Race Report - Singelloop Breda 5K & Half Marathon

Yup! I did both! I signed up for the half marathon through my gym for 7.5 EUR (something like 10 USD) including entry, tech shirt (and a nice one too), refreshments and food afterwards, and goody bag... But then, my cousin and her friend decided to do the 5K and I thought it would be fun to join them.

Start of the 5K (from the Singelloop official pictures)

End of the 5K!

The start of the 5K was at 11:00. I picked them up at the train station and we made our way to the start. We ran together, I just adjusted my speed to theirs. I had my camera with me and I would occasionally speed up, find a nice corner, stop and take a picture of them. It was really fun. We finished in 35:51 and got a medal... My cousin and her friend were suffering a bit from the heat as it was already 23C (73F).

We had a drink in town, and then I went home to change (into my Half Fanatic singlet!!!), eat, and DRINK. It was getting really hot out there, and I figured I should get as much fluids in before the race as I could, especially since I did not have enough time to really eat anything serious... Again, my training was pretty minimal, except for that 1 10-miler two weeks prior...

The half marathon started at 14:00. It was close to 27 C (80 F) and we all know (well at least I know) I do not do well in the heat. So I placed myself completely at the back of the group. I must have been one of the last people to cross the starting line... The run consisted of two laps of about 10 K each.

Before, showing off the Half Fanatic singlet!

The first lap went very well. I was being very patient and deliberate with my pace. I think all my 5Ks were within 1 minute of each other. I was really really hot, but I took advantage of every kind person volunteering to drench me with his or her garden hose. I had also taken my Nathan handheld along for the ride, filled with Nuun + salt+ water. Three minutes before the end of the first loop I was lapped by our friendly Kenyans. The pack zoomed past us at an incredible speed. They finished, we started lap #2.

Mile 2: still happy!

Nathan Handheld Exchange at mile 7

The second lap was much harder. It was just too hot! And... I don't do well in two lap courses. It's kinda boring if you ask me... My legs were cramping up, I was running out of water, there were fewer spectators... Fortunately, my hubby was waiting for me with a second Nathan (same recipe). Also, a visiting buddy had found a spot where he could see me every 30 minutes (and document my disintegrating state by taking a picture) and then raced to the finish to see me there. It was a great motivator to keep going.

2 miles to go!

Well... I finished!!! In 2:09:31, so my second worst time ever (after Utrecht which was even hotter) but really, it was fun and I did a great job nutrition and pace-wise.

Done!!

Dam to Dam Race Report - 18 September 2011

I am 3 (!!!) race report behind already, with a fourth one coming on this Sunday... So this will be brief!

The Dam tot Dam is a HUGE race that has you run the 10 miles between AmsterDAM and ZaanDAM. It's a beautiful course, along many small, cute (and very wealthy) villages. I wasn't planning on running this race but a colleague received three Nike sponsored entries and offered me one... How could I refuse?!
Unfortunately, due to circumstances, I was the only one of the three actually running the race. He was kind enough to come to the start on Sunday morning to give me my number.
The race was fun, albeit wet. Thirty minutes before the start it started pouring and it did not stop until we finished. I was (very) untrained for this race (like usual) so I had zero ambitions beyond finishing...Instead, I focused on pacing (and enjoying myself...). I figured I might as well make this race part of my Ironman training...

Best outfit choice!

 Miles 1-3. The first mile was the toughest as we went throught the Ij tunnel. By Dutch standards this was a very long and steep downhill, followed by a very long and steep uphill. It did not really bug me to say the truth.
Miles 4-7. These miles were beautiful, I was having a good time! There was some faraway thunder & lightning!
Miles 8-10. The thunder & lightning got much closer. I was worried that they would cancel the race and I was SOOOO close so I picked up the pace...

I finished in 1:35:33. This was my first 10 miles so this would also be my PR :-) I did not care much about the time, but realized that 10 miles is a fantastic distance. It's like a half-marathon without that last, painful, 5K... Hmm... I guess that also means I should not run 10 miles at half-marathon pace... But you know, it was great training for the Singelloop half marathon two weeks later...

