What's Next?

Ever since Philly my running has been a pretty rare phenomenon.

 I've been training since July, so I think both mentally and physically I was really needing to have a few weeks off. I really tried to get out there more, but I've found that I'm pretty good at talking myself out of things when the alternative is a warm down comforter and a hot cup of coffee in the morning.

But I know it can't last much longer because I have plans for the spring. Big big plans of the 26.2 mile variety.

On April 13th I'll be at the start line of my very first marathon!

I used to say I would never have the desire to run one. Then this summer I ran a 16 mile training run. It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but when I was done I started feeling like maybe training for 26.2 wasn't as far out of reach as I thought.

Once the seed was planted, I couldn't get it out of my head and I knew it wasn't a matter of if but when. One thing I knew for certain was a that I didn't want to wait for fall of 2014, so I started researching for the spring. I decided on Rock 'n Roll Raleigh as the best choice. Actually pulling the trigger to register was no easy task. I put more thought into my decision than almost anything I've done before. In the end, with the encouragement of my husband and my running partner, I decided to take the leap.

I'm excited and scared and every emotion in between. I know that I will have some obstacles along the way between juggling my family's schedule and training through the winter, but I really feel like I'm up for the challenge.

This past weekend my running group started its winter season. I decided to sign up again with the a Raleigh Galloway group again. To be honest this was another big decision for me because I had a hard time trusting the method towards the end of my training cycle for Philly. However, with my 5+ min PR and achieving a goal that had been eluding me for 2 years, I became convinced that this method is right for me at this point in my running. 

I have a modest time goal but right now I think I am better served with just finishing my first full marathon strong and healthy. I'll be keeping tabs of my training here to both keep me accountable and to have a record of my journey. I'm pretty dang excited! 

This weekend my running partner surprised me with this Endorphin Warrior bracelet I've had my eye on. During the later stages of training for Philly the word "Courage" became my little mantra. The courage to push my limits, to venture out of my comfort zone and do what was needed to achieve my goals.  I repeated it to myself when things started getting hard during the race. Now I'm using it to psych myself up for this huge goal I've laid out for myself. Here we go....

Ridgewood Turkey Trot 8k

Thanksgiving weekend is winding down and I would seriously argue that every weekend needs to consist of 4 days of family, friends and all of the food.

On Thanksgiving morning, I met Bang bright and early for the Ridgewood Turkey Trot 8k in Raleigh. I love me a good old Turkey Trot and was excited to run this one since it was my first time for this particular race.

I was not, however, excited for a temperature of 27 degrees at the start. I've been in the South long enough now to not be ok with that.

Being friggen cold is better when your BRF is suffering along with you.

I really didn't know what to expect from this race. I know that Turkey Trots are supposed to be fun low key races, but my early splits in the Philly half had me thinking that I could PR this race so that's what I set out to do. Besides the faster I ran, the sooner I'd be warm again.

My goal was 55 minutes and I was excited to see my first 3 splits in the low 10's. Which, for me running 4:1 intervals, was a nice pace. I was psyched to be passing people on the hills and felt good running at a faster than normal pace. Mile 4 was my slowest thanks to a long gradual uphill, but I was able to recover for the last mile (my Garmin measured at 5.03) and finish strong.

In the end I got my PR (53:09) and a picture with this giant turkey...

 

The rest of the day was spent basking in my runner's high and eating everything that was put in front of me. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Philadelphia Half Marathon Race Recap

Since late Spring/early Summer I have had one singular focus when it came to running: my first sub 2:30 half in Philadelphia. Every single run. Every single gym session. Every single plank.  I came into this race with huge doubts and was even making contingency plans for a Spring half marathon. I really didn't think I was going to do it.

Then came Sunday. And this:

That's a 5:40 PR!

Pre-Race
Getting to the race was incredibly easy....exit hotel at an ungodly hour of the morning and follow all of the other runners on the street to the start line. This is the largest race I've done and it was amazing to be in my hometown with 30,000 other runners.

There was a lot of communication from the race organizers that there would be security checkpoints to enter the starting area and to allot enough time to get through them. We were in line for approximately 3 minutes. We checked our bags and waited for the portopotties before walking around the art museum to our corral. I was assigned the Orange corral but moved back to the Blue (last) corral to stay with one of my friends as long as we could.

As we were listening to the waves before us being released I kept getting the sense that today was going to be my day. Each wave was released to its own song. We heard the Rocky theme, which got us all excited. Then the next wave got New York, New York, which pumped up my favorite New Yorker, Bang. The next wave got Sweet Caroline, which made my Boston-loving heart happy. Finally, our wave was released to Avicii's Wake Me Up which was designated our official Philly Road Trip Fist Pumping Song. We were psyched and ready to go.

Miles 1-3 (10:35, 10:29, 10:45)
These miles were pretty flat and I felt pretty strong from the onset. I was a bit shocked to see my first mile split. I made a mental note to slow down, but clearly, I was not very good at that. The course was super flat and the crowd support was amazing. By the time the 3rd mile beeped I knew I had to get serious about slowing down. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to keep up these paces through the whole race.

Miles 4-6 (11:16, 11:10, 11:11)
Around mile 4 I was having a little mental breakdown about keeping up the pace. In mile 4 I was able to slow down a little and was happy to see I was still above race pace. My effort was strong but doable. I focused at this point on making it to mile 6 where Melanie and Fran would be waiting for me. I struggled a little bit coming up South Street and back towards Independence Mall. I relied heavily on the crowd support. I was pretty excited  to see that I was still below race pace.  High fiving my friends gave me the boost I needed to head into the hills that were coming up.

So happy to see my friends!

Miles 7-10 (10:37, 11:30, 11:03, 12:23)
Mile 7 was a steady down hill and I let myself go down that one. I knew that mile 8 would be a steady incline for the entire mile. I was happy that I had banked quite a bit of time and that took some of the pressure off. Mile 8 was in University City and the drunken college students were pretty entertaining. This mile was tough, but I kept thinking off all of my runs in Umstead and I knew I could handle the hills in front of me. I was pretty psyched to see that this mile was only 10 seconds off of my goal pace. But I knew that the hill at the zoo was going to be harder so I put my music on and focused on getting through mile 10. I kept telling myself to get through this hill and it would be easy sailing until the end. The hill was steep and most of the people were around me were walking. I willed myself to make it through my intervals. I wasn't surprised to see my split on this mile.

Miles 11-13 (11:05, 11:14, 12:15)
Mile 11 was the reward for mile 10. It was scenic, downhill and fun. It was the funnest mile I have run in quite some time. Unfortunately my left hip,which had been nagging me since the first half of the race, was starting to get worse. I just had it in my mind to finish the race.  My Garmin 10 wasn't set up to show me my overall running time so throughout the whole race I had no idea where I stood in terms of PRing. I could see my interval timer and my pace but not my overall time. I had been trying to do the math and knew it was a possible sub-2:30 but I wasn't completely sure. I couldn't wait to cross the finish line and find out. The last mile was a complete struggle because my hip was so incredibly sore.

Mile 13.1 (9:32)
As we rounded the corner back to the art museum I turned off my music and soaked in the finish line atmosphere. There were people everywhere and I was so excited to finish. I saw Mel and Fran again at the finish and was so happy to be done. I threw my arms up at the finish line and looked at my watch to find out that I made my goal and crushed my previous half PR by nearly 6 minutes.

Pain face at the end.

I have worked so hard this summer and through a couple of injuries and I was so excited by my time. This was one of the best races I have ever run. It was so well organized, the course was spectacular, and the spectators were amazing. The fact that I PRed in a race in my hometown just made it all the more sweet.

The rest of the day was spent eating, napping and more eating. This was without a doubt one amazing weekend.

Bull City Race Fest Recap

Yesterday was a bittersweet day as I ran the Bull City Race Fest as part of Team Josh. As I have mentioned. Team Josh was organized by my friend Kelly who lost her 3 month old son to SIDS this past summer. Originally her goal was have a few friends run with her and raise $3000 for SIDS research and awareness. By the morning of the race there were 85 team members who raised over $6000! It was truly amazing to watch something positive come out of such an unspeakable tragedy.

Team Josh

Our Team Josh shirts

His donation page will remain open so people can continue to support the CJ Foundation in Josh's memory.

The race itself was pretty familiar to me. For the past two years I have run the half marathon when it was part of the Ramblin Rose race series. The half marathon course is wicked hilly so I decided to save myself for Philly this year and signed up for the 5 mile run since I've never done one.

(Can I pause here to say "WTH?" when it comes to the distinction between an 8k and a 5 miler?!)

Anyhow, the race itself was great. It is a route I am very familiar with so I was not shocked by how hilly it was. I knew when I should hold back and when I could release the brakes. I was hoping to keep my pace right around my half marathon goal pace (11:20ish) using my 4:1 intervals. It would be a true test because I ran 10 hard miles the day before and my legs were tired.

The course was really crowded so I did the best I could. Miles 2 and 3 were below goal pace, which is awesome because those were the two hilliest miles, but I paid for it in the last two miles. Every time things got tough I thought about Kelly and Josh and that seemed to pull me through.

I was pretty excited during mile 2 to look over and spot a Oiselle singlet and realize it was my Twitter buddy Courtney. I love that because of the running community on Twitter, you are quite literally able to meet someone for the very first time in the middle of a race and start up a conversation like you've known each other for a while.

Me and Courtney at the finish

I was able to run with Courtney for one of my intervals before I sent her on ahead. The rest of the race went well and I was glad to get the experience of running planned intervals during a crowded race. (This was my first race using the Galloway method. I have a lot of thoughts on the method that I'll save for a whole other post.)

My goal was to come in under an hour and my finish time was 59:26. Everyone I talked to said that their Garmins measured the course as 5.2 miles (just like mine did), which would make my average pace not too far off of my half marathon race pace. On a hilly course and on tired legs, I was pretty pleased with that.

Because the 5 mile finish was not at the same place as the start line, I cooled down with a walk back to the starting area (which is also the area for the half marathon finish). A bunch of people from Team Josh were at the finish line waiting for Kelly to finish the half. We all cheered so loud when she made her way through. Her strength and grace through her ordeal is simply amazing.

They were also having a food truck rodeo at the finish area so I waited in line for over 20 minutes to get the most amazing fries ever. They were from the Greek food truck and were covered with lemon juice, olive oil, oregano and feta cheese. They were delicious.

They were amazing!!

But I was only able to get about 5 bites before I freaking dropped them on the ground. I swear I almost ugly cried in front of a bunch of strangers.

I don't really care about Dawson. #TeamPacey forever.

I decided then and there it was time to go home.  Overall it was a great race and we raised money for a great cause.

Prepping for Philly

Only five and a half weeks until I get to go back to my hometown for the Philadelphia Half Marathon!

As I was in the process tweeking things on the blog, I came across a post I wrote around this time last year. Six weeks from my goal race last year and I was freaking out just a bit. What shocked me though was that I could have written this same exact post this year as well.

The premise is this: I am rocking my training. I have a string of awesome runs were I feel like a rockstar and then BAM! - it's 6 weeks before my goal race and running sucks. The same exact thing is happening to me this year.

In the past few weeks I have had some pretty stellar runs:

A 12 miler in Boston that was a full minute/mile faster than I had planned and I felt amazing the entire time.

Plus it was in Boston, my 2nd favorite city ever!

I've had some pretty good 14 milers and a personal distance record 16 miler with my favorite run buddy too.
I am not concerned about making the distance - I've been recording some of my highest mileage weeks recently and it feels really good. I do, however, have major doubts I will be able to hit my goal times. I just haven't been coming near my target paces during my training runs. While initially I was inclined to freak the F out about that, I am coming to the point of acceptance. I am not giving up my goal of a shiny new PR and will continue to work as hard as I can in the next few weeks. Ultimately this is not my job. I do this for fun and nobody but me cares if I PR this race or not.

I mean ideally I would love to see progress from previous race times. To me it is validation of all of my hard work. But the truth of the matter is that the mere fact I am making it through this training cycle is a small miracle.

First, I started off the training cycle injured.

Luckily, after several weeks of not running, I was able to regain my fitness pretty quickly and jump right into the thick of it. My foot still aches after my longer runs, but I am learning to take care of it.

And now, as I type this at 10pm my husband is leaving to go back to work. The poor guy has been working 16-20hr days for months. I've been left to handle the house, the children and my own full time job practically on my own. And each of these things is more important than numbers on a clock.

What I am trying to say is that no matter what the clock says in Philly, I need to be ok with that. I need to have fun and be proud of myself for even making it to the start line.

Catching Up

Today is the first day of school. I sent the big one off to 2nd grade and my baby off to kindergarten <sniff>

We had a great summer filled with beaches:

 

Baseball games:

And pools:

My foot has been feeling great and I have been slowly ramping up my miles in some pretty fabulous places.

With the end of Summer and the Philly Half Marathon just 12 weeks away it is time to get serious about my training. I am trying hard to get back to the paces I was hitting in the Spring and I am hopeful that with some consistent running and extra time in the gym that I can reach my goal of PRing the half in November.

I've been training with the Raleigh Galloway group and am trying really hard to trust in the training method because I have seen people have great success with it. On the training schedule I have some pretty ambitious long runs that will build my endurance. During the week I will have shorter runs, which I will use to focus on speed. Hopefully the two will magically combine on race day!

Team Josh

Thus far, running has been a purely selfish part of my life. As a mom to two young children and a wife to a man with an insanely busy job, running has always been that part of my life that is all mine. It is my time to get away from the demands of my family and to do something just for me.

In all of the races I have run I have never once been part of a team. I have never raised funds for a specific cause. Mostly, I never felt comfortable asking friends and relatives to donate money for my own personal hobby.

That is, until now. This October, I am running the 5 mile race at the Bull City Race Fest as part of Team Josh. The team is being organized by my friend Kelly who tragically lost her sweet baby boy, Josh, this past June.

Kelly is a friend of mine from my neighborhood. We met through a local mothers' group. My daughter and one of her sons were in preschool together for a while. We ran a half marathon together a couple of years ago. And earlier this year when she was pregnant with Josh I recommended my son's daycare for him.

During the afternoon of June 10th, Josh passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his sleep in the home of our daycare provider. I can not explain the emotions I felt upon hearing this news. As a mother, my heart breaks for anyone who loses a child, the pain of which I can not begin to comprehend. The mere thought of losing one of my children is just too much to bear. My heart broke also for our daycare provider who, in the time we have been sending my son there, has become very dear to us. Watching both of these women endure this tragedy has been utterly heart wrenching.

In the weeks following Josh's passing Kelly has been the epitome of strength and grace. As a way to honor Josh's memory she has organized Team Josh to run the Bull City Race Fest and to raise money for the CJ Foundation for SIDS, which raises money for SIDS research projects, organizations, support programs and public education and awareness campaigns.

If you are able, please consider a donation in Josh's honor to the CJ Foundation. No amount is too small. Click here to go to his donation page. 

Joshua Smedley   March 2, 2013 - June 10, 2013