Discount for Revel Mt. Charleston Marathon

It’s hard to believe that the Revel Racing Series could find another perfect location for a downhill marathon and half, but they have done it!

Nestled just north of Las Vegas, NV (my favorite place btw), this coming May 7, 2016 will be the inaugural running of Revel Mt. Charleston.  Get excited!  Another reason to visit Las Vegas!

You can read all of the details on their website.  https://www.runrevel.com.

The main thing is to register while prices are at their lowest.  Under $100 right now til the end of January.  I created a team for the race, which means you can save another $5 if you join, and then another $5 if you “like” them on Facebook during the checkout process.

My team name is Chasing Boston, so search for that name while registering, and you instantly get the discount.  You can run the Half or Full and still be on my team, so choose wisely.  See you in Vegas, baby!

2016 Charleston Marathon

Less than two weeks to go until we ring in the New Year!  Yes, 2016 is waiting in the wings, and I hope it’s one of the best years yet!  I feel very fortunate to have had such a great year but I am ready to don my party hat and grab my noise maker.  Lets toast to another fun year of running!

Sort of a late entry into the game, I finally have a plan for January.  I am returning to a race I ran in 2014.  The charming city filled with southern hospitality that is Charleston, SC.  After scoring a coveted pacing slot, you’re will find me running the streets of Charleston in just 27 days.  I will be pacing the marathon finish time of 4 hours flat!  Of course, knowing this is a very important goal for so many runners, the main objective will be to cross the line in 3:59:59.  Break that 4 hour mark, right?  Big goal of so many!

So, if you happen to be running this race, stop by and say hello!  This is how I will be starting my 2016 racing season, and I am really looking forward to it.

2016 Pace Gigs

Looking ahead to my 2016 racing season, so many things are still up in the air.  I usually have a pretty solid plan by now, and am typically already training for my next race.  Why is this not true this year?  I guess there are many reasons.

Ending the year with the one two punch of Chicago and New York, my body has felt a bit depleted.  When you have no energy, and a lack of desire, it leads me to a oh hum attitude when it comes to getting signed right up for my next race.  I just couldn’t find one that worked for my schedule and budget.  Then I got sick, and have still not fully recovered.  Still having problems and not feeling quite right going on three weeks now.  It has led me to quite the laissez faire attitude.  This is not good when it comes to having a rock solid plan for 2016.

I’m going to just roll with the punches.  I do know this however.  After spending the last five years running various races, I’ve learned a thing or two about myself and my running goals.  Sometimes my goal is to run fast, set a PR, or even try for a Boston Qualifier.  Sometimes not.  Sometimes it’s about the experience.  The race itself.  Getting out there, testing myself, enjoying myself on the run.  It’s not always about how fast you can go, or how far.  I’ve learned I like certain races, and others not so much.  I don’t just sign up for a race because I am a glutton.  I’ve learned to be smart about where I spend my racing dollars.

I’ve also learned through the past couple of years that one of my favorite things to do is be a pacer.  If not Boston material, I am certainly still a pretty fast runner.  What most folks would consider fast anyway.  What I do best I think is have a very consistent pace.  Fast or slow, consistency is key when pacing.  I can offer you that!  Helping others reach a goal before my own goals is something I just never saw coming, but has been a welcome addition to my charitable life.  Giving a bit of myself to others on the race course.  I love it!

This leads me to a few races which are set in stone for next year.  A couple of my favorite races, and races I will be pacing in 2016.  Drum roll please……

In March I will be heading to Asheville, North Carolina to pace two events.  Actually same event, two different races.  The Asheville Marathon and Half at Biltmore Estate is a full on runners challenge this coming year.  You can run the Half on Saturday, the Full on Sunday, or both!  I am running both, and pacing both!  I will be pacing the 2:00 Half, and 4:00 Full.  How much fun does that sound?  Tons!

In April, I will be heading back to one of my favorites to pace for the first time.  The All American Marathon has been a trusted, awesome race experience for me the past two years.  I’ve run the Full both years the race has been in existence, so on its third anniversary, I will be pacing the 4:00 Full.  This will be my first marathon three-peat.

 

I’m sure I will do some more pacing in 2016, but those gigs are what I have lined up so far.  I’m not sure I will even attempt a BQ this coming year.  Right now just not feeling the need to put that kind of pressure on myself.  2016 is going to be about having fun, running consistent, and getting back to basics.  Finding more joy out there on the road.  Listening to my body, and smiling.  If giving back to others through pacing is what gives me joy, I’m going to do even more of it.

