2 Races in 1 day!

Yesterday I ran in 2 races, the Women's Distance Festival in the morning and the Twilight Festival in the evening. Granted, I only ran the 1 mile fun run in the evening. Marc was running the 4 mile race, so I pushed the jogger and ran the 1 mile fun run to give us something to do while we waited.

The Women's Distance Festival was in town!! And the Twilight Festival was just around the corner. It was nice to run races so close to home. The Women's Distance Festival started at 8 and we didn't leave the house until just after 7. Normally, I'd like to be there by 7, to park, to figure out where I'm going, visit the port-o-potty, etc.

These are all pre-race photos. Marc forgot to take any as I started or finished (but that's ok, I didn't get any of him at his race).

Sofia's Bo-bo scowl. This is the same exact face Marc has when he's getting his hair cut.





We actually got a picture with all 3 of us!


The race didn't actually start at the YMCA. They walked us down to a business complex and we started there. There is a bottle neck towards the beginning so the volunteers were really stressing that you seed yourself appropriately. I lined up with the 11:30 pace group thinking this would be fairly accurate, except I was passing people the whole race! After we looped around the business complex and got through the bottle neck, we were back on the W&OD trail. We turned off the trail to loop around a small, man-made pond (where we passed mile 1), then jumped back on the trail. We turned off the trail again to run through the woods, I think this wooded path is part of the Sugarland Trail. We passed the water stop and mile 2 while in the woods. After we looped through the woods, we got back on the W&OD trail and headed back the way we came. Then we turned back at the Y and were at the finish line....where there was an "Official Finish Line Hugger" (if you enlarge the picture you can see that is what his t-shirt says). I opted for a high five. Official results aren't posted yet, but Gavin the Garmin says 32:57 (10:40 pace).



These are all the goodies I got from the Women's Distance Festival. A pair of socks, a spa robe (thinking I would have rather had a t-shirt, but it is something different), a finishers hat, and a bag to keep it all in!


We ran a few errands and came home to relax. I had tried to nap, didn't really happen. All it did was make me groggy (and I had a headache) and I did not want to go to the second race. I decided I was going to walk the fun run instead of running it, so I didn't dress appropriately. We get there and I get caught up in all the excitment. The 4 miler started and 5 minutes later the fun run started. Of course, I decide to go ahead and run....and I chaffed....boo! But I'm glad we ran, we finished in plenty of time to see Marc come through for his second loop. They didn't do official times for the fun run, but they were calling out times off a stop watch and they said 11:something. I'm pretty pleased with that time, I'd already ran a race that day, I was exhausted from the previous 3 days, and I was pushing the stroller! Marc finished with a net time of 30:32! Way to go! (the stinker ran farther than I did and he did it faster!)

After Marc finished, we went and got free burittos from Moe's. We attempted to get our free beers, but the line was ridiculous and we had beer at home.

I didn't get any pictures from this race. But here is a shot of the Clemson Orange shirt.


This morning was another long run with my marathon training group. 5 miles, 59:49 (11:58 pace). Of course, Michelle was a slacker and didn't come. I probably wouldn't have gone either except I paid a lot of money for this program. (I knew it was a good thing to pay for this! It keeps me motivated to go). I had a busy couple of days....moving furniture, painting our bedroom, moving furniture back, staying out late at a baseball game (read all about it here)....I was exhausted and still am. I think I'll be in bed shortly after the lil one goes to bed.

And I've got a stretching question for all 3 of y'all that read this.....my hips/hip flexors are super tight since I've been upping my miles. Any suggestions on how to stretch my hips? I'm having a hard time stretching them out.

Another morning run

Michelle and I met at 5am yesterday and ran another 3 miles. We met at the Town Center since it's about half way between our houses and we know its well lit. This is a problem we are having. Neither of us have really run in the mornings around here so we don't have any routes planned out that we know for sure are well lit. I have a head lamp, pepper spray, and a reflective belt. But still, it's a little creepy in the dark. Right now we are lucky. Even though the sun doesn't officially come up until 5:45, it is pretty well lit by 5:15 and we feel safe. When we start getting into the longer weekday runs it'll be more of an issue. Hopefully by then, we'll have figured out a few routes that are on busy roads or shopping centers that we feel safe on even in the dark.

I went to the Nationals game last night and was out waaaay past my bedtime, Sofie decided to get up before 6am this morning, and I'm exhausted. I was planning on doing 3 miles today, but it might turn into a rest day. I have to finish painting the master bedroom today, put all the furniture back in the bedroom, and I have a 5K tomorrow morning.

