And color coding makes me smile.
:)
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Burlington, VT
Who gets sunburns in April in Vermont? Apparently, Chrissy and I do.
When I pictured our near-Canada, mid-Spring half marathon, I actually imagined cooler temperatures, clouds, maybe even rain or snow. However, when we ran today, we had near perfect weather. When we started, it was 57 degrees with clear skies. The route first wove through neighborhoods in Colchester, VT, before it traveled down a quiet bike path along Lake Champlain. It was honestly the most pretty run I've done. From the bike path, you could see strips of sandy beach, littered with trees and boulders. Across the lake were beautiful mountains. Several times, I was tempted to stop and take in the scenery.
The race was a late start. Chrissy, my TFA BMS B-track pal, and I were in the second wave, which left at 11am. By the time it was noon, the temperature had warmed up considerably. I was happy to be wearing shorts, but was a bit too warm for my t-shirt. While a tank may have been a better choice, at least my shoulders were spared from the sunburn.
The race motto was "No Frills, No Hills". Having run an extraordinarily hilly race in New Hampshire, I was very excited about the prospect of "No Hills".
I'll give them the "No Frills" part. This was the first race that I ran without chip time. A guy literally stood at the finish line and recorded and printed times with an old-school adding machine. Even though there were only 800 people running (500 in the first wave and 300 in the second), I'm sure that was an exhausting job. The best frill was the chocolate chip cookies at the end.
They'll have to work harder on their "No Hills" promise. I know it could have been much worse, but the final two miles were especially torturous, with a long, gradual uphill climb, followed by a short, steep one. I also think those last two miles covered a bit more distance than the earlier miles.
I managed to keep myself paced around 10 minute miles until those final two. Even still, I'm happy to report 10:08s. There seems to be some magically barrier between me and anything less than 10 minutes miles. Maybe next time? Seems as though I'm always saying that.
Anyway, Chrissy and I were both glad to be done, and we were very appreciative of our marvelous chauffeur, Vick. Not only did he shuttle us back and forth between packet pick-up and the starting line, and home. He also drove us to Ben and Jerry's (because we ran a race in Vermont! It seemed appropriate). Much love to Vick and Chocolate Therapy Ice Cream.
When I pictured our near-Canada, mid-Spring half marathon, I actually imagined cooler temperatures, clouds, maybe even rain or snow. However, when we ran today, we had near perfect weather. When we started, it was 57 degrees with clear skies. The route first wove through neighborhoods in Colchester, VT, before it traveled down a quiet bike path along Lake Champlain. It was honestly the most pretty run I've done. From the bike path, you could see strips of sandy beach, littered with trees and boulders. Across the lake were beautiful mountains. Several times, I was tempted to stop and take in the scenery.
The race was a late start. Chrissy, my TFA BMS B-track pal, and I were in the second wave, which left at 11am. By the time it was noon, the temperature had warmed up considerably. I was happy to be wearing shorts, but was a bit too warm for my t-shirt. While a tank may have been a better choice, at least my shoulders were spared from the sunburn.
The race motto was "No Frills, No Hills". Having run an extraordinarily hilly race in New Hampshire, I was very excited about the prospect of "No Hills".
I'll give them the "No Frills" part. This was the first race that I ran without chip time. A guy literally stood at the finish line and recorded and printed times with an old-school adding machine. Even though there were only 800 people running (500 in the first wave and 300 in the second), I'm sure that was an exhausting job. The best frill was the chocolate chip cookies at the end.
They'll have to work harder on their "No Hills" promise. I know it could have been much worse, but the final two miles were especially torturous, with a long, gradual uphill climb, followed by a short, steep one. I also think those last two miles covered a bit more distance than the earlier miles.
I managed to keep myself paced around 10 minute miles until those final two. Even still, I'm happy to report 10:08s. There seems to be some magically barrier between me and anything less than 10 minutes miles. Maybe next time? Seems as though I'm always saying that.
Anyway, Chrissy and I were both glad to be done, and we were very appreciative of our marvelous chauffeur, Vick. Not only did he shuttle us back and forth between packet pick-up and the starting line, and home. He also drove us to Ben and Jerry's (because we ran a race in Vermont! It seemed appropriate). Much love to Vick and Chocolate Therapy Ice Cream.
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