I haven’t written much about my running and working out lately, have I?  That doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing it, it just means I haven’t felt much like writing too much about it.  First off, because I feel like I’m terrible at it right now!  I took two weeks off running over the honeymoon, and only lifted some weights on the cruise.  I’ve gained five pounds since the wedding (and 8 to 10 since Thanksgiving) so I feel clunky and out of sorts.  Basically I haven’t been terribly happy with my fitness or my body…but I’m working towards changing that now.  I’m giving myself a month to get back to where I want to be, which is plenty to get back on track.

One fun thing I did for my running this year was join a team.  It’s a team for women called Team Tough Chik.  This way when I feel lousy about myself I have some support, and the team is for runners and athletes of all levels (including clunky, like me!) Oh, and there is a team shirt involved which I don’t have yet but will.  And free stuff!

I’m currently officially training for the Go! St Louis Half Marathon in April, but in between I’m doing a couple of trail races (including the Castlewood Cup), the Alton Half Marathon, and anything else that comes up that somebody else would like to do (friends, always up for suggestions!).  The best way I know to get my butt out the door running is to think of how I want to improve my times on the races. 

Another thing I’ve been working with mentally is the comparison trap.  I’m so guilty of comparing myself to other runners, especially my friends.  I need to remind myself that taking a walk break and then running again is NOT considered a failure.  What’s important is running again, not giving up.  It is okay that I am slower than everybody I know (or it certainly seems that way) because what is important is that I am out there running and improving.  But then somebody will say something (either on purpose or inadvertently) that makes me feel like I’m not a real runner and I feel bad about myself all over again. 

Team Tough Chik helps with that!  We have a facebook group too, and it’s not all gross nauseating inspiring stuff, but sometimes it’s just nice to know that other people feel like you do. 

Losing a few pounds will help too…I finally broke down and bought two new pairs of pants to wear in the meantime until I fit back into my jeans.  I talked with another friend who got married six weeks before we did and she said she’s gained 5 pounds too—which made me feel better, because she doesn’t look it, and because I felt like perhaps that was normal.  Darn you, cruise food!

I have to remember when I run, that I need to do it my way, not somebody else’s way.  That’s what will help me run better and happier!

Oh, and in the air! 

I had originally planned to run the 12k with Vanessa, but a few days beforehand she realized she had a rehearsal and needed to be done sooner.  She had never run as far as 12k before and had been looking forward to the challenge, so we said, well, we’ll just have to shoot for a fast 5k as the new challenge.

Little did we know how true that would be!  Another friend, Carrie, decided to run the race as well.  Here we are at the beginning (sorry, all the pictures are terrible, my phone must have been dirty plus the sun glare didn’t help…)

I thought Vanessa was taller than that?  Who knows.

Anyway, we followed the crowd to get lined up for the race and then it turned out we were all lined up in the wrong place and had to move—we really had no idea what was happening as we couldn’t really hear the bullhorn.  Turns out inadvertently we were lined up now at the very front of the race…there were a couple guys crouched down, ready to race and then us and some other women who were panicked as they also realized they were in the front of a 800 person race.  Oops.  NOT our fault.

That mean the beginning of the race went fast.  People were definitely passing me, but I was keeping up a 7:30 pace for way too long.  I decided to just go with it and ran about as fast as I could, “relaxing” into about 9:30. (This is crazy fast for me.)  We basically just looped around Tower Grove Park, my usual stomping area, so it was both good and bad that I knew exactly where we were at all times—good because I knew where the hills were, bad because I knew exactly how much farther there was.  I was breathing hard the entire time (the rest of the day my throat felt sore and raspy!) and on the verge of vomiting for much of the time.  I suppose that’s what you have to do to PR.

After about 2 miles I thought my legs were dying (and my lungs but that was old news at this point.)  I thought if I could just hang on I would most definitely PR (my goal was to break 30 minutes, of course!) I really wanted to just lie down but I kept running.  Finally the finish line was in sight and I heard Vanessa yelling.  The clock was under 29 minutes and I sprinted as fast as I could (really not fast at all…) and got in at 28:55.  MONSTER personal record.  (Previous PR was 30:40.)

