Looking for a great fall run?


Last fall I completed my fifth half marathon in my adopted hometown of Lansing, MI. The Capital City River Run (CCRR) seemed like the perfect fall race to insert into my training schedule before my first marathon.
I love fall races – they are really my favorite. There is generally a chill in the air, but it’s still warm enough to enjoy the race. The race expo was held at the Lansing Center on Michigan Avenue. I found the expo to be a little disjointed, but I am a huge fan of the long-sleeved dri-fit shirt.  That basically makes up for it.
Race morning was, as advertised, a chilly fall morning. The run starts in front of the Lansing Center.  Being a fan of downtowns I found this the perfect place to being our 13.1 mile jaunt. 
In the Lansing Center before the CCRR
 We ran down Michigan Avenue and onto Michigan State’s campus.  I love running on campus – the beautiful buildings, the Spartan spirit. It was a great transition onto the Lansing River Trail.
I am a huge, HUGE fan of Lansing’s River Trail. The trail contains about 13 miles of paved trailway in the Lansing area. I do a lot of training runs on the trail (most of my training runs over 5 miles are on the trail) so it felt very comfortable to complete the half on my usual training course.
The race went around Hawk Island County Park, a great Lansing area park with tons of amenities (including a great dog park that my pups love) and through the outskirts of Potter Park Zoo. Although the race didn’t go through the Zoo itself (although there’s an idea for future years race organizers!) it is important to mention that Potter Park is an extremely accessible and affordable family attraction. And now that I’m thinking of it, I love the idea of the race going through the actual zoo…but I digress.
We continued on the River Trail along the Grand River until we ended up on Michigan Avenue again en route to the race finish at Riverfront Park on Shiawassee Street. The course was fast and flat, leading me to my half marathon PR of 2:12:30. That time won’t qualify me for Boston, but I’ll take it.
 I really consider this race one of my favorites.  It was a relatively small race, and it felt very comfortable and familiar running along the River Trail. The course highlighted some of the best things about the Lansing area including downtown, MSU, the River Trail, Hawk Island and Potter Park.  It was also nice to see people I know in the race and as spectators. I don’t often like to repeat races because I am always interested in trying new ones, but I am intending to do the Capital City River Run again this fall.
How would I rate this race? A (hey, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?)
How would I rate Lansing? A (we’ve come a long way…and the CCRR highlights the best!)
               

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tell me About Your Third Nipple

Image
Last summer I had a friend describe me to a new acquaintance as such: he referenced a James Bond movie where Bond is impersonating someone who has a third nipple. Everyone who knew this person well knew about the third nipple, so he had to wear a prosthesis and pull it off. He finished the analogy by saying, "Samantha knows everybody's third nipple." It was one of the best compliments I've received in a while. Maybe ever. My entire life I've prided myself on sincere and purposeful interactions and relationships both in my personal and professional life. Have I always gotten it right? Absolutely not. But I put a lot of work into how I interact with humans. It's the reason I have solid groups of friends and acquaintances. It's the reason I've been able to build a successful consulting business. I put a lot of time and intention into people, and it matters. How do I do it...and why? If you know me you know I don't have a third nipple or  a colon. You
Read more

Can we Stop with the Negative Mom Culture?

Image
  A few months ago someone brought beverages to my house called "Mom Water". I'd never heard of it, and after looking it up (because you know I did not and would not drink it) found out it is fruit infused vodka water. It sounds disgusting.  On the Mom Water website they say they're trying to celebrate moms b ut I immediately jumped to the premise that being a mom is so terrible that we have to create a gross new wine cooler in order to cope. It made me realize I'm really over the negative mom culture.  I get it: being a mom is hard work. I've had late nights and early mornings. I haven't slept through the night in years. I've been thrown up on and given every virus known to humankind (except COVID surprisingly). My son was home for 15 months without childcare during the height of the pandemic. There were some very long days, and you bet I lost my patience. Sometimes I still do.  But it feels like we're in this place where it's trendy to compla
Read more

The COVID Destruction of Habits

Image
I love habits. Habits are my jam. With just a little research one can find tons of books and articles about the importance of habits for success. In February of 2020 my habits were down to a science. I woke up early to work out. I dropped my son off at daycare by 7:30 each morning and was at city hall by 7:45. I worked a full day of meetings before picking my son up (most days) by 5:30 pm. On Mondays I had city council meetings nearly every week. My habits were set in stone because my schedule was so busy. If anything shifted out of place my entire day could be shifted. That was not my jam. By mid-March 2020, when the world shut down, all my habits went out the door. In an instant habits no longer existed. There was no child care. There were no office hours. We were all home together for an extended period for the first time as a family. My husband and I had work to do, but it felt like summer camp. I would go for walks with the dog and my son between meetings. We would ride bikes, and
Read more