Baltimore 10 Miler

I signed up for this race on February 1, 2010---I believe this was the start of the snow era earlier this year. In fact, as I look at my iCal I see that I had the opening registration date set on my calendar...I probably signed up for it early in the a.m. Little did I know that when June 19th came I would be exhausted beyond belief.

It was a busy week for me...On Monday was graduation practice, Tuesday graduation, Wednesday the Awards Breakfast and Ceremony, Thursday the 8th grade Dinner Dance (and my last AU class for the semester) and Friday was the picnic---and packet pick up--in Baltimore.


Sunday was Mark's first full triathlon. It was a busy, busy week.

We left right after school to drive to Baltimore for packet pick up. It was at the zoo. It took us two hours to get there with the Friday rush hour traffic.

Packet pick up was beautiful and serene. We were excited because it was yet, another new part of town. Druid Hill Park that we went past looked wonderful...as did the zoo where the packet pick up was.

I walked up and got my bib number and D-tag for timing and was told that the shirts would be given out at the finish line.


It is here that I should mention that Mark and I had had a serious discussion on the way up about the next morning's timeline. The race started at 7:30 am....I had to be there by 7 am, which meant leaving the house around 5:30 am or 5:45. The more we talked about it, the more we both were exhausted. So we decided to take the play-it-by-ear approach.


Flash forward to the woman telling me that the awesome shirt would not be available until race morning. I ended up explaining my situation to her and sharing my entire 8th grade schedule....she very nicely told me to talk to Julie in the corner. Julie was kind enough to break open one of the boxes with the shirts in it and give me mine early just in case I didn't make it to the start line. THANK YOU!


Since we were in Baltimore we decided to pay a dinner visit to the City Cafe--a favorite of ours!

We were not disappointed! We ordered these nachos that were to die for! A white welsh rarebit sauce of sorts, green chili sauce, and pico de gallo on a bed of corn chips....delish! I'm still raving about them!

Dinner was polenta with fried fresh mozzarella with white beans in a pesto sauce. It was good but I wish I had ordered another round of the nachos!

Mark ordered steak and frites.


We got back to DC around 10 pm.

That pretty much sealed my race thoughts right there. I decided to sleep in until 7:30 or so under the strict condition that I would get up and run my 10 miles first thing in the a.m. So I charted a 10.15 mile course and set out at 8:15 on Saturday a.m. It was hot and I was happy with my decision....It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes---that includes stopping for traffic lights, walking breaks due to the heat, etc....

I know it's not quite the same as a race, but I'm counting it...I ran the same mileage at the same time (essentially) as the other race and plugged along.....

#12 done.

Survivor Harbor 7 Miler

So, on a bit of whim, I signed up for this race in May. I liked the idea that it was a point to point race in Baltimore, starting new Fort McHenry and ending in Canton.

Little did I know that it would be WICKED hot that morning. The race was really well run and definitely a fun course. However, when I finished around 9:30 am the temperature was already 86 degrees with 40%+ humidity. I should also mention that a lot of the course was in the sun....ARG!

I finished a lot slower than I would have liked, however my splits for the first two miles were near 8:17 minute miles. Maybe that was part of the problem too--I probably took it out too fast for the heat.

Packet pick up was in a new part of town in Baltimore. Mark and I had a good time exploring a new part of Baltimore. We even found a Whole Foods next to a Starbucks and a dog store! Exciting! A lot of the time, exploring and finding the packet pick up, start, etc. is just as fun as the running itself! :) Mark, Soba and I ate at Donna's in this new part of Baltimore for dinner.

The next morning we were up and out the door early--the race start was 8 am. So we were in the car by 6:30 so that we could get there without rushing. For some reason, chip pick up was the morning of the event so I was a little leery of not getting there in enough time, so we left a bit earlier than need be. Everything was very smooth thought when we did get there.

The course was very neat and I would love to run it again---this time without the heat.

The water on the course was sparse--especially for the heat that day. There were also only three water stops on the course, the last, at mile 5+ was a little paper dixie cup size....which was hardly enough when we were all roasting. As you can tell from the picture when Mark found me at Mile 5 I was fried.

After looking for my results I found a lot of comments about the race...it seems that my concerns were similar to others. I hope they do make improvements because there is great potential here!

The finish line was fun and very festive! A great way to finish, especially as the last leg of the race was downhill! :)







As always, thanks to my outstanding cheerleaders! :) I couldn't do it without you!



Eleven down, nine to go!

703  67/96   Amy Trenkle         F 34 Washington DC      77:01 76:45 10:58

Save the Trail 5K

Wooohooo! Race Number 10!! Here we are!



This race, the Save the Trail 5K, wasn't on our radar originally, but I got an email from a listserve and figured, why not? We were around for Memorial Day weekend and it seemed like a great way to celebrate the weekend.

I'm not much of a 5K person, but we decided to give it a try.


The race took place in Bethesda, as an awareness race for the building of the Purple line along one of the popular biking/trails in the area, the Capital Crescent Trail.

The race was an out and back course, on the packed crushed stone trail, with a short stint through the adjacent neighborhood.

One of the things Mark and I both really liked about it was that it wasn't a super crowded, jazzed up, top ten in the nation race.


In fact, I didn't even have to wait in line for the porta potty! That's how low key it was!



But for as low key as it was, it was well done. The race was organized well, ran smoothly, and was very official without being overwhelming.

It was starting to inch toward the warmer side. And I have clearly have issues with eating before a 5K. I chose not eat before we left the house, but we were at the race about 45 minutes before it started and I found myself getting hungrier and hungrier. Simultaneously, they were setting up the post race food area. Mark kindly asked the woman for a half of a bagel for the two of us to split and we did. The bagel, however, did not agree with me as I ran and I was regretting my consumption of the bagel within the first mile.

(Can you find each of us crossing the start line in the two photographs above?)

Overall, it was a most excellent choice for my 10th run.


It was fun and I am extremely impressed with the race photography. Any of the pics of us running or of the pre-race scene that doesn't have Mark or I in it were taken by the photographers there and uploaded to the site, FREE for us to download. :)

98  15/29     164 Mark Hannum           M 34 Washington DC      24:01   24:07   7:46
99   6/36     163 Amy Trenkle           F 34 Washington DC      24:01   24:08   7:46

Capitol Hill Classic 10K

For the past 30+ years my school has hosted the Capitol Hill Classic, a 10K race to benefit the Capitol Hill Cluster Schools. It's quite successful in raising money and because of it, we, the teachers and students, have benefited from the money raised. Our school has gotten supplies, computers, library books, field trips and much more!

I first ran this race back in 1998 when I was living in DC and working at the National Postal Museum. Back then I was living by myself (Mark was still at K), walking to and from work, and running between 5-8 miles everyday with a longer run on the weekend. I was in much better shape than I am in now.

Amazingly, my records from the May 3, 1998 race are online....and my results?

   6   2/28   Amy Trenkle             22 WASHINGTON DC        43:16

I guess I know what I need to do, I just need to find the time to do it! :) I was the 6th overall woman to finish and the 2nd in my age group.

I didn't have as stellar of a race, but I did have just as much fun. The course has changed slightly over the years and now comes up the Independence side of the Capitol rather than the Constitution side, giving runners a little more recovery time before they cross the finish line.

Mark and I were excited to see many of my students, parents, and coworkers out there. It was a nice morning and we had fun. :)


Total results are here.

 233  59/290   1810 Amy Trenkle              34 Washington DC    54:50 54:22  8:45

633 142/239   1811 Mark Hannum              34 Washington DC    54:50 54:21  8:45

We are looking forward to many more Capitol Hill Classic races! :)

Nine races down, 11 to go!

Broad Street 10 Miler

HOT! That's all I can say---HOT! We crossed the finish line and someone was holding a sign that said it was 88 degrees out....I think it might have been hotter....

The featured run was the Philadelphia Broad Street 10 Mile Run.

I had investigated this run back in February when I signed up for the New York City More Fitness Half Marathon...I didn't sign up though until my brother said that he was running it...I thought it sounded like fun to run in Philly with him again. :)

We drove down on Saturday afternoon and went right to packet pick up. Packet pick up was where the race was ending and provided a little bit of a challenge to find. The expo was nice, nothing too extraordinary, but fun to peruse. The shirts, however, were not as exciting as I had hoped.


We left the expo and checked into the same hotel that we stayed in for the Philly Marathon--the Hilton Inn at Penn across from U Penn. Wooohoo!! We had a great corner room, king bed, and even live plants in our suite! Sweet! :)

We let Jon know that we were checked in and he said that Ross, he and Ross' wife would be by to pick us up for dinner. We had a great dinner with his family and also learned about the great work that Ross' father and Ross' father's work were doing to aid cancer victims.

We returned back to the hotel to get ready for the next morning. We had a big decision to make. The run was a point to point race which meant that we either were going to have to get up extra early and drop the car off at the end and then take the subway to the start, or get to the start and figure out how to get home afterwards. The race organizers recommended driving to the end of the race and leaving the car option---however, to do that would mean leaving the hotel at 5:45 am. The race started at 8 am. This seemed crazy to me. We opted to figure out how to get home once we got to the finish line.

We took a cab to the start and joined the thousands of people. Amazingly we found Jon and Ross and friends before the race---I have no idea how considering how many people there were.

The start of the race was already warm. I wasn't feeling it. I hate running in the heat. I had hoped that there would be rain, clouds...something to cut the heat. Despite the few raindrops that fell before the race started, the sun was shining brightly by the time we crossed the start line.

I love point to point races, but the heat just did me in. The best part was that due to the heat, the race organizers had the fire hydrants opened along the route---every half mile or mile there was an open fire hydrant spraying water.....OMG! It felt so refreshing! Most of us said how much of a relief that was!

The race was anything but a fast one for me. I am just glad that I finished---sooooo hot!