Utrecht Half Marathon - Race Report - Cruel and Unusual

I'm going to go all Dutch on you (aka direct) and tell it how it was: this race SUCKED! Obviously, it wasn't the race director's fault that it was 25+ degrees (77 Fahrenheit). BUT, the weather forecast has been showing high temperatures for more than a week, so it was absolutely INEXCUSABLE that the first two aid stations were out of water!

At least the color of my face matched my top

Now that's out of the way, let me say the following. THANK YOU to the ambulance personnel and Red Cross for being out in force on the course. Every time I saw an unconscious person by the side of the race, they were receiving professional help. Sadly, some of these people seemed to be doing quite poorly (at least one was out cold and at least on one a defibrillator was being used...). I hope they all make a full recovery (good vibes their way).

Also, a big SHOUT OUT to all these kind Utrecht residents that opened their arms (and sprinklers and hoses) to us. I very happily took advantage of every single opportunity to turn this race into a wet t-shirt contest. Fortunately, I was wearing pink!

Finally, THANK YOU to my hubby and our buddy Steve who interrupted their lovely long bike ride to wrestle the streets of Utrecht to meet me at mile 8.5 and hand me a fresh bottle of water (saved my day) that would lead me to the end. 

Now that's been said. Overall, I think I did a great job running this race. My preparation (in quantity of miles) was definitely not up to par with Egmond aan Zee. So, either way, it would not have been a stellar performance. I used this race to practice preparation and nutrition, and I think I did a great job with that. I ate breakfast at 8, then a sandwich at 11am, and then a luna bar 1/2 before the race. I also drank 2 glasses of water every 1 1/2 hours or so. I was definitely properly hydrated going into the race, but despite drinking at least two full water bottles and quite a few water cups left and right, I think I got dehydrated about 2/3 into the race. My back was hurting, something I have never suffered from before.

I ran the first three miles as planned (09:20 instead of 09:40; 09:20 and 09:00), thinking I was being conservative. I never picked up the pace... It was just too freakin' hot. I was taking a few sips of water every 1/2 mile or so, and took my first gel right on time at mile 3. At the first aid station (mile 3.X), there were three tables, but no water. I repeated the water sipping and gel taking until the next water station. Still no water. I got very mad, not so much for me, but for all those people that were working hard, trying to do their best, and being failed. The race director's chatter over the PA made it worse. What I think he said was that they were sorry there wasn't more water, but they were doing their best, there would be water later...

Approaching the hand over...

My heroes... (hubby on the right)

By then I had decided that if my hubby wasn't there to meet me at mile 8.5, I would quit. I usually am not a quitter when it comes to races (I quit a lot of my workouts instead), but being safe is much more important than finishing. I saw too many people laying on the side of the road. However, hubby was there, and I got to continue. As soon as I was out of sight though, I started walking... I was just toast. I walked for about three minutes and then started running. My splits after that point got even slower. I stopped one more time to untie my shoe laces even further, my feet were swollen beyond my usual lace allowance... 

The last 3 miles of so were pure torture. It really is cruel and unusual to put an out-n' back at the end of a race. Every 250 meters or so it looked like were were nearing the turnaround, but no. Also, in those 3 miles I had to stop twice(!) to let ambulances through and witnessed a defibrillator being used on a runner. This really scared me and made me realize that the finish time, or even finishing is not as important as being able to walk away. It's easy for me to say, I never really care about my time anyway, but I now care even less about finishing. 

Starting up again after the stop was HARD!!!

And yes, I did finish after 2:15:27 of sweltering heat (2:12:03 chip time), making me #290/491 in my category and 1650/2102 overall ( I was told 3,700 had signed up for the race). The time is my personal worst (PW), but I cannot stand heat very well (never have, even as a kid), so the fact that I was able to pace myself and drink enough was quite an achievement. Also, I was told 3,700 signed up but only When I got home and got ready for the shower, I found a forgotten water sponge stuck in my bra...

PS: Don't you love my new running outfit? The skirt is from skirtports.

CPC Loop Den Haag (Half Marathon) - Race Report

So... Not much to tell. I knew I was getting my eye laser-ing done 10 days before this race, and January and February were pretty low on training. I think I started the triathlon season a bit too enthusiastically and it bit me a bit in the bum... So instead of a race, this was supposed to be a nice long run, with 30,000 of my closest friends.

No seaside running...

And like any long run, I went at it a bit too laid back. Sunday morning (races around here start late), the hubby and I biked to our favorite hangout in Meersel-Dreef for coffee and cake (yum!). We were a bit late on the way back, so I had to rush to get my stuff together. I remembered the forecast called for rain, so I got my hat and sunglasses (needed to protect the super-eyes), my rain jacket and brand new Garmin 310XT. While my mind said to take the running capris and expensive Nike socks, my heart was set on my beautiful running skirt and pink compression socks... I stuffed it all in my pink backpack (easy for gear check-in/out) and ran out the door. I got to the station at 12:07 (train was going at 12:09), hesitated whether I should get food first and take the next train, or vice versa. Decided to make a mad dash for the train and just made it. When I got to Den Haag, I got a banana, coffee and water and ate/drank that along with my luna bar... less than an hour before the start...

Skirt & Compression Socks!

The "Mad Dash" Miles - 1-4
The start was pretty massive and crowded for a long time. Obviously, I started out too fast (sound familiar? see here, and here for two recent examples). I also got hot, really really hot very quickly, but I was waiting for the rain so I did not take my jacket off. Silly silly silly! I decided to wait until the water post at the 5K mark to drink, take a gel, and take the jacket off. 5K came and went (I should have studied the course map a bit better) and no water. It finally came right after mile 4. This is also where I realized that I was NOT going to manage to keep the pace (miles 1-4 went in 8:44, 8:35, 8:36 and 8:40). So I walked the aid station and had 1 cup of water and 1 cup of Extran (sportsdrink I had never heard of) and started running again.

The "Drinking Miles" - 5-8
I finally got to the gel around mile 6 and took my jacket off. It was so hot! And right after, the second aid station showed up and I did the water and sports drink again. Slosh, slosh, slosh. I got really nauseous from all those liquids sloshing around. The pace went south very quickly (miles 5-8 went in 09:34 (aid station), 09:00, 09:23 (aid station) and 09:34.)

How much further?

At least the outfit was awesome....

The Sloshing Miles - Miles 9-11
I gave up on the last aid station and on my gel and focused on finishing. Towards the end of mile 11 I took a walking break. We were in an area of town (Scheveningen) that I knew well, and I really did not think there was any way I could break 2 hours. I was HOT! I gave myself 1:20 (minutes, not hours!) to walk and started running again and kept at it until the end (miles 9-11 were 09:37, 09:24 and 10:14 (walking break).


The "Are we there yet" Miles - 12-13
I knew I was close to the end, and from experience, I know this is the endless part, made somewhat less fun by the guy at mile 12.5 being tended to by two ambulances and a huge collection of paramedics and cops (hope all ended well). The finish was a bit of a let down as it was in one giant mud field. I grabbed my medal, sat for a few minutes and then went to my sister's for a really nice dinner (thanks sis!). (miles 12 and 13 were 09:20 and 09:35).

Yeah! DONE!!!!

About the Race
It's a nice course, well organized race, with good crowds cheering. However, it was a bit too "big" and a bit too "sterile". Perhaps adding first names to bibs like many other races in the Netherlands do would help?
Also, I think there should have been aid stations earlier (at the 5, 10 and 15K marks instead of waiting until almost 7K and then right again at the 10K) and on both sides of the road (would have prevented lines and tripping over each other). I also think organizers should be a lot stricter with spectators making mad dashes (with kids, dogs, bicycles, strollers...) across the runners. One idiot in particular tried to bike across and ran into a runner... IDIOT!


What did I learn?
The same usual: NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A RACE! Each race requires thoughtful preparation and especially around here since races start much later in the day.

• Pre-race nutrition: make sure to take enough calories and fluids long enough before the race so that they can be digested. I did not eat enough and drank too much too late, hence the sloshing and ensuing nausea.
• During-race nutrition: make sure to know where the aid station are on the course. If they start too late, bring your own bottle that you can throw away. If the race is using a brand that you have never heard of before, try it or bring your own. I did not realize the first aid station would be so late, and that they would be so close together. Also, experimenting with Extran on the day of the race was not smart.
• Check the weather forecast, and re-check it the morning of the race. Be prepared to have to adjust your clothing during the race. Yup! I failed at that too!
• Decide on your race strategy before the race based on your training and stick to it!  I knew I probably did not have sub 2-hour in me, yet I got carried away at the start and blew up very quickly. If I had started conservatively, I may have been able to negative split the race...

My next race is on April 24th, the Utrecht half marathon. I would like to try for sub 1:55... So training starts today again!

Groet Uit Schoorl 10K - Race Report

The day before this race, I finally got around to checking out where it was taking place and how to get there. I found that getting there would involved walking to the station (15 min), taking two trains (2:35), and taking a shuttle to the start (30 mins). Hmmmmmmmm.

So on Sunday morning, we took our sweet time waking up, having breakfast, and snuggling in bed. Around nine-ish I half-heart-idly decided it was about time I packed up, which I then did very reluctantly. I left home around 09:50. After buying my train ticket, whilst waiting for my train, I decided I probably was going to need some lunch, since the 10K did not start until 1:30pm. I very wisely chose to buy a chocolate croissant (because everyone knows that French pastries are the best pre-race fuel) and two bottles of water. Obviously I got bored in the train and the croissant was gone pretty much before the train had pulled out of the station. I also had a Luna Protein bar soon after because I thought one croissant would probably not be enough.

When I finally made it to the race site, I was pleasantly surprised by how quaint the village was. Also, the 30K and half were finishing up, so it was fun to see all those people nearing the end of their race. However, except for the finish line, nothing was marked, so it took me forever to find the bag drop-off.

Once I finally did, I was worried I would be too late to the start, so made my way there. Thirty minutes later, when I found the start, I realized that if I warmed up, I probably would get sweaty, and then really be cold waiting for the start. Instead, I spent the 30 minutes I had left eating my Luna Bar, drinking my water, and freezing my butt off.


I was a bit too close to the front of the "amateurs" (the pros/elites/fast people had their own coral), but I never realized how many people were behind me. So when the gun went off, I merrily tried to keep up. Whoops.

Mile 1: I was planning on running mile 1 in 9:00 and the rest at 8:30 (I wanted to go sub-40). Instead, mile 1 flew by in 8:00 which I knew was way too fast... I just kept getting passed, which made me think I was going slow... I quickly started breathing very heavily and thought to myself that perhaps I should have used my asthma inhaler, but after a while I relaxed and was breathing fine again.

Mile 2: mile 2 went way too fast as well. 08:02. I knew I would not be able to keep this pace, but I really did not want to give up. However, this section had quite a few downhills, and I should be trying to save some time on the downhills.

Mile 3: I had officially blown up by then. Also, I was surprised at the number of downhills, and was getting worried that the second half of the race would be all uphill. Mile 3 clocked in at 8:31. I lost some time walking through the waterstation, and I also took my one gel around this time.

I passed the 5K mark in 25:56.

Mile 4: I was completely done at this point. I kept getting passed by all the people I had seen at the start that started conservatively and were negative-splitting their race! I tried to get out of their way, though :-) Mile 4 clocked in at 09:04.

Mile 5: I was sooooo tempted to walk some of this. The nature around us was breathtakingly beautiful, so I felt I should walk to savor it. My Garmin stubbornly was sticking to 4.XX miles for the longest of times. So mile 5 felt endless! It only took 09:06 though. I was also still waiting for the monster uphill....

Mile 6: ...which never came. Mile 6 had a few rolling hills, but finished off with a massive descent back into town. So by what miracle was this a "descent only" race? None. Turns out there were some pretty substantial elevation gains (according to Garmin) throughout the race, but I never realized I was going up, I only realized I was going down... So no wonder some of the miles felt so hard... I was going up in the world. I finished mile 6 in 08:32 and the last itsy bitsy (0.26 miles) in 2:11 minutes.

Total time:  53:39
Place overall 895/2327
Place women 136/900
Total elevation gain (according to Garmin) 215 ft
Average HR 189
Max HR 216 (!!!)

So... not too shabby!

Never look back...

Friday, as we were preparing for a lovely Friday night/ Saturday in Utrecht, I received an e-mail with race information for the Mastboscross on Sunday January 23rd. This struck me as odd, since the Mastboscross, a 10K through our local forest, was not supposed to be on until the 30th. Or was it?

Well, despite what my agenda and race schedule said, the 10K was on the 23rd. It did not make a huge difference to me, since I was just going to use it as a training run. A quick check of the entrant list showed there were only 18 women registered (only 13 finished), so I had a decent chance of being last. Especially, since people around here take their running *very* seriously.

On "race day" we woke up a bit late, so I ate my usual 2-bread slice breakfast. My tummy was rather unhappy about something I ate yesterday so I almost decided to stay home, but didn't. I slowly jogged the two miles to the start instead of a warm up. Even though my heart rate was too high for such a slow pace, I felt good, so I went ahead. The line for packet pick up was very short, which was great since I got there 15 minutes before the start. At 9:55 I was at the start, chatting with a co-worker and one of our students who were coincidentally also running (they rocked it).

The 5K and 10K started simultaneously, with the 10K running 5(!!!!!) laps. The gun went off and we started. I felt like everyone passed me within the first half mile, but I looked back and saw a few more people. After that I felt I was running pretty much alone the whole time. And it was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time. Seriously. I was unprepared for how challenging the course would be. There were several races going on that weekend, including a long cross race (9.8K) and the 10K. So I figured the 10K would not be a cross, but it sure felt like it. There was a lot of mud (especially after it started raining half way), a tree trunk across the road we needed to jump over, a few very steep ups and downs where you could fly down and get some speed to go back up, a lot of branches to avoid... It was cross-ier than I expected.
The first lap was painful. I went out too fast and couldn't sustain that pace. The second lap was painful too, but it was still early. My hubby got a few pictures half way through the second lap, sadly on the flatest, most devoid of trouble section.

The third lap was starting to be routine. I was recognizing all the landmarks and wondering how much longer the torture would last? My legs were toast and I realized I did not have my usual pre-race Luna bar and I probably should have brought a gel along as well. I thought "it's just a 10K", forgetting that a 10K is an hour long affair. Note to self: stay on top of nutrition. The third and fourth laps were the worst mentally, knowing that I still had to go through two, and one more time. At the end of the fourth lap, I think the announcer thought I might be turning to the right, towards the finish... Instead I took a left and he had to announce: "this lady is taking a left". Duh!!!

The last lap was good. I knew I would be seeing my buddy tree trunk and his friends mud puddles for the last time. I bade them farewell as I charged towards the finish. They also gave me a parting gift: a face plant, 100m before the finish (fortunately I was still under tree cover and almost no one saw it). I was looking behind me to see if anyone was trying to pass me, and I knew there was at least one woman behind me. I must have looked behind me a bit too long, because a root jumped out in front (probably to wave goodbye) and my foot caught it. I totally dived into the sand (fortunately not a mud pit), made a yelp, crawled back up and continued running while thinking "I hope I did not hurt anything" and fortunately I did not!

Moral of the story: never look back!

After the race, I collected my medal, chatted with colleague and student who very nicely cheered me on at the finish, ran/shuffled to work (about a mile from the race) and picked up the bike I left there on Friday. Biked home, showered, changed and biked the 30 minutes to our favorite restaurant in Meersel-Dreef (Belgium) for a lovely lunch with the hubby :-)

Egmond Half Marathon Race Report

My first race of the year (the 5K was technically still in 2010) is a fact, and was a complete success. I wasn't planning on racing the Egmond Half Marathon, until a colleague bragged that he was running it and that it was a really hard race. Hard race? Count me in!

