Kirkland Half Race Recap

Booking to the finish...

Half #4 is officially on the books. PR by over 5 minutes for an official finish time of 2:05:44. Nice work for a sunny, warm hotashades day running on a pretty hilly course. It really was one of the first really hot days this year. Was in the low 70's by the time we finished, which I realize sounds silly since that is winter weather in some parts of the county. But here in Seattle, we prefer to run with a cloud cover and temps in the 50's. At least I do anyway....it's why I always preferred Cross Country to Track...give me cool and cloudy any day! But I digress....lest the sun gods think I'm ungrateful...I should probably shut it...

This race was held on Mother's Day this year and featured a Half Marathon Run/Walk, a 5K Run/Walk and a Kid's Dash. It was a smallish race (950 finishers) and was really the perfect size for the course. There was a good portion on a main road that wasn't completely blocked off, just the parking and bike lanes were...which was ok for the most part. If there were more people, it might not have been.

Not too shabby on the stats, either.....for this race, the division was bigger. I am usually in the 35-39 group but this one was 30-39. And I was still 89th! And guess what else? Out of the whole race, I came in in the middle of the pack - male and female. I feel pretty proud of that. Wanna know why? I know what it's like to come in dead last....it doesn't feel great, especially when you are on a team that is counting you to not suck. Ok, I am done patting myself on the back. It's just nice to not be last anymore. And to see that the hard work is paying off with progress in every race.

This was a pretty hilly course. But I felt like there were more downhills than uphills. Don't get me wrong, there were plenty of uphills. But also lots of long rolling downhills too. I took advantage of them and really booked down most of them; which I definitely felt in my quads afterwards. The race was also well organized, which wasn't surprising since it was a Pro-Motion event.

 One of the many hills....around mile 3-4.

 
Only real let down was the lack of carbs as post race grub. It's a huge pet peeve of mine when food runs out before I'm finished, usually, I suspect, because people who aren't running are helping themselves. Big faux paus if you ask me, which you totally did, right? I really wanted a Jamba Juice sample since it was so hot and I felt pretty dehydrated. All gone. The lady was all, "we've given away 1200 samples!" which is awesome since there were only 950 runners and I finished before half of them did.  I did find a banana but what I really wanted was some carbs! I didn't see bagels or bread...so of course as soon as I got home I made and immediately ate two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Which I think is my new favorite post race food....think I'll have to start bringing them with me! Lesson learned...bring my own post race carbs.

Overall, this was a really fun race on a beautiful course. Small field and great course support. I will definitely be doing this one again. And I was lucky enough to have two of my good friends there as my race pit crew. They got up at the crack of dawn to chauffeur me to the race, held my stuff while I was running and dutifully took pictures of me like a couple of pros. Thanks Erin and Mike! You guys sure know how to make a girl feel loved on Mother's Day!

Finally, this race was run in Blue -- I ran in honor of Army Staff Sgt. Cynthia Taylor, who was a mother and grandmother. Her sacrifice is not forgotten.

Next up, Rock and Roll on June 23rd. Very much looking forward to it for a few reasons. It'll be my first Rock and Roll race, first big race with the Wear Blue: R2R group and several of my Ragnar teammates will be running as well! Might also have to stalk SkinnyRunner, since she'll be there with Refuel with Chocolate Milk...

And with that, Man Up Month is complete and dare I say it, a success!