Rock N Roll Nashville Country Marathon 2014 Race Recap

Well hellooooo blog land!!  I doubt anyone checks this blog anymore, but one of my best friends has requested a race recap and an attempt to resurrect this blog.  So, I'm going to give it a go....

On April 26th I toed the start line of my first full marathon.  I can only imagine that at some point on this blog I mentioned being completely uninterested in EVER running a full marathon (come to find out - EVERYONE says that it seems).  To quote one of my favorite movies (Varsity Blues...don't judge), "things change, Mox." Ok, let's go back....you (H) may be wondering how I came to the decision to tackle 26.2 miles...

In May of 2013, after a ton of training, I FINALLY ran a sub-2 hour half marathon.  This has been a goal of mine since my first half marathon in 2011.  Once I ran a 1:59:xx and felt GOOD afterward - I decided it was time to step it up a notch and run a full marathon.  Many of my running friends had run their own marathons or had plans to soon...so it was my turn, I guess.  On national running day last year - I signed up for the Nashville Country Music Marathon.  I was equally terrified and excited.  Unfortunately, I had tuck away all of those emotions because the race wasn't for another 10 months.  I had lots of time to feel all of the feelings.

Fast forward to the end of December when training (finally) started.  The only bumps I encountered in training was the weather.  We had one hell of a winter.  Lots of snow.  Lots of ice.  And lots of cold ass temperatures.  It wasn't ideal, for sure, but I suppose it could have been worse.  Thankfully, I had a training partner (Jenny) so I didn't have to log all the long miles in snow, ice, wind, and freezing temps by myself.  Aside from some really trying conditions as far as the weather goes - our training went really well.  I can't even describe how much I enjoyed the training.  I thought I wasn't one for structure, but training for the sub-2 half last may and then the full over the winter made me think otherwise...errrrm because (spoiler alert) following a true training plan actually WORKS.

So after 18 weeks of training it was time to rock it out.  I flew to Nashville on Friday and met up with some of my favorite ladies in the world.  Many of my friends were running the half...and for the majority of them - it was their first. We were all a big ball of nerves.  A few of us hit up the expo together that afternoon...which was a total mad house so we didn't spend a ton of time there.  Friday night we kept it low key and just brought in pizza to the hotel.  Pizza is typically my dinner the night before a race so this worked out well.

After food, laughs, and pictures it was time for me to find my way to my Jenny's room so we could discuss our plans for the morning.  You know you're in crazy marathon mode when you get a call from said training partner and she says. "when you stop by my room I'm probably going to have you write inspirational things on my legs and arms."  Uhhhh, WUT? Hahaha.  I talked her out of writing too much on herself with sharpie mostly because I thought it would rub off by morning.  We both wrote a couple of things on our hands and then I wrote one of her favorite quotes on her forearm.  My hand said "work bitch" and something else on the insides of a couple of fingers.  I can't remember what it said so obviously it didn't help much. Ha.  After we planned out where we would meet, fine tuned our race day outfits, discussed fueling, and wrote on ourselves I made my way to my hotel room to lay out my race day stuff and go to bed.

Sidenote: no one tells you that when you are about to run a marathon that there's a good chance that you're going to get all kinds of love and support from friends and family.  Leading up to Nashville I got cards in the mail, tank tops from friends, other gifts from friends, tons of text messages, lots of phone calls, and encouraging facebook posts.  It was seriously awesome and I was completely blown away by it all.

Back to the race recap:

Saturday morning my alarm went off at 4:30 which is outrageous, but then I remembered that I run at 5:30 a couple of days a week so it wasn't that early.  Surprisingly I slept pretty well the night before except for a trip to the bathroom around 2 or 3 in the morning.  My roommates weren't running the race so I had all of my race day gear in the bathroom so I could shut the door and not bother them.  Thankfully, I've done many races at this point so getting ready for a race is a breeze for me.  I definitely have a set routine so that makes it easy on me.  After getting ready I met up with some friends in their room so we could head down to the shuttle bus that would take us to the start.  Our original plan was to catch the 5:45 bus (or somewhere around that time), but at the last minute they decided to take a later shuttle of 6:15ish.  I didn't think much of this and just used the extra time to foam roll, eat, and hydrate.

Another sidenote: one of my good friends, Katie, took a moment in the hotel room to pray for/with me which made me cry like a big dork.  Sharing that moment with her was one of my favorites of the day...she'll make another "appearance" later for another super special moment of the marathon.  And a sidenote to that sidenote: Katie ran her first half marathon that day and totally rocked it.  Talk about a proud moment for me to hear about that.

Ok, so, the plan was to hit the 6:15 shuttle.  We get down to the line and it's SUPER long.  Thankfully it moved pretty quickly so it didn't take too long to get on the shuttle.  We met a woman in front of us in line who is actually from St. Louis.  She had run a couple of marathons prior to Nasvhille so it was night to get some words of wisdom from her.  We get on the shuttle where we continue to eat and hydrate.  Oddly enough, my nerves were never out of control like that typically are for races.  I have a severe case of race-brain all.the.time...except for this time.  I was very calm and level headed.  It was a nice change of pace.  Things got a little nerve-wracking when traffic getting to the race was super crazy so we were constantly checking the time to see if we were even going to make it on time.  I kept reminding myself that this is a wave start and my particular corral wouldn't start for a good 30 minutes after the first wave.  That didn't completely ease my  mind, but it helped.  My biggest concern at that point was finding Jenny (my training partner).  When we finally made it to the drop-off point it was about 10 minutes before the race started.  Thankfully I heard from Jenny who was already in our corral and ended up being at a really easy place for me to jump in with her.

