Fastest Long Run Ever

This morning I was suppose to be at work but the hospital cancelled me!! Yeah an opportunity for a long run. My hubby and the boys were both out of town so it was a great morning for a long run. I met one of my running buddies from Mckinney Running Club at 5 am. We started run at 5:12 and headed out to get some miles in before the group met at 6. There werent that many runners that met up to run. So it was just us two running. We had a great run and ended up doing 20 miles in 2:50:27. We averaged a 8:31 pace. This was definitely my fastest long run. It felt pretty good. My quads were a little tight but overall it went well. I would not have been able to finish if it werent for my running buddy!! Hopefully we will be able to break the sub 4 marathon time!!!

Here are my splits for today's run.

Mile 1: 08:33

Mile 2: 08:15

Mile 3: 08:25

Mile 4: 08:29

Mile 5: 08:17

Mile 6: 08:24

Mile 7: 08:38

Mile 8: 08:42

Mile 9: 08:40

Mile 10: 08:21

Mile 11: 08:20

Mile 12: 08:27

Mile 13: 08:22

Mile 14: 08:44

Mile 15: 08:45

Mile 16: 08:59

Mile 17: 08:53

Mile 18: 08:35

Mile 19: 08:28

Mile 20: 08:12

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Prescription for Burn out

So lately I have been feeling a little burned out. I haven't been blogging or reading blogs. Running has felt more like a job lately than enjoyable. I was beginning to think something was wrong. Well I have been in a training program the entire year one marathon after another. So I guess I have a reason to be tired. I only have 5 weeks left until my next marathon so I needed to get out of my rut quick!!! So nothing better than reading a Runners world magazine and reading online and getting some inspiration. Reading articles about other runners inspired me to get back in the game. So running articles are my prescription for burn out!!!

Tyler Rose Marathon

Well I guess it is time to write the race report. I have been a big slacker on blogging lately. All I can say about the Tyler rose marathon is HILLY!! It was the toughest course I have ever ran!!!I started out running with the DRC 4 hour pace group. I stayed with them all the way until mile 18. The first 18 miles really felt great. Then I got tired. I was so ready to be done. My husband ended up running the last part with me and I am so happy that he did. He kept me motivated to keep going and finish with a good time. I ended up running it in 4:05:48. I was really happy with my time considering how difficult the course was. The course was really pretty with lots of beautiful houses. At the finish line they handed out medals and a rose bush. They were also passing out samples of my favorite yogurt from TCBY!! Yummy!! All of my family was there cheering me on. I love having them there.

I am looking forward to running White Rock marathon in December. This course is suppose to be more flat. So hopefully sub 4 is in my future.

Getting setup with the pace group!!

Very excited to see my family!!!

After the Race!!

Sick! Sick! Sick!

Well I haven't posted in a while because not much running has been going on!! I have been sick for 3 weeks now!! I started with just nasal congestion and now have acute pneumonia!! I went to the dr past wednesday and he gave me some antibiotic and cough medicine. I finished all that and today I went back to the doctor!! So after blood work and chest xray I have acute pneumonia!! So another round and antibiotics and some steroids and hopefully I'll be feeling better!! I only have a week and a half left before my race so I need to get better quick!! Luckily I was able to get in my 22 miler before I started feeling really bad!! I had a great 22 mile run. Felt really good and could have kept going. I averaged a 9:00 pace the whole 22 miles!! So maybe later this week I'll be ready to run!! Not running is killin me!! This is the longest I have been without running for a while!! I'll post later about race plans!!!

Marathon Training Update

So there is only 4 weeks left until Tyler Rose full!!! I think I am ready for the race to be here. Sunday the weather cooled off and gave me some hope for October!! Hopefully the weather stays cool from now on!! I am just going to give a quick update on the last two weeks training runs:

Week 13:

Monday: 8 miles

Tuesday: 5 miles

Wed: rest

Thursday: 20 miles

Friday: 45 min weight training

Saturday: 5 miles and 12 mile bike ride

Sunday: rest

Week 14:

Monday: 7.2 mile Trail run at Erwin Park

Tuesday: Speed work 5 miles

Plan for the rest of this week

Wed: rest

Thurs: 5 miles at race pace

Friday: 8 miles easy run

Saturday: 12 miles

Sunday: 1 hour cross train

This morning I did speed work at Dowell track in Mckinney. Today proves that weather determines if you have a good pace or not!! The weather felt so good at a temperature of 58 degrees. That feels cold in Texas. We did a 1 mile warm up, 3x1600 at 5k race pace and 1 mile cool down. I was feeling fast this morning thanks to the weather. Here is the breakdown:

Mile 1: 9:30

Mile 2: 7:16

Mile 3: 7:09

Mile 4: 6:45

Mile 5: 9:20

6:45 was the fastest mile I have ever ran!! I felt really good and even could have gone a little faster. I hope that this speed work will help me get a lot of PRs this fall/winter. Its amazing how great it feels to run in good weather.

I am shopping around for my new race outfit to wear at Tyler Rose!! I post pictures of whatever I decide to get. I haven't decided if I am going to run in shorts or a skirt!!

Quote of the day

This morning the leader of my girl running group in McKinney sent me this quote for the day. Thought I would share it!!

Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don't have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.

I just loved this quote!! Thought it was really appropriate especially since after completing the Hottest Half!!!

The Hottest Half

This morning I woke up at 5:15am to get dressed for the Hottest Half. The babysitter came at 5:45 and the hubby and I headed out the door!! I had our pre race breakfast packed to eat on the way. We ate my regular pre race meal (banana and peanut butter cliff bar). My hubby signed up to run the 10K. This was going to be his first race. I was really excited for him, I just wish I could have seen him start and finish. He did really good though (Im not surprised) he ran the 10 k in 59 min. He is awesome, not training to run and just went out there and kicked butt!! My mom and her boyfriend and his brother were also running the 10K. It is awesome to see family member running races. My mom has never workout before and the last 3 months she has been running a lot and wanted to try a race. I am very proud of her and my hubby!! This is a picture from my phone showing the weather this morning. Can we say Humid!!!

Pre race photo: Charisma, Victoria, Kristi and me

Gary, Mom, Hubby, and Steve

(We are looking good!!)

Love this pic of me and my wonderful hubby!!

So my initial plan for this race was to go out and run and not think about time. Well I think that is impossible for me. My second plan was to get a sub 2 half!! I don't know why I wanted to go for that on the Hottest half!! But being the overachiever I am that was my plan. I was feeling great until mile 10, then I started to get tired. I was really tired lung or leg wise. I was definitely tired mental wise. I have got to find me a running partner to run with so we can push each other. I was starting to get bored and ready to be done. I think it was at mile 11. This lady was holding up a sign saying "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you!" That just happens to be my favorite scripture. I pushed hard after that. I ended up running the race in 2:00:33, (09:14 pace) When I saw that I was think really are you serious, 33 seconds. If only I would have not stopped at that last water stop!! It sucks to be that close but hey I am not going to complain. I finished the race and didn't have to see the medic!! I would have know how close I was if my garmin would have located satellites faster. I turned on my Garmin way too late and the gun went off and my garmin wasn't ready. Oh well lesson learned!!

This lady rocks! I passed her in the marathon and she was just a running!! I thought there is no way this lady will finish this race. She looked like she could just pass out any minute!! She is hardcore! She finished the marathon in 2:22!! Thats crazy, maybe I will (hope to) be like here when I get old!!

New Running Gear

Well it is my favorite thing to do.... Buy running shoes!! On tuesday I headed to Run on and got some new shoes. In the past I have always ran wearing asics. I decided to switch it up and try a new style. The last running shoe that I bought were Asics Kayona! They are structured cushioning shoe. So I got the Brooks Ravenna 2 shoes. I ended up getting a half size bigger than my last pair of running shoes. I was having trouble with the toes on my left foot getting blisters. My toenails were also falling off on that foot. So I decided to try a half size bigger. Its funny because I wear a 7.5 shoe and run in an 8.5!! Tonight was my first run with the shoes and so far I like them a lot. I really like the dark mess, they will stay clean longer!!

I also got a new pair of Saucony running shorts. I am wearing them on my race so you can see pics later!!

