One more sleep!

Tomorrow I will finally run my first full marathon!

I am really excited and nervous! The weather is looking just about perfect and I can't wait to get out there and just start running.

If you're going to be spectating, I'll be wearing a florescent orange tank top, black shorts and a white hat. Please scream and yell, I'll need all the cheering I can get.

I'm really hoping to finish in under 4:30 but I'll be really happy to finish and be able to say "I ran a marathon!"

I'll update tomorrow when I'm done.

The countdown is on!

By this time next week I will have finished my very first full marathon!

I have been working on this goal for more than 2 years. Last year I was training for the Fargo full marathon when I got injured with terrible IT band pain. This year it got me again for almost a month and I had to change my goal race from Fargo to Manitoba.

I've been training regularly but conservatively trying really hard to listen to my massage therapist and avoid injury. I'm not sure I feel entirely ready for Sunday. I have been denying having time goals all along but realistically I want to finish in under 4:30. This time goal will change dramatically based on weather and how my body feels.

I'm hoping to see some of my friends on the race course but I know I have to run my own race. I'm nervous about trying to keep up with someone and feeling terrible in the second half. I'm also nervous about how my stomach will handle running for that long and hydrating/fueling properly.

I'm really excited about seeing friends and family who are planning on coming out to cheer on the runners. I'm pumped about how I'll feel when I'm done and the yummy meal The Husband is making for when I'm done.

This last two years of running has truly changed my life. I have made amazing friends, learned how to deal with stress and anxiety, raced 9 half marathons and even ran away from zombies on a 5K obstacle course! I'm so glad my husband, friends and family have supported me and cheered me on at countless races over the last couple years, you guys are awesome!

Fargo 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

It's been over a week since I ran in Fargo but I still can't stop talking about how great it was! The city of Fargo does an amazing job and the event was extremely well organized.

This year I was able to get out of school a little early and made it to the expo well before it closed. I picked up some new Bondibands.

Bondibands!

Saturday morning our alarm (the one with the extremely rude siren sound) went off at 5:30am. We quickly went packed up and drove to the Fargodome. There was tons of lightning which was making me very nervous!

By the time we started racing the rain had stopped and the conditions were perfect! I lined up with the 2:00 pace bunny and planned to try and stick with him throughout the race. 

Jo and I before the race, her and Christy ran the full 26.2!

Unfortunately the group went through water stations really quickly and I kept falling behind. Somewhere around mile 8 I managed to pass the 2 hour group and started to speed up.  I decided to keep my game plan the same as at WPS and pick up my pace at mile 10.

Mile 10-12 felt pretty great and I started thinking I might actually be able to get a PB. I tried to keep in mind that the finish line has lots of turns and feels like it's never going to end.

My crazy full marathon running friends!

Turns out I managed a personal best by a whole 2 seconds! I'll take it!

There was tons of fun stuff to see on the course, great food after, fantastic medals and cute finishers shirts! I will definitely be doing Fargo again!

WPS Race Recap 2012

Wow, what an awesome race this year! It's amazing what running with no pressure can do!

Joanne and I both needed to run a conservative race. My instructions were to run 10 miles at an easy pace and then "all out" for the last 3.1.

I'm not gonna lie, it kinda felt sucky lining up with the 2:15 pace bunny when my heart would really love to try for another sub 2:00. However, we wanted to stick to the plan.

I think we did a fairly good job of that. We both kept an eye on the pace for the first 10 miles and then started to pick it up.  I can't explain how great this run felt! I'm pretty sure Jo was getting sick of hearing me tell her what a great time I was having and how much I love running.

Pretty sure this is how my face looked during the entire run.

At mile 9 my gels and sport beans flew out of my belt which wasn't a big deal except I felt bad for littering.

My parents were watching the race right near a water station. My dad took this photo.

My parents were waiting around mile 10 and I was really excited to see them! And to start going faster!

Joanne stayed with me and we sprinted to the finish, even holding hands across the line. It was our first time ever running a whole race together :)  We finished in 2:02 which came as a pretty big shock to both of us. It was about 8 minutes faster than we had planned but we both agreed that we felt great and didn't push too hard.
 

Here's the splits for people who care about numbers:
9:46
9:28
9:26
9:23
9:34
9:28
9:23
9:37
9:30
9:15
9:06
9:02
8:29
.16, 7:45

"Racing" WPS Half Marathon Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I will be running my 8th half marathon and my 2nd WPS Half Marathon. Thanks to my pesky ITB issues I will not be racing tomorrow. I have been instructed to run the first 10 miles at "full marathon pace" and then pick it up for the final 3 miles, depending on how I feel.

I've often lined up at the start line of a race and said "I'm not racing today," and then raced full-out and managed great results. Tomorrow however, I have to obey the rules. If I don't, I risk re-injuring my leg and not being able to run my goal race in June.

