I need to get caught up! I have 2 race reports to write and will have another one after this Saturday! June 4th, I did the Hospital Hill 10K in Kansas City, June 11th, I did the Fredonia Flag Festival 6K, and this Saturday I will do the Rock-n-Roll Seattle Half Marathon! I promise that I will get caught up after our vacation this weekend.
My husband and I are heading to Seattle tomorrow for a few reasons:
1 - We wanted to go somewhere for our anniversary. Our 1 year anniversary isn't until August 28th, but we decided to do the trip a little early and we decided on Seattle! I have been to Seattle once for work (8 years ago this month) and it was only for 1 day. I've always wanted to go back.
2 - David's brother lives about an hour away from Seattle and I haven't gotten to meet him and his wife yet, and David hasn't seen him in about 10 years. So we are really excited for them to come to Seattle on Saturday and hang out with us!
3 - We decided on this weekend because it is the weekend of the Rock-n-Roll Seattle Marathon series. I was looking for races to do on vacation and I've always wanted to do an RNR race, so the timing was perfect!
We will be there 4 nights and hopefully will come back refreshed and full of the fresh seafood Seattle has to offer!!! Once I get back, I'll give a vacation recap and also get caught up on all the race reports I need to write! Have a great weekend everyone!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Headbands and a Great Cause!
As some of you may know, I trained for my first half marathon through Team in Training. They are an amazing organization that raises money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while helping people train for endurance events. I raised $3900 in 2008 while training for the Nike Womens Half Marathon in San Francisco. I had a friend in high school who lost his battle with leukemia and I ran in memory of him and the many others who have been affected by those diseases.
I was catching up on some blogs and came across a post about someone raising money through Team in Training. Bethanye has to raise $2500 and has started making her own no-slip headbands to reach her fundraising goal. Go check out her fundraising page HERE, and help her raise money for Team in Training! I ordered 3 headbands and absolutely LOVE them!!!
I was catching up on some blogs and came across a post about someone raising money through Team in Training. Bethanye has to raise $2500 and has started making her own no-slip headbands to reach her fundraising goal. Go check out her fundraising page HERE, and help her raise money for Team in Training! I ordered 3 headbands and absolutely LOVE them!!!
Monday, May 16, 2011
CEP Compression Socks Review
I entered a raffle a while back on Stephanie’s Running to Health blog HERE and ended up winning some CEP Compression socks! I was so excited because they have been on my “running gear I want” list! I ordered the lime green ones and I couldn’t wait for them to come in so I could try them out.
Before I ever wore them on any runs, I wore them after a few runs to recover and make my calves feel better. One night I showered after my evening run, came downstairs in my lime green socks pulled up to my knees, and sat on the couch to watch my shows. My husband gave me this look like, “What are those and why are you wearing them?” So, I explained to him that I was hoping they would make my legs less tired if I wore these. And they did!
The first time I wore them on a run was a couple weeks ago on an 8 miler. It usually takes me a good half mile to get warmed up and settled into the cadence of my run. I had to take a different route than normal because of road construction, and they had this bridge across a creek totally blocked off. I tried to see if there was anywhere I could get through, but not even on foot could I do it. There were some new small hills I hadn’t run on before with it being a new route, but I felt great. My legs didn’t feel heavy like they sometimes do on longer runs. I don’t know if it’s just in my head, but I think the CEP Compression socks were what helped me feel so good.
I am so glad I am a runner and learned about compression technology, but I would recommend compression socks to ANYONE! You don’t have to be a runner or an athlete to get use out of them. I sit at a desk all day long and sometimes that makes my lower legs ache. If I am wearing pants and boots, I will wear my compression socks also and no one ever knows. But, then my legs still get that good circulation throughout the day and they don’t ache!
The other times I would recommend them is when you are flying or riding in a car for a long amount of time, or when you are going to be walking around a lot. They just give your legs that extra support and circulation. You don’t realize how much these compression socks will help you until you try them out and see how much better your legs feel! When driving to OKC a couple weeks ago, I wore the compression socks on the drive so that when we got there my legs felt fresh. And then I kept them on as we were walking around. When Sunday rolled around, my legs felt great for the run, even though I had been walking around a bunch that weekend.
Check out their website HERE to learn more about the technology they use and the different products they have. You won’t be sorry! Here is a picture off of their website of the green socks I got:
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay Race Report
This is a long post, so just know I warned you first!
Side note before the race report: I found out last week that I didn't get into the NYC Marathon this year. I had submitted my application through the lottery and wasn't picked. I could get in through fundraising, but I think I'll just keep trying through the lottery drawing (if you don't get in 3 years in a row, you are guaranteed to get in the 4th year). I was bummed at first, but it does take up a lot of time and energy, and I wasn't totally set on training for a full this year. Maybe I'll get in next year!!!
Now for the race report: I have been excited for this event ever since we signed up for it many months ago! It seemed so far away, but it finally got here. I took Friday off work and woke up at 5 am to watch the Royal Wedding while still laying in bed. I wasn’t planning on watching it in real time (I had the DVR set), but I needed to wake up at 6 anyway to get ready, so what’s an extra hour? She was beautiful, the wedding was beautiful and so nice to see some happiness! I pulled myself away from the TV, got ready and headed south. I drove to my hometown where Miranda and Amanda picked me up and the 3 of us headed even farther south. Our other teammates, Heather and Alyssa, were bringing their families and would be there a little later than us.
Side note before the race report: I found out last week that I didn't get into the NYC Marathon this year. I had submitted my application through the lottery and wasn't picked. I could get in through fundraising, but I think I'll just keep trying through the lottery drawing (if you don't get in 3 years in a row, you are guaranteed to get in the 4th year). I was bummed at first, but it does take up a lot of time and energy, and I wasn't totally set on training for a full this year. Maybe I'll get in next year!!!
Now for the race report: I have been excited for this event ever since we signed up for it many months ago! It seemed so far away, but it finally got here. I took Friday off work and woke up at 5 am to watch the Royal Wedding while still laying in bed. I wasn’t planning on watching it in real time (I had the DVR set), but I needed to wake up at 6 anyway to get ready, so what’s an extra hour? She was beautiful, the wedding was beautiful and so nice to see some happiness! I pulled myself away from the TV, got ready and headed south. I drove to my hometown where Miranda and Amanda picked me up and the 3 of us headed even farther south. Our other teammates, Heather and Alyssa, were bringing their families and would be there a little later than us.
We got to Oklahoma City, found our hotel in Bricktown and got checked in. Amanda really scored on the hotel through Priceline, so she got extra thank you’s from us for that! It was a nice hotel for an even nicer price and it was in walking distance to everything. Score!!! Friday night we went to the expo to pick up our packets and visit the booths. This was a great time to go as it wasn’t busy AT ALL! I thought these balloons were really neat!
Then we met up with a couple other runners (one we knew, and her friend we met for the first time). We ate some good Mexican food and then had a really fun night out! It was SO windy and we all kept hoping that it wouldn’t be that windy on Sunday for the race...more on that later.
Saturday, we slept in a little, and then ate the wonderful continental buffet breakfast the hotel had. It really was delicious! We walked around Bricktown and did whatever came to mind. We did go to the expo again (way busier this time), and we ate at Peachwave (my first frozen yogurt experience). After a little lounging, we decided to try Zio’s Italian restaurant for dinner. Luckily, we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated and the food was pretty amazing and priced extremely well. We definitely got our carb loading in!
We then decided to walk to the Memorial so we would know where to go the next morning and the best way to get to the start. We might have gotten a little turned around and went the wrong way... We wound up at a memorial, but not THE memorial. So, we got quite a bit of extra walking in the night before the race. But, we made it to the Memorial and this was my 2nd time visiting it. But this time was at night and it was so pretty and tranquil. So many emotions while looking at the memorial and reading about it. I thought back to the day the bombing happened and remembered exactly where I was and what I felt when seeing the destruction on TV. After seeing the Memorial, taking some pictures and feeling good about how to get there the next morning for a 6:30 start time, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep and rest our legs! Below is a picture of Amanda, Miranda and I in front of one of the race signs by the memorial.
And here is one of the entrances to the memorial. The lighting was beautiful.
4:45 am came early and I met Heather and Alyssa in the lobby at 5:30. Miranda and Amanda were legs 4 and 5 and they were going to wait a while before they went to the start. We start out walking and it was about 50 degrees or so. Nice weather for a run. After about 15 minutes of walking, it starts to rain and it starts to get colder. That’s okay, we knew there was a chance of rain. I was really lucky and somehow dressed appropriately. I had my long tights on with shorts over them (of course), a long sleeved shirt, my pink team shirt, my hat and my light Columbia rain jacket. It is really light weight and I thought if it did start raining that it would keep me dry and I could wrap it around my waist when I didn’t need it anymore. Getting closer to the start line, we met some people walking the other way saying the start was delayed 30 minutes. So, we headed to a big building that had an awning we could stand under for a while. The rain never stopped, so when it was time, we started walking again. Heather got to the start and Alyssa and I headed to the buses. I was the 3rd leg and decided that I didn’t need to get on the bus just yet and I would watch the start. There were around 25,000 runners and it was an amazing sight to see them all running by the Memorial at the start of the race!
You can see the start line on the left hand side and the runners are off!
Runners have gotten to me at this point and it is very hard to see, but you can still see people waiting to cross the start line as far back as you could see. TONS of people! I did get to see Heather, who was doing our first leg, pass me but my camera wouldn't cooperate, so I only got a picture of her back as she passed by me.
I then headed to the bus to have it take me to my exchange point. When we got there it was still raining and the only shelter was a little awning over this store front that could really only handle 2 people deep. But, it kept me somewhat dry while I was waiting. I waited until the last possible minute that I could, then I had to go stand in the rain at the exchange. I saw Heather come by as she was our first leg but was also continuing on to do her first full marathon! Alyssa came next and the exchange point was mass chaos with all the people handing off timing chips to the next runner. But I was off.
The only thing I wish I had were my gloves. I didn’t think about grabbing those. So, I pulled my sleeves down over my fingers and that helped a little. My toes were numb when I started and it took a good mile of running for me to feel them again! At that point, I needed to pee. I didn’t want to go at the exchange for fear of missing my team come through. So, I made the pit stop and it took a while to pull my pants up as I still couldn’t feel my fingers real well. After I got warmed up, I felt pretty great! I ended up just keeping my rain jacket on the whole time. It was very lightweight and it was keeping me from getting soaked. My feet weren’t dry, but my upper half was at least.
I think somewhere around the 5th mile of my leg, I saw Heather across from me on a hairpin turn by the lake. My legs were feeling great and I knew she could use some encouragement and company while running her full. I’d been there before and it can be a lonely experience. So, I had no idea if I would catch her or not, but I booked it and caught up with her. By this time it had finally stopped raining, so we ran the last couple miles of my leg together. We got to the exchange and I handed the chip off to Amanda and bid them both farewell. I got my medal, some food and headed to the bus. At about that time, the rain started again. And this time, it didn’t stop the rest of the race. I got to the Finish line so I could watch Miranda and Heather come in.
I got there in time to see the very end of the sub 4 hour marathoners finish. I smiled really big for them because that's a huge accomplishment and an amazing time!
I saw the firefighters (some of them who were there the day of the bombing 16 years ago) finish the race in all their gear. I cried.
I watched people who were running in honor of someone who died in the bombing. I cried.
I saw kids join their parents at the end to run over the finish line with them. I smiled.
I saw a guy who ran the whole thing carrying a huge American flag. I cried.
I saw people with “Marathon Virgin” shirts on and I thought of my first marathon. I cried.
I also got hailed on while in the stands and I was glad I wasn’t still running and I felt bad for whichever teammate of mine who was running and all the other people running in it. The good thing is the hail was small and it didn’t last long. The white dots on the road is hail.
I’ve never watched a finish as I have always been in the race. And we know I never finished early enough to watch many other people cross. Being in the relay was amazing to be able to run in the race, and then get to the finish to watch my teammate cross! I saw Miranda coming and I yelled as loud as I could for her and I was all smiles, and so was she! Here she is in the light pink shirt crossing the finish line!
