march 2010 – over. bring on april.

March has been quite the month. I was pretty busy with work and life but I still managed to accomplish amazing things in the running world. I ran my second half marathon to date, had a great time, and even beat my last half marathon time by a landslide. I ran a 10k when I could barely breath and had not such a great time, and I had a month full of miles ran. Can you believe I ran 50+ miles?!?! (53.28 to be exact) I can’t! I cannot believe we have almost crossed over into April and it makes me wonder where the year is going.

I had the crazy idea to sign up for The Chicago Marathon but before I was able to they reached their 45K runners mark and I missed out. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason so I am ok with not getting in. There is always 2011 or 2012 right? Plus by then I hope to be a running fool and will be able to smoke my 2 Chicago friends.

I am sticking with my normal format of highlights and goals for the next month but have decided to steal some from CAUTION: Redhead Running and her March Recap format.

Highlights of the month:

1. ING Georgia Half Marathon – I set a PR and ran a fairly great race. Like normal, I was no where near ready but who cares. One of these days I will take a half marathon or marathon seriously and put in effort to the training.
2. I had the highest mileage month to date. I ran 50+ miles in one month which is HUGE for me. Now I just have to do that every month!
3. Erin & I ran our second 10k of 2010 together. She smoked me again but whatever, I can admit defeat.
4. I registered for my first (and probably last) Peachtree Roadrace. It was a test of patience and persistence and took me over a hour, but I got in. **That is ALL that matters**
5. I actually took the time to figure out my Garmin 405 and I am super impressed. I can upload all the info online and check out the route I ran, my splits (how fast each mile was), calories burned, elevation junk. I never know how little I was utilizing that big thing!

March Running Song: “Girls on the Dancefloor” –Far East Movement

March Triumph: The ING Half Marathon on 3.21.10 – I rock it.

Current Goal: To stick to the high mile months and keep up with the weekly spin classes.

Goals for April:

1. To run another 50+ mile month. Right.Left.Repeat.
2. To keep up with my weekly spin classes and Sunday cardio circuit at the gym.
3. Register for the Marine Corps Marathon – yes all 26.2 miles of it. :o)
4. Find a local 5k or 10k and run like the wind!
5. Start the 200 Sit Ups Program and actually stick to it. I need (and want) a stronger core.

March has also started a friendly running competition between Erin and me. She ran the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon last summer and beat me when I ran Nike. I just ran ING and beat her time from Napa. She is training for 13.1 Boston in June and her goal is to now beat my half marathon time. Friendly competition has never hurt anyone, but I think her and I should take it to the streets of 5ks and then 10ks and then half marathons *together* and eventually maybe she will work her way up to a full. I will keep you posted on Erin vs. Barbie 2010 and we shall see who comes out victorious in the end.

April is a new month. If anyone has any races they’re interested in running and need a friend let me know, I am game! Same goes with gym time, spin class, or just a running buddy!

ING Half. Finished. Dominated. Booya!

There is nothing like waking up before you normally get up to run a race... especially when you're less than prepared and rain is in the forecast. But I got myself up and on the Marta by 6:00 AM for the ING Georgia Half Marathon. I did not really set any major goals for myself going into the race and I realized that around mile 4, so I decided that I wanted to be at mile 10 by 2 hours flat (check.completed) and finished by 2:30 (ehh not so much). BUT - I finished in 2:36:53 which is only 6 minutes after my target finish time and a whopping 19 minutes faster than my last half marathon. Super big thanks to my running family on Twitter & Dailymile - your congrats and well wishes mean the world to me. ...evidently beating your last have time by 19 minutes is HUGE! :o)

