So maybe saying I was back in the saddle was a little too serious. We jetted off to WI for the long weekend, and although I packed 3 days of running clothes, only one day got used....oops! Sunday, after feeling guilty about gorging on brats, cheese, beer and everything else that is the glorious state of WI I figured I should work a few of those calories off before the next big bbq (and believe you me, we had one!) I pretty much forced Dave to come along via guilt trip - he likes running, he just doesn't like running with me.....I will keep telling myself it's because I can beat him! We ran on the trail through Thrivent and saw about 80 billion (yup that's right) of what we believed to be Orioles mating......but upon explanation to my mom turns out they were likely Red Wing Blackbirds (we also confirmed this on google) but it was so cool, the males were all showing off, very funny. It was a great weekend, but I'm pretty sure I consumed the recommended one year adult consumption of brats...and the summer is just starting!!
Hold off - have to go watch the Cubbies attempt a come back in the 9th - we can hear the crowd chanting for Fukudome.....
Tonight I did not want to hit the road. The couch was so inviting, I was feeling lazy. But Dave was heading out for a bike ride/haircut so I felt the peer pressure. But I did the one thing that made all the difference - I recently got some new songs on itunes and I threw them on the pod before heading out. When "The Longest Road" by Morgan Page came on I had instant runners high, that kind where you are running, the right song comes on and you instantly feel lighter, I think I even smiled. So if you haven't heard this song, and you have to get the long one, you need to, it rocked my 4ish miles today, I even ran extra because of it :) And I almost forgot, I almost got hit by a cab rolling through a stop sign - but I caught him and yelled rather loudly "HEY", thankfully he stopped, about 5 people walking looked at me funny, but I like my legs where they are so whatever!
Also, as a side note, every time I head out my back door and see the porch above us with the grill that used to be OURS but the guys above us STOLE from our porch (and not in the funny friendly way), I want to throw rocks on their cars....I don't actually do it, but I think about it almost every time....
Running Grove you have to check out: The Longest Road (Deadmau5 Remix) - Morgan Page
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Back in the Saddle
I've taken the whole recovery thing a little too seriously I think - I've only run twice since the race!! But I needed it and our new apt needed me. And now that our real computer is up and functioning I'm hoping to get some race pics up this week! We did find out after the race that not only did we run a marathon 2 weeks ago, we ran OVER a marathon! Technically we ran .2514 more than necessary and they have a calculator that adjusts your time, so if you want to get picky I was like 3:31 and some change but I'm just as happy with the recorded time - it gets me to Boston :) My family, friends, co-workers have been AMAZING! Everyone was so congratulatory and it appears half my family will be jetting off to see me in Boston. I think you always know you have the support of your loved ones but it was great that everyone was so proud of me!
The past week I think I may have eaten everything at Jewel. Ok...fine, perhaps it was only 80% of the store, but I've done an amazing job of stocking up on the things I stay away from during training....soda, mass amounts of beer, hot dogs, chips, you name it, I ate it.....and I enjoyed it :)
Saturday was gorgeous, I donned my running gear, dodged a few Cubs fans and headed to the trail. I even left my Garmin at home, I'm such a rebel! I did somewhere between 5-6 miles and I felt great. Can't wait for more beautiful days out on the trail!
The past week I think I may have eaten everything at Jewel. Ok...fine, perhaps it was only 80% of the store, but I've done an amazing job of stocking up on the things I stay away from during training....soda, mass amounts of beer, hot dogs, chips, you name it, I ate it.....and I enjoyed it :)
Saturday was gorgeous, I donned my running gear, dodged a few Cubs fans and headed to the trail. I even left my Garmin at home, I'm such a rebel! I did somewhere between 5-6 miles and I felt great. Can't wait for more beautiful days out on the trail!
Monday, May 5, 2008
What a Weekend!
Travelling to a marathon can be a little tricky - not to mention if you are also getting your engagement photos done that same weekend - you can only imagine what I packed....
We left for Cincy a little before 5PM on Friday, which is right from work, I think I checked about 5 times that I had my running shoes in the car - pretty much everything was replaceable EXCEPT the shoes, that would have been devastating!
We rolled into Oxford around 11 and chatted it up with Steph for awhile - we probably should have gone to bed, but when you haven't seen your best friend since Oct you just can't help it!
