Half Marathons in Consideration

Man I have been a slacker this year (and who am I kidding last year too - even more so then!) about getting registered and running some half marathons...

I was thinking that I really wanted to do the Hershey Half Marathon (I mean come on - it's Chocolate Town USA!) and so when my slacker self got around to looking to register this a few weekends ago  wouldn't ya know... it's sold out! Grrrr! I should have known better. Really I do know better.... so now I'm sitting down to really start hashing out some East Coast Half Marathons that I want to get to work on getting on the calendar... Why especially East Coast? Well because at the end of the day I know we are "short timers" here in Annapolis (meaning we have a finite amount of time that we will be living here) so I ought to take advantage of this geographic location while I can.

Rock-and-Roll Series
As much as I was completely irritated with the RR series after the Vegas half a few years ago it sounds like they've gotten their act together regarding that race and honestly the other races they run have been pretty darn good. Assuming they do this again for 2014 I am considering breaking down and getting the tour pass and knocking out as many as I can with that...
http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/tourpass?icat=rnr-website_marquee_300x200&icamp=

Annapolis Half Marathon - November 23, 2013
http://annapolisrunningclassic.com
I have pathetically signed up for this before and then not run it (was overcome by events) and while November is cold to me I really do have to run one of these that I can walk to from my house!

Divas Myrtle Beach - April 27, 2014
http://www.runlikeadiva.com/Events/Divas_Half_Marathon____5K_-_North_Myrtle_Beach.htm
My dear friend Eve lives in Myrtle Beach so at least I've got a place to crash :) This one looks like fun and fits my East Coast slant that I am working on...

So those are the ones immediately on my radar... am open to other prospects...

Anyone want to join me at any of these? Anyone have any other suggestions? :)

DC NIke Women's Half Marathon - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

I posted my as I am calling it "Happy Happy Joy Joy" blog of "Thank Yous" about the race because truly I am so happy about the final outcome and my personal achievement. That said I have a lot of commentary about the actual race and not all of it is good. I figure it's only fair to write another blog that's more of a review of the race that really gives you the good, the bad and the ugly about the whole thing. I'll break it down into parts.

The Washington DC Nike Women's Half was my 16th Half Marathon so I've seen more than a few races and can genuinely assess how this one was conducted. (I say this because it's driving me - and many of the others - crazy that people keeping posting on the Nike Facebook page that this was "The Best Race Ever" because I can definitely tell you it was NOT. I suspect that many of these people have never run a race before so they don't know any better.)

I have overall commentary as well that doesn't necessarily fit into any of these categories but I'll save that til the end I think... Let me first give you an overview for anyone who knows nothing about this race and then I'll get into the topics...

The Nike Women's Half Marathon Series (I guess that's what you'd call it now that there are 2 of these) started in San Francisco 10 years ago. The hook for this race is that instead of getting a medal at the end of the race you get a Tiffany Necklace. (I swear this alone gets women who have never run more than from one room to another to grab a ringing phone to decide to run a half marathon!) This year was the first running of this race in Washington DC.

Registration & Communications

The Good

• While I am not always a fan of the lottery system the fact that this race is so popular (due to the Tiffany necklace) I do like that they use a lottery system to even the playing field. 
• You can register as a group. Let's face it some of us do this with friends and we are not interested in going if none of our friends can so I like the group registration.
• Registration is open for quite a few days which is a great thing

The Bad & The Ugly

• College students get definitive entry. I find it absurd that an unlimited number of college students get to have guaranteed entry. I am okay with "X" number but not a free for all that as many who want to can get in. (Frankly if you have $150+ as a college student you've got too much extra money on your hands. For me $150 was probably about 6 months of groceries when I was in college!
• The lack of a website. Using just a Facebook page and not having an actual website makes it difficult to find information and frankly is just unacceptable. 
• Lack of communication after the Boston Bombing. Don't get me wrong I didn't expect them to have an answer about this race immediately after it happened but I did expect some sort of official statement on the race page (which as I've already mentioned was only Facebook) about Boston just like every other race/running group did that said something even if it was just "We are With You Boston"
• Didn't release runner tracking detail until Friday just 2 days before the race

Overall Commentary

Communication is key no matter what your event and Nike just blew it on this one. 

Packet Pick-Up & Expo

The Good

• We went on Thursday right after it opened and there was pretty much no wait for anything (which is why we chose to go then)
• Nice location on the water. It was a beautiful day so we went to one of the restaurants right there and enjoyed lunch outside.
• Lots of great photo opportunities. Loved the "WE RUN" huge "sign" as well as the others signage for the race. 
• Glad they had samples of Nuun there so we could taste what we would be getting on the course
• I love how they put all the names of the participants on the wall at the Nike store. Very cool!

The Bad & The Ugly

• As usual Nike's idea of an Expo is pretty much the Nike Store. I'm really not interested in waiting in line to get my hair done or make-up from Bare Minerals. I would much rather see some other vendors with things I'd be interested in such as charms etc. Yes Nike it is possible to have other vendors in there that are not competitors for your Nike products. I also found it ridiculous that I couldn't by the race shirts etc. at the actual Expo and that we had to go to the Nike Store to get this
• The commemorative shoe release was just awful. The fact that your expo started at noon but you didn't release the shoes til 6:30 and then you released them in a variety of places in addition to where your runners were. If we as the runners of your Half Marathon are helping you launch these shoes you should at least offer the courtesy of offering the shoes to ALL of the Half Marathon participants at the Expo FIRST and then offer them to the general public. This was an EPIC FAIL on Nike's part

Overall Commentary

Nike as usual does a great job with branding. The event "gear" was fantastic and there were a lot of options to choose from (which is always great) but all that said if you are a runner who loves a good expo you will be VERY underwhelmed by the Nike Expo experience.

The Actual Race
The Good

• Great course. The way it was set-up we got to see lots of great stuff and it gave spectators lots of opportunities to move about and see their runners.
• Loved some of the bands that were on the course. The drummers were AWESOME!! 
• Great security at the start area as well as along the course. (Given recent events I think this was appreciated by all.)
• Good Mile Markers

The Bad & The Ugly

• The start corrals were horrendous. We were given wrist bands to indicate which corral we should start in. Upon arrival at the corrals they were beyond full so lots of us were forced to stand outside the entry gate into the corral on the side of the road. Clearly you need to leave much more room in each corral for the people who belong there
• YOU MUST DO A WAVE START! For crying out loud - with 15,000 people how could you even consider not doing a wave start. It's ridiculous. Add to that the fact that the corrals were a disaster many of us were forced to start way back in the pack behind MUCH slower people than our pace so many of us were very frustrated for the first several miles. (My husband will tell you when he saw me at Mile 2 I was downright ANGRY.) Put volunteers with a rope between each corral and do a wave start. 
• They had no official photographers on the course and didn't bother to let anyone know this. If ind this absolutely unacceptable. I've never run a race (including the dozens of 5Ks I've run) that didn't have some sort of official photography. 
• Too many people who don't understand race etiquette such as you don't run 4 abreast and you don't walk in the middle of the road etc.
• Runner tracking could only be done through Facebook. Given that not everyone has facebook they really ought to use a more general tracking option such as texts like other races do

Overall Commentary

I appreciate that this is a fun "unique" race (because of the Tiffany necklace) and as such this becomes a target race for new runners. I applaud everyone who has the desire to undertake this challenge - I just wish they would get some guidance as to how to not be in the way of others by using proper etiquette. I'll catch slack for this but honestly time and time again the Team in Training people are the worst about this. The start was absolutely unacceptable. 

The Finish
The Good

• The Tiffany necklace is absolutely fantastic! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! I have to admit it's nice to have handsome young men in tuxes hand it to us as well!
• Love the finisher shirt. Great color!
• I like that they only sell Finisher's Gear (these are items in  addition to the shirt we got just for finishing) at the Finish. I get really irritated at Rock-N-Roll runs because they sell the Finisher Shirts at the expo where in reality all you've finished at that point is paying a bunch of money!

The Bad & The Ugly

• Not enough people handing out water and not in enough places. I saw people right after the finish but not further along in the finisher's area. 
• No Finish Line Photos :( Very sad. I buy mine for every PR so I am bummed that I won't get to buy one for this PR.
• The line to purchase Finisher's Gear was absolutely horrendous. I waited more than 40 minutes in line. When my friend finished the race the line was even longer than that. You need to have more than 2 lines set-up for this.
• No Family Meet-Up spot. Most races have specific areas tagged to initials etc. but there was no such thing here and no info that there wouldn't be
• (Adding this one later in the week as an edit) - Finisher Gear that wasn't sold out at the Finish Line was moved to Georgetown but for less than a week. I was unable to get out to Georgetown but when I would have been able to (just a week later) they said they had shipped it off to their main distribution center and have no idea where it will end up. You absolutely should have put this stuff online for us to purchase. Frankly you're crazy not to. You're going to send it off to places where people may or may not want this stuff but if you'd put it online I can pretty much guarantee you would have sold most, if not all, of it. 

