Fargo Marathon 2012- 1/2 marathon race recap!

I think this post would have been much more fun to write had I done it immediately after the race, when I was still all high on running endorphins and the excitement in the air! If I'm going to be a legit running blog blogger, then it would probably be a good idea to actually write blogs about the races I run... so here it is!So this year was my second half marathon- last year at the Fargo Marathon was my first. I worried that maybe I wouldn't be as excited this year as I was last year, that maybe it wouldn't be as novel an idea. Actually, I was MORE excited this year than last. I was like, super, ridiculously excited. Last year I was full of fear and nerves and self doubt, but this year I had none of that. Training was GREAT and I knew I would be able to beat last year's time.Speaking of time- I had a time goal this time. Last year I just wanted to finish and it didn't matter how long it took. This year I had an idea in my mind of finishing it in 2:40 (which would be a 12:13 min/mile pace).  Originally, that goal seemed pretty terrifying- especially since last year I finished the half in 3:05 (14:07 min/mile pace).

As my training continued though, I was able to do long runs in under 12:00 pace, so I started forming a revised goal in my head, but was still a little too afraid to say it aloud.  Goal #2 was to finish in 2:30 (11:27 min/mile pace).

Race week was so exciting!  I couldn't wait to get to the expo and get my shirt and other swag!  The shirts this year were sweet and as always, I found lots of free samples of vitamins, protein bars, and even scored a few free GU's!

The weather forecast changed frequently, and I checked the weather app on my phone OBSESSIVELY.  Like, we are talking, obsessively.  I kept hoping for good news.  The forecast kept telling me rain...wind...humidity...possible heat...

Friday night before the race, I ate a huge bowl of pasta, meatballs, and garlic toast and then very carefully gathered my needed race belongings.  I checked the weather another 73 times, and pinned my number on my (new and cute) Under Armor tank.  I admit, I'm a little vain and THIS year had another goal of not looking like total hell in the race pictures.  I chose a better outfit than last year and made sure my legs didn't look so pasty.  :)  It's nice to have athletic goals, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to sprinkle in a bit of vanity!

Saturday morning I woke up at 5am and immediately checked the weather again!  Got a little nervous because at that time it was 73 degrees.... super muggy outside.  Crud!  And then I checked the radar and saw a SWATH of rain/ t-storms just to the west of us.  DOUBLE CRUD!  Race time wasn't until 7:30, so I kept my fingers crossed that a miracle would happen.

Had my pre-race breakfast of coffee (duh!) and a piece of peanut butter toast and paced around the house triple checking that I had everything I needed.  When the babysitter arrived at 6am, hubby and I headed over to the Fargodome!

We arrived ridiculously early, but I'd rather be early than feel super rushed.  Gave me a chance to pee several times and update Facebook a time or two! A storm rolled through while we waited inside the dome and cooled it off to about 60 degrees.  When we went outside to line up, the rain had passed through too (though I still assumed there would be more on its way.  Oh well, I was running regardless of the weather, so I finally decided to let.it.go.).

As we lined up, I finally decided about my time goal.  There was a pace team for 2:30 time goal, and though I was still a little scared about committing to running with a pacer, and worried about looking foolish if I had to drop back in the middle of the race, but I decided to go for it.

Jim was the pace leader.  His hair was spray painted green and he was reeeeally enthusiastic.  Before the race, he gave us instructions about water stops, etc.  He also said to stay with the group and that if anyone passes him before mile 5, he'd pass them by mile 10... Jim meant business.  I jokingly said to my friend Michele that "nobody fucks with pacer Jim.  NOBODY."  We had a good laugh and I was able to relax.

After a terrible rendition of "Oh Canada" and "Star Spangled Banner" (lyrics botched terribly!), the gun went off!  It took a good 5 minutes to get to the start line.  The first mile was crowded and chaotic.  Pacer Jim was speeding us along at a 10:something pace, which was faster than the 11:27 I thought we were going to run.  Once we finally emerged from the shoulder to shoulder crowd, we settled into a nice pace.  I felt great!  I even felt like it was hard to run this pace, not that it was too fast, but it felt like it was a little too slow.  I think I just had a lot of adrenaline pumping through me and felt excited to speed along.

BUT, we have learned that you don't f#$k with Pacer Jim.  So I kept his pace and followed his rules.  There were tons of people lining the streets and cheering us along- as well as bands playing about every mile or so.

The details of the race kind of blur from there- the miles seemed to kind of fly on by!  The only walking I did was through the water stations, and I kept up with Pacer Jim just fine!  I felt a little worn down from mile 9-10 or so, but otherwise not bad!

I think the longest miles are the final two!  But I kept on running and kept on smiling (I smiled as much as possible during the race just in case there was a photo being taken- haha!).  Once we got to the last half mile or so, I kicked it into high gear and ran ahead of the pace team.  I "sprinted" across the finish line with a final time of 2:28:59!!!!  A full 37 minutes faster than last year!!!

It was an amazing day!  My hubby and a lot of friends ran in the events that day, so I got to see a lot of people along the way and after the race.

