Aaron T. Sterling memorial marathon

oh you didnt know that i was going to run a marathon today? thats funny...

    neither did i.

this week is the 7th week of my marathon training program (out of 18 weeks... around the lake marathon is exactly 11 weeks from RIGHT NOW. 7pm friday night start time on july 27th). this training program is no joke... and im pretty sure pete pfitzinger would probably not approve of the way im distorting his program right now... but i need to do what i need to do in order to work this program around my work and life schedule (im kinda a big deal.... ha, not). the last time i tried to do this program was last summer. we all know how that went (50 mile weeks turned into 2 mile weeks, long runs were less than 10 miles, marathons werent terrible but werent sub 4 like i was trying for).

i was supposed to run 7 recovery miles today and 18 tomorrow, totalling 50 miles for the week (please note: ive never done a 50 mile week). i already knew i was going to do 20 instead of 18, but we are scattering Aaron's ashes tomorrow and i knew i wouldnt want to do those miles tomorrow... so i decided to flip it and do 20 today and 7 tomorrow.

it took me a bit to actually get off the couch and leave the house to go for the run (this is a common occurance). i also had a fight with my outfit and the weather. after finally leaving, i felt great (shocker). at 3 miles, i felt really great (yes, i know, its 3 miles. my mind works in funny ways sometimes). sam had wanted me to try for 9:00min/miles for the 20 miles and i kept seeing 8:25s/8:30s as the miles ticked by. i tried to slow down a bit but my body kept wanting to keep that pace (impending break down coming up? i was sure of it). around mile 11 i stopped to get some water and had decided i was going to try for 26.2, see how i felt, see what i was capable of.

i couldnt stop thinking about aaron on this whole run and he definitely carried me through the miles. it seemed like time was going by so fast. when i got to 20 (averaging 8:45s), i knew (save for that major break down i figured was  coming) that i could go sub 4 hours. i tried to slow down and use the last 6 miles as recovery but i just kept trucking along. my knees were starting to ache and the outsides of my legs were feeling "different", but other than that i felt awesome.

when i got to 23 miles, i knew i had it. at 3:34:55 (what i need to boston qualify... which i am currently NOT training for), my mileage was 24.45. i didnt try to push the final few miles because i have reach the beach 200 mile relay next weekend and a 25k the weekend after (ok yes, in hindsight i probably shouldnt have run a marathon today. i know that. i dont always make great decisions. but i do not regret this run at all. sorry if i suck next weekend, team).

 

final marathon time: 3:51:13

my current marathon PR is 4:15:25, so ill take a 24 minute improvement during a training run. i guess its funny what can happen when you train the right way (and dont text/tweet during the run).

ive decided to name this the Aaron T. Sterling memorial marathon. miss you <3 RIP.

polar bear triathlon

spoiler alert #1: i survived my first triathlon!
spoiler alert #2: yes, ill be doing another one (not soon...enough). you all can go ahead and collectively say those 3 words you've all been dying to say....

2012 polar bear sprint triathlon recap:

swim.bike.run.beer. the end!
 just kidding. but thats pretty much how it happened... with a whole lotta emotion thrown in there.

i registered for this triathlon in october. OCTOBER. 7 months is a long freaking time... plenty of time to adequately train for a race. maybe sometime ill take my own advice...

friday night i freaked out, regretted my decision to do this race, and then proceeded to (over)pack. and then i wrote everything down that i packed and sent the email to allie (her first tri also). all things running? im your girl. but incase you are ever doing a triathlon, stay clear of any/all advice from me (other than DO it. cuz theyre pretty sweet).

like i said.... overpacked.

(i ended up taking a bunch of stuff out... including post race warm clothes. fail)

in normal type A fashion, i laid the stuff out... but felt like something was missing...

oh yeah. oops (rule #1: dont forget the bike)

i think i saw every hour on the clock and decided to get out of bed sat am before my alarm even went off. i took a shower and braided my hair, made coffee and had to literally force myself to eat two pieces of toast with peanut butter and a banana. ive run close to 100 races in my lifetime but the nerves i had saturday morning were so different. i was worried that i hadnt trained well (fact), and i didnt know what to expect since i had never done a tri before. but i left home, picked up allie (who was also regretting the decision), and off we went.

