Race Recap: Spartan Beast Ohio

Spartan Beast Ohio 6/8/19 Garrettsville, OH

Weather: 80 degrees, sunny

Terrain: Off-road park, 1/3 each muddy forest, knee-deep water, and sand/gravel

Distance: 13 miles, approx. 30 obstacles

I arrived about 90 minutes early to the venue, pumped up by booty rap and ready to go! Only to find that, despite being told that we'd be able to park in the main lot if we had all-wheel drive, they were parking EVERYONE in the boonies. Got out of my car and started walking down the road. After literally a mile of walking, I came across a line of people waiting for a shuttle, of which there were a total of four. Four buses. We saw zero come by for a while. Cars were coming by trying to get closer to the venue, and one of them said we could hop in his truck bed. I quickly got on with about 7 other Spartans and we waved to the others in line as if we'd gotten on the last lifeboat on the Titanic. Two miles later (!!!) we arrived at the main parking lot, profusely thanked our pickup-truck savior, and I headed for check-in.

After finishing my second breakfast and enjoying a little Rick Astley on the sound system, I checked my bag and went to the start corral. The waves were running a bit behind due to the parking disaster, so my 8:45 wave started closer to 9 AM. We started off through muddy forest and one of the groups near me had these women who made loud screeching sounds every time they encountered a tiny bit of mud. LOLOLOL you bitches have NO IDEA what you are in for today. Let me explain the terrain thusly: there are three primary ecosystems in the Spartan Beast Ohio. 1) Forest with mud. The mud would range from none to thigh-deep. Fortunately the mud was not shoe-sucking like the Chicago Super. It was just gross. Which is very doable, as long as you keep your hands dry. 2) Underwater. It's either a marsh or a stream (really a flooded ATV road), but it's about knee deep. 3) Sand dune/gravel road, or sandy hill with giant rocks to climb up/down. The ecosystems were split so that a total of about 1/3 of the course was each of these. You never knew what was coming next. You could go from marsh to mud to gravel to mud to gravel to marsh to MORE MARSH. It was a surprising challenge of resistance for the legs that felt similar to a hilly course. It was AWESOME. And disgusting. There, now I don't have to describe the terrain too much anymore. ;)

As for the course, the first mile only had two Overwalls followed by a hay wall. Easy peasy. We wound through the forest until the 7' wall, which I got over solo by the grace of God. My feet were not so muddy that I couldn't walk them up and do the ankle-hook technique. Next, after a long stretch of muddy marsh, we encountered Olympus. "JESUS H CHRIST" I exclaimed for what would not be the last time that day. I've been practicing Olympus skills for months, as you've read on my blog, but muddy, wet feet wouldn't help. I went to the outside lane that moved left to right, got on, maintained three points of contact, and used the holes and the chain balls to work my way across. Slowly but surely, I got all the way to the end and rang the bell. I was ECSTATIC. As far as I was concerned, the race could end right now and I'd be alright. That was the one thing I really didn't want to fail today, and I did it. This was exactly the confidence boost I needed going into mile 2.

Next obstacle, and the only obstacle in this mile, was Pipe Lair, which I'd never done before. It was easy as hell. After the 3 mile mark was Stairway to Sparta, which was made more challenging with the rock climbing holds about 7 feet up the wall. I got a boost to the holds, made my way to grabbing the top, then walked my feet up the holds until I got up and over the ladder portion. After mile 4 and a fun rocky section, we reached monkey bars, which were way easier than last week's in Chicago. Not nearly as big of gaps, and I made it through easily. More wet and gravelly back and forth before we reached Armer, which was fairly soggy but I found the driest lane and went for it. After another soggy slog through marsh we hit the 8' wall, where I needed a boost this time. Water stop and mile 5.

