Month One! :)

This week is extra fabulous for a few reasons.

I'm so happy to be home for Thanksgiving! Losing my Grandpa on Thanksgiving last year has been really hard, but reminded me what this holiday is all about (hint: it's not about wasting money on things you don't need to impress people you don't even like!). I have to include something here about how thankful I am for my family, friends, fancy grown up job, fast little legs, and my puppy. Meb said it best:

It’s nice to be able to give thanks on the fourth Thursday of November, but it’s important to realize that every day is an opportunity to be thankful. Be thankful for the air you breathe, the food that’s on your table. Be thankful for the opportunity to run, whether it’s one mile, 10 miles or 15 miles. Often we take running for granted, and when it’s over we just move on with our day. After a run, I like to take a few minutes to be thankful for my health, beautiful surroundings, and the opportunity to inspire others through the gifts that have been given to me.

My Aunt made this! (Seriously!)

Only 146 days until I am a marathoner! Earlier this week, Country Music Marathon posted a picture of the medals and I am sosososo excited!!!

I finished my first full month of marathon training with 80.06 miles at an average 10:29 pace. That's the most miles I have ever run in a month! This is what my Thanksgiving week looked like:

Tuesday - 5.41 miles at a 10:06 pace

Thursday - 2.59 mile tempo run at a 9:31 pace

Friday - 1.12 mile run at a 10:11 pace

Saturday - 10.50 miles at a 10:12 pace

Sunday - 2.39 mile run at a 10:27 pace

Weekly total - 22.01 miles at an average 10:05 pace

I'm making a serious attempt at Runner's World run streak this year (running at least one mile a day from Thanksgiving day through New Years Day). Last year I did 8 days so my goal this year is to do better!

Week 4!!!

Monday - Spinning (10 miles in 40 minutes), 2.01 mile run at 11:23 pace

Wednesday - 3.02 miles of hills on the dreadmill at a 11:15 pace

Thursday - 4.46 mile run at a 10:38 pace

Saturday - 9.81 mile run at a 10:50 pace, PiYo core

Running Totals - 19.29 miles at an average 11:01 pace 

Monday, the weather was perfect to try out my new YakTrax (i.e. the weather was not perfect), so I went for a short run after spin class. It's been very cold, snowy, and windy, so I ended up on the treadmill Wednesday which was perfect because it was hill work day and there aren't many good hills around me. I felt slow this week! I'm happy we have some better weather coming in the next few days :)

Week Three :)

This week's exercise:

Monday - 4.05 miles at a 10:47 pace

Tuesday - 1.01 miles at a 10:45 pace

Thursday - 4.78 miles at a 10:23 pace

Saturday - 8.51 miles at a 10:32 pace

Sunday - PiYo core

Total distance: 18.35 miles at an average pace of 10:34.

I'm proud of myself for doing all of my runs outside last week! It was snowy and cold but I'm trying to avoid training exclusively on the treadmill like I did last winter. Tuesday night I took Charlie to the trails right after work but it was already too dark to run. I gave up mentally on my long run Saturday; I even stopped to walk for a few minutes, which I rarely do. The cold really got to me! I've been meaning to start adding PiYo into my weekly routine, so I'm glad I finally started getting back into that. I also did yoga three days. :)

Week 2!

I'm a whole 2 weeks into marathon training! I only ran three days last week since I raced last Sunday, and I was feeling kind of antsy on my rest days. I did manage to get my steps on Fitbit every day. I made up for my rest days by taking Charlie for long walks.

Charlie and I went to Antrim Park over the weekend!

Anyway, my runs for the week :)

Tuesday - 4.17 Miles at a 10:26 pace

Thursday - 2.08 Mile run with my friend Bri at a 9:54 pace

Saturday - 8.11 Miles at a 10:09 pace

Totals - 14.36 Miles at an average of 10:10 pace

Yay for being fast last week! I felt great on my long run and I'm ready to start adding more distance. I also did yoga I think 4 or 5 days last week.

Buckeye Classic 10k

On Sunday, I ran the Buckeye Classic 10k! I ran this race last year, so I knew what I was getting myself into. 😏 It's a trail race with lots and lots of hills. I was very hopeful to get under an hour - the last 10k of Columbus Half Marathon was about 58 minutes - but unfortunately this course was not the place to PR. I was doing well until I made it to The Biggest Hill I've Ever Seen/Staircase of Death which leads to the beginning of mile 3. All of the hills were really tough for me and I ended up walking 3 times (which, on the bright side, was less than the 827726361525262 times I walked last year!).

2014 Splits

2013 Splits

Overall, I didn't do as well as I had hoped. My official time was 1:05:24, a 10:32 pace. I'm not sure why I only had 6.05 miles on my Garmin - I'm thinking maybe the trees blocked the gps signal at some points? Luckily, I've learned from this race that I will need to do plenty of hill work before Country Music Marathon. I've added that into my training plan at least every other week for now but might start doing it weekly once the race gets closer! :)

High fiving the announcer - a nice change from my traditional "stopping my Garmin" finishing pose

Marathon Training, Week 1!

I have officially completed my first week of marathon training! Only 173 more days until my first 26.2.

My training runs this week:

Tuesday - 3.21 Mile tempo run at 9:51 pace

Wednesday - 4.05 Mile run at 11:36 pace

Friday - 2.50 Mile run at 11:12 pace

Sunday - 6.05 Mile race at 10:49 pace

Total - 15.81 at an average 10:52 pace

It's been cold, rainy, and windy all week but I still managed to get out to do all of my runs. I also did yoga most days. I'm right on track! Thank you to my friends who helped me put together a training plan :)

Since I raced this morning, I'm relaxing the rest of the day. I'm enjoying watching the New York Marathon on tv and cheering on my friend Jeff who is now at mile eight!!!

Columbus Half Marathon Recap

Two weekends ago, I completed my fourth half marathon! This very was the very first one I didn't travel to, so I was happy getting to rest the days leading up to the race. Since I work a few blocks from the start/finish line, I knew exactly how to get there and where to park, and I had access to real bathrooms before I started! I made it to Corral B with plenty of time, and started off nice and slow. I really didn't think I would be able to finish as quickly as I did! I beat my old PR of 2:30:26 by over eighteen minutes.

My Dad came to cheer me on!

Splits:
Mile 1 - 10:49
Mile 2 - 11:03
Mile 3 - 10:18
Mile 4 - 10:20
Mile 5 - 10:09
Mile 6 - 9:53
Mile 7 - 10:17
Mile 8 - 9:56
Mile 9 - 9:35
Mile 10 - 9:22
Mile 11 - 9:40
Mile 12 - 9:31
Mile 13 - 9:04
.24 on Garmin - 2:02  

Overall I was thrilled with how fast I was, but I wish I could have cut 3 seconds off of mile two! Oh well, next time, every single split will be under 11 minutes. I really loved the course and loved giving high fives to all the Patient Champions. I cried through all of mile 11 (The Angel Mile - in memory of all the kiddos that didn't finish their race). The medals weren't there yet when I crossed the finish line, but after reading all about The Medal Mishap, I have forgiven the poor race director. I ended up having to push my way through the crowd at the PR gong to get my medal (and unwrap it myself and put it over my own stinkin' head).