new year

…new site!

you can find me here from now on.

take two.

here’s one more thing i learned: if you are sick and you run a marathon, you will end up really sick.

i ended up taking a sick day today. everybody tried to send me home from work yesterday, but sometimes schedules and to do lists don’t really allow for that (welcome to the real world, isabel). but luckily, a good portion of my office was on the road today, so i happily came home after half an hour in the office and face planted into my bed. four more hours of sleep later (for a total of 14.5 hours), and i felt like i was starting to emerge from the fog.

so, what did i do with the rest of my day? started planning my 2012 racing schedule, of course.

it’s so, so true that marathons are addicting. the marathon itself was probably the worst running day i’ve had in a while – i was completely zapped of energy from the cold – but i had SO much fun getting there, and there is no feeling like crossing that finish line. plus, i went into the race with one goal – well, two: i wanted to finish, and i wanted to finish in under five hours. i wasn’t sure if i had it in me, but i was going to try. and even with dead legs and a cold, i pulled out a respectable 4:40:18. and once i was out of the finish chute, the first thought that came to my mind was: if i can do that sick, what can i do healthy? i bet i could beat oprah. and then i started googling spring races.

i’m already signed up for the national half marathon (now rock n roll) in dc on march 17, where i’m hoping to break 2 hours. i’ve also been considering the monument ave 10k, which was actually my first-ever race in 2009. in the fall, i’d love to run marine corps. but now that i’m dealing with the post-marathon blues, i don’t think i’m going to be able to wait until october to run another 26.2.

enter: the pittsburgh marathon.

marathon guide has only good things to say about it, it’s on the east coast, and my husband has family there (not only does this mean a place to stay, but it also means his grandma’s poppy seed cake. and if that isn’t a reason to choose a marathon, i don’t know what is). and since it’s on may 6, my other races would fit perfectly into my training plan.

i’m giving myself a week to think about it before i fork over the money. but considering that my legs are already itching to run and i’m already working on a training plan, i think it’s safe to say that these seven days are just a formality.

anybody else in the process of signing up for spring races? what are you running? suggestions for awesome races are always welcome!

things i learned this week: marathon edition

1. the taper crazies are not a joke. they make you…crazy. or give you restless leg syndrome. or something.

2. while taking a vacation day before the marathon makes packet pick up a lot easier, it also gives you a lot of free time to psych yourself out.

3. nsync’s celebrity album: absolutely under-rated.

4. it’s worth it to be nice to your support system, no matter how much you’re hurting. my mom and eli stood out in the cold for almost 5 hours to see me run, and my dad jumped in to run with me during my hardest miles. i couldn’t have finished the race without them. i wish i’d been nicer when my mom tried to give me my backup nuun tabs, when eli tried to pat me on the back, or when my dad tried to talk to me, because all those things were so helpful. next time, i’m going to try to act as grateful as i’m feeling (you know, instead of: “mom. STOP. give me the tab.”).

5. the wall is not a joke. i met it at mile twenty: when i felt like i was putting in the same effort, but my mile splits dropped by a minute and a half. holy eff.

6. the posters are right. toenails are overrated. i now have 8.

7. frozen yogurt totally counts as carboloading (right?).

8. you can plan and prepare until you’re blue in the face, but there are always going to be things you can’t control (see: the super-cold i got on thursday that was still with me on race day). but even on days when you can’t give it your very best, you can still give it your all.

first marathon thoughts.

tomorrow, i will run my first marathon.

it will not be a particularly impressive marathon in the grand scheme of things. i will be toward the back of a pack of 16,000 runners. but it will be my first, and so it will be memorable.

i’m not really sure what to expect. and to be honest, i’m pretty nervous. i’m slow, and hearing stories about the wheels falling off is making me wonder if i should run this even slower than i planned (or maybe i should just stay away from the runner’s world forums next time). i’m worried about a lot of things: shoe problems, fuel problems, legs that refuse to go another step. i’m really good at worrying.

but more than that, i’m excited. i have loved training for this race. when i started running in college, it was casual. i ran a 5k, and then a 10k. i remember my first 5 miler being A Really Big Deal. but i never really felt like a runner, and over the next few years running took a backseat to other things: work. wedding planning. moving to charlottesville. being married. but then my dad mentioned that he wanted to run the marine corps marathon this year, and a switch flipped.