# of times the phrase "what the fuck were we thinking" was said on the 30 min drive: at least 20.

luckily we had eric and andy who pretend to know what theyre doing to help get our shit together. once we got there eric took us in to get body marked...

thanks jess!

...then helped us learn how to set up our bikes in transition. although i didnt have a lot of stuff in there, i sure wouldnt have known how to set everything all up to make my T's fast. trash bag, towel, sneakers, jacket, gloves, socks, water, gum, gu chomps, helmet, race bib, bike. nothing to it! (still so confused...)

forgot my water of course

transition rule #1: do not sit down. allie got this out of the way pre race.

while setting up i finally met kellie!!! holy bad ass won her age group today

so i gave her cookies :)

and on the 10th try... we got a decent pic before allie headed into the pool :)

yes the arm warmers were necessary despite the zillion degree weather in the pool

also note the super hot big pimpin sweatpants (for you, sara bradley)

allies wave started 1st so we all hung out in the bleachers and watched her and kim kill it in the pool. then we had a lot of time to kill until kellies wave (3), erics wave (4), my wave (7), and andy and jason were in wave 10... so we took goofy pics:

bad ass tri triplets, according to middleagedrunner

my mom and MIL arrived a little before my swim, i freaked out on them approx 4 times and then headed over to get checked in at the pool. i had wanted to be in lane 22 but ended up in 19. i blame this for my terrible swim, obvs. i got all buddy buddy "please dont lose count i do not want to swim any farther than i have to" with my lane girl. she seemed legit.

swim: 525yds 12min
im not a natural born swimmer. i am well aware of this. surprising to many, i know how to do more than the doggy paddle, but not by much. ive been in the pool 9 times this year... clearly not enough. but alas, i didnt drown. i had trained to go "swim swim breathe, swim swim breathe"... which worked for maybe 100yds. after that, i got all discombobulated, felt like my heart was beating out of my chest, lost track of my laps and got worried lane girl would forget our heart to heart and forget to put my pink sign in the water at the right time... i was a hot mental mess. i started taking breaths after every stroke. my legs felt heavy and i knew they were sinking. i knew i was going slow but i just wanted this swim to be done. luckily lane girl remembered the sign and it was on. i gave the last 25 yds all i had. when i got to the wall, i attempted to climb out, successfully looking like a beached whale on the pool deck (i have never EVER practiced climbing out of a pool like that, AND the pool wall was literally 3 or 10 feet above the water. not kidding.) there was a mat that lead out of the pool to the transition area, and i shuffled along trying not to slip/fall (im pretty sure you werent supposed to run inside the pool but i wasnt listening when they went over the rules. oops). to add to the misery fun, the time for your swim includes beached whale inpersonation, shuffle out of the pool, and run down the shoot to the entrance of the transition area. im not certain but i think i swam just under 11 mins. room for improvement x a million.

T1: 1:31

i had a mental plan about what i needed to do/get in transition. but remember the mental mess that started in the pool? that didnt take a hike til i was on the bike. i ran to my bike and started to pull the bike off first thing. then i remembered i needed to put my helmet on, so i replaced the bike and grabbed my number & helmet. i pulled my towel out and tried to dry off my feet (yeah right), struggled with my socks, slipped my feet into my shoes, took a sip of water and headed out. after leaving the transition area i realized i didnt put on the long sleeve jacket i wanted, i didnt grab my gloves, and i didnt take my gu. luckily the sun was starting to come out so i figured i wouldnt be too cold, but i was pissed about not bringing my gloves. i quickly let it go since there was nothing i could do about it now. then i realized i hadnt tied my shoes. OMG I DIDNT TIE MY SHOES. f-ing lovely. i pulled my bike over to the side so no one ran over me and bent down to tie my shoes. bad idea.