Week 10 of marathon training

Well this week begins the 10th week in my 18 week training program for Tyler Rose marathon!! Last week was a big week at 41 miles! Overall it was a goo week!! I really enjoyed running the trail run with NTX runners!! It's always good to socialize with other runners!! This week is a step back week in training! Every third week I have a stepback where I drop a little in mileage!! It ended out working perfectly my training program called for a half marathon this weekend!! It just so happens the Hottest Half is Sunday!! So here is the plan for this week:

Monday: cross (yoga and strength)
Tuesday: 4 miles at race pace
Wednesday: 5 miles easy run
Thursday: 4 miles at race pace
Friday: 6 miles with McKinney running club
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: The Hottest Half

Today I am going to look for some new running shorts!! I need to get them now so I can try them out before the race on Sunday!!

Long run with the fast guys!!

I was reading a blog the other day (Racing it Off) and she was talking about if some things people do are dumb or hardcore!!! Well this morning I woke up at 3 am and ate my pre run snack ( a protein bar and a bottle of water). I went back to sleep until 4:45. He alarm went off and i was feeling like I had not sleep at all!! I was really tired but I knew that one I put on the running shoes I would be good!!! So after getting all the gear on I headed out the door at 5:10! I decided to run ad far as I could and then meet the McKinney running club at 6. I ran 4.1 before I met up with the group!! The temperature was warm 86 degrees but there was a light breeze so that helped!! There were about 15-20 people that met up to run. I still had 13 miles left to go. The only group that was running a long distance were. The fast, experienced runners!! They were planning on doing 8-10 miles. They usually run at a 8:30 pace so of course i was telling them there is no way I can keep up with you guys!! But i wanted to run with someone and thought it would be a good challenge!! Well they were fast and took me on two really big hills!! (Which is a good thing because I need hills to help prepare me for Octobers marathon!!) I left the group at about mile 12.5!! The headed in one direction and I headed the other way!! AT this point I was tired, but I had to keep going!! I hce to see that 17 mile mark on my Garmin!! So I ended up doing 17 miles in 2:40:16. That is a 9:25 pace!! Overall it was a good run, challenging but doable!! I think I I keep training with the guys I could maybe make it to Boston before I die!! I love running my long runs on Saturday's because the running club drops water at multiple different spots along the way!! This helps so you don't have to carry all your water, especially in this heat!!

Oh yeah I forgot to say that when I was running those first 4 miles I had a crash!! There is the long stretch of side walk that is really dark. It has a lot of uneven concrete!! Well my foot hit one and down I went!! Luckily my hands caught the fall and no injurys to report!! That is the second time I have fallen on that stretch!!

Am I ready??

Ok so its only 9 days until the Hottest Half!! It is going to be so hot!! I am praying for rain everyday!! So I am in week 9 of my marathon training. This week I am running a total of 41 miles, including my sat long run of 15. I have been running mostly in the early morning, around 5, or on the treadmill!! I am worried that the heat is going to killed me. The race starts at 7:30. The temperature could be at 100 degrees at the end of the race!! That is why I am running this race not expecting a good time! I'm running for completion!! (really hard for me to do that!)
I have another friend running the race too so at least ill have done company. I'm still trying to decide what I am going to wear on race day. I wanted to be able to just wear my running shorts and sports bra since it will be so hot. I dont know if I feel that confident to do that but we will see!!

Running with sore legs

On Wednesday I ran 4 miles on the treadmill and had a session with my personal trainer. I thought we were going to do arms but no she had legs planned. We did squats, leg press, dead lifts, lunges, leg weights and abs! It was a 40 min leg killing session. My legs were like jello. So yesterday I was suppose to run 7 miles but instead I took a day of rest. My legs were so sore that it was difficult to walk. So this morning I woke up at 5am and ran 7 miles. When I got out of bed I was so stiff! Today was one of those days when getting out of bed was a challenge! The first 2 miles were really stiff but then I started to loosen up. I ran 7 miles is 1:07:33!! No a bad run considering I was really sore!!

Last night the family and I went to the mall and did some shopping. All I ended up buying was a new running hat. The hat I have is about 8 years old!! I was in desperate need for a new one!! I ended up getting a pink under armour hat!! I love getting new gear!!

