Footsteps For Recovery

Today Shane, his mom, Ash, and I ran the F4R 5k in North Park. I woke up with a stuffy nose and Shane said he didn't feel that great either. I went got ready and convinced myself to have no real expectations for the race. We picked up Shane's mother and drove to the park to register. I was excited to learn the race offered a 4 runners for $65 deal! Saved us a boatload of cash!

Getting registered

We lined up on the four lane loop around the pool building and baseball fields. Having four lanes to run in meant I wasn't concerned about finding the right spot to line up. Shane, my mother-in-law (with Ash in the stroller), and I lined up right up front to the far left. The announcer explained the course was two loops, one counter clockwise and one clockwise, and then we were off.

The race begins!

I went out as hard as I felt I was capable of today. I kept Shane in my sights and tried not to let him get too far ahead of me. For most of the first loop I could either see him or catch glances of him as I rounded each bend. I was shocked to realize the course was nothing but hills, big ones, steep ones, rolling ones.... just hills! I forced myself to maintain pace as best I could on the ups and really hammer the downs.

As I approached the turnaround I saw Shane just coming back. He was in roughly 4th or 5th place. We high-fived as we passed eachother. I wanted nothing more than to just quit right then but something told me I was doing well regardless. I didn't wear my Garmin so I had no clue what pace I was running but it felt fast.

Shane approaching the turn around.

I took off from the turn around and tried to catch some of the guys in front of me. It was all I could do to keep pace with them for the most part but it gave me something to focus on besides the pain. Then it started to rain and I sank into that dark place reserved for runners' minds. Within a few strides of basically deciding it would be okay to give up and jog it in, a woman passed me. I instantly thought, "Aw, hell no!" and sped up to catch her. It took me a tenth of a mile or so but I caught her again, passed her, and then just focused on keeping her behind me.

As the finish chute came into sight I dug deep and found my after burners. I put a good 10-20 second lead on the woman and just tried to hang on without puking or passing out. As I approached the clock I could see 24:3x. I almost stopped to rub my eyes and check again but I realized I wasn't hallucinating and a PR was in my grasp. I turned it up just a notch more and got some pretty rousing cheers from the spectators. I crossed the line in 24:52 for my first official sub-25 minute 5k and a new PR!

Shane finishing

Shane finished in 22:11 and Ash and my mother-in-law both finished around 40 minutes flat. Shane and Ash each won second in their age group and Shane's mom won first in hers. I got the short end of the stick with 4th place in my age group. Of 69 finishers, 18 were in my age group. 26% of the field were women between 20 and 29! Holy crow!

I tried to get a picture of Shane, Ash, and his mom with their medals but Ash wanted no part of sitting still so this race report will just have to be boring. ;)

Have you ever been in a race where it seemed like the whole field was in your division? When you set your last PR did you expect it or not?

Pretty Muddy

I could alternatively title this post 'Evolution of an Afro'. I knew there would be lots of photo ops at this event so I carefully straightened my unruly curls and even applied a little lipstick this morning. Of course, that was gone before I even arrived in Columbus, Ohio after a 4 hour plus drive! I was pretty proud of myself for trying though. It's not often that I attempt being feminine but how could I not for a race with Pretty in the name?!

Before

 

 

I left home sometime around 7:30am. I made the drive to Columbus in pretty good time with a quick stop for food and coffee. When I arrived at Mad River Mountain the first thing I realized was that all of the participants were running straight up the ski slopes! Being that I haven't run all week I wasn't sure I was up for that!

The view from the parking lot

 

I checked in and picked up my bib and shirt. Then I dropped my bag of 'after' clothes at the gear check. It was all broken down by alphabet and/or bib number so it was really smooth and didn't take long at all. I took some photos of the slopes and tents while I walked around. I also chatted with some of the volunteers and workers at the event. Everyone was super friendly and helpful! I had registered for the 1PM wave but I saw only a few people lined up for 12:15 (apparently not a popular time? The other waves were much busier!) so I decided to go ahead and jump in early.

 

Getting pumped up to start!