Next we discovered the crawl tubes, which I called "tubular!" and a group of young bros was polite enough to laugh. The tubes were full of sand and rocks, so I kept my hands in fists to protect my palms. Mile 6. Then we found Bender. I'd seen a lady on Instagram work her way backwards up the ladder like monkey bars, then get her feet on the rungs. I tried that technique and it worked great. Struggled getting over the top but I did it eventually once the volunteer reminded me to put my leg over the damn top. First time doing Bender totally by myself! Yay! Next was the sandbag carry, which had the men's sandbags labelled, but not the women's. Turns out there was no visible difference between the sandbags, and a lot of men were returning their sandbag to what was SUPPOSED to be the women's bin, because men can be idiots (sorry, fellas, you know it's true). So by the grace of the lordt [sic] I managed to get an actual women's sandbag, although other women weren't so lucky. Up and down the same steep, gravelly slopes as last year's Ohio Sprint, only this time we went up and down THREE TIMES. It felt like a half mile, literally. It was ROUGH, y'all.

After a much needed water stop, we got to the 6' wall and it was easily scaled. Next was multi-rig, and I was disappointed to see ropes on it (3 rings, bar, 2 ropes, 1 ring, bell). I've never done ropes. But I made it across the rings and the bar with ease...only to fall right off the rope. Damn. First obstacle failure of the day, right around the halfway point. Thirty burpees! If the rig had been a normal rig instead of a Beast Mode rig (meaning, if it'd had just rings and a bar) I would have gotten it fine. So at least that was a consolation. Next was Z-walls which I got through fine. Mile 7, where the Ultra people rejoined us (they had to go back to mile 7 after hitting mile 11 on their first loop). Twister! I got through the first (of three) section(s) before I had to fall down. My hands just HURT on it. This one at least had a penalty loop instead of burpees, so I joined an Ultra guy on the sandy/rocky slope for my 1/4 mile of funishment. "You're not even muddy yet," he said. "There's about a mile and a half of nasty slop coming up." Yay?

Next obstacle was supposed to be hurdles, but they were closed. (Heard later it was due to lack of volunteers?)  Mile 8. Next was The Box, an 8' wall with a short rope on it that was hard to grab the top of. I couldn't do it and I decided rather than trouble a man for a boost like everyone else, I would do the penalty lap. This was the biggest mistake of my day, dammit. That penalty loop was DIABOLICAL. It was knee-deep, thick, orange, nasty mud. With rocks and roots in it. And we had to carry a goddamn sandbag. For about 1/4 mile. FML. It was by far the worst part of the race. Super glad when it was over! Passed mile 9 and did the inverted wall, then passed by the log carry which was the other closed obstacle of the day. After mile 10 we got to the bucket, which was long (about 1/3 mile or so) and muddy as hell. It reminded me of the Attica Beast. The only thing that makes the bucket carry challenging, in my opinion, is unstable terrain like sand and mud. This was tough. I saw several people resting in the middle. It also had the first photographer of the day, so I tried to smile. Mile 11.

I feel pretty.

Next was the vertical cargo net, where a nice man gave me a boost to the platform and the tight net made the climb over easy. Another photographer here! We made our way past mile 12 and got to the festival area, where there were lots of spectators to make the atmosphere much more festive. Now was a finishing gauntlet of tons of obstacles in the last mile. Bring it on. First was a 50-yard barbed wire crawl which felt like an eternity and had a photographer at the end. We made sure we were all smiling pretty for that.

Serving you Farrah Fawcett realness.

Spear throw next, which I'd been practicing. I came so close but didn't get a stick. Thirty burpees for the second time today. Then was a dry and easy slip wall, followed by muddy, wet patches, the A-frame cargo, and more muddy patches. The rope climb is not what you want to see after strolling through mud, but I put on my dollar-store work gloves and tried my best. My hands were fine in the gloves but I couldn't lock in my feet at all. Thirty burpees. Then was Atlas carry with another photographer, which went well.

