Showing posts with label half marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label half marathon. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
My race plans for 2011
I am feeling fast people. It’s imaginary. I’ve only run 3 times since my marathon on Dec 11th! The horror. But I am feeling fast and hopeful for a year of racing. Here are the races I plan to do this year:
Feb 19th – Chili Bowl 5K (maybe, depends on weather, but haven’t done a 5k in over a year!)
March 12th – St. Malachi 5 miler
April 23rd – Cleveland 10 miler (hoping for a big fat PR, my best 10 mile time is – 1:29:42.68 )
May 15th – Cleveland half mary (again hoping for a PR, best time is 1:56:09)
June 4th – South Bend IN full mary
Sept 12th – Eerie PA full mary
Sept 24th – Akron half mary (maybe, only if my Brother in law wants to do it again)
Oct 6th – Chicago IL full mary
Nov 27th – Fall classic half mary (if I don’t do Akron)
Nov or Dec – another local 5K, probably pigskin classic or Reindeer Run
I would love to get my half time down to 1:51 in the spring and under 1:50 in the fall. I think for the 10 miler I can get it down to 1:25, I hope. Overall I just hope to get my times for distances from an half and under closer to 8min/mile. For fulls I hope to break 4 hours next year, which means my avg. pace will need to be as close to 9min miles as possible. Likely under 9min miles for the first half to allow for some dropoff at the end. I am not a negative split kind of lady.
Feb 19th – Chili Bowl 5K (maybe, depends on weather, but haven’t done a 5k in over a year!)
March 12th – St. Malachi 5 miler
April 23rd – Cleveland 10 miler (hoping for a big fat PR, my best 10 mile time is – 1:29:42.68 )
May 15th – Cleveland half mary (again hoping for a PR, best time is 1:56:09)
June 4th – South Bend IN full mary
Sept 12th – Eerie PA full mary
Sept 24th – Akron half mary (maybe, only if my Brother in law wants to do it again)
Oct 6th – Chicago IL full mary
Nov 27th – Fall classic half mary (if I don’t do Akron)
Nov or Dec – another local 5K, probably pigskin classic or Reindeer Run
I would love to get my half time down to 1:51 in the spring and under 1:50 in the fall. I think for the 10 miler I can get it down to 1:25, I hope. Overall I just hope to get my times for distances from an half and under closer to 8min/mile. For fulls I hope to break 4 hours next year, which means my avg. pace will need to be as close to 9min miles as possible. Likely under 9min miles for the first half to allow for some dropoff at the end. I am not a negative split kind of lady.
If I complete this list I will be up to 6 states by the end of 2011. I may be able to squeeze in a May marathon in MI if my training comes together, but not sure with P90x if I can make that happen.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Rehoboth Beach Marathon Recap -
(Monday Dec 13) I had such an amazing weekend! I got home just in time, right before a huge snowstorm hit Cleveland. Glad we landed safely on Sunday.I headed to Rehoboth Beach DE on Thursday. We flew into Baltimore, and landed at 6. We headed to Annapolis to have dinner at some historic restaurant that George Washington used to frequent. One of my travel companions is a huge history buff. Annapolis is such a cute little town, I wish I had more time to explore, but it was still a 2 hour drive from there to our rental house. We didn't get to our weekend home until after midnight, I was exhausted. The house was super cute though. There were 9 of us total staying in the house. Everyone had their own little area, there were plenty of bathrooms and my trundle bed was super comfy!
On Friday we walked the mile into town and had lunch, did a little shopping and picked up our race packets. The weather was great. Low 40s and no wind. Being so close to the ocean I was worried that we'd have wind to contend with. I only knew 2 of the people I was traveling with before the race and I was a little worried about traveling and staying with a bunch of strangers. But we all got along great and I definitely have some new friends now. The guys I went with do a lot of races together and I can see myself traveling to some more races with them in the future. They are working on 50 states, but all have close to 30, so are way ahead of me! They've also been doing marathons about 10-15 years longer than me. We had a lot of fun, some good food, some good laughs and all headed to bed early Friday night.
