Freihofer's Run for Women

This past Saturday was the Freihofer's Run for Women 5K.  We are very fortunate to have a race like the Freihofer's Run for Women in our area.   This race is an amazing combination of elite women and recreational runners.

From the Freihofer's Run for Women website:

The Freihofer's Run for Women 5km combines some of the top International and American women distance runners and over 4,000 women from the Capital Region and across the nation. From Olympians to recreational runner, it's a wonderful blend of competition, participation and camaraderie.

I have run this race a few times in the past.  It was through training for this race that I met the Strong Running Mamma's a few years ago.  This year, having just come off two marathons in May, I decided not to run it and go down and cheer on some of the Strong Running Mama's instead.  I brought Mia with me and planned to have her run one of the kids races.  Tami was also spectating.  One of her daughter's was running the 5K and her other daughter was running the kids mile. 

I haven't really spectated many races before and until Saturday I had no idea what I was missing! It was SO MUCH FUN! We staked out a spot with a good view of the start and finish and we cheered our hearts out.  We were definitely those crazy loud ladies at this race.  We cheered for the elite women, we cheered for our friends, we cheered for strangers.  We screamed our lungs out.  It was awesome!

Seeing the elite women come through was amazing.  They are so fast! It was also cool to see how they literally left everything on the course. You could tell they were pushing it as hard as they could. It was so inspiring.

It was also a great day for my friends. Felice, Bridget and Gail all PR'd.  Darlene was supposed to be walking her first race post injury but ended up running the whole thing.   I was so proud of all them!

Mia didn't end up running the kids race because it was pouring but she was proud to wear her race number around and she got her free cookies so it was a good day for her too!

Memorial Day Marathon Recap

When I was training for New Jersery my running buddy Tami was originally training for the Memorial Day Marathon.  Well somehow our other running buddy Karen and I got the idea that we would run that one with her too.  The course is known as a very tough course.  It's located in the Berkshires and everything we read about it said it was very challenging.  In the meantime Tami had surprised us by running NJ with us so now we were all doing two marathons in one month.  A first for all three of us!

We were all feeling pretty good since NJ and so we planned to just enjoy this race and run it more for the experience instead of a specific time goal.  We were going to treat it like an extra long training run.  In the days leading up to the race I was pretty excited for it.  I didn't feel any pressure and was looking forward to having a fun day with my friends.

The morning of the race I headed out at 5 am to meet Tami and Karen for the drive to the race.  The day before my husband had purchased new wheels and tires for my car and had them installed. Well on the way to meet Tami and Karen I suddenly heard an awful noise coming from my car and it felt like I couldn't control it.  I was on the highway at this time.  I pulled off at the next exit to discover I had two rear flats! I just started crying...my race was ruined and I didn't understand what had happened with my car.  I called Karen to tell her what happened but I'm surprised she understood me through my sobs.  She immediately said "We're coming to get you! Don't worry!".  I called my husband and he said to just go he would deal with the car. A few minutes later Karen and Tami pulled up and I felt better, I was still upset about the car but I was happy I could still go with them. 

They both cheered me up on the ride with funny stories and race talk.  We agreed again, we were taking this race slow and having fun.  No repeats of our crazy pace at New Jersey.  Once we got off the highway the drive to Lenox was so pretty.  We arrived got our packets and waited for our friends who were running the half to arrive.  Once everyone got there we all took a lot of pictures and headed for the start.

We started running a nice comfortable pace.  It was already pretty hot but in the first few miles there were some shaded areas and the hills were not so bad.  We ran into another runner from our area.  She is a maniac and part of the only mother daughter marathon maniac team and we chatted with her for a while.  The miles were going by really fast.  We were having a great time running despite the heat.  We stopped often at the water stops to refill our bottles but we were still running at a decent pace.  In fact we were looking at a 4:30 or better time.  Around mile 9 or so we started splitting up a bit, but we seemed to all catch back up to each other from time to time.  I was still feeling really good and continued to feel good for most of the race.  Around mile 18 the rolling hills ended and the hills started getting tougher.  I still felt good but felt myself slowing a bit but I still felt like I was running strong.

Then we hit mile 20! This is where the real hills started! I have never run up hills like this before.  For the next 6 miles it was all uphill and directly in the sun.  The temperature was in the mid 80's and super humid at this point.  It seemed like everyone on the course was doing a combination of run/walk at this point.  Ocassionally things would flatten out a bit and I would try to run as fast as I could for as long as I could.  I kept thinking the hills would end but they never did. 

As tough as this part was I felt strong.  It was just hard but I was well hydrated and I didn't have the cramping problems I had in NJ even though the conditions were a million times tougher.  This part of the run was also beautiful, the views of the Berkshires were amazing.  I tried to just enjoy my surroundings and hang in there.

As time went on I knew there was no way I was pulling off a 4:30 marathon and I was fine with that.  Finishing this race was enough.  Later we would find out that the winner finished in 3:05 which is much much slower than winning times at most marathons. 

Eventually I hit mile 26 and the finish line was around the corner.  I picked it up and as I approached the line I heard Joe and Mia cheering for me.  Mia ran out and grabbed my hand ran through the finish line with me.  I have never been prouder of finishing a race and having her with me made it so special.