"Yup, this is my life now"

Beater was right after that, and I was nervous because I'd never done it before, but I've been working on high transitions at the ninja gym. Beater turned out to be easy and fun for me! Thankfully I am tall so I have good reach. Had three beaters in a row, the middle one high up. It wasn't tough to swing up and make the grab. Yay! Tyro traverse was next and didn't go well. Put on my gloves, but dried mud on the rope kept falling in my mouth and I was just NOT HAVING IT. Thirty burpees again, and I saw two women come into the burpee pit, do 5 squat thrusts, and leave. UGH. Cheaters. There is no place for that in the Beast. I had to do my burpees only three at a time (it was over 80 degrees and we were in direct sunlight), but I did them all and I did them properly. A man in the burpee pit was lamenting the next obstacle, Herc Hoist, and when I said I was decent at that one he said "well, you're a woman and you have some weight to you!" which was pretty hilarious. Only I would take that as a compliment! Also during these burpees I realized I'd gotten a small rip on my left hand at some point, probably recently. Oops.

Lots of people were failing the Herc Hoist by letting the bag drop. It did feel heavier than usual but I made it work. Should've worn my gloves though. This was followed by rolling mud and dunk wall, which was inflatable and about 2-3 feet across. It was scary to have to go underwater that long but I survived. Fire jump to the finish was so satisfying. Finish time of 5:35 was also satisfying, since it was 35 minutes faster than Attica on similarly difficult terrain! Got my goodies and took a shuttle back to where my car was, then I had to drive forever to find my way out of the labyrinthine parking disaster.

Yaaassss queen!

Pros:

-Terrain. So uniquely challenging. Highly recommended.
-Obstacles. The diversity was great, and that finishing gauntlet at the end means spectators have a lot to look at. I also like that the terrain itself serves as "obstacles" in the more barren parts of the race.
-Refreshments. Beer was easy to find, and we could choose between a variety of BodyArmor stuff. We got a protein bar, too!

Cons:

-Parking. It seems that the parking volunteers had not received adequate directions on what kind of cars could go through to the main lot and what kind could not. Please, Spartan, communicate better with the volunteers!
-Now I'm scared to do the Ohio Ultra next year. The terrain was great for a taste, but maybe not for a swallow?

Race Grade: B+. I really enjoyed this race, but parking was too hot of a mess to get an A.

Race Recap: Spartan Super Chicago

Spartan Super Chicago 6/1/19 Richmond, IL

Weather: 60 degrees, thunderstorms

Terrain: Extremely flat and muddy recreation area and farmland

Distance: 8 miles, 28 obstacles

This was not a typical race, so this will not be a typical recap. I will start and end with timelines.

7:15 AM: Arrived at venue, got on bus from parking lot to festival.
7:30 AM: Arrived at festival. Lightning in the area, have to stay on the bus.
8:30 AM: They let us off the bus to pee.
8:45 AM: They are evacuating the festival area, so we have to go back to the parking lot.
9 AM: Wait in car.
9:30 AM: All clear to get on buses back to the festival! Problem: there are now a thousand people in line for buses.
9:45 AM: I decide there is a zero percent chance that I will get to start racing before noon, and go back to the hotel.
1:20 PM: Weather looks pretty good and I feel guilty, so I go back to the parking lot, jog to a bus, jog to registration, jog to bag check, jog to a port-a-john, and jog to the start corral BARELY in time to run through with the 2:30 PM heat.

The race started with some crazy mud that reminded me of last year, but it wasn't nearly as bad as last year because there were dry patches. Got through overwall, then needed a boost on the 6' wall because my muddy shoes could not get up there. Monkey bars were the toughest I've ever seen. One of the gaps was at least 4 feet and it took me 6 swings to get enough momentum to reach out. Lots of folks failed this one but I rang the bell! Next was a water stop at mile 1, where the volunteer told me that weather was coming. I moved on to Atlas Carry, then ran a ways to the sandbag carry. Next was the vertical cargo net, where the volunteers told us to NOT climb the net, and instead keep going to the next water stop just before mile 2.

