The Half of It: My 13.1 Mile Tour of Charm City

This is the story of my half marathon. Everyone has asked, "How was it!?" So here it is, a recap of race day.

Let me set the stage for you a little bit to accurately convey the overall mood on race day.... You might recall from my last post that the weather was going to be questionable for race day and we weren't sure if Josh and the girls would be there. Well, the forecast remained the same, but in addition, Josh's car broke down on Wednesday night. And by broke down, I mean $5,000 worth of broke down. If the rain wasn't enough of a question mark, having only one car put the final nail in that coffin. I would be there alone, in the rain.

{A little bit of blue sky toying with my emotions}

 

{Breakfast of champions, mediocre half-marathoners, me}

 

As you can imagine, when I woke up on race day my enthusiasm was non existent. I had no desire to run this race, I just wanted to get it over with so I could go home. I arrived downtown around 6:30 so I could park in the free lots right near the finish line and just waited around for a little while since my race didn't start until 9:45. When I walked over to the finish line area where all the festivities were happening I immediately ran into my friend Alexis and her parents. That, and the fact that it wasn't raining, made things much better.

 

Finally at 9:45 it was time to get in position for the start of the race. It was a huge crowd, so I didn't actually cross the start line until 10:00. Once we got going my mood really improved and I was able to enjoy the run. I was so impressed by the number of people who came out to stand along the sidewalk and cheer us on. Some people had signs, some people just cheered, some played music on their car stereos {lots of "Eye of the Tiger"}. The little kids with their hands up for high-fives were definitely my favorite. I will say that the people sitting on their front steps in pajamas sipping coffee annoyed me a little, but I had to remind myself that I was on mile 6 while they were still in pajamas and that made me much more awesome. And to add to my enjoyment, the weather ended up being perfect. It was right around 60 degrees and just the lightest mist fell only as we ran down Eutaw street into Camden Yards and across the finish line. 

Here's the full official route... {sorry it's a screen shot off my phone}

I had my phone app going while I ran so I could see my splits after the race. Sadly, my phone died at 10.5 miles, but up to that point I was keeping a steady 12 minute mile which I was happy with. Apparently that's where I hit my wall though because my finish time was 3:02. Had I kept that pace I would have finished at about 2:35. I know I was feeling the miles there at the end and did more walking than I wanted to. My feet actually hurt more than anything which may be an indication that it's time for a new pair of shoes. I can't really complain for a first race though, especially considering that I trained and raced on pretty minimal sleep.

Yes. I ran 13.1 miles for this medal and a shirt.

Just kidding, I did it for bragging rights.

Of course, the second question everyone asked was "Are you going to do another one??" My response to that is- today is not the time to decide. I mean, it was great and I had fun and I'm glad I did it. It was a lot of time dedicated to training though, and I'm not sure when/if I'll feel like doing that again. Part of me is totally fine knowing I did it and I'm capable. Part of me is a teeny bit curious how it would have gone if i had been able to train a little better and had gotten adequate sleep. Maybe we'll find out, maybe we'll never know. You'll just have to stay tuned.

5 Things I Learned While Training for a Half Marathon

Well here we are just three days away from race day. It's hard to believe its really time already. I feel like I've been training forever. It has actually been a long time. I started training in spring 2012 originally planning to run that fall. Then I got pregnant and decided to wait until this year. I started training again at the beginning of July when Reagan was about 3 months old. Throughout my training I learned a lot about myself as a runner. Here are five things I learned from training that I thought were interesting enough to share.

1. I don't love distance running.
I sort of knew this anyway, but somehow I hoped that I would grow to love it more. Don't get me wrong- I love being a runner. I love accomplishing things I didn't think I could. I enjoy the feeling of having completed a good, hard run. I especially love noticing myself getting better and better. I do not love devoting so much of my time to running when I'd rather be with my family or just doing other things. I don't love waking up early on weekends because that's the only time I have 2 hours to spend running. Surprisingly, it's not the 2 hour run that bothers me, it's trying to schedule it with everything else we have going on on weekends and what I'm missing while I'm gone.

2. Anything becomes less fun when it's an obligation.
I enjoyed running way more before I "had" to do it for training. Instead of running because I feel like it or because it's a nice day, I'm running because it's required. If I don't, I'll be ill-prepared for the race or risk injury. I have to schedule runs even when it's inconvenient, run when I'm not feeling well, run when my baby had me up half the night... because I have to. It starts to be something I resent for taking me away form morning snuggles, interrupting my social plans, forcing me to do something I don't feel up for doing. Even though I obligated myself, it's still an obligation. I much prefer running for fun. This is also still pre-race, so maybe I'll enjoy the race enough to obligate myself again sometime.

3. Expect the unexpected. Nothing goes according to plan.
I planned to run this race a long time ago. I thought once I was cleared to resume normal exercise after Reagan was born that I'd be ready to start running. Well, I was. Reagan had different plans though. I figured she'd be sleeping a lot and it would be easy to let her sleep in a bouncy seat or the bassinet in our pack-n-play while I ran on the treadmill. That didn't happen. She's not a good sleeper. It took forever just to get her on a nap schedule and even now her naps vary in length depending on the day. Beyond that, the training I was able to manage was interrupted by a random mid-summer upper respiratory infection which left me with a hacking cough for about 2 months, an infected toe which required antibiotics and about a week with no running, and while I'm fairly accustomed to doing most daily activities on little to no sleep, running any distance isn't one of them. When I went out for my 10 mile training run I had a total of 6 hours of sleep during which Reagan woke up three times. It didn't go well. These are all things I couldn't have {and didn't} anticipate. They were difficult to work through and I know they've negatively impacted my training. Fortunately, I only set out with a goal of finishing the race, and I'm positive I can manage that.

If those things weren't enough, now there is a serious threat of rain for race day. I'm not sure what the threshold is for cancellation due to weather but I imagine it's pretty high. There would be a whole lot of angry people if they cancelled for sprinkles. Cancelation would be the worst case scenario because it would have all been for nothing and I'd lose my entry fee. I can handle running in the rain. The downside to that is that Josh and the girls won't be there. While Reagan is still very young, Carsen is really into running. She loves it. She always wants to go running with me when I go, and that's her very favorite thing to do when we play outside. All along, from the very beginning of my training, I wanted her to see me finish the race. That's what I envisioned when I needed motivation. My girls are 99% of my reason for running in the first place. It's going to take a lot of wind out of my sail if they aren't there. Crossing the finish line with no one there and just getting in my car and going home would be a serious buzz kill. It is what it is. You just can't plan this kind of stuff.

4. Logistics are the hardest part.

If you think running 13.1 miles sounds intimidating, you don't know the half of it {terrible pun intended, ha!}. When I think about this race, I'm much less concerned about the actual running than I am about transportation and parking, what I'm going to eat for breakfast and when, where Josh and the kids will park, what time they need to arrive, if I pumped enough for Reagan to eat from the time I need to leave waaaaay early in the morning until I see her again after the race, where they'll be after the race and if they'll get to see me cross the finish line, what if it rains?? And those are just a few. If all I had to do was run, I'd be fine. It's all the other stuff that makes it complicated and stresses me out. If I have any nerves on race day it will be over logistics.

5. You can do it.

I never thought I could run 13.1 miles. For a long time I didn't think I could run 5 miles. Only when I put my mind to trying did I realize that I most certainly can. That's not to say it's easy, just that it mostly just takes deciding to do it in order to be able to. When I see people much older than I am, or much younger, or heavier, or pushing 3 kids in a jogger, or missing limbs out running, rest assured it can be done. If they can do it, you can do it, and I can do it. Maybe it's a cliche, but I honestly believe that. Try. You'll see.

Time to chug some water and get some sleep. Wish me luck!

Game On

Yep, I'm back to training after an almost year-long hiatus for my pregnancy and the birth of our second daughter. I had an amazingly easy recovery so I got the all-clear to resume workouts with no questions at all.  It felt great to start up again after that big break. I really missed it though and looked forward to that first run for a long time. The biggest challenge for me right now {and for many mamas, I imagine} is finding the time to train. I went from having a toddler who naps for a solid 3 hours every day guaranteed, to also having a newborn that naps sometimes really great and other times not so well. While we're currently working on getting her into a good nap time routine, until that happens I can't count on a specific chunk of time during the day to run. So, for now I'm using any nap time I have during the day to prep dinner (something I can fairly easily walk away from and go back to as needed if she wakes up), and then doing my run when Josh gets home. Thankfully long runs are scheduled for weekends :)

Cheers!

Welcome, 2013!

