Monthly Archives: October 2011

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I’m still here, I promise!

I haven’t posted since last Tuesday!! I promise I am still alive and doing very well :)   I was really looking forward to my first week without a grad class and it has been fantastic. I was also ready to have my first free weekend that wouldn’t require writing a long paper.  I thought I would have a relatively calm week without class work…but Colby and I fell upon a really great opportunity this week and have been slightly stressed but in a good way! I don’t think he wants me to write about it yet, so I’ll wait! Very happy and we will have a great Christmas this year :)

 

I followed the first two weeks of the short training plan I came up with fairly well for the Nittany Valley Half Marathon. For week two, I ran 3 miles on Tuesday, missed Wednesday because I had my last night rehearsal for Marching band for the season and walk/ran 4 miles on Thursday.  My friend Amy and I planned on running at the local park after school and then going to BodyPump.  It ended up raining pretty hard, so we went to the gym right away and got on the treadmills.  I had all kinds of exciting news to talk to her about so the 4 miles seemed quick.  We walked 2 miles, ran 1 because we thought we should probably run a little and then walked the last mile.  This was the first run/walk for Amy after her first half marathon a few weeks ago.  We were nervous to go to BodyPump because we took a couple weeks off.  My favorite instructor Michelle definitely pushed us and we got to try out the new release! I liked it but the triceps killllled me! I was sore the next day but I’m ready to go back for more.

I was going to run 7 miles this weekend… but it SNOWED! Like 7 inches! I thought I would try to run today, but there was still snow/ice on the roads and I ended up going to a wedding show with my Mom and Colby. The wedding show was super crowded and we ate lots of bad cake.  The roads are almost all clear now, so I am going to run after school tomorrow.

Totally unrelated… but I bought this nail polish at Sephora today and it is pretty awesome.  I had bought a green color there a few weeks ago and when I opened the bottle there was no brush and it was a mess. I went to return it today (Sephora has a great return policy) and saw this polish and got it instead.  It took a few times to get the hang of it but it actually does look like the pictures. I would paint my toes but I’m missing a toenail…. :)

 

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I also got the new Coldplay album at Target this past week and love it. I’m a huge Coldplay fan and have been looking forward to this album for awhile. I think I will get a few songs onto my running playlist.  I actually have a lot of Coldplay on my running playlist… even some of their more mellow stuff.  Sometimes I like running to slower/calmer stuff when I run by myself.

Do anything fun this weekend? Skip your long run because of the east coast snow storm?

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More Races

Tuesday Workouts: 3.25 miles (3 mile run in 28:40)… ?

 

I really need to update my Garmin!  I didn’t get home from work until almost 6 and decided to do a quick 3 miler around the neighborhood.  I started in the spot that must get no satellites for my Garmin and my first mile was really off.  I know this particular route very well and know exactly where my Garmin should beep for 1 mile.  It didn’t beep for another 30 seconds and I knew I was running faster than a 9:43 pace.

 

I’m signing up for the Nittany Valley Half-Marathon on December 4th.  I did this race last year and it is tough! Just take a look at the hill descriptions above that are on the website.  I feel really motivated after the great 5 mile race from this past weekend and would like to do another 1/2 marathon to get rid of the bad feelings from the Hershey 1/2.

 

This is the plan I came up with to get me ready for this next half marathon.  This is my last week with a Wednesday marching band rehearsal at night, so if I don’t get that run in I will be okay.  Also… I FINISHED MY GRAD CLASS SUNDAY NIGHT!!  I am so happy to get a break until the middle of January! The 5k race during week 6 is the local Turkey Trot I will run Thanksgiving morning.  Colby also asked me to run another 5k race that will be the weekend before that. Three races in two weeks :) I haven’t ran a 5k since May 2010 and I am really looking forward to pushing myself.

Are you running any races in November/December? Are you looking forward to cold weather running? I am!! I actually love running when it is cold!

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5 Mile Race Recap and PR!

This morning Colby and I ran a local 5 mile race.  I ran this one last year and loved it!  It starts and ends near our local “minor league-ish” baseball stadium and my Dad came along to take pictures for us.  It was VERY cold when we woke up this morning, around 40-45 degrees.  I decided to wear the pair of capri running pants I won from Janae’s giveaway this summer and a long sleeved cotton t shirt from a previous race.  I was very comfortable when I was running and happy with what I wore.

