Crazy for Running?!

The title of this post really does say it all. Today was the Tim Harmon 5K. I signed up for it because its a nice short race snuggled into my schedule of crazy longer distances this summer/early fall. It was also super convenient because it is right near my house (less than a mile from my apartment to the start line). I figured this would be a good opportunity to push myself and see if I could reduce my pace. But what I did not plan for was strep throat! On Tuesday I got sent home from work early because I was not well. I went right to the urgent care facility because I knew something was really wrong. Turns out....strep throat. I went home and slept for the next 18 hours or so. I didn't go back to work until Thursday and even then I wasn't really operating at 100%. When I got up this morning, I knew that running this race wasn't really in my best interest. I haven't really recovered from being sick....and the temp at race time was already in the low 70s. So...warmer weather and me recovering from a 101+ fever earlier in the week wasn't exactly a recipe for success. But I am stubborn. And I paid for the race. So I ran it!

The first sign that this was a bad idea was the fact that I DROVE to the start line! Its a mile from my house! Why would I drive? Because I wanted to save my strength for the actual running part....and because I worried that if I only had the energy to finish then the walk home would be torture :) Next sign...at the start line while I waited for the race to start, I just kept thinking, "can we get this over with already, I want to go back to bed." Yeah not my smartest move :) The race itself was a nice little course around my neighborhood. When we ran right past my apartment building I seriously thought about DNFing and crawling back in bed. BUT I am stubborn. So, I finished the race....in probably one of my WORST 5K times. But I finished. And after the week I had I will take it. So.....on to bed now to finish recovering. My next race is about 6 weeks from now....a 10 miler in Hartwood, Va. Plenty of time to recover and train :) Thanks as always for your support and interest in my running.

1/2 Marathon Day Arrives

My very FIRST half marathon! To say I was nervous.....well that would be an understatement. I had trained...but not like I really should have. But it didn't matter. I was going to do it anyway. The race was in Annapolis, MD....just a short half hour drive from my parent's house. And since it was my weekend with my boys, we headed to Mom and Dad's on Saturday. I spent the night in my childhood home. Kind of a cool place to wake up before a major life event like this. I got up super early and almost immmediately began texting with my friend Aaron who was planning to run the race with me that day. Now Aaron and I had not really discussed how this would go. He is a marathoner....like a repeat marathoner....he's ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 marathons! I figured we would start together and at some point.....he would be far out of my sight...and we would meet up at the finish line. But my good friend had another plan. Like his best friend had done for him during his first marathon.....he ran with me.....by my side the entire time....talked me through the race....distracted me when I needed distracting....and let me cross the finish line a step or two ahead of him. What an amazing thing to do for a friend. I guess its kind of a tradition among some runners. Someone coaches you through a major race....and some day later you return the favor. Someday I will do that for someone else....but that won't be anytime soon :) For now...let me recap the race.

I caught up with Aaron at the start line, we snapped our obligatory pre-race photo and chatted briefly while we waited to start. I let him know that I was hoping to finish the race in under 2 hours and 45 minutes.

I didn't really let on how little I had trained for this race or how nervous I was because I really had no business being out on this course. Not very long in to the race I knew I was in trouble. Every mile or so I got caught up in a coughing fit. I am not sure what brought on the coughing fits...although admitedly these are not completely new....have been happening a bit lately :( [Side Note here: I promised Aaron that I would visit my dr to find out the cause and a solution because that much coughing is so not normal :)] Other than the coughing, and the fact that I struggled pretty much the last 12 miles of the race because I hadn't trained properly, it was a great day!

The course was really nice. It started at the Navy Marine Corp Memorial Stadium, made our way through part of Annapolis (one really beautful downhill with a view of the harbor) and then out over the Naval Academy bridge. Ugh that bridge. It is huge! And as we crested the bridge you would have thought I would have been thrilled...except in my head I was plagued by the thought of having to cross it yet again toward the end of the race! We continued out away from Annapolis proper and got to do a nice little out and back on the B & A trail. Around the 9 mile mark, we asked a policeman who was helping out to snap a mid race photo for us.

I like that the picture doesn't reveal just how much I was dying! As we headed back toward Annapolis (and that dreaded bridge), Aaron and I reflected on another pair of runners who had been just in front of or just behind us the whole race. One of the two was clearly running her first half as well and the other was her coach. Just liked Aaron and I. There wasn't much left in my tank....but that inner part of me that is super competitive was NOT going to let this girl finish ahead of me. As we neared the bridge that competitive part took over. It was definitely high of the list of things that helped me finisht the race! The middle of the bridge on the way back was about the 10 1/2 mile mark. Some really great spectators were on hand with funny signs. I just had to get a shot of Aaron with them! This is why I carry a smart phone on races with me!!! Now we were in to the last 5K. I was really running on empty....but Aaron just kept telling me I could do it. Near mile 12, my super tired and worn out sarcastic side showed up. It might also have been brought on by the fact that he started running BACKWARDS while coaching me! Then we saw it....the stadium again....and the finish line! Aaron kept pushing me....telling me I could do it....and when I got near the finish line and saw my boys and my folks waiting for me just on the other side....I literally began to tear up. When I crossed the finish I saw my sweet little boy with his Nintendo DSI....he had brought it along so he could take a finish line picture!

I am sure that if I had been more hydrated I would have been sobbing when I saw that.

As soon as I had cleared the way of other runners, my boys rushed up to hug me. I am not completely sure they really understood what I had done. But they were proud anyway...and so were my parents :) It wasn't pretty at all....but I finished in 2:43:46. So....definely met my goal....but next time around....I am going to set the bar a little higher :) And maybe actually train :) Special thanks to my good friend Aaron....he really made a huge difference for me in this race. I may have given up a lot more than I did if he hadn't been there to encourage me. Now for the reward....the Baltimore O's game with my son. Yes I think I deserve a nice beer in the warm sun at the ballpark after this morning!