I seriously love that "clean slate" feeling you have on January 1st. It's not as if anything has really started over. No past events have been erased. It's just a new day like any other. Yet for some reason it feels like one book has been closed and you're just opening the cover of a new one, fresh-ink smell and stiff pages. I love it. The calendar is clean and wide open, save for those handful of usually happy events you have planned well in advance like weddings, births, and vacations. Who doesn't love a calendar with only those great things on it?

We have a few things on our new clean calendar already that we're very excited for. The first of course is the birth of our 2nd daughter in March. Now that the holiday season is officially winding to a close, we'll be kicking the baby-prep into high gear for the next 12 weeks. Luckily her nursery is already complete from when Carsen used it, so that will just need some standard cleaning and filling back up with tiny baby clothes. We are planning to finish/decorate Carsen's new big-girl room though and definitely want that taken care of before the birth. Most of that planning is done though, it's just a matter of finding time to do the work.

After the baby arrives, we'll be settling into a new routine and adjusting to life with a toddler and newborn, but I'm hoping that within a couple of months that will include some time for me to start training again. Not only do I want to get back in shape post-baby, but I am making a second attempt to run the Baltimore half marathon in the fall. I had to stop training this past summer when I was hit with first trimester all-day-sickness and then decided to put off training until after the baby was born. Beginning my training in early summer will hopefully give me plenty of time to train at a steady pace and be ready in more than enough time for race day in October. Visions of my two girls and sweet husband cheering for me at the finish will certainly provide all the motivation I'll need :D

We are also in the planning stages of a family vacation with my mom, my sister and her kids. We try to do a big family vacation together every other year, and since Josh and I didn't take a vacation at all in 2012, we're especially excited for this one. Not to mention that Carsen really loved the trip we took in 2011, so with her being 2 years older this time I'm sure she'll have even more fun. We'll definitely be looking at the Outer Banks, NC as our location but haven't determined the details or dates yet.

While I'm not so much one for "resolutions" I do like to set some goals for a new year. Running the half marathon is my first for 2013, but you know I also have a list of house projects that I'm trying to accomplish! We shall see what gets done ;)  I'm trying not to fill my plate too full, but at the moment here's what I have in mind...
 - Finish Carsen's new room
 - Make new covers for our couches
 - Paint the kitchen cabinets
 - Harass Josh enough that the tile (now going on 3 years old) finally goes down!

While we're at it, I have a couple of crafty projects planned too!
 - Re-do Carsen's baby book (I have both a scrapbook and a store-bought 'baby' book and I'm not happy with either. I'm hoping to merge them and make one book I'm happy with!)
 - Pre-make pages for Reagan's baby book (at the same time I do Carsen's, maybe?)
 - Put files aside monthly for our 2013 yearbook (I'm terrible at this and am several years behind on yearbooks as a result!)

Since there are only 12 weeks remaining before we add a newborn to the mix, I'm not going to hold myself to any unrealistic expectations and will be re-evaluating along the way what might actually get done and what will have to wait. I know that training will take up a good bit of my time, and from experience I know I've tended to either train or work on projects - rarely both concurrently. In the past I've used Carsen's usually 2.5-3 hour nap time to either run or work on a project but who knows what things will look like with a 2nd baby around. Everything will have to be kind of up in the air and determined along the way. I'm ok with that though. Less can go "wrong" when your plans aren't set in stone anyway, right? That'll be my optimistic mantra for when something falls by the wayside ;)

What kind of fun do you have on your calendars so far for 2013? Anyone else tackling some home or craft projects? Training for a race or competition? Fun vacations in the works? Do tell :D

13.1 in '13

As you may remember from a few months ago, this summer I was training hard to run a half marathon this fall. Specifically, I was planning to run the half marathon that is part of the Baltimore Running Festival which is taking place next weekend, October 13. My training went extremely well. I really enjoyed it and amazed myself by running distances I never thought I could run, and felt great afterwards. I learned a lot about myself and about training. I learned that pushing beyond your perceived limits truly is mind over matter.