I am feeling so much better after getting so sick last week with a sinus infection and running the half marathon on Sunday.  Still a little congested, but a world of difference from last week.  I had a great race when I did this one last year and I was wondering if I could better my time today…

 

My official time was 43:55 today!! There is a fairly big hill during the second mile and I was hoping to just slow down a little bit.  I was so happy to look down and see 9:02 for mile 2 after that hill! This is my fastest race pace to date.  I am really excited to do the Turkey Trot 5k on Thanksgiving morning to see what I can do for a shorter distance! I haven’t done a 5k in about a year and a half.

 

Colby also had a great race and won his age group!!  I’m glad we waited around at the end to hear the results!

 

His official time was 31:28.  I liked that they used chip timing this year and it was built in on the bib.  They also showed the results instantly on a nearby monitor, which was nice when we waited around.  I wasn’t sure if I was under 44 minutes because my Garmin said it was so close, but I was happy to see the official results said 43:55 for me :)

 

The finish line was nice for a small race (just under 400 finishers) because they had bathrooms open, bagels, bananas, chips and drinks.

 

 

Very happy with our results!  Now we are heading to HersheyPark for the afternoon to use our free park passes from last week’s race.  I wasn’t really feeling up to going on roller coasters last weekend, so I’m glad we saved them for today!

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Guest Post – Baltimore Half Marathon

 

My friend Amy and I teach together at school.  We have been running and going to BodyPump together for the past few months.  Amy couldn’t get into the Hershey Half Marathon when it was sold out, so she and her husband signed up for the Baltimore Half Marathon.  The race was also last weekend and below is her recap of her first half marathon experience!

 

It was during the last few days before the race that I came across this quote:  “The only difference between try and triumph is a just a little umph!” by Marvin Phillips.  I don’t even know who Marvin Phillips is, but regardless the quote struck me. Being my first ½ marathon I had all kinds of crazy nervousness “running” through my mind…would I have enough umph to successfully finish this race?

Overall, I have to say that my training went well until I ran my 10 mile long run and my 12 mile long run.  I just didn’t have it in me to run the long runs without being in severe pain. And, needless to say, the disappointment crushed my spirit.  Not to mention the little voice inside my head asking me what in the world was I thinking when I signed up for a ½ marathon!

Fast forward to race day…The Baltimore Running Festival, October 15th 2011.  I was fortunate enough to have my hubby running with me.  I think he truly understood my nervousness and said he would run the entire race with me.  After all, he’s a pro; he already ran a full marathon.

When we arrived I told him to just lock me in the back of the Jeep and get me when the race was over!!!! Well, that didn’t happen, but we were blessed with beautiful weather on race day.  I couldn’t have been happier! We found our starting point and anxiously waited to move to the starting line.  Being in wave 5 (that’s where they put the newbies), it took us twenty minutes to begin the race.  Here are some quick facts about the Baltimore Running Festival:

  • The festival offered all kinds of races: a marathon, ½ marathon, 5k, a wheelchair marathon, team relays, and a kids fun- run.
  • There were over 25,000 runners in Baltimore on race day!
  • The ½ marathon had 11,000 runners.
  • There were even elite runners competing for their country’s Olympic team!

It was a great start!  There was so much scenery to take in that I didn’t even notice that I was running.  We started at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and then ran through various neighborhoods.  I was amazed by the amount of people cheering us on.  There were bands playing and even kids dressed up in Halloween costumes anxiously awaiting a “high five” as we sailed by them.

Being a school teacher, I allowed myself a reward every two miles.  What was the reward you ask…well, every two miles I was allowed to have a block of my SHOT BLOK.  (Black cherry flavor, yum!)  I love the SHOT BLOKS and it’s funny how something so simple can be motivating.  My reward at mile marker 10 was to call my daughter and at mile marker 12 call her again so that I could tell her it was just a matter of time before we triumphantly crossed the finish line.

My hubby and I ran the entire race together, and I ran the race without any of the excruciating pain that I had during my training.  We crossed the finish line hand-in-hand in 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 16 seconds.  It was a triumphant race indeed!

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A Good Race Experience

As I wrote about in my previous post, Colby and I ran the Hershey Half Marathon this past Sunday.  I am starting to get better from my sinus infection now that I have antibiotics, but I am far from feeling great.  I’m hoping to feel better for a short run on Thursday and a 5 mile race on Saturday.

Although my experience at the Hershey half wasn’t pleasant, Colby had a fantastic race.  He has been running since college and has completed an Ironman triathlon, 5 other full marathons and lots of smaller distance triathlons and races.  Yes, I am bragging because I think he is wonderful :)

 

My friend Andrea found this picture of Colby running on the Hershey facebook page.

