Category: Running

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Race Recap: 2019 Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k – Charlotte, NC

Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

This was my second year running the Hot Chocolate 15k in Charlotte (read about first year here). What better way to kick off this review with a big picture of the hot chocolate bowl packed with goodies for dipping. It ain’t called the Hot Chocolate 15k for nothing!

Liz and I after the race

As I mentioned in my pre-race post, I couldn’t get out of work on time to reach the Expo, so I had Liz’s and my pack mailed out to us – this is such an excellent service. The packs arrived a couple of weeks before the race, and just like last year, the race shirts are amazing.

The post-race party venue was changed to First Ward Park this year, which also moved the start and finish lines. The new party location was much better. It was much more accessible, and better laid out.

Another improvement this year was the addition of some hot food. And it was so delicious. Liz and I grabbed some and stood under a toasty gas heater and chatted to some other runners for a while.

The race course changed this year. We ran outside the city (much like last year), except we used some greenway (paved trails) this time to move between neighborhoods. The Charlotte neighborhoods reminded very much of Durham, North Carolina.

I felt like the new course was also hillier than last year. When I compared the elevation gain to last years on Strava, it was indeed hillier, but not by a crazy amount.

There were plenty of aid stations on course, serving water, sports drink and chocolate! Thankfully there were porta-johns near each station, as I had to make a stop at mile 2 — and that is when I lost my 8:30/mi pacer. 😦

I came in around 3 minutes later than last year. I was hoping to see an improvement, but it wasn’t to be.

The medals were different this year. Previously every Hot Chocolate medal was the same, regardless of the city that hosted it. There was an additional “charm” added to the medal to identify the city. This year they incorporated the city name into the medal itself.

No, it’s not edible.

Race photos again this year were free — which is super! Who doesn’t love free race photos. I didn’t see many photographers on the course except near the finish. I don’t always look my best at the finish line. 😉

While it was free to download low-res versions of the photos, there was a $2.99 charge to download high-res copies. That is still good bang for your buck if you consider what other races charge for photos.

Liz and I stayed at the AC Hotel Charlotte City Center. It was a lovely hotel, with a fantastic rooftop bar and was only a couple of blocks from First Ward Park. I’d definitely stay there again, whether I’m racing Hot Chocolate, or just want a short city break.

There were a few other BibRave Pros racing Hot Chocolate Charlotte this year, so we all got together before the race to catch-up and take a group photo. Just look at all that Orange!

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Slurp Slurp Ahhhhh! Tomorrow is Race Day!

Disclaimer: I received free entry to Hot Chocolate 15k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I can’t believe this race has come around so quickly again. I remember running this in February last year like it was yesterday. It was my first race away from home, and I didn’t know the landscape at all, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in the form of hills, etc.

This year, my wife Liz is not only coming with me, but she will be running the 5k race, which starts 15 mins before I line up for the 15k. I think Liz loved the race swag I received so much last year she had to sign up. 😉

We were unable to get to the Expo this year because of work responsibilities, but fortunately we were able to have our bibs and race shirts shipped to us in advance. While it costs a few dollars more, it’s worth it for us being far away.

The race course and starting location have changed for 2019, so we’re staying in a different hotel, fairly close to the starting line in First Ward Park. It shouldn’t be anything more than a short walk in the morning to reach it.

The temperature is a little chilly at 46f, and some rain is expected. I’m just hoping it’s not heavy rain. Last year rain was also forecast, but by the time the race started the rain stopped.

15k is a nice distance (just under 10 miles). The last time I ran this race I had not yet raced a half marathon, so I was a little anxious. This time I have lots more experience and feel more confident. Also, my training for the race has gone well, especially since it’s in the middle of my training for a full marathon.

What I’m not sure about is if I can beat last years PR! 😉

I am looking forward to catching up with all the other bibrave pros as well.

Look out for the guys in Orange!

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I Just Had to Stop at Mile 11 and take a photo!

This photo captures a big milestone. One that I once thought was unreachable.

I’ve been running consistently now for a couple of years. When I started out, I used the Nike+ Running (now called NRC) app. If you use the app yourself, you may have noticed it has a number of “Run Levels” that you move through as you accumulate mileage.