I could write a super detailed race report, but I don't feel like it, so I will keep it simple. The race was small, about 1000 runners, including a half. Packet pickup was easy and well organized, short sleeve tech shirt was nice. The starting line was right on the ocean and watching the sun come up before taking off for 26.2 was amazing. The course was really nice, it is one of my favorite races for sure. The course was pancake flat, the weather was perfect, no wind, the ocean views were breathtaking. The race did not go great for me. I felt sick from mile 1. My stomach was upset, I didn't handle my eating well thew few days before, lesson learned. My stomach calmed down at about mile 9, but then my legs started complaining. I kept a 9:24 pace until; about mile 15, then I just really started hurting. I started getting charlie horse pains in my hamstrings it was super painful. I wanted to cry at a few points. I toughed it out, but just kept getting slower. Once my pace got past 9:30 I knew my PR was out the window, so I really just kind of gave up. I tried to relax, slow down and just take in the scenery. But I couldn't do it. I kept trying to slow down to about an 11 min mile and just toddle in to the finish. My pace just stayed at 9:30ish so I had to take walk breaks. The last 5 miles were really mentally challenging. I finished in 4:26. I caught up to my friend Robin at the end and crossed with him. I wish I had just stayed with him the whole time so at least I could have talked to someone, but they went out slower than I was wanting too. As I said it was a bad day and a very mentally challenging day. But I am kind of glad it was. It's races like Saturday that make me a runner, that give me the mental chutzpah to get through other races. After having such a bad race and still running a 4:26, I know I can break 4 hours in a marathon.
The after race party was great, with a big spread of food and really good beer. We just hung out the rest of the weekend had a good dinner at Dogfish Head Brewery Sat night. All in all a fabulous weekend that I will not forget for a long time.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Healthy Huntington Marathon Race report
This past weekend I took a little 4 hour drive to Huntington West Virginia to do their marathon. My co-worker Wendy who is from WV asked if I wanted to tag along with her for the weekend. She had actually ran the race before and graduated from Marshall University. Wendy is on the 50 state quest as well, but she already had WV, so she was just there to run it for fun and help me with my pace. I was happy to have her as she is very good talker and we chatted happily for the first 22 miles and once the pain really set in, she knew I needed time alone in my head!
Overall I would give this race a C+.
Overall I would give this race a C+.
A few pros:
· It’s in Nov, so I could train after summer’s hottest days were done,
· Swag – you got an awesome zip up fleece as your swag
· Small crowd- only 500 people ran the marathon (1000 in the half) so the start wasn’t too congested
· Course details - the course was very well marked and had enough porta potties and water stops.
On to the cons:
· Course - well there really isn’t much to see. The Marshall campus is nice, and there is a pretty park you run through twice, but aside from that you are just running up and down rundown city streets.
· Street Crowd - There is no crowd support to speak of and some of the areas were just downright dirty and desolate. Huntington is a small town that has seen better days. I knew this going into the race though and just wanted to do it to mark WV off my states list.
