Hello!
I've been having a pretty good time with my running here lately. I had to admit, it's taken me a few weeks to really get back into the running spirit after my half marathon, but I think that's pretty common. I can only imagine how I would have felt had I actually been properly trained! I ran on the canal last week for a 4.5 mile run. I had a running buddy for the first time in the 10 months I've been running, and it was really nice. It's nice to run with someone that runs a little faster than you because it helps you push a little harder.
I ventured out yesterday to get in a run on the canal as well. The weather was looking a little iffy when I left, but I figured it would hold off until I was done. When I got to the canal I was a little discouarged to discover that my ipod had either died or stopped working. I sadly tucked it into my SPI belt with my car keys and went out on my way. I had also forgotten a hair tie! I've never run with my hair down and now I remember why..once you start sweating it all goes down hill. Yesterday was the first time I ran in my Brooks ST Racers that I picked up by a mere coincidence at a local consignment shop. They are incredibly ugly but were only $16 and looked as if they'd never been worn. They were great! They were so light in compairison to my New Balance 1225's, yet they still had just enough padding and support. I think these are going to be my new favorite shoes. I had my mind set on 6.5 miles. About two miles in it started raining, but I was actually glad. It was just humid enough outside to make it seem a little warmer than it really was, so I embraced it. I passed mile marker 103 (I start at mile 100) which is my turn around point and got caught trying to slip past and overly chatty biker resting along the canal. Once I politley carried on, I turned around I realized I still felt really really good. I know sometimes at this point, I start feeling tired but I think it's more of a mental thing. This is the furthest I've ran since my half nearly 3 weeks ago and I knew it would take some time before getting to the bigger numbers again. I ended up doing about 6.5 miles total. I'm so pleased that my last 2 runs have been really good. I still feel like I run so slow, and I wonder when I'll be to pick up my pace and keep it there. I've had a couple 4 miles in 40 minute runs, but I'd never be able to sustain that pace for 13.1 miles. I guess in time I'll get faster. I mean.. when I started I was averaging close to a 14mm and now I can do a 10mm if I really try.
So, my next half marathon is in 20 days exactly. I have to admit that I think I jumped the gun a little bit on this race. The elevation profile is frightening with a 900' elevation gain in the first mile of the race. It keeps going uphill until about mile 4. Miles 7-10 are going back uphill again. Yikes! I don't have trail shoes, I don't have hill experience, and I don't have much time to get ready. I've always wanted to do a trail race, but I think I got a little overzealous on this one. Oh well. I'm going to go out and do the best that I can.
Next on the agenda....POSSIBLY the Baltimore Marathon on 10/15/11. I have exactly 19 weeks to train. I better get on deciding if I want to do it!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
13.1 The Tale of My First Half Marathon
The morning of 5/7 almost didn't seem real. I had missed so many other races this year that I truly felt that a lightening bolt would probably strike me dead the night before the race. However, I was still alive and well on the morning of my half marathon. Until the night before, I had originally thought I'd be traveling alone because my parents left the night before to go to Disney World. I have to admit I was really nervous about driving to the race by myself, and my step brother stepped up and said he'd go with me. I was really happy about this.
I had to wake up at 5am on Saturday morning. I broke the "don't change anything on race day rule" about 5 minutes after I'd been awake. I stayed at my mom's house since that's where my step brother is staying while he's out of school. She doesn't have the foods that I'd been eating on my training runs, so I just had to wing it. The only thing I could find in the kitchen were some sandwhich thins (only 100 calories!) and peanut butter. I ate that and drank a small cup of water knowing that I'd be starving way before the race even started. On our way out we stopped at a gas station and I picked up a Clif bar, and some coffee which I'd never had before! I figured I'd take the chance. I knew I needed to eat more, or I'd crash halfway through the race.
