Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!....(a bit belated since today is January 18, but I'm finally catching up)

2012 is finally here. How did you ring in your New Year's? This year I opted to divert from our typical family traditions slightly (New Year's Day dinner has been moved to later in the month). Instead, I rang in 2012 while lying in bed trying to get some sleep. Aren’t I a party animal?

Actually, there was a very good reason that I was in bed instead of drinking Champaign and singing Auld Lang Syne…I was in Texas for the Inaugural New Year’s Double. This was a small race that I would have never even heard about had it not been for my friend Jenny who lives in the area. Apparently the organizers had put on a New Year’s Day run in 2011 and it was so well received that they decided to put on two events for 2012 – one on New Year’s Eve and one on New Year’s Day. Being a huge fan of multiple day events, I was hooked as soon as she mentioned it. Better yet, those who participated both days received extra bling (BONUS!!!!).

Participants could choose from a 5k, Half Marathon Relay, Half Marathon, or Full Marathon each day. Yes, you read that right, participants could run a marathon on Saturday and then turn right around and run another one on Sunday at the same venue! For any Half Fanatics or Marathon Maniacs reading this, this has got to be the single easiest way to attain Jupiter or Iridium status – no traveling between races or rushing to make it to the second Expo in time – and the organizers made sure that they played that up in their marketing….and it worked. For a small race (~2000 total across all 8 events), it was by far the highest concentration of yellow and blue shirts I’ve ever seen (plus, they even set up their own unofficial HF/MM aid station). Although one of my New Year Resolutions is to become a Marathon Maniac this year and I already had Jupiter status with Half Fanatics, I didn’t opt for the marathon double. Instead, I wanted to use the half double as training for my upcoming Goofy Challenge the next weekend.

The course was different. At first I wasn’t overly excited about it, but by Day 2 I liked it a lot more. In fact, I might even call it a great course. For everyone except 5k participants, it was a 6.55 mile loop. Relay participants were able to do their exchange at the Start/Finish line, Half participants did the loop twice, and Full participants did the loop four times. I’d done loops for training, but had never done loops in a race before, so I wasn’t sure how my motivation would be after I completed the first loop. However, I didn’t need to worry about my motivation at all thanks to Jenny. She had completed the 5k, so she was done in plenty of time to watch (and cheer) me across the half way point. Exactly the boost of motivation I needed to send me back thru the second loop.

Not only were there multiple loops, but a majority of the course was out and back. Admittedly, I had not really looked at the course map before race day and didn’t realize the out and back aspect until we overheard someone mention it while waiting in line for the bathrooms pre-race. Out and back AND two loops? Ugh!

Here’s my opinion of out and back courses. I don’t mind out and back courses, but they can be a little demoralizing for a slow poke like myself, especially in a small race like this was. Here you are, chugging away at mile 3 or 4 or whatever, all by yourself, when suddenly the masses are coming at you. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel a bit like a caged monkey on display – “Come over here kids, look at the slow one!” So, when I put two and two together (loops AND out and back), my mind instantly went to “Crap – they are going to be able to pass the caged monkey over and over again!” Once again, my worry was completely unfounded….especially by the second day. So many of us had passed each other over and over and over again, that even though we didn’t know each other’s names, we felt like we sort of knew each other and were all shouting encouragement back and forth. There was one Marathon Maniac who did the double fulls that was especially encouraging. Each time we passed each other, he shout out to me, ask what loop was on, and seemed just so happy to be out there. I wish I knew who he was, but as I was coming in to finish my last loop on day 2, he had just started out on his 3^rd loop and I didn’t have time to stick around to watch him finish.

Jenny was an awesome cheerleader! Not only did she cheer me on at the mid-point and finish on Saturday, but she staged herself at several spots along the course on Sunday (the benefit of it being contained within a park) and ran part of mile 7 with me. As soon as she’d see me, she’d start screaming (which did cause me to think I was hearing things at times when I couldn’t see her).

When it was all said and done, my feet were sore. I had made the mistake on Saturday of pushing my Brooks Ghosts 1 race past their expiration date and created a large quarter sized blister on my foot. Fortunately, I brought my new Asics along to break them in on Sunday, so I didn't have to rely on the Ghosts for two days. My times were far from my greatest, but it was a great way to ring in the New Year, visit with Jenny, and prepare for Goofy!

RACE RATING - New Year's Double (Allen, TX)

• Course: 8 – relatively flat, a bit narrow (mostly sidewalks where the out and back was on the same sidewalk), but fun. Major kudos to the aid station that I passed 12 times in the course of two days
• Bling: 10 – awesome two day ying/yang style medal
• Race Organizers: 10 – by far the best I’ve ever seen, especially for a small race. There is no way that anyone will walk away without a medal or the shirt size that they ordered. They know how many runners that course can hold and they limited the race to that size. BONUS: They arranged a special showing of The Spirit of Marathon at the local movie theater Saturday afternoon.
• Recommendation: DO IT! This race is a must for everyone’s race bucket list. I won’t do it every year, but when I decide to go for Iridium in Marathon Maniacs, you can bet this is the race I’m going to attempt it at.