Mud Run

This year is about new goals and experiences instead of my typical half marathon races. I signed up for a 5K Mud Run with several friends from church. Everyone voted on matching tank tops, and ironically it ended up being 58 degrees last weekend, so it was a very cold start. Once we got running though, it wasn't so bad.

Before the race

Some of the obstacles:

This one was a blast!

 

I highly recommend! It was so fun to do with friends!! One of the ladies in our group had a hurt knee prior to the race so there was more walking than I would have liked, but I just went home and ran another 4 miles. :)

Half Marathon #7

My good friend, Laisa, and her sister-in-law

March 4, 2017 was race day! Last year I was so close to my Personal Record that I knew I was going to beat it this year provided nothing went awry during the race. The weather showed a chance of rain but besides some light sprinkling at the starting line, the rain held off.  The race atmosphere always helps me push myself harder and my finishing time was 1:41:44 or a 7:46 pace per mile! My goal was to be under an 8-minute mile so I crushed it. I finished 9^th in my age division out of 281. My overall finishing rank was 251/3437, which doesn’t sound as impressive. I am always so grateful when I feel well during a run because so many things can go wrong. I did have some shin splints for the first two miles, but I was also going pretty fast getting around people, and mile 11 my stomach hurt but both problems thankfully went away so I could finish strong. I missed my Mom and Dad at the finish line (on a mission), but it was fun to see my family [briefly before they took off for Caleb's baseball game] and my sister's family who came out to support my brother-in-law, Zane. It was his first half marathon!

Other stats:

I averaged 7:39 for the first 6 miles.

My fastest mile was 7:27 and slowest mile was 7:53. 

Past races:
Half Marathon #1 (2009) 1:58:45
Half Marathon #2 (2010) 1:57:47 (8 months post baby)
Half Marathon #3 (2011) 1:52:13
Half Marathon #4 (2012) 1:48:05
Half Marathon #5 (2013) 1:54:18 (4 months post baby)
Half Marathon #6 (2016) 1:49:32 (6 months post baby)
Half Marathon #7 (2017) 1:41:44
Marathon #1 (2011) 4:28:34
Marathon #2 (2014) 3:58:08

Running Update

I am running personal best times right now, and it feels awesome! I ran 6 miles at an 8:04 pace the other day, and a week before that ran 10 miles at an 8:10 pace. I'm tentatively planning on running a half marathon in February, which I would be thrilled to do because I know I could get a PR beating my previous half marathon pace of 8:15 miles.

Here's how we look going to school with Caleb every morning. Caleb rides his bike, and I try to keep up pushing the younger boys in the double stroller.

(Caleb took this picture this morning. Gotta love a Texas winter right now. It's a balmy 70 degrees today.)

Zion's Ragnar Relay

I never knew 6 years ago when I ran my first half marathon that it was just the start of (hopefully) a long running career. With 6 half marathons and 2 full marathons under my belt in these last 6 years, it was time to try something new. A friend and college roommate put together a team of 8 women for the Zion's Ragnar Relay. I didn't know any of the ladies except for my roommate, Elise, and her younger sister, Kimberly, but I enjoyed getting to know all of them over the 2 1/2 days we were together. I hadn't seen Elise in 10 years, so it was such a treat to spend time with her and catch up on our lives!

Our team:

Elise, Kristin, Karen, Rebecca, Me, Jen, Faith, and Kimberly

This Ragnar Relay is different from most in that all the teams camped out in one central location. The three different loops that each runner runs started and ended in the same place. This is a view of the entire camp. The green and white tent in the middle and very back of the picture was the "transition tent," where you passed off the bib to the next runner.

We opted to stay in a cabin rather than a tent. I didn't know then that this decision was worth every penny! I flew into Salt Lake City Thursday afternoon then drove down with Elise, Kimberly, and Faith to Zion's National Park. We arrived Thursday night in time to check out the camp, pick up our shirts, bib, a few other running goodies, and sign our lives away with a waiver. (Potential to run into wild animals on the trails)

We all attended a mandatory seminar giving more instructions and safety precautions.