I went to find her and Amanda and we went back to the finish to watch Heather cross the finish line of her first full marathon! We yelled for her and it was amazing to see her accomplish that feat. The weather was horrible, her knees were bothering her, but she is now a marathoner and that was SO neat to witness! Here she is in the bright pink shirt crossing the finish line!
By this time, I was FROZEN! The best part was getting a Carl’s Jr. hamburger at the finish line. It was so warm and yummy and I wished I would have grabbed about 5 of them! We decided to go to First Church which was close to the finish line because they were letting people go in there to warm up. Not only were they opening their doors for the runners to get warm, they were serving coffee to us and they had a huge pile of dry clothes if anyone wanted to change. I didn’t know this at the time, but learned while reading on the website that First Church opened their doors after the bombing and they were a place where families could go to learn about their loved ones who were in the Murrah building at the time of the bombing. It was also a temporary morgue right after the bombing. They were so gracious on race day, but their history with the Memorial goes way back to April 19, 1995. Here are the only pictures that I got of the Memorial on rainy race day.
We decided we would head to the hotel to take warm showers. It was still raining, but we weren’t too far. After walking about ½ a block, it started POURING! Not just raining, but pouring. I don’t know how it happened, but I saw a taxi for the first time all weekend and we flagged it down and hopped in. We were lucky to get that nice, warm, dry ride to the hotel. Here we are in the warm and dry taxi (Amanda, Me and Miranda).
We took warm showers, packed up and headed for home. The weather for the race wasn’t great, but the whole weekend was fun and the purpose of the race is way more important than any bad weather we had. We have decided to make this an annual event and we’re sure that there is no way we can have that bad weather 2 years in a row! Next year should be great, right? I guess we’ll have to see. Here is a picture of Miranda and Amanda at the finish and below that is one of me at the finish all bundled up.
Results of race:
A marathon relay was all new to me. It consisted of 5 legs:
Heather was the 1st leg which was approximately a 10K
Alyssa was the 2nd leg which was approximately a 5K
I was the 3rd leg which was approximately a 12K
Amanda was the 4th leg which was approximately a 5K
Miranda was the 5th leg which was approximately a 10K
My Garmin said this:
Miles: 7.37
Time: 1:22:56
Pace: 11:15
In all the exchange confusion, I forgot to stop my Garmin, but it might have only been a minute or 2. I don’t know for sure.
We were 83 out of 124 teams in the Open Female division. Our total time was 4:56:10.
So much fun and if anyone is considering a race, this is definitely one I would recommend. It was the 11th year they’ve done it and it is so well organized and there are so many wonderful volunteers that come out to help. Since it is for a great cause that touched all of us Americans, it has a real community feel to it even though it is so huge! Amazing race! I, unfortunately didn't end up with any pictures of all 5 team members. Sad!
Here are a few pictures of the medal we got for the relay. It has the logo of the Memorial on it - the Survivor's Tree. And the front of the medal is different from the back, which I thought was really neat!
Then we met up with a couple other runners (one we knew, and her friend we met for the first time). We ate some good Mexican food and then had a really fun night out! It was SO windy and we all kept hoping that it wouldn’t be that windy on Sunday for the race...more on that later.Saturday, we slept in a little, and then ate the wonderful continental buffet breakfast the hotel had. It really was delicious! We walked around Bricktown and did whatever came to mind. We did go to the expo again (way busier this time), and we ate at Peachwave (my first frozen yogurt experience). After a little lounging, we decided to try Zio’s Italian restaurant for dinner. Luckily, we only had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated and the food was pretty amazing and priced extremely well. We definitely got our carb loading in!
We then decided to walk to the Memorial so we would know where to go the next morning and the best way to get to the start. We might have gotten a little turned around and went the wrong way... We wound up at a memorial, but not THE memorial. So, we got quite a bit of extra walking in the night before the race. But, we made it to the Memorial and this was my 2nd time visiting it. But this time was at night and it was so pretty and tranquil. So many emotions while looking at the memorial and reading about it. I thought back to the day the bombing happened and remembered exactly where I was and what I felt when seeing the destruction on TV. After seeing the Memorial, taking some pictures and feeling good about how to get there the next morning for a 6:30 start time, we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep and rest our legs! Below is a picture of Amanda, Miranda and I in front of one of the race signs by the memorial.
And here is one of the entrances to the memorial. The lighting was beautiful.
4:45 am came early and I met Heather and Alyssa in the lobby at 5:30. Miranda and Amanda were legs 4 and 5 and they were going to wait a while before they went to the start. We start out walking and it was about 50 degrees or so. Nice weather for a run. After about 15 minutes of walking, it starts to rain and it starts to get colder. That’s okay, we knew there was a chance of rain. I was really lucky and somehow dressed appropriately. I had my long tights on with shorts over them (of course), a long sleeved shirt, my pink team shirt, my hat and my light Columbia rain jacket. It is really light weight and I thought if it did start raining that it would keep me dry and I could wrap it around my waist when I didn’t need it anymore. Getting closer to the start line, we met some people walking the other way saying the start was delayed 30 minutes. So, we headed to a big building that had an awning we could stand under for a while. The rain never stopped, so when it was time, we started walking again. Heather got to the start and Alyssa and I headed to the buses. I was the 3rd leg and decided that I didn’t need to get on the bus just yet and I would watch the start. There were around 25,000 runners and it was an amazing sight to see them all running by the Memorial at the start of the race!You can see the start line on the left hand side and the runners are off!
Runners have gotten to me at this point and it is very hard to see, but you can still see people waiting to cross the start line as far back as you could see. TONS of people! I did get to see Heather, who was doing our first leg, pass me but my camera wouldn't cooperate, so I only got a picture of her back as she passed by me.
I then headed to the bus to have it take me to my exchange point. When we got there it was still raining and the only shelter was a little awning over this store front that could really only handle 2 people deep. But, it kept me somewhat dry while I was waiting. I waited until the last possible minute that I could, then I had to go stand in the rain at the exchange. I saw Heather come by as she was our first leg but was also continuing on to do her first full marathon! Alyssa came next and the exchange point was mass chaos with all the people handing off timing chips to the next runner. But I was off.The only thing I wish I had were my gloves. I didn’t think about grabbing those. So, I pulled my sleeves down over my fingers and that helped a little. My toes were numb when I started and it took a good mile of running for me to feel them again! At that point, I needed to pee. I didn’t want to go at the exchange for fear of missing my team come through. So, I made the pit stop and it took a while to pull my pants up as I still couldn’t feel my fingers real well. After I got warmed up, I felt pretty great! I ended up just keeping my rain jacket on the whole time. It was very lightweight and it was keeping me from getting soaked. My feet weren’t dry, but my upper half was at least.
I think somewhere around the 5th mile of my leg, I saw Heather across from me on a hairpin turn by the lake. My legs were feeling great and I knew she could use some encouragement and company while running her full. I’d been there before and it can be a lonely experience. So, I had no idea if I would catch her or not, but I booked it and caught up with her. By this time it had finally stopped raining, so we ran the last couple miles of my leg together. We got to the exchange and I handed the chip off to Amanda and bid them both farewell. I got my medal, some food and headed to the bus. At about that time, the rain started again. And this time, it didn’t stop the rest of the race. I got to the Finish line so I could watch Miranda and Heather come in.
I got there in time to see the very end of the sub 4 hour marathoners finish. I smiled really big for them because that's a huge accomplishment and an amazing time!
I saw the firefighters (some of them who were there the day of the bombing 16 years ago) finish the race in all their gear. I cried.
I watched people who were running in honor of someone who died in the bombing. I cried.I saw kids join their parents at the end to run over the finish line with them. I smiled.
I saw a guy who ran the whole thing carrying a huge American flag. I cried.
I saw people with “Marathon Virgin” shirts on and I thought of my first marathon. I cried.I also got hailed on while in the stands and I was glad I wasn’t still running and I felt bad for whichever teammate of mine who was running and all the other people running in it. The good thing is the hail was small and it didn’t last long. The white dots on the road is hail.
I’ve never watched a finish as I have always been in the race. And we know I never finished early enough to watch many other people cross. Being in the relay was amazing to be able to run in the race, and then get to the finish to watch my teammate cross! I saw Miranda coming and I yelled as loud as I could for her and I was all smiles, and so was she! Here she is in the light pink shirt crossing the finish line!
I went to find her and Amanda and we went back to the finish to watch Heather cross the finish line of her first full marathon! We yelled for her and it was amazing to see her accomplish that feat. The weather was horrible, her knees were bothering her, but she is now a marathoner and that was SO neat to witness! Here she is in the bright pink shirt crossing the finish line!
By this time, I was FROZEN! The best part was getting a Carl’s Jr. hamburger at the finish line. It was so warm and yummy and I wished I would have grabbed about 5 of them! We decided to go to First Church which was close to the finish line because they were letting people go in there to warm up. Not only were they opening their doors for the runners to get warm, they were serving coffee to us and they had a huge pile of dry clothes if anyone wanted to change. I didn’t know this at the time, but learned while reading on the website that First Church opened their doors after the bombing and they were a place where families could go to learn about their loved ones who were in the Murrah building at the time of the bombing. It was also a temporary morgue right after the bombing. They were so gracious on race day, but their history with the Memorial goes way back to April 19, 1995. Here are the only pictures that I got of the Memorial on rainy race day.
We decided we would head to the hotel to take warm showers. It was still raining, but we weren’t too far. After walking about ½ a block, it started POURING! Not just raining, but pouring. I don’t know how it happened, but I saw a taxi for the first time all weekend and we flagged it down and hopped in. We were lucky to get that nice, warm, dry ride to the hotel. Here we are in the warm and dry taxi (Amanda, Me and Miranda).
We took warm showers, packed up and headed for home. The weather for the race wasn’t great, but the whole weekend was fun and the purpose of the race is way more important than any bad weather we had. We have decided to make this an annual event and we’re sure that there is no way we can have that bad weather 2 years in a row! Next year should be great, right? I guess we’ll have to see. Here is a picture of Miranda and Amanda at the finish and below that is one of me at the finish all bundled up.
Results of race:A marathon relay was all new to me. It consisted of 5 legs:
Heather was the 1st leg which was approximately a 10K
Alyssa was the 2nd leg which was approximately a 5K
I was the 3rd leg which was approximately a 12K
Amanda was the 4th leg which was approximately a 5K
Miranda was the 5th leg which was approximately a 10K
My Garmin said this:
Miles: 7.37
Time: 1:22:56
Pace: 11:15
In all the exchange confusion, I forgot to stop my Garmin, but it might have only been a minute or 2. I don’t know for sure.
We were 83 out of 124 teams in the Open Female division. Our total time was 4:56:10.
So much fun and if anyone is considering a race, this is definitely one I would recommend. It was the 11th year they’ve done it and it is so well organized and there are so many wonderful volunteers that come out to help. Since it is for a great cause that touched all of us Americans, it has a real community feel to it even though it is so huge! Amazing race! I, unfortunately didn't end up with any pictures of all 5 team members. Sad!
Here are a few pictures of the medal we got for the relay. It has the logo of the Memorial on it - the Survivor's Tree. And the front of the medal is different from the back, which I thought was really neat!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Lawrence Half Marathon Race Report
Sorry, but this will be fairly long as it is my first half marathon race report since I started my blog!
On April 17th, I ran my first half marathon of the year and it was a perfect day! The race was held in Lawrence, KS. I got there early, got parked and got to the port-a-potty line. It wasn’t too bad of a wait, then I headed to the start to stretch and wait for the gun to go off. This is only my 3rd half marathon. I did a walking one quite a few years back and then did my first running one in San Francisco in Oct of 2008. I have done a full marathon since then (Oct 2009), but this was my first half since Oct '08.
