Looking forward to 2014, I was trying to decide what was going to be my next BIG race. There are several half-marathons that I was debating about, and I asked around to local friends, friends I made through the Fleet Feet group I trained with, and workers at the Fleet Feet Store. Do I run the Tom King Classic Half-Marathon (here in Nashville), the Country Music Half-Marathon, or the Finish on the Fifty in Knoxville? Each had their advantages, with the first two being local, and the last one finishing on the fifty yard of Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee. If you know me, you know I am a HUGE UT fan, so that would have been pretty cool. The Tom King also finishes on the fifty yard line of LP Field where the Tennessee Titans play. That's cool, but the UT one just had more allure to me.
The drawbacks were pretty huge as well--CMM and FOTF have a lot of hills, which is not fun to train on, or run on for that matter. The Tom King one is pretty flat, but running in March is always a crap-shoot. It can either be really nice outside, or bitter cold. Of course, we are having that exact same kind of weather this week in Kentucky, so there goes that argument. I really struggled with the decision on which race to run. I feel like I am still new enough to running long distances that all three would be crazy....doable, but crazy.
The deciding factor was training. What was going to be my method of training? How do I do it? Knowing myself, I found that running with a training group, while can be costly in money and gas to get there, was the only way to keep myself accountable to getting those long mileage run in the books. So I chose to run the Country Music Half-Marathon and train again with Fleet Feet Nashville. It is what works for me, because I know I can go out the door with the mind set of running 8 miles, but with no one with me, it is easy to say "eh, four miles is enough for today". This mentality will only defeat me on race day, and running with a group, and friends for that matter, is the only way to get those long runs in the books!
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Award Winning Runner!
The first after the half marathon last year was the Harvest Hands 5K in October. Initially it was a race I did not want to participate in being so soon after such a long race. My mom convinced me to run it if she paid for it, and the first 100 people to register also got a free pair of Swiftwick socks. SOLD! Sign me up!
The morning of the race, I drove to the site and got everything prepared. I pinned my bib on, laced my car key onto my shoe laced (and prayed hard it did not fall out), and made sure my Garmin was fully charged! When the gun went off, I stepped over the timing chip and away the group went, out of the parking lot of Greer Stadium, and turned left towards Ft Negley Park. And that is when I saw it....a hill. A HUGE hill. Oh no!! And at the beginning....oh well, here goes nothing.
I managed to get over the hill, and the rest of the race was a pretty uneventful race. We ran down (and then up) a smaller hill, through a couple of neighborhoods, and then finished on the Nashville Sounds baseball field. My official finishing time was 33:26 which is TWO SECONDS slower than my personal record! How frustrating it was to finish two seconds later!!
The event organizers had a station at the end where you type in your bib number, and a receipt is printed out with your time, pace, race rank, gender rank, and age group rank. But at the top of my receipt were the words "Awards F 5k 35-39: 2nd Place" What what WHAT??
The award ceremony was pretty short, since this was the first year the race was conducted, and there were not many people who participated. And the reason I actually placed. But in the end I scored a pretty hefty coffee mug, a metal and a homemade bar of soap. It was some sweet stuff for a race I initially did not want to run.
The morning of the race, I drove to the site and got everything prepared. I pinned my bib on, laced my car key onto my shoe laced (and prayed hard it did not fall out), and made sure my Garmin was fully charged! When the gun went off, I stepped over the timing chip and away the group went, out of the parking lot of Greer Stadium, and turned left towards Ft Negley Park. And that is when I saw it....a hill. A HUGE hill. Oh no!! And at the beginning....oh well, here goes nothing.
I managed to get over the hill, and the rest of the race was a pretty uneventful race. We ran down (and then up) a smaller hill, through a couple of neighborhoods, and then finished on the Nashville Sounds baseball field. My official finishing time was 33:26 which is TWO SECONDS slower than my personal record! How frustrating it was to finish two seconds later!!
The event organizers had a station at the end where you type in your bib number, and a receipt is printed out with your time, pace, race rank, gender rank, and age group rank. But at the top of my receipt were the words "Awards F 5k 35-39: 2nd Place" What what WHAT??
The award ceremony was pretty short, since this was the first year the race was conducted, and there were not many people who participated. And the reason I actually placed. But in the end I scored a pretty hefty coffee mug, a metal and a homemade bar of soap. It was some sweet stuff for a race I initially did not want to run.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Goals for 2014
Every January 1st, millions of people make New Year's Resolutions. They will eat better, go to the gym more often, start taking better care of themselves. And for the first week to ten days of the new year, they are really good about it.