Swimming

I didn't feel like going to intervals tonight. I was up late (my own damn fault) and this morning was the one morning in 4 days that Sofia didn't sleep in. I have a cross training day on the schedule for Friday, so I thought I'd just switch today's run with Friday's cross train. I headed over to the pool to see if a) I could do the distance and b) how would I feel after the distance.. Our pool is a 25M pool, so it would take 17 laps to get 425M. I did 17 and then I thought, maybe I had miscounted so I did 2 more laps just in case. It took me 14:23. It's no Michael Phelps, that I know. But I'm not sure how slow it is (but I know it's slow) or how it stacks up against others. I think a swimcap would help. I'm still growing out my bangs and they don't stay back in a ponytail just yet. I could breath to the right, but every time I tried to the left my hair got in my way, dripping water. I ended up with more water than air.

Tomorrow is another early morning. Michelle and I are planning on meeting at 5am to get in 3 miles. I'm heading to bed soon!

It's been a week?

Wow, I haven't updated since intervals last Wednesday. What have I been up to??

Thursday was a 3 mile run at lunch time (36:04).

Friday was a rest day, and good thing too! I spent the afternoon at the doctors office with a sinus infection. By now the snot and sinus pressure are gone. The cough is mostly gone, although it sneaks up when I push my pace and work my lungs.

Saturday was supposed to be a 2 mile run, but it was so hot and humid at 7am! Add to that the aforementioned sinus infection, and I just wasn't feeling it. I took my bike out for a quick ride, 3.5 miles.

Sunday, bright and early, 6:30 group run at the running store for 4 miles (48:48).

Monday was another rest day. And today was 4 miles again (48:00). I'm so proud of myself. Michelle and I met at 5am! It's so nice to have my run done with and out of the way. I feel like I got an extra hour in my day. I'm sure I won't feel that way at 9pm when I'm ready to crawl into bed. ☺

I also started the Sit-up Challenge this morning. Week 1, Day 1 down.....

And, in biking related news. My bike has a new chain and new road tires (instead of the clunky old mountain bike tires I used to have). I think new brakes are next on the list, but they are ok for now. I'm all ready to give a triathlon a go. I have found one that is 3 weeks away. I haven't registered for it yet, but I'm really thinking about it. My biggest hang up is the swimming. I can swim, that's not a problem. I did swim team growing up, so I have a fairly decent foundation to build upon. But, I haven't been working on my upper body strength at all and I'm more concerned with covering the distance. Maybe I can head over to the pool this afternoon and do a little progress testing.

It's gone

Toenail is officially gone. Second toenail looks like it might be going too. It's kinda weird how the new toenail grows up from the nail bed and not out from the cuticle.

Wednesday Night Intervals

It was so nice and cool and overcast night. But as cool as it was, it was very humid. And (sorry if any guys are reading) I'm PMSing. So, I've got all that going on. Plus, my cold is not completely gone. It's now a barking cough, a sore throat that comes and goes, and some slight drainage. I was so not feeling intervals tonight. But I went, I did it, and I'm glad I did.

Tonight we did 1200 repeats (3 laps around the track or 0.75 miles). We could do this 2, 3 or 4 times. I choose 3. We were supposed to hit these at about the same pace we did our timed mile, just to teach ourselves pace. We could run each lap of the 1200 at the same pace, start slow and speed up with each lap, or start fast and slow down with each lap. Being that I'm not feeling so hot, I just want to run each lap at the same pace, about 2:30, for a total of 7:30. I ran the first set at 7:31, the second at 7:46, and the third at 7:20.

I did it!

I got up and got out the door and did a run this morning! I only had 2 miles (24 minutes) on my schedule this morning and that was perfect because I didn't allow myself time to go any farther. I had to get back so Marc could get to work. But it should start getting easier and easier to drag myself out of bed and get going. And it's a very wonderful feeling knowing that I don't have my workout hanging over my head later in the day. The only draw back is it takes me a while to fully wake up and my pace was slower to being with.

Oh yeah!

Sit-up challenge it is! After having a baby, I really need to get my core strength back. Plus it will help my running. Maybe in a month or so , I'll add in a second challenge. I'm going to do the test sometime this week to see where I am and hopefully start the challenge by Saturday.

Marathon Training

Yesterday was the start of marathon training. There are about 30 people registered for the class, although I'm not sure all 30 were there yesterday...all shapes, sizes, speeds, men & women. Yesterday we were told to run 4 or 6 miles, your choice, on the W&OD Trail at an easy pace. Some people finished 6 miles in the time it took me to run 4 miles and there were still some people who were walking the whole distance. Thankfully, Michelle joined the program as well. She and I run at a similar speed, and we haven't seen each other in a week or two so it gave us a chance to chit chat and catch up.

