Blank.

Yeah, like my race schedule currently.  Womp.  Womp.


The problem is that summer/early fall is a pretty dead time for races around here.  There are plenty of 5Ks, but anything longer than that is few and far between.  I would really like to try another half at the end of the summer, but I don't know if that's gonna work out.  If you know a good half in September, let me know!


So since I don't really have anything to train for... uh... I haven't really been training.  I've just been running when I want, how far I want, how fast I want.  This non-training is actually purposeful though.  I really want to work on building a base this summer so that I can train for a marathon in early 2013.  To date, that 13.1 is my longest run ever, so I do need to work on that.  


Starting this week, I'm back to actually making a train plan, but I'm only doing about 7-10 days at a time, and I'm staying super flexible.  If I feel like I need more rest, I'll take it.  And if I feel like I need to shift some workouts around, that's fine too.


Here's what I've got so far...

After this weekend, I'll be adding some longer runs to the Saturday/Sunday schedule.  But this weekend is special because we're going to the mountains.  There will be hiking, and also probably a decent amount of tequila, so I'm keeping things (semi) realistic and only putting 3 miles on for Monday.

Race Recap: New River Half Marathon

So half marathon #1 is finalllly in the books!  And it almost didn't happen (again), so I'm really glad that I went through with it in the end.  Super long recap ahead... watch out.


Let me start at the beginning.  


Last week was kind of a cluster... I woke up last Saturday with a serious crick in my neck (couldn't move it left or back), so I didn't do my long run at all.  I finally gave in and took some ibuprofen on Monday and struggled through 6 hot, sweaty, sluggish miles.  Tuesday was my birthday and Wednesday was Jimmy's, so drinks and dinners were happening, but running was not.  By Wednesday night, I had come down with a bad hacking cough and lost my voice.  I didn't feel good the rest of the week.


On top of all of that, I wasn't super confident in my training.  The schedule that I made for myself was designed just to get me to 13.1 miles.  Coming off of 6 weeks of no running, with basically no base to speak of before that (which was the problem in the first place), I just wanted to be able to finish.  But my legs didn't really cooperate with me in the beginning and I ended up dropping several of my runs.  Not only did I feel like I hadn't done enough miles, I was dreading the ridiculous hills that I knew were ahead.  The good news is that my shins have been feeling awesome - but on Friday, I kind of started to freak out about everything that was going on.


Luckily, Corey talked me down, convinced me that I wouldn't die, and I decided to go for it.

{Headed into the mountains}

The GPS took us some crazzzzzy way so we didn't roll into the B&B where we were staying until 10pm on Friday night.  We pretty much just set out our race gear and got in bed.  I always sleep terribly the night before a race, so I was awake when our alarm went off at 6, and I actually got right up (a minor miracle).  Everyone at the hotel was a runner (or cheering on a runner) and our hosts were sponsoring a water stop on the marathon route, so they were up early too and they set out a pretty legit breakfast spread for us.


We didn't have time to pick up our packets the night before (ugh), so we got to the start pretty early.  My pick up went fine, but for some reason, they didn't have Jimmy registered for the 5K.  Luckily they were nice about it and just assigned him a bib (and still gave him a t-shirt).  About that time it started to rain (ugh again), so we headed back to the car to wait it out.  


The half marathon started pretty much right on time at 7:45.  I started towards the back of the pack, and just tried to stick to my race plan - keep all flat/downhill miles under 10:00, hilly miles under 13:00, and walk if necessary.  I really had no idea what finish time I wanted to hit.  I would've been happy with anything under 2:30, and basically, I just didn't want to finish last.  I was worried that since it was a small(ish) race and it was way out in the boonies, that there might be long stretches where I was by myself, but that wasn't the case at all.  I was pretty much never further than like 5 feet from another runner, which was nice.  


And y'all... this course is GORGEOUS.  I didn't turn on my music until mile 10 because there was so much beautiful scenery - the New River, meadows full of wildflowers, tiny little towns with historic general stores.  And throughout the weekend, we spotted several quilt squares, part of the Appalachian Quilt Trail and Ashe County Barn Quilt Project, which I thought was super cool.

