As I mentioned in April, I signed up for the Chicago Marathon and got in! For the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon I ran last year I followed Hal Higdon's Novice 1 training plan. It was 18 weeks long and I think it fit great into my life and prepared me for the Marathon. So naturally, I wanted to follow the same plan again. This time, however, I checked out his Novice 2 training plan which increases your long weekend runs a little quicker. I decided to mesh the two plans together and use parts from both of them.
After a May full of being busy and taking it easy with the running, I jumped into June full force. I started training for the marathon the first week I was out of school for the summer. Summer training is way easier than Fall training. Yes, the temps are insane and even an easy 3-mile run feels like 10 miles and it makes me look like I jumped in a swimming pool, but scheduling my runs is easy-peasy! Tony hasn't traveled too much this summer, so I am able to wake up and run in the morning while he's home with the kiddos. Since we go to the lake a lot in the summer, I've been actually completing my long runs on Friday mornings (more about lake running later). I know that once school and sports start back up, getting my runs in is a little more complicated, so I'm thankful that I can at least get in about half the training without going crazy with scheduling.
The first 6 weeks of training have been going really well. I have to admit, running in the heat is hard work. I always forget how much slower I go in the heat and humidity even though I am putting forth some serious effort. I just have to accept that fact. I've read a lot of articles discussing this phenomenon and how you do run slower the hotter it is outside. It does make sense! If I run anything over 6 miles, I carry my water with me. Besides dealing with a little left knee pain, I've been feeling pretty good. I've jumped on the Podcast train and I love it. I've always listened to music while running and Tony likes podcasts, so he got me hooked! I kind of "zone out" while listening to people talk which makes the time fly by (let's face it...running long distances isn't the most exciting thing in the world)! So far I've listened to a lot of Another Mother Runner's podcasts as well as some from the Human Race. If you have any good podcasts that you listen to and recommend, let me know!
As I approach the halfway point in my training, I know that I need to start figuring out fuel and hydration. This race will be very different than Indianapolis...there will be about 35,000 more people running it. The logistics of everything will be very different so I'm trying to figure certain things out.
Ok, hopefully next time I post it won't be 6 weeks from now. My goal is every week or at least every other. Happy Trails!
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
Derby Half-Marathon
Yikes! Time certainly slips away from you. I meant to post about my Derby Half-Marathon after I ran it, but life once again got in the way. The challenge most recently has been that the blogspot app on my phone that I was using to update the blog is no longer available...so that means I have to fire up the old laptop to update...let's just say our home laptop is quite ancient and extremely slow. Anybody have an app they use for iPhones that allows for blog posting to blogspot? Let me know!
Anyways, I ran my 6th half-marathon on April 30th. All week I had been stalking the weather, and it didn't look good. It was actually calling for torrential rain and lightning...yikes! The night before, I spent the night with my mom and I checked the weather one last time before I went to sleep. It showed a later start to the rain, so I was hoping the start would be dry! Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, the rain wasn't supposed to come until a little after the 7:30am start time...woohoo!! Since it was supposed to be a pretty crappy day, I wasn't going to have any fan support. Tony would've been miserable taking the 3 girls out so we decided to just leave them home. The plan was for my dad to take me (and drop me off), and my mom would come later and watch the finish and take me home. My mom and I had planned out where we would meet if we couldn't find each other the night before...thank goodness, because we had to use our meeting spot!
I woke up and ate my normal pre-race breakfast and since it was calling for rain, I wrapped my phone (I still use my old iPhone for running) in a ziploc bag and got it all situated in my arm-band. I hate wearing hats, but had that on as well (which by the way, I need to invest in a visor because the hat was too hot as well). When I did this race the year before, it rained as well, and I wore a rain jacket...but I was so incredibly hot in that thing so I just figured I'd get wet this year...no biggie. I brought along a garbage bag with me in case it started raining while waiting at the starting line...that way I could wear it and stay dry as long as possible.
My dad dropped me off about a mile away from the starting line. I went ahead and used the bathroom on the Waterfront because the line was super short and then headed to the start. I never had to use my garbage bag as it was still not raining. I was supposed to meet up with Angie and Bill before the race, but we never found each other. I started moving myself to the middle of the wave and got myself situated.
And then...we were off!! The temps were in the 60s...and maybe event the low 70s, and I just felt hot and slightly dizzy. Around mile 6 it started to drizzle, which honestly felt pretty good at first. It wasn't too bad for several miles. You enter Churchill Downs around Mile 8 and it definitely started to rain harder.
As the race went on, it started raining harder and harder. It was pointless to avoid puddles because my feet were already soaked. The last several miles seemed to drag on forever thanks to the hard rain. My mom was supposed to be at the finish line, and as I was running down the final stretch, I kind of looked around, but I didn't spot her. I finished the race with a new PR despite the rain: 1:55:26!
I couldn't find my mom anywhere and since I was using my old phone I couldn't call her. We had planned on meeting at the Run the Bluegrass/Half Classic tent where I would pick up my extra medal if she couldn't find me. After about 10-15 min of standing in the rain, she found me at the tent. She said she was around the finish line but never saw me cross (it's a pretty crowded race).
Overall, I did pretty well at the race. I didn't feel all that great, but I made it!! Half-Marathon #6 is in the books!!
Anyways, I ran my 6th half-marathon on April 30th. All week I had been stalking the weather, and it didn't look good. It was actually calling for torrential rain and lightning...yikes! The night before, I spent the night with my mom and I checked the weather one last time before I went to sleep. It showed a later start to the rain, so I was hoping the start would be dry! Sure enough, when I woke up the next morning, the rain wasn't supposed to come until a little after the 7:30am start time...woohoo!! Since it was supposed to be a pretty crappy day, I wasn't going to have any fan support. Tony would've been miserable taking the 3 girls out so we decided to just leave them home. The plan was for my dad to take me (and drop me off), and my mom would come later and watch the finish and take me home. My mom and I had planned out where we would meet if we couldn't find each other the night before...thank goodness, because we had to use our meeting spot!
I woke up and ate my normal pre-race breakfast and since it was calling for rain, I wrapped my phone (I still use my old iPhone for running) in a ziploc bag and got it all situated in my arm-band. I hate wearing hats, but had that on as well (which by the way, I need to invest in a visor because the hat was too hot as well). When I did this race the year before, it rained as well, and I wore a rain jacket...but I was so incredibly hot in that thing so I just figured I'd get wet this year...no biggie. I brought along a garbage bag with me in case it started raining while waiting at the starting line...that way I could wear it and stay dry as long as possible.
My dad dropped me off about a mile away from the starting line. I went ahead and used the bathroom on the Waterfront because the line was super short and then headed to the start. I never had to use my garbage bag as it was still not raining. I was supposed to meet up with Angie and Bill before the race, but we never found each other. I started moving myself to the middle of the wave and got myself situated.
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| Quick pic from the photographer at the start |
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| Love the twin spires in the background! |
As the race went on, it started raining harder and harder. It was pointless to avoid puddles because my feet were already soaked. The last several miles seemed to drag on forever thanks to the hard rain. My mom was supposed to be at the finish line, and as I was running down the final stretch, I kind of looked around, but I didn't spot her. I finished the race with a new PR despite the rain: 1:55:26!
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| A quick pic with my medal in the rain.. |
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| My mom came prepared! |
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| Since I hit my PR, I was able to hit the PR gong!! |
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