Colby’s official finish time was 1:29:29 and it was his best time by 6 minutes!

 

I can’t believe all but one of his splits were in the 6 min range!  He was hoping to stay in the low 7′s and was really happy with how great his legs felt that day.  He decided to wear his fuel belt to avoid water stations that had his Hammer Nutrition gels and stuff.  He loves Hammer stuff and has really got me hooked on taking Hammer Recoverite after hard workouts.

 

My friend Stephanie told me our race pictures were up today.

Of course Colby looks great and smiles for the camera.  Stephanie’s pictures were really cute too!

Yours truly… That pic pretty much sums up the race for me.  Oh yeah, I threw up a little right after that was taken. TMI? At least I can laugh about it now :)

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Barely a PR

Sunday: Hershey Half Marathon

Confession: I hate mascots and they scare me.

Oh, where to begin with this post… As you might remember, I was sick about two weeks ago and I never fully recovered. I started feeling really sick again last Thursday and it got worse and worse.  I’ve been trying to just ignore it and take Tylenol and Sudafed but it caught up with me.  By Friday, I knew I was really sick but still wanted to do the race Sunday morning.  I tried to take a nap Saturday afternoon after we picked up our race bags, but then only slept about an hour that night.  I was awake when my alarm went off at 5am and I knew it was going to be a tough day.

Before the race. It was freezing but I was happy I wore a tank after a few minutes of running.

I was feeling optimistic at the start of the race.  I was excited because there were 5,000 runners at HersheyPark and it had been about a year since I ran a half marathon.  I decided to carry a water bottle with me for the race to avoid the water stations and ate a Tropical Punch Shot Blok every 2 miles.   I usually keep my iPod at a low volume for races, but I turned it up loud. As soon as I started running I could hear how hard I was breathing and I didn’t want to think about it.  I wanted to start the first mile at a 9:35 and aim for negative splits for the race.  That definitely didn’t happen. I struggled to slow down for the first mile when I felt surprisingly good and was at a 9:00 min pace.  After about three miles, I could feel how sick I was and knew this was not going to be a good race.  I was surprised at the elevation for this race.

I thought the race was going to be fairly flat with a few rolling hills.  Colby and I were surprised that there really wasn’t any part of the course that was flat for a long period of time.  I felt like it went up and down constantly.  I don’t mind small hills (when I’m feeling good) but these hills tired me out so much.  I tried not to slow down as I went up each hill.  Instead of using the downhills for recovery, I tried to push myself to bring back my overall pace because each hill did slow me down.  I didn’t wear my heart rate monitor, but I know it would have been through the roof from being sick and trying to push myself so much.

As I passed the half way point where the relay teams switched, I was ready to be done.  I hit the half way point at 1 hr and 2 minutes, so I was thinking if I could just hold it together I could do a 2:04 overall.  Around mile 8 or 9 I was absolutely miserable.  I was hating the race and just wanted it to end.  I’ve never felt this way during a race and was so annoyed that I had trained for over the past few months and was just throwing it away.  I started fading fast at the mile 9 hill and walked for about 20 seconds at the end of mile 10 and for probably 45 seconds in mile 12.  Somehow I pulled it together and ran to the end!

So I finished with 2:07:04.  Yes, it is faster than my previous PR time of 2:07:36 from the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon last year but I was being hard on myself yesterday.  I wasn’t happy because I thought I would be under 2:05 and I had hated racing so much.  After sleeping and going to the doctors today, I’m feeling totally different.  I can’t believe I ran like that with a sinus infection.  The doctor today asked if I was a runner and I told her I had done the 1/2 yesterday sick.  She said it didn’t really hurt me because I already had the sinus infection and she had raced sick before too.  She asked how my breathing was during the race and I said terrible and my chest/throat hurt the whole time.  She asked if I get sinus infections each year and I told her yes.  She suggested that I take Claritin when the weather changes because running outside with the allergens in the air probably makes me sick.

Today I am feeling proud of myself that I was able to finish the race and get my PR.  Even if it wasn’t much, it was still a PR!  After looking at my splits I am really proud of my first 8 miles.  They were very consistent and all around 9:30.  Now I need to focus on getting healthy again.  This is the last week of my grad class and I will have a long break from November to January before I start the final class of the program.  I also signed up for a local 5 mile race a few weeks ago that will be this Saturday.  I really loved this race last year so I am hoping I feel good and actually enjoy it this weekend.

Next post will be all about Colby’s experience at the Hershey half … because he had a HUGE PR!!!  :)

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Getting Ready…

Friday Workout: 2 miles (18:45)

Saturday: off!