January-- Nashville New Years Resolution Run 5K Run/Walk
(Note: this was on January 4th--my time was 33:03.5 which is a new PR for me! Took me three years to break, but I did it!)
February 22nd--Love Your Heart 5K/10K
(Note: I am running the 10K event)
March 16th-- St. Patrick’s Day Kegs & Eggs 5K/10K
(Note: I am running the 10K event)
April 26th--St. Jude Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
(Note: I am running the half-marathon. I'm only half crazy!)
May 18th--Little River Days 5K Run
Five months of races on the calendar so far. I have added more 10K races in place of doing my long runs for the half-marathon training. And variety is the spice of life, right?
But then life gets in the way---kids need help with homework, work gets too busy, your parents want you to come and visit. Resolutions go the way of the 8-track tape.
I have previously heard that a better way to keep these "resolutions" are to call them "goals", and of course you have to shout to the whole world your plan so that someone will keep you accountable, right? And that is EXACTLY what I am doing with this post!
My "big picture" goal for 2014 is to run a race each month. Sounds impressive, until you break some of it down to see that some races will be a 5k or 10k. Here is what my calendar currently looks like.
(Note: this was on January 4th--my time was 33:03.5 which is a new PR for me! Took me three years to break, but I did it!)
February 22nd--Love Your Heart 5K/10K
(Note: I am running the 10K event)
March 16th-- St. Patrick’s Day Kegs & Eggs 5K/10K
(Note: I am running the 10K event)
April 26th--St. Jude Country Music Marathon and 1/2 Marathon
(Note: I am running the half-marathon. I'm only half crazy!)
May 18th--Little River Days 5K Run
Five months of races on the calendar so far. I have added more 10K races in place of doing my long runs for the half-marathon training. And variety is the spice of life, right?
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
My longest journey
After a few months hiatus, I just logged back in to see that I left you hanging from my last adventure! SO sorry about that! How could I tell you all about my training, and never tell you about the race I actually did?!?! Silly me....so here it goes.
My Women's Half Marathon took place on September 28th, in Music City U.S.A. The day before I pulled the kids out of school at 1pm so I can drive down for the expo. According to friends who ran the Country Music Half-Marathon, this expo was smaller. But that was fine by me. It was still pretty big, and for a first timer, I think anything bigger might have been TOO overwhelming. I picked up a couple of Sweaty Bands (pictured here and here), and a pair of sunglasses that do not fog up. A great shopping trip, and a perfect atmosphere for getting pumped up for the big day.
I had a relaxing evening at my parent's house with the kiddos, and slept as well as I could. I was nervous about missing the alarm, not getting there on time, all sorts of things that might make one nervous before their first big race. But when the alarm went off at 0430, I was up and at the coffee maker before anyone else was that morning. My two English muffins with strawberry jam, and away Dad and I went to the starting line downtown.
When I arrived, I looked for the Fleet Feet Training group, and my friends and I gathered together for some last minute conversations and encouraging words. We assembled at the starting line together, and after the gun went off, we ran! Tony was our pacer and kept the interval timer, telling us when to run and when to talk, but after the first couple of miles, we all kind of fell into our own pace. Tony and Carolina sped up, and Ken and Cathy fell a little behind me.
My overall time was 2:44:08, with my mileage splits from my Nike+ listed below.
The official site also listed my time for the various distances throughout the race as follows:
1. Finish vertically (not crawling over the finish line)
2. Finish under 2:45
3. Finish under 2:30
I achieved two out of three goals, which was not too bad. The first nine miles of the race were not too terribly bad, but I have to say the only thing I remember from the last 4.1 miles are burning feet. They felt like they were ON FIRE and the only thing that moderately sounded appealing was soaking them in a cooler full of ice.
I have to admit, the next day I was not running up the stairs two at a time, but I was also not sitting on the couch moaning and groaning about aches and pains either. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I rebounded from the race.
Now....are you ready for more exciting news????
My Women's Half Marathon took place on September 28th, in Music City U.S.A. The day before I pulled the kids out of school at 1pm so I can drive down for the expo. According to friends who ran the Country Music Half-Marathon, this expo was smaller. But that was fine by me. It was still pretty big, and for a first timer, I think anything bigger might have been TOO overwhelming. I picked up a couple of Sweaty Bands (pictured here and here), and a pair of sunglasses that do not fog up. A great shopping trip, and a perfect atmosphere for getting pumped up for the big day.
