Thursday Workout: Hill Repeats

I'll be the first to admit that I really dislike running hills, but with the Safari Park Half rapidly approaching, I figured that I'd practice my hills.And SO came along with me! Each time up the hill was about 0.16 miles--not very far, but I will be the first to admit that I was feeling the burn after the first time up. In total, I went up the hill 5 times before a short half mile cool down run back to SO's house. Was it the hardest run I've ever done? No, but it was a good workout that I'll be excited to do again in the future. Here's the hill, by the way:

Viva Las Vegas! A Recap of Our Trip to Nevada

As my mom facetiously told me in the car this morning, I finally got my Spring Break for this year. A negative effect of working at one college and attending another is that their individual Spring Breaks never happen to coincide with one another. When I finally got to escape work and classes this past weekend, Mom was right. I really did finally get to have a spring vacation and it could not have been more fun.

On Friday morning, my mom TJ and I topped off the gas tank for $4.17 per gallon (OUCH!) and headed down the highway to Vegas just before 10a.m. Both the weather and the company were nice, so the ride was pretty fun and laidback.

Checking in once we got to Vegas was really simple and fun. TJ and I were staying in the Towers of the Luxor Hotel and I have to say that I was absolutely blown away with every interaction we had on the Strip. Everyone was really hospitable and giving. My only complaint was that the hotel was an absolute maze, so I had a really hard time finding my way around the facilities until after the race on Saturday. We were able to manage our way in and out of the hotel, though, to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame before dinner that evening. For those who don't know, the PHF is by far my favorite thing in Vegas and if you haven’t been before, I highly encourage you to check it out. All of the machines are playable and even though TJ didn’t think she was going to enjoy herself, she ended up having an absolute ball—pun intended.

Fast forward to race day morning. TJ and I were awake bright and early by 4am. Room service was precisely—and impressively—right on time with breakfast. I took a bit of a gamble and went for bacon, eggs, and my standard 12oz can of Diet Dr. Pepper. TJ went for a Power Bar. (Mine tasted better and I was able to save the fruit for later…)

By the time we were completely finished with race prep and dressed for our race, it was 4:30 and both of us were getting antsy to find our shuttles before the line got too crazy. We were lucky to find a fellow racer from Indianapolis who had figured out where to go and within no time we were out at the shuttles to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It felt good to be out in the cool air before we left, but in all honesty I was a bit nervous about taking the shuttle to the Speedway. Our bus driver actually had to ask where we were going, but it all turned out well and we didn't end up lost somewhere in the boonies of Nevada.

We got to the LVMS right before sunrise and after that everything went remarkably well. The race directors did a phenomenal job. They even parked the Shelby Mustang that they were giving away (and using as the pace car) right in front of the start/finish line for us to take photographs with before race time. Isn’t it an incredible car? We didn’t win it, but it still really neat that they let us look at it up close before things got going.

Around 6:35am is when things started to get fun. I ran into one of my favorite people in the world, Claudia. Neither of us was sure if we’d see each other this trip, but because of her adorable gold running skirt I was able to find her quite easily once she got to the track. We ended up racing with each other the entire 13.49 (Uh, yeah, USTAF, my booty) mile course, catching up and making pacts to race with each other again in upcoming events. The course was nice and scenic with a great view of the local mountains and even the Strip, but there was very little shade. The heat got to us around Mile 8 and we quickly went from being runners to power walkers to prevent from getting some nasty heat stroke. It was still really fun, though. By the time we finished, the asphalt had easily reached 90°F and despite all of the Gatorade and water that we’d been drinking and tossing over our heads to try and stay cool, we were still incredibly hot by the time we got our medals. And speaking of medals, look at how awesome they were! I have to give Claudia all the credit for this photograph, but look at how cool the design was. So classy!

Overall, the race was really fun, especially with friends and family there to enjoy it with us. The volunteers and race coordinators did an incredible job at keeping us safe and hydrated out in the desert. I was impressed, but the number one thing that was on our minds once we knew that we were going to finish the race was the car. We all wanted it and our odds were  pretty high, 1 in 2,400. In the end, we didn't win it, though, and that Shelby Mustang now belongs to a very happy half marathoner who lives in Texas. She was in absolute shock when they called her name and I was glad that she was so thrilled to have won. It made not driving home a $75,000 Shelby Mustang a lot easier to do.

We didn’t win, but we did get to run with old friends and meet many new ones, too. I got to meet a lot of Half Fanatic members at this race. They were so kind and encouraging toward me. It really made me feel like I would be a welcome addition to the group after my second qualifying race on May 4. And look what Claudia made for me and posted to the Half Fanatics Facebook group!

I’ve decided that woman is an angel. She is by far one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and much like me, she knows no strangers. We agreed to do the Dopey Challenge together at WDW in 2018 with TJ. I don’t know what we were thinking when we made the pact, but now that it’s all said and done, we’re signed up for another HM near my house in July and I might be headed up to Claudia’s neck of the woods for the Long Beach HM in Fall. We’re crazy, I know, but that’s what friends are for, being crazy together. And we took so many pictures! Look at all some of the memories we captured post-race. I actually got caught on camera dancing in the second image because I heard that we were finally headed back to the hotel—and lunch—before TJ and I headed to the spa for massages.What can I say? I was excited.

