Category Archives: Running

Weekly Rundown

Daily Life!, Running, , , ,

Happy Friday gang! This week has just about been too much. But I see the light at the end of tunnel! It’s almost the weekend. WOOT!! So I thought since I’ve been to busy to post, I would give you a quickly rundown of my week!

This morning started bright and early with me subbing a Jazzercise class. This was the 3rd morning class I’ve subbed this week for some vacationing instructors. I’ll end my weekly teaching schedule tonight after work with my 9th class of the week. Whew! Exhausted much? Yes.

I was lucky enough to still have Wednesday off from teaching, so I was able to squeeze in my weekly ‘kinda long’ run.

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This was also an extremely windy morning. Like wind gusts up to 30 mph. I was pretty beaten and torn down by the time that 7 miles was up. Regardless, I was still happy to fit it into my busy schedule!

My lovely RunKeeper app also reminded me that my marathon is a mere 15 days away!

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Slightly frightening? You betcha. Especially after this week when I only had 1 normal day of running. But I should get kinda back on track this weekend. Plus with one marathon under my belt, the anxiety is definitely lower for this next one.

As for the rest of my week, it has been normal minus the extra classes I taught. Mac has been cute…

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And that’s about it! Now this weekend should be equal parts exciting and lazy. Tomorrow morning is going to start bright and early for me to log some miles before I head off to the Pitter Pat 10K.

So here’s the lowdown: this race wasn’t on my training schedule. But it’s put on by the local Junior League, and Katie (owner of my Jazzercise center) is part of this organization. We were asked to do the warm up for the runners pre-race, so obviously I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to lead my fellow runners in some Jazzercise! And I felt really silly to not sign up for the race since I would already be there. Sooooo this fun 10K was added to my schedule last minute. And I’m pretty excited about it!

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I need to get in 15 miles tomorrow, so I’m going to get up early, get in 9 miles, and then finish out my run during the race. Luckily it doesn’t begin until 10 am, so I won’t have to get up before 6 am! After waking up at 5 every morning this week, a 6 am wake up call sounds amazing. And yes, I know that is sad. 🙂

The rest of my Saturday should be low key, followed by a typical Sunday without any major plans. I’m excited to be lazy and maybe have a real date night with Mr. Nicholas! We’ve been complete couch potatoes lately, so I think we deserve a nice dinner and movie evening.

I hope you all have had great weeks! Enjoy your weekend, and I’ll talk to you later!

Shamrox 15k Race

Running, , , ,

Hey everyone! I hope you’ve all had great weekends. I’m currently snuggled into my couch with Mac under a blankie, so we are doing pretty darn good. 🙂

We did lots of St. Patrick’s day celebrating yesterday! It all started with the Shamrox 15K race in downtown Springfield. It was hosted by Dublin’s Pass and Ultramax Sports, a local running store, and it was one of the best local races I have done. It was well organized and had lots of support and post-race goodies.

We arrived about 20 minutes before the race. I immediately headed into Dublin’s Pass (restaurant right by the start line) to use the restroom. I refused to have a repeat of the mile 2 potty break from the Little Rock Marathon!! The starting chute was already filling with people and they were calling the 15k participants to the start line, so Nick snapped my picture before I lined up.

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It was around 45 degrees and sunny, so I opted to wear a green tank and running skirt. I was cold during this pic, but that went away by mile 2! I only waited in the starting chute around 5-7 minutes before we took off. But we first got to hear the national anthem played by a local bagpiper.

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I think bagpipes are so cool!! I was lucky enough to be right next to this guy so I could really see what was happening. It was definitely not a typical start to my Saturday morning!!

After the national anthem, we started the 15K right at 8:05 am.

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It felt like a lot of people were there as we took off! I always hate taking off at races because I run too fast and weave around people to get away from the crowd as quickly as possible. But I was definitely running way too fast. My RunKeeper app read off my pace at 10 minutes in… And said I was running at a 7:58/mile pace. Oops!!! Slow your roll, crazy woman. I made an effort to calm it down and slowly got my pace down to around 8:15-8:20. Which is still fast, but I knew I could hold it for most of the 9 miles ahead.