Overall

I appreciate that this is a highly coveted race because of the Tiffany Necklace but given that it is so prone to first timers I wish Nike would offer more information to them about how to run in a large race properly.

Team & Training
Okay I felt like I had to do an entire bit here for them.... Look I appreciate they are raising money for a worthy cause but in the end I would respect that a lot more if they weren't also raising money to send themselves to places to run and have fun. Given that a not so insignificant chunk of the money they raise for Team in Training goes to pay for their, airfare, hotel and race entry fees I am not a fan of this program. (Oh and to pay for their "Coaches" travel too I believe.) If you really want to do some good raise the money for the charity locally and pay your own way to travel to the race. The Nike races are big Team in Training races and I am not alone in not being a fan of Team in Training. They are frequently the folks that people have trouble with on the course of walking in the middle of the road, stopping in the middle of the road (general stoppage or going from a run to a walk with no notice to the people behind them), walking or running too many people abreast etc. Additionally it seems like their people only support other "Team" folks and don't give a hoot about anyone else. Here's the bottom line - when the average runner (who is not part of Team in Training) sees the purple shirts (That Team in Training always wears) and groans that should tell you what the overall impression of that group is...

BOTTOM LINE OVERALL IMPRESSION & THOUGHTS
While I love the necklace and the course I am left feeling like "Meh - I don't know that I would run this race again." The frustrating parts were very frustrating and given that I like to run a variety of races it's highly unlikely you'll ever see me like the gals who have ever charm from every Nike Half that's ever been run. Given the enormous nature of Nike I was disappointed in how much they fell down on the basics such as communication. Yes I realize it was an inaugural here in DC but they've run this race 9 times in San Francisco with many many more participants so they should know the ins and outs of how to handle a race like this. (That said when I ran the SF Nike in 2006 it was only my second race so perhaps there were as many issues there and I just wasn't wise enough to know.)  I am very happy to have done the race, SUPER happy to have PR'd (though with that start I am still not sure how I managed that!) and thrilled to have been able to do the race with my dear friend Tonya but perhaps once was enough for me on this race... we'll see!

So which race shall I run next?! 

My Post Run "Academy Award Thank You Speech"

Well as most of you have figured out I ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon yesterday in Washington DC. I definitely have some commentary on the race itself (and a lot of it is "not pretty") but today I am still in my Happy Happy Joy Joy mood about my performance yesterday so I am going to continue to roll with that and actually type out the blog I was "crafting" in my head yesterday.

I ran a PR (Personal Record) yesterday and not by a little... by a fairly sizable cut in time so I am super stoked about that! For those of you who are in your 20s or are natural runners I still probably don't run as fast as you but given my abilities I am totally psyched about my time!

So I am a dork but as I was left with some of my thoughts yesterday relaxing I thought of some of these things so I thought I would write a blog about it. As I was thinking many of these thoughts they reminded me of the Academy Awards Speeches so that's what it's become for me :) Yes I am a dork I know! But you also have to understand that as I was thinking it yesterday I was pretty exhausted (definitely didn't get enough sleep the night before and then I ran all out for the race) so my mind was working in funny ways... well funnier ways than usual I suppose!

Thank you to my dear friend Tonya who made the trek from Houston to the East Coast to run this race with me. Tonya not only ran this half marathon but she also did the Go Ruck Challenge in the middle of the night Saturday morning (If you don't know what it is Google it!) so in my mind she was the rock star of the weekend! I so admire her tenacity!

Thank you to the best race course support on the planet - Ken! (Of course it just so happens that he's been off the planet too!) Ken was a total trooper and willing to meet us on the race course anywhere we wanted to grab gear from us. He kindly went to mile 2 to wait for me to dump my long sleeve shirt and didn't bat an eye when I came through in a less than cheery mood at the time. He just said something along the lines of "I love you honey" which was definitely what I needed at the time! He happily hung with us over the weekend pre-race and happily waited with us post-race at the crazy Finish Line debacle.

Thank you to all "my mids" who texted me to wish me Good Luck or who texted after to find out how the race was. I know you all have lots of fun to cram into your weekends so I was touched that you thought of me!

