Tuesday, May 17, 2011

2011 Papillion 1/2 marathon! My first EVER-pics included!

I DID IT!!!! Ran my first 1/2 marathon. and LOVED it, crummy weather and all!!

I was anxious about this race for a couple different reasons. #1, it is known for being hilly and I didnt know how well I would hold up running 13.1 miles on a hilly course....#2 I was on the brink of a possible sickness which meant that A)I didnt know if I would GET to run and B) if I DID run, would my performance be hampered by all the hackin' and snot rocketing I would be doing...

Anyway, after drinking over a GALLON of water on Friday and Saturday (and no I am NOT kidding and just so ya know, its also a great way to lose a little weight-lost a pound between Fri morn and Sat morning!) as well as taking near lethal amounts of VitC, zinc and apple cider vinegar, I felt that I had it at bay enough to give it a whirl.

Slept crummy the night before. Woke up a ton and when I did sleep had all sorts of weird dreams about not finding my way to the race, waking up after race time, not being to find all my race items the morning of etc etc...
Woke up at 5:30 and had a pb and j sammy around 6. Checked the weather about 47 times before deciding on what to wear. It was 44* out with a windchill of 39*-yuck. I would find out when pulling out of my garage that it was also drizzly-double yuck.
Being that I didnt know if I was getting sick, I went on the safe side and wore my Chill Chasers under my shorts, a SS shirt, a LS shirt, my jacket, neck gaiter and ear warmers. Oh, and gloves. When I got of my car at the race, I was SO stinkin' cold. Was so glad for all that gear and was giving crazy eyes to all the people walking around in their tshirts and shorts w/ their lovely blue noses and fingers.
Ran w/ my hydration belt which I had decked out w/ my new music player that hubby got me, and in my extra pouchy thingie I had my post-race snack (peanut m&m's and pretzels-love it), my camera and about 486 tissue.

I attached my bib# to my shorts as I figured I owuld probably be whipping off some layers down the road. I was concerned it would bother me but it worked out fine.
I really wish I had a friend to meet up with here as I felt so awkward walking around by myself. Of course I made it LOOK like I was looking for or waiting for someone so I was not QUITE so pathetic looking....

Here we are walking to the start line....That flag was HUGE. It was held up by 2 fire truck ladders and we got to run under it at the start, SO wish I would have gotten a picture of it.


This was about 10min before the anthem. This race is a 1/2 AND a 10K but us super cool 1/2er's got to start 10min before the 10Ker's. Gotta love special treatment.


Race started RIGHT on time which was nice. I lined up WAAAY at the back (there were only 478 people running the 1/2 so there really wasn't a WAAAY far back, but I was back there with the stragglers! I'd rather pass then BE passed!

I ran the first couple miles pretty slowly on purpose, wanted to save some gas for the end. The first mile was run on gravel which I am NOT used to. It's always ALL nice, hard, unforgiving cement for me. After the first couple few miles, I started to pass people which is a HUGE ego boost for me and makes me think I got a little Kara Goucher in me.

No not really.

The first 7 miles was great. About the middle of mile 7 we hit a pretty lengthy downhill, and being that I run on hills on EVERYone of my training runs, I have learned how to run the downhills speedily, but safely, so I took it like a mac truck and passed a bunch of people. but I got about 1/2 way down and thought 'golly gee is this hill EVER gonna end??' and right about the bottom I got an air bubble or something under my left rib cage. Painful. Then about a mile later got one under my right rib cage!! I was running out of energy at this point and said a prayer to God for strength and right after that I could almost PHYSICALLY feel someone pushing me from behind!!! It was like God saying 'Here, let me nudge you along for a bit and you rest' I LOVE when He does things like that=)

A bit after that my air bubbly things went away and I started to feel better but I was TIRED. The last 2 miles or so is a lot of uphill. However, I conserved energy for this and was able to pass a good number of people on this stretch. Even some dudes. I LOVE passing dudes and I love even MORE, passing dudes and having them try to speed up so you CANT pass them! HA!


Oh I did end up stripping my jacket in the first mile and my LS shirt about 3mi in. The cool weather, wind and drizzle were quite welcome after I had warmed up. Cant imagine running this race on a sunny warm day!




My garmin also, after mile 4, kept telling me a mile was up before I would hit the mile marker. Thought I ran the tangents well....but then again I also think I am a super speedy runner...until I see my shadow next to me plodding along....

anyway, so I was sure to keep an eye on my watch that last bit and at 13.1 it said 2:07:45....

however, my 'official' time is 2:08:57 which is what I will stick with. I cant wait to see how I would do on a flat course.

My next 1/2 will be the Omaha 1/2 which is ALSO hilly so I am hoping to make it into the Lincoln 1/2 next year as that is all flat, so I hear.


I obviously couldnt get a pic of myself at the finish so here is one of my friend Jen (didnt even know she was running it!)


Jen and I after the finish


The post-race blueberry bagels were SO yummy (and a nice chaser to my m&m's and pretzels)...they also had plain bagels (boring), bananas, and oranges as well as bottles of water and powerade. They had also been handing out water and powerade I think every mile or so and then PowerBar gels and energy beans at the 1/2 way point.

There wasnt much crowd support but what WAS there was very nice. They were very encouraging and the volunteers were great too.

Something I realize every race I have run is you can not judge a book by its cover. Some people that look SUPER speedy, will be the slowest runners out there and some people you think would be SO slow will whip out that speed like a CityBank Visa.

Me and oh so snazzy medal. My girls think its funny that I call it a medal when its really plastic =)


Still can NOT believe that I ran 13.1 CONTINUOUS miles...


On my training runs, I always have to stop a few times at intersections and such (or to pick up the stray penny), so to run 13.1 STRAIGHT (I didnt walk once!) was quite a feat.

This race was by FAR my favorite. If I dont get into Lincoln next year, I will definitely do it again.


Yesterday and today I am a bit sore in my hammies and hips but everything else feels great. I did a light workout yesterday morning and this morning (elliptical and a treadmill hike) just to get the blood flowing and the HR up a bit....I may try a run tomorrow or Thursday depending on how my legs feel.


So, what's next? I want to build my base mileage, work on running 4x a week instead of 3 and add in some speed work to bring my 5K time down and hopefully my 1/2 marathon time as well.


I LOVE RUNNING!!!!!
















Friday, May 13, 2011

Crawling back into the bloggy world!!

Still alive and kickin' people!
Sorry to have abandoned this lovely blog for a spell, but life got busy (have I said that before? I think I've said that before)...

Anyway, lots of workouts in the last month but I'll just give you the running low down (and race report!) as I know that's the whole reason you come here. =)

April 5: 4mi 42:06
April 7: 4mi 43:19 (mill run)
Apr 9: 9mi 1hr 35min 04sec this run was tough tough tough!! Never got into a groove and the last 1/2 mile was ALL mental. One of those runs where you are SO thankful its over.
Apr 13: 3.75mi 36:28...1.25mi on the mill 11:50
Apr 15: 5mi 52:35 (mill run)
Apr 17: 10mi 1hr 41min 39sec 10min average pace! This run was WAAAY better than my long run on Apr 9, felt like I could go on forever!
Apr 19: 4.5mi 46:30 (mill run)
Apr 21: 4.75mi 45: 35
Apr 24: 11.5mi 1hr 51min (9:39 pace)...LONGEST RUN EVER! I was very pleased with my overall pace and had pretty negative splits. TOTALLY ran out of gas between miles 9-10 and my pace showed it. Somehow got my pep back at mile 10 and the last 1.5 miles were great!
Apr 26: 3.75mi 34:00 (9:04 pace)...fastest avg pace on a run over 3mi!!!!
Apr 28: 3.1mi 32:56...just giving the legs a nice easy run before my first 5K race of the year!
Apr 30: 5K race....will post in more detail below w/ the pictures, was .1mi short, time according to my garmin: 25:06, according to their finishline clock, 25:36

May 3: 3.2mi 32:50.....3mi 31:14...this was a run to AND from a meeting. First time I have ever done that. It was quite enjoyable!
May 6: 4mi 37:52...last tempo run before my first 1/2 marathon!
May 8: 9mi 1hr 29min 38sec (9:57 pace)...last long run before the 1/2! Splits 1(10:49) 2(10:26) 3(10:01) 4(9:46) 5(10:09-HORRIBLE side stitch) 6(10:06-side stitch has been evicted) 7(9:48) 8(9:25) 9(9:05)...pretty proud of how it ended! Got shin splints the first 1.5miles though...
May 10: 4mi 40:18...nice easy run. Got shin splints the first 1.5 mi AGAIN! This has me concerned about my shoes...they only have about 200miles on them.
May 12: 2.5mi 25:30 (mill run)...no shin splits! YAY! Also ran with a new music player my hubby got me...a sansa disk something or other. Its super petite so I kina sorta idolize it. =)

***First 1/2 marathon is coming up on Sunday! However I think I may be getting sick. Froggy throat, a little coughy etc. I am PRAYING its just some type of allergy thing (which I usually dont get), and am taking loads of C, zinc, ACV, etc...***


I have been counting calories alot lately to try to lose some extra baby flub on my tum tum. It's working!! I am down a few pounds and can fit into some of my jeans that were shoved in the back of the closet incase I ever got the stomach flu again, or was blessed with a tummy fat eating bug...

Incase you were wondering, here's what an ounce of potato chips looks like (on a plate next to a CD for a better size comparison) This is 150calories...

The sandwich that dooms me-the BLT. Seriously, you could slap bacon on anything but candy I would CHOW. IT. DOWN


My new favorite lunch. Life Balance tortilla shell (120), mustard (0), buddig ham (30)-ok so its not healthy but it gives it a good flavor =) and some lettuce and tomato (about 20cal)...baby carrots (15), pretzels (70) = 255 cal. Low cal and its actually very filling! sometimes I will have a cup of yogurt w/ fresh fruit in it for an extra 130 calories.


My oldest and myself enjoying the FAB weather last weekend. Which abruptly ended today. Boo.


*drumroll please*.................................

First 5K of the season!!!! LifeGate 5K Run/Walk

I actually got to run this race with some wonderful friends of mine which made it THAT much more enjoyable. I finally have running friends!! HOORAY

Well, the morning started off pretty chilly. The pic of above is pre-race. It was overcast too. Bleh. But thankfully it cleared up during the race and the sun came out!

This was a women/girls only race-fairly small as they only accept 200 participants. This race is in its 2nd year. Very well organized and lots of prizes given at the end. No timing chip though, only a finishline clock.

So we got started and lined up according to what we were doing. 5K runners at the top of the line, run/walkers next, walkers after that and the 1mi walk/runners after that.

So. We get started and literally not more than .05mi into the race my hydration belt comes FLYING off and all the bits and bobbles I have on it go with it (it has NEVER done this before). So I stop to pick it up thinking 'I'll just hold it and run' and then I thought 'are you nuts lady? You cant run holding on to all THAT!'

So I stop off to the side and get all hooked back up again (which is why there is such a difference in my watch finish time and the finishline time)....

As I am getting hooked back up, I see everyone FLYING past me and I am thinking 'this can not be happening, this can NOT be happening!!' So I get all set and then go FLYING past most everyone to get back up to the head of the line. This was a big mistake as it pretty much DRAINED me. I looked down at my watch at the 1.5mi mark and it said my avg pace was 7:55!!! That is INSANE for me. So I knew I was in trouble.

the photographer caught me at that moment and I was a HOT. MESS. I didnt get my belt hooked up right so it was hiking my shirt up, along with my bib and had settled right under my rib cage making me look like SUCH a tool. HERE it is if you want to see it. (I seceretly hope that link doesnt work)

Oh and what else totally stunk was the last .2miles or so was ALL up hill, like a GOOD sized hill. Wow. Totally kicked my tushy.

Splits were OBVIOUSLY very positive, and not in a good way =)

Mile 1(7:33-what the??) Mile 2(8:58-dying a slow death) Mile 3(8:38-SO glad its over)

Everytime I run a 5K race I think 'What on EARTH am I doing here?? This is the WORST experience EVER!!!!' and then when its over and that pukey feeling passes I think 'WOOHOO, whens the next one???' =)



**When you give your camera to a random guy and ask him to take pictures 'of us', you should specify that you want the WHOLE group....

HERE is a link to me after the race was done, trying SO hard not to puke


The hard work is paying off! Just this week I was able to fit into these size 0 Aeropostale capri's that I havent worn since having baby #5 (nursing a baby was an AWESOME calorie burner).


The dime-store-water-pistols that I am trying to trade in for some BIG guns! That's the most intimidating face I got. I'm workin' on it!!