I wanted to get to the expo pretty early, we had a full day on Sat and the expo was an hour away. The weather Sat was shaky, pouring rain, bouts of sunshine, more rain, then more sun. I realized halfway to Cincy that we forgot our camera - BOO - so we only got a shot with my cell but I'll survive. The expo was alright, got some free food, which I pretty much hated and plenty of free toothpaste and mouthwash - no one likes a dirty mouth! Then we got our numbers, poster, decent sized gym bag and shirts. For those of us running the full marathon the shirt for this race is nice, it's a technical running shirt, aka, not your average cotton shirt. The design/logo leaves a little to be desired but heck free real running shirt, who am I to complain! Dave ran the half and they got the same logo/design but it was a mere cotton tee.
After the expo we met my college roomate for lunch and hit of Kenwood for some jeans for the man. Then it was back to Oxford to pick through the 5 outfits I made us bring and decide what would work best for the engagement pics :) We ended up going casual which was great and met the photographer under the arches at 5pm (so cliche I know!) I could not believe how long he spent with us, 3 hours! And we probably could have done more but it was freezing and we had some carb loading to do!!
Steph made an AMAZING pasta dinner and we loaded up on carbs and good company. We got to bed around 11, I of course was petrified my cell alarm wouldn't go off - it did of course. The Flying Pig starts at 6:30 am......so when you are staying an hour away that means getting up and out the door at 4AM, YIKES! We made it to Cincy with plenty of time and got decent parking near the Bengals stadium. I was surprised so many people were getting out and heading to the start - the race was more than an hour away at this point - it was far too chilly for this chick to vacate the car just yet. My pre-race breakfast consisted of a yogurt, peanut butter sandwich and a banana. With about 45 min to start we gathered everything we needed and headed out in search of bathrooms. The Pig starts right at the Bengals stadium so the neat thing was they opened up the stadium and we could use the bathrooms in there, a hare nicer than you average porta potty!
Dave and I positioned ourselves in the start corral right around the 4 hour sign, we couldn't really get any closer and we were ahead of plenty of people. The people just ahead of us had run the Pig before and let us know that the worst of the hills were 7-9, I had mildly predicted this based on the elevation chart but it was good to get the reassurance. The start was actually delayed 15 min due to a multi alarm fire but we wouldn't find that out until later. Even though I went right before we got in the corral, I already had to pee again. Boy was I ticked, I NEVER have had to go during a race, I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem.
We started in typical marathon fashion, people everywhere (the race field is about 20000 at the Pig) and Dave and I froggered our way along. Dave stayed with me for about 2 min before heading off, he was only doing the half after all. The course has changed over the years, the first few miles took us across the bridge into KY, the sun was just coming up and as we hit mile 4 I took off my long sleeve and tossed it on the street. Those beginning miles flew by, I had a great pace, I was people watching and the sun was warming us up. By 7 I couldn't hold it anymore and had to stop at a porta-potty. I tried to time it so I could race up as someone was coming out but that didn't work the greatest. I didn't lose much time, and within a few minutes a guy came up to me and said, "either you sped back up to pace, or I slowed way down" so I knew I was back where I needed to be!
7-9 was the climb up to Eden Park, throughout the race there were plenty of hills, I took them one at a time and I seemed to manage. I didn't let them get to my head and I think that really helped. At 9 I took my first power gel and felt a little rejuvenated. For not being as big as Chicago there were plenty of spectators cheering us on. They were so great, yelling my name, slapping hands, it was a big help! At this point I was about 9 min faster than BQ pace, and I was super happy but kept telling myself that at some point I was going to die down. I was literally convincing myself throughout the race that I did not want to do Boston this year and it would be fine if I didn't qualify. When I hit 13.1 I knew Dave was done and I was so jealous.....I also knew I was well under 2 hours.....awesome!
At 16 I took my second gel. Still feeling decent, after the 7-9 climb there were about 3 more big hills and everytime we hit one someone was yelling "this is the last hill" they were liars, I know they were trying to push us on, but not know the course and being hopeful I believed them and my calves screamed everytime another hill came around the corner! I always take 3 ibuprophen before a big race and on the advice A-train I put 2 in my shorts for later, I took these at the water between 17 and 18 and they were AWESOME!!!
One of the great surprises of a race like the Pig and being relatively in the front was I actually got orange slices!!! These were like small pieces of heaven. At 20 my brain literally said if there are any more hills I might burst out of your skull, this was also the point where I realized I was still about 9 min ahead of BQ time. This meant I could drop a min per mile and still be ok, this was probably the first point in the race that I thought it might be possible to get a 3:40. Miles 21-23 were the hardest, not because of hills but more mentally, once I got to 23 it was just a 5k, but 21-23 had me picking landmarks and just getting to them.
