I scheduled myself a Terrific Lady Weekend™️, which is when I make solo weekend plans by myself that either involve racing or Disney. This time around, it involved a back-to-back race…a 5K and a half marathon called The Double Eagle Challenge. I was going to be in town for a work trip for a week, and decided to extend my trip on the front end to do the North Olympic Discovery race(s) in Port Angeles, WA. I lived in Seattle for about 3 years before moving to Denver. I had never driven out to Port Angeles before, and wow…I was really missing out! It gave me some Pacific Northwest FOMO for sure. I spent those 3 years working a lot and by the time I burned out, I was ready to escape Seattle. It feels better to return on more solid ground.
I also decided for the first time to stay at the race hotel. This one was situated right by the start line and the water (the Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles). It was a pleasant stay. I wasn’t expecting a motel-like setup where the doors were exposed to the outside, but the room I stayed in was freshly renovated and really clean. I would recommend this hotel to other runners who travel in. The only downside is that they don’t have breakfast, so I packed some Clif bars for my runs and hikes.
The weekend was overcast and simply beautiful. The weather was cooperative too. Having lived in the PNW, I knew to expect gray skies and some light misting or intermittent rain. Not really a big deal with the right clothing, and I had packed quite a bit to ensure that I’d be dry and comfortable. Both races went well. Training at altitude and racing at sea level has a ton of benefits. I was able to push a little harder, and for longer. I only gave myself a few walk breaks and tried to run the whole way through, which is much more aggressive than anticipated. I knew I was going to have some frozen embryo transfer cycles later in the summer so I really wanted to use this as an experiment to test my pre-training for Dopey 2025.
The good news was that I broke my 5K and half marathon times since 2017! As you can see by my heart rate charts, I pushed myself quite a bit. I was thrilled with my results on the 5K, and even more so after the half marathon. I had a lot to think about on my 4- or 5- hour drive back into Seattle for work.
After the 5K, I decided to visit Olympic National Park to add more stamps to my passport collection. While I was there, I completed a few short hikes to loosen up my legs for the half marathon. I stuck to really developed trails because I certainly did not want to twist anything before the race. The scenery was amazing obviously. I really need to go back and spend more time there. There’s just so much to see in our national parks and truly not enough time.
The next day, I raced the half marathon. There were some unanticipated hills because I didn’t look at the course map. I had replaced my running timer and I never even used it during the race because I was so focused on effort.
This was a really great race with a mostly secure course. There was great crowd support towards the last mile of the race. The finish line festival was great — a literal buffet of food, very similar to something you would see at an ultramarathon. I was so hungry that I ended up devouring 2 cup noodles and lots of other snacks.
Amara in Training 