Medal of Honor 8K & Jingle All the Way 15K aka "People Shouldn't Run Races in the Winter"
If you missed some of my previous blog posts, I'm trying to complete the Dopey Challenge in January in Orlando: a 5K on Thursday, 10K on Friday, half marathon on Saturday, and full marathon on Sunday. That's 48.6 miles over 4 consecutive days. I also suck at actually going outside and running unless I sign up and pay for a race. I guess this is why some people pay for personal training - it gets them to the gym more often than if they just had a membership somewhere and no one would notice if they miss a class or five. I will run if I sign up and pay for a race, through the heat, the rain, the snow, and more ... I never would have run this past weekend on my own! So here's my December race weekend recap, where the weather was right around freezing but felt like it was barely even 20 degrees out and the reason people shouldn't run races in the winter (or maybe I should get more acclimated to cold weather running).
The temperatures? Not so much. The race started at 9:30am, and the temps were still projected to be below freezing.
Waze took me to a different gate to get onto base at Quantico. Iwo Jima statue and a nice archway. Siri took this photo for me from the dashboard of the car in case you're wondering why it's so crooked and off-center.
Get to the start area and grab my race packet inside. I got a nice new grey beanie (which everyone around me was wearing ... I still treated that beanie like a race shirt - I think it's bad luck to wear them before you've finished a race, and the beanie was no different). I also got a complimentary 18-holes on the golf course - I'll probably see if my friend Nikole's husband Bill wants that one :)
I couldn't find the running leggins I wanted to wear today, so I went for capris with long socks underneath. Maybe it'll keep my calves super warm! Also saw this license plate while I was stretching - someone on staff must like Alabama. I took this for my friend Rachel - she's die hard "roll tide".
The emcee for the race tells this joke while I'm waiting in line that cracks me up. Remember, we are running on a golf course.
Bah-dum-chick! Super corny. I totally laughed out loud.
I also got in part of my daily fitness task for the gym's "Holiday Hustle" AND one of the bonus things: 10 burpees in public!
And we're off! They released us in waves every 2min to space folks out. I was actually in wave 2 (random assignment). This was great because I didn't have a ton of people I was passing. This also meant that as the race went on, EVERYONE KEPT PASSING ME from behind in later wave starts haha. The course started off nice and flat-ish.
And then came the hills. Those people behind my head? They're running up this hill I just conquered. The specks in the far far distance? Still people. But, what goes up must come down, so there would be an uphill followed by some downhill (see next photo). We stayed on the little path, so sometimes it was hard to pass people when you got in a big group.
And of course there was a DAMN HILL right at the very end. Nothing but the best from the Marine Corps. Snapped a quick selfie with race director Rick Nealis. Fun fact I learned when googling to make sure I spelled his last name correctly: his marathon PR was the year I was born haha. Great guy and always puts on a great race.
At the end of the race, I grabbed a hot coffee from Dunkin Donuts, a $2 gift card, and a regular donut. All the good ones I'd seen at the beginning (see second photo with lots of options) were all gone by the time I was finished with the race.
No race medal, but a nice finisher ornament for our Christmas tree! My goal was to finish under an hour, and I did! Not super fast, and totally in the bottom half of the rankings, but proud of MY race! I didn't walk at all and took some time to enjoy the surroundings and focus on running form.
This race started at 8:30AM after the 5K. Still supposed to be below freezing at the start and around freezing during the race. Did I mention that I seriously dislike running in the cold?! To add to it, my "fuel light" came on after I was past Dunkirk and there was no easy place to stop and get gas. Fingers crossed I make it to DC and back to Dunkirk before I run out of gas ...
I would almost be done now if I'd done the 5K. Actually I would be done. They started 30min earlier.
Everyone is wearing these jingle bells they gave us to put on our shoes or somewhere. They gave us one (maybe two) bells. So I'm running and all I hear is JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE ... you get the picture. It's fast. And loud. And annoying. And then, FINALLY, comes the source of the noise: two dogs wearing bell collars. Super cute, but the jingling damn near drove me crazy and it's all I could hear thanks to those new Aftershokz open ear headphones I got recently. But I can't slow down because Christmas dog leggings lady is right behind me. More on her later.
Almost a 10K done! Only 3.3 miles to go. Hains Point looks so much different now that it does during the Blue Mile of the Marine Corps Marathon. It's dreary and depressing. I've also lost feeling in my quads and glutes. I was actually slapping my butt because it felt like it was asleep or something. It's making it hard to run. Snapchat still only says 32 degrees - pretty sure it's a lie though - it felt like 20 out.
So back to Christmas dog leggings lady. She got this name from me because - hopefully you guessed it - she was wearing Christmas leggings covered with holiday dogs! At the beginning of the race, this lady is doing the run-walk method: she runs a specific time and then walks a specific time. I'd like to think it was perfectly timed with my running pace because she would walk until the EXACT MOMENT that I got next to her before she'd take off running again. I'd trot along and get next to her and away she'd go. Over and over again. At some point, she stopped to tie her shoe and I passed her - YES! She caught up with me at a water stop and back to the same craziness. It was just annoying and I'm not exactly sure why. So when I got ahead of her again at some point (I think she wound up slowing down), I was determined NOT to let her pass me again. And she didn't!
