Half training...Weeks 1-3

Now that I've officially decided to run a half marathon in January, it's time to talk training! Last Spring I did a a 10K training program on my Nike Plus app, and I had originally intended to start their half training program as well. However, when I looked up what the actual program entailed, I knew I was going to have a hard time fitting it to my schedule. For one, the first week had all weekday runs, Monday through Friday. Now, I can usually get in a few mid-week runs, but not five. And I don't really like running that many days back to back. I googled a few other training plans, got some suggestions from friends, but in the end I decided to just put together a training schedule that fits my schedule. Basically I just altered my usual running schedule by adding a few miles to each of my weekly runs. Simple enough. Most training plans usually last about twelve weeks, but since I finished my last 10K exactly fourteen weeks out, mine is fourteen weeks long.

Here's what my first three weeks of training looked like:

Week 1
Mon. Rest day (I had just raced a 10K so I took some time off afterward.)
Tues. Rest day (I'm off to a good start!)
Wed. 5 miles - track
Thurs. 4 miles - treadmill
Fri. Cross train
Sat. 8 miles - road
Sun. REST!
Total for week 1 - 17 miles

That eight miler was the longest distance I've ever run outdoors (not on the treadmill). That run was a great morale booster for me and made me feel confident about my decision. Also, based on my pace for that run, I adjusted my goals to not just run a half marathon, but to finish sub-two hours. That means from now on I'll be aiming for the magic-sub-two hour pace for all my training runs: 9:09 and under. AHHH!

I ran an out-and-back for my eight miler, so I stopped at the four mile mark to take a picture to commemorate how far I'd run!

Week 2:
Mon. 5 miles - treadmill
Tues. Cross train
Wed. 4 miles - treadmill
Thurs. 5 miles - treadmill
Fri. Cross train
Sat. 7 miles - road
Sun. Rest
Total week 2 miles - 21 miles

So yeah, I run a lot on the treadmill. It's just more convenient to me on weekdays. Basically, as soon as Matthew gets home from work anywhere between four and five, I hustle down to our apartment gym and run. I have to shower and cook dinner as soon as walk in the door, but it's worth it. I have to mention that previously I'd been running on a treadmill at the gym that may or may not be older than I am. In fact, when I begin my training I was pretty certain that I would be killing that treadmill very soon with my sudden increase in mileage. Now, I'm not positive that I'm the only one who uses this treadmill, but I've never seen another soul on it. Well, lo and behold, when I visited the gym for the first time since I began my training I found a little surprise waiting for me...

Yup, that's a brand-new treadmill. I've enjoyed putting some miles on her over the past few weeks. I'm in love! And just to keep it honest, my long outdoor run on that Saturday sucked! It was cold, about 40 degrees, and I hated every mile. It happens!

Week 3 :

Mon. - 5 miles - treadmill

Tues. - Cross train

Wed. - 6 miles - track

Thurs. - 5 miles - treadmill

Fri. - Cross train

Sat. 9 miles - treadmill

Sun. Rest

Week 3 total: 25

Monthly total for October: 81 miles

Week three was not a bad week; at least my mileage was good. My Saturday long run was a bit of a bummer again. It was colder than cold and insanely windy so I wussed out and ran on the treadmill. The good news is, I've also started running on the track once mid-week. I really like track runs, so I always look forward to just cruising for a few miles. I run out on a sidewalk off a fairly busy road on Saturdays and it's quite hilly as well. Which is why I love the track, it's flat!!

Hopefully this weekend's long run will go better for me. I need to suck it up and get used to the weather. Since my race is on January 17th, it's guaranteed to be a cold one!

This is me running the Museum of Aviation 5K this past January, the same race I'll be running the half distance at next year. It was 22 degrees that day!

So, to sum up: Training is going well and I'm enjoying the new challenge of running more miles. With my current schedule I'll be on track to run 100 miles in November, which is completely crazy. Alas, I'll be training all through the holidays which should be interesting. We're going out of town the week of Thanksgiving so it will be a challenge to log miles that week, even though I'm already planning on dragging my dad along for one of my long runs! 

