Race Report: Dallas Half Marathon

The week leading up to the Dallas half I was a little nervous.  My long run the weekend before left me limping my way through the last 6 miles of 14.  Not exactly "peak" training.  I erred on the side of caution and ran zero the week of the race.

Toni and I woke up super early and made our way downtown to the race start.  When we left the house at 5:15 it was already 70 degrees.  Gulp.  That's about 40 degrees warmer than I've been running in the last few months.  And it was humid.  Eew.  We made our way to the start without a hitch and found Dominique.  We had planned to try to run together since we were both shooting for a 2:05 finish.



I said goodbye and good luck to my sister in law, and Dom and I made our way to the elite corral.  Jk, but we were in corral A which made us feel faaaaaaaaast.  While we were waiting in our corral, I heard a guy say my city and my head whipped around and I demanded to know if he was from here too.  Craziness and super small world.

The race started and we ran through the confetti to the start line.  I mega heart love the Dallas race start. Confetti is sweet.  I tried to snag a piece of the confetti to save (it was in the shape of Texas, how cool!) but they quickly realized it would disintegrate as it was paper mache.

We started and the first couple of miles were really congested.  And somewhat hilly (super hilly compared to what I'm used to, but I knew there'd be some rollers).  Within about a mile and a half I made Dominique ditch me, as my heart rate was sky high and we were only running 9:40s (her goal pace was 9:30, 6 months after having a baby.  NBD.)  She asked me a trillion times if I was okay with her leaving, and I was.  She was looking so bouncy and full of energy, and I looked like I was at the end of a race, soaked with sweat.  Hawt.

Soon after she left, my SF buddy came running up behind me.  He was running the full and was originally planning to break 4 hours.  He said he knew already that was out of the picture.  And then it was time for him to leave too.  Bai friends.

The first 3-4 miles I was REALLY nervous that my hip flexor was going to lock up again.  Because of the rolling hills, I was really freaking out.  Uphills tighten my hip flexor, downhills aggravate my IT band, and 95% of the course were rolling hills.  However, it was the perfect amount of variety for a "normal" runner, and I'd definitely recommend it.

Once I got past the first 45 minutes or so, I realized that my hip was going to cooperate, and I got really excited.  I knew I wasn't going to run a fast time by any means, but I was beyond thankful that I wasn't going to be running in the horrendous pain from the weekend before.  I soaked up the energy, chatted up random strangers, yelled and screamed for Dominique and Toni when I saw them on the out and back portions, and just enjoyed myself.

I finished half marathon #17 in my 17th slowest time.

But my first time making an appearance on television coming up on the finish line, so I guess that's a win?

Year In Review & December in Review

Yes, I realize I'm doing this 1/4 of the way through January, but it still counts, so go with it, or my next post will be your MOM in review.  Jk.  Kinda.

December in Review
Total Miles:  73.2 which is down from 80.1 from last month.  (I promised my legs time off if they got me through Dallas, they deserved it!)
Time spent: 10:47:55
Total Runs: 13 for an average of 5.6 miles/run.
Highest weekly mileage: 11/30/2009 — 12/6/2009: 28.0 Mi 4:15:26
Favorite run: The run where I reached 1,000 for the year.  Gotta love running with a huge grin on your face and accomplishing something you never thought was possible.
Most hardcore run: I couldn't really recall a run in particular, so I had to look back through my log.  I actually titled this one as "The Run From Hell" so I suspect that takes the cake. 5 easy miles in frostbite conditions with partially frozey tears running down my face. I love you SoDak winter!
Favorite Race: Dallas White Rock Half!  Favorite race to date.  I felt good, my legs felt good, it was fun and I had a PR.  What more could you want?  Nada.

2009 In Review
Total Miles:  1,020
Highest weekly mileage: 35.8 (August 24-30)
Highest monthly mileage:  136.6 (August)
Number of shoes:  3 retired, 1 1/2 way there
Number of races: 7 (2 HMs, 5 5ks) and 1 relay
Number of PRs: 6 (2 HMs, 4 5ks, stupid 5k ruined my perfect season!)
Number of  awards:  2, one 5k overall female and one 5k AG
Percentage I have fallen back in love with running:  100
_____________________________________

Tonight I had a speed workout to complete.  Since I'm not "technically" following a schedule, I scanned my fridge door for a speed workout that looked like fun (all of my training programs for 2009 are still hanging up there for now).  I decided on a 1 mile warm up, 1 mile at 7:51 pace, 2 x 800 m. in 3:45 (7:30 pace) and 2 x 400 m. in 1:45 (7:00 pace) with a half mile cool down (with walk breaks after each "sprint."