That's it for part one.  An attempt at a detailed (actual) race recap is in the works....

Head for the cure 2012 race recap

The head for the cure is an organization that races money for a cause that is very close to my family.  They raise money for brain cancer research.  Justin's uncle passed away from a glioblastoma a few years ago. 

This is the 3rd time that head for the cure has held a race in Columbia.  We ran it last year and again this year.  I hope for this to be an annual thing for my family..and hopefully we can recruit more and more people to our "team."

This year it was Justin's aunt, his cousin, my mother-in-law, myself, 2 "cousins", a family friend (whose sister also passed away from brain cancer), and a couple of people from our running group.  Most of us had matching shirts from last year's race.  The course took us a little through downtown and a little through campus and back. 

Since I achieved my goal of a sub 25 5k last year during the Jingle Bell 5k, I made it my goal to run a sub 24 for 2012.  So, I met my goal at my very last race of 2011 (mid December).  I figured I would probably be looking at a similar time frame for 2012.  I have been in contact (via FB) with a doctor that my mother-in-law works with.  He was actually my husband's uncle's oncologist who has been a family friend for years.  Side note: he was also my grandmother's oncologist probably 15 years ago when she went through a battle with colon cancer.

Anyway, him and I have talked back and forth about running.  He gives me tips from time to time, but nothing really serious.  In 2011 my MIL had mentioned to him that he should pace me for a sub 25 5k since the year was winding down and I had not reached that goal yet.  So, since that was already on the table I figured I would shoot the idea to him to pace me at this race for a sub 24.  I knew it would be a good race for him to be involved with and I would love to get a big PR and sub 24 running for that cause.  The Monday before the race I sent him a FB message telling him what I wanted to run for that race and asked if he wanted to pace me.  Luckily, he said yes.

North Run Crew (some of us, anyway)

Race morning came and I was having some weird pain in my right hip.  It made me worry about how things would play out with trying to PR this race.  We met up with some people from my Tues/Thurs running group (North Run Crew/NRC) and some family/friends who were walking for the cause.  I stretched, gabbed, and before I knew it was time to line up to start the race.

We ended up lining up with just one line of runners in front of us.  This was a first for me.  I usually line up with 5-10 lines of runners in front of me.  I loved not having to weave in and out of people.  And it was strange because there were not many people
passing me.  At that point I thought to myself, "I belong right here."  It was a strange feeling, really.

At one point within the first half mile I glanced down at my garmin and saw 6:42 as my pace.  Holy cow!  I knew there was no way I could hang onto that.  But, we were about to make the climb up one of the many hills of this course so I knew my pace would slow down for that.  Just before heading up that hill a girl passed me.  I didn't think much of it and just started to climb.

After that hill we turned a corner and it was a nice down hill.  I opened up my stride and just glided down that.  We passed a restaurant on the corner that had a wonderful aroma of breakfast foods.  I remember passing it last year and seriously considered stopping.  Ha.

Just past the restaurant we were going up another hill and a car was coming down the road towards us.  No big deal except the car didn't even move over...at all.  There was no one in the other lane so he/she had plenty of room.  Rude.  My pacer actually smacked the back of the car just to get their attention, but I doubt that person moved over for any other racers behind us.

Friends/family pre-race

There was on particularly steep climb that I felt my pace really slow down and I was struggling.  I will never forget what my pacer said to me at that moment, "come on girl!  Use your hamstrings and power up this hill."  I thought of him saying that as we went up every hill.  It really was a push that I needed.

We eventually left downtown and did a little bit through campus.  I love running on campus.  It's so pretty..and fairly flat.  :)

We had just under a mile to go and I knew it was time to start picking people off.  The first was a guy probably about my age.  My pacers says to me, "time to pass this guy.  He's burning out and you're just getting started."  I fed off of that positive energy because I definitely didn't feel like I was just get getting started.  I was ready to be done with this 3 mile spring.  I think I picked off 2 other guys before reaching the finish.  There was a girl ahead of me that my pacer really wanted me to catch up to and eventually pass.  I think we probably kicked at about the same time because I never got close.

The race ended with one last uphill and then a nice down hill finish.  I remember looking at my watch trying to do some mental math to see if I could actually get in under 24 minutes.  I think my pacer saw me trying to figure it out and says me to me, "if you want a sub 24 you better pick it up!"  At that point I stopped looking at my watch and just ran as fast as I could...I don't even know what my watch said when I last looked, but my (poor) mental math had me thinking there was no way I could come in under 24.

I turn the corner and begin the last downhill to the finish line.  I see the time on the clock and it says 23:1X.  I couldn't believe it.  Not only was I going to get the sub 24 that I had set out to do, but I was going to crush that goal!

My official time was 24:33.  I was the 2nd overall female and 1st in my age group.  When I told my pacer that I was the 2nd overall female he jokes, "I told you that you had to pass that girl!"  Haha.  I wish I could have.

Rhiannon and I celebrating placing in our divisions

I am extremely appreciative of my pacer.  I am certain I would not have been able to push myself as much as I did with him helping me.  He didn't have a lot to say to me during the race, but when he did - it was very meaningful and helpful.  He told me after the race that I definitely have a 22:XX 5k in me and that he will be happy to pace me whenever I'm ready to give it a shot.  I think he is probably right since just a week before this 5k, I had PR'ed a half marathon by 2 minutes.

Hills....

I feel like I am currently in pretty decent shape.  I could probably go out and run 13+ miles without much thought.  It may not be quick and it certainly wouldn't be a PR, but I could do it. 

When I do my long runs, I can typically power up the hills.  Well, that "power" comes when I am at a slower pace, for me.  I ran a 5k last weekend that was rather hilly, or so I thought.  I managed to squeak out a 49 second PR (OMG!!), but when I mentioned to my pacer (he will be mentioned in that recap) that I hated those hills he suggested I must be a hill wimp.

Point taken.  I am, most definitely, a hill wimp.  I can rock them if I'm going at a super slow pace.  I can manage if I'm rocking a decent pace.  And, come to find out, I can kick their asses if I'm being paced towards a HUGE 5k PR with someone pushing me.

I just personally feel like I have more to give on hills.  Of course, during a longer distance (ie a half marathon) I am going to slow my pace a bit on hills.  However, that shouldn't be a major decrease in pace as it seems to have been in recent races...thank you garmin connect for showing me my splits, elevation chart, and pace vs that elevation chart.

Starting this past week - I'm doing some hill training.  Basically my training consists of:
1 mile warm up
Easy(ish) pace up a decent hill
Recover down the hill
10k pace up that same hill
Recover down the hill
Another 10k pace up the hill
Recover downhill
Easy(ish) pace up the hill
Recover downhill
Done!

My first hill work out was only 2 miles, but I was beat when I was done.  That's tough work.  However, I can't wait to see that hard work pay off on future hills.  I really hope to continue this and have a hill work out once a week.  I plan to mix up the hills so I don't just get used to one particular hill.

 A wise-guy (literally), my 5k PR pacer, told me, " You should do more hills. Don't be scared of them, embrace them. They hurt, they're hard, and they suck, but they also make you faster."  So, I'm taking that to heart.  

Bring it, stupid hills!

Rock the Parkway stats

I thought I would throw out some stats from Rock the Parkway...

Splits:

Official time:
2:02:36

129/484 in my division  (top 27% in my division)

1476/4019 overall (top 36%)

Rock the Parkway 2012 Race Recap

When I first picked out Rock the Parkway as my next half marathon it seemed SO far away. April 14th really snuck up on me quickly. I couldn't believe it was already race day.

We headed to KC on Friday around noon. Justin was going to the Royal's game so I made the majority of the drive on my own. Once I got to KC I met up with Brandy and Rhiannon (2 girls that I run with often...and that are sort of cousins :)) at the expo.

The expo was pretty small compared to the one in Nashville last year. We grabbed our bibs and shirts and then just walked around to check things out. There weren't many freebies or samples which I remembered from Nashville. I did end up buying a bondi band with the RTP logo on it.

After the expo I went to check into the hotel and just relax. Since Justin was at the game, I had the remainder of the evening to myself. After an hour or two of hanging out and watching TV I went out to run some errands. I needed shot blocks for the race and some other random things from Target (ie lotion, shampoo, etc.). I was about half way through my errands when Justin called and was ready to be picked up. It ended up being good timing because I was getting pretty hungry.

We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. The last time I was there (a few years ago) I had some kind of asiago cheese sauce that was DELISH so I was really looking forward to it. Imagine the let down when they didn't have that anymore. Womp womp!

Race day gear

Dinner was all right. Whole wheat pasta with meat sauce and broccoli. After dinner we went back to the hotel so I could get to bed at a decent time. I put out all of my race day things so I wouldn't forget anything the next day.

I wasn't too nervous Friday evening so I fell asleep pretty easily.  Unfortunately, so did my husband and he snores like crazy.  So that kept me up a bit throughout the night, but I still think I slept more than I did in Nashville for my first because I was SO nervous for that one.

My alarm clock went off at 5:30am which was no big deal since I have been running at 5:30 a couple times a week anyway.  The race started at 8 and was only about 15 minutes away.  So, I was able to take my time and not have to worry about being late.  I had a couple of pieces of peanut butter toast around 6.  We met in the lobby at 6:45 to head to the start line.  There was some traffic coming down Wornall, but nothing terrible and we found parking pretty quickly.

I wanted to get a quick trip to the porta-potties in before starting, but the lines were ridiculous.  A few of us just stood around talking and BS'ing before the start.  And before we knew it, it was time to line up at the starting corral.

Looking down towards the start

This race didn't put you in a specific corral, it was sort of just on the honor system.  You were to line up near your expected finish time.  I decided to line up behind the 1:55 pacer and in front of the 2:00 pacer.  To get a 1:55 I would need to run an 8:46/mile (something like that) and to run a 2:00 I would need to run at a 9:09/mile pace.  I figured I would fall somewhere in between and be doing all right.

The first mile I started out slow (9:21) and just cruised along on my own.  I had an earbud in, but I didn't turn my music on until mile 7ish.  The first couple of miles I was having a good time.  I was feeding off other runner's energy and loving being back in a longer race situation.  Justin had planned to be around mile 3-4 since this was basically an out and back course that would put him around mile 9 or 10 on the way back.  Perfect.

So the first couple of miles I was really anxious to see Justin.  He wasn't in Nashville, so this was a first for me to have someone I knew along the course (except for my friend Brooke in Nashville, but we totally missed each other).  Unfortunately, Justin didn't make it to that first check point.  He was just a few minutes late (he got to see Brandy and Rhiannon though).  Once he saw them, he tried to hop in his car to drive a few miles ahead and catch back up to me.  Same thing happened...he must have just missed me and instead saw Brandy and Rhiannon again.  Poor guy.  Race spectating is tough stuff.

After a bit of a let down of not seeing Justin like I had hoped, I just dialed it in and hoped that I would see him in a few miles.  I kept a pretty decent pace.  The 1:55 pacer was always just a bit in front of me.  They would walk through the water stations (every 2 miles or so), but I didn't need to since I carried a handheld water bottle.  I would pass them with each water station and let them go by after their break.  It was going great.