Thanks to my friend Cary for a much needed laugh in the middle of the course. I was starting to drag a little and then one of your songs came on and hearing it made me think of you and how you would just shake your head at me and tell me I was an idiot for running 13 miles on a Sunday morning.. I could totally picture it perfectly so that made me chuckle and helped me keep moving!

Thank you to all the volunteers on the race course who handed our water, had their band playing or handed us food at the end of the race. Without volunteers these races just can't happen and we appreciate the volunteers tremendously.

Thank you Dan (and your whole band) for several of yoru great songs which were on my Playlist. They always keep me upbeat and when I was pretty tired and "Open Up Your Eyes" came on it made me stop thinking about the race (and my tiredness) and think for a bit about the fact that we get to see you guys perform in Atlantic City in less than a week which took my mind off the race for a few which was much needed!

Thank you to all the law enforcement and the many Bomb Dogs we saw out there. While we were not running in fear we did appreciate the visual reminder that we are being looked after.

Thank you Nike for having the class to hold a minute of silence for Boston - Boston was certainly in all of our hearts and minds and it was nice to have a moment together to honor Boston.

Thank you to our wonderful dog Guinness who helps motivate me to go run even when I don't want to. Without this I certainly couldn't have PR'd!

Thank you to the Craft Beer Companies, the Cheese Makers, Great Wineries and the Cupcakeries (Especially Crumbs because I just can't resist you!) for making such deliciousness that I just have no choice but to run because I love to partake in your deliciousness so often!

Thank you to Mel for getting me sucked into the Half Marathon insanity.... a long long time ago in that crazy place known as Russia :)

Thank you Glee for your awesomely fun music! With 3 miles to go I was cratering and then the song "3" came on - the timing was perfect! (Thank you Jenna Ushkowitz!) I was considering walking but while singing this song I got some pep in my step! The last quarter mile I was jamming to Darren Criss's "Last Friday Night" which absolutely helped propel me through the finish. (In case folks haven't figured it out - the only way I can get through 13 miles is with good music!)

Thank you to all the spectators out on the course with funny signs! This helps us take our mind off the run and it helps me get through the 13 miles in a big way! I may have to post a blog of just funny run signs later.... You may think your sign is not a big deal but I can tell you it's appreciated!

And last but not least thank you to my Mom for instilling in me that physical activity is a MUST! There was no sitting around on our butts playing video games, watching TV etc. in our house! We were told to get outside and do something and we did! It's something important that I have carried through my whole life. Thank you Mom!!

How's this blog for total dorkiness? :) Perhaps I still need more sleep....

Why I Run...

When I ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon for the first time in San Francisco (the original location) in October of 2006 there was someone at the expo who was handing out race signs that included the logo and the words "Why I Run." They had markers out so you could fill in your sign with what your personal reasons were/are. I thought this was really cool and not only got one for the race but took it home and continued to add to it. I hung it in our closet so I could see it frequently and use it for motivation. When we moved sadly I decided that the poster was pretty worn (given that it was just poster board and not framed it's not surprising that it was pretty worn) so I didn't bring it with us to Annapolis but it doesn't mean that I don't think about the reasons why I run. I thought I'd share with you Why I Run....

Some of my reasons sound "cheeky" or flippant and I suppose you could think in some ways they are but even those have some seriousness to them. Other reasons are certainly obviously serious. Here goes...

Why I Run...

I run for cheese, chocolate, beer, wine, mexican food, pizza and all the other wonderful tasty things that I love to eat and drink that are not necessarily the most healthy things in the world. (Let's face it while it sounds flippant it's true! I enjoy my food lifestyle and the only way I can continue to enjoy it is to work out and running is part of it.) I run to clear my head on days that I need to just get lost in the movement and I run to get my mind thinking about complexities I am struggling with an answer to. (Yes I know these 2 things are very counter but both can be true depending on the day.) I have run for many a cause to bring awareness or fundraising to it and in doing so I often run for those who can't run for themselves. I run for Guinness! (Yes the beer but even more importantly for my darling pooch who so loves to run.) I run to travel with my friends to see new places. (You may not realize it but running is a great way to see a city. And given that so many of my friends live in different places a half marathon is a great excuse for us to converge somewhere new together!) I run for my health. (Way too many people don't take care of themselves and have so many issues because of it. I certainly do not want to be one of those people. I like to LIVE my life and the best way to enjoy living life is if you are healthy! No I am not a total health nut but I do the best I can from time to time.) I Run... Because I Can! :)

I am sure there are a whole lot of other reasons I run too but these are what I've come up with for now. Do you run? If so - why do YOU run?

