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Happy Monday!! I hope you had a great weekend! It has been fun and relaxing for me. Friday night I was able to celebrate because I found out that I PASSED my Professional Engineers Exam! You know, that one I was all crazy about for several months?! I’m still in shock but just so happy and grateful that I was able to take this step for my career! The sky’s the limit, talk about a great Christmas present!
My last week of running and working out was pretty much the same as the previous week. Now that we’re at the end of the year, my Boot Camp and Cardio Kickboxing classes are done until January so that frees up a little bit of time to do some other things, like yoga and strength training!
Somehow I’m still alive with the Run Streak. On Friday I was happy to run over 4.5 miles with an average pace of 10:30. My knees felt a little bit beat up, but I was able to knock it out! Then on Saturday evening I did a little over 1.5 miles with a 9 minute pace! Somehow I felt like a rock star, the first I’d felt that way in a very long time! So I was definitely grateful to feel so good! I must reiterate though...I can’t wait for the run streak to be over!!
One of my favorite running bloggers is MCM Mama Runs and I came across a link-up for a pretty cool way of recapping this year’s past races. So I decided to join in the fun and give awards to my favorite racing experiences this year!
Most Scenic Course: Run the Bridge 10K. It was amazing being able to run across the Ben Franklin Bridge (and back) with thousands of people. The sky was clear but the air was cold! It has really inspired me to run more bridge races, like I’ve alluded to in my 2015 racing schedule!
Most Challenging Course: Haddonfield Adrenaline 5K. This was my first race of the year and there were lots of hills on this run, a new challenge for me! Not to mention, I’d never run this course so I didn’t really know what to expect. It was fun to do something different.
Best Course Support (aid stations, volunteers, people cheering you on, etc): Rock and Roll Half Marathon. Whenever I needed hydration, it was there. I never really felt alone or abandoned during the course, plus I was able to see Bret and my friend Tom multiple times. Stress free!
Best Expo: Rock and Roll Philadelphia. I’m actually not a fan of expos, and I actually prefer picking up the packets the day of the race just to avoid the big crowds, but this was a pretty good expo. It was well-organized and I was able to get in and out quickly, plus check out a few things along the way.
Best Swag: I’m actually not one of those runners who cares about swag. I like a nice medal and T-Shirt, but I don’t really pick races based on fancy gifts.
Most Unique Medal: My favorite medal was definitely from the inaugural Rock and Roll Philly 5K! Of course there’s always the love of Rocky and the Art Museum steps here in Philly, but it was so cool that they put it on the medal!
Best Post-Race Food/Beverages: Clean Air Council 5K. For the first time they sponsored a beer garden and it was great! They also had some really great healthy food options that I wish had gotten my hands on, like smoothies and healthy wraps!
Best Race Shirt: It’s a three-way tie: Clean Air 5K, Rock and Roll 5K, Rock and Half Marathon. They were all gorgeous and I love wearing them out on a run. I am a snob for technical race shirts and these all delivered!
Favorite Overall Race: It is so hard to pick a favorite race! This has been an amazing year. But from beginning to end, I have to choose the Clean Air Council 5K! I ran it in under 28 minutes which was a HUGE leap for me, and I felt so strong and powerful! I never smiled so much after a race. I can’t wait for next year!
Race You Are Most Proud of Yourself for Completing – Rock and Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon, without a doubt. This was a huge accomplishment for me since I’d been fighting injuries since 2012. This was the first race I completed with the help of a coach, and Kristy was absolutely amazing and supportive the whole way. I can’t wait to work with her again in 2015. It was a lot of hard work and took up a lot of my time, and I was so grateful to have Bret with me on those long runs! It was just a really wonderful experience.
What were your favorite things about the races you ran this year?
