3M Half Marathon Race Report: The Hi's & Low's

Two words: PERSONAL RECORD!!!!!
That sounds kinda stupid to say, given the fact I've only done (now) 2 half-marathons, but it is a personal record, nontheless. WOOHOO!
Here are my hi's & low's from the race yesterday:
I think I'll start with the low's first - to get them out of the way...
1) It was FREEZING! Literally freezing at the start line. 31* to be exact. I had worn tights under my running shorts becauseI really didn't want my legs to be frozen while running, but after a short warm-up before the race, I realize I could shed the tights & be just fine. My legs were fine waiting at the start & then, of course, once I started running they were warm.
2) I had gastro-intestinal distress almost immediately after starting. It sucked so bad. I kept cramping & feeling the need to go to the bathroom. It wasn't until just after mile 7, that the cramps became overwhelming & I then had to stop to go. Man! Was I pissed about that. But, I went & did feel better momentarily. Just when I thought I would be home-free, though, the cramps came back again & I ended up stopping AGAIN just before mile 10. GRRRRR! I knew I needed to throw the hammer down after that to make up for my lost time with my potty stops. And, I did.
3) My sports bra scraped my chest during the run & caused a lovely little open wound that feels craptastic today. :o( Note to self: do NOT wear that bra on a long run again.

Now - for the HI's!!!
1) I got good rest the night before - which, is sometimes an issue for me before races. I tend to think too much about the race before going to sleep & then wake frequently through the night. Not this time, though. My sleep was great & uninterrupted.
2) I rode to the race with Mary Jo & Laura & we had fun talking in the car on the way.
3) I had a great playlist on my iPod and had exactly 2 hours worth of music to motivate me to finish under 2 hours so that I didn't run out of tunes.
4) I ran with Governor Rick Perry for about a 1/4 mile & got a picture of him with my phone while we were running together. My picture came out blurry, though. He does run with an entourage.
5) My legs & heart felt great while running. My hip got slightly sore after the half way mark, but it didn't hurt bad enough to keep my mind on it.
6) I hit my 4 mile mark in 34 minutes & then the 10 mile mark at 1 hour 26 minutes (which, my 10 mile time at the San Antonio 1/2 marathon was 1 hour 33 minutes). I was so psyched when I say those mile markers!
7) The downhill nature of this race felt great - I felt fast!
8) I got a burst of energy when I saw the 10 mile mark & knew the end was near!!
9) I had energy left to sprint to the finish line & finished the race in 1 hour, 52 minutes and 44 seconds.
10) My overall run pace was 8:36/mile (!!!!!!!!!!) For me, this is AWESOME!!!

And, no, I don't want to even think about what my pace would have been if I didn't have stomach issues & didn't have to stop TWICE to go to the bathroom. >:o(

Anyway, overall, it was a great race for me. I am so glad I did it!

NOW.....BRING ON THE MARATHON!!!

Tomorrow is going to be a BIG day!

After exactly 12 weeks of living in an apartment....we are finally getting to move back into our house!!
YIPPEEEE!!!!!!
So, tomorrow our carpet is going in & our POD is being delivered to our driveway.
I have been cleaning at the house all this week, getting prepped & ready to get the boxes out of the POD so I can put our stuff back in place.
One nice thing about having a flood that destroys the inside of your house, (and wipes out a lot of your personal belongings, and puts you into an apartment for 3 months....) is that once you get your salvaged personal belongings back, you can PURGE what your don't want, can't use, or haven't seen or touched in years!
I think this is really the perfect way to start out 2009. A good cleansing & purging never hurt anyone.
I am thankful that God has seen us through all this. And, I am proud of our family for weathering this storm. It has been rocky at times, but it is these things in life that make us stronger & ultimately bond us more closely to one another.
Next Christmas we can look back & smile & say...."remember when our house flooded & we had to move out for 3 months?"

A Treadmill PR (personal record)...

Is there such a thing? If so...I achieved one!
So, my best ever 10K run time is just over 54 minutes & today I did it on the treadmill in 53:33!! So, I totally know that is relatively pathetic compared to most people who run (and, run well) -- but, for me it is pretty good. It was 8:37 per mile pace.
My heart rate was in the upper 160's for the beginning & middle of the run & then went into the 170's for about the last 1.5 miles.
I felt strong today - probably because I had taken the last 2 days off from my workouts (hard to get a workout in when the kids are off from school & there is so much to do before Christmas...).
In fact, for today's workout, I actually did a 1.5 mile warm-up run & then did my 10K PR. So, in total, I did 7.7 miles. Just glad I felt good through it all. I totally hate those runs that are so hard & feel so terrible. Although, I do realize that those feelings are all apart of the training - they must come & even though they feel terrible, they ultimately DO make me stronger & more well-conditioned. Not to mention, those terrible "feelings" are usually no more than my mind trying to over-ride my body & tell it what to do. Rarely, do I ever really feel that bad...but, sometimes my body would just LOVE for me to stop running & my mind loves to chime right in and agree that the discomfort is too much to bear & that I should totally STOP.
I think a HUGE part of training (as I have found out over the last couple years) is so much of a mental game. Yes, it has a lot to do with how strong/fit my body is, but it also has a ton to do with how strong my mind is. And, I do find myself actually lying to myself during those hard workouts - where my body & mind are trying to convince me to quit.
When I am lying to myself about the pain of a particular workout, here is how the internal conversation typically goes:
Me: MAN! This hurts so bad! My legs are DYING! Ok, I am only going 1 more mile & then I am totally done!

Me to Myself: Legs - just SHUT UP! This is NOTHING! You are only doing a 6 mile run - think about all those people that run marathons & ultramarathons in training & preparation for Ironman races.
Me: Yeah, but those people are super-human. They have conditioned themselves to train for 3,4,5, or even more hours in a day. And I, am but a mere mortal!
Me to Myself: True...but, whatever I set my mind to do...I CAN do!
Me: Okay...I CAN DO THIS. I am not giving up & I am NOT cutting my workout short. If I want to get stronger, I have to put in the time.

So, you see....lying to myself actually DOES work...most of the time! I really WOULD be lying if I said that I never let my mind get the better of me, though.
But, this is a process. Both for my body & my mind. Everyday that I try my best, I really DO get stronger.

Some life updates

First, our house is finally starting to come back together & we see the light at the end of the tunnel. Colorful paint is up & the tiling of 3 bathrooms and the dining room should begin after Christmas. Once that is done, all that is left is carpet, some paint re-touches and all the final touches. It sure has been a long journey. Our house flooded on October 7th & we have been living in this apartment since the 3rd week of October.
We had hoped to be have the house fixed before Christmas, but it wasn't to be. The contractor says we should be home by January 15th. We will definitely ready to come home.
The kiddos are doing well & are looking forward to Christmas. Also looking forward to having a couple weeks off from school.

Journey to Ironman - Part 2

I'm starting to journal my workouts on paper again. I had done some of that (workout journaling) on the computer - here & there - but, I want to be consistent now on paper so that I have something tangible to look at to chart my progress with workouts over time.
And, speaking of time, where did the entire month of November go?! And, now here we are in December! Which means I am now officially under the 1 year mark to Ironman in November of '09.
So, now I am in "phase 2" of my training. I got my first half-marathon knocked out & now I am into half-marathon #2 and really hoping & praying that I can continue to train hard & strong over the next 8 weeks until the 3M Half Marathon. I want to train smart (Trev is helping me do that) so that I can stay injury-free and beat my time I had at the San Antonio Rock n' Roll 1/2. My goal is to actually break 2 hours & Trev thinks it is definitely possible. Ideally, for the 3M, I would like be at 1:55 total - to go under a 9 minute mile pace - into the range of an 8:50 or 8:55/mile pace.
I guess I should ask Trev if trying to take off 5 minutes overall is a bit too aggressive of a goal. I dunno. Just sounds like a great pace (for me!) and a nice round number!
I have been consistent with track workouts and working on my pacing and I have been putting in a lot of time running. And, THANK GOD, no aches or pains! Now, I just need to keep it that way.
"Phase 3" of my journey (I think....still have to consult Trev on this) will be immediately moving into marathon training....the Austin Marathon in February, to be exact. I just checked out that race website & it looks like I am gonna have to get registered for that relatively soon. Registration is already at 40%.
Well, I don't want to get too ahead of myself, especially since coach has not specified my direction for after the 3M. One step, one phase, one part of the journey at a time. I really don't want to think too much ahead and either psych myself out or burn myself out. Small steps will get me to my goal.
Writing this stuff down will help with those small steps, too.

Going the distance...

...all 13.1 miles, that is!!!
I completed my first 1/2 marathon this past weekend -- pulling out a slightly better showing than even I had hoped for.
I did the inaugural San Antonio Rock n' Roll half marathon & had a blast! Even in spite of being sick with a cold for the 3-4 days leading up to the weekend and actually being sick the day of the race.
I had not had great expectations for my race time...in fact, I had given myself permission to be slow (10 minute mile) if I needed to be. But, as it turned out, I was able to be slightly faster, finishing in exactly 2 hours & 20 seconds - which is a 9:11/mile pace.
Luckily, I actually felt decent throughout the whole time. I started out really, really slow (which had been my plan anyway) and then just slowly, but surely tried to up my pace. My body actually gave me no problems. No aches or pains - really the only thing that bothered me was my congestion. Trev had suggested some kind of mint tea before the race to help clear up the congestion a bit (which I really wanted to get, but couldn't because of the chaos with traffic n' such before the race) & also sucking on cough drops through the race. I actually did do the cough drops & they did seem to help a bit.
It really wasn't until mile 11.5 that my legs began to feel fatigue. But, not even in a horrible way. Although, when I saw the 12 mile marker...I actually said "thank you, Jesus" out loud because I was definitely feeling like I was ready to be done.
All things considered, though, my body felt great all the way through.
I am psyched for my 2nd 1/2 marathon coming up in January -- called the 3M Half Marathon. Supposedly a fast course (almost completely downhill), I will look to beat my 2 hour mark from the SA Rock n' Roll this past weekend.
Can't wait to do my next race!!!

FLORIDA it is!!!!

So, Ironman Florida it is!! I got in online & got registered with only minimal hassle. So, so glad I got in here (as opposed to Ironman Arizona). I really wanted to have the beach atmosphere for Matt & kids so that they would have something to do while I am doing this epic race. It will likely take me 13 or more hours to complete.
I am so psyched to do this race, so psyched to train hard, so psyched to push myself farther than I have before!!
I realize that there will be so much sacrifice needed to achieve this goal, but I wouldn't be doing this unless I felt like I could tackle all of the challenges and the sacrifices.
Trev(my coach) also secured his spot at IM Florida!! YAY!! I am so glad the he & his wife Rebekah (my original coach) are going to be there!!
NOW -- onto the training!
1st Step - complete my first 1/2 marathon in less than 2 weeks. YIKES!!!!