start (high 30's, no rain yet), so everything was GO!

A group of us from the office peer pressured each other to run today, and we all managed to show up. :-) Front row (L-R): Michelle, Me, and Jen. Back Row (L-R): John, Laura, and Mike.
Thanks to Jen's husband, Joe for taking the picture! :-)

Here's the view from the starting line:

The race was crowded at the start, but there weren't TOO many runners -- about 600 or so who registered ahead of time. Roads were only partly blocked off, which led to some confused (and obviously frustrated) motorists, but after the first substantial hill it was pretty good. A couple of shoppers got mixed up in the race and ended up running with us for a while until they got out at the parking garage. :-) I mapped the route using Runkeeper on my iPhone, and you can see the map here: http://bit.ly/kXKgv (I started recording a little late, because I was expecting to cross a mat at the starting line, and there wasn't one... oops!)

Update: The times are in... 30:10:00 (gun time, since there was no mat at the start). Considering I was starting at the back of the crowd and I have no idea where the actual start line was, I'm really happy with that. :-)

After the race, the crowd seemed to be bigger for the free beer line. The rain had begun and it was COLD waiting in line, but we stuck around, got the beer (refreshing) and chili (warm!), and then left... we would have hung around, but the rain was getting colder and harder and it was getting more and more uncomfortable. Oh well. Maybe the next two will have better weather (fingers crossed). At least the drive home was pretty good, since it hadn't turned to snow yet.

Of course, I had to take pictures of the bling:
The medal is the first of three that will form a claddagh when combined with the others in the series. Nice touch, with the personalized bib numbers. :-)

Next week, the Claddagh Pub 4-miler in Lawrence!

The Saga Stagnates...

Just a quick update for anyone following the "Saga of the Suspicious Mammogram"... my doctor's appointment today was rescheduled (Dr. K was called in for emergency surgery).

Next update: Tuesday, 2/24. Maybe.

However, it was a nice day out for a run... I got in a quick two miles just to get outside, and to get ready for the first "Wild Rover" race on Sunday. If it doesn't snow. Maybe even if it does snow. Who knows...

Told you I'd do it again!

Snowy run, originally uploaded by Jen Nolan.

I've realized that without goals (races, basically), my training goes nowhere. I've got a series of races planned (the Wild Rover series, see prior posts), but after that, not much.

So, I decided to sign up for Boston's Run to Remember, not as part of the 5-mile run, but for the half-marathon. The race is Memorial Day weekend, so I have even more time to train this time around. The course is nice, too, taking you down the Charles River, and pretty flat, so I'll probably enjoy it even more than the Manchester one.

So I printed out my half-marathon training plan today and went for my first run towards my next half. It was snowy, but I didn't hit the gym this morning (and didn't want to go at night). I figured the roads would be melting by lunchtime, and if they weren't, I could always turn around and go back.

It was beautiful. Warm enough for a long-sleeved shirt and vest... the roads were wet and slushy, but not slippery except for one spot near my turnaround. Scenery was pretty, so I had to stop and take a picture. :-)

Oh, and a little plug for RunKeeper (app for the iPhone): Gives you a nice map of your route while you use the phone as your GPS. :-)

Run the Wild Rover Series!

Crosspost from my other blog

Looks like fun, with some good swag. And now I have a reason to drag myself out to run.

Now to decide if I want to go out in the ungodly wind chill today (when I forgot my fuzzy headband to keep my ears warm). Hmmm...

(Update: 15 degrees, 16-20 mph winds, wind chill of -1... I think I'll just stick with the treadmill until this passes)

13.1!!!

Well, the City of Manchester Marathon (and Half-Marathon) was today... and I actually made my goal: to finish upright and without the aid of an ambulance. WOO-HOO!

It was pretty chilly for spectators (Bill was pretty uncomfortable), but perfect running weather. It was a great run -- lots of spectators along the course (and many near the finish). My IT band started bothering me just before mile 11, so the last two miles were spent alternating between running & walking, but I still made it in at around 2:30 or so. I honestly never looked at my time crossing the finish line because I was looking for Bill and the kids (and found them!), and then Michelle and Mike (a couple friends from work) who crossed the line a bit before I did.

I'm pooped now... took a couple ibuprofin and I'm relaxing on the couch. Would I do it again? Sure! Although I'd baby my IT band a bit more beforehand.

Before the race (Michelle all bundled up for warmth in the background):


And they're off!


