Harper's Ferry Half-Marathon Weekend, Day One

Our little family unit spent this past weekend in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia where DJ Research ran the Harper's Ferry Half-Marathon.  So much to cover that I'm going to make this a three-post series.  Yup, this is a fancy-schmancy blog!

Even though I didn't run this weekend, I thought the race was awesome, awesome, awesome.  In fact, the whole weekend was awesome, awesome, awesome.  DJ Research and I both agreed that the weekend felt like a much-needed vacation.

We departed for Harper's Ferry right after work on Friday, and got caught in the usual Friday rush-hour traffic.  It wasn't too bad--we've definitely been stuck in worse--but it did add about 45 minutes to our drive.  I thought Nugget was just a little whiny; DJ Research thought Nugget was VERY whiny, probably because the DJ is not versed in toddler car-ride etiquette due to the fact that his commute is toddler-free.  Regardless, we arrived in Harper's Ferry in just under two hours, and made our way to River Riders for packet pick-up.

As we would discover, the race was really low key (frankly, this is one of the reasons why I loved the race).  The packet consisted of race bib and a white technical Harper's Ferry Half-Marathon shirt.  We've run races before where we've received a bag full of goodies and even a race hoodie, so by comparison the HFHM packet is a little lite.  But this race isn't about the swag, its about the race.  And I thought it was pretty awesome that the race shirt was a tech shirt.

At this point it was pushing 7:00pm, and we were all pretty hungry.  Nugget was sick of his car seat.  So we opted to have dinner at a nearby mexican restaurant.  Turns out Nugget isn't a big fan of mexican food (I hope he changes his mind because its one of my favorite cuisines!).  He is, however, a huge fan of sugar packets, dumping salt on the table, and dunking his hand in tall cups of ice water.  Luckily, I had packed pasta his lunchbox, so he ate that for dinner while DJ Research had a fajita and I had my chicken chimichanga.  Heaven.

One of the perks of not racing:
you can eat whatever you want!

We then checked in to our swanky motel.  I thought I was smart in booking a room with two double beds so that we could use one bed to stage our stuff/DJ Research's race gear and one bed to sleep in (obviously).  Nugget would be in his pack'n'play right alongside our bed.  At least that was the plan.  DJ Research and I unpacked and started getting ready for bed while Nugget did laps around the room, pushing the luggage rack and wearing my visor.  It was pushing 9:30 at this point, waaaaay past his bedtime.  You would think the kid would be tired.  Nope.

Nugget on lap 5(?) around the motel room.

Finally, lights out and Nugget is asleep by 10:30pm.

At 1:30am, he woke up screaming.

Although we were able to calm him down enough to stop screaming, he was very nervous and uncomfortable in the unfamiliar environment of the motel room.  He kept pointing at the door and saying, "I'm done! I'm done!" indicating that he wanted to go home.  I tried to console him myself so that DJ Research could get some sleep for his race, but it became clear that Nugget wanted the both of us, thrusting himself into the arms of the other at his whim.  Eventually the offer of cuddling on our bed with some of his favorite books enticed him to relax and allowed us to finally sit down (Nugget insisted that we pace the room while holding him).  Around 3:30 Nugget finally drifted off to sleep...smack in the middle of our double bed.  For the next two-and-a-half hours, DJ Research and I teetered on the edge of our respective sides of the bed...and on the brink of dreamland.  

Despite the rough night, the DJ said he felt surprisingly energetic the next morning.  I felt pretty good myself.  Nugget awoke just as I was about to pick him up, so we whisked him into the car and headed back to River Riders, where the race would start and finish.  Once there, Nugget and I enjoyed breakfast in the car, and I performed the first of many backseat diaper changes.  We then joined DJ Research near the starting line, where he was warming up for his race.

Next post: Race Recap, a Spectator's Perspective

For the vanity of it

The weather has been gorgeous recently, and I've been lucky enough to get out for a run on most days.  Wanting to practice proper skin safety (what the bleep is that?), I've been applying 30+ sun block on my face.  And this totally freaks my husband out.  The sun block is Badger Natural Sunscreen, which I bought for my son last summer when he was just shy of a year old.  And while I think its a great product, it doesn't rub in very well, leaving my face exuding a white ghostly glow that my husband just cannot stand.  Its hilarious.  Our post-run conversations are usually face-to-side, because he just won't look at me.  And when he does, he'll stop talking to say, "You look really, really weird right now," and then turn away and resume talking without looking at me.  I think its hilarious that hes so offended by this sunblock, but he doesn't seem to feel the same way.

So anyway, to get my husband to look at me post-run, and because I, like most people, enjoy getting new running gear, I bought a white, reflective Under Armor visor when our family unit was bopping around the new athletic store in town.  And I wore it on my run yesterday.  As soon as I put in on, I felt cool and strong and athletic.  "Wow!" I thought, "This visor makes me feel 10 seconds faster!"

My new visor!

And then I remembered the rest of my outfit:

WTH?

What the hell am I wearing?  Especially those socks with my running shoes?  Ai-yai-yai.  

Luckily, I don't really care what I look like when I run (its true, I don't.  I appreciate looking nice when I run, but I'd prefer that to be a fortuitous accident rather than something that I plan and strategize.  When it comes to fashion, I am totally clueless, as evidence by above pic.)  So off I went for a fast run through that hilly neighborhood near work.  I managed three loops (3.85 miles) in just over a half-hour (33:53), which gave me a good base for realistic goals on this short, quick lunchtime route.  Next time I'm going to try for 3 loops and back in 30:00.

Shoe Shopping

Yesterday, our little fam unit popped into the new athletic store in town, just to check out their goodies.  There, in the center of the store, were the New Balance Minimus Zeros, in all their ultra-lightweight glory.

NB Minimus Zeros via irunfar.com

The sales clerk wasn't sure if they were carrying the road model or the trail model, so the Hubs told him.  "These are the women's trail shoes.  The WT in the shoe code stands for 'women's trail.'"  Oh, DJ Research.  You know the most random things about the most random things.

The Zeros were bleepin awesome.  I wouldn't say they were comfortable, due to the fact that they are super minimalist shoes.  In other words, you could really feel the ground in them.  But thats why they are so awesome.  In my wonderful Saucony XC2 Shays, I can barely feel the ground, and as much as I love them, I think I want an even more minimalist shoe.

Unfortunately, I don't think the Minimus Zeros are the shoe for me.  I am cursed with long, narrow feet.  A shoe that fits me length-wise is usually to wide width-wise.  This is true for the Zeros.  Apparently, NB runs wide, so we were never destined to be together anyway. :(

The Minimus did fit the Hubs, however.  And he LOVED them.  We didn't buy a pair because we do have to discuss the hefty $110 price tag.  But the smile on the Hubs' face as he was prancing around the store was priceless.  The man is awesome.  He really does deserve a good trail shoe.

Of course, Li'l Nugget did not want to be left out.  He kept pulling shoes off the shelf to try on himself, always cognizant to put the shoe back when he was done (usually with our prompting, of course).  While the Hubs tried on the Minimus, Nugget wore daddy's shoes around the store.  He was very proud.


Are there any female runners out there with my same problem: long, narrow feet?  Have you found a minimal or trail shoe you love?