The highest run level was “Black”. You had to run 3,106 miles to reach Black level.

Who is crazy enough to run that much I often thought. Never did I ever consider ME reaching that many miles on my feet.

As I started to run more, I purchased a GPS watch and moved on to other apps to track my runs (Garmin Connect), but I hold on to NRC out of nostalgia and for friendly competition on the Leaderboard.

Just the other day, before I set out for my first ever 17 mile run, I noticed something on the NRC app — I was so freaking close to Black level. Whaaaaa!? It sneaked up on me.

Two thoughts circled my head during that run, 1) will I even make it to 17 miles, and 2) at mile 11 I will have reached Black level!

At mile 11 we stopped and took the photo above.

Oh, and NRC has added a new level now. It’s called “Volt” and you need to run 9,320 miles to reach it. *sigh*

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Zwift Run is the greatest thing to happen to Treadmills

Disclaimer: I received a Zwift runpod to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Even though I get to travel to London every 2-3 years, I’ve never actually ran in the city itself, around all the great sights. I’ve wanted to, even planned some routes along the Thames, but it has never worked out.

That is, until last week, when I virtually ran there with Zwift!

Zwift started out as a cycling platform, allowing cyclists to meet in virtual environments to train and compete.

This same concept has recently been extended to runners. All you need to get started is a free Zwift account, a treadmill and a compatible foot pod (unless you have a fancy-smancy Bluetooth enabled treadmill).

Get 15% off a Zwift runpod with code BIBCHAT15 (first 1000 orders).

I’m not a treadmill fan at all, and rarely log any miles on one, except for a warm-up mile before working out at the gym. I find treadmill running very mundane, and struggle to run long distances on them.

After trying Zwift, my treadmill warm-up runs increased from one mile, to 3-4 miles. The Zwift environments, even though I’m using it on my small iPhone screen, are quite immersive and take your mind off the treadmill.

Unfortunately I was not able to test using a larger screen (computer or large-screen TV, etc.). If I had a home treadmill I would put together a set-up with a larger screen because I think that would be amazing.

BibRave Virtual Run

It was really fun to meet up with all my BibRave people across the globe and run together in Watopia — a fantasy island created by the people at Zwift. I was able to see everyone who had joined and send messages via a chat screen.

Again, this is where a computer or larger computer would really come into play. You need good eyesight to read the messages on a tiny iPhone screen — especially when running!

We ran 5K together in a number of different pace groups. I signed up for my chosen pace group in advance using the Zwift companion app. When I got to the gym early, I started a normal run, and when it was time it automatically switched me over to the BibRave run.

Running Through London

One of my favorite Zwift runs was when I was able to run around some of the streets in London. While I’m not from London, and didn’t recognize where I was at times, the feel is still very London, with red phone boxes and double-decker buses, etc.

Another thing I noticed on this run is that some routes have options to turn one direction or another, or if you like, turn a complete 180 and run back the way you came.

Syncing With Running Apps

When you’re finished, your run will upload to Zwift by default. You can check your past run history using the Zwift Companion app. It is also possible to upload your run to other running apps like Garmin and Strava.

This is a really great feature as it will send the GPS coordinates and map details to your favorite running app. I chose not to use this as my pace differs quite a lot on a treadmill, and I’m so used to using my watch to track my runs anyway.

Conclusion

Now, every time I visit the gym, I don’t leave the house without my runpod attached to my shoe. If I owned a treadmill at home I would be using Zwift way more frequently, and on a bigger screen.

Zwift also have several training programs built-in to the app as well which guide you through your runs.

The running platform is still relatively new, and I recommend you try it out while it’s free to run (the cycling accounts require a subscription).

If you bump into me — say hello!

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Race Recap: Bull City Race Fest, October 21st, 2018

On a cold, crisp October morning, a few friends and I headed into Durham, NC for the Bull City Race Fest Half Marathon.