Longest Run

Well this week has been a very busy running week. I am going out of town this weekend and will be unable to run so I did all 5 of my runs during the week. Usually I have a day of rest in the middle of all these runs. But since I didn't want to miss a run (since I am addicted to running now) I had to do it all in a row. After this mornings run I am tired and ready for a day of rest. Here is what I did this week:

Monday: 4 mile run
Tuesday: 7 mile run with 45 min session with personal trainer (Legs and Abs)
Wednesday: 7 mile run
Thursday : 4 mile run with 45 min session with personal trainer (Arms and shoulders and abs)

This morning I woke up at 5:30 and headed out the door for my longest run since my marathon in April. I needed to do 14 miles at a comfortable pace. This morning started out with the temperature at 82 degrees. It felt so muggy. The first 2 miles just felt horrible, stiff and just out of synch. After the first two miles I was feeling really good. I wore my fuel belt and brought with me about 28 ounces of half gatorade and half water. I am starting to get bored with all the routes I have been running. I have always walk out the door and pick a direction to run. I feel like Forrest Gump when I am running around the city. I need to venture out of this area. Don't you just hate it when you are running and pass something that sounds so good. Today I past Mcdonalds and I am in love with their mango pineapple smoothies!! I also passed a local bakery called Nothing Bunt Cakes and I so could have walked in there and ate a whole cake. Luckily they were closed. At about mile 9 I was beginning to run low on liquid so I found a 7/11 and filled up my bottles with ice water. They were nice to let me fill them up and not charge me. I think they took one look at me and thought wow is she sweaty she looks thirsty. I finished 14 miles exactly at my driveway. I was feeling pretty good but it was hot. The temperature was 88 degrees. I am worried about the Hottest Half coming up in 3 weeks. The race doesn't start until 730 and I was finishing up at that time today. So it will definitely be hot. My finish time today was 02:17:25. I was happy with that time. I looked at my watch at exactly 13.1 mile and my time was 2:09. So if I run that on race day then I will have a PR. I am not planning on making a PR though. I am just running for fun.....

Overall a good week. The miles are going to just keep piling on as the weeks go by in my training!!

Marathon Training Plan

Well I am in week 7 of my marathon training for Tyler Rose Marathon on October 9. This will be my 2nd marathon. I am using Hal Higdon's intermediate training program. I have used his training programs in the past and have always been happy with the program. It is an 18 week program that has pace runs, long run and tempo runs. At the peak of the program I will have a 43 mile week. Since Tyler has a lot of hills on the course I am also adding hill repeats to my schedule every other week. I am feeling stronger this go around than last time. I am hoping to have a better time than the last marathon.

My thoughts on weight training

I have been working the past 4 weeks with my personal trainer. We have been alternating doing legs, arms and shoulders and abs. I have never really done a lot of weight training. I always got bored with weight training. I think it is because I didn't really know what I was doing and didn't want to look dumb doing it. So I just never lifted weights. Now 4 weeks has past, and I am feeling a lot more toned. I see more definition in my legs and arms. It is hard to coordinate weight training with running. My personal training suggest weight training first then run afterwards. (I wonder if that is how everyone else does it.) I have also been trying to watch what I eat and try to eat healthy most of the time. I allow myself one cheat day a week to eat whatever I want. I definitely feel good and have more energy!!

Group Run

Today I met the Mckinney Running Club at Market street for our Saturday long run. Half of the running club was not there because they were running the Lady of the Lake Relay. I ran with a group of 8 girls. It was a great run. Running with other runners is so much more enjoyable. I really like running with a group on my long run for two reasons. First being the company, makes the miles go by fast. Second being that they make me stay at a comfortable pace. We ran 8.5 miles in 1 hour and 28 minutes. I think it was an average of 10:20 pace. That is slower than I have been running but I definitely enjoyed it. I wish I could run with the group a lot more but my hubby's schedule doesn't allow for that. So I will take what I can get. I am only 4 weeks away from my half marathon in August. I am looking forward to the race.