Around mile 5 we turned off of Ward Parkway and towards Loose Park.  I definitely enjoyed the break from Ward Parkway.  As pretty as it was...I was OVER being on that street.  Another racer came up to me around the 10k mark and asked what pace we were running because his phone lost GPS and so he had no idea of pace.  I told him we were about a minute and half behind the 1:45 pace group and running about an 8:55 pace.  He told me that this was his first half and his only goal was to come in under 2 hours.  He definitely seemed to be running strong so I'm pretty confident that he got that.  I told him that this was my 2nd half and that I had the same goal.  I told him that my previous time was 2:04 about a year ago.  Soon after that he spotted his wife along the road spectating.  She had a fresh water bottle to trade out an empty one in his fuel belt.  Pretty sweet set up!  We climbed a decent hill after that (so mile 7ish) and he was  few people ahead of me at that point. 

I walked soon after this pic was taken...I'm in the purple shirt

.

That hill was very defeating for me.  My pace definitely slowed down and all I could focus on was seeing the 1:55 pace group get farther and farther away.  I began to doubt myself.  All kinds of negative thoughts started entering my head.  I was mad at myself for starting out with too ambitious of a goal (1:55-1:57).  I told myself I should have just stuck with the 2:00 pacers and been happy with a 1:59:59.  This continued on for the next 3-4 miles.  Each hill took more and more out of me.

At one point I thought I was approaching mile 9 when, in fact, I was only approaching mile 8.  That sucked.  I started to feel nauseous and just began to completely crumble.  I took my first walk break up a hill after mile 8.  Ugh.  I shouldn't have had to do that.  And, of course, since I had walked once - I convinced myself to walk again and again.  I think I walked about 4 times total.  Ridiculous.

A ray of light came when I saw Justin around mile 10.  Later I would find out that he saw me around mile 8, but wasn't able to get my attention.  Oh, that's probably because I was beating myself up in my own head.  He was snapping pics as I passed him at mile 10 and all I wanted to do was flip off the camera, but eventually I managed a small smile.  I actually really hammed it up because he would know I was HATING myself because I was over the top happy...he missed that moment with the camera.  Ha.

After seeing Justin I tried to put a little pep in my step because I only had a 5k left to run.  At that point the 2:00 pacers had passed me, but they were still within reach.  As soon as I started thinking positively I was hit with another hill.  I swear those small rollers just kept taking it out of me more and more with each one.  I think I would have preferred a couple of short, steep hills instead at that point.  I think I walked once or twice more between miles 10-12. 

I'm pretty sure I heard 923 people say, "it's all downhill from here!" starting at mile 10.5 or 11.  That was SO wrong.  It was not totally down hill until we hit the 12 mile mark or so.  It was so frustrating hearing that and then BOOM! another flipping hill.  I mean, don't say that unless it's true.  That's like the spectators who have signs or say, "you're almost there" when you are only a couple miles into the race....only worse. 

When I hit mile 12 I tried to give it all I had.  I knew that I was out of reach of a 2:00 finish, but I was still within reach of a PR.  My last mile was in 8:43 so I definitely stepped it up.  I think mile 10 was 10:0X, 11 was 9:4X, and 12 was 10:0X...so jumping to an 8:43 for the last mile was pretty big. 

I FINALLY crossed the finish line in 2:02:54.  I PR of about 2 minutes.  Woohoo...but I was still disappointed.  I didn't get that sub 2 that I really wanted.  I was pissed at myself for being too ambitious and starting closer to the 1:55 pace group.  I wish I would have just stuck with the 2:00 pacers and gotten that 1:59:59...there will be more races to get a 1:55.

I grabbed my metal and a bottle of water and  then went to meet Justin at our meeting spot.  The only thing I could think of when I saw him was, "that fucking sucked!"  He asked why, etc and I was just so mad at myself that I just said, "it just was!!"  I feel really bad now for snapping at him because I was, and still am, very appreciative that he was there for that race.  I was/am appreciative that he did everything he could to try to see me as often as possible.  I have since apologized, but I still feel like an ass.

We walked over to the finishing area so I could cheer on the other ladies I run with as they finished.  Brandy and Rhiannon were both running their first half marathon.  I have to say - seeing them cross that finish line was SO awesome to me.  That meant more to me and was even more cool than getting my own PR.  I have been with them for almost every step along the way and they really have come a LONG way.  When they started, they could barely run 3 miles...and there they were, rocking 13.1.  They have truly been an inspiration to me and kept me motivated to get out of bed at 5am during the week and 6:30 on the weekend for long runs.

Happy to be done!

After the race we grabbed some food, took some pics, and I was stretched out by one of the local physical therapy companies.  As far as the post race food/drink, I can't really comment completely on that.  I stayed at the finish line watching one of our last group members finish in like 3:10 (she has been injured so it was far from a PR for her) and by the time I got up there, a bunch of stuff had been put away.  That was a little disappointing.  I did get some chocolate milk (my FAVORITE post long run) and some Papa Murphy's pizza.  I actually wasn't very hungry at that point...now, 3-4 hours later was a different story.  I was STARVING!

Brandy, me, Rhiannon

I think the biggest thing for me was that running on Ward Parkway for 2/3 of this race was just mentally draining.  I was sick of that scenery.  Beautiful?  Sure, but not for 9-10 miles straight.  Seriously, the last 3 miles were the longest miles EVER.  It was never.flipping.ending.  In fact, one girl looked at me during mile 12 and says, "is this serious??  Where is the finish line?"  So I know it wasn't just me feeling that way.

The crowd support for this race was quite a bit less than Nashville, but I expected that since it's a MUCH smaller race.  I LOVED the crowd support in Nashville...hilarious signs, cow bells, costumes, etc.  But, I LOVED the smaller field of this race.  It was a little crowded, but nothing like how crowded Nashville was.

