Inaugural Iron Girl Half Marathon

I want to start this recap by mentioning the 12 mile training run that took place 2 weeks before this race. It was probably the best run I’ve ever had. I felt fantastic the whole time and it was a huge confidence boost for this race.

I also want to talk about the expo. I talked to a triathlon team and gave them my info because…I need to complete a tri. The girl I talked to was promoting a tri in August. I could have the distance slightly wrong but it’s about 22 laps in a pool, 17 mile bike ride, and 3 mile run. Completely doable, especially since it’s not an open water swim. You raise $800, which isn’t too terrible and they train you and supply you with gear-including a tri suit. Now if only they would give me a bike, I’d be set.

Joan Benoit Samuelson also spoke at the expo. It was absolutely amazing. She told the best stories and just being with her was such a cool experience. She signed my race bib and I got a picture with her! I thought about her during the race (she finished 6^th…this is after tearing her MCL in January) and I saw her after the race too! I’m regretting not talking to her afterwards. Note to self: If I ever see an Olympian again-go talk to them.

"Christina, live your dreams" Okay Joanie!
(sorry I can't rotate this)

Now for the race. Saturday I woke up feeling pretty horrible. My throat was sore and I was extremely nauseous. I think this had been coming on all week but I had just been writing it off as allergies. I tried to stay positive but by the time I went to bed I was pretty worried. I spent the night tossing and turning and trying not to vomit. I woke up not feeling any better but there wasn’t any other choice but to run. I ended up having some trouble breathing and drinking but it was manageable.

John and I got to the race a little after 6:30 with a 7:00 start. I stood in line for the Port-o-JANE and realized that girls really do take forever in the bathroom. The line wasn’t very long but before I got to use the bathroom, they were singing the national anthem. I heard the start while I was in the plastic box. I waited a while to start because my Garmin was taking its time finding satellites and ended up starting literally almost last. Thank goodness for chip timing.

It took me about 3 miles to warm up. I didn’t feel as good as I did on my 12 miler but didn’t let any negative thoughts get in my head. The hills on this course were horrible. I’m not sure there was even one stretch of flat course at all. I knew there was an almost mile long monster of a hill around mile 6. It was way worse than what I was expecting.  It was so steep and never-ending. I considered walking because I thought I might be able to go faster that way but I kept “running.” I was so glad to be done with it because I knew the worst was over but the course continued to be hilly.

My knee started hurting around mile 8. I think it acted up because of the hills, which puts more strain on my quads. I hung in there but the pain got way worse and by mile 9 I was half looking for a medic tent. I saw John at mile 10 and considered telling him what was going on but there’s something about not saying things out loud that makes them less real. Also at mile 10, I teared up. I don’t know what it is about mile 10 but this has happened in all four halves that I’ve done. It doesn’t matter that I’m not thinking about anything emotional, it still happens.

Hurting

By mile 11 I was done giving into my knee and started my push to the finish. Finishing was a blur. I almost forgot to get my medal. I heard them announce my name and remember feeling pretty dazed waiting for someone to remove my timing chip. Then I saw John and showed him my Garmin. I had an official time of 2:06:55 (9:41min/mi). John freaked out because I was expecting something around a 2:08.

Splits:

Mile 1 – 9:50
Mile 2 – 9:53
Mile 3 – 9:16
Mile 4 – 9:52
Mile 5 – 9:31
Mile 6 – 9:18
Mile 7 – 10:25 (Hill from hell)
Mile 8 – 9:42
Mile 9 – 10:18 (beginning of knee pain)
Mile 10 – 10: 13
Mile 11 – 10:02
Mile 12 – 9:48
Mile 13+ - 8:32



Stylin'

I’m not completely happy with that. I would’ve liked to see more even splits but they completely reflect what was going on in the race.