Me, Kimberly, and Faith waiting for the seminar to start

At 10:30 am, the running began. (There were a total of 350 teams--huge event! The start times were obviously spaced out throughout the day.)

Each runner on the team runs all 3 loops, but not in the same order. Our first runner started with the green loop, 3.1 miles, followed by the second runner on the yellow loop, 4.6 miles, and I was the third runner and started on the red loop, 8.2 miles. I was very excited to get the longest run out of the way first! I was scheduled to run my loops as follows: 8.2 mile-loop at noon, 4.6 mile-loop at 9 pm, and 3.1-mile loop at around 5 am.

I'm used to running on flat ground, low elevation, and lots of humidity. I knew running in a very high altitude on hilly trails was going to be a completely different story. I had no idea what to expect out of my times other than the fact that I would be slower :o). I'm a very competitive person, and when I sign up for a race, it's with the intention of improving my time. It takes a lot of work to constantly train to run faster, especially with having babies throughout the 6 years I've been running. I'm close to the peak of my fastest running times where I was at pre-baby #3. So even though I tried not to have high expectations for this race, I still was hoping to have good running times. 

I had no idea that "trail running" included hills that were steep enough that running up them was next to impossible! In my opinion, the hills (which were many) were hikes! The 8-miler had some steep climbs here and there, but for a whole mile (5 to 6) it was a very steep hike. I did my best to run what I could, then hiked up the rest. There were also several parts of the trail that were so narrow that passing/being passed was very difficult. (No one passed me on the red loop, but I was passed a handful of times on the yellow loop.)

 Here's a selfie of me starting to run again after reaching the top of the mountain on the 8-miler.

And here's the view from the top of the mountain. The view on the 4.6-miler was supposed to be the prettiest, but I ran that one in the dark.

I averaged 9:50 miles on the 8-miler. My shoes, socks, and feet were covered in red dust/sand. I was so grateful to head back to the cabin and shower afterwards. If you camped in tents, there were 12 showers available for use between all the campers which meant long waits to use a shower.

My 4.6-miler began at 9 pm. I had no idea how difficult it would be in the dark. My headlamp didn't shine particularly bright, and my handheld flashlight didn't seem to help much either. I was constantly looking for the trail markers to make sure I was going the right way! And I was constantly watching out for rocks, sticks, and other debris that I might trip over. It was cold, in the low 40s, and very windy at the time I started so I fit my head lamp around my beanie. I should have known better because I got warm quickly on the first steep climb and had to remove the beanie. With my incompetence, I couldn't tighten the headlamp just right around my head. It seemed no matter how tight I tightened it, it still slid down into my eyes. (Maybe I have a weird-shaped forehead! Probably that I'm incompetent though.) Because I was tired of stopping to mess with it, I just decided to deal with it. So for the rest of the run, every few minutes I was constantly pushing the headlamp up on my forehead. Annoying. Other than the headlamp and the dark, I enjoyed that leg of the run. By now I knew to expect the steady climb that the 4.6-miler contained for the first half of the loop. With the stops to adjust the headlamp, hiking/walking up the steep climb, and the fact that I slowed down so I wouldn't trip over the rocky parts of the trail, I averaged 12-minute miles.

My biggest complaint about the trails was the way each loop ended. They all joined together for the last .5 mile or so for some steep, narrow switchbacks. Because they all met up at this point, there were a lot more runners, and because it was narrow, it was difficult to pass. Any race that I have run, the course is designed to allow you to finish strong. It just makes sense. So as I attempted to finish strong on my first loop, I was fuming that 1) these tough switchbacks were put at the end of the race and 2) I'd have to run them for each loop! Grrrr.

Having said that, the trails were very peaceful. It was so nice to be out running in nature in the quiet where I could contemplate and reflect. There were many analogies to life as I hiked up the mountains to get to the top.

I didn't want to eat dinner before I ran my 4.6-miler (I don't run well with food in my stomach), so I waited to eat until after I was done at 10 pm. Again, I was grateful to be able to head back to the cabin for a warm shower. Because we were running around the clock, people were sleeping in whatever shifts they could. I was planning on getting up around 4:30 am, so I didn't stay up too much longer before heading to bed.

At around 3:30 am, Elise woke me up. We thought she'd be running at this point, but the runner two legs before her never came home to wake her up! We looked outside and immediately knew why. It was pouring, windy, and very cold. Pouring rain meant slippery, muddy trails. This translated to very little running happening from here on out--it was mostly going to be walking. About 10 minutes later, the runner, Jen, that was supposed to wake Elise up finally came home with Faith. They shared their experience with running in the rain, wind, and cold and how it was sheer misery. We were all so worried about Kimberly who, as the first runner, was doing her last leg of 4.6 miles at that point. Elise, who was scheduled to do her 8.2-miler next, was feeling very uncomfortable about running in the current conditions, and we talked about pulling out of the race. At the same time, she couldn't not do her run if her younger sister was out there doing it. She decided to get ready and go wait in the transition tent for her sister to finish. The rest of us went back to bed for a few hours.

As Elise waited in the transition tent, she was able to talk to runners who were coming in from the trails. Due to the weather conditions that made it unsafe to run, there were several teams already pulling out of the race. Runners said that as you got to the top of the 8.2 and 4.6, it was snowing and that it wasn't worth the risk of injury. After talking to other runners, Elise texted to say she pulled our team out of the competition. This was about 6 am. Those of us who were awake anxiously awaited news on Kimberly. What should have taken Kimberly about 1 1/2 hours took her over 3 hours. She said runners were crawling on hands and knees up the steep parts; she fell 11 times and twisted her knee. Despite this injury, we were so glad she made it back safe. There were several runners that were missing out on the trails, and I believe one runner had to be life flighted off the mountain. When Kimberly and Elise got back to the cabin, we were quick to try to make her comfortable (hot chocolate, shower, warm blankets when she got out).

After another morning nap from 7-9 am, I woke up to this. The race was officially cancelled at 7:30 am due to snow.

(My hair is so long! This is the longest it's been ever!)

Again, we were all so thankful that we stayed in a cabin! The pouring rain, wind and cold would have been miserable in a tent. It made everything so muddy so that people were having difficulty getting out of the campsite due to vehicles sliding in the mud. The weather forecast did not predict snow. As the race date got closer, we all knew there was a slight chance of rain Saturday morning but hoping it wouldn't come to fruition. I felt horrible for all the people that brought kids with them.

Here's the campsite mostly cleared out at about 10 am.

Elise and I at the finish line that each runner ran through after each loop

We enjoyed a relaxing day. Around lunch time, we took some group pictures. 

(The snow was mostly gone and the weather was beautiful! Perfect running weather.)

Celebrating Kimberly wearing all our medals, the only person on our team who finished the entire race

 It was definitely an adventure. Would I do it again? Totally. It was so fun! The rest of us were really sad at the way the race ended. We wished we could have finished the race.

Thanks ladies for a wonderful weekend, awesome conversations, and an unforgettable experience!

Marathon No. 2

My friend, Jen, wanted to train for her first marathon and convinced me to train with her, something I swore I'd never do again after my first experience. My first marathon was on New Year's Day in 2011. I ended up joining a group in my area for this first one in order to have people to train with. My goals for the first marathon were to finish and to jog/run the whole thing. Both goals I accomplished and finished in 4 hours and 28 minutes. I was so proud of myself at that point knowing I was never going to put myself through that torture again and knowing that I was in the best shape I'd ever been in!

I've come a long way in 3 years (despite having a baby in there), and my pace is much faster. So my goal for this second marathon was to finish in under 4 hours. At the same time, I knew that this goal would be difficult to accomplish and might be just out of reach. Regardless, I was confident that I would beat my first time.

We ran into difficulties parking and ended up having to park further away than we wanted because we didn't have time to wait in the line of cars for the closer parking lots. We were nervous about being there for the start of the race! So after parking, we jogged at a good clip to the race starting corral. That's the last thing I wanted to do before the race was to jog about a half mile before I'm about to run 26.2! We did some stretching and snapped a picture in the few minutes we had to spare. I'm bummed that I didn't have time to do some thorough stretching prior to the race (it's my own fault for cutting it too close) as it affected me later in the race.

Me and Jen, my running partner

I started out at a comfortable pace (knowing I needed to save some energy for endurance) running between 8:40 and 8:45 miles. I kept it up till mile 13 before I started to get some side cramps. After eating a Gu, I slowed down my pace a little to 9-minute-miles and that helped with the side cramps.

I knew Matt would be at mile 16, so I was so excited to see him and my sweet boys holding signs for me and cheering me on.

(Matt snapped a few pictures of me running on the course, and every picture has me running next to a different half-naked man!)

At about mile 20, some serious cramping began. I started to think to myself, "This is miserable. Why am I doing this to myself? Why did I voluntarily put myself through this and pay money to do this?"

From there on out, I talked myself through it mile by mile. I stopped worrying about my time so much and just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Prior to this point, I was on track to not only make my goal but to beat it significantly with a 3:52 finish. So I knew I had a little wiggle room to accomplish my goal still but also listen to my body.

A few days before the race, the weather was in the 30s. The day of the race the weather was in the 60s with 100% humidty. I wasn't sure how the humidity affected runners at the time and have since done some research to find that it typically slows runners down due to an increase of body temperature since the sweat doesn't evaporate. Most runners that participated discussed how they experienced a lot of cramping. That was the case for me as well. Around mile 21, I was feeling it the most in my right quad, which I've never experienced before as a runner (usually my hamstrings get sore and/or cramp). I stopped to stretch it out for a moment, but it was ineffective and caused more cramping in my calf. Sheer misery. But what do you do at that point but continue to push on and finish the race?

I saw Matt again at mile 23. As I ran by him I said, "Never again. For real this time. Don't let me ever do another one of these." I had some other snacks and energy supplements with me, but I didn't feel like any of it, so I just stuck to water and gatorade through the duration of the race.

My fastest miles were mile 1 and mile 4 at 8:31 and 8:30 respectively. My slowest miles were mile 21 (when I stopped to "try" to stretch) and mile 25 (stopped to drink some gatorade) at 9:47 and 9:49.

My official chip time was 3:58:08. I finished 6th in my age group, Female 30-34, out of 100 women. And I finished 55th out of all 515 women that ran the marathon. Most importantly, I accomplished my goal!!!! It was so nice to see my parents at the finish line, and it was nice to hear that they were proud of me for accomplishing a goal I set out to do.

I have to put this out there in case it may help any other runner. The bane of my existence as a runner is that running gives me digestive issues. I've tried a few different ideas, but nothing has worked. I have just accepted that I will have to stop to use the restroom during every race, and therefore my official chip time was never going to be accurate. As anyone with this problem knows, it's not fun and can be painful. Through a friend of a friend, I came across Modere and tried their probiotic pills (natural ingredients). It took some experimenting every weekend, but I finally figured out the best times to take the pills in order for me to have successful long runs. It seriously is like a miracle to me that I was able to run over 26 miles without stopping for a potty stop. Yeah!!!

I was in so much pain for the rest of the day...and the next, and the next. Anything that involved my quads or hamstrings was so difficult--bending down, going up and down stairs, sitting down. Even sleeping was uncomfortable/painful that first night. By Thursday I was finally feeling back to normal, except my poor toe. I got a blood blister on my second toe of my left foot under the nail. The nail is still attached, but it's the only thing that still hurts, and the nail will fall off at some point.