Blue Mountain Beach 10K and a funny coincidence...

Okay folks, it's that time again. I raced, so I'm blogging. Because I'm consistent annoying like that! As you might know, this would be my third 10K. My first was this past March, the Cherry Blossom Road Race, and being my first, I set my PR at 52:30. I guess I didn't realize at the time what a great time that was for my first 10K, because my next was awful. The infamous Labor Day Road Race, where I ran a slow 56:49. (See below.)

So for this 10K I was in it for a little redemption! It didn't help my summer races at all that I was dealing with some annoying knee pain. Now I'm back at 100% and running as fast as I was before the summer!

Last year we went to PCB for Columbus Day weekend for several reasons. One: the Pirate Festival for the kids. Two: great race weekend. Three: it's actually still warm enough to swim in the gulf in October. Well, last year it was a three-day weekend for Matthew. Last year I ran the Run for the Treasure 5K with my dad (who ran the 10K) so this year we mixed it up and ran the Blue Mountain Beach 10K. They also host a half-marathon simultaneously and originally it was my plan to train for that. This was before I realized just how hard it is running in the South in summer, and before I screwed up my knee. Around June I realized that half just wouldn't be in the cards for me in October. Instead I've been working on 10K training and getting my knee back to normal.

Did I mention as soon as my dad registered us both for the race we found out Matthew did not get Columbus Day off? Yeah, so that meant driving down Friday after he got off work, and then driving home Sunday after the race. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but we survived.

The race was great, as soon as we arrived and started getting warmed up I was feeling it. And by "it" I mean I knew it was going to be a great run. Sometimes at races I feel nauseous and scared, but other times I just feel pumped to start running. This was one of those races. We lined up with all the halfers and it was time to run! My dad shot ahead of me like he always does. I always try to stay within eyesight of him, but this race turned quite a few times right away so I quickly lost sight of him, even though I wasn't far behind. It was a little hot and humid, about 70 degrees and 90 percent humidity, but that's almost cool compared to what I've been running in. My first mile was fantastic (8:23) and my second was even better (8:12), by the 5K turnaround I was averaging 8:18, so I knew I had a PR coming.

Then something weird happened, I realized the course was going to be short and that my Nike app wouldn't log it as a PR for me. (I know, I know, super OCD.) So as I'm sprinting for the finish, about to cross right around 51 minutes I decide to run through to get that extra .10 miles. The funny thing was, my dad saw me and I called out to him, "It's short!" thinking he would understand why I was running through. Did I mention the people running the half were running through to run another out and back in that direction? Yeah, they were and when I finally hit 6.22 on GPS and peeled off I realized that I could have easily kept running. Now, I wouldn't have been able to maintain my 10K pace (the woman running the half who was in front of me went on to win the the half for the women!), but I think I had a few more miles left in me. That's never happened before. Usually after a race I'm wiped and ready to quit, but I wasn't this time. Which made me realize something very obvious: it's time to run a half-marathon!!

Right after the race. They had finisher's medals for the 10K!

Race stats:

Official time: 51:36 (8:19)

Age group: 1st out of 11 

Overall: 13th out of 86 (I was also the fourth female finisher!)

Dad won his age group too, so we brought home FOUR medals.

So, long story short, I'm running a half on January 17th, 2015!

(And I just realized I forgot to say what "funny coincidence" I was talking about in the title. Just this little blog post I wrote almost exactly a year ago. I had only run two 5Ks at that time. Now I've run 12 and 3 10Ks.)

Summer Races

Despite the fact that I fully intended to take most of the summer off from running, I ended up running three races this summer.

