Hilly 10

Since I ran the 5K on Saturday, I did my long run for the week on Sunday.  Saturday was also the day where we could have run the course of the Baltimore half.  Because a lot of the group didn't want to run the course, we met on Sunday to do our long run.  It was a skeleton group, but I ran with Heather and Erin.

The course that Meghan had picked for us was a new one to all 3 of us.  I asked Meghan before we ran if it was hilly.  She said "is it Howard County?"  So that meant yes, it's hilly!  Ugh.

As we started running, Heather and I both confessed that we had gone out to dinner late the night before and both had several drinks.  So we were feeling a bit fuzzy at the beginning of the run.  hehe

We agreed to take the run easy.  The morning was crisp and I started the run with my jacket on.  Of course it wasn't long before I got too hot and tied the jacket around my waist.  The pace felt good and the conversation was flowing.  Before we knew it, we were half way done!  The hills were pretty rough, but we all agreed that it was a good training run for Baltimore.

I can remember how shell-shocked I was after the first time I ran Baltimore.  I was used to running on the Eastern Shore where not only are there no hills, there are no inclines!  It's FLAT.  Really FLAT.  So even though I ran "hills" on the bridge at Assateague, I was unprepared for the inclines.  Literally none of the race is flat.  It's all either uphill, downhill or on a slant of some kind.  Now that I'm training on that same type of terrain, at least mentally I'm in a better position to accept it.  I really hope I'm prepared for the hills!

Elementary 5K

I love running 5K races for many reasons.  So when Erin mentioned that her kids' elementary school was having a 5K, I was in without hesitation.  Here is a picture of me with my little ones before the race.  Grace was not happy...and the coffee mug in Ella's hand actually belongs to Stephen.  Ella was just holding it but it adds a comedic element to this picture.

Because it was a benefit for the elementary school, the race was filled with children.  The start of the race was pretty interesting.  Some of the kids decided to sprint for the first quarter mile or so...and then they stopped.  Literally just came to a screeching halt in the middle of the running path.  So it made for a very interesting race, dodging these children.  Normally I would be annoyed...I am not the most tolerant runner at the start of a race...but these are kids we're talking about, and the race does benefit their school...so I just had to smile.

Right before the start of the race, my watch began beeping "low battery".  It died before the race began.  I have not run without my watch except when Meghan made us unplug for that track workout a few weeks ago.  In a 5K, I typically need my watch to keep me from going out too fast.  Since it died, I had no idea how fast or slow I was running.

Here is a picture of me at the finish.  I like it when Stephen comes to the races because I get pictures! 

I finished with a 28:23.  It's nowhere near my fastest time, but considering I had no way to gauge my pace, I am pretty happy with that time. 

I will give a recap of the 10 miles I ran today in another entry since it's getting late and this blogger is really tired.  Have a great night!

Let's Talk

Unless I am meeting my running group to run, I struggle to put my shoes on and go out the door for a run on my own.  And when I'm running it always feel so much harder when I'm on my own.  So what it really boils down to is that I am using my running for social purposes.  I love running and talking.  I've been told that sometimes I share a little too much when I'm running.

When there is no one with me, there's no one to talk to.  I feel like I'm all alone...and all I can think of is how much I want to be done running. 

So how do I get that same enjoyment when I run alone?  I have considered running with music to try to gain some "company" during my runs.  This is a struggle for me because I don't like running with "stuff". 

My friend Abby always runs with other people.  She gets up at 4:30 in the morning so that she can meet someone to run with.  I don't know that I have the flexibility in my schedule to do something like that, but I think that I need to do some work to try to find runners in my neighborhood.  Maybe if I'm talking and running, I'll remember that I really do love running.

An Off Week

So anyone who is a regular reader of this blog is probably pretty frustrated with me that I haven't posted anything new all week. I am sorry.  It has been a challenging week for me with a ton of stuff going on both personally and professionally.  When that happens, I struggle to find time to run.  And when I'm not running, I'm not writing.

I went to track practice on Wednesday and had to stop halfway through the workout because I was feeling sick to my stomach.  I thought sitting down and resting for a bit would make the feeling pass, but that didn't help.  So I had to leave. 

Leaving practice early made me stress out.  I am in the prime weeks of training.  I need to be hitting every run with everything I have.  I can't afford to be missing running days or cutting track workouts short.

Then the realist in me came out...I did not derail my entire training.  I realized that while putting in the time to train is very important, it's not going to make or break it if I miss a workout or two.  I know that I can finish 13.1 miles.  And Baltimore is a challenging course, so there is no pressure for me to do a personal best time.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that it doesn't need to be so complicated.  Running is supposed to be fun...it's supposed to be my escape from the pressures of the "real world".  So I allow myself a one week "freak out".  Now it's back to running for fun!

Race Recap - Salisbury Hidden Treasures Half Marathon

I got to Salisbury on Saturday in time to help volunteer handing out race packets.  I really enjoy helping with registration.  I get to talk with the runners and find out interesting stories.  My favorite was a lady who came from North Carolina who was running a half marathon in all 50 states.  We were her 12th state.  I also enjoy it because it gives me time to work with other people who enjoy running.  I talked with Charlie about triathlons and he gave me some really good tips.  I also got to spend the entire day with Running Buddy Colleen!  It was so good to see her and we chatted the entire time.

Colleen and I agreed to run the race together and view it as a training run.  So her plan was to run the first mile or so at a 10:30 pace, then the next few miles at a 10:00 pace, then the rest of the race at 9:30.  We've both read articles about the importance of running the second half of the race faster than the first half.  While 10:30 and 10:00 are much slower than what I would normally run in a race, I felt like it made a lot of sense for me to do this "training" race at that pace to see how it worked. 

So at the starting line, I jogged along happily next to Colleen.  It took a lot of discipline for us to stay at a 10:00 pace, so we stayed there.  Several times we had to pull back the pace when we looked at our watches and saw a 9:15 pace!

The race had been billed as a flat and fast course.  It turned out to be neither flat nor fast.  But at mile 6, I was still feeling pretty good.  Mile 7 has always been my nemesis.  I don't know why but I alwasy struggle at mile 7.  So when I started to feel a bit like I had weights tied to my feet, I worried that it was my normal mile 7 issues.  Shortly after that we passed the Salisbury University's stadium.  One of their teams was having a practice and I could hear music pumping through the speakers.  As soon as I got in range where I could hear it, the song switched to Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run".  Now there is a very long story behind why that song is so special to me...and I don't want this blog to go off track, so I'll save that story for another day.  But let's just say that the song gave me some new life and some new motivation.

It was about a mile and a half later when Colleen was really struggling.  I wanted to stay with her but she could tell that I was still feeling good and she didn't want to hold me back.  So I did go ahead for a little bit.  But it wasn't long before I completely fell apart.  My foot hurt so badly that I couldn't ignore it, my knees were bothering me and I was getting a nasty blister.  I stopped to walk for a bit and wait for Colleen.  She wasn't far behind me and caught up quickly.  We walked together for a few seconds, then started a jog.

Now there was an older lady who was running around the same place as Colleen and I.  I noticed that on her shirt she had written several states' abbreviations.  Another 50 state runner!  The fact that she was probably 60 years old made that even more impressive to me.  I made a mental note to find her after the race and chat with her.

The last 2 miles were really just a mental struggle to gut out the rest of the run.  I was on unfamiliar roads and couldn't see the civic center where the finish line was, so I had no idea where I was.  The finish was inside the civic center.  Adding insult to injury, there was a hill we had to run up to get to the civic center.  Ugh.  The good news is that once I got into the civic center, it sounded like hundreds of people cheering for me at the finish.

My time was 2:15:23 on my watch and 2:15:39 for the chip time.  It's not the fastest time I've ever run, but also not the slowest.  My fastest is a 2:05 and my slowest is a 2:23. 

So I learned that starting slow is a good idea but doesn't mean I won't fall apart at some point in the race.  I am a bit worried about my knees.  It's a day later and I'm still in some pain in my knees.  I took today off from all activity in the hopes that I can be OK for track practice on Wed.

So back to the race recap...immediately after the finish, my calves cramped.  I tried to stretch and it only got worse.  I walked around quite a bit and slowly my calves stopped hurting so badly.  I've never experienced that before.  I wonder what that was about.  I'll have to google.

After the race, Colleen and I met up with her Ocean City Running Club buddies, Lauren and Pam.  Both of those women ended up winning their age groups!  I'll write another blog entry about Lauren and our competition to be the nicest runner.  She was great.

Overall, it was a really good experience to run the half in Salisbury.  I definitely learned some things and I realized that I'm a lot farther from my goal pace than I had hoped.  Still some work to do in the next month...

