A Non-Peachtree Recap + Giveaway Winner!

Happy 4th of July!

Well, for the first time since I started running, I didn't have a race on July 4. The last two years, I've done the epicly amazing Peachtree Road Race (10K) in Atlanta and am finding myself desperately missing it this year. As many a Georgia runner will tell you, you weren't considered a Georgia runner until you ran Peachtree at least once. Lucky for me, I got to run it twice... and never under my own name!

Friends after finishing the 2012 Peachtree.

This  morning, I wanted to go up to a local 5K but thought better of it and decided I'd run on my own around the city. I figured I could still at least get dressed up, represent the red, white and blue, and have my own fun. And I did. But it was hot and it got gross quick, even though I was out the door before 7:30. I'm going to start having to get up quite earlier to get through these next few weeks... June gloom is over.

I figured 4 miles for the Fourth was appropriate - but man, they were not easy!

The end of my day will look like this, filled with all the patriotic desserts I can stuff my face with - complete with fireworks and all the corresponding patriotic fun:

Yummm... I cannot wait!

In other exciting news, I get to finally pass on the super exciting prize of running Nike Women's San Francisco Half Marathon with Team in Training.

Congratulations Alex! I'll be emailing you this weekend to confirm and sending you all the information you need to know! I hope you have a BLAST and can't wait to here all about it!

What are you doing for the Fourth? Have a wonderful and safe celebration!

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race 10K

I'm so excited I got to run Peachtree again - because Heather accepted a new job in San Francisco and just got her way out there, she decided to give up her bib and gave me the opportunity to snatch it up. Thanks, lady! Last Georgia run and it's the coveted Georgia runner's race. US/world's largest 10K - and such an incredible experience, both from the runners' and I imagine the spectator's point of view. I swear that all of Atlanta comes out just to watch. It's amazing. After running last year, I just knew I wanted to run it again - so again, thanks HP! Much like last year, this was also the last day of the Runner's World Run Streak challenge - what better way to end it than with a race?

On Wednesday after work, I headed down to Kayla's place - many thanks to her and her hubby, Michael, for hosting me for a night! We headed out to Mellow Mushroom for dinner and the fabulousness that is carb-loading -- and an unexpected game of trivia! And, as every other Atlantan did, we stalked the weather. By the time we went to bed, the rain had been pushed back until 10 am, so we figured, Sweet! We'll be done by then! It was the first time I had gone to bed before midnight all week and it was such a great sleep, it was really hard to get up. Really, really hard. But regardless, race morning gets me pumped like no other and it was go time!

We brought along trash bags just in case, and I'm glad we did, even if it was only for a warm up. After hopping on the madness that was MARTA (really, on the way there it wasn't terrible) and getting to Lenox, it started sprinkling a bit, so we were really glad to still have our bags then. Kayla and Michael were in upper corrals, and decided to wait nearby in a parking deck with tons of other folks. I was a little farther back, so decided to head back in that direction and get caught up with Liz, Christina, Heather, Kara and company.

The corrals and roads were so empty - it was almost eerie, compared to the busyness of last year's corral areas! Our corral was empty until practically start time. So bizarre - but it was nice to have room to stretch out! We were still there about an early, as corral P didn't head out until 8:30, but with the rain hardly even spitting at this point, it was nice. Cool, not
miserably wet, and we could at least breathe with the seemingly little humidity.

Last race as a Georgia resident! Lucky #27!

I said all morning I wasn't sure what I was running - being that I was #moonlightingasHP she told me just to get her a PR (1:25:xx) which I knew I could at least guarantee. After this really tough run streak, and moving boxes up and down stairs all week, I wasn't sure what my legs were really capable of - my knees were tired and I felt just meh. I figured I'd see how it went come the actual start time and go from there. This was Christina's first race ever (!) so Liz was going to hang with her and I thought maybe I'd do the same, and just run for fits and giggles. I tried - really - but managed to feel pretty good once I got moving. The first mile was slow, 10:20ish, but I knew I had a little something in me to keep moving and moving faster - so I did. My second mile was somewhere in the 9:20s! Ha!

I ran the whole damn thing. I felt amazing! Clocked almost every mile under 9:30, except for Mile 4 around 9:40, and pushed hard. Cardiac Hill, the last sneaky hill, through the bobbing and the weaving, and sprinted into the finish. Truth be told, I'm not sure how, as I felt so tired just standing around waiting for the start, and voila! Magic happens.

Final chip time was 59:57. The key phrase and common knowledge is that you don't run Peachtree to PR; you run Peachtree to run Peachtree. However, considering my previous standing 10K PR was just 28 seconds faster at 59:29 - I'm calling this a win and essentially a PR, considering all the weaving and bobbing you've gotta do. I won't call it official, but it may as well be! I was alive after that run and seeing that I managed to clock in under an hour. That coveted Peachtree shirt is mine - and with a stellar time to boot. Happy day!

My legs were definitely tired all the rest of the day, so I knew I ran and raced hard, and I feel really good about that. Doug flew in in the afternoon, landing at 5, and after visiting with some friends in north Atlanta for a few hours, we headed to the Braves game - we'd been watching on TV, saw no rain, and so ended up at the stadium somewhere in the sixth inning. Doug's trying to collect all the baseball stadiums, and so we figured we had tickets, we had to at least in get some of the game to make it count. And what better all American Fourth of July festivities than baseball and fireworks? Duh.

We hit the road Saturday - I'm going to try and post each evening along our adventure, so please feel free to follow along our visits in Memphis, OKC, Albuquerque and Phoenix, and... eventually LA!