I do have to say, I'm glad I spent the money on this training plan. Yesterday morning about 3:30am I woke up with a horrible headache. I'm pretty sure it was sinus pressure, but it was localized like my migraines are and is very close to TOM so it could have been hormonal. Either way, it was baaaaad. And I couldn't breath. I woke up again when my alarm went off and fumbled around looking for more cold medicine (since I took the last of the other stuff I was taking the night before). Let's just say, between the horrible headache, the congestion, and being tired (from being awake in the middle of the night), I would not have gone for a 4 mile run yesterday morning if I hadn't paid for this class. And yes, I was congested the whole time and the headache got better, never went away, but it was still a great run and I enjoyed it.

This coming week has me cross training today, resting on Friday and running the rest of the days. Some weeks we have 2 days of rest, some weeks we only have 1. It is definitely a do-able schedule, however, I do need to get some running in first thing in the morning. Next week Michelle and I are going to plan to meet up at 4:30 or 5am and go for a run. We are both hoping that the thought of the other person sitting out there wait for us is enough motivation to get out of bed and not hit snooze. I need to talk to the coach next week and see what he thinks about the interval training I'm doing on Wednesday nights. I'm wondering if I can just do that instead of the runs that are scheduled for Wednesdays.

Now if I can just shake this cold I'd be doing great!

Oh, and a side note.....the Mexican restaurant is 3 doors down from the running store and they do Sunday morning brunch. I see Mexican brunch in our future after marathon training! :)

Hehe

I'm fighting a cold and not really feeling like running. Add on top of that the comfort food I've been eating and this seems entirely appropriate!


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

First night of Intervals

We did a quick warm-up, some yoga-like stretching, 2 by 400's, a timed mile, 1 by 400, and a cool down. I'm just have to brag about myself here for a sec...well, it is my blog, I'm allowed to brag if I want! My timed mile was 9:32!! Whoo hoo! Don't believe me....go check it out here! Now if only I could sustain it...like, say for a women's only 5K I've registered for at the end of the month. Honestly, I'd be happy with 30-31 minutes. We'll see.

3 Posts in 1 Day!

Wow, that's a record for me, I'm sure!

I'm considering doing at least one of these, if not all.

• Push Up Challenge
• Sit-up Challenge
• Squat Challenge

So, anyone with me?

Must cross train more!

Phew! I had to ride the bike over to the gas station because I couldn't get our little hand pump to fill up the tires enough. And there is a fairly large hill between the house and the gas station. Man! My quads were tired! Once I finally figure out my work schedule and get a routine going...where I'm going to work, how long my commute is, are there facilities on site in order to clean up if I run at lunch, etc., I'm definitely going to add at least one day a week of cross training, a spin class, a body pump class, a bike ride, something.

But I remembered how much I enjoy biking! :)

Intervals here I come!

I haven't done much running lately. My marathon training starts on Sunday, so I've been giving myself a little break so I don't get burned out once I start marathon training. I went for a little 2 mile run last Friday and I took the dog for a longer than normal walk one day last week. I woke up with a very tight right calf and a sore right knee (like I've been standing with my knee locked all day). I had every intention of running today, but between the lightening and thunder at 5am when I was planning on going and the sore leg, I think I'm going to pass today. I am getting ready to ride my bike to the grocery store so I can get stuff to make Southwest Turkey Burgers for lunch. (Even though part of the reason I got a new job was to get out of the house, I'm still working from home! I have yet to get on with a client and I can do web-based training as easily from home as I can from the office that I was at by myself yesterday. I'm taking advantage while I can.)

Also, Roni really inspired to me to run better/faster. And I've been wanting to get back to my pre-baby speed for awhile now. So, I signed up for interval training with my local running club. It starts tomorrow night!

Oh yeah, on the Weight Watcher front. I finally went back to a meeting over the weekend. They just started doing meetings at my gym! How convenient! I really, really liked this new leader (and this meeting is less than a mile from the house). Granted, it was the first ever meeting at this time and location, so I was the only person there, but I don't think that changed the way Linda will lead her meetings. I'm very excited to go back next Saturday, which I think will really help me stay motivated and on plan. I'm not dreading my meeting or what the old leader may say to me. I hope more and more people start coming to this meeting (ahem, Michelle) so they don't cancel it!

It has a name....

...and it is Gavin the Garmin

Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon Report

Yesterday, Michelle, Beth, and I ran the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon.

Our Sunday morning wake-up call came way too early at 4am! Our plan was to be out the door by 4:45, but we were all moving in slow motion and made it out just after 5am (good thing we always plan to leave early so we have some wiggle room). We step out the door and it's pouring....hard! We get all the way to Annapolis with no issues, plenty of time, then we hit traffic. And it's not moving. We finally find a map and figure a back way to the Naval Academy Stadium. It's raining so hard at this point, that Marc just hangs out in the car with Sofie and Lolly (Michelle's daughter). We get out and have to go potty. There is no way I'm starting this race on this full of a bladder. Someone was nice enough to tell us that the real bathrooms inside the stadium have no lines. We squeeze behind the starting line and the race starts, perfect timing.

Immediately, we lost Michelle. The first two miles went by quickly. All of a sudden we were at the first water stop. It was at the base of the Naval Academy bridge (which felt like I was climbing Mt. Everest). We saw Michelle on the bridge, chatted for a second and kept on going. I was also very glad I was wearing my Garmin. There were no clocks at all on the course. The next 2-3 miles were very hilly, like a roller coaster. We'd get to the crest of one hill, just to see the next looming ahead. Finally, another water stop at mile 4. This was smack in the middle of another hill. It's always my plan to walk through water stops. I just can't drink and run at the same time, plus I feel it gives my legs and my mind just enough break. I'm pretty sure this was about the time the rain stopped too. (Turned out to be a great day!)

At this point this I just didn't feel like I was going to have a good race. The hills were beating me up mentally. We turned onto the B&A trail around mile 5, this is when I finally turned my iPod on. Somewhere between here and the next water stop I started feeling much better mentally. We got Luna Moons around 7.5. We also saw more and more people coming back at us, we knew we were getting close to the turn around. We turned around a hundred feet before mile 8. This was where I realized we had to run the whole stupid trail again. I'm starting to wear down mentally again. (The one saving grace of the trail was it was flat! Except for the one spot where it slanted slightly one direction.) We also saw Michelle within a mile of turning around. She was all smiles and looked good.

Beth started having tummy and feet issues. We stopped for one port-o-potty stop and numerous walk breaks for Beth's blister. I didn't mind at all! Remember, I'm having the mental war of the year. Plus, this was Beth's first half marathon. I really wanted to finish with her!

Mile 11 we turn back onto the road and we both start getting excited, we know we can finish this! We had a really good down hill right away on the road and that got us to the final water stop. We pretty much walked up all the remaining hills and forced ourselve to run the flat or downhill stretchs. We made it back to the Naval Academy Bridge (thank God we didn't have to run over it again) and mile 13. We looped (downhill!) down and under the bridge. There's Marc..and my baby! And Lolly! We kick it into high gear and sprint to the finish.

We get arm loads of bananas, oranges, bagels, water, and wait for Michelle to come in.

Official chip times
Lauren - 2:38:29 (yea! beat my unoffical goal of coming in under 2:45:00)
Beth - 2:38:30 (so freakin' proud of you!)
Michelle - 2:53:27

According to our Garmin's (I think they need names Beth, what do you think?), we actually finished in 2:36:34 (since it paused while were waiting at the port-o-potty). And, get this....I burned 1318 calories! Whoo hoo!

I'm still waiting on official pictures, but here are the few I took.

Michelle, her daughter Lolly, Beth, me, and Sofie at mile marker 13. We look pretty darn good for just running 13.1 miles! (Forgot to get a still half asleep 5am pre-race shot.)

The girls took the shuttle back to the post-race party and Marc ran the mile or 2 (what can I say, he was feeling froggy). The post-race party wasn't as much of a party I was expecting. I'm not sure if that was from the early morning rain or it really wasn't going to be big to begin with. I got a new Bondi Band (great for growing your bangs out). We got some free wine (discovered I really like the Barefoot Moscato), free "lunchs" for the runners (more like a snack...and we shared our 3 "lunchs" with Marc, Sofia, and Lolly, so it really didn't go far). We decided to head into town and find some crabcakes for Marc (it was his birthday afterall and he wanted crab cakes and we were definitely in crab cake territory). Sofie and Marc were playing peek-a-boo across the table.

Michelle and Lolly had a mean game of hangman going on.

And I finally made it in a picture (instead of always being the one behind the camera).

After lunch, we went in search of this cupcake place that was supposed to be at the post race party. They were there, they just left their booth before us back-of-the-packers made it. We found the place but the cupcakes didn't look nearly as good as we had built them up in our minds. We opted for ice cream instead.

I am feeling great today! I'm not sore at all! I'm a little tight and could stand to stretch my hamstrings a bit. This is the best I felt the day after any race of 10 miles or longer. I don't know what happened? Maybe I could have pushed myself harder and had a better time? Maybe my body is finally getting used to the pounding of distance running? I dunno. But I do know that I had a great race (and wasn't expecting too with all my mental issues).

Also, I was not a fan of the course. Hills aside, mental issues aside. The out and back and 7+ miles on the B&A trail was not fun. There was nothing exciting to look at. The trail was a wide as a golf cart path (for runners going both directions - hardly any room to pass a slower runner or dodge a giant mud puddle). It's a shame the race didn't go through the historic parts of Annapolis. And, after the bridge, 80% the parts that were on the road and not the trail, were on the shoulder. The road was still open to traffic and the should starts to dip off (not level). Not sure I will do this race next year.

For the rest of the weekend with Beth, check here and here.