Tuesday Newsday – 4/30 – The Last THREE Weeks

Well, the last two three weeks have been interesting. And yes, I started writing this post last week.

In regards to the events two weeks ago: A lot of things have happened. A lot of things have changed. But most importantly, a lot of things HAVE NOT changed. We are all still runners. Still doing what we love which means still running. It may even mean more to us now. #runforboston

Lately (probably about a few months now), and especially due to that week, I haven’t been as excitable and as energetic as I normally am. I’m usually a very happy, excited, fun loving person. I always pride myself on my uncanny ability to look at the bright side of everything.

In the recent months, that hasn’t been me. I’ve been grumpy and tired and emotional. My schedule has begun to wear on me: never catching up on sleep.

My birthday was uneventful/disappointing: most of my friends either ran away, blew me off, or didn’t even reply. (Although, I had a wonderful time catching up with Steph and Amanda and my Mom treated me to a wonderful dinner as well).

Work is not everything I hoped it would be: I thought getting a job at a gym would be a perfect situation for me to be in for when I’m finally a personal trainer; however I’ve gotten to see exactly how the personal training world is inside a big box gym. Not gonna happen…hopefully.

School is just getting tedious: I’ve already done 5 years of college, I’m ready to be done again.

Home life is not a safe haven: I feel like a burden.

And don’t even get me started on my more personal life.

The events two mondays ago did put things a little more in perspective for me. Running is was I love and it’s dependable. And I know that my future will definitely have to be involved with the running community; whether that means I become a professional running coach or maybe even a low-key sponsored runner, or even working for a race series, I HAVE to be involved with this community.

Then last Sunday happened. I returned to good ol’ Fort Collins. Home of my alma mater for my return to the Horsetooth Half. And I had a fantastic run. In my head, I ran with thoughts of the victims of Boston and for the Running for Angels virtual race. In the end, I was in such a good mood; maybe partly due to the runner’s high and the free beer, but my excitability had returned a little more! Stay tuned later this week for a post race recap!

Anyway, training is still going…not sure about how well. There’s only about 26 days left until my big race. And I’m nervous as fuck. Excuse the language. I wasn’t really nervous until last week. I got pretty sore and tight after my horsetooth half and have been taking it easy. One of the trainers at work keeps freaking me about about my flexibility – telling me not to finish training because I need to get more flexible or I will tear a muscle (what does he know, lol jk, although, NOT gonna happen). I also gotta stop listening to people!!! Some of my classmates are freaking me out becuase they think I should run close to, if not over, 26 miles before race day, even though a majority of plans out there stop you at 20 miles! AAAHHH!

Lets recap training for a sec before my brain explodes:

Training Week 12 – April 8th through April 14th

Monday: Rest day.

Tuesday: 5 miles due. 5 miles complete. I got super mad at my work and went to the competitors gym (24 hour Fitness) and ran a nice easy 5 miles on the dreadmill (it was a snow day). I was super distracted, my mind going crazy, so the miles just flew by, even for being on a treadmill. I followed up with a soak in the hot tub.

Wednesday: 8 miles due, 4 miles complete. We also did muscle fiber testing in school. No, we didn’t take biopsies of our muscles; but there is a way to figure out what types of muscle fibers your major groups of muscle are (i.e. endurance, strength or hypertrophy) through lifting.

Thursday: 5 miles due, 3 miles with fartleks on the treadmill.

Friday: My bday. It was supposed to be a rest day, but it was my bday, and I wanted to do things I loved. So I went for a casual 4 mile run. It was a beautiful day for it. Followed up by a massage and then this:

Yep, I finished by tattoo. : ) One of my best friends, Steph, hung out with me and then took me to dinner after the work was done. This project took 4 hours of needle work. I’m not sure how many of your have tattoos, but needless to say, I was in pain. I made it through the whole process, and then once it was finished almost passed out. BUT I didn’t – I was pretty close – and luckily Steph is a nurse

Saturday: Sport Performance Enhancement Elective for school. We did a lot of running drills – sprinting – so I got a little bit of time on my feet. Followed up with dinner and drinks with my friend Amanda (who I’ve known since  we were 3 years old —- that makes our friends ship 23 years long now) at a new bar in town.

