Jingle Bell Hell...not just another virtual race...

...but one with a sketchy prize history yet an amazing assortment of donuts at the LIVE event.

COME ONE...COME ALL...

You may or may not remember that I've been race director (using that term verrrrrry loosely) for an awesome holiday race for the last three years. (That takes you to the first running...click here to see the second year's recap and here to see last year's). Remember how no one attended the 2011 event knowingly and the winner of the real life race was a random guy who had no idea he was a part of the resurrection of Jingle Bell Hell. 

Runner Chris...random guy who won last year's race!

And then the next year the indomitable RoseRunner was crushed by SFRoadWarrior in a surprise upset. Of course she did have a 2-mile handicap! I was able to lure flesh-and-blood, intentional participants with DONUTS!!! Donuts have now become a signature drawing point for this event.

And there were all of the virtual participants who never received their prizes and probably hate me now :( If y'all knew what my last year has been like, y'all'd forgive me in a heartbeat...I promise. Note: lack of blogging was due to IRL insane turmoil and putting-back-together-of-life-pieces.

Anyway...

Three was not exactly an attendance charm. Only two participants again, but this time Jen didn't get sick...and she WON! 

We're giving it another go! It's time to begin thinking about running in this fabulous event!

Below is information on the race...past and present...a little history...some details...hope to see you there, either in the flesh or in spirit!

source

The 6th running of 

Jingle Bell Hell

1/3-marathon and fun run 

Saturday, December 20, 2014 at 8:00 a.m.

Inspiration Point, Tilden Park, Berkeley, California

Rain or Shine

or wherever in the world you might be :)

The starting point of the real-life event is Inspiration Point in Berkeley, California and the course map is...

View Larger Map

and the elevation profile is...

as determined by my Garmin.

The History

My best friends from high school used to put on a race in December. It was small in terms of the number of participants but huge in terms of fun and adventure. Initially, it was a half-marathon, but they found that very few of their friends were at all interested in or capable of running that far. Additionally, the course involved some running on a twisty, narrow road with minimal shoulder that did see its fair share of traffic...especially on weekends. So they abbreviated it to a 1/3-marathon (more or less...a bit over 8 miles) and were able to run it entirely on a paved, car-less road.

My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) and I ran in their 3rd Annual Jingle Bell Hell in December of 1995 (see picture above...I am front and center with the socks on my hands, he is in the back in the light shirt). It was freezing by Bay Area standards...but not wet. Not everyone went all the way out to the turnaround...and that was just fine.

I won the trophy that year... the "Actually Trained for This Race" Award...

Each year, the winner gets to have their picture taken with this perpetual trophy and have their name added to the illustrious list on the bottom... ballpoint pen inscribed on masking tape, 'cuz we're classy like that. And there will be some prizes that can be taken home as well :)

****

I am really hoping to see some local runners in attendance! It's not far from San Francisco, San Jose or even Santa Cruz... looking west or south. Concord is super close to the east, and Sacramento is just 90 minutes away to the north. It's a great follow-up to the early December races, like CIM.

If you're coming in from out of town and need a super cheap place to crash...with an SF Bay view, in a solid structure, and don't mind driving about five miles...

source

The Albany Bulb Waterfront has some very artistic structures that may or may not be inhabited by squatters.

If you want to do virtual version of Jingle Bell Hell, here are the parameters...

• Must be at least 5K in total length...no maximum.
• Must be done on a challenging course (and if you hate treadmills, that means it could be on a treadmill) because the idea is "Hell" ... that is the important part.
• Must be done between December 13 and 21, 2014... any time of day or night. This gives you two entire weekends to choose from.
• You must laugh at least once... can be an evil laugh, a laugh of futility, any kind of laugh but laughter is a MUST.
• Email me a link to your Jingle Bell Hell recap so I can post it and we may all share in the fun... please include something about when, where, why regarding the laughing part and what made the run your special brand of Hell :)

Participants in the virtual race will be entered in a prize drawing. Things like fueling products, Nuun hydration products, winter running gear, running safety items, some random stuff. Receiving these prizes is always iffy, as previous participants will tell you, because I really really really hate going to the post office. But honestly, folks...ARE WE REALLY RUNNING FOR PRIZES?????

Leave a comment if you want to participate!

JINGLE BELL HELL 2013 is a-comin'!!!!

Many many thanks to Run with Jess for giving me a swift kick in the butt on this...

She is the MOST AWESOME Race Ambassador EVER!!!!

I've become such an absentee blogger of late (try the whole last YEAR) 

so I'm wondering how many people will see this! 

I hope you all will share it with EVERYone you know or don't know because...

The more the merrier!!!

You may or may not remember that I've been race director for an awesome holiday race for the last two years. (That takes you to the first running...click here to see the most recent recap). Remember how no one attended the 2011 event knowingly and the winner of the real life race was a random guy who had no idea he was a part of the resurrection of Jingle Bell Hell. 

Runner Chris...random guy who won last year's race!

And then last year, the indomitable RoseRunner was crushed by SFRoadWarrior in a surprise upset. Of course she did have a 2-mile handicap! I was able to lure flesh-and-blood, intentional participants with DONUTS!!! There will be donuts again this year.

And there were all of the virtual participants who never received their prizes and probably hate me now :( If y'all knew what my last year has been like, y'all'd forgive me in a heartbeat...I promise. Note: lack of blogging was due to IRL insane turmoil and putting-back-together-of-life-pieces.

Anyway...

We're giving it another go! It's time to sign up for this fabulous event!

Below is information on the race...past and present...a little history...some details...hope to see you there, either in the flesh or in spirit!

source

The 6th running of 

Jingle Bell Hell

1/3-marathon and fun run 

Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 8:00 a.m.

Inspiration Point, Tilden Park, Berkeley, California

Rain or Shine

or wherever in the world you might be :)

The starting point of the real-life event is Inspiration Point in Berkeley, California and the course map is...

View Larger Map

and the elevation profile is...

as determined by my Garmin.

The History

My best friends from high school used to put on a race in December. It was small in terms of the number of participants but huge in terms of fun and adventure. Initially, it was a half-marathon, but they found that very few of their friends were at all interested in or capable of running that far. Additionally, the course involved some running on a twisty, narrow road with minimal shoulder that did see its fair share of traffic...especially on weekends. So they abbreviated it to a 1/3-marathon (more or less...a bit over 8 miles) and were able to run it entirely on a paved, car-less road.

My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) and I ran in their 3rd Annual Jingle Bell Hell in December of 1995 (see picture above...I am front and center with the socks on my hands, he is in the back in the light shirt). It was freezing by Bay Area standards...but not wet. Not everyone went all the way out to the turnaround...and that was just fine.

I won the trophy that year... the "Actually Trained for This Race" Award...

Each year, the winner gets to have their picture taken with this perpetual trophy and have their name added to the illustrious list on the bottom... ballpoint pen inscribed on masking tape, 'cuz we're classy like that. And there will be some prizes that can be taken home as well :)

****

I am really hoping to see some local runners in attendance! It's not far from San Francisco, San Jose or even Santa Cruz... looking west or south. Concord is super close to the east, and Sacramento is just 90 minutes away to the north. It's a great follow-up to the early December races, like CIM and Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas. 

If you're coming in from out of town and need a super cheap place to crash...with an SF Bay view, in a solid structure, and don't mind driving about five miles...

source

The Albany Bulb Waterfront has some very artistic structures that may or may not be inhabited by squatters.

If you want to do virtual version of Jingle Bell Hell, here are the parameters...