The final 2 miles is pretty much a striaght shot back to downtown Cincy. I kicked it up a little too much at 25 but I realized it and tried to calm down. At that point I had 15 min to get a mile done and I was almost certain I would be a qualifier. The last mile was lined with people, they were everywhere, on the sidewalks, on the walkways above, hanging out of the parking garages. I searched for Dave but I coudln't find him in the sea of people, but he saw me. At .2 left I could see the finish banner and the official clock and it was well below 3:40, that's when it became a reality. I sprinted - well as much as I could at that point - and clocked in at 3:33:15 - I was so overcome with emotion that I was crying as I crossed the finish line, I'm sure I looked stellar, but I'm more than ok with it, that was my moment.
I made my way through the finish food, they even had ice cream and Dave miraculously spotted me. He was just as excited as I was and it was great! We hung out near the lake for a few and took some photos then headed back to the car for the trek home. As it turns out due to that fire I talked about during the start they had to re-route us and we ran a quater of a mile MORE than necessary. We are told the course will be re-certified and our times adjusted by our pace. As long as it's re-certified I could care less. Going into this race I didn't know what to expect.....as it turns out, sometimes we surprise even ourselves.
The stats:
Chip time - 3:33:15
16th in my age group - 25-29yr old females
58th woman overall
We left for Cincy a little before 5PM on Friday, which is right from work, I think I checked about 5 times that I had my running shoes in the car - pretty much everything was replaceable EXCEPT the shoes, that would have been devastating!
We rolled into Oxford around 11 and chatted it up with Steph for awhile - we probably should have gone to bed, but when you haven't seen your best friend since Oct you just can't help it!
I wanted to get to the expo pretty early, we had a full day on Sat and the expo was an hour away. The weather Sat was shaky, pouring rain, bouts of sunshine, more rain, then more sun. I realized halfway to Cincy that we forgot our camera - BOO - so we only got a shot with my cell but I'll survive. The expo was alright, got some free food, which I pretty much hated and plenty of free toothpaste and mouthwash - no one likes a dirty mouth! Then we got our numbers, poster, decent sized gym bag and shirts. For those of us running the full marathon the shirt for this race is nice, it's a technical running shirt, aka, not your average cotton shirt. The design/logo leaves a little to be desired but heck free real running shirt, who am I to complain! Dave ran the half and they got the same logo/design but it was a mere cotton tee.
After the expo we met my college roomate for lunch and hit of Kenwood for some jeans for the man. Then it was back to Oxford to pick through the 5 outfits I made us bring and decide what would work best for the engagement pics :) We ended up going casual which was great and met the photographer under the arches at 5pm (so cliche I know!) I could not believe how long he spent with us, 3 hours! And we probably could have done more but it was freezing and we had some carb loading to do!!
Steph made an AMAZING pasta dinner and we loaded up on carbs and good company. We got to bed around 11, I of course was petrified my cell alarm wouldn't go off - it did of course. The Flying Pig starts at 6:30 am......so when you are staying an hour away that means getting up and out the door at 4AM, YIKES! We made it to Cincy with plenty of time and got decent parking near the Bengals stadium. I was surprised so many people were getting out and heading to the start - the race was more than an hour away at this point - it was far too chilly for this chick to vacate the car just yet. My pre-race breakfast consisted of a yogurt, peanut butter sandwich and a banana. With about 45 min to start we gathered everything we needed and headed out in search of bathrooms. The Pig starts right at the Bengals stadium so the neat thing was they opened up the stadium and we could use the bathrooms in there, a hare nicer than you average porta potty!
Dave and I positioned ourselves in the start corral right around the 4 hour sign, we couldn't really get any closer and we were ahead of plenty of people. The people just ahead of us had run the Pig before and let us know that the worst of the hills were 7-9, I had mildly predicted this based on the elevation chart but it was good to get the reassurance. The start was actually delayed 15 min due to a multi alarm fire but we wouldn't find that out until later. Even though I went right before we got in the corral, I already had to pee again. Boy was I ticked, I NEVER have had to go during a race, I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem.
We started in typical marathon fashion, people everywhere (the race field is about 20000 at the Pig) and Dave and I froggered our way along. Dave stayed with me for about 2 min before heading off, he was only doing the half after all. The course has changed over the years, the first few miles took us across the bridge into KY, the sun was just coming up and as we hit mile 4 I took off my long sleeve and tossed it on the street. Those beginning miles flew by, I had a great pace, I was people watching and the sun was warming us up. By 7 I couldn't hold it anymore and had to stop at a porta-potty. I tried to time it so I could race up as someone was coming out but that didn't work the greatest. I didn't lose much time, and within a few minutes a guy came up to me and said, "either you sped back up to pace, or I slowed way down" so I knew I was back where I needed to be!
