Marathon #7 Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon

On November 10th I ran my 7th marathon, Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in Georgia. It was my second attempt at Georgia so I was mainly hoping for a finish and not worry about a goal time. We all know I want that sub 4 but it is so hard for me for some reason. I started running with Vanessa from Gourmet Runner and was running around a 9 minute mile but was feeling really good and I think I started to speed up but I didn't think I was doing that much damage. Vanessa held back so she would have some left in the tank. It might only be her second marathon but she was a much smarter girl than me. I ran a little fast for a little too long. Around mile 18 I was starting to hurt and could see my pace was around an 8:56 which is much faster than the needed 9:09. Mile 18 to Mile 22 started to hurt pretty bad and then at the water stop at Mile 22 I was basically cramped up worse than I ever have. I was seeing double, arms tingling and I felt like I was going to pass out. The volunteers wanted to get me a medic but I refused to get help with only 4 miles to go. I spend the next 2 miles struggling to walk while I watched all the people I had passed run past me well on their way to a sub 4 marathon. I was able to muster the strength to run the last 2 miles and was able to finish at a 4:15:53 which is not my slowest marathon.

Hopefully this video will work. My husband and Parker went with me since it was only 4 hours from home and Parker wanted to run across the finish line with me. I am almost glad I wasn't coming in for a sub 4 finish because I know I would not have slowed down to enjoy that moment if I was seconds from making my goal time. 

I really enjoyed the race and would recommend it too anyone looking for a nice, small, pretty, fall race! I am in my last week of high mileage before I start to taper for my Alabama race on December 8th. 

Still Running

When I returned from Disney on October 13th I could not believe I had a half marathon the next day! I had been running great in September but being at Disney World was exhausting. We walked ALL day for 4 days and traveled for three days. I did run some while I was there but not enough to keep me in shape for a fast half marathon. So I ran with my friend David, in the "Just Run" shirt, to help to a PR. He really wanted a sub 2 but we were happy with a 2:04 since there were a lot of hills. Great race and I would like to add it to my calendar every year. 

Since I have a marathon coming up soon I should probably spend my weekends doing long runs but I went to play in the mud instead! I did the Tough Mudder in Kentucky on October 20th and it was BRUTAL! It was in an ATV park so the terrain was basically mud covered mountains for over 12 miles. Then on top of that it was low 50s and we were freezing. One of the first obstacles in the ice water in the dumpster so you were wet the whole time. By mile 8 my lips were blue and I had no feeling or control of my body. So I pretty much walked the last 4 miles with a Mylar blanket just wanting it to be over with. However, I WILL do another one and I am planning on going to Tennessee on May 25th do it again. Hoping it will be plenty warmer then and I can attempt the obstacles I went around. 

We did the Black Cat Chase in Frankfort, KY on October 26th. It is a huge race at night and it  a lot of fun. This year I decided to wear a costume and went with a sparkly witch idea. I have not enjoyed a 5K since August of 2011 so I was not sure what would happen. But I decided to go all out and see what I was capable of. Bad news... I forgot my watch : ( Finished fast and strong and had to wait until the next day to see my results. I ran a pretty fast race with a time of 23:23 which is only 28 seconds slower than my current PR. With a watch I think I might have made my PR but who knows. I might have freaked out when I saw some of my paces. I know I was flying down the big hill. 

Now it is time to bust out a 20 miler, get in a bunch of runs this week, taper, run a marathon, bust out another 20 miler, taper and run another marathon : ) Looking forward to ending the year strong and hitting my goal of 1,500 miles!!! 

Bourbon Chase 2012

Van 1 ready to run the Bourbon Chase! 

Van 2 is ready to go at Maker's Mark! 

My van (and mom) waiting on my in downtown Springfield. 

The whole team crossing the finish line! We were faster than last year and almost an hour faster than our predicted times! I was super happy to average an 8:30 pace on all three of my runs. My runs were 8.4 miles, 6 miles and 4.6 miles! Seriously the best race EVER and I am pretty sure I am on board for next year. I have some marathons I want to run buy honestly this is the best race! We have SO MUCH fun! 

My goal this year was to have more fun and drink more! I was able to try 4 bourbons this year and actually found one I liked. Marker's Mark 46 may be making its way to my liquor cabinet! 

Dash for Life 2012

Last week I ran my favorite 5K around here! It used to be the Railroad Days race and it is known for being a fast race. I have PRed there every year and always walk away my best time for the summer. It was a good race as usual and everyone did great. My time was alright at 23:16 which is maybe my 2nd fastest official 5K time. However, I ran a 22:55 there last year and was hoping to PR. BUT I knew going in that it was a long shot. On top of that my breathing has been a problem for a few weeks and I spent the first 1.25 miles little gasping and sucking in for every breath. That seems to be getting better with my runs this week so I am not sure what my deal was. 

