by smuldowney | Oct 25, 2014 | Race Recaps
2014 Santa Fund Run 5k
10/19/2014
This was my first race since my 1/2 marathon 2 weeks ago and I had only run once [less 3 miles] since then. My focus was on rehabbing the back of my right knee [? hamstring] with yoga and I think that helped. The morning was a chilly one with temps in the mid 40s and a light wind. I decided to wear the race long sleeve tech shirt, my favorite capris and running socks and chose to switch out my sneakers to my New Balance [which I wore for my 1st half]. I had a cup of coffee and half of a cinnamon bagel about 1 hour before the race. The beauty of running local is that you can have a somewhat restful night sleep [if you don’t drink a ton of water the night before and have to wake up 3 times to use the bathroom]. We arrived at the Nashua YMCA about 1/2 hour before race time and met up with my bestie, Sarah and her son, Sam who was going to be running with Brenna [thank goodness because running with her can be challenging].
Stellos Stadium was open and had bathrooms for us to use [a huge plus!]. It was quite chilly to start, but I had made good choices for gear, except I forgot my wrist band [for my runny nose]. The gun went off and we were off. Brian couldn’t see us, so there are no “start” pictures. Once I passed him, I was off and passed many people. The course was different than that posted online, so I was thrown off a bit to start, but it was fine. My first mile was good, but not at a PR pace, so I pushed a little harder and had a better second mile. I had forgotten about the hill at the end of the trail, but managed to push ahead knowing that if I were to slow down, a PR was out of the question. I forged ahead and told myself that once I got on the road, I would give it all I got and I did. My Garmin had me at <7:00 pace at one point, but something happened with my Garmin and it had me at the end only having done 3.01 miles. In the end, I was not sure if I had gotten a PR, but thought it was possible. I was ecstatic when I saw my instant results. I beat my PR by 12 seconds!
- Overall Time: 26:14.6
- Pace: 8:27
- Overall Place: 61
- Top 21.3% overall (61/286)
- Top 17.0% in division (8/47)
- Top 11.4% for gender (19/167)
- Top 23.7% in state (59/249)
by smuldowney | Oct 13, 2014 | Race Recaps
Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon
Hampton Beach, NH, October 5, 2014
I woke up at 4:30 after a very restless night. Our plan was to leave at 5:30 given all the warnings to arrive at least 90 minutes in advance.When we arrived at the central town parking, it was quiet. I guess I expected to see a lot of traffic. We stayed in the car for a bit and then took a walk to see the start/finish line as well as go to the real bathrooms by the water. The ocean views were gorgeous.
At 7:20, we set out again so I could make one last potty stop, which proved to be impossible given the long lines at the real bathrooms as well as the porta potties. [suggestion: more porta potties please] We then headed toward the start which was super congested and I placed myself in wave 2 [under 9 min.]. The start went off without a problem,but it was slow given the fact that there were thousands of people all crammed into 1 lane of a 2-lane road. The new course was more spectator friendly allowing spectators to stay at the beach and see me run at the start, mile 2, mile 4 and the finish. I got to see Brian and Brenna at each spot, except the start where it was so congested that we did not see each other. Besides needing to pee, the first few miles which were in a loop were fine and had lots of crowd support.
It was a chilly windy morning (50* but real feel 46*), so I decided to wear the tech race t-shirt under a light long sleeve tech shirt. This was a decision I regretted after the first few miles and gladly accepted a friend’s (Thanks Jen!) help when she caught up to me and held my arm band as well as Garmin, while I slipped off the top layer and tied it around my waist. After chatting for a few minutes along 1A, she set off ahead of me. The area behind my right knee was tight and painful for most of the run, but definitely got worse at the mid point. That is also where my pace dropped off because I took walk breaks for water as well as just to rest when there was no water stop.