As you may also know, by next Saturday I'll be 16.5 weeks pregnant. When I found out we would be having another baby, and that I would be 16.5 weeks along by the time of the race, I made the decision to postpone my participation until next year. This was a disappointing decision for me since I had worked so hard and made so much progress in my training. At the same time, I knew that if I continued with my training or ran the half and something went wrong with my pregnancy, I would never stop wondering if running had something to do with it. To many people that seems silly. I have read the research 100 times in 100 different articles explaining that if you were a runner before you became pregnant it is usually safe to continue running through your pregnancy. There was even a news story about a mom who ran the full Chicago marathon last October when she was 39 weeks along in her pregnancy and delivered the baby 7 hours later. So yes, it's possible to continue training much harder than I was going to and still have a healthy pregnancy. That is great, but it's something I'm just not comfortable with. In addition to having reservations about running while pregnant, shortly after we found out about the pregnancy, I was practically couch-bound with nausea and exhaustion. I was lucky if I got dressed much less did any necessary household work. Getting changed and on the treadmill for several miles/hours was just completely out of the question. I've been feeling better now for about 3-4 weeks and I probably could have gotten back into my training routine, but like I said, I'm just not super comfortable with it. Things probably would have been fine, but I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if not.

Instead I've decided to take these 40 weeks to let my body focus its efforts on baby-growing. If you've ever been pregnant and had a toddler to take care of full-time, you know that daily life is pretty exhausting. Rather than logging miles, I'm doing more yoga and strength exercises. Maintaining a reasonable fitness level is important to me. I want to stay strong throughout my pregnancy and be able to get back into training as soon as possible after the new baby is born. Since the baby will be born at the end of March, I'm hoping to be back to training by the end of May/early June to give myself plenty of time to build back up to 13.1 for the fall. Of course, I could be kidding myself to think that I'll have all this "nap time" to jump on the treadmill and run for an hour. That will have to be determined at the time, but I'm optimistic :)

Anyone else out there have favorite tips or tricks for staying fit during pregnancy? I have a pin on Pinterest for 40 Weeks of Fit Pregnancy [from FitPregnancy magazine online] which is great for overall pregnancy health if anyone else is pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant soon :)

Hello, Joe!

I follow Women's Running Magazine on Facebook, and today they posted an item about coffee that made me smile. According to the Mayo Clinic, it has been determined that coffee (and other caffeinated beverages) do not actually dehydrate you as we've been told for however long. I personally stopped drinking coffee almost entirely when I started training for my half marathon because I was worried about dehydration. Running 6 days a week meant there was rarely a morning I could enjoy a cup of coffee thinking I'd be dehydrating myself before my run. So for those of you who need a coffee boost before your run, or if you're like me and have been avoiding it, the Mayo Clinic (while they don't recommend coffee as a source of hydration) says it's OK :)

In Training

I've had very little spare time over the past several weeks since I have been spending five days a week training. My friend Katherine and I decided to run the Baltimore Running Festival half marathon together in October. We've both been runners for a while but neither of us has been super serious trainers in terms of training for events and such. I joined a running group last fall and enjoyed that for the most part, but for whatever reason it just didn't get me on track the way I had hoped. I ran through the winter, but not as seriously as I should have, and then knew that I wanted to run a half marathon this year. I decided not to push it too hard and sign up for one in the spring (it got really hot really early this year so I'm glad I didn't do that), and that left me with all of spring and summer to get serious again and get ready for a half marathon in the fall. I started an actual training program 5 weeks ago and have been running 5 days a week ever since.

Training for me takes place on our treadmill while C is taking her nap. Most people I know who are runners love running outside and hate treadmills, but I am the opposite. The treadmill offers all kinds of flexibility when it comes to weather and time of day. I never have to run in the dark, or the cold, or the heat, or any precipitation. I don't need J to be home or for anyone else to watch C while I run because I don't have to leave the house. I can run while she sleeps so I don't have to sacrifice time spent with her in order to run. Most importantly, I can run safely without even the slightest worry that I could be mugged, assaulted, or worse while out running by myself. I know that many many people run outside alone every single day and only the tiniest percentage ever have any ill-fated experiences doing so. But since I have the option, and there are so many other advantages to running on the treadmill, that's where you'll find me... 5 days a week :)

I don't love running, and I'm not sure if I ever will, but I do really love the sense of accomplishment that comes with training. Every week I feel like the long run is an almost impossible goal, and yet every week I complete it. Interestingly, the more I run the more motivated I feel. I can't wait to reach the next milestone. My friend Katherine and I will finish our training plan well in advance of the actual event, so that will give us plenty of time to work on some other stuff to improve our speed and really get comfortable with the distance. Needless to say, we're both super excited about working towards such a cool accomplishment and being able to do it together.

Got any fun running or training stories? I'd love to hear!