I decided to run 2 “easy” miles after school on Friday.  I ended up going way too fast but figure it can’t hurt too much.  Maybe because I got sick again this week!  :(   Colby is too.  I have this sinus cold thing going on and I am not feeling well today.  I’ve been taking Sudafed all day and I’ll take my NyQuil tonight and go to bed early.  Hopefully I will forget about being sick for two hours tomorrow while I race!

Colby and I carbed it up Friday night Olive Garden style and I ate my favorite minestrone soup and mushroom ravioli.

Today we drove to Hershey to pick up our race packets. There are going to be 5,000 runners tomorrow morning for the Hershey Half Marathon and we were lucky enough to pick everything up today so we don’t have to get there at 5am.  Hershey is just under an hour drive for us and I have been to HersheyPark a ton of times growing up.  The race website has a video that takes you through the actual course. Looks fairly flat with a few short rolling hills at the end going towards the stadium.

We went to the stadium for packet pick up today and it was really windy! The vendors were trying to keep their stuff from flying away and we basically got our stuff and got out of there.  Since we were at Hershey, we had to go to our favorite free ride…

Hershey’s Chocolate World.  (Singing dairy cow in the picture)  This is a free ride that takes you through the process of making chocolate.  It is indoors and air conditioned, so people always go through this ride during the summer when they are hot at the amusement park.  You always get free chocolate at the end.

Wind-blown and trying not to look sick on our chocolate ride.

The race packet didn’t have too much. A few coupons and a recovery drink. I liked the “13.1″ sticker they gave us because of the Hershey kiss.  The race shirt is a short sleeved tech shirt that I didn’t try on yet.  I usually hate how the tech shirts look on me, but this one looks like it might be okay.  I might wear it after the race after I shower. We got free tickets for the park and my Mom and her friend that lives in Hershey are going to the race to watch and probably go to the park after we are finished.

Layed out most of my race gear for tomorrow morning. We are going to wake up at 5am and leave around 6.  I decided to go with my favorite Brooks tank and matching shorts that I wore for the Pittsburgh Marathon last spring.  The tank has a huge zipper pocket in the back and I’m going to put my iPhone in a ziplock and put it in the pocket.  Then I can take pictures before the race starts and call if I can’t find Colby or my Mom at the end.  I also decided to go with the CEP compression sleeves.  Not that I really need them for a 1/2 marathon, but I really needed some pink with my outfit and it might be kinda cold tomorrow.  Wearing a green/pink BIC band too.

Going to update my iPod, finish grad work and go to bed early tonight. I have a project due every Sunday night and I am so ready for a break! This is my second to last week of this course, then I get a break until January. I can’t wait. I might actually be able to blog on a regular basis and start sleeping again!!

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Running Buddies and Compression

Wednesday Workout: 3 miles (28:40)

 

So I’ve been running with friends a lot lately.  There are a few teachers that are running the same 1/2 marathon I am this weekend and it has just worked out that I have been running with friends a lot.  This is so different for me because I have always ran by myself.  This has been a nice change!

 

I’ve been running and going to BodyPump with Amy a bunch of times this fall. I ran 3 miles (28:20) with Colby last Thursday.  I ran 7 miles (1:10:57) with Lauren this past Monday. Today, I ran with another teacher/friend – Stephanie after school.  All of these running buddies are running the Hershey Half Marathon this Sunday, except for Amy. She couldn’t get in before it sold out, so she and her husband are running the Baltimore Half this Saturday instead! I’m hoping she will write a race review about Baltimore for me!! :)

 

Stephanie and I decided to run 3 miles in the light rain and even though it started off cold, it felt great at the end!

 

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As soon as I get close to a race, I go a little nuts with the compression socks.  The ones above are actually from Walmart and are my favorite pair to sleep in after a long run.  I never run in them because they cover the feet, but they are super tight.  Yes, they are beyond hideous (mine are actually a nasty “tan” color) and they are geared towards older people but I love them. They are about $20 and have held up through many rounds in the washer and dryer.

 

These CEP pink compression sleeves are my favorite if I am trying to sneak them under dress pants at school or for running. I actually bought these at the Pittsburgh Marathon Expo last spring the day before the marathon.  I know you shouldn’t wear new race gear, but I had run in compression sleeves before and went for it.  I was really happy I wore them and thought the bright pink was really cute :)   Not sure if they really help that much while you run, but I definitely think compression helps my muscles recover faster.  I think they help for long distances too… but maybe it’s all in my head.

