Race Recap - The Publix Half Marathon

OMG!  I am so sorry that I haven't been blogging much lately.  I have been very busy, and I am trying to detach myself from technology more, which is good for my kids, but bad for the blog world.  I have been in the kitchen more and doing more with my kids so it's been great.  I have also been logging about 20 miles a week running and getting in some cross-training.  My tennis team just made the playoffs so we start that next weekend.  The little guy is still waking up a lot during the night so we are trying to work on that right now.  Hubs goes in more at night and less of me, so we are hoping the little guy will figure it out sooner than later.  We are on Day 3 of that.  The little guy is still nursing as well, but only 2-3 times a day, so I have a lot more freedom.  He is showing zero signs of being ready to wean so we are going to just stick with it for a while I guess. 

So finally, my last race was the Publix Half Marathon.  My brother-in-law had planned to run with his friend, but at the last minute pulled out (his friend).  So my brother-in-law decided he would run with me.  Yikes!  He is really fast and I wasn't used to running with someone so it was going to be interesting. 

He lives near me (3 miles away) so I picked him up early and we headed down there.  We got parked, walked to the bag drop off and then to say hi to his friend working a tent at the race.  I was Corral C, so I was up close.  The gun went off and we started. 

My goal for the race was a course PR.  I was coming off a 10k PR, so I knew I wanted to do well.  The course had changed slightly over the past couple of years.  I didn't run it last year since junior junior was only 10 days old, so it had been 2 years for me.  I knew it was a difficult course, and now I can say I think it's harder than it used to be.  The first 8-9 miles were good, easy hills, nothing crazy.  Miles 9-13.1 were killer. 

Here we are at mile 8. 

Brother-in-law obviously feels better than me here.

Hubs and my little pumpkin

Junior Junior giving us his "happy face."



Since I wanted a course PR, I needed under 1:53:00.  I got in with 1:52:43 for 13.18 miles meaning a pace of 8:31.  I was pretty happy with that.  It was a difficult course to say the least. 

I have a few races in mind for May, but with tennis we will see how it goes.

Race Recap - Charles Harris 10k

source

I know, I have been such a bad blogger. I have a lot of excuses, like my kids have been sick (the little guy was just diagnosed with a double ear infection), I have been doing a lot of cooking, but no new/unique recipes (try Peas and Thank You - that is where most of recipes are coming from), hubby's been working like a dog, so I haven't had much free time, I am trying to get as many training runs as possible with such little time, . . . See I have a lot of excuses.

Well my training runs have paid off, because I PR'ed on Sat. Yep, I broke 50 minutes On my 10k. My brother-in-law ran this race last year and said how easy it was. Then I read on another blog about how it was one of the best Peactree qualifying races, and it was close to my house, so I convinced my brother-in-law, and a few others to run.

The morning started with picking up my brother-in-law and heading to the start. We actually saw them setting up the course as we drove up, so I knew exactly what the route was. We grabbed our numbers, and he took me out to do a nice warm-up. We then headed to the start. He went up front and I stayed in the middle. I ran into Runblondie before the start and did a quick hello, and then we were off.

The first mile I ran a 7:39. Holy guacamole! I knew I needed to average 8:03 to break 50 min. The second mile was 8:12, the rest were around 8 min. I could see the finish line for what felt like forever before actually crossing it. I finished in 49:31 and my Garmin clocked it at 6.25 miles, so I averaged 7:56 minute miles. I couldn't believe it, a sub 8 minute average. I felt like a real runner at that point. That runner's high stayed with me all weekend. I will say I didn't love my finish, the last 2 little hills weren't easy. But there is always something I can find fault with when it comes to me.

source

My next race will be Publix Half Marathon. Less than 3 weeks away. I am feeling strong.  My workouts are going pretty well.  I have been under the weather and little and the kids have been just out right sick, so I haven't gotten every training run in, but after last weekend's race, I am feeling good and can't wait to race again.