The first race I ran was part of the Chick Fil A Connect Series. My dad ran the Macon race on Memorial Day while they were here visiting us. I didn't run because Matthew and I had tickets to the Braves game that day. A couple days before the race, one of my friends (and my hairstylist) convinced me to run the Chick Fil A 5K. I really wanted to do the 10K, but wasn't trained and ready for one. So 5K it was! Mostly I agreed to go ahead and run this race because it was a similar route to my 5K PR race. I knew it would be relatively flat and simple. The weather that morning was dreary and about 70 degrees, but high humidity! Not too bad for early June.

I only run with other fast runners. We both won our age groups that morning!

This is me avoiding getting my picture taken with the giant cows.

I'd run a Chick Fil A race again in a heartbeat. They give you tons of good coupons and there's always fun stuff for the whole family after the race!

Race Stats:

Official time: 25:02 (8:05 avg - technically a PR for a full 5K since my last PR was on a short course.)

Age group: 1st out of 32

Overall: 36th out of 275

Again, with no real plans to race anymore during the summer, I got talked into yet another race while I was down in Florida visiting my parents. My dad signed us both up for a 6K trail run. I've never done a trail run, but figured it couldn't be that much harder than a regular race on concrete. While that turned out to be true, what we didn't consider is what the temperature would be like in late June in Florida! That  morning turned out to be a hot, sticky 80 degrees with yet even more ridiculous humidity. Even before the race started, I wasn't feeling good about my chances.

That's me in the yellow shorts with the grey shirt. The girl next to me won the race, she was a beast! And my dad is next to her.

Well, I was right to be concerned because about halfway in I knew this wasn't going to be a fun race. And at about the three mile mark (I think a 6K comes out to about 3.6 miles) I started feeling super awful and dehydrated. There was only one water station, and that just wasn't enough that day. So I did something I've never done in a race before: I walked. Probably for only about thirty seconds, but it was enough to make me feel discouraged. When I finally got moving again I managed to convince myself that I would cross the finish line, even if I had to crawl to get there! Also, it was a loop back in the trails so I wasn't even sure how I would get back to the start/finish if I didn't go ahead and run. Finally I reached the finish line, where I guzzled about a gallon of water and tried not to pass out. Dehydration is no joke!

We both managed to pull off age group wins, despite the heat.

After this race I swore I wouldn't race again in high temps, so I didn't do a single race in July-August.

Race stats:
Official time: 32:47 (8:48 avg)
Age group: 1st out of 6
Overall: 19th out of 76

And that brings us up to my most recent race, the Macon Labor Day Road Race. I had just started racing this time last year, so I missed out on my chance to run this race. I had no idea it was such a huge production here in Macon. This time I was the one doing the convincing and got both my dad, and my running buddy Elizabeth to sign up for the 10K. Let me start by saying this race was a big challenge for me. Not only was I coming off two months of not racing, I also have been struggling with some chronic knee pain for the past eight weeks. Though it's finally under control I was nervous about how healthy I would be on race day. For this race I trained on the track at Matthew's school, running 25 laps every Saturday hoping to acclimate myself to the Georgia heat and humidity.

For this race, you not only have a chance to win in your age group, but you can also compete in a team event. Dad and I signed up for the "parent - child" category. Our team name: Positive Splits!

Fortuatnely by race day  my knee was finally feeling 100% and just in time, too. We drove out to the course route, which was a point to point across Macon, and took note of the several large hills throughout the course. Since I knew heat was going to be a huge factor, I drank way more water than usual, determined not to be fighting dehydration like I did on my last race. This race was already a late start, at 8:30, and we were delayed about another ten minutes after that for some reason. By that time it was already at least 75 degrees, and 100% humidity! I started off slow, because I knew I was going to have to conserve energy to make it through six miles in the heat. I was glad I made a mental note to myself where the big hills were, and the water stations. So I was prepared! I walked/jogged through the water stations to make sure I was drinking enough, which helped a lot. At mile four I hit the last big hill, about a seventy-foot climb and took it nice and slow. After that I knew I was basically home free so I picked up the pace as much as possible and hurried to the finish. I'm so proud of myself for running smart and still managing to finish strong after six brutal miles! My whole family was waiting at the finish line, so I high-fived the kids on my way in.

