Mercer Island Half Marathon, March 24, 2013

I'm excited to announce that I have signed up for my third half marathon this year!! So far I'm three for three, one half marathon a month so far this year :)

I only have a week and a half to train from here on, I've been really good, but have not ran any long runs since my Princess Half marathon. I'm planning on a 10 miler on Sunday, so I'll let you know how I feel and how it goes. This week I still have to do two more short runs and then next week is the Mercer Island Half. I've never ran this race before, I've read some reviews and people have said that the course is really hard and when I looked at the elevation chart, it looks like its all uphill, with two minor downhill sections. This makes me a little scared, I was going to try for a PR, but now I don't know. I will still train my best and do my best during the run.


The weather should be good, not too cold, not too hot, maybe even raining, which I actually enjoy. I know I'm weird like that, but somehow it makes me be faster and better, probably because I just want to get out of the rain :) I think on the long runs it just feels good when you get hot during your run to feel the rain on your face.

Thankfully this race is close to my house, but the parking will be limited, it is an island with mostly residential areas after all. So what I thought about doing is driving to a park and ride and then catching a bus to Mercer Island. They did post on their website http://www.mercerislandhalf.com that the buses and trains will be free if you wear your bib, which is awesome that they support the race that way.

I'll let you know how it goes and hopefully I'll see you there!!!

Run For Your Lives 2012

I decided to do this run last summer because it looks different from all the other races and it looked really fun. All the zombies were already sold out so I just registered for the race.

For those of you who don't know what this race is about I'll tell you a little bit about it.
There are three things that you can register for, one is to be a spectator and yes you have to pay to be a spectator in this race, second is a zombie, they go all out and have professional make up artists who make you look like a "real" zombie (they really do an amazing job) and third you can be the runner. The race is 5K, ours was about 2 and a half hours south of Seattle on a dirt bike track. It happened to be one of the hottest weekends in Seattle, I think during my waive at 4:30PM it was about 90 degrees out. This race is not about the obstacles, but about not getting your flags taken by zombies.

When I got there I checked in, they gave me a belt with three red long flags on it (think flag football), they were attached to the belt with Velcro. You put the belt around your waist and you can adjust the flags however you want, back, sides, front, wherever. The rules are that you cannot tuck them in your pants or shirt, they have to be visible, otherwise you will be "disqualified" and won't get an official finishing time. I think you still get a medal though. then they had three staring lines: slowest, faster and fastest. I went into the fastest line since I was going to finish at a decent time. They let each of the lines go separately, so we got to go first. So they had the zombies right out of the gate and I got my first flag taken right away, I was bummed. I did face plant as I was trying to run away, pretty embarrassing, but I didn't know any of these people so I just kept running :). I lost both of my last flags as we were running thru the trees. There was even a zombie sitting in a tree. I finished the race, however I DID NOT SURVIVE :(
I got a medal anyway though. For 2013 they will have two separate medals, one for the survivors and one for the "dead".

It was a fun race, I don't if I would go down there again this year, it was such a long drive and the course itself was pretty boring, it was lots of sandy hills and some woodsy areas. I think the course used to be and old motorcycle rally area or something like that. I don't know. I was also disappointed in how many zombies there were, well its subjective I guess, it was cool seeing the costumes and make-up and all that, but truly unless you ran in a huge group where everybody else can protect one person it was impossible to not loose your flags.

We'll see, I'll keep you posted if I will run it or not.

Keili

SeaWheeze 2013 SOLD OUT!!!!!

Wow, that was fast, I cannot believe that they sold out in a month I think. I mean, I guess I do believe it, it really was an amazing experience.

I hope you all got signed up for it in time. I was on my way to California for the Disney Tinkerbell Half Marathon when they opened it up for registration and I totally forgot about it, so when we got back 10 days later I saw their Facebook notification that they were 80% full. I immediately went and signed up and I think two weeks later it was sold out. I'm so excited I got in, I'm hoping to spend an extra day in Vancouver this time, so we are not rushed to get back to the hotel to get checked out since in most hotels its 11:00am.

We'll see hotel are super expensive in Vancouver, but I'd really like to stay longer so I wouldn't have to rush back after the race.

Keili

Lululemon SeaWheeze 2012

So I know this is kind of late for a review on the SeaWheeze, but better late than never right? :)

My SeaWheeze Half Marathon went a lot better than expected. I ran it with an insured tendon and it hurt a lot, however I finished with a decent time. I think it was 2:20, it was slower than my Seattle Rock'N'Roll half, but I was fine with it since I was insured and all.

Lululemon did an amazing job putting the whole even together. I also volunteered there the night before as well (got an awesome SeaWheeze shirt for that).