Overall this race was fantastic. The course was really tough but I kind of like that. I didn’t find myself needing extra aid stations, although if it had been warmer I might have. In many areas they had a very small section of road blocked off for us. Traffic was still allowed on the road. This was slightly annoying when trying to pass people but luckily traffic was light and it wasn’t a big deal to run on the road a bit to pass. There wasn’t a lot of crowd support seeing how it was a small race. I thought this might make things more difficult but I guess I’ve gotten used to running alone so I had no trouble zoning out and just running. Another thing I thought I wouldn’t like was running with all women, but it was actually awesome. I really can’t explain why. And how appropriate to have Joan Benoit Samuelson run an all women’s race?? AND post race was awesome. All finishers were given a bracelet with a charm that had the event and date on it. Also, Wegman’s had a tent with tons of food (yogurt, bagels, Larabars, fruit, etc). They gave you a grocery bag and you pretty much got to fill it. I didn’t get a whole lot but some people had pretty full bags. Muscle milk was there as well as a massage tent. I thought it was pretty good for a small race.

Also, an announcer announced every person as they finished. Some people had accompanying stories like “one year cancer survivor” or “had a total hip replacement one year ago.” That kind of stuff gets me every time. I’m going to go off on a tangent here, you know, because this recap isn’t long enough yet. I know some people who run who are huge braggers about it almost to the point of being snobby. They are extremely full of themselves and don’t know how to give credit to anyone else. It really irritates me because there are people like the two I mentioned above who are so much more amazing and inspiring. A lady I know from Hawaii is pretty overweight and recently ran (without stopping) her first 5k. That is AMAZING to me. Am I faster than these people? Yes. But it doesn’t change the fact that I look up to them just as much as I look up to an Olympic Gold Medalist. These are the people that deserve promoting, not your own self. There is a difference between being proud of what you accomplished and thinking you’re better than everyone else. I wish that people who can’t see past their own noses would realize that.

Anyway, to sum it all up, if I can mentally recover from the big bad hill of this race, I will definitely be running again next year! Next up, marathon training!

DC Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

So I'm finally writing this recap! You can thank the dishes in the sink that I don't want to do.

I came into this race with very little mileage under my belt and with my longest run being seven miles. I struggled with IT band issues starting in January. At the start of this race, my head was all over the place. I went from dreaming of a PR to thinking I might have to drop out and everywhere in between. I'm a planner and HATED not being able to really plan. I was assigned to corral 19 but started in a corral farther back with my dadoo.



Thrilled, obviously.

It took us somewhere around 40 minutes from the time the race started to actually cross the start line. I'm pretty sure I started out too quick because I got caught up passing a lot of people. A little after the first mile I was hit with that stinking side cramp that got me during the Patrick Henry Half. I attribute these cramps solely to nerves. I get nervous and it throws my breathing off and the result is a cramp that almost impossible to run through. I walked for half a mile before I was able to run again. I seriously considered hanging out and waiting for my dad (read: throwing my race) but luckily I didn't see him.

At this point, I still had no plan. Once the cramp went away I was making great time and dare I say, enjoying myself? I walked at every water station just because I could. I completely forgot about the fact that there was a good chance of my knee acting up around mile 8. I even walked a lot of uphills just because. I'm not entirely proud of all the walking but it was a nice feeling to have no pressure and just do whatever I felt like doing.


"I'm just a bill, on Capitol Hill." -School House Rock

 Just before I hit eight miles, I felt my knee and slightly panicked. It wasn't bad enough to stop running, but once I feel the beginnings of it, it's not long before I go from running to strangely galloping and relying on my left side. I was able to keep my pace up to mile 9, where I was still on track for a slight PR. I knew that if I didn't start walking a lot more, I was going to be in big trouble. So, that's what I did. I thought it would hurt more to let my good time slip away but I guess in the back of my mind I never really expected to PR so it wasn't as big of a deal.



So pretty.