That's me in the pink shirt on the far left. Yes, I was running, I know I look like I was walking!

Crossing this finish line felt great! I knew it wasn't my best time, but some races are just about surviving! This was definitely one of them. I found out later from Matthew that a couple people collapsed at the finish line.

That is a look of relief if I ever saw one! (and yes, I'm floating again.)

It was so flippin' hot that at the end of the course firefighters had come and opened up a fire hydrant for us to run through, which I did. So I'm soaking wet in my finish photos. At at the finish line they were literally hosing people down. (See photo below.)

We all made it!

Since it wasn't my best time, I didn't win anything and we came up with nothing in the team categories, too. The teams who did place ran ridiculously fast times, so there was nothing we could have done differently. This just wasn't a PR race. Too hilly and way too hot! But it's not always about the bling. Sometimes it's about accomplishing something you never thought you could before. I still had a pretty good time and to come out of it smiling this time is a huge deal to me.

Race stats:

Official time: 56:46 (9:09 avg)

Age group: 6th out of 18

Overall: 212th out of 506

So I'm still chasing that 10K PR. Blue Mountain Beach 10K I'm coming for you!

Battle of Byron race recap...

I know, I know...who recaps a 5K for crying out loud? Apparently I do! Hang in there though, this one's a good story, I promise.

So I know I've said recently that I'm a little over 5Ks. I enjoyed my 10K back in March a lot, and after finally getting my 5K PR in early March as well, I've been telling myself it's time to move on. But I just couldn't resist one last Spring 5K, especially since this one was taking place in the town I live in. Literally around the corner. Plus, I'll be the first admit I'm a little annoyed I haven't been winning many awards lately, and fourth place seems to be my lot in life. I knew this race would be on the small side, giving me an almost guarantee at placing in my age group. And yes, at that point the thought of winning overall female had already crossed my overly-confident mind.

So anyway, Saturday morning I showed up with my little cheering squad in tow. How cute is it that my kids actually like being dragged to a race at seven am on a Saturday? But seriously, they love it. The crowd of runners/walkers was your usual crowd. But like all races there were a few people looking seriously legit. (I don't think I look seriously legit, to be honest.) I mean, dude, there were people wearing compression socks. I mean, is that really a thing? Compression socks for a 5K? Okay, moving on. So the really legit people make me nervous, and I already mentally have calculated that I will probably just win my age group at that's totally cool with me.

Not a pic from this race, but from my last 5K I ran with my dad, only because it's one of my favorites!

I wish I had pictures of this race, someone was taking them, but I've yet to see them anywhere online, because I totally lined up at the very front like a boss (har har). And I started off super fast, too fast, of course, because by the first quarter mile I think about four or five other women passed me. Also, as soon as the race began, we hit a pretty intense downhill slope. Not a problem right? WRONG! It was an out an back, which meant that brutal hill would be almost at the three mile mark. Not only that, the rest of the race was completely up and down the whole way. I seriously thought to myself around the halfway point, "this is the hardest race I've ever run." Also, "there's no way I'm running this course ever again!"

I managed to move myself up to third about a mile in, and I stayed there for a while. The lady in first was quite a bit older than me, and the woman in second was mid-thirties. So again I'm thinking, "I'll get my age group, great!" The hills were so brutal my pace was 9:30 up hill, and around 7:30 in between. The whole final half of the race I stayed in third, about fifteen feet behind the girl in second, and about thirty feet behind the leader.

We're all suffering up that last, brutal hill and I'm literally dying...when the craziest thought enters my head. I'm thirty feet away from taking the lead, and I'm not going for it?!? So I decide to go for it. Remember, we had just come up a huge hill, so finding extra speed seemed impossible. But I go for it anyway. I'm 99% sure they will see me making my move and speed up to deter me, but it doesn't happen. Not only that, from out of no where, a man about my dad's age runs up along beside me, beckons me forward and says, "Let's go, girl."

Now, I'm a pretty solitary runner, but I've never been so happy to see another person in my life. I'm now past the other two women and in first place with less than a quarter of a mile to go. But...but my legs are dead and I'm pretty sure I'm going to puke, pass out or both. (I'm running like a 7:25 for crying out loud!) I take my headphones out and my running buddy keeps coaching me, saying things like, "Don't look back. Pick you head up. Keep going." I drop my speed for just a moment, pretty sure I'm done, but pick it up as soon as I realize they are right there behind me. And basically because this total stranger is making me push myself harder than I've ever pushed in my life.  Finally I spot the finish line, I see Matthew and the kids waving, cheering. And then suddenly I realize that I've got it. I've won. I cross the finish line.

As soon as the race was over I grabbed the man's hand who had helped me and gasped, "Thank you!" I seriously don't think I could have made it if he hadn't helped me. I turned in my official time and then went to celebrate my first big win with my family.

So ridiculously happy!!!

Running is awesome, isn't it? And I'm not just saying that because I won a cool trophy, I'm saying it because what else in life challenges you that way? What else makes you push yourself to your limits and beyond? And then at the end you realize you are so much stronger and so much more capable than you ever thought?

And how cool is it when a total stranger sees you struggling and basically takes you by the hand and helps you achieve your goal? That's pretty darn awesome if you ask me!

Not too shabby for my tenth race!

Race stats:
Official time: 25:29 (8:13 avg)
Age group: 1st out of 2 (But won overall female)
Overall: 9th out of 82

Week 1: 100 Days of Happy...

So I found the link to this challenge on my Bible study website sometime last week and decided it looked like fun. It's pretty simple, find something that makes you happy that day, take a pic, and share it somewhere. I've been posting them on IG, but decided once a week to post here too.

The challenge to me doesn't mean to desperately search for something, anything to make me happy, but to recognize the simple things in life that are always there to make me happy and bring me joy throughout the day. No one has a perfect life, certainly not me, but it's nice to try and dwell on the good and none of the bad things we're so prone to let bring us down.

My first week was easy, of course!

Day 1: Last Tuesday. The kids played Lego together while I ran. They don't always get along this well, or leave me to myself for very long, but that day I managed to log ten miles on the treadmill!

Day 2: We got to meet our  newest family member. My nephew Jake was born last Wednesday. As you can see, Sophia is totally in love!

Day 3: On Thursday we did school outside.

Also, day 3.

Day 4: We were just happy it was Friday! Long week!

Day 5: Saturday I ran a 5K, and won a little trophy. More on that later. 

Day 6: Another easy one! Sunday was Mother's Day and Elijah's 8th birthday. So the whole day was full of happy!

Day 7: Is actually a picture from Sunday, but being married to this guy makes me happy every day!

Suspending disbelief...

As a writer *ahem*, well, self-published writer, I've gotten my fair share of feedback on my writing. Most of it has been kind, complementary even. Okay and a lot of it has come from my friends. Do I worry about them giving me positive a review simply to maintain our friendship? Well, of course! But at the same time I'm not really losing sleep over it. Though most, if not all, have assured me of their honesty in the reviewing process.

That's not to say I haven't had my fair share of reviews from total strangers. My first book, London Escape, has been out for almost two years and has been downloaded something like 2,000 times. It has a total of twenty-five reviews on Amazon and a few more ratings on Goodreads. Most of them are good, thankfully, a few are not. Finding Sanctuary, book two, has a few less downloads and a fewer reviews as well. I suppose that's to be expected, you lose a few readers after the first one, maybe.

Which brings me to my point: negative reviews aren't the end of the word. Granted, they almost always hurt my feelings. I always want to fire back at the writer and maybe explain myself and my book a little better. A phrase I've heard a few times, more or less, is that they found certain plot points unbelievable. Okay, I'll admit, perhaps that's a failing on my part as a writer not to make you believe this could really happen. But at the same time I have to wonder what this person is doing reading fiction if they can't just let go and imagine for a minute. Just a minute or two.

