Category: Races (Page 4 of 4)

Hop for Hope 5K Recap: First Race of 2018

April 11, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 4 Comments

The first race I ever ran was the Hop for Hope 5K. When I ran it the first time, we started at Hale Farm in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, ran on a little side road down to a covered bridge and back. It was very scenic and also very hilly. The hills were indeed a challenge.

2014 Hop for Hope 5K Finish Line

I ran the 5K twice on that trail. Then the race changed to a main road in the park and now the course is much flatter. It’s not quite as scenic but I’m guessing people complained about the hills.

2015 Hop for Hope 5K

Then in 2016, I ran the 10K. This year I returned to the 5K because I’ve not been running much due to a problem with my Achilles tendon. (Chris wrote about her issues with her Achilles tendon and her exercises have been very helpful to me.)

The Hop for Hope is a fundraiser put on by a local foundation to help people dealing with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma or Leukemia. The race is always held sometime around Easter and includes Easter egg hunts for the children. Here’s what the race website says:

Hop for Hope is a 5k/10k race and 1 mile walk event that helps the Kimberly Walton Foundation give financial aid to those suffering from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and/or Leukemia.

The first time I ran the 10K, I was delighted to have run that far; it was the first time that long a race. I was a bit disappointed in the race because we all started at the same time and by the time the 10K people got back, the awards ceremony was almost over and there wasn’t much left on the refreshment table.

This year the 10K runners start 10 minutes before the 5K.

2018 Hop for Hope 5K Recap

Despite not having been running much, I managed to run the entire race without problem. I ran it a 11:00 minute mile which is about my normal speed. Sometimes I’ve managed to run closer to a 10 minute mile speed but I was happy with what I did on this one.

It was cold this year; the temperature was about 28 degrees. It snowed a bit over night. (We’ve had a hard April this year.) I wore about four layers of clothes, hat, gloves, and winter running pants with my compression sleeves on my calves. I was certainly not cold when I finished the race but I wasn’t so warm that I had to peel off layers.

Pre-race 2018 Hop for Hope 5K

The race is held on a main road leading out of Akron into the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

2018 Hop for Hope 5K

The race organizers said they had more people sign up for this race than ever before, over 300 runners. Some of those were the 10K folks, and there was also a 1 mile fun walk. This year they started the 10K runners about 5 minutes before the 5K runners, which I think helped make the run a bit more organized.

An Easter egg hunt followed the race so as a result there were a lot of little children about. They weren’t always being watched so they blocked the finish line at times. That’s not a safe thing. On the other hand, it’s fun to see the children and of course it’s fun to have the Easter Bunny there.

This is a fun race put on by some caring people. They award each runner a cute medal and a cotton T shirt. It’s a well organized race with lots of motivational signs and talk.

Suggestions for 2019

Here are a few things that I think could be improved. The road was closed but not at side roads and from apartment complexes. I was almost hit by a car because I didn’t realize that there would be moving traffic and was out in the road a bit. It was alarming to have a car zip right by me when I wasn’t expecting it. I guess it’s not reasonable to actually manage to close the road but maybe a different location on a less busy road would work.

Also, this year they didn’t do age group winners. I probably would have won my age group so maybe that’s why this one bugged me. One of the organizers said they weren’t doing age group rankings because they didn’t have prizes. I think it wouldn’t be hard to prints some round labels that could go on the back of the medal that each runner receives. The label could say 1^st Place, Age Group, or whatever was appropriate. I like more recognition of runners, not less.

2018 Hop for Hope 5K: Race is Run

The finish line was split between the 1 mile run, the 5K, and the 10K. It was not clear to me where I was supposed to go. Fortunately a spectator yelled at me to take the center lane.

None of these are horrible things; just some thoughts about what could be improved for next year.

Overall, it was a fun race with a great crowd, a cute medal and T shirt in a lovely location. And I was delighted to be able to run it without problem.

Who Thought Up Swimming as a Sport?

January 15, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 13 Comments

It was 2^oF this morning so what did I decide to do? Go swimming! I’m signing up for an indoor triathlon at my gym. It’s held in early March. The race is swim for 10 minutes, bicycle for 25 minutes and run for 20 minutes. Everything is done in the gym, so the run is on a treadmill and the bicycle is a bike used for spinning classes. For me, the order of ease with this is running, bicycling, and dragging up the rear is swimming. I know I can run for 20 minutes. I can ride the bicycle for 25 minutes though probably not very fast. The swimming is a problem.