We were really lucky on the weather that day. There wasn’t much wind at the start, no rain, and it was the perfect temp (around 45 – I can’t remember exactly). The sun was out and I was ready! I wasn’t doing this with any friends, it was just me, myself and I. I didn’t necessarily have any specific time goal, I just knew I wanted to PR. And that shouldn’t be hard considering my last half I completed in just under 3 hours, and I took advantage in that race of the photo ops (Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, San Francisco, etc). I stopped a lot to take pictures and I walked a lot with the knee issues I was having, so it wasn’t a fast race by any means!
I haven’t run with a pace group in any of my other races. This is mainly because I had no confidence in myself. I didn’t think I could keep up with them, and I didn’t want to feel bad when I thought I needed to rest, stretch, or walk a little bit. I am very competitive and I felt like running with a pace group would be setting myself up to fail (in my mind anyway). But, I was standing close to the 2:40 pace group while waiting for the race to start. At that moment, I made the decision to start out with that group and keep up with them as long as I could and to not beat myself up if I couldn’t do it. 2:40 would be a PR for me by about 20 minutes, so I knew I had some wiggle room in case I couldn’t keep up with them. I would have 20 minutes to work with to still get my PR. Well, in the commotion of the start and getting through the crowd and settling into a comfortable pace, I looked up and realized I was next to the 2:20 pace group. Okay, that’s fine, I will hang out with them and when I fall back off their pace, that’s fine. Well, it turns out that their pace felt very comfortable to me, so I went with it. The 2 pacers were guys and were very entertaining and encouraging, and the group was chatting (aside from me). I’m not a great chatter while I’m running, so I listened to their conversations and settled into the race.
Just about 1.5 miles in, I needed to pee. I kept telling myself it was just nerves and the feeling would go away. After all, I went right before the race. Well, around mile 5, I was still needing to and I saw a port-a-potty up ahead (never thought one of those gross things could look so welcoming)! So, I sped up a little to get ahead of the group and stopped at the port-a-potty. I had to wait on one person to finish up, I rushed in there and rushed out in pretty good time. I was so sad to have to leave the pace group because I was enjoying running with them, but I couldn’t ignore Mother Nature any more. I decided to see if I could catch up with them at some point (without killing myself of course). I could see them up in the distance (the course at that point was pretty straight and flat), and at about mile 8, I was back with the group! Wow, did that give me a boost of confidence or what? I didn’t know if I had made a mistake catching up with them: would I run out of steam a few miles after that? I had no idea, but knew I’d find out soon enough.
The course was fairly flat, with a few small hills. Hills are challenging no matter what, but they weren’t the hills we would have had if the course had went on the University of Kansas campus like it was originally scheduled to. The race started out at Haskell University and stayed on the eastern part of Lawrence. We ran down Mass Street, but that was as far west as we got. As the miles passed, the group got smaller. There were probably 10 of us who started out running with the 2:20 pace group. After some people slowed down, and others had to take late bathroom breaks, it was just me, another girl and the 2 pace guys. 1 of the pacers dropped back to see if he could help some others catch up, so then there were 3. Then about mile 9.5, the other girl dropped back. It was just me and 1 of the pacers.
After mile 10, I thought I hit the wall. My legs started feeling hollow and heavy, my knees started aching some and as much as I didn’t want to, I took a few short walk breaks the last 3 miles or so. It might not have been a wall that I hit, but just a barbed wire fence, because my times didn’t reflect me slowing down as much as I thought I had. But I was hurting, but I pressed on. I fell back from the pacer, so I was alone for the first time. I also turned my music on for the first time and there were some good songs that gave me some momentum. I kept pushing, I hydrated at the water station, and I kept running. I saw the last turn that led to the finish and even though I was so close, I felt like I was so far away. The other pacer who had dropped back had caught back up, passed me and the 2 pacers were together again. I could see them and I saw them walk a while (probably because their pace had been a little fast in the last couple miles). The last stretch was on the Haskell University track – you had to run probably 220 meters on the track to the finish line. That was the LONGEST 220 in my life, but I was inspired by the people cheering, the big finish line, and I was really close to the 2 pacers. I kicked in as much as I could (it wasn’t much) and the clock above me said 2:19:39 when I crossed the finish! WHAT? I made it under 2:20? The 2 pace guys were there congratulating me since I had told them earlier what a huge PR it would be for me if I finished in 2:20. It was the best feeling! That I was done and had gotten a time that I never thought I could. It’s not fast for most people by any means, but for me, it was, and I felt amazing that I had done it!
I got me some food and drinks and then headed home to tell my husband about it. Some of you might be wondering why he wasn’t there cheering me on? Well, he had committed to going turkey hunting with his friend and his friend's 9 year old son. It was the boy’s first time turkey hunting and my husband was taping his hunt for him. We both have our individual activities and we support each other in those, it just so happened we both had stuff going on that morning. But he will be there cheering me on in Seattle in June!
I learned a lot from this race and hopefully can continue to learn more and improve in the future. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind to sand bag this race a little so that I can continue to get PR’s! But I gave it my all and I will just have to train harder to get some PR’s in the future. The main thing I took away from this race and the training that went along with it was how important it is to train outside! This was the first training season where the majority of runs I did were outside. I never minded the treadmill before and did most training runs at the gym. This season was different in that I ran outside when the weather allowed it. During the winter when there was ice and snow on the ground, I ran on the treadmill, but the majority was outside and it makes a HUGE difference. On a treadmill, your pace is controlled, there are no hills, no pace changes, nothing. Totally different from an actual race. It’s not rocket science to figure out if you train in the same conditions as race day (you just can’t control the weather), you will be more prepared. But, I guess I just never thought about that before. After running outside so much, I kind of despise the treadmill. But, it is needed when you just can’t get outside to run.
Here are the official race results:
Time: 2:19:39
Pace: 10:40
Overall place: 510 (not sure how many people total ran in the half)
Division Place: 46/62 (Female 30-34)
Female Place: 228/350
Garmin: 13.35 miles at 2:19:40
Mile 1: 11:00
Mile 2: 10:36
Mile 3: 10:42
Mile 4: 10:22
Mile 5: 11:45 (potty break)
Mile 6: 9:35 (playing catch up)
Mile 7: 10:06 (playing catch up)
Mile 8: 10:28
Mile 9: 10:09
Mile 10: 9:50
Mile 11: 9:59 (I thought I hit the wall, but this doesn't show it)
Mile 12: 11:06 (I slowed here and walked some)
Mile 13: 10:21 (Starting to push to the finish)
Last .35 miles: 03:35
I still haven’t seen any official race pictures, so the ones my husband took of me when I got home will have to do. The first one is me and Bode with the medal around our necks. He was excited for me even if he doesn't look like he was!