3:03 PM: Started waiting at water stop. Hung out with a group of awesome superheroes. Literally. Gave one of them Biofreeze for his knee.
3:45 PM: Told that we might be allowed to finish a shorter course of the race if we move a bit down the road. We do.
4 PM: Told that we are going back to the festival area but the race is NOT CANCELLED.
4:10 PM: Told that the race is definitely cancelled and we need to GTFO of here RIGHT THE HELL NOW.
4:20 PM: Standing in a mass of a thousand people in an open field waiting for shuttle buses back to the parking lot. Pelted with rain and 1/4-inch hail in 30 mph winds as lightning and thunder booms all around us. I embrace a hypothermic shirtless man to keep him alive. After five minutes of cuddling, I introduce myself.
4:50 PM: Rain clears up. Spartan race official arrives with mylar blankets.
5:20 PM: We finally get on a bus and are taken back to the parking lot, where I find that my vehicle is now in 4 inches of water. Thankfully I have all-wheel drive.

I will say this for Spartan: they did a much better job communicating the delays this time than at the Minnesota Sprint last year. However, there were still issues. There was a lot of tittle-tattle about how long the open waves would be delayed, with the general consensus being 3 hours. Nothing was confirmed by Spartan about the open wave times. As it turns out, even if I'd stayed in the morning and gotten out in the earliest open wave, I would have had to run the race of my life to finish before the afternoon evacuation. Fortunately, Spartan was on the ball and sent out an email telling people they would get a free credit for another Super. I'll be using it for the Fort Carson Super in Colorado Springs on July 13.

Pros:

-Bus driver in the morning was awesome. She seemed just as annoyed as the rest of us and tried to make it a good experience.
-The two miles of course that I managed to get out on were just lovely.

Cons:

-Venue. I hate when they make parking super far away from the venue. Get a venue where this isn't necessary.
-Mud. The mud that was there was too damn sticky, honestly. I don't mind mud, but I don't like mud where you actually get STUCK and can LOSE A SHOE. That is too much.
-Communication. Spartan needs to find a better way of communicating with their volunteers. The volunteers are kept extremely ignorant and it helps no one.

Race Grade: Incomplete. Honestly, maybe an E for effort. But the remote parking location makes the logistics of bad weather in this race so dangerous that I may not do this venue again. Change venues, Spartan!

This Is Spartan Ultra Episode 9

Went to the state park on Friday in thunderstorms, and on Saturday in the flooded aftermath of thunderstorms, in an effort to make sure I am fully prepared for my muddy and wet races coming up (Spartan Super Chicago June 1, Spartan Beast Ohio June 8). Had a great time, explored, and soaked my shoes. Will I solve the mystery of the barefoot human mud tracks?

Race Recap: Gladiator Assault Challenge

Gladiator Assault Challenge 5/18/19 Boone, IA

Weather: 70 degrees, sunny

Terrain: Ski hills, single-track trails, lots of mud

Distance: 6 miles, approx. 30 obstacles

Course map

I did this race last year and frankly, I was a total drama queen about it. Having never done a proper mud run before, I didn't know what to expect, and my recap showed it. I thought last year was muddy. LOL. Oh, Past Clare, you sweet summer child. Since then I have experienced far muddier events. Even events that weren't that muddy (like the Spartan Sprint Ohio) were muddier than last year's GAC. This year is a different story. We had rain all week, and were actually expected to have rain all day for the race. It ended up being beautiful during the race itself, but the mud had already happened and it makes a big difference in a hilly course like this. Was it as bad as the Spartan Super Chicago? Absolutely not. But parts of it were reminiscent of that course, and it was certainly hillier, which created a technical challenge that, frankly, I was really diggin'.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I got to the venue about 30 minutes before my wave started, which was all the time I needed. Check-in was quick, the base camp area is small and easy to navigate (same as last year), and after dropping my bag I started up the giant hill that we were all forced to climb before the race even started. Fun! They only had the cannon for the elite wave this year, which I was happy about because that cannon is hella-loud. My wave started at 8:20 under cloudy skies that would rapidly dissipate. What didn't dissipate: the insane quantity of mosquitoes! Thank god I put on some bug spray beforehand, but it was not enough.