• Must be at least 5K in total length...no maximum.
• Must be done on a challenging course (and if you hate treadmills, that means it could be on a treadmill) because the idea is "Hell" ... that is the important part.
• Must be done between Dec. 14-22, 2013... any time of day or night. This gives you two entire weekends to choose from.
• You must laugh at least once... can be an evil laugh, a laugh of futility, any kind of laugh but laughter is a MUST.
• Email me a link to your Jingle Bell Hell recap so I can post it and we may all share in the fun... please include something about when, where, why regarding the laughing part and what made the run your special brand of Hell :)

Participants in the virtual race will be entered in a prize drawing. Things like fueling products, Nuun hydration products, winter running gear, running safety items, some random stuff... I want to try to have something for everyone... depending on how many or how few participate. Going with that whole "Everyone's a Winner" thing :) Don't want anyone's self-esteem damaged by a silly sporting event.

And I WILL send out the prizes this year!!!! FOR REAL!

Leave a comment if you want to participate!

2012 Oakland Running Festival Marathon Relay Recap

It is so different participating in a race where you are really just focused on finishing and not hurting yourself vs. hitting a challenging time goal.

It is so different running for an hour vs. running for two hours.

I'm kind of digging these hey, let's just run for a little while because we can kind of "races."

Of course, I'm largely digging them because I haven't been training with any intensity or volume for several months. My cumulative mileage over the past 2 months might just barely break 20 miles...then again, it might not. Injury does, indeed, suck.

As I mentioned yesterday, I was running today's race on a wing and a prayer.

In keeping with the concept of minimal preparation, we had chocolate cake for dinner last night. I'm not kidding.

How's that for pre-race fuel? Now, had I been running a 2-hour race instead of a one-hour race, this would probably have had a real negative effect on my performance. But since today was all about survival, simply moving and breathing would constitute "performance." For this, the chocolate cake proved sufficient.

This morning I awoke before anyone else in the house and began my preparations. Hmmmm...didn't need to pack Gu-type stuff...didn't need to bring water...was the Garmin charged? Who knew? I tossed it in the bag...expecting... whatever.  I got dressed. Knowing that at any minute during the race the sky could open up on the course and deliver a deluge, I dressed to minimize chafing...but knew that I would only need to endure whatever hand was dealt me for about an hour instead of two. Even with that knowledge, I liberally applied the Body Glide all over. Luckily, the rain stayed away :)

I left the house an hour before my expected hand-off time even though early on a Sunday morning traffic is usually non-existant and I live 12 minutes away. The sky was clearing. The drive was a breeze. Parking was beyond easy. But... they only had two port-a-potties to serve this exchange/aid station. The line snaked around and around and around... it was probably a 30-35 minute wait. This is my only organizational beef with the Oakland Running Festival. Who doesn't understand this:  You can NEVER have too many port-a-potties! Right?

Time to go find my Leg 1 chick. I headed over to the exchange area, which looked like this...

She was right on time with her "about an hour" prediction :) She ran past me, calling my name. I leaped out and grabbed the little wristlet timing chip and took off...too fast. The incline a block later snapped me back to reality.

My plan became:

• chill on the flat.
• survive the uphill portions.
• destroy the downhills...however big or small they may be.

 Given that the first 5 miles were dominated by uphill portions, slow and steady survives the race :)

Leg 2 – 2012 Oakland Marathon Relay

My splits over the first 5 miles were all over the place and entirely dependent on the terrain, ranging from mid 11's to as fast as mid 8's. And then came that monster downhill...the BIG one...

THIS one...

Last year, I pissed myself going down this thing. This year I held it together. No peeing.

Just FLYING!

Flying for me, anyway.

Yes, it's a screaming downhill. I acknowledge that. Nonetheless, it was quite refreshing to see 6 as the first number in the split window for a half a mile :)

I tried to hang on once things leveled out. But. Just. Couldn't. Quite. Do. It. Was I surprised? Absolutely surprised to run down that hill as fast as I did and absolutely NOT surprised that I slowed down dramatically upon hitting the flats. My Leg 3 receiver was fantastically ready to go and saw me before I saw her...even though she was wearing a neon yellow jacket! I gave her the strap, and away she went!

I was done.

