Subaru Classic Half Marathon

Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

For the first time, I did a race Thanksgiving day morning and it was AWESOME.  I got my running buddy to do it with me and it was her first half marathon race!  Started out about 66 degrees and we were chilly waiting for the kick off.  No rain either even though the picture looks threatening. 

 

We started off feeling really great together but she's a faster runner than I am so I knew we'd separate at some point.  We ran into some fellow Galloway runners and stuck with them for about 3 miles before I had to back off and slow down if I wanted to last the whole time.  I have to say I felt freaking amazing the whole race until the very end.  At mile 10 I was a little worried thinking you still have a 5k to go.. but next thing I knew I was at mile 11 and then mile 12.  It went by so fast.  The last mile was in a neighborhood and it was TORTURE.  They had us crossing paths with people ahead of us twice so mentally it was frustrating.  I could see on my Garmin where I was in the race but visually in the neighborhood it felt like it took FOREVER to get out of there.  On top of that, the finish was around a corner that you don't know is there until your on top of it so I wasn't really able to kick it into gear until I could see how far I had to go.  I personally think it's better when it's a straight shot so you can really judge how hard to push it.  

 

My watch was off track with the mile markers the entire time.  So my watch said that we were finished right at the time we crossed the 13 mile marker.  So I stopped my watch at 13.1 because my watch it usually pretty accurate with mileage.  When I look at my past half marathons, this time is spot on... The Marine Corps half a month ago was much more difficult mentally and physically and I finished that in 2:48.  OK, I need to quit comparing!!

 

I got to wear my Pro compression socks for the first time and I think they did help!  I wore them from about 11-330 and my legs felt better after I took them off. 

 

I felt good even though my dang fanny pack kept riding up!!  Where do I find one that doesn't?! 

 

So then I made the waist band so tight that I looked like a marsh mellow being held my a rubber band... hahah

 

I love the colorful turkey medal!  And that's a rap for 13.1 #6 :)

 

Running Views

Ok, my lack of consistency lately is driving me crazy.  But with a crazy work week it's hard to get motivation to be active!  It's especially hard when I'm getting my 10,000 steps before I even get home from work - thank goodness I at least got that.

Monday night I did a super light run/walk in the neighborhood for about 3 miles.  I wasn't super focused but I did enjoy stopping for some pictures.  I don't love living in Florida but I have to say, my parents neighborhood has some pretty fantastic views.  Here's a peak into my Monday run:

I did actually force myself outside this morning for a longer run -- my first in about a month.  I went nice and easy for six miles but still faster than my pace group that I normally run with.  

I haven't hooked my garmin up to the Connect app in a while and I just realized they completely changed the layout.  Just when I figure out the old one!  I'm horrible with technology changes so it's going to be a while before I can figure out all the information I want to know from this.  Sheesh! It's kind of sad if the bar graph on bottom is saying I've only ran 8 times in the past 30 days.  Oh well, onward and upward.  This week will be different!  

Hump Day Check In and the Inevitable

I'm LOVING and HATING the time change at different times of the day... I LOVE the change first thing in the morning when the sun is coming up on my run:

And I HATE when I'm walking to my car after work at 5:30pm and it's dark out.  That ensures I will be getting nothing done in the evening and will be in bed by 8:30pm...

As far as my workouts go this week here's my standings!

Monday:  4 miles -- because of time constraint before I needed to be home and in the shower I was only able to get 3 miles in.  But I'm happy with that! 

Tuesday:  strength training -- I went easy and just did some weights in my apartment instead of going to the gym.  I didn't do any legs, just upper body

Wednesday:  sprints -- I'm still learning how to make the most of my sprints but this morning I got up too late to go to the gym so I just went outside and went back and forth between sprinting 0.1 mile and 0.15 mile.  It kicked my butt!  That means I wasn't able to do it for very long but it's a start! 

Thursday:  5k

Friday: strength training

Saturday:  8 miles 

Sunday:  Rest

I'll spare you the pictures and details but I'm 99% sure I have a big toenail that's working it's way off.  I've never had this happen before and it has to be from running because I never dropped anything on it.  Now it's black and blue and more sensitive than it has been.  It's taking FOREVER to fall off!!  This has been going on for at least 4 months or so but just recently turned blue.  I'm a bit of a perfectionist/control freak so knowing this is the inevitable but not knowing when it's finally going to happen is KILLING me!  I need it done and over with NOW. But I guess I just have to let nature take it's course....

Happy Hump Day!

Life Lately and This Week's Goals

I touched on being quite busy recently so here's what's going on:

My apartment's all out of whack since I'm moving soon.  I hate having my things all over the place so this is definitely my number one source of distraction and stress right now! (By the way, on the TV is How to Get Away with Murder marathon on Netflix and I'm addicted haha!) 

We've had some gorgeous sunrises and sunsets lately - this one is from Friday night when we were out on the lawn watching Clayton Anderson play.  So fun! 

I've officially signed up for the Thanksgiving Day half marathon and Donna half marathon in February!  This means I need to keep kicking my butt into gear.  There's no falling off or I'm just going to disappoint myself.  I need to decide how important this running thing is because I can either continue to do what I've been doing and stay the same or I can step up my training and try to make some improvements.  

I'd like to make some improvements so here are my goals for this week 11/2-11/8 --

Monday:  4 miles

Tuesday:  strength training

Wednesday:  sprints

Thursday:  5k

Friday: strength training

Saturday:  8 miles 

Sunday:  Rest

I've never really done serious track workouts or sprints so I'm just going to plan out a few distances I want to try and do it.  If you have any suggestions for track workouts, let me know!  

And last but not least I leave you with current mood: