Race Recap – Surf N Santa 5 miler 2017

This is one of my favorite races to do each holiday season.  The combination of the Santa suit and running under the holiday lights is fantastic!  Its also part of J&A Racing’s Triple Jog Dare.

Packet Pickup and Expo

I decided to pick up the packet on race day.  I got there around 2:30 for a 4:30 race.  I got my Santa suit, tshirt, and hung out for awhile.

Race Day Conditions/Attire

The temperature was around the mid-40s.  I decided to wear running tights and a long sleeved shirt under my Santa suit.  In retrospect, it was a little warm.

Pre Race

I got lined up in my corral about 15 minutes before the race.  Last year, this race broke a world record for a santa run.  This year, they weren’t trying to break the record, so there was a wider variety of holiday outfits.  However, as you can see from this picture at the start line – there were still a lot of santas!

Race Time

The course was a little different this year, but the overall course was unchanged.  We ran through about 20 blocks of lights on the boardwalk.  It was a ton of fun, and I snapchatted the lights a lot of the way.

There were a lot of bars along the oceanfront having Christmas parties, and we saw lots of people in costume.  Some of the santas from the run took a break from running to grab shots at the bars.

The 5 miles ticked off pretty quickly, even though I was walking instead of running.  The race finishes inside the convention center, which is a ton of fun!  I finished in 1:23:10.

After Party

I collected my medal for the race, and my medal for the Triple Job Dare (Wicked 10k, Norfolk Harbor 5k and Surf N Santa 5 miler).  I wasn’t really interested in the soup they had or in the beer, so I just hit the road.

 

Did you do any holiday runs this year? Have you ever done a Santa run?

 

Race Recap: Surf-N-Santa 5 Miler 2016

This Christmas race is always a favorite of mine, but this year was extra special.  We were trying to break a world record for a Santa run.  It required us to wear a very specific Santa suit – jacket, pants, beard, hat and belt.

Spoiler alert: We got the world record!!!!!I am a Guinness Book of World Record holder 🙂

Packet Pickup and Expo

Since the race started at 4:30pm, I opted to do race day pickup.  I arrived around 2pm and I picked up my packet.  I wanted a lot of time to get ready because I knew I had to sort out the special Santa suit. They had special alteration stations set up.

Race Day Conditions/Attire

The temperature race day was a little warmer than I hoped. It was in the high 50s, and because I knew I had to wear real clothes under the santa suit, I knew I’d be a little warm.  I may or may not have sweated through my hat…

 

Pre-Race

I just hung out and watched all the people in their Santa costumes.  It was pretty comical to see thousands of Santas all together in one area.

I got dressed about a half hour before the race, and then headed to my corral.

Race Time

I love this race.  I started off running, but planned on walking most of the race.  Miles 1 and 2 were fairly uneventful.  I loved getting to see all the lights on the boardwalk and even stopped and snapped a few pictures.

After the halfway mark, I started walking/running some.  I was kind of ready to be done after we finished running through the lights, because the rest of the race is just through the city streets in the dark, which is only but so interesting.

After Party

I was able to get my medal and my Triple Jog Dare medal – which is awesome!!!!

 

 

They gave out gloves as a finisher item, which is pretty awesome, because I lost my pair from a few years ago at this year’s Shamrock.  I had part of a beer and some of the sausage and potato soup, but I was ready to head home and get the Santa suit off!

I wore my Santa outfit to Chick Fila to pick up dinner and gave the girl at the drive through a little giggle.

Do you do any Christmas races? Have you ever tried to break a work record?

Weekly Update – 12/12/2016

Despite some work stress, this past week and weekend was a pretty good one.  We got to spend some great time with family, some great time together, and get a lot of fun (and practical) stuff done!

Monday

Monday was a pretty uneventful day.  I had hoped to get to the gym, but both Michael and I worked late.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, we went to my dad and stepmom’s house to make Christmas cookies!  It was a ton of fun!

Wednesday

House progress as of Wednesday morning!

Michael and I have committed to try to have more quality time together, so Wednesday night was that night this week.  We try to avoid distractions, no phones, no work, no TV…maybe some Christmas music.  Its a great time to spend time talking and connecting without the distractions of the world.  In a world that is so busy all the time, its really nice.

Thursday-Friday

Thursday was relatively uneventful.  On both Thursday and Friday, I ended up working late.  We tend to have a lot of “clean-up” type work that goes on in the month of December and due to some changes at work, a lot of that work falls on me.  I don’t mind working late on weeknights, but Friday nights are a little tough.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, we got some Christmas wrapping done, and made a game plan to get the rest of the shopping done.  Michael went out and did some of that, while I packed a few more boxes to go into storage.