On April 17th, I ran my first half marathon of the year and it was a perfect day! The race was held in Lawrence, KS. I got there early, got parked and got to the port-a-potty line. It wasn’t too bad of a wait, then I headed to the start to stretch and wait for the gun to go off. This is only my 3rd half marathon. I did a walking one quite a few years back and then did my first running one in San Francisco in Oct of 2008. I have done a full marathon since then (Oct 2009), but this was my first half since Oct '08.
We were really lucky on the weather that day. There wasn’t much wind at the start, no rain, and it was the perfect temp (around 45 – I can’t remember exactly). The sun was out and I was ready! I wasn’t doing this with any friends, it was just me, myself and I. I didn’t necessarily have any specific time goal, I just knew I wanted to PR. And that shouldn’t be hard considering my last half I completed in just under 3 hours, and I took advantage in that race of the photo ops (Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, San Francisco, etc). I stopped a lot to take pictures and I walked a lot with the knee issues I was having, so it wasn’t a fast race by any means!
I haven’t run with a pace group in any of my other races. This is mainly because I had no confidence in myself. I didn’t think I could keep up with them, and I didn’t want to feel bad when I thought I needed to rest, stretch, or walk a little bit. I am very competitive and I felt like running with a pace group would be setting myself up to fail (in my mind anyway). But, I was standing close to the 2:40 pace group while waiting for the race to start. At that moment, I made the decision to start out with that group and keep up with them as long as I could and to not beat myself up if I couldn’t do it. 2:40 would be a PR for me by about 20 minutes, so I knew I had some wiggle room in case I couldn’t keep up with them. I would have 20 minutes to work with to still get my PR. Well, in the commotion of the start and getting through the crowd and settling into a comfortable pace, I looked up and realized I was next to the 2:20 pace group. Okay, that’s fine, I will hang out with them and when I fall back off their pace, that’s fine. Well, it turns out that their pace felt very comfortable to me, so I went with it. The 2 pacers were guys and were very entertaining and encouraging, and the group was chatting (aside from me). I’m not a great chatter while I’m running, so I listened to their conversations and settled into the race.
Just about 1.5 miles in, I needed to pee. I kept telling myself it was just nerves and the feeling would go away. After all, I went right before the race. Well, around mile 5, I was still needing to and I saw a port-a-potty up ahead (never thought one of those gross things could look so welcoming)! So, I sped up a little to get ahead of the group and stopped at the port-a-potty. I had to wait on one person to finish up, I rushed in there and rushed out in pretty good time. I was so sad to have to leave the pace group because I was enjoying running with them, but I couldn’t ignore Mother Nature any more. I decided to see if I could catch up with them at some point (without killing myself of course). I could see them up in the distance (the course at that point was pretty straight and flat), and at about mile 8, I was back with the group! Wow, did that give me a boost of confidence or what? I didn’t know if I had made a mistake catching up with them: would I run out of steam a few miles after that? I had no idea, but knew I’d find out soon enough.
The course was fairly flat, with a few small hills. Hills are challenging no matter what, but they weren’t the hills we would have had if the course had went on the University of Kansas campus like it was originally scheduled to. The race started out at Haskell University and stayed on the eastern part of Lawrence. We ran down Mass Street, but that was as far west as we got. As the miles passed, the group got smaller. There were probably 10 of us who started out running with the 2:20 pace group. After some people slowed down, and others had to take late bathroom breaks, it was just me, another girl and the 2 pace guys. 1 of the pacers dropped back to see if he could help some others catch up, so then there were 3. Then about mile 9.5, the other girl dropped back. It was just me and 1 of the pacers.
After mile 10, I thought I hit the wall. My legs started feeling hollow and heavy, my knees started aching some and as much as I didn’t want to, I took a few short walk breaks the last 3 miles or so. It might not have been a wall that I hit, but just a barbed wire fence, because my times didn’t reflect me slowing down as much as I thought I had. But I was hurting, but I pressed on. I fell back from the pacer, so I was alone for the first time. I also turned my music on for the first time and there were some good songs that gave me some momentum. I kept pushing, I hydrated at the water station, and I kept running. I saw the last turn that led to the finish and even though I was so close, I felt like I was so far away. The other pacer who had dropped back had caught back up, passed me and the 2 pacers were together again. I could see them and I saw them walk a while (probably because their pace had been a little fast in the last couple miles). The last stretch was on the Haskell University track – you had to run probably 220 meters on the track to the finish line. That was the LONGEST 220 in my life, but I was inspired by the people cheering, the big finish line, and I was really close to the 2 pacers. I kicked in as much as I could (it wasn’t much) and the clock above me said 2:19:39 when I crossed the finish! WHAT? I made it under 2:20? The 2 pace guys were there congratulating me since I had told them earlier what a huge PR it would be for me if I finished in 2:20. It was the best feeling! That I was done and had gotten a time that I never thought I could. It’s not fast for most people by any means, but for me, it was, and I felt amazing that I had done it!
I got me some food and drinks and then headed home to tell my husband about it. Some of you might be wondering why he wasn’t there cheering me on? Well, he had committed to going turkey hunting with his friend and his friend's 9 year old son. It was the boy’s first time turkey hunting and my husband was taping his hunt for him. We both have our individual activities and we support each other in those, it just so happened we both had stuff going on that morning. But he will be there cheering me on in Seattle in June!