The race started at 7 am and boy was it cold. I wore some thin pants, a tank top with sports bra built in, a zip up pullover and my favorite vest along with throw away gloves and an ear band. I was dressed perfectly for the start, but by mile 18 was really wanting to ditch my vest, but it’s my fav and I wasn’t going to throw it away. You start in the street that is part of the campus and then you work your way past fast food restaurant and other city scenes. There was no timing mat at the start, so everyone had the same start time. However, Wendy and I were not very far back, we were probably 45 seconds back in the pack. It was such a small race it was humorous to see how close together the pace signs were. The crowd broke up by mile 1 and I was able to keep my pace below a 9 min mile for the first 3 miles. We hit the 5K mark a hair under 27 mins and I made the conscious decision to pull back a little. My game plan was to keep my pace consistently below 9:15 until mile 20 b/c I knew at 20 I would slow down and I was hoping for an overall pace of 9:30. I was almost able to do that, my overall pace was 9:33. I don’t think I had any miles that went over the 10 min pace. Because it was such a small race, we were able to chat with various people and we ran around the same faces the whole race. As I said there was a nice break from the streets when you ran through a park on a dirt/crushed limestone trail, but that only amounted to about 4 miles overall. You also ran along the water for about a half mile twice. Other than that it was just dirty house and at one point an old amusement park! I had to stop for the port potty at mile 10, but just to pee! I made it through this whole race without stomach issues and I cannot tell you what a big thing that is for me. Usually I am wrecked by stomach pangs and portapotty stops. After that stop I was good the whole race. I ate some sports beans, some shot blocks, a clif kids bar and one GU and it was the perfect combo. I will be repeating it at Delaware in a few weeks. I felt pretty good up until mile 16, then the doubt and pain started creeping in. I’ve been having some issues with my feet and my right leg and they really started to hurt at this point. I was just chugging along praying for mile 20. At mile 20 I always get a sense of relief, this is almost over, even though I really have like another hour to go! But something about mile 20 makes me very happy. By 20 I was hurting, but not too bad, things didn’t really get desperate for me until mile 23. Every step after 23 really hurt and it was a mental game to just get it done. I knew I could do a 5K, I knew I could push and not let my pace drop too badly. I really wish I could have dug a little deeper at the end, but I was done. You finish in the Marshall stadium and that was great, except that you have to run down a steep short hill to get onto the field and it hurt after 26 miles. Wendy and I both pretty much stopped and walked down it. Official results aren’t up yet, but my clock time was 4:11:31 and my Garmin was 4:10:55. So, somewhere in between there.
Up next is Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. I am looking forward to it and really think I can run under a 4:10 for it, as long as it doesn’t get too windy.
· It’s in Nov, so I could train after summer’s hottest days were done,
· Swag – you got an awesome zip up fleece as your swag
· Small crowd- only 500 people ran the marathon (1000 in the half) so the start wasn’t too congested
· Course details - the course was very well marked and had enough porta potties and water stops.
On to the cons:
· Course - well there really isn’t much to see. The Marshall campus is nice, and there is a pretty park you run through twice, but aside from that you are just running up and down rundown city streets.
· Street Crowd - There is no crowd support to speak of and some of the areas were just downright dirty and desolate. Huntington is a small town that has seen better days. I knew this going into the race though and just wanted to do it to mark WV off my states list.
The race started at 7 am and boy was it cold. I wore some thin pants, a tank top with sports bra built in, a zip up pullover and my favorite vest along with throw away gloves and an ear band. I was dressed perfectly for the start, but by mile 18 was really wanting to ditch my vest, but it’s my fav and I wasn’t going to throw it away. You start in the street that is part of the campus and then you work your way past fast food restaurant and other city scenes. There was no timing mat at the start, so everyone had the same start time. However, Wendy and I were not very far back, we were probably 45 seconds back in the pack. It was such a small race it was humorous to see how close together the pace signs were. The crowd broke up by mile 1 and I was able to keep my pace below a 9 min mile for the first 3 miles. We hit the 5K mark a hair under 27 mins and I made the conscious decision to pull back a little. My game plan was to keep my pace consistently below 9:15 until mile 20 b/c I knew at 20 I would slow down and I was hoping for an overall pace of 9:30. I was almost able to do that, my overall pace was 9:33. I don’t think I had any miles that went over the 10 min pace. Because it was such a small race, we were able to chat with various people and we ran around the same faces the whole race. As I said there was a nice break from the streets when you ran through a park on a dirt/crushed limestone trail, but that only amounted to about 4 miles overall. You also ran along the water for about a half mile twice. Other than that it was just dirty house and at one point an old amusement park! I had to stop for the port potty at mile 10, but just to pee! I made it through this whole race without stomach issues and I cannot tell you what a big thing that is for me. Usually I am wrecked by stomach pangs and portapotty stops. After that stop I was good the whole race. I ate some sports beans, some shot blocks, a clif kids bar and one GU and it was the perfect combo. I will be repeating it at Delaware in a few weeks. I felt pretty good up until mile 16, then the doubt and pain started creeping in. I’ve been having some issues with my feet and my right leg and they really started to hurt at this point. I was just chugging along praying for mile 20. At mile 20 I always get a sense of relief, this is almost over, even though I really have like another hour to go! But something about mile 20 makes me very happy. By 20 I was hurting, but not too bad, things didn’t really get desperate for me until mile 23. Every step after 23 really hurt and it was a mental game to just get it done. I knew I could do a 5K, I knew I could push and not let my pace drop too badly. I really wish I could have dug a little deeper at the end, but I was done. You finish in the Marshall stadium and that was great, except that you have to run down a steep short hill to get onto the field and it hurt after 26 miles. Wendy and I both pretty much stopped and walked down it. Official results aren’t up yet, but my clock time was 4:11:31 and my Garmin was 4:10:55. So, somewhere in between there.