At the end of the race, I chat with this couple I'd been running near. The husband sprinted by me at the finish but I didn't have any leftover energy to even attempt to catch him (I've got one basic running speed: slow and steady). They tell me they'd been chatting about the frost on my sweater and the Christmas tree design I must've had on my bottom layer. I'm super confused because I'm wearing the mock neck turtleneck from the Marine Corps Marathon a few years ago. I can see now why they thought it was a Christmas tree, but we had a good laugh about it.
Medal of Honor 8K
This was the last race in the Marine Corps Marathon event series, and it was also added later in the running season. I think I'm over running races in December because it is always SO FLIPPIN' COLD. But at least the skies were GORGEOUS when I was leaving the house: The temperatures? Not so much. The race started at 9:30am, and the temps were still projected to be below freezing.
Waze took me to a different gate to get onto base at Quantico. Iwo Jima statue and a nice archway. Siri took this photo for me from the dashboard of the car in case you're wondering why it's so crooked and off-center.
Photo from Marine Corps Marathon's instagram story. Beautiful skies for them, too!
This was the inaugural Medal of Honor 8K race - the first time folks would be running on the Medal of Honor golf course at Quantico - so no one really had any idea what to expect. They always post an elevation chart, but I don't think I ever realize how hilly a race is going to be just by looking at it ahead of time.
They shuttled us to the start line from other parking lots. As I get on the bus, I discover we're not off to a very good start. I could not find my running gloves for the life of me. I'd picked these up a few weeks ago at Wal-mart for like $2 or something stupid cheap. The flap part that is buttoned back actually goes over the fingers to make mittens. They're great for keeping your hands warm until they're hot, and then you put the flap back and your fingers are exposed to let out some heat once you're warmed up. Also easy to text or take photos ... IF YOUR THUMB IS EXPOSED. Go ahead, look at your cell phone and think about how you text or take a photo. It's with my thumb. My thumb wasn't exposed in these, so I was hunting and pecking with my fingers and awkwardly taking photos holding the phone with one hand and using my other hand to try to press the photo button on the iphone. Stupid.
Get to the start area and grab my race packet inside. I got a nice new grey beanie (which everyone around me was wearing ... I still treated that beanie like a race shirt - I think it's bad luck to wear them before you've finished a race, and the beanie was no different). I also got a complimentary 18-holes on the golf course - I'll probably see if my friend Nikole's husband Bill wants that one :)
As I'm putting my bib on (with my cool RaceDots that don't put pin holes in all my apparel), I notice a girl walk by with a TEAM BEEF top! I didn't recognize her, so I went over and introduced myself. Turns out both of these girls (Dani and Melisa) are on Team Beef with me. We chat for a while before I head outside to try to get a pre-race pee before the lines are ridiculously long.
Yep. Snapchat says the temperature is 25 degrees out. Not only is this guy in my photo wearing a kilt in the frigid temps, he's also sporting the super controversial marathon mock neck from this year (if you've seen the front, you realize a lot of people think it's the ugliest race shirt they've ever gotten). I kinda like it. It's definitely a statement and everyone who ran that marathon can spot you from a mile away haha!
I couldn't find the running leggins I wanted to wear today, so I went for capris with long socks underneath. Maybe it'll keep my calves super warm! Also saw this license plate while I was stretching - someone on staff must like Alabama. I took this for my friend Rachel - she's die hard "roll tide".
The emcee for the race tells this joke while I'm waiting in line that cracks me up. Remember, we are running on a golf course.
"I saw a runner with two pairs of pants on.
Maybe it's because he had a hole in one!"
Bah-dum-chick! Super corny. I totally laughed out loud.
I also got in part of my daily fitness task for the gym's "Holiday Hustle" AND one of the bonus things: 10 burpees in public!
And we're off! They released us in waves every 2min to space folks out. I was actually in wave 2 (random assignment). This was great because I didn't have a ton of people I was passing. This also meant that as the race went on, EVERYONE KEPT PASSING ME from behind in later wave starts haha. The course started off nice and flat-ish.
More hills. Uphill, downhill. Hills, hills, hills. But the golf course was nice to run around!
I'm not sure where this little boy's mom was (ok, I saw her along the course, so she was nearby), but he would sprint past me and literally start walking with no warning right in front of me. I almost trampled over him multiple times. I'm glad she had him out and exercising, but I seriously was ready to strangle him towards the end of the race because I couldn't enjoy the scenery when I had to make sure not to plow him over.
And of course there was a DAMN HILL right at the very end. Nothing but the best from the Marine Corps. Snapped a quick selfie with race director Rick Nealis. Fun fact I learned when googling to make sure I spelled his last name correctly: his marathon PR was the year I was born haha. Great guy and always puts on a great race.
