2012 Miles

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Few of my Favorite Running Things

Pre-run food: Currently I am eating a lara bar with peanut butter. For long runs I will add a banana and for a marathon I may even eat another small granola bar when I get to the race site.

Running Fuel: I really love the tangerine with double caffeine but I do not take more than 2 during a marathon and only one during a long run. I have not really found another flavor that I love and hoping the new peanut butter GU will be my new favorite to eat in between the ones with caffeine.



Love my Garmin and will always have one! I really don't care which one I have.

Socks: These are my favorite socks and I do all long runs and marathons in these. I am so excited that a local running store has them buy 3 get 1 free right now.

Tempo shorts will always be my favorite short and I don't know why I buy anything else. They are awesome all year long. I love just sticking a pair of tights under them when it is not super cold.
Shoe right now is the Nike Pegasus. I have always been a Saucony girl but was feeling the need for something new. After an attack from a Brooks : ) I went to a running store and I was put in the Pegasus and am in love. I am currently in love with the above color and may sneak and order a pair!
Post race treat! I love a good cupcake after a long run and I wish there were mint chocolate chip cupcakes around whenever I needed a reward : ) But any other flavor will do.

I know this was a real original post and no one else has done a favorite thing post! Join the crowd people : )

I am finalizing my 2012 race plans and will post soon. I am having to knock it back a little because mommy can't be racing all the time. Since I live in the great state of Kentucky I can not get to races with out being gone for only one night most of the time.

Hope everyone is getting in the Christmas Spirit! I know I am with my lights up, tree up, stockings up, Santas out and wreaths on the door : )

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Ramblings....


So after the Marshall Marathon my legs were hurting! Not all over but my quads were super sore from trying so hard to make that sub 4 at the end. I never give myself enough recovery and was trying to run again by the end of the week. I could not run "fast" at all! 9:40 pace was challenge for like a week.

Finally, 2 weeks later I am hitting 8:30 pace again on shorter runs and 9:15 on long runs! I have even been doing some speed work at seeing a pace that starts with a 7 again! Woo Hoo! I am so glad I found my running mojo again since it is Thanksgiving week and I am going to eat like 5,000 more calories a day!

I am also cross training like it is my job! I have been doing lots of DVD workouts and I am working out with the PE teacher at school who is also the High School soccer coach. He is having off season boot camp and we are doing all kinds of fun stuff! It is a nice change for me because the workouts are more of the athletic variety and I am doing moves I have never done. Lots of squats, push ups, lunges, curls, dips and pull ups! Which I think is also having a big effect on my runs. But I am willing to run slower for another month or so to get a little more fit!

I am off work for the next 5 days and hope to beat the holiday budge with a workout of some kind everyday. Granted it might be a ride on my bike indoors and a Jillian Michael's Shred but at least I will not be parked on the couch expanding my waist line.

My friend checked out Hood to Coast the movie and I fully plan on sitting in front of the TV long enough to watch that!!! I also finally watched the NY ING marathon and it was pretty awesome. So sad that Mary Keitany could not finish off her awesome run with a win BUT you can not surge that soon into the race and keep that pace. However, she proved she is awesome! The guy's race was uneventful in my opinion since Geoffrey Mutai was like 2 minutes up and no one gave him a a run for it. BUT can you imagine cranking up the treadmill to like 12 miles per hour and running for 2 hours and 10 minutes. WOW! All I want is to break 4 hours.

I also watched Marathon Boy on HBO and I was disappointed. I had already read about him in a Runner's World book so it was not that new to me and it was more about the politics around his coach Biranchi Das. Not sure that I would suggest watching it.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family! I am so thankful for all of the great events I have coming up.... Time with my husband and son plus lots of time with extended family. Some time with my friends! I have already had a shopping trip/dinner with some girl friends and I still have a high school girls night get together coming up! Getting to see friends from out of town (Monica!) Today I am thankful for this little find last night...

If you have ever had Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream then you understand. Monica tooke me to have some when I was in Cleveland in September and I think I think about it weekly! SO GOOD! So much for not expanding my waist line : (

Monday, November 14, 2011

Race Shirts; What to do or not do...

Since I am running out of my own thoughts : ) I will share this oldie but goodie! This one always makes me laugh! I have added some of my pet peeves!

1. A shirt cannot be worn unless the wearer has participated in the event. There is an exception, though: "significant others" and volunteers are exempt. I REFUSE to wear a shirt for an event I did not actually run. I went to SC for a half and it snowed out the event. Even though I ran the distance while I was there I will not wear the shirt since I did not run the actual race.