I met my goal!  In my mind, I had been telling myself if I ran a strong race and met my time goal, then I would for sure commit to training for a full marathon.  So... Twin Cities Marathon here I come!   Training begins this Monday!

When you feel like you can't run anymore...

Totally ran out of steam 2 miles into my run today. I did what any reasonable person would do... I took a hipster instagram photo of the running path and then a lame foot photo.

I went out too fast and didn't have much gas in my tank today. Eh, at least I have pictures of my feet now.

Whatever motivates you.....

Oh Ryan Gosling.... I don't know why, but this makes me laugh so hard!! :)

Source: heyrunnergirl.tumblr.com via Marion on Pinterest

Half marathon training recap

Sooooo.... this is awkward.  Let's just pretend that I've been blogging regularly for the past 4.5 months about my adventures in training for my second half marathon....

Training went GREAT!  I followed an 11-ish week training plan that began around the last week of February/ first week of March.  This plan focused more on increasing speed than my last plan, so there was speedwork/ tempo runs once a week.  Guess what?  Speedwork WORKS!  I assumed that my speed was always going to be around 13 min/miles because even that speed used to feel hard.

This training cycle, I *really* wanted to beat last year's half marathon time, so I knew the only way to do that would be to:
A) shed a few pounds, and
B) start making myself run faster

Turns out I am capable of much more than I thought!  A few weeks before I started training, I began really focusing on eating better.  I have never been a super terrible eater, but I know I was doing a fair amount of mindless eating that kept me from seeing any weight loss.  After one final hurrah at a Super Bowl party (because, come on, eating healthy at a Super Bowl party sounds like pretty much the worst thing ever), I started using the "myfitnesspal" app and website.

It.is.awesome.  Sure, the hard work is all on me, but the app/website make it as easy as possible to track calories.  Basically, I entered in that I wanted to lose 2 lbs/ week, entered my weight, and my activity level.  It determined that I was allowed 1200 calories a day (GASP! THAT'S IT???), BUT, I could also add whatever calories I burned with exercise (WHEW, that's better).

My starting weight:  176 (eek!  though I think perhaps elevated by a couple of pounds due to post superbowl party binge water retention).

My current weight:  152!  SLOWWWWW and steady.  I get impatient some weeks, because it feels like I am working my butt off, and some weeks I don't lose an ounce.  Actually, my pattern is to lose a couple of pounds, then nothing for about 2 weeks, then a couple more pounds.  In the past, I've let impatience get the best of me, but I just have to keep working at it.  I am finally officially at my pre-all-of-my-pregnancies-weight.  Now just another 15 lbs till I am at the weight I was when we started TRYING to get pregnant with Max.  (yep, that's right- I kind of went loosey-goosey on my eating in the 10 months it took for us to conceive Max...I kept thinking, oh well, I'm going to be pregnant any minute now!  Hence, 15 pound pre-conception weight gain.  Oops)


It also turns out that losing a few pounds makes it WAY easier to run a faster pace!  I was shocked one day when I went out to run a "slow, easy pace" and I looked down at my Garmin to discover I was running 11:00 min/miles.  Like I said, last year, my "slow, easy pace" was somewhere in the 13:00 min/mile pace- and even that felt hard at times.

I was able to PR in the St Patrick's Day 5k at a time of 32:17- a pace of around 10:23.  AND it was hot and humid that day.  Crazy!!



Anyway, I didn't do anything fancy in terms of speedwork.  I did one day a week of speed- either a timed tempo run or quarter mile intervals.  Some weeks I skipped speedwork if my legs were feeling tired as I was trying to avoid injury this time around.

Speaking of injury!  NO injury at all this training cycle!  No hip problems, no shin splints, no ankle pain!  I suspect that is due to having a solid year of running under my belt and a few less pounds to carry.  

I followed my training plan pretty closely, but it was a pretty run-heavy plan (5 days a week of running)... most plans have 4 plus a day of XT.  So there were some weeks I skipped a run to save my legs.

I had great training partners again, which was awesome.  Nicole and Michele were my long run buddies, which made it WAY easier to get the long runs done.  This time around I did my long run at 7am on Saturday mornings.  It's super early for me to go run, but it felt awesome to get up and get it out of the way!  I kind of dread long runs, and if I put them off, it ruins my weekend until they're done.  I actually started to look forward to waking up early on Saturdays.  Wowzer.

Whew, okay, so this was JUST going to be a quick recap on the actual half marathon, but looks like I just wrote a novel about the training.  Next blog post (to be posted maybe sometime in this decade) will recap how the race went! 

And THEN........ and THEN.......  get ready for it......

Starting one week from tomorrow, I officially start an 18 week MARATHON training plan.  I am going to run the Twin Cities Marathon on October 7th.  I've officially gone to the dark side.  I've pretty much lost my mind.  And I couldn't be more excited to do this!  I am going to commit to blogging at least once a week to recap my training (no, seriously!) 

Okay, I'm off to drink some fluids and pop some pills!  Strep throat has invaded my body, and I'm feeling mis-er-a-ble.  I have been in my pajamas pretty much since Friday night (it's Sunday night now).  Feel sad for me?  You should.