5 mile road race post-race thoughts...

About 2 weeks ago, Brady and I ran in the Butler Road Race.  It's a 5 mile race that is held at the end of June.  There is also a 2K race, which we have run several times.  But this year, I knew I could run the 5 miles and as soon as I mentioned it, Brady said he wanted to run the 5 miles too.

As I talked about in a previous blog, Brady is really athletic.  So he didn't need all that much training.  He plays sports in nearly every season keeping him in great shape.  We did go out running several times together.  We made it to just over 4.2 miles on the last long run before the race.  Our typical pace was just over a 10:30 mile. 

I asked him what his thoughts were on the race.  Did he know what his goal was?  He said he really just wanted to finish the race and maybe come in under 1 hour.  I told him that was fair and I could get him there.  We just had to be sure to pace ourselves so we didn't burn out in the end.  I bought him some new running shoes and a SPIbelt.  He really needed the SPIbelt.  His arms are sooooo skinny that an armband for his ipod doesn't stay up.  Before we knew it, it was the day of the race.

At the starting line, Kip,  Gianna and Nick cheered us on.  They were all running the 2K.  And we began...running the downhill.  That's the best part of the race!  At mile 1, we were running about a 9:30/mile.  I figured that, as we ran about 1/3 downhill.  Mile 2, we had a good 10 min/mile pace going.  Mile 3, we were just under 31 min.  Somehow, we lost time between mile 3 and 4...not sure how.  But at mile 4, we were about 41:30.  I figured that with the hill to the finish, we probably would be between 52-53 minutes.  That was great!  We did better than that!  We came in at 51:15!!  What a fabulous race for us!

I couldn't be more proud of him!  He hung in there, we talked, we kept pace and we enjoyed ourselves!  Not to mention, we blew away his goal of finishing under an hour!  Woo-hoo! 

Last year, I ran a 10K in November.  I loved it!  I think I'll let Brady join me in that race.  After this 5 mile race, there is NO doubting that he can do it!

Me and my boy

So, Brady (my 10 year old) has always been athletic.  Very athletic.  He ran my first 5K with me (my husband did as well)...beat me by 21 seconds.  Then we ran another one together on Thanksgiving day, a turkey trot 5K.  Again, he beat me.  But only by 4 seconds!  He has recently asked if he can run the upcoming 5 mile road race with me.  I said yes because I know he has it in him.

We went down to the trail a little over a week ago and ran 4.26 miles.  I was so proud of him!  He did really well and we came in just over a 10:30 pace.  Usually, the trail is a little slower so I figured that was a great time!  The better thing was that he didn't want to cut out early.  He really, really wanted to make it!

Yesterday, we went and ran on the trail again.  We were hoping to get in just over 4.5.  It was close to 4 pm and warm, about 80 degrees.  We took some gatorade prime before the run and off we went.  The beginning went pretty well, a little slow, but we needed to get into a rhythm.  Then about mile 1.5, he felt great.  Said he was in the zone.  I was so glad for him...although I wasn't in the zone.  It was tough with the heat and I was exhausted from little sleep and a garage sale all day that I had.  But I would never let my kids see me quit!  About mile 2.5 he was struggling.  He was really hot and he said his knee was bothering him.  Did some extra walking, tried to run again, but it was just not in the cards for him.  We ran 2.97 miles.  We walked the rest of it to home 2.04.

He kept apologizing to me, but really I didn't care that we were walking.  I was just glad to have a companion, good conversation and my son by my side.  Our time on our run wasn't great, but wasn't horrendous considering he wasn't feeling all that great.  We ran it in 11 min/mile.  All in all, we got 5 miles in running and walking and even with that, we would've finished in 1:05.  I know he'll be ready to go in 2 weeks!  I'm going to give us a goal of 55:00 (just because the last .3 is all up hill).  I'm not going to tell him the goal, but that's what it is in my head.

We have 2 weeks to finish out the training...just me and my boy!  Love him!

Right on target

So, my goals for 2012 were to run a half marathon and to run 700 miles. It's June now (although still the beginning) and I thought it would be a good time to check in on them.

Run a half marathon. DONE! Actually, I have run 2 and I probably have 2 more to run before the year is over. Who would ever imagine me running a half marathon? Holy cow, I couldn't even run a mile in January 2011! But I did it. My first half was on March 31st and I was soooo nervous! But I was with really good friends who settled me down and pulled me through it. Actually, I ran the last 5 miles on my own. Thank you to Beth and Linda for running with me the first 8 miles...I was truly blessed! Time: 2:20:48! I did it! I finished! My second was on May 6th. Not so good for me as I felt sick at about mile 4.5 and it lasted the entire rest of the race. Thank you to Joanne for running with me and for offering to stay with me. But I told her to go ahead, I didn't want to ruin her race. I walked large chunks of that race because of how bad I felt. But even with that, I finished 2:28:15! Holy cow...I thought I would've been about 3 hours for how I felt. That race took everything I had in me. I told my husband that next to Nick's labor, it was the hardest thing I have ever done. 2 more halfs are on the list: One in September, one in October...4 1/2 weeks apart. I can certainly check "run a half marathon" off of my list!