What did you do for the Fourth? Did you race anywhere - how did it go?

 

Race Report: Peachtree Road Race 10K

Oh, Peachtree. The coveted Georgia runners' race -- it's said that you can consider yourself a "Georgia runner" until you've run Peachtree. So you know it went straight on my bucket list! In case you're not aware, Peachtree is truly coveted: there's a race cap of 60,000 (I know, gulp), but the lottery takes on somewhere between 70 and 80,000 entries (more fun facts). Needless to say, I didn't get a race number. However, after much CraigsListing, Facebook posting, texting and tweeting, a friend helped me get my hands on a bib - hooray! This all happened less than two weeks ago, so I am forever grateful (shout out to Jennifer!) for helping me make this happen! Peachtree was also the perfect way to end my #RWRunStreak -- July 4th was the last intended day of the streak!

I was sad I didn't make it to the Expo. Given that all my races prior have been pretty small, local races, this would have been my first legit expo. Ah well - the photos looks insane, but it would have been so fun! 

Tuesday after work, Molly and I made our way to Atlanta for dinner with Heather, Michael, and Heather's mom and grandpa (love them; shout out for great dinner company!). We went to Osteria 832 in Highlands for some super spectacular pasta... and dessert, obviously. Great little place!

And then it was the fun night-time dash of getting our stuff together, last-minute Target run (you know, it's essential), and calling it bedtime around 11. Michael was running in the letter-less group (aka the elite guys), and Heather and I were bib-marked for D (me) and X (Heather).

Yep, hi, I'm Ashley. Not.

We had a bunch of sorority sisters running in S, so our plan was to get to the S corral before they could shoo us away. More on that to come. Our plan was to be at MARTA by 7 am, then Lenox by 7:30, which would get us to S well over an hour before our corral time (8:42).

Nothing but runners at MARTA! But not nearly as chaotic as I'd anticipated.

Required race morning shot.

Post-MARTA craziness.

I'd anticipated the whole morning being ridiculously overwhelming -- as I've gotten older, I've realized my increasingly low tolerance for crowds. And yes, there were crowds, but truthfully, it was really not as terrible as I'd psyched myself up for it to be. Sure, that photo above makes it look pretty bad, but the buzz and excitement around I think made it a little more bearable.

Omega Phi Alpha reunion at Corral S!

Flag marks the starting line. I wish I could have gotten a better shot!

We got into Corral S no problem. While they were moving us up toward the starting line, there were volunteers checking looking at bib numbers to make sure runners were they were supposed to be. We figured, worst comes to worst, Heather would just get shoved back to X. Volunteer Girl looks at Heather and says pretty timidly "Uh, that's an X... not an S," and proceeds to let us keep walking. How about a V... for Victory! S, here we come. And exactly 8:42 am, we were off! (I tell ya, for 60,000 people and nearly 20 corrals, they've got this down to a science)

I wish I had seen this awesome narrated race route prior -- I think I had a disadvantage in not knowing Atlanta well at all, so aside from hearing about Cardiac Hill, I really had no idea what I had in store. The first mile or so was just a whole lot of bobbing and weaving, which I honestly got pretty aggravated at. They made it clear on paper, signs, and from volunteers that if you were going to walk, walk on the right. Race etiquette folks, race etiquette! I wasn't super certain what kind of pace I was running, but knew I wanted to save it for the looming Cardiac Hill; and yet I finished my first mile at a 9:11 -- way faster than I thought, considering I was fighting some heavy legs the first mile. Once I hit that first mile marker though, it was as if my legs were like, "Okay, we're ready!" and felt better from there on out. Miles 2 and 3 were awesome -- crowds everywhere, bands, radio stations, restaurant giveaways to runners (frisbees, coupons, sweatbands, you name it). Mile 2 is mostly a downgrade, so a great place to get some good time without losing control; just past the 3.5 mile marker is the infamous Cardiac Hill (conveniently located by several hospitals. Intentional? I think so). I made it halfway up the hill before I walked for the first time, which I was really proud of. And from there, I was able to make it pretty strong all the way through, with a .10 walk in mile 5. I'd never felt this strong in a 10K before (considering my last one was all hills and I was sick!). Going into Mile 5, I was just at around 50 minutes; I knew that I had a sliver of a chance of breaking an hour, if not PRing for sure, which I was stoked about, given the crowds! 

The unfortunate part of the race ending in Piedmont is that not only are people starting to get tired at the end of the race, but the spectator crowds show up in full force (awesome, until they run across the road right in front of you). And seriously, that deceiving photo booth that's really like .2 from the finish is just mean - I just wanted it to be over at that point! But I finished -- official time?

39 seconds off of PR-ing -- which I would still consider a success given all the weaving and bobbing! And blast those 12-year-olds who decided it would be a great idea to run across 10th right as I was in the middle of a great stride. Holy moly though, what a great race (overall, but also for me!). I think this #RWRunStreak definitely made a difference, even if only making my legs that much stronger and able to handle a lot more. I felt amazing.

REALLY happy with my day.

Piedmont Park, post-race.

Heather's first 10K, check!

Georgia road race #12, check!

 

OPAs at the finish! We did it!

Coveted Peachtree t-shirt! I'm official!

And after fighting some crowds, riding a very painless trip home on MARTA, we were home. And off for a fabulous 4th of July with Stella and company! Pool all afternoon to help tired legs? Heaven.

 

An overall awesome, awesome 4th of July!

How was your 4th? Did you race? Or spend all day in the pool with water tasty adult beverages? Hope it was great; happy birthday, USA!