Traffic getting off the exit in Frederick was pretty congested. I was a little worried that we might not get parked and visit the potty's before the race started, and naturally my nerves were going crazy! We finally got parked and headed up to hit the pottys. I was impressed that I only stood in line for about 5 minutes. I still had about 30 minutes to kill and just walked around taking everything in. This was my first big race event like there and there was almost 7,000 people there. At about 7:15 I started making my way over to where the race was lining up. I said my goodbyes to my brother and went over to find my spot. I placed myself beside 2:40 pace group even though my goal was 2:45 I figured this might be a nice place to start. I was surprised at how slow the start of the race was. They counted down and.. I'm still standing here. Okay.. eventually I was walking but it took about 3.5 minutes just to get to the start line. I picked up my feet and started running. I was nervous, and excited. I knew the task ahead of me would not be as easy as I was hoping because I was extremely undertrained. The sea of people ahead of me was amazing!! All these people here with ONE goal in mind.. to finish 13.1 miles running, walking, or crawling. The first mile went by uneventfully and I hung right behind the pace group. At the very first water stop at mile1, I passed the pace group. They were already walking and I just didn't want to be walking this soon. I ran the rest of my race by myself.. and by that I mean just running along with different groups of people not really sticking by anyone. Around mile 3 or 4 I heard another runner ask a guy with a Garmin what pace he was at, and when he said "11:30" I was pretty happy. By mile 6 I still felt fantastic, perhaps even overly optimistic! I kept thinking "If the next 6 miles go as well as the first 6, this will be a breeze!" And probably within the next mile is when I started going down hill. I had yet to walk, and I'd been filing up on water and gatorade when I got my chances, but I was starting to feel it in my legs. I had also forgotten my sunglasses, or a hat so the last 6 miles were horrible. I was squinting and it really made my face hurt. In mile 10 there was a pretty big hill leading into a development and this is where I first walked. I was beating myself up mentally because I didn't want to walk at all. From here on out there was a fair amount of walking. I was hot, my legs were cramping, my face hurt, and my feet hurt. I was ready to be finished. At mile 12 or so I heard a spectator say "Just up around the next turn and you're done!" I was so thankful to hear those words, but they didn't mention that the "turn" was nearly a mile away. When I finally turned that turn I saw the untrained runners worst nightmare… A HUGE hill in the LAST mile of the race. I blurted out some obscenities and decided that I had to keep moving up that hill or I'd never start running again. Almost everyone was walking. I passed on a few words of encouragement to others as I wish others had done to me, and pushed on. Once I hit the track I found speed in those legs I would have never believed. I was flying by everyone… passed atleast 7 people. I heard my brother yelling at the sidelines and threw my hand out to wave. I glanced at the clock as I was going across the mat. It read "2:40:??" I was thrilled!! 5 minutes faster than my goal! I could hardly believe it. I threw my hands in the air and stumbled over to get my finishers medal and picture taken. I was so glad to be done running, but I felt SO stinkin' proud of myself for what I'd accomplished.
I had to wake up at 5am on Saturday morning. I broke the "don't change anything on race day rule" about 5 minutes after I'd been awake. I stayed at my mom's house since that's where my step brother is staying while he's out of school. She doesn't have the foods that I'd been eating on my training runs, so I just had to wing it. The only thing I could find in the kitchen were some sandwhich thins (only 100 calories!) and peanut butter. I ate that and drank a small cup of water knowing that I'd be starving way before the race even started. On our way out we stopped at a gas station and I picked up a Clif bar, and some coffee which I'd never had before! I figured I'd take the chance. I knew I needed to eat more, or I'd crash halfway through the race.
Traffic getting off the exit in Frederick was pretty congested. I was a little worried that we might not get parked and visit the potty's before the race started, and naturally my nerves were going crazy! We finally got parked and headed up to hit the pottys. I was impressed that I only stood in line for about 5 minutes. I still had about 30 minutes to kill and just walked around taking everything in. This was my first big race event like there and there was almost 7,000 people there. At about 7:15 I started making my way over to where the race was lining up. I said my goodbyes to my brother and went over to find my spot. I placed myself beside 2:40 pace group even though my goal was 2:45 I figured this might be a nice place to start. I was surprised at how slow the start of the race was. They counted down and.. I'm still standing here. Okay.. eventually I was walking but it took about 3.5 minutes just to get to the start line. I picked up my feet and started running. I was nervous, and excited. I knew the task ahead of me would not be as easy as I was hoping because I was extremely undertrained. The sea of people ahead of me was amazing!! All these people here with ONE goal in mind.. to finish 13.1 miles running, walking, or crawling. The first mile went by uneventfully and I hung right behind the pace group. At the very first water stop at mile1, I passed the pace group. They were already walking and I just didn't want to be walking this soon. I ran the rest of my race by myself.. and by that I mean just running along with different groups of people not really sticking by anyone. Around mile 3 or 4 I heard another runner ask a guy with a Garmin what pace he was at, and when he said "11:30" I was pretty happy. By mile 6 I still felt fantastic, perhaps even overly optimistic! I kept thinking "If the next 6 miles go as well as the first 6, this will be a breeze!" And probably within the next mile is when I started going down hill. I had yet to walk, and I'd been filing up on water and gatorade when I got my chances, but I was starting to feel it in my legs. I had also forgotten my sunglasses, or a hat so the last 6 miles were horrible. I was squinting and it really made my face hurt. In mile 10 there was a pretty big hill leading into a development and this is where I first walked. I was beating myself up mentally because I didn't want to walk at all. From here on out there was a fair amount of walking. I was hot, my legs were cramping, my face hurt, and my feet hurt. I was ready to be finished. At mile 12 or so I heard a spectator say "Just up around the next turn and you're done!" I was so thankful to hear those words, but they didn't mention that the "turn" was nearly a mile away. When I finally turned that turn I saw the untrained runners worst nightmare… A HUGE hill in the LAST mile of the race. I blurted out some obscenities and decided that I had to keep moving up that hill or I'd never start running again. Almost everyone was walking. I passed on a few words of encouragement to others as I wish others had done to me, and pushed on. Once I hit the track I found speed in those legs I would have never believed. I was flying by everyone… passed atleast 7 people. I heard my brother yelling at the sidelines and threw my hand out to wave. I glanced at the clock as I was going across the mat. It read "2:40:??" I was thrilled!! 