Monday, November 9, 2015

@RunRevel #CanyonCity Marathon Recap!

I love this race!  I freaking LOVE this race!  You know the race that you HAVE to do every year time after time?  For me, Revel Canyon City is IT!  This was the second year of it's existence and it is my second year of me running it!  Last year I ran the Half and this year, the Full!

So excuse all the pictures but they tell the story so much better than my words!  I took the day off from work before heading up to Azusa for the Expo.  First, I had a morning coffee date with my husband.


Then I volunteered in D's 3rd grade class room.


Then I picked up Jenn and Vanessa and we hit the road!


The expo is small but efficient and was in an industrial area of Azusa.


I ran into the awesome Valerie there!  She is an InknBurn ambassador and always ROCKS their gear!


I really need this shirt from Revel!  You can get it here.  


Took some pictures with the always awesome crew from San Diego Moms Run This Town!  Pictured: Daniella, Dori, Tracey, Jenn, Vanessa and Me!


And we rocked our awesome MRTT bracelets!  


How cool that the awesome Christine had her mom Marcy running with her?  Love them both!


We had our pre-race Team SoCal MRTT (183 members strong) dinner at BJs.


I had my turkey burger no bun and a baked potato with lots of bacon.  HEAVEN!  Did you know that a baked potato has more potassium than a banana?  Now you know!


Then we headed back to our hotel and set out our clothes for the next day.  Did you know that Revel lets you order custom team shirts for groups with 12 or more?  So we got two colors - Fuchsia and green Topaz!  Mine is the one on the far right.  Headsweats visor, ProCompression socks, Moving Comfort bra and of course, we all wore Spandits bottoms!


We set our alarms for 3:10 a.m. and the lovely Carlee met us in the lobby at 4:00 to head out to the shuttles!


It was COLD on top of the mountain!  We all packed plenty of throwaway gear!


Here is me and Carlee and Kindall!


Few more pictures at the start!


Know who this is?  This is Jared - he is one of the Race Organizers for Revel.  He is awesome and is part of why Revel is such a well oiled machine.


This is Sean!  He is awesome.  He and Jenny are the cutest running couple ever.  She did the Half so I didn't get to take any pictures with her.  But you can check out all their adventures on Instagram.  And they have a TON!


This is the reason I got a 10 minute PR.  My coach Jenn.  I cannot say enough nice things about her so I will always try.  Her training plan kept me on track and kept me strong enough to chase that 5 hour mark.  Even though I didn't quite hit it, she got me close.  5:15 ain't too bad considering it is a good 10 minutes faster than my Phoenix time!  And yes, we like to match.  Head to toe!


There are so many things I can say about this race.  It is beautiful.  At times, breathtakingly so.  There are views all around you that simply make you stop and stare.  This race could probably be even faster if it wasn't so pretty.  Haha!


Now, I haven't mentioned Barbara yet.  She was my virtual training partner for this race.  She lives in Phoenix and came out here with the same goal I and.  We both wanted to sub-5 this marathon.  She came even closer than I did with a 5:06.  She ran with me until Mile 20 when I sent her ahead to see what she could do!


She and her awesome husband, Matt, took this picture of me at Mile 26.1!


And we were done!  We celebrated because it is not every day you run a marathon.  Pictured: Me, Leslie, Barbara, Vanessa and Jenn!


Thank Goodness for Barbara!  Who knows what my time would have been had she given up on me earlier?!


These 3 women have my heart!  What a wonderful group of friends I was given for this weekend.  I couldn't even imagine better travel companions, both for the race and the trip!


And the medal?!  Holy Moly!  Biggest medal EVER!


This is Christine, Chapter leader of MRTT most local to the race and Tyree, the Riverside chapter leader!  I couldn't have made Team SoCal MRTT happen without them!


Sunday, I could barely move.  But the dog had to be walked and the muscles had to be stretched.


I love this because I am living this right now!


And these things?  Stairs?  Fugheddaboutit!


People think that the net downhill profile makes it easy. That's what makes it hard. All the elevation loss comes in the first 14 miles. Then comes the killer rollers for the next 6. This race is made (or not) from Miles 14-20. Those 6 miles are mostly up. Which is why the Half course is such a great PR course. Rollers at the front with a downhill to the finish. Perfectly balanced. That said, I will be back next year and the year after that and so on and so on! Love Revel!


In case you are wondering, my Phoenix Marathon time was a 5:25 and my Canyon City time was 5:15.  So not too bad!

So, I guess this is the perfect time to tell you that I am joining Team Denver Moms Run This Town at Revel Rockies on June 12 next year!  (wanna join me?  I can get you a discount code!)


But this time, I am doing the Half.  Next full will be LA Marathon.  If you are looking to join in on the fun for LA on Valentine's Day 2106, use code CARLEE16 for $10 off!

Join me for a Revel race.  You won't regret it!  Have you ever run one?  What is your next 5K?  10K? Half?  Full?  Say it loud and proud!

As always, I wish you Happy Feet,
SD Mom

14 comments:

  1. So proud of you for completing your 2nd marathon. You inspire me so much!!

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  2. Congrats on your PR. And wow, those medals are ridiculously large!

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  3. I am always looking for destination races, that are closer to home! Though this one sounds like a killer for me! I don't do rollers very well or distance lol. But I love watching other people hit their goals and PR! I mat need to invest in a run coach! I could probably learn so many run techniques, since I am self taught I have no clue if anything is wrong or right. Thanks for always sharing Smitha! I enjoy following your journey!

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  4. So proud of you!! You have been working so hard! There is so many amazing things ahead for you, I can't even take it. Love you!

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  5. Way to go, Smitha! Congrats on the PR!

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  6. I am seriously considering the full in Denver. I have a wedding up there that weekend (and its on friday!) so really thinking about it!

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  7. Wow - congratulations!! Looks like you had an incredible time and you got some incredible pics!!

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  8. Congrats on your PR! I'd love to do this one! Someday...

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  9. SO MUCH HAPPINESSSS. I love the plethora of !'s :D when you said you weren't sure if you'd do another full after Phoenix, we all knew you were full of it. So, so proud of and happy for you! Xoxoxo

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  10. Congrats! You're making me seriously consider running this marathon someday. Those pictures are gorgeous!

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  11. Congrats girl! Looks like an awesome time too!

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  12. I absolutely love that you are grinning in every single freakin' photo! (Not just in this post, by the way.) Will I see you in Vegas?

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  13. Yay!! Congrats on your PR!! That race does look awesome. I'll have to put it on my list!! The Denver one looks awesome too...I may have to think about that one!

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  14. Congrats Smitha!! What a great event! I love the races you stop on the course for pictures ;) Love that medal, it looks like it needs it's own rack ;) Well done!

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