I always say that I am more of a “blogging runner” than a running blogger. I do like to write about running, races and tips/tricks for running but that is not enough to call this a running blog. That said here is my running recap of the third quarter of 2016. It was definitely my toughest (and one of my most humbling) running quarters in a LONG time. It was also filled with milestones, tons of friends, lots of smiles and laughs and fun.
# of Races Run this Quarter– 5 -one marathon (San Francisco), two 5Ks (Esprit de She, Humboldt Park), one 4 miler, one 10 miler (Waterfall Glen Extreme 10) and 1 10K fun run. Due to travel and life in general, I ran no races in September this year – for the first time since I can’t remember when! I’ll provide brief recaps and photos below!
Rave Run Location: Sloan Lake in Denver
Miles Run This Quarter: 550 – which averages to ~6 per day – though I don’t run every day. 46.4 miles were in races.
Falls: None that I can think of! Woot!
Personal Records (PRs): 0 – no surprises here. I didn’t run any new distances or super fast courses.
Toughest Conditions: This whole quarter was tough for me. I was pretty over-trained and worn out. Plus, I’m terrible in humidity and we had a lot of that! I ran my slowest 10 mile race EVER and San Francisco was my 2nd slowest marathon ever. I haven’t had a bad quarter in the last 5 years, so I can’t complain TOO much. I’m still grateful to be running and I’m happy to report that I’m starting to feel better after running less miles/races this quarter.
Celeb Sightings and Cool Meet Ups: I ran with Dean Karnazes again at the SF Shake Out Run and in the marathon for a bit. I saw Kimberly again when she visited and met Lauren in Baltimore last week.
New Running Goodies that I tried:
Popular Running Posts:
- 20th Anniversary SF Marathon Report
- #TBT My First Marathon – 1996 SF Marathon
- 2Q 2016 Running Round Up
Races Planned for Q4: Prairie State Half Marathon and NYC Marathon. That’s really it, I think! I want to start 2017 refreshed. I may do a few races for fun if I feel like it!
Brief Race Reports – I included a few “how I did” postscripts on posts that I wrote on race days. Here is a brief recap of the races I ran this quarter:
1. Four on the Fourth – Elmhurst, IL July 4, 2016 I’ve always wanted to do this four miler on July 4th, but it is usually hot as Hades. This year was fairly mild. Brooke and I went out and had a really fun morning. I wasn’t as fast as last July in short races, but I had fun!
The Results: Net time: 28:49 (7:14/mile pace). Overall place 204 of 896. Gender place 43 of 419. Division place 2 of 38 in women 40-44.
2. Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 – Darien, IL July 9, 2016 – This is a pretty tough 10 miler as it’s on a hilly route on a crushed gravel trail and is often really hot. This year’s weather was not too bad. Josh and I had been running at WFG a ton so I expected to do pretty well. It was not my day and I had rubber legs. This was the slowest 10 mile race I’ve EVER run and the only one ever over 1:20 (8:20 pace). That said, it was a fun morning with friends and I was still happy to finish. Plus, Amanda won the race in her debut 10 miler! Woot!
The Results: Net time: 1:21.47 (8:11/mile). Overall place 91 of 572. Gender place 15 of 289. Division place 2 of 51 in women 40-44.
3. Esprit de She 5K, Chicago, IL – July 21, 2016 – I was a race ambassador for Esprit de She again. It was super hot this year so they cancelled the 10K and we all ran 5K. We had a group of five and some other friends there. Some of the gals bailed this year for travel and heat reasons. We were all a lot slower than last year (1:15 for me) but this was faster than I expected to run! (It was about 90 and the feels like was ~100.) The after party was still fun. Kristin, Amanda, Megan, Di and I hung around until the storms rolled in and then we bolted. This race is a great tradition – I’ll be back!
The Results: Net time: 22:46 (7:20/mile). Overall place 9/1,243. Gender place 8 of 1,233. Division place 1 of 327 in women 40-44.
4. The San Francisco Marathon – July 31, 2016 (recap)– This race was the 20th anniversary of my first marathon so I went all in. I invited all my friends and applied to be a race ambassador. I adopted the hashtag “beat1996” and decided to try to beat my first time. I expected it to be pretty easy based on the last 5 years of marathons. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t. I didn’t beat 1996. I had a very tough day, but I made it through. I had the best time with my friends and at the end of the day it’s about fun. I am so grateful and humbled by the love and support I received for my anniversary run. It was an awesome day and weekend.
The Results: Net time: 4:09.09 (9:31/mile). Overall place 1,887 of 6,335. Gender place 377 of 2,163. Division place 46 of 277 in women 40-44.
5. Humboldt Park 5K, Chicago, IL – August 14, 2016– My expectations were pretty low coming off SF and I decided to run 7 miles to the start to make it a 10 mile day. I met Molly for her first race back since having a baby. The temps were pretty nice – not too bad for August. This is a super fun, small local race. Last year, Kelli was first and I was second. My time was just under 21 minutes. This year’s female winner ran a 16:16! Inspired by the Olympics?! Molly did awesome and we had a great time. I was very happy to be out there.
The Results: Net time: 22:17 (7:10/mile). Overall place 45 of 688. Gender place 14 of 470. Division place 1 of 55 in women 40-44.
6. Run10Feed10 10K, Chicago, IL – September 8, 2016 (Fun Run) – They made this a fun run this year and held it on Thursday night downtown instead of a race on Saturday morning in Lincoln Park. Amanda, Allison, Linda and I were pacers. It was a pretty warm night and crowded on the path. We did our best, enjoyed the run for a great cause (10 meals to those in need per runner) and scored some fun loot.
This was a tough quarter for me after many good ones in a row. I’m optimistic that 4Q16 will be better, but if not, I’ll still be smiling as long as I can run!
How was your third quarter in running? Please tell me about it in the comments!