What gives you joy this holiday season?

I really want to run a marathon…

It has been almost six weeks since my last race.  The NYC Marathon was waaaaaaayyyyyy back on November 1st.  Seems like a lifetime ago.  Seems like all I’ve done since is work my tail off, had very few days off, and get sick for two weeks.  It really has been a bummer!  I am sufficiently rested, and feel like signing up for a marathon for the first part of the year.

Problem is….  I just can’t find anything that works out for my schedule.  I’d love to run Charleston in January, but that would entail an overnight stay in SC, and taking my dogs along with me.  I’m just not sure I want to do that.

I really, really want to run Hilton Head for the third year in a row, but damn them for changing a race date of the first weekend in February to the following weekend, which is Valentines Day weekend!  I can’t travel during Valentines.  Well, not if I want to keep my job.  So, that ones out. Again, Boo to Bearfoot Sports for changing the date!

A return to where my marathon days began, in Myrtle Beach, would be a perfect way to start out my racing for 2016.  Another problem, it’s just too close to my race weekend in Asheville.  I can’t take nearly every weekend from mid March to mid April off, now can I?

So, where does all of this leave me?  I guess nowhere.  I cannot spend money on a destination race involving any airfare so soon, so any marathon I begin my new season with has to be within decent driving distance of central NC, between mid January, and the end of February, and not 1/33-1/30 (on vacation), and not Valentines weekend.

I’ve scoured the race calendars, and it just doesn’t seem like it’s going to work out.  Unless of course, you know of one that would fit perfectly into my parameters.  Feel free to share, if you do.  :). If not, I guess I will just have to spend the cold, dark winter months in training with no real marathon plans on the near horizon.

Ugh, I hate not having a rock solid race plan and something to look forward to after the first of the year.  Help!

Sick as a Dog!

It’s always this time of year.  Sometime between the beginning of November and Christmas.  Sickness befalls me.  The rest of the year I am typically as healthy as a horse, in fact I think my average for getting sick is about once a year.  Now happens to be that time.

It began with a tickle.  A bit of a strange scratchy feeling in the back of my throat on Saturday evening.  I could tell something was awry.  I hoped it was just dust and allergies causing it, because I had been digging around in the attic getting down Christmas decorations and tree ornaments.  I woke up on Sunday feeling just a little bit worse.

Monday rolled around, after barely being able to sleep on Sunday night, and I felt like a freight train had barreled through me.  I felt like I had the Flu!  Couldn’t be that though, because I get the Flu shot yearly, and had just been inoculated about three weeks prior.  It must just be a bad cold.  I struggled through Monday, but it was bearable because I had the day off from work,  Tuesday?  Now that was another story.  I about fell out by the time I got home from work.  Pure crazy sick!

Today hasn’t been much better.  Every year I get sick around this time and it’s curious to me.  How come it always coincides with a downtime in my training regime?  Every time this happens I’ve been “taking some time off”.  A running vacation of the non-running kind, if you will.  I think it’s sort of strange that as soon as I stop running, which only happens in late November and December, my body at rest, picks up an illness.  I swear to God, if I was training for a marathon right now, I wouldn’t have gotten sick.

Thoughts?

Had to put in a sick chihuahua photo, since I own two of them.

Krispy Kreme Challenge

Since 2004 a local race challenge has been gaining popularity.  Put on by the students of North Carolina State University (where my oldest is a student) this race draws thousands of fun seekers every year.

The premise?  Who hasn’t heard of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts?  They are a light, fluffy decadence to be enjoyed HOT!  Hot Doughnuts Now, a red neon sign reads in the window when the conveyor belt is cranking out the warm glazed treats.  They are delectable, I can assure you!

8,000 runners take on the challenge of running two miles to the KK shop in downtown Raleigh from NC State, grabbing a box of a dozen doughnuts, downing them anyway possible, and then trekking another two miles back to the finish.  Sound easy?  Yes, the doughnuts are ooey, gooey delicious and easy to inhale when fresh, but the tough part of this race isn’t only trying to run right after consuming 12 of these, but 12 of these DAY OLD.  Yes, not warm, not light and airy.  Cold, dense and dry!!

This race is really quite something to behold.  2016 will be my first time running/eating it, so I am more than a tad bit excited to take on this challenge.  Should be a blast!

Have you ever taken on a racing challenge like this?  Ever had a Krispy Kreme?