Running Tattoo

I did it! I have been wanting a new tattoo forever! When I was running in Cleveland I told myself if I broke 4:15:00 I could get in done. I had already had the idea of a dragonfly and putting in the wings "Run" and "26.2". My talented hubby drew the tattoo up after I had researched some designs I liked. The little blue flower is similar to the blooms in hydrangeas which were our wedding flowers. We secured a babysitter for Saturday and inked it up. I already have a tattoo on my left foot so I was not worried at all. Well I mush have had more fat on my foot or something the last time because this one HURT! Not the usual annoying/vibrating feeling but flat out painful : ( It took about 25 minutes and he stopped a couple times in between the more painful parts but it was rough. However I will be back in a few weeks to add a second flower to balance it out some more AND the point between the 26 and 2 is pretty much invisible. Good thing that will only take a few minutes. Bad news is I can not run for a few days because the sock rubbing on my foot would not help with healing. I can bike but I have to wrap my foot in cling wrap. Hoping the swelling and itching is down and I can run again on Tuesday.

This is my other tattoo that I have had for a little over 2 years. The flower is an Aster Daisy which is the birth flower for the month of September which is Scott and Parker's birth month. Parker's name is Parker Scott and my hubby is a Scott. If you look at the vines you will notice that one is a "P" and one is a "S".

Anyone else have tattoos? What about tattoos related to running or their sport??

No my Ticker is not Broken

I did not run a week! A WEEK people.... it was good and bad. I walked on the treadmill, did some weights (arms) and biked inside plus one family day outside. I ate basically what I wanted within reason and tried not to think about running too much. Minus the fact that I stalked marathons like crazy. Trying to wrap my mind around this 50 state thing and get real about making it happen. The bad part is I gained 4.5 pounds which is probably because I did not drink as much water as I should and I was eating too many sweet (surprise surprise)!

So now I am on a new plan to get me to 2 marathons in the fall and I leave for the beach in 11 days! Time to run my 4.5 pounds off and let Jillian Michaels find the tiny bit of definition I have on my body. Kettlebells are awesome! Shred with Weights is going to be my new best friend 2 to 3 nights a week.

Have a great week!

Cleveland Race Recap

Back from Cleveland and I had a blast! Before I left I looked up my bib number and I really like it because it had "18" on the end. I had a dream I ran a 4:18:00 and was hoping this was a sign. My last marathon was a 4:23:10 so a 4:18 would have been a sweet improvement!

I left Danville around 12:30 on Friday and was on my first out of state road trip! The drive was great and I made it to Cleveland early enough to go out for Mexican with Monica so I was a happy girl! We made plans the next day to see the sights of Cleveland. I had an awesome tour guide. I was able to see the really nice parts of Cleveland, go to the West Side Market and eat a famous cupcake from Main Street Cupcakes in Hudson AND get some sweet deals at an outlet mall in Aurora.

Check out our yummy pasta:

Above is the only race day pictures I have since it rained the whole time! Monica and I met a group of her friends at the Embassy Suites and it was the great place to start a race because there were nice bathrooms : ) We walked straight down to the finish line and did not have to wait outside in the misty, cool weather for long. It was a huge race so we had to get in the corral close to the 4:45 pace group : ( When we took off we knew we had some work to do!

Mile 1-3: (10:05, 9:19. 9:11) Elbow to elbow and trying to fight for some room. These miles went by super fast and Monica and I were still together. Can you tell the first mile was packed!

Mile 3-Mile 6 (9:59, 9:36, 9:45) Somewhere after mile 3 I realized I had to pee so I hopped over in the bushes with the guys! I think it annoys them when I do that but I am not a porta potty kind of girl. These miles also went fast and I honestly felt like I had been running maybe 20 minutes. Monica told me to go on ahead and mile 6 so took off. We had already caught and passed the 4:30 group so I told myself I was running to catch the 4:15 group. I honestly thought it was impossible because I was trying not to pay attention to time or pace and just have fun. I took a Gu right before mile 6 and noticed I had lost my second Gu during my bathroom stop. Luckily they were giving out Gus later so I grabbed a second one then.

Mile 7-11 (9:15, 9:33, 9:36, 9:13, 9:05) There were quite a few spectators during this part so that helped a lot. The race course is not something to go on and on about so I was simply getting by on spectators and playing games in my head. I felt so good it was scary! I knew I needed to slow down but I kept running too fast. So I wasn't too shocked when I came down the big bridge and found the 4:15 group At this point I told myself I HAD to slow down and stay with the 4:15 group.

Mile 12-Mile 19 (9:20, 9:23, 9:29,9:44, 9:30, 9:44, 9:34, 9:32) This is when the impossible happened! I met a guy that talked MORE than me. I had been getting by on "ear hustling" and not actually talking myself until I met Tony. He was driving me nuts but he wanted to stay with the 4:15 group too so I ran beside him for a while and I think it helped pass the time. When I passed 15 I was wondering if the I would start hurting like I usually do. At every mile marker I would just kind of do a body check and tell myself one more mile at this pace and I will slow down if I have to. I also had to hit the bushes again at mile 19.5! Guess I was hydrated enough and getting enough fluids. Might have been the rain too because it really picked up around mile 14. I ate my 6 cliff blocks during this time.