Up next is Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. I am looking forward to it and really think I can run under a 4:10 for it, as long as it doesn’t get too windy.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Akron Half Mary and Fall fun
This past weekend I ran the Akron half marathon with my brother in law Tim. Do you guys remember Tim? He lost a tremendous amount of weight and started running about 2 years ago. Last Sept was his first half marathon at Akron and he did so awesome. He loved it so much that he then signed up for Columbus and went and ran that course 10 mins faster. So, this year he wanted o revisit the course and we were met with wonderful weather. I love the Akron marathon. They do such a great job. Great course, an amazing amount of spectators, great gear, great food/medal at the end; the whole event is top notch. My only complaint is it starts at 7am, ugh. So, we had to get up at 4:30!
Driving down to the race my stomach was starting to feel kind of icky. This is always my issue and it did bother me throughout the run that day. However, I have certainly battled worse stomach issues and after a potty stop around mile 6, I was fine the rest of the race. Maybe I’ll gloss over the fact that that stop wasn’t in an official porta potty, it may have been behind an abandoned building with a guard dog barking at! LOL. Going into the race, I had thought maybe we could break 2 hours, but I forgot how dang hilly the course was. I knew there was a major hill at mile 11, but there are several good rollers throughout the course. This is not a PR course by any means. I tried to use the Garmin and really keep our pace steady. I knew that I wanted us to stay under 9:30 and we did. We averaged between 9:12 and 9:30 the whole day, except for slowing down on that last mile 11 hill t
o more like a 10min mile crawl. It is a hell of a hill. We finished in 2:03. Which is a course PR for me, as the faster I ever ran there before was 2:04. I had a lot of fun running with Tim and playing coach. Several times throughout the morning I was able to think strategically and tell him we needed to pick up the pace or slow down a bit b/c we were going too fast. It was nice to think about something besides just finishing. I was really excited to see him get a PR and am so proud of howww far he has come.The next day I went out for an 8 miler and my body would NOT cooperate. I ended up only running 4. My legs felt like tree trunks and I could not get my breath. What the heck is up with that? We had such a nice weekend overall though. On Sat. we met my in-laws to go apple picking. Harper had some much fun running up and down the orchard and chowing down on some fresh golden delicious apples. Gary even made a wonderful pie for us! I am not usually one for fruit pies, but with a little tofutti ice cream on top it was pretty darn good! Sunday I took Harper to the Lake Park Farm. They were having an antique tractor show and fall festival. She got to pet animals at the barn yard, play on a swing set, run around a hay bale maze, and play in some leaves. It was an amazing mommy/Harper day. The photos from this weekend are in the post and one of me and Harper from a recent birthday party that I really like.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
miles and miles to go before i sleep
Oh my the running that has been going on! I am so behind on my blog. But I have big plans! Big plans I tell you. First up, let me catch you up.
Race for the Cure!