 

The announcer who started each wave was extremely funny. He kept joking with the DJ who was right next to the starting line and got all of the runners excited for the challenge ahead. I wish I would have asked his name but I did get a picture with him later! He did a really good job of entertaining the waiting runners for the next wave. It was only a few minutes and then we were off.... straight up the ski slope! I ran for maybe 100 yards and then I went into my ultra hike/walk.

 

The snow machines were being used as super soakers instead

 

Half way up the ski slope we hit the first obstacle. I took pictures of every obstacle except for a cargo net at mile 1, a slide at mile 2 and the last mud pit because they had professional photographers at each of those. I'm really excited to see the photos once they come up online! Anyway, the first obstacle was a tunnel of foam. It didn't look too bad until I actually went in and then I was quickly buried! Foam was literally over my head and I just held my breath, closed my eyes and pushed through the other side. That would have been a great obstacle for the end to clean off some mud!

 

Inside the foam tunnel

 



The next obstacle was four walls. You had to climb over the first one, under the next two, and then over the last one. Of course, there was mud under the middle two! Next was the tunnel crawl then the cargo net climb, high knees through a cargo net, a slip n slide across a tarp, a run through a tunnel full of beach balls, the huge slide, running around a loop carrying a board over your head, two more wall climbs, and then the final mud pit! Not to mention running up and down the mountain the whole time!

First wall

 

Fourth wall

 

View from the mountain top

 

Cargo net run

 

 

The foliage is just starting to turn around here and the views from the mountain top were stunning. I did my best to appreciate the colors while speed hiking the uphills. I was too busy trying not to turn an ankle on the downs to look around! There really was no flat to speak of.

 

Foliage

 

Attacking the summit for the second time

 

As I ran I could hear the announcer below getting the next wave ready. Being that each wave was 15 minutes after the last this gave me a method of keeping tabs on my time. This event isn't timed and there are no awards but I'm too competitive and number-focused not to worry about my performance. I didn't wear a Garmin or watch but I did check the time at the start and finish. My only goal was not to have the 1PM wave start before I finished!

 

Alley of beach balls

 

Taking on the board run

 

As you can see, my straight hair didn't last very long. I didn't care too much though because I was having a blast! Thankfully I think I'm still pretty cute with crazy curls! ;)

 

Last two walls!

 

As I headed for the finish a couple people yelled that I was too clean. So I took the opportunity to literally swim in the final mud pit! I crossed the finish line, checked the clock (39-ish minutes), and then asked the ladies if I was still too clean!  I took a minute to pose in all my muddy glory before I headed for the hoses to clean up.

 

Yep, Pretty Muddy!

 

Once I was semi-clean (I was too chicken to spray myself in the face with freezing hose water) I grabbed a beer and was greeted by Kevin S., the owner of Pretty Muddy. We chatted about the event and what I thought was good and what could be improved. He seems like a pretty good guy with a real vision for the future of these events. I hope they'll continue to grow because I saw smiles on the face of every lady out there today! Plus Kevin posed for a picture with me despite the fact he was wearing white!

 

Hanging out with Kevin

 

I had to stop and get a picture with the announcer too!

 

After getting hosed off and drinking a cold beer I was pretty frozen. I headed into the ski lodge to get cleaned up a little better and change into warmer (cleaner) clothes. I headed back out to take a few last pictures before heading home. I couldn't help but smile at some of the women that were out on the course with me today so I had to get pics!

 

Post-Pretty Muddy with the full blown curls!

 

Pretty, pretty princesses?

 

Trash the Dress?

 

It wasn't long before I was too cold to hang out any longer. I headed back to my Jeep and couldn't help but laugh at my sticker. I feel like I really deserve it now!

 

This race was really well done for a first year event. The few things that I hope to see next year: timing (because I'm a number freak), finisher medals (because a lot of the women were first time runners and deserve it!), and any color besides white shirts (because mine is already stained from wearing it home post-race). Other than that the course was awesome (tough but doable for all athletic levels), the obstacles were creative and fun, the beer and food afterwards was good, and the ski lodge was a comfortable place to clean up and relax after the run. I would definitely recommend it for any woman looking for a different experience or a 'girls day'!

Disclosure: FitFluential LLC compensated me for this campaign. All opinions are my own.

