Santa Hustle Half Marathon Race Report

The Santa Hustle race information showed up about 2 months ago on my facebook feed and I was so excited about it!  I signed up right away and tried like hell to get my friends to sign up too.  It is a new race series with a 5K and Half Marathon option.  You get a red sweatshirt, santa beard and santa hat as part of your race swag.  Christmas music and cookies would be found on the course.  I thought for sure I could get a bunch of friends to go with me and dress up.

But no one did.  It's a gimmic-y, costume-y, silly kind of race like the Color Run but there was a half marathon option which IMO made it more legit.  I still couldn't get anyone to bite.

Whatever.  I was going to go anyway and have fun all Santa-like without them.  Even though I am a grinch.

As the date got closer, I found that my friend Jim, was coming and he was going to help me get my sub-2.  Yay!  Then the week before the race I got my hometown running buddy to sign up, and another one from home and then all of a sudden there were tons of people I knew who were going!  All of who were on a mission to get me under 2 hours.

The race was supposed to start at 7:00 a.m. which was perfect other than I had to get up at 4:15 to get ready.  It's still pretty damn dark at 4:15, in case you were wondering.  I got dressed and headed over to pick up my local running buddy, Stacey.  She so kindly snapped a pic of me buying my pre-race fuel so that she could make fun of me on facebook.

don't be hating on the xmas outfit.  I rock the candy cane skirt.

Stacey refused to dress up and wear the red tights and tutu I had for her.  She did agree to the santa hat so there's that at least.

They had all kinds of xmas crap set up once we got there.  Inflatable snowman, inflatable reindeer, actual reindeer, candy and of course Santa Hustle gear to purchase.  

We walked around checking stuff out and met up with our group.  We started out in the 8 minute mile area but looked up to the 6 minute mile area and there was no one.  So we went there instead.  Cause that's how we roll.

Everyone I was running with was faster than me, but they were all either training or just taking it easy today so the mission was SUB 2 FOR MICHELLE.  I have to say, it was pretty awesome having my own pacing team.

 pre-race with Leslie photobomb!

The group posing is the group from Boothbay Harbor.  We also had a Mrs. Claus and Buddy the Elf running with us that somehow missed this photo.

best costume ever!  people kept yelling, "I hope you find your dad, Buddy!"  The irony is he's never seen the movie..... hahaha

And I also ran into my other running buddy, Leslie, who ended up finishing SUPA FAST in like 1:35 or something like that.  Whatever.  It's her stupid long legs... she has an unfair advantage.

The race was supposed to start at 7:00 but finally got going around 7:15.  I guess there was a traffic accident or something that the police needed to deal with first.  At 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday.  Weird. The temperature was perfect to start, probably in the 30's?  Something like that.  A bit cool but perfect for once you got going.

Mile 1:  8:31
Mile 2:  8:27
Mile 3:  8:33
Mile 4:  8:42
Mile 5:  8:42
Mile 6:  8:44
Mile 7:  8:56
Mile 8:  9:01
Mile 9:  8:53
Mile 10:  9:03
Mile 11:  8:57
Mile 12:  8:53
Mile 13:  8:49
.1:  :45

Total Garmin time:  1:54:58
Bib time: 1:55:00

131/466 overall finishers.  71/341 females.  11/56 in my age group.

This is BY FAR, my strongest race ever.  I felt great the entire race.  My splits were all pretty even and I never once needed to stop, I never got a cramp, felt tired, wanted to die... not even once.  This is the first time that I could ever even believe for a moment that I might, just might, be able to finish a marathon.

The whole race, I ran at a pace where I could (and did!) hold a conversation.  I never felt winded or out of breath.  I really feel like if I had wanted to step it up a bit, I certainly could have.

The race course itself, was pretty ugly and boring.  It was around the mall area in Portland and near the airport so there was some traffic and noise and nothing really worth seeing.  However, the course was flat so that probably contributed to the ease of this race for me and honestly, people did not sign up for this race for a pretty view on the course.  It was all about the santa costumes in this race!

I love this photo!

At the finish there was the usual water and bananas, but also mini M & Ms  yessssssss! and cookies! We got a cool santa medal as well.

All in all, I really enjoyed this race!  It was well organized for being a first time race here in Maine, there was good swag, good snacks, a medal, a PR, and perfect weather day--really just a great race overall.  There was plenty of parking, porta potties, volunteers and police support.  The only thing that was a little annoying was that the sweatshirts were really tiny!  I mean like a ladies M fit my 11 year old daughter who weighs 80 lbs......  I haven't tried it on, but really, it's pretty dang small.  But if that's the only complaint, well, I suppose the race is a winner!

If you get a chance to do a santa hustle in your area, I would totally sign up for it.

12 Things I Know from Running/Triathlon

I've learned a lot of things from running and triathlon that I probably would have never known had I not started on this journey.  Here are a few things that I know because of running.


1.  I know that 6 miles can solve most of your problems.  Or at least, the problems don't seem as great after 6 miles.

2.  I know my toes will never be the same.

Ug-ly

3.  I know how to spit at the exact velocity and direction to avoid hitting myself and others in varying degrees of wind.