I learned a lot from this race and hopefully can continue to learn more and improve in the future. Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind to sand bag this race a little so that I can continue to get PR’s! But I gave it my all and I will just have to train harder to get some PR’s in the future. The main thing I took away from this race and the training that went along with it was how important it is to train outside! This was the first training season where the majority of runs I did were outside. I never minded the treadmill before and did most training runs at the gym. This season was different in that I ran outside when the weather allowed it. During the winter when there was ice and snow on the ground, I ran on the treadmill, but the majority was outside and it makes a HUGE difference. On a treadmill, your pace is controlled, there are no hills, no pace changes, nothing. Totally different from an actual race. It’s not rocket science to figure out if you train in the same conditions as race day (you just can’t control the weather), you will be more prepared. But, I guess I just never thought about that before. After running outside so much, I kind of despise the treadmill. But, it is needed when you just can’t get outside to run.
Here are the official race results:
Time: 2:19:39
Pace: 10:40
Overall place: 510 (not sure how many people total ran in the half)
Division Place: 46/62 (Female 30-34)
Female Place: 228/350
Garmin: 13.35 miles at 2:19:40
Mile 1: 11:00
Mile 2: 10:36
Mile 3: 10:42
Mile 4: 10:22
Mile 5: 11:45 (potty break)
Mile 6: 9:35 (playing catch up)
Mile 7: 10:06 (playing catch up)
Mile 8: 10:28
Mile 9: 10:09
Mile 10: 9:50
Mile 11: 9:59 (I thought I hit the wall, but this doesn't show it)
Mile 12: 11:06 (I slowed here and walked some)
Mile 13: 10:21 (Starting to push to the finish)
Last .35 miles: 03:35
I still haven’t seen any official race pictures, so the ones my husband took of me when I got home will have to do. The first one is me and Bode with the medal around our necks. He was excited for me even if he doesn't look like he was!
Catch-up Post
I promise I’m still here and I’m still running. I’ve just been busy doing tons of other things as well! After my last post of the race recap back in March, I got a cold and didn’t do much of anything, let alone running, for a couple weeks. I got back into it and have since then done my first half marathon of the year. I have a race recap for you later, but right now, a post of catch-up.
First and foremost, here is an update on our lab Maverick. He had ACL surgery 4 months ago (you can check out the post-surgery post HERE). We had 8 weeks of basically no activity at all (aside from walking outside to do his business). He had to stay on our main level in our house. He couldn’t go upstairs, nor could he go down to the basement. There is a door to our basement, so that was easy keeping him off those stairs. We used a baby gate for the stairs going to our 3rd level. This was a baby gate I used when my Shih-Tzu was a puppy to keep him corralled in the kitchen. This is also the same baby gate my husband said we should get rid of when we moved because we wouldn’t need it for anything. Yet another situation where I was right! Just kidding! If we weren’t home or weren’t able to watch him, he stayed in his kennel. Otherwise, he chilled on his massive pillow on the floor.
After 8 weeks was finished, we started physical therapy. The first 3 weeks was walking him slowly short distances and increasing the distance when we felt he was comfortable enough to go more. He couldn’t jog or run, and was on a tight leash right beside us. It made him jealous that his brother, Bode, could run ahead of us, but Maverick did exceptional. The next 3 weeks, we kept walking him, but he could jog or go as far as the leash would let him. This helped him get front, back and sideways movements in helping his knee to heal and gain strength. The next 2 weeks, we still went on walks, just longer ones, and he also got to spend time running around in the yard off the leash.
I took him to his final appt last Friday and the vet was amazed at how well he had progressed. For one thing, the major accomplishment was getting him to lose 15 pounds! He is now 74 pounds and the vet is pleased at where he’s at. Being smaller will give his joints relief, so that he doesn’t injure that knee (or the others) again! He said his range of motion is good, his knee feels secure and all around, he is healing great! He can resume normal activity and can use the stairs again. No more of us stepping over the tall baby gate to go up or down the stairs!
2nd major thing is that my cousin, Matt, and his wife, Jessica, had their first little baby on April 4th. A little girl named Kinzley Scott, and she is a doll! I have enjoyed all the time I’ve had to love on her so far and I can’t wait to watch her grow up through the years! Isn't she just precious?
Last weekend was Easter, along with many other activities. I got to see some wonderful friends from high school and their kids. Sara and her daughter, Allison, were in town from Houston, so it was great to see them and see how big Allison is getting! I know it looks like Allison is scared slightly, but she really likes me, I promise!
My 4-year-old nieces had their first ever gymnastics clinic and I can’t even describe to you how much I enjoyed watching them. I started gymnastics when I was 9 and I did it until I went off to college. I did dance and all kinds of sports growing up. Aside from basketball (I loved the team aspect of that sport), gymnastics was my favorite and something I absolutely loved! I loved how strong I felt doing it, how accomplished it made me feel when I learned a new trick, and how much it helped me in the other sports I played. So, even though they are 4 and aren’t doing massive huge tricks, it made my heart very happy watching them do gymnastics. And I hope they continue to have fun and love it as much as I did! This picture below is V in the pink shirt and blue tights. You can see T in her pink shirt toward the right of the picture.
This next picture is T (pink shirt and green tights) doing a somersault.
We also had a dinner celebration for my grandparents. It was their 60th wedding anniversary on April 14th, and this past Saturday we celebrated with their friends and family, and everyone had a great time! Below is me and my brother with my grandparents. 
These pretty ladies are my nieces!
Between seeing old friends, watching gymnastics, celebrating anniversaries, hunting Easter eggs, going to a wonderful Easter church service, celebrating Easter and eating lots of good food with family, I am worn out!
But, there will be a race recap of my half marathon coming soon. I have to get it done because I have another race coming up this weekend. 5 of us are going to Oklahoma City to do the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay and I’m so excited as it’ll be a lot of fun! I’ll recap that race after we get back.
First and foremost, here is an update on our lab Maverick. He had ACL surgery 4 months ago (you can check out the post-surgery post HERE). We had 8 weeks of basically no activity at all (aside from walking outside to do his business). He had to stay on our main level in our house. He couldn’t go upstairs, nor could he go down to the basement. There is a door to our basement, so that was easy keeping him off those stairs. We used a baby gate for the stairs going to our 3rd level. This was a baby gate I used when my Shih-Tzu was a puppy to keep him corralled in the kitchen. This is also the same baby gate my husband said we should get rid of when we moved because we wouldn’t need it for anything. Yet another situation where I was right! Just kidding! If we weren’t home or weren’t able to watch him, he stayed in his kennel. Otherwise, he chilled on his massive pillow on the floor.