My garmin watch says I did mile 1 in 8:46, mile 2 in 9:34, and mile 3 in 9:42.  I suppose mile 4 would have taken about an hour, as I needed to lie down right afterwards.

We wore the shirts—they are great and super soft!

I’m awkwardly trying to avoid sweating all over Vanessa.

Oh, and Carrie won her age group!  She was super speedy.  Vanessa had a PR as well—overall it was a super successful day.

(the last 5k Vanessa and I did together, mainly because I think this post needs some color!)

So what did I learn from this race?  Firstly that if I really push myself I’ll feel like dying and throwing up but then really awesome afterwards, oh, and that I can indeed run faster than I like to.  Would I have been able to keep that pace up for much longer?  Absolutely not.  But I shouldn’t be afraid of sub-10 minute miles anymore.

February 25, 2012

The next big adventure– A trail race!  This from the girl (woman?) who is always cold in the winter and doesn’t like being dirty.  I’m hoping my partners in crime (that would be Jen and Vanessa) sign up too.  Either way, I’ll be running in the woods, in February.  At least there won’t be ticks, right? 

Who’s joining us?  (Or me, really, it might just be me. )

How hard will this be?  Trail running advice? 

I invited my sister Leslie to recap her recent race experience.  I hope you enjoy reading about it!  Also if you like, go to the Riverfront Times poll to vote for my blog for best personal blog!!

Hi, its Leslie, Hannah’s sister!  I’m sure for all of you dedicated blog readers and family members, I need no introduction :p

I first met Hannah when we were seated at the same table for a wedding and after a bit of conversation, we discovered that we had the same mother and father. (Or was it when we were seated together for dinner on a Mexican cruise? There was some event where people were asking how we met and we thought it was hilarious.)

Anyway, Hannah mentioned it and I thought it might be fun if I did a guest post of a recap of my recent half-marathon.  I’m not quite as new to running as Hannah, but I only started running more seriously in the fall of 2009 when I decided to train for the 2010 PF Chang’s Rock and Roll Half-Marathon in Phoenix.

After that race, I took some time off, then decided to run the full marathon the next year, when Hannah came to Phoenix to do the half.   Anyway, all this to say that when I signed up for the Runner’s Den Fiesta Bowl Half-Marathon in Scottsdale, it was only my second.  I am mid-training to do the full marathon again in January, so I was looking forward to this race, as it would be shorter than my long training runs have been lately!

But then, it got cold.  And I mean Phoenix cold, so not really.  But the overnight low on Saturday was under 40!  So I was just a little worried about what to wear, since its always tricky to stay warm at the start line, but not too warm for the race.  Unfortunately I didn’t have my awesome paper jacket that I had at last year’s marathon!

I decided upon my new Adidas running tights, a tanktop, a longsleeved black REI shirt, and my new awesome blue shoes. 

(Don’t mind the cat)

Peter (my fiance) had graciously offered to drive me to the race even though it started quite early (7:30 am) so I was able to wear an extra jacket and my ear warmers as we waited for the start, and then I handed him all this bright pink clothing to carry around.  Luckily he had brought a man bag, so I think he was able to tuck it away to avoid embarrassment.  I had recently run a 10K and had a time I was very happy with (51:17) and I had not listened to my ipod and concentrated on keeping my pace.  So I considered that, but luckily I thought better and brought it.  I usually listen to pop music during a race though, instead of podcasts or classical pieces, which I do during training runs.

The race started out well, it was too small for corrals, so I started about 30-45 seconds or so after the official gun went off.  The route went up Scottsdale Road, so it was quite straight for awhile.  And flat, which is good, since there aren’t many hills to train on near where I live.  I was feeling good, and had decided that my goal was 1:57 or :58, so I needed to keep a 9 minute mile pace.  My previous half-marathon time was 2:03.  This race was smaller so I didn’t have to weave around as many people as you have to in the Rock and Roll one!  After 4 miles, I realized I was holding an 8:30 pace, so I started revising my goals.  The only annoying things happening were this guy near me who had change jangling around in his pockets as he ran (Seriously, what is that? Was he planning to stop if he saw a soda machine? Fill someone’s parking meter?) and also all the men were stopping to pee in the large hedge that lined the side of the road.  Somewhere around this point, Peter drove by in his car with the window down and yelled “go Leslie!” or something to that effect!

I realized I was gaining on the person holding the 1:52 pacing sign, and I passed him around mile 5.  And I realized I knew who it was, Norm Janoff, who runs this Tuesday night track workout that some friends of mine go to!  He also attends symphony events and concerts.  I still get the emails but lately I always have frisbee on Tuesday nights.  Anyway, so around mile 6.5, I decided to go ahead and have something to eat to keep my energy up.  I had brought part of a packet of GU Chomps that would fit in my back pocket, since they’re my favorite for long runs lately.

Over the next few miles, I saw Peter several times, he was following the course in his car and getting out to cheer me on.  He told me he had seen another violist from the Phoenix Symphony, Karen Bea go by.  She is a big runner/triathlete/ironwoman, so I felt good that I was not too far behind her today!

I had a few more of my Chomps around mile 9.  I was only drinking water from the stations because the GU brew they were handing out isn’t something I usually drink while running, so I didn’t want to risk it upsetting my stomach.  One station I messed up though, and missed the water. I was still sticking to around an 8:30 pace and so I hit the mile 10 marker in around 1:25.  For the last 3-4 miles the course followed a bike pathway, which was scenic and nice, but meant that it had a little more up and down because the path would go down for an underpass and then inevitably have to come up again.  Would have been better on a bike, where your momentum could carry you back up the hill!   I was feeling not as strong as this point, but trying to keep my pace.  I had been hoping to have enough juice left to try for closer to 8:00 minute miles for the last one or two, but it wasn’t really happening.

Finally when I could see the balloons at the finish line, I tried to sprint the last bit to the finish.  I knew Peter was going to be there, but the sun was in my eyes and I never saw him. He had missed me at the finish line for last year’s marathon, so it was nice that this was a smaller race and he had no trouble getting there and finding me.  He got a couple shots of me about to cross the finish line.  You can see the official clock time, but my time was 1:51:35.  The volunteers didn’t put the medals over our necks for us, like they did at the PF Chang’s, so it didn’t feel quite as triumphant.

So, I was 17th in my division (females 30-34) and 375th overall.   There were around 1000 total finishers. Clearly, I almost won.

After the race and a shower, Peter and I went out to brunch/lunch with a friend and I had an amazing eggs benedict with lobster cake (like crab cake, not chocolate cake) and tarragon hollandaise.  I would have taken a picture, but didn’t know I was going to be blogging!  Then we had to go play a Holiday Pops concert at 2:00.

Anyway, its been fun sharing my race recap with you.  I enjoy when people do really detailed race recaps, so sorry if this was too much information!

I wanted to elaborate just a wee bit more on yesterday’s turkey trot.  (Here’s my Thanksgiving post, such a wonderful day!)

Jen and I decided to run the Kirkwood/Webster Groves Turkey Day Run.  There was a 3 mile and 6 mile option.  The 3 mile started at 7:30, the 6 at 8:10.  The odd thing was that the website said that “walkers should do the 3 mile option, as there would be no course support after 9 am.”  Um, okay.  We’re not walkers, but that doesn’t mean we can run 6 miles in 50 minutes.  We figured, worst case, we’ll finish the race without support.  The main goal was to get a great run in before eating a huge dinner.

We got a nice running hat for signing up!  It’s a nice change (again) from a shirt.

Anyway, it was easy to find parking near the start.  We arrived right after the 3 mile race started, and we got to watch the winners come through.  The announcer was a little annoying as he implied that taking 20 minutes to run 3 miles was SLOW…but that’s okay.

The course was incredibly hilly.  It was always going up a hill or down a hill and rarely was the course flat for any period of time.  It was an out and back, for the most part, so every time we ran down a hill we knew we’d have to run back up.  Jen and I ran together for most of the race until perhaps the last 1/2 mile when she decided to go on ahead.  I kicked it up a notch as well and passed a bunch of people at the end.  Maybe we should have been running a little faster throughout, but my legs were so tired.

One note:  at one point we turned around and saw there was perhaps 10 to 20 people behind us, followed by a cop car, driving slowly with it’s sirens on.  We thought that must be the end of course support…and perhaps the race as well?  I’ve never been so near the end of a race!  I guess the super slow people ran the 3 mile.

I finished in 1:04:41.  (That’s the correct time, not the earlier one.  Must have been tired!).  I was 1046 out of 1123, so I’m thinking that cop car couldn’t have been behind everyone, I didn’t think there were that many folks behind me.  I don’t know though, maybe I passed a ton of people at the end?

On the way home we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts to use the bathroom and we may have bought a few donuts.  Oops 😉

Note on the Marathon Relay from last weekend:  The official time was 3:50:25!  We were in 66th place out of 86.  Not last either…and a better marathon time than our fastest runner had run on her own.

A few weeks (months?) ago Jen and I decided to run the St Louis Track Club Marathon Relay.  We needed four team members, and it was set up so each person ran two legs of the relay.  The course was approximately 3.25 miles.  We enlisted Vanessa as well, and then I put a call out on my blog for volunteers.  Natalie from The Sweets Life was first to respond and we had our team!

We weren’t sure what to expect from this race.  We had to make up a team name (team name:  Valkyries) and originally thought we might do some sort of costume/hat/matching shirts.  But life got busy, and then the forecast called for rain, and that just sort of fell by the wayside. 

Here’s how it ended up working: 

I got there early to check in, pick up numbers, and our gloves (we got four pairs of gloves rather than shirts, a nice change in my opinion.)  I was able to park really near the tent for pickup and near what I assumed was the start line/relay exchange line.  It was COLD so after pick up I went back to the car to warm up.  We met up with Natalie (and eventually Vanessa, who had a little trouble getting there…) and the race started promptly at 8.  Jen went first.  It was a small race, probably 75 teams?  I am simply estimating here.

I went second (and would be followed by Natalie, then Vanessa, and then we’d eat repeat.)  The relay pass seemed pretty casual, and the faster teams were doing sort of a high five (no baton or anything) so we decided to go with that.

I love that running is a time you can legitimately wear leggings as pants.

The weird thing about the relay is that rather than running with your friends, you are hanging out with them and then running alone.

The course actually headed out one way and then after about 1/4 mile or less does a loop back, so you crossed over the line again before going about another 1.5 miles, (past the Muny, the visitor’s center, to the road at the bottom of Art Hill, then you turn around and head back.)   In between hand offs we got snacks at the tent and hung out in the car, generally with the heat on.  Some teams had brought tents, one team was even grilling!  But it was cold and almost raining (though luckily it basically held off) so we were pretty happy for the heat of the car.

I didn’t wear my fancy garmin watch so I just ran by feel.  I tried to run the first leg pretty easily, where I felt I was just on the edge of losing my breath the whole time but not breathing too hard.

The hand off to Natalie—she was a speedy one!  Jen finished in approximately 33 to 35 minutes as did I (we didn’t have our exact times for the splits, just what we saw when we remembered to look at the clock.)  Natalie was closer to 23 minutes, and then Vanessa was probably around 30 minutes?  Or less?

Vanessa was wearing a jersey that said "Walkyries."  She was the most in costume.

Jen was not thrilled to run again.  I think that was the toughest part for us all—we felt like we had already run and didn’t want to go again!  I made a joke about turning it into a half-marathon relay.

I like this picture because we are seemingly heading in the wrong directions.  Oops.

I ran the second as hard as I could.  I felt out of the breath the entire time.  I also felt pretty tired, thought I might actually be running super slow even though I felt really speedy.  I think it ended up being about 32 or 33 minutes, which was a great pace for me.

The last hand off!  Note how Natalie is completely in the air!  She rocks.

We told Vanessa we were all leaving at 4 hours so she needed to be done by then.   I think that gave her just under 35 minutes to finish.  No problem!

I’m not sure our exact finishing time (maybe it’ll be posted at some point) but it was between 3:55 and 3:56.  What a fantastic team!

I’m not in love with this picture but it was better than the alternative choices.  All in all it was a fun morning, fun race, with great teammates.  I would absolutely do another relay in the future.