Time: 1:03
Distance: 6.6 miles

I am not going to go on and on about how hard I found this because there were folks running alongside of me who had to keep on going...for another 14 miles. They are total rockstars, each and every one of them. The full marathon in Oakland is a toughie...not what one would call a "BQ course."

The takeaway from this race for me is huge, though...

Hip? Solid. Fitness? Sucky. Desire to run? Sky-high!

And that, my friends, is a winning combination. Having a body that (at the moment) works and a desire to work it can change the fitness component. I just need the right approach. I think I'm on the right track.

Bling Ain't My Thing

It's dawning on me how weird I am.

I've had my suspicions for decades, but blogging has really brought it to my attention. Wait, let me specify...blogging about my running/fitness (or lack thereof at the moment) and reading other blogs about the same has shown me very clearly how different I am from the mainstream. Not at all better, mind you, just different.

First, I do not enjoy expos. I think as an athlete they are a complete waste of time...for the most part. They feel so pushy and grubby and congested...or empty. I've yet to have an expo experience rock my world...or remotely appeal. Yoo hoo... Race Director, can you please just send me my stuff? Without charging me $9.99?

Next weirdness... race t-shirts. Don't want 'em. If it's cotton, I might wear my race t-shirt to sleep in or when taking an ice bath. If it's a tech tee and it doesn't smell horribly like chemicals, it probably won't fit very well or will be itchy, and there is a minuscule chance I will ever wear it even if it's pretty nice. I like those races where they discount your entry fee if you wish to pass on the shirt. Check. That. Box.

My third point of oddness would be my preference for not racing very often. I relish the training. While I do enjoy checking my progress from time to time in a race setting, I really love the journey.

Which brings us to the grand-daddy bizarrity ... bling ain't my thing.

I do not need or really even want a finisher's medal. I totally understand why people like them, and races do go to some trouble to make interesting/attractive/desirable-looking medals. I know most people want a physical testament to the fact that they completed something...an object they can show people and show themselves as evidence of their accomplishment. For me personally, unless I won something, I'm not inclined to display it...and even then I probably won't. Case in point:  my rowing medals...

...in a box in my garage.

I find the satisfaction in the doing and not so much in the trappings. But that's just me...and I know it's weird.

How do you feel about these things...expos, race tees, races in and of themselves, and bling? Way into them? Some of them? Don't care? Somewhere in the middle? I'm really curious!

Oakland Marathon Relay Recap!

Such a sunshiny medal!

;-)

I could sum this run up in three words...

Smoked. Pissed. Thrashed.

But that would be super boring ... and you all want to know the details, right?

Right off the bat, I need to tip my hat to all the finishers of this full marathon... they are all rockstars, each and every one of them deserves a Nail award.  This course is really, really demanding.  The elevation profile doesn't do the difficulty justice... at all.

Danny pointed out that if you do the math, it is just a 1% incline.  F that noise.  The subtleties are absent in that profile.  The climbing seems to never. stop. for. eleven. miles.  Okay, there are microscopic dips and levels occasionally... but they are just enough to give you the hope to keep on truckin'... and just enough to make it equal that 1% figure, balancing out the climbs.  Imagine, if you will, going uphill for the first 11 miles of a marathon.  Not up and down hills... but UP.  Just UP.

Okay, now on to my leg o' this madness...

The whole shebang was beginning at 7:30 a.m. down at City Hall.  The lead-off runs 6 miles up into the hills and hands off mid-hill to #2.  Here is the scene at the hand-off:

My lead-off thought it would take her about an hour to get there, meaning a hand-off at around 8:30. I arrived at around 8:15 to get warmed up and nervous excited.  It was a really cool scene... I have never participated in a relay, and I have never done a big, urban marathon before.  The diversity of peoples in every single way imaginable was awesome!  The relay component sky-rocketed this level of diversity, I think.  As I was watching the people pass by or hand off at this spot, I started to realize just how hard the lead-off leg was.  When my lead-off got there, the hand-off went smoothly, and I started my chug up the hill.

