I'm no doctor.
But I have been running long enough to know what my body is/isn't capable of and when to call it quits.
That day happened on Friday.
After having an upset stomach on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I kind of figured by Friday that working out wasn't such a good idea.
After a fun swim workout (serious, no sarcasm), I did my first real run workout since Snow Fun Run (5x 2min at 6:30pace, 2min at 6:10 pace, 2min at 6:03 pace, 2min at 8:00 pace) on Tuesday. My stomach just had an empty feeling...nothing I ate seemed to solve that problem, so I figured I'd just workout anyway. The run didn't quite agree with me, though, and I visited the bathroom quite frequently during that whole 40minute stint (sorry if that is TMI). I ran with the LifeTime Fitness Run Club that night and surprisingly felt fine.
On Wednesday, I biked and ran, despite having that empty-nothing-can-get-me-full feeling in my stomach again. Working out was much more successful than it was on Tuesday, but I did decide to start taking cold medicine just as a precaution.
Thursday was worse. Unfortunately, it was also the day of our Faculty Basketball Game. My students REALLY were looking forward to this, and despite my never playing basketball in my life, I knew I had to play. I took some ibuprofen and hoped adrenaline would get me through the game.
It did. And I even scored three 3-pointers in the process. TOTALLY worth it when my students continuously talked about the game on Friday at school.
Thursday night, I had a Tastefully Simple party to go to at a friend's place. I had never been to one of these, but figured my stomach wasn't upset while playing the game, so I had to be okay. I was glad I went as it was SO much fun catching up with everyone, but I definitely paid for it on Friday.
My stomach hurt, my throat hurt, I was a mess. So, I came home after school and literally laid on the couch for 5 hours straight. Looking back on it today (36 hours later), I actually kind of enjoyed just doing nothing. The pain sucked, but I caught up on quite a lot of reality tv!
I woke up Saturday morning, seriously hoping that I would be able to run. I had a 15mile run planned with 4x5minutes at 6:10 pace in the middle.
Naturally, I ran on the March Madness course. Every one of my 4 segments was on one of the (many) hard hills on the course. My lungs were BURNING on the warmup, so I kind of figured this would be a long, hard run.
Surprisingly, by the time I hit the 4th and final segment, I was feeling SO good that I actually ran a full mile (6:09) instead of just the 5minutes.
Now, I would never recommend doing something like this to anyone. It definitely wasn't smart, but I've run while sick and failed miserably before, so I knew what my limit was. I knew that a day of rest (something my body rarely gets) was enough to kick the cold/flu bug out of me.
With the flu being worse this year than ever, it is very important to take care of yourself. If you miss a workout or two in January, WHO CARES? All that matters is what you do come race time. This is a super important lesson that I have learned the hard way many years. I'm stubborn and hate nothing more than taking a day off of working out. If you get anything out of this post, please know that your health is much more important than getting a workout in...chances are the workout won't even be that good (and could possibly cause more damage).
Knowing your limit is SO important when it comes to training while sick. Sometimes, you just need that workout to remind your body that it can fight off the cold/flu/whatever. But, it is a very fine line.. a line I have been on the wrong side of many times.
Being healthy again today, Ryan and I went into the city and did a LONG, HARD computrainer bike workout with our swim guy, Bill. It Was Awesome. 3hours/50miles of a workout. The last time I rode for 3 hours was maybe two summers ago, so today was huge. Today was the first day that I really got PUMPED about my attempts for Kona (it's constantly overshadowed by my goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials for the marathon).
Hopefully more tips to follow in my next post now that I'm healthy again. Stay warm and healthy!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Swimming. It's just not the same as running.
My closest upcoming goal is to qualify for Kona. You know, the Ironman World Championships. Yeah, that race where you swim 2.4miles, bike 112miles and run 26.2miles. All in one day.
Luckily for me, my qualifying race is just a half Ironman, so 1.2mile swim, 56mile bike, 13.1mile run. And even better, I've already completed three half Ironmans (70.3's).
My first 70.3 ever was Buffalo Springs Lake in Lubbock, Texas in June of 2010. I missed qualifying for Kona by 9 seconds. Short version of the story: inexperience did me in.
Little longer version of the story: I came out of the water better than expected, caught a ton of girls on the bike, started the run with about 15 girls ahead of me, passed all within the first 11miles of the run...
...and then, with ONE MILE to go, I ran up to the ONLY girl standing between me and Kona, planning to make my move on her just as quickly as I had on the other girls. She notices my last name (I was wearing my Duathlon Worlds shorts, which say "Aubert" on the butt) and asks if I'm Ryan's girlfriend. When I respond yes, she SPEEDS OFF. I try to respond, but my legs didn't know how. (after the race, I talked with the girl and found out she's a phenomenal athlete, so not only did I then feel better about myself, but I also realized that she definitely deserved that spot at Kona!!).
I watched her take my Kona slot.
I told myself after that race that the next 70.3 I raced competitively WOULD qualify me for Kona.
Seriously thought this was the coolest thing ever.
And here we are.
Ryan and I started our swim training this week. YIKES.
The last time I swam was at the HyVee Triathlon on September 2nd. Yep, 4 whole months ago.
Let's just say that by the time I hit 1600m of my 2100 total meters last Tuesday, I was ready to be done.
And then I had to do a 2450m workout on Thursday. And then we met with our swim coach on Friday to swim some more (and get evaluated and such).
We went to the New Glarus Brewery on Saturday (yeah, I realize this has nothing to do with swimming, quite the opposite in fact). My shoulders were so sore that even lifting our beers caused me to feel the soreness.
Outside of the New Glarus Brewery.
After the Illinois vs Wisconsin game, we needed a beer... :(
So, moral of the story... I'm super out of shape when it comes to swimming and need to really stay focused and hit all of the swims I'm supposed to. In the summer, I'd swim whenever the kids' triathlon team did (2-4 times a week) for whatever I felt like, or whatever my friend/amazing triathlon coach Jen Harrison recommended. Having Ryan swimming as well will really help me in terms of staying motivated/committed.
Alright, so now that we got the "Jacqui really needs to swim a lot more to be able to compete in a 70.3" issue out of the way, let's move on to the most exciting part of this blog.
I have ANOTHER coach!
Cari is still going to write my run workouts as qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the marathon is really my MAIN goal. BUT, now I also have a coach to improve my swim and bike as well.
His name is Bill. His credentials include the following:
-was beat out by HUNDREDTHS of seconds to compete in the Olympics for swimming... by Michael Phelps
-won Rev3 Cedar Point in 2011 (that's an Ironman) for amateurs
-beat all but TWO pros out of the water at Ironman Wisconsin. Did I mention that pros get a TEN minute head start on amateurs?