I had a relaxing evening at my parent's house with the kiddos, and slept as well as I could. I was nervous about missing the alarm, not getting there on time, all sorts of things that might make one nervous before their first big race. But when the alarm went off at 0430, I was up and at the coffee maker before anyone else was that morning. My two English muffins with strawberry jam, and away Dad and I went to the starting line downtown.
When I arrived, I looked for the Fleet Feet Training group, and my friends and I gathered together for some last minute conversations and encouraging words. We assembled at the starting line together, and after the gun went off, we ran! Tony was our pacer and kept the interval timer, telling us when to run and when to talk, but after the first couple of miles, we all kind of fell into our own pace. Tony and Carolina sped up, and Ken and Cathy fell a little behind me.
My overall time was 2:44:08, with my mileage splits from my Nike+ listed below.
| Mile | Time | Change | Avg Pace | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
| 12:32 | -- | 12'32"/mi | |||
2
*Fastest
| 24:11 | - 0:53 (7%) | 11'39"/mi | |||
3
| 36:04 | + 0:14 (-3%) | 11'53"/mi | |||
4
| 48:06 | + 0:09 (-2%) | 12'02"/mi | |||
5
| 1:00:24 | + 0:16 (-3%) | 12'18"/mi | |||
6
| 1:12:36 | - 0:06 (0%) | 12'12"/mi | |||
7
| 1:24:25 | - 0:23 (3%) | 11'49"/mi | |||
8
| 1:37:16 | + 1:02 (-9%) | 12'51"/mi | |||
9
| 1:49:12 | - 0:55 (7%) | 11'56"/mi | |||
10
| 2:01:30 | + 0:22 (-4%) | 12'18"/mi | |||
11
| 2:14:16 | + 0:28 (-4%) | 12'46"/mi | |||
12
| 2:26:55 | - 0:07 (0%) | 12'39"/mi | |||
13
| 2:40:01 | + 0:27 (-4%) | 13'06"/mi |
The official site also listed my time for the various distances throughout the race as follows:
- 5 km---36:27
- 6.7 mi---1:23:33
- 10 mi---2:01:42
- Pace---12:32
- Chip Time---02:44:08
- Clock Time---02:46:44
1. Finish vertically (not crawling over the finish line)
2. Finish under 2:45
3. Finish under 2:30
I achieved two out of three goals, which was not too bad. The first nine miles of the race were not too terribly bad, but I have to say the only thing I remember from the last 4.1 miles are burning feet. They felt like they were ON FIRE and the only thing that moderately sounded appealing was soaking them in a cooler full of ice.
I have to admit, the next day I was not running up the stairs two at a time, but I was also not sitting on the couch moaning and groaning about aches and pains either. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I rebounded from the race.
Now....are you ready for more exciting news????
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Weight on Wednesday- 9/18 & 9/25
I missed last week's post, so I thought I would double up with this week's weigh in. And it was pretty simple since I seem to holding consistent at 148. It's kind of frustrating to be staying the same, and I think what I need to do is a HIIT. HIIT is a High Intensity Interval Training. I am itching to do one, but with my half marathon now only 48 hours away, I am trying to keep things low key this week. I have found a few speed workouts for my other upcoming races which I am anxious to try, and hopefully I can get to those next week. But in order to lose these last five pounds (famous words every woman has uttered), I need to kick it up a notch.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Weight on Wednesday-09/11/2013
I know, I know. I'm a day late on this. Crazy life just got in the way of posting. But here it is for this week.
148.5
Ugh. One-half pound up from last week, but I am certainly not going to stress out over this. First off, I ran 10 miles last Saturday. TEN MILES! My first time ever to do that, and to date my longest run. And while I ran ten miles, I did not count calories at all the entire weekend. I got into the mind set "I just ran 10 miles, I can eat anything I want", which I know can become a downfall. So I think there were no My Fitness Pal log ins for three days.
Second, when I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 147.5. Victory will be mine! HAHAHA! So once I do start watching what I eat, and exercise accordingly, I know that I can control my weight.
