Marathon Mama

13.1 miles. Done.

2009-07-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

I did it! And ran most of the way! July 26 finally came and it wasn't too bad. The heat wasn't fun but we started at 8:00 and the majority of the race was shady. I was feeling pretty lucky that morning because my race number was 27, which happens to be my favorite number, although some people might think it's 37.

The first few miles were as I expected. I kept my pace going around 10:00 but found myself going a little faster to keep up with the crowd around me. At about 5 miles, I started to feel either a blister or actual blood on both feet (later confirmed that it was only blisters, although quarter sized). There was a hill at about 7 miles, although I can't remember the exact place. That hill was my first walk of the day. I decided to walk and be able to make it through the rest of the race.

Miles 8 - 11 were on a trail that was about 3 feet wide which made for perilous passing with forest on one side and lake banks on the other. This was my first real mileage on a trail so that was interesting but not bad. I saw my mom at about mile 11 trying to drive through the craziness that was Camas to get to the finish before I did. Traffic was so crazy that she didn't get there until about 20 minutes after I was done.

Mile marker 12 was the beginning of a ridiculous hill, which I also walked. Then came the finish.
I finished in 2:19 which is better than I thought I would do. You can see the official results at: http://results.racecenter.com/2009/res_l109.htm

Thanks to everybody who cheered me on and I won't be leaving anytime soon. I will be running another race in Portland in October and will be posting all my Crossfit activities and a new training regimen here.

Confession

2009-07-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I haven't been running very much. Now that I have found my love for Crossfit, I have a hard time getting out to run my miles. Plus, June was probably the craziest month ever. I went to Arkansas and California and celebrated both girl's birthdays plus my nepew's birthday. That didn't free up a lot of time for running.

But, I kept up with Crossfit. It takes less time, so it's easier to sneak it in when I have a chance.
So, this weekend I decided I needed to run. After all, the marathon is at the end of this month. So I ran 6 miles. And it wasn't really tough. I'm pretty sure Crossfit has something to do with that. :)

Check out pics from our July 4th workout. http://www.flickr.com/photos/37255268@N02/

Busy, busy, busy

2009-06-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

I haven't been getting in as much running as I would like, but have been able to Crossfit a couple nights a week so I am keeping up with some form of exercise. I was in Arkansas for a beautiful wedding this last weekend and now will be in Sacramento for a graduation this weekend, but I will get some runs in and try to find a place to Crossfit. Just a month and a half until the run and feeling strong.

I heart CrossFit

2009-05-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

I have found something new and I love it! CrossFit reminds me a lot of conditioning we did in gymnastics. Now that I have found it, I'm going to have to rework my running schedule to ensure I still get my miles in but rest enough also. Steve and I CrossFit at http://crossfitfortvancouver.com/ Check out the website. There's some not so great pics of Steve and I. I'll have to have him take one where it actually looks like I'm doing something.

I got my 4 miles in on Sunday with a crossfit workout Friday and another on Monday and Tuesday. My legs are done. Today is a rest day but I really would love to go in and CrossFit again. I know I should rest though, so I'm going to clean the house instead (maybe I'll go for a mile run (: ).

Flashbacks

2009-05-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

I am suddenly having flashbacks of the pain that came with being an athlete. Although I don't remember my knees hurting this badly, ever. But, I also don't think they had this much weight to pack around either.
I am consistently keeping my schedule this week which makes me feel more accomplished. I ran 3.5 miles on Tuesday without too much trouble so I may turn into a runner after all. But, it's a long way from 3.5 to 13.1.
Steve bought me a Garmin GPS Forerunner for Mother's Day. It's been sold out since then and I finally received it last night. Apparently I'm not the only mom running these days. I'm looking forward to playing with some of the stuff it can do.

The Stairs

2009-05-12T12:33:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was my last day before transferring to my new job. I decided I need to walk to the top of the building before I left. 19 floors up and down. My calves finally stopped hurting today.

Yesterday was supposed to be my big 4 mile run. I made it 2. I think I'm not eating right and need to bring some good carbs to eat on the way home during my new 40 minute commute. I brought an apple today so we'll see how it works. It could just be that my body is in shock from actual consistent excercise.

2009-05-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

I went to the track last night to run 3 miles. My mom came with me so we had some time to chat while doing my warmup walk. I ran while she pushed the stroller. I really wanted to be just walking with her but knew I had to do the run.

The run was harder yesterday than any run so far. I was definitely hurting. Usually, for the first mile I feel pretty stiff and then start to loosen up but that never seemed to happen yesterday. But, I feel pretty good about it because I pushed through and finished. I'm told it will get easier. We'll see.

Why just a Half Marathon?

2009-05-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Well, because I'm too scared to go for a full marathon. I don't even know if my lungs will be conditioned for a half marathon but I'm hoping the training helps.

As a former gymnast, the extent of my cardio was 1 minute and 30 seconds of floor routine. For any runners reading this, a running comparison would be kind of like this: Start out at a full sprint, about 30 seconds later jump 3 times then keep sprinting, in another 30 seconds roll around on the ground for 3 seconds while desperately trying to get as much air as possible all while smiling, then finish with some more full sprints and a big flinging of your arms in the air. Now, this was all very difficult and by the end of most floor routines my legs were shaking and it was all I could do to get that last tumbling run onto my feet (and I was in the best shape of my life) but now I've decided to try to train my body to do the complete opposite of what I did for so many years. Paceing and jogging just don't come natural to me.

Granted, we did do some conditioning that was longer than that, but in general gymnastics does not create any kind of long distance lung capacity and I'm pretty sure unless you are a super hero, half marathons can't be run that fast. Plus, the last time I did that was 8 years ago and I've had 2 babies since then.

Maybe someday this will turn into a full 26 mile marathon blog, but for now myself and my lungs are happy with just trying to run a straight couple of hours.

3 miles and still breathing

2009-05-05T21:37:00.000-07:00

Went to the gym today and ran 3 miles on the treadmill. It was hard. But, I survived and will go back for more tomorrow.

If anybody is curious about my training schedule you can find it here: http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/novice.htm

My friend who ran a marathon told me about this site and since she was more experienced than me I decided it would be best to follow her advice. Thanks Katie J!

Off to a...start

2009-05-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

First lesson learned. I've decided that on my stretch and strength days I need to go to the actual gym to do this.
Yesterday was my first official training day. I've been excercising "regularly" for the last few weeks including a 4 mile run on Sunday, but yesterday was THE day. And it was a stretch and strength day. Not very exciting and I decided that I could do it home. It seems to have escaped me that I also have two small children at home. Of course I did no strength and no stretching so next Monday I will be stretching on my pilates mat at the gym.

The Decision

2009-05-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to run a half marathon. Maybe it was a couple seconds of craziness that made me decide but I think mostly I just want to get in shape and have some sort of end goal. Then I decided I had to document the journey (partly for fun, mostly because I needed to be accountable). So, if you want, follow me on my adventure of going from out of shape rookie runner mom to actual runner all while balancing life. Should be fun!