Backtrack to the weekend of Sept 11. Harper, Gary and I ran our first family 5K! We did the local RFC to benefit Breast Cancer. Running is a bit of an overstatement. It was so dang crowded, there were almost 45000 people in downtown Cleveland. Despite the madness we managed to come in under 30 mins and I was pushing the jogging stroller! This was my first race with the stroller. It wasn’t a lot of fun though b/c I was so worried the whole time that I was going to clip someone the huge front wheel on my BOB stroller. But I love the idea of family 5Ks and I hope we have many more in our future. I can’t wait until Harper is old enough to try some of the little kid dashes. Harper was really good too. We were downtown for a long time b/c it was so crowded and I think she enjoyed looking at all the people and chaos.
River Run Half Mary
The next day I woke up bright and early to run my first half marathon since May. My friend Amy was running her first half ever, so I was really excited for her. This race is one of my favorites and I have done it 4 or 5 times. The course winds through a beautiful park, is point to point and mostly downhill! I had big hopes. I really wanted a PR. My last half was 1:56:50. I knew I had a faster half in me. But ultimately I wanted to beat the time my husband ran his one and only half mary in – 1:54 and change. I figured a 1:53 would do it. He says he’ll do another race when I beat him. I would love to do another half together! But unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I have had worst races for sure. But I just didn’t feel great and no matter what I did I couldn’t pick up my pace. I ended up finishing in 1:56:06. Which I can’t be mad about; it’s almost a min off my last race. But I kept yelling at my legs to pick it up and I couldn’t. However. I had no taper. I am training for a marathon and I ran an 18 miler the previous weekend. So, I keep reminding myself that I will get a 1:50 half marathon someday, but it won’t be on dead tired legs.
Running Miles and Miles
I hit a big milestone for me last week. I ran 40 miles! Usually I run somewhere between 30-35 miles a week and cross train a lot. But I am trying to switch it up this marathon season and I am trying to run more like 40-50 miles. I plan to add a few more miles each week until my taper. I am still strength training 1-2 times a week and usually doing yoga once. This past weekend I ran 21 miles on Sat and another 7 on Sun. I haven’t seen my bike or a pool in wayyy too long though. This weekend I have the Akron half mary. I am running it with my brother in law and don’t have any big expectations. My legs are very tired and the course is hilly. I just hope I can get him in close to 2 hours if not a hair below. That would rock.
Race plans
I also did something a little crazy and signed up for back to back marathons. I am a little worried, but super excited to see how I do. My friend JenC has also talked me into a June HIM. Ack! June. HIM! It’s called Race for Recovery and it’s in Monroe MI. What attracted me is that the swim runs parallel to shore and you are never in more than 6 ft of water. That sounds like a perfect induction into Half Ironman territory for me. However, I still have to get through a 1.2 mile swim, I can’t walk it. So, I must get back to the pool soon. Once these marathons are over I will hit the pool 3 times a week. I have a lot of work to do. I like having a plan though and races on the horizon, it keeps me busy.
The cute kid
Harper is awesome. She just turned 17 months. She continues to amaze me every day. She is one smart little cookie. Lately she is really into snuggling. She likes to lay on a pillow next to you and “cozy down” as her dad calls it. She laughs a lot and when she gets excited she opens her mouth really wide and lets out a shriek of delight. She seems to really like going to school and loves to color with crayons. Terrible twos are coming our way though. Girl definitely has an opinion and wants what she wants RIGHT NOW! Don’t think about taking something from her or telling her no or you are in for a serious meltdown, look out!
Race for the Cure!
Backtrack to the weekend of Sept 11. Harper, Gary and I ran our first family 5K! We did the local RFC to benefit Breast Cancer. Running is a bit of an overstatement. It was so dang crowded, there were almost 45000 people in downtown Cleveland. Despite the madness we managed to come in under 30 mins and I was pushing the jogging stroller! This was my first race with the stroller. It wasn’t a lot of fun though b/c I was so worried the whole time that I was going to clip someone the huge front wheel on my BOB stroller. But I love the idea of family 5Ks and I hope we have many more in our future. I can’t wait until Harper is old enough to try some of the little kid dashes. Harper was really good too. We were downtown for a long time b/c it was so crowded and I think she enjoyed looking at all the people and chaos.
