It definitely happened at the zoo

Today I ran a 10K at the LV Zoo. This weekend was my planned 6 mile run, I just changed up the day of the week. Anyway, with knowing that today was coming, Sat was an earned day off. So, before I went to bed, I went through my ritual of laying out what I was going to wear the next day.

This morning, I woke up at 530, and felt not well rested. I knew it was going to be a long day, but I also knew I was ready for it. I have already completed a half marathon, what's 6.2 miles. Well, let me tell you something about this race. I really felt like it was really well organized and there was an awesome crowd. The course marshalls were awesome with directing the 5Ks and the 10Ks onto the right path. Now...I know I do steps, but apparently I need to do some hill work. Especially with the half marathon coming up, I really need to step the hills up a notch. We entered our first major hill at mile 2, and we hit the peak at mile 3. Down the hill we went and then we hit another hill at mile 3.5 and that went on until mile 4. I would also like to point out, that I am not really sure if anyone ran up that first hill. It was NEVER ENDING!! Anyway, I went into the race hoping to do it in 1 hr and 6 minutes, and even with the hills, I managed to do 1 hr 10 minutes (unofficially). My favorite part of the race, getting to Ford the Creek by foot. That was at like mile 5. At that point, I met up with a boyfriend and girlfriend pair who had a great pace. I was trying to make up time but I was way too spent from the hills. (I really respect my friends who did Quadzilla and if anyone wants to drag me along to run hills, please take me) Anyway, I stayed with their pace and even encouraged the girlfriend on to keep going strong. We hit mile 5.5 and the boyfriend and I started to pull a little bit away. I kept trying to encourage the girlfriend on, but at this point my legs felt great although tired. At mile 6 we entered the zoo and were teased by all of the finish line stuff. We still had to run around the zoo in order to cross the finish line. The boyfriend was a little bit ahead of me and he signaled that the finish line was in view. I cranked it on and finished hard and even ended up passing him when it really matter most. I wish I would have turned it on a little sooner, but now I know how great my legs can feel! At the end of the race, I ran into a girl named Rachel (I really hope that is her name) I had met her the week before at one of the Breakfast Club Runners trails and it was nice seeing her again. She asked me if I heard her husband as I was finishing to which I said no. She said he was shouting that he knew me. Me? Really? Wow? Thanks.

After the race, we were able to enjoy the zoo before it opened. We had taken M earlier in the year and she just wasn't really into it. Well, that all changed this time...

To us, this is a Zebra to M it was a neigh neigh (horse)

 She loved this owl. She was able to say owl, and she kept talking to it and talking to it and talking to it.

 Here, she is pretending to be an otter...I promise, she is enjoying this, she is saying "cheese"

 Here, she is being a Penguin, although she was really trying to find them...

We think this Ostrich was trying to peck his way out of the cage, but no worries, he didn't get very far.

While I wasn't happy with my time, I was happy that I was able to run pain-free and to help me know that the steps are paying off, but that I need to incorporate hills into my training. I am hoping that my bike is up and running soon, so that I can also add that to my training schedule. Will I run this race again, quite possibly, but I will make sure that I am more prepared for all of those hills!

Hope you had a great Sunday!

Over the river and through the woods...

Yesterday was the Quiet Valley Rooster Run. My friend Stef and I signed up for it without really knowing anything about it. Once we got there, we found out that the run benefits Quiet Valley Farm.  Read all about the farm here.  I do have to admit, it was a challenging course.  Let's just say, the course started with a hill that was approximately 1/4 mile long straight through the woods. I admit, I thought I was prepared since I used to run at Jacobsburg, but like I said, "used to."  I really need to look into changing that. Just like Jacobsburg, there were inclines, declines, flat areas, rolling hills, steep pitched hills, even a bridge to run over.  While I was not prepared for the run, I do have to say how beautiful the run itself was.  The race started in a field (not sure if it is associated with the farm) and then traversed over the river and through the woods. Do I have any complaints about this course, no, just that I wish I was more prepared for the hilly terrain.  There were even piles of horse manure you needed to navigate around, all in a days work, right? My friend Stef developed some pain, so when running it became tougher for her, I told her our objective was just to finish it. When she needed to walk, I walked with her. When she could run, I ran with her. I did not and would never leave her behind, that is not what friends do. We signed up together, there is no way we wouldn't finish together.  Would I run this race again, possibly, depending on what races I find this time next year, and what else we have going on. I believe that there was something after the race where we could tour the farm.  Maybe Makayla would be interested in that, but we will see what next year brings.
My sister J and her entire family are in from Chicago. This is a BIG deal to me because yesterday I got to meet my nephew Jacob for the first time. He is absolutely adorable. He is tiny, and I don't ever remember Makayla being that little. He is so long, and so precious, I couldn't wait to hold him. However, Makayla is not yet used to me holding other babies, so I had to wait to hold him.  Later we went to my cousin Kim and Phil's. They were having a meet and greet of their sweet baby girl Stella. Stella was born a month early and she is doing great! Holding her is like holding nothing, but she is so awesome. At this meet and greet, I got to hold Jacob. He is the sweetest little boy with the deepest blue eyes. I am sad that my sister and her family live so far away, but hopefully, now that things are changing around here (the hubs finally got a job after 2 months of not working) M and I will be able to make trips out there. I believe they are doing something around Joey's birthday for both his birthday and Jacob's baptism, so if that stays as planned, we will be going out to Chicago then. And then we will be able to plan trips hopefully more frequently.
Hey...did you see the new badge on my page?!? I am now a Sweat Pink Ambassador. Their mission

