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

myWorld 5K

On Veteran's Day I flew from BWI to Denver for the 90th Annual NCSS conference. I was really excited to have a professional development getaway.

The flight was flawless and it was an easy trip from door to door.

Friday was a great conference day and Saturday morning I got up for a quick 5K in Denver.

I was excited to run in another part of the country. Despite the 6:15 departure time from a nearby hotel, I was enthusiastic about the race!


Pearson, the publishing company sponsoring the race, booked a minibus to transport conference goers from the hotel to Cheeseman Park where the race was to be run.


As we boarded the bus, it appeared that it would be a small and intimate running group. I loved the professionalism with which the race was run, and was even more excited that it would be a small running group---not thousands of people.

As we arrived at the park, the sun was just starting to come up.

This was our minibus! :)


The race had one (very clean) port-a-john, a ballooned race start arch, and a set up tent.

The race was a loop 2 1/2 times around the park.


The run itself, was VERY deceptive. One, we could not tell that there were undulating hills throughout the park....at least, not until we were off and running.

And for many of us, the altitude was KILLER! My big lesson for this run: ALTITUDE IS NO JOKE! For those of us who were from sea level locations, we really felt the altitude..especially by mile one. I was very glad that the race was only a 5K.

By mile one, my legs were heavier than normal and by mile two my arms were heavy with fatigue--a pretty rare feeling for me. I was excited that there were runners just in front of me...they kept me pushing myself.

But you couldn't beat the view---off in the distance stood the majestic Rocky Mountains.

As we finished the race (on the opposite side of the park) we were greeted by the mountains. It was one of the most scenic finishes I've had this year---in fact, I might have to say that it was THE most scenic finish! :)

I was really happy I had woken up early and participated in the small, but awesome race in the Mile High City.

Woohooo! Race number 22 complete!

And even better--the race raised $1000 for American Indian education in Denver! :)

	myWorld 5K Walk/Run
	Event Name: myWorld 5K Walk/Run Event Date and Time: Saturday, November 13, 2010 @ 07:30 AM Event Distance: 5 k City and State: Denver , CO Event Address: Cheesman Park 8th & Franklin Denver, CO 80218 view map Description: Pearson is hosting the second annual myWorld 5K run/walk at NCSS 2010 on Saturday, November 13 at 7:30 a.m. In honor of November Native American Heritage Month, the myWorld Run/Walk is a race to raise money for the Adams County Indian Education Program of Colorado, dedicated to closing the achievement gap for American Indian and Alaska Native students. Additional Info: This year’s proceeds will benefit the Adams County Indian Education Program of Colorado

This was also my best finish for a race this year--5th overall and 2nd for women! I'm not sure of the total field size, but they did say it was bigger than last year's NCSS race of 33 participants.

Results:

Male Participants
1.	Kenan Anderson	23:16
2.	Craig Ewing	23:39
3.	Clay Blazer	24:46
4.	Patrick Dorn	25:37
5.	Dean Brown	25:51

Female Participants
1.	Natalie Corbet	25:01
2.	Amy Trenkle	25:10
3.	Jen Malchiodi	33:24
4.	Sarah Porter	38:00
5.	Nancy Brawley	38:07

The rest of the day was as great--that afternoon I gave my poster presentation on the TRT experience.

Denver was a great trip!