2017 was another running year.

I ran more virtual events than ever before. I spent my 40th birthday run/jog/walking a half marathon at Disneyland.

I wore my fitbit, of course. But, I switched my focus from 10,000 steps a day to concentrating on the number of miles I ran.

My plantar fasciitis was still a bit of an annoyance. But, it was better than in 2016. My guess is this is due to the fact that I was training for a marathon in 2016. I didn’t do as many long runs in 2017 – which would then make sense that I didn’t log as many miles in 2017 as I did in 2016.

I completed the You vs Year challenge sponsored by MapMyRun & Under Armour. The goal was to run 1017k in the year 2017.

* RUNNING HIGHLIGHTS: MONTH BY MONTH *

January

• Due to snow & ice, many miles were done on the elliptical
• Total miles this month: 60.29

February

• Finished HRC’s Mad Eye Moody 5K
• Total miles this month: 58.99

March

• Finished Yo Ho Ho Virtual 5K
• Finished Shamrock Run 15K
• Total miles this month: 46.01

April

• Finished Race for the Roses 10K
• Finished HRC’s 10K and SPEW
• Finished HRC’s Unmasked 10 miler
• Total miles this month: 66.98

May

• Finished Hippie Chick Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 49.27

June

• Finished Helvetia Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 43.02

July

• Finished HRC’s Eternal Glory 4 Miler
• Total miles this month: 33.28

August

• Finished She Believed She Could Virtual 10K
• Total miles this month: 34.55

September

• Finished the 5K, 10K, & Half Marathon in Disneyland
• Finished the Quest for the Lost Scroll Virtual 10K
• Finished HRC’s Platform 9 3/4K
• Total miles this month: 68.32

October

• Finished HRC’s Sirius Half Marathon
• Total miles this month: 84.48

November

• Finished Wobble Before we Gobble 4 Miler
• Total miles this month: 61.89

December

• Finished Virtual Santa Hustle 5K
• Total miles this month: 49.41

I RUN FOR BLING

This year’s medal count: 19

2017 Stats

5K Events: 4
10K Events: 5
Half Marathon Events: 4
Other Events: 4
Total Miles Run/Jogged: 656.5

2015 Total Miles: 440 miles
2016 Total Miles: 761 miles

I have signed up for a couple events in 2018 already. So, apparently 2018 will be a running year also. I will complete a half marathon or two (or three), but I would like to focus on speed. I know I can accomplish the distance. Now, I would like to go the distance a tad more quickly.

Happy Running!

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I gave myself a goal at the beginning of 2017. The goal was to sign up & complete all the virtual events hosted by Hogwarts Running Club this year.

This was my first experience with HRC and I’m quite impressed with the organization.

They host six events in a year, plus have a seventh challenge medal. The registration fees this year were reasonable at $25 per race. HRC is non profit and the majority of the registration cost goes straight to a charity of their choosing. Because of this, most of the registration cost is tax deductible.

For your $25 you are donating to a charity, receiving a medal in the mail, and can download a digital bib. There is also the option to purchase shirts.

They are active on Facebook for those who like the social aspects. They have multiple groups including the Great Hall and common rooms for each house. I am part of the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Charity Miles

Hogwarts Running Club uses the Charity Miles app to track mileage for special events like the House Cup. By using the app, not only are you helping your house, but you are earning 25¢ per mile to a charity of your choice.

* 2017 Events *

Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody Constant Vigilance 5k

Charity Partner: Limbs for Life Foundation

The first event of 2017 was the Mad Eye Moody 5k. The medal is fun – the eye spins around.

Whether during a run or on a stroll with the kids, I enjoy spotting Great Blue Herons. They make me happy, even though they aren’t terribly fond of people. When I see one while running, I consider it good luck. It seemed fitting that I saw one during my first HRC event.

I printed my bib and brought it with me to Universal Studios, then stamped the back of it at the Owl Post.

The 10K and Spew

Charity Partner: Harry Potter Alliance and their Granger Leadership Academy

It’s all in the details.
When your owl delivers your mail, the package comes with a quirky saying. Love that! Also, many of the medals come with a saying or decor on the back.

This bib was also printed and stamped in Hogsmeade at Universal Studios.

