Frederick Half-Marathon and Nut Job Challenge

We are half and full marathoners!

And 5Ker's too!

We ran our first half-marathon on May 7th, 2011 in Frederick, MD. I know...it has been a while since we ran, and I have been wanting to post a blog about it, but it seems like every time I sat down to start writing it, I just didn't know what to write. So here goes nothing!

Unlike when we ran the marathon in Baltimore, I did not carry my camera while I ran, and for a couple of reasons. 1) We were running this half-marathon separately, and 2) I was running with a specific time goal.

I had some people asking me what my goal was before I actually ran, and I was hesitant to say what it was because I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to hit that goal. When I went and picked up our race packets I sign-up with one of the Geico Pace groups...the 1:55 pace group to be exact! When you sign-up, they give you a wrist band with the times for each mile that you can wear if you want, so I took one home with me. After looking that the wrist band, and seeing all those times and just how fast I would have to be running, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to pull off running a sub-2 hour half-marathon. The sub-2 hour half was my goal! So did I do it...keep reading!

YES! WOW! I DID IT! I didn't know if I was going to be able to push through and hit my goal! A huge thanks goes out to the 1:55 Geico Pacers and Ray J. (A fellow DailyMiler) who came up behind me around the 11 mile mark, I was able to get my sub-2 hour half-marathon. The support and encouragement really helped to push me through the hill at the end and push it to the finish line. Thank you, Ray J. for sticking with me to help me hit my goal. :)

My head started to get in the way around mile 4, as I wasn't sure if I could keep pace for the next 9.1 miles. Then, I stopped thinking about that and just ran. The crowd was pretty good and supportive as well. It was at this point that I realized I was also ahead of the Geico pacers, I has actually gotten ahead of them around the mile 3 water stop. I wasn't too worried about being a head of them because according to my Garmin and the wristband, I was right on pace. I knew I would probably slow down a little later in the race and wanted to just keep going while I was feeling pretty good.

Me running the half. Not sure where this was taken, but I am guessing around mile 7 or so. It seemed like I was always running into the sun and couldn't see. I didn't even see the photographer! Can you tell?! :)

I felt pretty good until about mile 10 and that was where I started to slow down a little bit. The hill around there really got to me and the sun was very hot at this point in the race! Thankfully, there was a nice breeze every now and then, and it always seemed to come right when I needed it.

When I hit the 11 mile mark my legs were hurting, but I knew I just needed to keep going. I couldn't stop now! I was SO close! I was really glad to see the Geico Pacers and Ray J., as I don't think I would have been able to do it without them. They gave me just that little bit extra that I needed to finish. If it wasn't for them, I know I wouldn't have hit my sub-2 hour goal! Ray J. kept telling me, "You got this!" Although, I wasn't as sure about it as he was! :) I finished pretty strong, of course, not as strong as I would have liked. I remember turning the corner and seeing the last hill before the race to the finish line. I wasn't sure if this hill was going to be the end of my goal, or, if I would be able to push through it and finish what I set out to do. At one point, I do remember telling Ray J. "I don't know how much I have left." I guess it was enough because I pushed through that final hill, gave a little boy a high 5 on my way up it, (which I later found out was another fellow DailyMiler's little boy! How cool is that?!), that put a huge smile on my face, and knew that this race was mine! I WAS going to get that sub-2 hour half! And I did! Not only was it a sub-2 hour, but I cleared that 2 hour mark by 5 whole minutes! 1:55:31 was my official chip time!

Me crossing the finish line! I love this photo! And Ray J. is on the far right side in blue!

I am super proud of myself and so thankful to my husband, Rob, who let me run this race, so I could try for my goal. I have to admit though, it was really weird not running with him, and thought about him while I was running as well.

Rob running the half! He obviously saw the photographers!

It was so crowded at the end that I didn't even get to see him finish! :( But, he did! He ran a great race as well! 2:16:16! So proud of you, baby!

Rob crossing the finish line!

Before the race started, we met up with some fellow DailyMilers (luckily some of them had a camera)--- Heather R., Achillex aka Ernie, Michael C., and Patty E. It was so nice to finally meet some DM'ers. Thank you all so much for the support! It is greatly appreciated!

From left to right: Rob, Me, Patty, Michael, Heather, and Ernie.

Oh, and my back was not a problem at all during the half-marathon! But, my legs were sure giving me what for afterwards :) A little back pain after the half-marathon and before the 5K, but not too bad! All that rest definitely was the right thing, even though it was very difficult!

Now, that is a GREAT way to start your 30's!

Here are my official stats for the half-marathon:

Clock time: 1:56:05
Chip time: 1:55:31
Overall: 1009/3864
Female Place: 302/2076
Division Place: 60/322
8 Mile Rank:1022
8 Mile Time: 1:09:32
Total Pace: 8:49

Here are some pictures from after the half-marathon!

Ray J. and I with our medals!

Me with my medal!

Rob with his medal!

Us with our medals!

Rob with his medal as soon as he finished!

Me showing off my medal as soon as I finished!

I think I was a little dizzy and shaky, hence how I am standing!

5K/Nut Job Challenge

As I said before...we also ran a 5K the same day and only a couple of hours apart!

What was I thinking?! Ha, ha! Definitely NOT my best 5K time, but I just didn't have a lot left after running my best (and first) half-marathon ever! I was not feeling very good about 15 minutes before the start either, and Rob wasn't going to let me run it. But, I promised a run/walk just so we could finish it. We were standing in the sun waiting to line up and the heat really got to me. I got very dizzy, eye sight was blurry, and my ears were ringing. I went to the shade, sat down, and drank some water for about 10 minutes until we were ready to start. I felt fine by the start of the race, except for my legs, but it was definitely very scary!

Me running the 5k! Saw this photographer! Notice the water bottle!

It was the hardest and longest 3.1 miles of my life. My legs hurt and were cramping, which made it very difficult to run. I don't think the 2-1/2 hours in between the half and the 5K helped either.

But, Rob and I finished it...he would have totally kicked my butt in the 5K today, but he was so sweet to stay with me and finish it out. I believe we probably walked close to half the race and only ended up about 10-1/2 minutes slower than I would have liked. Not too bad considering the circumstances!

Us crossing the 5K finish line!

As soon as we crossed the finish line! I was so happy to be finished!

5K finishers photo!

I will definitely take my half-marathon time, over trying for a 5K PR today! I have more opportunities to do the 5K in under 30 minutes and I don't have to run 13.1 miles first! :)

Official 5K stats:

Clock Time: 42:04
Chip Time : 40:32
Overall Place: 774 / 985
Gender Place: 436 / 601
Division Place: 72 / 95
Total Pace: 13:05

Here are my totals for both the Half and 5K:

Finished 28th (even with that horrible 5K time) for the female finishers! I guess I will take it!

Series Total: 2:36:03.80

Other race photos:

Our race swag!

The Medal!

Me after getting home and cleaned up with my Nut Job t-shirt and medal on!

I was trying to not look exhausted, but I was!

Thank you all for your continued support!

Nature Walk

As I promised, I only walked today, so my back can heal up before the half-marathon on Saturday. My back is feeling better today, not 100 percent, but definitely feeling much better than it was yesterday and a few days ago. The pain is subsiding, and walking and sitting are not as painful.

Since I was only walking today, I decided to hit the trail about a 1/2 mile from my house, and use it as an opportunity to take some pictures. I never take my camera with me on my run because I don't like carrying it while I am running. I used today's walk as a nature walk. It was a gorgeous day---in the 70's---and I really enjoyed being outside and taking in the sites!

Below are some pictures I took while on my walk today! Enjoy!

Had to stop for a quick photo! Tree stumps make great tripods!

At the beginning of the trail...

The wooded trail area really makes me think of and miss home!

One of the two bridges!

I just love the view and peacefulness of the trail. Sure beats the noisy streets!

The beautiful sun peaking through the trees!

Mushrooms?

Same bridge as above...just from the other direction.

The other bridge on the other part of the trail.

Still reminds me of home.

Love how green everything is in these two pictures. Beautiful!

The end or beginning...depending on how you look at it!

I ended up walking about 2-1/2 miles of my 4.17 mile walk on this trail today! It was a nice, easy, peaceful walk!

Wow! This Is Inspiring!

As most of you know, I absolutely love DailyMile! The support is wonderful! Everyday the site has a daily mission, and you can choose to answer the daily mission question or not. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, it depends on what the topic is. Well, I thought today's daily mission was a good one.

Here is today's daily mission question:

Should kids be allowed to run marathons? If so, what should be the minimum age?

This is a hard question because I feel that everyone should have the opportunity to experience running a marathon, but maybe there should be a minimum age. I don't really know though because maybe having a minimum age requirement would turn kids away from running. I think if a child is doing it with an adult and understands what they are getting into, then why not?!

I wish I would have understood how good running can be for you, and how great it can make you feel afterwards long before I finally took an interest in running. We are always saying that children need to be active, but what kind of message are we sending them if we say no, you can't run a marathon because you are too young?

Like I said before, it is definitely a hard question to answer, and I can see the pros and cons of it. But, watch the video below and see the emotions that this little girl is feeling at the end of her ultra-marathon. Priceless!

Frederick Half-Marathon in 5 Days!

Wow! I can't believe the Frederick half-marathon in is FIVE DAYS! May 7th, 2011! I definitely have some mixed emotions about the half-marathon, which range from super excited to nervous! Let me explain!

I am super excited about this half-marathon for a few reasons:

1) It is my first half-marathon. Even though I have already ran a marathon, this is still my first half and the way you mentally prepare for a half-marathon is WAY different from the way you prepare for a full marathon. You only have half the distance to run!

2) This is my first race in a new age group! Three days before this race, I turn...30!

3) Even though Rob is running the half-marathon as well, we have decided that he is going to let me run this by myself, as part of my birthday present!

4) We are running a 5K (3.1 miles) after the half-marathon as well! This is part of a challenge that the Frederick Running Festival is putting on, and rightfully called, The Nut Job Challenge!

Now, even with all of this excitement, I am still a little nervous for this half-marathon for a couple of reasons!

1) It is only FIVE days away! The closer it gets the more you think about it and everything that is associated with it.

2) Even though I have been having some really great training runs, I hurt my back last week and it is making it very difficult to run. It is extremely painful, but I am hoping that with rest this week and no running, that it will be feeling 100% by Saturday! It is feeling better today than it was yesterday, so I am really trying not to stress about it, as I am doing everything I possibly can to make it feel better by Saturday. Rest is the key!

3) I have a goal in mind for this half-marathon, and I REALLY want to reach this goal. I truly believe that I can do it, and I am hoping my back will allow me to do so! But, believe me, my back is NOT going to keep me from trying to reach this goal.

Tuesday, May 3rd, I go and pick up our race packets! Can't wait!

Still Running

I figured today, May 1^st, 2011, would be a good day to finally write another running blog. Even though I haven’t written a running blog since January 31^st, 2011, Rob and I have been doing a lot of running and training. Wow! Since I haven’t blogged in awhile, I am not even really sure where to start. I guess I will start with a review of the past 3 months.

In February, we continued with running, but not really with any set amount of miles. I tried to run at least 5 miles a day, but, of course, I didn’t run every single day. On February 28^th, we actually started our training for the half-marathon in May. The month of February statistics are as follows: 96 total miles running, average pace 10:00, 51 total miles walking, average pace 15:11, total calories burned – 22,039!

March began a full month of training for the half-marathon in May. Due to the training the total number of miles for the month of March is a little lower, since we were following a training plan. When training for a half-marathon or a marathon, it is very important to follow a training plan. A training plan gives you a guideline for the total number of miles you should run each week, which makes it so you don’t over train. Our training runs this month went very well. When the weather would cooperate, we would do our runs outside, but there were many times when our runs had to be done inside on the treadmill. We finally broke down and bought a treadmill at the beginning of February, and I am so glad that we did. It has definitely made our training much easier during this rainy and stormy spring. March’s final statistics are as follows: 89 total miles running, average pace 9:33, 51 total miles walking, average pace 16:07, total calories burned – 18,172!

April turned out to be a pretty good training month as well. We were able to get outside a little bit more for our runs, which definitely makes the runs a lot more interesting. For some reason, I find running on the treadmill to be more difficult, even if I am running at the same pace or sometimes even slower. I really think that running on the treadmill had helped my overall running. I have seen a big increase in my pace during my outside runs, and the ease at which I am doing the runs. April’s final statistics are as follows: 112 total miles running, average 10:02 pace, 53 total miles walking, average pace 17:17, total calories burned – 20, 342!