and what's even better? i have a discount code! use the code EF2013Friends for $5 off your registration! you can find out all the details on their website.
Showing posts with label local. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
earth fare friends 5k :::: april 13th
for those of you in and around asheville i wanted to share this... earth fare is hosting a 5k in a few weeks (saturday april 13th). all the proceeds are being put towards the goal of eliminating childhood obesity.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
oskar blues 4 miler:::: brevard, nc
oskar blues 4 miler
brevard, north carolina
sunday march 17, 2013
sunday march 17, 2013
time:::: 37:38
i was so excited when i saw this race because brad LOVES oskar blues and we haven't been able to make it down to their brewery since it opened in december. i figured the promise of post race beer might just convince him to join me for the race [so far i had only been able to talk him into 5Ks]. i was right, he was in!
i didn't realize we'd have to miss church to go though. i ASSUMED that since the race was at the brewery that the start time would be later [you can't serve alcohol in NC until after noon on sundays], but i was wrong. whoops.
here was my original outfit [and our unmade bed]:
at the very last minute i changed into my usual capris... it was a little chilly outside... and while i've ran 4 miles in this skirt before, unfortunately my legs have changed shape a little since i haven't been lifting legs, so i was worried about chaffing]. we made it down to brevard and got checked it and picked up our packets. i loved the race shirts [and they're north face technical shirts!]
john tuttle, an olympic marathoner, started the race for us. the race was really fairly flat for a race here. there was one big hill, but it wasn't bad and there was a nice downhill following it.
during the first mile i felt horrible. when my watch beeped my first mile i figured out why... i was running way too fast for me!
i slowed down so my heart didn't explode and started to feel a lot better. there was a water stop around mile 2 then we finished the loop back to the brewery. i finished strong [even though i really wanted to walk at about 3.8 miles]. the race was run entirely on the roads, and while it wasn't terribly scenic, it was a really great, relatively flat course.
after the race we got some water and we decided to wait around for awards [we should definitely do this more often, especially for smaller races!]. they also had 'medals' for us which i though was super cute. they were unique!
fyi - brad did have on some green... one measly stripe on his shorts. he's a party pooper. and there were like 5 people with the same RNR savannah shirt on, random!
during the awards, i won a door prize (25 bucks to a local outdoor store, black dome!) and brad found out that he missed 3rd place in his age group by 3 seconds! it sucked a little, but i think it actually encouraged him a lot. he's really competitive and i think he knows if had trained for more than 1 week for this race that he'd have easily placed. i hope it'll give him the bug to start running with me more!
after awards we went to get breakfast [i'll post on this later this week, i want to start posting more info on local eats] then came back to the brewery tasting room [the tasty weasel]. we enjoyed some fresh oskar blues brews.
such a great day and i cannot wait to do this race again next year. pisgah running organized the race and i thought they did a wonderful job! great course, well organized, and wonderful volunteers.
Monday, January 28, 2013
hot chocolate 10k:::: asheville, nc
.:race details:.
date: january 26
race day pick up? yes. there were 3 opportunities to pick up your packet, race morning, the night before at the pasta party, or the night before that when they had a chocolate tasting.
start time: 845 am [10k], there was also a kids hill climb and marshmallow dash
did race start on time? yes
adequate restrooms? yes, there were porto potties outside and the bathrooms inside the school
aid stations: 4 or 5 water stations.
course spectator support: there were groups of people all over the course and the finish line crowd was great.
course terrain: all paved, starts downhill, then flattens out... until the last half mile. holy hill.
shirts: long sleeved cotton shirts
medals: none
would i race again? absolutely
any complaints? a couple of the water stations weren't really ready for runners, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
what you need to know: get there early, they encourage you to park in one of the downtown garages and they bus you over [which worked great, we didn't wait long at all, and we were able to stand inside the library where it was warm].
date: january 26
race day pick up? yes. there were 3 opportunities to pick up your packet, race morning, the night before at the pasta party, or the night before that when they had a chocolate tasting.
start time: 845 am [10k], there was also a kids hill climb and marshmallow dash
did race start on time? yes
adequate restrooms? yes, there were porto potties outside and the bathrooms inside the school
aid stations: 4 or 5 water stations.