River Run Half Mary
The next day I woke up bright and early to run my first half marathon since May. My friend Amy was running her first half ever, so I was really excited for her. This race is one of my favorites and I have done it 4 or 5 times. The course winds through a beautiful park, is point to point and mostly downhill! I had big hopes. I really wanted a PR. My last half was 1:56:50. I knew I had a faster half in me. But ultimately I wanted to beat the time my husband ran his one and only half mary in – 1:54 and change. I figured a 1:53 would do it. He says he’ll do another race when I beat him. I would love to do another half together! But unfortunately it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I have had worst races for sure. But I just didn’t feel great and no matter what I did I couldn’t pick up my pace. I ended up finishing in 1:56:06. Which I can’t be mad about; it’s almost a min off my last race. But I kept yelling at my legs to pick it up and I couldn’t. However. I had no taper. I am training for a marathon and I ran an 18 miler the previous weekend. So, I keep reminding myself that I will get a 1:50 half marathon someday, but it won’t be on dead tired legs.
Running Miles and Miles
I hit a big milestone for me last week. I ran 40 miles! Usually I run somewhere between 30-35 miles a week and cross train a lot. But I am trying to switch it up this marathon season and I am trying to run more like 40-50 miles. I plan to add a few more miles each week until my taper. I am still strength training 1-2 times a week and usually doing yoga once. This past weekend I ran 21 miles on Sat and another 7 on Sun. I haven’t seen my bike or a pool in wayyy too long though. This weekend I have the Akron half mary. I am running it with my brother in law and don’t have any big expectations. My legs are very tired and the course is hilly. I just hope I can get him in close to 2 hours if not a hair below. That would rock.
Race plans
I also did something a little crazy and signed up for back to back marathons. I am a little worried, but super excited to see how I do. My friend JenC has also talked me into a June HIM. Ack! June. HIM! It’s called Race for Recovery and it’s in Monroe MI. What attracted me is that the swim runs parallel to shore and you are never in more than 6 ft of water. That sounds like a perfect induction into Half Ironman territory for me. However, I still have to get through a 1.2 mile swim, I can’t walk it. So, I must get back to the pool soon. Once these marathons are over I will hit the pool 3 times a week. I have a lot of work to do. I like having a plan though and races on the horizon, it keeps me busy.
The cute kid
Harper is awesome. She just turned 17 months. She continues to amaze me every day. She is one smart little cookie. Lately she is really into snuggling. She likes to lay on a pillow next to you and “cozy down” as her dad calls it. She laughs a lot and when she gets excited she opens her mouth really wide and lets out a shriek of delight. She seems to really like going to school and loves to color with crayons. Terrible twos are coming our way though. Girl definitely has an opinion and wants what she wants RIGHT NOW! Don’t think about taking something from her or telling her no or you are in for a serious meltdown, look out!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Buckeye Winter Trail Half Mary
Well I made it through my run today! It was a tough one. I can't even imagine how the folks that did the marathon or the 50K (Espeed and Daisy Duc!) did it. I was done at the end of those 13.1 miles. So, I started the day off early - my alarm blared at 5 am and I bounced out of bed. I made myself some PB oatmeal and coffee and waited for nature to take its course. Then I met Abbie and 6 and we drove 20 mins south to the Boston Store off of the towpath. The course was 2 loops, one was 8 miles, the other was 5. There were 253 total runners and everyone gathered in the heated garage and listened to the instructions and then we went outside and Tanya blew the whistle and we were off! HMs went in the direction of the 8 mile loop and the rest of the runners went towards the 5 mile loop. I'd say about 100-120 seemed to be doing the HM. We started off on the towpath, but almost immediately headed right up to the Buckeye trail. From that point, it was seriously just huge hill after huge hill. Up one, down another. I was relieved that most everyone walked up the gigantic hills. Abbie and I managed to stay together for about 6 miles, but then I had to bend down and tie my shoe and about 5 people got between us. So, we got seperated. My stomach starting kicking at me around mile 4 and I was so pissed off. I struggled with tummy troubles until I got done with the first 8 miles at which point I hit the loo and did my thing and felt a bit better. I headed back on the towpath over to the 5 mile loop. The 5 miler seemed like nothing comparted to the 8 miler, but it had 2 big hills with stairs you had to get up. I'd give the course an 9/10 on challenge. It was just tough and I didn't have a great run. My legs felt heavy and so did I! This race really made me realize that I had to lose some weight. I was basically the only Athena there. But I got through it in 2:38. Considering I stopped at 2 stops to eat and drink and went to the bathroom, I am pretty happy with the time. I think Abbie finished about 10 mins ahead of me. The cold wasn't too bad. I forgot about it after a mile or so. I didn't overdress, thank goodness and we got these really great Brooks jackets when we finished. It made it worth the $55 entry fee! I will definately do this one year after year and I'm sure it will continue to kick my butt! My legs are going to be SORE tomorrow.