over the past 16 weeks, i’ve trained hard. i’ve done speedwork and tempo runs and long runs and recovery runs. i went to spin class for non-weight bearing cardio. in may, prior to beginning to train for this marathon, i ran a 10k in 59:07 – a 9:30 pace. halfway through this training cycle, i ran a half marathon in 2:05 – a 9:30 pace. it’s still not fast, but it’s fast for me. my legs have muscles they’ve never had before, not even from a decade of figure skating. i know all about gu and nuun and body glide. i swear by my hot pink compression socks, and there’s a sick, twisted part of me that really enjoys ice baths (or maybe it’s just that i know there’s a hot shower coming afterward). i love reaching new accomplishments – whether it’s a new distance, or a faster average pace, or an awesomely perfect negative-split tempo run. it’s amazing to put the effort in an see the results come out in return.

i’ve never been very good at sports. i’ve played them all – soccer, field hockey, tennis, ice hockey, and yes, years and years of figure skating – but i never seemed to be destined to be an athlete. but if there’s one thing i can do, it’s put one foot in front of the other and run. i may not be fast. i may not be “built like a runner.” but i will run the course on saturday and i will feel like a runner. no matter what.

here’s to first tries, PRing by default, and 26.2 miles of giving it my all. see you on the flip side.

va beach rock n roll half marathon – race recap

so…i ran a half marathon last weekend! finally, a distance worthy of a race recap! this is nice and long, but i want to make sure i remember it – it was my first 13.1, after all.

pre-race

my dad picked me up at 11:30 am on saturday and we headed for virginia beach. it was a pretty smooth ride with minimal traffic (especially for labor day weekend) and since i rarely see my dad, it was nice to get a few uninterrupted hours to catch up.

our first stop in virginia beach was the expo. we got there around 2:30, got my race number, swag bag, and t-shirt, and decided to do a little shopping. i had my heart set on a new moving comfort sports bra (juno is pretty much the only sports bra out there that i can wear, and moving comfort was one of the sponsors!) and compression socks.

moving comfort let me down (nothing in my size), but i did walk away with a new pair of hot pink compression socks, a tube of strawberry lemonade nuun, and a new nathan’s handheld for the rest of my marathon training. my dad, who never does any impulse buying, also walked away with some new purchases: a new pair of sandals that are pretty much made of insoles, and a pair of nike frees – he’s been wanting to test them out for a while and couldn’t pass up the $50 price tag. i guess i’m an enabler. 🙂 we also got to watch a q & a with jim ryun and frank shorter – which i thought was cool, but my dad thought was even cooler. he’s been running since these guys were big, so he knew everything about them, and i think he really enjoyed getting to hear them talk! so all in all, the expo was fun – very well organized, and so fun to walk around with another running junkie, who also happens to be my dad.

jim ryun and frank shorter – coolest expo i’ve ever been to! 

after the expo, we checked into our hotel, drove the route to the va beach amphitheatre (where we’d be catching our shuttle to the starting line in the morning), and grabbed dinner at ruby tuesday’s. dad’s a vegan, so the salad bar was why we originally decided to go there, but we both ended up getting the spaghetti squash with marinara – and i got to eat both of the cheese biscuits, since they aren’t vegan and neither am i! although considering everything my dad’s told me about how he feels after being vegan for almost five years and now mostly gluten-free for about six months, he may be on to something…

after dinner, we walked to the top of mount trashmore (i don’t know who comes up with these names…) and looked around, and then headed back to the hotel. i was in bed by 9:15, but i could. not. sleep. i tossed and turned and looked at the clock every 15 minutes. i was worried about my finish time: i’d predicted a 2:10 when i signed up, but was pretty sure i’d be closer to 2:30, and wondered which corral i should join. i was worried about my stomach – well, less my stomach, and more whether or not i’d be able to take advantage of the pre-race porta-potties…instead of the during-the-race ones. i was worried about cramping up, having to walk, if i’d eaten enough at dinner, if i’d eaten too much at dinner, if the justin’s almond butter that i packed would be ok (instead of my usual peanut butter)…pretty much, if you could think of it, i was worried about it. i checked the clock for the last time at 1:05…and next thing i knew, both my alarms were going off: it was 4:45 am and it was race day!