Race Results
Chip Time:  49:31
Overall Women's Place: 85/367
Age Group Finish:  17/58
Pace: 7:56

Where have I been and Turkey Trot 5k

Let's see . . . kids not sleeping, crazy holiday travels which require me to start packing and prepping weeks in advance, and a tired mama.  The good part was since the hubs had only taken off 4 days all year (when our son was born), he was due for a vacation.  And surprisingly, even though I took off 12 weeks from work, I still had plenty of vaca time as well.  My dad invited the whole family (extended fam) to FL for Thanksgiving.  My brother-in-law (the genius that he is) decided we should take off the entire week and if we were going to take the whole week off, then why not leave the Friday before Thanksgiving after work.  I tell you the man is a genius.  So, the week before Thanksgiving, hubs and I started gathering up everything to pack for 8 days in FL.  So the kids and I took and picked up the hubs from work on Friday and started our way down to FL.  I was so excited to have an easy Thanksgiving.  The trip down was uneventful but we didn't arrive until 1:15am.  Yikes!  Of course both kids woke up and it took a little while to get them back down.  For all the families coming down, we had 3 condos.  So Saturday, we were able to trade off some to get some much needed naps.  The weather was ok on Saturday, overcast but in the high 60's.  We made our way to the beach to do some playing.  The ocean was freezing.

The days following were warm and sunny and we were able to hang out at the beach for some time during the day. 

On Thanksgiving, we had a number of family members who participated in the 5K Turkey Trot near where we were staying.  We knew the course would be flat (hello, FL), so everyone was hoping to do well.  I finished 2nd in my age group (24:05), my brother-in-law won his age group (19:30) and my father-in-law won his age group (24:33).

Dinner was stress free and then we headed home last Saturday.

My lack of posting is from my darling son still not sleeping well and I just haven't had the energy to write or run for that matter (have not even exercised once this week and it's Thursday afternoon).  Also, since my daughter has started school, I have had more responsibility (I am the PTO President of her pre-school and chairperson for the Breakfast with Santa).  I have been cooking some, but haven't posted many recipes yet.  I took pictures, so if I ever get around to it, you will see I am still going. 

I hope to post more soon.

Marathon Relay - Recap

Last weekend, I got the privilege to run in the Atlanta Marathon Relay for Team Trees Atlanta.  I had never run in a marathon relay, and really had a good time.  I liked the "team" aspect of the race.  I was not in charge of the team, so I just got to sit back and see how it was all going to pan out.  That Staruday, I actually walked a 5k for Making Strides against Breast Cancer.  One of my bunko/tennis friends formed a team, and we walked the 5k together.  Because it was not competitive at all, I was able to bring my jogging stroller and both kiddos (yep, hubby had the entire morning to himself).  The kids were awesome that morning.  We even ended the morning with a nice little breakfast at one of my favorite places - The Flying Biscuit.  I had the scrambled tofu (so yummy). 

Ok, back to the marathon relay, it was going to be cold so I was trying to figure out what I was going to wear.  All I knew was that I was going to get a Trees Atlanta shirt, but I was pretty sure it was going to be short sleeved.  On Friday I was told I would be doing the first leg (5.1 miles with a lot of uphills).  Well by Saturday afternoon, it had changed.  Now I was going to do the longest leg (8.4 miles with some hills).  The captain was going to run the first leg and then run with me on the 2nd leg (he wanted to get a real workout in).  Fun!  Someone to run with!

Sunday morning, I was up at 4:15am with the little guy, and no, that was not the first time he was up either.  So by the time my ride (the captain and my brother-in-law) picked me up at 5:30am, I was wide awake and very talkative.  We rode down to the race and got the lay out.  We met up with our teammates and then I was off to get on the bus to take me to the 1st exchange.  I got on the last bus and he even got lost, but that was fine with me because it was a lot warmer in the bus than waiting around outside.  I had decided not to use the porta potty at the start, but to wait until I got to the exchange.  Yeah, there was a line.  It took me forever to get through it but I didn't have anything else to do. 

The race had started.  They were giving us updates as to when the first person got to each mile.  Then as more runners came on, the race volunteers started shouting the numbers as they approached.  It wasn't too long before I heard 137.  Holy moly!  That's my team.  I got ready and saw Eric (captain + brother-in-law + awesome runner).  He passed the arm band to me and then we were off.  He was telling me about the course he had just run (he didn't think it was too bad at all), and that first 1.5 miles went back super fast.  I couldn't believe how well we were doing.  I told him I wanted to do a 8:20 minute/mile pace, or at least that was my goal.  The men on my team are pretty fast so I didn't want to slow them down too much.  We chatted and he coached me through some crazy hills, we had some gu, drank some water, and then between miles 9 and 10 of the marathon was our cheering section.  Trees Atlanta volunteers were out screaming and cheering for us.  They were so excited to see us and I got really pumped after seeing them.  Eric talked me through the rest of my leg, and we finished my leg averaging 8:31 pace.  Not too bad.  I passed the band to the next teammate and looked for my family.  Found them.  Unfortunately, they missed us coming in so, no running pics of me. 