4.  Ditto with snot rockets.

5.  I know running friends are the best friends.  Even if you only see them at races or online.  That is the truth.

6.  I know that I can swim a mile in the ocean without being eaten/panicking/drowning or dying.  Oh, and then bike 25 miles and run 6.  Yes.  Yes I can do that.

7.  I know at least 3 different routes from my house and around town for multiple distances--3, 6, 10, 12 miles--without using a GPS.

8.  I know the misery of finding the chaffed spots on your body in the shower after finishing a triathlon.  This is amplified if the race was in salt water.  This could be a valid form of torture in wartime.

9.  I know that bodies after 40 do not have to be fat asses and FUPAs.  Do work and it can be size 6 jeans, a fit butt and actual legit abs.

no FUPA zone

10.  I know that a runner's high does exist and it is far better and cheaper than any other high you might think of. (as long as you aren't counting all your running sneakers.  then it's a close tie to crack  cost-wise.)  There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishing something you never thought possible.

11.  I know what it feels like to be passed by a 70 year old dude wearing jeans.  And a dude wearing a giant cardboard lighthouse.  And that same dude wearing a moose costume.  And a man my age pushing a double stroller.  Not just a stroller, but a DOUBLE stroller.

moose man after he passed me.....

12.  Despite #11, I know I am a badass.

that post in which I finally write a recap....

So I'm finally getting around to reviewing September and October's totals.  I am seriously the lamest blogger ever.  Some serious shit has been going down in the Average Girl's household that has kept my mind otherwise occupied.  Details will be forthcoming, but let's get through the basics first. Ugh.  Here goes.

September

Run--59.31  Who the hell runs 59.31 and doesn't squeak out that extra .69 to get to 60 total miles?  Me, that's who.  Guess I need to pay better attention to my totals near the end of the month.  Still a pretty respectable monthly total.  Go me!

Bike--195 minutes on the bike.  Biking on an actual outdoor bike gets so much harder this time of year when it starts getting dark earlier and earlier.  So most of this was on the spin bike.

That's it folks.  No swimming, no weight training, no tennis.  Nothing.

Races--I didn't have any races in September.


October

Run--55.16 miles

Bike--215 minutes

Swim--4000 yards

Weights--15 minutes (seriously, why even bother mentioning it?) and 1 hour of yoga.  Not including my yoga fails...

Races--I had one race in October.  It was a brand new race called the Trail Fest.  It was a race on trails (duh) in Kennebunk Maine.  A friend of mine was kind enough to give me a code for a free entry, so I thought, why not?  There was a 5K and a 10K and I chose to do the 10K.

It was an afternoon race, which was really weird, and it was a lot longer drive to get to the start than I thought it was going to, but once I got there it was a perfect day for running and the trails were beautiful.

very cool finish line

I knew only one person there so that was weird in that I didn't really have anyone to hang out with at the start.  Princess came with me and she was such a good sport about just hanging out on the deck while I raced.  She even videoed me as I finished!

I finished in 1:08:23.  7th in my age group and 56 overall.  Not bad.


Books--still trudging through the Game of Thrones series.  I'm on the final book now.  I say trudging not because I'm not enjoying them but because they are long ass books!  It is taking me forever to finish this damn series!  I can't wait to finish so I can watch the show.

What's New--omg so much going on this fall.

~Big Sissy had a great freshman season in field hockey this year.  Not only did she start and play varsity, she was the team's high scorer with 10 goals and 7 assists.  She was also selected for our conference's all stars second team.

~Princess' field hockey team also did very well this year, ending up as runner's up for their league.  She got to play a bit (she's a 6th grader on a 6-8th grade team) and really improved quite a bit.

~Manimal finished out his first year of football also making it to the championship game for their league 3/4 grade.  He had quite a few touchdowns, an interception, long runs and some great blocks this year.  I am so incredibly proud of all my kids.  They are far better athletes at their ages than I ever was and most importantly, they all continue to make excellent grades as well.

~Eldest daughter has a boyfriend.  eek.  A senior boyfriend.  My freshman daughter.  This has occupied my mind many, many hours and has been very stressful for me.  I have recovered from the initial newness of it and I really like the kid/boy/man/whatever.  He's super nice, a hard worker and he treats her well.  It's too bad the first boyfriend wasn't a sophomore or a freshman, but oh well.  Go big or go home, right?  Did I mention this is the same daughter that is turning 15 this weekend?  How is that possible, I'm only 30.....  #old #ifeelsoold

Music--new music on my iphone lately:
~Leave the Night On
~Drink a Beer--not for running but I really like the song
~Fireball
~Animals
~Look at You

Lots of country because pop is bugging me lately.


What's on the Agenda

~Basketball is starting in the next two weeks for both Sissy and Manimal and that will take up almost every day of the week once it gets started.  I love and it and hate it all at once.

~I've signed up for the Santa Hustle Half Marathon on November 23.  I'm super excited to dress up like Santa and run 13.1 miles!  Who wouldn't be?

~I'm trying to figure out a day to go to the Celtics game in Boston, but with basketball practice and traveling to get there, there aren't many days available.  Looks like it's either going to be next Friday or Super Bowl Sunday.

That's all this time around I hope everyone is having a great fall!