 

bike: 11 miles 38:49 (17mph)
after the shoes were tied, i ran the bike to the mount line and jumped on. i had forgotten (shocking) to put the bike in a good gear so i needed to adjust that, but i was so happy to be done swimming and i had a huge smile on my face. there was a guy riding ahead of me and i knew i could pass him but we had two quick turns right away so i figured i would wait until we were on the first straight away. as we turned off that 2nd corner i told myself it was fucking on, and i took off to pass that guy. i had 15 seconds to get my back tire to his front (i think?) and then he has to slow down (just one of the zillion rules this sport has). after i passed him i saw a group ahead of me and decided they needed to be passed to. seriously, i was thinking i would be passed all day and have to make up time on the run. not today. i felt great on the bike and was so happy i went and previewed the course so i knew where i was and what was coming. at one turn i took it just a little too wide and ended up in the dirt on the side of the road, which was not easy to spin out of... but i successfully kept both wheels on the ground and carried on. when i crested the last hill and saw the last long stretch, i couldnt believe it was almost over. if anything went well today, it was the bike. i felt like i owned that road (which im sure sounds ridiculous to all you fast bikers out there cuz i know i wasnt any sort of lance armstrong or anything) but i really loved it. (uh oh.... ps- so sad when eric took my his bike away after the race)

T2: 0:37
i dismounted at the line, and whooooaaa hello jello legs. i knew this was coming as i have actually trained to run off the bike quite a few times, but its just a funny feeling regardless. i had taken the advice i was given and counted bike racks coming out so i knew just where to put my bike, i grabbed my handheld and took off (almost forgetting to take off my helmet. that would have been cute).

run: 3 miles 25:02 (8:21)
starting the run i began thinking that i had forgotten to do something in transition. i was in and out so fast that i didnt even think straight. but i had my bib, i had water, just f-ing go! the run starts on a field, then heads out into a neighborhood and then in for two loops in the woods. since i didnt have my watch i didnt know a) where i was mile wise (they had a mile 1 sign at a water stop and then nothing til the finish. annoying), and b) what my pace was. i knew i was slower than usual (especially with wet socks/shoes), but i didnt think i was really killing it by any means. i just really wish i had some idea. i was alone for the most part, and then caught up and passed a few people. coming off the 1st loop through the woods you have to run about a quarter mile on the field again... grass running is hard! the wooded trail wasnt too beat up (and wasnt as muddy as it had been earlier in the day according to allie) so i didnt mind that. after the 2nd loop, i took a left turn and headed towards the field. there was a guy in front of me and i knew i needed to pass him. i saw my family and friends lined up along the finish and i took off sprinting to the end.

OFFICIALLY A TRIATHLETE!

sad note: no medals.

im pretty sure i have yet to wipe that smile off my face. i knew i could do it but of course i was still so nervous. regardless of the fact that its half the distance and time of a marathon, this was no joke. im not as sore today as i had expected. i had a GREAT time, surpassed my original goal by a long shot, but i know i couldnt have done it without all the support from my friends and family. THANK YOU ALL!!

i then proceeded to drink way too many bud lights.

 the end, for real. until the professional pics come out.

SWIM

BIKE

RUN

BEER!

can i wear this tattoo for a few more days?

official stats:

pretty pumped about 5th in age group (missed 4th by 3 tenths of a second- she was 1:17:57.4)

also happy with 39th female

 

sooooooo, whats next?

 dont worry, i wont go thiiiiiiiis far....

but ... just maybe i will go this far:

april recap

april
run: 137.5 (up 27.5 from last month)
bike: 15 miles. oops (down 97 miles. fail)
swimming: 1.6 miles (up 1.6 miles from last month)

races: great bay half marathon, where i again went sub 1:50 and perfected a sweet outfit and ability to fly. i can now retire this distance i think.

favorite run: 17 miles with no garmin, followed by 18 miles the next weekend with sarah and B. 5 times around a 3.2ish mile loop with great conversation.
favorite song (obsession): "im at a paaaaaaaaayphone"
# of 25k trail races i registered for cuz i had too much free time on my hands: one.
# of running skirts i bought (again, free time): one.
big pimpin moment(s) of the month: THIS and this:

 


goals for april:
go back to the pool- success. x2
ride the bike outside- also success... and i even got a fancy new road bike for saturdays tri.
attempt to love the heart rate monitor... right now were fighting- and were still fighting... the one day i put it on to start trying to love it, it wouldnt work. oh well. RIP.

may goals:
-dont crash and die on saturday. (can this be my only goal, since if i happen to spontaneously fly off my bike and roll into a ditch and never be found again all the other goals wont matter?)
(ugh... ok, more goals)
-track 800s. anyone? company? hold back my hair while i puke? stand on the sideline and laugh at me?
-strong/smart/stylish (obvs) reach the beach miles & 25k race
-win the lottery (hey, why not)
-convince ty i might need the new saucony kinvara 3's

pfitz 18/55 marathon training recap:

week 1: 32/33
week 2: 37/36
week 3: 22/40 (oops)
week 4: 37.4/42
week 5: 33/45

total running:  161.4 miles/196
ok. so im 34ish miles below what i should be at. im still ok with this. the book reads "recovery week" for this week (12 weeks to go), and that is just what i need. saturdays triathlon wont allow for me to have a 12 mile weekend, but im going to get in a few miles saturday and sunday to get myself ready for a 50 mile week next week. i want to focus on getting stronger in the upcoming weeks and work on my speed. my recovery days dont feel long enough and my speed work/lactate threshold workouts have been suffering because of sore/tired legs. neeeeeeed to focus!

5 weeks down, 12 to go!

how not to prepare for your 1st triathlon 101

race week is officially upon us. i have never been this nervous for a race before. ever. not even my first marathon (ok that might be a lie, but this is way different. totally).

let me make this very clear (as if you werent already aware)... i am a RUNNER. feet on the ground (most of the time). nice easy speed. able to jump into the bushes if a car is headed towards me. to my knowledge no drowning has ever occurred during a running road race.

this triathlon is freaking me right out.

needless to say my training has been less than stellar, and the same can be said about race preparation. what, you dont change your swim attire, bicycle, and running sneakers a week out from race day? oh.... whoops :)

so my original plan back many months ago when i thought this was a good idea was to swim in a one piece bathing suit and bike with my mountain bike. how tough could it be? due to maine weather being so crappy forever, i trained on the bikes at the gym and didnt get out on my mountain bike until maybe 3 weeks ago. fail. so slow. heavy. legs felt awful. also the bathing suit wasnt the most comfortable thing to ride/run in. shocking.

i looked into a tri outfit and there was no way i was spending that kind of money (since i will only be doing this ONCE). same with the bike. i was just going to have to suck it up. (which of course made me more nervous). i attempted a practice swim in a sports bra and compression shorts which ended up being a huge fail, so i was excited when a friend from high school offered me her tri suit on sunday (which i will get tomorrow, and practice in... once before the race. sure, why not! thanks betsy!)

so over the past week ive had a few tri related conversations with a friend:

me- freaking.out.

e- its going to be ok i promise

me- im gonna get so drunk that night

might not be enough

then i made a huge rookie mistake and looked at what i had coming for me....

is this triathlon on mount washington?

and in true awesome friend fashing, he tried to cover up how much im going to want to drink BEFORE the race, as opposed to after...

e- that elevation profile makes it look WAY worse than it is!
me- yeah ill be the judge of that, thanks
e- would i lie to you?
me- maybe?
e- ok would i lie to you about something so verifiable?
me- ok i believe you... maybe
e- the only problem i see is my version of what is a hill and your version may not be exactly the same
me- fact.

  **this coming from an ironman in training... if it goes up, its a hill.

so the conversation continued...

me- so lets see.... hour-ish bike (ok, maybe 2 hours), 12 min swim, 26ish min run... half hour for each transition :)
e- your goal is to break 1:30
me- I DONT WANT A GOAL!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!! DONT DIE IS MY GOAL!!!! ok done yelling. (after calming down)... ok i would love to have some sort of realistic goal but if i dont make it then ill need to do another tri. and THAT IS NOT HAPPENING! so no goal.
e- haha what i meant to say is your goal is 1:15
me- oh F off. im gonna look like a fool.
e- if you had done a 1:30 last year you would have beat 50 people, so you wont look foolish
me- only 50?!?! IM NOT EVEN GOING! first dnf. thanks.
e- there are only like 300 people in the whole thing
me- my relay team came in 3rd overall in 2010. i should have just done that.

its great to have supportive friends.

(fast forward to 3 days ago)
me- so i just read through the rules to make sure i dont do anything wrong... ill probably get pulled off the bike route for drafting, since i dont know what that is
e- its being too close behind someone
me- oh good, no problem then. there will be NO one around me

and then...

e- if you want i can lend you my road bike... it will be big for you though but might not be bad when the seat is lowered all the way. how tall are you? 5'3"? do you have long legs?

me- ha. no.

   **first of all, hes no taller than i am (sorry, if youre gonna call me 5'3", im making fun of your height too). ok so hes a little taller. and yes, im 5'4". but do i have long legs? hi, we've met. no.**

but i figured- hey, why not. what do i have to lose?

im not so sure about this

i clearly wore the right outfit for a bike fitting

and this is a what?

perfect form quasimodo #not

my hands go where?

this was where i learned that i will mostly only be using one set of gears (there are two sets? chains? crank? WHAT?! speak english!) i also learned i cant put my hands on the bottom curved part. this is so confusing. i wont even tell you how i almost screamed when he warned me one of the brakes didnt work "that well".

triathlon approved footwear, right?

so i left with a bike and promptly put it away in the basement for 3 days (still kinda scared). i tried it last night... and omg what a difference! what was i so afraid of? now i want a road bike! (not really). but other than thinking i might get hit by a car and worried the breaks werent going to work, i think i did ok. i just might survive after all.

but lets get real: im going to need about this much coffee pre race:

and ill pretty much be wishing i was doing this throughout the whole race instead:

but ill keep reminding myself:

and hopefully by this time on saturday, i will be able to call myself a TRIATHLETE!

flying

well known fact about me: i hate flying.
other well known fact about me: i love running.

apparently my hatred of flying has somehow slowly converged with my love for running:

great bay half 2011

maine marathon 2011

hyannis half 2012

great bay half 2012

i guess flying isnt always so bad. and im also clearly so stylish.

stuff

it might be monday, but i dont have a lot of little letters for this week, so i figured i would just write a random post about "stuff".

what about items or things that matter? we'll go with that....

-in 12 days ill be competing in my first triathlon (oh you didnt know? i only talk about it all the time). im slightly nervous (read: holy shit what did i get myself into?!). i havent run or been in the pool in over 2 weeks (minus on vacation... where i pretended to practice my swimming... without goggles... after 2 pina coladas and a few bud lights... does this triathlon have a pool bar??). ive taken my mountain bike out on the road ONCE. i have no clue what im doing with the gears... i kept it in the 2nd gear and a mix between 5-8 on that? does that make sense to anyone? i think i should just go buy a road bike. today.

-i bought new running sneakers. brooks ravenna 3. ive been switching between the ravenna 2's and saucony kinvaras for the past two months... and i think ive finally realized (after two purple toes and numerous texts with andrea) that my kinvaras are too small. eventually i want to run at least a half marathon in kinvaras, but for now i think i will use the ravenna 3's for around the lake marathon. kinvara 3's come out may 1st though....

-im thinking about chainging up my swimming attire plan (yup, 12 days out and im wanting a new bike and attire... smart life choices folks).

-i guess i think im made of money this week or something.

-if it wasnt for a mr.bagel date for lunch, i might have never gotten out of my sweatpants today.

- yesterday i had a really (almost) life changing run. i woke up at 4:50 to warm up and meet sarah for a few miles, got all my running clothes on and got everything together... opened the front door and it was pouring. and freezing. both of us decided to bail, but i knew i would still have to get this run in later on in the day. i went back to bed and just watched the clock (i havent slept well in weeks. yay). i eventually got out of bed, had some coffee and oatmeal, and started thinking logistics for my run.

as i got ready to walk out the door, i turned my garmin on.... nothing. and i had charged it all day on saturday knowing the battery was low. so i googled "garmin wont turn on" (what would we do without google?!) and it taught me how to do a soft reset. this worked, and it turned on.... and had no battery charge.

perfect.
i wanted to bail. i felt like nothing was going right and figured my run would suffer. i played a lot of mental games, but eventually said screw it and walked out the door, without it.

if i can sum up my run, it would be "amazing". i didnt know where i was going to run. i had no watch to tell me how fast or slow i was going. i simply felt free. the weather was perfect (cool, light drizzle). my head, my mind, my heart... everything was in it on this run. it truly reminded me of why i love doing this.

ive been pretty demanding and hard on myself over the past few months in my everyday life, work, friendships, family life, and especially running. i need to remind myself to just let go sometimes... be a little more carefree.

-of course then this brings me back to the idea that i desparately want to go sub-freaking-four at around the lake. yesterdays run averaged 9:25ish min/miles (i knew the time from when i walked out the door to when i arrived back home, and mapped out where i went to get the miles) and that was without a watch to worry about pace. im faster than i have ever been, and i think my endurace is building. around the lake is a 3.2 mile loop, and im sure there will be a clock every time i come around (maybe?)... we'll see...

-the "desparately want to go sub-freaking-four" might be selfish. im running a marathon. not everyone can say they have done that. finishing should be enough. but i sure as hell am going to give it my all and leave everything i have out on that course. ill come up with real goals as we get closer (sub 4, pr - sub 4:15:25, finish...)...

- if anyone wants a kitten, feel free to come on over and pick her up. shes great, really. (freaking spaz show lately... on the counter, off the counter, up the stairs, down the stairs, climbing the chair sideways.....)

- last night i really wanted dairy queen. and figured if i got a blizzard with peanut butter cups it could count as post long run protein. right? too bad they dont deliver. to my couch. i ate thin mints instead.

- this whole sober thing would be a lot more fun with alcohol.

-although my morning routine is oatmeal w/granola, coffee, and the today show... i do sometimes watch sportscenter with the hubs. i am especially greatful i saw this mornings highlights of "metta world peace" and the whole elbow situation. first of all, wtf... princess consuela banana hammock is still the original name change in my mind. second of all, i had no idea this was ron artest. thats how much i dont care. third, why do they allow this idiot to keep playing basketball? this is why i hate the nba. minus shane battier <3 true love forever.

-speaking of granola, jennifer mentioned putting granola in her pancake batter yesterday. omg, i must try this.

-ive spent way less time on pinterest lately, but i have found a few outfits i really think i need, and a dress i really want to get for a summer wedding i have coming up. i also saw this, which about sums it all up for me:

have a great week everyone!

big pimpin...

so i had to wait for sara to post this herself (obvs)... and since she did so today, i stole the fancy schmancy iphone pic from her (dear android... i want this option too please, kthanks youll be doing that tomorrow right?)

b.o.o.m

this conversation started when i had just sat down on the couch after getting home from work. ty was watching the celtics and i was momentarily speechless. he must have thought i had just recieved a text that i had won the lottery since i squeeled and jumped up and down (ok maybe only a slight exaggeration... but not by much).

when i told him he said "whos sara again? i cant keep all your people straight" (like im sooooo popular or something). (maybe true)

"ya know, sara. she came to great bay?" 

"oh so you've met her?"

"uh yeah, were IRL friends now. she borrowed all my clothes. its a big deal."

anyway....

then this conversation continued with the middle aged runner herself:

  (*note- my drawing skillz are less than stellar. friend me on draw something? cuz i need more ways to pass the time.....)

(pps- i miss picnik sooooooooooooooooo bad. sarah and i are working on a replacement... coming to you in the not so near future)

 july 27th, 7pm. wakefield, mass. a few crazy kids running insane numbers of time around a 3.2 mile loop in the dark. i have a tent. we have a few awesome support crew members. feel free to join us!

dear monday

link up with megan

dear monday,

for the first monday in quite a few weeks i actually didnt have to work. too bad its not a rest day, 10 miles coming right up (i think everyone should have mondays off. 3 day weekends for all!)

dear great bay half marathon,

i must say you surprised me this year. for some reason the hills werent that bad... the wind stayed calm, and i think i finally figured out some sort of ok way to dress/fuel so as not to crash and burn. id say my miles were pretty good, plus/minus a few miles:



dear compression calf sleeves,

you are my best friend today. and most other days as well. i really wish i had a full body suit. that would be totally hot right?

dear myrtle beach,

i am currently a fan of the 10 day forecast, sunny and 70s. please keep it that way. see ya friday!!

dear marathon training,

today is the start of week 3. so far, so good. i was a mile short for week 1 (32miles), and a mile over for week 2 (37 miles). id say that is a much better start than the last time i tried this plan (week 1: should run 33, ran 16, week 2: should run 36, ran 10).

dear foam roller,

my love/hate relationship with you is one like no other. its awesome in a really painful way.

dear massive amounts of laundry,

we are only two people... how in the world is this much laundry even possible?

dear two day work week (this week AND next week... yes you can be jealous),

yay! :)

dear black/purple toenail,

thanks for making yet another appearance, and so early in the training program! i guess the sooner youre gone the better.

dear sleepless nights,

you can take a hike asap, thanks.

dear life,

i thank you for the great friends i have... i would not know what to do without each and every one of them. you are all here for a reason, and for that i am greatful.



great bay half marathon

yesterday marked my 13th half marathon to date. looking back through my races, it was apparently the 5th time ive done great bay... (yes ive done this dreaded race more than once)

previous great bay times

  2008: 1:59:45

  2009: 2:01:17 (barf)

  2010: 1:58:15

  2011: 1:52:18

(why do i keep coming back?!)

this is why:

cuz im awesome.

oh wait, no... i mean:

          2012: 1:49:49. boom.

after running hyannis in february and starting off too fast, totally bonking at the end, feeling like crap, falling over (read: dying) from a calf explosion post race... i vowed to either figure my shit out so i didnt do that again (despite a major half marathon PR), or never race a half marathon again (clearly i was leaning towards option 2). since that race i have been adding in gatorade to some of my longer runs, trying to make sure i was fueling properly/adequately (beer + thin mints are good fuel, no?), and figuring out proper attire (i had major overheating issues at hyannis).

i had internal debates about my race plan daily for the past 3 weeks. i went back and forth about actually racing GB, or just running for fun (who runs 13.1 miles for fun? oh yeah... awesome people). on friday, while sitting through a respiratory conference daydreaming about upcoming GB1/2 attentively listening to all important speakers, i decided i wanted to maybe give this half a decent try. could i get a better time than hyannis? doubt it. could i go sub 1:50? maybe. could i crush my current GB1/2 course record (1:52:18)? absolutely.

game.freaking.on.

car pooling was an excellent choice because i didnt have to waste gas drive alone, im entertaining (read: i talk a lot), and getting to the race 2 hours early happened to work out well since i successfully got us all lost walking to the start. yay for a mile long warm up walk! (and sorry to the poor guy that followed us: "you guys looked like you knew what you were doing". whoops. not so much)

we then picked up our bibs, sat around and complained for awhile (ok i complained... a lot...), i shared my peanut butter sandwich (see, i can be nice!), went to the bathroom, hung out with some friends i met up with...

i bet you cant pick me out... holy neon

...and then after 856 emails via daily mile and 245 frantic text messages, i FINALLY found sara (do yourself a favor and go read her race recap HERE ). arriving late, trying to check her bag with no race bib, and gawking at me downing a chocolate gu 5 seconds before the race started, she took off and, being a freakish super star, ran a 1: f-ing 36. so yeah, we secretly hate her for that (no cookies for you sara!!) jk. xo. (ill give you props for the obnoxious neon orange tank top haha)

i started out the race knowing 8:20s (ish) would get me where i wanted to finish. i forgot there were pacers on the course, and i actually didnt see any of them while i was out there. i started out fast and felt good, but knowing this course as well as i do, i knew i had to slow it down or the hills in the middle would not be my friend.

miles 1-3
8:08 (oops)
8:19
8:14

not so bad. i was pleased with my tank top and (zebra print) arm sleeves choice... the temp was cool to start but the sun (and 11am start time) warmed things up a bit. my new under armour compression capris were annoying and i kept having to pull them up but they were just right for the temp. i also ripped one corner of my race bib off the safety pin within the first mile trying to hike up the compression pants, so that was fun.

miles 4-7
8:28
8:39
8:32
8:27

the dirt road from miles like 3-6 are usually full of pot holes but this year the road wasnt too beat up and i found a nice area to run on. around every corner seemed to be a hidden hill, but there was a good downhill stretch where my watch read 7:20... hehe. i actually took the advice of a good friend who said to take the uphills slower (maintaining same effort) instead of my usual "get your ass up this hill as fast as humanly possible and figure out how to recover once its behind you" approach. i knew i wanted to also try to save some energy for the last 3 miles, and i really think this new approach worked well for me. by mile 8 i had already gone through 2 handhelds of water so i began worrying about the whole dehydration/cramping calves issue (i usually only drink one 10oz handheld)....

mile 8-10
8:16
8:36
8:23

blah. i really wasnt looking much at my watch around these miles... i stopped at all the water stops and drank like a fish. i listened to "welcome to the black parade" (my chemical romance) and "waiting for the end" (linkin park) on repeat. x10. one foot in front of the other....

final 5k
8:00
8:20
8:01

ill take it. i felt strong! i kept yelling at myself to push it. i love the out and back part of this race cuz you get to see people who are going way faster than you (good for you guys) and then on your way back you can cheer for the others (if you havent stopped to dance with the belly dancers). this race is tough up until that point but i still saw a lot of smiling faces :) i knew i had a lot of time left to beat my course time, but was also aware i was cutting it close for sub 1:50. so i kicked it up at the end (as much as i could with that damn hill before the finish).

last .22 miles (ugh... 13.22 is the new 13.1?)
  1:25... 6:21 pace.... whoops! (yay for downhill finishes)

luckily my calf seizing didnt happen (*until i went to bed last night, awesome...) so i was able to run a cool down mile. sara was expecting a beach day so she didnt have any warm clothes so i lent her mine (while i froze.... )

wanna talk about hot outfits? theres about 8 layers of clothes in this photo
(all of which are mine. all helping to keep sara warm)

343/1216 total finishers

87/637 females

16/192 f30-34 age group

to quote sara from her blog: "All my newfound friends finished right in the 1:48 range which is just insanely fast" (shes being humble since she finished, cried, grabbed her stuff, probably went to target, took a shower, then waited around for all of us to finish)... "I think they might have had a fight on the way home about who beat who and such...?" yup. were all fighting. but at least i didnt finish last.... :) "We ate pizza. Put on 1,000 layers. Drank a beer. Talked about how the internet rules our lives. It was fun." f.a.c.t.

so now that ive proven im a 22:xx 5k runner, and now ive proven im a sub 1:50 half marathon runner (by proven i mean 2 consecutive races at those times, thats the rule am i wrong?) i can retire those distances, right? perfect.

13th half marathon, complete.

and then when i got home we cooked an 18lb ham. my mom over-estimated how much ham would feed SIX people. seriously. so much ham. please come have dinner at our house. for the next 10 days.