The Last Race of 2010

Our adventure started yesterday with packet pick up.


Mark and I took more than an hour to drive out to Fairfax to pick up our race goodies...we were really excited about the sweatshirt that was promised to all pre-registrants! Bonus! What was NOT bonus was the traffic on the way out....Arg....

But we got there and were pretty giddy to pick up our numbers!

Snoodles came with us too---a fun outing for all!

After getting our number, sweatshirt, and a bit of shopping perusal, we decided to see what other things the new development held. We discovered a Panera and thought that a mid afternoon coffee sounded great!


We had a good time with our coffee, our snack, and each other! :)








Well, the final race of the year finally arrived. I have to admit that as we drove out to the race, I was more than a little sad. I had a really good time this year with my Resolution and it was exciting to see it come to fruition...and equally sad to see it end. But I was looking forward to running and looking forward to a new run... :)

We arrived a LOT faster than we did yesterday---Mark and I had budgeted to give tons of cushion in case there was traffic. We were glad we didn't need the cushion but that meant we arrived with more than an hour to spare. On a bright note we didn't have to look for parking at all...super easy! :)

We decided to go toward the store and see how we could spend an hour. We were really delightfully surprised to see the nice staging area they had for the race. The cleanest bathrooms of the entire racing year--indoor CLEAN ones! Wooohoo! (And on a side note, the porta potties outside at the start line were clean too and NO LINE!--Was this race for real?!)



They had a huge area inside, complete with chairs and couches for early arrivers to wait inside--so nice! We were able to stay warm and if we had wanted it we could have sipped hot cocoa! Classy!



And as Mark and I were standing there taking it all in, one of my former students walked by! How cool is that?! I was so excited to see him and it was great to catch up! FUN!

Before we knew it we were headed to the start line. It was a balmy 50 degrees out. The race was well attended but not too crowded.







We had a great time on the run! What surprised us the most was how dark it was on some parts of the course!

The campus was well lit but the neighborhood to and from the campus was pretty dark--as I said to Mark, if I had known how dark it was going to be I'm not sure I would have waived liability! Mark said he understood why some were wearing head lamps!

By the way--cool free schwag! Little blinky lights that attached magnetically and flashed yellow and blue! You can see it attached to my number here on my bib! Fun!

It was a great time and a good run!


Our splits were as follows:

Mile 1 8:07.89
Mile 2 7:40.78
Mile 3 8:23.32
Mile 4 7:51.89

 306  29/231   1213 Amy Trenkle            35 F Washington         DC 32:20.27 32:04.06  8:02

304  80/184    536 Mark Hannum            34 M Washington         DC 32:20.39 32:03.60  8:01

So, what's next? Stay tuned for my Year In Review post tomorrow....the Special Superlative Post...as well as an reveal of my NEW New Year's Resolutions! Happy New Year! Thank you 2010 for a wonderful year of memories!

Jingle, Jingle...or Not..

The alarm went off on the rainy, cooler morning...and well...we crawled back into bed...rather Amy crawled back in...Mark didn't get out at all....

And so the tradition of registering for the Jingle Bell run and not attending it continued...

For the third year in a row, we registered for the race and did not run the race...at least at the specified race time.

Why is that race always on a rainy, cold morning? We really should stop registering...but each year we think it will be different...

See, these are not the only three times we have registered for it. I have actually run it..at least once in my memory...back in the late 90s...maybe '98? Or another Jingle Bell race then at the very least...

So, Mark and I did our 6.2 miles on the treadmill at the gym.

Not sure if this should count toward the year end total...Jon thinks it should count twice since we actually ran on the treadmill and succumbed to utter boredom to finish our mileage. I have to admit, by the end of the run, I was desperately wishing we had braved the weather and run that morning.

The 10K was less than fast on the treadmill...I think my time was near 57 minutes...but at least it was finished.

So, does it count? If I can find another race between now and our final race on 12/31 then I will run it--to assuage my guilt. But if not...I may count it.

Stay tuned for the special superlative issue on January 1.

A Visual of Our Blog

I thought I would share a little nifty trick I learned at my NCSS conference....Tagxedo here, has made a graphic illustrator of our blog. Large words appear more often throughout our blog...the smaller the word, the fewer times it appears....

This was made from all entries from January 1, 2010 up until the Philly Half Marathon (not including it).

Stay tuned for the final representation when the year draws to a close and our goals have been met!

PS My Fave Sign from Philly

How could I have forgotten to share this?

My fave sign from the Philly Half (remembering that the half and full marathon run together for the first 13.1 miles)

"If anyone tells you you're almost there before mile 25 --PUNCH THEM!"

Love it...been there...felt that...

Turkey Chase 10K

Gobble! Gobble! It was time for our annual Turkey Chase run! This year had some special features to it! Mark and I were trying to figure it out, but we think that this was maybe the 6th year or so that we have run the race. Each year it seems to get bigger...and more crowded.

This year was cool because Jon joined us! Last year he was signed up too, but the back to back Philly Marathon/Turkey Chase combo was too much for his knee. It was great to have him with us!


And since Mark was nice enough to run with his phone, we were lucky enough to capture the moments on his iPhone.