 We got there Friday afternoon, we drove up from Seattle. When we got there we checked into to the hotel and then went to the Vancouver Convention Center, where the event took place. And I really mean an event, they had a room where you picked up your packet, it came with a cool drawstring backpack and Native flip flops. Then right next door they had the SeaWheeze store set up, the bummer about it was that by the time we got there which was in the afternoon they didn't have any of the bags left and a lot of the clothing was sold out in my sizes. I ended up getting a pair of compression socks that I ended up wearing during the run. Right outside they had freezer carts with lime and watermelon pops and energy gels, they had hammocks and couches you can sit and lay on. By the water they had a photo booth set up with all you can take free pictures, it was amazing. They also had free massages and people painting nails with SeaWheeze colors. After that we just walked around Vancouver and had a great time and ate some amazing food. I love Vancouver.

I was volunteering that night, I had signed up for a two and a half hour session at night. I walked over to the convention center and met up with another girl who was there to volunteer for the same shift. She worked at the Lululemon headquarters and was there just to support the event, I thought that was really cool. They didn't have much for us to do, we just went and labeled some parking spots and then we were all done. Pretty easy, I would have stayed to help more but they told me to go since I had the run the next morning.

I woke up super early to get ready, my husband and son were still sleeping. I got my running stuff on and off I went. I had a bit of a hike to the Convention center, it took me probably about 15 minutes to walk there. On my way, I think every person I saw was going to the race. Once there, they didn't really have anything set up pre-race, which was a bummer since the Expo had been great, so we all just stood around and waited for the race to start. The view was amazing as the sun started rise over the water, Vancouver is truly a beautiful city.

I had made a huge mistake and not eaten anything that morning, I don't know what I was thinking, but I got super hungry super fast. BIG MISTAKE, always eat something, anything. Well, the race was about to start and everything was closed I had no choice to make my way to the staring line.
With the SeaWheeze, they didn't have any bibs or corral assignments, you got a chip for your shoe  and a wrist band with your number on it, a little different than what I was used to but I rolled with the punches.
Same with the corrals rather than A-F or whatever, they just had pacers standing there with their times and whatever time you thought you can finish at that's who you stood behind. Well I was being very optimistic and stood behind the 2:00 finish time. I was hoping to beat my Seattle RNR. Well that didn't happen, as you know :( Oh well.

Once we started running I got really hungry and lightheaded, I thought that I might faint and not even finish the race. To my huge surprise at the first water station they had cut up bananas and oranges for us to eat, WHAT?!?!? I was in heaven, I think I eat a whole banana and an orange, downside, my hands got super sticky. Now my tummy was happy and that made me happy. The course was beautiful, over bridges and next to beaches, through parks to finally the finish line. It was overall an easy course I thought, the only thing against us was the weather, it was way too hot, I'm sure it must have gotten around 80 degrees and the sun was just blazing. There was a girl just a mile away from finishing that had collapsed, I felt so bad, they had medics tending to her though, hopefully she walked to the finish line.

I finished with 2:20, super excited, the medals were kind of disappointing though, you could unclip it and use it as a key chain, which was cool, if the medal would have been cool, it says said SWEAT ONCE A DAY, and had the SW initials on it. Most people would not even know what it was for. Oh well. The after party was all worth it. I didn't stay for the concert, we had to check out from the hotel and I wanted to be able to shower and what not. But they served brunch with hot eggs and waffles and all sorts of cool stuff.

They had sunset yoga on the beach that night and they provided yoga mats for everybody and you got to keep it! Lululemon is awesome, I love that company so much!

Overall I definitely recommend the race, it was super fun. Even though I did it all by myself I still had a ton of fun and enjoyed Vancouver afterwards :)

See you there in 2013!

Warrior Dash - Seattle

 
Last weekend I ran the Warrior Dash in North Bend, WA. It was such a fun event, if you ever have a chance to run it I highly recommend it.

There were 12 obstacles, first one was the Barricade Breakdown, where we had hurdle over barricades and crawl under barbed wire, then we had the Rubber Ricochet, run thru a rubber jungle of hanging car tires, where if you didn't plan right, you could get hit hard.
Next was Teetering Traverse, this was pretty easy, just walk across some 2X4's nothing too crazy there.
Then there was the feared Deadmans Drop, this one was scary. First of all it was super high and the scary part is kind of hard to explain, but its a wooden structure, but when you get to the top it overhangs a bit, where I felt like a rock climber, because you had to reach over and pull yourself up and over the obstacle, crazy.
Crab Crawl was next, this was easy, just crawling under a net, I'm small enough where I could just do it on my hands and needs, some did have to do it army crawl style.
Then came the Great Warrior Wall, just a tall wooden wall with a rope that you had to climb up and over, it seemed bad at first, however there are ledges that you can put you feet on so you can then pull yourself up with the rope and climb down regularly on the other side.
Storming Normandy was next, this was crawling under barbed wire, also benefit if you are little so you don't have to do the army crawl.
Road Rage was fun, this we had to run thru car tires and climb across beat up cars, super fun. When do you ever get to run over cars?
Chaotic Crossover was easy, just crawling over a rope net, just don't use your knees, go over it with your hands and feet.
Cargo Climb was next, you could see the finish line from here, super high, but fun, just climbing over a rope net wall.
The Warrior Roast was awesome, they had two rows of blazing fires and we had to jump over those and then finally we were at the very last obstacle, which was a pool of mud and I mean thick, thick mud. The hardest part was that it was too slippery to walk thru and it was too deep to reach your hands to the bottom, so we had to swim thru it. The key to it was to keep your mouth closed :)

It was great finally to cross the finish line and get my awesome medal. Everybody was covered in mud head to toe, that was the best part of the race, watching everybody dripping in dirt.