Boston Harvest 5k

September 22, 2012 marked a new experience for all of Team Brunazzi. We directed a race, with no help from co-directors, for the first time! If you remember the last two years we helped with the planning and execution of the Dead Man's Hollow and Boston Trail 5k. But this is the first race Team Brunazzi put together ourselves!

We had a great reason for doing this. Rex is a four year old boy in our school district who is affected by Batten's Disease. It causes loss of motor function, seizures and a lot of other symptoms. There is no cure and the treatments are still developing. Raising money to improve Rex's quality of life and help his family afford the best possible care meant a lot to us. It also meant a lot to all of the runners and walkers that came out to support Rex! Donations from those who couldn't attend poured in as well. All together we raised $4,062! So thank you to all of our sponsors, runners, and volunteers. You made this race happen!

Signs for Rex donated by Carol Hill.

So what went into making it happen? Five months of planning, begging, brainstorming, designing, buying and scheduling. In the days leading up to the race our house began to look like an episode of hoarders. Shane and I had to pick up donations of chips, cookies, and donuts. Shane took the week before the race off work and spent his days picking up race shirts, bottled water, and communicating with volunteers. During the day before the race Shane and I loaded vehicles with tables, chairs, food and water, race bags, etc. We met with Pittsburgh Tent Rentals on Friday night and set up two large tents to cover the food and registration tables in case of rain (it did). We also put out the mile marker signs as well as signs cheering on our family and friends.

Registration tents

 

Our basement prior to the race.

 

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and took everything down to the trailhead. With the help of an army of volunteers we laid out the race day registration area and check-in tables despite a constant drizzle. Fall decorations in the form of hay bales, corn stalks and mums were everywhere thanks to a wonderful volunteer named Carol. Our family and friends helped us hang signs thanking all of our (75!) sponsors and also door prize lists.

 

Three pages of door prizes

 

Rex's family made a poster to explain Batten's Disease and his battle

 

Next thing we knew the timing company was setting up and so was the band, AE Honick & The Soul Shakedown. The local bar provided electricity and I'm sure we provided them an early crowd! More than 70 people showed up for race day registration! We had our own race to get everyone registered and chipped before the actual 5k started at 9am sharp. Around 8:00am the rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds. At 8:50 Shane made the announcement that everyone should walk down to the starting line. I made sure everyone lined up with faster people in the front and walkers in the rear. Then the timing company started us off with a horn!

 

Making signs for our family and friends

 

Shane and I both jumped in and ran too. Both of our girls, Shane's mother, my step father, Shane's sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and a family friend all ran in the 5k wearing the Team Brunazzi shirt. I quickly realized we'd made a mistake when I reached our 1 mile sign and my Garmin read 0.90 miles instead. This was the only major glitch of the race. The course ended up being 1/10th of a mile short because of the misplaced mile sign. Besides that everything was going perfectly.

 

Start of the race

 

By the turn around I realized I was on PR pace. I was running with some of the guys I'm usually trailing. I was having a blast too. High-fiving kids, yelling encouragement to our friends and family, and chatting with those around me. I ran the whole race with a huge grin plastered on my face. It turns out Shane was having the exact same experience a couple minutes ahead of me. I ended up finishing in 24:58. I know the course was a little short but I'm claiming the PR anyway! Shane finished in 20:50 for a new PR as well.

 

My finish picture courtesy of JMeyers Photography

 

Shane finishing with style

 

After the race it was time to make sure door prizes were drawn, awards were arranged, food was available and everyone was having a good time. A quick count showed somewhere around 215 people registered! 180 of those people picked up timing chips while a few chose to walk part of the course or register but volunteer instead. It was an amazing turnout for a first year race! What could make it even more amazing?

 

How about an Olympian?!

 

Amy Yoder-Begley, the 2008 10k Olympian, finished in 17 minutes for 2nd overall and first woman! She was awesomely kind and gave out autographs to everyone, including a special note for Rex! I can't imagine a better surprise than having an elite athlete turn up at a race!

We had some other very special guests that included Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion women's football team, Lulu the Clown, and Team Odyssey! The Big Beaver Big Dogs and Latrobe Area Pacer Society were also represented well.

Kristi Torba of the Pittsburgh Passion gave a medal to every kid as they finished.

