Training Runs aka People Watching

Tonight my friend and I went on our weekly 'run' through the park, only instead of going in the AM as usual, we went after work. Both of us punked out on getting up early and making it out there this morning. Go figure. :) Boy am I glad we waited. As follows is a short list of event that happened while dragging booty through 4 miles...

1) Almost got hit by a disc from some guys disc golfing, since we were both rocking out to iPods the "Fore!" they yelled was not heard until it was almost too late
2) Were tortured by the awesome smells of grilling, because everyone and their brother decided it was a nice night to host bbq's in the park.
3) Speaking of 'bbqing,' stumbled across a group of teens smoking pot in the woods, I think I scared them off with my death-like, Darth Vader gasping as it was half way through my run
4) Swallowing a zillion bugs, and trying to spit them out just as fast
6) All the cute dogs being walked
7) And last, and perhaps the best, the group doing some 'Live Action Role Playing,' like in the film Role Models. Priceless.

As you've gathered half training is sort of in full gear ahead mode. I've made most of my long runs, tried to get in at least one other day of actual running in, and done some strength and elliptical-ing here and there. I might have to revise my finish time goal, because I'm learning that I'm definitely not fast, but consistent. As long as I don't have to walk like a granny for two days after this half, I'm going to consider it a success. :)

On the road again.

Hey everyone, so tonight marked my first official run as part of training. It was a 4 miler and I didn't die, I actually felt pretty decent until that last half mile, then I wanted to die. I dragged my friend Cristina along for the run, and she kicked booty. There's just something about having someone to run and commiserate with to make the time pass faster-I'm definitely a social runner. So with this next half "looming," (Ha!), okay so not really, I've started to think about any goals I want to achieve for this particular "timed run." So far I've only got two, but two are better than none, so here they are:

1) Finish my training plan-stick with it 'til race day. I'm sure this will help my recovery, and that way I won't feel like an invalid hobbling down stairs for the week following the run. It also might help me achieve goal numero dos..

2) Beat my last time. I'm actually hoping to shave about 10 minutes off. This may be a ridiculous and lofty goal, but I'm going for it. I want to come in at a solid 2:30 half, if I can go even faster, sweet! But I'm aiming for a 2:30. We'll see what happens...

A confession...The Nike Women's Half Marathon.

Well, I think it's about time to let the cat out of the bag...and once I say it, I can't take it back so here goes...

A couple months back, say early to mid April I got a call from my sister. She was excited, really excited. What could possibly have her so worked up I wondered? She went on to tell me about the most glorious half I could have dreamed up. The Setting? San Francisco. Awesome. Finisher Medals? Tiffany Necklaces. Who hands them out? Firefighters dressed in tuxedos! Swoon. Rumors of a "Chocolate Mile"-unconfirmed at this point, but given the rest of the awesomeness, I'm not discounting it yet. Possibilities for fun after running? Endless. Wine tasting, exploring the city, visiting family and friends, basically something I couldn't pass up. She had me convinced. I was in. I signed up the next day with her group. The draw backs? We most likely wouldn't get in. Traveling to San Francisco would be expensive. I'd have to run another half (ha ha ha). Let's take a look at these one by one...

Not getting in...apparently they have to do a drawing because the demand to race in it is so high. It's capped at 20,000 participants, and not everyone gets in. Knowing my luck when it comes to drawings/the lotto/ etc. I figured we wouldn't REALLY get in. Imagine my shock when I got the confirmation e-mail that indeed we were in...which brings up the next point...

Expensive travel...gotta love those reward credit cards. Though I don't have enough to pay for the full ticket, I've got enough points to take the price to the reasonable range. Plus, I wouldn't need a hotel-another major perk. Just the spending $ and the ability to get out west. Definitely do-able. Plus, this HAS to be my year to get a teaching job, right?

Lastly, running another half. Really, not too tragic. I figure the 10K I did in May is practically a half of a half, and I do have until October to ramp up the training again. True that only leaves me slacking until next month, but really nothing too terrible. Plus, that sense of accomplishment at the end is so powerful, it's addicting.

