Cary Distance Festival 10k

I signed up for this race a few weeks ago since the 10k distance is kind of rare around here and you couldn't beat the $15 price tag. Other than that I really had no investment in this race. I wasn't planning on running hard because my foot has been bothering me since the Tar Heel 10 Miler. In an effort to let it heal, I have not been running too much since then. Since I was treating this as nothing more than a mid-distance training run, I didn't wake up with my usual pre-race excitement.

It didn't help that it was cold and windy and just....cold. (North Carolina is getting a little grumpy lately since we haven't seen the sun in about 2 weeks.)  I briefly considered bailing for a hot coffee and some breakfast.

I met Bang at the start and we sat in the car as long as we could to stay warm. By the time we got to the start line I had committed to my two main goals of the race:

1) Stick with Bang. She is much better than I am at consistant splits. I've already mentioned several times here that in races I have two paces - asshole and walking. I have to really work on pacing myself.

2) Commit to doing the entire race through the Galloway method. This is pretty much an extension of goal #1. I've been doing long runs with Bang at 4:1 intervals - meaning run for 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. I'll probably have another post on this sometime soon as I experiment more with it. But I've seen people have great success with Galloway and I'm becoming convinced that this may be the right thing for me as I look ahead to the Fall. But I digress...

This was definitely the smallest race I have ever done, with only 124 people running the 10k (and about  220 running the 5k). There was no starting gun or horns, just some dude saying "Go!". We set off running our first interval pretty strong. In fact the entire first mile went pretty well, clocking in at under 11:00, which is usually a decent effort for me without the walk breaks. I was digging that.

Towards the end of the second mile there was a good downhill and I started to pull away and run at my "a-hole pace" even when I knew it wasn't in my race plan and that it would be hard to maintain with the rolling hills that made up the rest of the course. What happened next is predictable: I wore myself out within the next mile. Mile 4 ended up being my slowest and most painful. I reminded myself of my game plan and set myself back on track.

The last two miles were a real mental struggle for me. Even though I had originally set out to run this race "easy", by the time I was a couple of miles into it I was ready to give it everything I had. Since the later part of races is where it all tends to fall apart for me, I wanted to not give up and finish strong. I was excited to see at mile 5 that, barring catastrophe, I could PR.

I kept it in my mind to keep Bang in my sights and just finish. I'm so glad she was there. If it weren't for her I would have definitely phoned in the last mile and been pissed at myself in the end. Having her with me gave me the motivation I needed to push past the point of being uncomfortable.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:07:47, which is a minute and a half PR.

Mostly, I am proud of this race. My splits were way more consistant than they usually are. Also, I wasn't as afraid of the hills as I have been in the past. (Insanely hilly long runs are paying off, I do believe).  However, I didn't trust my plan from the beginning and fell apart for a couple of miles. Luckily I was able to get back on track and get myself right again. All in all, it was  great race to see the progress I have made and it let me know what I need to be working on for my next big goal race this Fall.

Tar Heel 10 Miler and #RunForBoston

I'm pretty sure that The Onion beat all other reputable news sources for summing up last week in this article.

The whole week was so surreal from the actual bombings to the outpouring of human kindness to the manhunt that took place a mile from where I used to live. The range of emotions was just exhausting.

Saturday morning I was signed up for the Tarheel 10 Miler. This is my second 10 mile race and I really think I like this distance. I knew that I wouldn't PR this race because the course is way more challenging than the Cherry Blossom (it takes place in Chapel HILL after all). Plus I woke up just feeling like it wasn't going to be my day.  I set my goal to finish (under 2 hrs would be nice) and just have fun and being out there with my fellow runners.  I ran this race solo so I lined up towards the back and took it easy.

I've run a few hilly long runs with my awesome training partner, Bang, so I was feeling ok at the start. The course wove through UNC's campus and the surrounding areas. The first 5 miles were ok, but I was having trouble finding an even pace. Seriously. I'd sprint a mile and almost die the next. I walked up a couple of the more challenging hills but for the most part was feeling good. At mile 6 was a massive down hill section that was pure fun.

But I knew what was coming after it. I had heard the legend of Laurel Hill all throughout the Winter. A mile long hill, relentless, soul crushing hill so intense they set up timing mats at the bottom and top of it just to time how long it took people to get up it.