race day

4:45 is just too early to be up, in my opinion. but since i’d laid everything out the night before, dad and i were out of the hotel, caffeinated, and on our way to the amphitheatre by 5:15. i have to give props to the rock n roll peeps here: they are SO ORGANIZED. we parked the car, joined the line, and within five minutes were on a bus to the start line. awesome. granted, our bus stalled out three times on twenty minute ride, but it got us there with plenty of time to spare – and that’s really all that matters.

order of business upon arriving at the convention center:

1. porta-potty: short line. the inside smelled like cigarette smoke. sneaking cigarettes before a half? smart.

i look way too happy considering the fact that a) it’s still dark out and b) i’m in line for a porta potty

1. bag check: easiest. thing. ever. again, points for organization

2. pick a corral: i went with 11, my lucky number. behind my scheduled corral, but in front of the walkers.

3. say good-bye to dad: he left at about 6:30 to make his way to mile 3, his first scheduled cheering spot.

i found a spot in the middle of the corral and played the waiting game. 20 minutes…10 minutes…5 minutes…then the national anthem, a few words of wisdom from frank shorter, and the elites were off. and 15 minutes later, corral 11 was too.

miles 1-5

my original “optimistic” race plan had been: first two miles at 11:00, 10’s through the middle, and pick up the last two at 9:00’s – for an overall average of what i hoped would be close to 10 minute miles. even if that failed, i’d still have just under 20 minutes left to beat my goal of 2:30. i took off at an easy pace, and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other. so imagine my surprise when my garmin beeped at mile 1 and i’d run a 9:27.

i tried to slow down for mile 2…and succeeded in running a 9:39. so i decided that i would run whatever felt good, and if i had to slow down later, so be it.

i saw my dad at mile 3, which put an extra pep in my step. dad’s only seen me race once before – a 10k – and since he’s a runner too, it was so exciting to have him there. at mile 4, the elites – including ryan hall! – passed us going the other way (they were at mile 11 – nope, i don’t feel inadequate or anything). it was still a little cloudy and surprisingly cool, so the first few miles went quickly.

mile 1: 9:27

mile 2: 9:39

mile 3: 9:26

mile 4: 9:31

mile 5: 9:18

hi dad! i’m SO HAPPY that i have 10 more miles to go!

showoffs.

miles 6-10

by the time i got to mile 6, my garmin was already reading about .05 ahead of the mile markers. so, even though the chip time didn’t reflect it, i actually ran the fastest “official” 10k of my life on sunday – a 58:22. and this was in the middle of a half marathon! i absolutely could not believe it, and was terrified that i was going to burn out. but no – i just kept chugging along. (and as a side note, maybe it’s time for me to revisit the 10k distance…)

this is the part where i zoned out. i remember running, i remember looking at the people around me, i remember checking my garmin and seeing either a 9:26 or a 9:27 average pace. in race reports, i’d read about how “miserable” camp pendleton was, but i didn’t even realize where camp pendleton had been until after the race. nothing felt miserable – it just felt pretty steady.

mile 6: 9:16

mile 7: 9:21

mile 8: 9:22

mile 9: 9:24

mile 10: 9:31

not miserable. pretty happy, actually. also, i need a tan.

miles 11-13.1

the last portion of the course was so much fun. there were spectators everywhere – with ice pops, with sprinklers or hoses, with cups of water. they were wonderful. there was one hill just before mile 12, and i let myself slow down a little bit because i wanted to give the run to the finish my all. this resulted in my slowest mile: a 9:54. but still, it was under a 10.

i picked it up on the downhill, turned two more corners, and then i was on the boardwalk. my dad was standing right there, but we somehow missed each other. it was just under a mile down the boardwalk, people cheering with every step i took, and i looked down at my watch and realized i was going to finish faster than i’d realized. much faster.

i kicked it into gear at 20k and crossed the finish line in 2:05:19 chip time (2:05:23 garmin time). according to my garmin, i’d run 13.27 miles – a 9:27 pace. according to the official results, it was a 9:30, but either way, i’m thrilled.

