April 29, 2014

I'm happy to announce baby and mommy's first race together happened yesterday and we did great! (I just found out I'm 4 weeks pregnant a few days ago!)

In preparation for the Flower City 1/2 Marathon in Rochester, NY, I took 3 days off right before hand to act as a mini taper week (since I can't really afford to taper!). It was a good plan! It was a little chilly on race day (April 27) so I wore cropped tights, a tank, and a pullover 1/2 zip with arm sleeves under it. I actually felt comfortably dressed the whole time; I was worried that the arm sleeves would make me too hot! I was aiming for under 2 hours and I pushed pretty well, I did stop and walk at a few of the water stations for a tiny bit, and I did stop to wait for a potty and then changed my mind. A couple times I felt myself slow from pace but I grabbed back on. I finished in 2:04:07 just shy of my goal. BUT, I still shaved 18 minutes off my 1/2 marathon time from 6 months ago so I'll take it :) It was a really nice course, some great hills, lots of things to look at. I even ran by our hotel and could see my little people looking out the window!! Lots of people were cheering everyone on. And, I'm happy that I finished in the middle of all the runners instead of toward the end, it's a great feeling. Last year I was constantly dissapointed that I was toward the end every time. Looks like all the extra miles and speedwork are paying off!


Last night I did an easy 5 mile recovery run, I was definitely a little sore and tight. I'll have to stretch out really well today.

Weekly miles: 18.59
April miles: 156.88
2014 miles: 360.66

April 23, 2014

So last night I was all snuggled in bed at 10pm when Kristine text me about what a nice night it is for a run, the weather is perfect, it's not raining anymore blah blah blah. So of course I have to get out of bed and run 5 miles haha! It was definitely a recovery run, slow, and a bit painful. It was a beautiful night, perfect for running. I did see TONS of worms and TONS of dead frogs, a few live ones too. And, of course living right on the river there was definitely that fishy after it rains smell going on. But, I'm glad I got out of bed and did it :)

So I weighed myself this morning... 150, opps... I've gained 7 lbs, not good. Apparently, eating mostly healthy but also constantly isn't working out for me. So I'm back to tracking all my calories and making sure every bite is clean. A year ago I was in the 170s, so I'm not brokenhearted, but I'm definitely not happy. So now I'm back up to 15 lbs to hit my goal weight. I definitely want to get these 7 extra off before my marathon, ever pound gone makes it that much easier to run.

weekly miles:29.14
April miles: 138.29
2014 miles: 342.07

April 22, 2014

So April 20, my attempt at 20 miles was LAUGHABLE. I knew 5 minutes into the run I'd never make it. I had no energy, just felt like my legs had nothing to give. So I decided to switch my run and finished 4 miles for Monday and would try 20 on Monday for Sunday. Confused yet? So then yesterday (Monday) I went out to run 20. At about mile 13 I started to feel lousy, my stomach hurt :( I got back to my house just after mile 16 hit and I really didn't think I'd have time to finish 4 more miles, take a little rest, make dinner, and then still make it to zumba. So, I quit at 16, rested, rinsed off and made dinner. Then I went to zumba, my knees where definitely a bit sore. After zumba I put the kids to bed and pounded out 4 more miles, and they were quick and easy, felt like I had been resting for a week. I had no real IT band pain yesterday. I had a little back pain and some sore and tight hamstrings. I just have to keep remembering to stretch!!! 5 days until the Flower City 1/2 Marathon in Rochester, aiming at a time of 2:10, but less would be better! We will see how I'm feeling, you never know when you are travelling and sleeping in a hotel room with 3 kids!

weekly miles: 24.4
april miles: 133.29 (um yeah, crushed every month I've ever done, those 20 mile runs sure help!)
2014 miles: 337.07

April 20, 2014

Eek, totally have forgotten about the blog! Last sunday I ran a long horrible 13 miles, it took forever. My IT band hurt SO BAD. So I ran my recovery 4 miles on Monday and it was also very painful. Therefore, I decided to take 3 days off for rest. Friday I did a double run, I ran 5 miles and did 7 hills at the end. Phew I was dead after that haha! My IT band still bothered me. Last night I ran 10 miles on pace and only had a little bit of pain from my IT band. I'm hoping all the stretching is starting to pay off. I'm getting nervous about attempting 20 miles today and then my marathon just because of this IT band problem. It will be long and painful if I can't get past it :(

this weeks miles: 35.53
April miles: 109.15
2014 miles: 312.94

Aptil 9 , 2014

Ugh, horrible shin splints last night. Took forever to run 6 miles. I just felt tired, worn out and had those splints. Must be that 20 miles taht didn't hurt yesterday caught up to me :(

weekly miles: 30.91
april miles: 55.38
2014 miles: 259.16

April 8, 2014

Ran a nice and easy 4.9 miles yesterday. Have a little bit of shin splints today, could be my new shoes that I ran the 20 miler in, Brooks Ghost. These shoes just seem to be just shy of perfect for me, I was lucky before when the first real pair of running shoes I tried I loved. Now I'm just not quite there and my pair was discontinued :( Anyway... was planning on 10 but had 4 on the calander so I did more than I needed to. Kristine was out on her longest run to date on what started out at 55 degrees and finished off at 37 and raining, so I brought her some gear and water and then went home put my kids to bed and ran out to meet her and help her finish her 16 miles. She was in pain and boy do I know the feeling. I hope being there helped her and that I wasn't annoying with all my trying to take her mind off it bit. I am so proud of the both of us. Mommies that were chunky monkies last winter (2013) and that are buff hotties this spring! And, in the spirit of transformation Tuesday here is mine!


Last January I weighed 184.4, this April I'm in the lower 140's :) Hard work right there!

weekly miles: 24.91
April miles: 49.37
2014 miles: 253.16

April 7, 2014

Yesterday was a beautiful day! It was 43 degrees which felt so warm after this long cold winter. I couldn't wait for my run but when Josh got up he wanted to do some shopping first and made me a deal that if we did that first then I could run as long as I wanted (not that I don't usually get to). He may have regretted that haha! I ran my first 20 miler of the year finishing in 3:36:29 (my map my run time was 3:32:39 but I did pause it when I stopped for a bathroom break and a water refil). Last year I ran the 18.12 Challenge in 3:24:47 so that means I ran about 1 mile further in the same time yesterday, yay for improvement! My 13 mile time yesterday was 3:08:20, lets see how close I can get to 3 hours when I run the Flower City 1/2 Marathon in Rochester this month! I ate 2 larabars and a bag of salted nuts during the run and drank about 30 oz of water. Got home and chugged my chocolate milk and stretched out. My IT band on my left side ached a little in the night, but, I wore compression sleeves to bed so my calves were good. My feet were cramping up for a bit after but were fine in the night. And I'm only a tad bit sore today on my left side (knee and IT band). I'd call that a pretty good run and recovery! This week is a drop back week with a 12 mile run on the menu for the long run day.

weekly miles: 20
monthly miles: 44.47
2014 miles: 248.25

April 4, 2014

Did my 5 last night, definitely had a tight IT band and some back pain. Tonight was a 45 minute tempo and I ran a total of 5.4 miles in those 45 minutes :) I ran the first 4 miles in 35 minutes but forgot to restart after a pause and really have no real idea how long the last bit took but I'm going with that :) Those are some quick miles for me but I pushed myself, not sprinting, but breathing heavy and doing that the whole time :) And, it was so warm I took my second layer off leaving me with one long sleeve thicker mock turtle 1/2 zip, and tights, and ankle socks and a headband and hat. It was rainy which I personally love to run it. Finally, getting warmer out!!

***I just checked mapmyrun and looked at my splits and it only missed 2 minutes of that last mile saying it took my 6:31, so I'm going to assume it was 8:45 and that means that all my miles were under 9 minutes. The last .4 miles I did a restart and just did a slow cooldown, but I didn't want to mess with my average time so this pic leave those extra few out. Eek, I'm just so proud that I've improved my times so much since last year :)

weekly miles: 43.29
April miles: 24.47
2014 miles: 228.25

April 3, 2014

I did it! I hit my 100 miles for March. I just barely made it finishing out a 14 mile run on the 31 that was actually supossed to be a 12 miler on the 30. I came in at 11:30pm with 100.41 miles :) While I am proud, it's dissapointing that it wasn't more only because I took an entire week off from being sick. I should have been at 160. If I don't miss 1 mile this month I will end April with 202 miles. Those 20 miles runs sure add up! Can I hit 200? That would be AMAZING. I'm not sure how well my back is going to hold up. It starts aching around mile 5 and gets more and more persistant as I progress. 5 easy miles tonight!

Oooohhh and monday when I ran 14 I decided to really test the LED hat and run the Horseshoe Road loop in the dark. Yeah... met a guy all dressed in dark clothes not far past my brother's house. I definitely PR'd those next few miles. I kept expecting him to run up behind me and grab me!!! Creepy!!!





March 28 - 6 miles
March 29 - off
March 30 - 4.82 miles
March 31 - 14.01 miles
April 1 - 4.01 miles
April 2 - 10.01 miles



April miles - 14.02
2014 miles 217.8