I'm not going to lie. I walked most of it. My left foot was starting to hurt really bad and I was getting really tired. By the time I got to the top I just wanted to be done so I did my best to finish strong. I was about 5 minutes off of my Cherry Blossom time, which was expected given the tough course. Honestly, I was happy just to finish.

Loved the medal.

That night and the next day my left foot was hurting bad. Normally I would not have attempted to run on it but Sunday afternoon was the Boston Memorial Run in Raleigh and there was no way I was going to miss it.

The Start/Finish Line

One of our local race directors came home from running Boston and immediately recruited all of the local race directors, running groups and running stores to put together a run to show our support for Boston. From the onset they were expecting about 200 people to show up. By Sunday afternoon there were well over 2000. When it became obvious that there was going to be a huge crowd, the city of Raleigh closed the roads and provided officers for the course.

Before the race there were kind words, a moment of silence, a bagpipe playing of Amazing Grace and the National Anthem.

Lined up to start

The run itself was a simple out and back, but was struck me was the sheer number of people out running. It was just a sea of runners. It was amazing to see so many people out there just to run.

After we finished, Bang and I stayed at the finish line to cheer on the people coming in. There were still so many people and it was just a love fest of runners cheering and high fiving one another. It was truly one of the most amazing running experiences I have ever been a part of.

Me and my run bud, Bang. There is no
one else I would have wanted by my side more for this run.

Boston

I feel this way every day, but even more so today.

I just don't know what to say that hasn't already been said.

Last year on Patriot's Day I declared my love for Boston on the blog. It is still all true.

I love Boston.

I lived there for 10 wonderful years.

My children were born there.

I became a runner there. I bought my very first pair of running shoes at Marathon Sports, whose heavily damaged store front is all over the news.

The scenes from the news of a town I know so well are surreal.

My heart is so heavy and I have no words.

I'm thankful that all of my friends and family who were in the area are safe.

I'm also thankful to be part of such a supportive running community. I spent yesterday on Twitter checking on people I only know through social media and blogging. Yet somehow, they all felt like family.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Recap

It's not to often you can cross something off of your Bucket List. After running the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, I can do just that.

I have wanted to run this race for years. In my previous running life I was living in Boston and DC was just a little too far for a quick weekend trip. Now I find myself living 4 hours from DC and thought the time was perfect to try to get in. I joined the lottery with my friend Jenni's running group and managed to get accepted.

I drove up to DC on Saturday morning and met an old college roommate for lunch. We ate in Chinatown and meandered around town for a little while. After saying goodbye to her I made it over to the expo to check out all of the running goods. I picked up a iFitness Belt which I am absolutely in love with!

I headed back over to Arlington to meet up with Jenni and check into the hotel before we turned right back around and met up with some of her friends for dinner downtown. The amount of walking I did on Saturday may not have been ideal for a day before a race, but I loved DC and had a great day.

After dinner, Jenni and I headed back to the room to lay out all of our stuff and get to bed since 4:30am rolls around pretty quickly.

It was a cold and windy morning as we headed out the door in search of coffee before getting on the metro.

Bright and early in DC

The waiting before the race was pretty tough given the cold temps and blustery wind. After reluctantly parting with my fleece at the bag drop I tried to make the most of it and not think about how cold I was. I was excited to meet up with my Twitter pal, Fran, briefly before the race. Fran is super tall, super cute and super speedy! She kicked this course's ass!! (Check out her recap here.)

I made her crouch so I wouldn't look so short! She's a trooper.

I was pretty excited to start once I lined up in my corral. If anything, it was a little warmer standing near 17,000 other people. I place myself right in between the 11:00 and 11:30 pacer. My goal for this race was 1:50-1:55.

Miles 1-3: When the green wave took off I was right next to the 11:00 pacer. The first mile was slow as I expected (11:30). After the first mile she showed no sign of trying to speed up so I went off on my own to run my own race. I decided to try to find the balance of pushing myself and soaking it all in. We passed the World War II memorial early in the race. I got a little choked up thinking of my Pop, but quickly got my head back in the game. We headed out and back over the Arlington Memorial Bridge before heading over towards the Kennedy center. I lost my Garmin signal for a little while and have no idea how that affected my info. I decided not to worry too much about it and just run strong.

Miles 4-6: These were some of my strongest miles. I just felt good and was ticking away the miles. I found a good rhythm and just kept one foot in front of the other. I took a Gu at mile 5 but didn't stop to walk like I normally do. I was feeling pretty strong and executing my plan just as I wanted. Plus I got to see a little of the Jefferson Memorial, which was pretty awesome.

Miles 7-10: At this point we were entering Haines Point, which I had heard a lot about. The wind coming  off the river was brutal. Up until this point I had been running strong but I was starting to get tired and the wind wasn't helping. I stopped to walk for the first time around 7.5 miles. After a minute or two I was back to running. The last two miles were hard mentally. I walked again briefly through the next water stop. Eventually the Washington Monument came back into view from behind the trees and I knew I was close. When my Garmin beeped mile 9 I tried to leave it all out on the course. My head got in my way for a couple of 30sec walk breaks including up the only hill of the day with 0.25 miles to go. After that I kicked it into gear to finish a strong as I could.

Garmin Data: 10.11 miles 1:52:26  11:07 min/mile
Official Race Results: 1:52:26 11:15 min/mile

Can I just say how excited I am about these splits. Mile 1 was spent in a traffic jam of thousands of other runners and miles 8 and 10 had some walking. Other than that these splits are awesome for me. I can feel myself getting faster and more consistent, which has been a struggle for me. Miles 4-7 are just awesome for me. These splits made me so happy. Plus, I get an automatic PR since this was my first 10 mile race! Bonus!

What this race tells me is that if I keep it up through the rest of the spring and into my next half marathon training cycle, I really believe that a sub 2:30 half marathon is a completely realistic goal for the Fall.

After finding my friends in the finishing area, we hung out for a little while before heading back to the hotel. I did a quick change in my car and started the drive back to NC. I was missing my kiddos and just wanted to get home. A 4.5 hour car ride immediately following a race like this is not recommended however. My legs were not so happy with this plan.

This weekend was a blast from start to finish. I have to say that this was my favorite race and definitely worth the trip up for.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

Tobacco Road Half Marathon

Oh hello there!!

It's been so long since I last wrote that I pretty much forgot that I have this little blog.  The truth of the matter is that life has been overwhelming these past few months and some things had to be put aside for a while. Hopefully things are calming down and we can return to normal.

So let's just jump right back in it, shall we?

I ran my 5th half marathon this weekend! Here's the thing though - It took me four whole days to realize that I PR'ed this race. Somehow I got it in my head that I missed a PR by 27 seconds. Where that came from I will never know. Turns out I had a 24 second PR.

I went into this race with the goal of 2:30. When I saw that I missed that goal by 4 minutes that was all I could focus on.  I did an assessment of what went wrong and what I can do for next time and then put it out of my head. Life outside of running has been so crazy this past week that I just now sat down (4 days later) to upload my Garmin. That's where I realized that I suck at math. It's a good thing I am a scientist in my every day life and never have to use math <insert sarcasm font>.  Moving on....

Pre-Race

I had to wake up earlier than I ever have before to make it to the race

My running buddy, Bang, had purchased an on site parking pass and it was recommended that we arrive by 5:30am for a 7am start. Ouch. I drove the 40 minutes to meet up with my friends so we could all take one car to the start. It was dark and cold and I was pretty tired. We managed to amuse ourselves for 90 minutes: I visited the porto-potties no less than 3 times, got all of my stuff together and munched on a bagel before making it to the start line.

Race
I planned to stick with the 2:30 pace group. Having never run with a pace group I was a bit nervous. I had no idea what to expect but was excited at the prospect of being able to control my pace. I may have mentioned before that I tend to run balls to the wall or walk, there seems to be very little middle ground some days. I am really trying to learn how to fix that and I thought the pace group would be great.  According to my pace calculator a 2:30 half marathon is approximately 11:25 average pace. The pace leader took off at 11:00/mi.  I was really concerned with my ability to keep that up the whole race.

The first two miles or so of the race is on the road with gentle rolling hills. Afterwards we turn onto the American Tobacco Trail which is packed crushed gravel and pretty flat. Up until the turn around point I was sticking right with the pace group. It felt easy. I was able to zone out and just run. Once we turned around and started heading back the group started inching away from me. I took a quick walk break.

The next two miles I was reeling the group back in. I kept them in my sights but I was getting tired. I was practically by myself and my motivation was waning.  By mile 9 I was done. The group started getting further and further away until I eventually lost them all together. It was pretty disappointing and I felt it hard to motivate myself to finish. For 4 miles my splits were over 12:30. I was able to pick it up again in the last mile because at this point I just wanted to be done. Once we came off of the trail and back on the road it was freezing cold and misting. I knew my pal Melanie was waiting for me at the finish with my coat and a smile so I just focused on that and brought it home.

Post race thoughts:

• This race was comfortable for me because Bang and I have been doing our long runs on the ATT for a couple of months now. Aside from the couple of miles on the road, I knew *exactly* what to expect.

• I really wonder what the pace leader's strategy was and I would have loved to have stuck with her to find out. According to my calculations 11:00/mi is a 2:24 time. Whether she slowed down a little in the last miles, I will never know.

• Looking at my Garmin splits I love the first 8 miles. If I can work on keeping my pace there for the whole 13.1 I will be very happy. I could potentially even exceed my 2:30 goal in Philly this Fall. I think this is a very achievable goal if I keep it up for the next few months.

• I loved that this race was an out-and-back and we eventually met up with the marathoners. There was plenty to look at while we were out there.

• Major thanks to Melanie for being the bestest "Race Concierge" ever! Unfortunately she couldn't run with us but she woke up before dawn and hung out with us all morning. She cheered us at the finish line with some awesome signs and brought us our coats. Awesome service, my friend!

Maybe not "fast". Certainly "less slow than before"!

• From the bottom of my cold little heart I have to thank Bang for getting me out there every weekend for cold-as-F long runs. I'm pretty sure I would have bailed on more than one long run if there was no one waiting to run long and eat with me! Also thanks for the super convenient parking pass!

• Finally, I may have missed my goal, but the fact of the matter is I have a 24 second PR to show for my efforts. Not only that, but I need to also point out that this race was a a goal of mine last year. However, I never even made it to the registration page because I was really lax in my running last Winter. I was definitely disappointed in myself. The fact that I didn't stop running this year and not only made it to the start line but PR'ed as well - that is pretty damn cool.

Feeling the Love for Running

Dear Running,

I hate you sometimes.

But it turns out I love you more often than not.

Look at me! I'm running!
And I look like I like it!

In the spirit of Valentine's Day the folks over at #runchat have asked runners to spread the love and proudly proclaim to all the interwebs what we love about running. May I present to you things I love about running:

• Running is my break from the insanity that comes with being a full time working mom. I run so I can deal with the other 23 hours in the day without completely losing my shit.
• Setting goals for myself and working towards achieving them. Some goals are easier (get out the door and run today) and some take a lot of work (PR my next half marathon). But working towards a goal and accomplishing it is pretty freaking rewarding.
• Learning valuable life lessons when you don't quite reach some of those goals. I didn't PR in my last marathon. Instead of wallowing in self pity and quitting altogether, I put on my big girl pants and started working harder. Boom.
• That feeling you get when you are in the middle of a long run and moving along at a pretty good pace and you feel good. You can breathe, your legs don't hurt and your mind isn't telling you how much this all sucks. This moment is fleeting, but when you realize it is happening RIGHT NOW...that is my favorite part.
• Finding new ways to become a better runner. Working out to me now has a bigger purpose. I am not going to the gym just to do it anymore. I am doing it to become a better runner. That to me has been way more motivating.

If you say so Bob

• Running has introduced me to a whole community of other runners, bloggers, tweeters who are just as consumed by running as I am.

Tell me, what do you love most about running?

Small Changes

First I need to give a shout out to my BFF, Carrie, for helping me with my new blog banner. 

I *may* have annoyed her with my pickyness, but she hung in there as any true friend would.

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I just finished reading Eat and Run by Scott Jurek, the hugely successful ultramarathoner who also happens to be a vegan. While I am not an ultramarathoner or even aspire to be one, I was mostly interested on his views towards diet and nutrition. According to Scott, the better he ate, the better he felt and performed. I know, shocking, right?!

 

Just like I have no plans to jump from half marathons to ultras, I really have no plans to adopt a 100% plant based diet. But the book got me thinking about the small changes I am making (and plan to make) in my diet in an effort to eat cleaner.

These days a typical day looks like this:

Breakfast:  Greek yogurt with granola mixed in.

Morning snack: Fruit - banana or grapes.

Lunch: Spinach salad with veggie mix (corn, peas, carrots, cauliflower), chickpeas. Sometimes I will mix in a little chicken or feta cheese to add a bit more flavor. Add a serving size of balsamic vinaigrette, 

Afternoon snack: Usually an apple or granola bar.

Dinner: This is where I completely fall apart. I need to research healthy and easy meals to prepare when I get home. We are stuck in a rut of some sort of chicken or pasta variation. Right now there is also entirely too much reliance on pre-prepared foods and I feel like it is sabotaging my whole day's efforts.

 

I am pretty happy with how I have been eating during the day. I am able to avoid the afternoon slump by eating a healthy and light lunch. Dinners are my main challenge and something I am working on.

I've committed myself this year to making small changes that I hope will add up to overall weight loss and health  benefits. Here are a few of the main things I have been working on lately:

Soda

In the past I usually had at least one soda per day. I craved the fizzy sugary goodness of it and ignored the fact that it is just terrible for me. I tried to fool myself that a diet soda is WAY better that the real thing. But at the same time, I have never and will never let my children near it. I started thinking, why is it ok for me and not my own children? Then I started reading...zero calorie soft drinks are still linked to a number of health problems and are pumped full of artificial sweeteners. 

So in a effort to clean up my diet, soda was the first to go.  At first I didn't realize I was doing it. I was sitting in a restaurant one day and when the waitress asked what I wanted to drink it occurred to me that I had not had a soda in a few days. It was a snap decision to keep going. I asked for water with a lemon and never looked back. It was a little difficult at first. I definitely had cravings. But it has been about a month and a half and I just don't think about it anymore.

Coffee Creamer

This one is proving to be a little more difficult. Coffee Mate Fat Free Vanilla has been my drug of choice in the mornings. Sweet sweet coffee - there is very little that makes a morning better. But again, it is something I knew was highly processed and full of sugar, trans fats and preservatives. Last week I bought vanilla almond milk as an alternative. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely not the same. I found myself on more than one occasion at the coffee shop on the way to work getting my non-fat, sugar free vanilla latte because I was craving sweetness. This change will take a little work and experimentation. I wonder if the end result will ultimately be giving up coffee all together. TBD.

Seeds

This one comes directly from reading Eat and Run. I've added sunflower seeds to my lunchtime salads for an extra boost of health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and vitamins. Plus I love the flavor they add. I am careful to limit my portion size because they do have quite a bit of calories. I've also read a bit about the benefits of chia seeds and have been adding them to my yogurt in the morning.

Whole Grains

This one will also take some work to get to where I want to be. We have long ago eliminated white bread from our diet, opting instead for whole grain. I have made the transition from white rice to brown rice (although, this has proved a little harder for my husband). The pasta though is where we are stuck. We HATE whole wheat pasta. I wonder if we are not cooking it right or if it just doesn't taste as good as "regular" pasta. Right now we have switched to organic pasta, but I am not sure we'll be able to go 100% whole grain here.

Fruits and Vegetables

In order to broaden my choices I am going to have to expand my repertoire of fruits and vegetables. I am by nature a very picky eater. I will eat apples, oranges, grapes and bananas on their own. Berries not so much. But I can tolerate them in smoothies. Smoothies with protein added are going to happen soon. Vegetables also need to be expanded. Life would be easier if I liked things like tomatoes and mushrooms and peppers. This will also take some doing.

Anyway, these are just some of the thoughts I have about cleaning up my diet. Cooking real food and straying from highly processed stuff is a goal that I am going to break up into small parts. I feel like incorporating small changes will have greater overall success for us. We are venturing towards a more organic and natural diet, but this will take some more research and experience learning how to stretch our grocery dollars. But we're committed. In the meantime I am researching and reading what I can. I'm pretty excited about it all.