I didn't know too much about this race other than that it was a running tour of some awesome Atlanta neighborhoods, had some killer hills, and that there would be a lot of crowd support. I was in Corral N and I felt wickedly rushed since they were singing the National Anthem to start and I was still making my way through Centennial Olympic Park. Ehh... poor planning on my part, I thought 1 hour would have been plenty of time to get Downtown. 7:00 the gun was off - I crossed the start around 7:30 and for the first mile or so I was just picking people off one by one, got frustrated with the walkers in the middle of the course, and got insanely hot so I stripped off my jacket and tied it around my waist (amazingly it wasn't annoying like it was in San Fran). Near the beginning of the race I was with the 2:45 pace group and I would lose them and they would catch up and then we would lose each other again. I do not know when I decided I wanted to beat the 2:45 pace group, but I told myself I would not and could not let them catch me again. And they never did. The rain started around mile 3 and as much as I was hoping it would have held off, I was so thankful it was falling since it was cooling my body temp down (the beginning of the race was super humid and I was thinking it was going to be a long 13.1 miles in the sticky air). I took Gatorade at the first water stop (on accident) and remembered just why I do not drink Gatorade in the middle of the race - my stomach started to cramp up around mile 5, which luckily Team in Training was at mile 6 so I got to down some water. The Virginia Highlands & Inman Park area was great, but like normal, I do not remember too much about courses and routes. I just run. Right.Left.Repeat. I did have motivation at mile 10 thanks to Ms. Miley Cyrus and "The Climb" ... perfect timing for that song and around mile 12 The Glee Cast singing "Defying Gravity" kept me moving. ...honestly, I had a pretty rocking playlist. Paul Simon "You Can Call Me All" - two thumbs way way up.

....I digress...

The crowd support (in the rain) was amazing. I do not know, but if you live in the Old 4th Ward and were out cheering us on. You're amazing on so many levels. I loved the people dressed in traffic barrels. To the GA Tech kids who were out in full force dressed as whoopee cushions, bananas, guys dressed as girl cheerleaders, and to the girl giving out water who knew me (still no clue) - you're support at mile 11ish was phenomenal! And near the end everyone who had already finished, your high fives and encouragement was wanted, needed, and appreciated.

I rounded the last corner and just took off when I saw the finish line. Never did my body shut down, I felt good pretty much the whole time, and I really did enjoy myself. It was awesome to know that I ran at an 11 and some pace which is a major accomplishment for me, it felt great picking off people who were in Corrals earlier than me (mean. I know), and I felt like a total moron trying to hold back tears of *joy* as I crossed the finish line knowing that I had majorly PR'ed that morning ... in the rain!!

I got to check off one more race on my marathon/half marathon bucket list. If you live in Atlanta (or are looking for a reason to visit Atlanta) and are looking for a great half or full, you should do it. I know it won't be ING next year but still... do it.

Post race, I walked to QT from the Marta station. Picked up a bag of ice for my ice bath and a chocolate milk. I soaked in the nice bathtub of cold water and ice for about 30 minutes and then waited and waited for the Peachtree Road Race 10k registration to open and when it finally did it was a total fail. I hour later, I was registered for my first ever (and probably only) Peachtree. I spent the rest of the day on the couch because I did not want to nap and ruin any chance of getting a good night sleep - HEY I had to work Monday!

To everyone who ran and finished (half marathon and full) - congrats! You all have SO much to be proud of! :o)

On a side note, I do not know how KT Tape works but I am so grateful I had not used my sample from the Disney Marathon. I have had some pretty rough right calf issues which I think was causing my foot to fall asleep so I decided it could not hurt to try it out. I "taped" my calf up this morning and there was not a single pain or issue the whole race. I do not know how it works but I love it and am going to add it to my Christmas list EVERY year and if you have any aches and pains you should 100% try it out.

I do not know what is next on my list (seriously considering Chicago in October and The Rock and Roll Half - VA Beach in September)... but I intend on just putting one foot in front of the other and getting better on incorporating cross training!

3 days till ING

We are counting down the days now to the ING Georgia Half & Full Marathon. I signed up for this race coming off the Disney Marathon when I said I would never ever ever do a full again. Thankfully so, since I am once again no where near in half marathon shape (and because I am wickedly congested and at the tail end of a chest and head cold ... which evidently is floating around Atlanta and plaguing many a ING runners -- feel better if you're sick and running!!).

I have never done this race so please do not think I am giving out any tips, secrets, or pointers because well I am not. All I know is what I have heard and all I have heard is that it is well organized, well run, and hilly. So, I did what I normally do and looked for an elevation map. And well it does appear to be quite the hilly course. Mile 6 looks like it will be a doozy (wait, wasn't mile 6 the rough one in San Fran too?!) and that it will be 100% up hill and into mile 7 and finally giving us a break around mile 8. Luckily it looks like mile 11 (when I will be for sure out of steam) is downhill and that the last mile or so is fairly flat with some little hills.