 

Overall, our experience in Las Vegas was a pretty special one. Claudia went back to her hotel room after the buses got back to our hotels and it wasn’t long before TJ and I had taken showers and grabbed some grub before moseying over to the spa. Our masseurs were absolutely outstanding and we were almost back to our pre-race selves by the time we headed over to Treasure Island for our 7:30pm Mystere show. If you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend going. I was absolutely amazed by the talent we saw. It was breathtaking, but I am really glad that we went for the 7:30 presentation and not the 9:00pm one. By the time we got back to our room at 9:30, we were ready to curl up in bed and sleep in until late the next morning...which we did.

Easter Sunday was a really quiet day for us. We ate brunch down at one of the cafes and did some souvenir shopping for people back at home before spending a large portion of our day in the spa’s whirlpool relaxing and stretching. At one point I even fell asleep curled up in the lounge area while I waited for my coffee to cool down. It was just a great day and overall an incredible way to wrap up our trip. It was worth every penny in race and resort fees. If I could do it all again, I would in a heartbeat. Vegas is a different sort of place, but it turned out to be a great location to race at for the Ford Mustang’s 50^th birthday.

 It was actually a little saddening to pack and drive home this morning. I did really miss my animals and family back home, though, so coming home was a bittersweet experience. I do wonder though, since Vegas was that spectacular, if any other race will ever be able to top it. I’m thinking WDW in 2018 might, but who knows. Something might just surprise me sooner. Until then, I've run half marathons in two states with forty-eight more to go. I wonder how long it will take me.

A Word on Integrity

I'd like to preface this post before I begin and state that while I've only been racing for about eighteen months, I did nearly twenty races last year and I've worked in customer service my entire life. Because of this, I have a very strong sense of morality when it comes to communication between organizations (in this case an endurance event company) and their customers.

In the past forty-eight hours I have received multiple emails from both Superhero Events and Gemini Timing advertising up to $25 off of race registration for Costume Party Race Half Marathon participants who register before prices increase by $5 on April 21. That's fine. I'm all for saving money on race dues. My issue is that I signed up two days after last year's event for early bird pricing at $75 per person and now, less than three months before the race starts, racers can get a price that's almost 14% cheaper than what I paid nine months ago. That just didn't sit right with me, so I contacted the Costume Party Run facebook page yesterday afternoon just to see what was going on. What happened next is what has me more frustrated than anything else.

Below are two screenshots of my "conversation" with CPR regarding the issue of pricing. My initial question was just one of curiosity and hope that they would have a decent answer for me in regard to this issue. The answer I got back was in my eyes curt, so I decided to reply back to them, but they had already deleted my post to their page before I could respond. See the little red "!" next to my post? That was because they deleted my inquiry entirely from their page before I could respond back to them. Why? My guess is because they don't necessarily have a good response for me regarding this issue, even if Active.com is in charge of this promotion. I can handle that, but companies should be very aware of how they interact with customers. Acting flat-out crusty toward an inquiry on Facebook and then deleting that same post moments later is not the best idea in terms of good PR.

I'd be foolish to think that this is an isolated event considering the mounting problems that Superhero Events has had with the Costume Party Run this year. On March 20th I received the following email through Active.com:

Hello Costume Party Run Participants! We thank all of you for your interest in the Costume Party Run Half Marathon & 5k. Unfortunately, due to updated NFL scheduling with Qualcomm stadium, the Costume Party Run date has been changed to Sunday, July 13th. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause for you. If you are unable to attend the event because of the new date, please let us know so that we may issue you a full refund. We look forward to all of you joining us on July 13th!

Personally, I was grateful for the date change, but a lot of racers have requested refunds due to this issue. This is speculation on my behalf,  but it's possible that Superhero Events is currently taking a loss on this event and is frustrated that their race's date change is negatively impacting business. I can understand that and relate to it, but it's not something that should also affect loyal customers who agreed to come back and race again just two days after the event was over. Just my two cents, but I don't know if we'll come back to race with Superhero Events in the future if we continue to have bad experiences. It's a shame, too, because they put on good events, but we're all about fairness where I come from and this is currently an unfair pricing situation with inadequate explanation as to why. I'll keep you updated if I get more information.

In Regard to Boston

I think I can speak on behalf of most--if not all--runners when I discuss the bombings at last year's Boston Marathon. With today being the one year anniversary of those events, I urge you to remember why you run and who you run for when you lace up. Tomorrow you may not have the opportunity.

Race Recap: Peace-Love-Run 2014

Yesterday was my last short distance race before heading to Las Vegas for the 50th Anniversary Mustang Half Marathon next weekend. It was a bit of a worrisome morning since I haven't been training properly, but overall, a wonderful the race turned out to be a fun event. Just like last year, this race was really fun and I met a bunch of potential running friends.

Now, I will admit, that I was a knucklehead in terms of preparing for this race. Aside from not training, the morning of the race I lost my iPod, forgot my ibuprofen, and almost walked out of the house without my cell phone (i.e. no directions to the race location). It was... interesting to say the least.

Onto the Peace-Love-Run, though! The event was a 5K/10K/HM down at Fiesta Island and the weather was pretty much perfect: not too hot, a little breezy, and overcast for the complete race. My only complaint about the event at all was that the 10K race course was too long, so pace times were affected. Everything else was great, though: the aid stations, packet pick up, the finisher medal, tee shirts and tech tees. As usual with Wiz Marketing events, everything was great. Here were my (adjusted) race results, which I have to admit are pretty much fine in my book considering that I haven't been running.

I'll post race pictures when they're released.