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:

Happy New Year!

Now is the time for me to start training again!  I have been running but not as consistently as I would like.  I have Andy to run with me now which is great but not quite enough

I decided to start at week five of my Couch to 10K to build back up.  I also plan to return to the Mojo group to train for the Flying Pig Half Marathon.

My 2017 race plans so far are:

Cincinnati Cyclones 5K
February 4, 2017

Bockfest 5K
March 4, 2017

Shamrock Shuffle 10K
March 18, 2017

Little Kings Mile
May 5, 2017

Flying Pig Half Marathon
May 7, 2017

Hudy 7K/14K
September 16, 2017

Queen Bee Half Marathon
October 7, 2017

I'm a Queen Bee! (October 8, 2016)

When I started running almost four years ago, I just wanted to complete a 5K.  After that I had no expectation to ever do a half marathon but I had great respect for those who did them.

Then after watching friends in the Flying Pig Half and Marathon, I thought "why not me?"

So I signed up for the Queen Bee Half.  I joined a running group for Saturday long runs.  And I did it!

Thanks to all the people who supported me before, during and after this day.  And all the work training was totally worth it!

Before the race I met up with the girls I had been training with at Mojo Running.

With the finish line in view, I saw Jody, Pam and Monica were cheering me on.

After running with Nicki for the entire race, I got a second wind and ran ahead for the last mile.

As I finished I ran through two rows of service men and women high fiving the finishers.  I was so overcome with emotion I started to cry.

Nicki and I met at the finish line for our victory hug!

Jody (my biggest fan) and her friends Pam and Monica also ran in the race and have been great supporters of my running.  Here they are with me and Nicki.

I wasn't too disappointed with my time.  I had thought I would average a 15 minute mile.  As I neared the finish my Runkeeper app was tracking me at under 14.  Unfortunately I didn't calculate the potty break I took near the halfway point.  But 14.12/mile is not too shappy!

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