Last year when I ran the WPS half it was in blizzard conditions and I was recovering from injury. I was happy to complete every mile of that race and finish in 2:09.

My poor Mom volunteered last year. The runners LOVED her!

Joanne and I before the May 1st race last year.

This year the conditions look like they will be much better and I'm hoping to finish in about the same amount of time, only having a LOT more fun!!

If you happen to be out there cheering on another runner, I'll be the girl in the obnoxiously bright orange shirt and black tights.

This shirt appears even brighter in person!

My Love-Hate Relationship

Running and I have been having an on again off again relationship lately.  Just over a month ago I was training really hard and absolutely in love with running. A friend and I were doing 400 meter repeats at the track when all of the sudden I had a sharp cramp in my right leg. The kind of cramp that stops you right in your tracks.

I went straight home and scheduled a massage at new clinic that I had heard great reviews about. They determined that my IT band was inflamed. This is the exact same injury that took me out of running for two months last year and put a stop to my full marathon training.

There were almost 3 weeks where I wasn't able to run AT ALL. The only exercise I could do was swimming (which I hadn't done since elementary school) and yoga.

After what feels like a painfully slow recovery, I am finally starting to feel like my normal self again. My friends at the massage clinic email me a work-out plan, I do it, and email them with the results. It's going great.

As a result of this setback, I have had to change my upcoming spring marathon plans. The new plan includes running the Police Half Marathon next weekend, Fargo Half Marathon in mid May, and the Manitoba Full Marathon in June.

Hopefully there will be many cheery training post in the next 7 weeks leading up to the marathon.

Uncharted Territory

I have officially entered full marathon training!

 The schedule last week called for 15 miles, 2 miles further than I had ever run before. This was the very same run where I got hurt last year. It was the run that took me out of training for almost 2 months! Needless to say, when I arrived at The Running Room I was very nervous!

The run was cold, snowy and windy. At the 6 mile point I was already developing frostbite on one side of my face. The run was hard and felt about how I expected it would. I was proud and happy to be done.

This week was a whole different story! The weather was beautiful and the sun was shining. Our wonderful leader organized two different food caches with delicious treats! It was nice to break the miles up into chunks.

Grapefruit, Swedish berries, PB filled pretzels and bananas!! Thanks guys!

The sidewalks were a tad icy and 4 of us (including me) ended up bailing at different points. Luckily I don't think anyone was hurt too badly.

Today I ran 16.5 miles and felt better than I ever thought I could! I was beaming when I got home to find my lovely husband had made me a healthy and super tasty meal. 

Are any of you training for anything fun?
I'm hoping to make it to the Fargo Marathon.

What is your longest run?
16.5 miles, every long run now will be my longest run ever!

Would you do a Zombie Run?
My crazy friends think this is a good idea but I might need some convincing.



 

Hypothermic Half Marathon Race Report

Last year I hated running the Hypo. I was so excited to run with my group and make my very lofty time goal. At mile 3 I could not keep up and spent the next 10 miles beating myself up over it.

This year I swore things would be different. I planned to run by myself and I set a very reasonable goal that could easily be adjusted depending on the weather and footing.

Not perfect conditions but we've run in a lot worse.

I started out nice and easy and just tried to maintain good form and keep my head up. Another thing that occupied my thoughts was remembering and noting small victories.

I thought about all the great training runs I had done with the boys. I noted each landmark on the course and how much better I felt than the year before.


Thanks to the way we trained, my plan was to pick up my pace considerably at the 12 mile mark. This worked out great for me and the last mile was the fastest of the race. It was a little tricky to keep my speed up as the course has lots of little turns in the last quarter mile.

At the end I came in at 2:05 which I am very happy with! I ran with no music and very few negative thoughts, that in itself is reason for me to celebrate!

Not our PR faces but happy to be done.

I should add, the people at Fort Whyte and The Running Room did an awesome job of organizing this race! They must have been freezing standing out there in the blowing snow but they all had huge smiles and encouraging words for the runners. THANK YOU!!!

Pre-Race Rituals

It's been almost 4 months since the last time I raced and tonight I'm filled with anxiety! In the last year I've gone into most races with a list of excuses for why I'm not going to "race" it. Then I usually end up pushing my pace and doing well.

Tonight there are not a lot of excuses. Training has gone well. I've got a decent amount of sleep and am relatively healthy. I have even tapered (only because the last 2 weeks have been way too busy to run). The only things that might slow me down are the weather (supposed to snow over night and in the morning) and going out too fast.

As I was getting ready tonight I've realized how crazy I am about routine before races. I thought you might want some details.

Dinner: The night before I race I like to eat blueberry pancakes with strawberry protein powder in them, a banana and turkey bacon. I feel like this light meal is easy to digest with not too much fibre. I also like to eat it fairly early so my body has more than enough time to digest it.

Clothes: I lay EVERYTHING out on our futon. I even include options in case the weather is different than forcasted.

Breakfast: I always eat the same thing before long runs, a simple bowl of instant oatmeal with a splash of skim milk. On race days I sometimes add a banana and some tea. I'm a pretty big nerd and often lay out my breakfast on normal weekdays too.

 
Goals: I like to write my goals on a piece of paper and throw it in my bag. I always make 3 goals. The A goal is usually pretty crazy and only if conditions were perfect and some magic happened. The B goal is usually something that is fairly attainable and the C goal is always to finish upright and smiling.

Some scribbled goals from the summer. My goals tomorrow will NOT be so ambitious!

Freak out: Before every race I get all paranoid and doubt my training, feel like I'm getting injured or coming down with something, worry about if my stomach will get sick during the race, worry about if I've dressed appropriately for the weather, etc. I usually end up calling Joanne so we can compare wardrobe choices and race strategies while trying to calm each other down. You would think that after 6 half marathons and a bunch of other races I would be a little more calm, but you would be wrong.

Running buddy/pre-race counselor

Do you have pre-race rituals? I'd love to hear about them.

Wish me luck tomorrow! I'll update after I'm finished eating my delicious brunch!

Freeze Your Thorns Off Virtual 5K race report

This summer I participated in The Boring Runner's Sweat Your Thorns Off virtual 5K. The actual race was in Arizona but anyone could participate. All you had to do was send in your results. I even got mentioned on his blog!  You can read my race report here.

The race was a big success and it was really fun reading everyone's race reports! That's why I was so excited to see that Adam was hosting a winter version called the Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K!

I was so excited to look outside and see a beautiful blue sky and tons of sun! Here's the stats:

That's -.04 for you Americans!

In the summer I just went outside and ran. Today I thought it might be wise to do a warm-up mile to get the blood flowing. That first mile felt slow and comfortable but ended up being a lot faster than I had planned. The rest of the run was hard but pretty uneventful.

Slightly warmer outfit than the summer race.

I am still running without music and thinking about trying the Hypothermic Half in February without music as well.

I finished in 26:43, sadly almost a minute slower than I ran it in the summer. Looks like I'm gonna have to put in some speed work in the very near future!

3 Years of Awesome!

I've been pretty absent in the blog world for the past few months. It's not that I haven't been running, I've just been focusing on other things.

One of the things I've been focusing on is my wonderful husband. It's easy to get busy with work/school/running/baking/hockey and end up feeling like roommates. It actually takes planning and thought to go on dates, make dinner together or spend an afternoon re-organizing the office in our condo. A little quality time goes a long way though!

This month we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. I honestly cannot believe how fast the time has gone. It feels like just yesterday we were standing on that beautiful beach in Cuba, saying our vows.

This year we decided to stay in and celebrate. The Husband has been super busy with work so when I called him after work to figure out the plan for the evening, he told me we could just figure out some leftovers.

I was slightly disappointed in this lackluster plan so I made some stops of on the way home and picked up cheese, steaks, mussels, wine, and chocolate. Little did I know, I had been tricked!! When I got home The Husband had prepared an amazing feast with seared scallops, rack of lamb, and spiced rum apple crumble!!!

After the appy and the first glass of wine I put my camera away. Trust me, the food was all amazing!

I should have known better than to think he would suggest leftovers for our anniversary. If all of that wasn't enough, he even got me a gift! NIKE FREE'S! I've wanted these shoes for a long time but couldn't justify the purchase (I can't even run in these because they don't have enough support for my feet). They are so pretty and I can't wait to try them on some short runs and cross-training!

I am so lucky to have found such an amazing man to spend my life with, and not just because of his chef skills and the pretty gifts :)

Running in Mexico!

Over the Christmas break the Husband and I were fortunate enough to spend some time in Mexico. Some friends of ours were attending a wedding in Puerto Vallarta and we decided to tag along (with their permission of course).

View from our hotel.

 
My dream for the trip was that I would be able to fully relax but also find ways to stay active and take advantage of the beautiful weather. I would say I was extremely successful!

I was able to do water arobics, beach yoga, hiking, zip-lining and lots of running.

Where I ran when the sand started to take a toll on my ankles.

I had planned to do all of my running on a treadmill while in Mexico. I wasn't sure how hot/safe it would be. However, when I visited the gym and tried their treadmill I quickly decided that my runs would be outside or not at all.

Way at the end is the pier that I ran to one day.

Turns out, that broken treadmill was a huge blessing.

Quiet hotel while everyone else is still asleep

Had I stayed in the gym I would have missed:

• Sunrises on the beach
• "The nod" from other morning runners 
• Seeing baby turtles making their way to the ocean
• The view from the pier I ran to
• Extra minutes tanning
• Salt water in my shoe
• Meeting up with a running buddy from Winnipeg
• Impromptu tours of other hotels

I was told to pose this way but the surroundings make up for the cheesiness I think.