Huckleberry Half Marathon Recap & Review

Good Morning!

I took Sunday off because it was needed and Monday off because I wanted to, very technical.  I headed out this morning and wasn't sure if I would do 4 or 5 miles and I could tell by the 2 mile mark it would be a 4 mile run.  My legs were just tired and I wasn't in the mood to just push through, sometimes I just do what I feel like doing in regards to running.  Life is filled with so many things we have to do and I won't let running become one of those things.  

Huckleberry Half Marathon Recap!

This last Saturday Katie and I ran the Huckleberry Half Marathon in Welches and one could say it was hilly.  Basically it was uphill for at least 3 miles straight with some added rolling hills, I said I loved hills right?!  Seriously though this course was tough and really gave the Helvetia Half Marathon a run for it's money, whew.  The half marathon started at 7:30 and it was overcast and cool, perfect running weather.  We started off a little fast and I could tell we should probably slow down if we were going to make it out of there in one piece.  We weren't shooting for a PR but I was hoping for something around 2:15 and we finished in 2:14:04!  

Overall the half went well and I am finally starting to get my fueling figured out.  Saturday's fuel strategy wasn't perfect because my stomach hurt for at least the first 3 miles but we got there.  Normally I would eat a piece of toast and hummus or granola bar before a race but this time I went in totally empty.  I was using this run as a training run and just wanted to see what that would feel like.  After 3 miles and half of a mocha GU my stomach started to settle but I think I am going to go back to at least a granola before a long run or race.  During my previous races I would bring 1 GU or a package of shot bloks and normally I would hardly touch either and end up with no gas and a stomach ache during the final 3 miles, fun times.  During Huckleberry I had 2 GU's (mocha and vanilla) and found myself finishing a lot stronger and not feeling loopy during that last mile, FTW!  I am glad I decided to start playing around with my fueling strategy and giving my body a chance to tell me what might work better.  For our next half marathon hopefully I can avoid stomach pains completely! 

Huckleberry Half Review!

This was the inaugural year of the Huckleberry Half Marathon and 10K.  Breanna Nickila is the Race Director and creator of the Huckleberry Half.  She is also a mother of 2 and lives in Sandy Oregon!  You can read an interview with her in the East County Gazette HERE.  I know that the half capped at 1000 and sold out but I am not sure if the 500 spaces for the 10K ended up selling out.  I really liked that the half marathon started at 7:30, it is nice to have just a little more of your day after the race.  

The start was at Welches Middle School and the course wound around the golf course, through neighborhoods, along the Salmon River & to the entrance of the Green Canyon National Forest.  While the course was challenging (to say the least) it was beautiful and scenic.  I loved that there were so many aid stations and the volunteers were exceptionally friendly.  I also saw a ton of porta potties along the way  but one guy just couldn't wait and I saw him dart off into the trees, ha!  After the race there were some snacks and a photo op with Bigfoot!  Katie and I visited a while with some of her running friends from the area and then headed to meet her mom and husband for breakfast.  It was an awesome start to the weekend.  I love that it was a Saturday race and I had the rest of the weekend with my family.  It is really nice to have Sunday at home to recover and relax.  

Overall for being its inaugural year I was impressed with the organization and ease of the race.  It was very relaxed both at the start and the finish, loved that.  While big races are a lot of fun with tons of sponsors and a huge swag bag (full of coupons mostly) small town races are my favorite.  The swag bag had a Huckleberry Half Marathon coffee mug which I was so excited about!  How many race shirts does a person need, this was a fun surprise!  

There was no traffic getting there or heading home and plenty of parking.  Breanna has a connection with The Portland French Bakery so all of the racers had a choice between a large baguette or package of pub buns.  I thought that was a cute freebie at the end of a half marathon, everyone loves carbs!  Great race, great course and 2 thumbs up from me, way to go Breanna and I hope to sign up again for 2014!

Word on the street is August 10th was the busiest race day in Oregon, what did you race? 

Were you at the Huckleberry Half?  Tell me about your experience!      

            

Helvetia Half Marathon Recap

Good morning! 

Yesterday Katie and I had an early wake up for the Helvetia Half Marathon.  It was our 2nd time running Helvetia and our 3rd half.  Katie and I both agree we love this race, mostly for the burgers at the end!  

I actually saw someone giving their burger voucher away, I don't think she really understood exactly why people run this particular half, ha!  We had decided going into the race that we were just going to run it easy, have a good time and devour our burgers the end!  

Stolen from Katie's Instagram.  I have no shame.  Obvi.

When I said this race had a lot of hills I wasn't joking, this race is basically just hills.  

Katie asked me at one point during our run what my current half marathon PR is and I gladly told her. I also told her at some point that when we get to the last mile we should push it just to finish the race strong.  We'll get back to the moral of that story in a bit.  We just took the race as a fun run, we stopped at every other aid station for water and chatted with a few other runners along the way.  It was warm and the sun was shinning but it wasn't miserable and I didn't walk up any of the hills, Katie wouldn't have let me anyway.  My splits are all over the place but I expected that with all of the ups and downs of the hills.  Did I mention there were a lot of hills?!  

My Splits: 

Mile 1 - 10:08

Miles 2 - 10:17

Mile 3 - 10:18

Mile 4 - 10:22

Mile 5 - 10:36

Mile 6 - 9:59

Mile 7 - 10:07

Mile 8 -10:05  

Mile 9 - 10:09

Mile 10 -10:20

 Mile 11 - 10:35

Mile 12 - 10:25

Mile 13 - 10:01

Average Pace : 10:15

Chip Time Finish : 2:14:04

 I somehow finished with another PR.  Remember when I told you how I would come back to that story, well here we go.  At mile 11 Katie pulls out her phone to look at her running app and see how we are doing.  She looks over at me and says "Dani we are at 2:11..." I look at her and say "UGH, Katie!  This was suppose to be fun!"  So I kicked it back up a notch so we could finish strong and I was able to knock almost 2 minutes off my last PR time.  You know what taste really good with an Helvetia Tavern burger?  A freaking new Half Marathon PR, that is what! :) I didn't really run any faster this race than the Rock and Roll last month but I also didn't stop and use a porta potty during this race so that saved me a couple minutes.  

We didn't mean to be twinsies!

I love so many things about this race, I even have a little love for the hills.  Something I think is really cool is that Paula Harkin of Run with Paula Events, Inc. actually runs the race too!  I saw her last year running it on the out and back portion and Katie and I saw her again this year at the same spot.  There is a gravel road section that nobody loves but honestly I think that is the only course complaint I hear others runners share.  Every time I felt I needed/wanted some water there was an aid station coming right up.  I love the finish coming into the Hillsboro Stadium and the fact that nobody is rushing you through the finishers chute.  There are lines for things like bananas, chocolate milk and bagels at the end but they move so fast you don't notice.  The line for the burgers is always moving and doesn't take us more than a few minutes to get our burger, toppings and find a spot to sit so we can eat.  I'll be registering for this one again, always a fun one!  

If you ran the Helvetia Half yesterday tell me about your experience!  

*I stole all of the pictures from Katie's instagram*