At the end of the race, I grabbed a hot coffee from Dunkin Donuts, a $2 gift card, and a regular donut. All the good ones I'd seen at the beginning (see second photo with lots of options) were all gone by the time I was finished with the race.
No race medal, but a nice finisher ornament for our Christmas tree! My goal was to finish under an hour, and I did! Not super fast, and totally in the bottom half of the rankings, but proud of MY race! I didn't walk at all and took some time to enjoy the surroundings and focus on running form.
A nice post-race epsom salt bath and afternoon kitty snuggles to end a cold and chilly December morning!
Jingle All the Way 15K
8K (4.97 miles) on Saturday, 15K (9.3 miles) on Sunday - seemed like a good training weekend to prep for running back-to-back days for Dopey in January. Thankfully, Zach was doing the Jingle All the Way 5K, so he picked up my race stuff earlier in the week for me. No shirt, but another beanie! This time with a fuzzy poof ball on top. Truth be told, I only signed up for this race because of the medal design. Had a yummy steak dinner with salad and couscous to "carb load".
Again, probably should've looked at the race map ahead of time. The 15K spends time along Hains Point (the loooooong orange portion to the bottom right of the race map). It is super boring and empty. And windy.
This race started at 8:30AM after the 5K. Still supposed to be below freezing at the start and around freezing during the race. Did I mention that I seriously dislike running in the cold?! To add to it, my "fuel light" came on after I was past Dunkirk and there was no easy place to stop and get gas. Fingers crossed I make it to DC and back to Dunkirk before I run out of gas ...
Open Snapchat because it puts the temperature on your photo. I'm positive it's colder than 32 degrees. My bitmoji is oddly dressed almost exactly in the same colors as I am! We are just waiting for the 15K to start. Lots of folks are dressed up in holiday outfits.
I waited here after the 15K started for what felt like 2min (but was probably more like 30sec) to see if I would see Zach on his way to the 5K finish. No clue how fast he was running, and it was cold, so away I went on this lovely 15K run.
At the first turn around, I realize how FEW people are behind me. And I start to panic. I had never even thought about a time requirement, etc. What if all the people were doing the 5K because they couldn't beat the 15K time? Ugh. My mind is going in a million different directions. Then I pass this guy that is juggling little mini-Caps hockey sticks while running. And he's not even that far behind me.
Sent a Snapchat video to the CrossFit girls along the lines of "what the hell was I thinking?!" That's pretty much my usual race video I send them from such an unflattering angle. What you may or may not be able to see in the photo is the frost on my headband and the sweat pouring over my face. Who would guess that you could sweat so profusely even when you're forming icicles on your face?!
I would almost be done now if I'd done the 5K. Actually I would be done. They started 30min earlier.
Everyone is wearing these jingle bells they gave us to put on our shoes or somewhere. They gave us one (maybe two) bells. So I'm running and all I hear is JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE ... you get the picture. It's fast. And loud. And annoying. And then, FINALLY, comes the source of the noise: two dogs wearing bell collars. Super cute, but the jingling damn near drove me crazy and it's all I could hear thanks to those new Aftershokz open ear headphones I got recently. But I can't slow down because Christmas dog leggings lady is right behind me. More on her later.
Almost a 10K done! Only 3.3 miles to go. Hains Point looks so much different now that it does during the Blue Mile of the Marine Corps Marathon. It's dreary and depressing. I've also lost feeling in my quads and glutes. I was actually slapping my butt because it felt like it was asleep or something. It's making it hard to run. Snapchat still only says 32 degrees - pretty sure it's a lie though - it felt like 20 out.
At the end of the race, I chat with this couple I'd been running near. The husband sprinted by me at the finish but I didn't have any leftover energy to even attempt to catch him (I've got one basic running speed: slow and steady). They tell me they'd been chatting about the frost on my sweater and the Christmas tree design I must've had on my bottom layer. I'm super confused because I'm wearing the mock neck turtleneck from the Marine Corps Marathon a few years ago. I can see now why they thought it was a Christmas tree, but we had a good laugh about it.
Race photobooth finisher photos:
Did it all for this cute snowman medal. And look at the adorable bird I saw on my walk back to the car.
So during the race, I was losing feeling in my hands and kept having to shake out my arms. I thought it was just because it was so cold. Come to realize after I got back to the car to take off my long sleeve marathon mock neck that when I bend my arms to run (I've never run in the mock necks before), it was literally cutting off my circulation! Look at all the lines across my arms. Made sense after the fact. I would've looked pretty funny running with my arms straight down by my side the entire race. Go ahead and imagine that. Flailing arms.
BONUS: The little snowman on the medal moves! Saw this during the Navy-Air Force half marathon earlier this fall with the airplane moving. Makes the medal even more worth it now!
When I said I was pretty close to the end, I wasn't lying. I guess someone has to be near the back/at the end. I've just never been THIS far back. Here's to running a little faster in 2019! (Let's be serious ... here's to continuing to trot along at a comfortable pace in 2019)
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