SpeedyJessica.blogspot.com hits the road!!

This crazy elf hat is only the first clue toward the crazy thing I got to wear as my throwaway layer :)

I'm super-stoked! Not only will this be my first time wearing something silly to run in, but it's my first road trip for a race! I'm headed to the Tough Mudder in Attica, Ind. with three other girls.

I'm bringing my laptop with the goal of posting some photos and videos from the road.

It'll be like the Warrior Dash but 10 miles long. I fully expect to look far worse than this when I finish!

Warrior Dash 2011 in Hocking Hills: The real race report, and 30 lessons learned

T-shirt and medal

I kind of skimped on the previous Warrior Dash race report, so here's the no-holds-barred, nitty-gritty detail-ridden, bare-all report!!!

See results and photos here!

Warrior Evelyn

Miss Evelyn H. arrived at my apartment at about 1 p.m. last Sunday and after a brief detour to Quiznos we started the southbound journey to Hocking Hills. We stopped at a Big Lots for duct tape, face paint and band-aids. No face paint, so we settled on magic markers.

Lesson #1: If you hurriedly walk into a Big Lots, approach the clerk and ask where you can find duct tape, face paint and band-aids, you will get looks.

Warrior Beth

I finally touched base with the always-adventurous Beth O., slowly recovering from a wedding the night before. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Beth!!"
Beth: "I am soooooo hungover"
Me: **Laughs hysterically** "That's no excuse, you ready??"
Beth: "He77 yea"
(Boring logistical talk)

Lesson #2: A hangover is never an excuse not to run. I set my 5K PR on Jan. 1.

Warrior Jessica

We approach Hocking Hills on a long and windy road and make a pit stop at Wendy's. Very clean people sought race advice from very dirty people celebrating their muddy victories with burgers and Frosties. The consensus: "Dude, that was awesome."

Lesson #3: If you don't like port-a-pottys, stop at Wendy's on your way in to pee.

The parking lot, two miles away from the actual event, was a madhouse. Mud tracks went in both directions. Some people were tailgating. I saw some clean people walking back to their cars. "If I come out that clean I'm going to be sorely disappointed", I say. "Don't worry, you won't!" a guy replies. Then I saw the solution to their cleanliness -- a long line of people waiting to be sprayed down by a hose. The parking lot was in a very open area and I saw several people stripping down and changing, chucking their muddy clothes in the trash.

Lesson #4: This should be obvious, but bring a change of clothes!

Muddy shoe pile

We boarded a bus to get to Kaeppner Woods. Walking in we saw a mound of muddy shoes. The event was going to clean them off and donate them to charity.

With 20,000 people participating throughout the weekend I was impressed by the organization. First we had to sign a waiver, the only thing I really remember on the form was "I will not dive headfirst into the mud", beyond that I just wrote "JAs" down the line and scribbled my name at the bottom. Then we got our packets which included a shoe chip, that doubled as our free beer token, a viking hat and a shirt. Evelyn paid extra money for these cool stickers that went under the eyes.

(More after the jump. Much more. Keep reading!!) 

Race report: Warrior Dash 2011

I just decided to make a new post with the entire report. Check it out here!

Original post:

I emerged from the woods covered head to toe in mud, I later counted seven scrapes and bruises, but I conquered the Warrior Dash.

It was brutal.

It was awesome.

I ran it with my college friend Evelyn and my MIT friend Beth. I honestly don't know our time, and don't care! We took it slow and had fun!

The Warrior Dash was Saturday and Sunday in Hocking Hills (Logan, Ohio). It was a 5K race with some massive hills, a junkyard and tires to run, a pool with logs to conquer, tunnels, planks to walk, a wall to jump over, fire to leap over, a cargo net and several mud pits. All fun. 

Before

After

The only obstacle I couldn't do was the biggest wall. I beat my knee up pretty bad jumping off the previous obstacle, so I went around it.

I'd write more but I am so sleepy. Will update tomorrow, stay tuned :) 

Marathon coverage from the Plain Dealer

Plain Dealer photo of everyone running down the Shoreway.

This morning, stairs are the enemy. Yesterday was phenomenal, though. See my race report here, my music report here, my expo loot here, and my race plan here.

And here's some coverage from the Plain Dealer:

An excellent piece about the growth of the marathon, and racing in general:

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Running so hot, race is running out of spots

"From his vantage point on the West Coast, Lamppa said Cleveland's recent creation and promotion of an "Experience" also are not to be underestimated. Just as the "Flying Pig" image pays off at the Cincinnati Marathon, so is Cleveland's hippie theme working wonders.

"There's something about that funky, psychedelic look that I personally am drawn towards," he said. Cleveland's found a way to brand its event, and that matters."

Coverage of the event itself

Rain, wind and cold fails to dampen enthusiasm at 34th annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon


"What looked like an opaque wall of early morning mist stood between 19,000 runners Sunday morning and a successful 34th running of the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.

The mist didn't stand a chance..."

I love reading the stories about why people participate: 

A cool morning on the lakefront brings plenty of great stories

"The 34th annual Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon brought nearly 19,000 runners and walkers downtown. Thousands more lined the streets to cheer for them. It's a big event, but one comprised of so many little stories..."

Their photo gallery is here. I can't wait to see the official race photos!!

They also have this video of the race starting. It's about 1 minute long. It took me 7 minutes to reach the start line. I was in the middle of the pack. 

I requested today off, so I'm being lazy. My quads hurt the most. Going to use the foam roller and walk the dogs later to work out the lactic acid, and head back to Newark tonight.

Photos from the Granville winter run

The Columbus Roadrunners Club took a bunch of photos at the Winter run Feb. 13. Here's a YouTube slideshow of all of them:

Here's what I look like finishing 15 miles (special thanks to CRRC for emailing these to me!):

And here's the starting line:

January stats

I love The Daily Mile. It gives you all kinds of fun stats on your miles.

In January:
...I ran 88 miles
...That took 15 hours and 3 minutes
...Fastest run was the First on the First 5K at a 7:46 pace
...Farthest run was last Saturday, 10.9 miles

Lifetime stats (through Feb. 2):
...I've run 535.74 miles (from here to New York City!) in 142 workouts
...That's .02 times around the world
...It took 95 hours
...Enough to power 1,285 TVs
...Enough to burn off 19 pounds, or 363 donuts
...Enough to save 28.2 gallons of gas

Fun stuff!

Class picture

Before our long run Saturday the MIT (Fleet Feet Columbus Marathoner in Training program) folks corralled us in the Worthington High School gym for a class photo.

Those are all the brave souls that come out every Saturday, what a good looking group! I'm in there somewhere, in a maroon jacket and blue headband.

I am really looking forward to this Saturday's run in Worthington where they keep the paths maintained. I'm just itching to be able to run outside, no matter how cold. After this winter in Newark, I'll be happy if I never see a treadmill again.