Holy crap!!!!

I am running a half marathon tomorrow!

That’s all…will check in afterwards )if I survive)

Shin splints are the suck

So my right shin has been acting up since yesterday morning. Not good….not good at all. My 1/2 marathon is in 3 days and it hurts to walk. 😦

I took yesterday as a rest day and may have to do the same again today. If I do venture to the gym this afternoon, I will stick to the low impact elliptical. Hopefully I can squeeze in one last short run with J tomorrow after work.

yea…J is really into this getting in shape thing. He joined the gym yesterday!!!! And ran three times last week, once with me and twice on his own (and he kicked my butt the day we went out together, but that is a story for a different post!). I am excited about having a running buddy and soon-to-be gym buddy. I have decided to go back to WSC next month and get the Federal employee discount; it is only $59/month and I can access any WSC at any time of the day. This means I can work out with mom the weekends I go home too.

Ok, back to shin splints….any one have a fix for them????

Less than a week to go….

The big day is Sunday…my first 1/2 marathon. EEP!!!! This week, I am taking it easy and just have three 2-3 mile runs on the docket. I know I can finish this race, but I am still freaking out. I definitely failed when it came to long run training, but if my past two races have taught me anything, it is that I can do it if I just put my mind to it. Running truly is more mental than physical.

While I may have slacked off for a large portion (OK, most of my training), I did go out with a bang last week. I did hill work for the first time (OUCH!) and two speed work session. Of course, the second session was not planned. J and I went for a run after work Friday (I KNOW! I am just as surprised!) and we did one minute run/walk intervals for just over 20 minutes. We kept at an almost 9:00/mile pace for the run portions. I could barely move on Saturday (but that may have been because of Friday night’s Gaga/Madonna/Kylie dance party).

Sunday’s race gave me my real confidence though. I ran the two miles to the start line and then had the best run of my short racing career.

Here’s hoping for sunny skies in VA Beach on Sunday morning!!!!!!

Another personal record

Dad and I ran the St. Patrick’s Day 8k this morning. Official result are in and w finished at 58:02 with an 11:41 pace! This was my first 8k, but as you can see, my mile time has gone down by over a minutes since that first 5k last summer. And an 8k is pretty darn close to a 5 Miler and I shaved a full FOUR minutes of that time! Oh yeah, and my 5K split was 36:04…more than a minute off last week’s time!

The race itself was hard. It was much hotter than expected and my legs felt like lead. I had to take a few very brief (less than a minute each) walking breaks because my knees were acting up a tad. But all that matters is that I finished and I finished fast.

Now for some pre-race photos

Dad and I waiting for the start

Me and today’s cheerleader, my mom

Mom and dad….now we just got to get mom on the course with us!

There are some post-race pics, but I doubt they are very pretty. It may be a while until I see those, as they are on mom’s camera and I am pretty sure she has no idea how to get them off of there!

Maybe giving up soda was not such a bad idea

I took the term “Fat Tuesday” to heart yesterday and binged on Coke Zero and Diet Sunkist (ok, maybe this binge started on Monday….I will never tell).

My Public Service Announcement to all: DO NOT DRINK SIX 20 OUNCE SODAS IN A 36 HOUR PERIOD.

Trust me. Your stomach will hurt; your head will feel like it is going to explode; your heart will too. And you will have really crazy dreams that you and your crazy IronMan, marathon running friend are going to run a marathon together next year. It will be very vivid and you will even know which race it is.

Yes, apparently I am running the Flying Pig Marathon next May….well, dream me is….real me doesn’t think so. But…..

If I were to ever run one, it would be that one. The medals and shirts have adorable pigs on them!

Uh oh! Am I really considering this? Thank goodness it is 14 months away. Plenty of time for me to come to my senses.

Hello Lent…Goodbye Soda

I will miss you.

I am not a religious person by any means, but I do try to give up something for Lent every year. The past two years I have successfully cut out sodas from my life. But as soon as lent ended, finals began….and I NEEDED my caffeine!!!!! This year I do not have school as an excuse to fall back on my diet soda addiction.

I also gave up bagels with one exception….if bagels are the free food being handed out after a race, I am allowed to eat one. I just cannot get one from the cafeteria every morning for breakfast.

Bagels…I will miss you.

But Diet Sunkist…I will miss you most of all

Happy Mardi Gras!

I plan to spend the day OD’ing on diet soda and bagels before I give them up for 40 long days. What, if anything, are you giving up for Lent? I may not be the most religious person, but I do attempt Lent every year. I have been successful in the past, but always seem to fall off the wagon the day after Easter.

On another note, I had time to kill while J napped yesterday, so I decided to do some hill work on the treadmill. This is the very first time I have ever done hill work. I gotta say….It hurts! but I know it will make me a better runner in the end, so I suppose I will add it into my weekly training sessions.

I am finally starting to feel more confident about the big race in less than two weeks. Sure, 13.1 miles is WAY more than I have ever done and I have been terrible with long runs this training season, but I kind of sucked at them before the Army Ten Miler and I did much better at that than anyone (including myself) expected. So I say bring it Shamrock Half Marathon!

Officially Official Results

Oh yeah! I totally crushed him 🙂

Me: Gun Time: 37:24 Net Time: 37:07  Pace: 11:57

Dad: Gun Time: 37:50 Net Time: 37:34 Pace: 12:06

And I ran sub-12 minute miles for the first time EVER! even with that hill from hell

Pre-Race happiness

Post-race exhaustion

 With our official videographer (need to figure out how to upload that)

After the race, Dad dropped us off and we headed to the Diner for brunch. Dad couldn’t join us because he had to pick my mom up from the airport. I refueled with a tasty omelet and a side of mac and cheese. Then it was shower and nap time.

After a few hours of relaxation, we headed back out to celebrate my victory with a few PBRs (natch). Then it was home to bed once again.

Waiting on official results

Ran the Vamos 5k with my dad today. I not only set a new PR, but I beat my dad! Woot!!!

Pre Race smiles

Why I work out, part two

Because I want this:

(Source)