Initially I thought, swim for ten minutes? How hard could that be? Turns out, a lot harder than I first thought.

I go to the pool at my gym and I’m always amazed at the people who effortlessly swim laps. When I swim, I swim one length, catch my breath, swim back and rest. I’m not sure I understand why swimming is so difficult for me. I obviously have the respiratory capacity and am physically able to swim. There’s something about the breathing that challenges me.

Swimming as a Sport

I’ve not been a swimmer since I was a kid. I remember those Saturday morning swimming lessons I took. I’d like to go back to my instructors and thank them for teaching me something that I can still remember.

I break out the kick boards and use them to practice kicking. It’s a good break from swimming up and down the pool. I guess I just need to practice more and eventually I’ll get better.

swimming as a sport, Flippers, goggles, and swimcap

Swimming Accessories

Since every sport I take up seems to require special accessories and clothing, I now own goggles, a swim cap, and mini flippers. I have a couple of old bathing suits that fit me. I think I’d like to get a new workout bathing suit. I’m not sure what exactly that would be but I’m sure if I start shopping, I’d find something.

I see people using aquatic headphones and feel that itch to go buy another accessory but I’m not sure that I want to listen to music or podcasts while I swim. I suspect if I ever get to the point where I can swim without feeling like I need to stop to breath that it could become a great meditative exercise.

Here’s my thoughts on swimming:

It’s easy on the joints and it really doesn’t require much in the way of equipment.
I can do it at my own pace because, let’s face it, there’s plenty of better swimmers and there’s some who are worse. Doesn’t matter because we can all just grab a lane and go for it.
It’s a good whole-body workout. It works the abs, hips, legs, shoulders, back, and arms but it doesn’t overwork them. It’s not like going into the weight room and lifting heavy weights. It’s easier on the body than running because you don’t have that pounding on the ground.
The biggest problem for me, and I know that this is silly, is that I must wear a bathing suit, I have to get wet, and then I’m usually cold when I return to the locker room.

Because I’m going to do the triathlon (indoors, mind you!), I’ll keep practicing my swimming. I’d like to be able to swim for 10 minutes without constantly stopping. I’ll keep everyone posted on how my training and that race goes.

Three Goals for the New Year

January 2, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 1 Comment

I asked my mother on New Year’s Day if she was making any resolutions for the new year. She said, “No, I’m past all that.” She’s now 88 years old so I guess that makes sense. I sort of want to be past all that too so no resolutions for me. No, instead I’m setting goals. Is that different than making resolutions? I hope so. Instead of saying, this year I’m gong to lose weight and be fit and healthy, which is what I want to be all year long and not just in this year, I’m trying to set clear definable goals.

So, here are my top three goals for this year:

Goal 1: Run three half-marathons this year

Running

Last year I ran one half-marathon and it felt like a big deal. This year I want to repeat the Akron marathon and hopefully run it faster than before. I also want to do two more. Why two? I don’t know. It just seems like a good number. I’ve already registered for the half marathon that’s part of the Cleveland Marathon in May and I signed up for the half marathon that’s part of the Akron Marathon in September. I need to find one that’s in between those times or do an extra one later in the fall. I feel confident about this one since I’ve already committed money to two races.

Two races are on the calendar with the first one being in May. That means I’ll need to start training soon. It will be a good idea to figure out my training plan and begin to implement it.

Goal 2: Reduce my body fat percentage

Berries

I’d like to get it beneath 30 percent. There’s at least two ways to do this: increase muscle or lose fat. Ideally, I’ll do a bit of both. This seems like a healthier way to set a goal than to make a resolution to lose weight. Is this goal any different than a lose weight resolution? Maybe not but I feel better about it and it’s measurable. If I said I want to lose 20 pounds, I could do that but I might lose muscle as well as fat. One thing I’ve learned is that we want to keep as much muscle as we can.

One of the hardest things about being over 50 is that losing weight becomes more and more difficult. I definitely have to watch calories and figure out the best way to eat to build muscle and lose fat. I’ll share my successes and failures with this as the year progresses. In some ways, this feels like the most difficult challenge.

Goal 3: Do a pull up

Kettlebells

I want to get back to doing a pull up. I reached this landmark a couple of years ago and then my trainer left, and I’ve lost the strength to do it. It took a lot of work to get there and I’d like to get there again. It takes a lot of upper body strength to do a pull up. I don’t think many women past 50 can do one and I like the idea of it. Plus, my arms looked fantastic when I was working on this before.

How will I accomplish this? Lots of upper body strength training. Doing a pull up requires a strong core, strong shoulders, back, and arms. I work with a trainer so we’re going to have to discuss these goals and how I’m going to reach them.

My three goals fall into running (endurance), body fat (weight or health), and pull ups (strength). That’s basically what I’m working on so I feel confident I can reach all three goals in 2018. It will be a challenge but that’s what goals are about, right?

Akron Half Marathon Recap – Exhilarating, Challenging and Hot

October 7, 2017 / chrisbrown330 / 4 Comments

Finishing 13.1 miles on a hot September Day! The thrill of a long term goal achievement!

The Akron Half Marathon started out chilly at 60 degrees when we got into town and parked the car before the roads shut down at 6 am. It felt like dark thirty… but my stomach and head were WIDE AWAKE with excitement and anticipation.

Jill and I were ready in the corral long before the 7 am start. We did the 6:30 am photo with our online running group and visited the porta-potty well in advance of the Star Spangled Banner. Corral D was a buzz of nervous, excited runners, filled with Team Relay runners and Half Marathoners. I didn’t see a lot of marathon bibs, but then again I was focusing on my mantra for the early part… run your own race.

Jill and I separated as soon as the crowd started up. I crossed the start line at 7:10:06.

I felt chilly. It was still dark and we shuffled along.

Start Slow to Finish Fast

I took the first mile very slowly since during our practice I was out like a rabbit and did the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do. However I may have overdone it since it was downhill. In retrospect, I probably went a bit too slow.

When Jill and I practiced on Aug 26 I ran something like a 12:16 mile… did the exact opposite for the real thing. Yeah. Maybe even over did it. My first mile according to my Strava was 15:20 (but maybe I started the clock a bit too soon, definitely before crossing the start matte, and we walked in the crowd.)

The second mile was closer to actual at 14:03… and every mile after that was faster than those two. At the 2nd mile I saw my friends coming early in the morning to cheer me on. Wow, was that a shot in the arm. We doubled back in this area and I saw them again at mile 5. I had to keep reminding myself “start slow to finish fast.”

It wasn’t until mile 9 or so that I started thinking about my mantra the last half of the race was “Negative splits. Negative splits.”
I heard that in my mind every step

Fitbit shows the Splits

Fitbit shows my last mile is the fastest mile. Yeah! Negative Splits!

Below is a different tracker called Strava. Same race!

Funny how Strava has different times all together, all a little longer. the minus and plus numbers are the feet up or down for climbing or dropping.

On the chart below there are more comparisons of my run by first and last section, pace and number of people passed.

I like that I passed 160 people during the last half of the race (and only 4 people passed me!) This is where the first two miles at an incredibly slow pace while I was fresh really helped!

Food is Fuel

Trying to figure out food to keep you moving for three hours in the heat is a tricky thing. Blood sugar, heart rate, pace and the heat all effect it. I kept track of what I ate and drank. I think I did it right, but it was a hot one! (Several people went to the hospital for overheating, even those doing the half.) Below is my running plan of food and drink compared to the actual food/drink/and cooling scarf! You can see I never really ran that planned pace until the last bit of the half.

Standing in the finishers area for the party was really tough in the heat. I was a bit confused and not functioning at 100%. My feet hurt from pounding the pavement in the hear. Later when I got into the shade I felt a bit more normal.

The bottoms of my feet were hurting. I didn’t expect that. I think because of the heat and the mileage. We took a quick sit down in the grass, just to get off our feet, but not for long!

As I recall, I drank Powerade and water at every water station. Plus — even though they always say “NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY” — I bought a handheld insulated Nathan water bottle at the expo the day before and WOW, am I glad I did! (Thanks for the advice, Jill!!) I filled it with water the night before, put it in the freezer overnight and actually had ice water for the first half of the race. Temperatures got into the 80’s and I think it was 78 degrees about the time I finished.

I finished the half with 2:56:53 and a 13:31 pace. Under 3 hours, which was my goal! I’ll definitely run a half again!

Ringing the PR bell for our Personal Records! Woo Hoo!

Will I do it again?!? You bet. I’m going to see if I can get to 2:30 ish for my next race. Or at least that’s what I’m thinking now. More cross training. Better fuel management. Have the same amount of fun each time and I may be doing half marathons for a very long time – God willing!

Five Ways to Improve on the Half Marathon

October 6, 2017 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

My last post covered our running of the half marathon in the Akron Marathon. I’m still so excited that we did it! Wow, it was fun. I think races might be more fun once they’re over.