 I was nearing the end, walking, and a girl asked me how much farther until mile 12. I looked at my Garmin and told her .2. She started running and I couldn't let her pass me so I started running too. I ran most of the last mile. Once I could see the finish line, I kind of blanked out and just ran. I had so much energy (I would hope so, after walking so much). I finished with an official time of 1:22:01, which is about 1 minute and 30 seconds better than my worst time to date. I felt FANTASTIC afterwards. Almost no pain at all.

Overall, I was fairly pleased with how I did. Great weather, scenery, and I got to run with my padre and John!

NOT running

Sometimes, I think I like running more than I like soccer. Then soccer season starts and I realize I would choose soccer over running 9.8 times out of 10.

Today proved that fact. After two weeks "off," broken up by the half, I have started training and working out again this week. As expected, I am sore. And tired. Especially today. I woke up almost two hours before my alarm went off and couldn't go back to sleep. I had the worst day at work that I've had since I started (don't worry, that's not saying too much since basically everyday has been good. It did throw me off though). I got to soccer practice and all I wanted to do was go home to the pets and eat food. Did I mention I was also hungry?

Anyway, practice started and I just found all this energy. Even later in practice when I knew I was worn out, I just wanted to run everywhere and get the ball. ITSSOFUN!!! I missed the skinned knees and the bruises and I would definitely choose that over ITBS and stress fractures.*

Don't worry, I still love running. And spin. And yoga. And Bodyrock. Except not Bodyrock that much because it is really hard but I love that it turns me into a ripped badass person with at least some muscle. I won't stop any of these things. Just if it was a life or death situation and I had to choose only one for the rest of my life, it's a no brainer.

*I realize that both of these can happen in soccer but this is just my experiences here. Because this blog is about me, duh.

Spring, Melody, and more running

So I kinda sorta ran a half marathon over a week ago and have yet to do a recap of it. Mostly because all I can think about is my spring break that starts in three days. And the main reason I'm so excited for spring break is not because I don't have to go to work. It's because I am cleaning out my closet!!! I am CRAZY excited about it. I am having to use what little will power I have to not start now because I know I don't have enough time to do it (since I am doing other important things like blogging and fake online shopping at Zara) and then I'll just get overwhelmed and sad. I could seriously make this entire post about how excited I am to clean out the closet but that would probably entertain you too much and I really want you to get off the computer and be productive today.

Other news, Melody is starting doggie college in April! She is so excited, I am sure.



A coworker recommended a dog trainer and we met with him on Saturday. Andrew is awesome and would give Cesar Millan a run for his money. He has the coolest house. He does all training at his house, including boarding and training. It was a pretty neat set up. We snagged the last spot in the Level 1 class that starts on April 7th. Andrew's evaluation of Melody consisted of talking to us while he pretended not to pay attention to Mel to see what she did. He pointed out that she kept running around to explore but continued to come back to us to kind of "check in." After she was done exploring she came over to us and just laid down waiting for whatever was next. Apparently all of this is good. Like I was surprised, Mel is the best dog ever.

Also, I have begun training for half marathon number 4 on April 29th. Barring any knee issues I am hoping to PR. For all other halves I've used Hal Higdon's novice training plan but this go around I'm using the FIRST plan which I think will work well for me. It's also the plan I am going to use for full marathon training starting in May. The plan has your running 3 days a week-a speed workout, tempo, and long run-and cross training 3 days a week which will fit easily with soccer, spin, bodyrock, and yoga. I had to start in the middle since there's only about four weeks to go. Today was my first speed workout. So far, so good!

That's about all for now. I will eventually get around to doing a recap of the DC half!

Bodyrock 30 Day Challenge and a long run

I just finished Bodyrock.tv's January 30 Day Challenge (clearly I'm a little behind). After spending January coming back from my stress fracture and dealing with ITBS, I finially decided I really needed to spend some time on non-cardio related exercise. Aside from a random stint in college, I haven't worked on gaining muscle since my high school weight room days and after taking years off of serious working out and surgery, my muscles were more pathetic than usual. So, on January 30th I started the 30 Day Challenge one month after it was posted on the website.

It started with a fit test consisting of 7 exercises. You repeated the exercises as many times as possible for 50 seconds. After a 10 second break, you start the next exercise. The test was repeated halfway through the challenge and on the final day. Here are my results:

I want to note that the fit test calls for "straight abs" instead of crunches. When I first started I did not know what a straight ab was so I did crunches. I later realized they are just regular sit ups. One of the trainers is British and has different names for a few things (like press ups instead of push ups). I also want to note that the second fit test was after a run where I hurt my knee. Any bending of my knee was pretty painful and I think the results of the test reflect that more than anything.

Overall I am SO pleased with the results of these 30 days. Not only do I feel stronger but my legs are almost the same size!!! Even John noticed that my right quad is catching up with my left in a big way. I plan to keep doing bodyrock 5 days a week. I really think it has enabled me to start running again.

Speaking of running again, I'm hoping to have my first real long run tomorrow since the beginning of November. I'm a little nervous but I'm just going to focus on covering the distance-NOT on pace, although that will be difficult.

Well I found a new thing to obsess over...



Melody!

How cute is that face??? We've had her for a week now and its been awesome. She is so cute, obviously, and pretty good. She's definitely come out of her shell a little bit in the past week.



She lays like this a lot...weirdo.

 

Loves that hedgehog toy.

She does a lot more than just sleep, don't worry. We are working on sit, stay, and lay down right now. She has sit 95% of the time but she is very easily distracted. She will stay as long as she's not too disctracted and she can see us. Working on staying when we're out of sight. Lay down is very sketchy right now and we probably wouldn't bother with it until she completely has sit and stay but there are times we need her to lay down...like when we're eating or when she's going after Hamlet.

She is also very clingly and hates when John and I aren't both home and in the same room. If we're in different rooms she'll pace between us. During a workout over the weekend she laid down right next to me if I held still for more than 2 seconds.




Scooted in while I tried to do situps.



Elevated side plank with a leg lift...she tried to get right on my leg.

You can thank the last two years of working with preschool children for giving me the multitasking skills that allowed me to take a picture while working out.

Also, my camera is kinda messed up so all these pics are from my phone, my bad.

Anyway, best dog ever, she is awesome and I'm sorry if i talk about her all the time now the way I talk about running.


Life is Good

Please excuse my lack of a creative title. Actually I don't think I've ever come up with a creative title for these. Anyway. In the car this morning I was thinking about how my life was a year ago. To sum it up in one world; awful. Or, as awful as it can be for someone who has a roof over her head and never goes hungry. You get my point. Fortunately it was one of the worst points in my life (I have a pretty good track record). A large part of my unhappiness was my job. I know everyone has to work a job they hate at some point but I worked with kids and it was extremely hard for me to work in a place that didn't provide the best for them. I felt helpless and picked up some bad habits that I am still trying to get rid of eight months later.

Anyway, I am BEYOND thankful that I am out of that place and working in a school that I absolutely love. I love all my co-workers and my kids and their parents. So there's that. Also, a year ago, John and I were trying to pay for part of our wedding. We had help from my parents but we still had a decent chunk that we had to cover. Can you believe I'm 24 and not rich yet?? Me neither. Now that's all over and paid for so we feel a little less strapped.

Running! Like I could go an entire post without mentioning running. A year ago I was only able to run about two miles. Now...well right NOW I can't run anything because of my dang ITBS but normally I can churn out about eight miles with little effort.



Planned an 8mi run but my knee decided I
only needed to run one. I look like a duck when I pout.

 I'm also loving everything else about my fitness right now. I have found forms of cross and strenght training that I love and soccer will be starting up again soon!

Finally, Lana Del Rey. She is gorgeous. Fact.

Off to squeeze in an episode of Heros before bed. John bugged me to watch this show probably since we first me and I finally caved. Should've listened to him sooner, its one of those shows I could probably lose a weekend to!