"Comfort Food" Races

If you read my most recent blog post, you know that I have a race coming up on Sunday that takes me way out of my comfort zone. To boost my mental racing confidence, I signed up for a PR Race Series race on Saturday that is like comfort food for me, the Mustache Mile Race.

What makes this race like comfort food? Let me count the ways:

1. Packet pickup is at my favorite running store, Potomac River Running in Reston. I know the staff at the store and the PR Race Series staff at packet pickup. I can browse for some running essentials (or non-essentials...) while I'm there. Easy, breezy and fun.

   

   Meghan and Ryan, ready to help
   with all your running needs

   
   

   

   Mo and Yosselyn,
   manning the Mustache Mile packet pickup

   
   

   

   Who is that mustached photobomber?
   clockwise from left: Meghan, Jeff, Mike, Paul, Josh, Ryan, Freddy

   
   

   

   Don't tell Rick but I think I want this Nike jacket!
   (and I already have the red Nike shirt...)

2. The swag is fun. PR Race Series races have commemorative pins which I collect on my PR lanyard.

   

   Mustache Mile shirt

   
   

   

   close-up of lanyard & pins

3. The race is close to my house. I don't have to leave too early or think about how to get there. 
4. Parking is easy, plentiful, and free. 
5. The course is one I know well and have run many times before. 
   
6. I always see spectators and runners that I know at the PR races, which makes it even more fun!
7. There are plenty of post-race food and drinks, even for those of us at the back of the pack. I have never finished a PR race and discovered that they were out of a food or beverage option. 
8. Race photos are free and often start uploading to the PR flickr page within hours of the race ending.

I know running this fun 1-mile race will put me in a great mood and I'll be ready to tackle the 10K Across the Bay the next day!

You Signed Up For What?!

I have a race coming up this weekend, and I'm quite a bit in denial about it. With apologies to Cynthia, whose blog title I borrowed for today's post, I can't believe I signed up for this race willingly. The race is the Across the Bay 10k. The race literally goes across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, which is 4.35 miles.

Course Map for Across the Bay 10k

Theoretically, this is a cool and rare opportunity. But when one moves from the theoretical to the practical, one realizes that one has signed up to run across a freaking 4.35 mile bridge. And for someone with more than a passing fear of heights and bridges, this seems like a rather poor choice.

So what was I thinking?

1. The race is 2 weeks out from the Philly Half Marathon, and I had no plans for my long run that weekend. This race seemed like a solid option to hold myself accountable for my long run.
2. A group of women who I adore running with (Molly's Mod Squad) had signed up for this race already. I didn't want to miss out on the fun of sharing a race with these women!

And here I am. Committed to a race that will really take me out of my comfort zone. And not just because I am afraid of bridges, but also because I am afraid of not controlling my logistics. This race involves travel, parking shuttles from a variety of lots, a point-to-point course serviced by additional return shuttles, and no bag check option.

I will be leaving at 6 am on a school bus with the fabulous women of Molly's Mod Squad. We can leave snacks and fresh clothes on the bus, but after the school bus drops us off at a parking shuttle location, we won't see our snacks and fresh clothes for many hours (and we have to run across that bridge first...and how do you decide what to wear on an unpredictable bridge course?!). 

I am used to planning my logistics down to the detail, and with this one I have to tell my inner control freak that she has to let go and just trust everything is going to be all right. There will surely be many moments of discomfort. But in the words of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, I will get by with a little help from my friends. Maybe a lot of help. It's a good thing I have such great friends.

#TeamTurtle Re-brands as #TeamCherryBlossom

A couple of weeks ago I "unveiled" our team shirt for the Philly Half Marathon. We were very excited with the idea of our #TeamTurtle shirts from ScudoPro:

Turtle tech tee

Our turtle shirts hit an unexpected snafu, however. When we originally ordered them, they appeared to be gender-specific tech tees which would have been cute and flattering. Unfortunately, they turned out to only be available in unisex sizes. The turtle logo was as cute as expected, but the rather large shirts were not flattering for us vertically-challenged women. It turns out the triathlon gear at ScudoPro is gender-specific, so we will likely revisit #TeamTurtle for a warmer-weather race with the triathlon top:

Turtle Tri Top

I know the triathlon tops are cute and flattering because my friend Gina has one for #TeamRabbit:

Gina & me at "Run With Dad" 5k

So we regrouped and selected a new shirt for Philly. Before I unveil our new shirt, let me remind you who the team is. In April, I ran my first half marathon, the Nike Women's Half Marathon. During the race, I met and ran parts of the race with Mary and Jane. Jane got me through the last 5k of the race and I loved running with them. We bonded, we became Facebook friends and long-distance "best running friends." Mary and Jane had extremely cute outfits for NWHM:

Jane, Tiffany, & Mary at NWHM

When we decided to all run the Philly Half, team outfits were a given. We looked at a variety of options online, and have re-branded #TeamTurtle as #TeamCherryBlossom. We all met in DC where Cherry Blossoms are a well-known local symbol of the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan. There is a National Cherry Blossom Festival each year, and a "little" race you may have heard of called the Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run. Without further ado, I give you the Ink-N-Burn shirts we have selected for Philly:

short-sleeve option

long-sleeve option

I am so excited about these shirts - they are beautiful! As a native of the Washington, DC area, I expect to get a lot of wear out of my shirt. I also ordered the matching tech tube...a girl's gotta accessorize!