Back to posting

Well life has been really busy!! I am ending my 5th week in my marathon training. Getting ready for my next marathon in October! Training is going good so far. I am running 5 days a week with 1 cross train day and one rest day!! I am up to 30 miles a week. I have been doing most of my runs early in the morning around 530. This morning I woke up at 5:30 and got dressed and headed out the door at 5:50. This was the first time I have ever just wore a sports bra and shorts. I decide to try it out since it was so hot this morning. I must say that I liked it much better. It was definitely cooler. I ran 12 miles at a 9:21 min pace. I ran a lot of hills this morning so I was proud of my time. I felt really good running this morning, no major aches or pains. I am trying to get ready for my half marathon I am doing in August. I am a little nervous about the race since August is usually hotter than any other month. I am just hoping to finish and not last place. My plan is to just run for fun and not even weary Garmin it will be really hard for me to not use it because I never run without it!! It will definitely be interesting!!

Thursdays thoughts

1... I was ready a blog the other day and the runner is doing the INSANITY workout!! Its a 60 day hard core workout! About a year ago I wanted do p90x to help loss baby weight. So I bought it and did it for about 2 weeks and then put it in the draw and forgot about it. After reading her blog I decided to pull it out of the draw and give it a try!! Running was just not getting me where I want to be physically. Most people think that just because you run marathons that your are in excellent shape!! But as many say you can still have skinny fat. Meaning that fat layer over your abdominal muscles. So it had been three days on p90x. I have been doing that workout on top of my running workouts! Hope I don't tire my self out!! Running comes first though I have to get my miles in!!

2... Toenails!!! Ok so here's the deal. I ran my marathon on april 10 and the toenails are still falling off! On my left foot 2 toenails have already fallen off completely. On the right foot one is about to come off! This is not a good thing for he summer! Ugly toes in the summer is just not cute! So I'm wondering if it is a shoe problem or what?? Guess I'll have to do more research on it!!

3... Running in the heat and humidity is not fun! Training through the winter was much more enjoyable!! Maybe by the end of the summer I'll be more accustomed to running in the heat!!

4... Speed work is paying off! I ran 5 miles tonight at an average pace of 8:10. I felt really good running tonight! Maybe all the dreaded speedwork will help me get a sub 4 marathon!! We shall see in october!!

Duathlon

This morning I woke up at 6 am and headed out for a 5 mile pace run!!! Today is the beginning of our so called vacation! I wanted to start it off with a good run! The weather was decent 69 degrees and 90% humidity!! I ran 5 miles with an average pace of 8:42. I felt really good running! On my program I was suppose to run 5 miles at race pace. So if I want to run my marathon in 4 hours, I need to run a 9:09 pace. So I ran 8:42 pace and was not really that tired!! So am wondering if I should go faster on my pace runs. I thought pace runs were supppose to be really challenging. I don't know I'll just keep running.

After my run my hubby and our nephew wanted to go mountain biking. So being an overachiever like I am I said yes!! So we headed to Erwin Park in McKinney and rode a 8 mile mountain bike loop! These running legs are not use to mountain biking! I haven't biked since last summer! Mountain biking is a really good muscle builder! I think I'd you were to do that 2-3 times a week you would be really strong!! So now after all that I'm tired. We are leaving in about two hours for Great Wolf Lodge!! Nice rest and relaxation!!!

Running with Stroller

Today I decided to take peanut for a run in the stroller. It has been a while since I ran with the stroller. Let's just say that I didn't miss it at all. We ran before lunch and the temperature was only 74 degrees but it felt like 90. Running today made me realize that training through the summer was going to be tough. We ran 4.5 miles at an average of 9 min pace. I read a blog the other day that said "I consider myself a badass because I pass people while running with my jogging stroller." I have to totally agree with her she is a badass. Running with a stroller is hard especially when your kid weights 32 lbs plus the weight of the stroller. If I ran with the stroller all the time I would feel light as a feather when running without it. I lookup to all the moms that run with their stroller. That's hardcore running.

Test yourself 5k

WHAT: Test Yourself 5K & Family Fun Run (1K)

WHEN: Saturday, May 14, 2011

WHERE: The Shops at Legacy in Plano, Texas

WHY: Because Running for Charity is Cool!