It was that pretty! (photocredit: residencezeezicht.nl)

 The Egmond Half Marathon is considered hard, since about a third of it (7 of the 21K) is run on the beach. This is what IAAF has to say about it: "The popular but difficult race is contested partly over a North Sea beach and on a road through sand dunes." Their description was spot on. The course starts with 2 miles though the very pretty little town of Egmond-aan-Zee. After a short run in very deep sand (balance losing kind), the course reaches the harder section of the beach. During these 4 miles, the sand wasn't as much of a hardship as the wind! Boy was it blowing (in the wrong direction of course ;-) The next three miles or so were over the sand dunes, on a little winding path that went up and down, left and right. It was not paved, merely covered with hay (?!) so we would at least not sink in too deep in the mud. The last few miles were paved, so a lot easier. I was thinking I could probably finish it in 2:10, definitely in 2:05, but was secretly hoping for sub-2 hours. However, despite logging more than 120 miles in December, my only speedwork was a 5K...

Pre-Race
We flew back from the US on Friday and arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday. After an hour long nap, we woke up (or the alarm did). In a moment of inspiration, I decided to re-do our hobby room, moving every. single. piece. of. furniture. Great on the legs of course. I managed to fall asleep at a decent time, but woke up halfway through the night (jetlag). I eventually fell back asleep, but 7am came way too soon. I got up, decided on an outfit (+ backup), grabbed my gels, handhelp, ipod, and Garmin and started the trek to Egmond. I took the train to Amsterdam, and from there a colleague (the same one that goaded me into signing up) picked me up (that was very nice of him) and we drove to Heiloo, a village close to Egmond, where we took the shuttle to the race site. Pfew. When we got there, I perused the expo (and scored a really nice Saucony jacket for EUR50). I got ready, dropped my stuff, and walked the 1.5K to the start. I wasn't nervous. I was really excited about running, since I felt I had trained sufficiently for once. But I was COLD!!!

Race
The race went really well. It was a lot harder than I expected, but I was also much better prepared than I thought. I really wanted to start slow, but as usual I got carried away (and there was a downhill). Those two first miles in the town went by really fast (08:35 and 08:34).

Miles 3 to 6 were on the beach, and they were hard. I was planning on running the beach miles in about 10:00min/mile, but decided to run them on perceived effort instead and stopped caring about what Garmin said.The sand wasn't bothering me too much, but the wind was really making it difficult, so I was working hard. I managed mile 3 in 09:03, mile 4 in 09:12 and mile 5 in 09:02.

*** RANT ALERT***

During that time, this little itsy bitsy girl started drafting off of me. She was running one step behind me and was using me to shield her from the wind.  I know how big of a difference it made from the few big guys that passed me and gave me the brief reprieve from the wind). She drove me insane!!! Obviously I thought it was unfair that I was doing all the work and she was just tagging along, but mostly, I got pissed off that she would not look at me. The few times I turned around and told her (after 2 miles) that it would be nice if she went ahead, she completely ignored me. Also, she was running so close that I was worried we would trip each other up. So eventually, I started running to the right, slowing down, accelerating... She would not budge! So I just stopped dead in my tracks for three seconds, so she had to move on! She found herself a sweet older guy that probably felt flattered and followed him for the next two miles...
What do you think? Was I wrong to get annoyed?

*** END RANT***

The final miles on the beach was tough. I finished mile 6 in 09:24 and mile 7 in 09:47. This last mile was especially hard, since it included crossing the really deep unpacked sand to get off the beach, and a very steep hill through the dunes. Fortunately, mile 7 was also where the aid station was.  The next section was a path through the dunes. I got worried there, because I was hoping the section would be easier than the beach, and it wasn't. It was pretty narrow, so it was hard to pass other runners. It also was not paved, so I occasionally sunk through the mud. But I have to admit, I really liked the rolling hills, they gave my sand running muscles a bit of a break. Miles 8, 9 and 10 took respectively 09:00, 08:57 and 08:46. The last few miles that took us back to town were paved thankfully. After mile 9, my body was just about done and my brain took over. I kept on trying to calculate whether I could still break two hours. I was really just doing math for four miles. For example: to get sub-2 hours, I need to run 9:07 min/miles. Which means I need to finish the 10 miles in close to 90 minutes, etc. Those thoughts kept me going despite a strong urge to just WALK!

I crossed the finish in 1:57:08, a new PR!!!!

 

I was very excited, obviously, to have managed a PR, on such a challenging course. So secretly, at my next race (half marathon in march) I am hoping to PR again! A few things that I think contributed to this good race:

• Good training (obviously)
• Good nutrition plan (I found some great gels that don't make me gag)
• Music (this was my first race with ipod)

So, all good! Thanks for reading!