{Somewhere in Ashe County, NC}

I wish I had more pictures, but since it was raining at the start, I had my iPhone wrapped in a plastic bag.  By the time I got it together and fished it out, I was no longer interested in the pretty scenery, I just wanted my music, and I just wanted to be done.

You can tell from my splits that the slow miles match up almost exactly with the hilly parts of the course.  I went through the 10K right around 1:01:00, so I knew at that point that I was gonna come in under 2:30 unless I seriously blew up.  I also knew from studying the map that if I could get to mile 9, I could finish, and right as we started up that hill, I heard a girl behind me telling another runner that exact same thing.  

Sure enough, mile 8-9 was the hardest mile of the course for me.  My legs were starting to tire and my running pace was basically not any faster than the pace I could walk up the hill, so I was getting a little discouraged.  Mile 9-10 was better because it was on the downhill, but mile 10-11 was back to a flat section along the river and I was seriously dragging.  When I finally saw the mile marker for mile 12, I almost burst into tears.  

At that point, the course doubled back over the first mile, so I should've known approximately how close I was getting to the finish, but it felt like it took foreverrrrr.  Let's just say there were a LOT of mental F*bombs being dropped, but the start/finish area finally came into view.  I thought that we'd end on the same little bridge that we started on, so I kind of gunned it a little early, because the course goes down into a grassy area, which I wasn't expecting.

{So over it.}

I was not in love with the way the finish was set up at all.  The grass was hard to run in and the ground was very uneven.  I'm shocked that no one sprained an ankle or got seriously hurt.  The whole race was really well organized, there was great on-course support, and the route was insanely pretty.  The finish is my only complaint, and I hope that they change it next year (because I hope to be back).

ANYWAY... exactly 2:09:42 after I started, my first half marathon was over!!!

{DONE.}

Overall, I'm really happy with the way I ran the race.  I stuck to my plan almost exactly, and I really didn't have to walk much at all.  I went through the 10K at 1:01:00ish and I went through the 20K at 2:01:00ish, so I kept it steady the whole time and I never felt too bad at all.  (Well, not any worse that you're supposed to feel anyway.)  Jimmy asked me, about 5 seconds after I finished, if I ever wanted to do this again, and I said yes, so I think that's a good sign! :)

I am pretty sore today, especially in my calves and hips, but my shins don't hurt at all, which is awesome.  I'm happy to be resting today, but I am excited to get back at it later this week.

PS - When they posted the results today, we found out that J placed 6th overall in the 5K and FIRST in his age group.  How cool is that?  That 19 for me is my age group place, btw.  I definitely did not finish 19th overall.

Mish Mash.

Sorry for the radio silence over here.  I have actually been running these past 2 weeks.  In fact, on April 7, J and I ran another 5K and I'm pretty sure I PR'ed.  I've been waiting to post about it because I was hoping that the official results and photos would be posted by now, but no such luck.  So anyway, here's a quick rundown...


We ran the Fallen Heroes 5K in honor of Fargo, a K9 officer who was shot and killed in Columbia last fall.  His human officer/partner, Warren, is a Crossfitter with us, so the gym organized a team in Fargo's honor.  It was a super small race, and it's put on by the ROTC program at Carolina, so it was a pretty fun.  It was cool to see firefighters, soldiers, and policemen/women out there running in full gear.

{Team bandanas - Warren and Fargo}

Like I said, I'm pretty sure I PR'ed by a few seconds.  The time on my Garmin was 25:24, which would be a 15 second PR, but I'm curious to see that the official results say.

My runs this week were 5 miles and 7 miles.  I wanted to get in another 2-3 miles but my legs have been hurting AGAIN.  I'm afraid I can feel the shin splints starting again, and it's seriously bumming me out.  I also banged up both of my knees this week... two different doors, same day.  So I have some lumps and bruises I'm contending with, and an extra rest day was necessary.  Lame.  But nevertheless on Wednesday I managed 5 miles at about a 9:30 pace and today I did 7 (including a very slow and creaky mile warm up).  I ran it as a tempo run - my first and last miles were avg 9:15 pace and the middle 4 averaged 8:48.

My leg has been hurting a little bit since I got home, so I'm icing it as much as I can without giving myself frostbite.  And my friend at work gave me the info for her "healer" (aka massage therapist) so I'm making an appointment to be healed later this week.  

PS - It's BOSTON today!  Good luck running friends!  Please be safe.

Race Report: Cooper River Bridge Run 10K

J and I got into Charleston around 6:45 on Friday night, and our awesome hosts greeted us with a Sam Adams and some delicious white wine, so the weekend got off to a pretty darn good start.  They live within walking distance of the "downtown" area of West Ashley, so we were able to walk to dinner.  We ate at Triangle, which was really fun - it was a beautiful night and we got a prime table inside but right next to a huge open window.  At dinner we strategized about the car situation (it's a point-to-point course finishing in downtown Charleston, so parking is an issue) and decided to drop one car off downtown after dinner.  By the time we got back it was close to 10:30 and definitely time for bed.

We got up at 5:30, were out the door by 6, and made it over to Mt. P and got parked with basically no hassle.  At this point, I was super impressed with the race peeps - packet pick up was painless (according to the friend who picked them up for us... thanks Jackie!), traffic was under control over to the start, and we got a parking spot within like a quarter of a mile of the start.

Things started to go downhill when we were on the way to our respective corrals and decide to stop for the porta potties.  I realize that with 43,000 registered runners, taking a bathroom break is not going to be a super quick endeavor.  But seriously... the lines were SO long and SO disorganized.  People were starting random lines, and there is one dude in Kentucky hat who is lucky that he didn't get punched.  The source of the problem was that the porta potty company dropped them off without making sure they were all open - at least 3 or 4 in our little cluster were still zip tied shut.  Not cool.  So anyway - it took us about 45 minutes to use the bathroom.  By that time, it was 5ish minutes from the start, so we hustled to our corrals thinking we were about to be racing. 

{Mt. P to King Street - let's GO!}

WRONG.  WRONG. WRONG.

The race was scheduled to start at 8am.  The elites didn't actually start until 8:57.  Our wave crossed the start at 9:14.  The delay still hasn't been fully explained, but it seems to have been an issue with loading people onto the buses in downtown.  Apparently, at 7am, when the bridge was supposed to close, there were still hundreds, maybe thousands, of runners in line waiting to board buses downtown.  

So ok fine.  I get that they're not going to start the race when thousands of registered participants haven't made it to the start.  What left a bad taste in my mouth is that none of this was explained to those of us who were waiting in Mt. P.  In fact, it was exactly the opposite - the announcer kept telling us the race would start in 2 minutes, then 1 minute.... then 10 minutes later, we'd still be standing there with no explanation.  This went on FOR AN HOUR.  She also kept telling us to stay hydrated, but there was no water in the corrals.  Plus, by the time the race started I was starving.  I ate a banana and a Clif Bar at 6:00.  I thought we'd be done with the race by 9am, not still waiting to start.  On top of all of that, the temperature difference between 7am and 9am was close to 10 degrees - it was at least 75 and climbing by the time the race started.  And it gets even better... right before the REAL final countdown to race start, I swear I heard the announcer say that "they" (i.e. the race officials) had been very patient with "you people" (i.e. those of us waiting in the corrals).  WTH?! 

Once we actually got started, the race was pretty fun.  I've never run one that big, and it was cool to be in the company of so many people who love running too.  It did, however, make for some very slow first miles.  There were just SO many people, many of them who had clearly lied about their expected finish time in order to be seeded in a higher corral.  But we fought the crazy headwind and made it up the bridge without stopping, and once we got over the hump, I was pretty ready to pick it up.  J and I were running together, and he's never done more than 3 miles at a time, so I was curious how he was going to do.  He hung in there pretty good until about mile 4.5.  From there until the finish, he literally asked me how much farther every 15 seconds.  It was like a little kid in the back seat asking "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"  

{I call this "Pit Stains are Sexy." Pic by Island Photo.}

I think this picture pretty much sums it up - I'm all "Hey!  This is fun! Take my picture!" and poor J (behind me) is all "Hold up, my lungs seem to have stopped functioning."  He really did a good job though, and we finished in 55:04 and 55:05.  When I told my mom that I had officially beaten J, she reminded me that not everything is a competition.  I reminded her that this was a race, so it was indeed a competition, and then I'm sure she rolled her eyes at the phone.  

{Our splits - a few seconds off chip time}

So anyway - I don't think that we'll be doing this race again any time soon, but it was fun, once it got started.  And to be fair, I don't think a delay like that has ever happened before, but it's really just too big of a race for the venue/course.  In my opinion, they need to cap the field at about 35,000, and I think it would be much more enjoyable for everyone, including the race officials.  For me, I think I'd rather do a smaller race and really try to bust out a PR, because I know I can definitely do better than my time on Saturday.  I love the 10K distance though, and I'm excited to do another one sometime soon.

2012 Cooper River Bridge Run: The Short Version.

The short version is that I finished, and I ran the whole way up the bridge.  I really didn't commit to a certain goal for this one, but I knew I wouldn't be happy unless I finished in under an hour.  My official time was 55:04, so that's great!


However, I have a LOT to say about this race, and in particular, the HOUR start delay... so definitely expect a longer race recap later this week.


In the meantime, I will be getting after my calves/shins with The Stick.  Holy cow do I love/hate that thing!

Hilllll No.

So this half marathon that I'm running is in the mountains.  That means hills.  And for a mountain race, I don't think it's really THAT bad, but I'll let you decide for yourself.  

So, two major hills and two smaller ones.  Columbia is NOT flat, which people don't expect, so I feel like I can handle some rollers.  I am not sure I can handle mountains.

That's why I decided to do some hill repeats today.  Guess what?  They were hard, and I did not enjoy them while I was doing them.  Right now, I'm thinking they were kind of fun, and I want to go run some more.  That's usually how it works.  

Anyway, we have a few "steep" hills around here.  I use quotes because you should remember that I am a Florida girl, so my definition of steep is probably a bit questionable.  

This is the hill:

{I told you.  Questionable.}

Need more proof?

Here is the elevation profile from my trusty Garmin...

{I SWEAR THIS IS NOT A CHILD'S DRAWING OF SOME HILLS.}

I did 5 repeats since it was my first time trying something like this, and I've read that hill work can be aggravating for shin splints/stress fractures.  I ran up as fast as I could the first time, and then just tried to hold that time or better.  I jogged/walked down, and then went right back up.  My rest intervals weren't exactly even, but I think I did a pretty good job overall.  

My splits...

Y'all... my hill isn't even a tenth of a mile.  

I am going to dieeeee.

High Five.

Only two runs happened this week, which is super lame of me, but sometimes life happens, right?  I really need to work on becoming a morning runner.  I get out of work at 5, generally, so I always feel like I have plenty of time to go workout, but then after work commitments tend to pop up and I feel like I can't say no, so then the gym doesn't happen.  Lame.


Anyway, on Tuesday, I decided to brave the outdoors (it's allergy season so outside is not my friend right now) and go running down at the river.  It was windy down there which was nice because it kept everything from being covered in pollen.  Also, there is wisteria blooming everywhere so it smelled delicious too.  However, that was about the only nice thing about the run.  It was seriously painful... my calves were SO tight and achy.  Probably because I wore some pretty ridiculous heels to work that day.  Not smart.  

{See.  Pretty!}

Anyway, the plan was 1 warm up mile, 2 miles at short tempo, which should be around 8:40, and 1 cool down.  That did NOT happen.  I started with a warm up mile, but when I tried to pick it up, it just wasn't happening.  I settled for MGP and did the 2 middle miles at 9:01 and 9:03, then cooled down and called it a day.  

Moving on.  Today I did 5 miles, also at MGP, my longest run since the stress fracture.  I somehow hit the lap button at some random interval, so my splits are all funky, but I averaged 8:58, so that was actually much better than expected.  J and I have had a bit of a boozy weekend, and sadly, I am way too old for that shizz.  Drinking multiple beers on consecutive days really wears me out.  So lame.

Friday's booziness:

{I know it's hard to tell, but that's Zac Brown. Eeek!}

Anyway, hopefully there will be more sweating this week.  We're headed to Charleston on Friday for the Cooper River Bridge Run.  I am so, so pumped.  I've never run a race this big before (43,000 people!), and I can't wait.  I've also never run a 10k, so it will be an automatic PR.

Hope y'all had a good weekend.  Happy Monday!