I think I would do this race again because it was well run, but it may not be my favorite.  I'm still trying to find my favorite.  Haha.

I have another half the weekend of Memorial Day.  It's local (in Columbia) and it's all girls so that's fun.  The course, however, is not fun.  Whoever created the course is just cruel.  Haha.  Luckily, one of the groups I train with has mapped out many long runs along the course so I have had some practice at it.  I don't anticipate that race being another PR (aka no sub 2 on that one), but we'll see.

Daily Mile

I have, once again, found another time waster, social network, what have you. Dailymile.com

It's basically like facebook for runners and other athletes. I always try to not post every.single. workout that I do on facebook because I know a lot of people don't care. But, I'm excited to share those things with the people who do care or the people it may motivate. Now, I can do that with this website. You can track all of your work outs (not just runs). You can meet other people who run (or whatever you do) in your area, with similar goals, or training for the same races.

I joined a couple of months ago, but I just started logging my workouts since the new year. So far I really like it. If you are apart of dailymile or are going to join - feel free to "friend" me. JusLyn678 is my name on there.

I am also addicted to pinterest. If you are on there, you can follow me here. I hope that link works.

Turkey trax 2011 recap

Thanksgiving morning I ran my first race since July (I think). I was definitely itching to race.

At the beginning of this year I set a goal to run a sub 25 minute 5k. The race I ran on new year's eve 2010 was in 26:08 so I thought knocking just over a minute off my time shouldn't be too difficult. Well, here it was the end of November and I was still chasing that sub 25. I ran a St. Pat's race where my Garmin said 24:55, but my chip time was 25:08....wah! wah!

The weather was going to be wonderful for the race this year. I remember last year being fuh-reezing. It was in the low 30s or high 20s (I can't remember). This year was expected to be in the mid 40s. Perfect. I ended up wearing capris and a long sleeve tech T under a short sleeved shirt. Well, the mid-40s didn't come around until later in the day (even though the forecast said mid 40s at 8:30am when the race started). So I was a bit chilly, but even 40* is better than low 30s. :)

My dad ran this race with me and my mother-in-law walked/ran it also. It's great to do these races with other people. It's much more enjoyable to me.

Me, MIL, Dad

I knew my dad would beat me, that's no secret. He is a speedy guy! We still lined up together to start. This was a huge race. Prior to this one - St. Pat's is usually has the most participants with less than 700. There were more than 1000 people doing this 5k on Thanksgiving. That's crazy to me. I was happy to hear the guy on the PA system pre-race instruct the walkers and folks with strollers and dogs to start near the back. This usually helps some of the congestion at the beginning. Of course, there are people who ignore that, but every little bit helps I think.

So, we start out (no starting mat for timing, FYI). It's pretty congested at the beginning, but the street is pretty wide and everyone was able to spread out since there was no traffic.

There wasn't anything particularly interesting or noteworthy about this race. I thought it was fairly hilly, but my dad disagreed. About mile 1-1.5 (or maybe more) was a gradual uphill. That wears you out eventually. I did get passed by a lady with her dog during this hill. They were really moving and it made me wish my dog would run with me for that extra push. I remember last year getting passed during that hill by a guy pushing a double strollers...so I guess this is a win for me this year. :)

My pretty girl, Lucky Anne.

Luckily, after that gradual hill it was pretty flat for a mile and then a VERY steep hill at mile 2.4(ish). It wasn't very long, but at the point in the race it felt like we were going straight up. It kicked my butt.

Once we climbed that hill - we had just over a half of a mile to go and almost a quarter of that was on the track. I tried to really kick once I got the track (less than .25 of a mile left), but I only made a decent sprinting effort for about 100m and slowed a bit for about 200m. That 200m felt like forever so when I got to the final straight away I tried to give it hell.

I still missed my sub 25 even though I felt like I really pushed myself. Bummer.

Some stats:
Garmin time - 25:26 (I forgot to turn my watch off of a couple of minutes so this is my "moving time")
Garmin pace - 8:17 ("moving pace")
Official time - 25:15
Avg pace - 8:07
Overall place - 176/904
Division place - 10/73
Sex place - 55/140

Last year I ran this race in 28:06. So, even though I didn't get in under 25 minutes - I could definitely seem huge improvements in just a year of racing.

For anyone curious, my dad definitely beat me. His time was 22:XX. Maybe someday we can run a 5k at the same pace...probably not. Haha. And my MIL knocked 7 minutes off her time from last year so that's wonderful.

Couponing

It's no secret that money is tight in the Foster household. We are paying a mortgage and a rent payment right now. It sucks. I am always looking for ways to save money. I always check hip2save.com just to see what kind of deals she has posted every couple of days. Last week I decided to watch some of her videos on couponing. I was inspired. I clipped some coupons in Sunday's paper and did some shopping today.

My purchases....

I got:
-6 sticks of Dove deodorant
-1 stick of Gillette deodorant for Justin
-3 bars of Dove soap
-2 bottles of Lysol toilet bowl cleaner
-2 bottles of Gillette body wash
-1 box of zip-loc sandwich bags
-3 bottles of Dawn dish soap
-a box of 25 Vanish dishwasher finishing bars (kind of like jet-dry)
-2 wicker baskets
-2 off brand air fresheners

My original total was $72.XX. My total after coupons, store discounts, etc. was $45.XX. I was pretty happy with that. Those 6 sticks of Dove deodorant for me would have been $24 on their own...I got them for $12. Niiiiice.

