2011 July 05 » Then Heather Said

Firecracker 4 Organization Review

Posted by Heather at 1:00 pm review

Jul 052011

I know that I’ve been talking about the Firecracker 4 for what may seem like ever. However, I believe in giving credit when it’s due which leads me here, just needing to say one more thing:

The organization of the Firecracker 4 this year was AMAZING. As in, the best organization I’ve yet to experience in terms of registration and packet pick up. Each runner was given a number upon registration, and number pick up was not done alphabetically, but instead by number. Luckily, Cynthia read the email that said this, so we had our numbers memorized, but incase you missed the heads up, the organizers had not only an alphabetical list of runners with their corresponding numbers in 3 locations in the building of the pick up, but the names and numbers were also rolling alphabetically on large flat screens.

Also, after picking up your number, you were instructed to head to get your packet and shirt which were on the far side of the room. There were TONS of volunteers at each station, plus several in the middle of the room who were instructing runners with where to go and what to do. EVERY volunteer I saw throughout the registration, and through out and after the race was super-de-duper friendly. Each bib had three tickets across the bottom which you ripped off – one to exchange for your t-shirt, one for your goodie bag, and one for if you wanted to check your bags to pick up after the race.

Also, a BIG thank you to organizers who chose the shirts this year. We ALL commented on how much better the navy tech shirt is than the white we’ve received in previous years, and as I changed into mine right after the race in order to not COMPLETELY smell up our brunch table, I can tell you that this shirt is a WIN!

One last thing. If you are ever planning a race, get a twitter account for the race. The Firecracker did this [ @Firecracker4NY ] and it was awesome! I loved following the status of registered runners over the last few weeks, and using the twitter handle for the Firecracker 4 to tweet to other blends and runners about the race.

All this to say:

Dear Firecracker 4 Race Organizers and volunteer team,
YOU ROCK. Thank you!
xo,
Then Heather Said

Saratoga Firecracker 4

Posted by Heather at 4:00 am fitness

Jul 052011

There was something different about this race.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had a handful of training runs which left me feeling super strong.
It could simply be the fact that I’ve been more diligent in my training this year than ever before, that I’ve hit new distances and am pacing better, and faster, than ever before. Perhaps that this was my first repeat race, or that I recently redefined my goals for my performance. Or, it’s possible that all of these reasons played a factor in my feeling the night before this year’s Firecracker 4 Mile race in Saratoga was definitely different. [sponsored by Poise in Parma!]

I’ve gotten prerace jitters prior to races before, but this time was different.

The race wasn’t until Monday morning, but on last Thursday afternoon, I started to feel a sort of new-to-me nerves. Friday I decided that the weekend needed to be “chill” in order to best prepare myself for the run. Saturday I gave myself a long pep talk after taking a few minutes early in the morning to meditate and focus on positive self energy. Sunday evening and night, my racing buddy Cynthia [we’ve already run a few races together this year, and will no doubt face more starting lines together!] and I spent the time together resting up. Dinner from the grocery store, some reading and discussion, and a few hours in front of the television, sprawled out on the bed. First watching my brilliant friend Megan’s performance thesis, followed by Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long blog. [In case you were wondering, I’m still singing “Laundry Day” to myself.]

Then we went to slumber. ish. I tossed. I turned. I tossed some more. I woke up about 17 times before finally getting out of bed at 6:30, getting dressed, brewing some tea, making breakfast, and heading to Cynthia’s van. Saratoga or bust!

Thankfully we arrived a bit earlier than expected [thanks to my thinking Saratoga was a bit farther away than it actually is], because although I left the house WEARING my IPod, I somehow managed to forget my ear-buds. Cynthia was also in need of some sunscreen, so went on a walk to CVS. It was a good pre-race stretch, too, if you ask me. [which you technically didn’t, but if you’re still reading this, then I’m going to just pretend like you did, okay? okay.]

On our walk back to the start line, my blackberry camera and I got into a fight, which made Cynthia laugh. [I may have also told a joke. Because I am funny and stuff.]

The fight with the blackberry did not make me laugh. The fight turned me into a duck; an angry, frustrated, duck.

A quick restroom break later, we were lining up with 2,500+ others to get our run on.

Only a few minutes of waiting before blends started popping up all around us! Was so excited with Alicia joined us.

Followed only a few moments later by Mareesa!

And before long we were off.

Alicia and I decided to try and stay with one another for as long as possible. Running with Alicia was so awesome. The first mile seemed to fly by, because we were chit chatting through most of it.

We were able to stay together for almost the entire race, rejoicing over misting stations and taking our time to walk through water stations. [water has NEVER been so refreshing as it was during this race!] Alicia started getting a cramp near the end of the second mile, so we took about a 45 second walking break before powering through a hill.

After the final water station, she instructed me to keep going if she needed to break again, and when she started to pull back, I took her encouragement of “go!” to heart and started to really push it. I was running at about 8:30 pace for much of the last mile, and took two short walking breaks before powering through the last quarter mile. I finished in a sprint and felt so strong!

We also found this super strong lady, beaming after the race! Erica had a strong race, too! She, Alicia and I all did the “under 45 minutes!” dance.

After the three of us found one another, we cheered Cynthia over the finish line. Cynthia did a great job! She is coming off of an injury, and her doctor and physical therapist have instructed her to only run for half an hour, so after she jogged the first couple of miles at a comfortable pace, she finished the race walking. I am so proud of her for listening to her doctors and her body in order to prevent further injury. Cynthia is seriously one of the strongest women I know!