Nearing the finish line... and I'm SMILING?! (hee!)


Whew! I've got some more modest runs in mind for the near-term (a five-mile race on Thanksgiving morning, for one... hey, they give out PIES at the end!!). Although I'm eyeballing the half-marathon out in Sonoma Valley... mmmm, wine country. :-)

Edited to add: The results are in!! I made it in 2:28:29! Given the five-minute porta-potty break (figured out by Michelle and her trusty Garmin), that's WAY better than I expected! Woo-hoo!!

Random Observations from Mile Ten

Well, the half-marathon is 5 days away, and I've done my longest run yet in preparation. I plan to just take it easy until the big day (with a spinning class and maybe a short run in between, to keep the legs moving), so I'm effectively finished with my training. Wow.

That said, it seems as though once you start crossing the threshold into "distance" running (and I'm sure it's different for everyone), things start behaving differently. Here's a few things I've noted as time has gone by:

1. I don't really need music, as long as I'm outside. I wouldn't have expected this, being Overstimulated Chick, but there's a nice ebb and flow between enjoying the scenery and just letting your mind wander. No... I haven't kidnapped and hidden the "real Jen" -- why do you ask?
   
2. The more I run outside, the more I despise treadmills. Boring, boring, BO-RING! 3 miles, OK. 4 miles, sure. 5 miles and up?... Tedium. 10 miles? Pure torture. I had to grab a treadmill with a TV and watch something on Discovery about the Titanic just to get my mind off the distance counter. No terrain changes, no scenery changes (unless you count the folks swimming laps in the pool), and no breeze to cool you off. Before last year, I'd never run outside... now I think I'll go cuckoo this winter.
   
3. My knees have gotten stronger the more I run. THAT surprised me. Happily.
4. At ten miles, EVERYTHING chafes. Ow.
5. Running in the rain isn't half bad.
6. I have officially skipped ice cream (ice cream!) to go for a run. Wait... maybe I have kidnapped the real Jen.
7. I get all giddy setting all these goals for myself (in the form of registering for various races). I realize I probably wouldn't push myself without the goals, and I get the added benefit of them being fun, too. For the most part.
   
8. There's quite a bit of camaraderie among other runners, which has been fun to be a part of... little things like signing up for races together, trading tips (stretching, training, um... bra shopping), and just waving hi to folks as you run past.

And all you need is a good pair of shoes and the outdoors.

This is fun... I think I'll keep it up. :-)

Half Marathon Training: Week 5 (of 11), Run 1 (of 3)

Preface: I'll be posting these (semi) regularly in an attempt to stay motivated and honest to myself... You don't have to read them if you're not interested. :-)

The goal: The City of Manchester Half-Marathon on November 2nd. I started actually getting serious about training for it a month ago and went to Runner's World and set up my training plan. My long run days are Mondays (rest/cross-training days are Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I can still teach my Spinning classes), so today started off week 5 with a 6-mile run.

The last time I ran 6 miles, I hated it. It was for the Bill Kelley Memorial 10k in Manchester... in July... during rainstorms. Ugh. I also hadn't trained for it, so it was incredibly tough. I was hoping today would be different. I wasn't disappointed.

The weather today was incredible... it started off humid, but dried out by lunchtime. Nice and sunny, with a cool breeze. Perfect weather.

For the one person out there who's been wondering about this (you know who you are!), I did decide to run with my iPhone this time, after picking up an application for it that is supposed to use the built-in GPS to track distance/pace/etc. The App is "Running GyPSy" (get it: G-P-S... har!). It's WELL WORTH the cost! I also have a wrist worn Garmin GPS that I've used in the past (a Forerunner 201) that has been wonderful, but tends to cut out when signal strength is low. I went through multiple known "dead zones" for my GPS and this app never cut out on me once. There are maybe a few "gold plating" touches I would put on it, but I plan on giving the App a positive review on iTunes (and I rarely ever do that), so that says something, I suppose.

The route itself was nice. After getting through most of the uphill run, it was a nice, gentle downhill for a good chunk of it that helped me get a good amount of energy back. I managed to average a 10:31 minute mile for a 6-mile run (when I'm only supposed to be training at 11:54), so you KNOW it was a good run. :-) The only downside? The goose poop I stepped in right when I got back. $@!&# geese!!

Wednesday is an easy run at two miles, and Friday is my first "tempo run" at 5 miles with some speed work. I shouldn't be as long-winded about those two. :-)