I did it!! 13.1 miles complete!

Yep, I did it; I completed my first half marathon.  I say first because it was such an awesome experience that I'm already thinking about another, maybe even a full marathon?!?

According to Brian, he forgot that I even had a blog.  The thing is, I got to a comfortable point in my training and it almost seemed too boring to blog about.  Well, the race has come and gone, and before it becomes a blur in my mind, I thought I should document it all.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported me in my training.  I never could have done it without friends and family who volunteered to watch Adelyn on pace run and long run days , or those experienced runners who helped me through pacing issues,  minor injuries, and mental fatigue.

Race day experience:

4:45, my alarm goes off.  5:45, leave house.  6:30, finally get parked after traffic issues and nearly getting demolished by a huge SUV that failed to obey traffic laws (I'll spare you the details, it was ridiculous). 6:45, reach the crowded streets of Columbus and decide that we should use the Port O Johns.  7:15, after waiting close to 30 minutes in line, finally its my turn to use the dreaded and oh so smelly Port O John.  7:20, find a spot in the corral and wait anxiously and excitely for the next 10 minutes to pass.

Lesson learned, if I ever run in a marathon event again, allow at least 30 minutes to clear my bladder.

As many of you know, my goal was the complete the half marathon (13.1 miles) in under 2 hours, which works to be about a 9:10 pace.  Samie and I spent at least 30 minutes talking through a grand plan for pacing the distance.  Lets just say that you can train at a certain pace, but once you get to the event, your adrenaline kicks into gear, you're surrounded by thousands of runners, specators are cheering for you, bag pipes are playing, and kids are high fiving you, and all of that goes out the window.  We had intended to keep a pace of 9:05 throughout the majority of the race (a little slower in the beginning and a little faster in the end), but we found that we consistently ran at an 8:50 pace. Here is the breakdown:

Mile 1: 8:52
Mile 2: 8:52
Mile 3: 9:13
Mile 4: 8:50
Mile 5: 8:53
Mile 6: 8:40
Mile 7: 9:02
Mile 8: 8:51
Mile 9: 8:48
Mile 10: 8:54
Mile 11: 8:37
Mile 12: 8:36
Mile 13: 8:06
The most important .1 (insert chuckles for those of you who know that a half marathon is not 13 miles, it is 13.1, emphasis on the .1) 6:28

Overall, thats an 8:51 pace, and a finishing time of 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 48 seconds.

Best signs: an oval shaped 0.0 and "w.t.f. is the beer?"

Worst miles: 3 and 7.  Between 2 and 3 the road went from 3 lanes to 2 causing a lot of congestion for the first time in the race.  We got stuck going a slower pace for most of the mile.  Mile 7 was the only uphill part of the race besides the little bit at the end.  Brian tried to warn us of this but we thought he was being sarcastic.

Best mile:  Gradual downhill at mile 9, really gave us the energy to push hard the last 3 miles.

I over analyze everything, I've tried to quit, I think it's just who I am.  To be completely honest about the race, it wasn't hard; I really wanted to keep going once we got to 13.1.  Maybe not to mile 26, but I know I could have made it to mile 18 for sure.  So I've been asking myself, did I over train?  Or did I just train exceptionally well?  I mean this in the most humble way possible.  Brian says if I trained really well, competition should not be hard.  My mind works different, I don't want it to be ridicously hard, but I do want an element of struggle, whether it mental or physical.  Maybe I just didn't run hard enough?  But if I ran faster the first 10 miles I may not have made it to the finish?!?  See what I mean? I over analyze.

I am so happy that I signed up for this half marathon, it was just what I needed after a year and a half of being pregnant and nursing.  I needed to feel like I had control of my body and I needed to do something for me! I did it!!

So what's next? I'm still contemplating training for a full marathon.  In the meantime, my next running goal is to run the Turkey Trot 5k with a 7:45 pace.  If I can run 13 miles at a pace of 8:50, I can certainly run 3 miles at a 7:45 pace right?

Exciting news on the baby and business front ...

Gotcha! You all thought I was going to announce baby #2 didn't you?  Seriously, we don't even have a house right now.  Well, that was fun, but on to the real news.

Our sweet baby girl decided about a week ago that she could get around faster by foot.  I wouldn't say that she is walking yet, but she is definitely on her way there.  It's a pretty cool thing to see her excitement as she discovers that she can do new things.  Actually, she claps for herself when she successfully gets to her destination, pretty cute stuff.

I tried to take pictures for her 1st birthday invitations from an idea I got off Pinterest.  Either I have the squirmiest, most curious little girl, or those aren't real babies in those pictures I saw.  

Now on to the business news.  After much discussion and prayer, we have decided that it would be a good thing for me to start my own business.  I really enjoyed the work I used to do, but I also strongly desired (and felt God calling me) to stay home with Adelyn.  After 3 months of not working, I find myself missing my job.  What?!?  So for the past month, I have been helping Brian's dad with bookkeeping and business organization; and I have loved every second of it.  I never realized how valuable my knowledge in accounting is as most of it just comes second nature to me.  But the realization is that most of the small business owners I know don't want to do their own bookkeeping, they would rather focus their energy on the talents that they were blessed with.

So today, I finally registered for my PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number).  This is the first step in the process to being able to offer tax services to small businesses and individuals.  The next step is to pass the Registered Tax Return Preparer Test.  Please pray for this process, as I hate taking tests.

In the meantime, I am looking for clients with a need for bookkeeping and business organization services.  I'm also looking for a good business name, any suggestions?

That's all of the news for today!

to bring you up to speed

So, according to my husband, I have been slacking with my blogging.  You see, little Adel (as she was named by her cousin) and I went on a little vacation last week, so I'll admit, I didn't exactly stick to my training plan, but I'm okay with it really.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation:

First time in a lake with Uncle Matt helping to keep her afloat.

First Oreo.  She wasn't so sure about it, so she decided to share with her cousin.  I'd rather eat a chocolate chip cookie, I think she would too.

 With her sweet cousins, well one is sweet, the other is very ornery, just like Adel.

 First boat ride, this was the happiest she was on the boat the entire week. I think we're more alike that I'd like to admit sometimes; I too prefer the land to sea.

So here is my confession, I only ran twice, that's 2 times people, while on vacation.  My first full day, I ventured out with my bother in law Matt to brave the hills of TN.  I couldn't even make it 2 miles without stopping for air.  Crazy, how can I run 8 miles in Ohio without a problem?  Running hills is no joke, that is all I have to say about that.  The next day I set out on a hill run, part of the training program.  I ran 1 hilly mile to the biggest hill I could find, then I ran 1/2 of that hill 4 times and ran another hilly mile back home.  It was an awesome workout.  I fully expected my thighs to burn the next day, nope, my ankles.  What, ankles?  Yeah, after researching I guess those downhill runs will get you too.

I'm happy to be back to the flat terrain of Ohio.  But after a 6 hour drive and lots of coffee, my run Sunday was anything but pleasant.  I was dehydrated and hadn't eaten enough to run 8 miles, but I pushed on anyways.  And boy did I pay the price that night.  Lesson learned, I need to keep track of my caloric intake and increase my calories with all of this running I've been doing.  I also need to make sure I drink plenty of water before, during, and after a run (which I'm normally really good at).  Disclaimer: I didn't drink much water in the car ride home, here's why:  have you ever done a 6 hour car ride with a infant/toddler by yourself and had to stop every 2 hours to use the bathroom?  It's a process.

Okay, so last thing, since I haven't really given much of a shout out to my amazing husband, here it is.  Brian hates, I mean HATES, to run long distances.  He thinks its the craziest thing.  Actually he said, "you can't even really win.  I mean you're always going to win because you're only really running against yourself."  God love his crazy competitive nature.  Anyways, he does like to sprint and he's actually pretty good at it.  I say that like I'm surprised, I'm not!  Have you ever heard of Brian not being good at something athletic? It's sickening really! So last night he helped me with my sprint workout.  He was such a good motivator, even when I tempted him to let us stop at 5 sprints instead of 7.  I'm surprised he didn't make me run an extra sprint just for the thought of quitting early.  That's the coach in him, I'm pretty sure that thought went through his head.

Anyways, that brings you up to speed with where I am in my training and what I've learned.  If you can't tell, this has really been an adventure.  I've learned to much already, it's crazy!

7 miles, yep, thats over half of the half.

Half of the half, that sounds like a fourth, and a fourth sounds like nothing.  But I'm pretty sure that 7 miles isn't nothing

My husband thinks there is something wrong with me, "Why in the world would you want to run 7 miles, especially when no one is chasing you?".  I'm asking myself why it took me almost 27 years to realize that I actually might be a distance runner.  I feel so in my element when I'm running longer distances, it's craziness I tell you!

So here are my lifesavers for the week.  Sweet new kicks, an inhaler so I can finally breathe in this crazy humidity, and Ice, Elevate and Compress for my foot.  See details on each of these below!

So after last weeks 6 miler I had some right foot pain.  After consulting some running friends, I've found that rolling a golf/tennis ball under my foot works wonders.  "Writing" the alphabet with my foot also feels pretty fantastic.  I've also been doing Ice, Elevate and Compress after every run and sometimes twice a day.  Please note the Similac ice pack; good for more than just keeping bottles cold. I guess a perk to being a running mom?!?

But even with those stretches, I still felt some pain.  So on my trek to Columbus on Friday to see sweet baby Sam and her awesome mama Megan (from my previous post), I went to Front Runner to get new shoes.  After trying on many pairs, I left with a pair of trusty Mizunos.  I've heard that once you start wearing Mizunos you'll never want to leave.  It's the truth people.  Although I found that with some foot pain, I like the cushion of the Inspire better than the lightweight Elixir.

Still having a little foot pain late in the week, I took it easy yesterday and did some p90x.  I remember when I first starting running about a month ago, I read a blog of a running mama, she had a list of tips:  Number 1: Training with a baby means that things don't always go the way you planned, it's fine, just adapt.

Yep, she was right!!  Try kick boxing with a 20 pound teething "weight" on your side.  Anyways, it wasn't the workout that I hoped to get in, but that's okay, I still kicked 7 miles of running in the butt today!

So I have also been having some breathing issues, thanks to some sports induced asthma that I blame on my father and a very humid summer.  I got an inhaler this week, omg, awesomeness!

Here are the stats for todays long run:
Miles: 7
Time: 1:06
Pace: 9:29

Even with some minor foot pain, I felt this run was my best since we started running a month ago.  Sami also informed me that we ran 7 miles with a better pace than we did 6.  I hate to admit it because I fear that Sami will make me do more sprints (I HATE sprinting!!), but maybe they did actually help our pace.

Booyah!!

Booyah: an exclamatory statement, often said when someone is extremely overjoyed.


Overjoyed to say the least; I think I finally figured out how to run with a stroller.  Thanks to my dear friend Megan and all of her awesomeness, I was able to successfully run with a jogging stroller today. Sami still helped out, but I can honestly say that it felt awesome.  

This here is Megan, she is basically a godsend; seriously, she is an amazing woman, wife, mother, friend, runner, crafter, coffee lover ..I think God put her here just to keep my sane really.


So after a few frustrating stroller runs earlier this week, Megan suggested that I let the front wheel swivel and try running off to the side of the stroller a bit.  Magic!  It worked and it felt totally natural and comfortable.  I will be forever grateful for her advice.  Today's advice from Megan was not to get discouraged about a slower pace while running with the stroller, it's actually good that on non pace run days I keep my heart rate down to recover faster.  Seriously, don't you wish you had a friend like Megan?


On another note, you won't see me post much about weight on here, but I do want to note that 10 months after having a baby I was about 5 pounds under my prepregnancy weight.  Most women would be saying "booyah!" to this, but not me.  You see, I'd rather feel incredibly fit and weight 10 pounds more than my prepregnancy weight than weigh less and not be fit.  So, in the last 2.5 weeks, I have put on about 2 pounds, even with all of this running and working out.  Am I upset? Noway! I know that those pounds are muscle and that makes me one happy girl!  For the first time in a long time, I am so incredibly aware of my body and its strength.  Now that right there is motivation for the next 11.5 weeks.

The adventures of the new stroller!!

So I finally got a better running stroller.  I was super pumped and really thought I could just bust out at least 5 miles with it ...WRONG!!

So yesterday I searched for "Techniques for running with a jogging stroller", I didn't really find too many techniques but I did find a list of things to know when running with a jogging stroller.  I can tell that just from my 3 mile run this morning (only pushing for half of it because Sami is so awesome that she pushed the other half) these things are true:

1. Most runners get awesome leg workouts but hardly have time for upper body workouts.  Not the case for a stroller pushing mama, pushing a stroller is an upper body workout for sure!
2. When first running with a jogging stroller it will feel like you've never ran in your life.  You basically have to learn to run again.  Yep, so freakin true.
3. People LOVE a baby in a jogging stroller.  Makes sense, I'd love to pass a super cute baby on my run too.  I'm waiting for the "Go Mama Go!" encouragement that comes with this.

Overall, learning to run with the jogging stroller has been a difficult process.  Every time Brian asks how my run went, I respond in a disgruntled voice, "Awful!"  It's incredibly frustrating to have to stop and try to align the stroller so that it isn't working against my run. It's even more frustrating that my pace could actually be below 9 minutes a mile for 3 miles, but with the added stroller frustrations it's still a little more than 9 minutes.

I will figure this out though.  And hearing my sweet little girl sing and hum the whole run is the best sound in the world.

Some deep stuff ....& oh yeah, I ran 4 miles!

Tough Stuff
So this has been a tough week. For the first time since we've moved back, I've felt an overwhelming challenge and conviction by the gospel. Earlier this week my husband responded to a question I had by asking, "is Christ alone sufficient?" Whoa! That's tough stuff. Sadly my comfort and strength does not come from Christ alone, it comes from worldly, material things most of the time.