mile 11: 9:27

mile 12: 9:54

mile 13: 9:27

.1 (.27 per garmin): 8:38 pace

post-race

again, rock n roll was a machine. after crossing the finish line, i received (in order): a water, a bottle of cytomax, a banana, an ice cold towel, a pack of fruit gummies, two snickers marathon bars, my medal, and a beer. i picked up my bag, met up with my dad, stretched out on the grass, and put on my brand new compression socks. i had text messages from my mom, who had signed up for runner tracking and was sending me messages as she got updates on my progress during the race: “you are gaining speed! 59:11 at 6.2” and, “belly. you are running 9:30s in a half marathon. at mile 10!” so cute. and then we were back on the road, and once we arrived back in the ville i spent the rest of the day on my couch, cuddling with pcakes and refusing to take off my medal or my hot pink socks. then my hubby brought me “happy race day” red velvet cake. win.

hey look! i have a medal!  and a free bottle of citrus cytomax!

it was such a fun race, and it was an overall wonderful experience, especially for my first half. it’s always a good feeling to blow your goal out of the water. i’m also now much more confident about my training plan, since sunday proved to me that it does, in fact, work.  which is awesome and necessary, because, well – see you in 65 days, 26.2.

10 miles and gooey brownie.

there are certain things i love about running at different times of the day.

when i run in the morning, i love heading into work knowing that while other people are settling in at their desks, drinking their coffee and wiping away the last sleepy seeds from their eyes, i am already bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, with a double-digit run under my belt. that their hair is still wet because they pressed snooze a few too many times, but my hair is wet because i chose my running shoes over my hair dryer. i love the energy i have during the day, and the free time i have in the evening.

but when i run at night, it’s all about the wind down. i come home, i stretch, i hydrate, i stretch some more, i take a long (really long) hot shower, and then i relax on the couch, knowing that i will absolutely sleep well when i go to bed (that’s assuming, of course, that i make it to my bed before i fall asleep – i have been known to pass out on the couch after longer runs).

after getting sick this weekend, my original plan was to run monday morning. however, i forgot to factor in a little thing called sunrise. it doesn’t get light out until at least 6:15, and i have to be at my desk no later than 8:30, so anything longer than 6 miles would have been way too rushed.

so instead, i ran after work. i wasn’t really looking forward to it, but i laced up my shoes and headed out the door as soon as i got home. i had enough time to do 10 miles – which i covered in 1:38:28. a 9:50 pace. a sub-10:00/mile average for a double digit run is pretty kickass for me, especially on charlottesville’s hills. this run was exactly what i needed to feel more confident about sunday’s half marathon, so now it’s just two shorter runs this week and then race day!

and maybe the best part about the monday night run? i was able to talk hubby into taking me to arch’s. what better way to refuel than with fro yo?

 frozen yogurt: absolutely a food group.

a word to the wise: i switched up my usual gooey brownie topping for twix pieces tonight, and it was a mistake. the caramel froze and instead of being chewy or crunchy or whatever you’d expect a candy bar to be, it was rock solid. i think i might have broken a tooth. don’t worry, i learned my lesson and will never cheat on my gooey brownie again.

things i want to know: what’s your favorite time of day to run? what’s your favorite fro yo topping?

sundays are for recovering.

well, we’re a rough bunch over here. i by “we,” i mean me and puppycakes.

i don’t know what happened, but somehow i’m sick. i slept for 12 hours both nights this weekend without even trying, and i gave up on my 12 mile run yesterday after 5 miles when a) i couldn’t get my heart rate below 185, even when i was running 11 minute miles, and b) i puked up my pre-run snickers. cool. i have NO idea what’s wrong with me, but considering this is the first time i’ve slept this much in a REALLY long time, i’m going to say i need a little break. my stomach still feels a little off today, so i’m going to try the 12 again tomorrow morning before work and then take it pretty easy for the rest of the week since i’m running a half marathon next sunday.

poor pcakes got neutered last week and he’s having a pretty rough time of it. i can’t imagine having your balls cut off is a very fun experience. today is day 5 and he’s clearly still in a lot of pain, so i’m calling the vet in the morning for more pain medication and in the meantime, i’m doing the best i can to baby him.