So, he's pretty good. AND he understands my drive for the Trials and that this race is on my list and I want to qualify for Kona, but my BIG goal is the Trials.
What does this mean for my blog? Well, I still plan on doing a lot of running races, but this blog is going to start to be more about triathlon training as well. I think this is HUGE as cross training is SO important for runners. I'm learning a lot from Bill, Cari and Earl and by piecing it all together, I think we have a huge chance of qualifying me for Kona and the Trials.
Hopefully my experiences will be able to help my readers, running friends, and triathlon friends gain some knowledge as that is the main reason I write this blog. I absolutely love giving advice, and working with these three people (plus many more who will be mentioned in future blogs) has already made me 10 times more knowledgeable than I was in college.
Stay tuned as this triathlon adventure is just getting started... :)
Sunday, January 6, 2013
S-No-W Fun Run Recap
S-No-W Fun Run. Those three little words = massive amounts of craziness. And this year was no exception.
This is midway through the night.
John's sweet dance moves helped him win the Hunk Dance.
For those of you who live under a rock and don't know what S-No-W Fun Run is, it is a 5 mile run with a 5 hour after-party. Big emphasis on the 5 hour after-party. Truthfully, most people do the run so that they can party party party.
When I say after-party, that is probably an understatement. As soon as you finish the race, you are greeted inside by the Schnapps Stop. Literally hundreds of Schnapps (and Rum Chata this year!!!!) to choose from.
After you get your Schnapps, you go inside the grand ballroom to get in line for the food. Standard burgers, brats, chips and cookies, but when you're partying for 5 hours, you need any fuel you can get.
Then there's the beer. Four stations in the four corners of the ballroom. Stacked with beer and pop throughout the night (yes, this year they did run out, but only for like 15 minutes).
So there's the drinks and food that make this race fun.
And then there's the dancing. There's this thing called the Sausage Dance, which is when all of the ladies get out on the dance floor and pretty much have a dance off. There are a bunch of male judges (plus the two Playboy Playmates, really) who come out the first round and put a mini sausage necklace around you if they like your dancing. Those who don't have a sausage by the end of the song are asked to leave the dance floor. The next round, same thing goes on but there are less sausages to give away... this goes on for probably 3 rounds before it goes up to the audience for a narrowed down dance off. 6 or so girls are chosen as the winners by the judges, then the crowd cheers for them. The winning 3 then have a dance off to see who is the true Sausage Queen.
Unfortunately, we missed this part this year....because we were getting these crazy outfits ready.
More on this after the Hunk Dance recap.
After the Sausage Dance is the Hunk Dance. Same thing, but instead of a girls' dance off, it's a guys' dance off. Naturally, Ryan's best friend John (an incredible dancer, a PE teacher, and just a crazy energetic guy) was getting pumped up about this dance. As his friends, we coached him throughout his dances and he kept getting to the next round. Finally, when it came down to the final 6, he stripped down to his LMFAO outfit (minus the above box on his head) and just went crazy: break dancing, shuffling, the worm...it was unreal.
He won. This was his crown.
With probably 30 minutes left in the evening, the DJ FINALLY played LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem"....we all stripped off our jeans and put our dancing wigs/sunglasses/mustaches on and got on stage. Those of you who know me know that I'm not a dancer. However, when your husband's best friend is as good as he is at dancing and reeeeally wants you to learn the dance, it's hard to say no. So Saturday morning before the 2:30pm race, Ryan, RJ and I had John teach us the dance. This was the same dance that John did as his entrance with my cousin Lindsey for the wedding party entrances.
Honestly, it was awesome. We were all coordinated and didn't miss a beat. The crowd went nuts.
They do awards at some point, too. They call you up in 10-year age groups (i.e. 20-29) and hand out medals to the top 2. Well, the Playboy bunnies hand out the medals.
Nic and his friends with their awards.
Aaaand these are the Playboy Bunnies.
SO, this race is more than a race. Of course, competitive runners come to compete, but it really is more about the after party. That being said, here is my race recap.
MILE 1-- 5:50. My Saucony Dick Pond Fast Track racing teammates [Joe (running buddy), Mike (pushing and pacing us all), Shannon, Jessica and a few others] all got in a nice group. Joe and I had texted the night before about what our goals were, and decided breaking 30 sounded achievable if we could work together. When I saw him with Shannon and Jess, I knew that's right where I needed to be. This mile felt easy and relaxed, but it was only the first mile...and we had another teammate ahead of us.
MILE 2--5:59. Still felt pretty good going into this, and we were gaining on our teammate, Emma, ahead of us. If we could catch her, we could all work as an even BIGGER pack to get after our attempt at breaking 30. What a cool race for all of us.
MILE 3--5:57. At mile 2.3x is where the turnaround is. So it's not really halfway, but you feel like it should be. It was at this point that I started hearing cheers. My DPFT teammates, my parent's Hillstriders Running Club friends, Lauren, Aunt Nancy, Nic's friends... it's pretty hard not to speed up when you hear so many positive cheers of encouragement.
MILE 4--6:02. At about 3.25, I saw my dad walking along the side of the road. He yelled to me that Ryan was winning and to "go get her"...meaning, Emma, the girl in front of me. When I picked up the pace with the cheering, I had to break away from Jess and Shannon. Joe had already sped ahead with Mike a bit, so I did have people that I could run with. At probably 3.5, I caught up to Emma, who was running with Dave Schaefers (head guy of DPFT and someone who is super motivational). Just before mile 4, I passed her and caught back up with Mike and Joe. Joe and I took turns pushing each other as we were both definitely feeling tired.
MILE 5--6:04. Right after mile 4 is a small uphill that winds through the Grand Geneva's groundskeeping area and someone's house I think. During this part, Dave called to me that I was doing great but to keep it up. Words I definitely needed to hear as at about 4.3miles, you get to go up this HUGE uphill that you started the race with (but running downhill in the beginning). Ann Schaefers-Coles, Dave's sister, was at the hardest point in that uphill cheering and taking pictures...seriously what I needed to motivate me to push hard up that last part of the hill. Once we turned, I knew we had just under a half mile to go. This is where Mike got me going. He told me to "run like you're scared." He wasn't by any means saying there was a girl close to me (though there was), but moreso he was saying it to help me finish strong...
TOTAL-- 29:55...and that I did. Once I saw that clock hit 29:49, I just HAULED it in. Luckily, there were only probably 30 guys ahead of me that had to witness that ugly sprint...but, man, was it worth it. I achieved my "break-30 minutes" goal, which was truly my only goal going into the race. The second place female, Shannon, finished 5 seconds behind me. The girl I passed around 3.5, Emma, finished third, just 5 seconds in back of Shannon, and Jessica finished pretty quickly after her. HUGE shout-out to Mike Cauley for kicking my butt and pushing me to finish strong--I cannot thank you enough:)
How incredible is it to run a race that is loaded with competition? It was SO much fun working the Shannon and Jessica throughout this race. I can't even count how many people told me how cool it was to see three bright pink jerseys pushing each other and running together.