Obviously, when I look at the events that take place in my books even I can't say, "Oh yes, that would 100% happen. If that was me, I would totally do the same thing!" Aren't fictional characters supposed to be just a little bit braver, a little bit cooler, and better at making the right decision on the the fly than we are? I think so. Otherwise they would be a little boring. I try my best to make my characters relatable, but at the same time, show growth over the situations life has put them through. A lot of my problems in this area probably stem from the fact that my book is set in the real word. If your book is set in a fictional time or place, you've already given up the need for everything to be completely realistic. Just saying...

And finally, let's talk about something a few readers have taken issue with, Kit's "spidey sense." I'll be the first to acknowledge that it's not real! It was never my intention to imply that my character has some sort of hidden superpower. But honestly, is it really the end of the world if she does? Again, I'm not sure when it was that I promised to the readers that my book is totally plausible in every single way. At the end of the day, it is simply a work of fiction, from my own imagination. Is there any book out there, in the fiction genre, that you could say would totally happen exactly like it has in the book? Also, if I'm being totally honest, I don't think the "spidey sense" is way out there. I think we underestimate our own gut feelings and intuition sometimes. I've just amped it up a little for the sake of telling a story.

This post is probably coming off a little defensive, I'm aware. Until now I've always avoided the issue of addressing negativity toward my writing. Aside from complaining to Matthew about it. It really doesn't bother me and the majority of my less-than-favorable reviews still have been relatively complementary. And at the end of the day, if my book wasn't your style, or you weren't blown away by it, it's fine!

I'm in the process of wrapping up the series now. Last night I wrote "the big  finale" chapter. It was exhausting. It was exhilarating. And I hate that because of a few comments from readers I took a step back and felt a little cynical about where the story has taken them. At the end of the day, I'm happy with it. It's an adventure story, and we all know adventure can take you some pretty crazy places and put you in some crazy situations. I'm sure some people will read parts of my third book and roll their eyes a little. They will complain that they can't suspend disbelief enough to get through it. But then again, I'm not entirely sure that's my fault.

Expectations VS Reality...

So, I just finished up a quick photo recap of our Spring break trip down to Panama City Beach on the family blog. We were there from Tuesday to Saturday and it was a really nice, relaxing trip. But I've got a bone to pick with Florida and PCB. Since around March I've been suffering from some pretty bad seasonal allergies. No surprise to me, I've had allergies ever since I was around twelve, so I'm used to it. I don't really remember suffering too much in Connecticut, since I imagine there was so much less green.

Well, there's a lot of green in Georgia. And a lot of pollen. For the past month I've been switching from every single allergy medicine you can think of. Pretty much with no relief. But I've been functioning. I've still been going outside with the kids and running every weekend. So, I'm not sure what I expected going down to Florida, but what I got was not what I expected...or wanted.

See, I had all these lovely thoughts of going running in the mornings on the beach. Sitting out in the back yard in the sunshine reading. Spending my afternoons in a beach chair watching the kids play. Well, that last one I did, sort of.

We arrived in Florida on Tuesday and my allergies were bugging me a little. By the time twenty-four hours had passed I was in full-on allergy attack mode. Matthew even suggested I go to the emergency room (I didn't). Instead I dosed myself up with all kinds of meds (checked with my mom's bff, who is a nurse, first) and basically went into a drug induced coma for a few hours. After that I had to spend a full twenty-fours indoors until the worst of my symptoms passed. No running. No sitting outside. No beach.

Boo!

We did go to the beach the next day and I was feeling much improved, due mostly to my lovely cocktail of allergy meds, which finally seemed to be working. So all in all the visit was still worth it. Just not what I expected.

Yes, I wore that hat all week to cover up my puffy, blood-shot eyes. I never did get that run in. In fact, I ran for the first time in SIX days yesterday!