The bride and the maid of honor

Sunday: MMM… not gonna lie, I didn’t do anything running wise. I didn’t feel like it. Instead, I slept in for the first time in a LOOOONG time and then went to Steph’s bridal shower. (This is the bridal shower for the wedding that I’m the maid of honor in, in May, in Maine). Then my mom took me to a delicious meal at The Green Briar in! Fancy Schmancy!

Dinner with mom

Total Miles Week 12: ~16 miles

Training Week 13 – April 15th – April 21st

Monday: Well, we all know what happened this day. I actually had run 2 miles on the treadmill on lunch while I flipped notes cards over to study for my test. It was when I hopped off that I checked my phone and learned of what happened.

Tuesday: #runforboston. 4.09 miles.

Wednesday: I didn’t feel like running. Not sure why. I was pretty grumpy at work so I did kickboxing so that I could punch and kick things. Exactly what I told my co-workers I was going to do: punch and kick things.

Thursday: 5 due or something like that but two got accomplished.

Friday: I was going to make up some lost miles, but man did I feel tight and sore. With my co-work freaking me out at work about tearing muscles, I spent an hour foam rolling and stretching.

Pre Race, trying on my glow-y stuff!

Saturday:  3.1 miles. I accomplished some chores around the house while I waited for my cat do be done at the vet (I had to get her sedated and shaved, poor kitty, because she was really matted). Then, I last minute decided to do the Rave Run here in Denver! One of my co-workers had volunteered and got me a free entry. I didn’t get a tshirt but I did get a bib (so I didn’t have to be a race bandit) and some fun glow-y stuff! It was actually quite

Me and my coworker. Finished! So many people!!!

fun. It started at 8:30pm, when the sun was fully down, and everyone had lights with glowing glasses, gloves, bracelets, etc. There were lights, lasers and fun blow up glow-y things along the whole course. Not sure if I’d do it again but glad I did it. Maybe I’ll write up an official review.

Sunday: HORSETOOTH HALF! (13.1 miles) And the day I got my running excitement back.

Sneak peak at my horsetooth race

Total mile for Week 13: ~24 miles

Training Week 14: April 22nd – April 28th

Monday: SO SORE! REST!

Tuesday: Still pretty sore and tight. I chose to rest most of the day. Did have to workout at school.

Wednesday: Easing back into it. I ran 1.26 miles at school for a cardio assessment.

Thursday: 4.5 miles at work. Felt alright. Just slow.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Day two of the Sport Performance elective I am taking. Did a lot of agility drills.

Sunday: 19.5 miles. Dear god was I painful after. The run wasn’t that great either. I made sure to foam roll before, because I’ve still been very tight especially my hamstrings and hips. I made it out, half way, just fine. Not too much to report. I brought along my new fuel belt that my mom got me for my bday. I filled the bottles (I got the two bottled one), one with water and one with a Nuun electrolyte tab. I stocked it with a granola bar and a stinger energy gel. When I was about 9 miles into the run, my Strava running app quit on me. I knew I needed to go a little bit further to make it halfway and turn around. I tried Mapmyrun and that wouldn’t work and finally runtastic saved the day. At the halfway point, I decided to give the energy gel a try.

GROSS. I had the strawberry stinger energy gel. And it tasted like strawberry flavored hooka. I’m not sure if any of you used to smoke hooka (yes, back when I was in college, I did that a lot), but that’s exactly what it tasted like, and is NOT something I wasnted to ingest!!!! AT ALL. I literally almost puked at the smell and taste. I’m hoping the other flavors are better. I wasn’t able to finish it, so I ate a few bites of my granola bar, which I had brought just in case, because I know I can eat that on runs. I am trying/testing different energy gels so I know what I want to bring for my marathon.

