September Update and Just a Few Races

Miles in 2013: 733.2
Days Until the NYC Marathon: 50!

Today we had another 20 mile training run for NYC.  Unlike the last time we attempted to run this long, today's run was miserable!  We had planned on a 23 mile route, but by about 15 or 16 miles we were beyond miserable so Leah and I turned around and stomped our way back to a 19.5 mile finish.  In the heat and humidity it still seemed like a good effort.  Later, I was glad to see all of my fellow running friends' posts and they all sounded just as miserable.  Hopefully Fall and some cooler temps will roll into Central Florida before our last 24 mile training run.

A few weekends ago I traveled with a fantastic group of friends to Disneyland to participate in the inaugural Dumbo Double Dare, which is a 10k and a Half Marathon over the weekend.  We had a blast playing in the parks.  The original goal had been to run the 10k as an easy warm up and then try and run an amazing time in the half marathon.  After we got to California and realized that it was just as hot and humid as Florida, Dennis and I changed our plan.  I listened to him (don't tell him that it worked) and ran negative splits both days.  Dennis loves to slow me down at the beginning, and never remembers that somewhere deep inside of me I store a reservoir of energy for a final kick at the end of the race.  The 10k day I felt miserable until mile 5.75 when I looked over and realized that I was passing JOEY FATONE!  Although Dennis didn't know who it was, he now curses his name because I took off determined to finish in front of him.  He was super nice and even took a sweaty finish line photo with me.  The half day we ran according to the negative split plan, and because the final miles happen so much later than the previous day, both of us were feeling it.  But true to form at mile 11 as we entered back into the parks I kicked in my second wind and pushed Dennis hard for those last 2 miles.  Although it wasn't the time we had originally hope for, it was better than we anticipated and was in my top 5 Half Marathon finishes.  I also picked up 4 pretty stellar medals, and I think the Dumbo medal may be my favorite ever!

Finish line pic with Joey Fatone

3 minute 10k PR

 

Dennis and I with the weekend's bling

 

 

Besides the NYC Marathon, I have several other race in the next 50 days!  Next weekend a bunch of us are doing the Miracle Miles 15k, then a Susan Komen Race for the Cure, the UCF 5 and 2 miler Distance Dare, the Cherokee Harvest Half, a few virtual races, and I'll also be volunteering at a water stop at the Tower of Terror 10 Miler.  Just a little bit busy for the next month and a half, maybe all those events will help me pass the time until we arrive in the Big Apple!

 

August Virtual Races

Miles in 2013: 656
Days until NYC: 67

August in Central Florida is typically way too hot to have races longer than a 5k and even those are miserable.  Unfortunately, I still have some really long runs to complete as part of my NYC training.  Virtual races become a very motivating training tool.  The first of my two August Virtual races sponsored by Jost Running was a 5k with a really fun hot dog medal.  I used it to push me to do another set of 800's during our track workout one day.

 

 

 

I had a 20 mile training run this weekend. 20 miles in this heat and humidity is NO FUN.  Luckily for me I checked my mailbox on my way out to run and was greeted with the hot dog 5k medal and the cool spinner baseball half marathon medal!  I took that as my cue to run the 20 really well to earn my half marathon medal.  Of the 5-8 20 plus mile runs I've done I hate to admit that Sunday's was the best I've run.  After the run I tossed on my hard earned medal, it felt really great to be able to reward myself with some sparkly bling at the end!  Both the hot dog and the baseball medals were really well done!  I love sparkly medals and these both had a lot of shimmer to them.  The half marathon baseball medal was perfect size, sparkle, and a spinner!  I am really looking forward to seeing the September "Soaring" medals.

 

 



Medals and a sweet card

Hot and Sweaty but look at that medal! It's huge!

 

Not too shabby for it being 8,752 degrees outside!

 

 

A New Endeavour - Virtual Races

Miles in 2013: 553
Days until the NYC Marathon: 92 Days

For those of you who know me it's an understatement to say that I LOVE the running BLING!  I have a whole wall in my house to display my running medals - I even relocated some wedding photos to give my bling prime real estate on my wall.  To me passing those medals on my way out the door is a reminder of all of the time, miles, and hard work that I've put in.  It also motivates me to go collect some more, especially because they are so shiny!  I even started making ceramic medals for my training group any time we ran a 20 or more mile training run.  Recently I stumbled across something called "virtual runs."  To my none running friends they thought that meant they could lay on the couch and earn a medal.  That's not what this!  A lot of people don't have the luxury of living near frequent races or the ability to travel to them.  Enter virtual races.  The basic premise is you sign up for a race, pick the distance and run the miles wherever you can, your medal comes in the mail, and you celebrate your accomplishment.  The majority of these races benefit some sort of charity which I think makes them even cooler.  There are so many options of distance, charities, and medals to choose from.

Only about 2 years of running has produced all this bling!

For the next 3 months I will be participating in the 5k's and Half Marathons sponsored by Jost Running.  The August medals are super cute and baseball themed.  Proceeds go to the ALS Association.  The window for the 5k is next week so I'll be posting after I run those 3.1 (maybe a little more) miles.  The Half Marathon window is not long after that so it's a good thing a have a ton of miles to do this month getting ready for NYC.  Stayed tuned for my virtual race reports!

5k and 10k Medal (My favorite!)

Half and Full Marathon Medal