7-9 was the climb up to Eden Park, throughout the race there were plenty of hills, I took them one at a time and I seemed to manage. I didn't let them get to my head and I think that really helped. At 9 I took my first power gel and felt a little rejuvenated. For not being as big as Chicago there were plenty of spectators cheering us on. They were so great, yelling my name, slapping hands, it was a big help! At this point I was about 9 min faster than BQ pace, and I was super happy but kept telling myself that at some point I was going to die down. I was literally convincing myself throughout the race that I did not want to do Boston this year and it would be fine if I didn't qualify. When I hit 13.1 I knew Dave was done and I was so jealous.....I also knew I was well under 2 hours.....awesome!
At 16 I took my second gel. Still feeling decent, after the 7-9 climb there were about 3 more big hills and everytime we hit one someone was yelling "this is the last hill" they were liars, I know they were trying to push us on, but not know the course and being hopeful I believed them and my calves screamed everytime another hill came around the corner! I always take 3 ibuprophen before a big race and on the advice A-train I put 2 in my shorts for later, I took these at the water between 17 and 18 and they were AWESOME!!!
One of the great surprises of a race like the Pig and being relatively in the front was I actually got orange slices!!! These were like small pieces of heaven. At 20 my brain literally said if there are any more hills I might burst out of your skull, this was also the point where I realized I was still about 9 min ahead of BQ time. This meant I could drop a min per mile and still be ok, this was probably the first point in the race that I thought it might be possible to get a 3:40. Miles 21-23 were the hardest, not because of hills but more mentally, once I got to 23 it was just a 5k, but 21-23 had me picking landmarks and just getting to them.
The final 2 miles is pretty much a striaght shot back to downtown Cincy. I kicked it up a little too much at 25 but I realized it and tried to calm down. At that point I had 15 min to get a mile done and I was almost certain I would be a qualifier. The last mile was lined with people, they were everywhere, on the sidewalks, on the walkways above, hanging out of the parking garages. I searched for Dave but I coudln't find him in the sea of people, but he saw me. At .2 left I could see the finish banner and the official clock and it was well below 3:40, that's when it became a reality. I sprinted - well as much as I could at that point - and clocked in at 3:33:15 - I was so overcome with emotion that I was crying as I crossed the finish line, I'm sure I looked stellar, but I'm more than ok with it, that was my moment.
I made my way through the finish food, they even had ice cream and Dave miraculously spotted me. He was just as excited as I was and it was great! We hung out near the lake for a few and took some photos then headed back to the car for the trek home. As it turns out due to that fire I talked about during the start they had to re-route us and we ran a quater of a mile MORE than necessary. We are told the course will be re-certified and our times adjusted by our pace. As long as it's re-certified I could care less. Going into this race I didn't know what to expect.....as it turns out, sometimes we surprise even ourselves.
The stats:
Chip time - 3:33:15
16th in my age group - 25-29yr old females
58th woman overall
Sunday, May 4, 2008
today was MY day.....
If you talked to me in the last week you know I was cautious, "What are you shooting for", me: "Well I'd love to BQ but that's unrealistic, I'd really like to get a sub-4but honestly I'll be happy if I beat my last PR 4:17:33" Well.....
I spanked my PR today and I kicked major ass in the process.
Chip Time: 3:33:15
I'm not sure if I have ever been more proud of myself. .2 miles from the finish when I could see the finish line and the clock and it was well under 3:40 for the "official time" and I realized I would qualify for Boston it was too much. I cried at the end, this is the culmination of a hard training winter, giving up Friday nights out, and pushing my body beyond what I thought was possible. And I'm still walking too! For now I'm going to kick back and celebrate with a beer - race report to follow...
I spanked my PR today and I kicked major ass in the process.
Chip Time: 3:33:15
I'm not sure if I have ever been more proud of myself. .2 miles from the finish when I could see the finish line and the clock and it was well under 3:40 for the "official time" and I realized I would qualify for Boston it was too much. I cried at the end, this is the culmination of a hard training winter, giving up Friday nights out, and pushing my body beyond what I thought was possible. And I'm still walking too! For now I'm going to kick back and celebrate with a beer - race report to follow...
Friday, May 2, 2008
Marathon Weekend!!!
It's finally here!!! I'll be heading to Cincinnasty (as we fondly call it) shortly. Nervous, excited, ready to go! Looks like the weather should be pretty stellar for Sunday - knock on wood!!! Send me all your strong running karma for Sunday! Race report to follow......
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