Still a great race for a great cause! Lots of people had great races. Including my usual running partner who walked away with a time of around 22:15!! Lots of us medaled and I was able to get 2nd in the 30-34 age group. 

This will probably be my last 5K for a long time in case I randomly decided to sign up for one. Most weekends will be full of long runs except for the two weekends I have Bourbon Chase and Tough Mudder. Funny thing is that I am running 14 and 16 mile long runs with plans to run 18 and 20 mile long runs with no plans of running a marathon.... I mean I have two races that I am thinking about running but I have yet to actually sign up for something. Guess I need to get on that! 

The Difference a Year Makes

August 2011 1st day of Preschool Year 1 

August 2012 1st day of Preschool Year 2

A lot of us are getting ready to run our races we have prepared for all summer. We are going to compare ourself to last year and be upset if we do not set a new PR. I know there is a huge possibility I will not PR my favorite race this coming Saturday. Not because I have not worked hard for the past year or that I haven't tried. Simply because we are working adults with families, children and jobs. One thing I know for sure is my handsome son has most definitely grown in the past year. Not only is he physically taller than he was a year ago but his imagination has grown by leaps and bounds! He is more mature than he was this time last year. His favorite phrase right now is "I don't need you anymore" :( 

I hope we all remember to appreciate the growth in the other areas in our life. Our running may be in the same place it was last year but we are still running and should be grateful to have two healthy legs and one healthy body that can endure those runs. No matter how fast or how slow. Maybe we should slow down a little each day since the two pictures above show that life can pass us by before we know it. 

Run With ALL Your Hart

(The glasses were free and needed because the sun was bright; I do not think I am a movie star)

What can I say?!? I try to have fun while suffering thru racing! It is a love/hate relationship for sure. I love how pumped up you feel when you start and I love setting big goals and going for them. I do not like how hard it is to maintain the type of pace it takes to run short distances fast. I went into this 4 mile race with an "A" goal: Run 32 mins or less with all miles being 8:00 min pace or better. 

I have done this a couple times on a treadmill and once last week so I knew it was possible but was unsure of what the course was going to be like plus there were 2,500+ runners to get around. First, I want to say that every part of the race was perfect! Hundreds of volunteers, well organized, lots of goodies, plenty of post race food, cold towels at the finish, music every quarter mile, crowd support everywhere, neighbors in their yard and plenty more! It was the perfect race! Hard to believe it was the first year and all put together in around 6 weeks. 

Mile 1 7:43: I was right up front so there were few crowd issues. It was flat in the beginning and then had a steep downhill. I was running way too fast but knew a hill was coming at the end of mile 1. That hill was a slow, long climb that lasted from about . 8 to 1.2. We made a left hand turn and had a nice down hill but there was another hill out in front of us. I had caught glimpses of my pace and knew I should be below 8:00

Mile 2: 8:10 This mile started rough because of the hill. I was getting a side cramp from the extra effort of two hills back to back. Then my quads and butt started getting sore. The compression socks helped a lot with feeling warmed up quicker. But I think I got too warm with them on. I kept pouring water on the back of my neck to help. I never saw my pace in the 8:00s but obviously at some point it was. 

Mile 3: 7:58 Not much to remember about this mile. I did noticed that at halfway I was around 15:30 so I was on track to make less than 32 minutes. I had taken my ear buds out awhile back and was enjoying the music and crowd support. I made sure to wave and smile at as many people as I could so they knew I was running with all my heart and living in the moment for Sarah.  Each mile marker had a picture of one of her child. I saw her daughter's picture at mile 3 and that was very moving. 

Mile 4: 7:13. I am not sure how I busted that out but I was determined to make my goal. There was no way I was going to barely miss it. The finish was flat and slightly down hill so that helped a lot. We had to weave our way thru the runners but I was able to get around them easily. I was so happy to see that 31:03 when I crossed the finish! I also could have kissed the person that handed me an ice cold towel. That was awesome! Then I had a gatorade, banana, and HOMEmade carrot cake muffin! Great finish to the race. 

Time: 31:03 (chip time)

Pace: 7:46

Place: 114/1228

2nd Place in Age Group 

Great Race!!! 

Lots of runners from Danville made the drive to Russell Springs along with 2,500+ people from all over the state. Plus there were virtual runners in all 50 states and 6 countries! 

I have been so busy....

 Swimming in our little pool! 

Digging up dinosaurs at the Children's Museum. 

Driving hot rods. 

Riding rides at Holiday World. 

Being silly. 

Starring at this cute little face. 

