Masq Half 2015

This year has been a tough motivational year for me. I seem to have lost my MOJO and replaced it with NOJO. Seriously. So, I have not been doing much in the way of running or walking or run/walking. And, I'm getting older. It is harder to just go out there and do it without training and it takes longer to recover. Everything hurts. Sadly, I have been more along my old self of only "training on race days" lately and haven't signed up for a lot of races. But, without a race, I might not exercise.

I really like local races and I really like races with a fun theme. It gives me an excuse to put on a costume. I do not like running. YEAP, I said it. So, races give me an excuse to get out there and force myself to exercise. It's so much more fun with a crowd and with course support. And, I really do like the folks at Purpose.Race.Events. Small, local, fun. Good support. Friendly races. Friendly people. So, I signed up for the first (hopefully annual) Masq Half at the JW Marriott. This race also had a 5K and a 10K. Past years they have had a Pajama Pancake Run in October, but couldn't do it this year, so they also combined a Pancake 5K with this race. Both 5K followed the same route. The race was also coordinated with a Masquerade Ball at night, but I was flying to Kansas that afternoon, so no ball for me.

Packet pick-up this year had 2 options. Thursday night at Fleet Feet at the Rim or Saturday morning before the race. Because I like them and I think volunteering is important for any race organization, I volunteered to help with packet pick-up on Thursday night. I donned my INKnBURN mummy costume for the occasion. Any excuse to dress up, you know? It was small, mostly folks who work for Purpose and their children. A few other loyal volunteers. All very nice. I think it went smoothly. People gave their name and were looked up on an app (not my job) and I found their bib and someone in the back found their bag and shirt. A few folks changed races. A few folks signed up. There was some sort of number issue with relay races, so they had someone to help make sure those bibs were appropriately assigned. One person complained about the lack of information on the website. They wanted more information on parking. Only about 25% of racers picked up packets on Thursday, so I was worried about Saturday morning.


When I arrived on Saturday, the packet pick-up line was LOOOONNNGGGG. I didn't have to stand in it, but it seems like it moved quickly and it was cleared out before the race start at 0730. Sorority Girl and I met up with a few other INKnBURN ambassadors and took the obligatory pre-race pictures. I have so many INKnBURN outfits, but chose Nerd for this day. It seemed appropriate.  Sorority Girl wore Pirate. We also had Monarch and Calavera and MayTheFourth in our little groupings.

 There was quite the storm the night before and even the JW lost power and was running on generators. So, bathrooms were out of order and we had to find bathrooms in the staff areas. That was OK, too. Staff guiding us was very friendly. But, the rain stopped and the weather was great for running. All the races lined up together at the start. We had a brief announcement, and a prayer, and we sang the national anthem. Then we were off. I was signed up for the half, but had a flight to catch and was worried about time. I asked about switching to the half and was told they were sold out, but I could run that distance and just let the timers know I didn't do the half so I didn't get put into the wrong category for prizes (ha ... would have been closest to podium finish for me), but that I would receive the half medal. OK, that's cool by me.

Since I have NOT been training, I decided on 1 minute run/1 minute walk intervals. Sorority Girl was on board with that also as her training has been only slightly better than mine. We passed the turn-off for the 5K and somewhere about mile 2, my knees hurt. Since the next day was pretty important to me, I decided I needed to just walk it in. Sorority Girl decided to just walk with me. By about mile 3, the race was back on the golf cart paths of the resort for the rest of the route. We reached our turnaround point and I was actually relieved not to be continuing on for the half distance. Volunteers were cheerful and friendly and the company was great. We saw photographers during the last mile and decided to pick up some running again ... at least for the pictures and the finish line. The announcer saw us coming and said "who will come in first?" Well, when it's the two of us, we come in side by side. There is no sprint past one another.

We picked up our medals. Got a bite to eat. And took a few "thank goodness I'm done" pictures. Had to rush home, shower, put on compression socks and catch a plane.

As usual, I like Purpose events. Very nice people. Great course. Great support on the course. The shirts are always nice and I like the bags (but I do have a lot). I like the shirts because they have cute designs and don't have a lot of sponsor logos all over it. And the food is generally pretty good. The medals are well thought out. Check this out. Look close and it's a pair of running shoes that also are a mask. Super cute.

So, I'll be signing up for next year. It's really discounted right now. But, before then, I'm signed up for Illuminations, Missions, and Alamo 13.1. I would do Cocoa, but I'll be out of town that weekend. Hate to miss it. They have a few more races coming, too. Illuminations in March in Austin? And SpaGirl is in 4 locations in 2016. I wonder if I should do them all.  Maybe ...