Just after we finished.  Go Team Trees Atlanta.


My personal cheerleader with my medal and some chocolate milk.

And of course, my brother-in-laws cheerleader, who is not a morning person (aka my baby sister).

Our team finished our relay in just over 3:36.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  It was a fun race, and I would definitely do it again. 

And just because I missed a good Halloween post, here are the kiddos all dressed up.

(Ariel/mermaid and a peapod)

Half marathon - Race Recap

Oops.  Should have gotten this out sooner, but blogger is just taking a back seat to everything right now and things have been crazy. 

Timeline

Saturday:  The hubs studied all day for his exam so I was on kid patrol.  We went to Home Depot for their Kid's Workshop (it's free BTW) and the little lady made a helicopter.

Then it was off to the "Expo" to get my race number.  Not much to do there so I just grabbed my number, shirt, and swag and left.  The rest of the day was typical.  Kids went to bed, the hubs and I watched some football and then he left to spend the night out to get a good night's sleep.  I was feeling very nervous.  I felt like I hadn't trained enough, and was concerned about hitting a wall (I know it's only 13.1 miles), but I was nervous.  With my lack of sleep, I felt weak.  I set my alarm for 4:50am.  The little guy woke up at 1:00am.  That was pretty good for him.  I fed him, then put him back to bed.  At 4:20am, my daughter woke up with a bad dream.  She was crying.  I went in there to help her.  Calmed her down and at 4:30am, the little guy woke up.  I fed him (this was going to hurt my pumping that I was supposed to do at 4:50am) and tried to put him back down.  Didn't work.  For the next hour, I was back in there every 5 minutes.  He would not go down.  At 5:30am my sister arrived to watch the kids and I was off.  I told her good luck (he didn't go down until 6:15am btw). 

I drove over to the race, not far from my house.  Got there in plenty of time.  Had my pre-race snack of banana and almond butter.  Went to the potty (no line) and then went back to the car because I was freezing.  I had debated about what to wear.  I decided on running capris, dryfit shirt, and a long sleeve dryfit shirt.  I knew I would be fine for the race, but I was cold now.  I sat in my car for 20 minutes and then I had to pee again.  Well now the line was super long, so I scratched that idea.  I did a warm-up lap and ate my Clif Shot Blok and got in line.  It was a smallerish race.  2,500 runners or so.  

Race started at 7am.  I was off.  I felt ok.  Looked at my watch (sometime I typically don't do) to see how my pace was.  About 8:30 at the beginning.  That was good.  I didn't want to go out too fast.  Now I am not sure if it's age, lack of sleep, or lack of training, but I used to be a 1 mile warm-up girl.  After one mile, I was ready to go.  Not anymore!  Now, it's at least 2 miles.  Those 1st 2 miles were hard.  I felt awful.  I thought, there is no way I am going to finish this, let alone averaging 8:17 minute miles.  After mile 2, I said (to myself), ok, all miles under 9:00 minutes would be great for me.  Mile 3 - 9:00.  Crap!  Ok, from now on.  After that, I started to get into a groove and my legs started to really loosen up and feel better.  I was only getting water at the hydration stations, because you never know what the gatorade is going to taste like.  Sometimes it's watered down and that's great, but sometimes, it's really strong and that is not good for my tummy while running.  At mile 4, I took off my long sleeve and tied it around my waist.  Around mile 5, I had another Shot Blok and then another around mile 9.  Basically, when I noticed my energy getting low, I had one.  I was familiar with the route from doing this race 2 years ago (last year I was pg so I couldn't run it).  Miles 10 and 11 were hilly and that sucked because both splits were over 9:00 minutes, but other than that, I stuck to my under 9 minutes and kept it consistent. 

At the end, I started picking people off.  Thank you to the course for giving me 2 small downhills at the very end.  So nice!  I saw a guy right in front of me at the end, so I just took off.  We ended up tying according to official race results, but in my eyes, I beat him. 

Would have loved to have finished under 1:55:00, but oh well.  Maybe next time.  Average pace was just under 8:46.  Not bad considering I have a 6 month old at home who doesn't let his mommy sleep.  :)  Hey, I am trying not to beat myself  up over my crappy time. 

After finishing, I grabbed my food and water and started to walk around.  There was a place to get a massage but I was holding all my food, so I decided to just go home.  No fan support for me.  Lucky for me, my daughter greeted me at the door and loved my new bling (race medal). 

We spent the rest of the day going to the park (pretty day) and watching football.  The hubs called at 2:20pm saying he was just now breaking for lunch because his computer crashed on question #9.  Took them over 2 hours to fix.  He also said the test was hard.  His goal was to start back by 3:00pm so he would call me around 6pm when he finished.  5:30pm hit and after that, I just kept looking at the clock.  At 6:02pm, he called.  HE PASSED!!!!!  I was so relieved and excited for him.  So while I didn't PR my race by means, I got the chance to run and hubs is a genius.  Good day!

Race Results

Chip Time:  1:55:11

Overall:  685

Sex Place:  209

Division Place:  44

PRR Recap

Well, my day started out early.

1:40am - little man woke up crying - fed him
3:00am - little girl woke up crying - I went in and rubbed her back until she started to fall asleep
4:30am- little girl up again - told hubby to deal with it, he slept with her
4:44am - little man woke up again crying - fed him
5:30am - alarm went off

Awesome night sleep!

Race started at 7:30am.  My corral (B), started at 7:35am.  I was off and feeling good.  I put my Garmin VP at 8:13 minute miles, and really tried to stay close to that the first couple miles (I tend to go out too fast).  Mile 1 - 8:07 minutes, not bad.  After the first mile, I was already sweating, which is never a good sign considering I am not a big sweater (although I had been chugging water all week to make sure I was properly hydrated).  I knew the conditions were not ideal at this point.  I don't feel like the heat has ever been a huge factor for me, so I don't know if my body has changed since having babies (it can), or if it's because I am getting older, or if it was just too hot and I finally noticed it.  Either way, I knew I was in trouble.  For the past 2 years, it was 66 degrees at the start of the race.  This year - 7 degrees warmer (73 for those of you who are bad at math). 

The first 3 miles are very flat.  I didn't have much of a problem holding my pace.  At the end of mile 3 is where the first big hill starts. 

Mile 4 includes cardiac hill.  I felt very prepared for Cardiac Hill since I had been running in the heat on a hilly course with the jogging stroller, but I wasn't happy with them. 

Mile 5 my back started hurting.  2 possible explanations.

1. Poor posture due to the fact that I am constantly bending over to pick up the little guy.
2. Lack of ab muscles causing me to have bad posture. (I have started trying to do more abs since).

I also wasn't feeling the push towards the end of races like I used to.  I don't know if it's because I haven't raced much since being pregnant or what, but my drive was not totally in it. 

Once I hit 19th street, I was feeling ok.  I knew the hills were out of the way, and I was near the finish (course map).  I turned onto 10th street and tried to give it my all.  It wasn't my legs that couldn't do it though, it was my lungs (did I mention a smog alert and very heavy humidity).  As I was approaching the finish, no one around me was really pushing it.  I had to bob and weave around people at the end.  I was so surprised more people weren't sprinting to the finish. 

I clocked in at 52:23 and my Garmin said it was 6.31 miles so my pace was 8:18, not quite as fast as I was hoping, but I was pretty happy with it. 

Everyone else with me started later, so I went around and collected tons of freebies.  When you finish that early, people are just throwing things at you.  I had my water and then tried a 16oz. sample of Muscle Milk Light.  Pretty good, but I am trying to limit my dairy, so I probably won't be buying any of those in the near future (and it's pretty expensive too). 

Finally got to my friends and hubby and we went back home and I hosted the race brunch afterwards. 

All in all, not a bad way to spend the 4th.

Did you race?  Any tips for me?

4 Mile Race Recap

Yep, 12 weeks pp and I finished in the top 3 of my age group. Yes it was a small race but I was happy with my time. My goal was 34 minutes and I finished in 32:55 (8:13 minute pace).

Full race recap
I got out of bed 2 minutes before my alarm went off.  We been out to dinner the night before and both kids went to bed late, so little A even slept through the night.  While I was brushing my teeth, little A woke up so I had to go in there and feed him a little.  I had not planned on that, so I felt like I was behind.  I went downstairs to get ready and pump.  I got a bottle ready for the hubs, grabbed my pre-race breakfast (almond butter on one slice of whole wheat bread and some water) and I was off.  I was already on edge because I was about 10 minutes later leaving than I wanted.  I picked up my dad and we were off to the race.  It was not far from his house, so that was nice.  We got there, picked up our numbers and stretched a little.  We did a lot of small talk.  We were debating about our times.  My dad was making it very easy for him to make his time.  :)

We went up to the starting line and I was up front.  It was a small race, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but I have a tendency of going out too fast.  The race started and I was off.  I had my Garmin with me in case they didn't have the mile markers marked.  My biggest problem right now is that I don't know how fast I am going and I don't want to consistently look at my watch to see my pace.  I run a lot with the jogging stroller and I am much slower with that and there are so many hills in my neighborhood so I don't know my pace.  On the mill, I typically do sprints and walking (plan to incorporate some tempo runs on a regular basis now).  My first mile was 7:45.  Yikes a little fast since I was planning on a 8:30 minute mile.  I knew I was in trouble.  There were a lot of rolling hills so that made it difficult by the end.  My next mile was better on time with an 8:16.  Unfortunately, mile 3 had a lot of hills and it was getting very hot.  I am a warm weather person who does not sweat a lot and I was feeling the heat so people must have been dying.  I had a bad mile at 8:48.  :(  I knew I had to pick it up on the last mile and finish strong for myself.  I told myself at 3.5 miles I would start passing people.  Well it wasn't until 3.66 that I looked at my watch and saw how close I was to the finish.  I went the hill with perseverance.  From there, I really started to take off.  I finished strong with a final mile at 8:06 and finished just under 33 minutes.  I was pretty impressed.  I had originially thought I would strive for an 8:15 minute mile (33 minutes total) because 8:13 is my average the my PR at the half marathon.  I thought that might be too much to ask for being only 12 weeks pp.  I am pleased with my time and because it was first time at the 4 mile race, it's an instant PR for me!  Yeah!!!

My dad finished strong as well and then I made him wait around for the awards since I thought I might have gotten one.  I placed 3rd in my age group.  I am feeling pretty good with my running so far and can't wait for the fall.

Stats:Time: 32:55
Pace: 8:13/mi
Overall: 52/272
Div: 3/10

Race Recap - Race for the Cure 5k

I can't believe it has been a week since my 1st race back and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.  Sorry about that.  I am having a tough time typing with an infant in my arms.  That and the race was a bust in my books.  I was 8.5 weeks pp and knew I was not going to be near a PR so I thought I would push the jogging stroller.  Well the H thought he would push the jogging stroller since he was not in running shape.  Well this brought out a little debate between us.  I did not win. 

Strapping the kids into the stroller

 This race has been a family affair since the late 90's.  I even race this race in college some 600 miles away while the rest of my fam was racing in Hotlanta.  My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb. 1997.  Here is my fam getting ready to run (bro-in-law, younger sis, me, hubby, youngest sis, and Dad).  My other bro-in-law and sis-in-law were there to capture the event for us. 

So the H wanted us to run together as a family.  While that sounds great for an average Sat. morning run, when it comes to racing, I prefer to run alone.  I started in the back with everyone, including walkers and strollers.  We had to walk for a little while before we even could jog.  At a turn, I looked and it was so congested, I knew there was no way the H could get around with that stroller.  I looked at him and he said to just go.  I went, but had to run around so many people I couldn't get into any groove.  My first mile was an awful time with all the walking.  The second mile was better.  Adam cut across the course and actually caught up with me and we did finish together, but again, we were slower because we had to maneuver around so many people.  Here we are at the end of the race. 

Here are my splits (just to say, I idn't get to run my pace the entire race):



Split	Hour:Minute:Second Time	Miles Distance	Minutes per Mile Avg Pace
Summary	00:30:53	3.16	09:45
1	00:11:15	1.00	11:15
2	00:09:01	1.00	09:01
3	00:09:08	1.00	09:08
4	00:01:28	0.16	09:00

 After the race with my other bro-in-law and sis-in-law.

 Hope next to her sign with dad.

So I am hoping to do a 4 mile race next month with better luck.

My Pre-Thanksgiving Fun Run

Well I was waiting for the official results to come out, but they still haven't, so I will go ahead and post this.  I ran a local 5k race the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It was my first race since knowing I was pregnant.  There had been a lot of debate about me running any races.  I had planned to run another one, but the hubs was not feeling it.  He has major concerns about my running knowing that in a few weeks I have another ultrasound, which the last time around, showed our current toddler was borderline IUGR and I was put on modified bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy.  Although my perinatologist told us "Exercise does not cause IUGR," that response has not changed my lovely husband's mind.  So while I have been itching to race, I have not since I know the husband worries.  But this was local and close and only a 5k, so I told him I was doing it.  Luckily, he didn't have a tennis match until 10:00am (the race was at 8am) so he could watch Hope while I ran the race by myself (another reason I could run, I didn't have to push a jogging stroller). 

Pre-race breakfast was a banana smeared with peanut butter.  I was going to do peanut toast, but I read on the No Meat Athlete that bread and diary take more energy to digest than fruits, so I went with that.  I was going to do a smoothie, but it was just a 5k, so I didn't need that many calories. 

So we got there early, and I got my race number and grabbed a few pictures with my precious daughter (doesn't like looking at the camera currently).

After some chatting, I got in line and was off.  Here Hope is watching mommy run by.

Here I am roudning the last corner before the finish (I am in the pink sleeves and black vest).

And here I am finishing strong.  It was a good race.  I had a pregnancy PR of 28:12 and it was a very hilly race.  I felt good.  

After the race, we didn't stick around for the awards.  It was cold and Adam needed to get going and I had a tennis match that afternoon, so I had to promise to consume as many calories as I could between the race and my tennis match (which I did win, but it took 2.5 hours, oops). 

Racing and possibly a new kind of racing

I know, I know, it has been so long since I have blogged. But in all honesty, I haven't had much time and we are having major issues with our internet in our new house (still doesn't work after working for just 2 days). I also traveled for a week for work but I will update you on how well Hope did as well as some good pictures and cute stories of her. We had a blast together!

Well Sunday was the annual AJC Peachtree Road Race (10k) and Adam and I were up at 5:40am on the holiday to get ready for the race. It is the largest 10k race in the world with over 55,000 participants and it typically sells out within 6 hours. This is the 5th year Adam and I have done it. Because there are so many runners, they have groups that start at different times. The first year we did it, we were in the second to last group (group 8) and we didn't start until 8:45am (the race starts at 7:30am). But after ran that year, we learned that if you run another race within the year, you can submit your time and get in the earlier groups. I found a fast 10k race later that year and I in group 1B the next year. Since then, we have both submitted times with our registration and have benefited from starting in the early groups. It's nice!!! This year my time was not up to par, but given the fact that we have sold a house, bought a house, packed a house, fixed up a house and moved into a new house, I felt ok with my time. I was about 2.5 minutes slower than last year (my PR for the course), but I couldn't combine too much. I did also travel all last week, so I was not very rested.

Typically, the race mails you your number, but this year it cost an extra $5 per number to have it mailed. They wanted you to go to the Expo to get your number. So Saturday morning, we got up and went down to the Expo. I was totally fine with that because I like going to the Expo's and checking things out. I spotted some shirts from One More Mile, and had been eyeing them for a while at other expo's. Because of my hard week, Adam bought me one. It says "I run like a girl. Try to keep up." I love it!!!

Well also at the expo, I came across Ragnar Relays. I thought it was a triathalon relay race (which I am interested in doing), but this is all running. We stopped and spoke with the guy about it. He was telling us about one of the relays. It's a team of 12 people and you run 185 miles from Miami to Key West in January. Each runner runs 3 times. How awesome does that sound!!! I have already downloaded the race bible and am starting to construct my team. It sounds really fun and what a view. I will keep you posted on this one.

5K PR and Age Group Winner

The church that I grew up going to was having a 5K race and I thought it would be fun to do. I don't run a ton of races and the ones that I do are big ones, so I am usually not in the running for top in my age group. I thought this would be fun since it was the first time they were putting on a race and since it would be a small race, I had a good chance of doing well. It ended up that Adam didn't have tennis on Saturday morning so I made him run with me. He has been so busy with work that he has not had time to work out much at all. He wasn't happy about running with me but he got over it. Overall, a very hilly race, but fun, and end the end, I was the 18th finisher and the winner of my age group (first time for me). And I had a PR, 23:41. I finally broke 24 minutes. Yeah!!! I can't wait for next year's race.

After the race, we picked Hope up and went home to make breakfast sandwiches and coffee for brunch. Yum!

Race Pictures - ING Half marathon

I finally got the pictures uploaded from the ING a couple of weeks ago. It was cool and rainy so major props to my family for coming out to support me.

Here is Hope in her stroller, blanket and her new raincoat waiting for mommy around mile 9.

Hope thinking she sees me. She got so excited!

That is me in the pink top and green shorts. Adam bought me that outfit for my Oct. race as a way of being supportive but then it's easier to pick me out of the crowd.

After the race at home with mom and her medal. It was a pretty good race overall. I was not a huge fan of the rain, but it did help keep the temperature down, which is good when you are running 13 miles.

Now I am working on speed as distance running season is coming to an end and shorter races are coming up. I have 2 5k's in my future. One is the Race for the Cure which is a huge race, but also one of my favs. It is a great atmosphere and we always run it for my mom. If you are an Atlantan, I highly recommend this race. It has a lot of personality and jogging stroller are allowed. Yeah! Register here.

My fastest 5k time is currently 24:25, so I am hoping to break 24:00. Wish me luck!

ING Half marathon - Race Recap

I did another 13.1 miles, but this time I felt like it was all UPHILL. So yesterday was the ING in Atlanta. I was so excited to be racing again. I hadn't raced since Nov. (Thanksgiving Day, another half). I feel like it's hard to get a lot of races in when you have a small child. If I leave early on a Saturday morning, that means Adam is in charge and sometimes he has his own Saturday morning plans (tennis matches). So Saturday night, I didn't sleep well. Adam played poker and came home late and then Hope woke up so I didn't get much sleep, but I was still ready to go. I made it down to Centennial Park by 6:15am (race to start at 7:00am). I took Marta and eat my usual pre-half marathon breakfast (one piece of whole wheat toast smeared with lowfat no salt added cottage cheese and topped with some blueberries) and some water. When I got the race, I went to gear check to drop off my bag and then I went to find the corals. All of the lines for the porta-potties were too long so no extra bathroom stops for me (I could have gone too so that was a little disappointing). I was happy to see that I was in Coral C (A and B were for seeded racers and I didn't put in a time for this race). I felt pretty good about that. I knew I wasn't going to finish in 1:45 like I had originially thought when I registered for the race, but I was going to soak it all up. I didn't know when my next half would be. The weather was overcast and 51 degrees. They were calling for rain, so I wasn't sure if I would get the entire race in before it rained. The gun went off and within 25 seconds I had already crossed over the start line. My first 2 miles were pretty fast (probably too fast for me) but they were 7:43 and 7:50. Miles 3-5 were all hills and I felt like they were all up hill. It wasn't until mile 6 before I thought we had leveled off. About 3.5 miles into the race, it started to rain. It wasn't very hard, mostly a heavy spit. I did feel like it slowed me down a little during the downhills (the few that there were). With the rain, the air turned crisp, which hurt my lungs a little bit. Around 8.5 miles, between Virginia Highlands and Piedmont Park, I saw Adam and Hope cheering me on. Hope was all bundled up in her new raincoat and blanket and Adam was taking pictures and video on the Flip camera.

Finally, around mile 12 I went up my last big hill and finished back in downtown Atlanta. My time was 1:52. . ., which of course, I was disappointed in (my PR is 1:48), but I knew I hadn't trained for this one like I had previous halfs, so I was ready for it. But still disappointing. We are selling our house, trying to buy a new house, and spending a lot of weekend time looking at houses instead of running. So of course, I am not overly happy with my time, but I ran this race 3 years ago, and I ran it in 1:57 so I was 5 minutes faster than I was 3 years ago (hadn't done much training then either because that was when my mom was sick). And the course for the ING was much more difficult than the course in Oct. when I got my PR, and there was better weather.

So that is my recap. I will post pictures when I get them on the computer.

Half Marathon Recap

Well, I survived to tell the story, so I guess that is good. Actually, the race went really well and I am very pleased with my time, despite the lack of training I have had in the past 2 1/2 weeks. My day started Sunday morning at 5:30am, pumping in the living room, while watching Sports Center. I made my usual pre-race snack, one piece of toast with a slather of lowfat no salted added cottage cheese with a sliced strawberry on top and a bottle of water. I headed out the door by 6:05am (wanted to leave by 6:00am, but that didn't happen). I got to the race and parked in plenty of time. From there, I headed straight to the porta potty line. It was chilly, not even 60 degrees yet. I was sporting my current race outfit (light pink LiveStrong cotton dryfit short sleeve shirt and lime green nike running shorts, easy to pick me out of a running crowd). After that, I did some stretching and got in line. I put myself at the 1:50 flag. My PR was 1:55, but I knew I had been running well, so I was hoping for 1:52. I had my Garmin Forerunner 405 and had put my virtual partner at a 8:32 minute mile pace. That would put my finish right at 1:52. At my last 10K race, I averaged 7:59 minute miles, so I thought 8:32 for a half was doable.

Finally, I was off. It was still pretty dark, so it was hard to see my watch and I wasn't thinking clearly to put the back light on (hey, it was early). I knew my first mile was good (ended up being 7:59) and my second mile was pretty good (8:21), but I didn't see the exact time on my watch. I knew I crossed the start/finish line about 11 or 12 seconds after the gun went off, so I used the clocks they had on the course at the beginning. The course was pretty good, but not totally easy. A lot of little hills, but at least it was even. I felt like I went up as many as I went down. I was watching my virtual partner and I was quickly 1:30 minutes ahead of my time. I thought, Wow! I am going to break 1:52 for sure. Do you think I can break 1:50? Oh crap, I had it in my head to break 1:50 now. I was scared I was going to push myself too hard now and have nothing left in me by the end. I did happen to look up what I needed to average to break 1:50 and it was 8:23 minute miles. That has been my goal for a while, to break 1:50, but because of my lack of training, I was scared that was too ambitious, so I put my watch on 1:52 pace.

Adam was going to try to see my at 4.5 miles. He ended up missing me (I guess I was too fast for him).

At mile 9, I went ahead and had my gel pack. I usually only consume one for a half marathon. Sometimes I have one right before the start of the race, but I think the bread with cottage cheese and strawberry is enough for my tummy that early in the morning.

Adam did see me at 9.5 miles (which was my slowest mile at 8:54). So after my gel pack and a "Go honey, go" from Adam, I was ready to finish the race. So I hit the mile 10 mile marker and knew I only had 3 little miles left. I tried to just focus on a 5K. Then I hit 11 miles. Wow, I thought. 2 miles is nothing. You can do this! I was up to 1:44 minutes ahead of my virtual partner. I dug deep and really pushed myself. Once I hit mile marker 12, I said it's now or never. My goal was under 8:00 minutes for this last mile. I knew if I did that I would break 1:50. It was a hilly mile. I wasn't looking at my watch much now. I was jamming to my iPod and focusing on going as fast as I could. I saw Adam and Hope right before the finish and started sprinting (well I call it sprinting, but after 13 miles, I am sure it was pretty slow). Well I still had more to run than I thought. I could see the finish line, but the course took me away from it first before heading back to the finish line. I started to slow up because I was dog tired, but then I saw it again and gave it one last push. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. I had finished in 1:48:55. I couldn't believe it! Now only had a finished in under 1:50, but had broken 1:49. That wasn't even a thought in my mind. I actually surpassed my unreachable goal of 1:50. I now have a new PR and don't even know what my goal will be for the Thanksgiving Half Marathon.

I was very happy and very tired. I grabbed my stuff and got a hug and kiss from Adam and Hope. Hope actually wanted me to hold her so I did. Adam said he got her to wave at all the runners that passed them while they were waiting for me. I am sure she helped a lot of runners at the end with her smiling face and waving hand.

So, I did it! I completed my first half marathon since Hope was born. There is a 15K race that I might do, but plan to do the Thanksgiving Half Marathon. I totally have the bug again for racing. I am so happy with my finish. I do have to thank Hope though for my training. Pushing a jogging stroller is a lot harder than you think, so pushing Hope for 6-10 miles at a time is probably a lot harder than I think. :)