"We believe that kicking ass is best done in pretty shoes. We’ve learned that real women sweat, and sweat hard. We know that assertiveness, strength, and ambition are the ultimate feminine qualities. We concede that sometimes it takes hours to get ready, but we’re also no strangers to just rolling out of bed and going. We’re convinced that we run faster in pink shoelaces. We believe in pushing ourselves, and we believe in giving ourselves a break, too. We’re all about the rush of endorphins and the thrill of the challenge. We’re all for looking great and feeling even better. We’re committed to finding our best fit, and making it stick."

I believe I will be able to live this mission as it is my mission to push myself and yet give myself a break. In the days to come, I will be learning more about what this means and will be sharing that with you.

Things around here are starting to look up, thank you for sticking around, I promise it will be an interesting adventure.

1/2 marathon recap continued

As I got onto the track, my feet felt like crap, but oh, how wonderful that track felt. I wanted to sprint, but Sarah told me I didn't have to rush it. To enjoy it, this was my victory lap! But, when I got to that last turn, onto the final home stretch, I turned it on. Full speed ahead. I think I even passed some racers and I honestly did not have any juice left in the tank. I was handed my finisher's medal and then draped with a silver blanket. That was it. The end. Sarah hugged me, and hugged me and hugged me. I had done it. Even better, going into the race my original goal was to finish it, but I also set a time goal of 2 and a half hours. I did better than that! I finished unofficially at 2:28:15. And I couldn't be happier!

As we made our way out of the very crowded finish line, Sarah gave me a bottle of water and then we walked over to the baggage claim so that I could get my belongings. Then we had to walk up an even bigger hill to get to the food. This is my first complaint...the food lines were too long. There should have been food lines for runners, and food lines for spectators. All the research that I have read says that as runners we should eat within 60 minutes of finishing a long run. How can that be done if the lines are never ending. Gripe done. Anyway, I had to say goodbye to Sarah so she could head back to Philly, and then I reuinted with my BCR friends.  Eventually, I did get food, and it was good, even though it was vegan. The black bean brownies were awesome! The sausage made from beans were so good, I didn't realize they weren't real sausage at first. The oranges were good but the cups of water were really gross.

Anyway, when all was said and done we had to walk down what felt like 100000 steps and then return to our cars. Walking to my friend's car for the return to the fair grounds where my ride had parked I almost got hit by a security van. Who would have thought that it wouldn't have been the race that almost killed me, but crossing the street.

All in all it was a good day. Now, to rest and start planning my next 1 or 2.

1/2 Marathon Race recap

Well this is it. The day after. The day after reaching one of my biggest running goals to date. I am not dead, so to me that is a huge success. Here is my race recap of the St Luke's Half Marathon. I arrived at Jennie's house at 6:20 and waited for Bob to arrive. We were all going together, which helped settle my nerves a little bit because I didn't have to worry about driving after the race, nor did I have to worry about where to Park. After finding parking (I think they need to do a better job with the parking, IMHO) we walked to William Allen High School. We arrived there at 7ish and there were already lines for the port-a-potties, and all of the available in school bathrooms had lines. (Glad I went before we got there). Anyway, we walked into the gym and met up with the rest of the BCRs and talked and got pep talks and what not. At this point I think I was still in disbelief that I was getting ready to run a half marathon. Anyway, a little after 7 I think, I met up with Sarah who was going to pace me to complete this half. I won the opportunity to run with Sarah as a part of her 12x12 project. Anyway, it was at this moment, that it hit me. That I was going to be running and completing a half marathon! By 745 they had the 5K runners moving to their starting positions and by 750 they were getting us ready to run. It was a gorgeous day! I couldn't have asked for nicer weather. The sun was shining, there was not a cloud in the sky, it was maybe 45 degrees at this point. As we were walking onto Linden St, the sights, the people, the energy was amazing! I just tried to absorb every moment of it. It was at this time when I said, I guess I can't say my first half anymore,  unless I am talking about this one. As it was getting close to go time, everyone was getting charged up. Then it was go! Because I am so short, I couldn't see the Start sign...as we moved closer I saw huge of a sign it really was. The people in front of me were hitting it, kind of like the play like a champion today sign that ND football players hit as they leave the locker room. I didn't do that. I was too focused on hitting start on my Garmin. I told Sarah that I didn't get my garmin to start right away, she told me not to worry about that, that she would take care of that. Once we got out of the shade by the high school, we began our run in the sun. People lined up on both sides of the street, with signs...cheering everyone on. We got to the stadium where we would end our race, and the 5K racers were finishing. The drums that they had right by the stadium was AWESOME!!! The hill, not so much :( Anyway, not going to worry about that anyway. This was the first time I was EVER running without music, but I didn't want to miss out on the energy, the emotions, the whole half marathon experience. I am glad I did not have my music. Having a live band every mile was awesome, and since none of the music was the same, it really motivated you to enjoy the moment. I remember Chris running past me and motivating me by telling me "you're not last! There are a lot of people behind you" Of course, he was only telling me this because I had told him that was one of my fears, finishing last.