Here's to hoping everyone else's first weekend of January was full of fun!
Monday, December 31, 2012
2013
As 2012 comes to an end, I cannot help but think how hard it will be to top this year.
I married my best friend.
I found an incredible teaching job.
I moved into an adorable little house with the love of my life.
Our race that we put on (www.eggshellshuffle.com) sold out in only it's SECOND year!!!!!
Oh, and running wasn't too bad either;).
Truth be told, going into this year, I had been telling everyone that there is NO way that 2013 (or any other year for that matter) could ever beat 2012. However, as 2012 comes to a close, I am starting to think that 2013 could be just as good, if not better.
Obviously I won't be getting married or buying a house again, but I'll still be living in that house with the man that I married, so that's pretty cool. I am hoping budget cuts stay away from my incredible school and that I'll be "safe" this year as well. And, naturally, I am hoping that our 1/2 marathon and 5k, Egg Shell Shuffle, will sell out again and be another success in 2013 as well.
That being said, my goals have shifted a bit for 2013.
The 2016 Olympic Trials for the Marathon are still a big goal and will be until I qualify. However, Ryan and I have something unique that we want to do.
We got married on October 13, 2012. Guess what happens on the weekend of October 13, 2013? Yeah, it's our one year anniversary. Yeah, it's the Chicago Marathon. BUT, it's also the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WEEKEND FOR THE IRONMAN.
Yep, we are trying to qualify for KONA!!!
Coach Cari and I talked about this as it obviously means a small shift in priorities (sarcasm is hard to convey in text, but that was a sarcastic comment). For me, my weakness is swimming. Most people would see that as the area that I would need to focus on. But, the cool thing about an Ironman is that really it is a LOT about the bike. My swimming and running basically cancel each other out. This means that if I want to qualify for Kona, I need to bust my butt and get my bike speed up there with all of the other fast girls.
Ryan and I did a power test before we left for our cruise. The last time I did a power test, my average was 200 watts, and this was while training for the World Duathlon Championships (before I got my teaching job). When I did my power test 10 days ago, my average was also 200 watts. This tells me that I have not lost too much on the bike, which is really good since I only have a good 5-6 months of training in me before I need to start tapering a bit.
Ryan and I have a workout room in our basement. We painted the walls with a chalkboard paint so that we could write our goals and such on it. The power test is written right next to the tv, so we know how we do every single time. We also have our goals written down so that every time we go down to either bike or run, we see "QUALIFY FOR KONA" on both of our goals. I really believe that having someone close to you having the same goal as you is SO helpful, motivating, and inspiring.
I am hoping that we qualify in our first attempt. That definitely sounds (and looks) crazy as I'm typing it, but we both have other goals that we are putting aside until we qualify for Kona, so this first attempt is extra important.
Training for the 2016 Trials is still happening as well. My body thrives when I incorporate cross training as I had SO many stress fractures and stress reactions thoughout college, that cross training is a welcoming break from running. I really believe that it is possible to continue to improve my tempo runs (critical parts of marathon training) while also training to qualify for the Ironman World Championships.
BUT...every little thing will matter. Sleep. Diet. Vitamins. Stretching. Strength. My future posts will detail some of those things that many of us take for granted and don't think twice about.
I'll still be updating my blog, but now it will just include more biking and swimming stuff too. Plus, I have my secret motivation that I'll probably be posting soon too. Everytime I think of this, it fires me up and I just want to go out and prove this person wrong!
Here's to hoping for an incredible 2013--congratulations, running and triathlon friends, on all of your accomplishments in 2012 and let's bring on 2013!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Getting healthy
I'm not going to sugarcoat this.....after my second marathon in a month (Indy), I got really lazy. I had just almost tied my marathon PR, got married, ran a marathon PR...I deserved a break.
However, I told myself that one too many times. I completely believe in taking a week of recovery after a marathon. That's totally normally and definitely deserved. Except when it then becomes abused. The Saturday after the marathon, I ran what would have been a 5k PR, so figured that I could just keep training since it was obviously working for me.
I started biking more so that I would relieve my legs a little, but I still kept up the intensity and scheduled workouts every so often. Cari is currently not coaching me as my goals are different for 2013....she'll be my coach again as soon as my goal is met, which will hopefully be October 2013 (more on that to come in my next post).
As great as it was that I was now cross training, I was still NOT doing some very important things: strength training, massage, extra stretching. These things were the staples that have kept me injury free for so long.
Last week, my shins began feeling really sore. I only ran three days (one of them on Thanksgiving, of course) to attempt to heal my shins. It worked, but apparently I compensated a bit while running on either Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.
This past Tuesday, I went to do a workout on the treadmill and my plantar fascia on my left foot was just killing me. I did two of my mile repeats because the pain was barely noticeable when I would go harder. Well, it worked until I had to get off the treadmill....once I got back on, my plantar fascia just screamed at me. I knew I had to call it a day and just bike. I immediately texted Dave Davis, massage therapist expert, and set up an appointment with him.
WHY DID IT TAKE ME THIS LONG?!
I would get massages religiously throughout my training for the Trials. Dave was one of the critical people that were keeping me injury free...and just because the marathons were over, I could cut him off? I am one of those people that believe everything happens for a reason. My plantar flared up to remind me of the importance of stretching, strength training, and massage. Ironically, I was at LifeTime (running my workout on the treadmill) for the sole reason of lifting after my run, so it worked out, just a little more painfully than what had to be.
SO, to recap: while running a marathon is a HUGE accomplishment, don't let it be an excuse to take too much time off of things you should continue doing. This will only set you back, after you've worked SO hard.
I've also decided that not only will I focus more on my stretching, strength training and massage, but I will also be watching more of what I eat. When I was training for the Trials, I had an unreal amount of self control: I only ate healthy foods (barely anything processed, good portions) and truly saw a difference in how I felt on my runs. All runs just felt SO easy and smooth....yes, it's the holiday season, but if I have these big goals I want to accomplish in 2013, I need to start working my way towards them right now.
I am going to try to post more frequently on here, in hopes that people who read this DO hold me accountable. I know next time Ryan (who chooses to read this, I'm always surprised when he tells me something about it as I never tell him when I post) sees me eyeing a cookie or some ice cream, he'll call me out on it and remind me that I have BIG GOALS for 2013. Do the same--hold those you care about accountable. Motivation is extremely hard to hang onto near the end of the year. If we can help each other, we will all be so much more successful (and, in turn, happy!).
GOOD LUCK as we approach the holidays. Hopefully some motivation to follow in my next post.
However, I told myself that one too many times. I completely believe in taking a week of recovery after a marathon. That's totally normally and definitely deserved. Except when it then becomes abused. The Saturday after the marathon, I ran what would have been a 5k PR, so figured that I could just keep training since it was obviously working for me.
I started biking more so that I would relieve my legs a little, but I still kept up the intensity and scheduled workouts every so often. Cari is currently not coaching me as my goals are different for 2013....she'll be my coach again as soon as my goal is met, which will hopefully be October 2013 (more on that to come in my next post).
As great as it was that I was now cross training, I was still NOT doing some very important things: strength training, massage, extra stretching. These things were the staples that have kept me injury free for so long.
Last week, my shins began feeling really sore. I only ran three days (one of them on Thanksgiving, of course) to attempt to heal my shins. It worked, but apparently I compensated a bit while running on either Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.
This past Tuesday, I went to do a workout on the treadmill and my plantar fascia on my left foot was just killing me. I did two of my mile repeats because the pain was barely noticeable when I would go harder. Well, it worked until I had to get off the treadmill....once I got back on, my plantar fascia just screamed at me. I knew I had to call it a day and just bike. I immediately texted Dave Davis, massage therapist expert, and set up an appointment with him.
WHY DID IT TAKE ME THIS LONG?!
I would get massages religiously throughout my training for the Trials. Dave was one of the critical people that were keeping me injury free...and just because the marathons were over, I could cut him off? I am one of those people that believe everything happens for a reason. My plantar flared up to remind me of the importance of stretching, strength training, and massage. Ironically, I was at LifeTime (running my workout on the treadmill) for the sole reason of lifting after my run, so it worked out, just a little more painfully than what had to be.
SO, to recap: while running a marathon is a HUGE accomplishment, don't let it be an excuse to take too much time off of things you should continue doing. This will only set you back, after you've worked SO hard.
I've also decided that not only will I focus more on my stretching, strength training and massage, but I will also be watching more of what I eat. When I was training for the Trials, I had an unreal amount of self control: I only ate healthy foods (barely anything processed, good portions) and truly saw a difference in how I felt on my runs. All runs just felt SO easy and smooth....yes, it's the holiday season, but if I have these big goals I want to accomplish in 2013, I need to start working my way towards them right now.
I am going to try to post more frequently on here, in hopes that people who read this DO hold me accountable. I know next time Ryan (who chooses to read this, I'm always surprised when he tells me something about it as I never tell him when I post) sees me eyeing a cookie or some ice cream, he'll call me out on it and remind me that I have BIG GOALS for 2013. Do the same--hold those you care about accountable. Motivation is extremely hard to hang onto near the end of the year. If we can help each other, we will all be so much more successful (and, in turn, happy!).
GOOD LUCK as we approach the holidays. Hopefully some motivation to follow in my next post.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
How is this even possible?
Remember how I ran a marathon last Saturday? Well, my legs definitely didn't.
After a lot of debating with the husband last night, I decided to go to Melrose Park today and race the Prodigy Run 5k. Last year, it was won in a 17:18, second was 17:32 and third was 17:58. Last year, first place won $1,000 and second and third got like $500 and $200 or something. So I knew there would be a likelihood that fast girls would show up.
I was right. The winner and second place from last year were there, plus my teammate Columba, who had just rocked a 2:51 in the Chicago Marathon five weeks ago. I pretty much wanted to just go home as soon as I saw the three of them there. But, I had already driven all the way to Melrose Park, the least I could do is see what kind of shape I was in.
This race was, um, unique. I parked in a parking lot by the village hall and a track and was then shuttled over (with Columba!) to the start line on a trolley. The packet pickup/registration was in a Best Buy parking lot area that was roped off. My name and city was just written down and I was assigned a bib number. No age or gender (though the second was hopefully obvious). There were literally three tents with registration, registration and massage. Oh, and a stage that was later used for some aerobics-style stretching.
Did I mention there were no bathrooms? Yep, not one single porta potty. Luckily, there was a Dunkin Donuts pretty close so me (and about 15 other runners) chose to use that. I then continued my warmup and ran into (and with) my teammates Dave, Matt, Jesus, Columba and Emma. We did some drills and strides and headed over to where the race was potentially taking place. We didn't know what direction the race would start or anything as nothing was marked, so we just kind of hung around.
We got all lined up...and luckily my teammate Mark yelled out that the gator (the golf cart like vehicle, not a real gator) was in the way....turns out the driver was just hanging out waiting for the race to start. The gun was in the air (to start the race), though, so I'm glad Mark pointed it out as I am pretty sure a lot of us would have run right into the gator!
Off we went....20 minutes past the original start time. I immediately situated myself with Kathryn (2nd place last year), and my teammates Emma and Columba. I told myself to just stay with them as long as I could and I might surprise myself. I looked at my watch at 3:35, as my legs were telling me to stop. Yep, just over 1/2 mile into the race and I'm ready to drop....didn't seem like it would be a good race. BUT, I hung in there....if I felt tired on Mile 2 of my 26.2 last weekend and finished the rest, I could finish this stinkin' 5k.
Mile 1--5:42. Not marked, but my watch beeped and the group looked at their watches. Not bad. Emma and Kathryn kept the even pace for the next mile. At 1.55 (halfway for a 5k), I saw my watch say 8:48 and about screamed with excitement--if I could hold onto this pace, I could run a PR!!!
Mile 2--5:43. How am I doing this right now??
I started realizing where we were now pretty close to finishing and the course could potentially be short. I made my game plan and decided to "go" at 2.80.
This would have been great....had the course been accurate. At 2.80, we made a quick zig zag type turn, during which Columba had to yell out "which way?!?!?" So needless to say, we were all a bit out of it and I didn't take off at 2.80 as planned. Columba and Kathryn did and I tried to stay with them, but fell just a little short.
Columba and Kathryn finished in what seemed to me (from behind) a photo finish in 17:12/17:13. I finished just behind in 17:15. I couldn't believe it.
...and then I looked at my watch.
3.03miles. No wonder. Teammates Matt and Jesus talked with me (and a few other runners that came up to us) about the course...and Matt and I both decided that even with it being short, we PR'd.
I later came home and went to that coolrunning.com website and tried to calculate my 5k time.
Turns out 3.03 miles in 17:15 is 5:41 pace... 3.1miles at 5:41 pace is a 17:40.
Previous PR--17:46 set while training for 10ks and 5ks
Current PR--17:40 set one week after a marathon.
Can anyone explain this? I know I got VERY lucky, but I still just don't get how that's even possible. I just ran a marathon a week ago....ALL research shows that your body takes 20ish days to fully recover from a marathon. It had been SEVEN and I PR'd in a 5k. I am still trying to wrap my head around this, but am elated that something like this could happen. If anyone has an explanation on how this is possible, I would love to hear it.
SO, overall--GREAT day. Although, really, anytime you can run with teammates, it's a great day. I'm very lucky to be part of such an amazing team--these people are just incredible (both at running and in general). Thanks, teammates, for a great day!! Here's to many more :)
After a lot of debating with the husband last night, I decided to go to Melrose Park today and race the Prodigy Run 5k. Last year, it was won in a 17:18, second was 17:32 and third was 17:58. Last year, first place won $1,000 and second and third got like $500 and $200 or something. So I knew there would be a likelihood that fast girls would show up.
I was right. The winner and second place from last year were there, plus my teammate Columba, who had just rocked a 2:51 in the Chicago Marathon five weeks ago. I pretty much wanted to just go home as soon as I saw the three of them there. But, I had already driven all the way to Melrose Park, the least I could do is see what kind of shape I was in.
This race was, um, unique. I parked in a parking lot by the village hall and a track and was then shuttled over (with Columba!) to the start line on a trolley. The packet pickup/registration was in a Best Buy parking lot area that was roped off. My name and city was just written down and I was assigned a bib number. No age or gender (though the second was hopefully obvious). There were literally three tents with registration, registration and massage. Oh, and a stage that was later used for some aerobics-style stretching.
Did I mention there were no bathrooms? Yep, not one single porta potty. Luckily, there was a Dunkin Donuts pretty close so me (and about 15 other runners) chose to use that. I then continued my warmup and ran into (and with) my teammates Dave, Matt, Jesus, Columba and Emma. We did some drills and strides and headed over to where the race was potentially taking place. We didn't know what direction the race would start or anything as nothing was marked, so we just kind of hung around.
We got all lined up...and luckily my teammate Mark yelled out that the gator (the golf cart like vehicle, not a real gator) was in the way....turns out the driver was just hanging out waiting for the race to start. The gun was in the air (to start the race), though, so I'm glad Mark pointed it out as I am pretty sure a lot of us would have run right into the gator!
Off we went....20 minutes past the original start time. I immediately situated myself with Kathryn (2nd place last year), and my teammates Emma and Columba. I told myself to just stay with them as long as I could and I might surprise myself. I looked at my watch at 3:35, as my legs were telling me to stop. Yep, just over 1/2 mile into the race and I'm ready to drop....didn't seem like it would be a good race. BUT, I hung in there....if I felt tired on Mile 2 of my 26.2 last weekend and finished the rest, I could finish this stinkin' 5k.
Mile 1--5:42. Not marked, but my watch beeped and the group looked at their watches. Not bad. Emma and Kathryn kept the even pace for the next mile. At 1.55 (halfway for a 5k), I saw my watch say 8:48 and about screamed with excitement--if I could hold onto this pace, I could run a PR!!!
Mile 2--5:43. How am I doing this right now??
I started realizing where we were now pretty close to finishing and the course could potentially be short. I made my game plan and decided to "go" at 2.80.
This would have been great....had the course been accurate. At 2.80, we made a quick zig zag type turn, during which Columba had to yell out "which way?!?!?" So needless to say, we were all a bit out of it and I didn't take off at 2.80 as planned. Columba and Kathryn did and I tried to stay with them, but fell just a little short.
Columba and Kathryn finished in what seemed to me (from behind) a photo finish in 17:12/17:13. I finished just behind in 17:15. I couldn't believe it.
Photo finish!
...and then I looked at my watch.
3.03miles. No wonder. Teammates Matt and Jesus talked with me (and a few other runners that came up to us) about the course...and Matt and I both decided that even with it being short, we PR'd.
I later came home and went to that coolrunning.com website and tried to calculate my 5k time.
Turns out 3.03 miles in 17:15 is 5:41 pace... 3.1miles at 5:41 pace is a 17:40.
Previous PR--17:46 set while training for 10ks and 5ks
Current PR--17:40 set one week after a marathon.
Can anyone explain this? I know I got VERY lucky, but I still just don't get how that's even possible. I just ran a marathon a week ago....ALL research shows that your body takes 20ish days to fully recover from a marathon. It had been SEVEN and I PR'd in a 5k. I am still trying to wrap my head around this, but am elated that something like this could happen. If anyone has an explanation on how this is possible, I would love to hear it.
SO, overall--GREAT day. Although, really, anytime you can run with teammates, it's a great day. I'm very lucky to be part of such an amazing team--these people are just incredible (both at running and in general). Thanks, teammates, for a great day!! Here's to many more :)
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Why 2012 really was(is) the best year ever.
Okay, maybe my title isn't meant for everyone. But for me, 2012 was for sure (and still is!) the best year of my life. Running wise, I had PR'd in every distance (except the marathon, more on that below), was honored as the Clif Athlete of the Year and even won a marathon. I married my best friend, moved into an incredible house, and started working in an unbelievable school district.
Well, after the Milwaukee Marathon, I wasn't satisfied. Yes, I was ELATED to WIN a marathon. BUT, some people made comments (I never heard them, I was just told about them) that I won with diluted competition. Okay, true, many of the elite athletes WERE racing Chicago. However, I still had to choose which race to run and got lucky with my decision. And really, a sub 3-hour marathon isn't anything to poke fun at. I ran from mile 10 on all by myself, and if you've ever run a marathon solo, you know it's no easy task.
You see, I didn't break my PR, knowing that I was fully capable. You see, last year when I ran Milwaukee, I tore my hamstring and ran a 2:54:46....this year, I knew I was in better shape so figured I'd just break my PR no problem.
Unfortunately, my IT flared up at mile 17 and I decided to be smart and slow down the pace a bit in hopes of not injuring myself. It worked, but my goal of setting a PR didn't work. If I had run a 2:54:45 (yes, just one second faster than my PR), I would have been happy.
So, a few days after our wedding, I signed up for the Indy Monumental Marathon. I had run the first 13 miles of the marathon course back in 2008 while training for the Memphis Marathon (in December), and REALLY had regretted not finishing it ever since.
Choosing to race Indy was an easy decision, writing out my training wasn't as much. I just ran when I could after Milwaukee (Sun 10/7) as getting things ready for our wedding (Sat 10/13) was much more important.
I looked at what Coach Cari had me do in between Milwaukee and CIM last year and kind of pieced my own training together.
It worked.
I ended up running a personal best by 1 minute 24 seconds with a 2:53:22 (6:32 pace). This is how the race unfolded...