Even though I had only finished half of it, it still gave me a little bit of energy. But then my legs started to cramp. At mile 11, I was in a lot of pain and had to walk on and off. It was awful. It also didn’t help that it one of the first HOT days of the year…up in the 70′s. I had finished my water by mile 13 or 14, still having 6 more to go. None of the water fountains at any of the parks were working either! Finally, I passed a family that was sitting by a fountain, asked them if it was on, and they said no but offered me one of their bottles of water! I probably thanked them 5 times more than an appropriate amount. I was so thankful for that water. I trotted, off and on, the remaining two miles. My calfs were hurting and my hamstring were hurting. It was ridiculous. Like verge of tears. They were just tight, and I think the verge of tears was mostly due to frustration. But I made it the rest of the way home.

I stopped at the gas station and picked up a gatorade, chocolate mile (what!? It’s actually one of the best recovery drinks!) and a bag of ice.

I’m pretty sure I said I would never post a feet picture…this will be the only one. ever.

Ice? Yep….I finally had my first ice bath. If that doesn’t make me one of the toughest people in the world, than I don’t know what does. I also may have uttered a FEW profanities. I had never done an ice bath before (other than at the Tough Mudder a couple years ago, but that wasn’t directly by choice). I followed this piece of advice from Runlikealady. Although, I found that I COULD NOT keep my toes in. It was decently tolerable if I left my toes out.

Total miles for week 14: ~25.25

Some fun, new info for you all:

I officially registered for the race I will be doing in Maine. This is the same week that I’m out there for that wedding and also the weekend before my marathon. (I”m only a doing 15k, so it’s just in line with tapering). I will be doing the Sugarloaf 15k.

I also registered for the Dino Half Marathon in Vernal, Utah. This weekend! I know, I’m pretty random. But it’s only a 5 hour drive, and it was perfect timing with training, and I could use the mini-two day vaca.

ALSO, I’m officially doing the Tough Mudder again this year!!! This is my most exciting info for you all! I’m really excited for it! I’ll probably get my ass kicked, but it’ll be fun! A very special friend registered me, and I’m really excited about this event! June 16th!

Since it’s been awhile since I’ve had a post, I’ve been behind on reading my emails. A handful of the people I follow were actually at the boston. There are also a lot of other bloggers that have a better way with words than I do. If you’re interested, the following are links to my fellow bloggers’ boston posts:

Boston Participants (there was a handful more, I just didn’t save the emails):

Lavender Running (Parking) – The Boston Post, One Week Later

The Boring Runner – Boston Marathon Bombs-My Thoughts 

Others’ Thoughts:

Run Nerds Rock! - Running Miles for Boston

TRexRunner – Boston.

Dan’s Marathon- On the 2013 Boston Marathon

Crazy Horse Half Marathon – Post Race Recap!

(You’re regularly scheduled Tuesday Newsday will not by posted today due to a special Post Race Recap. Tuesday Newsday will resume next week. Thank You.)

I had the best race EVER! I’m just going to start off with my awesome news/brag: NEW PR!!! I beat my old PR by about 6 minutes!! My new personal record is now 1:51:37!!!!! (Last one was 1:57:19) AND I got to knock of another state! I’m sooooo excited! Can you tell!??

On Sunday, I ran the Crazy Horse Half Marathon in South Dakota. The race started at the Crazy Horse Memorial and ended in good ol’ Hill City. (Hill City is about 30 minutes from Rapid City, right by Mt. Rushmore). So far, this has been my favorite race, although I have just begun my project, so this could and probably will change in the future.

The morning started out brisk and cloudy. I always hate race mornings for the first 2 hours before the race starts. I get super nervous every time and it’s always cooler than it will be during the run, so I sit there and debate about what to wear. I usually go with my gut feeling of the shorts and t shirt every time, but there’s always that voice in the back of my head going…”but I’m soooo cold right now!” I did leave on my sweats until right before the race to warm up in and keep my legs warm while I waited.