So yes readers, it's official. I'm doing it. I'm San Francisco bound in October to run with 20,000 other ladies and get a great workout and the ability to eat as many freakin' calories as I want for the day. Who can argue with something that great?

5/3rd Riverbank Run 10K

The weather forecast going into Saturday's race looked suspiciously like the weather for last weekend's run, but about 15 degrees chillier. I wasn't looking forward to it and was praying for a weatherperson mis-forecast with no luck. Friday was packet pick up, and the sunny skies that had been hanging around Thursday had changed into gloomy grey ones with smatterings of sprinkles. I picked up a trio of Bondi Bands at the expo, my favorite one read, "I love running, I hate running, I love running, I hate running" and decided that would be the one to wear Saturday morning. It pretty much sums up my affair with 'running,' it's definitely a love/hate relationship. :)

So we tried for the traditional "pasta" dinner, but our favorite Italian place was booked solid, so we ended up going Mexican and it worked out fine. Saturday morning dawned windy and chilly, but, it wasn't raining and for that I was thankful. Sure there was the occasional misting going on, but nothing to soak you to the core, it was actually pretty refreshing. The first mile as usual was the most difficult, something about getting moving and getting started and not seeing that first mile marker for what seems like forever is tough. The course was fairly flat (thank god!) but did have some hills near the end, which really weren't too horrible. I hit the half way point and kept thinking how the heck am I going to keep up this pace and go 3.1 more miles?!

Luckily, I had a running buddy. My friend Jenna conned me into signing up for the 10K instead of the 5K to run it with her. She definitely kept me moving and it was nice to have someone to chat with and pass the time. Eventually we turned that last corner and saw the best sight ever, "Finish Line!" Picked up the pace a teensy bit and crossed the line in 01:04:10! I was SO incredibly excited! The last "10K" that I have a time on was from the half which I kinda sorta actually trained for and that was a time of 01:16:13. Somehow I shaved 12 minutes off my time! I know there are so many people who are much faster than me, but for me, someone who generally does 11/12 minute miles for longer distances, it was a major accomplishment!

For now I don't have any more "races" on the schedule for the season, but I'm sure I'll pick up one here or there, maybe I can get back out and actually start running on a semi-regular basis again too...

A Typical MSU Sunday

Last night we celebrated in a big way one of Rex's sister's milestone birthdays...drinks, more drinks, and a LOT of good times. It was great...waking up this morning bright and early to run a 5K? Not super awesome. Add to the equation, the constant downpour of rain, it could have been a disaster of epic proportions, but it wasn't. As any true Spartan knows, rallying after a night of drinking is in our green blood, today was no exception. Alright, alright so it could probably be argued of ANY college grad, but today's run was at MSU, so gotta represent. :)

So bright and early the alarm went off, and I only hit snooze once. The rain looked like it might let up...I was wrong. The whole drive in was wet. We parked. Still raining. Picked up my packet. Still raining. Waiting with friends for the race to start...you guessed it, still raining. I gave in and put on the oh so fashionable rain poncho as we lined up. Best move ever. The rain was pretty steady through the first two miles, as I came up on the water station after mile two, I decided to ditch it since the sky decided to stop leaking as badly and I was getting toasty. It was a good move.

The course was pretty fun, it didn't wind through campus as much as I would've liked it to, but it was still nice to be back in East Lansing. And we did get to run by Sparty, although the mascot Sparty was sadly missing, due to weather I'm assuming. Plus the finish line was on the football field, we got to run through the tunnel and finish on the 50 yard line, and really, how fun is that? That last mile I was reallllly dragging. And at the end I was much more tired than last week, I was lagging. Turns out I picked up the pace a bit since the last 5k, which would probably account for that. Final chip time, 30:42! Not my fastest ever, but getting closer to it! Next up, next weekend's 10K. :)

5K for a "Kause"

Well, we did it. :) Despite threatening rain, overcast skies, on Sunday Rex and I did the Susan G. Komen 5K in Lansing along with friends and family and survivors and the memories of those who couldn't be there to share the journey with us. A big thank you goes out to his sisters who took the time to organize a team, design some awesome shirts, and basically create a group to fund raise for such an important cause that has touched so many people. Plus, it was a chance to get back out and hit the pavement again, which is always a good thing. I was so proud of Rex, he ran the WHOLE thing with me. We weren't super speedy, but we did it. Didn't stop once. We'll see if I can con him into another one anytime soon. Next up, Heart of Spartan 5K next weekend! Woot! Can't beat a finish line at the 50 yard line of Spartan stadium, Go State!