After 8 weeks was finished, we started physical therapy. The first 3 weeks was walking him slowly short distances and increasing the distance when we felt he was comfortable enough to go more. He couldn’t jog or run, and was on a tight leash right beside us. It made him jealous that his brother, Bode, could run ahead of us, but Maverick did exceptional. The next 3 weeks, we kept walking him, but he could jog or go as far as the leash would let him. This helped him get front, back and sideways movements in helping his knee to heal and gain strength. The next 2 weeks, we still went on walks, just longer ones, and he also got to spend time running around in the yard off the leash.
I took him to his final appt last Friday and the vet was amazed at how well he had progressed. For one thing, the major accomplishment was getting him to lose 15 pounds! He is now 74 pounds and the vet is pleased at where he’s at. Being smaller will give his joints relief, so that he doesn’t injure that knee (or the others) again! He said his range of motion is good, his knee feels secure and all around, he is healing great! He can resume normal activity and can use the stairs again. No more of us stepping over the tall baby gate to go up or down the stairs!
2nd major thing is that my cousin, Matt, and his wife, Jessica, had their first little baby on April 4th. A little girl named Kinzley Scott, and she is a doll! I have enjoyed all the time I’ve had to love on her so far and I can’t wait to watch her grow up through the years! Isn't she just precious?
Last weekend was Easter, along with many other activities. I got to see some wonderful friends from high school and their kids. Sara and her daughter, Allison, were in town from Houston, so it was great to see them and see how big Allison is getting! I know it looks like Allison is scared slightly, but she really likes me, I promise!
My 4-year-old nieces had their first ever gymnastics clinic and I can’t even describe to you how much I enjoyed watching them. I started gymnastics when I was 9 and I did it until I went off to college. I did dance and all kinds of sports growing up. Aside from basketball (I loved the team aspect of that sport), gymnastics was my favorite and something I absolutely loved! I loved how strong I felt doing it, how accomplished it made me feel when I learned a new trick, and how much it helped me in the other sports I played. So, even though they are 4 and aren’t doing massive huge tricks, it made my heart very happy watching them do gymnastics. And I hope they continue to have fun and love it as much as I did! This picture below is V in the pink shirt and blue tights. You can see T in her pink shirt toward the right of the picture.
This next picture is T (pink shirt and green tights) doing a somersault.
We also had a dinner celebration for my grandparents. It was their 60th wedding anniversary on April 14th, and this past Saturday we celebrated with their friends and family, and everyone had a great time! Below is me and my brother with my grandparents. 
These pretty ladies are my nieces!
Between seeing old friends, watching gymnastics, celebrating anniversaries, hunting Easter eggs, going to a wonderful Easter church service, celebrating Easter and eating lots of good food with family, I am worn out!But, there will be a race recap of my half marathon coming soon. I have to get it done because I have another race coming up this weekend. 5 of us are going to Oklahoma City to do the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon Relay and I’m so excited as it’ll be a lot of fun! I’ll recap that race after we get back.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Race Report - Leaping Leprechauns 15K
Last weekend, I went down to Dallas to visit some friends. I had a 10 mile training run on the schedule and knew that I would be more likely to get that training run in if I registered for a race. There was a Leaping Leprechauns race in McKinney, TX, the town I used to live in and they had a 1K kids run, a 5K and a 15K. I thought that would be perfect, so I registered and showed up Saturday morning, March 12th. I didn't get all dressed up in green or anything (I know, I should have been more festive). And I didn't get any pictures of myself at the race, but I promise I was there!
The course was more hilly than I thought it would be, but it was a nice challenge. No killer hills, just quite a few smaller ones. The weather down in Texas was obviously a little warmer than what I was used to, but I couldn't complain because the sun felt great! The race was small. It was put on by the Stonebridge Racers, a great community of runners there in McKinney. They raffled off some prizes after the race, so that was neat. I won a coupon to Road ID that I can't wait to use!
I finished the 9.3 miles in 1 hour 33 minutes and 9 seconds. That was an average pace of 10:01 minutes/mile. I guess you could call it a PR for me since this was the first 15K I'd ever competed in. I was 110/169 overall and 7/21 in my F 30-34 Age Division. I was proud of how I raced it and I walked through the 2 water stations, but other than that, I ran the whole thing.
I had a great rest of the weekend with my friends and then headed back to Kansas on Monday. I started feeling sick Monday night and just got progressively worse on Tuesday. I still feel sick almsot a week later, but I finally did get out and run 2.5 miles this afternoon. I didn't feel great doing it and it might not have been the best thing to do, but I needed to run for my mental sake! I think I'll head to the dr tomorrow to see if they can help me because I really need to feel better so I can get my running schedule back to normal!
The course was more hilly than I thought it would be, but it was a nice challenge. No killer hills, just quite a few smaller ones. The weather down in Texas was obviously a little warmer than what I was used to, but I couldn't complain because the sun felt great! The race was small. It was put on by the Stonebridge Racers, a great community of runners there in McKinney. They raffled off some prizes after the race, so that was neat. I won a coupon to Road ID that I can't wait to use!
I finished the 9.3 miles in 1 hour 33 minutes and 9 seconds. That was an average pace of 10:01 minutes/mile. I guess you could call it a PR for me since this was the first 15K I'd ever competed in. I was 110/169 overall and 7/21 in my F 30-34 Age Division. I was proud of how I raced it and I walked through the 2 water stations, but other than that, I ran the whole thing.
I had a great rest of the weekend with my friends and then headed back to Kansas on Monday. I started feeling sick Monday night and just got progressively worse on Tuesday. I still feel sick almsot a week later, but I finally did get out and run 2.5 miles this afternoon. I didn't feel great doing it and it might not have been the best thing to do, but I needed to run for my mental sake! I think I'll head to the dr tomorrow to see if they can help me because I really need to feel better so I can get my running schedule back to normal!
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