2013 Wrap Up

Miles in 2013: 1038.44
Days Until Dopey: 9!

As 2013 wraps up I thought I'd take a look back at my year in running.  As I lay here resting some sore legs I can't help but be proud of how much I've accomplished.

I started running in 2011.  That year I ran 4 5k's and one half marathon.  I logged 339.73 miles.

In 2012 I ran 4 5k's, 1 10k, a 2 mile race, 2 10 mile races, 7 half marathons, and one marathon.  I logged 883.25 miles.

In 2013 I raised the bar.  I ran 7 5k's, a 2 mile race, a 5 mile race, 2 10k's, 2 15k's, a 10 miler, 11 half marathons, and 3 marathons!  I PRed at every race distance this year (some of them more than once!)  I took AN HOUR off my marathon time.  I raised almost $4,000 for the Pink Agenda as part of my NYC Marathon run.  I logged 1038.44 miles.

2013 was a great year for me and running.  I can't complain.  Is every race my fastest?  Uh no.  But I have made great friends, had a ton of fun, and was able to travel to Louisville, Anaheim, Cherokee, and NYC.

2014 holds a lot of promise too.  I'll be kicking it off with the Dopey, which is a 5k, 10k, half marathon and a full marathon.  4 days and 48.6 miles.  Then I'll take a short rest before the spring half marathon season kicks off.  I'm signed up for 7 half marathons in the spring.  I'll be "resting" from marathon training and just focusing on the half and speeding up.  Our group will be changing our intervals and increasing our speed and stamina.  Spring will be topped off with the Nike DC Women's Half Marathon.  The fall will have me hopefully training for the Chicago Marathon and as always, the Space Coast Half Marathon as a PR goal race.  I look forward to hopefully logging more miles and more PRs than I have this year.  I know I'll have fun on the road with my group and will be able to share in everyone's success!

Now it's back to tapering and resting before the Dopey Challenge in a week and half! 

Blasphemy: Sometimes Running Just Isn't Enough

Days in the Gym this month: 2

Pounds: 159

In addition to running and training for all of these half and full marathons I am determined to get consistent with heading back to the gym.  When I first started to lose weight 3 years ago I headed to the gym 4 mornings a week for several months straight.  I kept up with weights for several more months when I first started running.  I was running 3 days a week and strength training 2 days a week.  When I’d get really tired and run down the weights were always the first thing to go.  I started this fitness journey almost exactly 3 years ago and I was 234 pounds.  In the summer this year I got down to my lowest weight in about 7 years – 147 pounds.  This was after a 3 day juice fast that left me run down and tired.  I admittedly fell into some old habits and got lazy when it came to eating clean and lifting weights.  “But you run so much” or “those extra pounds must be muscle” is often what I would hear when I would say I felt lazy or “heavy.”  Sadly for me running alone is just simply not enough to get me to and keep me at the ideal weight, size, and body type that I would desperately love to have.  Looking back at my Nike Boom training app it’s no surprise that the pounds have crept back on, before Sunday I had only gone to the gym 11 times this whole year!

This weekend I weighed myself.  EEEEEEK.  I was 159 pounds – I hadn’t seen that high of a number in almost a year.  I’m terrified of seeing 160 again.  I pulled out the book (The Female Body Breakthrough) that had helped me 3 years ago when I was finally ready to be healthy.  I refreshed my memory of stuff I already knew but I had slacked off about doing.  Instead of the usual “I’ll get back on track tomorrow” that I would normally say, I drug myself out of bed, put on a cute gym ensemble, kissed the snuggly pups goodbye,  and drug myself to the gym.  I figured I would do the shorter and easier of my two typical workouts to ease myself back into this gym thing.  I did better than I had expected to do which was a relief.  From there I went straight to the grocery store and stocked up on all the right foods I need to be eating.  I didn’t stop there.  I came home and went to work in the kitchen.  I made 5 salads in a jar for my lunches this week, I cooked egg white muffins for my breakfast, and I grilled some chicken breast on the Foreman so it would be ready to toss in the salads.  My husband made spaghetti for dinner, instead of plowing through the pasta and commercial sauce, I cooked a green pepper and tossed in the ground beef and onion he was using for the spaghetti and added in some canned tomatoes, then I topped it off with a piece of Havarti cheese and melted it.  A successful and healthy alternative to what he was making.

Healthy Eats

This morning I woke up and got to my gym as it opened.  I did the harder of my 2 workouts (the metabolic acceleration) and did pretty well with it.  I also hopped on the recumbent bike and pedaled an easy 14 minutes and 3.5 miles as a cool down.  I’ve always liked the way the recumbent bike feels when my legs feel particularly tired.  It was a great start to the day and the work week.  I came home and drank my protein shake with ground flax and dark cherries blended into it.

I also set up my rewards system again.  I know it sounds like I am a five year old who needs a positive reinforcement system, but I don’t care.  I have a jar. Every time I hit the gym I put a dollar bill in it.  Last time I used this system I also put in a dollar per mile I ran.  Jason sponsored my weight loss, he contributed a ten dollar bill for every 10 pounds I lost.  So the jar has $2 in it.  I think I will wait until I hit my goal weight/size/physique and use that money to either get another tattoo, or make it the money I can blow at the Nike DC Women’s Half Expo.  The harder I work now, the more rocking that tattoo will be, or the more Nike stuff I can OD in April.

For some people losing weight or keeping yourself at a certain size is easy.  Unfortunately, for me it isn’t.  It is definitely a process that I have to continually work at.  My goal right now is to hit the gym 11 times in December – that’s right the same number of times that I have gone all year.  I’ll still be running three days a week – I mean I do have a 48.6 mile 4 day race series in month!  But it’s time to focus and reinvest in myself.

OUC Orlando Half Marathon

Miles in 2013: 992.7

Days Until Dopey: 30

So I’m working on getting out of my slump and back on track.  This Saturday I ran the OUC Orlando Half Marathon.  I had been signed up to be the 2:45 pacer for a few months now.  When I went to pick up my packet I was told that the other 2:45 pacer had to back out leaving me as the only pacer.  I have to admit I was a little nervous of the responsibility, what if I was having a bad day, what if I tripped and fell, what if I just didn’t have it in me?  Luckily, I was able to snag Leah the other pacer gig so I felt MUCH more comfortable having her as my security blanket!  We met up in the morning and used the very swanky Brooks sponsored VIP porto potties – if you know me you know I’m a sucker for a port-o-let!  We met our group of hopeful 2:45 finishers and headed to the corrals.  By the time we got there it was already a little crowded in the area of 10+ to the beginning of the walkers.  I swear about 30 seconds after the start I broke the pacer stick – you can’t take me anywhere!  As we started with our group we got to know some of it’s members.  One girl said “a 2:45 is a PR for me so I’m sticking with you” another was the mother of a student I had a school.  Most seemed to enjoy the 3:1 interval pacing “man this makes it easier.”  Each mile we would check our watches, true to form we were a little faster than pace.  Every mile we’d tell the group “we’re ahead of pace so we are going to slow down just a little” and we did, and yet at the next mile, still ahead of pace.  I blame it on our fast walking pace.  We also had budgeted an extra 30-60 seconds for each of the water stops so we knew we needed a little extra time in there for those.  One tough thing was that the 2:30 pace group had started a few minutes behind us in the corrals so we heard a lot of “how are you ahead of the 2:30 pace group?”  As the run went on we maintained a pretty steady pace.  One girl was particularly awesome – she had a group of people cheering for her that I swear made it to 5 or 6 places on the course.  The first time she saw them she started to cry “I was in the hospital yesterday with a Kidney infection” she told us.  I told her to suck it up she could cry at the end, she laughed and agreed.

At the start

Around Mile 10 I was struggling, it was SO HOT.  Even though I am a born and raised Florida girl, I cannot handle the heat well at all.  As the race progressed I got more and more over heated and felt worse and worse.  I knew I had to back of a little bit.  Leah and our pack of 15 were up ahead just a little bit so I sent a quick “about to puke” text to her to which she replied “I got this. Hope U feel better.”  Thank God for Leah, I could breathe a little easier.  I kept plugging along.  A few times people would come up on me and check to see if we were still on 2:45 pace  - I could always reply “yes!”  As I hit mile 11 I started picking people to push along “c’mon Jorge we are running to that stop sign!”  Poor Jorge, I heckled eh motivated him for miles.  He told me his original goal was 2:15 – I told him that wasn’t happening but we could still get 2:45.  He stuck with me for most of the rest of the race.  I came up on the finish line at 2:41 and change.  Leah had kept the whole group and they finished in a 2:35.  She told me she kept offering to slow down and they all said “no way, this is AWESOME!” and kept going.  I never came up on any of them so I know they all finished ahead of their goal!  Leah luckily got all of the sweaty stranger hugs and I didn’t.  I did however see poor Jorge about a minute after me who just smiled and gave me a fist bump. I also saw a girl from our marathonfest pace group who held with me for almost all of the race sail in at a 2:42 and a very happy 10 minute PR!  I’ll call that a successful pacing job.

Leah and the people from the pace group finishing

It was a tough race on a hot day, I’m glad that I could help others achieve and exceed their goals!

With our medals and we had to get a pic with Bisquits!