We arrived to Crazy Horse without any problem and I found the information table where my packet was being held. Now, this was lucky for me, because there is not actually supposed to be race day packet pick up. I had to email the race director and she said she’d hold mine for me since I would be arriving in SD after the expo where everyone else got their packet (and I couldn’t have it mailed because I registered late). My mom dropped me off while she found parking so I could get what I needed and warm up.

THE RACE: I love how this race started! The announcer stated that there would be traditional indian singers and as soon as the drums started, we would start! Since it was all done by timing chips, it was a nice and gentler way of starting than just by a gun going off – especially since it always takes a couple seconds to get to the actual starting line with the crowd.

Waiting for the race to start

It was a super fast race after the first 3 miles; but in those first 3, I had flash backs of the hilly Horsetooth Half…given, not NEARLY as bad. But the beginning has some nice hills, one, we ran twice because the path loops around. After you’re out of the Crazy Horse Memorial Park, it’s all downhill from there!!! Seriously! The rest of the course was a slight downhill!

“The Handoff” I decided I didn’t want my sunglasses, so I gave them to my “support crew” aka: my mom!

Super FAST course! I loved it! I cruised it! I passed people left and right! I felt sooooo fantastic 90% of the time….

There was the 10% that I had the worse side cramp I have ever felt. I’ve only gotten side cramps occasionally and am unsure what is going on. It was at 8 and half miles that I was almost doubled over in pain. I did end up walking for no more than half a mile, pinching my side and taking deep breaths in and out. A very nice man that passed me shouted encouragements: “You got this! You can do it, keep it up!” and totally made me feel better. The pain subsided, finally, and I started up again… slowly at first, really focusing on my breathing. Once I saw that 9 mile sign, I picked back up the pace and cruised to the finish line, and the side pain never returned.

I think I’m finally figuring out my potential and my rhythm when it comes to racing. I’m getting to know my body more and more. I’m understanding what I can and can’t do to it. Remember my weird back/side of the knee pain? Well, it still hurts, but I think I figured out the cause. I was noticing that every once in awhile I take a random step with my right foot turning in…I think this is straining and abnormally stretching that tendon…and I’m wondering if new shoes would fix this…I have pretty high arches and these shoes are well past their intended milage and the wear and tear of the arch support could be the cause of my random twisted stepping…. (I just can’t afford new shoes at the moment). THOUGHTS?

Although I think I discovered the problem, the pain of that tendon didn’t bother me much until after and especially the next day. I wanted to use the laser from work on it again, but someone had borrowed it from the clinic. The discomfort I noticed the most for this race was my aching feet and ankles. Otherwise, this race was fantastic.

Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, I almost got hit by a car! LOL? Not that much of a laughing matter, but seriously, I literally was inches from a car. Right at the end, the course crosses a street (the only street it crossed) and there was a race official stopping traffic. I looked up head; there was a break in the runners so he let a few cars through. He saw me, and held up his hands and stop signs to stop traffic, So I kept running. Well, the next car really didn’t want to stop I guess, and I was in the grove. I looked up again, and the car was inches in front of me, going way too fast for the intersection anyway.  I took an instinctual step back in surprise, the car passed, and I continued running, all in a matter of  seconds; then hearing the crowd yell at the car! The next race official said, “Man, he wanted to take you out!” I just laughed and kept running.

THE COURSE:

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this event to you all! Such I wonderful event altogether! The course was BEAUTIFUL! Starting at Crazy Horse was fun, and after you exit the park, the rest of the run is on the Mickelson Trail, bordered by color changing aspen trees the whole way. You crossed lots of streams and big valleys (be careful of the handful of bridges though: the slats we crooked and weirdly spaced out. You could easily get a toe stuck and trip).

The crowds were awesome and supportive. The trail was close enough to the highway that people could pull over and park, walk up to the trail and cheer you on. I even got some random little kid high fives!

There was plenty of water stations and the race volunteers were awesome. Everyone was super nice; I’ve super glad the race director set my packet aside to pick up race day. I know the crossing guard was doing his job when I almost got hit by a car; I saw him holding up his hands and the stop sign; it was the car that was impatient.

The only thing I didn’t like about the whole event, is after a few hours, they took down the blow-up finish line thing. There was still half marathon runners finishing, but they didn’t get the big grand finish line. I’m sure they had to take it down to set up for the marathon finishers…but still, I felt bad for those runners.

Also: although my half did not go a good cause besides bringing attention to the Crazy Horse Memorial, there was a kids 1K and fun 5K on saturday put on by the Run Crazy Horse Event where the benefits did go to the American Heart Association. If I was in town a day earlier, I would have definitely supported that!

THE FINISH:

If you look closely, you can see the time; although, it is a little slower than I actually finished because it’s displaying gun time and not my chip time!

I remember passing the last race official with him shouting, “you’re just 100 feet away! Almost there!” As I smile at him, he continued, “That’s right: Smiling as you finish!” I pick up the pace, saw the time clock and finished with that same smile! That official race photo better come out good!

Like I said before, I finished in 1:51:37, 10 out of 48 in my age/gender group, knocking off about 6 minutes from my PR! Looks like my birth state did me well.

Run Crazy Horse – Pre Race Review

I’m super excited for this race!!! I haven’t been this excited for a run in a while. Here’s a few reasons why:

1. It’s in South Dakota. My birth state and I get to knock off another state! I was born in Ellsworth Airforce Base, just outside of Rapid City and the race takes place in the beautiful Black Hills just outside of that.

2. It’s a half marathon….and totally counts for my long run this week for marathon training.

3. It almost all down hill…yesssss….PR here we come!!!

4. My mommy’s coming with me! LOL. I thought I was going to have to go alone, but my Mom asked if I wanted company, and I said yes, of course!

Last year’s medal

5. I get a medal! And they look pretty sweet from the pictures!

I’m running the Crazy Horse Half Marathon on Sunday. The race starts at the Crazy Horse memorial itself and you run downhill, into Hill City. The Memorial is to honor the culture and traditions of the North American Indians. The sculpture was started in 1948 and once finished, will be the the largest mountain carving. I saw crazy horse when I was a kid, I believe, and I’m curious to dig out pictures to see how far the carving has come since then.

I’ll be leaving after work today, heading up to Longmont to pick up my Mom and then driving the 6 hours to South Dakota. Were staying in a small town called Keystone thats only 20-30 minutes to the race start. The small hotel comes with a pool/hot tub, which I may or may not use after the race and has a free breakfast! Perfect!

I do want to PR this race which means I need to get under 1:57 which was from my race in Nebraska. I feel faster. I feel more fit. I think I can do this!!!

Who else has races this weekend??? Good luck to you! 

Tiger Trot 15K – Post Race Recap!

Ok, ok, I know, I didn’t do a Pre Race Review…but, SURPRISE!!! I can now cross Kansas off my list!!!

Racing The States goes all the way to….Kansas!!

The Trip:

It was sort of a last minute decision. I have my calendar on my computer with a BUNCH of different races I could do or want to do…. a couple weeks ago, I saw I had added this one and finally decided: Ok, I’ll make the drive to Kansas. It was an 8ish hour drive to Wichita, one that I was not able to make all at once.

I got off work at 2:30 Saturday afternoon and had originally planned on leaving no later than 3. However, when my “driving buddy” backed out on me, I knew I had to plan a little better. Reason being, if I didn’t make it all the way to my friend’s house that night, I would need a shower pre-drive so that I wouldn’t be SUPER gross on the way home. I also had to account for more coffee in my diet since I had no one to talk to/keep me awake plus a few other logistical things that took me a bit to figure out. I ended up leaving Colorado at 4pm. Not taking into account the time change, I had to text my friend that so graciously offered me to stay at her place, “thanks for the offer to crash, but I will not make it there at any reasonable hour.”