 

Awards

 

The timing company did a great job of getting the results in our hands quickly. There were only a couple glitches where race-day registrants ended up being listed as the wrong gender but those were quickly corrected. Gemma and Ash helped me hand out the awards and a lot people were impressed with the custom medals. Gemma was proud because she helped to design the logo.

 

Custom medals

 

After the awards ceremony most of the runners started to wander off. Our courageous volunteers and amazing friends stuck around to help us clean up and load our cars. Thanks to their generous help we were able to completely clean up the start/finish area in under 2 hours. After that Shane walked the course again to take down the signs and markers and pick up trash while I unloaded our vehicles at home. By dinner time everything was back in its place and Shane and I were exhausted! We celebrated with dinner out and a movie before we crashed.

 

Once we got a good night's sleep we were able to fully appreciate the scope of what had happened. We'd actually pulled off a first year race without any huge mistakes and had double the number of runners we'd originally expected! We also managed to raise double the original goal for Rex and his family. We can never say thank you enough to everyone who came out and made this day so special for the Timko family! Our sponsors, family, friends, and the community made this the best race of the year. It's going to be really hard to top but we really hope we'll see you on September 21, 2013 to do it again!

Guest Post: Endorphin Dad?

Hello endorphin(mom) junkies, my name is Shane.  For those of you that don’t know me, I am Sara’s husband.  I have wanted to do a guest blog for some time.  Two weeks ago I wrote one about a 5k I had just run.  Sara read it and said that it didn’t really say anything so why would people want to read it.  A few days later I reread it and it was like watching NASCAR.  I’ve got better things to watch than NASCAR.

One of my favorite movies is Throw Mama from the Train. If you haven’t seen it, the movie stars Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, and Anne Ramsey.  DeVito’s character, Owen, is attending an adult college writing class but he is having trouble coming up with ideas.  Crystal’s character, Larry, tells him to “write what you know”.  So Owen comes up with a great story about pushing his Mama from a train.  Only problem is Owen wants Larry do the pushing.  If you haven’t seen it, you should. It’s a great 80’s comedy.

What was the point of telling you about the movie?  Simple, I decided to write my blog post about what I know.  When I go to races or talk to people about running I usually get asked three questions.  So I am going to answer them here.

 

All in the family.

Question #1:  When did you start running and why? 

Right after Sara had our second daughter she started doing 5k’s every weekend.  I looked at her and said, “Why do you do this? Running is pointless.”  I continued to shoot my mouth off for about a month.   Finally I said, “Running is easy.  Anyone can do it.  I’m running in your next race.”  I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into.

Race morning I had on an old t-shirt, old work shoes with holes in them, and a pair of Old Navy wind pants from 1998.  This took place on November 7, 2010.  When the gun went off I was gone.  I yelled back to Sara, “This is easy!”  I even went as far as running backwards just to show off.  Then came the half mile mark.  I was exhausted.  Is it over yet?  I jogged/walked/crawled to a  time of 32:12.  And yes, Sara beat me. 

Come the next morning I decided I had to win.  I couldn’t let a girl beat me!  I started training and a month later I was at my second 5k.  I finished with a time of 26:25. I have been running ever since.  Do I love it?  Well, I do like to earn a medal and I love spending time with Sara doing something we both like.

 

Running in a mine!

Question #2: How did you come up with Team Brunazzi? 

When Sara and I started dating she was on Team Under Armour, the clothing line.  After Sara got pregnant with Ash, they did not renew her contract.  When Sara started running again she started looking for a new team.  She got turned down by a couple brands because she didn’t have any race times to report while she was pregnant.   That got me to thinking, “Why does she need a team?  We could be the team.”

At first I was going to call it the Brunazzi Running Team.  However my boss said when his kids all participated in a sport his wife would call them Team L.   So by my fifth 5k, we were in gray shirts with a turtle and Team Brunazzi on them.  A few months later I changed to the bright blue shirts and skeleton logo we use today and the team started to grow as our family and friends started coming to races.

#3 What made you start your own 5k?  Well, two things happened pretty close together.  The first was we were at one of the two 5k’s on our local trail. A group of runners started talking about why there were two 5k’s in the spring and none in the fall.  I cannot remember if it was Sara or I who said, “We should just do one”.

