Missouri is in the midst of one of the hottest summers on record. This week the temps are climbing into the 100's daily. It's hard to make yourself get out and run, but I have been living up to the challenge of completing my runs. In all my previous races, I have followed Hal Higdon's training plans. As I prepare to tackle my first full marathon, I have read both the Hal Higdon Marathon book and Jeff Galloway's book on running a marathon. Jeff Galloway's plan is a lengthier plan with longer "long" runs. The plan lasts 6 months leading up to the full. I am on Week 4 of the plan, and I have completed all of my runs and cross training days so far. Today we ran a hilly 9 mile run. The temp was in the 80's already when we started running a little after 7 am. I am trying out the run/walk plan suggested by Jeff Galloway for the long runs. In all of my half marathons, I have walked the water stations, and I have had to walk at some point along the run in the later miles. For the full marathon, I'm hoping that following the run/walk plan will allow me to not "hit the wall" at mile 20 (or earlier).
Since it was hot and our route was hilly, I used a run 4 minutes/ walk 1 minute approach. I maintained this pattern for about 4.5 miles when we hit one of the "mega hills" on the run. I had to add a little extra walking up the hill. As I continued beyond this hill, there were several other hills on which I had to walk more than I would have liked. I ended up finishing the 9 miles with an average pace of 11:25. This is probably the slowest pace I've had on a run in quite awhile. (Though it falls within the recommended pace for me to train in for a long run--especially on such a hot day). Though I was a little unhappy that I allowed the heat and hills to get to me, I felt exhilaration to have completed the run on a day when many people I know would have said, "It's too hot to run today."
Dave chose the route today, and I should be thankful to him for pushing me beyond my comfort zone. He believes in my ability to improve and push beyond where I am. When I sometimes say, "I don't know if I can do this," he will say, "Yes, you can!" Dave is able to continue to run an admirable pace with the heat and hills. He averaged a 9:24 pace....which I guess is slower than his goal race pace, too. I guess I just need to accept the fact that I will not keep up with him.
As we approach the middle of the summer break and prepare to embark on our summer trip, I am looking forward to truly enjoying myself as we travel throughout Europe (Switzerland, France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria and Germany). I am planning on making time to stay true to the training plan as I prepare for a half marathon in October, 15K in November, and Full Marathon in December. I look forward to running in different towns, cities and countries. I am excited to see where the roads and trails will lead.
Next week I have on last race before our trip; a 10K on July 4. A good friend of mine, Nicole, will be running it as well. It will be her first 10K. I hope she is able to enjoy the race and the accomplishment of reaching a new distance.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
June 15- Two More Half Marathons Completed!
Where does the time go? Since my last post, I completed a half marathon in Schaumburg, Illinois on May 20. When I signed up for the run, I didn't realize it was the same weekend as my daughter's dance recital. Luckily, my mom and sister were able to take over recital duties. I think Anna enjoyed having Grandma and Aunt Aimee there for her, though they said she did everying herself and they just sat back and enjoyed the show.
Dave was able to run the half marathon, after finally recovering from his injury this spring. We received an email telling us that due to the heat, the start time was being moved up half an hour. Dave and I enjoyed our weekend away, going out for dinner and drinks the night before. The Chicago style pizza, bread sticks, and beer were a little too much for my system. I was in the bathroom continuously from 2 am to 3 am. I then had a difficult time eating breakfast, as my stomach was still feeling a bit out of sorts. This combined with temps rising into the 80's led to the worse time I've gotten on a half marathon. It probably didn't help that it was also the last week of school, so I'd been busy packing, completing grades, and maintaining some order with very excited students. My time was 2:24:08. After completing the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon in April in 2:12:32, I was very dissapointed. I was feeling tired at this race, and I could tell a mile in that I would not be performing as well as I had at the GO! I had also ran in a 10K at the end of April. I don't know if I was "overtrained" or if the combination of things led to this "worst race" time. Not that I haven't had an 11 minute average pace before, but it's been a year since I had that pace. Dave was able to complete his race in under two hours with a time of 1:57:17. He was pleased to get in under two hours. He ran the first mile with me, trying to help me improve my time until I told him to go on and run his race.
Here is a picture of us before the race, and one of us back home with our medals.
Dave and I wrapped up the school year with the last day of school the day following the race, and then one more final work day before our summer break began. We kicked off summer break by taking a 4 night get away in Hot Springs, Arkansas while the kids spent some time with their grandparents. It was a nice break. We still completed all of our runs, did some hiking, got a massage, had some nice meals out, and just enjoyed the break.
Dave and I wrapped up the school year with the last day of school the day following the race, and then one more final work day before our summer break began. We kicked off summer break by taking a 4 night get away in Hot Springs, Arkansas while the kids spent some time with their grandparents. It was a nice break. We still completed all of our runs, did some hiking, got a massage, had some nice meals out, and just enjoyed the break.