Post NYC Blues

Miles in 2013: 979.4

Days Until Dopey:  34

A quick recap of the past month.  After the NYC Marathon I fell into a little bit of a post marathon slump.  I guess it happens to the best of us.  If you start to type into a google search engine “post marathon” it suggests “depression”, “blues”, and “slump.”  I know you are supposed to rest and recover after a marathon.   Trust me, I enjoy the sleeping in.  But, I found myself drained physically and mentally.  I had been looking forward to NYC for most of 2013, even when I wasn’t officially “IN” I knew that I would be going and running that race. Now that it was over, what did I have to look forward to?  Yes, I have that crazy Dopey 48.6 coming up in just over a month, but having done the Goofy last year it doesn’t seem quite as exciting or intimidating, plus Disney is just down the street.  I’d have to check my Nike+ log, but I think in the month of November I only ran about eight times, and 3 of those were races!   Who is this person I was becoming?  I only went to 3 of our weekday work outs all month!  December is here and I haven’t started out much better, I skipped yesterday’s workout too!

The second weekend of November, Leah and I volunteered at the finish line of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  It was lots of fun and I enjoyed being on the other side of the race.  We also didn’t plan very well and had signed up for the Baldwin Park Half Marathon the following morning.  Since our shift ended at 3:30 in the morning we drove to the race and slept in Leah’s car.  Yeah. We are those girls.  So on two or three less than quality hours of sleep we rolled out of the car and headed to the race.  I didn’t go into the race planning on doing anything other than finishing – I mean I had just PRed a marathon the week before.  Leah took off and I lost sight of her about 3 miles into the race.  I ran most of the race by myself, and just went along at a pace that felt comfortable.  I spent the last half of the race looking at the person ahead of me and just trying to pass one person each interval.  I was super surprised when I finished with a time of 2:37!  It was my fourth best half time ever!  I couldn’t believe that a week after a marathon I ran one of my top half times.

But man, the next day I could tell I was going to pay the price for it!  I was so sore.  I felt worse after the half than I had felt after my past few marathons.  I knew I was in trouble.  I took it easy and didn’t run for a week and a half.  My first run back was terrible.  I was miserable and bailed after 4 miles.  I skipped Thursday that week.  We met for a Dopey Double on Friday, and I took my 6 miles easy.  Saturday I was supposed to run 14 miles.  By the time I was 5 or 6 miles in I knew 14 wasn’t happening so I bailed and did 10 miles.  I started to get worried, I still have a very busy Fall/Winter schedule ahead of me and I was worried that all of these less than stellar runs meant something.

I got up (while on Thanksgiving Break!) and ran Tuesday morning (mostly because I had about 4 people’s race packets for the weekend that I needed to give them).  The run was tough, but I did better than I had been expecting to do.  Thanksgiving morning I woke up to temps in the high 30’s/low 40’s and was in heaven.  It is no secret that I run considerably better in cold weather.  I met Krystal in Deland for the Thanksgiving 10 Miler which is one of my favorite races.  I like to get up on Thanksgiving and run more than the usual Turkey Trot 5k, it makes me feel like I can eat my face off later at dinner.  I ran the race at what felt comfortable and improved my time from last year by 8 and half minutes!

Sunday was the Space Coast Half Marathon.  This is also one of my favorite races.  Last year, Leah and I had huge PR’s there and both ran our first under 2:30 half.  The goal for our group was to run an under 2:15 half, but being in the slump I’ve been in I was doubtful that was possible for me that day.  I still tried to give it a go an attempted to keep up with the 2:15 pace groups.  I was only a few miles in before I felt like I was going to throw up. I backed off my pace a little and watched Leah disappear ahead of me.  I still was running a pretty strong pace for most of the race.  Space Coast is one of my favorite races because at about mile 5 I start to see all of my fast friends headed back and it starts to take my mind off the running.  As I make the turn around I get to see other friends who are a little slower than me.  When I saw Leah she was ahead of the 2:15 pace group and wound up finishing with a monster PR and our group half record.  Then, I get to see my REALLY fast friends running the marathon and cheer them on.  As I came up on the turn near mile 13 I saw a bunch of Track Shack people there cheering us in.  After I finished (with a 2:30! – my third fastest half time) Leah and I went and got ready for a long day of cheering.  We stayed to cheer on Rumen and Rebecca in their first full marathons!  Both of them did awesome jobs and I’m so proud of them both.

Then it was back to the slump… I didn’t run Tuesday.  I was sore and tired.  Yesterday I went to go get a much needed massaged and was benched for this morning’s run by both my massage therapist and my coach.  While I enjoyed the extra three hours of sleep it is not helping the mental slump that I am in!  Hopefully I will snap out of it soon and be back on my regular 3-4 days of running a week!

Looking ahead:  This Saturday I am pacing the 2:45 finish pace group at the OUC Orlando Half Marathon.  I think I even convinced Leah to take it easy and run with me, let’s just hope Dennis and Lauren don’t reclaim our group half record at the race or Leah might kill me.  The following Sunday we have the Mount Dora Half Marathon, and I’m also running a “Beat the Stress” Christmas Eve morning 5k.  After the Dopey I might still have a crazy half schedule!  I’m signed up for 7 more half marathons and a 10k in the span of 3 months.  One series I’m particularly excited for is the Best Damn Race series.  We ran the first Best Damn Race last year in Safety Harbor and it was beautiful.  This year they’ve stepped the medal to a beautiful spinning sailboat and added a race in Orlando.  If you do both of them you also receive at spinning medal showcasing both cities.  It’s pretty awesome – if you want to join me (and want to save some money) go sign up and use the code “MOREHEAD” to receive $5 off your registration fee (it also works for the 5k and 10k if you’re just not up for a half).

One thing that will help snap me out of this slump is that our group of 10 ladies made it into THE NIKE DC WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON!  A group of us tried to get in last year and didn’t make it.  If you know me the lure of that swoosh and a Tiffany and Co. necklace at the finish line is my idea of heaven.  So instead of wearing myself out and training for a spring marathon this year, I think we will work on getting faster and focus on the half marathon distance and start back on the crazy marathon schedule in June when we will hopefully be training for the Chicago Marathon!

My Little Obsession

Miles in 2013: 931.5

Days Until Dopey: 58

Some people have called me running obsessed.  They might be right.  Then I wonder if I should be angry with these people – I mean is it really such a bad thing?  3 years ago I was fat.  There is no sugar coating that statement.  I woke up one day, saw a photo of myself and thought “oh my God – when did I get fat?”  So at the largest I’d ever been – 29 years old, roughly 234 pounds, and a size 16W in the only real pants that fit me I decided to get it in gear and try and lose weight once and for all.  Over the previous 10 years I would get on a fitness kick, lose weight and do well for a while only to slowly creep up and be larger than I had been before.  I don’t know why this time I thought I was ready to make it be different but I was.

From the weekend I realized I was fat

I started by going to the gym and spending 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I had two knee surgeries in high school when I was 16 and 17 and my orthopedic surgeon told me that I should never run on anything besides an elliptical because the impact would be too much.  I worked in a little bit of weight lifting and started keeping track of my calories.  My dad had gone through a scare with diabetes not long before and had taken a nutrition course through the local hospital.  What I took away from that was basically take the number of pounds you wanted to be (150) and add a zero to the end (1500) and that’s approximately how many calories you should eat a day.  I started there.  For two months I did well with this plan and lost a few pounds.  Then I was fortunate to have 2 things happen.

First, my friend Kelly from high school and her husband Allan, were opening a gym (2 hours away!) and had a Thermometer Jeans Challenge.  Basically following their plan I would more or less lose 2 pants sizes over 8 weeks.  After some talk they decided to add in a virtual option for those of us who didn’t live nearby.  I talked to Jason about it, the virtual option was $300!  The thought of spending that much money on myself had my stomach in knots.  He encouraged me to do and said if I was going to really commit to it that he would hand me the cash from his “fun money” right then.  I don’t know if I’ve ever given him enough credit for believing in me.  I signed up.  The day before that 8 week challenge I did the Warrior Dash 5k obstacle course.  You can see why I needed to get myself together.

Before the Warrior Dash

The jeans plan was pretty easy to follow.  Kelly was working on becoming a nutritionist and Allan was a trainer.  Between the two of them I had a work out plan and an eating plan.  I won’t call it a diet because it really was just an overhaul of what I should have been eating.  One thing I liked about this was there weren’t crazy supplements, shots, shakes, pills, etc. that so many weight loss programs include.  Just real whole foods and sensible work out routines.  Two days a week I did a metabolic acceleration program and two days a week I did total body strength training.  At the end of the 8 weeks – lo and behold those size 12 jeans I had mailed to Kelly fit.  They weren’t fitting well enough to wear in public, but they sure did button and zip without a whole lot of acrobatics to get me in them.  8 weeks earlier I had 2 pairs of XL stretchy leggings and a pair of 16W jeans that fit me.  Nothing else.  Now I could go shopping through my old clothes and find things that fit again.  I continued to stick with both the eating plan and the workouts and continued to lose weight.  I have told them many times just how thankful I am to Allan and Kelly for coming into my life and giving me those tools at just the right time.