course spectator support: there were groups of people all over the course and the finish line crowd was great.
course terrain: all paved, starts downhill, then flattens out... until the last half mile. holy hill.
shirts: long sleeved cotton shirts
medals: none
would i race again? absolutely
any complaints? a couple of the water stations weren't really ready for runners, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
what you need to know: get there early, they encourage you to park in one of the downtown garages and they bus you over [which worked great, we didn't wait long at all, and we were able to stand inside the library where it was warm].
my race:
i ran 2 miles to warm up [i had a little time before the race started and i figured i'd might as well use it to chip away at the 20 miles]. i've never ran like that before a race but apparently i need to. i was using this race to help me out with the 20 miler, not going for any time goals, so i wasn't looking at my watch. my ipod died for a little bit around mile 3 so i heard the split called out as i passed and it was under 30 minutes. whaaaat?
then the internal battle started... do i push it and try to PR [or get my goal of a sub hour?] or do i take it easy and set myself up for a better 20 miler. i decided to keep cruising and see how it went. when i got to mile 5 i started pushing it. i knew i had that sub hour and i wanted it really badly. i felt like i needed it for some reason. stupid? yes. but oh well.
then came the big @ss hill. holy pace killer.
according my garmin i ran 6.27 in 59:58... but gun time was.... 1:00:00.
i cannot believe i ran the whole race in the nines! i know that may seem glacial to some of you, but for me that's great! guess i'll have to break an hour some other time :) but a 6 minute PR? i'll take it all day every day!
then the internal battle started... do i push it and try to PR [or get my goal of a sub hour?] or do i take it easy and set myself up for a better 20 miler. i decided to keep cruising and see how it went. when i got to mile 5 i started pushing it. i knew i had that sub hour and i wanted it really badly. i felt like i needed it for some reason. stupid? yes. but oh well.
then came the big @ss hill. holy pace killer.
according my garmin i ran 6.27 in 59:58... but gun time was.... 1:00:00.
i cannot believe i ran the whole race in the nines! i know that may seem glacial to some of you, but for me that's great! guess i'll have to break an hour some other time :) but a 6 minute PR? i'll take it all day every day!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Tsali Frosty Foot 30K Recap
disclaimer::: this recap is going to be a change in format from usual... if you're looking for the details of the race without my rambling and personal nonsense, scroll to the bottom and you'll hopefully find exactly what you're looking for.
on saturday brad, riley, and i loaded up and made the trip out to bryson city for the tsali frosty foot race. i'm so horrible about signing up for these random races that are kind of close to home, but not really close enough to drive the morning of, and i was very grateful that brad came with! i don't like to feel like i take over his whole weekend [pretty much his only time off], but it calmed my nerves to have him there.
we got into bryson city around 7pm and checked into our motel. we stayed at the ridgetop motel at the suggestion of microtel bryson city [the host hotel, but it was booked by the time i called]. they matched the discounted race rate that microtel was offering and it was only 9.99 extra to bring riley. it was an older motel, but it was clean and we appreciated being able to bring riley and also the owner told us not to worry if we needed to stay a little longer than the normal check out because he knew we were racing.
after we checked in we headed out the the nantahala brewing company. we watched the football games on their big screen and brad tried a bunch of their beers. he was really impressed with the flavors and i just loved the whole feel of the place. it was super outdoorsy/natural and you can even bring your dog [always a huge selling point for me if you haven't already noticed!].
i can't wait to come back here in the summertime! it would the perfect hangout after a day on the river!
sunday we got up around 7 and brad drove me out to tsali [about 15 minutes from the hotel]. he dropped me off and i picked up my packet then gave him all the extra stuff i didn't need. he headed back to the hotel to lay around and i got ready to run!
this is a picture of the start line and you can see the race director, aaron up front (in the black facing us) giving directions. aaron owns foot rx in asheville, which is a great local running store. they are the ones that put on the black jack 5K that i did in december [which resulted in me running this race in the first place].
after a short run up that paved street you can see in the pic, we hit the trails. words can not even do justice to describing how wonderful these trails were! they were a little muddy from all the rain we've had, but they were totally manageable. and the views!! i only stopped to take one picture, but i thought it was a pretty good one, just to give you an idea.
