12 Miles, It Ain't Easy

Just finished my longest run yet!  12 miles in the books and it's my last long run before the half (next week is a taper).  After I killed Broad Street, I was feeling super confident about the half distance and this training run.  And then I went to a concert the night before (no drinking but still on my feet).  And then I got 6 hours of sleep.  And then I woke up with a displeased tummy.  And then I didn't eat my regular long run breakfast.  And then it was SO hot.  (Maybe not so hot for other people, but I do not enjoy running in the sun in what feels like 80 degrees!)

Oh and did I mention my Garmin died in the middle of the run?  Sweet moves.

I ran with Shayna and TJ and thank goodness for them because they really pushed me to get it done.  I was seriously feeling rough from the beginning but I do think part of that was the pace that was a little too fast for me.  I also started the run in a t-shirt, which started to feel super heavy and awful so I ran the second half in just my sports bra which was so much better.  I need to get more sweat wicking tanks.  Marshalls and Old Navy here I come!

At the end I really wanted to stop.  Those last 2 miles were brutal.  I definitely wouldn't have finished without my own little cheering squad.  They were so amazing, singing random songs and keeping the motivation the whole way through!  Thanks guys :)

A lot of the training plans for half marathons only take you up to 10 miles and then they just assume the adrenaline and all of the rest of your training will take you through the additional 3.1.  Personally, I'm so glad I did this run, it was by far the hardest run I have ever done but I feel that much more prepared for 2 weekends from now.  And as of right now, they are calling for 87 and sunny in Philly on May 26th, so I'm glad I felt the heat today!

Well, my knees feel like death, my hips ache... but I knew it wouldn't be easy and that just makes it all the more worth it.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there!

Broad Street Run Race Recap!

This is what I look like amped up at 5 am...

Do you see the crazy in my eyes???  My alarm went off at 4:45 am, but I was already up!  Shayna slept over in the guest room and TJ arrived promptly at 5:30 am.  Shayna prepped our breakfast (mini cinnamon raisin bagels, with a choice of almond or peanut butter, and bananas) while Dave packed the cooler full of post race goodies.  We left around 6, not sure what traffic on 76 would be like but made it down to North Philly in a record 25 minutes!  Dave dropped us off near the start and we were feeling lucky when we found some porta potties that hadn't been used at all yet!  What a race day gem!

Next we headed into the Central High School football stadium to kill some time singing random songs, meeting new people, and making jokes about the guy with the shortest shorts ever (and the odds of his member making an appearance at the race)!  We got there pretty early, but I was glad that we weren't dealing with the craziness of the crowds in the subway. 

Next thing I knew we finished an awesome warm up and were headed to our corrals.  There were a ton of people but it was easy to find where we were supposed to be.  We even found Jenn!

Since our corral was second from the back, we waited around 40 minutes just to get up to the start line.

And then we were off!  The beginning was pretty intense, running with so many people was so exhilarating but also pretty crazy.  We spent the majority of the race weaving in and out and passing people.  The first few miles ticked by.  There were random spectators along the sides of the streets yelling for us.  And then we started passing bands, rappers, DJs, there were even some zumba dancers!

We knew Dave was waiting for us around city hall, but we weren't sure if the cross street was before or after so it was kind of fun looking ahead to each street to see if it was the one.  It really made the miles tick by.  Then the crowds really swelled when we got to city hall, and right as we came back onto Broad Street there was an awesome band and we saw Dave!

 

After city hall things kind of died down.  The crowd was scattered and my knees were really starting to ache.  Miles 7 and 8 were probably the hardest part.  I just kept saying we got this and almost there to encourage myself, Shayna, and everyone around us that could hear me.

Then all of the sudden I realized how close we were to the finish.  Shayna and I ran together until 8 or 8.5, but I started to lose her in the crowd around us so I told her I was going ahead.  And then I was off!  I started hauling it and passing a ton of people.  I just wanted to be done.  The course kept getting more and more narrow towards the end, which was annoying because it was hard to get through but I just kept pushing and pushing!

Next thing I know, it was over!  I did it!  I crossed the finish line and received my metal!

I didn't really have any specific goals for this race, I just wanted to finish.  But in the back of my mind I did want to beat the 1:47:42 I ran my 10 mile training run in.  I killed it.

Seriously look at those splits!  I hadn't done any of my long runs nearly this quick.  At the beginning I was worried we were going out too fast.  I didn't want to burn out at the end, but the pace felt natural and every time we tried to slow down, we ended up around the same pace anyway.  It ended up working out, because I felt great throughout.  And look at the last 2 miles!  Holy moly!  My official race time was 1:40:32 as well and I placed 21,425 out of 33,988, not too shabby!  I think the distance on my Garmin ended up being a little over 10 because we rounded city hall on the outside, something to think about for future races.

The aftermath was crazy, there was no cell phone service since everyone and their mom was trying to meet up with someone, and it was mobbed.  I wandered around for a while and ran into Ricky, someone from my Tuesday night group runs, and a neighbor from college!  Eventually we all found each other and headed back to FDR park for some tailgating.

And then the rest of my day was spent doing a lot of this.

(I'm pretty sure Dave is snapping to get the dog away from licking my face and waking me up!)

So that was Broad Street!  It was a great success and I'm definitely feeling ready for the half.  And for some weird reason my knee doesn't even hurt today.  Win!

Thursday Ramblings

Tomorrow is Friday, YAY!  I swear, every week I'm just living for the weekend.  Although this week wasn't too shabby...

Monday I whipped up a new recipe (post to come!), a creamy tortellini dish with mushrooms and artichokes, and Dave and I did some relaxing.

Tuesday was awesome.  I went to visit my favorite chiropractor, Dr. Sandy!  She is such a healthy inspiration and I always leave feeling happy and relaxed.  Next was a 4.5 mile group run!  I can't stop saying it, I love running with a group!  Then I attended a serious tuna feast at Heather's house.  One of my friends caught a huge tuna this past weekend, so we got to chow down!  It was so fresh and everything was so delicious.  I love random week night hangouts with our big group!  Oh and I started reading The Hunger Games, already hooked!

(source)

Wednesday Dave and I attended a happy hour for young civil engineering professionals in Conshohocken.  It was nice to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a while and grab some post work brews!  We also ended up hanging in the driveway with all the neighbors when we got home.  Looking forward to more of that as it gets warmer and warmer!

Today I went on my first run with my new Garmin strap!  My dad installed it for me, he's the best at that stuff!  It was so comfortable, SO much better than the original strap.  I'm so happy I made the purchase, well worth it.  I busted out 3.5 miles, really pushed my pace, and I didn't walk, even though I got a side stitch right before the big hill.  Like a boss!

And tomorrow is Friday!  This weekend is going to be filled with a lot of fun... and a 7 mile run!!!!  As Heather says, my heart is full :)

I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Did you have a good week?  Any fun plans for the weekend?

Half Marathon Training: Week 12

Week 12:

- Tuesday, better than nothing arms & abs
- Thursday, 3.13 mi around my neighborhood, 33:10
- Sunday, 6.2 mi (10k) on the Schuylkill River Trail, 1:02, 15 min dog walk
- Total Mileage = 9.32 mi

Goals for week 13:
- Treat my shin splints & purchase a pair of compression sleeves or sock: A+
- Workout 5 times: C+

This week started out slow.  I was waiting out my shins for the first part of the week, which lead me to laziness and not getting in the five workouts that I was shooting for.  Oh well.  Life goes on.  I did do a great job taking care of my shins with lots of icing, rolling, and rest.  And my friend Shayna (Happy Birthday!) told me about a great deal on compression socks, so I ordered 2 pairs for $25 each (regularly $50)!  I thought the deal was over, but it looks like it's still going on, so go check it out now!  I got a pair of black and a pink pair!

Another fun internet purchase this week was a new wrist strap for my Garmin.  The original strap is so chunky and either it's too tight or too lose, both of which bother me while running.  And one of the the pins keeps trying to escape!  It's kind of annoying that the pin would be coming loose on such an expensive piece of equipment after minimal use, but I love the watch and the reviews for this strap all say they wish they bought it way before their original straps broke because it's just so much more comfy than the original.  So I think it will be worth it!  Review of the new strap, coming soon!