 

The first pair of compression sleeves I bought were these Zensah ones.  They come in a million cute colors and are cheaper than other brands.  The only problem was they never felt tight enough.  I only saw them in size small, but later saw them in XS and think they would have been tight enough.

 

Do you wear compression sleeves/socks during or after long runs? Do you have a favorite brand? Any PA people running the Hershey Half Marathon this Sunday??

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Day Off

Monday Workout: 7.25 miles (1:10:57) – Last long run before 1/2 marathon

 

After taking spin class and BodyPump Saturday morning I was too sore to run on Sunday.  I knew I was taking a chance because I had taken over 2 weeks off from BodyPump! I’m going to stay away from it this week because my race is Sunday and I don’t want to be sore.  I ran with my friend Lauren this morning and she is also running the Hershey half this weekend.  She was running 10 miles today (her last long run and longest run) and wanted a running buddy.  We went to my favorite park and ran 7 miles together.  I could tell I took 3 days off from running (Fri, Sat, Sun) because I was breathing heavy when we were running and talking. I’m planning on yoga Tuesday, and running around 3 miles on Wednesday and Thursday.  Colby and I are getting excited to pick up our bibs this weekend and race!

 

I finally updated my Exercise Log tab and realized that even though I haven’t followed my training plan so well this season, I have had some pretty good mid-week runs. I’m not sure why I always have such horrible spacing issues between weeks on my exercise log… I’m always trying to fix it and it goes back to not having spaces :(

 

Since I had off school for Columbus Day (that is why we picked this weekend for our wedding next year!)  Colby and I stopped at the local running store for some race goods.  I was excited to pick up a few different flavors of Shot Bloks because they are my new friend :) So glad to have a change from the GU and I will be taking one of these packs with me this weekend for the race.  For last week’s 12 miler, I took a blok every 2 miles and that worked well for me. I also picked up NUUN electrolyte drink tablets to try sometime. I’ve seen them before, but the strawberry lemonade flavor looked really good and cute in the pink packaging.  Has anyone tried NUUN tablets??

 

Colby and I also stopped at my latest food obsession for lunch today.  There is a local burrito shop that is amazing.  It is similar to Chipotle, but you can get potatoes in your burrito instead of meat!! They are so good!! They also make a burrito/quesadilla and I get it every time we go there to eat.

 

I also enjoyed a nap this afternoon before teaching music lessons because I was up late Sunday night writing a huge paper for my grad class.  It was due at 11:59 pm and I submitted it at 11:56. Talk about cutting it close!!!

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RPM Class

Thursday Workout: 3 mile run (28:20)

Friday Workout: off

Saturday Workout: RPM Spin class (45 min.) and BodyPump class (1 hour)

 

 

Colby and I ran together Thursday after school and were aiming for an easy 3 mile run.  I must have wanted to push it because we ended up around a 9:25 min pace. BUT our Garmins were totally off for the first mile! We started in a spot that always messes up my Garmin (I probably need to update it) and it said I was running between 12-14 min pace when I know I was around 9.  I ended up pushing my first mile and Colby said his beeped at around a 9:07 mile. Mine said 9:43!! I know I was pushing it so it probably was around 9:15 or less.

 

Posing before my run

Thursday was also our “negative 1″ anniversary (we are getting married Oct. 6, 2012) and Colby surprised me with roses :)   (Awww I know … we are sickeningly sweet) I was so happy so I wanted a picture.

This morning, I convinced my friend Anne to double up on classes with me and try the new RPM spin class our gym offers then BodyPump.  Anne and I have tried the regular spin class our gym offers and we have never really gotten into it.  This class started at 7:30 this morning and I was tired.  It was hard to get out of bed, but I knew she was waiting for me.  We decided that the RPM class (Les Mills – company that created BodyPump) was better than regular spin class, but it just isn’t for us. I get bored and I don’t like being on a stationary bike that long.  I liked that there was a song track like BodyPump and the constant music made it go a little quicker. I think I get frustrated with spinning because I never know how intense I should have my resistance. I look around and everyone is going faster than me but I have no idea if I have it too hard or too easy.

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I’m glad I tried it, but I’m not going to force myself to do it again. I don’t think I burned 675 calories in this class at all. I probably wasn’t working hard enough but I was definitely sweating. Maybe more like 400 calories? Who knows…it made me really tired for BodyPump and I felt like I couldn’t enjoy it as much. I had to bump down my weights for Pump because I haven’t been there in over a week!

Have you tried any new classes/workouts? Long run this weekend?? I’m going for 7-8 tomorrow because next weekend is my half-marathon!