5 Mile Run

Wow, it is HOT already. I am not really sure how I will run in July and August, as it is already very hot. I went out about 7, and by the end I was sweating like a pig and roasting hot. I got a cold towel and put it around my neck at the end. It felt so good. Lots of water - downed all 4 bottles while I was out and had quite a bit when I got back.

The plan said to do 4 - 6 miles today, and I did 5. Click here for garmin link.

Bike and Run

Today, Mike, Stacey, Eric, Nicole, and I rode Flatwoods today for 32 miles!!!!!!! WOO HOO! That is the second time I have ridden over 30 miles in my whole life! After, I ran 2.5 miles. It was hot and hard, but it also felt good.

This was my first time riding with the clipless pedals. I got the speedplay ones after MUCH debate. I couldn't decide whether to get Look or Speedplay. Holly and Jen are VERY passionate about the Speedplay ones, so I ended up getting them on their recommendation. The Ironman store man, Hunter and David, recommended the Look ones because they said that there is a wider area under your foot. Holly said that the speedplay ones are better on the hills and keep your knees from hurting. Since I ride with Holly and Jen and they are my coaches, I decided to take their word for it.

Then, came the next thing - SHOES. Man, this biking stuff is complicated. Ok, two types of shoes. So, I got the triathlon variety because I do triathlons. :) That means that the strap opens away from the bike so they are easier to take on and off with the bike, especially if you ever become super duper cool and leave the shoes on the pedals and climb in. I ended up getting Sidi shoes which were double what I wanted to spend. However, they are super comfortable and everyone says that they last forever (the Ironman store guys said if there is a nuclear war that cockroaches and Sidi bike shoes will be the only thing standing). I did have some debate about whether the pink matched my bike as it is teal and black, but I finally decided that I didn't care. They are comfortable and cute.

When we got to flatwoods, I was really nervous. However, I actually had ZERO problems getting in them. I was shocked. They went right on. I did have a little panic attack the first time I unclipped, but I stayed calm and they came off easily.

On the ride, my legs felt SO much better. My right leg adductor muscle has been annoying me on the bike since last October. I never felt it today. Loved it! Also, we rode 32 miles (last week 25), and my legs didn't feel like I had been on a horse for hours. It was great. I ran 2.5 after. My plan is to add a half a mile to my brick run each week. I am hoping that it will allow me to get used to it slowly - especially with the heat. I will keep my longer run on the week though (although I am at 6 miles now which is heaven for a long run) :)

Great day! According to the weight watchers activity thing, it says I earned 19 activity points. I only get 21 in a day, so that is a LOT!

Swim and Run

I got up early this morning to meet the crew to swim. CARMEN came!!!! Gosh it is so hard to get up that early. It is just weird. I realized I forgot a towel as I pulled into the parking lot. Uh oh. Oh well, it can' t be that bad. :) We swam the same workout as Tuesday

500 warm up
200 alternate breathing drills
600 with 100 pull and 100 swim
4 X 25 fast
cool down 200
I did a couple extra laps at the end. :)

Then, I went home and ran 5 miles. It was HOT. MAN it was hot. But, I did it and am still here to talk about it. :) My garmin says my heart rate went up to 195 at the end. HOLY COW!!!!! I tried to keep it around 178 as it really wanted to go above 180 often. Must adjust to evil heat. :) I averated a whopping 11:58 per mile. But, I can't tell you how good I felt after!!!!

Early Swim

Today, I got up at 5:15 (well, I did hit snooze until 5:21), and I went swimming with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following workout.

Today, I got up at 5:15 (well, I did hit snooze until 5:21), and I went swimming with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following workout (from Holly's email)

WARM UP 500 YDS (YES 500! SLOW AND STEADY)

DRILL 200YDS SWIM:ALTERNATE 25 YDS RIGHT SIDE BREATH, 25 YDS LEFT SIDE BREATHE ***WE NEED TO WORK ON BI LATERAL BREATHING

MAIN SET 600YDS ALTERNATE 100 YDS SWIM MODERATE PACE WITH 100 YARDS PULLS
*** ON THE PULL 100 = EITHER USE PADDLES AND PULL BUOY OR THE TWO TENNIS BALLS FOR A FIST DRILL

4X25 YDS FAST! 10 SEC REST IN BETWEEN EACH
COOL DOWN 100 YDS EASY

I did an extra 100 cool down because I wanted 1600 yds. Then, I got a wild hair and decided to do a 100 IM (fly, back, breast, free). I hadn't done that in years and loved it!

Hip Flexor Pain

My hip flexor is not my friend today, and it has really been causing a lot of trouble. I really need to see Chris, but that isn't until Thursday. Sigh. I was planning on running tonight, but I bailed. Sad...

I am doing pretty well on WeightWatchers. I think it is helping me focus again. I get 21 points a day and 35 weekly points. Also, I guess you get to eat the exercise points if you run out of weekly points (pretty sure i will!). Today, used 6 weekly points. I did lose 1 lb though, so I am now at 73 lbs LOST! WOO HOO!

Bike and Run

Today, I did a 25 mile bike ride at Flatwoods and a little over a mile run. Mike, Chris, and Michael came with me. Chris kept my pace on his mountain bike for the first 9 miles. That is impressive. It is HOTTTTT outside, and the run was evil. I have to get used to this running in the heat thing. I really pushed my speed at the end of the run though. My watch said I ended at an 8:06 min mile pace. I am sure it was for a nanosecond, but it is the fastest the watch has ever said at the end. :)

Horseback Riding

Today, Morgan and I went on a 2 hour ride horseback ride. About 20 minutes in, I realized that this was probably not the smartest move when I have my longer bike ride scheduled for tomorrow. DOH. It was really fun though, and it was great to see the smiles on Morgan's face.

Atlanta 3.5 Run (W Loop)

Today, I ran my favorite Atlanta route around the W Perimeter. It is approximately 3.5 miles and includes some good hill work. I used to hate it, but now I really enjoy the challenge. :)

Swim

Today, I got up at 5:45 (yes that is AM!) to swim with Stacey, Debi, and Nicole. We did the following swim workout.

200 warm up easy
100 catch up
100 alternate sides
8 X 50 easy 25/hard 50
100 easy
8 X 25 / hard and rest for 30 sec
100 warm down easy
1200 yards total

Fredericksburg Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon Race Report

Garmin Details can be found here (check out that elevation picture - HILLS!)

As I have struggled through my foot issues (and less so my couch) over the last few weeks, I was really worried about how this half was going to go. For the Gasparilla Half, we trained and did 10+ miles for 6 weeks and included a 13 mile run. So, I set out to do something similar, but I did a SINGLE 10 mile run and then had the whole “Is it Plantar Fasciitis?” injury. Since then, in the 4+ weeks, I had done two 6 mile runs and a couple of smaller ones. That is it. So, two weeks before the race, I set out to do a 4 miler, an 8 miler, then an 11 miler. Then, I did a 6 and a 5 the week before the race. Was it enough? The biggest worry is that this race has hills. For those of you From Tampa, you know how flat the training is usually.

Travis was set to go with me, and he did the 11 mile training run the Sunday before the race. On Friday, he texts me that Lisa is in the ER. Oh no. I am sure he won’t be coming and that it will only be Courtney and I running. Since he missed Gasparilla, I am sad, but I know he needs to be with Lisa and hope that she is ok. She feels better on Saturday morning, and he can go! Yeah! We fly to Baltimore on Saturday morning, and Courtney picks us up. It is so good to see her. I love her laugh and one liners, and we were off to a hysterical car ride immediately. She then says that she has to confess that she accidentally booked us in a hotel that is 25 miles away. She booked the race headquarters hotel, but apparently that is not in Fredericksburg. We decided to go pick up our packets and see what we could find. None of the hotels by the race start had rooms, but we did find one 12 miles away – better than 25 so we take it.

The expo was pretty good, and we got our numbers, shirts, and other race goodies. Travis is number 25 which completely freaks him out as he thinks he accidentally got an elite number or something. We ask and they say that it is randomly assigned. I was number 5084, and Courtney was 5109. We went to the hotel where I tried to calm Morgan down. For some reason, every time I go out of town and Mike and Morgan are there, they have an episode. This time was no different, and I tried to work through the pre-teen tears. Mike had gone to take Katie to get her hair cut, and that was probably good to give a break to both of them.

We went to the Outback down the street, and I got grilled chicken and a baked potato. YUMMY for pre-race meal. After dinner, we went to the store to get some water and other stuff like nutragrain bars (real ones – not generic), advil, bananas, etc. As we are checking out, the self scanner says, “ Move your bananas onto the conveyor belt.” It sounded so hysterical being told to move our bananas, and we all got a case of the giggles. Then, as we got back to the hotel, JUST as we walk in the door, Travis informs us that his race belt could hold a small specific type of baby, and that just set us off giggling again. I had a very difficult time going to sleep after talking to Mike and Morgan. I sent out some info about the race finish being broadcast on the internet, and I settled down for some boring TV. As I turned on the TV, The Hangover movie was on. I cracked up at the end of it, and then put it on some other weird movie. It took me at least an hour to finally fall asleep.