Me, Arun, Niles, Zach, AJ and Ashita at the start line

It was my fourth half marathon (1-Tobacco Road; 2-Rock ‘n’ Roll Raleigh; 3-Umstead Half) this year and to be honest, I wasn’t feeling in good shape for it — not compared to my fitness levels back in March. Training through the summer in North Carolina was not easy with the constant humidity.

My running buddy, Zach, had ran the course a couple of years back, his first half marathon in fact, and confirmed all the reports I’d been hearing of its hills. I’d only ran the 5 mile course before and was looking forward to the half.

I’ve never really been deterred from entering a race because of hills. I simply adjust my expectations based on it. 

Zach had yet to run a half marathon in under two hours, so my plan was to run a steady pace together and push him to a PR. After our hilly half marathon at Umstead, back in June, I knew this may not be easy (for me!).

Me and Zach ready to go!

The race started according to our plan. For the first mile we hovered in around 9:00/mi. If we kept this up and we’ll rock in just under the goal time.

I checked my watch at Mile 2 — 8:40/mi. We probably need to slow down a little bit, we thought. Nope, miles 3-6 flew by easy at the same pace. Yikes! We were going too fast! We were too concerned about catching up with AJ, who shot off like a rocket at the start.

At mile 6 we eventually caught up with AJ. That’s when the first of the hills started rolling in. Mile 7, while not the toughest hill-wise, was our slowest at 9:04/mi, but all was still good. Runners are always doing the math in their heads. We had time to spare.

My fueling plan was the usual, Gatorade Endurance gel pack every 45 mins, and a drink of water at every other aid station. This didn’t go exactly to plan.

I waited a little too long for the first gel pack which maybe explains mile 7. There were some hills during the last third of the course, so I took another one around mile 9.

Mile 9 is when I usually start to suffer in a half marathon, but this time I didn’t feel that. I felt much stronger than normal. The last third of the course hardly slowed our efforts at all. Maybe all that training in North Carolina’s humidity prepared me for this after all?

Again, doing the math, we rocked into mile 10 with big grins on our faces. We knew we had this race in the bag. It would take a really bad 5K now to miss our goal time.

In a final what the heck moment, I consumed an additional gel at mile 12 for the last stretch!

The course kept throwing hills at us in the last couple of miles, but my last two miles were my fastest on the course. I kept my eyes on the prize — the cold beverages at the end.

A lot of our team walked away with HUGE PRs — #breaking2 baby! 😉 Did Zach and I smash our goal? Of course we did! We came in well under the 2 hour goal. Turned out to be my 2nd fastest half marathon after Tobacco Road.

Me, AJ, Ashita, Niles, Zach, Shravan

I’m so happy about that. It definitely helped me overcome my summer training slump and restored some confidence as I reach for bigger goals next year.

We’ll be back again, Bull City Race Fest.

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Race Recap: The Cupcake Race At Brier Creek, Oct 20th, 2018

Liz and I enjoying a cupcake after the race

This race was supposed to be on Oct 13th, but they had to move it due to Hurricane Florence. I was a little concerned as this new date was the day before a half marathon race I was running!

I love this 5K race though. It’s local and we always try to get the family involved. In fact this year I managed to get free entries in exchange for a photo of our family from last year. The race directors used it to promote this year’s race — much to my daughter’s embarrassment. 😉

We’ve ran this race twice before, but this was the first year I ran without pushing Xander in a stroller! With this new-found freedom, I probably ran this race a little harder than I should have and I was worried it would affect my race the following day.

(It didn’t though, as you can read later in another post).

The Cupcake Race At Brier Creek is an out-and-back course, and has a few hills to keep it interesting. Lots of kids from local elementary schools use this race to close out their running programs, so it’s very family oriented.

After the race, everyone gets a big tasty cupcake from Gigi’s cupcakes. Unfortunately, the actual Brier Creek store didn’t open until 10am otherwise I would have bought a load more to bring home as well.

I got to test out my bibboards for the first time on this race. They remove the need for safety pins and securely attach your bib to your shirt without damaging your clothing. Check them out!

Bibboards Rock!
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Runner Safety: Use Garmin LiveTrack to Share Your Activity in Real-Time

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Recently we are hearing more and more stories of harassment, assault and even murder of predominately female runners across the US. It’s so tragic, and has naturally stirred a huge discussion in the running community about what we can and should do to protect ourselves.

It’s no coincidence that companies are launching lots of runner-safety themed solutions, and one area that seems to be getting a huge boost is real-time activity tracking. As most runners know, it’s usually the people you leave behind at home that do most of the worrying.

Let’s look at some of the available offerings…

Strava has beacon, which is now part of it’s Summit safety pack. I have not used beacon, as I use Strava’s free tier, and this feature is a paid extra. I know most people I’ve talked to have not regretted moving to the premium tier of Strava.

Road iD, the guys that brought us the awesome Road iD bracelet, now have an app to help friends and family track you in real time. I have not used this service, but from what I read online it’s free and has a couple of neat features I should mention.

You can have the Road iD app send a stationary alert (if you stop moving for more than 5 minutes), and you can customize your phone’s lock screen with emergency contact information — very nice!

The application I will be focusing on in this post is Garmin Connect’s LiveTrack. This feature is bundled with Garmin Connect, paired with selected Garmin devices (e.g. Forerunner, Fenix, etc.). I have used LiveTrack on every activity for the last year or more, so my wife always knows where I am and how my training is going.

For such an important feature, Garmin doesn’t seem to do a great job at publicizing LiveTrack. I searched online and found a Garmin blog post that gives a brief overview of it — but that’s it.

The very reason I’m putting this post together is because of a recent Twitter thread, where many Garmin users didn’t know this existed.

Fortunately, LiveTrack is really easy to set-up and use and works really well. To find it, open Garmin Connect on your phone and select the “More” menu item. Then click on the LiveTrack link.

Once on the LiveTrack page, you have multiple options. You can choose to start LiveTrack automatically on each activity [1], or manually start it.

By default, the recipient(s) will only be able to view your activity while you are active. If you want the activity to stay accessible after you have finished, you can extend this by 24 hours only.

Recipients can be informed by email and/or Twitter. The Facebook option is currently unavailable, I’m guessing due to some recent Facebook policy changes. I have currently two email recipients, one to my wife and one to me.

I have never used the Twitter option. I guess this would be fun to use for a race event, but I would not broadcast training runs live to Twitter. No way.

When an activity starts (or when you decide to start LiveLink), a link is sent out that will take the user to your live activity page where they can track your position and current activity data.

Providing they know how long you had planned to be out, and a rough idea of your route, this data should help the viewer determine if you’ve ran into trouble or not.

If you have to run alone, always tell someone where you’re going and when you think you’ll be back. If you’re a Garmin user, do check out this great tool and tell others about it. Keep safe out there.

Question: What other tools/technology do you use to stay safe?

[1] I had trouble recently with the automatic start of LiveTrack. After reading online, it appeared the best solution was to remove the app from my phone and re-install. This resolved it for me.

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Added: 2019 Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon

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Disclaimer: I received free entry to Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Take a look at that photo. That is me from March 18th, 2018 at Tobacco Road. I’d just run my first ever HALF marathon race and crushed it. I remember the feeling so well. It was amazing!

Well, I’m hoping it’s all smiles once more when I complete my first FULL marathon at Tobacco Road in March 2019! Yes, I have signed up for 26.2 miles and I’m kind of freaking out!

Fortunately I’m not doing this alone. There’s a few of my running buddies taking the plunge and running their first FULL marathon also (including fellow BibRave Pro, Lissa). I’m such a social runner these days, so I know I’m going to need ALL that accountability to keep up the training when it gets tough.

Continue reading “Added: 2019 Allscripts Tobacco Road Marathon”

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Added: 2019 Allstate Hot Chocolate 15K – Charlotte, NC

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Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Allstate Hot Chocolate 15k Charlotte race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Yes! I’m going back for a big pot of scrumptious Hot Chocolate! I have signed up for 2019 Hot Chocolate 15K in Charlotte, NC. I ran the race for the first time last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My wife Liz traveled with me and we really loved our wee stay in Charlotte over the race weekend. This time Liz has signed up to run as well (5K), and I think it was the race swag that swayed her. 🙂

If you remember the race shirts from my 2018 review, they are some of the best race race shirts I’ve ever received, and this year appears to be no different. Just look at those hoodies… and with the race being moved back into January, we may just need the extra warmth these will provide!

hotchocolate-hoodies

I was really pleased with my pace at the 2018 Hot Chocolate race. I had not participated in a 15k road race before so I didn’t really know what to shoot for.