I knew right away that this was just a test of survival.  And I couldn't imagine the fortitude of those doing the full.  The course winds through a hilly residential neighborhood that is very lovely... I saw none of it.  It goes through a little neighborhood shopping area... it was a blur... and not because of my speed.  It was ALL. UP. HILL.  About a mile and a half into my leg, I got smoked. She was the first relay person to pass me. Smoked. Ah, well....

Then I heard these guys!

How could I not stop and take a picture?

this was in the middle of a moderate hill that felt like freaking the Alps...

appreciate that I stopped and took a pic for the blog 'cuz 

starting again was so hard :P

When I got to the top of the Alpenhorn incline, I got smoked by some chick who runs for the same club as the other smoker. Sheesh.... I just watched her bright gold shirt zoom off in the distance ahead...

The course leveled off for a moment, and I entertained ideas of speeding up to try and stay the same distance behind her... but then the incline started again and I just focused on steady running and smiling :) The 10-mile mark (for me indicating about a mile to go) was at the top of that particular incline... things got really steep as you near that mark... then you go through a parking lot and past the Mormon Temple.  There were LOTS of people cheering in front of the Temple.  As you round that bend, the huge descent begins....

huge.

Knowing that I would be done in about one mile and the hill was about one mile, meaning that once I was at the bottom, I was almost done, I just let 'er rip.  But....

I had to pee.

No matter how delicately you try to run down a massive hill, it is going to be somewhat jarring.  And... well... I pissed in my pants.  Not completely.  But enough.  And I totally didn't care 'cuz I was almost duh-huunnn!  Mile 10 to Mile 11 was done in 8 minutes.  Things leveled there and I could see my hand-off point.  My girl was right in front.... waving and waiting.... I was sooooooo happy to see her!  I gave her the thingy and that was it. Over. Wet.

And my legs were thrashed.

My family was there waiting!  Woo hooo!  Actually the kids were all sitting in the car, supremely annoyed that they had to leave the house in the morning to drive into the ghetto to see mommy run.  But they cheered up when I announced that I was sorry it would be smelling like pee in the car because I peed in my pants.  Yeah, they thought that was hilarious!

I went home and took a shower and washed my hair... but this is me at home before cleaning up, still in my spiffy racing duds... 20-year old peed-in Sporthill pants and a faded 15-year old cotton tank top. My shoe is untied because the car key was in there.

Here is my team!

We finished the whole thing in a combined-effort 4:13 and change.

My leg was a little over 5 miles in just under 50 minutes.  And our anchor (the woman in black) 

did her 7.5 miles in one hour.

I went back to the finish line after I got showered and changed... kinda lame, but...

And I had a heck of a time finding parking because of all those dang marathoners!  

I did such a totally amazing job parallel parking,

I had to share it.

Be impressed!

That is my mondo pickup truck... 

really, I parked it between those two cars.

With no help.

Did you race this weekend?  How'd it go?

Are you a good parallel parker?
– this truck is 23 feet long.  It is a crew cab, long bed.  And it's wide.  I am a parking rockstar.

"I Just Felt Like Running" Virtual 5K Race Report

From the warmth and sunshine (even though it happened at night) of the Golden State,
I bring you my race report for the I Just Felt Like Running Virtual 5K sparked by Jeff of DETROIT RUNNER.  And if you want to play, too, it's not too late!  Head over to his blog and sign on up!

The East Bay running of this race was scheduled for Tuesday, March 1, 2011 @ 7 p.m.  The night was clear but a bit windy.  The course, flat and fast.  wish the entrant could say the same ;-)  It consisted of 4 loops (each of 0.75 miles) and a 0.1 mile chunk tagged on the end.  The starting line was The Mailboxes and the finish line was around the other side of the block, marked by the neighbor's tree.  According to Googlemaps, the course measured 3.103 miles.

No weirdos appeared to be out, the husband arrived home on time, the kids were fed, and Miss C 'unloaded' just as the lone entrant was leaving for her warm-up, allowing mommy to miss the diaper change ;-) Perfect timing, Miss C!  Mommy loves you, too!

It is so funny to me how much of a warm-up I like/need now that I am older!  A lot of time has passed since I was a competitive athlete, and I remember scoffing at long warm-ups.  All of those old timers wanted to warm up for almost an hour!  What the heck?  Shove from the dock, do a couple of drills, a few 10's and shifting 20's, head to the line... good to go :)  That was then...

Last night, my warm-up consisted of one of the 3/4 mile laps very easy, followed by nearly a half a mile of drills, jogging and short sprints.  Then I was ready...

At the starting line...

marked by The Mailbox

My start was good.  No crouching, just started running.  Hit stride quickly, felt really even and on my game.  Nice...  did make the mistake of futzing with my iPod a couple of times.  

note to self:  learn to just go with whatever music that bitch throws your way. losing time over it isn't worth it.

Checking the splits after Lap 1...
unfortunately, not hitting my overly-optimistic goal pace :-/
but still pretty okay at
6:20 for 0.75 mile (8:26/mile)

Big Thumbs Up at the almost-halfway...
exact same split of
6:20 for the lap 
so
12:40 for 1.5 miles (8:26/mile)

The photographer and cheering crew were notably absent as I crossed the lap marker at the end of laps 3 and 4... splits tapered off a smidge... 6:24 and 6:23 (8:32/mile)... but that last 0.103 mile was where I really showed the road who's boss ;-)  46 seconds!  Yeah, baby... 7:40 pace for a whopping 0.1 mile :P  And I was toast when I crossed that line.

A good run.  A very solid effort.  A new "return to running" PR... 

26:12

I knew I was really working when I realized that I was trying to run with my eyes closed.  Not a good idea ever.  In the middle of the street and in the dark... really dumb.  Thankfully, I didn't fall or trip or slam into a parked or moving car or a person (not that that would ever happen in this neighborhood... no one is ever out, remember?  well, except creepy guys in hoopty cars occasionally and the olderwalkingcouple).


Do you like 5K's? 
–I think I do.


Have you ever run with your eyes closed?  What happened?
–yes! nothing... fortunately!

Turkey Trot 5K Run Report!

Yesterday, I participated in the Fifth Annual Family Fun Turkey Trot!

I woke up on Thanksgiving morning to beautiful and cold weather.  Where I live it was about 40ºF and where the race was to be held it was about 30ºF.  But the sun was shining and the skies were clear and the air was calm.  The 50-minute drive up was lovely...fall colors through the vineyards, the bay was mirror-like, everything felt clean and crisp.

The event was very well-run... easy and adequate parking for all, an assortment of yummies including coffee and hot chocolate, a bathroom very close by that was heated (so nice! people were joking about hiding out in there), friendly and efficient traffic control provided by the husband one of the hosts, personalized timing provided by the same husband, a very well-marked "real" 5K course... my compliments to the race organizers!

The course started off with a nice, long  downhill through a beautiful vineyard and continued with a nice, long downhill through a tree-lined residential area.  I realized pretty quickly that this nice, gentle, long downhill stretch would be turning into a not-so-nice, seemingly-less gentle, and suprisingly longer-feeling uphill at the very end of the run!  It then looped around through some semi-farm-ish/residential areas, a good mix of flat and hills up and down, past a very helpful 2-mile marker (so happy to see that) until heading back up toward the start.  I got to see frost!  And frozen puddles!  We don't often have those where I live.

With the fresh reminder that this was called a "run" and not a "race"  lol  there was no jostling, no tripping, no slapping, no name-calling... oh, that was back at home... and everyone just truly trotted along, really enjoying the beautiful morning.

I finished the course in 28:52.  So Catey was right... faster than my prediction... by a good amount.

Met some very nice people!  Anne Marie and her friends are fun and friendly.  She and her co-host attract a good bunch!

What a great way to start a day of giving thanks!