First section of the race goes downhill and through the Muddy Bunkers. The wet ground made descents tricky for the entire race, so I admired anyone with the chutzpah to jog. Through some tunnels, muddy trails (let's start the drinking game), and the Hang On obstacle (a traverse wall with 2x4 ledges for hands and feet), then down into what looked like a quarry pit with gross water at the bottom. It wouldn't be obstacle racing without gross water, y'all. Classic. A cargo net climb to get out of there, then running through lines of tires to get to Venus Fly Trap, which were these little 45-degree quintuple Ninja Warrior step thingies that were very muddy and slippery. This was the first obstacle that I couldn't really do very well, although I got off easier than the dude ahead of me who totally ATE IT on one of the steps. More muddy trails (drink!) and a big downhill to Monkey Mayhem, which I could not do last year at all. This year they put us IN the water from the get-go. We were submerged from the hips down while crossing the monkey bars, which like last year spin and are far apart. The bit of extra weight taken off the body in the water, plus my increased grip strength, made this easy this year. Yay! 

I prefer my mudslides with extra kahlua.

Back up the hill, under some barbed wire, and across Wobbler, which were long logs about 8" in diameter across a pond. Most people were falling in (probably 60-75%), but I kept up a great scoot and made it across. I've been crossing logs a lot in my training lately so this felt comfortable. Proper shoes also make a big difference, as does kicking off the mud before you start. Combat Zone came next, which is basically a log hop. I fell off a few times - there were big gaps between the logs, and sometimes about 18" of height difference on top of that. Fun obstacle though! Next were lots of muddy trails (drink), followed by a vertical cargo net and an angled wall with boards to climb up. More mud pits, followed by a cargo net on the ground that we had to step through, then back onto the muddy trails (DRINK) for a downhill portion that was so steep we needed ropes. 

After finally emerging from the trails, we came to Steeplechase, which is a set of three large ladder-walls. Then was Carry Your Wood, which, in addition to being a devastating double entendre, is also a misnomer, as we are in fact carrying a cinder block. In the middle of this 1/4-mile carry were two short walls to step over (about 2 feet tall) and two lines of tires that we needed to crawl under, all while bringing along this cinder block. It was a fun addition this year to the heavy-carry section! Back through the trails to a river crossing, then a few more sections of insane steep mudslides that had ropes to assist us. The last of these was labeled The Climb. I joked with the guys near me "oh yeah, THE Climb, as if it is the ONLY ONE." Turns out they should have called it The Last Climb, because we came out of the woods for the finishing gauntlet shortly thereafter.

The final obstacles! Hooray! And we get to go under the fence through the moat again, I loved that last year. And then...UGH. They put the insane, thick mud in between two of these fence moats. And I, for the first time in my obstacle-racing career, got hopelessly, vacuum-seal STUCK in the mud. I lost several minutes because I had to sit down in the mud, dig out my foot with my hands, get my fingers under the front of my shoe, and PULL with all of my might to break the seal. Meanwhile a group of half dozen spectators are standing there watching me, not even having the good grace to ask if I was alright (from that distance I could easily look like I'd broken my ankle or something). I yelled over to them "are you not entertained?!" Nothing. They just kept staring at me, saying nothing. What a pack of weirdos. Because I'm a smartass, I called out "I'm okay" when I passed them, to their continued silent stares. Pro tip: if you are spectating an obstacle race and someone looks like they're in trouble, at least ask if they need you to get them some help. Don't stand there mouth-breathing like some sort of voyeuristic Midwestern Jabba.

