1/2 Marathon High

So it's been over a week since I finished my first half marathon.  I'm not sure what has held me back from writing about the experience because it was awesome.  I think maybe I have just been trying to come up with the right things to say to explain how happy I was and am and maybe I just need to start writing and stop thinking.

So here is the story of my first 1/2 marathon:

We attended a wedding the night before the half which was also in Syracuse.  We spent the evening socializing, carb loading, and drinking pitchers of water.  Fun!  I danced, which I was not sure would be a good idea.  I had some pain in my right TFL (top of the IT band) again and I didn't want to aggravate it.  When we got back to the hotel I rolled out my legs really well and especially the pain in my hip.  When I went to bed my hip felt pretty great actually, so maybe the dancing and foam roller was a beneficial pre-race activity!

Here I am in the hotel before leaving for the race (in reverse b/c I took the photo in the mirror).  The weather was MUCH cooler than I had anticipated.  Mid-40s at the beginning and Windy!  I had not packed a long sleeve shirt so I wore the race shirt.  Thankfully it fit and was very comfortable.  

We arrived at the race with no problems and in time to sit in the car and enjoy the heat on high for a few minutes and then stand in line for 20 minutes for a last minute bathroom break.  Below is a photo Tom snapped of me right before we started running.  I'm so cold but excited!

After the gun, Tom quickly faded into the crowd (he's so fast!) and I focused on finding people to try and keep up with.  We ran down city streets and to highways that led us to the Onondaga Lake Park trails.  While the view was very pretty along the water, here we began our encounter with one of those mysteries of nature where you are somehow able to run into the wind in both directions of an out-and-back race course.  The miles passed away quite well.  I carried pretzel sticks, honey stinger chews, and two bottles of orange flavored Nuun on my person and munched on pretzels every so often.  I stopped frequently to get sips of water and drank my Nuun.  

After the first few miles my splits got slower.  I started with a 10 min/mile pace (mistake) and slowed to 10:30 and couldn't keep that up so I slowed to 11:00.  My plan was to try and turn it on when I had 4.5 miles left to go.  So with anticipation and trepidation I put in my time waiting for the 8-9 mile point of the race. 

The male leader returned when I was at mile marker 4 (phew, so fast!)  

I watched and watched for the return of Tom.  Eventually I saw him, screamed his name and we slapped a solid high five.  I kept dreaming that the turn around must be right around the next bend, but of course 6.55 miles is pretty far.  I was ever so glad that I did not have to turn off onto the full course when I passed the fork in the road that led me to the left and marathoners to the right (they had a 30 minute earlier gun time than the half peeps).  

At mile marker 8, I decided to try one of the Accel chocolate gels they were handing out.  I was feeling pretty beat.  I would not normally feel so ready to try something new on a long run, but I had taken Imodium after breakfast to try and quell any "issues".  The gel went down really well.  It was very much like taking a swig of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.  

Somewhere around here the male marathon leader passed me!  He was thin with long hair and man was he booking!  He looked happy and focused.  Everyone cheered and you could hear the cheering move down the runners he passed like a "wave" in a football stadium.  

Back to me.  I felt pretty great after the gel at least until after mile 10, where I really felt OUT OF GAS.  This is the point where the race became grueling.  This is where my mind kicked in and kept me putting one foot in front of the other.  I just kept telling myself that the fastest way back to the car was to keep running -as quickly as physically possible!  The great running quote that this came from is:

"The best way out is always through" -Robert Frost

This is also where the dark thoughts and inner pleading dialog started.   A sampling of my thoughts follow:

"What was I thinking signing up for a 1/2 marathon?"

"I will NEVER be able to run a full marathon"

"I'm going to have to end my blog because I'm NEVER running EVER again!"

"Dear God, please, please, please, help me have the strength to keep running"

"I HAVE to beat my goal of 2:30 -Keep running!!!"

I trudged and trudged those last few miles.  I even found deep strength to pick up my pace for the last mile and to pick it up even faster for the last quarter.  I passed the finish at 2:26!  YAY I beat my goal of 2:30!  My average pace was 11:05!  WOW  That's 30 seconds faster than I used to run 1 mile!  When I stopped running I found that I was completely physically exhausted.  I had poor mental focus and getting my finisher medal and picking up post-race food and finding Tom are a pretty big blur.  Once we found each other we decided to go right back to the car and head home.  I could barely walk.  It was a pretty good hobble to the car.  We drove to Watertown and got some Wendy's.  I felt pretty weird and exhausted for the rest of the day.  It was great to see the kids again.  It was my first night away from baby Darren.  We had a huge pizza dinner at 4 :)

Props to my amazing husband who took running by the reins when I asked him to do the half with me.  My dreams of beating him in a race may never come true.  He finished in 1:50!!!!! Over 35 minutes faster than me.  I'm amazed and proud.  