It was finally time for the last half marathon of the spring. We drove up to Grinnell, Iowa for the Grinnell Games Half Marathon. My parents and sister came along. It was going to be my mom and sister's first half marathon. They had followed a 16 week plan I created for them. I actually used the Hal Higdon beginner plan, but then repeated some of the weeks to help them build up. I also increased their long runs slightly, because they wanted to run the 13.1 distance once before the actual race. Dave completed his first sprint triathlon Friday night. He swam 400 meters, biked 6.6 miles and ran 2.5 miles. He completed it in 52 minutes. He was happy with this first tri and decided to sign up for another. Then on Saturday, we had the half marathon at 8:00. Of course, it was another hot day. Temps were in the upper 70's by start time and in the 80's by our finish. Dave took a few minutes off his time, finishing in 1:54:23. He was the 34th finisher out of 109 finishers. I finished in 2:16:57. I was the 80th finisher. It was nice running in a small town race. Less "hoopla" than the big city races, but much more personal. There was a guy that finished on second behind me that I had been back and forth with for about the last 3 miles. In the last half mile, I had gotten ahead of him. He tried to catch me with a sprint to the finish, but when I heard him on my tail I too picked up my pace. I managed to stay ahead of him through the finish! As silly as that little victory is, I felt powerful by keeping him from passing me. Also, though this is not a personal record, I'm pleased that it is my second best finish time, and I beat the heat this time with a much stronger finish than I had in Schaumburg. I kept my pace below 10 minute miles (with the exception of one mile at 10:06) through the 8th mile. On mile 9, a large hill followed by no water at the water station (there was Gatorade and ice chips, so I did get something, but I walked a bit longer than usual trying to chomp on the ice chips), caused me to slow down. On mile 10, I was able to get a little back into my grove at a 10:30 pace, but then on miles 11-13, I alternated running with walking with my pace averaging out into the 11's on each of those miles. My overall pace came out in the 10:20 range. Not terrible, but not as good as my 10:07 average pace in St. Louis at the GO! Half Marathon. But, I know not every race can be a PR, especially when doing several races in a short period of time.
Here's a pic of us before the race.
After finishing, I walked back to find my mom and sister and give them support to finish the race. The last few miles are the toughest. When I found them, they were together on the course. I gave them each a drink, and my sister picked up her pace and finished strong. She finished the race in 2:51:19. Her goal was to make it under 3 hours, and she did it! I jogged with Mom a bit, then sent her on to finish her race. She finished in 2:53:00. I'm so proud of the hard work my mom and sister put in to become half marathoners! Aimee is already signed up for another half marathon in July in Maine. My mom was already talking about what things she would do differently "if I do another half." I think we've all caught the running bug!
Here we are after the race with our medals! (We let Dad and Anna in the picture because they held signs for us during the run:))
Dave was able to run the half marathon, after finally recovering from his injury this spring. We received an email telling us that due to the heat, the start time was being moved up half an hour. Dave and I enjoyed our weekend away, going out for dinner and drinks the night before. The Chicago style pizza, bread sticks, and beer were a little too much for my system. I was in the bathroom continuously from 2 am to 3 am. I then had a difficult time eating breakfast, as my stomach was still feeling a bit out of sorts. This combined with temps rising into the 80's led to the worse time I've gotten on a half marathon. It probably didn't help that it was also the last week of school, so I'd been busy packing, completing grades, and maintaining some order with very excited students. My time was 2:24:08. After completing the GO! St. Louis Half Marathon in April in 2:12:32, I was very dissapointed. I was feeling tired at this race, and I could tell a mile in that I would not be performing as well as I had at the GO! I had also ran in a 10K at the end of April. I don't know if I was "overtrained" or if the combination of things led to this "worst race" time. Not that I haven't had an 11 minute average pace before, but it's been a year since I had that pace. Dave was able to complete his race in under two hours with a time of 1:57:17. He was pleased to get in under two hours. He ran the first mile with me, trying to help me improve my time until I told him to go on and run his race.
Here is a picture of us before the race, and one of us back home with our medals.
Dave and I wrapped up the school year with the last day of school the day following the race, and then one more final work day before our summer break began. We kicked off summer break by taking a 4 night get away in Hot Springs, Arkansas while the kids spent some time with their grandparents. It was a nice break. We still completed all of our runs, did some hiking, got a massage, had some nice meals out, and just enjoyed the break.
It was finally time for the last half marathon of the spring. We drove up to Grinnell, Iowa for the Grinnell Games Half Marathon. My parents and sister came along. It was going to be my mom and sister's first half marathon. They had followed a 16 week plan I created for them. I actually used the Hal Higdon beginner plan, but then repeated some of the weeks to help them build up. I also increased their long runs slightly, because they wanted to run the 13.1 distance once before the actual race. Dave completed his first sprint triathlon Friday night. He swam 400 meters, biked 6.6 miles and ran 2.5 miles. He completed it in 52 minutes. He was happy with this first tri and decided to sign up for another. Then on Saturday, we had the half marathon at 8:00. Of course, it was another hot day. Temps were in the upper 70's by start time and in the 80's by our finish. Dave took a few minutes off his time, finishing in 1:54:23. He was the 34th finisher out of 109 finishers. I finished in 2:16:57. I was the 80th finisher. It was nice running in a small town race. Less "hoopla" than the big city races, but much more personal. There was a guy that finished on second behind me that I had been back and forth with for about the last 3 miles. In the last half mile, I had gotten ahead of him. He tried to catch me with a sprint to the finish, but when I heard him on my tail I too picked up my pace. I managed to stay ahead of him through the finish! As silly as that little victory is, I felt powerful by keeping him from passing me. Also, though this is not a personal record, I'm pleased that it is my second best finish time, and I beat the heat this time with a much stronger finish than I had in Schaumburg. I kept my pace below 10 minute miles (with the exception of one mile at 10:06) through the 8th mile. On mile 9, a large hill followed by no water at the water station (there was Gatorade and ice chips, so I did get something, but I walked a bit longer than usual trying to chomp on the ice chips), caused me to slow down. On mile 10, I was able to get a little back into my grove at a 10:30 pace, but then on miles 11-13, I alternated running with walking with my pace averaging out into the 11's on each of those miles. My overall pace came out in the 10:20 range. Not terrible, but not as good as my 10:07 average pace in St. Louis at the GO! Half Marathon. But, I know not every race can be a PR, especially when doing several races in a short period of time.
Here's a pic of us before the race.
Here we are after the race with our medals! (We let Dad and Anna in the picture because they held signs for us during the run:))
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