Mile 1: 6:04 on my garmin, 6:20 on the race clock... YIKES. SLOW DOWN!!!
Mile 2: 6:39...MUCH better. I've got this.
Mile 3: 6:42...Hmm, why is 6:40 pace feeling like a struggle? Did I try to come back too soon? Nope. there's my husband cheering for me like crazy and making me smile so big. I've got this.
Mile 4: 6:24... okay, this one felt easy, I can totally do this thing
Mile 5: 6:31....my goal pace. sweet. I kept telling myself that Ryan devoted 5 hours of his Friday to drive out here (4 hours, plus one for eating) with me to watch me run a marathon. The least I can do in return is not drop out, and hopefully win us some $$. Dropping out, regardless of how much I hurt, was no longer an option.
Mile 6: 6:31...heck yes, this is perfect and feeling great.
Mile 7: 6:33...I can bust these out all day. AND I'm gaining on the girl in front of me. what? I'm 5th place girl? That's $100. I like the sounds of this.
Mile 8: 6:44....umm, woah. I know there was an "incline" in this mile, but a 6:44? I need to focus. **the 1/2 marathoners left us just before this point, so the race thinned out quite a bit. It was hard for me to get back up with a group. This guy in a blue singlet with arm warmers talked to me a little so I decided he was the guy I'd fall back on if things got tough (so I'd have someone to run with)
Mile 9: 6:31...back on track! Stay focused like Chicago 2009 (in Chicago 2009, I had some guy running with me from 3 through 21, which helped me PR HUGE, so I liked having the guy in the blue singlet with arm warmers nearby...I figured the same situation was about to occur)
Mile 10: 6:28...went through at 1:05 on the clock, 6:30 pace, YES YES YES! Ryan took an AWESOME picture here of me with the clock, but told me he wouldn't see me again until Mile 20... there was no way I could drop out at this point, even if I started feeling bad/fatigued from Milwaukee.
Mile 11: 6:33...just passed the 4th pace girl, 3rd place is in sight, this could be a very good day
Mile 12: 6:36...you're catching her, just stay calm and relaxed, the race isn't won in the first half. Started to feel a little fatigued, knew it was from Milwaukee, decided not to care.
Mile 13: 6:35....is that Dave Schaefers?! OMG. Dave, why am I running another marathon 4 weeks after I just ran Milwaukee? Jacqui, go get that girl in front of you, she's fading, c'mon Jac, PUSH.
Mile 14: 6:26...thanks for that little push, Dave:)
Mile 15: 6:33...alright, back into the groove. Blue singlet guy is up with me again, made some comment about my pink arm warmers (something good), so I figured we'd stay together again. He commented to me, "The race doesn't begin until Mile 20.. you can see this girl in front of you is dying...focus on timing now" (I had been about 10-20 seconds behind her for the past 5 miles at this point)
Mile 16: 6:40...this is not when the race is won or lost. Stay focused and you'll still PR and still get 3rd place. Time for a gel soon and then Ryan will be at mile 20...get through this. Blue singlet and arm warmer guy and I pass the girl in front of me at right as 16 turned to 17.
Mile 17: 6:30...back in the 6:30s and feelin' good. YES. Plus, I'm now in 3rd place which is $500... gotta keep this up. Almost missed a turn at this point as we hit a water stop and then have to quickly turn....and the volunteer almost didn't tell us! It was me, blue singlet guy, his friend (white singlet, arm warmer guy) and the girl I had just passed (she was about 3 seconds behind as i had just passed her). I apologized to my group, who nicely said it was the volunteer that didn't tell us where to go.
Mile 18: 6:34....still feelin' pretty darn good. Blue singlet guy told me I'm now 5 seconds ahead of the girl. AND I SAW RYAN AT 18.5!!!!!!!!!! He had Alex (little brother) on speaker phone so I yelled out some nonsense and started to break away a bit more. We were 7 seconds ahead of the girl going into mile 19.
Mile 19: 6:25....okay, um, this is way off. (we basically went down an exit ramp, but my watch AND the two guys' watches beeped for the mile split at the top of the exit ramp...and then we still had to curve around to get to the bottom...so this is where the course became long) UM, as we hit the off 19mile mark, this girl is now attempting to not only repass me, but also have a conversation with me ("are you from around here?" "No, Illinois, you?" "Oh, Ohio."). Whaaaat??? And then white singlet arm warmer guy asked me if I had raced Huntsville (ironically enough, one of my teammates from college whose blog I follow is actually doing that race!!) as multiple people had cheered "Go Jacqui" for me...I'm sure he was thinking of the phenomenal Jackie Pirtle-Hall, but I was flattered that he thought I was that good :)
Mile 20: 6:34...this is where the race begins. Get away from this girl now. You've GOT this. This is YOUR day. You dragged your husband out here to watch you ROCK a race, not get beat in the last 10k. Let's GO. Blue singlet arm warmer guy and I broke away.
Mile 21: 6:32...talk about consistent. If I can keep this pace, I'm looking at a 2:51...SWEET!
Mile 22: 6:34...well, not bad, but probably a 2:52 at this pace. Which is still a HUGE PR so YES!!!
Mile 23: 6:34...OMG, Ryan!!!! How happy am I to see the love of my life?! Best "almost done with your marathon" surprise ever!! Ryan told me the girl was fading a bit but to keep up my pace, so I tried my hardest to do so.
Mile 24: 6:33...YES! Ry, I'm SO close to being able to give you a huge hug, I can't even wait!!! A guy in a blue long-sleeve passed me at this point and I went with him for a bit...until we met up with the 1/2 marathoners and had to weave in and out of them (well, technically one lane was for us and one was for them, but they apparently didn't get that memo).
Mile 25: 6:43...um, whaaaaat??? FOCUS, girl. Now is NOT the time to blow up! At this point, a bicycle (race official) came up and brought me in, which was nice because then all of the 1/2 marathoners that were on the wrong part of the course moved over so I could get through. I also passed a 1/2 marathoner with "this is my first half marathon" on her back, and congratulated her. The look on her face just about made me break down...she was SO happy to get that encouragement, I wanted to just stop and run her in!!!
Mile 26: 6:32....a little too late, but at least back in the 6:30s. You are SO close to finishing this thing. And PRing BIG! Kind of cool that my last mile was what my overall average pace was!