so, we will be recovering together by spending the rest of our weekend lounging on the porch, browsing for new duvet covers (i think pcakes likes the yellow and grey combo) and staring at the (bright blue) sky. wow, irene. you sure were vicious here in virginia…

enjoy the rest of your weekend!

confessions.

i got a food processor and a kitchenaid stand mixer as wedding presents, but until we moved at the beginning of august, both were still in their boxes under our dining room table. our kitchen just wasn’t big enough to store them. and now that we’ve moved, they’re in the designated “appliance” cabinet…still in their boxes. i will use them soon. i promise.

 

sometimes i eat protein bars with a long list of ingredients i can’t pronounce. they taste like candy bars. i enjoy them.

 

at any given time, i have at least one ‘nsync song on my long run playlist. do i also need to confess that i put it on repeat when i hit a rough spot?

 

i should probably confess to the justin beiber, too, huh?

 

i shop at harris teeter for the free sugar cookies. they taste better because they are free. (i also enjoy free cone day, free slurpee day, and free samples at costco. is there a trend emerging here?)

 

in regards to running clothes: my socks never match, i only have one sports bra that currently fits, and i use A LOT of febreze.

 

that’s right. i’m the smelly kid. let’s be friends.

a lesson in what not to do – running and otherwise.

1. Miss the sidewalk.

 

2. Insist on continuing your run after missing the sidewalk. It won’t work. “I’m fine” doesn’t do much in the way of convincing when you have little rivulets of blood all down your shin. Your running buddy will yell at you, take you back to her apartment, and cover you with Neosporin and band-aids.

3. Wear jeans to work on casual day. You should know better. And heading home at 9 am to change shouldn’t be any surprise.

4. During an earthquake, head immediately down the stairs, through the glass-filled atrium of your building, and outside, where you proceed to stand with all your coworkers veryveryvery close to the building. According to FEMA, we’re all idiots.

5. Go to the J.Crew warehouse sale intending only to buy clothes for your significant other. You will walk out of there with another pair of pants, another sweater, the cutest pair of flats you’ve ever seen, and a very, VERY sad bank account.

5a. Sidenote: it is an especially bad idea to do the above when you already went to the J.Crew warehouse sale and proceeded to spend $400 on yourself because it was your birthday and hey – you’re only 24 once. For the record, the same excuse works when you want to eat 3 birthday cupcakes instead of just one.

(But really – how did you miss those flats the first time??)

6. Decide that because you ran three miles at an 8:00 min/mile pace, a) your Kinvaras are magic and b) you are a badass and you will qualify for Boston. Chances are, you won’t be able to keep that up for 23.2 more miles. Sorry.

7. Dinner:

Oh wait. That’s a total do.

chugging along

yesterday i had to run 11 miles.

i set my alarm for 6.

i snoozed it.

and i snoozed it again, and again.

i finally got out of bed at 8.

no big deal, i thought. it’s been cool lately.

(note: cool is relative. we’re talking less than 90 degrees and probably less than 90% humidity.)

so i took my time: ate a bagel. drank some water. added some songs to my ipod. debated which sneakers to wear for a good 10 minutes. searched and searched) for a tiny ziploc bag for my shot blocks.

i finally left for my run at 9:15. and as soon as i did, i knew i’d made a mistake. it was HOT.

so, since i knew i’d screwed that up, and since it was going to be a crappy run regardless, i decided to take advantage and do something i never ever do: follow the rules.

i like to think i’m a lot faster than i actually am. i’m not fast. i’m actually pretty slow. but i start out fast — and then end up dying about a mile or two in.

my training plan for the richmond marathon has me running my long runs at an 11:00-11:15 min/mile, 45-60 seconds slower per mile than my planned marathon pace. so yesterday, i decided to actually try to do that.

11 miles, 1:59:52. 10:54 min/mile.

sure, it was hot. and sure, i felt reaaaally slow, but when i was done i felt like i could have kept running.

the peace sign is for 11. and no, i'm clearly not above posting shweaty mirror pictures. you are jealous.

 

now i just need to run 15.2 more. no big deal.