It was the best of times...

Alas, as I usually do, I have neglected this blog.  Why, may you ask?  Because that's what I do.  I have no idea why, but I do.  Maybe it's because I take on too many tasks and like to think of myself as an overachiever?  Maybe I just forget to highlight my runs as I feel when I'm running...or maybe I'm just being lazy.  Whatever it is that makes me this way, I apologize to you, my dutiful reader, and would like to present to you my picture collage of my FIRST EVER HALF MARATHON!!!

As silly as it sounds, running my first half marathon was a lot easier than I thought.  Yes, I said it!!  Being that my first half marathon was the Austin Half Marathon (home of the awesome hills), I made that course my b*tch.  In all seriousness, it wasn't until the last mile that I started to struggle.  From what you can see above, I shaved a good couple of minutes off my 10 mile time, but finishing at 2:49:52 was just amazing and I finished at 10:00 a.m. on the dot.  Unbelievable.  

So I say to anyone that wants to run their first half marathon.  If you can run a couple of 10 mile loops before the race, you are good to go.  I did short miles during the weekday and 10 miles on Saturdays.  With the time change and working so far from where the 10 mile loops is located, I could only do it on Saturdays.  Also, run at the time the actual race would start.  I LOVE running in the mornings, so it was good for me.  The weather was a bit muggy and damn, but very enjoyable.  Ahhhh, to run the Austin Half-Marathon again.

Onto the next...

10k or BUST

So 13 days into the new year and here I am.  It's great to blog about my accomplishments into the new year and my goals that are coming up.  For now, I will walk about the Rogue Distance Festival 10k I ran last Sunday, January 5th.  It was such a fun run, for being a 6.2 miler and the weather made it that much better.  I truly believe that I am a more effective runner running first thing in the morning and also when the temperatures are more on the cooler side.  Waking up the morning of the 10k, the temperature was 39 degrees and windy.  I didn't complain too much...until I got to the starting line.  I had a long sleeve shirt under my Denver Broncos (John Elway #7) shirt, gloves on and something to warm my ears.  I did not want to put on my running sweater because I knew I wouldn't wear it the whole time, that I'd just sweat and be miserable, so I told my boyfriend to hold onto it.  Thank goodness I did because within 4 miles of the race, I was sweating and ended up taking off my gloves.  BUT I did see a few people tying their sweaters around their waist.  Too much work.  Once I run, I just want to run.  Anyway, It was a fun run and I 6.25 miles in 1:07:43 (according to my Garmin).  My race time, since it was a timed race, was 1:09:01.  I think it was a little bit over 6.2 miles because my Nike Plus GPS said 6.34.  Regardless of the distance, it was a fun run and I ended up getting the nicest running shirt from it.  Seriously, it's nice.  It's made from a dry fit type of material and I LOVE IT!

Here's a photo from the race:

2014, Where Have You Been All My Life?

Out with the old, in with the new is the saying every NEW YEAR.  Happy New Year!  A lot of good things happened to me in 2013 and I'm hoping that they will continue on to 2014.  I'm not one to make "RESOLUTIONS" anymore like I used to, but I just look forward to what life brings, what challenges I will face and what lies ahead.  I am very certain that one ACCOMPLISHMENT I want to do this year is complete the Austin Half-Marathon and by complete it, I mean RUN across the finish line. I know what you are thinking...why the CAPS?  Well I feel like these are key words at this moment and just typing as I go.  Maybe one thing I can do is drink MORE water.  I feel like I don't drink enough.

Anyway

As the day came to an end, I did a little treadmill run.  I don't know if it's the conditions of the facility I use the treadmill, but I REALLY hate using that treadmill.  It's always extremely hot and I just can't focus.  Until I have the time to run on the streets, I think I'm going to TRY and run a mile everyday.  Just one mile and if I'm feeling good, two miles.  For some reason I cannot run more that 3 miles on the treadmill.  Maybe I can break that mental mold and surpass the 3 miles.  I need to be more dedicated.  Motivate myself MORE and it is POSSIBLE that it can happen.  Ahhhhh.

This Sunday I have my first race of the year.  I'm running the Rogue Distance Festival 10k.  I'm excited because it's my first RACE of the year and I will get a medal.  I really want to focus on setting a pace of 11:00/mile since that is what I would like the half-marathon at.  If I can just focus on that for 6 miles and then pick up the pace just 30 seconds every other mile, I think I can achieve my goal.  Well IDEALLY I would like to finish the half marathon in 2:30 but I can settle for 3:00 or less but no more than 3:00.  Phew...that's one hellava goal!

Until next time.

xxx

Bye Bye 2013

2013 has been quite the year.  I've accomplished a lot of things that I never knew could happen to me or even happen in my lifetime.  I ran my first 10 mile run, which to me, that was the biggest accomplishment ever.  Also, in 29 weeks, I ran 100 miles.  I know it's not much, but I think it's an improvement.  I guess training for this half marathon has made me think a lot about how my body moves.  Going to my happy place and just clearing my head has been the best thing.  I know some runs I've done have been a struggle, but I've managed to get through it.  So here's to you 2013.  May 2014 bring me many more surprises.  I know for one thing, running a half-marathon will definitely be a surprise upon itself.  I am more focused on finishing than time, so for my first half-marathon (and definitely not my last), I think that is a good mindset to go in with.  I'm excited, yet anxious to get on with it.  I will do well.  Another resolution I would like to accomplish will be to BLOG more.  I always say blog more, but with the many extra activities that I do, it's difficult.  That, I will promise to do as much as possible.

Anyone have any resolutions? Sometime you want to share?

xoxo

The Longest MILE

A lot of thoughts when into my mind starting Friday night leading up to the moment I arrived at Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail to "test" the 10 mile look.  After two weekends of putting it off (one reason was because it was days after the big flood that happened down in Austin and the second reason is that after going to Fun Fun Fun Fest on Friday, I woke up with an allergy headache from all the dust), I finally set my alarm and decided Saturday (11/16) was going to be the day.  I did my usual morning routine when I go running on Saturdays, except this time the dogs took a little longer to do their business so I did not get out of the house until about 6:30 a.m.  I made sure to have a pot of coffee and I grabbed a banana as I headed out the door.  Walking to my car, I noticed how crazy the clouds were looking and I almost forgot we were supposed to get some rain.  I don't remember what the chances were, but as I drove down to Austin (I live in Cedar Park which is about 22 miles NW), I saw some sprinkles land on my windshield.  Very set on not turning around, I decided to drive all the way down there.  Worst case scenario, I could time my drive for the next time if I ended up getting there and it was pouring rain.  Much to my amazement, there were tons of runners and the weather was decent.  Not only was it decent, it was better than I expected.  As most of you know, lately, I've been running WITHOUT music and for some reason it has been working.  What I did was set my RunKeeper app, I had my iPod shuffle on and also my watch.  Since I had a bit of technical difficulties with my Garmin watch, I decided to walk across the MoPac pedestrian bridge and start on the south side.  Once I got there, I was ready to go.  No music, just my mine concentrating on breathing, listening to my body and legs as each foot hits the floor.  Mind you, I've never been on a run for more than 6.25 miles so mentally I went in there with the fact that I would be doing a lot of walking and not to be mad at myself if that happened.  Little did I know how my body would take such a long run.  When I got to about mile 5, I needed a bathroom break.  Thankfully there was a bathroom, WITHOUT A DOOR, so I had to put the garbage pail in the way.  After that, I felt good and continued to run.  Checking out the scenery, I started to get to familiar ground, which was where I usually do my 3 mile loops.  I couldn't believe it.  I looked at my watch and I was at mile 8.  Nothing felt better than knowing that, especially since I wasn't as tired as I thought I was.  I did do small little stops, but when I continued, my body just kept wanting to run, so I let it, without exerting myself too much to burn all my energy.  Once I got to about where Lamar was, I could see that breaks were coming more and more frequent.  I took about a 5 minute walk and then the end was close.  Finally getting to the point where I couldn't run anymore, I stopped my watch and looked at it.  9.13 miles of ACTUALLY RUNNING.  Just running more than 6.25 miles, I felt like it was quite the accomplishment.  I can't wait to try it again!

As seen on my run, the lovely photos of Austin, Texas and also my shoes -- wanted to show how they got so dirty from the trail.

'Till next time!

Night Call

When I wake up, the first thing I do (besides pee) is put on my clothes and take my dogs outside.  Two (mini) flights of stairs down and the same up, do the same thing one more time because I have three little ones.  After the dog-scapade, my mind is on go.  I think about what I'm going to wear, remind myself what day it is and start moving.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I run with Tami since I need to log in some miles and her neighborhood is more "runner friendly" than mine is.  I literally have a strip that I can run that is about 3 miles, but it's always fun running with friends.  As of late, I feel that I started to slowly increase my endurance with doing shorter miles during the week and keeping at a slower pace than usual so I can keep my body at a constant motion and I did just that.  Today, I ran 3.29 miles without stopping once.  I did slow down the pace a little and the last .75 miles speed it up, but I felt absolutely great.  Here is just a picture grid:

I rewarded myself with an amazing banana and almond butter soy protein shake.  There is something about running in cooler weather that I love, except I keep forgetting to put chapstick on before I head out the door.  All in all, Thursday will be my next run and I think I'm going to try and go for 4 miles.  We shall see.

Longer, Stronger

So this past Saturday I woke up for my usual morning run with my friend Tami.  We both planned on doing the 6 mile loop, so I was a little excited but more tired than anything.  I wake up at about 5:45 a.m. to try and get to her house by 6:30 a.m. and I promised her that I would try my hardest to get up and go.  Little did I know how cold it was going to be and I still needed to take my dogs outside to go potty (apartment living).  Anyway, I got to her house at a respectable time and started my run at 6:45 a.m.  As you can see my splits below, I was really impressed I kept my pace at a good tempo with mile 3, 4 and 5.  I even sped it up at mile 5, which was pretty impressive considering I felt like I was not going that pace whatsoever.  I literally lagged the last 2 1/2 miles and I stopped quite a few times, so when I saw this, I was really happy.

Now is where I write to you about my slight anxiety about this half marathon, but after this weekend, I feel that I am slowly getting better and building endurance.  I take two days out of the week to run 2 1/2 to 3 miles and stay at a constant motion, which is something I rarely do.  Last Thursday I was really excited to see that I had a constant motion when I ran 3.19 miles.  That was probably the first time ever that I ran straight without stopping and a lot of factors have been playing a big part in my routine.  I stopped running with music, I've basically feel each run and focus on listening to my body and I carry a hand held water bottle.  Since I'm not much of a water drinker, I just fill it half way, but surprising it feels like I'm not even holding anything.  Those are two major changes that have improved my run.  Regardless, I am taking it one day at a time and I'm not going to start freaking out until the beginning of February.  As of today, I'm stickin' to the plan.

:)