BENEFITING: The Jim Utley Foundation

Today was my second 5 k. The weather was great. It actually started out pretty chilly at 49 degrees! I met two of my friends there to run the race! The first half of the course was pretty flat. The second portion was hilly and against the wind. At about 2.6 I was ready to be done. We were all hoping for a PR! What a PR day it was!! I finished in 23:20. I ended up getting first in my age category and 36 overall out of 385. My goal for today was to run it in 23:45! It feels really good when you accomplish what you set out to do!! My friend also got first in her age category! It was a great day, ran a good race and donated money to a good charity!! Life is good!!

400 m sprints

This morning i meet with the running club for speed training. We started off with a one mile warm up then started our sprints. We did 400 m relays. One of guys and i would take turns running a 400 m lap. We would rest while the other one ran. We did 10 sprints and then did a half mile cool down. Running sprints are tough. I definitely don't look forward to speed training friday. I hung in the with all the guys and did pretty good. We ran a total of 4 miles in 29 mins. This week was the first of 8 weeks of training to get ready a race in July. The race is Too Hot to Handle 5k or 15k. I didn't have anything on the calendar in July so I guess I will be doing this race now. I have never ran a 15 k before so it will be fun to try something new. The weather this morning was great 56 degrees, no wind, and low humidity. It could stay this temperature for ever and I would never complain.

Thrill of the Grill 5K

This past Saturday I ran the Thrill of the Grill 5K in plano. One of my friends was running the race so I decided to join up. This was my first 5K race to do. So I was excited to finally do one. Running a fast 5K is just as hard to me as running 20 miles!!! Racing is definately addictive, because know I want to keep getting PR's on 5Ks. I ran it in 23:58. The only other time I have ran an exact 5K distance, I ran it in 24:40. So I guess I made my PR. I finished 5th out of 98 in my age category and 96th out of 1358. Not to bad for my first 5K. I look forward to my next race.

After the race they provided a full breakfast and live band. At 11 they were having a BBQ cook off. I was already at home when they started that. There was a lot of people there but overall it was a good race.

Speedy Friday

This morning I woke up at 4:30 got dressed and headed out to the middle school for speed training. Every Friday at 5 am the running club meets. I decided to run to the middleschool instead of driving there. I figured it would be a good warm up, it's only 0.85 miles. I was a little early so there wasn't anyone there. There ended up being 4 guys, the coach and me. The coach was a really nice guy. He has ran 40 marathons in the past 10 years. Wow maybe one day I will be like him!! We started with a one mile warm up then started doing our sprints. Since this was my first speed workout I did 200m sprints with 200m jog. I did a total of 10 sprints. Then Finished up with a 1 mile cooldown. The other guys have been doing it for a while and they were doing 400, 800, 1200, and 1600 sprints! Then they would got back down to 400. That's a pretty tough workout! Maybe I'll build up to that. I did a total of 5.4 miles!! It was a good workout and I definately think it will help me get faster!! Tomorrow I am doing a 5k with my running buddy! We both hope to get a PR!! It will be fun either way!!

Ran a 5K

This morning I decided to run a 5K distance to see what I could do. I have never run a 5K before so I had no idea what I could run it in. So this morning was great weather. Calm winds and temperature of 59 degrees.

My Splits

Mile 1 = 8:32

Mile 2= 8:03

Mile 3 = 7.27

Mile 3.1= 6:53

5K= 24:41

I am proud of that time. Hopefully when I do a the 5K in May I can go ever faster. Nothing better than starting the morning off with a good PR run!!! (LOL any 5K distance would be a PR for me since I have never just ran a 5K). But it stills counts. You have to start somewhere.

Wanting to gain strength!!

Today I have focused a lot on wanting to become really strong and fit. This time in my marathon training I am going to work on gaining more strength versus endurance. The last marathon I was just focused on wanting to put in the miles. So cross training, strength training and hills are going to be the main part of my training program. Long runs are the easy part of training for me. Now I want to be fast and look like a runner.

Lately life has been really busy and has made fitting in runs harder than ever. My husband is in west Texas fighting the wild fires. I am starting a new job on Monday and there are a lot of activities going on. I am so type "A" and when I start a training program I do not miss a day. As a mom it is hard to balance life, kids and running. I think over time it will get easier. I know that running is my stress reliever and makes me a better mom and wife. So cheers to all the moms out there that are runners. WE ROCK!!!