All the runners around me slowly faded as we hit the 3-4 mile zone during the race. It was getting warmer and I could tell a lot of others had dressed for cooler temps. Long black sleeves and full length pants were not going to cut it at 50 degrees and sunny! They were making me sweat just looking at them. I passed lots of people and was getting passed here and there. And then mile 6 hit. And it came with hills. All the way through mile 9. Ugh.

I couldn’t believe the hills we were running on. I didn’t even know hills like that existed in Springfield! This is when the race became mental for me. ‘You are a freakin’ marathoner. Do not let these hills win on a 9 mile course.’ And for some reason this motivated me to actually run faster up each hill I came too.

I was at the finish line before I knew it. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting to finish so fast. I even thought to text Nick that I had 1 mile to go. And he was glad I did as he wasn’t expecting me to be done yet either! I crossed the finish line in 1:16:09. Nick tried to snap a frantic photo of me, and somehow took it in black and white.

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Woohoo!! The best part of this race was the finish line. I immediately got a finisher’ pub glass. And was then ushered into the beer garden to get some refreshments!

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I was amazed when I went to the food line. I saw the normal bananas and granola bars. But then I was also offered a hot breakfast burrito! Umm, really?? Yes please!!

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It was full of eggs, sausage, and potatoes. I’m guessing Dublin’s Pass provided them because they were awesome!

After I had my fill of food, we headed home for showers and to see Mr. Mac. He was so proud of my quick finish that he showered me in kisses. 🙂

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It was a fun race and one that I will definitely sign up for again! I even got 2nd place in my division! I was kinda shocked about that for sure.

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Nick and I did a little more St. Patty’s celebrating, but more on that later. I’m getting ready to lapse into a temporary coma. 🙂

Nighty night!!

Spring Running Plan

Daily Life!, Running, , , , , ,

Happy Sunday! My posts have been few and far between this week, and I apologize. My brain cannot seem to catch up since the marathon a week ago. I can’t believe it’s only been a week since the Little Rock marathon. In a way, it almost seems not real – like it never really happened. But them I come to my senses when I bend or squat and my quads start screaming at me again. When will my body be back to 100% again??…

Anywho, I have MAJOR spas-brain and I’m trying to get my life and head back in order. I thought I was almost there but then I missed a Jazzercise instructor meeting this afternoon. I was visiting my girlfriend Levie at the hospital and her new baby! ..and completely lost track of time. Epic fail? Yep. My bad. But please look at this little guy, and tell me if that sweet face doesn’t make my absence worthwhile. 🙂

IMG_3535 IMG_3530 IMG_3529 IMG_3528My girlfriend Katie and I went to visit and got lots of snuggle time. He’s pretty much too cute for words. Baby Thomas is definitely loved!

Spring Race Schedule

Anyways, in an effort to get my life back in order, I organized my short Spring running plan to keep me on track for my upcoming races.

trainingplan- spring14 Sheet1Feel free to download the PDF:trainingplan- spring14 Sheet1  or the Excel File: trainingplan- spring14

My spring race schedule includes:

  • Shamrox 15K, March 15 (local)
  • Go! STL Marathon, April 6 (St. Louis)
  • Go Girl Half Marathon, April 19 (local)
  • Divas Half Marathon, May 4 (Branson)

And that will be keep me busy up through the beginning of May! I haven’t signed up for any other races (except for the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon in STL on Oct. 19) because I know I won’t enjoy racing during the summer. Me + hot temps = not pretty. So I figured I would play it safe and not schedule any more races until Fall. I may decide to run some local events closer to the event dates depending on how our weather is this Summer. Summertime in Missouri can be brutal, so if personally race during the Summer in the Midwest, I commend you! I don’t think I would handle it well!

Other than forgetting a Jazzercise meeting and seeing the baby, my weekend has been pretty productive. I spent a majority of the day yesterday shopping with my mom and sister-in-law. I had a great time and my momma definitely spoiled me. Shopping trips with my family are the best! But exhausting, especially with the time change. I’m hoping to get lots of good rest tonight to help me deal with the longer days and get on track for the work week.

I hope you are coping with the time change well. ‘Springing forward’ is never fun when we lose our hour of sleep! Have a great evening, and I’ll see you later this week!