5 minutes faster than my goal! I could hardly believe it. I threw my hands in the air and stumbled over to get my finishers medal and picture taken. I was so glad to be done running, but I felt SO stinkin' proud of myself for what I'd accomplished.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
I'm back... and Running! A Catch up entry
After completeing my first Half Marathon on 5/7/11, I'm taking this blog back in the direction of running. I went back and read back over my old posts and I'm truly amazed at how far I've made it! The accomplishments I've made over the last 10 months are really more pronounced now that I've seen where exactly I started. I couldn't run 3 miles without stopping, walking, boohooing and in general, just complaining. After missing my first half marathon in Myrtle Beach to a running injury, I slowly built up from 3 miles to 6 miles, to 8 miles, and then to 10. My first 10 mile run ever was on the Western Maryland Rail Trail in Feburary of this year. I still think to date this may have been the toughest run I've ever had. The trail was covered in about 5 inches of packed down snow, the wind was blowing at about 25 mph, and it was probably 30 degrees before factoring in the wind chill. The first mile or three I kept telling myself to just turn around, but before I knew it, I was at mile 5 and what goes out… must come back. I finished my grueling 10 mile run at 2:02. I knew at this point that it was defintley possible that I'd be able to do a half marathon. Infact, most half training plans don't take you beyond 10 miles. This is really when I got the fire under my ass to get a half marathon under my belt.
Just two Saturday's after my 10 miler, I did a 12 miler out on the C & O Canal. The snow was melted, but it was still cold and blustery. I saw very very few other people out on the canal that day and oddly enough they were doing runs just as long as I was. I only had intentions of doing another 10 miler, but at the 5 mile turn around point I decided to push out one more mile. I remember coming back and thinking "What the hell was I thinking?" but I finished in 2:27. I would have never believed even 7 years ago when I ran 5Ks on the cross country team that one day I'd be running 12 miles at a time. It was the craziest, yet most self accomplished feeling I've ever had. I had done it. Now.. what's left? Actually running a half marathon.
Fast forward a couple weeks, and I was signed up (completely on a whim) for the Chambersburg Half Marathon on 3/12. The weekend before the race I develop bronchitis that ended up knocking me off my running feet for a little over a month. This was now the second half marathon I'd missed, and I was really starting to think about dropping running from my life. In hopes of some kind of redeemance (is that even a word?), I signed up for a semi local 8 mile trail race at the NCTC. The night before the race (and hours before the looming government shut down) I get an email saying my race had been cancelled because it was on Federal Property. Really? Yes. My only hope left was the Frederick Half Marathon that I had signed up for MONTHS before hand, and that wasn't until May.
March and April were the worst months of "training" I've ever seen. I'd barely come up with 40 miles a month. I was tired of running. It seemed more like a chore, or a job. I was getting no actual satisfaction out of it at all. I was only hurting myself, and my pride. So when the week of 5/7 came along, I told myself that I couldn't BEAR to miss another race when there was nothing wrong with me except for being slightly..Ok… Extremely undertrained for my half. And on 5/7/2011 I experienced my first Half Marathon…..
Just two Saturday's after my 10 miler, I did a 12 miler out on the C & O Canal. The snow was melted, but it was still cold and blustery. I saw very very few other people out on the canal that day and oddly enough they were doing runs just as long as I was. I only had intentions of doing another 10 miler, but at the 5 mile turn around point I decided to push out one more mile. I remember coming back and thinking "What the hell was I thinking?" but I finished in 2:27. I would have never believed even 7 years ago when I ran 5Ks on the cross country team that one day I'd be running 12 miles at a time. It was the craziest, yet most self accomplished feeling I've ever had. I had done it. Now.. what's left? Actually running a half marathon.
Fast forward a couple weeks, and I was signed up (completely on a whim) for the Chambersburg Half Marathon on 3/12. The weekend before the race I develop bronchitis that ended up knocking me off my running feet for a little over a month. This was now the second half marathon I'd missed, and I was really starting to think about dropping running from my life. In hopes of some kind of redeemance (is that even a word?), I signed up for a semi local 8 mile trail race at the NCTC. The night before the race (and hours before the looming government shut down) I get an email saying my race had been cancelled because it was on Federal Property. Really? Yes. My only hope left was the Frederick Half Marathon that I had signed up for MONTHS before hand, and that wasn't until May.
March and April were the worst months of "training" I've ever seen. I'd barely come up with 40 miles a month. I was tired of running. It seemed more like a chore, or a job. I was getting no actual satisfaction out of it at all. I was only hurting myself, and my pride. So when the week of 5/7 came along, I told myself that I couldn't BEAR to miss another race when there was nothing wrong with me except for being slightly..Ok… Extremely undertrained for my half. And on 5/7/2011 I experienced my first Half Marathon…..
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