The weather is supposed to be rainy. Last I heard there was a 60% chance of rain.... which means I will for sure be sporting my new pink Nike rain jacket. I do have my fingers crossed that the rain will hold off until AFTER the race but with my luck that won't happen. I tried to look at the hour-by-hour predictions on weather.com and I guess it is too far away to predict what will happen come 7 am on Sunday morning.

Oh well. Good luck to everyone running, walking, crawling, skipping, whatever their way to the finish. If you're doing it, let me know, maybe we can suffer this out together! Happy Running!

Next on schedule - ING Half.

So I cranked out Disney and now I am onto training for my 2nd half marathon ING Atlanta. It feels so weird to be gearing up for a race so close to home, but it is also pretty cool to know that I can just hop on the MARTA get to the start and then get home. ...it will probably be a little more difficult than that, but who knows. Maybe I should do a test run the weekend before. ANYWAY - ING is a little under 9 weeks away and I took 1 week off from Disney. Learned to walk again - saw the most amazing sports massage guy Tony - sat on my couch and watched reality TV and really did nothing.

Monday I started in full swing to actually train and get ready for the 13.1 miles. Actually... the week that I was doing nothing I pulled a schedule off Runner's World. You have to understand that actually training for a race is a new concept for me. I am the runner/person who semi trains, never really does more than 6 miles and then gets to the starting line thinking WTF Barbie?! So this time, I am going to try my best to take this as serious as possible.

And here is my schedule and plan:
Monday: run the scheduled amount. They have Monday as my "easy day" so I think this will be my favorite day of the week! :o) ...there is one Monday that is a "rest or cross training" day and I think I will make that Monday an Elliptical day.
Tuesday: Is scheduled rest of cross training. I have chose the later and I am going to do a 1 hour spin class every Tuesday night. I did my first one yesterday. It was a butt kicker, I have never sweated so much in my life, I need to bring a bigger water next time, but I also left and was pretty much hooked. Rock on. **now lets just hope it really does help. ha**
Wednesday: The mid week is either a tempo run or speed work day. The miles increase from Monday - but that is fine ... that is so what I need.
Thursday: This is also an "easy run" day - I think I may to this run on the dreaded treadmill to work on pace; however, they have me scheduled for a 12:47 pace and that kills me of slowness. But, I think I will do it on the treadmill and then do like 30 minutes of swimming on top of it. ...there is one day that has a "rest or cross training day" and I will make that an elliptical day.
Friday: MY DAY OF REST! :o)
Saturday: Dun Dun Dun ... dreaded long run day. ....I think I am going to try and get a few of those long runs in at Stone Mountain because I do need hill training and hills are my friend.
Sunday: Another rest or cross training day ... again I have chose the later. I know for sure I am going to do 30 minutes of swimming but I will either combine it with 30 minutes on the Elliptical or 1 hr of Pilates. ...maybe I will switch it up week to week.

...Now wish me luck. My goal for ING is to run at least a 2:30 ... if I could get below amazing but it is going to be one step at a time. I just really hope that I can stick with the training and not be a slacker and then continue the habits on spin classes post race and keep swimming. After all, I gotta use that gym membership!

10 in 2010.

I was thinking about trying to do 10 in 2010 (10 races - combination of full and half marathons). I have started making a list of what races I want to do. So far I can only think of 6. So any suggestions on 4 others let me know - or I just may do 6 because hey we are in a recession and I would need to pay for travel, hotels, and race fees and lets be real ... my paycheck isn't anything you should be envious of.

So here is the list.

• Disney Marathon - 1.10.2010
• ING Atlanta Half - 3.21.2010
• Country Music Marathon (Half) - 4.24.2010
• Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon - 6.26.2010
• Rock and Roll VA Beach Hal Marathon - 9.5.2010
• Nike Women's Half Marathon - 10.2010 *exact date. TBD.*

I want to do Marine Corps - but it fell the weekend following Nike this year so I imagine it will do the same next year. So basically I need to make the decision of if I do or do not want to run Nike again or if it is worth not doing Marine Corps for the first time.