Back in training

Well it has been a week now since my marathon. I am feeling great and ready to start training for the next race. After I finished the marathon I was very discouraged and was questioning why I wanted to run a marathon. I guess those are all normal thoughts right after you get finished. Now I feel more determined than ever to run another marathon and accomplish a PR. So tonight I ran 7 miles. I felt very good running. It is very peaceful running at night, there is not a lot of traffic and not distractions. Just me and the road. I ran 7.25 miles in 61 minutes. Thats a 8.24 pace. Now if I could just maintain that pace for 26.2 miles then I could qualify for Boston. I am so determined to qualify. I am just going to keep training hard and hopefully I will meet my goal. I look forward running tomorrow!!!

Big D Texas Marathon

Well I have completed my first marathon. On Sunday I ran Big D Texas Marathon. I started the morning off at 5:30 a.m. First thing I did in the morning was check the weather. It was 71 degrees, 89% humidity and 18mph wind. No my favorite weather. I got all dressed and gathered my gear that I had laid out the night before. My husband and I left the house at 6:00 a.m. I ate my pre race breakfast on the way to the race. I had a peanut butter cliff bar, half a banana, and 16 oz of water. We arrived at fair park around 6:45. The place was already packed with cars. Oh yeah and we stopped at McDonalds before we got there so I could make one last stop at the restroom. That was a good idea by the way. We just walked around for a while and then made our way close to the finish line. I wanted to get towards the front of the line since they were using gun time versus chip time. My family was watching at the starting line when the gun fired at 8:00 am. My goal was to start off at about 9:30 pace and then after mile three pick it up to my pace of 9:06. I wanted to have a negative split from the first half. Well lets just say that things didn't go as planned. I started the race off way too fast. At the 5 K mark I was at 26:30. Which was way too fast. Here were my splits:

First Half..........2:10:03

Second Half .....2:44:13

Finish Time .....4:54:16

I placed 21/60 in my age category and 320/699 overall. Well at least I was faster than half of the people. The marathon was very hard. It was a lot tougher than I expected. During training I felt wonderful, was hardly out of breath. Not during this race. I knew at mile 6 that it was going to be difficult. I think it was a combination of things that made it tough. It was hot, humid and windy. The course was difficult there were a lot of hills. It didn't help either that I started out too fast. That is why most people say to not set a time limit on your first marathon and just run it and have fun. Well I tried too hard in the first half and that made the second half difficult. I hit the wall (yeah that wall that they talk about is real) at mile 15.5. I was able to see all my family at that mile marker and I just wanted to get in the car with them and go home. They motivated me and of course I kept going. At the finish line about 0.2 miles left my husband ran with me. Right before the finish line my 4 year old son came up and ran across the finish line. That was the sweetest thing. When we crossed the finished line they gave me my medal. My son was asking where is medal was so I had to give him mine. The race was very challenging and just goes to prove that you never know what a race is going to be like until you are there doing it. I look forward to running my next marathon. Next time I think I will train on hills. I think that was what I was lacking in this training program. There are not a lot of hills around my house to train on so I will have to go someplace else. I wanted to list my gear I raced with for future races.

Gear:

Iphone and holder

Brooks pink tank top

Brooks pink skort

Asics Limited Edition Gel Kayano 17

Hand held water bottle

Headphones

Energy Bloks

Sport Beans

Its official!!

Today I went and picked up my race packet. I always get really excited when I packet pick up day arrives. I think it just confirms that the race is days away. I am lucky number 114. I think there are going to be about 2500 half marathoners and about 1000 full marathoners. So maybe I will not be the 1000th person!!! I did my last run tonight. I ran 4 miles and felt great. I was suppose to just do an easy 4 mile jog, but my body only knows one pace and that is 9:06 pace. Its crazy how my legs just consistently run that pace. I hardly ever go slower than that. It is just hard for me to run any slower, sometimes I catch myself running an 8:15 pace. I have to say slow down this is suppose to be an easy jog. Well now it is all up to me and how I trained the last 18 weeks. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I said when I started this process that I was not going to put a time limit on this race. I said I was just going to run it and enjoy it. I don't know how to do that so instead I set a goal for 4 hours. I am beginning to wish I would have stuck to the originial plan but I didn't. I think that is what I am worried about the most, making my goal. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as I finish I will be proud. There will be plenty of other races in the future.

