Dallas White Rock Marathon

Sunday morning, 4:22 am, I was awoken by the “Flight of the Conchords” theme song. My brother had sent an eager text, “Up yet?”
I snidely replied, “I am now. Thanks…”
He apologized and I tried to get 30 more minutes of sleep. I started to get ready around 5 and ate a little oatmeal for breakfast just like I did before Lamesa in March. I didn’t want to try anything new because I knew this worked. We started walking from our hotel to the starting line around 6:30. I figured this would be a good warm up and should take too much energy out of me. According to MapMyRun.com, this is only a 1.6 mi walk. It never occurred to me that I’d have to walk back to the hotel after running the marathon.
I ran into one of my local running buddies as we were walking to the spot that my brother and I had talked about. He exchanged pleasantries, wished each other luck, and I turned to meet my brother but ran into a girl I went to undergrad with. What are the odds!! We also talked a little and then I went to find jon. He was set up in the AAC, which was very crowded. Ben spotted jon so we worked our way over to him. Another of my running buddies spotted me while jon was putting on his bib. This must be an omen. How many people just randomly run into 3 people they know out of a 20,000+ crowd?
jon got situated and we decided it was time to do our final preparations before the race. We waited in line for about 30 minutes before we were able to “finally be prepared” for the race. jon actually got walked in on while he was “preparing.”
With about 15 minutes left before the start, we decided it was time to get in our corrals. jon and I walked into the runner’s only area and Ben went to find a place for the spectators. jon had previously entertained the idea of running the first mile or so with me. I didn’t like this idea so much. I tried several times to tell him that it wasn’t very smart. I think eventually my advice sunk in because he told me he was going to go farther back to his pace group. We gave each other a hug. “Remember why you’re doing this. No matter what happens, you’re doing this because you love to run,” he told me. And then it was just me.
I had planned on starting with one of my running buddies that I had been training with. We would run together every Saturday and were shooting for the same goal of a 3:30 finish. How could I accidentally run into four people, but not find one that I’m looking for? Then, the sea of runners parted and I saw my friend. I yelled his name and he turned around. We were finally ready to get this race started.
It took us a little under 3 minutes to get to the start once the gun went off. We started the race and tried to keep sight of the 3:30 pace group that was about 30 feet in front of us. I was also looking for my husband on the side line. I finally spotted his orange toboggan and yelled, “Ben!” I waved and he shot an awesome picture:

We took the first turn and it looked like the 3:30 pace group was leaving us behind, but my Garmin said we were on pace. Epi and I just let them go. We could still see the sign, but we didn’t realize that the group leader would drop the sign after about the third mile. We never saw them again. We did, however, run into several runners who were confused as to where they were. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who wanted to follow the pace group from a distance.
My training consisted of work outs that split the long run into segments. For example, my 20 miler was a 5, 5, 5. This means a 2 mile warm up, 5 mi at 8:20 pace, 0.5 mi easy, 5 mi at pace, 0.5 mi easy, 5 mi at pace, and then a 2 mi cool down. Jerry had told me that I needed to think of the marathon like this. A 10, 5, 5, and then the last 10K would take care of itself.
This turned out to be a great strategy. The first ten miles were fairly easy. In fact, Epi and I went a little too fast. I was very concerned that I would die out at 20. We were just having too much fun though. We were flying up the hills and coasting down the other side. We were passed by two girls wearing matching shirts that said “Boston Bound” on the back. We thought they might be going a little too fast, but were excited because we were hoping to be Boston bound here as well. Epi needed a 3:35 and I needed a 3:40 to qualify.
There were a lot of signs. One that I remember in particular said, “Run as if Tiger were chasing you!”
I also started noticing that my mile splits on the Garmin were off by about 0.2 mi. I figured we were okay because we were going a little fast.
After we hit mile 10 I told Epi that I really needed to try to hit even 8s (8:00 is the pace for a 3:30 marathon) for the next ten miles. He agreed. So, we ran a high 7:50s for the next few miles and then got back down to the low 7:50s through mile 18. I’d say we stuck to our goal. . .
The first 5 mile segment of my race was around the lake. This was a natural place to mentally take a different look at the race. The lake was gorgeous. The day had started out overcast with some pretty heavy fog, and it had not lifted yet. There was some wind around the lake, but not too much. It did feel like we were running into the wind the whole time though. I kept telling Epi that he could speed up if he wanted to, that he didn’t have to stay with me. But we stayed together. We knew our pace was great.
We crossed the half right on pace and then the next thing I knew we were on the last 5 mile segment I had made for myself in this race. By this point I was starting to realize how fast we were going and that I still had 11 miles left. My right quad was stinging a little bit, but it was definitely not enough to slow down. I knew I’d be taking the elevator for the next several days.
Somewhere around the lake a man came up behind Epi and me and asked if this was the Lubbock group. We laughed and talked to him a little bit. He and I both went to the same college, but he graduated a few years before me. He’s also a member of the church of Christ. I had heard that a lot of people from his congregation were running this race. He told us he recognized us from the half marathon we ran in November. He wished us luck and we dittoed and then we were on our way.
I think it was either mile 18 or 19 where we saw one of the “Boston Bound” girls struggling. I hoped that the other girl was doing well and felt bad for this one. At least she had a 10 minute buffer for her qualifying time.
Mile 19 is where you come out of the lake. At White Rock they have different groups compete for the best water/aid stations. The only group that I remember is the mile 19ers. It was the Hooters girls. They had a “Starting Line” which I think should have been at mile 20 because that’s where the race begins. They were also handing out Clif Shots. I got a chocolate one. Gross. The Hooters girls were very fitting because right after you turn the corner to leave their station is the Dolly Parton Hills.
Now these men should get an award! There were about five men with nasty blonde wigs and balloons stuffed in their shirts handing out various beverages. They were placed in the valley between the two Dolly hills. Apparently people complain that these are pretty bad hills. I think they were more like mosquito bites.
Now we were in to mile 20! At this point my watch was about 0.4 mi off of the course’s markers. It must have been all the curves where we didn’t run the tangents and trying to get through all the people at the beginning of the race. If only we had tried harder to run the tangents! Oh well.


At some point early in this last part of the race, Epi and I saw another of our buddies. We knew Paul was going for a 3:30, so we were a little saddened to see him up ahead of us because we knew we were gaining on him. We eventually caught up with him and he ran with us for about 2 or 3 miles. It was here that Epi started to speed up. I ran my fastest mile in this portion, but I think that if I would have kept it up I would have hit the wall. I knocked on the wall’s door for a little bit. My chest started getting tight and I was almost wheezing/gasping for air. I slowed down by about 10 seconds/mile and the door opened and I busted through that wall. I couldn’t go any faster, but I was keeping my sub-8 minute pace.
In the last mile I had two relayers pass me. One of them said, “I feel like I’m cheating by passing all these people who ran the full.” I let her know (jokingly) that I felt like she was cheating too. One of the police officers at an intersection told me that I was smiling too much and made this look easy. I turned the last corner and was running down the same street I walked down just a few hours earlier. I knew I was going to make my 3:30 goal. I looked up and saw Ben cheering for me. I pushed as hard as I could to catch the people in front of me and I saw that the race clock had yet to pass 3:33 (I was about 3 minutes off of the gun time). I raised my arms and crossed the finish line! I did it! 3:30:12

Epi finished about 45 seconds ahead of me and Paul finished about 45 second after me. We were walking through the finisher’s chute and a woman handed me a hat. “Top 100 Finishers Marathon,” it said. I found out this was for women finishers. I got my Mylar blanket and started to walk toward the finisher’s shirts when I got stopped by a news reporter. I answered some questions and found out later that I got on the news . . . sort of. They put my name on another girl’s face. Oh well. I tried to find some food and water. This finisher’s area was not very well organized. I finally got some sustenance and went into the AAC to find my husband. I went down the stairs (not fun) only to find he was up the stairs on the other side (not fun). We met, I ate, cleaned up, took pictures, and then we went to watch for my brother. We cheered him on to his great finish. Somehow I was able to run to catch up with my brother because he didn’t see me at the corner where we were cheering. Then we walked the 1.6 miles to the hotel very quickly so we could check out before 2. I felt GREAT!
Boston Bound, April 2011!

