But here is my biggest victory for last week. I retired my size 10 pair of shorts! YIPPIE!! When I got dressed on Tuesday afternoon, I noticed that those shorts were really, really lose. So I dug through our Rubbermaid containers that hold out winter clothes, as well as summer clothes that were at one point too small, but I did not want to get rid of them. I pulled out two pairs of shorts, and a favorite pair of pants. I tried on the shorts first, size six---and........THEY FIT! A bit tighter than what I have been wearing, but totally wearable in public. And if they are snug, that means they show off my new, slimmer body better, right? The pants are from Gap and they are a size four. They fit, they zip, and I can even sit down in them! But I think I am going hold off until I lose a few more pounds before bringing those pants back out into the light.
So my new goal for the winter, other than losing more weight and then maintaining a slimmer body, is to greet my husband at his homecoming in skinny jeans.
148.5
Ugh. One-half pound up from last week, but I am certainly not going to stress out over this. First off, I ran 10 miles last Saturday. TEN MILES! My first time ever to do that, and to date my longest run. And while I ran ten miles, I did not count calories at all the entire weekend. I got into the mind set "I just ran 10 miles, I can eat anything I want", which I know can become a downfall. So I think there were no My Fitness Pal log ins for three days.
Second, when I stepped on the scale this morning, it read 147.5. Victory will be mine! HAHAHA! So once I do start watching what I eat, and exercise accordingly, I know that I can control my weight.
But here is my biggest victory for last week. I retired my size 10 pair of shorts! YIPPIE!! When I got dressed on Tuesday afternoon, I noticed that those shorts were really, really lose. So I dug through our Rubbermaid containers that hold out winter clothes, as well as summer clothes that were at one point too small, but I did not want to get rid of them. I pulled out two pairs of shorts, and a favorite pair of pants. I tried on the shorts first, size six---and........THEY FIT! A bit tighter than what I have been wearing, but totally wearable in public. And if they are snug, that means they show off my new, slimmer body better, right? The pants are from Gap and they are a size four. They fit, they zip, and I can even sit down in them! But I think I am going hold off until I lose a few more pounds before bringing those pants back out into the light.
So my new goal for the winter, other than losing more weight and then maintaining a slimmer body, is to greet my husband at his homecoming in skinny jeans.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
My longest race yet
A few weeks ago I looked ahead on my training calendar for my half marathon training. Here is how things read:
Saturday, August 31-Run 6 miles with Fleet Feet
Monday, September 2-Run 5 miles (training, so this is solo)
And as I wasstalking browsing the Fleet Feet calendar page, I came upon a 10k race that was happening on Labor Day. FF was sponsoring the event, and they had a team in as well. I thought, "Well, 10k is around 6 miles. What the heck? What is another mile that day anyway?" So I registered for the Franklin Classic Race. It was to be my first 10k and my longest race to date. YEAH for taking the plunge, right?
On race day my parents, kiddos and I all got up early to get to downtown Franklin in time. We arrived about 30 minutes before the race. We went our separate ways (the bouncy houses were way more appealing to the children), but it was nice after the race started to see them cheering me on! I even high-fived my youngest son and my dad!
I will say that the 10k race, even though it was roughly the same distance as the run two days before, was easier in some ways, hard in others. Let me tell you about the first six-miler of the weekend.
When I packed for the weekend, the thought ran through my head (no pun intended), "Wow, this is ONLY a six mile run. It should be easy, I don't need to pack my fuel belt." Boy, was I WRONG! It was hot and humid and miserable. Now I know, in this heat, anything longer than a four mile run gets the fuel belt. I will also say there is something about running in a social group. There are about 4 or 5 of us that try to run together, our own little group, but during the run we tend to lose runners a little at a time. One will drift back around mile 3, another one a few minutes later, and so on. So when I am coming to the end of the run, at least this time, I was the first one in. So personally it was a confidence booster to be the fastest in my group this week! YIPPIE!! But it is also nice to chat with other, teach them things about the Army and military life they would not know, get talking with other adults is a nice change of pace.
Monday's race was dramatically different. Still no fuel belt, but there were more water stops along the route. The beginning of the race I probably went out a little faster than I wanted, so I slowed it down a bit. And kept running. And running. And running. I ran 1.5 miles before I stopped and needed a walking break. Now this is significant for several reasons. First, I think it was the first time I had EVER run a mile without stopping. And second, on our Saturday runs I am usually doing 3/1 intervals (3 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking, and repeat). I was so proud of myself! I walked a few minutes, and tried to repeat this process. The next walking break was a little sooner, but it was definitely a longer run than 3 minutes.
The course was pretty enjoyable. It started in historic downtown Franklin, and ran through some nice shady streets (and "shady" hear means tree-covered streets, not "shady" as in "not a good part of town"). We turned a corner and entered into a city park, and passed through a middle school parking lot. At this point I saw a down hill, and thought "Awesome! This 10k is not too bad." Wrong answer.
After this down hill, we turned left onto Del Rio Pike. Oh.....no......you know a feeling of dread when you see what is before you? Yeah, well that hit. Hard. There was a hill. Two of them. Actually, it was more of a mini-mountain. But since this part of the route was an out-and-back, it was more like four hills instead of two. And let me tell ya, it sucked. Big time! There was some walking, but I was not the only one. And when we finally got through those and back to a water stop, there was another hill! It was a more gradual incline than those two (or four) mountains I had just tackled, but still...it was rough.
The last few miles, from what I remember of it, went through more neighborhoods and back into historic downtown Franklin. The energy from the spectators along the route at the end was uplifting, and according to the little runner on my Nike+ system my speed shot straight up at the end. My family missed me crossing the finish line, but they found me later and congratulated me.
There were awards that day, none that I received. But I felt like a winner for my longest race and my longest distance without a walking break. No medals for things like that, and that is ok by me.
Saturday, August 31-Run 6 miles with Fleet Feet
Monday, September 2-Run 5 miles (training, so this is solo)
And as I was
On race day my parents, kiddos and I all got up early to get to downtown Franklin in time. We arrived about 30 minutes before the race. We went our separate ways (the bouncy houses were way more appealing to the children), but it was nice after the race started to see them cheering me on! I even high-fived my youngest son and my dad!
I will say that the 10k race, even though it was roughly the same distance as the run two days before, was easier in some ways, hard in others. Let me tell you about the first six-miler of the weekend.
When I packed for the weekend, the thought ran through my head (no pun intended), "Wow, this is ONLY a six mile run. It should be easy, I don't need to pack my fuel belt." Boy, was I WRONG! It was hot and humid and miserable. Now I know, in this heat, anything longer than a four mile run gets the fuel belt. I will also say there is something about running in a social group. There are about 4 or 5 of us that try to run together, our own little group, but during the run we tend to lose runners a little at a time. One will drift back around mile 3, another one a few minutes later, and so on. So when I am coming to the end of the run, at least this time, I was the first one in. So personally it was a confidence booster to be the fastest in my group this week! YIPPIE!! But it is also nice to chat with other, teach them things about the Army and military life they would not know, get talking with other adults is a nice change of pace.
Monday's race was dramatically different. Still no fuel belt, but there were more water stops along the route. The beginning of the race I probably went out a little faster than I wanted, so I slowed it down a bit. And kept running. And running. And running. I ran 1.5 miles before I stopped and needed a walking break. Now this is significant for several reasons. First, I think it was the first time I had EVER run a mile without stopping. And second, on our Saturday runs I am usually doing 3/1 intervals (3 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking, and repeat). I was so proud of myself! I walked a few minutes, and tried to repeat this process. The next walking break was a little sooner, but it was definitely a longer run than 3 minutes.
The course was pretty enjoyable. It started in historic downtown Franklin, and ran through some nice shady streets (and "shady" hear means tree-covered streets, not "shady" as in "not a good part of town"). We turned a corner and entered into a city park, and passed through a middle school parking lot. At this point I saw a down hill, and thought "Awesome! This 10k is not too bad." Wrong answer.
After this down hill, we turned left onto Del Rio Pike. Oh.....no......you know a feeling of dread when you see what is before you? Yeah, well that hit. Hard. There was a hill. Two of them. Actually, it was more of a mini-mountain. But since this part of the route was an out-and-back, it was more like four hills instead of two. And let me tell ya, it sucked. Big time! There was some walking, but I was not the only one. And when we finally got through those and back to a water stop, there was another hill! It was a more gradual incline than those two (or four) mountains I had just tackled, but still...it was rough.
The last few miles, from what I remember of it, went through more neighborhoods and back into historic downtown Franklin. The energy from the spectators along the route at the end was uplifting, and according to the little runner on my Nike+ system my speed shot straight up at the end. My family missed me crossing the finish line, but they found me later and congratulated me.
There were awards that day, none that I received. But I felt like a winner for my longest race and my longest distance without a walking break. No medals for things like that, and that is ok by me.
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