I bought a basic athletic shirt and used my silhouette and heat press to create my own Ravenclaw shirt to run in.

Unmasked 10 mile Run for your life

Charity Partner: To Write Love On Her Arms

Sportin’ my Ravenclaw pride socks.

Even though it’s on the dark side, I love this medal. And, the charity is for an important cause.

Sirius Half Marathon

Charity Partner: Mission K9 Rescue

An event dedicated to Sirius Black.

The medal has a bit of a stained glass effect. The back is engraved with one of my favorite quotes:

If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.
– Sirius Black

The Eternal Glory Four Miler!

Charity Partner: Back on My Feet

A four mile event highlighting the Goblet of Fire.

You get to pick the name and number that goes on your digital bib. My number is always 262 – for the 26.2 miles I completed during the Portland Marathon. I chose a different name for each event.

Platform 9 3/4 Year Four

Charity Partner: Antarctic & Southern Ocean Coalition

Another amazing medal. The light on the train really turns on and off.

The bib is designed to look like a train ticket.

Again, I love all the attention to detail.

* Time Turner *

The Time Turner happens in October. This is when HRC turns back the clock and reopens registration for previous events. You can also sign up for the Challenge medal and the Perfect Prefect pin.

Challenge Medal

The Challenge medal was available to HRC members who registered for at least three of the 2017 events.

The fun part about being in the Facebook groups are the added encouragement and challenges along the way. For instance, The Ravenclaw Common Room provided us an optional challenge for earning this medal. Our “position” during our “Quidditch match” was based on our monthly total miles.  I ended up being a beater because I ran between 50 & 99 miles. You can be as active or inactive in the optional challenges as you would like.

The Patronus 5k

I had already registered for all the 2017 events. So, instead I registered for 2015’s Patronus 5K during the time turner.

I registered for this event in October, but technically there was no race date. I hadn’t gotten around to completing it until the first week in 2018. I brought the medal with me on a girl’s trip to the Dominican Republic as motivation to run at least once on the trip. And, I did. I ran only the one time during that week.

Possible Fun Fact: Pottermore helped me discover that my patronus is a ragdoll cat.
A cat? That hardly seems correct. I don’t dislike cats, and ragdoll cats are beautiful. But, I’m more of a bird and aquatic animal person. Or, goat. I do love goats. We don’t even have a pet cat because we don’t want one in the house and the two we tried having outside both got eaten by coyotes. So, no cats for us. Yet, my patronus is a cat. Weird.

Perfect Prefect

I never thought it could be – but yet, it’s true. I am a Perfect Prefect. I highlighted my name on Ravenclaw’s Wall of Fame.

To be a Perfect Prefect you must register for all six events and the Challenge medal. The pin is free, as long as you tell them you want it.

HRC Cheer Squad

The Cheer Squad at this year’s Disneyland Half Marathon weekend. I don’t know these women personally, but I was more than happy to have their support during the 5K. The heat and humidity during the half marathon was brutal. The Cheer Squad had ice! I am not exaggerating when I say that it almost brought me to tears. I was miserable by this point in the race. I truly needed that ice to cool down. More than that, it just felt good knowing someone had my back. It was the encouragement I needed to finish.

Universal Studios Hollywood

To celebrate our son’s birthday, we surprised the kids with a quick trip to LA primarily to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I brought my Ravenclaw shirt to wear and created shirts for the rest of the family. All the boys, hubby included, are Hufflepuff and my daughter is Gryffindor.

We went early in the year, so I only had 2 event bibs to bring with me. I brought them for the sole purpose of stamping them with the Hogsmeade postmark.

I enjoyed these virtual events so much that I already preregistered for all 2018 events. So, yippy! I should be a Perfect Prefect in 2018, too. I can’t wait to see the themes for each event. The first event has already been announced – the Nargle 9K.

Because I’m a sucker for things I adore, and excuses to run, and themed events, I recently joined HRC’s sister group based on Gilmore Girls, the Chilton Running Club.

There is also the Whovian Running Club, if you are a Doctor Who fan.

Now to work on my 2018 Perfect Prefect status!
Happy Running!

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The races for this RunDisney weekend started at the before-the-sun hour of 5am. Oy! This meant every day I got up between 3:00 and 3:30. Oy, oy, oy!

They’re worth it. I’m sure I’ll do it again.

The 10K theme was Monsters, Inc – which I liked better than The Incredibles theme for the 5K.

Packet Pick Up & Expo

During packet pick up I took this photo because I was running the Double Dare challenge – meaning I was running both the 10K on Saturday, then the half marathon on Sunday.

Our Costumes

My friends have done a number of RunDisney events. The girl in the middle makes aprons to wear as their costumes. This time they were Snow White and the Evil Queen. So, I dressed as Dopey.

The Start

This time I was placed in corral E for both the 10K and the half. During Star Wars, I was in C for the 10K and B for the half. I’m not exactly sure how the corrals work, but I think there were more corrals this time. Even though the actual corrals weren’t the same, I feel like I was placed correctly for all events. Until I started stopping for photos, I seemed to be staying similarly paced with the other runners.

Running through California Adventure

It was a hot, humid morning so I didn’t want to dilly dally too much during the 10K. I took pics going through DCA, but none with characters.

The Backlots

The back areas and tunnels had a few fun surprises. I love all these kinds of detail. There was an employee from the Child Detection Agency searching the area, as well as doors and Monsters University posters displayed.

I have a few favorite places to run during the Disney events – one of those places is through the large doors into or out of the parks.

Running through Disneyland

I don’t love the pic of me on the left, but I love that Daisy & Donald are right behind me.

The Final Stretch

• Well… I do look Dopey in the photo on the left….

• Still one of my favorite sections to run is the fenced area between Disneyland and DCA. The spectators are always amazing.

The Finish

Maybe it’s because I create photo props, but I loved all the photo ops with props available.

I am now an official runner at MU:

Despite the heat, I kept a pretty good pace the entire race. It makes up for my seeing the balloon ladies at my last RunDisney 10K.

My first event of the Disneyland Double Dare is complete.

— More than Running —

It’s My Unbirthday

The next day was going to be my birthday – making this day my unbirthday. I snapped this photo while on the Alice in Wonderland ride.

Dining at Disney

I had never eaten at the Hungry Bear Restaurant in Critter Country before. We decided to try it. I got a wrap and fries for somewhere around $10. It was ok. Not the best, but not bad.

Well, that’s a wrap, I have finished my 7th RunDisney event.

Save

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I’m trying to limit the events I sign up for this year – mainly because they get spendy. But…

I am signed up for another RunDisney weekend later this year. (Woop, woop!) I can finish their races at the 16:00 pace. But, I like to dilly dally. I like to stop for photo ops. I like to look around. I’m not there for a PR. I’m there to run a good race, feel good when I complete it, and have fun. That being said, I prefer not to be assigned to the last corral. I want all the extra time I can get, so I don’t have the pressure to need to run my hardest.

I signed up for Race for the Roses 10K with the hopes to PR – so, I can submit the time to RunDisney with the hopes of it moving me out of the last corral.

PRE-RACE

The race started at the Convention Center. I loved that!

It was great having a warm(ish) place to be while waiting for my start time. More importantly, I got to use a real bathroom before the race began.

There was lots of swag you could grab, if you wanted it – champagne glasses, pins, tattoos, hand sanitizer.

THE START

I waited inside until about 10 minutes before the start. Awesome! The start line was literally right outside the huge door of the conference room.

THE RACE

The course took us past the Moda Center, over the Broadway Bridge, through the Pearl District, to Vaughn Street, and back. I enjoyed the route. I don’t often go to those areas of Portland. I’m pretty sure, though, that was not the route that was posted. Not sure what’s up with that.

THE FINISH

It’s always a great feeling to cross the finish line! I was greeted with a rose, medal, and water. So many thank you’s to the volunteers.

Did I PR? Yes. Yes, I did. It was a couple minutes faster than my previous PR, but also a couple minutes slower than what I was aiming for. Either way, I updated my 10K time with RunDisney.

DONE!

Back in the room at the Convention Center – mimosa’s, photo op, and a lovely assortment of food.

I would absolutely sign up for this event again. I can’t think of anything I did not like. It didn’t even rain!