we ran all around fontana lake, it was hard to keep my eyes on the trail instead of all the beautiful scenery. as far as the trail went, it was mostly technical, single track... but it was very runner friendly for the most part. some climbs, and some rutted out biking grooves, but very rolling for the most part.
here's the elevation chart [which can i just mention how PROUD i am that after having my garmin for almost 2 years i figured out how to upload my data]:
there were 3 aid stations along the course [i think] and the volunteers were amazing. they refilled our handhelds and offered to help in any way they could. i chose to use the nathan quickdraw handheld and it worked really well. i filled it with water and refilled it at every aid station. i also drank 2 cups of whatever sport drink was available at each station.
in addition, i had 3 gu's along the course, at miles 6, 11, and 15. that seemed to work pretty well for me, although i noticed a couple of times that i felt 'empty hungry' like i needed some solid food.
this race was a mental one for me, but any time i started to feel down or think negatively i just reminded myself that i GET to do this. God ALLOWS me to do this. and it was just what i needed. in the past month 2 past classmates of mine have passed away in car accidents. such terrible tragedies that are hard to wrap your head around. it's a somber reminder that nothing is promised to us in this life and we need to soak up every minute, so i tried to do that.
i mostly ran alone during this race, however i followed a group of 4 women for much of the middle. we ended up talking at one of the aid stations and two of them were actually in the pace group i ran with for my first half! such a small world! one of them is trying to get accepted to pace the biltmore marathon in march, how great would that be!?
it was a long race and it hurt. i had to stop several times to attempt to stretch out my hips, they were what gave me the most trouble. as with any new race distance, my goal is just to finish with a smile on my face. so when i rolled in and saw my boys there waiting on me, i did just that. one of the volunteers even made a comment to me when she was giving me a water about still smiling and that's one of the best compliments she could have given me!
there was a lot of great food after the race, a local cafe, The Green Sage, even had chili for all the runners. i was really excited about that because i love their food, but after the race i just couldn't stomach the thought of eating it. do you ever get like that post race? i've been doing it more and more lately. nothing sounds good and sometimes just the thought of eating upsets my stomach. it usually goes away after about an hour or two, but it's weird.
this was right before we loaded up the car to head back to asheville. i'm pretty dang proud of myself for running this race and really like that i can always look back on my 30th birthday and know that i accomplished something to remember!
when we got home i MADE myself take an ice bath. i didn't even wash the mud off before getting in.
then i showered and got ready so we could go eat and see zero dark thirty [it was great, and jessica chastain was wonderful]. check out our sweet shirts from the race:
.:race details:.
date: january 12th and 13th (50K on saturday, 30K and 8K on sunday)
race organizer: foot rx asheville
race day pick up? yes or you could pick up the night before at the host hotel
start time: 8:30 (30K)
did race start on time? yes
adequate restrooms? yes, i think there were 3-4 port-o-potties
aid stations: 3, stocked with water, sports drink, GU chomps and roctane, bonk breaker bars
course spectator support: i actually saw more people than i thought i would considering it was a trail race
course terrain: technical, single track. several tough inclines but mostly rolling
shirts: 30K runners received Mountain Hard Wear half zip technical shirts (each distance got something different)
medals: none
would i race again? absolutely
any complaints? my only complaint is that the finish line is right in the middle of the post race area. i literally was dodging children and adults to finish. it would have helped to have it roped off. i know that most everyone was finished already, but it sucked a little.
what you need to know: you'll definitely need a hydration plan for this race, most runners carried their own (handhelds, belts or backpacks), parking is a little difficult so get there in time to park and take care of whatever you need). sign up early!!! the 8K and 30K sell out, i was only allowed to sign up because someone else dropped out!
on saturday brad, riley, and i loaded up and made the trip out to bryson city for the tsali frosty foot race. i'm so horrible about signing up for these random races that are kind of close to home, but not really close enough to drive the morning of, and i was very grateful that brad came with! i don't like to feel like i take over his whole weekend [pretty much his only time off], but it calmed my nerves to have him there.