I got up at 4, and I started getting ready. We left at 5 and got there with PLENTY of time. They had warned about difficult traffic and parking, so we were happy to be there early (well Courtney and I were – not so much with Travis). We went into the Wegman several times for a bio break before the race, and Courtney checked her bag. We hit the port-a-potty one more time before the race began. The national anthem was sung, and then the wheelchair participants began. Then, they shot the gun from the 1800’s to start the race, and we were off! Travis kept wanting to keep up with the crowd. I must have said Slow Down Travis at least 30 times.  The first thing I notice is that the elevation chart from the website is very deceptive. It makes it look like the first 9 miles are mainly downhill. HA! There are some pretty good hills for that first 9 miles. There is downhill, but it is after going uphill first. There was one BIG downhill that made me nervous for “hospital hill” which is in the 10th mile and is supposedly enormous.

The first four miles FLY by. The 5 min run and 30 sec walk is going well, and I can’t believe how fast the beeps are coming to walk. The race did this whole “green” thing with the bibs and you supposedly can plant them to grow flowers. Well, I am all for green and such, but these were awful. Mine had torn in the first mile, and I had to stuff it in my water belt. It was shredding the whole time, and I was just trying to make it with my beer coupon and my massage coupon. I text Mike and Morgan at mile 4 to let them know where I am. Miles 4 – 9 weren’t too bad, but I was conserving some energy as I am still very nervous about this “hospital hill” I have coming. 4 – 9 had some hills as well. Around mile 7, Travis went ahead, and I was glad as I could see he wanted to go faster. I knew I couldn’t, so I was happy he got to run faster. I got some jelly beans around mile 7, and they were pretty good. Along the way, there were gymnasts, several bands, radio stations, people dressed in colonial clothes, a confederate cemetery, some cool houses, a bagpipe group, and elementary school music group, lots of kids giving high 5’s, and LOTS of people. At Gasparilla, the road thinned out after a while and you had a lot of room around. That never happened at this race. There were always lots of people around. I guess with 7000 people, that is what happens. We did see quite a few people getting aid from the medics, and there was one guy who took a nasty fall behind us at one point.

As we go from mile 9 – 10, I am so nervous. I hope I can do this freaking hospital hill thing. My legs are getting tired, and my foot is hurting. Lovely. However, that only lasted a few minutes, and then I felt good again. As we start up the hill, I think, ok, you can do this. I ran up quite a bit of it, and then I decided to walk. I was so happy when 5 seconds later my watch beeped for my scheduled walk time. I walked an extra 30 seconds and then ran again for a while. Then, I walked a bit and wondered if this hill was ever going to end. I was really happy to get to the top. There were lots of people encouraging and cheering us up the hill, and almost everyone was walking that hospital hill. I actually passed a lot of people when I was running it. There was a sign that said, “Detour to ER” which was pretty funny.

Mile 11 – 12 also had a pretty big hill. I ran almost all of it, but I took a walk break for a minute near the top. Then, I went back to my plan for 12 – 13 and pushed a bit at the end. I thought a lot about Matt (and the Chick Fil A at the finish). When t was over, I was so happy to break my Gasparilla time – barely. However, I think that it counts as a big difference since this one had hills! Time was 2:35:45.


I had a marine put my medal on. I loved that. My friend Liz has a brother in Afghanistan, and I was thinking about him the whole race. He has had some difficult times lately with friends of his getting killed, and I cannot imagine what that is like. I figured if he could do it, then I could. I thanked every Marine I passed, and it was quite humbling to have them cheering us on, passing out water, etc. They were really awesome and inspiring. So, Matt Humiston, I dedicate my 13.1 to you and thank you for all you do. Please be safe and get home to your family.

As soon as we finished the race, Travis found out that Riley had falled from the swingset and needed stitches. So, we went straight to the car. Just a tip, if you don’t have to sit in a car just after finishing a race, don’t. It makes your legs worse. We rushed to the hotel, did a quick shower and change, and headed back out. I tried to get a flight on the 1 something flight Travis got, but there was only one seat available. Bummer. So, Courtney was nice enough to drive Travis to Dulles and then to take me to Baltimore. We stopped at a Wendy’s, and I had a chicken sandwich that might have been the best I have ever had.

At the airport, I had two double Maibu and Diet Coke drinks. Well earned. YUM. I am not on the plane headed home feeling proud, wearing my medal, and sporting my new shirt. :) Mission accomplished.