That's it for now.  We're already formulating plans for a Spring marathon and I'm starting Insanity today... I'll let you know how that is going soon!  Thank you all for reading!  Happy Monday!

The tapering has begun!

I guess it has been a while since I updated you all on my progress.

Lets see:  Oct. 3 was another 5 mile run.  I had another run that felt much harder than the numbers appeared.  I'm getting faster and faster on "short" (snort) runs.  That weekend we went to an indoor water park with the kiddos and their cousin in Lake George, so no cross train on Sat.  We got back at around 3 on Sunday and decided to postpone our 9-mile runs for Monday (Tom took a long weekend).

Monday the 7th I set out to run my 9 right after Tom.  It was sunny and beautiful in the morning and almost right as I was about to go out the door a cold front and rain moved in.  I sat for 5 minutes completely ready to go looking out the window trying to decide what to do.  I ended up just going out into the rain.  I did a large 9 mile loop that took me out into the country before looping back into town.  This run was miserable.  I was exhausted after 4.5 miles.  I was soaked to the bone and jogging into driven cold rain.  I completely misjudged what I should wear.  I should also mention there were wind gusts up to 30mph and the general wind was at least 15mph.  I ran into the wind for 5 miles straight and up what felt like endless hills.  I was exhausted from trying to avoid puddles and eventually just slopped through them, my feet were soaked anyway.  I was barely jogging the last 1.5 miles back through town.  I didn't breath correctly and could barely open my lungs and abdomen to breath -maybe because I was so cold.  I had pain radiating down my left hip, buttock, and leg.  I can think of few times previously in my life I have been so thankful for a hot shower.  Despite all of this I made it! I am satisfied.

I shifted my mid-week 5 mile runs to Weds. and Fri. I killed my run on Wed. with a 10:03 min/mile average.  Friday I thought I was going to die but still pulled in a 10:16 min/mile average.  These numbers are amazing to me.

Saturday I finally got back to Zumba.  I can honestly feel my irritation creeping up when I have not gone to this class in a while.  There is something freeing about dancing that brings happiness to my soul.

Back to another grueling long run on Sunday.  10 miles.  The longest training run in my program for a half marathon.  I decided to switch it up and take salted pretzels out for fuel.  I carried Nuun in my water bottles on my belt.  I really liked the pretzels.  I ran the loop I ran for my 9 mile run in reverse and it wasn't as bad to run not in the rain.  I had to add an extra loop at the end to get 10 miles.  I was barely moving at the end.  This was the first run where I seriously doubted my ability to run the actual race.  I felt sad.  That's not fun.  Once it was done I was ok.  I was pretty stiff for the rest of the day and I ate lots of food and drank tons of water.

Since my run on Sunday I've been eating more than I usually do and drinking as much water as I can stand.  It's taper week and the race is Sunday in Syracuse.  I think I'm just hungry and have a hard time running that way.  I've been trying to lose baby weight and at least for this week I'm just going to eat :)  I tested my theory this morning with my first taper run of 4 miles.  After eating a lot and drinking lots of water I was SO fast!  I think my body and mind also exulted at the idea of not running 10 miles -and loved the extra carbs and hydration.  HA!  I finished in 35:26 with an average pace of 8:51!!!  That's AMAZING!!!  I can say one thing for sure about the LONG slow runs: they sure have made my short runs FAST.

Next up on the agenda is a 2 miler on Thursday.

Thanks for reading!!!!! Have a great week!

5 mile bleh/ I caught a leaf!

I should have known my regular Tuesday run would be more difficult after such an effort on Sunday, but the fatigue was still surprising when it roared it's ugly head after mile 2 of my 5 miler.