Finishing San Francisco Nike Half 2006

Race Calendar Ideas for Next Year (2013)

Okay so this was certainly not one of my "better" years as far as races go... to be honest by the time 2012 is done it's entirely possible that I may end up only having run 1 half marathon! Man does that put me behind in my goal for Half 2 Run.  (For those of you who don't know Half 2 Run is a group where you try and run a half marathon in half the 50 states. You know how I like a goal and to travel so this works well for me! Check them out! Half 2 Run Website)

I am signed up for the Annapolis Half in December of this year because I can literally walk to and from the finish line which is a total bonus!
http://www.annapolishalf.com/
It appears there are still spaces available if anyone wants to join me... I think Mel & BJ may be in...

I have decided that next year I am going to work to check off a couple states in my quest....

Nike Women's Marathon (& Half) is bringing their Half to Washington DC on April 28th. Apparently DC gets to count as a state so that's an added bonus :) There are very very few details out there about this race so far but here's what I can tell you... Mel & I have run the Nike Women's Half in San Francisco and there at the finish line instead of a regular medal you get a Tiffany Necklace (complete with little blue box and bag) handed to you by a man in a tux holding a silver platter full of the beautiful blue bags. THAT is enough to make me want to run this event in April. Here's the little bit of info that is available on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/NWM26.2/app_181997151935745
Those of you who know me know I DETEST Team in Training and many many of their runners (oh don't even get me started) but I am willing to tolerate that debacle of a headache at the race for the bling especially given that it's a true Tiffany Necklace. Sadly it is a lottery to get in so I will keep my fingers crossed.
A few pictures from when Mel and I did this run some years back...

In October I am strongly considering the Hershey Half Marathon though the date has yet to be announced..... I mean a half in Chocolate Town USA? Yes please!!
http://www.hersheyhalfmarathon.com/

There are some runs I am not wanting to do next year.....
I am still feeling bitter about my last Rock-N-Roll experience so I think perhaps I will wait til 2014 to foray back into that series.
We have a moratorium on Disney runs for another few years. We've done loads of them and have decided to wait a handful of years and then maybe go back and do a bunch of them again in the same year,,,,

States I want to accomplish before we move out of Annapolis (I am assuming we will be here for 3 years - this list changes if that changes.....)

• New York
• Considering the Diva Half but not next year because Navy plays Air Force at home
• http://www.runlikeadiva.com/
• Delaware
• There's one in Rehoboth (Hello Dogfish Head) but it's when it's likely cold... hmmmm...
• http://www.rbmarathon.com/
• And can't do it this year because that the day Navy will be beating Army in Philly ;)
• New Jersey
• Never been to Atlantic City so maybe...
• http://www.acmarathon.org/April_Fools/Event_Details.htm
• West Virginia
• Connecticut
• Pennsylvania
• Hershey Half as mentioned above
• West Virginia?
• DC - okay I know it's not a real state but it officially counts in the tally!

Of course there are many other states I really want to run like Hawaii and Alaska but the above list is what is easy striking distance from where we are currently living so it does make sense to really work on those while we are on the East Coast.... not saying I won't travel to other places because I certainly will!!

Other races that are of interest as well
The Land of Oz Marathon
       http://www.olathe.org/cvb/sports/Marathon/information_registatration.html
      but can't do it in 2013 due to other obligations....

The Flying Pirate
       http://www.obxmarathon.org/Top_Nav/Flying_Pirate_Half_Marathon.htm
       but can't do it in 2013 due to other obligations...


So does anyone have a race they are just itching to run? If so let me know and maybe I'll join you! I certainly intend to have more races on the calendar in 2013 than I've had in 2012! As you can perhaps tell we've had a little fun over the years racing together as friends :)

Cincinnati Flying Pig Half Marathon

Regular Disney Half Marathon

Rock-N-Roll New Orleans

Rock-N-Roll Chicago

Disney Wine & Dine (Inaugural)

Seattle Rock-N-Roll

Virginia Beach Rock-N-Roll

And for the record yes I do frequently run in a tutu! Just makes it more fun :) Here's a link to some great tutus if you want to join in the entertainment ;)Halloween Purple Organza Adult's Tutu (Google Affiliate Ad)

Disney Princess Half Marathon