After getting myself out of that hopeless muddy situation, I continued to the Wall of Shame obstacle, which is actually a set of two 8' walls that had some board-steps nailed into the middle of them, thankfully. These walls were soaked with mud and were scary enough without such assistance. Finally we climbed over another angled wall with board-steps and I crossed the finish line in 1:58 and change. Was hoping for a better time than last year, but ended up a few minutes slower, which makes sense because the course was tougher AND I lost lots of time digging myself out of deep mud! I got a beer, pounded it in three minutes while waiting for a cold-wash hose, then got cleaned up and back on the road.

I look like I fell in a port-a-john.

Pros:

-Course. Such an amazingly challenging course under normal circumstances, and the mud makes it totally badass.

-Obstacles. Good diversity, and they made improvements to some of them from last year (more boards on the down ladders from the angled walls, for example) that made them feel more safe.

-Improvements all around! This year's event was better on all fronts: no more roving photographers; more water stops; aforementioned safety; better labels at bag check; great pre-race communication regarding potential weather; better shirt color; more medics; just an extremely smoothly-run event.

Cons:

-No timing whatsoever. I don't really mind this, but it led to the course DJ making announcements like "the average finish time is 1:25" which I think absolutely MUST be bullshit. I would believe maybe 1:45. MAYBE. 

-I wish there'd been a warning about the mosquitoes. I know, I'm nitpicking, but I didn't want to list only one Con.

Race Grade: A-. A very good event that made little tweaks since last year and got way better (bumped up a full letter grade!). Definitely a good, challenging race to do in Iowa.

This Is Spartan Ultra Episode 8

Today's workout ended up being a bit of a "Spartan Duathlon," with a 40 minute hike, then 45 minutes at the ninja gym, then another 50 minutes of hiking. Fun! Today's takeaways: my grip strength is getting MUCH better; I am getting better body control and agility, both on obstacles and on hikes; and the water patterns in my park can change dramatically in only a few days' time.

How Sore Are You?

Muscle soreness. We all get it. We all suffer from it. But are you being a drama queen, or is it really that bad? To find out, we need to compile a fearless and searching inventory of our bodies, and place those results on my Soreness Scale. Before you dare complain publicly about how "trashed" you are, figure out if you're really trashed or if you're just, well, dramatic.

Soreness Level 1
Symptoms: Mostly marked by general fatigue, with slight soreness with big dynamic movements.
Severity: Very superficial. Does not affect quality of movement or life.
What To Do? Go work out. If you cannot work out through Level 1, I can't help you, man. You are too damn dramatic for words.

Soreness Level 2
Symptoms: This is when soreness becomes localized. You feel it in specific muscle groups that have been overworked, but only when the muscle is engaged. Your muscles may be tight.
Severity: Superficial, anywhere from 10-40% through the muscle.
What To Do? Go work out. Put out a slightly lower effort with the affected muscle groups.

Soreness Level 3
Symptoms: Muscle groups are pretty dang sore. You can feel it even when sitting/laying down. It becomes difficult to work through a full range of motion, and certain areas may feel particularly "tenderized." At this level you may start to worry about accidentally pulling something or cramping.
Severity: Deep, 50-80% through the muscle.
What To Do? Active recovery (a light cardio or yoga workout) is usually a good idea. Perhaps a light massage.

Soreness Level 4
Symptoms: Intense soreness, particularly in certain areas of certain muscle groups. You will not trust your body to "catch you" on descents such as down stairs or getting on the floor. At this phase limping is likely, or wincing as you lift your arms. Odds of accidentally pulling, hyperextending, or cramping seem extremely high. Large, dynamic movements (like walking across the street to the mailbox) will exhaust you quickly.
Severity: To the bone. Probably widespread.
What To Do? Nothing. Sit your ass down and relax. Drink lots of water, eat lots of protein. Do not massage until you get back to level 3.