I left the house with a disquieted mind.  Jer was having a fit because I turned off all visual devices.  In the last month he has learned how to get almost every appliance in the house to play him a kids TV show... I didn't mean to drop the hammer on TV watching right before my Aunt arrived so that I could go run, it just happened.  To say he was upset about it is an extreme understatement.  There was that "mom doubt" in the back of my mind that I should not leave Jer with my Aunt while he is having a fit. Thank heaven my Aunt is a Saint and takes very good care of both of the boys despite their moods (when I got home Jer was fine and Darren was already down for his nap -woot woot).  The clamor in my head made me run a very fast first and second mile, which I should not have done.  I was to the point of wanting to stop -which hasn't happened in a while, after only those 2 miles.  I hunkered down and just kept it going.  My splits got slower and slower but the crazy thing is that my average pace was actually better than my "miraculous" run last Tuesday.  Go figure.

Other things of note for this run (which all happened within .25 of a mile from one another):

I had to stop for a car.  Strangely that hasn't happened before either.  I was seriously worried I wouldn't be able to get my legs to move again. But they did!

I got a rock in my shoe right behind my heel.  I had to stop and pull that out.  Once again I surprised myself with being able to get moving again.

I caught a leaf!!!  Right after pulling the rock out of my shoe and having dark-funky-fatigue-i-should-just-stop thoughts I reached out for a leaf and it fell right into my open hand.  Mood lifted!

The rest of the day went swimmingly.  I'm very glad I stuck it out. The weather has been so beautiful lately!

Happy Hump Day and Happy Reading!

6 Miles. Fast!

I'm so excited to be writing about this past week.

I concluded my weekday workouts with Zumba on Wednesday night (LOVE) and then a really nice 5 mile run Thursday morning.  I was worried I would not be even close to my great pace Tuesday, but I beat it!  I finished 5 in 51:42, which is just faster than Tues. with a 10:19min/mile pace.  Amazed!

I guess I was feeling particularly energetic this week because I went to Zumba Thursday night and had a blast.  I wanted to fit in another workout, but this weekend was Darren's first birthday! and I just knew I would not fit my Sat. morning Zumba class in.  I was surprised that I didn't feel dead after Zumba and was only slightly sore Friday morning in my quads.

I relaxed Friday and Saturday.  Darren was very cute eating his cake at his party Sat. :)  What a blessing to be able to celebrate these milestones with our babies.


Today for my long run Hal Higdon suggests a 10K at race pace.  I don't really know what my race pace is but I really was dreaming about 10 minute miles -especially after my 9:30ish min/mile 5K a few weeks ago.  I broke the 10K down to 6 miles just for the mental edge of trying to beat an hour doing 6 miles at 10 minutes/mile.

The long and short is that I did it!!!  I finished 6 miles in 59:59!!! Only 1 second to spare!  I think I was "sprinting" the last quarter mile watching the clock.  I was pretty sure if I pulled it all out I just might make it.  I am so happy!

The first mile felt pretty good, but I was just sure I would never be able to hold the pace.  I felt even more sure I would crash and burn after the second.  I just kept telling myself to keep it going.  I pushed from my glutes as much as I could and kept my arms going.

I tried to just keep thinking about my movement and breath.  I was in an in for 2 steps, out for 1 step, in for 1 step, out for 1 step breath almost from the beginning.  I usually run with in 3 steps out for 2 steps, but that wasn't enough to push me through a 10 minute mile.

I meant to wear my heart rate monitor, but I also was trying to get out of the house as quickly as I could so that I could get back to the kids and Tom.

I feel great.   YAY!  

Have a great week everyone and thank you for reading!

Looong Run fever!

I killed my 8 miler on Sunday!  When I had completed 5 miles I realized I was going to have extra gas in the tank when I got home so I picked up the pace.  I'm not saying it was easy breezy, but I wanted to feel like I left everything out there.  I was very tired when I finished. It was the end of the day-chasing daylight home and Jer had been particularly crazy all day.  I wasn't sure how the run would go when I started, but I was very pleasantly happy with the results.  

I love my long runs!  This spring, if you had told me I would run 8 miles this fall I would have had a hard time believing!  Thank you thank you Hal Higdon.  Your program is spot on!

Yay!

Also this morning I ran 5! And for me I was fast!  Yay again!

Nice splits! Woot woot!  Happy Tuesday!

Getting myself excited

I'm going to run 8 miles today.  I'm trying to remind myself of all the great reasons I run so that I don't psych myself out and instead get excited!  

Here's one.  The view of my flashy shoes is pretty great :)

Happy Sunday!

