Posts tagged running

So on Sunday is my first marathon. As you can imagine I have a lot of things going through my head. So this post is going to be all over the place.

I have spent so much time preparing for this thing. I never thought it would actually happen. I remember talking about the possibility of a marathon a a year or so and getting all teary eyed just at the thought. In my head running a marathon was not something I should be able to do. But here I am 2 days away from running 26.2 miles!

I have felt pretty good about it and then all of a sudden today during lunch I have started freaking out a bit. I just hope I am prepared enough. It is supposed to be a beautiful day 45 degrees at the start, 69 for a high and partly sunny the whole day. 

We are heading down to the race tomorrow and staying over night. I am super excited because my family is coming too. My parents, the Hubs, my brother, his wife and their 2 boys will all be there. I am looking forward to spending time with them and enjoying the moment with some special people in my life :)

People always say not to have any goals for your first race and just enjoy it which I plan to do. But I still feel the need to set a goal. So here are my three goals.

1. Finish and enjoy the race

2. Finish in 5:30

3: Finish in 5 hours.

The last one is my ultimate goal and if everything falls right it is totally doable. All the race calculators say I will come in right around 5 hours. But I know crazy things happen on race day. So I am planning on coming in on 5:30 and maybe I will be surprised.

The McMillan calculator compared to my 10k two weeks ago:

I am sure I will update you tomorrow. After we check into the hotel and check out the expo.

This past weekend was the Twin Cities Marathon. I did not run in the marathon but I did run the 10k the day before. 

It was a beautiful fall morning. I believe it was about 30 degrees. This is pretty close to perfect for me running wise. I hoping for similiar weather for my upcoming marathon. 10 Days!!!

I barely made it to the race on time. Between road closures and my GPS giving me grief it was a bit stressful. I got the race site 30 minutes early. I had to grab my packet, put my bib on and what not, run back to the car to drop my things off, go to the bathroom and get to the starting line. I was literally going to the bathroom when they were calling 3 minutes to start. I somehow got it all done. Definitely not my favorite way to start a race.

I finished in 1:03:54. So I finished 4 minutes slower than last year. But I was not actually “racing” this race. I just did it for fun and I really enjoyed it. :)

Some pictures from the weekend:

Sometimes I look like death when I run. 

But I always love to race especially with friends :)

Then I went over the Expo and pretended I finished the marathon. If I only looked liked that when I raced instead of death.

On Saturday, I set out to do my last run before my taper. I knew it was not going to be tough but it was tougher than I had imagined.

Anywho, I set out. I had a plan of doing three loops of about 7 miles. Every 7 miles I stopped got some more water and went potty. Which worked pretty well. I know Mankato has some hills so I wanted to incorporate some hills into this run. I did that and it was hard. Thankfully Mankato only has one hill not a gazillion. Elevation Map…

It was pretty windy out there as well. Of course the part with all the hills was the windiest. I live in a smallish town and then means running on a lot of country roads which includes fields. So the wind got pretty bad. It was hard but it then again it is better to face this in a training that to have to face in the marathon not be prepared.

I started off running 3 to 1. By mile 2, I knew this was not going to work. So I went down to 2 to 1. Eventually I kind of felt like death so I took it down to 1 to 1. Pace Chart…

Around the half way point, a train decided it needed to come on by. So of course I thought it would be a good time to take some pictures while I waited.

Like my lovely sweat marks. ;)

I set out to do 22 miles but my body had other plans. There was a point around mile 16.5 I had to tell my body to take a step because it refused to move. I some how manged to keep going and get to 18.8. Seems like a good length for a long run to me. 

That gives me an 11:22 pace. Definitely slower that I would like. But that will happen.

After the run I made an emergency stop at Wal-mart to get some Epsom Salt. As I was limping along. I almost started crying. Because I hurt so bad now I am not a emotional person and can probably can count the number of times I have cried on my fingers. So I was in pretty bad pain. I am still in pain today but it has gotten better :)

Now it is time to taper!

I had 22 miles on the schedule for this past weekend. Orginally I was going to run them all at the same time. But I am not a fast runner and running that far takes me a long time. So I split it up. I did 4 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon.

I was excited because it was nice and cool. But I still dressed to warm for me. I had capris and a long sleeve t-shirt. It was 48 degrees way to warm for that kind of dressing for me. Lesson learned. It needs to get cooler for me to be happy :) For this leg of the run I did it at a popular running spot in the twin cities. Which I but I think it was my down fall. I do not need to keep up with every other runner out there. This would be why I chose a smaller marathon. I need to be able to run my own race and concentrate and my pace. 

Either way I got my 4 miles in. I ran 4.02 miles in 44 minutes with an average pace of 10:58.

Then I had to some things to take care of. Then I put on cooler running clothes and headed back out. This phase of my run was much better. I think because I was basically the only one out there and I was dressed properly. I was able to run my own race and not get caught up in everyone else. 

Anyway, I ran the 18 miles in 3:16 with an average pace of 10:53. If I am able to keep that pace for the marathon I will be ticked pink!

