Spreading the Love

We ran five miles again yesterday, bright and early as usual - but still dark out at first.

Jerod said: "It's a beautiful morning for a run .... zzzzzzzzz" and fell back asleep. Did I mention that he has started running, too? He runs during the workday a few times a week in Centennial Park and around here on weekends, and he's started lifting weights again. He's already feeling the positive effects, and he says our consistency has inspired him. It's good to be spreading the love.

Yesterday was a beautiful morning - clear and cool, maybe 65? Perfect for shorts and a long-sleeved T-shirt. It's funny how we consider five miles a short run these days. We ran and talked, and I noticed that my Achilles tendon is hurting a little on my left foot. I'm taking the day off today and tomorrow to let it rest, and we'll pick back up with a medium-long run on Sunday. (Erin is not taking these days off, however. She took a yoga class Thursday, lifted weights Friday and will probably be running on Saturday.)

OH! My friend Sarah mentioned a relay race coming up in Tennessee in November. I've never done anything like this before. It sounds like a great race, so I'll find out more details about that. Thanks for checking in!

Back in the Saddle

This morning I woke up at 5 a.m. to the pitter-patter of rain outside, and I peeked out the back door to view the drizzle. I figured Erin would (like me) want to take the day off.

Me (texting): Hey - don't want to go in rain, do you?

Erin: I don't care. It's just a little rain. :(

Me (after grousing to my husband, because I don't want to be the wimpy one): Damn ur tough. OK.

Erin: Yep!

And so we went. By the time we started (about 5:20), the rain had stopped and it was a nice, cool, damp morning. We ran five miles and felt pretty good. I would have been upset at myself if I had gone back to sleep.

We Did It!

Here we are! That's me on the left, and my running buddy, Erin, after the Country Music Half Marathon yesterday. I finally have a moment to tell you about yesterday's race ...

First, we did it!! We finished the whole thing, and we RAN the whole way. That was really our goal - to run the whole way. Our chip time was 2:26:28, and we averaged an 11:11-minute mile. Not too bad, especially when you consider the HILLS on this course. We didn't really train for hills, and we didn't realize how many sneaky, long uphill climbs Nashville has downtown and in the surrounding area. I never noticed all those hills while cruising along in a car. But it didn't phase us too much - just slowed us down a little, I think.

About the text messages/race tracking. It worked OK, but they didn't send out a text when we finished - the most important part! So my family wondered if I had disappeared after mile 10. Oh well - new technology.

Anyway, we had a pacer in our corral, and she was running a 2:30 pace. She held up a sign the whole time so people could follow her. We were saying to each other, "Man, it would be so great if we could stay with her," but we just pushed that out of our heads because we didn't want to get started too fast and kill ourselves. Turns out that we ran ahead of her most of the race, but she passed us near the end. We still finished in less than 2:30, though, so we were completely happy with that.

So here's the rundown, in detail:

First, I got in bed late the night before because our 5-year-old had the Country Music Kids' Marathon Friday night. That was really fun, but it wasn't exactly a relaxing evening. We finally got the kids in bed around 9 (the kindergartners didn't run their 1/2 mile until 7:15 p.m. - what is up with that?) Anyway, I probably got in bed around 10:30 after setting out all my clothes, shoes, socks, rain jacket, hat, etc. I also had to figure out how the chip fastened on my shoes, etc., and pack my little gear bag, which I had to check at the starting line and pick up after the race.

Then ... our 5-year-old woke up crying with ear pain at 11:30. We gave him some Tylenol and he slept in our bed with us - never a good sleep night when that happens, but he seemed OK (no fever) so I wasn't too worried. So then our 2-year-old woke up around 2 a.m. crying. He's been doing this lately - just a phase. So I dragged myself upstairs to snuggle with him. I woke up around 4:30 in his bed, and of course you might as well just get up at that point. (I'm actually amazed that I didn't contract pink eye or a stomach virus right before the race. That's just how it usually happens around here.)

Took a shower, ate half a bagel, half a banana, drank some water and headed out to catch a ride with my running buddy at 5:30. Drove downtown, got out and joined the hordes of people getting ready for the race. That was really cool, except there were already lines for the Porta-Potties. BUT there was no rain, which was awesome. We just walked around and found our corral and waited for the start. There was an early start because of the predicted weather, and that was good. Weather was actually perfect - 65 degrees, overcast and breezy!

We were in corral 25, so it took awhile for us to get to the front. Then we started out at an easy pace. It was so cool to be part of that whole event. There were tons of people cheering on the side of the road, bands playing, and we were just running down the center of Broadway. Kind of surreal, in a good way.

The weird thing was how crowded it was. I didn't really expect that. We kept having to sidestep people in front of us and kind of run around people to keep from tripping or bumping into people. That was pretty much how it was the whole way. No chance of getting lost or going on the wrong route.

Let's see ... so we drank the Cytomax and water offered by volunteers along the way, which seemed luxurious since we didn't train with much water along the way because there's nowhere to keep it. We actually felt really strong throughout the race, and there was a lot to see and hear - lots of music and people cheering and partying on the side of the road. The miles were ticking by pretty quickly, it seemed, and it only started to get pretty hard around mile 11. Still, we knew we were almost finished, and there was so much going on, it was easier than running in training. It was like, "This is it!!" Adrenaline and all. I'm not saying it was a breeze or anything - it was just exciting, so we weren't too focused on pain. People were talking and joking with each other. There were lots of funny signs to read. My favorite:

"Your feet only hurt because you're kicking so much ass!"

It was really inspirational. There was an old guy in front of us the whole way, and his shirt said, "I know I'm slow. Get over it." And he was so NOT slow. Lots of people were running for different causes and friends/family who had passed away. That was sobering.

There was an elderly lady wearing a little black lace skirt over her shorts - kind of defying the whole aging thing. There was a guy running while juggling, a guy dressed as Elvis, girls in cowboy hats - lots of characters.

But back to the race ... so we passed the 12-mile mark and headed down the hill (so glad to go downhill!) to LP field. People kept saying "You're almost there! You're almost there!" and I was thinking, "Well, where is that damn finish line??" My legs were on autopilot at this point.

Then Erin grew rocket boosters and started stepping it up, and I was like, "Hold on there!" and had to pick up the pace. But we were on flat land at this point, and we rounded the corner and saw that awesome finish line. We totally kicked it in!

Then I had a wave of nausea, and I saw someone had thrown up an orange on the ground. I eyeballed a trash can and thought I was going to throw up in it, but thankfully I did not. Then we got our medals, and we heard the announcer say severe weather would hit in about 30 minutes. So we found Erin's husband and kids and headed to the car.

On the way home, I thought I was going to throw up, so I hung my head out the car window in the rain like a dog. It felt so good. I didn't throw up. At home, I crawled into a hot bath, drank water and ate a banana and chocolate bar, then crawled upstairs for a nap. I felt much better after that.

It was a really awesome experience - a fun race that was tough, but doable. I cannot imagine doing a whole marathon, but I liked the half. We want to do it again next year.

Some things I learned: Try to eat something during the race, even if it's an energy bean or a banana. I think that's why I was feeling so bad afterward, but I hadn't trained with that so I was afraid to do it during the race.

Also, I would definitely run 13 miles before the race - or very close to it. Those last few miles were tough, and that's when a lot of people started to walk. We were exhausted, but I felt our bodies had been there before, and we knew we could make it.

So there it is. Waaaay more than you wanted to know.

This has been a fun ride, and a very long-winded post. Thanks for reading to the end. I reached my goal, but I'm not going to stop blogging about running. Erin and I have decided to continue our four-day-a-week running schedule, with some modifications. Our weekday runs will be 4-5 miles, but our weekend runs will be shorter.

And the pressure is off for a while. That's nice. But I'm going to start looking for a shorter race to do as another goal - just something to keep me motivated.

Thanks so much for reading! Check back soon. We're running again Tuesday morning. :)

Finally, It's Time!

OK, so we ran two easy miles on Tuesday, and two easy miles on Thursday. It was weird running so little distance. But kind of nice, too.

Finally, tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!

The weather forecast:

The National Weather Service has said Middle Tennessee faces a moderate risk of severe thunderstorms on Saturday that could include hail, damaging winds and isolated tornados.

Seriously?? Well, we've run in rain before. But hail, damaging winds and tornadoes? This should be interesting.

I bought a light-weight, breathable, weather-resistant jacket at the Health Expo the other day, so that should help a little. The plan is to be ready by 5:30 a.m. The race starts at 7. Erin's husband is dropping us off near the starting line around 6, and he'll pick us up after the race. I signed up for race tracking, so some family members will get text messages as we cross mile markers. Pretty cool.

My worry is that we'll start off too fast, so I really want to take it easy - just like we do on our weekend runs. I just want it to be fun.

So stay tuned! I'll be back to fill you in on the details. :)

11.5!

Today we ran 11.5 miles. The day was gorgeous - sunny and in the 60s. I would LOVE to have this weather next weekend. We felt pretty good, although Erin had some stomach cramps because she ate bacon before the run. So no bacon next Saturday! I've been wondering what to eat, and all research says to eat only what you've tried during training. For me, that's bananas - and maybe half a bagel with some cream cheese. If we eat around 5:30-6 a.m., we should be OK when the race starts at 7.

The 11.5-mile run went well. I mean, it wasn't easy, but it was doable. I think it's important that we've run more than 10 miles twice now. It was painful at 11.5, but our bodies were like, "OK, we're familiar with this pain. We can handle it." Sort of a muscle memory thing.

On Saturday we ran four miles in the afternoon. That was really hard - probably because it's always hard to run in the afternoon ... and that Sonic cheeseburger may have had something to do with it.

Now we're looking at two miles on Tuesday, two miles Thursday - and then the BIG DAY!

Counting Down to the Country Music Half-Marathon

So... Erin and I ran six miles this morning, as usual. It's never easy to head out the door at 5 a.m., but I always feel like a million bucks when I'm done and can relax with some hot coffee. That's the best feeling. Six a.m. and I've already accomplished something major.

We'll run 3-4 on Saturday, and then a long run - 10 or 11 miles - on Sunday.

Nine more days until the Nashville Country Music Half-Marathon!

Getting Closer

Today we ran five miles, and I wore my brand-spankin'-new shoes. I need to break these shoes in before the big day, but I think I'll have plenty of time - especially since I have about 25 more miles of training before the race.

I found out that I have high arches, and these Asics are supposed to give me lots of support. They felt great this morning, and I think my old, broken-down pair contributed to some lower-back pain. Or maybe 12-plus miles will just do that to you.

Anyway, today's short run felt good, and we'll be running the 1/2 in less than two weeks!

12.5 miles!

Today Erin and I logged 12.5 miles. Yep, that's right. 12.5!

We stomped it out, as Erin would say. I see now why people say you should train more than 10 miles before the race. The last couple of miles were tough; we were definitely feeling it in our legs. But we did it and even had enough energy to kick it in. So I'm feeling good about the race, which is in just two weeks! With a cheering crowd, water every few miles, and live music along the way, we should be in great shape to finish 13.1 miles.

We were out of town most of the week, so I haven't kept up my blog log. Here 'tis:

I had to skip the Tuesday run because of our trip, but I met Erin bright and early for our five-mile run Thursday.

And I ran four miles yesterday (Saturday).

After today's nearly-half-marathon run, we're taking the day off tomorrow and will pick it back up on Tuesday.

10 Miles!

Yesterday, Erin and I ran 10 MILES!! That was the first time I've really felt like, "Hey, I can actually run the whole half." We woke to pouring rain and decided to run anyway, but the skies cleared just as we headed out at 8 a.m. By the time we finished, the morning had turned into the perfect spring day - and we had the run behind us. A great feeling.

Thursday before that, we ran five miles in the dark, as usual, with the nearly full moon lighting our way.