Bearathon 2015

At the end of last year, I pushed a little too hard in one of my runs and started noticing a bit of knee pain. I pulled back on my distance and pace so as not to injure it further and then just kind of got lazy with it – as evidenced by my half time at the end of January.

It was still bothering me on and off after that race, so I decided to drop down from the half to the 5k for this years Bearathon (2014, 2013 and 2012 recaps). I’m glad I did – not only because my knee pain has greatly diminished but also because long-distance running doesn’t hold my heart as it once did. (Something I’ll blog about in greater detail later.)

I major failed in not reading every bit of information provided to me by the race directors (because I got cocky since I’ve ran this thing for the past three years) and drove to what I thought was the starting line, only to realize no one was there. It was gone. I quickly pulled out the last email and realized I was two streets over. I got lucky as someone was pulling out of the parking garage and then had to sprint about a 1/4 mile to the start once I heard the starting gun go off.

Just a nice way to get my endorphins started, right?

The weather was in the mid-50s but it had rained the night before and was currently misting, so I decided to wear my rain jacket (purchased from Fabletics, I think Holly has the same one!) but a half mile in I was sweating more than rain was getting on me, so I tied it around my waist.

It managed to twist its way around and in true Tamara fashion, left me with a couple of great race pictures.

If only I had been wearing a purple seashell top, I totally could have been Ariel. Maybe next time.

Also, I laughed pretty hard at the first one because my shirt kept riding up and sticking to my skin, so you can see my stomach right underneath my race bib. Keeping it classy.

They changed the route this year (which is why the starting line was in a different spot) so that it ended at McLane Stadium. Which, for those of you who don’t follow college sports, is basically Baylor giving it their all since we had good ol’ RG3 as a Heisman winner a few years back. There’s even a statue of him.

I just reread that last sentence and it feels like I was trying to segue into a picture of said statue. I have no picture. The guy in the orange shirt? Not a statue. Also, not RG3.

I liked the course change but I did not like that we had about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk back to our vehicles depending on where we parked. There was no transportation/shuttles. Which isn’t a huge complaint, I mean, we literally just ran it but with the weather being kind of gross it would have added a nice touch, especially for those finishing the half. There’s some serious hills in that thing.

I managed to finish in 35:46 (only 3 seconds slower than my Jan 5k!) and forgot stop to my Garmin. But it showed my first mile as 11:12 as apposed to my 10:36 last time (fastest mile ever for me!) and so I feel like it wasn’t as much of a fluke as I was starting to think. Like, you guys, I really do have it in me to get faster. Exciting mental breakthrough. Only took me 3 years. Ha!

This was my third race as a Beef Team member for the year (in your first year you are required to run 3 races and volunteer at 1 in order to stay eligible for the next year – more on this in a later post) and hoped to check out our water station but had to pick up Lillie.

We ran a couple of errands in town (I brought dry clothes to change into) that included picking out some cleats and a helmet for tee ball. She’s old enough to be in organized sports and it is crazy talk. Super adorable but totally crazy. She could probably do without the catching of a ball but is all about running the bases. I’m still on the look-out for a local 1k or 1 mile race for us to participate in – suggestions are welcome!

You see the pink blur? Yeah, that’s right. You don’t. She’s that fast.

(Which is another reason I need to get my pace down, I can’t have her beating me! ha!)

Until we run again, my friends!

Miracle Match 13.1

Last year I ran this half as part of my marathon training & felt really strong through it. This year? Not even close to feeling strong. I simply did not put in the amount of effort necessary for me to feel as though I successfully completed a half.

The furthest training run I had done was 7 miles. I chose to sleep in, spend time with my friends/family over the holiday break and just fell back into my running slump that’s been hanging around since last March. I briefly considered not running it but then I remembered Amanda from The Lady Okie was going to be there – and seriously, I couldn’t back out. I was also living on that runners high from the previous days 5k.

We met up about 30 minutes before the start of the race so I could give her bag/bib I picked up at the expo and also, to you know, awkwardly hug and say a little prayer of thanks that neither of us appear to be psycho serial killers. You can read Amanda’s recap of the experience here.

Originally, Amanda was going to go for a PR but when she saw how awesome I was (I’m assuming) she decided she’d slow down and stay at my pace. Which means, I basically had a 3 hour run-date where we talked about running (duh), life, God, stupid water stations that had no water, and took selfies (something neither one of us usually do on runs).

Around Mile 4.

I don’t normally get to run with someone, so it was definitely a nice change of pace for me – and I’m pretty grateful for it since I was over it by Mile 9 due to my wonderful training schedule I didn’t adhere too.

Telling Amanda to hurry up.*

*Lies. We actually think we’re just super funny & clever.

We ran through Baylor campus and the new stadium, the zoo, and the hills. Those damn hills. I was already in pain from them so at Mile 11 when a dancing chicken (literally) asked us if we wanted to do Jacob’s Ladder for extra bling, both Amanda and I hit those stairs like a boss.

Amanda’s mom (who is super wonderful & sweet) found us right before we were set to hit the finish line and then we were done!

We ended up getting a bunch of great photos (they were free this year) and ate some fajitas at the finish line once we got our extra bling for Jacob’s Ladder. 

It was a great experience – although, it makes me a little sad that Amanda doesn’t live closer because I’m pretty sure we’d have BFF necklaces if we did.

Well, now that I think about it – we kind of do – I mean, race medals are just like BFF necklaces, right?

Yep, that’s what I’m going with.

It was beautiful weather, a fun experience and knowing me – I’ll end up doing it again next year (creature of habit when it comes to this race). Ha!

Until we run again, friends!

Miracle Match 5k

On January 24-25th, I slipped on my running shoes, threw on some lipstick and hit the pavement for not one, but two, races. 

Wearing lipstick on race day is totally legit, right? #miraclematch #5k #beeftip #teambeef #txbeefteam

A photo posted by Tamara Lehmann (@tamara0827) on Jan 24, 2015 at 6:50am PST

I know what you’re thinking and the answer is yes.

Yes, I am totally on fleek.
(Shout out to Kate for keeping us aware of what all the cool kids are saying these days!)

The race weekend includes a 5k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. Well, for me it does, you can pick and choose anything from a 1 mile, 5k, 10k, half, a full, or an ultra. You can even participate in a fire-truck pull.

I ran the 5k & half last year (recap here!) as part of my marathon training but this year I had three entirely different reasons to sign up: 

1. This would be my first opportunity as a Beef Team member to race.
   
2. Amanda, from The Lady Okie, was running the half.
   
3. And probably most importantly, I’d get an extra medal for running both.

Clearly I couldn’t say no.

My training for the 5k went really well (half-training? Uh, we’ll go there in the next post but short answer: I suck.) I made it a point to have at least one run where I focus on speed training. Because I’m no professional and had no idea how to do that safely, I downloaded the Jeff Galloway 5k app and utilized it for my speed sessions. Based on my performance for this 5k, I would say it’s doing the trick.

I finished in 35:43 with an average pace of 11:31.

My first mile was 10:36.

I have never ran even close to a 10 minute mile. I am not exaggerating when I say I started crying upon realizing it. While I have always wanted to be faster, I have never really put in the work for it. I always just kind of hoped it would happen naturally but after 3 solid years of running, it hadn’t so I just resigned myself to being a slower runner. No big deal. Still love the sport, I just love it a little longer than most people do out on the race course, right? Getting my money worth, that’s all.

I made a video (a little reminiscent of my first running vlog!) right after the race. I meant to post it Saturday after the race but you know, life happened. So it references tomorrow (being Sunday for the half with Amanda).

Eventually, I’ll write up my resolutions for the year (I have them, I just haven’t posted anything about them because I’m a terrible blogger) but one of my running goals this year is to focus on quality and not quantity. I really want to improve my pace so that when I decide I’m ready to run another marathon, I won’t have to question if that damn course will close on me because of ‘bad weather’.

(Please reference face below when reading ‘bad weather’ as I may still be slightly bitter concerning how Texas weather did me last year during my marathon.)

The 5k itself was great and the running team I’m now a part of (Team Beef) ran the water station at the halfway point. They snapped this super happy picture of me. I have more to say about Team Beef in a later post but the picture they took pretty much sums up how I feel about it.

Overall, the race didn’t disappoint. In the past 5 years I’ve ran it, it’s always gone off without a hitch, incredibly well organized and easily accessible. (Your parking is like 100 feet away from the start line!) It’s always great to start the year off with happy feet & Miracle Match certainly does that for me.

I mean, if my finish line photo looks this freaking happy – it’s got to be a testament to something, right? (Also, pictures were free this year!)

 

More tomorrow in regards to the half that I (spoiler alert) hardly trained for!

Until we run again!

Bearathon 2014

I signed up for this half-marathon before my marathon thinking that 3 weeks would be plenty of time to recover, get back in the groove of things and knock it out of the park.

I was right about it being plenty of time for me to recover – 3 days after my marathon my legs and body actually felt well enough to begin running again. However, emotionally I was not ready to get back in the groove of things and did nothing for two weeks after my marathon. Except, like, eat everything. The Tuesday before the Bearathon I managed to run 2 miles (thanks to social media for accountability!).

Basically, I ran 24 miles one day, did nothing for 2 weeks, ran 2 miles and then woke up early Saturday morning to attempt to run 13.1 miles on a notoriously hill driven course. If you didn’t already know, I clearly make good life decisions.

If you’ve been here for a while, you may recall this post – Bearathon 2013 – from last year. It was the race I had been working towards which kind of catapulted me into this runner lifestyle. I even vlogged my reaction to killing it. I never knew I was a crier until I had my daughter and started running. Hormones be crazy, yo.

Anyway, back to the current race recap.

I woke up around 5:30 am, got dressed, took a selfie, (because duh) and made it to the start line around 6:30 am. The half-marathon portion was set to start at 7 am and the 5k portion at 7:20 am. The race started 5 minutes late but they had music going and kept us informed, so it didn’t feel like a big deal to me.

What did feel like a big deal to me? THE HUMIDITY. The weather was in the low 60s but the humidity was 100%. I hadn’t even made it to Mile 2 and I was already sweat-soaked.

Around mile 2.5, I talked with a lovely older lady named Lynn, who I thought was maybe in her early 50s – turns out she was 69! She had been running for over 30 years, had both her hips replaced and was still trucking along. She was pretty motivating and right around mile 3, I said goodbye and pushed forward.

Like last year, they had students at every mile marker for the water stations – and it was insane. There was so much cheering and yelling, you could actually hear it from the previous mile marker. If you are ever in the Waco, Texas area and want a challenging course that has some wonderful crowd support – Bearathon is for you. (Also, I’ll totally do it with you too and then we can go day drinking!)

Mile markers had water and Gatorade, a few of them had snacks (there was bacon at one, but I learned my lesson last time and politely refused). I ended up using Shotbloks for my ‘fuel’ by downing a couple every 4 miles or so, it kept me feeling from empty and I’m starting to find I like them better than energy gels.

I’m only smiling because I was finally done with the hills.

I went into this race not expecting much considering how little I had been running and I crossed the finish line in 3:00:31 – which is a normal for me. The course had a time limit of 4 hours which equaled a 16 minute/mile pace.

Sometimes my music doesn’t do it for me, so I’ll cut it off and count to myself with every step. 1.2.3.4.1.2.3.4. Some people have mantra’s, I have numbers. It works for me. And with all that said, the above photo is my counting face. Lovely, isn’t it?

Something I did notice was the support dwindling/stations running out of Gatorade near the end of the race for me. I mean, I’m slower than average but still finished a full hour ahead of the time limit and it can be discouraging - so I can only imagine what it felt like for those that finished after me.

For the record, this is not the first time I’ve noticed feeling like a ‘loose-end’ in a race where I was near the end of the pack. So, it’s not just a Bearathon thing (and I don’t remember feeling that way for the 2013 race) But, I do think it’s something that should be addressed for those of us out there who love to run but just do it on the slow.

After I grabbed my medal & t-shirt, I stuck around for a bit to cheer on people and then managed to steal a whole pizza. I am not ashamed.

I know I’ve provided you all with a lot of fairly decent pictures in today’s post, and that’s probably a little disappointing. I mean, who wants to see someone looking good while running – no one. No one wants to see that.

So, I know the real reason you’re here – for the crappy race day photos I’m always so proud of. So, without further ado:

This was my attempt at a jumping photo.
All it resulted in was a head shake from the photographer & weird hand placement.

 

Sweat, hills, and counting make me lose the ability to form a neck.

And this next one is for those of you who have asked me how I can be so happy during a race. The fact is, often times, I’m not – I’m just struggling to get through the next mile – but when I see a camera, it’s automatic. I turn into a giant hamball who immediately goes for the thumbs up.

Until we run again, friends!

My Marathon Story

This is the only picture I could currently find – courtesy of the Buffalo Soldiers MC Killeen – TX

I don’t even know where to start with this. Probably because I’m still trying to figure out what I feel about my very first marathon. Sometimes I think back and want to give myself the biggest pat on the back and say, “Damn. You went for it, girl. Who knew you had it in you?” and then other times, all I can do is feel like I somehow failed because when it comes down to it, I only completed 23.5 miles out of 26.2.

And despite what many people have told me, 23.5 miles is not equivalent to a marathon (even if the waddle in my step for the past few days wants to argue otherwise!)

…and I’m about to start crying again.

It’s been going on like this for the past few days. This rollercoaster of emotions, which probably looks pretty similar to the elevation chart for The Army Marathon. Ba-dah-bing, ba-dah-boom.

Oh, yeah, in case you’re wondering I’m one of those people that channels sadness into cheesy jokes and awkward dance moves. I won’t confirm or deny whether I did something similar to The Robot just then.

I thought about starting this out with an apology for the length of this post you’re about to read but that would be doing myself a disservice seeing as I want to remember this - all the good and the bad. But mostly I’m going through it all so I can remind myself that I’m capable of anything even if the circumstances are completely shitty. Phew. Okay. Here we go.

I woke up Saturday morning with a twinge in my back, I tried to ignore it as I got ready to pick Lillie up (she stayed with her grandparents the night before) so we could head to the Expo and pick up my bib and race bag swag. It was faint but nothing to really call home about. I popped an ibuprofen but by the time we were heading back (it’s about an hour and fifteen minutes from my home) I knew what was happening.

Back spasms.

A little background – right after I had Lillie I began having back spasms. Since all the muscles are connected, not only my back hurt but my ribs as well.They were so bad I made my way to the ER at least twice in the year after Lillie because I thought my gallbladder or appendix was about burst. They also have a tendency to make me throw up. Like, a lot. And they would last for days. I went to a chiropractor for months and he helped me immensely (Dr. McMullen in the Waco, Texas area. Highly recommend). He showed me stretches, adjusted my back and he explained why he thought it was happening. Basically, I was overweight, had bad posture and my purse (and diaper bag) was entirely too big/heavy and it was throwing my spine out of whack. The spasms were just a way my body was trying to straighten me up. Once I started working out regularly, they vanished. I haven’t seen him in over a year. If I did have a spasm, it would maybe last a couple hours and was manageable.

Back to the current spasms – they were intense, so I panic texted Mojgan who advised me to take some Advil, take it easy and stretch. I slept off and on throughout Saturday afternoon, while Lillie got her fill of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She typically only gets to watch 1 episode a day, so this was like a vacation for her. Kids can be pretty intuitive and depending on what’s going on it’ll either be really creepy (read: But mommy, there’s a weird man in my closet) or right on the money, so she knew something was wrong with me and would randomly come and rub my back or try to bring me Gatorade without me asking. Alfred came home (he was out working all day) put Lillie to bed and I felt slightly better so I got all my things together for the morning. Alfred and I made a plan for what I expected to happen the next day and filled Emilie in on it as well via text. I planned on leaving the house at 4:45 am and did not intend on forcing my husband and daughter to wait around for 6 hours for me to finish. So, Alfred & Lillie would ride with Emilie, Justin and their son, Tanner (aka TanMan). Once everything was figured out, I managed to eat a popsicle without it coming right back up and just prayed the spasms would lighten up just enough for at least most of the race.

I woke up Sunday morning seemingly spasm free. I pulled on my running capris, yellow tech shirt (I wanted to be bright so Alfred could find me!), Spibelt, music, watch, shoes and after glancing at the weather grabbed my red pullover just in case. 

The weather started out close to the 70s. It was beautiful running weather. I crossed the start line feeling excited and ready! Mile 1 went quickly and I seemed to be right on pace with where I wanted to be. This great feeling continued on until right about mile 8. At that time, it felt like the temperature was drop kicked off a fucking cliff by a gawdang Spartan. It just kept going down. I was starting to see my own breath. It was now in the 30’s and with the wind, it felt more like the 20s.

Miles 8-13 were not fun. But not because my legs were tired – they actually felt really strong. It was my hands that were over it. I simply couldn’t feel them. I was running into the wind which made it worse – I couldn’t even open the zipper on my spibelt to get my fuel out (I went with strawberry shotbloks). I had to get the volunteers to do that for me at the water stations. They had swollen to about twice the size they normally are. I already have sausage fingers, so yeah, it was intense. I wish I could have taken a picture.

Anyway, I’m not ashamed to admit I kept looking for gloves on the side of the road that someone may have dropped. Spoiler: I did not find any. I started telling myself just make it to the halfway point. I kept moving simply because if I stopped to walk, I would start shivering and it felt so much harder to pick my legs up to get going.

By the time I hit 13.1 miles (at 3 hours, so I was right on pace with what I expected/hoped for) my back spasms reared their ugly head. I finally cut on my music to try and focus on the lyrics and kept moving forward.

Then the sleet started coming on and off. It wasn’t bad but it was there and I could feel the tiny iced rain droplets attaching themselves to my eyelashes. The bitches.

I was at the end of the pack, there were maybe 2-3 runners behind me but when I hit mile 15 I started passing people. My legs still felt good (or numb, whichever), my back spasms had stopped and the way the course was set up I wasn’t really running into the wind anymore so my hands were halfway thawed out. I started focusing on the person in front of me and before I knew it, I had passed 5 people by the time I was coming into Mile 20. I looked at my watch and knew at that point, I probably wouldn’t finish by 6 hours. It’d be more like 6:20 but I didn’t care. It was happening.

I started tearing up a bit as I ran past that Mile 20 marker. I knew that I was going to do it – I was going to run a fucking marathon. I wish I could bottle up and sell that feeling to you people, because that shit was golden.

When I closed into Mile 21 I saw Alfred, Lillie, Emilie, Justin & TanMan (BTW – I couldn’t ask for better friends!) I was ridiculously excited and I yelled for Alfred to grab my gloves. He crossed a 4 lane highway to get to me (my hero!) and then proceeded to warm my hands up under his armpits. Classy, I know. I didn’t want to waste a lot of time, so after a couple minutes he helped me put the gloves on. And by helped, I mean he did all the damn work. I am not exaggerating when I say I couldn’t feel my fingers. He had to guide each one into the correct finger and it took at least 10 minutes. Later on he told me I also had ice on my face but didn’t want to mention it to me at the time thinking it might freak me out.

He’s a smart man.

I took off feeling revived! My husband, my daughter, my friends were here! My hands were warming up! I was so close! Then I heard it.

Lightning.

LOUD lightning.

I vividly remember saying out loud, “No. NO. NONONONONO.” The Army Marathon had already expressed in their emails/facebook that their was a possibility of closing the course if lightning struck. But I was almost there. I could feel it. That finish line photo. That medal dangling from my neck. That feeling of “FUCK YES I RAN 26.2 MILES BITCHES”

And in case you are wondering, crossing a finish line of something you trained 5 months for abso-fucking-lutely qualifies as a reason to curse.

I started speeding up (or at the very least I felt like I sped up) and then the wind started howling. And the clouds started darkening and at mile 22 a police officer pulled up next me on his motorcycle. My heart briefly sank as he said, “We are closing the course. It’s no longer safe. You can try to finish it out but we are picking people up. Someone will be by in a little bit.”

I don’t even think I looked at him as I briefly said, “Okay” and pushed forward thinking well, he did say you could finish it out so that’s what I’ll do. I don’t care what the weather says. I got this. I can’t get this close to not finish. NO. At least he’s not telling me I’m so slow they’re going to pick me up. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts.

And then it started getting worse. And rain/sleet started coming down a little harder. I heard a motorcycle coming up behind me. I kept running as the office informed me the course was closing. I had to get into the car that was following him. I yelled, “But I’m almost there!” and he replied, “We’ll bring you to the finish line, you’ll still get your medal. You still did it. We know you would have finished but it’s not safe, now get in the car.”

He stopped his motorcycle. I turned and looked at him and in a last ditch effort to keep moving I said, “But my husband, he’s right up there. Can I just run to him?!”

Alfred wasn’t there. I couldn’t see him. But I could see mile marker 24. And the officer, God bless him, knew I was lying. He parked his motorcycle, put his arm behind my back and led me to the passenger seat of a small, green car as I wept. I wanted to scream and yell, “It’s not about the medal. It’s not! I just want to finish!” but all I did was cry silently in the car as we passed other runners being picked up and the lady driving tried to console me.

She drove me to the finish line, about 20 feet away, looked at me and said, “Come on. I’ll run in the rain with you! You did it! Congratulations!”

I crossed the finish line, refused to let them put the medal on me (actually, I still haven’t worn it. It’s sitting in my console in the truck as I type), they gave me a windbreaker jacket, and sent me to the warming tents where I silently cried as I sipped on chocolate milk and watched other rain soaked runners come in after me.

I heard a text message go off, so I struggled to get my phone out of my arm band, figuring it was probably Alfred or Emilie wondering where the hell I was. And then roughly 6 minutes later it rang.

It took me 6 minutes to get my phone out of my arm band because they’re were that cold. And probably would have taken longer if it wasn’t for a nice older gentleman (in his 50s) that saw me struggling and helped me out citing “Paternal Instincts”. He also covered me up with an extra blanket.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – runners are awesome.

I finally talked to Alfred, they weren’t able to get close to the finish line to pick me up but they had shuttle buses to a parking lot nearby and I could meet him there. About 45 minutes, I was changed into dry clothes (changed in the truck in the parking lot) and we decided it was time to go eat. To be honest though, I wasn’t feeling it. I just knew the kids were probably hungry. I stopped crying but continued to ignore all the wonderful comments on facebook/twitter from my friends and family who saw that I had crossed the finish line at 5:56:59.

I wasn’t trying to be rude by ignoring it. I was simply tired of thinking about it. Thinking about how maybe I should have just pushed away from the officer and kept going. Or maybe I should have trained harder to finish faster. Or damnit, Tamara, why the hell didn’t you just wear your gloves in the first place? There was a lot going on in my head. Eventually I did post a status to let everyone know what had happened.

The love and support from my friends and family was amazing. I’m seriously blessed to have such wonderful people in my life, whether it’s people I talk to daily or people I only interact with online. It definitely took the sting away from the huge hole of disappointment that had nestled itself inside of me.

But it hasn’t taken it all away. I don’t know if it ever will. This was my first marathon. This was supposed to be a day of joy, a day of laughter, a day of crappy race pictures to commemorate this amazing accomplishment.

And it felt like none of that.

I know, first world problems, right? I have so much to be grateful for.

This was the longest I’ve ever ran – mileage and time-wise.
I successfully trained for 5 months.
I did not quit.
I did not get injured.
I had some amazing races & accomplishments (2 PRs – 10k and half!) during those 5 months.

I am not trying to diminish any of those things but like I said in the beginning, 23.5 miles is not 26.2. And on some level, it feels as though I failed. My only goal was to finish. I couldn’t even do that. And while it wasn’t my fault that I couldn’t, that still doesn’t help the feeling.

As far as the race goes, I would definitely recommend The Army Marathon. They did a wonderful job! They had plenty of water stations with extra goodies (I consumed a fair amount of gummy bears and fruit snacks) and lots of cheering. This was a point-to-point race and we were on some fairly busy roads. We were constantly surrounded by EMTs going back and forth on the course and police officers directing traffic. It was well organized (Lillie and I got a TON of stuff at the expo) and went off without a hitch. The only thing I didn’t account for was that this is Texas. And even if Saturday was 80 degrees (it was) that does not mean Sunday will be. I swear we can have all four seasons in one damn week.

So, at this point the most common question I’ve had is, “When is your next one?”

And truthfully, I don’t know. I mean, there will be a next one it just won’t be anytime soon. One of the hardest things I’ve found with my training is working around my mom schedule and trying to keep that a priority. There were days when I felt like I was just going through the motions (because I was tired, or focusing on what I needed for my next run) and so, I knew that without a doubt that once I completed this marathon I would not complete another one for quite some time. At least until Lillie was a little older.

But now that I haven’t actually completed 26.2 miles, I feel like I’m in limbo. Should I just sign up for one and get it done? Or should I wait it out like I wanted to in my original plan?

After many tears this week (a lot of them while writing this post) I’ve decided that I’m going to focus on improving my pace. I want to get faster. I need to get faster if I want to train for another marathon and have more time for my family during the training process. Faster times mean I’m out on my feet less during my training runs even though I’ll be going the same distance. I’ll start with the 5k and move up from there.

I’m hoping by really trying to put in some speed work and increasing my strength (New Years Resolution), that this plan will really get me to where I want to be.

At the fucking finish line for my next 26.2 miles, wearing the shit out of my medal, finishing at a faster pace than I ever thought possible.

What I thought was going to be my moment may not have come when I hoped it would but I’ll be damned if I don’t ever get it.

If You’re Not First, You’re Last

Last Saturday, I laced up my shoes, threw on my skort (aka Chub Rub Loophole) and headed out to Woodway, Texas for a 10k race I had signed up for as my last official long run before my marathon.

This was my first time running this course (this was the 3rd year for it, but I think maybe the first for the 10k portion). I didn’t see much in the way of advertising for it and with our local running group, Waco Striders, putting it on I assumed it would be a fairly small race. I’ve done a few races they’ve timed & put together and it’s usually for local charities, etc so the turn outs aren’t in the hundreds or anything.

I assumed correctly. There were 19 people running the 5k and 18 people running the 10k. For the 10k it was the 5k course looped. It went through a park and a couple little residential neighborhoods. I remember thinking, “Wow. I wonder if this is what it would be like if I lived in the city and ran.” Since I live in the country, most of my runs are done on gravel while being mooed at by cows.

I started the course telling myself to just go easy and enjoy the fact that this was my last long run. Alfred actually came to this race but Lillie did not. Typically he has to work so while I often offer, it’s really not a big deal for me to go alone. I assumed he wasn’t going to make it so I arranged for Lillie to stay with her grandparents. It was nice knowing he was at the finish line though and it probably pushed me a little bit harder to finish.

Well, either that or the fact that I was the last person to cross the finish line and the cops were trailing me.

Oh yeah, go ahead – read that sentence again. The cops were following me because I was dead fucking last.

 

If you’ve been reading for any amount of time, I always set at the minimum the following two goals for my races:

1. Don’t poop myself.
2. Don’t be last.

But you know, being last? Wasn’t that bad actually.

Probably because while I may have been last during this race, I actually dropped my 10k time by nearly 6 minutes! And it’s 10 minutes faster than my very first 10k I ran in 2012. I crossed the finish line with my head held high and crazy happy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The husband managed to capture me at my sexiest crossing the finish line. God bless him. My streak for having the “best” race photos continues!

I was thrilled to end my marathon training on this note. Even if it was the last note conducted on that day.

So, my next symphony, aka the marathon.

This Sunday.

EEK!

I’m making my lists and checking it twice, thrice, wayyyy too much and I’m trying to ignore these giant butterflies that have gathered in my gut.

The Army Marathon  notified us that they have live timer at certain points during the race, so I’ve linked my facebook & twitter. Sorry for being that obnoxious person but my thoughts are – maybe someone will comment or text me when I need it most (at the wall) and I’ll take all the encouragement I can get.

Next time I post from here – I’ll be a marathoner! YAY!!

Until we run again!

Miracle Match Weekend Race Recap

This past weekend I double upped with a 5k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday plus I added 5 miles after the half on Sunday to give me 18 miles for the day.

Sounds crazy, right? It is but I have only 4 weeks until I lace up my shoes and throw down 26.2 miles so it was a necessary evil. And one that just helped affirm that while my legs may be tired and the sweat may be flowing from my pits, my mind & heart are ready to tackle this.

And what’s the thing they say about running being mental? Yeah. That. Anyway, less about marathon madness and more about race shenanigans!

For the past 4 years, I’ve ran the 5k portion of this race. It’s actually the first 5k I ever participated in (before I was hit with the running bug) and has kind of been a tradition for me since. I considered running the half portion last year but had already registered for the Houston Half and since I was fairly new to running longer distances, I wasn’t sure if could handle it.

Besides Miracle Match boasts as being the Toughest Little Marathon in Texas, so it was a little scary as a newer runner. Below is the elevation change/hills for the half marathon course from my Garmin.

I knew after I finished the 5k in 2013 that I would sign up to run the half in 2014, just to see. And when an email showed up in my inbox with a discount code for signing up to do a double race weekend, I couldn’t say no.  Also, 100% of the proceeds of this race goes to Be The Match to help people who need marrow transplants.

Yeah, not 80% or 90% but 100 freaking percent. How amazing is that? It was also one of the most personable & personal races I’ve ever run. I would highly recommend this race to anyone – even out-of-staters. On to the recap.

January 25th, 2014 5k

The weather was cold. With wind chill in teens & upper 20s so I went with running tights, long sleeve shirt, pullover, gloves (touch screen that I scored from my MIL over Christmas!) and a headband.

Overall, good choices. I was definitely over the gloves by Mile 1 and considered chunking them at My Emilie (who was awesome and volunteered at the water station!) but didn’t want to seem like a drama queen so I powered through the finger sweat. I didn’t want to really push crazy hard for this simply because I knew I was planning on doing the half the next day and overall, these races were set up as part of my marathon training. Last thing I want is an injury.

Time: 38:25 with a 12:23 average per mile.

My 2013 time was 40:30 with a 13:03 average per mile, so maybe not a 5k PR but definitely a course PR! Since starting to run one of my favorite things has been to do the same race each year (if possible) just to be able to compare. It’s a great way to remind yourself of where you are and that the work you’ve put in isn’t in vain.

Here’s a few race pictures from the 5k. They turned out, in one word, glorious. I seriously couldn’t stop laughing at myself when I checked them out. (Yes, it’s true, I’m easily amused.)

Totally not planned but couldn’t have been more perfect. Leo + Tam = Running Love

Once I crossed the finish line, Emilie & I had a girls day where we went to Target and then carb-loaded on some Italian food at Johnny Carino’s. I thought about taking a picture of my Smoked Chicken & Jalapeno Ravioli to share with you but then I took one bite and pretty much shoveled the rest in my mouth at an epic speed. It was amazeballs and I have no regrets.

January 26th, 2014 Half-Marathon

The weather was warmer (in the 30s) and it really was a great weekend for a race. Based on my experience for the 5k, I opted to not wear gloves and a headband. I thought I might still need a pullover so I started the race with a newbie I picked up at Target during our Emilie & Tam day. I’m actually wearing it today as I type this and y’all, it’s wonderful. I love it. The brand is C9 and everyone should have one. I wore running capris instead of tights (Christmas present from My Emilie. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her? Because I totally do.) and I recently purchased a SpiBelt to try/use for my marathon. This was the first race I’ve used it with and it did wonderful. I’ll do a review on that in a later post.

I started the race telling myself I’ll run as I’m comfortable and try to focus on just getting to the 13 since I had planned on running 5 more miles afterwards (and I did!) to make my total for the day 18. Almost immediately I felt a presence right next to me, same pace, same relaxed mode for at least a quarter of mile before she turned to me and said, “ 12:30 pace?” and I turned back and said, “That’s the plan. Fingers crossed, right?”

We introduced ourselves (side note: runners are amazing and wonderful and crazy friendly) her name was Adrian and her dad/sister were also running. We ran the first 6 miles together before we hit the hills. Once we got to the hills my plan was to speed walk up them and run down, her plan was to run the entire race so for the rest of the race I was a minute or two behind her.

This was at Mile 5 right before I ditched my pullover (thanks Adrian for holding my watch!) and just tied it around my waist. She really helped pull me through and it was nice having someone to run with for a bit.

At Mile 8 I got bacon. Like, literally, I got bacon. We were running through a residential part of the race and there was a group of 5-6 college kids in front of their home cheering runners on with cowbells. One girl had a giant bowl and as I got closer, I heard someone yell, “We got bacon!” So as I ran by I grabbed a handful and yelled, “HELL YEAH”. They started jumping up and down screaming, “SOMEONE TOOK THE BACON!” I popped a piece in my mouth and immediately regretted it. Not that it wasn’t tasty but it was bacon and kind of dry and I had no water for the next half mile.

I’ve decided that at any point in my life when I think something is going to be great and it turns out to be a bad decision I’m going to call it “Got Bacon”.

Yo, I decided to run a marathon but then I got bacon when my legs fell off at mile 21.

The race split up based on the race you were running right after Mile 5 too – the half went straight, the full & relay turned left and the 10k turned right. The half & marathon courses met back up around mile 10 I believe.

At Mile 11, the lead racer for the full marathon passed me. So basically this dude ran 26 miles faster than I could run 13. Dude was in beastmode.

At about that time I met another running partner (didn’t grab her name but she was from the Dallas area and said she loved the course and it was better than the Austin 3M she ran the weekend before – winning!) and we talked for about a mile before I started getting eager to finish and decided to push it a bit.

I know, I know, I run slow enough that it looks like I’m walking but I promise I was running. Also, the guy in the background is getting sassy about it, so don’t mind him.

I wasn’t expecting to run this (much harder) course any faster than my last race since I still had 5 miles to throw down but y’all, TOTALLY PR’ED ON THIS BITCH.

Time: 2:56:09 with a 13:26 average per mile.

When I crossed the finish line I was thrilled! I really think it helped that I had people to talk to during the race to keep my mind off the mileage.

I picked up my extra swag (for running two races, I ended up getting 3 shirts!), my medal and seriously considered grabbing a free fajita & margarita but instead I booked it to my truck and then to the house to finish up my mileage for the day on the treadmill.

I was exhausted by the end of it but I didn’t sit down (I do have a kid/husband to tend to) and tried to keep myself busy in hopes that I wouldn’t be too crazy sore come Monday. I finally sat down at 7pm to watch a movie with the husband and I didn’t make it 15 minutes before I passed smooth out. I woke up around 9pm with stickers on me (thanks Lillie) and a husband telling me I’d be more comfortable in our bed.

I moved around a lot on Monday to ward off the soreness, and it wasn’t too terrible. Mostly if I sat for an extended period of time (desk job, woohoo) and then sat up and by Tuesday there wasn’t much soreness left in me. HOWEVER, I did manage to chafe fairly bad on thighs (even though I wore capris) so I busted out the Desitin and am now aware that for my marathon I should probably have some Vaseline I can get to incase I need it.

Overall, this was a beautiful course that you should totally do. It’s for a wonderful cause and they really do a great job at making it personal. There were signs along the course for motivation and the volunteer stations really out-did their selves.

Until we run again!

Jingle Bun Run Race Recap

On December 14th, 2014 I participated in a Half-Marathon put on by Schlotzky’s in Temple, Texas and I’m pretty sure my legs fell off at some point.

I was not as prepared for this race as I had thought I was going to be – which is, actually all my fault seeing as I didn’t get off my ass and put in the miles for it like I should have. Luckily, I was not alone in my faults – as my friend Courtney was in the same predicament!

This was the first race I’ve ever run with someone and y’all, it was pretty awesome. We talked prior to the race about our plan of attack and when realizing we had roughly the same pace, figured we’d stick together. It helped me through some of the later miles when my legs were like, “YOU DID THIS TO YOURSELF I SHALL CRAMP NOW! HAHA.” We chatted, talked, complained, and tried to keep moving as the wind was shoveling his skanky face down our, uh, face.

Temperatures were in the high 30s, with wind gusts up to 20 mph – so it wasn’t exactly pleasant but I managed to finish in 3:01:30. That’s about average for me, so despite not really putting in the time on my feet I still got-r-done.

We were pretty much all over the place with our mile times, there was stretching, walking & talking going on so we figured as much. The course was a loop we did twice (turns out I’m not a fan of loop races), so when we hit the 10k point I was like man, I’m feeling better than I thought – let’s do this thing! And uh then, mile 10 happened and yeah, well I was fucking done. I tried to just focus on pumping my arms, so my feet would move and telling myself that “I get to do this.” It helped just enough to cross the finish line.

I knew I was going to be pretty miserable and sore the second I crossed the finish line, so I was really looking forward to grabbing some food and taking a shower. Unfortunately, the daughter had other plans and we ended up going to the Urgent Care for a serious ear infection situation. I love that she can talk now, but hearing a kid scream “MAMA I NEED MEDICINE” for 45 minutes on the way to the doctor is no way to celebrate 13.1 miles.

We finally made it home with medicine and I hit the shower around 5pm that evening.  It was a long, cold day but really was a great race. Schlotzky’s & Temple Parks & Recreation did a great job organizing the run, and all the volunteers kicked ass motivating us to keep on trucking. I wouldn’t mind running this one again next year (better prepared of course) simply because the medal is pretty adorable. And incredibly tasty looking.

Mmm..medal.

My next race isn’t scheduled until the end of January (unless of course I get suckered into one – which happens) where I’ll be double medaling. Yeah, that’s right. DOUBLE MEDALING. Basically I’ll run the 5k portion on Saturday and the half on Sunday. In the meantime, the soreness I felt after this race and my mental attitude really has cemented the fact that I need to get fucking serious about this marathon training and stop letting excuses make my long weekend runs fall to the wayside.

Here’s to running over Christmas break and not dying!

Until we run again!