I originally had planned to stay with a girl I met at the Wild West Relay who lives about an hour from the race. Free place to stay? Done! And the hour drive in the morning would have been a good chance to wake up prior to running. Well, besides the fact that I wouldn’t have made it at a reasonable hour to accept her offer, driving safely was becoming a problem as the hours wore on.

As soon at I got off I-70 to head south through Salina, I was not driving safely at all! I was only about an hour and half form Wichita (where the race was) and I would have just stayed at a cheap hotel close to the race site, but smartly, I pulled over into a rest stop and slept. Knowing I would have to complete the drive in the morning, I set my alarm, pulled my car blanket over me, and shut my eyes.

My alarm went off before the sun even rose and all I had to do was put my seat in the upright position and start the car. Luckily for me, I’m really good at changing and eating in the car all while following directions on my phone (this might also be signs I’m a bad driver…but you do whatcha gotta do when you’re driving by yourself). I made it to the race head with 30 minutes to spare; enough time to pick up my race packet, go to the bathroom and stretch.

Good morning!!!

The Run:

FANTASTIC run!!! I had a great run! I completed the 15K (9.3 miles) in 1:22:29.9, I’m not setting any records here, but I felt accomplished with this time, especially because I was just using it as a training run. I started off the run slowly because I didn’t get a chance to warm up very well, using the first mile or so to loosen up. At mile 3, I was slowly passed by two men with a garmin that was making all sorts of noise.

The starting line.

They first commented on the runners going the other way (by then the first men and women had already hit the turn around and were crossing paths with us). One man made a joke about how they weren’t having any fun running that fast. I chimed in and said, “yeah, it’s us over here having all the fun” and then throwing in…”were not competing, were training.” Since they laughed at my comment, I started to keep pace with them. The chime on his Garmin was signaling that we were under an 8:30 pace! This really excited me, so I decided to stick with them for as long as I could stand it. We chatted about their lives and what they did for a living and I told them I was from Colorado and about my running goals.

I stuck with them until about mile 7, but kept them in site for the remaining of the run as motivation. I finished strong, although I did feel a little alone because no one was there at the finish line for me or running with me…I think this might have been the first race I’ve done without any company.

Proudly wearing my race shirt after the race!

The Event:

Also FANTASTIC! Well put together. The money went to the Tanganyika Wildlife Park…so of course, I was well on board with this race from the beginning!

Super organized from start to finish. The course was well marked. There was enough water stations and people to direct you where every you needed to go. At the end there was booth that you could give them your bib number and they instantly printed your time along with finishing position and pace. Super awesome! The volunteers were awesome, I spent some time chatting with one of them; and the place was easy to find with plenty of parking. Well accommodating for the 700+ participants (there was a 5K as well).

Is that not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?????

I wandered around the park to “cool down” instead of immediately getting in my car and sitting for 8 hours. It was a small wildlife park, but really interactive. They monkey habits were on islands surrounded by water, but no fences between any of it. You could walk right up and touch the giraffes, tortoises, and kangaroos (which are super soft btw). There was also apparently a place where you could get your picture with some lemurs as well, but either I did not find it (cause you know I would have been all over that) or they didn’t have it set up because of the event. The rest of the exhibits were wonderful as well and the animals all looked very happy.

Pretty cool animal habitats, huh?

By the time I was done meandering, they were giving out the place awards as well as doing the raffle. I did not place (obviously or this would be a very different post) nor did I win any prize (which they gave out for last/first to register, last to finish, most pained expression at the finish line, etc) but they did have a sock throw at the end….and believe me they were clean socks…or you would have seen me sprinting as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I managed to catch a pair of the clean socks that had the Tiger Trot logo printed on them.

I’ve gotten shirts, headbands, medals and water bottles from races, but never a pair of socks. Do I wear them or display with my other race goodies??? Would that be awkward to have socks displayed or a dinner conversation starter (keeping in mind, I HATE feet – and that’s an understatement)???