Marine Corps Recap

So proud of my one and only, M, and my friend Jill for finishing their first marathon!

Heading into race day we were scared about hurricane Sandy ruining our day, but in reality the weather was perfect to run in. No sun, nice temp, and well a little windy at some points but not bad at all.

We headed down to the race around 5:45am and I have never had so much fun hanging out before the start of a race. I was laughing so hard when I tried to crack my hard boiled egg on the parking lot and the whole egg just exploded  Hard boiled egg...hmm...I think not. It was uncooked and egg was every where. We even had the people standing around us laughing too. It totally made it feel like we were not about to run 26.2 miles.

Once we started running, Jill took off to run her own race, and I just stuck by Ms side as I had told him I would run with him the entire race at whatever pace he wanted to run. I tried pacing him, but yeah he doesn't really like me pacing him so I just went with the flow and tried to enjoy myself as much as one can when they are running a marathon for fun. Plus well wearing a Halloween costume to run in always spices things up :)

I loved running through g-town and seeing Mia at that point. I also strangely liked Haines Point. Especially all these flags they had down there.

My legs were secretly hurting around mile 17-18 but I didn't want to complain and let Jason know about it. My feet were also hurting as I hated the shoes I choose to wear and my arches were screaming at me. I kept a smile on my face though and kept on running. The funny thing about running a marathon for fun though is your body doesn't seem to care if it's trying to run a sub 4 or just run to finish. It hurts regardless. I do think this will be the last time though that I run one for fun...no offense Jas... but if I'm going to put my body through this again I want to chase after my own personal goal.

Anyhow, I tried making funny, that's what she said jokes, as we ran down the mall to the Capital. If you have looked at the course map for this race, you will know what I am talking about.

Once we made it off the mall, we made our way over the 14th street bridge. It was just as dumb as I remember it being when I ran MCM in 2004. It was also at this point that we caught back up to my friend Jill. The three of us ran the rest of the race together :)

The last 6 miles were hard, as they always are, but we all finished together! Well almost all finished together. M was a little sneak and sprinted to the finish line to beat me and Jill by 8 seconds!!! He also made his goal of  beating my first marathon time, on the same course, which was 5:04 something.

My finish time: 4:58
M's aka Jason's finish: 4:57:52

Go M on your sub 5 finish!!!

Overall it was a great race and I loved being able to run it with my love and with one of my really good friends. And once again I am so proud of both of them and hopefully they are proud of themselves.

Happy Wen All

Hello Sandy...

Two days and counting until the Marine Corps Marathon! And Guess who decided to crash this run party? That's right, our good friend Sandy.

That's ok, she can run with us, because we love hurricanes.

And strangely for the first time yesterday I have gotten excited to run this little 26.2 mile race. I am actually excited to say I ran a marathon in a hurricane, ok more like just run in rain with wind.

But on a serious note, we can't control the weather and the only thing we can control is our attitudes. So with that mindset I am really here to make the most of the day on Sunday, regardless of the weather conditions, and just have fun.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and good luck to everyone racing MCM!!! Hopefully I can spot some of you out there in the sea of people :)

Happy Friday All :)

Marathon Week

Well only one more run stands between us before MCM!

This week has been easy, as I am tapering. Although I don't think I ever really ever seriously started training for this marathon to begin with. But here's my weekly plan:

Monday - Ran 5 miles

Tues - Bike commuting for almost 9 miles around the city, and a 2100 yard swim

Wen - Ran 4.16 miles

Thurs - I'm not sure what to do yet?

Friday - Run 3 - packet pick up

Sat- Rest

Sunday - run 26.2

It's actually hard to believe the marathon is this weekend! Almost exactly 2 months ago I was running 26.2 after swimming 2.4 and biking 112. It was hard. It was hot. It was a death march. I don't even know if I can call it running. ha. But, I can only hope that this stand alone marathon feels easier. Half of me wishes I was going after my own time goal at this race, but half of me is glad I will be running with Jas. I am not overly excited about it yet and my mind set is it is just a really long training run more than a race. I am hoping I get more excited about it when I go to the expo. I'm sure I will. And don't get me wrong, I am super excited for Jas and my friend Jill.

At any rate I am a little worried about two little things during the race:

1. I want to bring my phone with me so I can take pictures - but I don't have a good place to carry it while running. I guess I will just have to figure something out.

2. I am running in a Halloween costume. I am praying it doesn't chafe me! I will have to bring a mini slide glide with me.

Happy Wen All :)

Soon to be Marathoners

In a little over a week from today M and my good friend Jill will be running in their first marathon at the Marine Corp Marathon! I am getting so excited for both of them. I wish I could stand on the side lines and support them, like they have supported me so many times. But I guess they will have to settle to hearing me talk for 26.2 miles as I shuffle along their sides.

Right now the weather looks perfect with a high of 61 and cloudy. Of course it will change only a billion times between now and then, but it's fun to weather stalk never the less.

So yeah one more long run (9/10) miles and then it's all coasting from there. Ok well I have been coasting for awhile now since my training has been less than great ....

Happy Friday All :)

A Good Run ... Finally

I am happy to report that some of my motivation has returned to me today!!! This is exciting I tell you. I thought I left it back in Louisville. And with my motivation back, I was able to run all around DC this morning with a smile on my face. 

Anyhow, my alarm went off at 5am. I didn't turn it off and roll back over under my warm covers. Instead I jumped right out of bed and put my running clothes on. And oh my new running shoes! Maybe that's why I was excited to run, to test out my new shoes? I wolfed down a granola bar and was out the door by 5:15am.

I was met by dark, some more dark and 40 something degree coldness. I wore long running spandex, a long sleeve shirt with those thumb whole things in it, and a head/ear warmer band. So yeah I was ready for the weather and as always was over dressed for the occasion. Sweat was rolling down off my head at only mile 2. I took off my top and tied it around my waste. I thought about dropping it off at my work since I was right there, but didn't feel like signing in, etc. So on I ran.

The first 3 miles, were ok. (8:28, 8:42, 8:49) I kept thinking in my head that this run is going to turn into another bad run, but it never did! I ran up mass, I ran up the big hill on T at Connecticut. I was still feeling good. More up hill to zoo, and still feeling ok and my pace didn't drop too much. (8:34, 9:15, 9:15, 8:32, 8:22 ) Wow, I was getting more and more exited. For the first time in a long time, I was enjoying myself while running. This was fun.

I finished up my run down P street to Rock Creek. When I hit Rock Creek, it went from dark, to really dark without any street lights. I was glad I had rigged by knog bike like to my Nathan's bottle. Blinking white light while running for the win. 

Haines Point wasn't soul sucking, but then again I only ran to Buckeye Drive. The sun was finally starting to raise and the rest of my run was pretty much uneventful, but I finished strong. (8:33, 8:38, 8:45, 8:58, 8:24, and 6:58 for the last .85)

I has happy that I actually got myself out of bed to do this run. 13.85 miles in 2 hours and I made it to work on time at 7:30. I am even more happy that it went well though. It gives me hope that I totally will not suck at the Richmond Half.

Now, all I have to do is work all day, then I get to hop on a flight to Cleveland to visit my fam for the weekend :)

Happy Friday All :)

My Week so Far

So I haven't blogged all week. Mainly because I wanted to write a race report from our 20 mile race, but I have been to lazy to upload my garmin data. No garmin data and no pretty graphs, means no race report right now.

 

In the meantime, this week has been going ok.

 

Monday - I ran the coldest 5 miles of my life. Ok, not really, but it was cold and my lungs weren't used to running in the cooler temps. I felt light headed and dizzy. My ears were cold, my hamstring hurt. I could go on complaining, because honestly I can, but yeah I'll stop. I'll just be happy that I ran 5 miles and I had the day off work

 

Tues - Brought the return of Capitol Hill repeats. I haven't done these well since June. I waited till M got home and we ran down to the Capitol together around 7:30pm. It was dark out, but the area is well lite. I had in my head I wanted to do 6 x repeats, so that's what we did. Strangely I had fun during this run and kind of missed doing the hill workout all those months.

 

Wen - Did a 5 mile tempo run during my lunch break. My goal was to run 8 minute miles for all 5 miles. I came somewhat close and hit most of my miles right at 8:03. Mile 3 must have sucked though because I slowed down to a 8:18 minute mile, but I was still happy with my overall run. I also forgot how much I like running during the day. Hopefully I can bring back the lunch time run once a week. On the down side of yesterday, I had a swim fail and went home and napped with Kiwi instead.

 

Thurs - I miss cycling, so I joined Rachel in the dark cold morning at Haines point to get some riding in:

             It was cold ~  check

             It was windy ~  check

             It was fun ~  check

 

             Now I want a winter cycling jacket more that anything.

 

Friday - I hope or the plan is to run 13 miles before going into work at 7:30am. Since I don't own a head light, I think I'm just going to put one of my bike lights on my nathan's bottle. This should work and hopefully then I won't look like a zombie wondering around on the dark streets of DC. Also trying to get to work on time should be motivation for me to run faster.

 

Sat/Sun - Relax and enjoy time with my family in the Cleveland area :)

 

This brings me to next week - goal - return to swimming at least twice a week to maintain my swim fitness. No more naps instead of swimming.

 

Happy Thurs All :)

Slacking ... again!

So this week has been a less than great week of training. I guess my main problem is I feel like I'm not really training for anything and there for allow myself to slack. Terrible Terrible excuses I know....

 

But I do have something I am working towards.... I think... 

 

I just signed up for the Richmond half. Now I don't think in the next 5 weeks that I have enough time to try to get fast again to PR. And no it won't be the end of the world if I don't. But I really need to get my butt running at least 4 times a week. And since I don't know if it's really a reasonable goal to PR, what I want to focus on is the Surf n Santa 10 miler Dec. 8th. I do think I have enough time to train speed work etc for this race. I have no clue what my current 10 mile PR is, but I would like to run this with 7 somethings. I did a tempo this week with 3 miles at 7:43, 7:46, and 7:46. This was not easy for me at all. I felt like I was going to die at the end. So, yes I have a lot of work in front of me. And maybe this time goal isn't even possible for me at this point. Who knows. Never the less I will go for it and try.

 

What I think I need to do is set myself up a training plan, so I don't slack, and so I'm not floundering through space with no clue what to do. So, yeah, this is the last week I am a slacker. No more excuses. No more my bed is so soft and comfy or I need a nap after work. I'm starting to get sick of being lazy. Plus I am sick of being slow. 

 

On that note, I hope everyone has a great weekend and good luck to those who are racing!

 

Happy Friday All :)

Coach Kiwi

I would like to introduce all of you to the best triathlon coach I know! Coach Kiwi!!

She is great at providing Ironman training plans and tips :) Nap. Sleep. Eat.

Happy Wednesday All :)

From Zero to Two Races...

So I haven't raced since Louisville and I have not one but two races coming up this weekend!

My first race will be a 20 miler on Sat.

I actually wish I wasn't doing this race, but I know it's a good way to get in my last super long run before MCM. I guess I am not that excited about it because I am not really racing it. I also would rather being doing the Giant Acorn oly distance race taking place the same day and just do my 20 mile run on Sunday. Oh well.

Then the following day, I will be doing the Giant Acorn Sprint Tri.

I am excited about this race. I want to do well but yeah I know going fast is not in the cards for me. Number one, my training hasn't been great. Number two, I am running 20 miles the day before so my legs are going to be less than fresh. Tired legs makes it hard to go fast. boo. I am sure I will have fun never the less and looking forward to tri-ing again. I just have to remember not to be disappointed with my splits and total time. Easier said than done.

Happy Tuesday All :) 

Weekend Recap: 18 miler + coaching

My marathon training has been well not that great. I feel like I might take it more seriously if I was running this race for my own time goal. I'm not complaining though, I am happy with my decision to just run this for fun and stick to my M's side. Never the less I am hitting my long runs over the weekends and will try to up my weekday mileage now that I all my post ironman fatigue is finally gone.

On Saturday M mapped us out 18 miles of fun all over DC and of course no long run would be complete without including wonderful Haines Point. The point just seems so much better on a bike...

Anyhow, we started off our run with long sleeve shirts on, stupid! After about a half of mile we turned back around to our house and ditched our shirts. This was the best decision ever because we really didn't need them. M, aka Jason, as pretty much dead one with hitting all his mile splits right around 10:30 - 10:45. He actually runs faster up hill then downhill which makes no sense to me. And he made sure we had plenty of hills on our run. Mass - to Connecticut - to Macomb. Fun.

I think we both felt pretty good through about mile 13, then we hit the waste land of Haines Point. It's just lonely down there and the sun beats down on you. It is good practice for MCM though as I remember this being the worst part when I ran it in 2004. Anyhow, all I could think about was how in the hell did I finish Louisville? My legs were hurting at mile 15 and I didn't even swim or bike beforehand. We refilled our water bottles at this point and took a two minute walk break. This is actually the first time we took a walk break. The last three miles were uneventful as we made our way home down Independence and before we knew it 18 miles were done. I was glad to be finished and I was glad to be running at M's pace instead of my own.
Actually I don't even know if I could even run faster than that at this point. I don't even know how I used to even run fast (well fast for me).

Sunday was a fun filled day of that included teaching two floor routines. I was at our gym from 9am - 2pm dancing around on the floor. It was fun though and I remembered why I like coaching. My gymnasts loved their routines and were smiling from ear to ear. I love seeing that.

After coaching, I went for a nice little recovery swim at Fairland's pool. I love that I work at a sportsplex because it makes it so easy to go from gymnastics to swimming.

The pool was very uncrowded and I got 2000 meters in before heading home and crashing.

So that was my weekend. I hope everyone had a great one as well and good job to everyone who raced.

Happy Monday All :)