T-minus 56 1/2 hours

Well its almost time for the longest consecutive distance I have ever run....a half marathon. Got our final reminders email for the race today.....and took another peek at the course. The Zooma Annapolis is going to be my biggest challenge yet....and not just the total distance....but the nasty looking incline on that bridge....that we run twice during the course. BUT I am NOT afraid, I am NOT intimidated. I have not prepared like I should or thought I would but I know my legs can carry me through that course and to the finish in under 3 hours. I know that by afternoon....I will be enjoying a sunny afternoon baseball game at Camden Yards with my 9 year old....celebrating my victory. This time I am doing something a little different though. This time I am dedicating sections of the race to a person who is inspiring or special to me in my life. I will spend that distance thinking about how they have helped me to become a better person....and why the world is a better place because they are in it. The last half (almost) will be extremely special as I run those 5.1 miles for two very special souls who are in the throws of their own battles with cancer. I did not fundraise for this race like I am doing for the Ragnar....but fighting this disease is always near my heart. If you see tears in my eyes in the finish line pictures....its not because I am in pain....its because I am inspired.

Oak Hill Howlin and Prowlin 5K

I had pretty much figured that from now on I was going to be running distances further than 5K to challenge myself. But this 5K was to raise funds for my son's school to get technology into their classrooms. As a former technology specialist in a school....and a mom....how could I not run this race? Loved it! It was a great course (and pretty cool b/c it is in the neighborhood near where I used to live when I was training for the Ragnar last fall and I ran a whole lot of that course during my training) and a great weather day! And the VERY best part of this race was that not only was my good friend Sue running this race too (she also did the 8K with me at the beach) BUT my parents and my sweet boys were there to cheer me on at the start and the finish. There is no feeling like that. Loved having my sweet boys see me enter the finish shoot and couldn't wait to high five and hug me. Color me a happy momma!

Here's the nitty gritty details of how I finished:
Total time = 32 min 32 sec
Place = 165/323 runners overall; 11/25 female runners age 35-39 (eep I
creeped up an age bracket).

St Agnes Fitness Festival 10K

My next racing adventure came just one month after my 8K :) On Saturday April 16th I got up on a cold and rainy morning to drive more than 30 minutes to Arlington to participate in this community race. It took all the strength I had to drag myself out of bed that morning to show up to that race....start time was at 8AM which meant I had to leave my apartment by 7...on a Saturday.....in the cold and rain. But I did it. I was amped up to get the race started and found the waiting to be frustrating. Not only was it cold and wet (did I mention that already??) but hearing other runners lament about the course at the start line was working my last nerve. I didn't need to be feeling doubt before I even started!! Finally the race kicked off (15 min late) and off we all went on a really really hilly course through some neighborhoods in Arlington. When I hit the largest hill (which was as tough going down as it was up) I had a thought that made me shutter.....I was going to have to do this hill AGAIN!!! The course design was simple....a 5 K loop that us 10K runners would do TWICE! At the end of the 5K the happy shorter distance runners trucked along to the left and the rest of us to the right. Amazing how thin the herd got at that point :) Just ahead of me was a girl I was able to identify as a marathoner (had seen her in the pack at the start line and heard her talking). I decided at that moment (3.5 miles in to the 6.2 mile race) that I was going to keep up with her. And I am proud to say I did! She finished a mere 90 seconds ahead of me. Can't say that she's a good marathoner or not....no idea....don't even know her name. Just know that she has run and finished marathons...and I kept up with her....and that works for me :) By the time we ended the 10K...they had cleaned up the finish line inflatable (not because we are 2nd class citizens but b/c the wicked thunderstorms were rolling in) but the sweet elementary school students were waiting at the finish with bottles of water and big smiles to congratulate us. That totally made the day for me :) Dying for numbers yet?? Here's how I did that day:

Total time = 1 hour 6 min 25 sec
Place = 53/64 runners overall; 6/7 female runners age 30-34

All I know is....I didn't finish last....makes me happy!

Yuengling Shamrock Marathon Weekend 8K

On March 19th I ran an 8K in Virginia Beach during the Shamrock Marathon Weekend. They sponsor all kinds of races that weekend....the 8K being one of the first of the weekend long event for us running crazies :) You must be dying to know how I did....I sure was. That morning it was cold and rainy and I left my jacket in the car and regretted that decision almost a block away....but decided that once I started running...I would warm up and be okay without it. Turns out I was right. It was a great race....one I would repeat again in the future. Loved how large the turn out was....and while I didn't like getting over the start line and the big pack at first....it sooner out pretty quickly. Another fun aspect was how the race just seemed to slip by so quickly. I had previed the course map the night before and knew where we would make the turn to the boardwalk and then back out to the street and back to the boardwalk again. Since the blocks are numbered....it just seemed to move along so quickly! And I especially loved the scenary along the boardwalk....to just look out and see the ocean....ahhhh. Here's how the numbers fell out if you are a data kind of person (and I kinda am):

Total time = 54 min 26 sec
Place = 3805/7677 runners overall; 324/751 women ages 30-34

Not the pace or the overall time I was hoping for.....but progress...and I finished :) Stay tuned for more fun race results!

Just About Start Time

So we are less than 30 min from the start and it is breezy, chilly, and yes folks...raining! I guess this is where the rubber hits the road. Sigh. Here we go...running 5 miles now so I can get my jacket in the end :). LOL

XOXO - Jenn
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry