Category Archives: Fitness

Race Recap: Running to Remember

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Last weekend I ran the Arlington Police, Fire & Sheriff 9-11 Memorial 5k. Like most Americans I vividly remember where I was that day 11 years ago when the planes first hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. It was surreal at first. I remember thinking it must have just been an accidently plane crash when I heard about the first plane. After the second plane hit, the terrifying realization that this was not an accident set in.

During last year’s tenth anniversary of the attacks, I watched hours of footage from that day – much of it sad and horrifying, but also uplifting to remember how everyone came together for each other after the attacks. I was amazed at how many of the stories I had forgotten about. I think it’s so important to remember that day, the victims and their loved ones left behind, and one of the ways I can do that is participating in this race.

This is my second year running the local 9-11 5k that takes off from Army Navy Drive and loops through Crystal City before running by the Pentagon where another one of the terrorist planes struck that day. It’s incredibly moving to pass by the Pentagon and to see all of the law enforcement and fire fighters running together. I love the bag pipers along the course as well. Last year we finished under an American flag held up by the ladders of two fire trucks, which was amazing and I’m assuming had to be scrapped this year because of the weather.

As my last post mentioned, I haven’t been able to run as much lately due to some hip issues so this would be my first time out on the road and off of a treadmill in awhile. My plan was to take it easy and see how I felt back on the road. I put in a slow, one-hour treadmill run on Friday night and cranked out a couple miles Saturday morning also on the treadmill before spinning class. My main reason for getting some miles in that morning was that I wasn’t sure if the race would go on.

We had some pretty severe storm warnings for Saturday night, but fortunately the storm hit early enough and moved quickly enough that the race went on as scheduled with a minor delay. The start of the race was pretty chaotic and disorganized as people piled into the starting corral after the rain delay with little regard for what pace they were running. I got the biggest laugh out of a girl I passed in the first quarter mile who was telling her friend that she was going to go slow so that she wouldn’t sweat – apparently she missed the fact that one, it was raining, and two, she was running a race! Knowing what this race was about certainly puts things in perspective and kept me from getting angry.

Despite the crowded start, I still went out a little faster than I planned, finishing the first mile in about 7:15. I pulled in the reins and slowed it down a bit for the remaining 2.1, finishing in 22:49. While much slower than my PR, it was a lot better than I had expected given the circumstances and my hips only tightened up slightly after the run, but didn’t bother me during it, which seems promising.

The time was good enough for 246th overall out of 3,070 and 10th out of 504 in my age group. I also ran as part of the Pacers Ambassadors team which finished in an impressive 16th place out of 68 teams in the open division!

I encourage anyone who lives in this area to run this race next year if you haven’t yet. It’s an experience you won’t forget, and a way to always remember what happened on that tragic day.

9.11.01 Never Forget.

MCM Training Check-In

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With Labor Day weekend over and the fall fast approaching that means the Marine Corps Marathon will be here in less than two months. Less humidity will be nice, but less daylight hours usually means more runs on the treadmill for me.

The first five weeks of training went according to plan. I was getting in six runs a week even while traveling all over the place. It was fun to run some of my old routes in my hometown and to get to take in some nice views on runs up in Alex Bay.

I have a tendency to always go my hardest even on days that are supposed to be even days, and it seems that that has finally come back to bite me. My training once August hit has not been going the way I planned at all. I started noticing tightness in my hips that was really slowing me down as I tried to run, especially when I got up over five or six miles. It’s very frustrating when conditioning-wise you feel like you can keep going, but your legs don’t agree.

For the rest of August I cut down on my number of runs drastically and also haven’t done a long run of more than 10 miles. I’ve done lots of cross training in hopes of keeping up my fitness including aqua jogging, the elliptical and the stepper. This week I’m adding in spinning and body pump classes.

Unfortunately the pain seems to be increasing instead of getting better, so I might have to (gasp) have a doctor check things out. For those that know me, you know that going to a doctor is not something I readily do – but I suppose it is likely the smart thing to do so I can get back to running! In the meantime I plan to keep cross training, so as I’ll be in best shape I can when I’m able to start adding miles again.

I’m still shooting for a sub-3:35 at Marine Corps this October so I can qualify for Boston in 2014, and will do what I can to make that happen! I have 5k, 10k and 20 miler races between then and now as well that I’ve worked into my training plan. Next up is the September 11 Memorial 5k that loops by the Pentagon and is one of my favorite races – incredibly moving! Check out some pics below from last year’s race.

Race Recap: So Close, But So Far!

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I ran the Niagara Marathon on June 23 after a mini-marathon of travel where I went straight from a wedding weekend trip to St. Louis for a week-long work conference in Boston to Canada for the race. I fell just more than two minutes short of reaching my goal of qualifying for Boston – so close, but so far – but still had an amazing race experience! I bettered my PR of 3:40:36 set at last year’s Marine Corps Marathon with a 3:37:21 finish.

This was my ninth marathon, but my first small race experience. Participants in my past marathons numbered in the tens of thousands, but this one featured just more than a hundred runners. We were the third of four races on the day as others ran the 100k, 50k and half marathon distances.

My training was rushed, but pretty solid. I decided late in the game to sign up for the race, but had a solid foundation as I’d been seeing speed gains in many shorter distance races and thought I should give qualifying for Boston in 2013 a shot. I jumped into week 8 of one of the 16-week Runner’s World Challenge training plans, which had me running 6 days a week with some speedwork, hills and weekly long runs built in. I noticed the jump in mileage – I went straight from a long run of 13 miles to three consecutive weekend 20-milers – slowed me down a bit, but I was encouraged by how well my body held up to all the miles and how strong I felt.

Race day came quickly and I found myself gathered near the start line with other runners waiting for our 7:30 start. Temps were in the low 60s to start. This is my first marathon I’ve worn my Newton’s for and I will absolutely keep training and running in them. I also sported my Nathan hydration pack since there would only be aid stations every 5k. The other runners were really friendly and it had the comfortable feeling of going out for a usual Saturday group long run.

The race director called us all in and went over the ground rules without even having to use a microphone or megaphone. He reminded us to be on our best pedestrian behavior at several road crossings throughout the race since no roads were closed. I got to start right up at the front of the pack. All of this made me smile a little and relax. This was definitely not like any race I’d been in before. I went out fast. I know most wisdom says you should try to negative split a marathon (run the second half faster than the first), but based on my shortened training period, my strategy was to bank some time at the beginning and try to hang on at the end for a sub-3:35 finish.

I didn’t realize quite how quickly I was going though and needed to pull in the reins after I hit the one-mile mark in seven minutes. The out-and-back course started off running through a field before connecting with a paved trail that would follow along the Niagara River. It was billed as a relatively flat course, but I would like to know what they were comparing that to. For those that run around the D.C. area, I was expecting something like the Capital Crescent Trail and got something more like the Custis Trail.

At the 5k mark I was actually the lead woman. I couldn’t believe I was actually leading a marathon! I managed to hold on to that for the first 5 miles. The 5k mark was also the first spot I saw my support crew – my parents and boyfriend – who were amazing all morning driving from spot to spot along the course to cheer me on. They had some fun with it, writing different motivational messages on a big whiteboard and waving at me while yelling that they were enjoying breakfast from a diner around the half-way point. Being able to see them at so many points along the course was absolutely the coolest thing about a small race.

Thankfully most of the course was shaded, so I ditched my sunglasses when I passed by the “support crew” at the 10k. A slight up and down throughout the first 6 miles turned into a steep and steady, winding hill starting at 6.75 miles and not ending until just past the 8 mile point. The course was only marked in kilometers, so I was relying on my GPS for mileage. The hill took a lot out of me, especially as we went off the road into the woods for a short, but very steep section of it near the plateau. Mile 7 was by far my slowest mile, taking me 9:36  to finish.

By mile 9 or so I’d recovered from the hill – my heart rate felt like it had gone back down, my breathing was more relaxed and I settled back in. After spending most of the time under shade along the river, I ran out into the sun but got an awesome view down at the hydro-electric power plants near Niagara Falls. I cruised down a nice downhill to the halfway point and was ahead of pace by about a minute. I had to turn around and come right back up that hill unfortunately, but was able to stay right on pace.

I felt like I was starting to lose it around mile 17, but picked it up and was able to gain some time when I got to go back down that long hill I’d fought my way up in the first half. I tossed my bag aside the next time I saw Ian and the ‘rents and they refilled it and Ian handed it back about 4 miles later at the 5k point. I took advantage of water at some of the aid stops, but being such a small race you really had to stop and pick up a cup off of a table rather than just grab it on the run, so a few times I just passed them by with a wave and a thank you to the volunteers cheering me on.