Unlike the PVC pipe showers they had at the Survivor Mud run they had trucks with hoses on this one, so we literally had to be hosed down and it took much longer since there were so many people doing this race and only three people hosing down.

They had a band playing, good food and an awesome atmosphere. Must do race for sure.

Disney Princess Half Marathon Registered!!!

I finally registered for the Disney Princess Half Marathon so I can complete the Disney Coast to Coast Challenge. I'm so excited. In addition, I figured since we were going all the way to Disney World (its as far as you can get in the continental US for us from Seattle), I might as well sign up for as many events as I can.
So I'm also doing the Disney Royal Family 5K stroller division. I have a 4 year old son, and yes I know he is too old for a stroller, but its cheaper for us to do it this way and we both still get medals :) which he will be super excited about it. Then later that day he will be doing the Kids Races for another medal, he is going to have so much fun, I cannot wait to see everything thru his eyes. And then finally Sunday morning I will be running the Disney Princess Half Marathon!!!!

Disney Princess Half Marahon!!

Don't forget, the Disney Princess Half Marathon registration opens in one week, July 10!!!!

Make sure you register early, this is their 5 year anniversary and they sell out fast.

Seattle Rock'N'Roll Half Maraton 2012

 

So I finally did my first half marathon and finished with an awesome time, I think. Final chip time ended up being 2:12:34, so I was very proud that. My estimated finish time was 2:15, I was glad to have beaten that.

They did an amazing job putting together the whole event, I've never been to one before, but I really enjoyed it. I was by myself unfortunately, but I made the best of it and enjoyed it all.

I was originally put into corral 41, but when I went to the Fitness Expo I got myself moved up to corral 25. The race morning was cold and rainy, I was worried about parking Downtown since all the prepaid parking was sold out, so I left my house at 4:45 to make it there super early to get a parking spot, the race didn't start until 7:00AM and my corral didn't end up leaving until about a half an hour after the clock time. Didn't need to worry about parking, plenty of spots, so I took a stroll to the Space Needle (the starting line) and just walked around a bit. I didn't want to check my bag too early since it was a cold morning, great for running but when you are not running it was super cold.

They had some food and fruit and water, I really didn't want to drink anything because I did not want to worry about having to use the bathroom during the race. I just enjoyed myself and then checked my bag and made my way to my corral. Ton of photographers everywhere, taking pictures before during and after the race, I had a great time even though I was by myself.

The course itself, I was a bit disappointed about, it was supposed to be showing off Seattle's best sites, however pretty much the three quarters of the race was down Rainier Ave S, which is known to be the worst part of Seattle (bars on the windows, etc.). Only about a mile or so was on Lake Washington, we did get beautiful views of the Puget Sound almost all the way to the finish line, however it was all uphill and by that time I was getting super tired and trying to run uphill is not an easy task.

I made it though, very proud of myself and cannot wait until my next one on August 11 in Vancouver BC, the SeaWheeze Lululemon half marathon!!!!! Maybe I can make it in under 2 hours???? Probably not.

I also have the Warrior Dash coming up on July 22 and the Run for Your Lives run on August 4th. Lots to look forward to prior to the Disney runs.

Tinker bell Half marathon here I come!!!!

I finally registered for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon!!!! I'm so excited and cannot wait to go, next up the Princess half opens July 10!!!! In addition to the Tinker bell I signed up for the Never Land family fun 5k and the Kids races. My son will be 4 by the time we go, so he will be running the 200 meter dash, he is so excited about getting his own medal.

I'll be doing the Family 5k by myself, Chase is still too little and my husband is not a runner at all. In fact he probably won't even be there to watch since its so early, but oh well. I'll be dressing up as Tinker Bell and believe it or not, I'm already making/buying the pieces I need for it. That's how excited I'm about this race.

The reason I signed up for all of the races is that I don't know if I'll be running these races again. It is expensive and far for the three of us to go, so I'm taking advantage of it while there. I'll keep you posted as more info comes out. Registration is already 51% full so make sure you register if you want to race with us!!!!

Survivor Mud Run - Seattle

I had entered into a drawing for a free entry to a bunch of runs and had totally forgot about it, until I received an e-mail saying I had won an entry to the Survivor Mud Run. I was super excited, first of all I never win anything and second of all, what a cool run to do. I've never done anything like it, so I was in for sure. My husband and my 3 year old son came to support me. I couldn't get anybody to run with me since it was such short notice, but I was determined to do it anyway.

The course was 3.48 miles with I think about 20 obstacles thru mud. It was amazing, harder than I thought, but really fun, even running by myself.

If you have a chance to do it, you should. Don't miss out and I got a cool medal as well.