Lets get up to speed

I have sat down at the computer several times over the last week only to be pulled away by my 3 year old.  He has just stopped taking his afternoon nap and we are both adjusting!  Anyway, I have a lot to bring you up to speed about.

Tech

Shoes:  The Tri-noosa Asics came and they were tight and stiff even an entire size larger than the shoes I have been wearing.  They were VERY pretty with all of their crazy colors, but it wasn't enough.  Thankfully Zappos is very easy to return shoes to.  I was back to square one looking for Gel-nimbus 14s.  On a whim I looked at Zappos because they seemed to have the best price (easiest return policy) and THEY HAD THE CRAZY COLOR Nimbus 14s!!! only in my size!  I was so excited as I quickly purchased them!  Someone must have returned them knowing I needed them.  HA!

They have arrived and I have worn them to Zumba twice and out on my run once.  They seem just fine.  I hope that continues to be the case!

Heart Rate:  I used my birthday money from my parents to buy a Polar heart rate monitor.  It is the FT4 model.  I have used it at Zumba and out on my mid-week and long runs.  I was mostly interested to make sure I was working hard enough on my "hard" runs and not too hard on my long runs.   What I have learned so far is that I go a little too hard on long runs and I'm at about the correct heart rate % of max for my hard runs.  I have also found that at Zumba is a very nice HIIT workout.  During some of the songs I'm at only 60% of max and others I'm at about 90%.  It's also really  nice to see how many calories you are burning!

Road ID:  I also purchased a bracelet with my name/ birth year, emergency contacts and my allergies to wear when I'm out training.  I have actually decided to wear it all of the time.  Sometimes when I'm out with the boys I think crazy things like, "what if I was unconscious and no one knew who to call for the boys?".  They are too young to tell anyone who they are.  I try not to be a crazy anxious person but it makes me feel a bit better wearing the bracelet.  It's the slim from RoadID.  It was not expensive and it's pretty cute.  (Also, I have put quite a bit into my little running habit and had sort of overlooked the "what to do in an emergency" part -I highly recommend getting one)  They also have non-bracelet options.

Back to the actual running!

Tuesday after I wrote about  my amazing 5K I ran a very solid 4.5 just under 11min/mile. It was pretty tough.  I really pushed it on Sunday with that fast 5K!

Wednesday was of course ZUMBA!!! I can't get enough of that stuff!

Thursday was another 4.5 that was even more challenging than Tuesday.  I was pretty slow but it got done!

Friday I rested and rested.  Ah

Saturday there was no Zumba class.  Instead we went to the hospital and had Darren's 1 year-old anemia/lead screen blood drawn... I would have MUCH rather been dancing.  Poor little guy!  We played the rest of the day and I didn't do a formal exercise.  Sometimes rest is so very good!

Sunday was long run day!  7 miles baby!  I was pretty slow but nothing horrible.  I ran along the river and then turned around after 3.5.  I was pretty tired at the end.  I have been eating honey stingers gummy chews during my long run and carrying an 8oz of water and an 8oz of Nuun.  Seemed to be a good combo.  I ate one chew after each mile with a gulp alternating Nuun one mile and water the next.  It also seemed to make the miles go faster.  "Another chew?  Already? Nice!"  Then all the sudden my run was over!  I was going to jump into our still open pool -which is very cold, but by the time I was free to do so I had cooled down and was actually "cold".

On Monday I spent a lot of time on the floor playing with the kids and rolling my body with my foam roller and a tennis ball.  They think it's so funny.  My calves were sort of sore.  I rolled and rolled.

By Tuesday I felt pretty good and ran a solid 4.5 without too much difficulty.  I did not take any water out with my and had a 12oz of fruit punch accelerade before the run and chugged a full 16oz of Nuun on my way to the shower.  That seemed to work out well.

Wednesday was ZUMBA!!!  I was tired.  But I rocked it!

Thursday was another 4.5.  I had to keep distracting my brain from the run but I held on and finished a little under 11min/mile.  I took water with me because I felt a bit dehydrated from Zumba the night before.  I also drank 16oz Nuun before my shower.  I didn't recover well from my run.  I was cranky even after a banana, an apple, a turkey and cheese wrap, and some milk.  I didn't feel right until I finally thought maybe a GU energy gel might make me feel better.  Then I was fine.  Maybe a little too sugar low?  I felt like I needed sugar and caffeine.  The GU had some caffeine and obviously sugar.

That brings us to today = rest day.  Ah.

Happy Weekend Everyone!