Run 700 miles. That's quite a lot of miles. As of today, I am at 315 miles. I have 35 more to run this month to truly be half way there. I can certainly do it! Although I am not running the longer distances like I was when I was training, with the half in September, I'll be starting the training again in July. So, the miles will build up once again. I'm running about 15-20 miles a week for the most part, so it certainly will get me there.

Next year, I might make a goal to run a marathon, or run a sub-30 5K (yes, I am not fast hence the name of my blog...notsofastmomma!). But for 2012, I am right on target!

Running is not supposed to give you more stress...

On Saturday, there is a 5K run that most of my running buddies will be attending. I have been throwing around the idea of going, but I kept coming back to no. At first, I thought it was because of the little chicken in me. I know I'm not fast, and sometimes I think, do I really want to go and show people how slow I really am? I'll NEVER medal in a 5K. NEVER. EVER. But then the competitive little girl that lives inside of me said, "well, you do want to have a sub-30 min 5K", so I thought about going. Even though, I am not sure I can break 30 min just yet, I have been working on it. I've been really pushing myself with speed workouts at the gym. Yesterday, I had a 2 mile run in 19:55. And I am faster on the road versus the treadmill for whatever reason.

But...on Saturday, both of my boys have baseball games.  One at 11 and one at 1:30.  Could I go to the race and get back in time?  Sure, but it would be pushing it and I'd feel very stressed about it.  So why do that to myself?  Running is not supposed to give you more stress.  Right?  Right.  Running is supposed to relieve your stress.  So, I have decided not to run in the 5K.  At least not the one on Saturday morning.

Yes, I'll see the pictures of everyone running and finishing, and I'll get a little jealous.  But...I will not be stressed in the morning and I will be able to make it to both games without feeling like I have major time constraints on me.  That, I think, will be more worth it.  There are plenty of other 5Ks to run throughout the summer.  This isn't the only one.

Until then, I will continue to do some speedwork.  2x a week if I can.  I will get faster.  I will have a sub 30 5K.  Not sure when, but I will.  But I'm not going to stress about it.  Because running is not supposed to give you more stress!

The athlete in me

I would typically not consider myself an athlete. I never have. Growing up, I was a chubby girl. I didn't do much as far as athletic activities. I played softball around 7th grade or so, but not seriously. Then I played volleyball in high school. I went to a volleyball camp and really learned to love the game, the problem was, I wasn't great at it. I was intimidated by it. But I played through high school. In college, I played flag football and loved it. I quarterbacked some of the time. Still I would not consider myself an athlete. I had often wanted to run. Some friends of mine invited me to go on a run with them around campus. One time around was about enough. I hated it! It was so hard and man was I out of breath and out of shape. I did play some recreational softball on a team where I worked. I loved it. Again, I wasn't great at it, but I loved it! And the last 2 years, I have played on our church softball team. The more I play, the more confident I get. And, of course, I run. As you know, I began running in January 2011 with the intention of completing a 5K. I have since run a 2K, 4 5Ks, a 10K and 2 half marathons. Who would think? I can't believe it myself. I'm not great at it. It's hard for me. I watch people who can run 7,8,9 minute miles and think holy cow...I'll never do that! But I run and I give it my all. My husband, Kip, said something to me when I came home from the Pittsburgh half marathon. It was a tough, challenging run for me with the heat. But I was determined to finish. When I walked in the door, he hugged me and said "don't ever say you're not an athlete again". He told me that what I did today was truly athletic and that I was an athlete. Me...an athlete! Can you believe it? Those words from him touched me and I will never forget them or the way he said it. I do have an athlete in me. I just have to work a little harder to see it. But it's there. I'm an athlete!

The Pittsburgh half

Well, I had hoped to come in around 2:15 at the Pittsburgh half since that first half marathon I ran 5 weeks ago, was 2:20. That was not to be! Let me tell you all about it. We arrived in plenty of time and made our way to the corral. My friend, Joanne, didn't want me to run alone, so we were planning on running together. I was a little worried about this because Joanne is much faster than me, but we trained together and she insisted. I was happy to have a friend by my side. I should mention that it was in the low 60s when we started and the sun was bright with no cloud cover around. And the race begins! The first mile, we went out too fast. Or at least I did! A 9:45 mile. That's too fast for me. We slowed down a bit. Our next miles were 10:53, 10:39 and 10:18 respectively. Then it all went downhill. I started feeling really, really nauseous about mile 4 1/2 or so. We stopped to walk for about 2 minutes to see if that would help and then we started running again. About mile 5, I told Joanne to just go on without me. Her race shouldn't be hindered because I was sick. From then on, I would have no idea about pace as Joanne had the garmin. I don't own one. I tried to slow down and walk when needed. About the 10K mark, I thought I would have to pack it in. An additional 7 miles seemed so daunting to me when I felt so bad. But I just kept going. I met up with a man who was running the relay. I talked with him about the heat and asked if he wanted to switch places, he could do the half, I could do the relay. He just laughed and said I had a great pace. At mile 7, I really had the first positive thought pop in my head. I was over half way there! At every fluid station, I poured water down my neck and back to try to cool me off. And I filled up my water bottle 3 times. At my walk breaks, I always managed to talk to someone else walking. Runners are always so nice. I really thought I was past mile 10 when I hit the 15K mark, so that disappointed me a little. Plus, now I had the chills. Got onto the Birmingham bridge and talked to a nice young lady who was running her first half. I cheered her on! OK...mile 11, only 2 more miles to go! I would make it...no matter what! I wanted that medal! Right before mile 12, I walked along side an older gentleman. We talked about the heat and I told him about my race so far and how I felt. He immediately told me that I needed to drink gatorade and not water. He said I needed the electrolytes. (I hadn't grabbed gatorade at the fluid stations because I didn't train with it and didn't know how it would affect my stomach) Luckily, a fluid station was coming up and he walked over with me to grab gatorade. I drank it and then grabbed water to pour down my back. Turned and there he was with another cup of gatorade. He walked and ran with me a bit and then I told him I was going to go. He had injured knees so wasn't able to run all that much. He told me to be careful and stop if I felt nauseous again. I thanked him several times. He was so nice to me! Luckily the last mile is downhill...thank goodness! Started running and could see the finish line. I would make it. I kept telling myself if I could get across the finish line, I could go to the medical tent. Crossed the line, got the medal, blanket, food and went and sat down...I did it! What a challenge! I ate and felt a little better, called Joanne and met up with her. She did great 2:12...I feel badly I held her up at the beginning. Me, I did better than I thought. With all of the walking (and I had to walk quite a bit so I wouldn't collapse), my time was 2:28:15. Holy cow! I thought I would be close to 3 hours. I was proud of myself for pushing through and having the will and determination to finish. It was by far one of the hardest things I ever had to do. But I did it! I called my husband and broke down a bit. He and the kids were so proud of me! During the race, I was thinking that I never wanted to do it again. But I do. I'm not going to stop. I'm just going to take this race as a learning experience. I didn't adjust for the sun and warmth and I needed to. Almost all, if not all, of our long runs, were in cold temperatures. The warmest was 50 degrees and I think that run was 8 miles. I learned my lesson and can move on. Thanks to everyone who supported me. Thanks to Joanne for sticking with me until I told her to go. What an adventure! I look forward to many more!

Finally...back to blogging!

So, finally our computer is repaired and I can blog once more. So sorry it has been so long. It seems like my last post was forever ago. Tomorrow is the Pittsburgh half marathon. It's the race that I have been yearning to run! The race my friends have talked about, all around the city, the race with people cheering you on everywhere...oh, I can't wait! So excited, but every once in a while, I get this "oh my gosh" nervous feeling. It comes out of nowhere. Last Saturday was our last long run. It was one of my worst! Ughhh...I think it was more mental than physical. I got up thinking I did not want to run. I think my body is just fatigued. I hope it doesn't feel that way tomorrow. I really was struggling on that last long run. Our time was bad, I felt bad...you get the idea. Tomorrow, however, everything I trained for is coming together. Joanne, her sister and I are headed to the expo here in a couple of hours. We will pick up our packets, maybe buy a couple of things and just have a good time! Tomorrow, the race starts at 7:30. What does that mean? It means we will be getting up very, very early to make it down there with time to spare so we are not freaking out! Joanne or possibly her sister will be driving, so luckily I do not need to worry about driving tomorrow. I just need to worry about waking up on time. Funny, but I don't think that will be a problem. I'm thinking I'll be up half the night with nerves anyway. Everything is ready to go. My outfit is picked, including socks. My ipod is charged. I have my gu chomps and water bottle together. I think I am ready to go! I will give you all of the details of the race tomorrow. Until then...pray for me! :)