The next couple of weeks I am going to work on running my own run. Only one more long run and then it is taper time! :)

So I was scheduled to run 22 miles this weekend. Orginally the plan was to run it on Saturday and then I moved it to Monday (today) which did not happen either.

I am planning on running it next weekend. This weekend it was still pretty hot in Wisconsin/Minnesota. If there is one thing I know about my body. It is that running and heat do not mix well. That is the reason why I picked a late fall marathon.

This should not mess with my training too much. I will run 22 miles on the 8th and then 24 miles on the 22nd. Then it will be time to taper for my Marathon which I will run on the 21st October. Which I officially registered for on Friday before the last price increase. There is no turning back now. :)

I also bought some gear that I hoping to use for my marathon. I got a new fuel belt, headphones (for back up in case of me hitting a wall) a new long sleeve shirt from Old Navy and some work out pants pants from Old Navy as well. Since it will be the end of October. The weather will be pretty unpredictable so I need to be prepared.

Only 47 more days folks!!

It has been a long time since I have updated you. I have super busy lately. Just getting out and enjoying life and that is what is important. 

I may have been neglecting the blog but I have not been neglecting my training. Once I did my long run of 20 miles. I can smell the end of training and it made me feel so much better about my training.

Monday: I made it back to BodyPump. I have been working on going once a week and it is really working out for me. I believe my body likes it. Sometimes it is just hard to make it because it is an hour long and I like to be home with the hubs at night. But no one said this was going to be easy.

Tuesday: I hit the bike at the gym. I went for 7 miles in 35 minutes. I have been doing the bike once a week and I have come to love riding the bike.

Wednesday: I ran three miles. My Garmin’s battery decided to give out halfway though the run. So I do not know anything about the run besides the fact that I finished :]

Thursday: I did another three miles. This time I have been my Garmin charged. I did 3.1 miles in 30 minutes with negative splits.

Friday is my normal rest day

Saturday, I went to BodyFlow. It felt really good. Then we went to the State Fair! We walked for at least three hours. We also ate a lot but that is not important ;] Here we are enjoying the sites!

Sunday: I ran five miles. Who would have ever thought that five miles would be easy to be :] It was a nice five miles with negative splits once again (for the most part)! They were 10:24, 10:25, 10:10, 10:19, and 10:01 with an average pace of 10:16. 

I have 22 miles on the schedule for next weekend. I am still trying to figure out the best day for this. It all depends on which day is going to be the coolest. I will be sure to let you know how that goes!

Yesterday I ran my longest run ever! I did the 20 miles. It was hard.

I broke my run into 4 parts consisting of 5 miles each. Every 5 miles I would refill my water, go to the bathroom and eat my fuel. It seemed to work really well for me. Breaking up my run helped with the mental game.

The first half of the run I was feeling great. The it happened. Probably around mile 12 the run got hard. I kept on clicking away knowing that I had to get it done. Then around mile 17 it got really really hard. I wanted to quit and just be happy with the 17. Every step my body hurt. I had to take my ratios from 3 to 1 down to 2 to 1. But somehow I completed the thing! :] Super proud of myself for that.

I have been really struggling with my running the last couple of weeks. I am just sick of training so much. I love running but I kind of want my life back. I really needed this run. I can see the end in sight. The marathon is coming and I will finish it. You are going to be amazing, Mankato Marathon!

My Splits were10:56, 11:04, 11:03, 10:58,10:36, 9:32, 10:55, 10:48, 10:50, 10:52, 11:02, 10:49, 10:54, 10:57, 11:07, 11:09, 10:57, 11:13, 11:14, 10:55. They were pretty consistent. I fell off a bit at the end but I am just happy it was not more.

I am defintely really sore today. I did not sleep the greatest last night. I just could not get comfortable. I plan on wearing my compression sleeves all day and having an Epsom Salt Bath tonight. Hopefully that helps me out.

Yesterday I ran the Run for the Blood Quarter Marathon benefiting the Red Cross. The Red Cross is a foundation that is close to my heart. I plan to make this race a yearly tradition. I ran this race last year. It was super hard and I was not prepared well enough. I was hoping for better results this year.

The weather was still super warm and humid. They were forecasting cooler temperatures that what we had but such is life. I started with running 3 to 1 ratios but around the half way point I had to switch it to 2 to 1. 

At this race they have the 5k and the Quarter Marathon. The 5k is one time around the lake at the Quarter goes two times around. It is always so so frustrating at races like that because you just want to finish too. But I just kept on going. 

I really like running my ratios because I feel like I have extra juice at the end of the race. I can really sprint to the finish line :]

I finished 6.77 miles in 1.11.17 unofficially with an average pace of 10.35. My official results have me finishing in 1.11.33. Which is a 9 minute PR from last year! :] I was actually hoping for better. But I must remember I am not going to be able to run the same pace in July that I can run in October. It just is not going to happen. Overall I am happy with my race.

After the race I was able to spend some time with some fellow runners from the area. I really love running this lake. The view is pretty awesome :]