The Big Cheese

Well, I've waited L-O-N-G enough!  Finally getting to a post as it's been quite a while since my last log-on here.  Within the last 4-5 months since my last post, we've had Christmas and New Years, moved across country (again) to good ol' Wisconsin, settled in a new home, started new jobs, found new daycare, had birthdays (baby girl turned 1 and big boy turned 4!), and now here I am BACK TO RUNNING!  Whoo-hoo!

This coming weekend marks the 2nd half marathon I will be completing.  The Wisconsin Half Marathon in Kenosha, WI should be a fun run.  It goes along this lakefront and appears to be pretty flat.  The original reason I chose this one was the "cheese medal" they give you at the end of the race.  But I've come to be more excited too, as this will be the first half marathon my hubby will be running in as well!  We get to run it together, and I couldn't be more excited for him. 

With Wisconsin weather, I'm hoping it cooperates and at least there will be sun shining.  But you never know - we are in fact back in the Midwest!  I'm looking forward to doing this run with the hubs, getting that medal and eating/drinking some well-deserved brats and beer afterwards.

Check out the website for run details:
http://wisconsinmarathon.com/

Happy spring time and happy running!

20 Excuses that I Haven't Run

Well, I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but my body and my hubby sure have.  I have NOT been working out AT ALL, let alone been running in about 1 month!  What's my problem?!  Today, I finally got my butt back in the gym, and I feel good.  While on the elliptical, I started thinking about what I would blog about, since that's also taken a backseat lately.  Aha!  Excuses for why I haven't been doing anything lately....

20.  I'm tired.
19.  It's too late in the day.
18.  It's too early to get up.
17.  It's too dark out.
16.  I have a cold.
15.  I have a headache.
14.  I'd rather be home with the kids.
13.  I feel like eating Halloween candy instead.
12.  I just ate, and my stomach's too full.
11.  I just don't feel like it.
10. I'm too busy.
9.  I have to clean.
8.  My neck hurts.
7.  I need warmer running clothes.
6.  It's just too cold.
5.  My bed is cozy.
4.  I owe it to myself to rest since I did my first half marathon.
3.  I owe it to myself since I still must get up in the middle of the night with my infant daughter.
2.  I haven't shaved my legs (think running shorts).

BUT truly the REAL and #1 reason/excuse I have NOT worked out/nor run.....

#1:  I've just been too L-A-Z-Y!

Well, here's to starting again.  I did 20 minutes on the elliptical this evening, along with weights (back, shoulders and abs).  I think I might need to sign up for another race or something in order to motivate me.  I really need to keep my momentum going and do what I know I can do.  And why not!?  I really do LOVE running.  It's just that hump of getting up and doing it.

Okay, that's all.  Happy running.

A Little Competition Never Hurt Anyone

A Competitive Edge

Well, I keep trying to make time to finish up the recap from my first-ever half marathon.  However, mommy time keeps getting in the way.  I did want to quickly mention that upon my completing the Rock-n-Roll half marathon on Sept 18th, my hubby now is inspired/motivated to complete his first half marathon ever as well.

I'd like to say that he's inspired by me, but truly...I believe it's strictly a competition thing.  :)  We are funny, the two of us on our running.  You see, we NEVER get to run together.  This is a total bummer, because we have once or twice before have been able to run together (ie. when family members are in town), and we keep pretty good pace together.  However, we live far from family and don't really have any weekend childcare, so one of us ALWAYS has to be with the kids.  In the past, we've just sucked it up and trained on our own.  Matt's completed the half marathon training with me, but I was the only one to race.  This initially was the no childcare issue.  However, by the day of my race - we were able to find our part-time daycare lady to watch the kids.  So, Matt and I were able to enjoy the half together without the fuss and demands of taking care of the kiddos (son is 3 years old and daughter is 6 months).

But alas, now that Matt's seen and gotten a taste of my experience completing my first half - he is now wanting to pursue running one himself.  We chuckle about this, because we both know we can be competitive when it comes to logging our weekly miles.  Many times, I would go for a run (example, 6 miles), and he'd go after me making sure he'd complete the same (if not more miles).  And me, vice versa.  We are good for each other like that - keeping one another accountable. 

I must say, I am proud of him, too.  He always finds the time to keep active, keep in shape and feels it is important for both of us to stay this way.  We know we both feel better physically and mentally when we are active.  I hope that we find him the right half marathon to partake in soon, even if it stems from our own little friendly competition.  :)

Here's to happy running, Babe.

Rock-n-Roll Series Philly 1/2 Marathon

Rock-n-Roll Series Philly 1/2 Marathon

Part 2 - The Race

And so I was ready for the race.  I entered corral #11 rather than #17 like I was supposed to.  I figured, well, if I get run over at least I'll be closer to the front of the pack.  Ha ha.  There was a nice lady near me doing her first half marathon, too.  It was a blast standing there waiting for our corral to begin.  Lots of music and the announcers getting everyone pumped up.  On a side note, they presented 2 runners (that had run this race in the past) who they were now retiring their bib numbers as they had passed on during the September 11th event of the twin towers terrorist attacks.  A moment of silence was held.  Pretty amazing and emotional to think no one will use those bib #s ever again.

As I awaited my corral to start, I just thought to myself - I'm not even nervous now.  I'm just so excited to do this.  I was ready to have fun.  The starting line was upon me, and the announcer was ready.  Then I was off!  Soon, I saw my hubby and Steph standing and cheering on the sidelines.  They weren't expecting me at this corral, as I had moved up.  But I knew this was the best bet for me to get a good start. 

Seriously, the first 5-6 miles were a breeze.  If you would have asked me a year ago that I would ever say such a thing, I would have laughed.  Now, I know I've trained well.  At mile 2, I got a slight side-stitch (which was my greatest fear, as getting them usually makes me walk).  But I was able to breathe through it, and it was gone in a minute.  The way the course was set up, the first 4-5 miles routed us through the historical parts of the city.  It was great.  The buildings were tall and created shade along the streets.  We also ran through Chinatown, and the smells of food in the morning were enticing.  Yum!  It's amazing the things you notice while running.  It was nice to see so many people cheering all the runners on.  Also, since this is the Rock-n-Roll series, there were several bands set up along the entire course.  This was a great distraction for me while running.

Upon the 5k mark, I heard several runners around me yelling to one another "see you at the end" "talk to you later".  I realized that they were friends running what they could together and then decided to split for the remainder of the run.  For a moment I thought, man, I wish I was running with someone, too.  But it was also nice to do this run by myself.  It's been a long time training and doing all this on my own.  I felt pretty proud that I chose to do this and to stick to it all by myself.

I decided that my refuel plan was to begin refueling at 5 miles.  I did this and at every 2 miles after.  This seemed to work for me.  However, once I reached 7-8 miles, I felt myself become tired.  And I must say, I was not winded.  I was not breathing hard.  I was not in pain.  I was just tired.  My legs told me "you want to stop running".  But I didn't.  I pushed on.  I thought, just keep running.  All the while, I saw many runners stop and walk.  I saw people run off into the bushes/trees to pee.  I began hearing people around me sniff and spit and all the other sounds runners make.  During this time, we were routed along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a scenic and park-like setting.  Very peaceful.  I realized how quiet it was around me, even with runners everywhere.  You could tell people were focusing in on getting through the hard part.

I also saw some interesting runners and spectators at this time.  People running in tu-tus.  Runners running barefoot.  Runners with crazy stances and running gaits.  A saw a man in what seriously looked like a pair of women's Payless strappy-sandals.  I saw kids cheering on family members.  Kids with outstretched hands for runners to slap them five.  There was the cutest little boy who couldn't have been much older than 2 years old standing on the side holding a bear balloon and a sign that said "Go Auntie Kimmy".  Too adorable.  There were coaches cheering on teams.  There were cheer groups from local schools cheering on everyone.  It was just so amazing to be part of something so huge.

I also realized what a head game running is.  At mile marker 10, I thought, man...I got this.  Only 3 miles left, when 2 miles prior I was dying.  At mile 9-10 the course turned back to the start/finish line.  I was now running into the sun.  Note to self:  Purchase running sunglasses!  The crowds appeared larger and larger when getting closer to the finish.  Adrenaline kicked in, and I forgot about how tired I was.  At mile 13, I saw my hubs and Steph.  They took photos, and at 2:08:28, I finished the race.  I was super excited, as I put my estimated finish time as 2:20:00.  My first goal - to run it all with no walking, and I DID IT!  My second goal - to run it under my estimated finish time, and I DID IT, TOO!  What an awesome first half marathon.

Check out the Professional Photos.  And Results.  And Course Simulation.

I will add more photos ASAP.  

 

Rock-n-Roll Series Philly 1/2 Marathon

Rock-n-Roll series Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon

Part One - The Prep

The weekend was upon me.  After a slow taper week and only a few short runs in during training, I was ready.  Saturday, the family and I piled into the car and drove up to Philly for packet pick-up and the Health Expo.  We live in Maryland, and we made the small trek up there.  It's only really about 35-40 miles (not that far), but with traffic - it takes about an hour.  Nothing like living near the city.  We used the GPS, since we aren't too familiar with the areas downtown, but alas...we got turned around and had to take some round-about way.  We made it in one piece and found parking with no problem.  The Health Expo was held at the Philadelphia Convention Center.  Very nice downtown.  Philadelphia is quite a neat looking city - old historical stuff to see.  Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin Parkway and cemetery where he's laid to rest, and Independence Hall. 

We headed in and did some walking around.  My little man had fun, too, as they had some stuff set up for kids (ski ball and a few other games).  I was sure to head to the MGD64 booth to obtain my wrist band for my free beer after the race the next day.  Of course, they also gave out free samples.  :)  We also got a couple free T-shirts and many gear bags to use.  It was a nice day overall, check in was quick and easy, and I also purchased a Rock-n-Roll T-shirt I had my eye on. 

Here is my completed training schedule with daily cross-offs I have hanging on the fridge.

Here I am with bib #17843

My D-tag was covering the rest of the #.  There were 21,000 something participants.  Craziness!  After walking around the rest of the day, we headed home.  I carbo-loaded on spaghetti and meatballs and got everything ready for Sunday (Race Day).  I went to bed about 10:30p.m.  Thankfully, my hubby helps at bedtime with the kiddos, as our 6 month old daughter decided to wake up a few times that night.  He let me sleep as much as I could, so that I was primed in the a.m. 

Race Morning

Alarm went off 4:00 a.m.  It didn't matter, though, because I was already awake.  It's strange when you are so amped for something.  It's like being a kid again waiting on Christmas Eve for Santa to arrive and bring presents.  I was ready in a flash.  It took the kids a second to function, as it was SUPER early for them.  I stuck to the long-run morning routine.  Ate peanut butter and toast (one slice) and brought a banana for the car ride up to Philly.  I drank my one cup of coffee, brush my teeth, and we were on our way.  Thank goodness for good friends and childcare.  We dropped off the kids at 5 a.m. at our daycare provider's home.  Boy, it sure makes a difference driving to Philly so early in the morning.  No traffic!  The hubs drove, and we made it in about 25 minutes!  Awesome.  This gave us time to relax and not rush around in the city and to prepare me for the race.

Photo Op together at 6:15 a.m.

Today's conditions were AWESOME!  Perfect for running.  Today September 18th is also my hubby's birthday.  It was nice to spend it together doing something fun.  We headed down to the race area and took more photos.

Rock-n-Roll, Baby!

Yup, I'm a rockin' runner.

Corral 17, however, I jumped to corral 11 at the start.

A ton of gear check trucks.

The Meet Up

After I got over the shock of how big this race actually was, we were able to find and meet up with our friends/couple, Steph and Joe.  Joe was running the race as well, and we gabbed for a while, stretched and ate our last minutes goodies (ie. bananas).

The Group

Thanks to my hubby for taking this photo of me shoveling a banana in my mouth.  Attractive.  Ha ha.

After gearing up, taking off the long-sleeve, and making sure my sports beans were accessible, it was time to split.  Steph and hubby, Matt went off to the starting line to take photos, and Joe and I had to tackle the crowds to find out corrals again.  I opted for moving up to corral #11, as I thought, hey...why not.  I'm sure it wouldn't matter too much, as I was was hoping to just keep my pace time of about 10 minute mile.  And so, the race was to begin.

More to follow....details of the race.

$0.27cents or 10 miles

Today marks my first 10 mile run!  I made it, although, there were times I thought, gosh!  I'm tired!  I want to walk!  Proud to say that I didn't!  This is now my longest run to date so far.  15 days left until the half!  Yikes!

Today's title?  I saw $0.27cents on today's run.  Now normally, as broke as I am, I would have picked up the 2 pennies and 1 quarter that I saw during my run.  But today was different.  I wanted to run 10 miles without stopping (unless it pertained to refueling, of course).  Well, I wish I had a Garmin, as I am only calculating my run mileage from yahoo.maps, my husband's drive time on the odometer and my pace time.  I'm pretty certain we are as accurate as we can be given the options.  I made it in 1:46:30.

