Run the Bluegrass Expo

Well, this recap is super late.  Remind me not to do races 4 out of 5 weekends in a row.  Anyway, let's dive right in.

The expo for Run the Bluegrass was held at Keeneland Race track.  This is where the start/finish also was held on Saturday, so we got to know it quite well.  It was a relatively small expo, but still had lots of stuff to check out!

We picked up our numbers first and then headed in to visit the vendors.  Stop number 1 was official race merchandise.  For a small race, they had a pretty good selection including special bottles of bourbon and horse themed items.  I picked up the official coffee mug for only $7 bucks.  It's huge and so cute, so great deal!

After official merchandise, we continued along our way.  Megan and I made a stop at Sweaty Bands and I picked up 2 new ones.  It was buy 1 get 1 free... so I could't resist.

They also had Heather Abbot at the expo while we were there.  After Boston last year, the race wanted to do something to give back.  The One Fund put them in touch with Heather who was injured while spectating.  The race made a donation to her recovery and all the participants had the option to donate as well.  She was the grand marshall for the weekend and was signing copies of her cover of Tops in Lexington Magazine.  She was super nice and I thought it was great that the race gave back.  Between the race and participants, they were able to donate $10,000 to her recovery fund.

After checking out the remaining booths (mostly local races and running stores) and getting our fill of samples (lots of local foods to try out!), we made our way to the t-shirt pickup.  When you registered, you had the option of a tank or short sleeve dri-fit.  I went with the tank.  I really loved the design... but the sizes were running really small!  Fortunately, they did let you exchange, but they only had a limited amount of sizes left.  I was able to get one a size larger, but the other girls were not.  They had more of a selection in t-shirts then tanks for swapping.

While we were at the swap table, we noticed they were selling some shirts for $5.  The woman informed us these were shirts from last year that were left over.  After looking at it, I realized it did not have a date on it!  I really liked it, so I grabbed one.  Nice race shirt for only $5!

It might have been a small expo, but I really enjoyed it!  They had a great selection of race merchandise at an affordable price and the expo was manageable.  Keeneland (where it was held) is also extremely pretty so it was nice to be there as well.

Up next - race recap!

Race update

Today was the first day it was warm enough to wear shorts on my run.  Outside of the fact that my legs are shockingly white, it felt great.  I am so happy it is finally getting warm.

I am off to Cincinnati this weekend for the Flying Pig Half, Ohio on my 50 State goal.  The weather this weekend has a wide swing of temps with a chance of rain.  So basically I am over packing for a weekend trip.  My suitcase is packed.  I am the world's worst packer.  Ugh.

Anyway, I have a couple of more races that are looking likely for the rest of the year.  They are not 100% (still trying to work out travel plans) but here's what's next:

6/23 - Governors Island 10K, New York, NY
8/17 - Madison Mini-Marathon (aka Half Marathon), Madison, WI
10/12 - Hartford Half Marathon, Hartford, CT

Hopefully these ones will all work out and I'll be able to get 2 more states off my list.

Anyone else running Flying Pigs this weekend?

Training Epiphany

I had an training epiphany this weekend.  I've been reading the Hansons Marathon Method book and was surprised at the amount of miles and the number of running days a week the schedule entailed (starting with 4-5 days, increasing to 6 days).  I've always thought I was a less is more runner - any more then 3-4 days a week and I over due it.

But reading this book got me thinking about my past marathon training schedules and what kind of a schedule I was running back when I did Dublin (which is currently my marathon PR).  At the time I was training with a coach (mainly because in a leap before looking moment I had signed up to do a half ironman triathlon and since I had no idea how to train for one, I joined a local tri club and eventually did private coaching for the tri and then just kept going for the marathon).  Since that race was 3.5 years, I don't remember my schedule.

However, since I am a huge nerd, I knew I had saved them (yep, HUGE nerd).  I found them this weekend and looked through them.  I was shocked to realize that my schedule had me running 5-6 days a week.  WHAT?  I really don't remember it, but I do know that when training for that race I was in the best running shape of my life.  Not long after Dublin, I ran my half marathon PR so apparently running that much was good for my times.

It was a pretty big moment for me to realize that apparently when I run well, I am not a less is more runner.  The Hansons Method has a half marathon plan which I think I am going to follow for the Disneyland Half and see how it goes.  Given the number of miles involved in the Dopey challenge, I think the marathon plan could work since it does include 6 days of running which will prepare me for all the back to back running.

Going to give it ago for Disneyland Half and go from there.  We'll see!

30 by 30 - Updated

Half marathon number 24 is coming up this weekend, so wanted to do a quick update on my 30 by 30 running goal.  

I have 2 tentative races for numbers 28 and 29 now included.  My friend Pam and I are seriously considering doing the Wine and Dine and I think I am going to do the Philadelphia Half in November.  It's close and easy and gives me an excuse to eat all I want on Thanksgiving (it's the Sunday before hand).

24 - New Jersey Half Marathon (5.6.12)
25 -Brooklyn Half Marathon (5.19.12)
26 - 
27 -Virginia Beach Half Marathon (9.2.12)

28 - Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon (11.10.12) - TENTATIVE
29 - Philadelphia Half Marathon (11.18.12) - TENTATIVE
30 - Disney World Half Marathon (1.12.13)

A full race report on New Jersey will come on Monday!

30 by 30

This upcoming January will be my 30th birthday (holy cow, it feels weird saying that!).  This is not an "I'm turning 30, let's freak out" post, because a) it's still like 10 months away and b) I'm not really freaked out by it (see a).

But I did come up with an idea/goal for my 30th birthday - run 30 half marathons (i.e. 30 by 30).  Honestly, I'm not really that far away from 30.  I'm currently at 23.  So I have 7 still to go and already have a couple planned (I originally thought it was 24, 6 left but then realized I was counting a half relay in there and can't have that).

24 - New Jersey Half Marathon
25 -
26 - Virginia Beach Half Marathon
27 -
28 -
29 -
30 - Disney World Half Marathon

Not sure what those remaining 3 will be, maybe the Disney Wine and Dine will be one of them...still trying to figure out my schedule.  Hoping to find a local one for June and maybe another in July.  I am doing a full the last weekend of September so need to factor that in.  Either way, I do know the Disney World Half will be my 30th though!

Will update as I get closer to my goal!