 I don't remember seeing a mile marker before mile 3, but I knew we were at mile 4 by the pain my IT band was giving me. I didn't care! I knew I had trained for this, and a little pain is nothing compared to the utter disappointment if I didn't finish the race. A little before mile 6, give or take at Yocco's hot dogs I saw Bob's friendly face and made sure to give him a high 5! A mile 6 the soles of my feet started to hurt, just like they did for the 10K, but I knew I could push through it. At 7 miles I knew that this was the furthest I had ever raced and started to feel proud. At mile 8 I got teary eyed because it hit me that I was going to finish.  The hills were starting to bother me more and more, so I did have to walk some of them. Not proud of it, but not finishing was not an option! I don't think I even looked at my Garmin until mile 11, there was no need. I probably could have run without it, but it's my security blanket. Anyway, mile 12.5, I started to get teary eyed again because I KNEW I was going to finish it. At this point, I didn't care what my time was, I just wanted to finish it. I never saw the Garmin Pacer the entire race, but again, I didn't need them I had Sarah, but whatevs. As we were on the home stretch, I heard those drums, and I got pumped up. But alas, one MORE FREAKIN HILL! How cruel can you be. Slowly I dredged up that last hill, and onto the track.

I will save the rest of this for a blog for tomorrow....

The day has finally arrived..

This is my last post before my FIRST HALF MARATHON!! I won't ever be able to say "first half marathon" again, unless I am talking about today. So far, I this experience has evoked every emotion possible, some emotions I didn't even know existed. We went to the expo yesterday to get bib,

 and I thought it was too much of an assembly line-all along the outside of the expo, so you get to walk through it, but not experience it. We decided to go back through the expo, and I thought that there was A LOT of stuff crammed into a little space. If you wanted to shop, you practically had to hold your breath. Well, I did manage to get some things that I needed, like The Stick (like a foam roller but better) and then these bad boys...

These are Newton's they are minimalistic shoes (still learning about them) but they were so comfortable and I was in the market for another running shoe, so I will be working on breaking them in...

All in all, we were at the expo for about an hour. I was disappointed that they offered free samples of soda, but not water, and I later learned that I missed a table of a local shop that sells fresh dried fruits and nuts...hmmm. When we came home, I put my bib on my race shirt...

 And then I relaxed. Well, I tried I should say. I think I have gone through every emotion imaginable at this point in the day, and I still had to go to a pasta party (not the one I paid for because I thought 7pm for dinner was way too late). Anyway, later I met with my 12x12 partner, Sarah and then I came home and went to bed.
Leads me to today...

I KNOW I AM READY..Bring it!!!

Running In Skirts

I promised a review on my run in a skirt, so here it is. So, I bought this skirt

to run in my half marathon. I bought it at Marshall's because it was on the affordable side, and I figured I wanted to try one out anyway. I don't know anything about the brand...

So I figured why not. Today, the temperature was perfect, so I wanted to give it a whirl. Just like learning to hydrate with running, I don't think race day would have been a good day to try it out.
 So, here are my opinions..
1- The skirt was awesome! My legs kept cool enough, and the skirt looked "cute" even on me
2- The shorts underneath kept working upward, and I was deathly afraid I was going to end up getting chafed because I do not have the privilege of my legs not rubbing together
3-The skirt was a little on the big side, but it was comfortable enough that I didn't have to fuss with it, the shirt, now that was a different story.
4- I liked the fabric and the color, both worked well on a day like today (it was beautiful out, what can I say)
5- It felt very freeing to have legs that weren't overheating (it felt like summer running)
Overall, I think I loved running in a skirt. I really think that I will buy some more, but maybe different styles and brands until I find that one that has shorts that don't ride up. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share it.

This picture is me ready for 4.5 miles. Clearly I was excited and looking forward to running in a skirt...

This is me after 4.5 miles. Hot, sweaty, kinda glad it is over...

This is the only casuality of the run. Glad that it isn't chafing between my legs...no, its on the inner aspect of my upper right arm from the armband for my ipod.

I stopped at mile 2.25 to stretch and when I saw this I switched it to the other arm. Guess I need to put body glide where that arm band sits.