I made a decision at the 20-mile point not to eat my last round of Power Bar Blasts – my gummy candies that I use to fuel along the way. I didn’t feel sick at all like I did at the 18-mile point in MCM, but I just didn’t feel like I was capable of eating anything. I’m not sure if that would have made any difference, but I’m going to try and come up with something else that’s easier to take and different from what I’ve been eating at earlier points for my next marathon.

At mile 23 I had fallen off pace, 10 seconds behind what I needed for the sub-3:35 finish. I kept telling and trying to will my legs to go faster, but they didn’t seem willing to listen. Mile 23 was rough and much slower. I picked it up a little for the last two miles, but was still too slow to get back on pace, let alone make up for the lost time. I crossed the finish line exhausted, but really happy with my new PR! I also finished 15th overall out of 109 and was the 3rd female finisher!

There was a post-race party, but unfortunately it looked like the half marathoners had done a number on the food already when I walked in. All I really wanted was a Coke, but they were out of soda and I wasn’t thrilled with the ginger ale they offered me in place of it! I looked to the pizzas and all that was left were veggie slices or ham and olive (maybe that’s a canadian thing?) – neither of which I would eat on a normal day, let alone a post-marathon day. Instead I walked hobbled over to the nearby pool for a quick post-race shower, hopped in the car and we found a great spot in Niagara on the Lakes. I quickly devoured my Coke, grilled cheese and fries, and it tasted awesome!

I’ve enjoyed the last week and half of taking it easy on running and cross-training, but I’m ready to get back into things. My official training plan for the 2012 MCM starts on Sunday – so, here I go again!

My Best Forest Gump Impression

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Last Saturday I started running, and kept on running for a lot of my day. It was my last big, long run before my upcoming marathon so I had a 20-miler on tap for the day. I was up bright and early so I could get 6 miles in before meeting up with the DC Road Runners for a 14 miler at 7.

I started out with a loop that took me over the Key Bridge, through Georgetown, down Rock Creek Parkway and back to the Iwo Jima Memorial via Memorial Bridge. The Road Runners route took me on a course I hadn’t run before, and if I’d know how hilly it was ahead of time, I might have just chosen to finish my 20 on my own! The first five miles felt like a seemingly endless uphill battle, but hills are always easier when you’ve got other runners to help push you up them. The run took me up the Custis Trail, through Zach Taylor Park and by Marymount College before a very steep downhill sent me over Chain Bridge onto the C&O path, by the Kennedy Center, back over the Memorial Bridge and up the Mount Vernon trail back through Rosslyn.

Getting ready for the Pacers Mini Relay with Blair and Lindsay

I’ve had some tough, bad-day runs over the last couple weeks, which can be pretty discouraging leading up  to a race, so I really wanted to do well on my last big test before my next marathon. My pace was a bit slower than I’ll need to qualify at 8:29 per mile, but I felt strong throughout and given the terrain we followed, I wasn’t disappointed with the time. I ran some pretty fast late miles too finishing miles 17 and 18 in close to 8 minutes each. I crashed a little at the end and slowed way down for miles 19 and 20, but instead of letting this freak me out, I’m going to hope it just had to do with the extreme ups and downs over the course and will look forward to the mostly flat marathon course I have coming up at the Niagara marathon.

One of my favorite Saturday post-long run treats is waffles, so I had my waffle iron, mixing bowl and ingredients out and ready to make things as easy as possible when I got home from the run. After a quick shower and some delicious waffles, I had a few hours to sit on the couch and ice my legs. I wasn’t done yet though.

I met up with my friend Lindsay and fellow Pacers Ambassador Blair for the Pacers Mini Relay. Pacers teamed up with Ragnar and Saucony to put this race on and it was a lot of fun. It was more of a fun run since it wasn’t a timed event and there were no winners or awards, but it was a blast and ended with a great party at the Clarendon store. The starting point was the Pacers location in Alexandria and the run went from store to store with the last leg ending at Clarendon. Blair started us off running the longest leg from the Old Town Alexandria store to the Pentagon Row location. I took off from there on a 5-mile route to their Logan Circle store, where Lindsay finished things off with the shortest, but by far the steepest leg of the race ending at the party in Clarendon.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to move very well, but was surprised how good I felt. After running my first mile in 7:25, I looked at the Garmin shocked and decided to slow it down a little, but still managed to average a 7:40 pace over the 5 miles, which left me feeling pretty good. My only issue was the lack of signage at a few spots along the course. There was no set route as you were allowed to get from point to point taking any route you wanted, but there were suggested routes and at least along my section a turn off of Rock Creek Parkway onto P street was completely unmarked. Not being familiar with that section of the trail, I would have had no idea it was where I was supposed to turn had I not seen another runner sporting an orange snap bracelet out of the corner of my eye. A small sign posted in the ground would have been really helpful, but I guess figuring out your way was also part of the fun of this event.

All participants got a commemorative pint glass at the finish filled with complimentary beer – more races should end this way! To make the day even better, a grilled cheese food truck pulled up outside of the party so Lindsay and I enjoyed delicious Vermont Cheddar Cheese sandwiches on sourdough. The event was a lot of fun and a great way to meet and mingle with other runners in the area. I can’t wait to do it again next year, but maybe next time I’ll plan better and won’t run 20 miles earlier in the day!

Best For Last

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Last Friday was one of those days I just didn’t feel like running. It’d been a busy week, I hadn’t slept much Thursday night and I was leaving early Saturday morning for a work conference. It was the last week for the Pacers Crystal Run 5k Friday series though, plus I’d signed up to volunteer beforehand, so I really didn’t want to miss out.

20120501-105953.jpgIt had been such a fun series so far. I loved the new addition of the Shoe Lab they brought to this series so runners could test out shoes before buying them. The weather has been amazing especially compared to last year. This week was a little cooler than past weeks and a bit windy, but the sun was shining and at least it wasn’t freezing!

It turned out I saved my best performance for last setting a new 5K PR, so I’m definitely glad I didn’t bail. I finished in 21:25 coming in 125 out of 1,426 overall, 13 out of 724 women and 9 out of 354 in my age group – first time cracking the top 10! I ran into some of my former boot campers who were also running – always good to see them. We enjoyed some beer and wings at Buffalo Wild Wings after the race…perfect post-race food!

After seven straight weeks of racing, I’m going to take it easy for a few while I pick my next race. Right now it looks like it’ll be the Pacers Mini Relay in June, which looks like a blast and ends with a party outside of their Clarendon store. I’m still looking for a third teammate, so let me know if you’re interested in joining!

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Crystal Run 5K Friday Take 3

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This Friday marked my sixth weekend in a row of racing and my third Friday heading
over to Crystal City after work for the Pacers 5K Friday series. I got there early again to
help out with bib pick-up before the race and was happy for another night of my favorite
race weather. It was warm and sunny, but not too hot.

Sporting my new Newtons that I bought last week (after just a week of running in them,
I’m already in love!) I didn’t need a test pair from the Shoe Lab this week, but did get a
cool free tee when I stopped by to say hi after the race! Race shirts for series entrants
were also available this week. I’m a fan of this year’s design. Pics below.

It was my slowest race of the series, but still almost a full minute faster than I was
running 5Ks last year, so I was feeling pretty good after the race. My 21:51 finish was
good for 136th of 1,381 overall, 20th of 724 females and 14th out 336 in my age group.

Last week I did a good job of keeping a steady pace, but after getting caught weaving in
and out a little bit at the start, I started pushing the pace thinking I had to make up time
and ended up hitting the first mile mark in 6:40. I wasn’t able to maintain that however,
running my second mile in 7:03 and the third in 7-flat. With just one week left, I’m hoping
for another good outing next weekend.

I followed Friday’s race up with a long run Saturday morning with the DC Road Runners
who I ran with for the first time last week. Getting up by 7:30 on a Saturday might be
normal for a lot of people, but is no small task for me, so I was pumped I was able to get
myself up again and out the door in time to run with the group.

As I mentioned in last week’s post, running with a group really helps me pick up the
pace and push myself to run faster. One of the other cool things is learning new routes
I had never ventured on before. The downside I learned this week is that there are a
whole bunch of people around to see when you take a spill along a trail. Yea… that
happened. On the plus side, I wasn’t hurt at all – except for maybe a bruised ego!

Run-Centric Weekend

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For anyone who knows me, it comes as no surprise that I spend a lot of my time running, talking about running or doing other running-related activities, but this weekend was a particularly run-centric weekend.

Friday night I headed out of work for week 2 of Pacer’s Crystal City 5k Friday series. I got there early to help out with packet pick-up before the race. My first stop was the shoe lab, however. After having a lot of success last week with a pair of racing flats from Newton, I planned to try out their Gravity performance trainer this week. As soon as  I laced them up I could tell these shoes felt great. They were super light, gripped my foot, but roomy around my toes, and had some great bounce to them.

