Hi all,
I meant to try to keep up regularly with my blog posting about my races and my goals to get my half marathon time under two hours comfortably, but I sort of fell off the face of the planet with that. Maybe it's because I've seen SO MANY blogs about running out there. What's going to make mine any different than all the rest? I'm just your average runner.
But anyway, the 2012 season is just beginning for me so I'm going to give this thing a go and see how much I can blog about.
It'll be good for me to have a place to save my information about my races anyway.
So, here's 2011's races and results for you:
Race 1: Loop the Lakes 5K in VH: 23:03 (1st in age group, 2nd woman overall)
- I always do this one because it's in my hometown and is literally a mile away from home. This race means a lot to me since it got me back into racing after I posted a 22:46 (my PR) in 2010 and won the women's race. And, I can usually win my age group and score some sweet prizes so that's nice. Hey, I don't cherry pick on purpose, but this gives me confidence going into the racing season.
- I felt good about this especially since I was out of running from October 2010 to February 2011 with a knee injury and a blood clot - see more on that in the above post.
Race 2: NorthShore Half Marathon 5K: 23:01 (3rd/65 AG, 73/795 OA and 16/482 W)
- I'm beginning to always do this one.
- The weather for June was awesome - nice and cool and in the 60s!
- I stuck with the 5k despite really wanting to run the half. I hadn't been able to train as much w/ the injury so I felt like the half would be a safer choice.
- I achieved a course PR which is good because there is a killer hill after mile 1 on this.
Race 3: Frontier Days 10K in Arlington Heights: 49:33 (PR) (7/32 AG, 38/233 sex, 151/545 OA)
- I ran this race with Jared who was my running buddy before he moved to Michigan. He helped get me motivated especially coming off my injury.
- I ran with my iPod for the first time at this race.
- I went WAY too fast in the first mile (7:01 I believe), but still got a PR by a lot (52:40 in 2010)
- Fun Fact: it always seems to be hot, which makes sense since this is run in July.
- Fun Fact: Met the woman who writes the blog that I follow at this race.
- Fun Fact: My old mortgage loan officer runs this race every year. He's in this 50s and throws down a 5K in the low 20s. Talk about bad ass.
Race 4: Alexian Brothers Half Marathon: 1:57:25
- The 2 hour time goal was broken.
- Like the year before, it was rainy (thunderstorms), but that helped me run faster.
- I saw the woman at this race and beat her because she was having a bad race. :(
Race 5: Rock and Roll Half Marathon: 1:53:32 (PR)
- This was my first race in Chicago.
- It was awesome and part of it is run on the same course at the Chicago Marathon.
- See more on blog post on old site.
Race 6: Buffalo Grove Stampede 10K: 51:16 (BOO)
- Course PR by 2 seconds at least
- Hard course: part residential and part trial
- Good post-race party - all you can eat pancake breakfast
Race 7: Chicago Half Marathon: 1:59:04
- Almost did not break 2 hours.
- Course was super hot and it was boring (think: LSD - NO SHADE WHATSOEVER).
- Ran it on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 which was awesome, but I will probably not be running this one again.
Race 8: Highland Park Fun(d) Run 10K: 50:21
- At least I dropped my 10k time from the DISASTER in BG.
- Got to run along the Ravinia Trial - super cool and will be running here again on my last leg in the Ragnar Relay
- Got beat in the sprint by a guy w/ a belly.
- BF goes, "Wow, that guy ran it?!" when he saw the guy. I gave him the dirtiest look and I said, "Yep and he beat me."
Race 9: VHHS 5K: 22:47.3 --> almost a PR
- Went back to my high school and got to finish up on the track (nostalgia at its finest) and saw my younger sister's swim coach since he was one of the timers
- Was on my way to becoming the 1st woman overall, but got passed up toward the end by a girl who is not even in high school :(
- Was super excited about almost getting a PR, but was told by another racer that the course was short by .1, which bummed me out a bit
Race 10: BIG SUR HALF MARATHON ON MONTEREY BAY, CALIFORNIA: 1:53:51 (almost a PR)
- THE BEST RACE EVER. You run along the ocean, which is super cool in and of itself. There are no clocks along the way which actually was good for me since I wasn't freaking out about my mile times, etc. You get soup and beer at the end. And, this was my very first destination race.
- My family lives in Salinas, which is about an hour away from the course so I stayed there for a week and got to hang out w/ my family before and after the race
- My aunt, her husband and my two twin cousins volunteer at Mile 5 (and 10) which is a Lovers Point and I got to see her both times. :)
- I'm planning on going back this year if I can. It's 6 weeks after the Chicago Marathon and I think I should be in shape to run it.
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