Saturday afternoon was the Surf-N-Santa 5 miler.  This is a favorite Christmas race of mine, and its the third and final race in the Triple Jog Challenge I signed up for this year with J&A racing.  More to come in a recap!

Sunday

Sunday was super bittersweet.  I have played on the worship team at my church for 6 years, and attended that church for 10 years (since the church began!).  Sunday was my last day on the worship team, and likely our last week attending the church.   The church is moving to a location over 45 minutes away from where we live.  The commute has become really difficult for us to be really engaged with the church.  We are going to be looking at a few wonderful churches closer to home – one just minutes away.

We also check on our house! WOW- Check out the progress this week!

After church, we grabbed lunch at Panera.  Then we went to Kohls for a few more Christmas gifts.  I got a new winter coat while we were there.  I’ve had the same coats for years and they are starting to get worn out, some of the lining has tears, etc.  I got a peacoat so that it is nice enough to wear to work.  We went to the Verizon store next and got our new phones!  We were due in January, but they had a really good deal on the iPhone 7 (for me) and Galaxy S7 Edge (for Michael). We also ran to the grocery store for the essentials and stuff for Christmas day.

We spent the rest of the day getting chores done at home.  My mom and stepdad came by for a little bit because we had some bad storms and it knocked out their power.

How was your week? Are you done Christmas shopping?

 

 

 

2015 – A Year in Review

I wanted to take some time and look back at the last year and all of the things that happened in life.  While this year may not have been a banner year for running for me, it was such a huge year of change and growth.

January

January was relatively uneventful.  I continued working out, failed at committing to a training schedule for Shamrock, and started to write Stitch Fix reviews.

February

February was the month of snow.  I missed so many workouts due to bad weather and being snowed in or the gym being closed.  I also decided to defer Shamrock.

March

In March I got the cold from hell.  I also ran Shamrock 8k instead of the Dolphin Challenge.

April

In April, we moved Michael’s stuff into my townhouse, got diagnosed with plantar fasciitis, started PT, went to Florida for work, saw Jewel in concert, creeped on Wanda Sykes at an airport, got sick again, and turned 28!

May

In May, I got sick again, got a corneal abrasion from my contacts, did ALL the wedding stuff, had a wedding shower at work, cheated on my PT, had my bachelorette party, and did more wedding stuff!

June

In June, Michael and I got married!

Also in June: Danny and Nicole decided to leave the gym, I changed my name, my cousin got married,  I watched Danny and Nicole(my trainers) get ENGAGED, I got to meet my nephew 🙂

July

I finally made it back to yoga in July, started doing protein shakes, and we went to Nags Head with my family.

August

In August I went to a casino for the first time, we visited my brother, and I started playing Fantasy football.

September

I started really loving yoga, went to more casinos, started going to ODU football games and enjoyed the fall.

October

My church celebrated its 9 year anniversary, my husband ruined a pot, Crawlin Crab 5k was cancelled and rescheduled due to a hurricane, I took a training class and got a certification, I went on a work conference and took a fall vacation. I also did the Wicked 10k.

November

We bought a new car, we did some early Christmas shopping, I ran the Harbor Lights 5k, saw the new Hunger Games movie, enjoyed Thanksgiving with family, and went Black Friday shopping.

December

I got pampered at the Red Door Spa, cleaned out my closet, ran the Surf-N-Santa 5 miler, and celebrated Christmas with my family.

 How was 2015 for you? What are you looking forward to in 2016?

Race Recap – Surf-N-Santa 5 Miler 2015

All I’ve done this year are J&A Races.  I think I have a bit of a problem.  I think anyone that has done one knows how incredibly organized they are!!!

Packet Pickup and Expo

Since the race started at 4:30pm, I opted to do race day pickup.  We arrived at 3pm and I picked up my packet.  I realized that the bib had my maiden name on it, instead of my married name.  I didn’t think it was a big deal so I just let it go.

As Michael and I were sitting around, I realized it did matter! Since I did the Wicked 10k, Harbor Lights 5k, and now Surf-N-Santa 5 miler, I was eligible for the “Triple Jog Dare” which earned me a special medal.  I realized by looking around that those eligible people had a special bib.  So I went back into the expo, explained the situation, and they gave me a special sticker to put on my bib so that I would get my medal at the end.

Crisis averted!

Race Day Conditions/Attire

Although it has been extremely unseasonable warm in VA this fall/early winter, we had a cold snap this weekend.  Highs were only in the 40s, and the temperature was sure to drop as the sun went down.  Also the boardwalk is known for being particularly windy, so I was prepared.

I opted for long leggings, a long sleeved shirt and a vest.  I also wore a headband that covered my ears, but that came off after the first half mile…

Pre-Race

After packet pickup, Michael and I hung around and did a lot of people watching.  Lots of good costumes!