If you don't shop at Walgreen's and/or clip their coupons in their Sunday ad - YOU SHOULD. I really look forward to stacking manufacturers coupons on top of Walgreen's coupons to really save some mula. Justin was very excited about my savings too so that's fun. I know that I can do even better than my savings today and I am so excited to get Sunday's paper now. :)

Do you coupon?

You know you're a runner when...

Every once in a while I have one of those moments where I'm like, "yeah, I'm definitely a runner because XYZ."

The most recent moment came when I was driving to my dad's house this afternoon. I am 100% jealous of all the sidewalks he has around his house and neighborhood. Around our house - I can run about 3-3.5 miles before having to do loops to add miles. It sucks. I crave more sidewalks and more places to run close to home.

There is actually a bunch of construction going on around us to expand roads, etc. So far, most of the area they are doing constructions seems to be adding sidewalks as well as expanding the roads. I am ridiculously excited about that. I would love to do a long run from my house without having to make loops around the same route. I absolutely hate having to drive to do a long run. That's a big reason why I missed some longer runs during my last half marathon training.

Runners, be thankful for your local sidewalks. :)

No AM group run today.

The group I have been meeting with for a couple of weeks decided we would run Monday and Wednesday this week. We normally run on Tuesday and Thursday, but with Thursday being Thanksgiving - we just adjusted.

There was a discussion on our FB group page about running this morning. It seemed like a few girls were on board. When my alarm went off at 5 this morning I promptly checked the FB page because that last thing I wanted to do was show up and have no one there. One girl posted last night that she wouldn't be there this morning because she thinks her hip flexor is jacked (bummer). Another girl's husband is out of town and she has a daughter who she, obviously, can't leave in the morning to run. I knew that another girl was sick yesterday, but she intended to run today. I ended up texting one of the girls because I had a bad feeling that I would be the only one to show up. I'm glad I did because, sure enough, I would have been there by myself. I snuggled back into bed and went back to sleep for a few hours.

So it sucks about not getting a run in this morning, but I think I am going to do some speed work/intervals on the treadmill at the gym tonight. Tomorrow morning or after work I am going to do some cross training at the gym. Wednesday morning we are hopefully still meeting so I can get some easy miles in before the Turkey Trax 5k on Thanksgiving morning.

I did get in a little less than 4.5 miles on Saturday before we started tailgating for the Mizzou game. My 5am wake up call seems to be getting easier and easier each time. I went to the normal spot that I meet our group, but decided it was too dark and uncomfortable to run there by myself. So I drove across town to campus where I knew it would be better lit and more traffic. I just took off and really didn't have a route or a plan in place. I basically just ran until I was running out of time to meet to shower and meet our tailgating friends. It felt pretty good and I ran about a 9:20 pace.

That 5am start to my day really kicked me in the ass about 6 that evening. I was done. A full day of tailgating and watching the football game.did me in. Justin and I grabbed some Thai take out and vegged out the rest of the night. We were in bed by 9:30.

And I will leave you with some tailgating pics. :)

Justin and I showing off our "black out" outfits for the day.
I told him he looked like a cheerleader so we posed accordingly. :)

Justin with his bestfriend's sister who is, obviously, much taller than him.

MIL, Justin, and Me outside of the stadium

Family friends.

Structure? No thanks.

All right, so I'm not going to post a training post and follow it. It's just not going to happen. Instead - I am going to blog whenever the heck I want. Haha. I suck at this blogging thing...and I think that's what the majority of my blog posts have been about this year. I will try. No promises.

In recent running news - I started meeting with a very casual running group. It's a group of girls that live on my side of town that meet at 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday and Thursdays. A few of them get together on the weekends for longer runs too. I say it's very casual because it's just a group put together by some girls on FB and they have each just invited some friends to get the word out. There is not a strict schedule, a coach to push you along, etc. You just come when you can and someone picks a route to run. I have only gone twice, but I'm loving it so far. I will definitely need the accountability in the winter months. :)

I have also amped up my cross training a bit. I need to get a bit more structured with my cross training, but I figure something is better than nothing. I have added speed work. It's all on the treadmill, but I'm doing it. It's also not very structured. I usually warm up pretty slowly for a half mile and then do one minute of just a bit faster than 5k (goal) race pace and then 2 minutes of a little slower than half marathon goal pace. I do this alternating for a couple of miles and then do a slow half mile cool down.

My next 5k is the Turkey Trax on Thanksgiving day. It will be my 1 year racing anniversary. I am pretty excited about it. :)

On the house front - our house is on the market!! No bites yet, but we are trying to stay optimistic since this is a slow time for home buyers.

Last thing - (Just) Trying is for little girls is doing a pretty sweet giveaway. Keep the faith creations has some really cool pieces of jewelry that are very runner friends. Check out her blog, the giveaway, and keep the faith creation's website.

FAIL

So that pretty little plan I typed out last week?? Yeah, totally fail on my part. I got in about 2 miles while in Michigan and that's IT for exercise last week. Pretty pathetic.

In my defense (or just another excuse) I woke up with a pretty gnarly head cold Monday morning. Knowing that we had a busy, fun, exciting weekend coming up - I decided rest and medication were more important to me than running myself ragged. I know some people think exercise helps when they are sick, but I couldn't breathe out of my nose and I didn't want to chance being even more sick over the weekend.

Just tonight I have made the decision to sign up for the Rock the Parkway half marathon in KC April 14th, 2012. It seems to be a fairly challenging course described as having "gentle rolling hills." That's pretty similar to the description in Nashville, which I found to be VERY hilly. So, we'll see.

