Friday, March 20, 2015

Mums Weekend Away

My BRF's and I just got back from Asheville, NC where we ran the Asheville 1/2 marathon on the Biltmore Estate. We signed up back in November when things were going ok but man did it all go downhill a month, perhaps more out from the race. Injuries, injuries and more injuries!

We left Saturday-can I get a woot woot up in here!?! I know Trooper and I were most excited to get away from our toddlers for a few days and have some time with just adults. Despite rain the road trip was fun as we listened to old school rap and acted like thugs. Thugs driving a Volvo station wagon. The only thing that would have made us more legit is if we had some gold and diamond grills that read "Mom Life".

Anyway, we were staying at the Doubletree right outside of the Biltmore Estate and luckily for us where the race expo was being held. We all know we really stayed there for the warm, delicious, chocolate chip cookies-priorities! The race expo was ok but not the best. I was super excited that Balega socks were there but sadly they didn't have much of anything. I was hoping to add some new colorful socks to my overflowing collection. I will say this race gave the best swag especially since it was a small race. We got gloves, a neck warmer thingy that could be worn a million different ways(if you are short enough I an convinced you could wear it as a tube dress), a nice race shirt (oh we also got a training shirt when we signed up), and some other little things. There was even more stuff at the finish but I will get to it later.

The night before we roamed round the city and did some shopping and some freak...I mean people watching. Holy shit there are some interesting looking people living in this city. It was fun to play the game "Hillybilly or Hipster". I am not sure which won out because there is a lot of both.

So race morning came all to early. We hopped on the shuttle and rode onto Biltmore Estate. For a moment there was a slight fear that we were going to be dropped off in the woods and shot but then the bus made a turn and the race start was in sight-thank you sweet, baby Jesus! It was chilly but the restaurant and the creamery had sections open for racers to come in and sit by their heaters. These types of niceties you would never find at a large race.  My foot was also glad that I got to sit down and take the pressure off of it for a bit since my plantar fasciitis was no better.
 Right about the time the sun was coming up over the mountains the race started. into the second mile we hit our first long hill and boy was it a lovely. I think it was close to a mile long and just climbed and climbed. Now, I was very under trained and the few runs I had done in the last month were on flats or the treadmill with no incline. I proudly made it up that damn hill. The race traveled the roads up to the Biltmore house where we got another long uphill and then the house came into view. We ran through the gardens and around a pond into a back field where some of the grounds horses were grazing. There was also a deer who decided to race. I think it safe to say he won! We then followed the French Broad River around the back of the Estate. Around mile 10 you could see the finish and about mile 11 you were like where the fuck are we going. The only ugly part of this race came between miles 11 and 12. It was not developed and on uneven dirt roads plus I just felt like I was never going to get to the turnaround point. That's where I mentally lost it and my foot was getting angry. I took a bit of a walk break and then got my shit back together and crossed the finish line in one piece. Not only were we given a beautiful wooden medal but also a fleece blanket with the race logo stitched on it. Not many races give you fleece blankets so this was a nice perk. The race had really good post food including doughnuts and hot chocolate. This was not any of our fastest races because we all were sporting some kind of injury and thus had not put in the training. I did not care because it was the first time in a year that I just ran for the fun of it and enjoyed the race.


Another perk of the race was the entry pass back onto the Estate which we partook. Biltmore was having a Dressing Downton exhibit through out the house so we did that tour and saw some of the most gorgeous dresses. Why we can't go back to dressing like that I do not know. We also went to the winery. My foot hurt so I went and sat outside while Red and Trooper did a wine tasting. We had dinner reservations at Tupelo Honey but we cancelled that and hung out on the Estate a bit longer. We were all tired and just wanted to relax. We ended up ordering some damn good pizza from a local pizza place and watched TV back at the hotel. We are such riveting people!

 Overall, I would highly recommend this race. It was beautiful, had great support/amenities, and a great medal and swag. I plan to do it next year injury free so I can push myself a little harder. Hopefully, I can get a few more friends to join me and make it an even bigger weekend.

PS, there is also a full distance. Next year they are doing the full and half on separate days or you can do both for the challenge!

1 comment:

  1. That medal looks really cool, i didn't notice it during the short amount of time we both happened to be home at the same time in the last month :).

    Looks like a really cool race. The Biltnore pass is a great feature. I'm ready to go back there, it's been too long.

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