I find comfort in money, fitness, being a wife and a mother, providing delicious and healthy meals to my family (this comment is based on my own taste buds, not those in my family), my sweet little girl, my husband, etc. But if all of those things were stripped away, what would I be left with? And is it fair to all of those things and people that I put my comfort in them?


Nothing! And No! Those are the answers.

"Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:25-26

God wants to be my comforter, my strength, my hope, and my romancer. Sadly it takes realizing that the world will always fail to be those things for me to realize that they can only come from following Christ. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with a husband who challenges me with the word of God every day.

I did it .... I ran all 3 miles!

So first an update from Day 1 of training. It killed me, but I did get on that darn treadmill. My knees and shins did not love the experience so much, so after 1/2 a mile, I had switch from running to a very fast almost run walk.

Here is the ugly proof that I did complete the 30 minutes of training for day 1, but only at a fast walking pace. Basically, I refuse to ever get back on that treadmill, period!

Yesterday was a cross training day (30-40 minutes). Ideally, I would have used the spinning bike, but my mom asked if I was up for a walk on the flood wall. She hasn't seen little A for a few weeks, so we met up and walked a little over 3 miles. I kind of felt like I cheated a little, but hey, I got out and did something, and it was longer than 30-40 minutes.

So yesterday sweet Sami sent me a message saying that she would love to run with me. Of course I took her up on it. You must know that Sami runs way more than I do, she's in much better shape, and she's alot faster than I am. So while I was nervous, I knew that I would enjoy the run so much more with someone to talk to.

Seriously, having a running partner is the BEST thing ever!! Sami was awesome, she knew exactly when to give me mileage updates and she did her best to keep us at a 9 minute pace. I had to ask her to slow down a few times, but I am happy to report that we ran all 3 miles in 29 minutes. Here is a breakdown of the run:

Mile 1: ummm Sami, I know you're excited to run, but can we slow down a bit ; )
Mile 2: best decision ever to get back into running and train for a half.
Mile 2.5: I hate this! Sami please slow down. (I'm pretty sure if Sami wasn't with me, I would have stopped to walk for a minute at this point.)
Mile 3: I am so going to finish this, without walking. Awesome!
30 minutes after run: OMG, I can't stop sweating! Gross!
1 hour after run: We so should have went for 4 miles.

So the lessons of the day:
1. Running partners are awesome! I just love Sami anyways and since our significant others love volleyball so much, it just makes sense that we should run together.
2. Waking up for an early run with the nasty Ohio heat is a MUST until it cools down here.
3. It was nice to run without little A and the stroller this morning, but I need to get a running stroller because she loves the runs and being outside ...well it's also nice to have a cup holder for water too ; )

And since a blog is no fun to read without pictures (and I forgot to take one with Sami and me all hot and sweaty after our run), here is the proof that I ran this morning. I get some crazy frizzy/curly hair when I run.

Day 1: Half Marathon Training

Okay, so technically it's Day 2: Half Marathon Training, but day 1 was REST!!, so does that really count as a training day? Oh, and technically, the race is 14 weeks away and my training program is a 12 week program, but I wanted to get an early start, so I decided to start with the Week 1 workout. Today's workout was 3 miles/30 minutes (whichever comes first). I can usually run about a 9 minute pace, so I when my alarm went off at 6am this morning, I thought, 3 miles, easy peasy, I'll just run it with the stroller when A wakes up from her first nap.

So that's what we did, except that by 10am, the sun was BEATING down and the temperature was up to 83 (felt like 88). So, we only made it 1.15 miles, an our pace was definitely not 9 minutes. It's alot harder to push a stroller (one that claims to be a jogging stroller by the way) especially when its so humid outside. Lesson of the day: When your alarm goes off at 6am, Get Out of Bed NOW, and do not the comfiness of your bed outweigh the benefits of running early in the morning. Seriously! I could have ran in 74 degree weather, with no sun or stroller.

So about this stroller, we LOVED it! It's a Britax B-Agile in black. Seriously, the best stroller ever for walking and running errands. It folds up super easily, it works with Britax carseats (you can buy adapters for other carseats too), which is awesome for a baby that fell asleep in the car on the way to the destination. Anyways, since we have to get a jogging stroller (I'm talking a real one this time) now that I'm training for the half marathon, we are selling this one for $150 or best offer. So all in all, my morning run was a disaster, but not a waste by any means, I learned alot: Wake up at 6am, get a better stroller, and avoid the direct sun. Since the heat doesn't calm down until after dark here, I will be forced to complete my training indoors today on the treadmill. If you know me, you know that I HATE the treadmill. So you can guarantee that I will be out of bed by 6am for my next run on Wednesday (because tomorrow is a cross training day). I will win, I will not let the sun and unbearable Ohio summer get the best of me and my half marathon.