Half Crazy

So this weekend I've agreed to run a half marathon on Sunday with Running Buddy Colleen.  While we have both committed to running this race easy and view it as a training run, I know how I get when I pin on a race bib and cross the starting line. 

I'm entering this weekend a bit banged up.  The ball of my left foot is really hurting...to the point that I have been limping all day today.  It scares me because I don't want to do anything that will cause me serious harm, but at the same time, I seemed to do OK when I ran the track workout on Wed.  So I guess I will see how I feel on Sunday.

Even with approaching this race as a training run, this makes 3 half marathons that I'm running between now and the end of the year.  Is this too much?  Am I pushing myself too hard?  Time will tell but I do feel like I'm doing well in my training program.  There's definitely more that I could be doing, but I am happy with where I am.  Maybe by the OC Half, I'll be in a position to break 2 hours!  That would be awesome.

Life vs. Training

Anyone who is training for an event knows that there are many challenges with finding time to train while still conducting somewhat of a normal life.  Yesterday was an especially challenging day.  I had a 4:00 meeting that went until 5, I had to pick up Ryann from play practice, get home and changed, track practice at 6:30 and a parent meeting at 7.

I do not know when I would have been able to do my track workout if I didn't do it last night, so I needed to figure out how to get it done and still make the parent meeting.  So I went to the track at 6 and did my workout alone until the rest of the group got there at 6:30.  Of course I'll was on a different cycle than everyone else, and by the time they got going with their workout, I was just about done.  But at least there were other bodies running around the track at the same time as I was.  Ryann had already let her director know that I would be late getting to the parent meeting.  I figured if I got there by 7:30, I'll miss all the repeat stuff that I heard from last year's 2 productions and still be there in time to sign up on the parent volunteer sheets...that's all they really care about anyway!  :)

So I walked into the meeting all sweaty and stinky.  (Of course I completely forgot to grab my body spray so that I would smell nice.)  I tried to stay away from everyone during the meeting and I was as quick as possible signing up on the volunteer sheets.  Mission accomplished!

In the past, I have allowed challenges like this to keep me from running.  I allowed the excuses to dictate my training schedule.  Yesterday proved that I could fit it all in.  Sometimes it's uncomfortable (like standing in the back of the parent meeting smelling badlly) and sometimes it's inconvenient (like doing the track workout mostly alone)...but training requires dedication and a will to get it all done. 

I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Do you remember the children's book "The Little Engine That Could" and the famous line "I think I can, I think I can"?  Well that pretty much sums up my biking experience on Monday morning.  40 miles.  That's a LONG way to ride on a bicycle.  And there were a lot of hills...big hills...

Let me take a step back and explain the circumstances surrounding my decision to ride 40 miles.  Daryl and Biker Colleen are part of a cycling club based in Easton.  This particular club has done a ride in Kent County (where Betterton is located) in the past.  The last time they did it was the 4th of July, I believe.  So they organized a ride on Monday of Labor Day weekend.  Since I was going to be in Betterton, Daryl invited me to join.  I was nervous but excited about the idea of riding 40 miles.

After my brick workout on Saturday, I was very doubtful that I would be able to complete 40 miles.  But it was a ride that started in Chestertown, went through Betterton and ended back in Chestertown.  So if I could only do half (which I knew I could do), I would be right by our house and could get someone to drive me back to Chestertown to pick up the car.

So when I woke up Monday morning, there was no rain.  So off I went to Chestertown with my bike, my helmet, my water bottle and my sports beans.  I pulled into the parking lot and saw the group gathering.  They all looked like very nice people but they all looked like they were serious cyclists.  I got nervous again, but I hopped out of the car, unloaded my bike and pretended like I wasn't shaking in my sneakers.

So we reviewed the route sheets and off we went.  The group stayed mostly together through Chestertown but once we hit the open road, we quickly got separated.  There were 3 other women and 4 men in the group.  Two of the guys were much faster and were well ahead of everyone else most of the way.  I assumed my position in the back of the pack, partly so that I could see what everyone else was doing but mostly because I was going as fast as I could and still couldn't keep up with the pack.  Tom was a very nice guy who hung in the back with me and chatted about his running, biking and hiking experiences.  I was really trying to pay attention to what he was saying but the whole time my mind kept racing thinking about all the things that could go wrong with me and this bicycle.

I believe it was on the first large downhill that I finally decided to just let go and let the ride happen as it was going to.  I didn't put my brakes on at all.  I stopped looking at my speed once it creeped scarily close to 30 miles per hour.  I just enjoyed the wind as I sped down the hill.  What I realized very quickly is that a big downhill normally means one thing...a big uphill.  So my first uphill climb was upon me.  I was still not comfortable with my gears so I just kept it where it was and tried my best to get up the hill with some respectable amount of speed.  It was a pretty small uphill compared to the ones yet to come, but I made it up. 

I was very relieved to see that the group was assembled at the top of the hill for a water break.  Unfortunately the problem with being the little red caboose (a nickname I coined for myself because of my choice to wear a red shirt) is that when you get there, everyone else is rested and ready to go again.  I got one big swig of water before we were off again.

At the 10 mile point, we had made it to Molly's, which is a restaurant/gas station/tractor store/hunter's hangout.  I was surprised at how quickly the 10 miles had gone.  I sent a text to Stephen letting him know where we were so that I would have a cheering section as we entered Betterton.  The stop at Molly's was a long one so I was able to recover from the ride up to that point.

As we rode through Still Pond on our way to Betterton, Daryl pointed ahead and said "what's that guy doing?" I looked up and saw Stephen standing in the middle of the road shooting pictures of us.  I knew right away - "that's Stephen".  The group encouraged me to ride up ahead for my photo op.  Grace was standing in the back of the car cheering, but still wearing her nightgown.  Here is the photo that Stephen shot of the group.

This photo is literally the only time I was anywhere near the front with this group!  Shortly after this we made it to Betterton which was the halfway point, and my decision point.  Do I go on or do I throw in the towel and stop?  Anyone who knows me knows what I decided.

The stopping point was at the public beach, which was very scenic.  But the bad thing was that there are 2 ways out of town from the public beach and both of them are up a big hill.  We debated the merits of each and ultimately the group went with my suggestion - the shorter but steeper option.  Let me tell you that starting from a stop and trying to go up a steep incline is a very difficult thing to do. 

The second half of my ride was a blur of me repeating "I think I can, I think I can" as I go up these seemingly mountainous hills combined with portions of flat road where I try to get my breathing under control and my legs to stop burning.  My feet started to get that tingly feeling when you know they are falling asleep.  My butt hurt from the seat, but then it went numb so it didn't hurt so much anymore unless I hit a bump.  But here's the thing - at the bottom of every hill I would think "I'm not going to make it" and at the top of the hill I would think "wow, I made it".  In the middle I just kept going.

The last 6 miles were pretty rough.  At one point I really just wanted to stop.  But of course my stubborn nature wouldn't allow that!  As we rode into the parking lot after completing 40 miles, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.  That's a long way to ride and 4 times longer than I'd previously ever ridden.  And I (sort of) kept up with some very seasoned riders.  I am the little engine that could!

Brick

Now that I've committed to this triathlon, I decided that instead of today's long run, I was going to do a run/bike.  I talked to Andi about what she does for training and she described a training session consisting of a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike and 2 mile run.  I thought that would be good, except I needed my workout to be 2 hours today so I planned to do 3 miles, 12 miles, 3 miles.

My run felt good, although because I allowed myself to sleep in a little bit, it was already pretty humid.  When I got back to the house, my "transition" to the bike was pretty long so I'm not sure that I got the full effect of the workout.  I got on the bike and headed out of town.

I was feeling much more confident on this ride than on my first one.  Even though I was riding on roads with cars, the shoulder was big enough that I felt comfortable.  I decided to push it and see how fast I could go for the 10 miles.  I struggled on some of the hills but overall averaged over 14 miles per hour.  Pretty good for my 2nd ride in my opinion!  I forgot to reset the computer on my bike until I was almost out of town, which I'm thinking was about .75 miles.  So the computer said I rode 10.4 miles but in actuality it was over 11. 

Once I got back to the house, I drank some water, popped a jelly bean or 2, put on my water belt and started running.  Now I know why it's called a brick workout.  My legs felt like complete bricks.  I couldn't really make them move.  My knees hurt too and I didn't want to do damage so I modified my run from 3 miles to 1 mile.  I don't know how to feel about this.  On one hand, I know it was the right thing to do so that I didn't hurt myself, but on the other hand, I need to get used to running after biking if I'm going to finish the tri.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to swim.  I definitely need some practice there!