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As part of the ORRC 10K series, in early March I ran the Champoeg 10K. I wasn’t sure until just a day or two before if I was able to take part this event, but thankfully scheduling worked out and I was able to squeeze it into my day.

Start Line & Course

Earlier in the morning the 20K & 30K participants started. Us 10Kers began at 10:30, which was a nice start time since it took me awhile to drive to Champoeg State Park.

I hadn’t picked up my race packet beforehand, so I grabbed it that morning – which was easy, peasy. I also received an orange beanie. Love that. Thanks ORRC.

The course was altered due to a bridge being out of service. So the course ended up being a 5K loop, done twice.

It was a flat course with lovely scenery.

Finish

Woop, woop! Another 10K complete.

Even with a flat course and late start time, I struggled to keep up my pace. Whatever the reason, I was tired that day. Throughout the race, there were about 5 of us running a similar pace. With about a mile left, 3 of us began running together. It was nice to hear their reasons for running and goals they have. They were just the distraction I needed that day to finish the event strong.

Yampah

What’s with the funny running carrot? Well he’s a yampah, a plant in the carrot family that grows wild at Champoeg State Park. I am particularly interested in him because we have “weeds” at our house that the kids liked to pull when they were younger. They’d bring them inside telling me they found carrots. I’m going to have to do research and find out if their “carrots” are yampah.

After finishing, I quickly grabbed a cup of potato soup and water. I devoured the soup quickly while scurrying as fast as I could to my car. It was a well organized event that I’d gladly do again. But, I didn’t have to time to stand around and enjoy the after part of the race. I had to get on with the other events of my day.

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Saturday was the first race of the Star Wars Rebel Challenge at Disneyland. It was a 10K, which at this point, is my favorite distance. It’s more challenging than a 5K. But not near as challenging as a half marathon. I still feel fairly new to running. I’ve actually not run many 10K’s and the next day would only be my 3rd half marathon. So, I was looking forward to this event.

I woke up bright and early at 3:30am. Left the hotel at 4:30 and headed to the start line. I followed this routine each of the race days.

Waiting to Start

The start line was in the same place for all 3 races, making it even simpler to find the next day. Based on my submitted time, I was placed in Corral C for the 10K.

The Start

MapMyRun says I started the race at 5:46am.

Running Through Disneyland

I kept a decent pace through the Disneyland section. I stopped for photos, of course. But, didn’t wait in lines for character pics. It was as amazing as ever running through the park.

One of My Favorite Things

I love running through the gated section between the parks. The crowd cheering the runners is amazing and I feel like I’ve already accomplished a section of the race and it’s exciting knowing I’m moving on to the next.

Running Through California Adventure

Well.. now things didn’t go quite as planned. A good learning experience, though.

Hollywood Blvd, beautiful as always.

This is the line for BB8. I missed him the day before at the 5K and knew I wouldn’t have time to spare the next day during the half. So, I got in line. We were told it was about a 45 minute wait – longer than I would have liked. But, I guess I didn’t feel in a huge hurry and I love the photo ops. So, I stayed. Not far behind me, they shut off the line and didn’t let anyone else in. I guess I thought since I was already in the line, I was safe from the balloon ladies…

I waited in line about half an hour. I didn’t mind. I was chit chatting with the others in line and watching the runners go by. Right about the time I was getting close to my photo op – just another zig and maybe a zag in the line – the sweeper guys came by. Not far in front of them were the balloon ladies. We saw them go by, but we didn’t know for sure if they were the official balloon ladies. I’ve never actually seen the balloon ladies and somebody near me said they carry much bigger balloons. We thought we were fine, although we knew we needed to hurry.

The sweeper guys said we were behind pace and if we didn’t hurry there was a chance we’d be swept.

Less than a minute later, a sweeper said if we didn’t leave now we would definitely be swept. We had to be at Mile 4 by a certain time – a time that was very soon. That was the incentive we needed. We got out of the line we’d just been waiting in forever.

I snapped this quickie selfie as I high tailed it outta there.

Things weren’t quite so fun anymore. It was stressful. I’ll be damned if I was going to get swept – especially just for a photo.

So, so happy to make it to mile 4. I didn’t even stop to take a decent pic. I snapped this as I was running by. At this point, I heard I was 45 seconds behind pace.

The rest of the race was uneventful. I took a few pics. But, I was mainly concerned about finishing before the balloon ladies. Once I passed them, I had no desire to see them again.

The Final Stretch

When I reached Downtown Disney I heard I was 4 minutes ahead of the pace. Ah, a sigh of relief. However, I wasn’t going to breath easy until I crossed the finish line.

My kids and hubby were near the finish line ringing cow bells and Farm Kid2 was holding the sign he made at the Expo. Amazing! Very, very rarely do I have supporters at a race. It was a great end to a stressful race.

I did cross the finish line in time and received the medal. Woop, woop!

Never again will I take the pace time for granted. It was way too stressful.

Snacks & Stuff

The drinks and snacks at the finish were the same as the 5K, plus we got a heat sheet.

The medal

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It rained for weeks, then school was out for the holidays, so the majority of my training was on the elliptical throughout December. I was unsure how this run would go since it had been awhile since my running shoes actually hit pavement. But, I did fairly well – even in the below freezing temperatures.

The course began and ended at Tom McCall Elementary School in Forest Grove. We started in town, running through a neighborhood towards the B street trail, then finished the run on the same back roads as I ran during the Love Rocks Run.

The people on the right were ringing a cow bell and cheering us on. I’m sure they were there to encourage a friend or family member. But, I enjoyed their encouragement, too.

A couple water and gatorade stations were set up. I always appreciate these volunteers.

The finish.

We were handed a medal at the finish, which was a pleasant surprise. I love earning bling.

A pancake breakfast was provided.

I’m stepping up my race game this year. I became a member of Oregon Road Runners Club and signed up for their 10k series. In doing so, I received a jacket at this run.

Hopefully this is the start to a great year of running.

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I have taken a step back on running this summer and have been concentrating instead on getting in at least 10,000 steps a day according to my fitbit. However, I signed up for my 2nd half marathon. Eek! My goal when I started running was to finish a half marathon. I’m ecstatic that I enjoyed that accomplishment enough to go for it again.

I signed up for another Run Disney event, which means I will be placed in a starting corral. Last time I was in corral D. I’m hoping to at least be in a similar corral since that worked well for me. To do so I need to submit a time from a 10k (or longer). So I signed up for a couple over the summer. The first one was the Red, White & Blues at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland.

SWAG

At packet pick up I received these goodies. I love that it came with a cherry pie for American spirit, but I’m a sucker for those pink and white animal crackers.

GETTING THERE

The event took place at the Blues Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

THE RUN

The race started bright and early at 7:00. I didn’t appreciate my alarm that morning, but it was worth it to not run in the heat. We ran through Old Town, over the Morrison Bridge, through an industrial area and back over the Hawthorn Bridge to the finish line. The 5k was one lap, the 10k was two.

AND, DONE!

I could certainly tell I’ve been slacking on my running. But my real goal was to get a decent finish time, and I accomplished that. I know last year for the Tinker Bell Half, the time I submitted was somewhere around 12:30/mile. I was able to keep under a 12:00/mile pace for this run. I can’t complain.

AFTER PARTY

Crossing the finish line, I was handed a medal, a water and a flag. I also had tickets attached to my bib for a water or soda and beer or wine. I chose a Snapple Punch for my kids to try and wine. I drank the wine while watching the awards get handed out. I’m always amazed at how fast some people are.

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To train & keep me motivated for my first half marathon in May, I signed up for another 10K.

Honestly, there’s not much to say about the run. The weather was nice, which can be rare around here in February, so that was a bonus. It was a 5K course that the 10Kers ran twice. At the end I did get a nice looking medal.

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This was my first organized race in 5 months. Although I took a break from running in December, I went right back to it in January beginning to train for my first half marathon in May. So I thought I was prepared to run this 10K. I absolutely underestimated the hills on this course. They were real killers. I finished with an ok time, but boy was I tired.

Top Left: The start.
Middle Left: When I was a kid, my grandparents lived on this road. It was fun running past it.
Bottom Left: Finished & tired.
Bottom Middle: After finishing there was an electrolyte drink, Golazo, available. I had never heard of it, but it wasn’t too bad.
Right: Bling to add to my Bib & Bling Board!

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