2017 Queen Bee 4 Miler

Heather, Cartoon and I ran (well walked mostly) the 2017 Queen Bee.  It was a blast with plenty of perks including crowns, flowers, medals and lots of freebies!  To top it off we also got mimosas and wine at the after party.

Nicki was supposed to join us but had a calf injury and Auriel met up with us before and after the race but ran much better than us.

The course was a lot of uphill for the first two miles and back down for the second two miles.  We are thinking about the half marathon next year.  Mostly because the hardest part of the Half is included in the 4 Miler anyway.

I found their names on the board at the Expo.

Here we are before the race.

We made it to the finish line.

And on to the party!

Heather and Cartoon enjoyed the band and dancing.

And here is what we came home to.  She loved our swag and wasn't too disappointed not to get to go.

5th Hudy 7K - September 15, 2017

Finally!  We did a race together.  Unfortunately Jody double-booked herself and is in Croatia but the rest of us ran.

Cartoon's thrift store stroller ($9 minus 20%) has proven to be a very successfully purchase.  Andy pushed Sonia while the rest of us ran.

Cartoon finished her first ever race!  Heather, Matt and I added another medal to our collection.

Nicki and I signed up for the beer series next year at a reduced rate with a free long sleeve tee that says "B Double E, Double R U N - Brew Hog in training."  We are so excited!

Some of the group had to leave early but the rest of us stayed for coneys and a few beers.  And Sonia got to see the Queen Bee, Flying Pig and Fiona.

I love this race!  It truly is the race that thinks it's a party!!

Running with friends

I've been running with Cartoon along with Andy and Sonia in her new/used jogging stroller.  It started with the same C25K app that I used in the beginning.  And trying to plan it around trips to Starbucks at the end.  We are super excited for the Hudy 7K.

I'm also still running with Nicki (who is also running the Hudy 7K) and we recently started running on the bike trails outside of town.  She took me to the DeWitt cabin which I have always wanted to see.

And this quote from Runner's World that I have been living by:
“It’s funny how much better something is when you do it on your own terms.”

Keeping on

I'm still running but starting back on the 10K plan to get my short runs back to a successful place.  My next race is the Hudy 7K and hopefully we will have a big group.

I have had to resist many invitations to do longer races, keeping in mind that I want to be back to running full 5 and 10Ks.

Until then, stay tuned.  I'm running 2-3 times a week and I feel great!

2017 Flying Pig Half Marathon

What can I say?  It was hilly.  It was hard.  It has great swag.  I did it!

Swag from the Expo.

Ready to go!

Overlooking the Ohio River in Eden Park

This dog ran the race.  Her name was Ginger and she ran without a leash.

Her owner says she has run over 200 races.

After the race, ready to head home.

 

Time out

A couple weeks ago I started having upper back pain.  It wasn't too bad so I continued to run including an eight mile interval run on Saturday with my MoJo friends.  Unfortunately that was the last good run I had.

The solution I found was to go to a chiropractor.  I've never been to one so I was unsure of what to expect.  I knew it wasn't covered by my health insurance.  As it turned out I should have found one that was in network so at least it would apply to my deductible.

Anyway... $340 and five treatments (and one pending) later I made the decision to defer my Flying Pig Half Marathon registration.  I was never convinced I really wanted to do it and the deadline was two days before the race.

When I woke up on today and knew that was the last day to defer, I considered several things.  Was I feeling better? yes  Did I want to defer (for a cost of $20) and have it hanging over my head for another year? no  Could I do it? yes

Nicki had said that she was okay with me having to walk alot of the course if necessary so I made the decision to do it.   The expo is tomorrow.

Shamrock Shuffle 2017 - 5th year, 1st 10K

In 2013 I ran my first ever race, the Shamrock Shuffle 5K.  It was a little short of 3.1 but I did it.  This year, four years later, I ran the 10K.  While the 5K is pretty flat, the 10K includes the Beckett Ridge hill but I did it.

It was cold, sometimes windy, but at least no rain this year.  Some year I hope it is a beautiful day so we can all really enjoy the beer and food afterward.

My stats were okay.  I was under 13 min/mile so I felt good about that:

And I really like the shirt this year.

Well that was disappointing... (Bockfest 2017)

This was going to be the funnest race ever!  Jody came down from Chicago, Andy took off work, and Matt and Heather were going to be Brew Hogs with me again.  I was so excited!

We woke up the morning of the race to snow.

By the time we made it to I-275 the roads had gotten somewhat better and we were okay on time to get there.  Then, there was a wreck ahead of us that closed the interstate for three hours.

Jody, Matt and Heather arrived in time for the start but didn't run without Andy and me.  We arrived an hour late, got our medals (which we will use as bottle openers) and used our ticket vouchers to drink our free beers and skyline coneys.

And Sonia did get to meet the sausage queen.

Oh well, maybe next year we will get a hotel downtown just in case.

2017 Cyclones 5K

This year the race was a little different.  It wasn't organized by the Pink Ribbon Girls.  They added a 10K.  And I did not like the shirts (I'll save the image for later).

But it was a good group with Matt, Heather, Andrea, Auriel and Jessica and Melissa.

It was freezing, about 12 degrees at the start.

My time wasn't bad even though I did walk a bit (I think maybe the distance was short but I don't care because I did it!).
I was 7th out of 38 in my age group:
     7     Clark,Suzanne 35:05.3 11:19

Andrea and Auriel ran the 10K together.

It was a good start to a new race season.

 

PS. Here are the shirts: