Time to Run. Like alot.

I keep saying...it's almost time, it's almost time...to begin training for Chicago full. Well, it's here :)

I'm going to try to log my runs here & give you at least a little recap. Some runs are just runs though & I predict being tired pretty much the whole summer...but I'll do my best to keep up.

6/13 Monday - 3 miles, 27:00, 9:00 pace
Hot! Holy crap it was hot. Felt like I averaged a decent pace, considering I had a freaking chili dog an hour before the run. Geeez. I've been eating whatever I want & having way too much fun. Time to get serious here people! Today was the first official day of training on my 17 week schedule.


6/11 Saturday - 7 miles, 1:07, 9:34 pace
I was a tiny bit nervous about this run b/c I haven't really been running much since the Lincoln 1/2. I do believe a break is good for us every now & again though :) Great run, did some hills & felt good!

Happy National Running Day!

Today is the day that we all must run, like it or not, because um, hello?! It's National Running Day!

For me, June marks the beginning of the training schedule for the Chicago Marathon this fall. I am nervous, excited, freaked out at the commitment I have made .... how will I ever have time to follow this schedule?!

8 miles on a Wednesday, 5 the next day? Oh & then how about do 20 two days after?

I must be crazy. No question, I totally am.

But ... I can remember thinking the same thing when I first looked at the 1/2 marathon training schedule - so I'll do the same thing I did then & check them off one by one (with my super cute pink pen of course)

If you are following my blog, I will be taking you through each & every run throughout this training schedule.

I have some product giveaways coming for you too! Oh & I am an ambassador for Marathon Bar now (more on that later), so I'll be sure to spread that around when I get that big box of joy in the mail!

My goals for this training schedule & race? Stay injury free & finish this motha.

Ok, well, here it is - my entire summer. Hope I can find some pool time in there somewhere! :) Run on my friends!

wk 1 ... 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 5 Rest Week 1 total - 15
wk 2 ... 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 6 Rest Week 2 total - 16
wk 3 ... 3 Rest 4 3 Rest 7 Rest Week 3 total - 17
wk 4 ... 3 Rest 5 3 Rest 8 Rest Week 4 total - 19
wk 5 ... 3 Rest 5 3 Rest 10 Rest Week 5 total - 21
wk 6 ... 4 Rest 5 4 Rest 11 Rest Week 6 total - 24
wk 7 ... 4 Rest 6 4 Rest 12 Rest Week 7 total - 26
wk 8 ... 4 Rest 6 4 Rest 14 Rest Week 8 total - 28
wk 9 ... 4 Rest 7 4 Rest 16 Rest Week 9 total - 31
wk 10 ... 5 Rest 8 5 Rest 16 Rest Week 10 total - 34
wk 11 ... 5 Rest 8 5 Rest 17 Rest Week 11 total - 35
wk 12 ... 5 Rest 8 5 Rest 18 Rest Week 12 total - 36
wk 13 ... 5 Rest 8 5 Rest 20 Rest Week 13 total - 38
wk 14 ... 5 Rest 8 5 Rest 9 Rest Week 14 total - 27
wk 15 ... 3 Rest 5 3 Rest 8 Rest Week 15 total - 19

wk 16 ... 3 Rest 3 Walk 2 Rest Rest
RACE! 26.2 Week 16 total - 34.2

Life is Short

Something for Today

Nonrunners cannot see how they can afford the time to run every day. But runners cannot imagine getting through a single day without it.

Kevin Nelson, The Runner's Book of Daily Inspiration

:)

reflection, perspective & appreciation

Whoa, my title today is all deep & serious! That's strange for me!

So you know, sometimes a run is just a run. Nothing to write about, all good, no problems, not super fast, etc. Today wasn't one of those runs. The run itself was actually fine in the end .... but ....

I haven't ran much since my 1/2 a few weeks ago - I was being very BAD last week - not eating well + not getting enough sleep = no running.

