Running for the hat of it...

I've been chasing this race for four long years.  Yes, the first (and only other) time I ran this race was back in 2009.  I'm reminded of the post I wrote at the beginning of that year, excited to try a new adventure and vowing it would be a one shot deal.  Ha! 

That first adventure didn't end well for me.  The HAT course has a lot of tough hills (at least in my mind) and I left the course after 18 miles in a lot of pain (hamstrings felt like they were tearing), but not so much pain that I followed through on my plan to never run anything like this again.  While I struggled with injury off and on, I've never quite slowed down.  In fact, I just keep coming back for more.

Start of the HAT Run

So, why did it take me four years to hit the HAT run course again?  Well, even though I've run 50ks and marathons in the interim, I was never quite healthy enough or home long enough at the beginning of the year to tackle this one again.  Until this year.  At first I was super sad that the race went to a lottery system for entry.  I was certain it wouldn't be my year....but low and behold I got it! 

Then it was a sprained ankle that I was determined not to sideline my efforts to cross the finish line.  And then it was a very late night at work the night before the race.  But with only 3.5 hours of sleep, I dragged myself to that chilly start line (where I ran into Ron Bowman...who helped me achieve my first 50k finish back in 2009...THANKS RON!).

If you've run HAT before, you know that it starts with a pretty easy 3.6 mile loop before heading out to the main show.  You almost have to have that loop to spread runners out, because the vast majority of the race once you head into the woods is all single track trail.  Not a lot of run to pass people. 

This is a pretty course.  All ups and downs, windy trails that plummet down to the Susquehanna River.  Multiple stream crossings.  Wide open fields with views out to the foot hills of the mountains.  Stone walls.  Oh yeah, and mud.

You also never quite know what you are going to find out on the trail...you may run into that pack of horseback riders out enjoying the semi-dry trails.  You may find your foot connecting with many roots and rocks if you're not careful.  But by and large, the dangers and the joys of the trails should be under foot or in front of you (in the case of the logs you may need to maneuver over). 

You shouldn't have to look up, though, right?  Not usually in my experience at any rate.  Wrong.  After another stream crossing, at mile 19ish, I was heading back up a hill when I started to hear a crack.  By instinct I jumped back about a foot, which is good because that is when a tree limb came down about 3 feet in front of me.  That would have hurt if it had hit my head.  And can you believe it wasn't the only falling tree limb I had to deal with?  I guess mother nature is keeping me on my toes.

Through it all...all 31 miles...I had the best support system you could imagine.  With each aid station I came into and multiple early passes in the beginning, I could always count on my husband and the diva being there to cheer me on.  There's something horribly motivating about your four-year old yelling "run faster mommy" to keep you moving.

If that's not enough, I really do need to thank the two women I ran the final five miles with.  I know your names are Deborah and Diana, I know little else about you, but I appreciate the conversation, the compliments and the company.  Thank you, also Diana, for paying me the greatest compliment I could recieve when telling me I'm setting a good example for my daughter.  And to Deborah for recognizing I have the best cheering section you could ask for.  And then there are the HAT run french fries...lord do I love french fries.

As I neared the finish line (which moved slightly since the last time I was at this race), the race director told me "You can stop running now" and I recall telling him "Oh thank God."  It was a great race, and I was thrilled to accept my new hat for finishing the HAT run.  Will I do this one again?   Maybe, but I can think about that later.  Now I need to worry about putting on a dress and wearing heels to a wedding celebration tonight :)  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  31
Time:   7:06:40 (average pace of 13:45 per mile)
Feeling:  my ankle is in a lot of pain, but that is outweighed by my happiness at conquering this course.

Blown away...

Hey dude, don't blow your horn at me if I've got the right of way, like a crosswalk that tells me to cross.  Asshole.  Yep, that's what I yelled at the dude who had the gall to treat me, in the right, like I was holding him up and jaywalking while just getting in my lunchtime run around Capitol Hill.  That was somewhere toward the middle.

Today I did something I don't do much.  I ran on the national mall, for part of my run at least, just before the jerk with the car horn.  I won't bore with yet another retelling of why I don't like running the mall, rather I thought it would be a good opportunity to enjoy some of the great sites because it was massively windy.  Yep, that wind, gusting at 22 mph, stayed with me almost the entire time but kept the tourists from clogging up the paths around the great green expanse of grass stretching from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.  Who doesn't feel inspired by the great symbols of democracy and freedom?

I have to say, I've run in some windy conditions before, but today was really hard.  I think I should get credit for another 15 seconds per mile just because of the extra push I had to make through the wind.  There was no hiding from it and it really pulled on the legs after about 5 miles.  A couple times I had to wonder if I would stick to the ground or blow away.  Wow.

Finishing up, I have to say I was feeling good going into the weekend where I am going to try for two long runs.  Fingers crossed I hold up through Sunday.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  6.73
Time:   58:24 (average pace of 8:30 per mile)
Feeling:  hamstring is still bothering after a few miles

Trotting for the turkey...

Ah, the holiday season is upon us.  Eating, drinking, being merry, and eating some more, possibly drinking some more.  Yes, I mark the beginning of this season with the first turkey trot I run and don't look back until ringing in the new year.  Today is that day and I'll be starting the season with the Naval Support Activity Annapolis MWR Turkey Trot 5k...it also marks the first time running with Brie since the end of September.