Mile 26.2: 1:38 (6:32 pace)/1:33 (6:04 pace)....YES, YES, YES!!!!! The reason I have two .2 splits listed is because I split my watch at where the 26.2 actual mileage is. I knew at 19, when my watch showed 19.3 that it might be a little long. I finished the course with a 26.51 on my Garmin and a few other people reported similar distances to me...there were a lot of turns, and with the 1/2 marathoners I know it was hard to run the tangents, but I did just want to see what I ran for an exact 26.2 so decided to split my watch. It would have been a 2:51:51, so that's kinda cool:)
I think after having a race like this, my biggest words of wisdom would have to be that running with others truly makes SUCH a difference in a race. I know there are a lot of times when this isn't possible, but when it is, I will always take advantage of it. Even if it's the person you're competing against, having SOMEONE there with you really helps you mentally and physically. For me, when I was running with blue singlet arm warmer guy, the miles just FLEW by! I'd look up and see the next mile without even realizing it until my watch beeped.
I also am weird (according to Ryan) and "play" certain songs in my head to make time go by faster. My playlist went like this (and some were randomly thrown in because spectators would be playing them, and the song sounded good enough for me to get it stuck in my head):
Mile 1--let's get it started, black eyed peas
Mile 2, 3--kesha's new one, die young
Mile 4, 5--california girls, katy perry
Mile 6--ghetto superstar (yeah, bringing back the 90s, thanks mister spectator!!!)
Mile 7,8--we found love, rihanna
Mile 9, 10--without you, david guetta/pitbull
Mile 11, 12--california girls, katy perry (they were wide awake, but that's too slow to run to)
Mile 13, 14--we found love, rihanna (got back in my head again)
Mile 15, 16--blend of TSwift as someone was playing her songs
Mile 17,18,19--live while we're young, one direction (hey, it's catchy)
Mile 20,21--train song...hey soul sister, was playing...that's a hard one to get out of your head
Mile 22,23--can't remember these two for the life of me!!!
Mile 24,25,26--locked out of heaven, bruno mars (LOVE the beat!)
On another note, I did frequently think about those unable to run the New York City Marathon this weekend. Ryan was actually supposed to be out there (PowerBar convention followed by racing); his trip got canceled on Thursday, so he was able to work all day Friday and then come with me to Indy because of it thankfully. Hopefully all who were supposed to run NYC realize that there are much bigger things happening in that city right now and the people in that city need to recover before being able to host a marathon. I know that the race being canceled less than 48 hours in advance was a very poor decision (whether political or not), but it was without a doubt the right one. I sincerely hope that the funds that the marathon received will be used toward relief efforts of those affected by Sandy. Please keep all of those people in your prayers as the recovery process will be long and they can use all of the help they can get. Finally, hope all who ran the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k today enjoyed it and got some yummy chocolate at the end.
Hopefully I'll be updating my blog within the next week or so with an exciting announcement for next year... :)
Well, after the Milwaukee Marathon, I wasn't satisfied. Yes, I was ELATED to WIN a marathon. BUT, some people made comments (I never heard them, I was just told about them) that I won with diluted competition. Okay, true, many of the elite athletes WERE racing Chicago. However, I still had to choose which race to run and got lucky with my decision. And really, a sub 3-hour marathon isn't anything to poke fun at. I ran from mile 10 on all by myself, and if you've ever run a marathon solo, you know it's no easy task.
You see, I didn't break my PR, knowing that I was fully capable. You see, last year when I ran Milwaukee, I tore my hamstring and ran a 2:54:46....this year, I knew I was in better shape so figured I'd just break my PR no problem.
Unfortunately, my IT flared up at mile 17 and I decided to be smart and slow down the pace a bit in hopes of not injuring myself. It worked, but my goal of setting a PR didn't work. If I had run a 2:54:45 (yes, just one second faster than my PR), I would have been happy.
So, a few days after our wedding, I signed up for the Indy Monumental Marathon. I had run the first 13 miles of the marathon course back in 2008 while training for the Memphis Marathon (in December), and REALLY had regretted not finishing it ever since.
Choosing to race Indy was an easy decision, writing out my training wasn't as much. I just ran when I could after Milwaukee (Sun 10/7) as getting things ready for our wedding (Sat 10/13) was much more important.
I looked at what Coach Cari had me do in between Milwaukee and CIM last year and kind of pieced my own training together.
It worked.
I ended up running a personal best by 1 minute 24 seconds with a 2:53:22 (6:32 pace). This is how the race unfolded...
Mile 1: 6:04 on my garmin, 6:20 on the race clock... YIKES. SLOW DOWN!!!
Mile 3: 6:42...Hmm, why is 6:40 pace feeling like a struggle? Did I try to come back too soon? Nope. there's my husband cheering for me like crazy and making me smile so big. I've got this.
Mile 4: 6:24... okay, this one felt easy, I can totally do this thing
Mile 5: 6:31....my goal pace. sweet. I kept telling myself that Ryan devoted 5 hours of his Friday to drive out here (4 hours, plus one for eating) with me to watch me run a marathon. The least I can do in return is not drop out, and hopefully win us some $$. Dropping out, regardless of how much I hurt, was no longer an option.
Mile 6: 6:31...heck yes, this is perfect and feeling great.
Mile 7: 6:33...I can bust these out all day. AND I'm gaining on the girl in front of me. what? I'm 5th place girl? That's $100. I like the sounds of this.
Mile 8: 6:44....umm, woah. I know there was an "incline" in this mile, but a 6:44? I need to focus. **the 1/2 marathoners left us just before this point, so the race thinned out quite a bit. It was hard for me to get back up with a group. This guy in a blue singlet with arm warmers talked to me a little so I decided he was the guy I'd fall back on if things got tough (so I'd have someone to run with)
Mile 9: 6:31...back on track! Stay focused like Chicago 2009 (in Chicago 2009, I had some guy running with me from 3 through 21, which helped me PR HUGE, so I liked having the guy in the blue singlet with arm warmers nearby...I figured the same situation was about to occur)
Mile 10: 6:28...went through at 1:05 on the clock, 6:30 pace, YES YES YES! Ryan took an AWESOME picture here of me with the clock, but told me he wouldn't see me again until Mile 20... there was no way I could drop out at this point, even if I started feeling bad/fatigued from Milwaukee.
Mile 11: 6:33...just passed the 4th pace girl, 3rd place is in sight, this could be a very good day
Mile 12: 6:36...you're catching her, just stay calm and relaxed, the race isn't won in the first half. Started to feel a little fatigued, knew it was from Milwaukee, decided not to care.
Mile 13: 6:35....is that Dave Schaefers?! OMG. Dave, why am I running another marathon 4 weeks after I just ran Milwaukee? Jacqui, go get that girl in front of you, she's fading, c'mon Jac, PUSH.