Stats:
Bib 705
Final Time 3:30:12.0
415/4486 overall, 44/1613 women, 12/283 age group, 64.4% age grade

Clock Time: 3:32:54
Chip Time: 3:30:12
10K Rank: 715
10K Time: 50:34
Half Rank: 689
Half Time: 1:46:00
20 mi Rank: 540
20 mi Time: 2:42:06
24 mi Rank: 428
24 mi Time: 3:12:47

Mile – split (heart rate avg/HR max)
1 - 8:11.59 (185/209)
2 - 7:56.05 (174/185)
3 - 7:48.36 (175/183)
4 - 7:52.50 (177/186)
5 - 8:08.63 (182/186) (hill)
6 - 7:46.86 (181/187) (downhill)
7 - 7:57.60 (182/186)
8 - 7:45.32 (180/187)
9 - 7:43.74 (178/184)
10 - 7:47.0 (179/185)
11 - 7:54.27 (181/187)
12 - 7:58.69 (179/182)
13 - 7:54.32 (179/184)
14 - 7:54.83 (181/185)
15 - 7:56.71 (181/186)
16 - 7:52.26 (182/186)
17 - 7:53.38 (183/186)
18 - 7:58.29 (182/185)
19 - 7:49.93 (183/185)
20 - 8:15.37 (183/189) (hill)
21 - 7:59.96 (187/189) (downhill)
22 - 7:32.72 (187/189) (downhill)
23 - 7:41.07 (184/188)
24 - 7:54.60 (186/189)
25 - 7:54.22 (180/189)
26 - 7:35.87 (184/189)
0.2 - 5:11.36 (178/190)

GPS measured this course at 26.69 mi (7:53 pace)

Buffalo Wallow Races 2009

Before this race began I had decided that I would run at goal marathon pace (8:00/mile) for the first ten miles and then really push to get low 7:00s for the last three miles. Well, a call from my "coach" on Wednesday changed all that. He thought I should race it and try to blast my PR. He has been slightly injured, so he wanted to pace me to a 7:40 pace half. This seems a little lofty, but my training has gone really well and according to a race predictor, this would put me on target for a 3:30 full marathon.

This half is the hardest half marathon course in the state according to my running club website. There are three major hills (see map and click "view elevation") and several rolling hills on the back side of the loop.



Another caveat to the story: Ben decided to run the half as well. Without having run since the last race. Without having run farther than 10 miles in his whole life. Without having run that distance in about 3.5 years. I think he has a death wish.

We woke up around 7 on Saturday morning and got ready to head out of Buffalo Springs Lake. We picked up our bib numbers, chatted with a few friends about stuff like our P90X workouts, and warmed up a little bit. It wasn't too hard to warm up since it was already getting into the high 50s. I think it was in the low 40s last year; and slightly cloudy. Today was all sun. By the end of this race it was in the low 70s.

The race got started about 10-15 min late because there had been a registration glitch. About 30 people who had preregistered did not actually get registered. After all that was taken care of I started running with my "coach" and five other people (one of which is a woman) from my running group. I started scoping out the other females that were ahead of us in this first mile. I saw who we'll call Black Shirt and Green Gloves. We finished our first mile in 7:52.37.

The next mile was smooth sailing at 7:39.91, but we could see the first hill looming in the distance. We passed Black Shirt at the first water station, but then Pink Hat passed us as we went up the hill. Coach kept trying to make me keep my heart rate below 182 as we made our climb. It got to 190. This mile was done in 7:58.32.

We passed Pink Hat as we coasted down the other side and then entered my favorite part of the course. The back side winds through a small neighborhood with little rolling hills the whole way. I could still see Green Gloves which reminded me of how I kept an eye on jon during the race last year. These three miles were completed in 7:22.73, 7:34.29, and 7:35.57.

Then the second hill. This is looks like it would be the hardest hill according to the elevation chart, but it doesn't faze me as much as the first/third hill. We ran this hill mile in 8:13.61. Coach made me climb it slowly and several people passed us, but we passed them after cresting the top.

The next two miles were finished in 7:29.19 and 7:17.42. At this point another of our group joined us on his bike. He's been injured and recently had a minor surgery so he came along to give us some encouragement. We could still see Green Gloves in the distance, but I felt like we were gaining on her. We were only about 37 seconds behind her when we could first see the hill. At the bottom of the hill we were 25 second behind. This mile was finished in 7:51.49 and my heart rate reached its maximum for this race of 192.

I was slowly reeling in Green Gloves when it hit me. I was tired! Coach was talking too much and several of our group had either dropped off or run ahead of us. All that was left was me, the other woman, and the "coach." I was starting to wheeze a little, but didn't feel too too bad, so I kept pushing. Miles eleven and twelve were finished in 7:39.0 and 7:32.93. We caught Green Gloves at the end of the twelfth mile and passed her, but then she passed us again.

At this point I had conceded to get third for the women. Green Gloves was about 5 seconds ahead of us and the woman running with me seemed really strong. I felt like I was struggling a lot more than either of them. With about a half mile to go we caught Green Gloves again. This time she had no answer for us and Coach looked back and said she actually started walking. So now I thought I would get second.

We turned the corner and saw we had about a quarter mile left. My friend on his bike really wanted to see a race to the finish between us women. The other girl started cramping and gasping and he told her that it's the end of the race. Who cares if she's hurting?! Then he told me to pick it up! Pump those arms! Use those P90X biceps! I really dug deep and finished the last full mile in 7:17.77 and the 0.1 (0.24 according to my GPS watch) in 1:29.94. My total time was 1:40:55 which is 5 minutes better than last year. And, oh yeah, I won for the women and got 20th overall!

Coach was very pleased and has told me that very rarely do you get a race like this where you don't think you could have gone one second faster. I am really pleased with my performance and what this means for the marathon that is only four weeks away. I can smell a 3:30!!!

After I had made my rounds talking to friends and meeting new ones (including Green Gloves who I commended her on her performance and thanked her for a good race) I started looking for Ben to come in. I expected that he'd be done around 2:10 or 2:20, but didn't know if that would hold up since it was pretty hot. Well, at 2:10:21 he crossed the finish line and got 98 out of 144 runners. He doesn't know it yet, but he's turning into a runner. I think that maybe his competitive side might prevail and get him to run more regularly. I'm okay with that as long as he doesn't beat me!

I'm Baaaaaaack

So, I tested the waters in the Runner's World community by posting a couple of blogs there. Turns out that my one reader, at least the one that leaves comments, couldn't leave comments. Therefore, this is for my brother. I'm back. With a vengeance. I have lots of races to report... Here goes:
San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Relay, 5.31.09
B and I packed up our bags and headed to the West Coast so I could run with three of my friends in the marathon relay. I had been doing 10K specific training for about a month and just come off a 5K PR, so I was ready to race at 10K at sea level with two downhill miles. At the expo I get my bib number and drumstick/baton. I got some inspiration from the cheetahs at the world famous San Diego Zoo and then ate dinner with my teammates at the Soup Plantation.
The morning of the race I go into Corral 1. I've never thought that I should line up that close to the elites, but we were planning on breaking 3 hours for the marathon. I think I should get in Corral 1 from now on, though. There were first time marathoners, people who said they wanted to finish in 3:40 or slower. They obviously didn't read the corral-pace guide.
The national anthem was sung and then the gun was fired. We were off!!
My Garmin logged the following bits of information for this race:
mile 1 - 7:13.65
mile 2 - 7:01.18
mile 3 - 6:57.39
mile 4 - 6:21.94 (downhill)
mile 5 - 6:37.54 (downhill)
mile 6 - 7:16.33
mile 0.67 - 4:49.84
I set several PRs during this run: 2 mi (miles 3-4) - 12:59.48, 5 K (miles 1.9-5) - 20:31.0, 10 K (0-6.2) - 43:36

The race had a chip mat set up at the 10K mark, but the baton exchange wasn't until 6.67 miles. I was very please with my time and with out my team ran. Here are their results:
Leg 1 @ 6.2 mi - 43:36
Leg 2 @ 13.1 mi - 47:27
Leg 3 @ 21 mi - 51:20
Leg 4 @ 26.2 mi - 35:10
With a final time of 2:57:32!

Levelland Lope 10K, 6.13.09
From January to June 10 I had been dealing with pain in my ankle that had only been getting worse and worse. I had decided that if it was still hurting after San Diego I would go to the doctor. Well, I put that off until it was hurting during the day. I had typically been feeling pain only during runs. I visited my PCP and she ran some X-rays that came back inconclusive, but abnormal. So we scheduled an MRI for Friday morning (June 12, the day before the race). Apparently, I had an edema in my fibula which she consulted with an orthopedist and they concluded it was a stress fracture. Well, that just didn't make sense to me. My pain was on the inside of my ankle, the fibula is on the outside. She told me previously that I could run the race, but the only way it would heal was to get off it and rest. I decided to run this race and then take two weeks off from running.
I got to the race and realized my Garmin hadn't been charging overnight. The batteries were out. Luckily my sister-in-law is borrowing my old running watch, so I was able to use that one.
Here are the splits from this race:
mile 1 - 7:07.73
mile 2 - 7:28.20
mile 3 - 7:37.75
mile 4 - 8:01.50
mile 5 - 8:32.19
mile 6 - 8:00.56
mile 0.2 - 1:23.00
Total - 45:55

I was very pleased with my time, but there was a bit of drama in this race. The race started and I passed a girl we'll call "Blondie." She had on short pink shorts that rode up with every other step. She was pulling them down on the opposite steps. Ahead of her I saw another girl I'll call "Sports Bra." This girl looks like a triathlete. She's very fit and looks like she has about 5% body fat. I was pretty jealous.
I'm right behind Sports Bra for about two miles and then I pass her. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm in first place for the women. Luckily this is an out and back course, so at the 5K turnaround I'm 99% sure that there are no other women in front of me.
Fast forward to the finish line... I turn the corner to enter the parking lot and there's Blondie trotting along to the chute. "What?!" I think to myself, "She must have be running the two mile." I still kick it to the finish and she ends up finishing 5 seconds ahead of me.
I ask, "Did you run the two mile or the 10K?"
"The 10K," says Blondie.
I'm so confused, so I start talking to some of my running buddies. No one remembers her until the very end of the race. At this point they are already giving out the awards and they called Blondie's name as the overall female winner. She's already left.
So I go to Sports Bra and ask if she thinks she should have been second for the women. Her boyfriend jumps up, "I thought that one of you two should have won it!" So he runs over to the guy giving out the awards to say that the results are wrong. Another runner said they saw her turn at the two mile mark. After all these testimonies they recalibrate the results and announce that I was the overall female winner! This was an awesome way to go into my recovery from my ankle injury.
I haven't seen Blondie at a club race since.

XIT Rodeo 5K, 8/8/09
This race was held in my husband's hometown. We ran this after coming back from vacation and as a test to see how I could race after trying to let my ankle heal. My goal was to run 7:45 pace. This was also my sister-in-law's first 5K! Here are my results:
mile 1 - 7:37.69
mile 2 - 7:57.06
mile 3 - 7:45.94
mile 0.1 - 27.18
Total - 23:48 (7:40 pace)

This race also had some drama. They were announcing the results and called my sister-in-law's name as the winner of my age group. I asked them if they meant me, and they looked back at the bib numbers and determined that there was a mix up. I won my age group and she got 5th. Still an awesome race for her first 5K!

Shallowater Stampede 10K, 9.12.09
My first 10K since the injury was diagnosed. My hubby and his sister were racing here. This would be her first 10K ever. I ran:
mile 1 - 7:39.26
mile 2 - 7:28.05
mile 3 - 7:20.65
mile 4 - 7:23.85
mile 5 - 7:22.87
mile 6 - 7:13.99
mile 0.2 - 1:30.83
Total - 45:59
22/108 overall, 3/33 women, 1/11 age group

B ran 58:13 and beat his sister who ran ran 58:16.

Red Raider Road Race 10K, 10.10.09
And now to this past weekend's race. I wanted to run this 10K faster than 45 minutes. According to the McMillan Race Predictor a 45:00 10K means I can run a marathon in 3:31:11. This is very close to my 3:30 goal for the Dallas Whiterock Marathon I'm training for. I ended up running:
mile 1 - 7:13.24
mile 2 - 7:16.69
mile 3 - 7:11.78
mile 4 - 7:14.30
mile 5 - 7:11.04
mile 6 - 7:07.63
mile 0.2 (0.33 for Garmin) - 2:11.26
Total - 45:24
28/189 overall, 2/86 women, 1/11 age group

B ran 51:58; He cut off ~6 min from his previous 10K without having run at all since then! P90X must be working!
My Garmin measured this course a little long at 6.33 mi. I was still very pleased with my time even if it was exactly 6.2 mi.

Now that I'm caught up I will try to stay caught up. Thanks for reading!

I've moved!!!!!!!

I am going to try out a new home for this blog. runnersworld.com has started a new social networking section on its site which includes blogs. I hope this link works. http://www.runnersworld.com/community/persona/index.jsp?UID=8231006015&plckPersonaPage=PersonaBlog&plckUserId=8231006015 That's the new location for Running From Dogs. Go there to read my most recent race report on the Ransom Canyon Run!

The Great HOGG Race

“The race is a celebration of the training.” –Jerry

I sure did celebrate my training in this race. At 5:05 am on March 28th my alarm on my cell phone went off. I didn't need it though. I had been awake since 4:55. I was so excited about the race! I had laid in bed waiting on the alarm so as to not waste any energy that I might need during the race. I had been tapering for three weeks (a 45 mi week, then 35, then 15 prior to the marathon). I had been carbo loading for the past three days (I gained 3 pounds). I was ready!

I got up and ate some oatmeal and drank a little Gatorade. I checked the weather for the billionth time in 24 hours and decided to wear a long sleeved shirt and tights. I started the race with heavy gloves that I shed after two miles and a jacket that I shed after ten. The morning started off really cold and warmed up to around 40 °F by 11 am. The worst part, and the reason I was obsessed with weather.com, was the wind. It was around 15 mph at the start of the race, and got up to 20-25 mph for the second half.

Ben & I left our apartment to pick up B & V. B was running the race with me and V is his girlfriend who also happens to be Ben's sister. We picked them up, but realized the course map was on our kitchen counter. After getting that, we were on our way to the race. We arrived in the tiny town of Lamesa around 7:10. B and I picked up our race packets and started getting ready for the race. I jogged for about a quarter of a mile, took a puff of my inhaler, and then everyone started lining up for the race. I think the gun went off a little before 8 which is when the race was supposed to start. So, we were off! I tried hard to stay slow for the first few miles. Luckily I was borrowing a Garmin Forerunner 305 from Jerry. I had it set to only show my current pace, lap time, and lap distance. I also was wearing my heart rate monitor to keep track of my effort. I ran the first two miles in 8:46.44 and 8:52.20, respectively. I decided it was time to pick it up. I could afford it because my heart rate was pretty stable in the high 160s and my goal was 8:23 pace. From mile 3 to mile 10 I stayed around 8:20-8:25, but my heart rate was climbing. I was instructed to not let it go past 175. I was getting pretty close.

A little after mile 10 a car pulled up beside me. It was Lee & Jerry! I hadn't expected Lee to come to help pace me, but it was a nice surprise. They talked to me from their car for about 100 yards and then Jerry took off to park the car. Lee was dropped off to run with me. We slowed down a bit to get my heart rate under control. Jerry met us around mile 12. Miles 10 through 20 were a breeze. You might even say they were even more than that; how about a gust? Jerry and Lee blocked the wind for me and they agreed with me that the course was pretty hilly. Jerry stopped at one of the rest stops and then spent a few more miles catching up. The funny thing is that one portion of the course is an out-and-back, but Jerry went all the way to the turn around point. There was another marathoner between Jerry and us, so I assume he didn't want to freak that runner out by "cutting the course." These miles were all run around 8:30 pace.

At mile 20 Jerry asked was the total time was. I said "Two fiddy." Jerry said, "Two fifty?" I said, "No, two fiddy." I don't think he got it.

This is where we started to pick up the pace. We knew the last 10K could be finished in approximately 50 minutes. We all knew that my goal was within reach. The next four miles were awesome. I ran one at 7:58. The slowest in this section was 8:10. Then it hit. The dreadful disease I've battle my whole life.

Asthma.

I could barely breathe. I wanted to cry. My legs felt fine. My lungs didn't. We slowed down. We only slowed down to around 8:30, but that did the trick. I got my breathing under control. At this point though, I couldn't go much faster.

Jerry went to get his car while Lee and I finished the last 3/4 of a mile. We turned the corner to finish on an uphill grade against the wind. Lee was acting as my rabbit, but I wanted to beat him. He said he would keep his pace and if I passed him that that was all me. I dug deep into my energy reserves. I was almost finished! I looked at the Garmin and it showed I was running 8:16 pace. I looked up and saw a woman running from the building to the finish line. She was holding a clipboard. My time almost didn't get recorded. I ran as hard as I could and I crossed the finish line. "3:39:12!" said the woman with the clipboard. I did it. I achieved my goal. I ran a BQ. Jerry told me that on a less hilly course, with no wind, at sea level, I can take 10 minutes off this time.

I can't wait until Whiterock.

Out of the seven marathoners, I finished second. The first guy finished just 13 minutes ahead of me. I was the first out of two women, so I got a plaque!

Race post script:

Ben and V gave me Gatorade at three different points in the race. They really helped me stay energized by doing this for me. The last two times I got the drink, Lee and Jerry carried the bottle for me. They really helped me the whole time. I appreciate all these people who supported me so much during the marathon.

Also, B finished the race as well. But, as Ben says, the first marathon teaches you to respect the training plan. B ran the first 15 miles and then walked the rest. That sounds a lot like the Austin marathon last year with my brother. B finished on a knee that had been bothering him for a few weeks in 5:49. He is planning on running a half before his next marathon. I think he'll wait about a year before he runs this distance again.

After the race, I got to keep the Garmin for a week. I loved it. I ran with it almost every day, and even walked some of my regular courses to measure them more accurately. Ben saw how much I used it and liked it and he surprised me with one of my own just yesterday. I had hoped that he might do that, but I did not think he would. This is such a big purchase and such a running specific piece of equipment that I figured he'd have me pick it out and get it for myself eventually. Needless to say, I was extremely surprised and excited. I've already run with it and I look forward to a lot more runs with it.

I am a Champion!!

“Once you have decided that winning isn't everything, you become a winner.” -George Sheehan

Last week was my second running of the Prairie Dog Runs. This year was much different from last year. Last year I was a newbie to my running club and I did not know anyone. Now I feel like I'm really a part of this group. I have friends that I run with every week and they have really helped me to improve a lot as a runner.
Another difference between this year and last is that I was not racing this race. That is a very hard thing to do. Last year I ran here two weeks after the Austin marathon and this year I ran two weeks before my next marathon. I tried really hard to keep my heart rate below 168. This is one of my prescribed effort levels from Coach Jerry. I did fairly well because my average heart rate was 157, but my max for the run was 180. These numbers may be a little skewed because it was pretty cold and sometimes my HR monitor reads incorrectly when it's frigid. The course was also pretty hilly, so the 180 doesn't sound too outlandish. If I did hit that HR, then it would have only been for a moment.
So, to get on to how I did in the race. My finish time for the 4 mi race according to the official clock was 35 flat. My watch said 35:24.76. Mile 1 was finished in 8:43.03, 2 in 9:19.59, 3 in 8:48.75, 4 in 8:33.39.
This course is sort of an out and back. I say sort of because there is a little loop at the part where we turn around. I got to see all my running buddies and I really wanted to be up in the front pack with them. My main competitor was the first woman and 7th or 8th overall. There were two other women between us and if I was racing I definitely would have been able to catch them. That was really hard for me, especially in the second half of the race because they were slowing down. Ben says I sped up a little, but I'm not sure. I might have, but it also might have just seemed like it because I had a lot of energy left. At the end of the race I finished 34/68 overall, 4/20 women, 1/1 age group. I earned a medal! This is my favorite medal as it has a little prairie dog protruding out of it. (See the pick of last year's medal)
Ben also earned a medal with his finishing time of 37:13. One of my friends from grad school also ran with us. He beat both Ben and me, but he didn't get a medal. He's in a pretty tough age group. I felt sorry for him that he didn't get one, but I think he got over it pretty quickly. He finished in 31:21 and was 6/7 for his age group.

I'm really looking forward to my marathon that's less than a week away. This taper has been pretty tough. I feel like I'm not working at all, but I guess that's a good thing. I also have given myself a diagnosis of Plantar Fasciitis. It doesn't hurt while I'm running, and I've fashioned a plantar fascia stretching devise to sleep in; so hopefully that will help it heal quickly. I am hoping to run a 3:40 marathon, but I will be content with just a sub 4. I don't know what I'll do if I don't run that. I might have to find an out of state marathon to run in the summer to earn my sub 4 status if I don't do it this time around. Wish me luck!

Catching up...

"This blog SUCKS!" -bciii

I know, I know. This is why I don't like new year's resolutions! However, I haven't run in a race since January. I have one next weekend, so I'll post the report & uphold my resolution!

January was "Loop the Lake," a 5 mile run around one of the playa lakes here in West Texas. My mile splits are as follows: 1 - 7:23.272 - 6:46.163 - 7:52.114 - 7:31.465 - 7:08.74 for a total of 36:36 according to the race timers. I felt really awesome that day and these were my results compared to the field: 15/83 overall, 2/30 women, 1/1 age group. Yay! First out of 1!

My next race is this weekend. This is the Prairie Dog Runs 4 miler and I'm really looking forward to this race. This was the first race I ran in with my club last year, so this is my anniversary race. I am not planning on racing, however, because my marathon is only 2 weeks later!

Which brings me to my next point. I have been running A LOT lately & I had one of the best and hardest runs ever this past Saturday. I have run 465 miles year to date. This week is the start of my taper before the marathon, and I am really looking forward to it.

Saturday I ran 18.4 miles. I met with a few members of my running 'group' at 6 to run a few before the rest of the group showed up. We ran 6.2 miles with about 3 of them at close to 8 min pace. We got back to the group at 7 and there were seventeen people! A new record! Jerry says, "Okay, we're going to split into two groups. My group will run close to 8 min pace. Amanda, are you coming with us?" So I begrudgingly followed. I was one woman among 5 men where only 2 of them had run the hour before we met the group. We ran 10 miles close to 8 min pace (or faster), and a total of approximately 12 mi at 8:19 average pace. I was really hurting after this run, but I think it's given me a lot of confidence. I averaged faster than my goal pace for the marathon in a hard run after having run 43 miles over the 5 days before the long run. Maybe the marathon won't even be as hard as this run! We'll see. I'll be posting soon with my Prairie Dog race report.

New Year's ... Resolutions?

"A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other." -Unknown

I'm not big on resolutions. I'm not trying to say that I'm perfect and don't need to better myself at all, but I think you don't need to wait til the new year to make these changes. And like my quote suggests, these resolutions are usually not permanent.
So, I am not going to talk about my resolutions for the new year in this post... I will talk about my goals that I will achieve next year and look back on what I did this past year. For the most part, these goals are running related.
Last year was the first year that I was very diligent in keeping a running log. I record the distance, time, and pace for each of my runs. It is interesting to look back and see how much my weekly mileage totals have changed from January to now. I am running a lot more. I think it makes a difference when you can actually see what you've done (or haven't done). I have run a total of 1183.07 miles this year and it will probably end up being 1190.07 after I run my 7 miler in an hour or two. That is a total of 7 days, 5 hrs and 11 minutes!
I ran 12 road races and set 10 PRs. Of course, this is the first time that I've been serious about racing and keeping track of my times, so I will indefinitely set some records. This year is acting as my baseline. I ran one full marathon and my first half. I am currently training for my third marathon that I will run in March.
I started a blog and joined a running club. Because of this club I have made a lot of new friends and have a group that I run with on Saturday mornings. I also found out that my hair stylist does Dean Karnazes' wife's mom's hair! Isn't that cool!
I also started this blog. I haven't been as good at keeping it updated as I had hoped. This brings me to goals that I have for next year.
I want to run at least 2000 miles and at least 1 mile/day. I want to complete two marathons (the small one in March and then the Dallas White Rock marathon in December. I also want to beat 4 hours and possibly run a BQ. I want to update this blog on a more regular basis, but that might mean just doing race reports once a month during the school year. During the summer I might have more time to write about thoughts & what's going on in my life.
So, I guess that's it. I know my goals sound like resolutions, but I just don't like the connotation of that word. Usually resolutions have to do with diets and losing weight. They typically don't work out for people and are forgotten by January 14th. So, with that thought in mind, I resolve to gain 20 lbs and start eating more junk food!

Buffalo Wallow Races - Half Marathon Race Report!

“If you want to win a race you have to go a little berserk.” –Bill Rogers

First off, I've been pretty busy lately. I'm missed posting a race report (a 46:52 10K) and several other events that have been going on in my running life. Oh well. My real life must take priority every once in a while. So here's my race report for the half marathon I ran on 11/8:

I totaled up all my mileage for the year and realized I was extremely close to 1000 mi. I added a few junk miles to my training to make it work out that the last mile of my race would be exactly my 1000th mile of the year. My brother was planning on coming to visit and run this race against me. We had been planning this since the marathon in February and I was very excited to see if I could really beat him. I had been training for this race for 12 weeks and set a primary goal of 1:45 and a secondary goal of 1:50. This is coined as the "toughest half marathon course in Texas." I had heard about the hills and didn't really think the 1:45 goal could be achieved on this course.

jon came into town late Friday night. He got to my apartment and we talked for a little while and then headed to bed so we would be well rested for the race. The weather was supposed to be very nice, in the 50s and 60s (F), during the race. jon realized he forgot his socks, so I let him borrow some of mine, and after a quick breakfast bar and cup of water we left for the race.

We got to the start and I introduced jon to several of my running buddies. We warmed up on one of the hills (agh!) and then lined up to start the race.

"Should I stay with him? ... Should I just go at my own pace?... I bet he starts too fast... maybe I'll be able to catch him later..." All these thoughts and more were racing through my head as we lined up to wait for the gun (foghorn).

Miles 1 & 2 - Well, jon got off to a better start than I did. I felt really good and I did not want to push myself too hard and run out of energy in the end. I thought that as long as I could see him I would be okay. I started seeing people running back to the start. This must mean that the mile marker is soon. The two milers are already turning. At the mile marker I looked down at my watch and saw, "7:42.22." Oh crap, that's way too fast. I slowed down a little bit to try and stay on my 8 min goal pace. The second mile was better: 7:59.22.

Mile 3 - This is where you go down a big hill, over a dam, then up a big hill. You see the big hill for about 0.5 mi before you get to the top of it. It looked very daunting, but I made myself look at the road and not be too intimidated by the monster. I could still see my brother ahead of me and only slowed down a little on this mile, 8:04.06.

Miles 4, 5, and 6 - were mostly through residential areas. I did not know where jon was until mile 5.75 or 6. He wasn't that far ahead of me! I was chasing my rabbit & I still felt really good. I was sure I could catch him eventually. 7:55.63, 8:07.49, 8:17.75

On this course you run a 6.5 mi loop twice. The last part of mile 6 & the first part mile 7 was the second huge hill. This was the hill that we had warmed up on. I think it actually did me some good to warm up here because I was familiar with the hill. It did not scare me as much as I thought it would. On this hill someone was cheering for me, "Go Rachel! Keep it up!" I'm not Rachel, but I hope that she was behind me!

After coming off the hill I saw several of my running buddies & they all cheered for me. That gave me a good mental boost and I ended up running this mile in 8:02.95.

For miles 8 & 9 I could see jon most of the way. I felt that I was gaining on him and my body felt awesome. I knew the last hill was approaching, but I wasn't scared. I could start to taste the sweetness of victory on my lips. Maybe that was just salt from my sweat. I ran 8 in 7:57.43 and 9 was my fastest mile of the race: 7:41.19.

Mile 10 is where I first passed jon on the hill (the same hill that I met at mile 3). He decided to walk up the hill, wimp, so I had to climb it and let him know I was right with him. I was huffing and puffing and wheezing and jon looked back, "I thought I recognized that breathing." Yep, you sure did. At the top of the hill he coasted down to the bottom and passed me again. But he knew I was there. He knew I was tracking him. I knew I could catch him... 8:14.76

In mile 11 I was just cruising. I was starting to feel the fatigue that 11 miles can give you, but I also knew jon was just ahead of me. We were in the residential area again. I would see him around a curve for a second then lose sight of him. Around the 11th mile marker is where I ended up passing him. He looked like he was struggling and he gave me a few encouraging words, "You deserve it." He's such a good brother. I did deserve it. ;) 8:18.61

In the 12th mile I started to feel some cramping/spasming in my calf. I have never had a problem with cramping during a run. This is an issue I will have to keep track of. I may have not been hydrated enough. Around 11.5, one of my friends who ran the 2 mi, caught up with me and joined me for the last few miles. This was good company, but I still stayed focused on the goal. This does not put an asterisk on the results of my race. I did it without the help of anything "illegal." I could actually see my 1:45 goal and the goal of beating my brother coming to fruition. 8:17.39

The last full mile I tried to speed up a little. I felt like I was going a lot faster than I really was. Another of my friends ran with me for about 0.5 mi. jon was still behind me. 8:15.80

At the last 1/10th I could finally see the finish line. My friends peeled away from the course so I could finish alone. I didn't know if jon was close behind me, but I knew I needed to finish strong. I raced with every last ounce of energy I had and finished that 0.1 in 45.45. This finished my 1000th mile of the year in 6 days 2 hours 29 minutes and 43.50 seconds. I finished my half marathon in a very satisfying 1:45:40. I beat my brother. This was a very exciting day and I am now looking forward to running my first sub 4 h marathon in March.

I am very grateful to my brother's family for letting him come out here and run with me. I had a lot of fun & really enjoy running with him. I look forward to many more races against him & with him. No matter if I never beat him again, I will always have November 8, 2008.

Happy Nobel Prize Week

"If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied." -Alfred Nobel

Yesterday it was announced that Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Each biochemist (too bad an organic chemist didn't win) had a major contribution in the research of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Shimomura first isolated GFP from jellyfish, Chalfie demonstrated how GFP could be used as a genetic tag, and Tsien furthered the understanding of how the protein fluoresces.
My brother from an asian mother told me that one of these men is actually a runner! How cool is that??
While I probably will never get to go to Sweden and accept my own Nobel Prize, I have touched a winner. Dr. Robert H. Grubbs visited my university this past spring. Yes, Dr. Grubbs of the Grubbs catalyst. This was a great honor for me and for my school.
Tomorrow the Peace Prize will be awarded and Monday the Economics Prize is awarded. Happy Nobel Prize Week!

Sulfa Allergy?

I'm writing this post high on benadryl and with a rash all over my body. This started Sunday morning, 24 h after I got through with the sulfa drug regimen. I know there are cases of delayed onset, but normally a does of steroid shot in the butt takes care of it. This is what the doctor did for me on Monday afternoon. I asked the doc if I could workout and they said it would be fine. So I ran my five miles yesterday (rather slowly I might add) and I went to my Pilates class. After class we were standing around talking and I started to feel a little nauseated and almost blacked out. I sat down and got home quickly to get some sugar in my system. I took benadryl last night and fell asleep watching the Cowboys game (they won!).
This morning I woke up and the rash has spread. I'm not so sure it's sulfa drugs that I'm allergic to. I'm not sure what it is, but I wish I hadn't come into contact with it. I'm not going to run today. I'm just going to sleep. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Life Under a Black light

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. ~James Thurber

In my Pilates class on Mondays we workout under black lights. I've always loved how I look under a black light & I think all fluorescent lights should be replaced with black lights.
They make you look tanner, they make your teeth whiter, and I just realized the best part of all three days ago ... they make your muscles look awesome!!!
I was in downward dog and lifted one leg to the ceiling to stretch my hip. I opened my body to the side and I bent my knee. Please note, in this position it is hard to keep your shirt from falling up to reveal a bit of tummy. When I looked in the mirror I was amazed. I saw a six pack. Not a six pack of Budweiser either (I don't drink), a six pack of abs! On me!
In regular light, when I'm not contorting my body, I definitely can't see any definition in my abs. That's why I'm moving that we all switch to black lights in the work place, church, school, the gym, dressing rooms, everywhere!! Who's with me?!

I have a test on Saturday so I'll update my training stuff after that. I'm way too busy & too much of a procrastinator.

School's In Session

"We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control." -Pink Floyd

School started last week. I don't have nearly as much free time as I thought I would. I'm only taking one class and I'm not teaching this semester, but I sure am spending a lot more time in the lab. I've been trying to get up early to get my run in before I go to school. Emphasis on the word "trying." I've gotten up at 5:15 a few mornings, gone for my run, and was able to get ready at to the school by 8. The other mornings I've been waking up around 7 and getting to the school around 8:30. This means I have to get my run in when it's super hot outside or on a treadmill. Boring!
I hope I can get into the 5:15 wake up habit. I really like running by myself early in the morning. I also don't feel like an idiot when I'm talking to myself as I run. No one else is up that early to hear me. You see, I've been listening to a "Learn how to speak Chinese" podcast. I listen to the host of the show and repeat the common Chinese phrases. Then, when I get to school, I talk to my Chinese brother. And then he laughs at me because I don't sound Chinese at all.
So, that's what I've been up to since my last post. I finished watching the Olympics, which were awesome! Usain Bolt is amazing. The men's marathon was awesome! Did you hear about Brian Sell? He ran with no socks on (like normal)... but he doesn't normally run in that kind of heat. Here's what Runner's World had to report on his race.
I also just saw this article on Runner's World that goes with the theme of this post: Marathoning 101. Why don't they offer this course at my school? I'd ace it!

Well, I don't have that much time right now to post the last two weeks of my training. I'll get to that later in the week.

Phenomenal - Olympic Weekend Wrap-Up

“When I came back, after all those stories about Hitler and his snub, I came back to my native country, and I could not ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. Now what's the difference?” -Jesse Owens

As I mentioned last week, I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!! I also hate the Olympics. This juxtaposition is due to my feeling of remorse, regret, disappointment, [insert other synonym here] that I didn't get to participate in gymnastics when I was younger. I see gymnasts like Shawn Johnson and wonder if that could have been me. I doubt that I would have gone as far as the Olympics, but I really think I could have excelled at this sport.


And then I see the 33 year old gymnast, Oksana Chusovitina, and think, "I still have a chance!"; but I really know I don't. And I also realize that if I were any good at gymnastics I probably would have gone to another college and I would not have met my husband. It all worked out well in the end.

Michael Phelps. Awesome. I watched him swim with his relay teammates to his 8th gold of these games. It was phenomenal. I doubt I'll ever see such an athletic feat in my lifetime.

Saturday night was the women's marathon. I watched every minute of coverage for this event with hope that Deena Castor would bring a medal back home to the US. I was extremely saddened when she had to drop out in the early miles. She said she felt a pop in her foot. It takes great courage to drop out of a race of this magnitude, even when something serious is afoot... pun intended. I applaud her ability to realize when she can't go on and I look forward to see what else she can do.

Paula Radcliffe was my next hope for this race. Eight weeks ago she was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her femur. I thought she might be able to pull through and medal, but she wasn't able to. It looked like she might drop out in the latter miles of the race, but I think she really did not want to repeat Athens. She was criticized a lot for dropping out of that race four years ago. Deena and Paula were on two ends of the spectrum, and I believe they both did what was best for themselves.

Shalane Flannagan won the bronze in the women's 10 K! Our hopefuls, Lopez Lomong and Bernard Legat, in the men's 15oo m did not qualify for the final race. China's hurdler, Liu Xiang, dropped out of the race after a false start by another runner and disappointed 1.3 billion Chinese. The Jamaicans are the fastest people in the world with Usain "Lightning" Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser taking gold in the men's and women's 100 m races. Tyson Gay said he was 100% in the semifinal heat for the 100 m, but I really think that his hamstring is still injured. I love that he won't give an excuse though.

This year looks to be a great year for the athletes. The Olympics are always a place where character and sportsmanship is displayed. I wasn't around to see Jesse Owens' snub that is mentioned in my quote, but this is part of what the Olympics can bring to the forefront of people's minds. He was a great ambassador for African Americans in the Civil Rights movement. Hopefully, changes like this will begin in countries that continue to violate human rights, e.g. Russia's treatment of the Georgian people and China's role in the Darfur situation.

Runs:

M - 6 mi, 55:04.33

T - 6 mi, 54:01.35

Th - 5 mi, 42:57.51

Hot Dam!

"Tell me how I'm supposed to breathe with no air, can't live, can't breathe with no air" -Jordin Sparks

Saturday I ran the Hot Dam Runs 5 miler. I wasn't expecting much from this race, but I thought I should be able to run it in less than 40 minutes. I was very surprised at how hilly the course was. I felt pretty good in the first mile, but not great. I was having some trouble breathing. Stupid asthma!
For the first 2.5 miles I was leading a woman that I had seen at several races, but she had never beat me. I knew I wasn't feeling up to par, but I didn't want to lose either. She drafted behind me until the turn around and then she passed me. I kept her in my sights the rest of the race, but I never did catch back up to her.
At the Prairie Dog Runs back in February there was a guy who would speed up as soon as I got close to him, then slow down. This went on for the last few miles of that race. It happened again at this race, but only for the first mile then the last half mile. I was so disappointed because I finished just a few seconds behind him. Ben was cheering for me to beat him, but I couldn't. :(
I finished in 40:27, which isn't too bad, but not as fast as I could have gone if I hadn't had any trouble breathing. Oh well. This makes it easier to beat my time at next year's race.

The bigger story this weekend is the Olympics!!! I love the Olympics. It makes me want to be a gymnast or a swimmer. I really can't wait until August 15 then the track and field events start! Here's an awesome rap about the Olympics from Paul Brogan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89X0CP4MuME

The biggest story this week is that two of my friends from college got married!! Yay! I love weddings!

Runs:
T - 3 mi, 26:41.30 - This included my race against Felix!!!
W - 5 mi, 41:03.94
S - Hot Dam Runs 5 mi, 40:27.21; I got 26/60 overall, 7/23 women, 2/3 age group

Sibling Rivalry

"Besides winning, [the most fun thing is] getting out there and mixing it up with friends; it's the competition." -Al Unser, Jr.

So sorry for not posting anything sooner. I have a good reason for my late post; I was waiting until after I raced one of my coworkers, Felix.
Felix is sort of like my big brother at school. He has really taken me under his wing and taught me a lot of stuff that is really important for me to know as a grad student.
He is also Chinese (Felix is his American name). He has no brothers and sisters and one day we were talking about this and I told him I could be his little sister. Part of my responsibilities as a little sister is to taunt and annoy the older sibling.
I have told him on several occasions that I am faster than him and could definitely beat him in a race. So, today, we tested my theory.
Felix plays soccer every weekend and is pretty quick. He is 8 years my elder (like my real brother), but is still in good shape for that age ... ;) ... like my real brother. We decided that he would be able to beat me in anything shorter than a quarter and I could beat him in anything longer than a mile. So our agreed upon distance was a half mile.
I plotted our course using mapmyrun.com and we made our way over there around 5pm. It was 99 ºF and I was little worried about my asthma so I used my inhaler. We warmed up and stretched a little bit, and then we were off.
I led the whole first quarter. The jogging trail we were running on gave at each step; it was like running on sand. A bus stop was on the trail, and as you would expect, a bus stopped right as we ran by. There were only a few students getting on and off, but it was enough to slow us down a little bit. I got back up to pace and then realized I didn't hear Felix's steps anymore. I was not about to look back or slow down, so I just ran the last straight-away. I finished in 2:51.84 and turned around to see Felix had about 1/16 of a mile left. I whooped him!!!
I wasn't wearing my usually running watch, so I couldn't get his time, but I bet he finished in around 3:15 or 3:20. That's not bad.
I did end up having an asthma attack, and I think that scared Felix. He made sure I was okay, like a good brother. This was a lot of fun & I look forward to being able to rub it in his face tomorrow about how much faster I am than him.
That's what little sisters are for, right??

Runs:
T - 5 mi, 42:02.41
W - 4 mi, 34:21.94
Th - 7 mi, 58:31.24 - this was a speed workout, 5x1600 at 7:13
S - 10.59 mi, 1:38:14.96

Dream Marathons

“Everyone in life is looking for a certain rush. Racing is where I get mine.” –John Troutmann

I have several goal races for my marathon career. I plan on running all the marathons in Texas, then I will try to conquer certain US marathons. My dream races have more of a history and are all international (with one intergalactic). Here they are:



Athens Marathon

I want to run what is considered the course of the first marathon run by Phedippedes in 409 B.C. Today's marathon begins at Athens Stadium and ends in Marathon. Going to Greece just to see all the history would be amazing in itself. But running a marathon there is a true dream.



Real Berlin Marathon



I'm not sure if this is the real (as in not fake) or real (like the Real Madrid soccer team) Berlin Marathon, but either way, I want to run this one. It is considered the fastest marathon course in the world. It is highly acclaimed as one of the best marathons in the world. The course map shows why I want to run this race because it has landmarks where all the historical sites are along your 26.2 mile journey. I think this would be an awesome way to see Berlin.





Flora London Marathon

I've always wanted to go to England. I've even pondered the possibilities of moving there for a semester or even a year. This was before I got married and had a little more freedom with where I could travel by myself. Now I am willing to settle for a few trips and possibly a marathon in London. And I love their commercials.


Great Wall Marathon



The only man-made structure that is visible from space is the Great Wall of China. How about running a marathon on it? The Berlin Marathon might be the fastest course in the world; I'm sure with the 5164 steps on the Great Wall, this race would be one of the slowest. Another perk is that I would possibly get to visit some of my Chinese friends that I won't have seen for along time after grad school. I bet I won't be able to run this race for a good 20 years, so that will make for a good reunion.







Marato Barcelona


Another country rich in history and culture: Spain. Just look at the pic! When I'm there to run the marathon, I will definitely schedule time to go see a real soccer game. Who knows, maybe Thierry Henry will watch me run then I can watch him play.

Marathon de Paris


I've always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower. Now I can run by it! I have always thought the best way to get to know a new city is to run through it.






Moon Marathon


My final dream marathon is one that does not yet exist: a marathon on the moon. I think it's possible. My question is that if you weigh less, would you run faster or slower? The "bounciness" of the run might actually make it harder run keep up the pace.



I thought it might be good to take it a little easier and not irritate my blister any more. I cut back my mileage and didn't do any speed work last week.
T - 4.48 mi, 43:22.92 (1.5 miles before my pilates class then 2.98 miles after with my hubby)
W - 5.28 mi on a golf course. 18 holes from tee to green with my running buddy, Marcus. 45:33.31
S - 9.59 mi with some running buddies from my running club, 1:29:51.01

Blisters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” -High school CC coach

I have a blister that WILL NOT go away!!! It all started the weekend I went to go visit my family at the end of June. Specifically June 28th. It is now July 21!!!
On June 28th I ran a short 5K and ended up with a blood blister on the crease of where my big toe connects to my foot. I did some internet/forum research and found that many runners love Dr. Scholl's Moleskin for blisters. I cut a smaller piece the size of my blister and put it sticky side to sticky side to a bigger piece. I kind of made my own moleskin band-aid so it would not stick directly to my blister. This seemed to work pretty well. The blister got a little bigger, but not too bad.
July 4th, my 10 mile race. I was pleasantly surprised that my blister (and the moleskin) held up the whole way. I had already popped the blister by this point and only a little more fluid built up after this race. I even have been running with my socks turned inside out so the seams won't rub my foot.
Fast forward to Thursday. I did some speedwork and built up a blood blister again! Saturday I did a run with some of my running club buddies & it got almost as big as it was a month ago. What do I do! I can't stop running long enough to let it heal completely, but I don't want to live the rest of my life with a blister. What do I need to do?? Please, feel sorry for me.
Click here for a nasty pic of my blister. This was after I popped it after the 10 mi race.

M - 5 mi, 44:21.16
W & Th - some speed work that I had to spread over two days due to rain and time constraints.
Mile repeats vol. 1: 0.71 mi warmup - 6:32.20, 1 - 6:44.26 (2:41.14 rest), 2 - 7:13.18
Mile repeats vol. 2: 0.71 mi warmup - 6:49.91, 1 - 7:17.50 (2:40.31 rest), 2 - 7:43.26 (3:19.30 rest) 1.54 mi cooldown - 14:57.75
S - 10.46 mi, 1:37:51.36

2008 Firecracker Runs 10mi

“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.” -Steve Prefontaine

Friday, July 4th, I woke up early to get ready for my race that was supposed to start at 8am. The race was 45 min away, so we planned on leaving by 6:30 to have ample time to register and warm up. We got to the race and as I was preparing I thought it might be a good idea to know the race course. Due to flooding and mud slides in the park, the course had changed. We weren't going to run through the park as planned, we were doing a real out and back. Since the course wasn't going through the park anymore, the turnaround point was extended to where we had to run along a highway for about 0.1 mi. Agh! I'd never run this race in the first place. Now I have to run along the highway. I hope it's not too busy!!
I warmed up and 10 min before the start I decided it might be a good idea to visit the ladies' room. Well, I guess all the other ladies had this same idea because the line was super long. And there was only one restroom! I was glad to be a woman at this point though because the men's line was a lot longer & I heard a group of five boys saying they didn't just have to pee.
I made it to the start with a few minutes to spare. The race director gave the directions of the new course and we were off.
Mile 1 - I felt really good in this mile, but I was a little nervous that I was going too fast. I was being passed by a lot of runners, but they were mostly the 3 milers. I focused on two men in front of me that I knew were running the 10 mile race. I finished the fist mile in 8:15.42.
Mile 2 - This mile I really wanted to pass the two men in front of me, but I wouldn't let myself. I knew they were keeping a good pace, so just followed them a little farther. 8:14.02.
Mile 3 - This mile had the first a several rolling hills. At the top of one of the hills I saw a huge dog. I asked the men in front of me to protect me from it. "I'm afraid of dogs that are bigger than I am," I informed them. "That one is about one and a half of you," said Richard. The dog kept its distance. 8:24.88.
Miles 4 & 5 - I finally passed the two men and started working on moving up in the pack. At this point I felt pretty lonely being in between the runners, so I was grateful that I had Click & Clack the Tappet brothers to listen to during these miles. Around mile 4.5 I saw the lead runner going back home. 8:13.69 & 8:16.43.
Mile 6 - I turned around to start heading back to the finish! At this point I had moved up to the next runners and passed one of them around 6.5. It was also pretty cool to see & encourage everyone as we passed each other. 8:21.20
Miles 7, 8, & 9 - These miles seemed to run together. I didn't see the dog on the way back, which was awesome. One man in front of me kept running then walking. I would almost pass him when he was walking then he'd start running again. On his last walk he said "I think I bit off more than I can chew on this one" as I passed him. I passed two other people with about a mile left in the race. 8:21.05, 8:17.75, & 8:33.94.
10 - I felt okay at this point. I was pretty tired, but I didn't want anyone to pass me. Well, one man did pass me with about 0.5 mile left. He encouraged me to keep going and not slow down as he passed me. I tried to keep him pretty close thinking I could possible catch up at the end. At the final turn (see pic, left), he was about 50 ft in front of me. So I started running as hard as I could to catch up to him. And I did. I passed him, then he started to kick it and he ended up beating me by this [ .... ] much (see pic, right). The last mile was my fastest at 8:00.06
This race was a lot of fun & I ended up finishing in 1:22:57. I placed 19/35 overall, 4/11 women, 1 age group and got this awesome medal:

M - 4 mi, 35:22.18

W - 4 mi, 34:34.07

F - speedwork, 18x0.1mi (0.1 mi walk between). I did this on the treadmill with 0.5 mi warmup and cooldowns at 6 mph, the walks at 3 mph, and most of the sprints at 10 mph. The last four were faster at 11, 11.5, 12, and 12.5 mph.

Mid-Year Muse & Motion 5K Race Report

“I'm going to go out a winner if I have to find a high school race to win my last race.” - Johnny Gray

Okay, I'm finally getting around to this race report (and I'm not too worried about the anonymity stuff that much anymore*). Last weekend my hubby & I went to visit my family. My brother & I signed up for a local race to run early Saturday morning. I was pretty excited because I thought I had a chance at beating jon. Our PR's for the 5K were about a second apart, so it wasn't unrealistic to think I could take him.
At around 6:15 jon came to my parents to pick Ben & me up for the race. On our way to the location we listened to some good music which included songs from a movie I had recently watched. We arrived at the race site, registered, and then stood around for a while waiting for the race to start. I was pretty much the coolest person at the race when Kelly Clarkson came on the radio. I used to work with her, you know?
jon & I decided we needed to warm up a little bit, so we jogged around the park while Ben took some pics of us. Finally the race was about to begin, so we lined up at the start. We listened to the almost incomprehensible directions given by the race director in his thick accent. The chairperson for the group the race was benefiting sounded the fog horn and we were off. I later learned that the timing crew was not ready for the start, so our times had to be adjusted at the end of the race.
In the first mile I kept my brother in my sites. I felt good, but I definitely didn't want to pass him. I didn't want to get too burnt out at the start. We ran around the park for this first part of the race and much to my chagrin I ran a 6:39 first mile. That was waaaay too fast. This seems to be a common problem that I have.
About a quarter mile into the second mile we turned off the loop in the park and headed into a "foresty" part of the park. This is what I'll call the out & back portion of the race. We kept running & I finally saw the leader heading back on that path. I could still see jon ahead of me too, but by this time I had given up on beating him. I was feeling that first mile & it wasn't good. jon & his group turned a corner to get out of my sight then came back about 30 seconds later. He saw me and told me it wasn't too far from the turn around. That was good news. My second mile was 7:38.
I really wanted to slow down on the way back to the loop portion of the race, but I couldn't let the other runners I was passing see me suffer. So I plodded on. I may have been able to see my brother at this point, but I wasn't paying attention to him anymore. There was a man who would walk a few seconds and then start running again in front of me. That's what I was focusing on. I wanted to beat him. I came out of the forest to complete the loop to the finish line. I finished the third mile in 7:43.
Now for the last tenth of a mile. I could see the finish line & I really wanted to catch the guy that had been walking in front of me. I picked up the pace on the curve around the parking lot and then on the straightaway to the finish I really kicked it. I finished this in 37 s, but I didn't catch that guy. After I got out of the chute, the incoherent race director commented on how great my finish was. This I understood because he was giving me a compliment.
All in all this was a good race. jon finished in 21:30 (a PR!) and I finished in 22:35 (a certified race PR!). I think a local race with my brother will have to be a staple in my visits to the fam. I wonder what my mom would think about the Turkey Trot when we visit at Thanksgiving?

past two weeks in training:
S (6/22) - 8 mi, 1:08:06.44
M - 3 mi, 24:56.43
T - 3 mi, 23:58.71
S - Mid-Year Muse & Motion 5K - 22:35
M (6/30) - 3 mi, 24:15.32
T - speedwork, 4x1600 (400 jog between)
0.5 mi warmup-5:05.40
1-7:13.00 (2:30.13 rest)
2-7:13.68 (2:29.00 rest)
3-7:13.52 (2:30.61 rest)
4-7:03.76
0.25 mi cooldown-2:29.86
W - 3 mi, 25:10.17
Th - 1 mi w/one of my coworkers that's just starting running, 10:48.98
F - Firecracker Runs, race report next week!! 10 mi, 1:22:58
S - 6 mi, 57:53.05

* - it's not hard to figure out info about me when I put the name of the races and my time in my blog posts.