With Allan and other Thermometer Jeans Participants at the end of the 8 week challenge

Around this time, my friend Sarah had suggested that we try something new and fitness related each month.   Warrior Dash was our first, that was January.  February and March were my jeans challenge.  In April we ran our first 5k.  I admittedly did not train for it like I should have.  If I look back at my Nike+ data from then it’s no wonder that the Run For the Trees was so miserable.  We did another 5k a few weeks later.  Yup, just as miserable.  My little brother ran that one too and waved as we were a mile in and he was almost done.  Sarah and I had signed up for a local marathon training program that started in June.  I lied and said I could run 4 miles at a 12 min mile pace.  I thought that was easy.  Man, was I wrong.

I struggled for months when Marathonfest started.  I was always in the back of the group.  I couldn’t run the 3:1 intervals to save my life.  We developed a “run to” plan – “run to that tree” or “run to the corner.”  A month in I sat down on the corner ¾ of a mile into a run and cried.  I was a mess.  Running was not something that came easily to me.  I know there were many times where people looked at me waiting for me to give up.  Little did they know I’m cheap and had spent $150 bucks on this 7 month program and I refused to let the money go to waste.  I’d also signed up for the Daytona Beach Half Marathon in October and wasn’t going to let that money go to waste.  I also had gone to a real running store and paid full price for real running shoes – so I had a lot invested in this endeavor.  I’ve always been stubborn (just ask my parents) so those looks people gave just made me want to succeed even more.  My first half marathon was less than stellar.  I got super sick the day before and had my fever break a few miles into the race.  Halfway through the race it was all I could do to do a “run to.”  A man on crutches beat me.  My time of 3:18 was slower than I had hoped for but it was over and I had done it.

Halfway through my first Half

I had signed up for my first marathon before I completed that half.  So I was stuck having to train for it whether I was ready to be a marathoner or not!  I realized that no one from our group was training for a spring marathon – time to put my big girl pants on and be a leader.  I felt like I had a lot to prove.  The girl from the back was now a leader, talk about pressure.   Then one day between seasons I met up with the group for a run and something had changed.  It was cold out.  I could run, in fact I was up at the front of the group for the whole time.  That had never happened before.  I was finally hooked now that I knew what a good run is supposed to feel like.

Over the course of the next two years I have run 16 more half marathons and 4 marathons.  I’ve taken almost an hour off of my half time and over an hour off of my marathon time.  I’m signed up for 9 more halves and another marathon.  Needless to say I’m hooked.  I’ve lost 85 pounds and am now comfortably in size 4 and 6 pants.  This brings me back to my original claim that people have called me obsessed.  Yes, I run a lot.  Yes, that means I don’t live the same lifestyle that I did 3 years ago.  Yes, I dedicate a lot of time to running.  Is that so bad?  My husband and I have chosen not to have children.  I have lots of friends with young kids and that’s their priority.  I don’t ever criticize them for making that their priority.  I don’t see some people as much as I used to.  I used to not have any commitments and was able to drop everything and do things for everyone else at any time.  My friend Shannon put it best when she told me “you are a giver, and all of the takers in your life don’t know how to handle you not being available to them all of the time anymore.”  Just because I’ve chosen to dedicate my time to running and being healthy doesn’t make it a bad thing.  I could be fat, tired, and lazy still.

After marathon #4 - NYC! From 6:43 to 5:29!

I’m fortunate to have a husband who supports me.  I really don’t thank him enough.  He doesn’t run and  he doesn’t often go to the races, it’s not his thing after all, it’s mine.  He never tells me not to go run a race, he follows the text alerts whenever I run a race that has them,  and he always instinctively knows when I’m struggling in a marathon and sends texts messages that push me to the finish.  Yes, it means I’m gone for parts of the weekend and sometimes its 10 weekends in a row.  I’m lucky that he sees how happy this makes and continues to encourage me to keep running.  I feel better knowing that the one person whose opinion really matters to me is in my corner and so proud of me.

My man, I'm a very lucky girl

I’m not planning on stopping this crazy running routine anytime soon and if that makes me obsessed I’m ok with it.  If you’re a friend of mine who just doesn’t get it, that’s ok too but keep your opinion of me to yourself! It's my thing and there are worse things I could be doing.

The 2013 ING NYC Marathon

Miles in 2013: 915

Days until the Dopey Challenge: 63

So it’s a few days after the 2013 ING NYC Marathon and I finally have a chance to stop and reflect.  After a series of delayed flights, long lines, and long taxi rides Leah, Jen, and I made it into Manhattan on Friday afternoon.  Because I’m a worry wart and completely neurotic we headed straight to the expo after dropping our stuff at the hotel.  The expo was a little overwhelming at first, but after bag and ID checks the process was surprisingly easy!  I was glad to see that all the information on my bib was correct which I was worried about since my MYNYRR account had a glitch and showed me as having checked baggage when I wanted no baggage and early exit.  I’m pretty sure I told the man who gave me my bib that I loved him because I was so relieved to not have to stand in a line to try and get that fixed.  We tried not to spend too much time at the expo and bought a few race souvenirs but I was holding out for Niketown and Tiffany & Co. for the good stuff!