We made it to the start with less than five minutes to go. We parked illegally, but luckily guessed right that everyone was too busy either running, organizing the race, or giving thanks to give us a ticket--thankfully, we were right on with our guess.

The temperature and weather was perfect--about 42 degrees at the start, cloudy, with just a few raindrops as we waited for the start.

It was the same great course we have been used to. We stayed together for the first three miles or so and then we each did our own thing. We met up at the finish line within minutes of each other.

The post race was something we were looking forward to. The "other" Amy Trenkle and I met up in the "runner village." Amy and I have been exchanging emails for maybe close to two years now. We both have similar email addresses, and having the same names, means that we have received each others' emails....so we have frequently sent each other our misguided emails. It's been fun to get to know each other because we have the same name---and both yield from Michigan. Pretty cool to finally meet.



And we also met up with Sonia and Ping! We talked about running this race last year with Ping, but we missed each other. This year, thanks again to Mark running with his phone, we were able to meet up! We were able to see Sonia as we crossed the start line and she saw us at the finish line, but we didn't see her. It was neat to have another reunion!

So, team Trenkle-Hannum headed home---we were very excited for the warm car. We quickly showered and packed and were off to Mom and Dad's for a great Thanksgiving.

Many things to be happy for definitely--a nice holiday to remind us of the good things in our life.
Race #24 completed!

Results:

425  81/253   2032 Amy Trenkle           35 Washington DC    1:05:55   55:43  8:58

My splits were:

Mile 1  9:19.27
Mile 2  9:30.14
Mile 3  9:27.19
Mile 4  8:50.38
Mile 5  8:37.88
Mile 6  8:23.15
Mile .2  1:36.73

Total:  55:44.74

1274 156/233    937 Mark Hannum           34 Washington DC    1:08:45   58:32  9:26

1021 129/233   2033 Jon Trenkle           30 Cambridge MA     1:05:39   55:27  8:56

Philly Half Marathon

We left DC around 1 pm and headed to Philly....in time to make the expo and pick up my race bib and packet....

What we thought would be a speedy two or two and a half hour ride in...

turned into four hours...

that I was sure was never going to end....

Mark and I finally switched places and I walked to the Convention Center, where I was greeted by what my eyes had waited hours to see!

The expo was hopping with less than two hours to go...

I quickly and easily picked up my bib, but then got into this mongo line to get my tshirt and bag...I wasn't sure what was longer--the tshirt line or the traffic into the city. Thankfully, the line inside the Convention Center moved faster than the one outside!

I took a quick photo inside and went outside to meet up with Mark.

We happened to get a great deal on Expedia and stayed at the Omni right across from Independence Park. It was wonderful to stay there and in such an historic location! We quickly scoured our options for dinner and realized we should have made a reservation since of course, the rest of the runners wanted pasta too. We decided to order out at Maggiano's and what started as a 15-20 minute wait for dinner turned into nearly an hour. What a fiasco! 2o minutes in the restaurant called us (as we were about to enter the pick up door of course!) and they said it had been entered incorrectly and it would be another 30-35 minutes until our meal was ready....arg. But when we finally did get it, we had a yummy feast back in our hotel room. Mark and I discovered a new series: Wreck Chasers. We had no idea--a whole new lifestyle was revealed to us. We felt lucky to be watching it in the city that it was filmed!

The morning came quickly. I had a quick yogurt and we stopped for Starbucks. Mark drove me to the start line--well, about three blocks before it, which was outstanding!

It was near 40 degrees at the start, but it felt pretty great!

Mark took to the road, after dropping off the car, on his bike. His stakeout yielded some great shots!



And he even found me! :)

Again,

and again...




(and he found this guy dressed in a green one piece while waiting for me)....


and again...


and even again with this sneak shot from up above!

The best was when my #1 cheerleader found me at the finish line!

The half marathon was really good to me. I ran a 1:52...a PR by more than 5 minutes! I felt good and felt strong throughout. I think it was the combination of the weather, the rest the night before, and seeing Mark along the course.



Here he is! :) Go Mark the running cheerleader!

I really appreciate him being there!

Mark and I walked back to the hotel, enjoying the scenery along the way!







We had a great time in the city of Brotherly Love!

We showered and were on the road. Red Robin was calling to us, so we found one a half hour outside of Philly in Wilmington, DE.

Need I say more? So tasty!


THIS is a happy runner! :)



Race #23. Conquered!

Bib

FName

LName

City

State

Country

Div

Age

Sex

ChipTime

ClockTime

Overall

SexPl

DivPl

AgeGrade

10K

22112

Amy

Trenkle

Washington

DC

FEMALES 34 TO 39

35

F

01:52:24

01:57:35

1608

636

80

59.3%

My 10K split was 52:21.

My mile by mile splits were:

Mile 1 8:11.45
Mile 2 8:28.14
Mile 3 9:04.12
Mile 4 8:07.75
Mile 5 8:27.92
Mile 8 25.50.96
Mile 9 8:56.78
Mile 10 9:09.97
Mile 11 8:34.37
Mile 12 8:18.63
Mile 13 9:02.58
Mile .1 12.55

1:52.25.22

8395 Finishers - 3026 M / 5369 F