Finally got my sub 2:30!

It took 7 weeks of hard training...and even then I didn't think I had a fraction of a chance to get the time that I did! My goal leading up to the race was to be "race ready." I had quit a group run after a mile 7 weeks ago and can say with confidence that I had no plans to run the race after that night if it wasn't for the support I got. The following night I injured my toe, which kept me from running for another week while I tried self care, then finally saw a doctor who had to do a little more than I thought and needed healing time.

For the most part I dedicated the following six weeks to getting ready for the race and hit the gym as much as I could, hoping that if I could get my muscles prepped, it would give me a bit of a leg up. In doing that, some pretty awesome things happened. First, I lost 10lbs! I changed some of my food choices, so that I wasn't feeling so sluggish all the time, but for the most part still eating like crazy as I generally do...and it's working. ;) The other thing was that I became client of the month at Bodyco! Considering how much they are helping me, I was very surprised and may have shed a tear or two. There are so many amazing members of Bodyco, some of which were the initial reason why I wanted to quit in the first few weeks (that not being a bad thing, they are just super fit and I wasn't) to be recognized amongst them was an honor.

 

As race day got closer, Jody and I started to realize that PRing might be possible. My best pace per mile was in Vegas and was 11:55. In my long runs, I was clocking about 11:00-11:20. If I could keep myself at that pace, a 2:30 race was a possibility! I didn't want to get too much into my own head, because that's what gets me in trouble, but I really wanted to set this as a goal. The days leading up to the race was a long and stressful week, but I told myself I would let my body do the work, but give it all I had.

And...this happened...

 

 

I don't know how I cut so much time off, but for the first ten miles felt so good. Every time I tried to slow down, my legs wouldn't let me. I had a great stride going until about mile 10.5 when my mind started getting the best of me and I was ready to be done. Every time I would try to push, my mind would tell me otherwise. I tried to eat part of a granola bar I brought, thinking maybe I was hungry, but no luck. I realized later when looking at my splits, that I still didn't lose much time during the last 3 miles, but it felt like eternity. I turned the corner into the Suffolk Downs parking lot, didn't see the finish line, and just started walking. A runner coming in behind me (and eventually in front of me) pushed me to run a little more and then I saw this beautiful face...

 

 

Gina had brought Aaliyah to the finish line to see me!! Nobody has ever been at the finish line of any of my races, so I was super stoked! I'm not sure I would want to do it over again, because I can definitely say that I left every ounce of energy I had on that course, but am happy with the results I got in the short amount of time I worked for it. Seven weeks ago I didn't think i'd be running the half, let alone a 2:14 half!

 

Two weeks from tomorrow we will be heading to Disney to take on the Tower of Terror 10 miler and Halloween 5k, but am thinking of doing it as a celebratory race as opposed to the competitive one that I needed to prove to myself I could complete. When I toe the line, that may change, but right now I am at peace with what I got this week.

 

Now I need another goal to reach for...with that, to Spartan or not to Spartan??



1 day late and 1lb less

So apparently being stressed makes you run faster...at least that's what I discovered last Wednesday. After taking bootcamp at 5:30a I decided to hit the road for a few miles. I didn't pace myself, just went and let my body do the work. My plan was to go for 4 slow miles. Just after mile 3 (good thing I happened to be near my car) I got a call to head to pick up my niece. As I stopped my running tracker, realized that I had smoked every run I had completed in the past. The previous week I just barely broke the wall of my "I can't get past 11:20/ mile even after 5 years" with a time of 10:58, but the two runs after that I was back in the 11's. Wednesday I had posted mile times of 10:37, 9:46 and 10:05 respectively! I was pretty stoked. :-) I do think that more diligent training, and the million squats we are doing are definitely helping. I am really excited to see where the next two weeks take me.

Saturday I was pressed to the max in our Slaughter class, and came out to the car only to find out that a dear friend, who has been a huge factor in my running journey had passed away a few minutes prior. This woman (affectionately known as Obby) opened her door, her heart and her family to me these last five years. Each year that I come down to Florida for the Breast Cancer Marathon, she houses, feeds and welcomes me as her own. I have known for the last few months that things weren't looking good, but with my dad being sick, I couldn't bring myself to travel down to see another grave situation. I kept turning a blind eye to reality, though deep down knew that I should've went down even for a night. A few weeks ago, I did finally bring myself to make plans to go "right after my half marathon," but now that trip will be for other reasons.

As I headed out for my long run on Sunday, both the soreness from training Friday and Slaughter Saturday, as well as emotions running wild thinking of Obby, my run sort of tanked. I left late, so the sun was beginning to really come out and I took off way too fast in an attempt to get the run done and prepare for dad's party. The first 7 miles were pretty solid and I was clocking in right over/ under 11min, but the last two were not so good. I didn't have enough water and began to dehydrate fairly quick, and by mile 8 was feeling pretty crappy. I did complete the 9 miles, but walked the last half mile to the car.

In better news, dad's surprise party was great. It may have taken nearly 31 years to pull the wool over his eyes about something, but he had no idea and was so happy to see people there for him. Hopefully this gives him a second wind heading into September. We are taking each day as it comes and are truly blessed that we are getting such great times with him.

AND after having a bad eats day last week, and splurging for the party I was still able to pull off a 1lb weight loss this week! I'll take it!

:-)