WTF?

Where have I been since my last post? Why have I been absent since the end of March? I didn't even take the time to brag about my first half-marathon :) Yay me, I finished a 13.1 mile race! I did blog about it on my family blog, so I'll paste it here and add a finish line pic. Tomorrow, I start training for my next half-marathon...eh.

Sort of a Recap about my Half-Marathon

I'm getting older. Uh huh, like for real. Oh, and so are my friends. Yeah, it was shocking to me too. A weekend trip to a college town was just what I needed to wake me up out of the "35 is still super young" dream world I've been living in.

It first occurred to me when Jen, Ness, and I pulled onto the U of I campus in a mini-van. Radio off and studying the GPS and maps hard core (and still getting lost a zillion times). Then when we met a college girl on her way to the store and Jen called her "honey" and Ness asked her if she had her coupons! But what really sent me over the edge was driving by the frat houses. Holy hell. All I could think about when I saw the group of boys sitting in lawn chairs, drinking beer, on the roof of their house was "where in the hell are those kids parents?!?!" Clothes were all over the yard, music was sooo loud {at least a 6 on the volume dial :)} and no supervision in sight. I wanted to scream "where are your text books and why aren't you studying? Your parents work hard to send you here, show some respect!!!!" See, I am old. I mean, seriously, I used to think this was awesome, right? I think the reason I was so freaked out is because Carter will totally be one of those guys in just a few years. He'll definitely be the dude in the robe that was hanging out on the sidewalk at 7:30am with a huge mug of beer cheering on all the marathoners. I did appreciate his enthusiasm, but I'm gonna guess his grades are the least of his priorities. Ahhh, to be 19 again :)

All in all, it was a really great weekend. Yes, it did make me come to terms with the fact that we no longer fit in with that crowd, but hey, "been there, done that". Time to move on. I'm so thankful for the much needed girl time and I ran my first half-marathon, under my goal time, and before my 35th birthday(which is Saturday!). I'd say that makes me pretty damn cool!

Finishers!!!

Monday 10...blah

10.1 miles~ 1 hr. 52 min~ 11:05 pace

What a crappy run. Mental game did not show up. Weather wasn't too bad and I ran a new bike trail. The run from my house to the trail was very windy, but the trail had trees on each side so it held the wind off. A family of bike riders was in front of me and the youngest was riding a bike with training wheels..he was going slow enough that I passed them, but they were literally right next to me the first 5 miles. Very hard to tune it out. I thought after last weeks great 9 miles, that 10 wouldn't be so bad, but I found that comfortable feeling and struggled the entire run. I did see a lot of people I knew driving by to and from the trail..that kept me motivated to keep going! Hoping this weekends 11 (or 12) are better...may have to bribe Candi and Marcie into running with me again...seemed so much easier with them!

Mid-Week Run

3.1 miles~29:01~9:21 pace

Wednesday's 3 miles seemed like a cake walk after running 9 miles Sunday! Wish every run felt this great.

9.1

9.1 miles~1 hr 42 min~ 11:12 pace

Holy Crap. 9 miles is long. I have no idea how or why people train for 26.2 or ultra-marathons. But, I finally feel like 13.1 is going to be just fine! I text my running buddy Candi this morning and asked if she was interested in joining me for a mid-afternoon run. She hasn't run more than 3 miles since October, but she was up for the challenge. As we were leaving her house, her neighbor Marcie popped her head out to see what we were doing. We begged her to join us and she gave into the peer pressure. Marcie hasn't run at all since October but she was able to do the whole 9 miles. At one point, I wanted to push her into lake we were running next to :) We decided to run on the bike trail to Culver's. Carter had the nerve to ask if I would bring him back dinner. Ugh. The run went pretty great. Perfect weather. Cross-winds were bad in the beginning, but we still had fresh legs, so it was do-able. We ran the 4.5 miles to the trails center and I used the bathroom before we headed back. At about mile 7.5, my calves were cramping bigtime, but I was able to adjust my stride to offset the pain. They are currently still hurting, so I'm sure tomorrow morning I'll want to die! This is the very first run that I didn't use my headphones. Can't believe it! We talked a lot and stayed together so I guess that made the run seem to pass faster. I plan to run two nights this week and then a long run next weekend (even though I'll be in Chicago for soccer and the temps will be back down in the 40s).

6 Miles Baby!!

6.1 miles~1:02:58~10:19 pace

Finally got my 6 mile run in. Wish I could find races that start in the evening...I'm so much better after 6pm :) I forgot my knee brace and was quickly reminded around the half mile mark. Wanted to call Scott to deliver it to me but I didn't want to accidentally reset my GPS. So, I suffered. Which means, I put pressure on my other leg and I'm sure that's the next thing that will hurt! Mile one was terrible as usual. I hate mile one. But, it's getting much easier to talk myself through it. I worked alot on my mental game tonight :)...talking myself through the inclines and pain and breathing. I am finally getting the hang of running faster when I feel good and pulling back when I'm getting winded. I didn't take my water and I really needed it. Two of the roads I ran (Johnson and Maryville) are so long and I really hate that. I need lots of new scenery. I need to work on checking my mile pace because I am so used to running by myself that when I get in a crowded race, I can not find any focus and get all messed up. And I definitely can't lose myself in daydreams when I'm running with 12,000 other people! Pacing is going to be a huge thing with the half marathon. 42 days left!!!

2 miles...eh

2 miles~18:18~9:09 pace

Last night, I planned to run six miles. However, life doesn't always go as planned. Scott's meeting ran longer than planned and he didn't get home until after 8. Carter had to be picked up from soccer by 8:45, so I was left with 25 minutes to run. Better than nothing, but still VERY frustrating. I ran two miles and called it a night. Tonight I plan on the six miles....

St. Pat's Run

5.05 miles~56:06~11:06 pace

Me and 12,000+ others joined together to run the annual St. Patricks Day run in downtown STL. It was crazy crowded and I think I was the only person not wearing their "free" shirt...very easy to pick me, in pink, out of a huge mass of green. Anyway, I thought the route was pretty great...lots of inclines, but the downhill runs made it do-able for me. I had to stop at a porta-potty at the water station...something I've never had to do. I even went before the race, but I just couldn't hold it and I knew it would be all I thought about. There was a line of four in front of me, but it went pretty quick. As usual, mile 3.5-5 felt the best..I wish the first few miles weren't so hard for me. I definitely felt like I could go farther and plan on doing a long run (6+ miles) on Tuesday. I registered after the cut-off date and therefore my bib did not have a timing chip in it. I did start my watch as we crossed the starting line and immediately at the finish and it read 56:06. Took me a long time to find my friends after I finished...the place was chaos. And once home, I had to immediately pick up Cate and we headed to Scott's baseball game, so I wasn't able to rest, relax, and stretch. I'm very tired today :)