One of my friends ran the Cowtown Marathon in March and her comment after her race was scary. She finished in 5:15. She said she would rather give child birth than to run a marathon. She has the wind was horrible and it was a lot tougher than she had imagined. That makes me nervous, hopefully I won't feel that way.

The next 2 days are going to be dedicated to rest and relaxation. I look forward to race day!!!

Feeling Good

I just got through running 8 miles and it felt very good. I ran in the dark tonight, which is very pleasant. Its crazy that running 8 miles is one of my easy short runs. I ran at a 9 minute pace. I felt so comfortable running tonight. I think I could have ran the full marathon tonight. It is because the weather was great, just the way I like it. The temperature was 54 degrees with NNW winds at 6 mph. Lets just say perfect!!! I don't think I will be that lucky on race day. As of right now the temperature is suppose to be a high of 92 degrees with a 20-30% chance of rain. I hope the temperature isn't that high because I have not trained for that temperature. I guess I will take what I get. Todays run made me more confident that I will finish the race feeling good.

One week left

Well the marathon is officially one week away. I can't believe it is almost here. After 18 weeks of training I know I am ready!! I started training December 6th. I am following Hal Higdon's novice training program. I really feel prepared I just hope the weather will cooperate. Right now they are saying that there is a 30% chance of rain and thunderstorms, but hopefully that will pass. I am hoping to run the marathon in 4 hours. That is big goal for me. If the weather is good (for me good would be mid 70s and light wind) then I should be able to accomplish my goal. Through all my reading the week prior to the race is very important. You have to eat right, drink alot and rest. So this week I hope to be relaxed and well prepared. Of course I start the week off tomorrow with a job interview. So I am nervous about that too. This week is so weird because I am use to putting in 40 miles a week and this week I am only doing 9 miles. So by the time sunday comes I will be ready to run. I am so addicted to running that if I don't run everyday I feel incomplete.

Just an update on how my training program has been the past 5 months. I have ran a total of 434 miles. Overall the training was pretty easy. I hit a wall at Week 12. I think I was just getting bored with the route I was running and tired of running by myself. I trained completely by myself. I joined the Mckinney Running club 2 weeks ago and ran with them one saturday. So hopefully I can meet someone that runs at my pace so I could have someone to run with. The biggest struggle I had was trying to fit in all the running with life. Trying to juggle kids, husband, work, to-dos, and then running. All I can say is thank god for my treadmill. I couldn't have trained without it. I do not enjoy running on the treadmill, it is just not natural for me to run on it. I would either run early in the morning or after the kids went to bed. My husband is a huge support for me. Every opportunity he had to watch the kids he did so I could run. I did all my long runs on Saturday mornings. I would wake up 2 hours before I had to run and eat a peanut butter cliff bar, banana and bottle of water. I would then go back to bed and wake up an hour later and start stretching and getting ready to run. I would try to leave the house by 7, sometimes earlier. I only had two injuries during training. At week 10 I got hip bursitis so I had to ice a lot and take ibuprofen. Luckily it healed on itself after a couple of weeks. It probably would have heeled faster if I would have stopped running but I couldn't do that. The other injury is a funny story. I went for my 20 mile run at 530 am. Everything was going good until mile 5. It was dark and I couldn't see that well so I didn't see the two different levels of concrete on the sidewalk. I fell face first into the concrete. Luckily my hand caught my fall. I immediately started looking around to make sure nobody saw me. It was so early so nobody was out and about. All I did was scrape up my palm. It could have been way worse!!! Let's hope I don't do that next weekend!!

My Story

I decided to blog about my running experiences. Reading my friends running blog made me want to start my own. It's a great way to keep up with all my running adventures and connect with other runners. I have always been a runner. In high school I ran track and cross country. After high school I ran to stay in shape. My first half marathon was in April 2006. I ran Big D Half Marathon. It was a great experience. The feeling that I get when I am running is amazing. Only runners know what that feeling is. I have 2 boys and I am married to my best friend. My family is my number one fan. They encourage me daily. I look forward to blogging as I continue to run!!!