Eeeekkkkk it's 26.2!!

Its been a while since I've had time to write a post...Being a full time mom with a full time job and training for a full Marathon leaves me with very little time, as those of you who live like this know!! 

Well...yesterday I recieved an e-mail that freaked me out! It was from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and it said there were only 30 days left until the BIG day!!! THIRTY DAYS!!! Well I guess I should start with saying that my training hasn't gone exactly as it was written, which I'm guessing is normal? Longest run to date is a 16.4 mile run that was split due to inclimate weather, it was done within 8 hours so I think it counts;). This weekend is a 17 mile long run followed by 20 next weekend and then we start to taper...whatever that means. All I KNOW is I've heard it makes runners go mad;) 

I've also been worrying about my finish time which will be over 5 hours. That is a long time to run and seems really slow, but I've been researching and have found that the average time for female finishers is 5 hours and 10 minutes, so I won't be far behind;). It seems that I need new shoes as well so that's on my within the week list. I've already wracked my brain with ideas for what to wear and haven't been able to decide.  But I digress, I will finish and I will be proud and excited! A sticker will be bought and placed somewhere:) 

Run Happy Everyone:) 

Catch up:)

Wow, it's been awhile!! I know I was injured and I was feeling blah about running because of it.  Well good news for me:). On August 2 I started running again!!! Slowly and with walk breaks but run I did!  I had a 5k on the 10th that I really wanted to do, it is put on by my dad and the Gaston Lions Club during the local fair, so my goal was to be able to finish the 5k not fast and not in search of a PR.  

(I also had a plan to start a run streak on the 10th of August, depending on how I felt.)  

I ran about every other day until the 10th, 2-3 miles each day and surprised myself by only being about a minute slower on average. The morning of the race I always help with registration and making sure everyone knows where to go so I was there at 6 A.M.  The race started at 9 so I was good and tired by then.  It was hot and the course was sunny the while way, I finished and I didn't have my worse time!    

I have had a great week this week, I win a Camelbak during RunChat, a pair of sweat pink laces and a pair of Swiftwick socks from 0to26point2!!! I am stoked to train:) I've got one race before I concentrate on "the big one" the Indianapolis Womens Half on August 31.  

And then it's time to train for a Marathon.  It's going to be hard and hot and long and I'm certain I'll have days that I don't want to do it.  I also know that I can!! 

More on that later:)

Run Happy Everyone!!!!

A 2 mile Run

WOW!!! I have never been so excited to complete a 2 mile run!  

I mean that smile is ridiculous, over 2 miles:). But let me tell you, after 30 days with 0 mileage I would've grinned like the Cheshire Cat at one mile.  If you've read any of my other posts you know I've been dealing with hip trouble, my hip flexor was all sorts of out of whack.  I've been biking and using the elliptical, icing and foam rolling, strength training and squats and I think it's all helped!! (I also started drinking tart organic cherry juice.) Before, when the pain started it was sharp and pretty debilitating.  Yesterday there was NO SHARP pain, I won't lie there was some discomfort after about a mile and a half but still not any sharp pain.  I got home and iced and stretched.  Today I can feel it, the fact that I ran, my hip is sore.  It's sore in an I used it kind of way not particularly painful.  I've got 96 days until my Full so I'm hoping beyond hope that the soreness today is a result of use and not still an injury.  

On an aside I have a new pair of shoes, Mizunos, and I've only gone 2 miles on them so I'm not sure what I think yet.  I love my Brooks and typically am loyal to the brand, but the Mizunos are so flipping cute!!! 

Anyway, I'm on a rest day today, don't want to over do it:). My plan is not to run 2 days in a row for at least a week and then I will get back on my training schedule.  

Happy Running everyone!!! 

Sidelined~Temporarily

It's been a rough few weeks, I have literally ran .75 of a mile since June 29.  

My hope was to run with my Moms Run This Town girls last weekend for their 5k, I walked it.  Well I ran 7/10th's of a mile and walked the rest.  The ONLY time my hip hurts is while I'm running!!! See previous post for injury. 

It turns out that I didn't run AT ALL the first week, my hip was so very sore.  I haven't done any running since the injury other than the attempted run last weekend.  

I've been doing lots of strength training and this week I've spent several miles on the elliptical.  My hip is feeling a ton better!! I saw my massage therapist and upon manipulation she feels it's a strain in my Iliopsoas and that it's likely from OVERTRAINING ugh...  The good news is that at the same time she also told me 3-4 weeks off and that means this Saturday I'm going out for a RUN.  

I can't wait, and it's funny because just a year and a half ago I had to talk myself into going out to run a mile! 

I've been stretching, strengthening, icing and foam rolling, hopefully all of this will pay off and I will be back up and running...literally.  

Have you ever been sidelined? What did you do to keep your sanity? 

Ugh...taking the week off

Right in the middle of training to PR at the Indianapolis Womens Half in August and my hip is acting foolish.  It's my own fault I think, from upping my mileage to quickly.  I rested this last week without doing any stretching or anything to make it better (other than the rest).  Yesterday I did complete 4 miles in the morning with just slight issues the real trouble started today during my 12 mile long run:-/  At about mile 2.5 it really started to talk to me, I could tell I wouldn't be finishing 12 miles of anything today.  Mile 3, turn around and head back home.  :(

I stopped and stretched and tried to continue on but it wasn't going to happen today.  And so, I walked...2 miles back to the car, it was slow and I hated every minute if it.  A couple of times during that 2 miles I attempted to jog very slowly but couldn't keep my pace down and was afraid of injuring myself further.  

I'm making crazy decisions this week, including taking most of the week off.  Just a couple of 2-3 milers this week in hopes that I'll be able to do 13 next weekend.  I'm planning on living in KT tape and investing in a foam roller...any other fantastic ideas!!??

Marathon Training here I come!

It's almost summer, which means its almost Marathon Training time!!  The closer it comes to time the more nervous I get.  I've done 2 Half Mary's this spring and am planning on at least 2 more in the fall prior to the Full in November, but I still feel overwhelmed by the prospect of being on the course for close to 5 hours...  My "plan" consists of training to PR in August for my half, I want to finish in 2:15, I'm not a fast runner.  I feel like if I can do that I will be able to do the full.  

I've made out my training schedule and I think it made my apprehension worse!  From June 9 to November 2 (Marathon Day) I have 656+ miles projected!! That's a HUGE number!  I've laid out my plan and kept most weeks at 4 running days with Sundays as my long run, there are a few weeks that have 5 running days in them (mostly when there are shorter speed work days).  The original plan I was thinking of following had a long run of only 16 miles twice, this made me incredibly nervous, so I combined two plans and now have two different 20 mile long runs.  I haven't decided if that makes me feel better or worse.  Running a Full Marathon is no easy undertaking, if you've done it, you amaze me.  I'm not running until November and I'm already stressing about what kind of fuel I will need and where I will carry said fuel.  I'm stressed about the training and missing things with my family.  They are super supportive and want me to succeed.  It seems that once the longer runs start, the ones that go past the half-marathon mark, I will start to feel better about this endeavor.  

If you have advice feel free to leave it!! 

Geist Half Marathon Re-Cap

Wow! So many things to say about this course.  I have only been a runner for about a year and a half, but I have heard about this course a couple of times from people I know.  Most if not everyone I've ever talked to about this course says, if you're a runner you should do it, but you'll only do it once.  This course is basically up and down hills the entire time.  This year my lovely and beautiful sister works for one of the captain sponsors (Ameriana Bank) of the race and we had the option to do it, and for no cost.  It just so happens that the Geist Half is always 2 weeks after the Indianapolis Mini, of which we were already signed up.  So there you have it, 2 half marathons in 2 weeks.  

We debated for a couple of weeks whether we would/should/could do this and finally came to the conclusion that if the day came and we weren't feeling it we could always back out. Ha!! I had told too many people about this race and backing out was not an option. 

Pre-race 

I couldn't sleep and ended up with probably 4 hours of restless sleep before having to get up bright and early at 5 a.m. I went into this run with no expectations of doing well, I just wanted to finish:). We arrived and walked approximately a half a mile to the start line, this is so much smaller than the Mini (35,000 at the mini not quite 3000 at this race.)  The time started promptly at 7:00 and right off we are headed uphill.  

At mile 1 we were running our pace that we started the mini at and felt really good.  I checked again at mile 3 and somehow through the hills we were still keeping our flat course pace on these crazy hills.  (There was basically no running between the mini and today so as I said before NO delusions of doing well.)  When we reached the halfway point I checked our pace again, yep, still keeping up with the Joneses.  At this point I mentioned to Stephanie that it was possible that we were going to be close to our mini time (which was a PR for both of us). 

Mile 11.5

The rain came and I must say I've never been happier to see or feel rain!  It was so humid and hot this morning I felt like it was raining before the rain started.  It rained for about a mile and that gave me a little rejuvenation.  Stephanie took off at mile 12 but I wasn't quite ready, at about 12.5 I upped my game and hightailed it the last half mile.  I finished a half marathon made up entirely of hills in 30 seconds longer than it took me to finish a flat course!! 

Question: 

Does this mean that I didn't give my all at the Mini in May, or that I just had a really great run day today?