Gary and I have done some grocery shopping and made a pitstop at Target. Now we are going to lie down and watch License to Wed. I love me some Jim from The Office!
Have a great Sat bloggy friends.
Gary and I have done some grocery shopping and made a pitstop at Target. Now we are going to lie down and watch License to Wed. I love me some Jim from The Office!
Have a great Sat bloggy friends.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Finally! Sub 2 hour Half Mary!!!
I did it folks, finally. I have been trying to get a sub 2 hour half marathon since I did my first half 2 years ago. And today I did it! 1:59:23, but I'll take it! And that is clock time b/c it wasn't a chipped race.
So, I rose bright and early to get myself prepped for the Cleveland West Road Runners Fall Classic HM & 5K. It was all the way our in Strongsville which is about 28-35 miles from my house. It was really bitingly cold when I got up, so I put on some pants (thank goodness right), a tank top shirt - the kind with the built in bra, a long sleeve half zip shirt that has the glove built in and my running vest. The race took place at the metroparks, starting from Bonnie Park. It was a gorgeous sunny crisp day. I couldn't have asked for better weather. The race started at 9, but I got there at 8, good thing I did! THe parking by packet pickup was already full so they police directed us to parking about 1 mile away at the top of a giant hill! So, I had to walk all the way down the hill, get my number and giveaway shirt (a long sleeved tech tee!) and then climb back up the hill, and back down, all before the start! So, I probably had already walked 2 miles by the time we got ready to go. As I said before, this was not a chip timed race, so there start was just a big cluster. We ran out into the park 3 miles or so and back and then did it again. So, it was a 2 loop race. I like those kind b/c you can watch all the fast people as they come back by. People watching takes up time. I felt really good today. I tried something new today and drank one of those 5 hour energy drinks before I ran and I think it really helped. I didn't start feeling downtrodden until after mile 8. I took 2 GUs. I was running really fast for me - I don't know how fast b/c my stupid Garmin battery was dead so I ran without a watch for the first time in forever. But I met up with 2 nice guys who had the same goal and ran with them off and on - so shout out to Larry and George! Good job today guys. They were a little faster than me, so I am glad I tried to stick with them. The course was totally flat and there were enough water stops. The finish line had quite a few people hanging out and cheering you on. There wasn't any finisher's metal or much food. Compared to the spread yesterday of panera bagels and flavored cream cheeses - and that was just for a 5K! But I had a good time and I was so happy to get under 2 hours, I honestly felt like I was going to cry!
I am a little sore, my legs are kind of twitchy. I feel like I should probably ice down my knees. Gary and I went to the outlets this afternoon to do some Xmas shopping and are now making some dinner. I am soooo looking forward to a short work week.
1:59:23 bitches! wooohoo.
Songs I loved running to today: Crazy Game of Poker - OAR, Ayo Technology - 50 Cent w/JT, Breakfast in America - Supertramp, This is why I'm hot - Mims, Suzy Greenburg - Phish, Shake it Off - Mariah Carey, Dirt off my Shoulder - Jay Z, Cry me a river remix- JT w/50, Fidelity - Regina Spektor.