Mile 14: 6:26...thanks for that little push, Dave:)
Mile 15: 6:33...alright, back into the groove. Blue singlet guy is up with me again, made some comment about my pink arm warmers (something good), so I figured we'd stay together again. He commented to me, "The race doesn't begin until Mile 20.. you can see this girl in front of you is dying...focus on timing now" (I had been about 10-20 seconds behind her for the past 5 miles at this point)
Mile 16: 6:40...this is not when the race is won or lost. Stay focused and you'll still PR and still get 3rd place. Time for a gel soon and then Ryan will be at mile 20...get through this. Blue singlet and arm warmer guy and I pass the girl in front of me at right as 16 turned to 17.
Mile 17: 6:30...back in the 6:30s and feelin' good. YES. Plus, I'm now in 3rd place which is $500... gotta keep this up. Almost missed a turn at this point as we hit a water stop and then have to quickly turn....and the volunteer almost didn't tell us! It was me, blue singlet guy, his friend (white singlet, arm warmer guy) and the girl I had just passed (she was about 3 seconds behind as i had just passed her). I apologized to my group, who nicely said it was the volunteer that didn't tell us where to go.
Mile 18: 6:34....still feelin' pretty darn good. Blue singlet guy told me I'm now 5 seconds ahead of the girl. AND I SAW RYAN AT 18.5!!!!!!!!!! He had Alex (little brother) on speaker phone so I yelled out some nonsense and started to break away a bit more. We were 7 seconds ahead of the girl going into mile 19.
Mile 19: 6:25....okay, um, this is way off. (we basically went down an exit ramp, but my watch AND the two guys' watches beeped for the mile split at the top of the exit ramp...and then we still had to curve around to get to the bottom...so this is where the course became long) UM, as we hit the off 19mile mark, this girl is now attempting to not only repass me, but also have a conversation with me ("are you from around here?" "No, Illinois, you?" "Oh, Ohio."). Whaaaat??? And then white singlet arm warmer guy asked me if I had raced Huntsville (ironically enough, one of my teammates from college whose blog I follow is actually doing that race!!) as multiple people had cheered "Go Jacqui" for me...I'm sure he was thinking of the phenomenal Jackie Pirtle-Hall, but I was flattered that he thought I was that good :)
Mile 20: 6:34...this is where the race begins. Get away from this girl now. You've GOT this. This is YOUR day. You dragged your husband out here to watch you ROCK a race, not get beat in the last 10k. Let's GO. Blue singlet arm warmer guy and I broke away.
Mile 21: 6:32...talk about consistent. If I can keep this pace, I'm looking at a 2:51...SWEET!
Mile 22: 6:34...well, not bad, but probably a 2:52 at this pace. Which is still a HUGE PR so YES!!!
Mile 23: 6:34...OMG, Ryan!!!! How happy am I to see the love of my life?! Best "almost done with your marathon" surprise ever!! Ryan told me the girl was fading a bit but to keep up my pace, so I tried my hardest to do so.
Mile 24: 6:33...YES! Ry, I'm SO close to being able to give you a huge hug, I can't even wait!!! A guy in a blue long-sleeve passed me at this point and I went with him for a bit...until we met up with the 1/2 marathoners and had to weave in and out of them (well, technically one lane was for us and one was for them, but they apparently didn't get that memo).
Mile 25: 6:43...um, whaaaaat??? FOCUS, girl. Now is NOT the time to blow up! At this point, a bicycle (race official) came up and brought me in, which was nice because then all of the 1/2 marathoners that were on the wrong part of the course moved over so I could get through. I also passed a 1/2 marathoner with "this is my first half marathon" on her back, and congratulated her. The look on her face just about made me break down...she was SO happy to get that encouragement, I wanted to just stop and run her in!!!
Mile 26: 6:32....a little too late, but at least back in the 6:30s. You are SO close to finishing this thing. And PRing BIG! Kind of cool that my last mile was what my overall average pace was!
Mile 26.2: 1:38 (6:32 pace)/1:33 (6:04 pace)....YES, YES, YES!!!!! The reason I have two .2 splits listed is because I split my watch at where the 26.2 actual mileage is. I knew at 19, when my watch showed 19.3 that it might be a little long. I finished the course with a 26.51 on my Garmin and a few other people reported similar distances to me...there were a lot of turns, and with the 1/2 marathoners I know it was hard to run the tangents, but I did just want to see what I ran for an exact 26.2 so decided to split my watch. It would have been a 2:51:51, so that's kinda cool:)
FINISH!!!
Thanking my blue singlet arm warmer friend (he ran like 8-23 with me!)
I think after having a race like this, my biggest words of wisdom would have to be that running with others truly makes SUCH a difference in a race. I know there are a lot of times when this isn't possible, but when it is, I will always take advantage of it. Even if it's the person you're competing against, having SOMEONE there with you really helps you mentally and physically. For me, when I was running with blue singlet arm warmer guy, the miles just FLEW by! I'd look up and see the next mile without even realizing it until my watch beeped.
I also am weird (according to Ryan) and "play" certain songs in my head to make time go by faster. My playlist went like this (and some were randomly thrown in because spectators would be playing them, and the song sounded good enough for me to get it stuck in my head):
Mile 1--let's get it started, black eyed peas
Mile 2, 3--kesha's new one, die young
Mile 4, 5--california girls, katy perry
Mile 6--ghetto superstar (yeah, bringing back the 90s, thanks mister spectator!!!)
Mile 7,8--we found love, rihanna
Mile 9, 10--without you, david guetta/pitbull
Mile 11, 12--california girls, katy perry (they were wide awake, but that's too slow to run to)
Mile 13, 14--we found love, rihanna (got back in my head again)
Mile 15, 16--blend of TSwift as someone was playing her songs
Mile 17,18,19--live while we're young, one direction (hey, it's catchy)
Mile 20,21--train song...hey soul sister, was playing...that's a hard one to get out of your head
Mile 22,23--can't remember these two for the life of me!!!
Mile 24,25,26--locked out of heaven, bruno mars (LOVE the beat!)
On another note, I did frequently think about those unable to run the New York City Marathon this weekend. Ryan was actually supposed to be out there (PowerBar convention followed by racing); his trip got canceled on Thursday, so he was able to work all day Friday and then come with me to Indy because of it thankfully. Hopefully all who were supposed to run NYC realize that there are much bigger things happening in that city right now and the people in that city need to recover before being able to host a marathon. I know that the race being canceled less than 48 hours in advance was a very poor decision (whether political or not), but it was without a doubt the right one. I sincerely hope that the funds that the marathon received will be used toward relief efforts of those affected by Sandy. Please keep all of those people in your prayers as the recovery process will be long and they can use all of the help they can get. Finally, hope all who ran the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k today enjoyed it and got some yummy chocolate at the end.
Hopefully I'll be updating my blog within the next week or so with an exciting announcement for next year... :)
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