I would like to use the next 27 weeks (I think that's what I counted) to really concentrate on speed, hill work, and long runs away from the trail (think super flat trail). Assuming I can stick to a training plan that incorporates all of that then I should be blogging about a pretty significant PR next spring. But, I'm not going to get too cocky as I know I absolutely suck at following a plan.

I should have time to do Hal Higdon's intermediate training program pretty much each week twice...or some sort of combination of that program, just doubled. The unfortunate part is that this is another spring time half so that puts me training through the winter. I don't mind running in the cold, but it gets trickier when there is snow on the ground, it's dark outside, and the runs get longer.

I hope to blog a bit more leading up to this half, but anyone who has stuck around saw how that went for me last time around. Wish me luck, cheer me along my training, and please keep me accountable. Thanks in advance. :)

Plan for the week 9/26-10/2

All right so I mentioned that I was going to start posting weekly plans...ummm, starting last week. Oops. So let's try this week. Of course this isn't the best week to start as we will be out of town Friday through Monday to visit friends. I am hoping to get 5-6 miles in while I am there, but I'm certainly not going to beat myself up if I don't get that.

Monday - Speed work* 5x400 @ 5k pace, AB lab class at the gym (basically 15 min core work)
Tuesday - 3.5 mile run, Body Pump class at the gym to follow
Wednesday - 60 min spin class at the gym (this is at 0530, so if this doesn't happen then some sort of cross training will happen that morning)
Thursday - 7 mile long run (doing this Thursday morning since it won't happen over the weekend)
Friday-Sunday - with any luck 5-6 miles over those days. :)

Not only did I type this out for all of the internets to view - I also have it pinned on the fridge. Let's hope this helps me get out of bed in the mornings.

*This will be my first attempt at speed work. I am going to do it on the treadmill (so I'm at the gym for that ab lab class). I assume it's probably better on the track, but I don't see myself making the time to drive to the track, drive the gym, and then home to be ready for work.

Accountability

I am happy to report that my 5:30am wake up call followed by a run was successful last Saturday. I may or may not have hit snooze a couple of times, but I did make it out the door by a little after 6. Not bad considering I was seriously doubting myself to even get out of bed that early.

Since I was getting started a little later than I would have liked - I knew that I was going to have to cut my mileage shorter than I had planned. I ended up running a little over 3 miles. Not a great distance, but at least I made it out there.

The first mile of my run was pretty darn dark. It was a new experience for me. My eyes and mind were playing tricks on me. I really wasn't a fan of it all. I will definitely be asking for a head lamp for Christmas...along with reflective gear. I pointed all of this out to Justin last weekend when we were at a sporting goods store. :)

I am also happy to report that Mizzou won their first game. It was a close one, but they pulled it out.

Justin and I made the trip to Tempe, AZ this past weekend to watch Mizzou play at Arizona State. We weren't quite so fortunate there. We lost in overtime. It was disappointing, but they rallied to come back in the 4th quarter so I don't think it was a complete loss.

I got up fairly early in Tempe to go for a run as well. Our hotel was very close to the campus so I did a few miles around their campus. I know people mention that Arizona is a dry heat....I'm sorry, but 90* is 90* regardless of the "type" of heat. It was only 7am at the point, mind you. I think it got up to 113* that day before a little bit of rain came through.

I don't have much more to report at this point. Mizzou is back at home this weekend and it's a 6pm game. We will probably start tailgating around noon so a morning run should not be that hard to manage. There is a Susan G Komen 5k this Sunday, but I haven't signed up just yet. I know Saturday will be a long night so a race the next day may not go so well. I will probably still do the race just because of the cause, but I don't anticipate good results.

A lot of the blogs I read post their weekly training plan and then follow up with how they did later in the week. I think this is something I may have to try out around here. I know there for a while this blog was a way to keep me accountable and I would feel guilty missing runs because I knew I would report back here that I missed them. So, I think if I post my weekly plan then I might stick to it more. At this point I am not training for anything in particular. I have a half in mind for the spring so I am loosely training for that, but it's still 6 months away so it's not a major deal right now.

I hope everyone is enjoying the break in the crazy hot temps (at least around here). If you are not, I'm sorry. I hope relief comes soon. I know my pace has dropped a few seconds with the temperature drop. I can only hope that continues...in a big way.

Later, y'all!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Football season has kicked off, my friends. NFL preseason started a couple of weeks ago. College football started last night. This is my favorite time of the year.

We are season ticket holders (along with the ILs) for Mizzou football. We have gotten our tailgating routines down to a science...almost. There seem to always be a couple of hiccups and speed bumps regardless of our intense planning.

Tailgating prep started last weekend. I completed the first couple steps of vodka infused gummy bears. So far - they are very yummy, but definitely very sweet. The tailgating totes were also busted out and organized. Apparently we left a bag of chips in one of the totes from last season. Oops. :) The coolers are being packed tonight and we may even pack up the truck bed since tomorrow's game is at 11am. Tailgating time is going to be limited so the more we do ahead of time the better.

I am very anxious to get this season started. Our starting QB from last year (Blaine Gabbert) decided not to return for his senior season and entered the NFL draft instead. Our new starting QB is James Franklin. He got some snaps last year and I think he is going to do just fine. It is, of course, a little nerve wracking when a new QB takes the reins.

I have grand plans to get up at 0530 to get in some sort of run tomorrow morning. Our tailgating begins at 8 so if I want to run - it has to be super early. I tend to be awful when it comes to getting up that early to run. We'll see if the butterflies in my tummy for Mizzou's home opener will get my rear out of bed to run tomorrow morning.

Happy football season to you. I hope you all have a great holiday weekend. Any big plans?? Races?? Tailgating?? Who will you be cheering for this football season??