we got into bryson city around 7pm and checked into our motel. we stayed at the ridgetop motel at the suggestion of microtel bryson city [the host hotel, but it was booked by the time i called]. they matched the discounted race rate that microtel was offering and it was only 9.99 extra to bring riley. it was an older motel, but it was clean and we appreciated being able to bring riley and also the owner told us not to worry if we needed to stay a little longer than the normal check out because he knew we were racing.
after we checked in we headed out the the nantahala brewing company. we watched the football games on their big screen and brad tried a bunch of their beers. he was really impressed with the flavors and i just loved the whole feel of the place. it was super outdoorsy/natural and you can even bring your dog [always a huge selling point for me if you haven't already noticed!].
sunday we got up around 7 and brad drove me out to tsali [about 15 minutes from the hotel]. he dropped me off and i picked up my packet then gave him all the extra stuff i didn't need. he headed back to the hotel to lay around and i got ready to run!
after a short run up that paved street you can see in the pic, we hit the trails. words can not even do justice to describing how wonderful these trails were! they were a little muddy from all the rain we've had, but they were totally manageable. and the views!! i only stopped to take one picture, but i thought it was a pretty good one, just to give you an idea.
here's the elevation chart [which can i just mention how PROUD i am that after having my garmin for almost 2 years i figured out how to upload my data]:
in addition, i had 3 gu's along the course, at miles 6, 11, and 15. that seemed to work pretty well for me, although i noticed a couple of times that i felt 'empty hungry' like i needed some solid food.
this race was a mental one for me, but any time i started to feel down or think negatively i just reminded myself that i GET to do this. God ALLOWS me to do this. and it was just what i needed. in the past month 2 past classmates of mine have passed away in car accidents. such terrible tragedies that are hard to wrap your head around. it's a somber reminder that nothing is promised to us in this life and we need to soak up every minute, so i tried to do that.
i mostly ran alone during this race, however i followed a group of 4 women for much of the middle. we ended up talking at one of the aid stations and two of them were actually in the pace group i ran with for my first half! such a small world! one of them is trying to get accepted to pace the biltmore marathon in march, how great would that be!?
it was a long race and it hurt. i had to stop several times to attempt to stretch out my hips, they were what gave me the most trouble. as with any new race distance, my goal is just to finish with a smile on my face. so when i rolled in and saw my boys there waiting on me, i did just that. one of the volunteers even made a comment to me when she was giving me a water about still smiling and that's one of the best compliments she could have given me!
there was a lot of great food after the race, a local cafe, The Green Sage, even had chili for all the runners. i was really excited about that because i love their food, but after the race i just couldn't stomach the thought of eating it. do you ever get like that post race? i've been doing it more and more lately. nothing sounds good and sometimes just the thought of eating upsets my stomach. it usually goes away after about an hour or two, but it's weird.
this was right before we loaded up the car to head back to asheville. i'm pretty dang proud of myself for running this race and really like that i can always look back on my 30th birthday and know that i accomplished something to remember!
when we got home i MADE myself take an ice bath. i didn't even wash the mud off before getting in.
then i showered and got ready so we could go eat and see zero dark thirty [it was great, and jessica chastain was wonderful]. check out our sweet shirts from the race:
.:race details:.
date: january 12th and 13th (50K on saturday, 30K and 8K on sunday)
race organizer: foot rx asheville
race day pick up? yes or you could pick up the night before at the host hotel
start time: 8:30 (30K)
did race start on time? yes
adequate restrooms? yes, i think there were 3-4 port-o-potties
aid stations: 3, stocked with water, sports drink, GU chomps and roctane, bonk breaker bars
course spectator support: i actually saw more people than i thought i would considering it was a trail race
course terrain: technical, single track. several tough inclines but mostly rolling
shirts: 30K runners received Mountain Hard Wear half zip technical shirts (each distance got something different)
medals: none
would i race again? absolutely
any complaints? my only complaint is that the finish line is right in the middle of the post race area. i literally was dodging children and adults to finish. it would have helped to have it roped off. i know that most everyone was finished already, but it sucked a little.
what you need to know: you'll definitely need a hydration plan for this race, most runners carried their own (handhelds, belts or backpacks), parking is a little difficult so get there in time to park and take care of whatever you need). sign up early!!! the 8K and 30K sell out, i was only allowed to sign up because someone else dropped out!
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