Saturday afternoon after the race.

This was the cutest picture of all my boys even though not my best. These are the cute signs that my boys made me!

Is another marathon in my future? I'd like to say definitely no, but I guess I better say, we'll see. I love the half marathon distance so we'll stick with that for awhile. It feels great to be in the best shape of my life (again). :o)

Half Marathon No. 6

This is my second time to run this particular race. I decided last minute to run it--6 weeks before the race--because I knew signing up for this would force me to be at the halfway point for a full marathon which a close friend convinced me to run with her. All the races I run are pretty flat, but this course is very hilly. I don't have hills around me to train on so both times I have gone into this race hoping for the best. 2 years ago when I ran it, I averaged 8:45 miles. This time I finished in 1:53:11 averaging 8:39 miles. Last time, I don't remember the hills bothering me too much except for one near the very end that was so steep and lengthy that I walked the last 1/3 of it. This time I was so annoyed with each and every hill...I like my flat ground! I started counting the hills, but after I ran up hill #5, it got too depressing. The course is a double loop of 6.55 miles so I knew that each hill I counted was really double. To sum it up, I didn't enjoy the run and won't be doing this one again! I was hoping to average 8:30 miles which I felt like I could have done except for all the hills.

At the start of the race. I'm waving to my family near the back of the picture.

The first of many, many hills. This one and another one near the end were the most brutal.

The boys cheering me on. It was 56 degrees during the run with a breeze which was a little chilly for the boys, but it felt good running!

Halfway point. I'm always SO grateful to see my family on the sidelines. I was not enjoying the run and seeing them put a smile on my face. Note to self: should have stuck with my original plan to wear a short-sleeve shirt. I appreciated the long sleeves prior to the race and maybe for the first 4 miles.

Fastest mile: mile 2 at 7:55. Slowest mile: mile 11 at 8:58 (second time up one of the brutal hills).
I was very grateful that I didn't have to stop during this race at all to use the bathroom which is a very unfortunate issue I have as a runner.

Huntsville Half Marathon

I ran my third half marathon yesterday morning. The morning started early as we made the drive to the race. We were all sleepy and a bit cranky (Carter was very cranky) as we didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked due to circumstances outside of our control. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful morning at a cool 65 degrees--perfect. My goal each time I run a race is to improve my previous time so I set out to run an 8:45 mile pace, but I didn't know how the numerous hills would affect me. Not all the hills were steep, but there were at least two steep ones and all the hills were definitely more of an incline than I ever run on my regular routes. The lowest elevation was 357 feet and the highest elevation was 490 feet during the half marathon course. Our good friends, the Burches, were there with us again for this half marathon. I'm so proud of Jacob who swore after the Galveston Half that he would never run a half marathon again. Not only did he run it again, but I believe he smoked his time from the Galveston run!

Here we are with a thumbs up ready to run the race.

This week we got a Garmin to help me track my runs. It's expensive, but amazing! I love being able to see what pace I'm running at any glance of the watch. I can see my mileage, set a pace guy to run with, see calories burned, etc. And I love being able to analyze the data afterwards on my computer. Love it! I've always clocked my regular running routes with my car, so I could not deviate from my routes if I wanted to know how far I ran and thus be able to calculate my average running pace. Clocking the mileage with my car, needless to say, is not the most accurate. (One of my loops that I do my car clocked at 1.1 miles and my Garmin clocked at 1.05 which makes a difference when I'm running long distances.) It's just nice to know and to be able to run any direction I feel like and my Garmin will clock it. Have I mentioned yet that I love it?

Anyway, the race course was two 6.55 mile loops. (So those two steep hills I mentioned previously I had to run twice making it 4 steep hills.) The first half I ran really well and surprised even myself that I was doing so well. My slowest mile in the first half was 8:35 and fastest was an 8:14. The hills didn't bother me too much because the downhill more than made up for the uphill I thought. The second half of the race was a little harder. The hills seemed more unbearable. By mile 11 the downhills hurt more than the uphills because momentum would carry my body faster than I was able to go at that point. The second half of the race my fastest mile was an 8:23 and my slowest mile was a 9:11.

Here I am sprinting at the finish.

I was so pleased with the final results! According to my Garmin, my average pace was an 8:34 minute-mile which put me finishing 13.1 miles at 1:52:13. I knocked 5 minutes off last year's half marathon time. That is a significant improvement, and I'm finally out of the rut of running 9-minute miles! Running is invigorating, and I love seeing improvement. As always, a big thank you to the support of my husband who had to deal with two cranky boys for the two hours that I ran.

After the race

The best picture of me and my boys. Caleb is unable to look at the camera for a picture these days.

Running Update

A year ago at this time, I was training for a marathon. Carter was 6 months old, and I had been training for 2 months already. It was definitely difficult to work the training around nursing, but it felt invigorating to seriously train again after taking a 6 week break when Carter was born and doing some light running to try to get back in shape. Since my marathon on January 1st of this year, I haven't run any other races, but I have kept up the running to around 6 miles. Since the money can add up to run a lot of races, I didn't plan on running another race until November. I planned to run the Galveston half marathon again this year since I enjoyed the run last year along the Seawall looking out at the ocean. Unfortunately it was cancelled. The next half marathon race I was aware of nearby wasn't until March. I was kind of bummed. It's fun to work towards a race, but March was too far off.

A few days ago, I learned of a half marathon coming up in 3 weeks about 45-60 minutes away. Today I ran 13.1 miles to make sure I could do it, then I signed up. It's a month sooner than the Galveston race I was planning on, which cuts my training short. There's more I still want to do to shave minutes off my time, but I'll just have to make do.

I have made great strides in improving my running times. I've been able to run up to 6 miles in 8:45-9:00 minute-miles depending on the day while pushing my kids in a double running stroller. Today's 13.1 mile time was 1:54:35, 3 minutes faster than my half marathon last November, and the last mile was pushing the stroller as Matt had to be somewhere. The pace was 8:45-minute-miles. I'm hoping to run just as well in 3 weeks if not faster. The number one thing that might get in the way? Hills. The half marathon I signed up for I haven't considered in the past due to the hills. There are 2 large hills and other mild hills throughout the race. There are not many hills to train on around here that are close, so I have not done much hill training. In the next 3 weeks, I hope I can get a chance to run some hills but will have the difficulties of time (the closest hills are 20 minutes away so that's 40 minutes of driving time) and having to push my kiddos in the stroller. It's exciting to have a race on the calendar though and to have a time frame to push myself harder. Races have such a fun atmosphere, and I'm looking forward to it!

26.2

What better way to bring in the new year than to run 26 miles right? January 1, 2011 I ran my first marathon. I never anticipated that I would set this goal to run a full marathon, but a friend convinced me to join a running group in our area. There were two groups...one group was training for a half marathon and the other was training for a full. The half marathon schedule started out so super easy with 1 mile and then slowly adding on additional miles, that I thought I would train with the marathon group just to see. I could always skip the weeks in the schedule that they were running more mileage than I felt comfortable with. I had signed up for a half marathon for Nov. 20th, and looked around at marathon races on a Saturday. There was only one available that was close by on New Year's Day. The group I trained with was training for the Houston Marathon on Jan. 30th. If I wanted to run the one on Jan. 1st (Kingwood), I knew I'd have to adjust the running schedule. My decision was made for me when I tried to sign up for the Kingwood race, and it was full. I had been waiting to sign up because I wasn't sure I was capable of doing one yet! I went on the waiting list of over 200 people and figured that was the end of any thoughts of running a marathon.