Mile 20 - 26.2 (9:44, 9:45, 9:58, 9:45, 9:43, 9:27, 10:09, 3:08 (last .4) At mile 20 it was time to count it down! I had some starbursts and the race Gu but I was not feeling like I needed to eat so I passed. For awhile I just hung at the back of the 4:15 pace group and enjoyed listening to people talk. I knew I had Monica meeting me at 22 so I had that to look forward too! However, she was not at 22 or 23 : ( and I was starting to get worried. I never hit a wall and the pain was never bad but I obviously had the "just want to be done" feeling going on! We hit a couple good down hills but Cleveland likes to run up overpasses and that was getting on my nerves. We did run my Lake Erie around mile 22ish and it was gorgeous for the whole 6 minutes we had a view. Tried to eat starbursts jellybeans but they had too much flavor for me. Mile 24 I found Monica and we were ready to knock out 2 more miles! Not sure how I was a 10:09 that last mile because I was flying downhill to the finish! Either way I felt great and was super pumped when I passed the 4:15 at a water stop and never saw them again. I did not believe for a minute I was that fast and figured they were a crappy pace group or something BUT when I crossed the finish line my watch said 4:12:44

I was in shock! Not only did I finish faster than I though possible but I felt great! Unfortunately the rain was coming down and it was super cold and windy as we walked back to the truck. We even had a slight scare when we found the parking garage locked up (but a security guard was on duty). Then it was time to hit the shower and hop in my truck for a 7 hour drive home. That was the worst part since I was having post run belly issues and had to make a couple of pit stops. Eating was impossible that day so I having my celebration dinner Monday night with my parents. It will be Mexican of course. I also have a Jennifer cookie from On the Rise that Monica told me was the best cookie ever and she was right. I told myself I could have a Jennifer cookie when I was done and also told myself I could get my new tattoo if I broke 4:15. Looks like my foot will be getting a new addition.

What is next? I am thinking Erie PA in September for my next full. Other than I am not sure but we all know I will not go 3 months without racing at all : ) I wish there was a close, cheap full this summer but I have not found one. Thanks for reading!

JC5K Recap!

I mentioned the other day that my 1st 5K was 2 years ago at The Jennie Carol 5K and I finished in a crazy slow time of 42 something and walked a lot of it. I have really been working on speed work once a week while I have been marathon training all fall and winter so I was really anxious to see what it would look like outside. I do all weekly runs on the treadmill so I had no idea what I could do outside. On Thursday I went outside and ran a 5K in 24:00 even. My PR coming into this race was 24:28 so I wanted to break that but really wanted to come in at under 24 minutes!

I have NEVER analyzed a bib number but when I was handed my bib number three things stood out to me: 3 plus 4 equals 7, my phone number in the dorm in college was 3477 and the race is on the 7th! I was feeling like it was going to be a good race.

I was really nervous the morning of the race and considered running the whole thing with my mom! But I had trained my butt off and wanted to try and see what could happen. I took off with Jeremy and we were going out super fast! 7:25ish and I was wanting to maintain more like 7:45. Mile one was 7:20 and Jeremy was trucking on without me : ( and I knew I needed to hit the second mile at 15:00 even or less. Unfortunately I hit mile #2 at 15:03 and I was sorta bummed. BUT I kept on pushing hard telling myself there was still a chance. I never looked at my watch but knew I needed to hear the slow down beep (7:30) to hit sub 24. Coming into the last few tenths I caught up with Jeremy and he told me I was close to 23:30 and I thought he was just making me feel better BUT I looked at the stadium clock and saw 23:18 and decided to kick it in high gear around the track. I hit my watch as quick as I could and it said 23:35 so I was pumped!

When they gave out rewards I found out that my time was actually 23:30! I have wanted to place at Jennie Carol so bad because you get a hat! The hats and shirts are really cute : ) Needless to say I am really excited and super proud of myself. I never go into a race wanting to beat anyone just myself! Financially I do not have the money to do the 5K thing this summer so I was hoping to do well at this one. I will continue to work on speed work but my "racing" shoes are put on hold and I am working on getting stronger and distance! Hope everyone had a great running weekend and I will have more pictures to share from my good friend Crystal who was snapping away.

Last Long Run

My last long run went GREAT! Feels so good to finally say that. The weather was perfect and my legs were perfect. I maintained a 9:36 pace and honestly felt great minus some stomach issues. Last week I commented that I channeled my SUAR by having to make a beeline for the potty and she commented back saying "if I made it then I wasn't channeling her" well.... lets just say me and a tree line are a little closer than I would like to be! First time for everything! The worst part was no traveling with toilet paper. Guess I know what I will be adding to my Go-Belt!

When I finished I felt like I could do more and wanted to take back off at make it 22 or 24 but my belly was rumbling again so I headed home. I was able to get in some more calorie burn by mowing the yard and starting to work on the front porch. I rewarded myself with some Saul Good and Orange Leaf with good friends Jeremy and Crystal!

Tonight I knocked out a 5k on the treadmill at 23:46 and I anxious to try it out on the road before a 5K on Saturday. I am not going to run 5Ks this season for financial reasons but the Jennie Carol Memorial Run is a special event for many reasons:

1. Jennie Carol was a local teacher and runner that passed away a few years ago after she ran the Derby marathon in Louisville. She passed away that weekend after getting choked at dinner. I did not know her personally but know many people that did and heard wonderful things about her.

2. The run supports Backpack for Kids that sends many local students home with a backpack of food for the weekend.

3. I was 8 months post baby when I decided to do a 5k just for fun and ended up TRYING to run while I was there. I finished in like 42 minutes and felt like death afterwards! Was completely disgusted with my post baby fitness level and decided to take on running. Look at me now : ) I plan to always participate in this race since it was my first and is proof of what hard work can do!