Go Mizzou!!

ps
As I was finishing this post - an ESPN analyzer chose Missouri as his choice for the underrated team in the preseason rankings (they are currently at #21). I like to hear that.

Back in action!

Wow, I haven't blogged since early may. And, get this, I GAINED follower. Thank you guys for not ditching me. I want to get back in the saddle of blogging.

I did, as I said in my last blog, finish the Nashville Country Music Half Marathon at the end of April. It was a wonderful experience and a lot of fun. I will touch on it more (when I FINALLY finish my race recap, ha....3-4 months later!), but I felt a bit "blah" soon after the race. That's a feeling I never would have expected. There was no doubt in my mind that I could finish, but the time I finished in was a bit slower than I would have liked. I actually raced slower than many of my training runs....you will find out about all of this when I finish my race recap.

My dad (fasha) is doing the Roots 'n Blues half marathon in less than two weeks. I had originally planned to run this with him. And by with him - I mean we were going to run the same course. He would definitely kick my arse. Dude is speedy! I am so incredibly excited for him and even more proud of him. This will be his first half. I would have loved to have run his first half "with" him. Unfortunately, football season calls. Mizzou plays at Arizona State so Justin and I are heading southwest for the game. I have enjoyed sharing training stories, trials, and tribulations with my fasha. I know he is going to rock this half marathon and totally kill my official time in Nashville. It's all good - that gives me a time to beat when I run my next half (which I hope to be in the Spring).

I want to jump back on the blogging bandwagon because it seems to go hand in hand with my running schedule. This summer has kicked my ass as far as running goes. The humidity has absolutely killed me. My pace has been a good 1.5-2 minutes slower per mile. When I do get out to run - my mileage has been poor. I have, honestly, run 3-4 six mile runs since Nashville...and nothing longer than six miles. In conclusion for this paragraph - F YOU, heat and humidity!!

It's all good though. Football season starts this week (college, WOOT!) so that means the air is about to get a bit more crisp...and hopefully my pace will return with the turning of the leaves.

So to my trusty followers who haven't "unfollowed" in my hiatus...please, show me some love. I need the motivation and support as I go after my goal to run a sub 25 5k for 2011. I definitely thought I posted a 2011 goal post, but I guess not. So to fill you in (8 months later, from what I remember)....I had a goal to blog more (fail), run a sub 25 5k (fail by 8 seconds, UGH!), and run a half marathon (winning!).

In closing - keep following my blog. Show some love. I hope to recap my runs, live, and the like as time goes by. Enjoy, y'all! :)

We did it!

Three of my great friends and I finished the Country Music 1/2 marathon in Nashville this weekend. I hope to have a full recap with pictures up tonight or tomorrow.

The course was hilly (we thought, anyway) and tough - but it was such a fun and rewarding experience.

It was so much fun that I am already looking for another half to do in the future. I will probably do one this fall...as long as it doesn't interfere with football season. :)

Last long run

Today I ran my last long run before I tackle 13.1 in a week. Most of the training plans called for 6-8 miles as sort of a taper. I knew that I needed one more 10 miler under my belt for some confidence. Have I mentioned that running is incredibly mental??

I have had a little bit of trouble updating music on my iphone since the hard drive on my computer crashed a few weeks ago. We had to get a new hard drive and it has been a PITA losing everything off of the old one. I attempted to update my music last night. Apparently I did just the opposite. I erased it all. Fantastic! Imagine my anger when I tried to play my "running" playlist just before I started my run and it wouldn't work. Not cool. So, I went with the next best thing....Ke$ha on pandora. Bwahaha! I am not sure why Ke$ha was the first "artist" (if you call her that) who popped in my head. It worked out just fine though. I kind of liked not knowing what the next song was going to be. I might have to try this more often.



I felt really really good during this run. I was trying out some new things that I want to implement in the race.

I wore a spi-belt. I am on call this weekend so I needed somewhere to hold my pager in case I got called in. This is basically just a fancy fanny pack. It definitely did its job. I didn't even notice it was there. I wanted to test this out because I really want to carry my camera along during the race next weekend. I think it would be cool to take a few pictures along the way. It might slow me down a bit, but I will never run my first half marathon ever again.

I have also been experimenting with fuel options. I notice that a few miles into runs I seem to run out of gas a little bit. I did some research and found information on Gu, Shot bloks, and sports beans. I actually purchased all three a few weeks ago. I tried them out before running with them. I could not stand the consistency of the Gu. Ick. And the sports beans had a weird salty taste to them. Luckily, I LOVED the shot bloks. They are like amazingly helpful fruit snacks. They are delicious. So I decided to test them out during a run today and I think it went well. I ate 3 of them about 20-30 minutes before my run. I ate 2 more about 5 miles into my run. I probably could have eaten 2 more at about 8 miles. But, now I know. That's why I was doing this little experiment. :)


I also purchased some new dri-fit socks this last week. I had heard that cotton socks weren't great for running. I have a couple of blisters so I thought I would try out some dri-fits. I have to say that they didn't make a difference to me. I couldn't really tell the difference as I was running and they didn't prevent my blisters from getting worse. Oh well...maybe a different type or brand of sock.

And finally, I had also heard that compression sleeves were great for recovery after a long run. I am all about it. So I bought some of those on Thursday. I never realized how expensive running was until I heard about all this cool stuff that could help me! :) I have to say that I have totally been missing out by not having compression sleeves until now. They are amazing. I popped them on pretty quickly after my long run and my legs are loving me for it. I really do think they will help with recovery. I do have to say that my feet are a little jealous. I might have to find a good deal on some compression socks too.


I hope you are having a great weekend. And now with that being 2 posts in 1 day - you probably won't hear from me for about a month. Ha! :)