Thanks Travis and Courtney! I had a blast! Thanks so much Courtney for taking care of us and for driving all over the place.

Next plans:
Olympic Triathlon in Nashville in July
Half Ironman in August in September
Women’s Half Marathon in November
Jacksonville Half or Full Marathon in December (will decide later)

5(ish) run

Today, I started out on the treadmill as I was kind of nervous to go running by myself. Also, my stomach has been hurting a lot (I think it is the antibiotic). I just don't like the treadmill. I can't feel comfortable, and it was hurting my foot. So, I just went outside and started running. Also, my watch battery was dead on my GPS watch, so I just had to wing it without. Man, I am so spoiled by that watch. :) I think I did about 5 miles based on the time and where I went compared to Tuesday (when you include the mile on the treadmill). I saw sea lions on my run and they were barking at me!

6 Mile Run in Monterey

Today, I ran 6 miles with Bob through Monterey. It was so beautiful. When we first got to the train (about a mile in), we passed these Army people. I said Good Morning, and they YELLED GOOD MORNING and shouted and whooped. :) It was invigorating and inspiring. :) We saw sea lions and lots of beautiful views. It was really fun. Thanks Bob!

11 Miles

I haven't been running as much because of my evil foot decided that I shouldn't. I am doing a half marathon on the 16th, and I am quite nervous since I haven't been able to do long runs. I think "real runners" who have been doing this for a long time forget that I am still new to this. It isn't like my legs are used to it because I have been running for 10 years. :)

I felt some better after I got the 8 miles in on Thursday, so today I met Travis for an 11 mile run. It was his first double digit, and I was so happy to do it. I feel beter. I am mainly worried about miles 10 - 12 since it is a big hill. I looked back at my old runs and I have never run a hill this big ever. :( I might be walking a lot on the hill, but at least I know I can do 11!

Biking

Today, Mike and I met Travis for a bike ride. We did 20 miles and then did a short run after. It was pretty funny to hear Travis groan about the brick. I think he gets the difficulty now. :) He has a new bike and a new bike outfit. Mike and I were just in our normal tshirt and bike shorts. We felt left out. :) Just kidding. It was fun to ride though. :)

8 Mile Run

Today, I ran 8 miles (7.57 and then .43 a bit later as I ran out of time). It was my longest run in 4 weeks. I have a half marathon coming up in 10 days. YIKES! I hope I can do this. I was doing so good before my cough and then foot pain, but then I had to put a halt on the running. Once I did the 6 miles at St. Anthony's, then I was sore so I only did some short stuff before going to Vegas. In Vegas, it was hard enough to get in a 4.4 mile run, so I didn't get in a long one. I am planning on trying 10 - 11 this weekend, and then I should be ok if I can do that (I hope!). Holly suggested another semi longer run during the week next week so I will try that as long as my foot is ok. Today, I ran in my new Kswiss shoes, and I think I liked them. They are different than my Nike shoes that I love. I am thinking the Nike shoes might not be so good for my foot, so I am trying some new ones. They were the most comfy in the store, and my foot did ok during the run. However, about an hour later, I had the worst pain I have had in over a week. :( However, a little advil and some ice later, it is better).

I finally uploaded my garmin again. Here is the link to today's run. http://connect.garmin.com/splits/32444780

Track

Tonight we had team track work out. Because I am still struggling with my evil foot, I just took it easy. I tried to keep a consistent pace, and I tried to get used to the heat. Man, running in the heat is not fun. It was good to see the group again.

Holly and Jen talked to us about the race plans for the rest of the year. I guess I am doing the following:

May 16h - Marine Half Marathon
July 4th - 5K
July 25th - Olympic Tri in Nashville
Sept 11 - Sprint Tri
Sept 26 - half Iron
Nov 21 - Women's Half marathon
December 20th - Half or Full Marathon - Jacksonville

Wow, typing that it seems like an AWFUL LOT!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH

4 Mile Run in Vegas

The fear of my half marathon coming up got me up out of bed hungver in Vegas. I did a little over 4 miles on the strip. It was really windy, but it was a great run. I ran from Harrah's to NY NY, turned around and ran back past Harrah's down to the Wynn, turned around and ran back past the Venetian, turned and went back to Wynn, and then took it back to Harrah's. I didn't want to go over the pedestrian bridge at the Wynn so that is why I did that little loopback.

Hiking

Today we hiked in Red Rock Canyon. We did two trails - one that was 2 miles and one that was 2 miles but steep!!! It was challenging but very fun!