December 2010 and who knew I had it in me?

*** This is the last post in a series of 5 posts meant to catch up on five months of blogging absence*** 

December was my last month of prep for the Egmond aan Zee half marathon. I managed to run 128.4 miles according to my Garmin, my highest monthly mileage EVER. Mostly injury free too :-) We spent early December recovering from our many wonderful visitors, getting used to the piles and piles of snow that came down, and to prepare for our trip to the US.

Race of the Month: Run Into The New Year 5K
I love US races so much more than European ones. People are much relaxed and out to have a good time. So what better way to enter 2011 than a midnight 5K? So that's what I did. My in-laws joined me and walked the 1 mile while I ran the 5K. The run was entitled R.I.T.N.Y (run into the new year) and started at 11:59PM on December 31st. It was to benefit the Miracle League of the Triangle and took place on a parking lot in Cary. I had just run my last two long-ish runs of the Egmond aan Zee half marathon (January 9th) the days before so my legs were total jello. I wasn't planning on racing it hard, but it was a good opportunity to get a speed workout. I finished in 25:20, 12 seconds slower than my PR, so a good race in all. I was 3rd in my AG (30 to 39) so not shabby at all.

Wearing my Amsterdam marathon shirt

Finishing!

I was wearing my Amsterdam Marathon shirt, my new running skirt, and my new pair of shoes. I know, nothing new on race day, but this was just a good speed workout. I had to laugh (a bit) at the other runners who were looking funny at me, thinking I was underdressed. Most of them were running in compression cold wear, with multiple layers, gloves and ear muffs (?!). Obviously, 8C in the south is really cold! In contrast, this was my warmest run in at least 6 weeks...

Training this Month
Training this month was very gnarly! I managed 128.4(!!!) miles, despite the fact that there were snow and ice and sub-zero (celcsius) conditions at every single run! I think what helped is that I knew there would be no better days. When the weather is only 50% bad, it is easy to skip a run and wait for the next good day. When days are 90% bad, might as well suck it up and go ;-) So, except for three weekends, I did all of my runs in the dark and cold. My long runs were therefore special treats, as I could run in daylight with music (no music when it's dark). Some memorable long runs included a Monday night 8 miler (the ice on Sunday was too thick), 10, 11, and 13 milers in sunny snow and my last 11-miler on the Outerbanks.

The bike path I usually run on

When the weather gets nicer, I'll run IN the woods

Since everything around home is flat, I do hill repeats on the overpass

My 11-mile run on the Outerbanks, in the sun, was wonderful!

My shoes got old....

... so I got new ones, and it makes such a difference!

Travel for the Month

We kept things easy for the first part of the month, and then flew to the US to spend our 2-week vacation with my in-laws. Since the weather was pretty bad and we did not trust the Dutch railways (they are usually very reliable, but have been failing a bit too much lately), we spent the night at a new airport hotel, called the CitizenM. So far, there are only three hotels, Amsterdam city center, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and Glasgow. The concept is pretty neat: high tech, high design, for a low price. The room is pretty small with a huge bed. However, since the toilet and shower have sliding doors, it doesn't feel very small. I would, however, not recommend you share a room with someone you are not very intimate with...

Citizen M hotel room

We got to NC on the 25th, just a few hours of a mega snow storm... I was looking forward to some nice warm runs in NC, but alas, that was not to be...

Waking up on the 26th...

I did run 4 miles in this...

Instead, I had a few cold runs, and some huge amounts of good food.

Hibachi at the Crabtree Valley Mall

Ridiculous Steak Sandwich at City Beverage, Durham, NC

Then, we lived it up at the Sanderling Resort & Spa on the Outerbanks

Sunrise (jetlag after effects)

Breakfast: Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with Creme Cheese

Frozen Water (Sand Side)

Anyone up for a swim skate?

Jockeye's Ridge

Lunch after the 11-miler

Followed, soon after, by dinner...

And yes, I did get completely wasted on one cosmopolitan...

This concludes the August to December review. Next up, regular blogging...