I Should Have Known....

Whenever you have the "worst run of your life" (because I tend to be overly dramatic I tend to over use statements like "best _____ ever" and "worst ____ of my life" pretty frequently, rest assured I still mean it), it's almost a guarantee that the "best run of your life" is just around the corner.

After being Bummer McBummerson after Thursday tempo run, I was tweeting with Chad about his recent sucky run.  After some slight convincing I came to terms that the crappiness of late is probably more the result of the weather than of me just plain sucking.  Which was a relief.

Saturday I was up with the sun to head out for my long run.  I had 13 on the schedule, but just *had* to bump it up to 13.1.  This was necessary, yes?  I was shocked that the temp was in the mid 60's.  Yes, the humidity was at 97% but let's focus on the awesomeness of semi-cool weather pleeeeeeeeeeease.  Not only was the run fairly quick, but it was fun and effortless (for the most part).  Hello running mojo, let's never break up again, k thanks.

This is the first long run I've done in a long time on the weekend.  Since I've been racing so much, I've been squeezing them in during the work week at insane hours, and I forgot how much I love being around other runners.  It's so nice to see some familiar faces out and about enjoying the beautiful morning.  There were some areas on the trail that were as flooded (if not more so) than Thursday night, but for some reason it didn't drive me cuckoo like it did for the tempo run (thank God).

I ran through puddles that went up to my ankles for 20 seconds....no biggie.  My feet squished and squeaked for the next 5 miles until I doubled back and ran through it again....no problem.  I ran the first half in 1:02 and the second half in 1:01, so I really ran pretty consistently through out.  I was starrrrrrrrving the last few miles, so I definitely need to remember 3 GUs for race day, and maybe eat a smidge more for breakfast.

I did 13.1 miles in 2:03:03 for a pace of 9:23.  Which is my magical auto pilot long run pace....so creepy.  In case you're a new-er reader, almost all of my long runs and easy runs whilst MARATHON TRAINING!!! (<---Oh how I miss writing that.....) were creepily at that pace.
1. 9:15

2. 9:20
3. 9:39
4. 9:35
5. 9:34
6. 9:29
7. 9:29
8. 9:26
9. 9:18
10. 9:18
11. 9:36
12. 9:20
13. 8:56
.1 :48 (8:17 pace)

I made myself ice bath after the run for the first time since last fall.  Not so fun, but my legs felt awesome afterward.  I rewarded myself with a trip to the water park to soak up some sun and also for a night out of the town with some of my favorite people.

We tend to make each other cuter in photos together. It's like magic.

Ze boys.

The head on my beer was atrocious.....

Favorite random photo of the night.  Hahah.

And at one point I thought it would be neat to take pics of everyone through their beer glasses.  This is mine. :)

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.

[Mock] Half Marathon Report

Saturday morning I embarked on my longest training run to date:  13.1.  I decided to use it as a dress rehearsal/mock race so I know I have everything ready to go for the race in two weeks.  My goal for the race is to average at or below 9:00 mile pace.  For the training run, I was going to shoot for around 9:10 pace (2 hour HM).  I wanted to use the strategy I want to use for the race by breaking out the race into 4 sections running over pace, at pace, and slightly under pace.

I had wanted to start the run at 7:30am, as that's race start time, but my stomach had other ideas.  I honestly went to the bathroom around 10 times before leaving my apartment.  Mental note:  Fettucine alfredo is NOT a good dinner the night before long runs.  Even if you take lactase pills, your body will still be pissssssed.

When I got to the start, I realized it was way too cold to wear a tank and shorts.  For this race in the past, I've wore a light weight jacket with sleeves and tossed it to my mother around 4 miles.  I know the tank works for long runs (I've wore it on 11 miles and many shorter runs) so just decided to stick with the sleeves for the run.  So much for the dress rehearsal, eh?  I guess this is the point that I should've been serious about making Taylor practice cheering so I could shed the sleeves after the first few miles.

Ready, set, GO!  [Pretend shot gun!]  And I was off!  Within about 2 minutes of starting I realized I needed to use the bathroom, again.  And somewhat soon.  :(  The good thing about that "discomfort" is that it helped me from going out too fast.  Let me tell you, I've never scoped out the area so diligently for bright blue port-a-potties in my life!  I knew I would have an opportunity to use a rest room at about 5 miles in, but didn't know if I could wait that long.  LUCKILY (or somewhat unluckily) there was a port-a-potty next to a construction site around 2.5 miles.  First of all, eeew.  But second of all, thank GOD.  After departing the bano, I felt like I had an extra pep in my step and was on my way.  I took my first GU at the 3 mile point.

1. 9:26 

2. 9:27 

3. 9:29

The next couple of miles are my favorite of the race. I love our downtown area, and it is so beautiful when there are no cars, no people, just beautiful older buildings. I really wish I would've had my camera to attempt my hand at photography. While running, I saw 3 people waiting outside a repair shop, I said my typical, good morning.... and they started cheering and clapping for me! One of the guys was in a wheelchair, and he held out his hand for me to slap and told me to "go get em!" It was such a pick up, it was great. I think I smiled for the next couple miles after that exchange. Then after downtown it's on to Falls Park, which our city is named for. Here's a pic snapped later in the afternoon for your viewing pleasure.

I took my next GU right around the halfway point of 6.6 or 6.7???  The first time I spotted a water fountain, so I also snagged a couple of sips.  I was a little thirsty at this point.

4. 9:15 

5. 9:12 

6. 8:55

Once the time for Mile #6 popped up, I was a little shocked, I still thought I was running a 9:10-ish pace. I attempted to slow up just a little bit to keep some gas in the tank. At the halfway point my time was 1:01:30. I knew I only had to run 3 minutes faster the second half to get a 2 hour finish (which has been my goal for the last 4 HM that I've run). I also couldn't believe how quickly I had gotten to the halfway point. It definitely helped that the first 5 miles were on a different path then what I've been used to doing. Once I hit a little ways into mile 7 I was back on the familiar trail that I run for 90% of my runs. I took my last GU around 9.5 miles.

7. 8:45 

8. 8:56 

9. 8:44

I had passed a girl around mile 8 who was walking, so while I was snagging a sip of water at 9.5 with my GU she ran by the fountain. She was running at a quicker pace than me, so it was fun to have someone push me a little bit. I finally caught up to her and then she stopped to walk. Boring. :p I decided to make sure to keep her behind me, even if she did start up again. Normally during the last section of the run, I pick up the pace to BTTW, but I knew it wouldn't be smart to do that in a training run at this distance, so I tried to maintain the paces I had been running previously, as they were considerably under 9 minute pace. There 

was a red haired chica around mile 11 who just HAD be running a ways in front of me, so of course I had to catch her. Stinkin competitive brain. :p At Mile 12 I looked at my watch and it said 1:49, and I started 

tearing up, knowing that I would complete the last 1.1 miles in less than 11 minutes, and that I would FINALLY break the 2 hour mark that had been so far out of my reach in the past. :) It was around this point that I started noticing signs on the trail. Little did I know, there was a Healthy Heart walk that started and finished where I was planning on finishing my run (also the finish to the HM). It was a little congested, and I definitely got some looks for running amongst all the walkers. WHOOPSIES. :)  

10. 8:47 

11. 8:49 

12. 8:41 

13. 8:15 

.1 :47 (7:37 pace)

At 13.1 my watch read 1:57:33 for a pace of 8:58. :D I was probably the happiest girl at that point. The best part was that I still had gas in the tank. I could've ran probably another 2-3 miles at the same pace. OR I could've picked up the pace during the last 4 miles of the race. Also, since this was my race goal, it gave me something else to shoot for. By the way, unofficial PR by 10 minutes. :p Hope to make the ACTUAL PR even greater. :)

____________________

After ice bathing and showering, Taylor and I grabbed some Subway sandwiches and then headed to Falls Park. It was such a beautiful day, although it felt way too much like fall already. I got some great pics of the Falls and the lover boy, so please enjoy. :)

my goodness he's cute, no?  :)

Easy (Read: Boring) Run + Crappy Television + Foto Friday

Oh my goodness. I was bragging up a storm all summer because I stopped watching a ton of the crappy shows that I used to watch. Then, wtf? All the other good ones started to come back on, and before I knew it, I had a "television program schedule" to adhere to. I know it's only going to get worse as more of the fall lineup starts up, but I'm already overwhelmed! Top Chef makes me an alcoholic (I like to have a glass of vino while watching it), Project Runway makes me think I'm way craftier than I really am, and I have a list of artsy projects as long as my arm to start doing. Entourage makes me mad that none of my friends are hotty celebs that let me live off their mad moolah and Weeds makes me want to start selling drugs and have a Mexican drug cartels baby.... wait. what?!? Scratch that.

I've already picked my top 3 for Top Chef, and once I watch last night's episode of Project Runway (currently chilling on the DVR) I'll probably be able to narrow down the winner to two people. I'm just THAT. GOOD. at reality television, people. It's a gift.

Ok, on to things that won't rot your brain. :) I got up and did a tedious 5 miles today. It was nothing to write home about. There was this really beautiful/eerie fog off in the distance on the trail that I was running in. Also, the river had a layer of fog rolling off of it, which I've never seen before. Otherwise it was bor-ing. I kept it slow to save the legs for manana. I did 5.05 miles in 48:46 for a pace of 9:40.

**Last night I did about 10 minutes of yoga to keep the streak (minus a day of failure) going.**

Tonight I'm mentally preparing myself for my mock half marathon tomorrow morning. WHOO!! I'm so excited. I kind of wish that the real half was tomorrow (note to self: 12 weeks is TOO LONG for a half training schedule). I'm going to wake up early to eat, and then start the run at 7:30am. I'm also using this as a dress rehearsal, although it's highly unnecessary. I'm wearing the sweet outfit in the above picture. [sidenote: do you love my new header? total props to Amanda at Run to Finish for snapping the way cool pic on our WWR adventure] It's probably my favorite running outfit ever, probably doesn't hurt that the top is my fave color ever. I'm going to practice GU-ing (totally a verb, no? or would that be adverb? I used to be so good at this stuff....) and will conveniently end up one block away from my apartment. At which point I will walk the block to cool down, hop in the ice bath, then wake up sleeping beauty to take me to my car (roughly 13.1 miles away). :)

In honor of all the calories I'll be burning tomorrow, we're going to hit up Olive Garden tonight. Never-ending pasta bowl? Don't mind if I DO! Then, I think we're going to head to the cheap theater for a movie. $3 you can't go wrong, I kind of want to do a double feature. Quick, what would be your choice: Funny People (love me some Seth Rogan), (500) Days of Summer (seriously want to make Zooey my GF), UP, Star Trek, or Bruno? I would see all 5, especially for $3. Holy crap?!?! I just realized we're having a real life date night tonight. Go us! :p

For Foto Friday, please enjoy some pics from last weekends BFFF extravaganza.

Me and the BF. Ready to Riverboat Days it up!
Me and my BFFF.
One of these days we WILL do a race together...she has the running bug, I can tell....