Thanks FallGirl and MOWC! I really appreciate the support on this thread. Thanks for the update on PlantMom.
That was some speedy running, @Classof2015! 
Congrats!
Thanks BB! Getting done and out of the cold is a huge motivator
That is a really fast time, wow! Must have been that pre-race trash bag skirt! 
I think we need that four months out of the year around here.
I huddled under a garbage bag waiting for the start of my BQ race. It must have helped because I did great.
Hey, maybe that’s all we need to race well…the good luck charm of the garbage bags. No prissy ladies around here!
Bunsen, have you done the “My Better Half” Valentines day race at Seward Park? It sounds like rather a silly, fun race, but the course sounds pretty flat, for the most part. Haven’t spent much time at Seward Park, that’s not my neck of the woods.
I have not done that race, bus, so no reviews. Make sure it is a certified course though so your time is official!
Bunsen, I think none of the races I’m seriously looking at…My Better Half, Bay Breeze (in San Francisco) and Lake Sammamish are qualified. The Huntington Beach one probably is, but I think I’d be better off running in Seattle type of weather. The Pikes Peak Ascent site says, “To qualify, you must have completed a half-marathon or longer race in under 2:25:00 or a marathon or longer race in under 6:00:00. Any full or half marathon run in the past 2 years (Jan 1st, 2015+) may be used.”
And it also says, “Q: Where is the list of accepted 1/2 or full marathons that can be used as qualifiers?
A: There is no list because any 1/2 marathon race or full marathon race will work so long as the results are online and you meet the times/dates listed.”
So the way I read it, it doesn’t matter whether it is qualified or not, as long as they can view the results online.
9:09 pace for a 2 hour half marathon.
I think you mean the course is certified, and it doesn’t sound like that matters to qualify for Pike’s Peak. Just need verified results.
Too late to edit… I have ran in that park. I did my first and only “adult” 5k in that park in 2009 as a part of a Safair Tri (?). I have no idea how they can fit a half in there… But the park is pretty nice. It is flat, except there is one hill. The 5k was all around that little “Penninsula” that sticks into Lake WA, and at the end, there was that hill. I sighed and just walked up it, them rolled down it. The park is pretty! The bike leg was all the way up to and back from I90. I wonder is that is how the half is mapped.
Yes, that’s what I meant, MOWC, certified. And I think I missed a mile in my math. But that would still leave me 15 minutes to spare.
Bunsen, apparently what they do is run one loop one time, and another loop four times. Maybe a little boring, but whatever. The director also said it was pretty flat except for one hill. But she wasn’t specific about the hill. You know how it is around here, is it a hill, or a HILL? There’s a difference! Maybe I should go down and check it out, it would be convenient to run locally.
Dang Iphone. *Seafair. To the 2009 me, that was a HILL. it is not that bad, actually, especially if they only include it once. The rest is super flat. You can do it!!
I guess I need to figure out if the HILL is just in lap one, or the repetitive laps 2-5. She sent me an elevation map of the laps 2-5, which shows +105.1 ft / -99.6 ft / net: 5.5 ft. Doesn’t sound like much of a hill in there, but I wonder why she didn’t send the elevation map of lap one. I think I need to ask the question, maybe I can struggle up one hill, but if there’s a HILL for 4 laps, that would really be bad for time.
The little loop is where the hill is:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/us/mercer-island-wa/seward-park-5k-route-11331941
I think they will make you run around in circles without climbing that. 
even if they make you go up that thing a few times, it is quite small, says the 2017 me.
The steristrips have peeled off!! Halleluja. Now, my belly still looks bloated, and even the wonderful site that encouraged swimming in the ocean 2 days post-op says no weight bearing exercises or spraining of belly muscles for a while. Arrrgh. What CAN I do?!!!
What can you do? How about float on a raft and drink Mai-Tai’s?
I didn’t see why you had steristrips on your stomach. Are you okay?
Nothing serious, bus. Just had two micro holes in the belly for the doc to check on my inner works. I am fine.
I’ll do what you ordered, bus! A glass of wine (MaiTai is too sweet for me). Sunset was a bust today.
Well, I’m sorry he had to screw up your vacation. Jeez, what a jerk!
Yes, a nice glass of wine (or two) is surely what is called for. I’m glad you’re doing well, and in Hawaii.
Can you walk the beach BB? Nothing better than that!