We headed back to the Garment District / Times Square Area where we were staying to get dinner and sightsee.  Dinner at the Westway Diner was so good! We strolled around Times Square and walked down near Macy’s and the Empire State Building before heading to bed.

Saturday we got up for a full day of sightseeing (I KNOW, I KNOW I should take it easy the day before a marathon but I’m in NYC!!!)  We took a dry run from Times Square to Grand Central so Jen could see what she needed to do solo the next day.  From there we walked up Madison Avenue and shopped all of the local tents that were popping up.  We cut over to 5^th Avenue and checked out a bunch of place along 5^th.  I lit a candle for Mrs. Heffernan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  We stepped into Trump Tower to marvel at all the gold.  Then to my two vices.  Only in NYC are Tiffany and Co. and Niketown next door to each other.  My wallet can’t handle the excitement!  Leah and I may have purchased quite a bit at both locations!

From there we went up through Central Park to the Boathouse and Alice and Wonderland before cutting over to near the marathon finish.  I accidentally had us coming out of the park right at Strawberry Fields so I snapped a quick photo.  Then it was off to lunch at Ray’s Pizza!  Thank God I was running while I was there because I sure was eating!

After a quick rest at the hotel we headed down to the 9/11 Memorial which was absolutely beautiful.  From there we headed to Chinatown on a mission to buy some handbags!  I swear we covered 2 miles going back and forth following our purse guides to what we were looking for.  After a shopping binge Leah and I got half hour foot massages (which were by the way AMAZING) before we headed to dinner.

My favorite restaurant in the city is Forlini’s which is on Baxter right off of Canal Street.  Jason and I stumbled on it during our honeymoon and I make it a point to go there every time I’m in the city.  Michelle and Grace were coming to meet us after the Rutgers game and were running a little but it felt so cozy sitting there in what happened to be the same booth Jason and I had on our honeymoon.  We stayed for a few hours relaxing and talking.  We took a quick subway ride back to our hotel and got some baked goods at a nearby sweet shop before trying to turn in for the night.

Leah and I must’ve driven Jen crazy getting all our race stuff ready.  We are both a little OCD and a little crazy, checking all of our race stuff a million times to make sure we had everything we needed for the next morning.  Convinced that everything was there we all went to bed.  Notice I said to bed not to sleep?  I swear I maybe slept for 2 hours on and off that night.  I was way too excited to sleep.  Leah and I were even texting across the room because we didn’t want to wake Jen up!

RACE MORNING!  Oh my God it was finally here!  Leah and I got up and ready to leave for the race.  After quadruple checking that yes, we really did have everything we headed to the subway.  Holy cow it was cold out!  We caught the 1 train down to the Ferry terminal for a very crowed ride.  Arriving at the Ferry terminal it was packed with runners!  I got stopped by a cop with a bomb dog who wanted to sniff the seat cushions I was carrying to sit on in the runner’s village.  When I was cleared to go we hurried and just barely caught the 6:15 Ferry.  We found a bunch of our Marathonfest friends on the top deck of the Ferry and took lots of photos enjoying the view of the Verrazano Bridge we would be crossing in a few hours.  Upon arriving to Staten Island we hopped on a bus to the start villages.  There were so many people there.  After locating the porto-potties we made ourselves a nice little area to camp out in (nice until one of the police horses took a big dump 2 feet away from us causing us to relocate our area).  It really was surprisingly relaxing sitting there in our 4,000 layers of mismatched clothing waiting for our turn to head to the corrals.  We watched the elites and Waves 1 and 2 take off.  Then it was our turn to head to the staging area.  Not long later we were off to Frank Sinatra singing “NY, NY.”

Amanda, Leah, and I started the race together and contrary to what Dennis will say I tried to take it really easy and conservatively in those first few miles.  Even still as we kept going through Brooklyn and checking our mile splits we were way ahead of pace, but things felt pretty easy.  I loved seeing all the neighborhoods and spectators out along the course.  I think my favorite part of the race was right at the halfway point when we were crossing the bridge from Brooklyn to Queens, I looked to the left and there in the Manhattan skyline was my favorite building, the Chrysler Building.  After a quick photo shoot we kept going.  Queens was still at a quick pace that felt pretty easy until…. The Queensboro Bridge.  Man, that was not fun.  Between the lack of things to look at, the lack of spectators, and my need to pee, made that stretch particularly difficult.  Luckily, as soon as we hit First Avenue there were porto-potties with no line!  Our stretch on First Avenue was going really well, and for most of it we were on pace with the 5:00 pace team.

  

Then as were started near the Bronx things started to get a little ugly.  Our pace slowed a little and we switched to 1:1’s to try and keep running, it was too early to start a death march.  As we left the Bronx and headed back into Manhattan I was happy to see the billboard with runner messages.  I wish the one Jason had put in for me had come up on the screen, because I think it would’ve given me a second wind!  5^th Avenue was rough.  There is no other way to describe it.  I was so thankful that at mile 23 Jen was waiting for me.  I didn’t expect to see her at all until the end maybe.  Come to find out she was also at mile 18 but looked down for a minute as we ran past (remember we were moving pretty fast still at that point) and she missed us!  After a quick hug and the comment that we “still have a *&$^ing 5k left” we kept going.  Leah and I tried hard to keep running some sort of interval as we continued down 5^th Avenue.  It got a little tougher in Central Park but we kept plugging through.  As we hit Central Park South I tried to do some quick math in my head.  I knew our original lofty goal of 5:15 was unattainable, but I knew if we pushed it just a little bit harder that we could come in right under 5:30.  I know it’s crazy, but I would’ve been so bummer if we finished with just a little over that mark.  I made Leah run a little more than she wanted to at the time and remember trying to equate the distance left in laps around the track.  As we saw the finish line we gave it one final push and I finished with a 5:29:26!  That meant a 14 minute PR for me!

The post finish was the toughest part for me.  We got our medals and took some photos and I should’ve put my jacket, gloves, and ear warming headband back on then, but didn’t.  We got our Mylar finisher blankets and started the seemingly never ended trek to those sweet finisher ponchos you were to receive if you selected the no baggage option.  I swear we walked forever, somehow during that time the sunset and it got REALLY cold.  After what seemed like almost an hour a very wonderful stranger wrapped me in my poncho and Velcroed me in.  I told her I loved her (gee only the second stranger I said that too that weekend!).  Leah and I sat on the first bench we could find to try and collect ourselves.  I managed to get my jacket on under the Mylar and under the poncho and when I went to put my gloves on I realized that my cuticles were bleeding from the wind and cold, gross.  While we sat there Jen called to say she was one block west and one block south of us and we should come to her.  That walk took what also seemed like an eternity.  Jen told me to raise my hand so she could pick me out of the sea of orange ponchos, at that point I was just too tired and too cold so I told her no.  I feel bad that she had to try and deal with the two of us in the state we were in.  She is a saint for getting us on the right subway and to our hotel that night.  After a very long shower (which may have required Jen to cut a hair tie out of my hair) and a trip to the Irish pub next door I felt much better.

Monday morning Leah left crazy early to head back to Florida leaving the day for me and Jen to roam the city together.  We made our plan of attack to get to all of the places we wanted to hit before we left Manhattan.  First stop bagels.  Then to the Magnolia Bakery to pick up half a dozen cupcakes to bring home.  We took some photos at Rockefeller Center and then went to the Carnegie Deli.  Jason always asks me to bring him home an order of bacon from there, being such a great wife I brought him two!  I also picked up a corned beef sandwich to eat at the airport later that afternoon.  When we got off at the next subway stop I realized we were right at the end of the marathon course and asked Jen if we could go towards the finish line.  I had on my race shirt and had my medal in my purse so we stopped to snap a photo of me at mile 26, walking the extra .2 miles to the actual finish didn’t seem like fun.  We left the park and headed back to Tiffany and Co. because going once on the trip just isn’t enough!  Jen decided to do something for herself and get her first piece of Tiffany’s jewelry to celebrate her one year cancer free anniversary!  I can’t think of a better way to commemorate that occasion (except for a tattoo!).  We headed back to the hotel to wait for our shuttle to take us to LaGuardia and eventually back to Florida.

I am so thankful to have had this experience.  It truly was an amazing and once in a lifetime experience!  In the end I was able to raise $3,825 for The Pink Agenda!  I appreciate the support everyone has shown me and Jen over the past year and a half.

Stay tuned for more running adventures I have a lot (too many probably) of races on the horizon!

NYC Here We Come!

Miles in 2013: 889
Days until NYC Marathon:7!

OMG a week from now I will be double, triple, and quadruple checking that all my stuff is ready for the next morning.  A week from tomorrow Leah and I (along with 40,00+ of our closest friends) will be headed to Staten Island to the start of the New York City Marathon.  This day seemed so far away almost a year and a half ago when I decided to set the goal to run the NYC Marathon and fundraise for my spot.  Now here it is a week away and I'm so excited I could scream!  You may not believe that this tattooed free spirit is actually quite the worrier and planner so it's safe to say that between Leah and I, we have read every blog about the NYC Marathon as well as every word on the ING NYC Marathon official page, oh and the handbook that I got in the mail today.  My suitcase is already packed, and I am READY to go!  This morning we did our last weekend run before the race.  It was a 10 mile pace run and we hit it almost spot on.  In talking to our coach she suggested setting a tier of goals for this marathon.  NYC is a difficult course.  It's crowded, hilly, the crowd support makes you go too fast, then you crash.  I've read it all.

So in our talk we set 3 goals:

1: Perfect Race = 5:15 finish (over an hour PR for Leah and almost 30 minutes for me - ok maybe not totally realistic)
2: Pretty Good Race = 5:30 finish (close to an hour for Leah and almost 15 minutes for me)
3: Still a Good Race = 5:40 finish (40 minutes for Leah and 3 minutes for me)
4: Ok I know I said 3 but Leah and I added one today - Finish strong running and not doing the "death march"

I also received my race shirt this morning!  It's pretty cute and fits like a glove.  I'm so happy to be representing The Pink Agenda and Team TPA.  I'm not sure if NYC is ready for us, but I can't wait to land in LGA, pick up Jen and get this weekend of celebration started!  Thank you to everyone who helped me get to this point, it's been a journey and I'm so glad that I could share it with you!

NYC we are ready for you!

Proud to be on Team TPA!

 

A good luck note from The Pink Agenda Founder!

 

Cherokee Harvest Half

Miles in 2013: 889
Days until NYC Marathon:7!

Last weekend I went to Cherokee, NC with about 20 people from our training program.  We headed up for a road trip to run the Cherokee Harvest Half Marathon.  The 9 hour road trip with Krystal and Rich was lots of fun!  We also rented a sweet cabin up in the mountains.  Not long after arriving we went on a (scary) trail run.  Ok, it wasn't so scary but I was terrified that I would trip, fall, and break something right before NYC.  From there we headed to dinner at the local Mexican place which was delicious!

Road Trip!

3 miles on the Scary Trail!

Getting ready to run the trail.

Life is great at the Cabin

The next day our itinerary got wrecked and we had to change our breakfast plans.  Then our fearless leader took us on a 3 mile hike up a mountain to the top of a fire tower.  I was still worried about tripping, falling, and breaking something, but I sucked it up and made it to the top for a pretty amazing view!  Off to dinner at the Cork and Bean after that.  Only a small sweet potato fry fiasco but our pre-race meal was great!

Breakfast!

Don't mind the Drink Chia! placement on the top of the fire tower!

Saturday morning was race day.  I'm glad I stayed with people who get up crazy early like me and don't mind getting to the race hours before we need to be there.  Going in to the trip I wasn't sure what my plan would be.  Maybe practice the 2:45 pace I have to do for OUC, maybe do NYC race pace (2:37), maybe go for it and run the best race I could.  While not sure that it was wise to go all out 2 weeks before NYC my coach, Susan, said it would be ok, and said she would run the race with me.  It was nice and cold (thank the lord!) race morning and I took off pretty fast.  Susan claims my walk breaks aren't really walk breaks but I think that's only because I have some really long legs!  I tried not to really pay attention to my watch and just run the race where it felt good.  I also couldn't look like a wimp in front of Susan, so I was pretty determined to run as hard and fast as I could and not take any namby pamby extra walk breaks.  The only extra walking I did was us the really nasty hill in the middle of the race.  By about mile 11 she assured me that no matter what I did from there on out would be a PR so I felt pretty good about finishing strong.  We came in to the end and low and behold I took over four and a half minutes off of my half marathon time!  2:22:10!  I'm so thankful to Susan for running the whole thing with me!  I am also thankful for all the people who went on this trip with us because they were all there lining the finish and cheering me on even though some of them were done almost an hour before me!  It meant so much that these people who are much stronger and fast runners than I am were there supporting me as well.

On the course

Coming in to the finish

PR and Bling!

Best Coach Ever!

After the race - all the Orlando runners

The next day we got up and hiked the Appalachian Trail.  It was a long hike and at one point I didn't think I would go all the way (thanks Gideon for forcing me to go past the scary part) but I made it 3 miles up and 3 miles down the scary mountain.  Luckily, I did not trip, fall, or break anything on this whole trip!  I am so thankful that I decided to come on this great runcation!  We had so many laughs (none of them blog appropriate) that my abs still hurt!

About to hike

6 miles on the Appalachian Trail

At the top of the Jump Off