I headed to my corral about 15 minutes before the race started.  Then they delayed for 5 minutes.  I think they kicked off all the Team Hoyt participants at 4:30 instead of 5 minutes early.  They seemed to space the corrals out pretty well.

Race Time

My corral started…and then we immediately ran into walkers from the corral before us.  I respect all levels of fitness, but I just want people to be true to their corral! If I know I’m running slower than the corral I’m assigned…I start back a corral.  But I digress.

I ran the first mile, then started alternating run/walk every quarter mile. Mile 1 flew by, and the first water stop and first turn around appeared very quickly.  Miles 2-3 were pretty fast too (with the wind at our backs!), as we were on the boardwalk and taking in all the lights.  I managed to snap a few pictures:

Mile 4 was actually a really great mile for me.  I felt fantastic and felt as if I had a ton of energy.  Unfortunately, the turnaround brought on the wind, so I started getting much colder.

Mile 5 was rough as it was the most boring part of the race in terms of scenery, and it was dark, so most of my time was spent concentrating on not tripping.  I knew I was set to be under 1:15:00, so I pushed on and finished strong into the convention center at 1:13:21.

After Party

I was able to get my medal and my Triple Jog Dare medal – which is awesome!!!!

They gave out beanie hats as a finisher item, which is pretty cool.   I scarfed down my granola bar and my water and headed for the beer.  They had Sam Adams – so I enjoyed a nice winter lager.  They had a potato and sausage soup.  It was good, but after a few bites, I was done with it.

The band was wonderful (as they always are), and I thoroughly enjoyed an inside party. All in all, a good race.

Do you do any Christmas races? Have you ever earned extra medals for doing a race series?

Weekly Update – 12/14/15

Monday

Monday was a TERRIBLE day at work.  Just one of those bad days.  If I didn’t have plans, yoga would have been so beneficial to go to!

Instead, we went to my high school’s Christmas Chorus concert.  I was in chorus in high school and I always love going back and revisiting! I may be biased, but they sounded amazing.  There is nothing more amazing to me than a good chamber choir singing a capella. At the end of the concert, they invite any alumni up to sing “Joy to the World.” Its an arrangement that’s been done at the school since the 70s.

Tuesday

I ran into my yoga friend Debbie, and we hit the ellipticals and chatted.  I did about 2.5 miles.  Not my hardest workout, but certainly fun 🙂

Wednesday

Yoga was particularly tough for me.  I was having a really bad day with my balance, so I ended up taking modifications.  I haven’t had a really off day in yoga for awhile, so mentally that was a little rough for me.

Thursday

I was bad and skipped the gym on Thursday.  I had to run some errands after work and stop by my mom’s house.  She ended up cooking me dinner and I spent some time with her.  Tis the season, right?

Friday

I had Friday off.  I know, I’m spoiled rotten saving my vacation days like that.  I slept in some, watched a Hallmark movie, then had lunch with my dad.  We got some Christmas shopping done afterward, which was nice.  It was the first cold day in awhile…finally felt like Christmastime!  I was able to spend some time with my good friends and grab some coffee at Starbucks.

Saturday

Slept in on Saturday and had a lazy morning. We left about 2pm to head out to Virginia Beach since  Saturday was the Surf-N-Santa 5-miler! Always a favorite. More on that in another post, but it was a good (COLD) time! We came home and warmed up on the couch with some TV.

Sunday

After church on Sunday, we went to see Michael’s parents and celebrate Christmas with them and his brother! Lots of good food and a fun time with family!

How was your week? Any Christmas runs?

 

Fall Races

I have a bunch of fall races coming up. Normally I’d be super excited about that, except I haven’t run since like….April.  I’m still dealing with some plantar fasciitis issues.  I know that the structure and anatomy of my feet is such that I’ll probably continue to be plagued with issues for awhile.  I haven’t been even walking a lot due to the stress and pain it puts on my feet, much less running.

Here’s my fall schedule:

October 3, 2015 – Crawlin Crab 5k (Virginia Beach, VA)

October 31, 2015 – Wicked 10k (Virginia Beach, VA)

November 21, 2015 – Harbor Lights 5k (Virginia Beach, VA)

December 19, 2015 – Surf N Santa 5 Miler (Virginia Beach, VA)

I don’t have anything longer than a 10k.  Quite frankly, I could walk all of these, no problem (until the next day when my feet kill me!) But I’d really like to run them.  My first race just over a month away.  I’m going to focus on going back to yoga, getting my mobility and strength back and finding ways to get conditioning in without killing my feet.

The awesome thing about these races is that they are a ton of fun and I always know a bunch of people doing them.  I’m at a place where I want running to be fun again, so I’m not gonna worry about anything but having fun! Here’s to a stress free fall schedule!

 

What does your fall schedule look like?  What race are you most looking forward to?