So, I rose bright and early to get myself prepped for the Cleveland West Road Runners Fall Classic HM & 5K. It was all the way our in Strongsville which is about 28-35 miles from my house. It was really bitingly cold when I got up, so I put on some pants (thank goodness right), a tank top shirt - the kind with the built in bra, a long sleeve half zip shirt that has the glove built in and my running vest. The race took place at the metroparks, starting from Bonnie Park. It was a gorgeous sunny crisp day. I couldn't have asked for better weather. The race started at 9, but I got there at 8, good thing I did! THe parking by packet pickup was already full so they police directed us to parking about 1 mile away at the top of a giant hill! So, I had to walk all the way down the hill, get my number and giveaway shirt (a long sleeved tech tee!) and then climb back up the hill, and back down, all before the start! So, I probably had already walked 2 miles by the time we got ready to go. As I said before, this was not a chip timed race, so there start was just a big cluster. We ran out into the park 3 miles or so and back and then did it again. So, it was a 2 loop race. I like those kind b/c you can watch all the fast people as they come back by. People watching takes up time. I felt really good today. I tried something new today and drank one of those 5 hour energy drinks before I ran and I think it really helped. I didn't start feeling downtrodden until after mile 8. I took 2 GUs. I was running really fast for me - I don't know how fast b/c my stupid Garmin battery was dead so I ran without a watch for the first time in forever. But I met up with 2 nice guys who had the same goal and ran with them off and on - so shout out to Larry and George! Good job today guys. They were a little faster than me, so I am glad I tried to stick with them. The course was totally flat and there were enough water stops. The finish line had quite a few people hanging out and cheering you on. There wasn't any finisher's metal or much food. Compared to the spread yesterday of panera bagels and flavored cream cheeses - and that was just for a 5K! But I had a good time and I was so happy to get under 2 hours, I honestly felt like I was going to cry!
I am a little sore, my legs are kind of twitchy. I feel like I should probably ice down my knees. Gary and I went to the outlets this afternoon to do some Xmas shopping and are now making some dinner. I am soooo looking forward to a short work week.
1:59:23 bitches! wooohoo.
Songs I loved running to today: Crazy Game of Poker - OAR, Ayo Technology - 50 Cent w/JT, Breakfast in America - Supertramp, This is why I'm hot - Mims, Suzy Greenburg - Phish, Shake it Off - Mariah Carey, Dirt off my Shoulder - Jay Z, Cry me a river remix- JT w/50, Fidelity - Regina Spektor.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Murray Trail Inland Half marathon -
Well today was a craptacular half marathon! I had such high hopes. I got up early and had all of my stuff already set out. I drove the hour to Elyria and had plenty of time to spare. Got my chip and my number and sat down to talk with my co-worker who was also running. All was well. It was a point to point race, so they loaded us into a bus and took us to the start. It was COLD. I had on 2 long sleeve tech shirts and pants, as well as an ear warmer. I started off pretty strong and managed to keep it around 8:30 - 9 min miles for the first 5K, but then it just all sort of fell apart. Everything hurt, I got a side stitch, then I had to go to the bathroom, then my neck hurt, then my arm, and on and on. It was just one of those runs where you wanted it to be over and everything part of your body ached. My calves cramped up. Around mile 9, I was really struggling and these 2 nice girls cheered me on. I ended up finishing in 2:06 and change. Not the under 2 hour goal I had, but considering how bad I felt I'll take it! I kept coughing afterwards and it hurt sooo bad, my lungs are just now feeling better.
When I got home Gary and I went to brunch (first watch - yummy egg white omlete and potatoes!). Then we walked the dogs around one of the shaker lakes, here are some photos from our nice family walk! Enjoyl
When I got home Gary and I went to brunch (first watch - yummy egg white omlete and potatoes!). Then we walked the dogs around one of the shaker lakes, here are some photos from our nice family walk! Enjoyl
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About Me
- Mnowac
- distance runner attempting to run a marathon in every state, vegetarian foodie, mediocre triathlete, sucky swimmer, mommy to Harper, tea lover, coffee drinker, animal saver, hubby snuggler, race addict, full time working 31 year old living in cleveland
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