In 2019 I’m hoping for a big improvement. I will be putting in some serious training between now and then (because of an active race calendar) and I know it’ll pay off come January 2019 when I hit the streets of Charlotte for the second time.

 

HC armband giveaway

Sign up today and come run with Liz, myself and my fellow BibRave Pros! When you register use code “BRHCCharlotte” to get a trendy Hot Chocolate branded armband to carry your phone. Now, it won’t be as sexy as my fanny pack pictured at the top of this post, but there’s only room for so much style on the course!

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Go Blazingly Fast with UA HOVR Sonics

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Under Armour HOVR Soncis to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

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My last five or six pairs of running shoes have been the same brand. When I’m shopping for new shoes I don’t even look at alternatives. Fortunately I had the opportunity to test new shoes from Under Armour which have opened my eyes a little.

The Under Armour HOVR Sonics come in two forms. Connected and Non-connected. The Connected shoes ($110) come with a built in sensor that feeds data back about your run to Map My Run (Under Armour’s running app).

For the review,  I was sent the Non-connected version ($100) as the Connected shoes have been flying off the shelves. While the geek in me would have loved to try the Connected version and see what stats it’s able to produce, it’s probably not something I’d use in the long term as I’m already heavily invested into other platforms.

First Impressions

I requested a light-grey pair of shoes, the first pair of running shoes I’ve owned in this color. In our house it seems to be the “in” color in shoes, at least with my kids. When they saw the HOVR Sonics for the first time, they were very impressed.

I was too. I loved how they have integrated the tongue with the shoe upper, and how comfortable that feels on your feet. The shoes feel snug, but not tight. The upper is made from a thin soft knit mesh and hugs nicely around my heel.

When I was ordering them, the sizing worried me a little. I ordered the same size as my regular running shoes and it was perfect. Very happy indeed.

First Run

For some reason, I had it in my head that these shoes were “zero drop” – as they did feel like I was running in flatter shoes. When I looked it up online later, I found out they are not and have an 8mm offset.

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What surprised me the most about my first outing was how fast they carried me. I ran two miles in 7:39/mi. I wasn’t trying to beat any records on this particular run, but if I’d continued at the same pace I would have ended up with a 5K PR.

A Good Hosing

Next I took the shoes out for a series of longer runs. On one of these runs we came back through an unfinished trail. It had been raining fiercely here in North Carolina, but it didn’t occur to me the trail might be muddy until it was too late.

My lovely light-gray shoes got caked in thick soggy mud.

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When I got back to my house I gave the shoes a good hosing with water. I was so relieved, they came up like new. Normally if I get my running shoes drenched it can take 2-3 days to dry. Thanks to the light soft knit upper, these shoes were dry in a day!

Long Runs, Hills and Energy Return

Probably because I’ve worn the same brand of shoes forever, the impact of the run feels different in the UA HOVR Sonics. I definitely feel my calf muscles a little more tender afterward, and I suspect it’s just a transition to slightly different running dynamics that the HOVR Sonics bring.

Because of this I was a bit apprehensive to using the shoes on a really long run, but today I decided to anyway. I knew I was writing this review today and wanted to know how the shoes felt over a longer distance.

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We ran 11 miles today, on a mixture of road, greenway and trail, with plenty of rolling hills. The shoes performed great the whole way, but especially on hills. This “energy return” Under Armour talk about on their website is freaking real! Seriously! Even when fatigued I felt the shoes propelling me up the hills.

Conclusion

I’m so happy to have a different pair of shoes now to add into my rotation. I’ve been reading recently about why it’s a good idea to throw a mix of shoes into your regular running routine. The UA HOVR Sonics are definitely here to stay.