As I continued with the running schedule in order to train for my half, I felt capable of continuing with the higher mileage. I was at 15 miles when I heard that I got into the Kingwood race. I immediately talked with my coach about how to adjust the schedule to make sure I would be ready.

Just a quick summary of my training: It was really nice to be able to have people to run with for the long runs on Saturday. I was in a group of about 25 people all training for a marathon and at a pace of between 9 and 10-minute miles. There were seminars every other Saturday about different tips to take care of your body. Since the seminars started at 8 am, our long runs had to be finished by then. That meant that Saturday mornings were always an early start for me. As the mileage increased, so did the early start. We oftentimes started our running in the dark. I did not get through this whole ordeal without injury. My knees hurt a lot when I ran 18 + miles (which was only twice), but they've been popping frequently from the beginning. I also had pain in the arch of my right foot, which subsided a bit when I got fitted for new shoes. My left ankle bothered me some, but I learned that I just needed to stretch it really good, and then it was okay.

My half marathon went really well on Nov. 20th. I concentrated on pushing myself hard. I aimed to run 8:45 miles, but ended up with 9-minute miles. Because I pushed myself so hard, I felt awful after finishing and made a decision right there that there was no way I wanted to run an additional 13 miles on top of what I already ran. I wanted to pull out of the marathon and get my money refunded. After thinking about it some more, I decided to continue to try to run a marathon, but realized that I would need to slow my pace down significantly if I actually wanted to finish!

Marathon day approached. Weather was perfect. It started out at 47 degrees and by the time I finished it was around 57 degrees. The race track was 4 loops of 6.55 miles with pretty scenery. I was set with a book on tape (which I finished during the race). I did not get a good night's sleep the night before though (fireworks kept me up), and I didn't eat as good as I should have the previous night (all the appetizers were so yummy...but I did pass on dessert). I think because of my diet the night before, my stomach hurt really bad for the first 13 miles. As I was crossing the start/finish line at 13.1 miles, I wanted to quit because I just wasn't feeling good. It was at this point that I saw Matt, my boys, and Matt's parents. That gave me the extra motivation I needed to grab a snack and keep going.

Suprisingly, for not feeling well, my time was better than I expected. I set a tentative goal of wanting to run around 10-minute miles. I started out slower than that (I heard that was supposed to help with energy at the end) at 10:15 miles. Not intentionally, I started running 9:45 miles around mile 4. I was able to keep that pace for quite awhile. I remember looking down at my stopwatch at every mile marker and just being surprised that I was running ahead of schedule, but I was running at a comfortable pace...I wasn't pushing myself at all. My "comfortable pace" was quicker than I anticipated, and I attribute that to my speed training and tempo runs that I did on Tues./Thurs. during my training.

Around mile 20 I hit "the wall" that a lot of runners talk about. I was just doing what I could to keep running, and as soon as I got to a water/gatorade station, I walked while I drank. My pace slowed considerably for about the next 3 miles. Around mile 23, energy kicked in, and I was able to pick up my pace. That mile was actually pretty emotional. While other runners were wiping sweat, I was wiping tears as I realized that I was going to accomplish this goal that was such a challenge to work towards, even the day of the race. It's always more meaningful to accomplish something when you wanted to give up many times throughout the process.

I finished strong, and my finishing time was 4:28:34, which I was very proud of. Overall it was an incredible experience. I was very shaky after finishing...my knees were killing me. (My quads were sore for the next two days, and I walked like an old woman.) I was very grateful to Matt and his parents for coming out to support me. It literally made the difference of me finishing the race!

Mile 13, when I wanted to give up. Blurry picture, but I was handing off my jacket to Matt as I passed him.

Heading back out with snack in hand even though I was in a lot of pain and just wanted to quit. (Side note--> My hair is probably the longest it's ever been right now. I grew it out for the marathon, and I'm so excited to chop it off!)

After the race getting my award. Caleb came to greet me.