Bib

FName

LName

City

State

Div

Age

Sex

ChipTime

ClockTime

Overall

SexPl

DivPl

AgeGrade

Pace

Half

10897

Amy

Trenkle

Washington

DC

FEMALES 30 TO 34

34

F

01:55:24

01:57:16

20758

10485

1932

43.4%

We stopped by Ross' apartment, overlooking the Schuylkill, and enjoyed hearing how the race went for everyone else. With so many people finishing, we were unable to find anyone after the race. We ended up catching the subway line back from the finish line back to a few blocks within our hotel. I didn't even know that Philly had a subway!! It was pretty cool!

The race itself wasn't one of my favorites---because of the heat I think. But I loved running in the same race as my brother again (even though we didn't run it together!) and it was fun to run in a different part of Philly. I think I would consider it again if I knew that it wouldn't be so hot! :)

Eight races down, 12 to go!

A Run Through the Park in the Rain

Mark and I had a wonderful, albeit short, weekend in NYC. We went up for the More Fitness Women's Half Marathon, held in Central Park.



I signed up for this race in a bit of a spastic, oh-my-gosh-I-have-to-register-now-before-I-get-locked-out-of-it kind of way back in February at the start of one of our winter storms.

We had been released a half day early due to the pending snow storms and Mark and I were sitting on the couch just relaxing before going for a run. The snow hadn't started yet but there was "doom" in the air, via the news and radio forecasts.

I checked the website for this race since it was on my radar to find out that it was all full, unless you entered a special code from February's More or Fitness Magazine.

So what did we do?

We ran out to the bookstore so I could pick up the magazine. I was a bit irritated to learn the special code word was simply morefitness....but the adventure was fun. And the magazine provided me with some good reading for the next few days once we were snowed in.

I registered for the race and waited.

Mark and I booked a Marriott at 3 East 40th Street and we bought Bolt Bus tickets. My brother had taken the Bolt Bus to NYC from Boston for the marathon back in November and had good things to say about it so I was eager to try it.

The Bolt Bus was indeed comfortable and we got there in a timely fashion after getting work done on the bus, thanks to the wireless connection. This was the scene from Mark's seat on the way into the city:


We walked to our hotel, about a mile away, checked in and headed to the expo, also about a mile away.


We stopped for photos by the Public Library (very near our hotel).

The expo was well organized and fun to walk to...along the way we saw the Naked Cowboy.


I've seen him on TV but never so close. Walking through Times Square was great!



At the packet pick up we met Kathrine Switzer---who was the first woman to officially enter and run the Boston Marathon in 1967. One of my students, Essence, did her National History Day project on her and was at that time, CityWide in DC sharing her website project about Kathrine Switzer. Essence had blogged back and forth with Kathrine and when I introduced myself she immediately remembered Essence's name. It was pretty cool. I bought Kathrine's autobiography and she kindly wrote in it for Essence. Essence was thrilled to get the book when I gave it to her on Monday. Definitely a highlight of our trip!

After the pick up we returned to the hotel to drop the gear off---there were a lot of goodies we had accrued!

We decided to walk to Central Park and take a stroll through it.


There were tons of people out and it was beautiful.


We took a picture by Strawberry Fields.


We cam out around 72nd Street on the West Side of the Park and walked to Columbus Avenue. After the marathon we wandered that way and discovered that part of time. I was eager to explore it again. So, we went that way and really enjoyed the area.

We walked up and down the street and it was getting to be dinner time so we picked a restaurant Pappardella right on the sidewalk so we could people watch.



The food was ok, but the location and company were terrific.


We then went in search of a Tasti D-lite frozen yogurt. We walked all the way down Columbus to 42nd Street and then over to Times Square because all of the sites that came up on our phone weren't there.


It was worth it once we found it though and we enjoyed sitting in the window at Times Square watching people go by.



We walked back to our hotel, just a few blocks away and stopped to admire Bryant Park on the way back.


It was so green and well lit--we really enjoyed it.


Somewhere in the middle of the night the temperature plummeted and the rain started. I awoke at 6:30 am to a steady rain, a slight wind, and a temperature in the 40s.

We left the hotel at 7:15 and were to the park with thousands of other runners by 7:30. The start was at 8 am. The race was two and a little more times around Central Park which made it nice for my chief cheerleader to find me on the course....he spent the time crossing back and forth on the path.



Although it was pretty cold at first, and definitely miserable waiting for the race, it was the perfect running weather for a half marathon.



It rained almost the entire time and was 47 degrees at the start according the race results.


While I didn't have a fantastic time, I did finish just under 2 hours and absolutely loved the experience.



I think it's something about running in NYC. :)

We took a cab back to the hotel, showered and got into some warm, dry clothes. We had a late check out so took our time, walked to Starbucks and then came back and packed up. We checked out around 12:15 and took a cab back up to the Upper West side and had brunch at the City Grill, basically across the street from where we had dinner the night before.


We were two of many race finishers and supporters there.

We had time to kill until our bus left so after brunch we meandered to Le Quitoidien and had another coffee and split a brioche, which I love more for the spreads than the brioche itself.

The ride back was uneventful but the entire weekend really rejuvenated us. It was a terrific race and definitely one I would recommend.