Holiday Half virtual, 12/11/21

I ran a grand total of ONE race in 2021.

I started running in 2004ish and ran my first race in 2006. I'm up to 153 in all! (all my races)

Marathon: 6
Half Marathon: 37
Quarter Marathon: 3

25K: 1
15K: 7
12K: 3
10K: 28
8K: 1
4 miler: 1
5K: 57
Relay: 4
Other: 5

 

Needless to say, I love to run and race. But COVID stopped all racing for a while, and I'm not yet comfortable doing in person races. So my count has slowed significantly, and I trained for and completed just one race this past year: The Portland Holiday Half Virtual Race.

The official virtual race window opened Dec. 12, but I wanted to do my 13.1 on Saturday. BUT then a nasty storm was predicted for Saturday, so I decided to do my run Friday.

I already had the day off for Christmas prep, so I laced up early in the morning and hit the road.

I did a big loop that goes through Tigard, King City, Tualatin, and Durham, pushing a bit harder than in training but not coming close to redlining.

My pace was steady except for the two times I decided to walk up from the river instead of run up the hills.

The morning was great for running, and I felt strong and proud of my performance. I was well prepared and had dressed well for the weather. A good running day!

Santa Mickey greeted me when I finished 🎅

After, I celebrated with a hot chocolate from Primo Espresso to drink while I did my Christmas errands:

I stopped by Foot Traffic to pick up my race packet - for the race I'd already run! I thought that was funny :)

Always cute goodies! (Though the medals were stuck in transit somewhere - probably on one of those freighters off the coast of California!)

Update: Finally picked up my medal on Feb. 5!

When my tummy settled, I refilled with a Beyond Burger, fries, and a Dr Pepper. 

By then the storm had arrived, and I watched the rain while listening to Christmas tunes and eating yumminess in my car:

Hit the spot!

It was a such a great day full of hard exercise and Christmas fun. I definitely made the right choice to "race" early Friday.

Hopefully next year will be in person :)