Working on our bike riding. 

Sorry to rub in all the benefits of being a teacher but my summer has been wonderful! I have been to Chicago, Tybee Island, Great Wolf, Holiday World, Splashin' Safari, Indianapolis Children's Museum, a Legends baseball game, many pools and parks! Where do I stand in terms of working out and running?

Do not worry! I am hitting in harder than ever. Most weeks have been made up for 3 days of spinning, 2 medium runs, 1 long runs and some shorter runs mixed in there as well.  After spinning and some running I have been lifting weights and working on my arms. I started using Fitness Pal to make sure I was not over eating and over snacking. Which has resulted in loosing 2 pounds! WOO HOO! 

Now I must go back to work : ( Which means making a new workout schedule that will be less desirable. Early morning runs or after school gym workouts. Both of which are going to be hard since I will be tired from actually working all day. But I am going out with a bang this week. Not missing any workouts and 3 pool days!! 

Run With All Your Hart Virtual Run

The Run With All Your Hart Run has gone virtual AND they are going to try to mail shirts to people who mail in a registration and agree to run 4 miles the morning of August 11th. Here are some links and info on the Sarah Hart Run. Remember she was just a regular person trying to get in a morning run with her sister when a murdered attacked her for money. Lets be honest it could be us one day. Show this small town that we won't forget and that love is more powerful than evil!

13 STATES REPRESENTED!

Out of our 425 registrants (local and virtual) we now have runners/walkers from 13 states registered to support RWAYH. Here is the state breakdown (total registered from each)....

384 Kentucky

7 Tennessee

6 South Carolina

5 Indiana

3 Georgia

2 Ohio & Wisconsin

1 Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, Michigana, New Jersey, Virginia

It is obvious that Sarah's death and our efforts try to bring some healing to the community while celebrating her life and legacy have struck a cord with many. Keep spreading the word!

RWAYH BY THE (GROWING) NUMBERS......

1665 FB likes

250 registrants for 4-mile run

153 registrants for 1.5 mile fun run

413 total registrants (local)

10 registrants (virtual runners/walkers)...VERY COOL!

$7,950.00 received in online registrations

$2,262.56 received in online extra contributions

AMAZING!

http://www.facebook.com/RunWithAllYourHart 

LIKE them on Facebook and follow links for how to register for the race. Please feel free to share on your own blog. 

Buffalo Trace 5k

This was our second year to do the Buffalo Trace 5K in Frankfort. This year my husband ran it with us so my parents did a run/walk pushing Parker in less than 40 minutes. Heat and humidity was a major problem so we all ran it smart. Scott and I finished together in 27:30 which was great since Scott has ran like 4 times in a month or more. Great way to start the holiday.

Mid Year Goal Check

On January 1st we all made some big goals or at least thought about what we wanted the year of 2012 to hold.  I am a very goal orientated person but I do not love the whole resolution thing. You can suffer major let down for not making a goal and/or quit if you achieve your goal  early and stop working towards anything. My goals were simple and the rest of my goals were based around my race calendar.

Goal #1: Fear of Missing Out. As in stop doing races because other people are doing them. I can safely say I have signed up for every race because I want to not because everyone else is doing it. If other people happen to be there great; if not oh well! It is my race to run anyway.

Goal #2: Stop having food guilt... oh this is getting so much worse!!! I have cleaned up my diet more than ever and weigh more than ever! GRR!! I have tried to eat cleaner and limit my splurges and sweets to the weekends or special occasions. I am not sure how to tackle this issue.  The first step is I have to get comfortable in my own skin and stop obsessing over numbers on a scale or mistakes in my eating. The only good thing that comes from food guilt is I kick my butt in the gym when I have had really bad eating days.

Race Calendar Update: Will I run 12 marathon by the end of 2012?? NOPE! Probably more like 8 and that is okay. I did not finish Atlanta and am doing some other big races that are going to be fun. I am going to run in at least 12 races by the end of the year. The tri is not happening because I can not swim and my friend that was going to do it with me is pregnant. I will also save some money by taking out a race that far away. Will my calendar change before the end of the year?? I am sure it will!

My current mileage is 19 miles higher than in needs to be to hit 1,500 miles for the year. May was a major recovery month after my marathon on April 28th. June I was able to get my mileage back to 100 and I am confident I will easily nail 100+ miles from here on out. I need to run 28 miles a week and most weeks I am able to run 30 so that gives me 2 extra for those weeks that I fall short. This is a goal that I will be working on right up until the last week of December : )

Overall I am happy with where I am at... continuing to work out on a regular basis, push myself to new levels and try new things. Hoping there are some PRs before the year is up and maybe I can figure out how to ignore the scale and love my body.