As far as nutrition goes, I had almost a whole peanut butter wheat bread sandwich before 6am and then nothing else until I had my Hammer gel at mile 6 which was around 9am. I stopped for water when there was an opportunity. When I crossed the finish line, I felt so nauseous, unsteady and was having trouble breathing. I need to take a look at my nutrition and hydration plan!
My time was good enough for a PR [shaved off 3:30], but I was disappointed because I knew that I could have done better. Here I am approaching the finish line.
A total of 3885 people finished the race including multiple friends from LHS.
2317 207/403 F4044 SANDRA MULDOWNEY Merrimack NH 43 F 3021 2:10:03.5 9:56
by smuldowney | Sep 4, 2014 | Race Recaps
August 30, 2014 – 7th race in the Elliot Millennium Running series
This was one of those races that I kept telling myself was only a training run for my upcoming half-marathon, but nonetheless it was “a race.” I had read the course description, checked out the elevation maps, and read some past race reports – all of which made me anxious. I tried relaxing by doing some yoga (first time bringing a mat to a race) and was spotted by one of the MR photographers. He approached me and asked me if I would mind doing some poses in front of the start line.
I love this picture of the two of us enjoying the early morning sunshine.
There were various photographers along the course, but this is the only good shot they got of me. I think it looks Photoshopped!
Brian got this one of me sprinting to the finish ahead of the running skirt lady, who I had been volleying with for much of the race.
I enjoyed this challenging course and would do it again, even with the hills!
MULDOWNEY,SANDRA (186)
- Age: 43 – Overall Time: 1:37:03.8 – Pace: 9:43 – Overall Place: 237
- Top 44.8% overall (237/529)
- Top 29.2% in division (38/130)
- Top 30.8% for gender (105/341)
- Top 43.1% in state (206/478)
by smuldowney | Jul 12, 2014 | Race Recaps
2014 HINCKLEY ALLEN MANCHESTER 5K – 07/03/2014
This was one of those races that I wasn’t sure we’d be able to run. We had severe weather warnings for strong T-storms and gusty winds along with some tornado warnings in the area. We watched the radar and decided that it looked like it would clear in time. We set off to Manchester and the weather clearly beautifully. I decided to run with Brenna for the first time, so Brian could run a “real” race and get a time he could use for his triathlon training plan. The last mile of the 5k runs the exact downhill route of the HASLAW Mile. The 180 foot drop in the last mile will all but guarantee a personal best 5k. I thought Brenna would be fine, but I was wrong. She started complaining at about the .5 mile mark and wanted to walk. Everything hurt her. It was so frustrating, but I tried to be patient and motivate her to run small distances. We did manage to run across the finish line and were not last! There were 659 runners. See our results below.
Before After
Here are the results!
MULDOWNEY,SANDRA (170)
- Age: 43 – Overall Time: 41:33.6 – Pace: 13:23 – Overall Place: 627
MULDOWNEY,BRENNA (482)
- Age: 10 – Overall Time: 41:33.9 – Pace: 13:23 – Overall Place: 628
MULDOWNEY,BRIAN (642)
- Age: 47 – Overall Time: 27:26.0 – Pace: 8:50 – Overall Place: 240
by smuldowney | Jun 30, 2014 | Race Recaps
The Ribfest 5 miler was held on June 15, Father’s Day once again this year, but this year we could not enjoy the festivities of the Ribfest because we had Red Sox tickets. We took the shuttle from Harris Pond and arrived at the Bud plant without difficulty. I had picked up the race packet the night before so I could just relax, which I needed since all I kept thinking about was the fact that I felt so sick after last year’s race.
I loved the shirt, but not the bib motif.
I usually try to get a post-race shot near the start line.
The masses on DW Highway waved to the camera man.
This year, I sprinted toward the finish line.
One thing I love about Millennium Running races are the free photos from Geneia. I have been lucky to have received some great action shots – thanks to them. I was definitely happy with my finish – 45:17. I beat my time from last year by 2:43.