The warm up mile was a struuuuuugle.  I had all sorts of weird aches and pains, especially in my shins.  I blame the cold.  After I was warmed up, I cranked up the treadmill and away I went!  After the first mile I walked .2, then .15 after the 800's, and .1 after the 400's.  After 2 400's I thought, heck, why not do two more and screw the cool down jog?  Sounds good to me!

Warm up	1 Mi	9:35	9:35	9:35
Interval	1 Mi	7:39	17:14	7:39
Interval	0.5 Mi	3:40	20:54	7:20
Interval	0.5 Mi	3:41	24:35	7:22
Interval	0.25 Mi	1:41	26:16	6:44
Interval	0.25 Mi	1:37	27:53	6:28
Interval	0.25 Mi	1:41	29:34	6:44
Interval	0.25 Mi	1:39	31:13	6:36

I ended up with 4 miles in 31:16 for a 7:49 pace (not including the walk breaks for time or distance).  Total speedwork was 3 miles in 21:38 for a 7:13 pace.
I'm sooooo stinkin' tired, but in such a good way.  I have a feeling I might be sleeping like a baby tonight.  Thank goodness!  I haven't slept well since this weekend.  :(  Boo.

And since I keep forgetting to post these:  more pics from Dallas White Rock!

Yes, I am smiling here.  B/c I'm having FUN!

Wish I would've gotten the "raise the roof" memo from the chica behind me. Jerk.

   

And this is where I impress you all by running with one and one-half legs.

Finishing strong (I kind of look fast in this one and it makes me HAPPY!) :)

Race Report: Dallas White Rock Half Marathon

I was super excited to hit up my first legit race expo on Saturday.  I've never done a big race before, so it was pretty cool.  I hit up some sweet free samples and found about 284937459 things I wanted.  Luke's Locker was having a big sale, and I ended up finding some more Nike tempo track shorts to add to my collection.  After I bought them I realized they matched my new-er Nike tank tops.  Look out soccer mom's, I'm going to give you a run for your matchy-matchy money. :)

I had to take a pic at the starting line in front of all the elites.  Look at me, I'm winning!!  Heh heh.  When I went to pick up my bib, the guy tried to tell me they had given it away to someone else.  Um...what?!?!?  I don't want some other fool running under my name.  No way!  Luckily they found it, but I was freaking out a bit.  When I checked out my bib, I was 8400A.  Not sure what the A meant, I consulted the race packet, apparently it didn't stand for AWESOME like I had previously thought, but corresponded with my race corral.  Um...what?  So maybe I WILL be lining up with the elites.  ;)

After an ice sculpture show (pictures and post to come!) and dinner, it was back to the casa for race freak out mode prep.  All week long I've been trying to decide whether it would be best to wear a tank top or sleeves for the race.  I knew it was going to be in the low 40s for the start of the race and mid 50s for the end.  Option A:  Freeze at the start and be perfect at the finish or Option B:  Be comfy at the start, and be HOT at the finish. Luckily after some consultation on twitter, I decided to go with the tank top.  I laid out all of my clothes and gear Saturday night before hitting the hay, and felt super weird snapping a pic in front of the fam who doesn't know I have a blog.

I went to bed at 11, and easily woke up once per hour.  The alarm went off at 5 and I sprung up out of bed and started getting ready.  My bro and I made the trek to Dallas in some heavy fog.  He dropped me off, and I was on my own.  I left my phone with him because I was super afraid that my bag would get lost and I'd be screeeewed.  I really wish I would've had it for those two hours though.

I met a gal who was running her first marathon, and we kept each other calm-ish for the 2 hours before race time.  Finally it was getting close to the time we were supposed to be in our corrals so we headed outside.  It. Was. COLD!  BRRR!!  I was half tempted to ask some random boys to hug me while we waited.  No shame here. :p  The gun went off and the elites were off, and about a minute later I crossed the finish line.  I was super concerned being in the "fast" corral that I would get swept up in the quick pace and crash and burn.  Luckily there was some bobbing and weaving that took place in the first couple of miles that kept me from going out way too fast.  I kept seeing people throwing off their cheap-o gloves and was half tempted a few times to snag a discarded pair.  I was warmed up but my hands were frozey!!

The first few miles went by really fast.  I didn't really check out the scenery but I was concerned about running over those in front of me and cutting people off while trying to pass.  There were a bunch of skyscrapers which was pretty cool, and I was super happy Mr. Garmin didn't lose a signal because of the tall buildings.  By Mile 1, sweat was starting to roll down my temples, so I was content with my tank top final decision.

1. 8:57
2. 8:57
3. 8:37 

I missed the 3rd mile split, so I tried to pick up the pace a bit after that mile, because I was afraid it was similar to miles 1 and 2.  Also, it was about mile 2 that I started to notice that my garmin was showing about .1 miles long.  Oy!  Tangents Jerbear!  Tangents!  It never failed that each time there was a water station I was on the opposite side of the street and would have to shoot over to the other side.  I also had a sideache for the majority of the first 5 miles.  I took a GU about 25 minutes before the race, and I usually don't, so I think that might have been the case.

The next few miles were in a gorgeous area of town.  The houses were huge and historic looking, with beautiful Christmas decorations strung up.  Because of the fog and 100% humidity, the streets were really wet and slick.  My knees were NOT happy about that part.  I thought I left the slippery/slick running back home on the snow covered paths!

4. 8:41
5. 8:44
6. 8:38 

Around the half way point, I tried to start predicting a finish time to see if I'd be close to a PR.  I knew I was pretty far off from my 8:30 pace goal, so I wanted to come up with a new time to shoot for.  Doing math while running makes time flyyyy by for me.

My 10k split was 54:45 for a pace of 8:50.  My 10k Split rank was 1659.  Right around this point the marathoners and half-marathoners split apart on the course and it was so nice to have some breathing room.  It was pretty congested up until that point.  You know....just running with 20,000 of my closest friends til then.  ;)

Around miles 7 and 8 there was a little out and back portion, so it was really cool seeing some of the front runners in the half.  That kept me entertained for almost a full mile.  Once I hit mile 8 I realized I only had 5 miles left, and I felt GREAT.

7. 8:38
8. 8:36
9. 8:39
10. 8:32 

Once I hit mile 10, it was time to kick it in the booty.  I actually yelled out "5k left kiddos!" because I was so excited.  No one else really shared my enthusiasm, but it's truly my favorite part of the race, because I love me a strong 5k.  [Sidenote:  According to the stats on the website, I passed 120 people during the last 3.1 miles.  I'll take it!]  The last few miles was on a bike trail, so there were less spectators, but also less rolling hills.

My mile 10 split was 1:27:54 for a pace of 8:48.  My rank at the 10 mile split was 1586.  The last 3 miles of the race FLEW by.  My last 5k time was 25:17.

Because my garmin was still showing about .1 miles long, I wasn't quite sure where to start my kick.  When I saw the balloons of the finish line, I thought CRAP! definitely should've started sooner.  I kind of looked like a fool with an all out sprint in from the last .1 miles, but oh well.  Hopefully it made for a great finishing pic, right?! :)

11. 8:23
12. 8:13
13. 8:06
.21 1:26 (6:47 pace 5:27 max pace)

Final time 1:53:09 for a 1:30 PR for 13.21 miles.  I ran an 8:34 pace according to the actual distance I ran, but 8:39 for 13.1 miles.  Bummer, because if my calculators are correct, I would've been pretty ding dong close to 8:30 pace for 13.1 if the course was correct/I didn't suck at running tangents.  Oh well, gives me extra motivation for the next one, eh?

Race Stats?  Sure why not?  :)

Field Placement:	1469 / 6654 (22.1%)
Age group:	25 – 29
Group Placement:	99 / 717 (13.8%)
Gender Placement:	420 / 3483 (12.1%)

I guess I shouldn't have felt soooo weird about being in the first corral.  :)

Hopefully the course photogs got some sweet pics, but my official photog crew was back home.  For the record, I missed my fan club.

Luckily I found my bro right at the finish line.  Wow, was I a SWEATY mess.  Holy crap.  Soooo glad I went with the tank top.

This was by far the most fun I've ever had during a race.  I ran almost a perfect race, except for I should've started my kick sooner.  I crossed the finish line with a HUGE smile on my face.  I beat my best time by 1:30, when I didn't even think that was an option a month ago.  The crowd support was awesome.  And I officially love big races.  This race got me SUPER pumped for my full in May.  :D

Favorite sign of the course:  Hurry ___________.  Run like Tiger Woods is chasing you.

Favorite back of a shirt on the course:  I would let Brett Favre knock up my girlfriend.  I caught up to him and we chatted about The Pack for a while.  I almost asked if the shirt was in reference to current or future girlfriends, because I think him and I could work something out.  ;)

Thanks so much for all of your support on my blog and on twitter.  It's great having such a strong support system.  Love you kids!

Half Marathon #6 is in the record books.  Bring on the next race!!

Presently in Freak Out Mode

I have arrived in sunny cold Dallas, TX.  Where's the sun?  I thought I left the cold back home?!?  My bro apologized for the cold when he got me at the airport, and I told him the 40* was a good 60* warmer than back home (-20).  No worries, it will be gorgeous on race day, and that's all that really matters.

I woke up this morning to some snotty/heavy breathing.  I rolled over to see my nephew peering down at me on the couch.  He has been going since then, including 10 full minutes of jumping up and down in front of the television.  I'm thinking about getting him to run my race for me.  The kid would probably win it for me.  As soon as my nerves die down, I'll take some sweet pics of the little bundle of energy.

I just realized that you can sign up for text message updates of my progress on Sunday.  Ooooooh.  Big step from my rink-dink local half marathons, eh?  If you're interested leave me a comment with your email, and I will give you the necessary deets (unless you're a scary stalker, and then nuh-UH!)

Ok, back to obsessively freaking out about the race.

Race Report: Mock 1/2 Marathon/Black Fri-A-Thon

After checking the weather report for Friday through Sunday, I decided that Friday afternoon would be a perfect time for my mock half marathon, as it was supposed to be a high of 55*.  I had to tweet for suggestions as to what to wear for 55* because it's been so long.  :p  I was all excited to wear shorts, until I remembered that I still didn't have my iPod shuffle charged, and would be lugging Big Bertha around.  Unfortunately, she only fits in my running pants and capris.  Capris it is!

I woke up and ate some pizza for breakfast--no underfueling issues for me this time!!  Watched some tv, did some online shopping, and finally set out for my run around 1:30pm.  I looooove having weekdays off.  Daylight!  Sun!  All the great makings for a long run, I tell ya.  I had planned on trying for a sub-2 hour pace, as that was my goal for Dallas White Rock HM after "the injury" occurred, at which would be a 9:10 pace.  For me, running is about 95% mental, so I wanted to determine if this was a feasible goal, or if I needed to revise to avoid my legs falling off around the 10k point.

I started the run and immediately realized how much easier it felt than last week's horrible, horrible long run.  It definitely helps having less layers on, and less restriction on my legs.  Thick running pants + leggings = impossible for Jerbear to stride out, uff.  Capris = wheeeeeeeeee!  Look at me go!  The first few miles flew by, but I could already tell that my 12 oz. of water weren't going to last me very long.  I was already a bit of a sweaty beast.  Oh no.

1.  9:01
2.  8:55
3.  9:01

I kept going along at the same pace without too much effort on my part.  I was honestly pretty surprised each time my watch beeped and showed another split under 9 minutes.  I took a GU at 3.6 and drank waaaaaay more water then should've been allotted at not quite the 1/3 point.


4. 8:56
5. 8:53
6. 8:58 


I took a second GU at the halfway point and started to head back towards home.  Those first two miles back were into the wind, and the pace dropped down.  After two miles over 9 minute miles, I decided to actually try to "feel" a slightly quicker pace.

7. 9:04
8. 9:08
9. 8:50 

I had hoped a bathroom was open at 9.75 miles so I could refill my water bottle since I only had a teensy tinsy swig left.  FAIL.  Nothing.  I can honestly say that I was searching all the bikers the last few miles to see if they had excess water I could bum off of them.  Hah.  I did take my final GU at 9.75.  I usually kick up the pace with 3 miles to go, but apparently my legs were just ready to be home.

10. 8:39
11. 8:40
12. 8:37
13. 8:19
.1 :43 (7:22 pace) 



Honestly the entire run felt really great and really strong.  The last mile was the only mile that I felt like I was putting in some hard work.  It was great.  I was very shocked and surprised to have this successful of a run, especially after having almost 2 whole weeks off for my foot.


I ended the 13.1 in 1:55:50, which is only a minute off of my 1/2 marathon PR.  Apparently I might be in good enough shape to at least attempt a PR in Dallas, which I had previously deemed out of the question.  Goal A will still be to just have a blast, but I honestly think a PR is feasible.  Especially since I just looked at the race day forecast and it was a High of 61*.  This girl can run like the wind in little running shorts and a tank top, and it sounds like it might just be the weather for it.  :D

I accidentally turned on my laptop, so my time was erased from my Garmin screen.  Waaah!  I decided to still snap a picture of the history.  Check out those goosebumps.  WHOA!

Friday night was an impromptu celebration of my race.  What?  It was someone else's birthday celebration?  Well, huh... in my mind it was a celebration of me, whatev.  :)  Here are some pics of our shenanigans...

The newlywed and I.

The boys were having a beard growing contest for $$$.  Now they're just continuing on principle.  WTF?

Bryce & I.

Race Report: Sioux Falls Half Marathon

This morning I ran the Sioux Falls Half Marathon for the 5th consecutive year.  This was the first road race I did to try to get back into shape while in college.  Prior to this race, the farthest distance i had competed at is the 1600 m. run for the Varsity team as an 8th grader (I became a sprinter in high school). Since the inaugural year of participation, I saw my times get slower and slower.  This year I vowed to break my PR that I set in 2005 of 2:07:39.

I woke up at 5:30am bright eyed and bushy tailed.  I set about making some peanut butter toast while watching my favorite movie, Elf.  I ate a banana and quickly through on my race day clothes that I had ever so gently laid out 2 nights before.  More elf.  Many bathroom breaks.  Until I was to meet my bus-riding buddy and one time running buddy at 6:30am.  When I left the apartment, I knew more bathroom breaks were in order, and was concerned about digestive issues similar to the trial run half marathon from two weeks ago.  Running buddy/gym buddy/bus riding buddy and I discussed our race goals on the way to the starting line.  

As soon as we got there, we broke for the bathrooms.  I did some jogging and some stretching while looking for my madre, but she was nowhere in site.  Knowing the stadium (it was where the South Dakota state track meet was held back in my day, along with another big track meet that required qualifying times for entrance, as well as the stadium that my college used for football games) I decided to be sly and use the "unknown" restrooms on the other side of the field.  Silly me, they were locked.  At this point I was concerned about getting through the super long bathroom line before the race started, but somehow I made it with a few minutes to spare.  Of course about a minute before the gun went off I started feeling some not so happy gurgling in my stomach.  :(  I convinced myself it was nerves and not potential poopiness.  :)  Bang, and we were off.

It was a beautiful morning.  High 50s, humid, no wind.  The first part of the race is a lap and a quarter around the track.  I saw my mom the second time around, some guy yelled out, "almost there!" and we carried on.  I was really concentrating on not getting swept up in the crowd and going out too fast, causing me to hate life later in the race.  I did a great job of it, (the congestion around the track for the first .38 miles helped).

We headed to a historical part of Sioux Falls, which has the most beautiful houses.  I quickly shedded my long sleeves and tied them around my race.  The spectators were AWESOME!  I was pretty jealous that all of them had a delicious Starbucks in their hands.

Next it was the downtown area, which is my favorite part of Sioux Falls.  I took my first Gu right around 3 miles and the water stop was shortly after that.  I felt like a rookie grabbing the water.  Wow, I think I caused two volunteers to drop the cups because I felt like they wouldn't let go, so I let go, while they let go at the same time.  I had a small swig and continued on.

Mile 1.  9:05

Mile 2.  8:54

Mile 3.  8:57

Towards the end of the downtown area, I got to see my first fan--Taylor!!  He was cheering extra loud for me, so I blew him a kiss.  Unfortunately that wasn't documented on camera, because how cute of a pic would that have been??  I tossed my shirt aside (apparently under a car that he later had to crawl under, sorry babe) and was on my way.  

Next up was Falls Park, which you may remember from the photo shoot post-mock half marathon, where my mom was going to be in her usual spot.  I saw her, she screamed cheered and tried to snap a pic, while I continued on.  The water stop at mile 5 was put on by my college's track and cross country team, and sadly, this is the first year I didn't know any kids.  Crap I'm getting old.  

I saw Taylor again shortly after this, but he wasn't at the spot that we had determined on our Saturday "trial run."  I was worried that he had thought he'd missed me and left or was too slow getting there (it was only about a mile from the last time I saw him).  I yelled out "Taylor!" and pouted for a bit, but kept going.  He surprised me by being just a ways up the trail with more words of encouragement.  After I saw him I quickly made my way to the 6.2 marker.  Of course, some lady manning the time table was yelling out "halfway there!" to everyone running by.  I had to check my garmin to see if she was right, because I would've been working for a 1:50-1:51 finish.  Too bad she was wrong!  :p  Oh ya, I took a Gu at about Mile 6 with no water.  After practicing taking them every 3 miles, I didn't want to screw things up because their water stops were 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.  It actually wasn't that bad with out water, but did take concentration, hence the slightly slower time.

Mile 4.  8:41

Mile 5.  8:51

Mile 6.  8:58

(10k time:  55:24 pace of 8:57)

The next few miles were on very pretty parts of the trail.  Lots of bridges overhead and fallen leaves covering the bike trail.  You know how it smells when fell has come?  That's how it smelled today, pretty much heavenly.  I surprised my mom, so we barely saw each other until I had run past.  **Yes I did have a phenomenal cheering section today, thanks for noticing!**  I felt really good at this point, and knew I had to start formulating a goal time.  At this point super secret goal was out of the question, and I couldn't quite remember what Goal A was (um, ya I'm an idiot) so I decided to shoot for 1:55.  I figured out what my mile times would have to be after the 8 mile point and thought it was totally doable.  I tried to pick up my pace at mile 8.  Honestly, I think I got caught up a bit in enjoying the run, and forgot to push myself for the first 2/3 of the race.  I took my last Gu at 9 miles.

Mile 7.  8:49

Mile 8.  8:49

Mile 9.  8:38

Now I'm going to complain for just a second about my super sweet awesome Garmin.  I've learned to pace myself by "feel" thanks in large part to the Garmin.  But I've noticed that when I run with someone, or if there's someone near me but slightly in front of me during a run, I will be very affected by their pace.  Oftentimes it's that competitiveness in me just wanting to BEAT THEM.  Usually I'm able to check my pace on my watch and scale back to the pace I'm supposed to be running at.  For the last month my watch hasn't been working properly.  I will be running an 8:30-9 minute pace, and the watch will say 10:30-11:30.  It was doing that today and was SO FRUSTRATING.  I'm in no way blaming my watch for poor pacing, that's all my fault, but I felt like I was lacking that advantage that it usually gives me.  End rant.

At mile 10, I knew I only had a 5k left and that it was BTTW time, my favorite.  :)  I knew I had a lot stored up and felt like I could run 8:30 pace to the finish.  I made a goal not to let anyone pass me to the end.  I started to pass a guy that I had been leap frogging with throughout most of the race, and he commented on my consistent pace.  I had talked to him and his buddy earlier in the run, and they had told me they were running the 1/2 as a training for the Twin Cities Marathon and had actually done 6 miles prior to the race.  I told him that the 5k was my favorite distance, so I was treating the half as a 10 mile race + 5k and was going to try to "win" the second race.  I told him to let me know if he saw an official photog because I wanted to make sure to get a pic with him, because he looked JUST like my dad probably 20 years ago.  It was creepy actually.  My dad couldn't make it to the race, so I was really bummed, but I had to laugh because it really was almost like I ran the majority of the race with him.  Hah.

Mile 10.  8:47

With about 1.75 left I saw the loverboy at his final cheering point.  I had promised myself that when I saw him I would start my kick.  Also, at this point, there was an announcer with music going who yelled out, "one mile once you get to the bridge!"  I wanted to yell at him, being super familiar with the course, and knowing we were 1.75 away, also knowing that there were SIX bridges between us and the bridge he was actually referring too.  :(  SOOOO many people were complaining about this post race.

Mile 11.  8:35

Right before Mile 12 was the horrible hill.  Ok, in actuality it wasn't that horrible, but every year that I've run this race except for the second year, I've had to walk up it.  There's just not a lot left at this point and the hill looks HUGE.  As many were walking up it, I powered up it like the energizer bunny.  :)  I started looking ahead at people and trying to pick them off one by one.

Mile 12.  8:33

Mile 13 felt like it took foooooorever.  I know this part of the trail like the back of my hand, which unfortunately means I know exactly how far I am from the finish without looking at the Garmin.  Talk about frustrating!  I tried to kick it in as much as my legs would allow at this point.  I rounded the corner with .25 to go and the cheering almost bowled me over.  I heard one of my old co-workers boys yell out "Go Zewi you're winning!" as I ran by.  I really wanted to all out sprint at the end by my stupid ab pain was back.  There was a group of 5 that I was trying to catch and had given up on being able to beat them until I saw the clock 1:54:5x and counting.  From nowhere I had a burst of speed (and I'm talking a BURST I was flying!!!) to make it in under 1:55.  Silly me, I had forgotten how far I was behind the start line, so I didn't need to sprint but it felt soooooooooo good.

Mile 13.  8:05

.12 :50 7:07 pace (6:00 max speed!)

Final distance/time:  1:54:38 for 13.12 for a pace of 8:44.

Official time:  1:54:39 for a 8:45 pace.

13 minute PR (down to the second...creepy!) and 26 minutes off of last year's horrendous time.

This is honestly the first time I can say that I had fun during a half marathon.  Every other year I've felt like death after the race.  This one, it felt good to be done, but I felt great while I was running (probably a sign I should run faster next time...there's always Dallas...:p).

Cute Superfan #1.

Team Green represent.

Training Programs :: Runners as Alcohol :: Alcoholic

I recently realized that half of the run of racing/running/training is to find/create the perfect training program. Since I'm rapidly approaching my half-marathon (September 13th to be exact, 11 days, but who's counting?) I'm starting to think, "What's next?"

Some of you may recall my last 5k being just shy of breaking 24 minutes (24:02 or 24:04 depending on who's watch you are going by :p). This race was done with a strained ab, and prior to doing it, I had a goal of 23:30 if healthy. Well, shocker, but I'd really like to see if I could get that time before the end of the year. Since it'll be snowing buckets probably by mid-October (why do I live in the Midwest again?) I need to get in a race asap-post-half-marathon. Lucky me, there's a race Oct. 10th here in town. I think it might be a small-ish race again, so I would also have a shot at placing, which would maybe give me just the extra push I need for speed. :) (cheesy alert, whoa).

I plugged in my last 5k time or my goal half marathon time, or was it my trial run half marathon time? Who knows it was a couple of days ago.... anyway, here's what Runners World spit out (along with some modifications from me of course). Check out the projected finish time..23:49.  Perfect-o!

What do you think? Dumb of me to want to race a 5k 4 weeks after my half-marathon? Cool as long as I can stay healthy? Stupid to only rest 3 days post-hm? I'm pretty excited about it, to be honest, and it helps to keep me motivated before I have to start training for the Dallas-White Rock Half Marathon which I just registered for!!!! (And purchased my plane ticket yesterday, double whoo!!!)

After going somewhat nutty over the length of this hm training schedule (12 weeks), I'm keeping this next one at 10 weeks. Isn't it magical how that 5k just bridges the gap? Yes yes, it is.

***P.S. The fact that the website shows people running in tanks and shorts in December has me giggling...simply CAN. NOT. WAIT.***

I'm currently revising the HM training schedule that RW spit out for me.  Based on my current mileage, it seems to think that I need to be doing 40+ miles the last few weeks of training.  Um..no.  Also, I'm eliminating the latter mile repeat workouts to sub in some 800 meter or 400 meter repeats.  And for the first time ever, I think I'd like to do a 14 mile long run (hello distance run PR).

Anyway, like I said, half the fun is creating the schedule that's going to get you from Day 1 to Race Day, so I'll probably stretch out the editing process until I have it down to perfection.  I'm excited already and I haven't even ran my September race yet!  :p

Go here for a super sweet yoga mat giveaway.  If you win, you can give it to me because you love me so much.  :)  But seriously, if you do go, let her know that I sent you, so I get an extra shot at winning.