2. Any race tee, less than a marathon distance, shouldn’t be worn to an ultramarathon event. This goes double for the wearing of sprint-tri shirts to Ironman and Half-Ironman events. It simply doesn’t represent a high enough "cool factor " and sends a red flag regarding your rookiness. It's like taking a knife to a gunfight. It's probably best just to wear a generic name-brand athletic shirt, and go hide in a corner until race time. Ultra event.... umm I got nothing on this. But I do wear my 5K shirt to a marathon because I think a lot of people always think it is my first : )


3. When you are returning to a race in which you have previously finished, then wear the shirt from the first year you completed the race. Don’t short-change yourself by wearing the shirt from the year before. It doesn’t adequately display the feat of accomplishment or the consummate veteran status that you are due. I rarely do a race more than once so I don't have much on this one. If I do repeat a race it is a 5K and I do not run in cotton so I never break this rule.

4. Never wear a race event shirt for the (same) race you are about to do. Only rookies do this. It displays a total lack of integrity and might put the bad-heebee-jeebee-mojo on you for the race. Wearing a T-shirt of the race, while currently running said race, is discouraged. It’s like being at work and constantly announcing "I’m at work". Besides, you wont have the correct post-race shirt then...unless you like to wear sweaty, pitted-out clothes on a regular basis. If you do, then go back to the swamp, Gomer. This is my pet peeve!!! DO NOT wear the race shirt to the race. You have not ran the race yet. This is as bad as wearing your bib on your back.

5. Never wear a shirt from a run that you did not finish. To wear a race shirt is to say "I finished it". Exceptions: see guideline #1. If I DNF I know I would follow this rule since I won't wear the shirt of a race that was cancelled.

6. A DNF’er may wear a race shirt if... the letters DNF are boldly written on the shirt in question (using a fat Sharpie or a Marks-A-Lot). I would just throw it away.

7. During a race, the wearing of shirt from a previously completed year is acceptable. Wear the oldest T-shirt you have from that race (see guideline #3). This is probably a good practice because you now have no excuse to drop out since you’ve done it before.

8. If possible, runners should buy significant others T-shirts which can be worn without regard to running the race. (see guide #1). Keep in mind, they support your "running Jones" more than you think. They also have ways of punishing you that you can't even imagine. Or maybe you can. HA! Like my husband would wear a running shirt!

9. Volunteers have full T-shirt rights and all privileges pertaining thereto. So there. Remember, you can always volunteer for a race and get a shirt. I encourage this as your civic duty to be a member of the running community. Races don't happen without volunteers, folks. Totally agree which is why I was ticked when my Stepdad got the wrong size shirt for Bourbon Chase. I signed up way in advance and was bummed that he did not get the shirt. He worked just as hard driving as we did running.

10. No souvenir shirts: therefore, friends or anyone else not associated with the race may not wear a race shirt. If your mom thinks that your Boston shirt is lovely, tell her to QUALIFY for Boston herself, & send in her application early for next year, so she can earn her own shirt. A downside to this: she still has plenty of time to write you out of her will between her training runs for the big race. Note that your mom CAN wear your finisher's shirt under one of these 4 conditions- 1) you still live with your mother; 2) she funded your trip to the race; 3) she recently bailed you out of the slammer; or 4) All of the above. There is an exception to this guideline: (refer to # 1...If you are a "non-traditional family," and your mom actually is your Significant Other). Agreed! You can wear my 26.2 shirt when you run 26.2

11. Always wear the race shirt of your last race at the current race’s pre-race briefing. The more recent the race, the better. This is a good conversation starter. However, avoid the tendency to explain how that it was a training run for this, and this is just a training run for the next, etc. It just sounds like your rationalizing mediocre performances. Sometimes it’s best to live in the here and now. I love to read other people's shirts at races. I have some of the best conversations with other 50 staters when I see their shirts from other states. Chances are if they have on an Oregon shirt and you are in West Virginia then they are a 50 stater : )

12. Your t-shirt should be kept clean, but dried blood stains are okay, especially if it is a trail race or a particularly tough event. If you're an ultrarunner, you can even leave in mud and grass stains, (and porcupine quills). Not washing-out the skunk scent is pushing the macho thing a bit too far, though. Doubt I will ever bleed in a shirt but I did have a pair of shoes with blood from a toenail and thought it was pretty cool!