The race actually started a few minutes late to accommodate the huge turn out of runners on a really beautiful Friday night. My pace was all over the map last week so I wanted to really focus on running a consistent pace and did a great job of it. I hit mile 1 in 6:54, crossed mile 2 at 13:53 and mile 3 at 20:47. My finish time of 21:29 took another 11 seconds off my PR! I finished 133 out of 1,426 overall, 23 out of 773 females and 16 out of 344 in my age group. I also walked away with my own pair of Newton Gravity’s thanks to a 10 percent onsite discount! (It doesn’t take much to talk me into buying new running gear.) I’m really excited to start logging some more miles in them.

Saturday morning I linked up with the DC Road Runners club for their weekly Saturday long run. This group meets right across the street from my apartment and I’ve been saying I was going to get myself up and run with them for years. This was the first time I actually went! I’ve been trying to make much more of an effort to run with groups since it makes training a little more fun and helps me push myself to run faster.

We ran a route that took us over Memorial Bridge, down the Mall, by Union Station and back down the other side of the Mall before running along the river and returning via 14th Street Bridge and the Mount Vernon Trail. Runs like this remind me why I love this city so much. No where else can you go for an early morning run past so many cool monuments, memorials and historical sites. I was also entertained by the set up and prep for the Cherry Blossom parade going on later that morning.

Sunday I volunteered to help with the early packet pick-up for the GW Parkway Classic 10 Miler and 5K. I’ve heard great things about this race and definitely plan to do it sometime. I helped out at the Clarendon store, and let me tell you – it took no small amount of will power to spend 5 hours in a Pacers and not spend any money. I did leave with several things on my wish list for my next visit there though!

New Kicks and a New PR to Kick Off the Friday 5Ks

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I love the Crystal City 5k Fridays race series. It’s such a fun race; is a nice, relatively flat course; and Pacers does an awesome job with it. I was able to run 3 of the Friday 5ks last year, and set my PR for the distance with a 22:50 finish.

I know I’m a cold-weather wimp, but I don’t think I’d be the only one to say the weather for most of last year’s races was not too fun. Last Friday was perfect, however. Sunny and close to 60 – I was in my element. My boyfriend was in town for the weekend too, so I was very excited he was going to get to see my race, cheer me on and take some pictures!

Pacers is doing a cool thing at the series this year called Shoe Lab where Mizuno, Newton and Brooks have test shoes you can try out for the race. After turning over my Nike’s and my ID as collateral, I had a pair of Newton’s racing flats on my feet. I’ve never worn racing flats so I couldn’t believe how light they felt.

I’ve been running hard lately and running a lot, so I hoped to set a new PR at this race with a goal of breaking 22 minutes by the end of the series. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with my performance and now have to readjust my goals to make them a little tougher as I blew away my old PR by 1:10 finishing in 21:40! Maybe it was the shoes?!

For some reason the first mile of this course always seems to take forever in my mind so I thought I’d gone out slow, but saw my watch read 6:46 at the one-mile mark. I slowed down a bit for mile two passing the marker in 14 minutes even, and picked it back up to a 7 minute pace for the third mile. The 6:59 pace is my first-ever sub-7 minute race pace!

The 21:40 finish was good enough to put me in 137th overall out of 1,253 finishers, 19th out of 652 females, and 12th out of 268 in my age group!

I’ve wanted to try out some Newtons since I went to a seminar they put on at Pacers in Clarendon last October. While I loved the speedy Newton flats, I’m going to give their regular performance trainers a test run this week since those would probably be a more practical purchase for the distances I’ll be running in training for the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon.

I’m already looking forward to this Friday’s race – such an awesome way to kick off the weekend. I’ll be volunteering at packet pick-up before the race so stop by and say hi if you’re there!

(Lots of pictures: courtesy of Ian Gallagher – check out his food blog for an entry on our post-race dinner date!)

3 Weekends – 3 Races: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race Recap

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For the third straight weekend I found myself lacing up my shoes for a race. This past weekend was the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, which I was particularly excited for since I’ve been denied entry through the lottery system into this one for the last few years. I love any race course that lets you take in the monuments of D.C. I’ve been running a lot recently, and I run most of the route for this course a lot, so I went in feeling pretty confident.

Race Shirt and Bib

The expo was crowded even at noon on Friday and it took a little time to get through the packet pick up and t-shirt lines, but it was well organized. Unfortunately since I’d already burned through most of my lunch break time walking to the National Building Museum and waiting in line, I didn’t get to peruse the expo booths as I normally love to do and instead had to hustle back to work.

It was also one of the most crowded start lines I’ve been in, which isn’t surprising given more than 15,000 runners came out for the race and the narrow starting roads. I also might have contributed to the over-crowding by lining up in the wrong corral. I wanted to start near the 7:30 pacer and realized after a few minutes that everyone around me had gold bibs that did not match my red one. Sorry about that!

I do wish they’d let you sign up for your corral based on an expected finish time rather than your previous best 10 miler though. While I understand this keeps people from putting a much better time than they could ever run, I’ve only run one other 10 miler – this one in fact – that I hadn’t trained for, so the time didn’t really reflect my training for this race. Regardless, the start went off without a hitch for me, and all the people squished in there helped keep me warm while waiting for the start.

It was a little chilly at the start and a bit overcast, but overall, it was pretty perfect weather for racing. I headed out with the 7:30 pacer as the course started near the National Monument and headed down the Mall past the Lincoln Memorial and over the Memorial Bridge. We hit the 1-mile mark in about 7:20 so I’m not sure why, but our pacer either decided hey, maybe he could win this race, or that we were just much too slow for him to pace and took off. I kept him in my sight for a little bit, but as we came back over the bridge and into the out and back on Rock Creek Parkway I lost him for good.

Cherry Blossom Race

I felt great as the race continued and hit the 5 mile mark in 37:15. Hains Point got the best of me though and slowed me down a little. I struggled during the Hains Point stretch at last year’s Marine Corps Marathon too, so clearly I need to get out and practice on it some more before this year’s MCM.  It’s a tough stretch, usually pretty windy as it’s a wide open space along the water. There is very little crowd support here too, although I did appreciate the guy who set up the free beer and oreos table – it gave me a good, much-needed laugh. I was a little disappointed in the crowd support (other than the volunteers who were stationed at certain points to cheer on runners) throughout the race as well. There was one stretch I think around mile 6 that had a ton of people, but they were dead silent. Runners were actually yelling things trying to get the crowd excited.

I didn’t grab water at the last two water stops thinking it was a short enough race that I didn’t need anymore. This might have been a mistake as I got an awful side-stitch cramp just after mile 8. I was able to fight through it slowing down a tad, but was thankful this wasn’t a longer race or it could have really hurt my chances.

The finish line crowd was much more energetic and the slight downhill at the end made for a good final kick into the finish line. I crossed the line at 1:16:41 – obviously a PR for this distance since I’d only run it once before. The 7:40 pace was by far the best pace I’ve kept up for any longer-distance before too, so I felt great about it. All of my races and training this year are geared around improving my time at the Marine Corps Marathon this October. I can feel that my fitness level keeps getting better and seeing this kind of progress gives me a great confidence boost.

Next up is the Pacers Crystal City 5k Friday series so I can work on my speed (and have some fun too since I love these races)!

Race Recap: Run Rogue 5k – Running for a Cause

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This Saturday I got myself up bright and early to run in the Run Rogue 5k in Fairfax. I found out about it on Facebook just a week and a half before the race, but once I learned what it was all about, I couldn’t resist signing up. This was the inaugural Run Rogue 5k race, and it was created by the Rogue Racers to honor two of their athletes who are battling brain and breast cancer. The proceeds went to Life With Cancer and the National Brain Tumor Society.

The day I found out about this race my aunt was undergoing surgery to remove two brain tumors, and it’s been just over a year since my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, which thankfully they caught at a very early stage and were able to treat. I was excited for the chance to give to these causes and help out in someway in the fight against cancer.

On race morning, I grabbed a Zipcar and zipped out to Fairfax. It was a bit overcast, but the rain managed to hold off. The start line was a bit crowded, but as the announcer aptly reminded us all – this race wasn’t an Olympic Qualifier, so be careful and have fun. After getting through a slow (well, slow for a 5k) first mile in about 7:45, I was able to pick up the pace for the next 2.1 and finish in 23:26.

It wasn’t my best time, but that’s not what this race was about and it was still a great way to start a Saturday morning! I stayed to hang around the finish line for awhile, and was able to see a lot of cancer survivors (wearing special shirts so you could spot them) cross the line. It was a really inspiring and awesome sight. I’m glad I got to be a part of it and will definitely go back next year!

I was hoping to test my luck in the post-race raffle, but as it started to get a little chillier the Fairfax Wegmans was calling my name. I took advantage of having the car for the morning and headed over to Wegmans to indulge in my favorite chicken finger sub!