After waiting out my shins, I had some great runs this week!  I had been having a lot of tough runs lately, they felt so hard and I was dreading them, this week was just what I needed!  Thursday I was just excited to be out running without any pain.  On Sunday I ran my longest run yet!  I was kind of getting nervous for my 6 miler since I struggled pretty hard during my 5 mile run the week before, so I went to my running group and begged someone to join me.  I ended up with the best running buddy!  She offered to carry an extra water bottle for me on her belt (how could I say no?!), she paced me, gave me advice, and cheered me on.  And she ran ODDyssey last year so she told me about her experience.  I ran significantly faster than I would've by myself and felt great!  We ran the Schuylkill River Trail, which was flat, scenic, and new to me.  And it was supposed to rain, but never did.  So overall I really couldn't have had a better Sunday run :)

Goals for week 13:
- Run 3 times
- Arms & abs 2 times
- Yoga 1 time

2 months till my half mary!  So crazy!

Do you wear compression socks?  Do you wear them while running or just for recovery?  Do you like running alone or with a buddy?

Half Marathon Training: Week 8

Week 8:

- Tuesday, 1.81 mi around my neighborhood, 21 mins
- Thursday, 2.02 mi around my neighboorhood, 22:08, boot camp with my cheerleaders, 20 mins

- Sunday, 15 minute dog walk, better than nothing arm weights
- Total Mileage = 3.81 mi

I ran with no pain!  I'm so pumped.  I only ran twice this week, but I think it was good to ease in.  I'm really looking forward to more runs with my new toy.  I figured out I can sync it with my account at DailyMile so I'm pretty excited about that, but I feel like I still have a lot to learn about it.  For some reason I hate reading owner's manuals, but I guess I'll have to suck it up!

Thursday was great because I got my run in before cheer and then did a little boot camp sesh with my cheerleaders at the end of practice.  We did push-ups, tricep dips, wall squats, jumping switch lunges, lemon squeezers (I don't know the real name but it's an ab exercise, balanced on your butt, in with knees bent, and then out into a V), scissor kicks, high knees, high kicks, and planks where you jump your legs in and out.  I don't know about the girls, but I was sore the next day!

Goals for the week:
- Workout 3 times: B+
- Lots of foam rolling: B+
- Do a yoga workout: C-

I did work out three times, but my Sunday workout was pretty lame.  I did some foam rolling, I could've done more, but I'm not in pain so I guess I did an ok amount.  I failed to do a real yoga workout, but I did a lot of stretching throughout the week and did think more about my breathing while I was stretching.  Goals for this week: run 3 times (woot!), keep foam rolling, lift my arms twice, and do a real yoga workout.  Get it!!!

What's your favorite boot camp style exercise?

Look what I got!!!!!

Best boyfriend ever.  Look what I got for our 2 year anniversary (which is tomorrow)!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the money to purchase a Garmin.  I figured I was going to start just by mapping my runs out at DailyMile and calculating my average pace over the distance.  Well now my world has been rocked.  I am SO excited to play with my new toy.  Right now it's on the charger but I'm definitely going for a run with it tomorrow (as long as I can figure it out)!

More good news, I went for a run last night and I didn't have any hip pain today, yay!!!!!!!!  I ran 1.81 miles at an extremely slow pace and even walked 0.2 miles in the middle.  I didn't want to push myself, but it felt so great to get out.  I have a pretty random running playlist on my phone and when James Brown came on belting out "Owwww, I feel good, I knew that I would now" I was beaming and thinking, yes this is my jam!  I did a lot of stretching and foam rolling when I got home and I was very pleased when I made it through today without developing any pain.

This injury has taught me that running is a privilege, not everyone is able to go out for a run whenever they want.  I need to take care of my body by providing it with the proper equipment (aka good shoes!) and not adding more mileage than my body is ready for.

Have you ever taken something for granted until it was taken away from you?