13. Never wear a T-shirt that vastly out-classes the event you're running. It’s like taking a gun to a knife fight. Or like unleashing an atomic bomb among aboriginal natives. You get the idea. So my marathon shirt to a 5K is a bad idea???

14. Also: never wear a blatantly prestigious T-shirt downtown or at the mall among non-running ilk. People will just think you have a big head, which you do. You'll also get stupid questions, like, "how long was that marathon?" If it's a shirt to a 50 or 100-miler, they'll think it's a shirt for a cycling event or just think you're totally nuts, which (of course), you probably are. If I have to say "This marathon is 26.2 one more time I am going to scream! YES they are ALL 26.2; even that one in Boston.

15. Never, ever, borrow a race finisher's shirt from another runner to wear to an event that you didn't run. If you do, remember that in Dante's Inferno, he wrote about a special Hell for characters such as you; right between Tax Collectors and Lawyers. Again you can't wear it until you run it and finish it!

16. The Bad Ben Guideline: All children or grandchildren of mine can wear hand-me-down race finisher's shirts for races that I've run in. When they are asked, "did you run in that 100-mile trail race?" They can proudly respond, "no, but my daddy (or grandad) did." If your progeny has put-up with you being an ultrarunner, they have said rights too. If you have completed an Ironman, your kids also have the same rights. They've put up with a lot of crap (or outright neglect) over the years, and deserve to wear them. I will happily give Parker any and all my running shirts : )

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Might be a marathoner if...

1. You go out for a 5 to 6 mile run and you run 8 because it just didn't feel right to turn around at "only 3"

2. You spend all of your recovery googling like crazy every marathon in the surrounding states.

3. You have a printed 2012 calendar printed and are planning long runs and making sure vacations and birthdays don't interfere.

4. Your truck gets broke into (nothing of value in it so no big deal) and you are more pissed about the 26.2. magnet being stolen.

5. You take your child to a different park and realize this is a great place to run hills.

6. Thumb holes make you yell out in excitement when you realize your near winter jacket has thumb holes.

7. You can't figure a tip in your head but you can figure split times for a 9:09 pace while running.

8. You run in cold gear when it is 45 because you want to see if it will be warm enough for the winter.

9. You say things like "Boston", "PR", "negative split", "fartlek" and "Garmin" and just assume everyone around you understands.

10. You assume everyone reads SUAR and Skinny Runner daily as opposed to the daily news. If they had not blogged about Kim K.'s divorce, Jessica Simpson's baby or the Duggars #20 baby I would have no idea what was going on in the entertainment world.

I am in the process of finishing off my 2012 crazy running plan. I will post soon! It is going to be fun in a ridiculous, torturous kind of way!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

1/10th of the way there!

On Sunday I ran the Marshall Marathon in West Virginia which makes #5 ! Only 45 more states to go. The hope is 50 by 50 : ) or sooner but I am going to have one more year and then back down once I have to start flying.

I do not have a really long race recap and I do not have any pictures at all. My friend Crystal as some on her blog; see Am I Runner or just crazy in my side bar.

The race is small and there are no frills. Expo is strictly a packet pick up and takes a matter of minutes. The parking is great because you can park within feet of the start line and there are no lines at the potty! No starting mat so your time is just gun time (probably was like a 15 second difference for me at the most). The course is a 2 looper now and that is not that much fun. However, there was a really nice part by the river and you were able to that 2 times and 1 river part like 4 times. The only thing I like about running the same thing twice is that you know where the up hills and down hills are so you can plan any stops or walks around that.

My goal is still obviously to make sub 4. I knew this race was not going to be but knew I should do closer to 4 hours since that is what I would have done in Erie if I had not had my meltdown. So to cut to the chase.... I ran it in 4:03:18 (clock time) 4:03:14 (Garmin time) 4:03:23 (results time) which is around a 9:13-9:17 pace. So close to that 3:59:59 at a 9:09 pace : ) I wish I had ran my first half a littler faster. I think it was 1:58:30 but I was TALKING to someone I had met! Imagine that. But I LOVE talking to other 50 staters and finding about other races. I put my iPod in around mile 14 and was super pumped up! Eminem had me nailing some 8:45 miles for a little while and then around 18 I started really feeling the pain from my "fast" running. I really hung in there until 20.5 and I started to slow down. I had little burst of speed but my mile 24 I was hurting! I knew it would take 9:00 minute miles to make it in under 4 hours so I just accepted by PR and ran a steady pace in.

I am excited to say I finished a marathon WITHOUT crying and was actually smiling. I even gave a little "woo hoo" when I crossed the finish line with my football!