So I knew I had to kick it in the pants this weekend & get going. Saturday night it is. Nope. No motivation. At all. I had some work obligations super early Sunday morning so I decided to take care of those & hit the gym Sunday instead.

I got on the treadmill, all fine & good. I think I've said like a gazillion times that I so hate the first 3 miles of any run. Today? No exception. I looked down thinking I had done at least 4 .... nope. 1.5. Yikes.

I almost called it quits, because you know, somedays you have it, somedays you don't...& I'm ok with that. But decided I should hang in until at least 3 to see how I was feeling.

3 miles & all of a sudden ..... my tunes are good. My shoes feel great. I can speed up just a bit. My mind is clear & ready to go. Weird how it takes me 3 miles to get there.

Here's where reflection, perspective & appreciation come in. I have none of that before mile 3.

Reflection - I started to think about my last year. Last 6 months specifically. Something just kicked in over the last 6 months. Got faster. Went farther. Felt better. Awesome.

Perspective - It's strange how when you become a distance runner that anything under 3 miles is just a waste of getting sweaty. If I had stopped at mile 2 I would have went home pouting.

But I remember very vividly when 2 miles was a goal I never thought I could reach. I remember when 2 miles took me like 25 minutes. Wow, has my perspective changed over the last few years!

Appreciation - This isn't a problem for me very often. I'm usually a super positive person (sometimes to a fault!) I feel like I really do try to take time to appreciate where I am, what I have & where I'm going. I was struggling with this at first today.

Not because I was having a bad run, but I had alot of ups & downs this past week .... & it's sometimes a little hard to bring those 'ups' to the top of my list & stay positive & confident in myself. Funny how a run can do that for me.

I really love running. For lots of reasons:
I can eat pizza. (note that I still *shouldn't*, but I can)
It clears my head.
My legs are strong.
It's uninterrupted think time.

But today reminded me to be thankful for my health because that allows me to run, thankful that I have people in my life who love & care about me & thankful for really awesome friends I've gotten to know through running.

So there you go. A deep serious blog post about a little 7 miler today! I feel refreshed & ready for the week. Come on Monday, I'm ready for you!

Lincoln 1/2 Marathon - jellybeans, elvis & a PR

Sit down for awhile, this is going to be a ton of race day blahbitty blah blah.

Lincoln 1/2 marathon this past weekend. Freaking nervous wreck (as usual). But really, this time was different.

Recap in case you didn't bore yourself with my pre-race freak out. I had what I considered a pretty agressive goal for me - 2:10.

My last 1/2, in November of last year was something like a 2:23, and my fastest 1/2 ever (my first, 2 years ago) was a 2:14. Lots has happened since that 2:14, but it's always the time I'm fighting to beat. It just meant so much to me to beat that 2:14 for this race.

Fast forward to Saturday - running around like a mad woman of course at the last minute - updating my ipod, charging my Garmin, going to the grocery store.... yes, all of which could have been done days prior... but why would I ever do that?!

We headed out, got to Lincoln. Packet pick up was less than anything to write about, so yeah, we got our packets.

I did get to talk to a pacer who convinced me to forgo the 2:10 pace bracelet & pick up the 2:05. He was going to end up being my best friend or I would find him after the race & kick his ass. That was yet to be determined.Pasta dinner was good, then back to the hotel to obsess about what to wear. Here we are at the dinner. Dang it, I planned on a skirt & tank top, but brrrrrrrrrrrr it was going to be 39 degrees in the morning. I consistently overdress for races & I wasn't making that mistake again .... but 39 degrees & dressed like you're going for a 90 degree run? I wasn't sure. But hey, if Pat Melgares can run in the freezing rain in a tank & shorts, I can do it. (hi Pat!)

Tank/skirt it is. That skirt is freaking cute.