We did a lot of things right but now what we’ve run the race, I can see some things I’d do differently or just start to add to my training regime.

What we could improve:

We figured out how we needed to eat and drink when running long distances. We’d both only run shorter distances and so eating and drinking really hadn’t been a problem. Once you start running over an hour, you need to know how you’re going to get water and possibly some food. Once you’re running over two hours, food becomes essential.Chris introduced me to carrying orange slices. Wow, they’re like pure energy. You eat an orange slice and that sugar goes right to your blood stream and whamo, you’re energized.During the race, it was hot. A number of people were taken to the hospital for being dehydrated and having electrolytes out of whack. I didn’t drink the PowerAde available a the fluid stations. Chris did—she mixed it with her water to dilute the flavor—and she felt better at the end of the race than I did. I felt light-headed. Fortunately I had a packet of electrolyte stuff that you mix in with your water. I poured it into my water bottle and drank it down. I also ate some food and between all of that, I felt better.I need to do some research on the best way to fuel my body during a race.
Chris and I collapsed on the field.
I know all of the training plans we looked at said you don’t have to run the full distance to train but if I were to do it again, I’d get in a couple more long runs and I’d run the full 13 miles or even go up to 14 or 15. I think psychologically speaking, it would be easier to know that Id already run that distance or that I’d run further.
Personally, I’d like’ to lose about 10 pounds before next year’s running season. It’s a lot easier to run without carrying extra weight. I gained weight this past year—too much eating at restaurants and drinking beer—and now I’d like to lose it.
I’d like to get some more people to run with. I think we need a smallish running club with women around our age. It would be nice to have the ability to contact people and say, “I’m going to run tomorrow and I want to run 5 miles around a 11 to 12 minute mile.”
Now that I have this running base in place, I want to be sure to continue to run over the winter. I’m thinking that we need to register for a race in the spring to keep us motivated.

The end result is that we registered for the half marathon, not knowing if we could do it but believing that we could. We trained like crazy, ran some additional races as part of our training, and then achieved our goal. Wow! I’m still amazed at it.

I guess the big lesson here is that I’m planning on running another race!

Running the Akron Half Marathon

October 6, 2017 / Jill McCauslin / 1 Comment

Woo hoo! We made it! Chris and I ran the half marathon last Saturday in the 2017 Akron Marathon this past weekend. We both ran around the times we had hoped for. Chris finished under three hours (way to go Chris!) and I finished around two hours and 35 minutes.

Chris and I at the Race Expo

I’m so proud of us for achieving this goal. The race was tremendous fun though harder than I was expecting.

Think about a place that is about ten miles from your house. Now, add three more miles to that. That’s how far we ran.

It was hot!!! We knew that the forecast was for a hot day and received multiple cautionary emails from the race organizers. Fortunately the race started at 7:00 AM so it was pleasant enough when we started but it had warmed up into the 80s by the time we finished. The heat drains your strength when running.

Here’s a few thoughts on what we did right and what we could improve. Well, at least I can.

What we did right:

We created a plan early on. The race was at the end of September. We started researching training plans and discussed what we were going to do starting in January. We knew what we had run in the previous year so we weren’t complete newbies but we knew that this was going to require more from us than what we had done in the past. We planned our training and discussed some possible races we wanted to do over the summer.
Chris has a history of some injuries. In particular, her Achilles tendon has caused her problems in the past. She performed lots of stretching and physical therapy exercises to keep her Achilles healthy. We both continued to use weights at the gym so we did our cross training. I think that helps a lot.
We ran races with increasing length over the summer which forced us to train for longer distances. We ran a 5K early on and then bumped up to a 10K in July. We wanted to run a 10 mile race in August but couldn’t find one that worked for us. There aren’t many 10 mile races in the area. So, we planned our own 10 mile run.
We also knew that we wanted to run a local 5K over Labor Day weekend, so only a few weeks before the race. It wasn’t part of our plan, distance wise, so we said, “we’ll run it for speed.”
We stayed in touch on how we were doing. We logged our time on Strava and participated in challenges on Fitbit. As we began to do longer runs, we began to run together more often.
We thought about shoes, clothes, and supplies. Chris replaced her shoes late in the summer but made sure to do so in time to break them in before the race. I showed her the water belt I had received last Christmas.
We did our research. We talked to runners and trainers. We read websites. We listened to running podcasts. We shared what we learned with each other. This doesn’t help you actually run but it gave us good ideas on how to train and to think about timing and recovery.

So, we spent a long time preparing for this race and we did it. It’s really amazing to me. When I start thinking about how long 13 miles is, I’m amazed. My next post will be what I want to do differently going forwards.

Chris and I waiting for the start of the race.

10K Race Firecracker in Cleveland Recap

September 8, 2017 / chrisbrown330 / 1 Comment

On July 2, 2017 Jill and I ran our first 10K together in downtown Cleveland. The 6.2 miles was the longest distance race I had ever done. Jill had done a 1oK once before.

The course was flat, right on Lake Erie — Hot weather on an out and back run. The race was called YMCA Firecracker because it was on 4th of July weekend.

We got up to Cleveland early in the cool morning hours so we’d be there in plenty of time. Nice that the parking meters in downtown were turned off, so that we didn’t have to pay to to park.

We stood in line to pick up our bibs — of course the music was blaring really loudly, aimed right to the registration desk. I had to say “what??!! What?!” a couple of times to every question. (Simple questions too, like “Name?” “What size T-shirt did you order?”)

Luckily the sun was coming out – I really didn’t want to run in the rain. But it wasn’t hot yet either. A good group of folks showed up, many wearing red, white and blue. The YMCA was the sponsor. Pre-race bathrooms were at the Y’s fitness facility. The racers filed inside to use the bathrooms before the race started.

I could tell the race announcer was experienced. He wasn’t the bit nervous on the microphone.

I only saw a couple of people dressed up in funny costumes – like the Statue of Liberty. I wondered how can she run in that toga thing? And holding her hand up in the air?

A few people were getting pictures. Some were nervous, but most were joking around and happy. Several people ran with their dogs.

The race started and I skootched to the back. I have a bad habit of running the first mile too fast in the excitement of the race and then my heart rate goes way up… making me too tired toward the end of the race. Of course, I did that again.

Turned the first corner and started down hill toward the Cleveland Browns stadium. I couldn’t help noticing one very tall runner who was in sweat pants. “Wow, he’s going to be hot” went thru my mind.

I tried to keep a happy face in my mind and not think too hard about the upcoming water station. It is supposed to be a mile 2, that’s what I overheard someone say before the race started. The first mile went by quickly, and I was near the back of the pack.

Back of the pack is actually A-OK with me. I’ve never been super fast (or even medium fast) but I do have endurance. This 10K race felt like a test of all of my training in April, May and June. (A 10K is 6.2 miles, but 10K sounds so much further in my head!)

Where’s that water station?!? Finally. It seemed a bit further than 2 miles to me, but it could be I was not pacing myself.

The course was on perfect blacktop asphalt on the bike path road. It’s also called Marginal Road and it’s right next to Burke Lakefront Airport. Great views of Lake Erie too.The next section was an out and back. Meaning that we were running on the left side and had the other runners coming back running on the right. Kinda cool to see the faster runners coming thru, but then they may or may not think it’s cool to see the slower runners. I was looking for Jill – she’s much faster than I am.

I got my camera ready and just after she passed me, she turned around and I snapped this photo of her!

As I got closer to the end of the out and back, I saw the statue of liberty – still going strong in her outfit to memorialize the holiday. Gotta hand it to her. I was wishing I had worn something a little more red, white and blue.

Just after the end of the 3rd mile I was ready for water again. (Next time I’m bringing my own bottle – thoughts went thru my head.) The second water station had lots of cups of water poured, they did a good job, but I was wishing there had been 3 stations for 6 miles.

Funny. When I run at home, I practice by going that far. But I don’t even carry water. I think it was all in my head.

We ran back on the other side of the expressway on the other Marginal Road. It was kind of exciting to see the big buildings of Cleveland get closer and closer. The poor little dog that was running with her “mom” was given a break when she got passed over to “dad”. The dog mom took off. I think the dog was holding her back!

Once I saw the sign for mile 5 I thought to myself “Only one mile left, give it the gas.” So I pushed it. Alot. Well, alot for me anyway.

Guess who won the age group award!

Does it count to be excited for winning when there wasn’t anyone else in my age in the run?

Out fast, consistent middle and faster ending.

Obviously I didn’t shut off my watch as quickly as I should have. You can see I went out fast, but also had a very consistent pace at 3, 4, 5 with a negative split on the last one.

Here’s the official link to my Race Results: where I finished 175 in 1:21:30.0 at a 12:47 per mile pace.