A few days after the second spring 5k a woman named Melanie messaged me.  She wanted help organizing a charity 5k in the fall for her friend’s son who is suffering from Batten’s Disease.   I said I would help out so I sat down and started running numbers and costs.  About two days later, I decided to go for it; I would put on the 5k.  I picked a day and hired a timing company and the rest is history.  I had Sara and Gemma design a logo while I typed up a request for sponsorship letter.  Five months later it is all coming together. 

***WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!  Planning a race is not easy nor is it cheap.   I spent all of my free time, lunch breaks, and even some family time planning the race.  It was like having a second job.  It was also fun and rewarding.   Heck, I’ll probably do it again.  But it is a lot of WORK.***

 

Recruiting new Team Brunazzi members.

What do you think? To Blog or Not To Blog.

Home Again

It's been an awful week for my running, as in I'm posting a big old zero. However, I did have a lot of neat experiences so I thought I'd share some of what I've been up to while I'm not pounding pavement, trail, or a barbell.

Monday was a typical workday. On Tuesday I took a training class on Computer Radiography and then came home to pack for my trip to Brunner Island Power Station. Brunner Island isn't really a nice place and I wouldn't go there for vacation but for a work trip it wasn't bad. This time we were doing a boiler survey which means locating several areas and marking them with paint. Then those areas are sandblasted and me and my coworkers take readings on the tubes inside the boiler. At this site we took something like 36,000 readings!

Brunner Island

 

Water Wall Tubes

 

I arrived at Brunner around 8PM on Tuesday and checked into my super-sleazy motel. Thankfully 15 of my coworkers were staying there too so I didn't feel too scared!

 

I could feel the creepiness in the atmosphere.

 

Wednesday was the day we did the layout so it was pretty quick. I was out of the plant by 1 and then back at the motel to do my homework. A couple hours later I was headed to dinner with my cousin (and I forgot to get a picture!). Thursday and Friday were the days we had to take the readings. That meant 13-14 hours both days and never seeing the sun. I stayed one more night and drove home Saturday morning. I spent most of Saturday unpacking, washing laundry, and cleaning fly ash and coal dust out of my car.

 

Today was the day to make up for lost time with the kids though! We went to a covered bridge festival and had a blast. They even had a tractor made up like a train to take the kids for rides in barrel 'cars'! We didn't come home with too much besides cotton candy and pumpkin pie but the kids had a blast so it was well worth the trip.

 

Train ride!

 

The best part, aside from spending time with my kids, was coming home to find a huge box of Reebok gear waiting for me! I had signed up for Team Reebok for the Canton 5k & 10k on Saturday but missed it for obvious reasons. I wish I could have represented this weekend but I'll definitely be wearing my new gear for CrossFit tomorrow! I can't wait to get back on schedule and get back to running again (just in time to taper for Baltimore)!

 

 

So what did I miss this week? Any big news or big races? Got photos you care to share? I'd like to start sharing reader photos and stories once a week or so if I can get some interest! You can email me at sbrunazzi @ gmail. com. Just take the spaces out! ;)

Heritage Hustle 5k

I apologize for not posting recently. As usual I'm working long hours and in crazy places. Anyway, I wanted to put up a quick recap of the Heritage Hustle 5k in Slickville, PA on September 8, 2012. We ran this one last year too and had a lot of fun.

Just like last year we ran as a family (minus the baby). Shane finished in 24:04 and 8th overall for 2nd in his age group. Gemma finished in 49:40 for 51st overall and 2nd in her age group. I finished in 27:28 (slower than last year) for 18th overall and 2nd in my age group. We had a lot of fun promoting the Boston Harvest 5k on September 22 to raise money for Batten's Disease. We gave away two free entries too, which I thought was a fun door prize for the other runners.

Me with my medal

 

The official race photos weren't up last I checked and, of course, I'm typing this from a hotel room 4 hours away from home where I'm staying for work. Therefore I'm pressed for time and I'll apologize for not making this more interesting right now. I promise to come back and edit when the race photos go up! Right now though I need to go get some food and get ready to work again tomorrow!

For your entertainment, here's some cows I got to hang out with on the last jobsite. Unfortunately this one isn't so cool. I got spiders for company instead. Ew!