Off to bed at an early hour for a 5am wake up call. Slept like a baby. Good, good, good. Woke up feeling rested & ready to run! Here we are pre-race. I look nervous as hell. Or maybe that was my teeth chattering. brrrr!Race starts are always a little crazy. Parking, getting to the start, checking bags, last minute bathroom break .... hugs all around & off to your start position in line with 10,000 other crazies.I am usually a very social runner (I realize that suprises noone that knows me...). Love to chatter with everyone around me & listen to everyone's anxiety & their hopes for a PR. But not today. I think sometimes that chatter gets in my head a bit & makes me even more nervous. So today I put my ipod on, put my head down & got myself straight. Best idea ever.

As we inched up to the start, it seemed like it took forever to pass the start gate. 20 minutes in fact! Longest I've ever waited to start a race, but I had good tunes, so it was totally bearable. At about Mile 2 I saw Elvis singing Burning Love - my all time favorite Elvis song. Seriously. Love 70's jumpsuit Elvis. Here he is:My friend who did the full said she saw that dude at mile 24 or something - so cool that he stayed around for all the runners. I bet those sideburns kept him warm.

Feeling warm after mile 1 - stripped the long sleeve shirt off & wimpered a bit when I threw it to the curb, sad to be throwing away that shirt. That was my WinterRunderland 10k shirt. Dang it, I packed a million other things....but no throw away. poo.

Mile mark 5K. 30:53. Right on schedule, nice & easy. Mile mark 10K. 1:01. So far so good, perfect pace for a 2:10. I was feeling awesome, like I could run at that pace all day.

Oh I need to tell you about the water stops. This seems like a small thing, but to anyone who has ever run a race.... it's a huge thing. Water/Gatorade with LIDS & STRAWS. What?!? omg I have never seen such a glorious thing. This totally made it so that I actually was able to drink instead of spill all over myself. Freaking great. After about mile 8 I usually start to fall apart. But not today - I felt great!

Mile mark 15K. 1:30. Right on target for a 2:10. Hells yes. Free jelly beans!I maybe started smiling at this point. And singing. Outloud. And I didn't care who heard my awful singing. I knew I only had under 4 miles to go & I wasn't tired, nothing hurt, the weather was perfect, my tunes were awesome... I was feeling it. I do sing horribly, but at least good enough for the dude next to me to know I was singing a Dave Matthews tune. He gave me a thumbs up & sang along with me.

Mile 11. Something amazing happened. Only 2 miles to go - time to make it count. I knew my time was going to be somewhere in between 2:05-2:10, but I didn't want to jinx myself at this point & think I had a shot at the 2:05.

So I stopped looking at the Garmin & just ran. Ran fast. My last mile was under 8:00. Where the hell did that come from!?

I passed 154 runners from 15K to the finish. No, I didn't run around going "passing you, you, you... oh & you, you & you too". Race results told me that 154 number. Negative splits baby. Something I can rarely do in a practice run much less a race. WoW negative splits - having enough left to sprint the last 2 miles of 13 feels AMAZING.

Ok so I about barfed at that pace, but I came into the finish like a total spaz with energy left - I think I skipped over the finish, jumped around like my cheerleader days, hugging strangers & chatting up the lady putting on medals. Screamed a little & high fived any national guard person I saw. Can't wait to see those crazy dorky finish line pics. Geez. I always forget there's a camera right there.

So. 2:05:35 was my chip time. Sa-weeet. Last fall when I was running an 11 min mile, I never, ever thought I could do a 2:05.

Based on how I feel today (great & totally ready to run again), maybe I could have gone faster?! And there it is.... I wonder if I could have gone faster.

Oh wait, did I say I beat my goal by 5 minutes? Yeah, that's not even enough for me?! lol There is always faster & always farther. :) But for today, I am supa dupa proud of this run.

Elvis, free jelly beans, perfect weather, cups with lids & straws, nothing hurting, negative splits & a 9 min PR from my fastest 1/2. BOOM.

Watch out 2:00, I'm coming to get cha.

Lincoln 1/2

Full race report later....but my 2:10 goal somehow turned into 2:05. :)