I headed over to Greenbury Point a little early to get in a couple extra miles (trying to tick away at that goal as much as possible).  Eh, hold on, first I had to turn around (I was only a mile from home) and head back home to grab the tire pump (really just grabbed the whole running stroller) because Brie's was't working.  Then I headed to Greenbury Point.

I was surprised to see the number of runners already gathering when I arrived around 8:20am.  Usually these races are very small so I am happy they are finally getting the word out, though that doesn't help me in my quest to finally win one of their great door prizes.  But I disgress....since I was a little later than intentioned, I decided I would just run a mile and a half or so.  I tend to forget how long the Greenbury Point trail is. 

So, at 8:30ish, I hit the trail at a nice clip...my nicest clip all week, almost back to normal.  And settled in for a pounding warm up against the head winds coming off the bay.  Yowzer, were they something.  As I approached the "short cut" route, I looked at my watch and realized that if I wanted to catch up with Brie before the run, that I couldn't take the whole path.  So I headed back and screeched into the parking lot at about 8:45am in time to see Brie just getting the jogging stroller out of her vehicle. 

We pumped up her tires, with a little help from her little one, made a last trip to the restroom and headed to the starting line.  Sort of.  We actually missed the start, but who cares, its a fun run.  Once we had the jogging stroller situated, we headed out onto the course.  Since we missed the start, we didn't feel compelled to back track that .05 miles to the actual starting line and just began from where we were.

While catching up on the latest and greatest news, we noticed that runners were already doubling back toward the starting line which would mean these guys were super super (like world record) fast unless they changed up the 5k course some.  And yes, they did.  Rather than going all the way up Greenbury Point Road and turning around at Kincaid, we looped back to the trail and finished up there.  The wind was still brisk, but it was a beautiful day out on the bay...and I love the Bay Bridge.  We even passed a few runners. 

All was good until we rounded to the finish line.  Brie's little one wanted to race the last little bit, so we stopped, got him out of the stroller and waited for him to say "go."  Not five feet after the last little burst, the poor guy trip, fell and broke open his lip on the pavement.  He's a tough one though and we were soon eating the turkey sandwiches, waiting to learn that once again we didn't win the random prize drawings.

In all, it was another fun event, with great folks and the opportunity to exercise.  Who can complain about that?  It also meant a great start to a fun filled day of volunteering, tailgating and Navy football.  Happy trails!!!

Stats -
Miles:  4.93
Time:   48:23 (average pace of 9:49)
Location:  NSA Annapolis, Greenbury Point
Feeling:  finally getting back on track

Blowing in the wind...

That's how I felt during this evening's run...like I might blow away at any minute. The wind was blowing at 23 mph, gusting to 27 mph. Yikes! It's a wonder forward motion was possible. I actually felt like I was pushing super hard, which of course winded me early on, and this on top of the fact that I was already running on my usual day off. There were reprieves from the wind, of course, like the streets running east-west since it was a north wind. But by and large, out in the open was rather challenging. Thank goodness I ran into a work colleague at one point (who I actually needed to run into) giving me the opportunity to take a few minutes to chat with about a debate we had during the day. I was also amused watching his dog attempt to pounce, in all friendliness, on every person and dog that passed during the course of our few minute conversation. Makes me happy to know my dogs aren't the only miscreants with no manners in the greater DC area.

Oh, and yum and boo, when I went running past Kenny's BBQ at the corner of 8th and Massachussetts I thought I might keel over from the glorious smells emanating from that restaurant. I love BBQ, especially good BBQ, but I'm not overly picky. Kenny's is good BBQ and I rarely have it. SO, add the smells of Kenny's together with the wind and its amazing I got anywhere today at all. And one last sigh, the warm weather is on its way out tonight. We've got a freeze warning in place after many days in the 60s and 70s...though I think I can survive the few cooler days before heading into the searing heat of the United Arab Emirates by week's end. Here's to hoping I can hit my 25% goal before getting on the airplane Thursday night! Happy trails!

Stats -
Miles: 3.87
Time: 32:00 (average pace of 8:16 per mile)
Location: Capitol Hill, Lincoln Park
Feeling: A bit wind blown, and overworked, but otherwise good

Holy wind batman....

After missing out on yesterday's 70 degree, absolute perfect running weather because I was working (don't worry, I also missed lunch...it was a legitimately busy day), I was not going to let another good temperature day pass me by. I thought I was thwarted this morning as I checked out weather.com, which assured me it was sunny at 51 degrees outside, but when I looked out my windy it was dark and raining. Ugh. I. Do. Not. Want. Another. Treadmill. Run. This. Week. But this afternoon the sun came out and I was able to pry myself away to put in a few miles.

Okay, I need to digress a second. Today is Groundhog Day - how can the groundhog predict six more weeks of winter when it has yet to begin?

Now back to your regularly scheduled program. Before heading out I checked weather.com again for the air temperature to decide between short and long sleeves and was happy to see it was supposedly still 51 degrees. The actual temperature was all that was about 51 degrees. I got outside to raging wind which dropped the temp a good 10 degrees and made it difficult to hang onto the sidewalk a couple times. That's okay. It was still a great day to get out and stretch the legs...and catch the ever inspiring scenery in DC.

Stats -
Miles: 3.56
Time: 30:02 (average pace of 8:26 minutes per mile)
Location: the National Mall
Feeling: Wind blown and a little squishy in the still swollen knees, but good