10 miles!  Wow!  In my head that sounds like a lot.  On my feet it felt like a lot MORE!  But now that I'm done, I think...okay, so that's what 10 miles feels like.  Today, I was able to try a few things different than how I normally run.  Today was the first time I've used refueling as part of my run.  Now, normally I run without issue of "hitting the wall".  I don't stop and drink water.  I don't use gels or goos or any other things for electrolytes.  I don't stop to pee.  But now that my miles are bumping up, I knew this day was going to come.  I purchased the "sports beans" and tested them out on today's run. 

The beans look just like jelly beans, and they taste similar, too.  I stuck the beans in my shorts (as there is an inner pocket for such things).  At about 6.5 miles I pulled out the beans and ate.  Tasted good and didn't seem to mind the chewing too much on my run.  I realized that next time I should keep the beans in the pouch it came in, since the ones I put in my pocket were stuck together from my own sweat!  Ick!  Didn't care, though, as I needed the boost. 

It's funny that my "ick factor" has changed over the years.  I chalk this up to my own goal-setting (sweat and miles) and childbirth!  It's amazing what women's bodies can endure.  I feel like sometimes I can do anything being the fact that I have had 2 children.  I even tell myself this on some of my runs when I'm struggling in pain...thinking "if I can endure the pain I had with my daughter during labor, I can suck up this hill and get through it"!  Hilarious!  I also lowered my "ick factor" by being a mom - ie. dealing with poop diapers, vomit, getting peed on and many other things I won't list here!  Lol!

I also refueled by drinking water at 7 miles.  I returned near my home and drank.  I had stuck a water bottle in the neck of a tree next to our place so that I wouldn't have to go officially in my home to drink up.  I knew that if I stopped home, there was the potential to just stop completely.  So, once I rounded our house, my hubby and daughter were outside waiting to cheer me on!  How nice!!!  The hubs had found my water bottle and had it ready to drink from with the top off.  He said "good job" and reminded me that I only have 3 more miles to go (almost done!).  That was a nice and pleasant surprise. 

The last few miles were hard.  I must say that I did have an instant boost from the beans and water from 7-8 miles, but after 8, I was TIRED!  My legs were like lead and my body just wanted to stop.  The majority of today's run was also hard, as my tummy felt quite jostled.  I held off on a few side-aches, and I was able to breathe through them.  All in all, I was happy.  I cannot believe I ran 10 miles today.  During the run, I thought...how the hell do people run a full marathon!?  26.2 is A LOT!!!  10 felt like a lot!  Well, time will only tell how 13.1 miles will be like.  15 days to go! 

16 Days to Go!

So, the countdown begins.  It's 16 days until my first half marathon.  I find myself excited yet completely nervous.  I know I've been training, and doing what I can during these past few months.  But I still seem to feel so unprepared.

My goal is literally to just run this thing without stopping to walk.  I know that might sound like a lame goal, and I should be shooting for time.  But ultimately, it's just about running it without stopping.  I think, what if I get tired, get a side-ache, have to pee, need to refuel, (?) etc...the list goes on.  What if I can't make it?  I will be so disappointed in myself.  I know this is my inner-critic, and I should just look at what I have done this far.  I mean, I AM a mommy of two, working full-time, running a household and still finding time to train.  But alas, it's about meeting the goal. 

I had a friend from work come over to me yesterday to talk about the race, and we discussed prep talk (what to eat, how to breathe when running, etc...).  It got me all fired up.  I was excited, and it made me look forward to it.  Still, I could feel those butterflies flying around throughout my tummy with nervousness and anxiety.  I just think, sheesh...I feel this way now, wait until the night before the actual race!

Makes me wonder how professional athletes feel before their big games/matches/races.  Like Lance Armstrong and the pressure to win continuously.  Or Nadel and/or Federer before a tennis match to continuously be the best of the best.  I just don't know how they do it time after time.  I'm just a little, ol' mom running for fun(?).  I say that with a question, because I wonder sometimes why I do it.

I find myself complaining all the time before I have to run/train/get out there and get going.  But after I'm done running/training, all I can do is go on and on about how good I feel, how great it was to get out there.  It's like a sickness or something.  Must be the running endorphins.  Ha!

Anyhow, this race is upon me.  I'm now in the last 2 weeks of training, and then it's on!  Crazy to think how far I've come.  And to think I just had my daughter 5 1/2 months ago.  The concept of time fascinates and horrifies me all in the same.  Let the countdown begin.