First Double Digit Run-aka Dallas Rock n' Roll Half

I did it!!!!!! And right around the time I thought I'd do it in to boot! There's so much to say, but first I want to thank everyone for their support and advice. The top two pieces that helped were 1)Don't start off too fast, pace yourself and 2)Take your time at the water/aid stations.

Not starting off too fast was key. I was thinking we were going to do a walk/run combo since the training had pretty much come to a stand still, but Kari thought we could do it as long as we paced ourselves. We aimed to start with around a 12 minute mile pace...and in the end, it worked out to 12:12 miles. I was incredibly happy with that.

Walking through the aid/water stations was also huge. I tried to jog through the first one, ended up gulping my water, and felt it sloshing around for awhile. After that, I walked through them. It was much, much, much better from there on out.

So the race...the night before I was so crazy nervous. We had a lovely diner out at Olive Garden, I nommed on some plain ol' spaghetti and breadsticks, guzzled water, and all was well. Tossed and turned part of the night, but was ready to go the next morning. Our hotel was about 3 blocks from the starting line which meant all we had to do was take a nice leisurely stroll over to the starting corral. We took a few silly pictures and anxiously awaited the 8 o'clock starting time...only it didn't end up being 8, it was more like 8:20ish. They started each corral in it's own wave start, which was nice, but added to the whole "waiting to start anxiety."

Eventually we were on our way, and to be honest, I was still worried the first mile. My legs didn't feel like they wanted to move, let alone move for the next 13 miles. But Kari kept me going, we fell into our pace and kept chatting as we moved along. It really did help that there were so many other people around us doing the same thing, working for the same goal. I kept checking my watch and we stayed really close to 12 minute miles the whole time. There were some hills here and there, but after running in Grand Rapids, honestly they weren't anything too incredibly terrible.

So we ran...and ran...and ran. Through some of the downtown, through the ritziest neighborhoods, and headed back toward the city. It was a long climb up a hill to the midway point, also were we were supposed to see my mom and Rex. I was hoping they made it because I was really ready to ditch my jacket and camera at that point. We spotted them and I awkwardly shrugged off the jacket, gave some high fives, and kept on moving. At the top of the hill, Kari decided she needed to slow the pace, I offered to stay with her, but she waved me on. So, I was off on my own. Without an iPod, just my own thoughts, the course bands, and my legs to carry me. I hit a mental road block as soon as I hit mile 9. It was the farthest I'd ever run before at one time, and I had no idea how I was going to keep going.

Somehow I did and when I hit mile 10, I knew I could do it. I mean, it was just one more 5K and I'd be done. At least that's what I kept telling myself and it worked. I did stop for a quick bathroom break, and discovered...chaffing. No good, very bad chaffing. I'd had a feeling that it was happening, but seeing it made it 100 times worse. No matter, I still had more miles to put in, so I put my game face back on, blocked it out, and told myself I could deal with it later, after I'd crossed the finish line.

The last couple of miles were pretty uneventful, I was in my own zone just trying to get to the end of it all. Mile 12 was tough. I'd thought the end was much closer, and it just stretched on, and on, and on. When I finally turned that final corner and saw the finish line staring me in the face, I can't even describe the excitement I felt! My legs found some energy, a smile plastered itself across my face, and I just ran with such joy. It was AWESOME! I rushed past the finish line, hands in the air, and excitement and pride for having accomplished something so huge. It was an amazing feeling.

Kari came through about 5 minutes later and we posed for pictures, collected our goodies and met up with everyone else she knew, Rex, and mom. Had our medals engraved, snagged our free can of beer, free food, and settled in to watch Better Than Ezra rock out. All in all, it was a really great experience. Gorgeous weather, a great running partner, supportive friends and family. Awesome.