Furthering My Edumacation

It's going to be a fun semester! And I'm honestly not sure if I mean that in a sarcastic way or not yet! There's just so much going on and some of the classes I'm taking are ones that I never would have guessed existed so I have no idea if I'm going to enjoy them or not yet.

My schedule for this semester is Functional Kinesiology (okay, I will love this class!), Business Aspects of Fitness, Sport Marketing, and Legal Aspects of Sport. I already have a business degree so most of the marketing and legal-ese is nothing new but I never really enjoyed it either. I just hope relating it to something I do love (fitness!) will help make it easier and more fun.

Either way, I have a lot on my plate this fall! Besides school, I have 6 weeks until the Baltimore Marathon! EEK! I've recovered really well from the Baker 50 Miler and I'm going to do some short races for fun this weekend. Then next week it is back to work on marathon training! It's even more important because....

I signed up for marathon #5 in November! I'll be running the Marshall University Marathon on November 11. I'm debating on finding one to squeeze in between Baltimore and Marshall too. However, I'll wait and see how Baltimore goes first I think!

Then there's a few shorter races that I'm really excited about. The first, of course, is the Pretty Muddy which you can read all about in yesterday's post. The second one that I'm dreaming of is the Runner's World half marathon in Bethlehem, PA on October 21. I'm a huge fan of RW magazine and frequent the Runner's World Online forums so this seems like a great way to do something with the staff get my picture in there!

This weekend my husband and I are doing the For The Love Of Lindsey 5k which we did last year too. Then on Labor Day we'll be doing the Kellersburg Labor Day 5k run. I feel like I've barely raced this year, which is true since I did 33 races last year compared to only 16 so far this year. I'm really looking forward to just doing some races for fun this weekend. I've been so focused on performance and goal races that I have skipped a lot of the smaller local 5k's that we usually support. I'm excited to remedy that over the long holiday!

Have any recommendations for another marathon or ultra that I can squeeze in? How many races is too many? What are your Labor Day plans?

For The Love Of Lindsey

Shane and I ran this 5k today. We did it last year too (but apparently I never wrote a recap?). I wasn't too keen on doing it again but Shane thought they would have improved the issues since last year. I wasn't so sure. I also didn't get much sleep. Gem was up and down until 10:30 last night and then at 11:30 Ash started waking up every hour. I ended up sleeping on the couch next to her from 2:30 until 6:30. Needless to say getting up and running a race wasn't on my wish list this morning.

Last year this race had about 200 runners and it was HOT. We took Gem with us and it turned out to be a nightmare. The youngest age group was 0-14 so there was no way she could get an award. The race started late, ran on busy roads and the sun baked everyone. It was so bad that Gem begged a popsicle off some spectators watching from their yard! If I remember correctly Shane got an age group award but neither Gem nor I had a chance.

Sporting my (cotton) shirt post-race.

This year the race had about the same number of people and was only a little cooler with temps in the mid-80's. Once again it started late and cars were still travelling the roads. It's a winding course that takes you through a lot of tight turns and side roads before depositing you back on the main road. The last mile or so is on the main road next to railroad tracks and is a perfect straight away. It tends to burn runners out because they think they're close to the finish line but they aren't even close. I knew better than to push on that section this year.

I finished in 27:40-something (official results aren't up yet) and Shane ran a 22:xx. I was pretty happy with that considering it's only been a week since the Baker and I didn't push myself at all. We got our water and wandered over to the door prize winner sign. We didn't win anything so we checked for result postings. The first 25 or so finishers were up. Shane was 13th overall but still didn't get an age group award because they changed the awards from 5 year spans to 10 years. Why races do this I will never understand. The more runners who get a medal at your race the more happy participants you'll have. That will get you more runners the next year and the cycle continues. Don't be cheap on medals darn it! (Okay, rant over!) I wasn't listed yet but I searched for women in my age group. There were already three so I told Shane we should just go.

All in all, this race is for a great cause which is usually enough to get me to run. But the open-to-cars course, crazy turns, bad heat for the past two years, and now 10 year age groups means I probably won't be back. There's just too many other options available that are actually fun and scenic.

What makes a great race for you? Do you usually give a 'bad' race a second chance?