Me with my "Texas-sized" award. It is soooo heavy, but I love that it's so big because it represents a big accomplishment. (It was so painful to get in this position for the picture, and Matt had to help me stand up again. The theme of the race was ducks for whatever reason...)

So, are more marathons in my future? I don't think so. I don't have a desire to qualify for Boston (I'd have to run it in 3:40), and the training process took its toll on my body as well as a lot of time away from family. I plan on sticking with half marathons from here on out. The only way I'd run another marathon is if Matt wanted to run one. Then I'd want to run it with him...and beat him :o). In the mean time, it feels AMAZING to be in the best shape I'll probably every be in in my life!

Half Marathon #2

Saturday, November 20th, I ran my second half marathon. It was a year and a half after the first and one baby later. My goal was to beat my time from last year, which was 1:58:45, or slightly over a 9-minute-mile pace. I was able to keep a steady 8:45 pace for the first 5 miles, and even ran an 8:30 on one of those miles. At mile 6, a side cramp hit me, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up this pace for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing in 1:57:47. I was actually disappointed when I crossed the finish line because I remembered my time wrong from last year's race and thought that I hadn't beat it. I was still hoping to shave off more time, but it does feel good to have beat my time, even if it was just a minute. I finished 16 out of 122 in my class (Females ages 25-29) with 8:59-minute-miles.

It was interesting to compare last year's race and this year's. Last year I trained completely on my own and did a little reading up on taking care of my body as I trained, but not much. Fellow runners don't believe me when I say this, but I did all my training, including the actual race, without drinking water as I ran. I would drink some water before and after. I've learned since that you should be drinking water at least every 15 minutes while you run. I also didn't eat before my runs during my training. I heard late in my training that eating a banana before you run is supposed to help with energy, so I started doing that a couple of weeks before my race, including race day. During my actual race last year, every time someone I ran with stopped for water, I would think in my head "sucker, I'm going to pass you up." I've also learned about some energy gels that most runners take while running since my first race. I didn't do any of that last year. Interestingly enough, I had energy throughout the whole run, and I felt great and rejuvenated after I finished the race.

This year I am training with a group where they have seminars every other week with running tips etc. So being wiser, this time I stopped at all of the water/gatorade stations except 2 (spaced out every 1.5 miles). I switched off between drinking water and gatorade. I felt like all the water stations actually slowed me down, so my next competitive race I'll probably carry water on me. I still didn't use any energy gels, but I will for my marathon. After I finished this race, I felt like I was going to puke, and I wanted to just lie down and die. And I only beat last year's time by a minute. Hmmmm. Maybe the experts don't know what they're talking about. :o)

After I finished, I couldn't even imagine running an additional 13 miles on top of what I just did. I began to have thoughts of giving up on my marathon goal. After some more time, I decided that running a marathon is doable, just not at the pace that I ran my half. My full marathon is 4 weeks away. I have the dreaded 21 mile run next Saturday, which hopefully will be more enjoyable as I listen to a book on tape. My main goal for my full marathon is to finish. I'm going to have no time expectations whatsoever. I also want to run the entire thing, but I never know how my body will be feeling and a walking break or two may be needed.

At the start of the race, Caleb and Matt looking on as I took off.

Carter, still in his p.j.s, watching from his stroller.

This is about mile 9. I had just seen Matt and the kids, which gave me a boost of energy. The race was along the Galveston Sea Wall, which was great scenery.

To pass the time, Caleb, Matt and Carter played on the beach chasing birds.

We went to Galveston with some friends, Jacob and Kim. Jacob ran the race as well. Here is Caleb about to give Jacob a high 5.

Afte the race. (I was feeling much better by this point.)

Me and Jacob before the race. We had to carry our bib numbers because they ran out of safety pins! Lame. Even though I had registered early, they ran out of the t-shirt size I requested (Medium) as well. All they had left were XS, which I won't fit into until I lose 10 lbs. (highly unlikely). Double Lame.

After the race with our medals.