Soreness Level 5
Symptoms: This is Defcon Whatever The Highest Defcon Is. The smallest movement is exhausting. You will be in pain even THINKING about making the slightest movement. Level 5 soreness is something most people will never experience in their lives. It takes special circumstances, most of them wholly preventable, to reach this level. You must fail a muscle repeatedly. You must be at least a little dehydrated. You must either lack the good sense to stop, or not care about the consequences.
Severity: Function in the muscle will be below 3%. You will, literally, barely be able to move.
What To Do? Exercise is out of the question. Hell, getting out of bed might be out of the question. This is, no exaggeration, a once-in-a-lifetime soreness that will make you lament all the times you bitched about being at a level 3. Hire a babysitter, call in friends to feed you, and pray.

Race Recap: Des Moines Women's Half Marathon

Des Moines Women's Half Marathon 5/5/19 Des Moines, IA

Weather: 60 degrees, sunny
Terrain: roads and paved recreation trails

Distance: 13.1 miles

I decided to start my spring race season with a PR half marathon attempt. My main goal (besides a PR) was to run the entire thing. I had run most of this course in previous Des Moines half marathons that I'd done, so I knew the course would be flat, fast, and ideal for a continuous jog. But shin splints had derailed my running in the previous few weeks, so although I'd healed up and gotten new shoes (old shoes being the culprit behind the shin splints), I was a bit nervous that my run cardio wouldn't hold up.

Packet pickup on Saturday went smoothly and parking was surprisingly a breeze. The morning of the race, parking continued to be no problem and I was only a few minutes' walk from the start at Jasper Winery. The big problem that morning: the bathroom line. There were 21 port-a-potties at this event with thousands of runners. Big mistake. Huge. Thankfully I got back to the start corral at 7:59 for an 8 AM start. It seemed that people had seeded themselves pretty well for the most part, which was good. The first miles were crowded but not overly so. (Small mistake on race crew's part: the first mile marker was about 2/10ths short, but the second mile made up the difference.) Water stops were early and often, about every mile or so, which I appreciated. I had pockets in my shorts so I carried Fig Newtons and ate them at mile 4 and 8. There were the occasional musicians and DJs on the course as well.

For the first several miles I felt extremely strong. My cardio was excellent. My breathing was long and steady. My shins felt totally fine. Around mile 8-9 I started to feel somewhat tired, though. Not anything too specific, just run-down in general. The sun was beating down and the air was humid (by the end of the race it was about 70 degrees) so that didn't help. Miles 10-12 were in a pretty secluded area with hardly any spectators and no entertainment. That was a rough couple of miles for me. I forced myself to keep shuffling along at a jog because my number one goal was to get through the entire race without walking. Obviously I have nothing against walking, but I knew jogging the whole thing would push myself to a limit that I didn't know I could break, and I wanted to see if I could do it through sheer willpower. I even jogged through the water stops, which was tough when there were plastic cups (another small race mistake, in my opinion).

Near mile 12 we came out of the secluded area and saw more people, which helped. One last sadistic uphill portion and we were at the winery for the finish line. Set a new official PR of 2:34, which is 7 minutes faster than my previous half PR which I'd set in fall 2012. It felt good to finally PR in the half after nearly 7 years. Got my delicious finisher sangria and some food and basked in the glory.

Pros:

-Organization. Lots of volunteers, good staging area/parking, well-marked course, lots of aid stations.
-Post-race party. About 5 different wines to choose from, small but curated food selection, entertainment, and plenty of grass to sit on.
-Swag. Finisher medal, commemorative wine glass, and a shirt with actual long sleeves.

Cons:

-Port-a-potties. Come on, we need more. This is a women's event, we can't just pee in the bushes.
-Race photos. Finish photos should have timestamp categories at the very least to make searching easier. Course photos seemed to prioritize "photographic artistry" over customer satisfaction.

Race Grade: A-. Great event with only a couple hiccups.