After I finished I found out Tami had finished about 10 minutes before and Karen (our speed demon) about 25 minutes before.  Tami was having some breathing issues and being checked by the medic. She turned out to be fine she just needed some water and to sit for a bit.  Once she felt better we went to collect our medals- custom dog tags with our names engraved on them.  They were so cool!

We then went on to enjoy the food and drinks for a while and we toasted with some chocolate milk that Karen had brought for us.

This was the hardest race I have ever run and I am so proud of finishing it.  I'm even prouder to have done it with Tami and Karen.  They are such strong women and I'm glad they are my running buddies!

Now it's time to rest a little!

New Jersey Marathon Recap

 

All winter I had been training for the New Jersey Marathon with an amazing group of ladies.  I worked really hard in training and this was going to be my goal race- I was going to run a sub 4 hour marathon in NJ.  I was ready!

Well that didn’t exactly happen, as I mentioned in my May recap, but it was a great marathon and fun weekend.

A few days before the marathon I got the best news.  One of my running buddies Tami, who had trained with us but was not coming to NJ because she was planning to run a marathon closer to home in late May, surprised us with the news that she was coming to NJ and running the marathon! Everyone was so excited.  It never felt right that Tami wasn’t going to be with us on race day after training with us.

Saturday morning I met up with Felice, Janis and Bridget so we could start the drive to NJ.  Our car was certainly a bundle of nerves and excitement!   Once we arrived in NJ we hit up the expo and got our packets and browsed the expo.  After that we decided not to drive the course as planned but to head back to the house we rented to meet up with the rest of the ladies who had arrived earlier.

The house was amazing.  Even more amazing was the awesome dinner Gail made for us.  She made us pasta, sauce, and meatballs and it was so good.  The perfect pre-race meal!

We all tried to go to bed early but I don’t think anyone slept much.  We all had to get up pretty early to leave for the start.  We knew traffic would be an issue and at the expo we were advised many of the roads would be closed down early for the half which started about an hour before the full.  When we got up we realized there was no hot water in the house which definitely sucked.  Most of us wanted a quick shower to wake up but it wasn’t in the cards.

While traffic to the race was slow we made it with plenty of time to spare and spent it hanging out by the porta potties.  Once it was time to line up we all split up into our various corals.  Karen, Tami and I were in the same coral and lined up in front of the 4 hour pace group.  The three of us waited for the start and talked about how we were not going to start too fast, stick with our target pace, blah blah blah...As soon as the gun went off, we took off! We were running around 8:30.  We talked about dialing it back but we felt so good it seemed like we couldn’t go slower.  In my delusional mind I was doing the calculations (never a good idea for me to do math while running) and trying to figure out by just how much we were going to crush our sub 4 hour goal by staying at this pace.  I was in fantasy land for sure!

At mile 11 I saw my husband and daughter who had driven down the night before to surprise me by spectating at the race.  Seeing them made me so happy. I continued running fast and strong through the first half even getting a half PR at 1:57!   I felt pretty good after the half although by this time I must have slowed down some because I had lost Tami and Karen, they were ahead of me.  I knew I was also still way ahead of the 4 hour pace group. 

By mile 16 I had slowed down significantly and as I stopped to refill my water bottle the 4 hour pace group ran by me.  I was already starting to feel the effects of my ridiculous pace early on and seeing them pass me really killed my spirits.  After that I started getting bad cramps in my calfs and needed to walk from time to time.  Around mile 18 I saw Joe and Mia again.  This gave me a nice boost but I was still frustrated as around this time I saw the 4:05 pace group pass me.  I kept running and sometime after this I saw Felice who had already passed the turn around point and was heading back for the final 6 miles.  Seeing her was another boost and at this point I was running with the 4:10 pace group but not for long...they also passed me.

I was still dealing with pretty bad cramping in my calfs.  Around mile 20 I saw Joe and Mia again and Mia even ran alongside me for a bit.  It helped to see them but I was still feeling lousy.  Not long after that I stopped to walk and pulled down my compression socks.  I don’t think my body was used to wearing them in such heat because once they were down my legs felt a lot better.  I would have taken them off completely but I figured I wouldn’t get my shoes back on.  I kept them down for a while and continued walking.  I started trying to mentally regroup.  I put my headphones in (which I should have done earlier) and tuned everything else out and then I started to run again.  It was slow and it was painful but I kept going.  I knew if I just kept at it I was going to PR and that while it wasn’t the race I planned on that was still pretty amazing.   Not far before the finish I saw Joe and Mia again.  They were seriously the best spectators ever! I kicked it up and got it done.  My official time was 4:23:59- a 10 minute PR!

While it wasn’t the time I had in mind, I learned a lot from this race.   Mainly that I have to stick with my race day plan.  I can’t get caught up in the excitement and start so fast.  I know I am capable of a sub 4 hour marathon.  I have trained for one I just have to run the race I trained for.  I didn’t train to run 26.2 miles at an 8:30 pace, why on earth would I try that?! I’m glad it happened because I will be smarter in the future and I will get that sub 4 marathon this year!

All in all it was a great weekend.  Everyone PR’d! Even if we didn’t all meet our goals we had so much fun! I’m so lucky to have gotten to know this group of women and gone through this experience with them.

May Recap

I am the worst blogger ever.  I don’t know what happened.  I haven’t written in forever.

May was literally a marathon month for me.  I ran two marathons, a half marathon, a 5K and a 3.5 mile race.  It was amazing.  I have never felt so strong as a runner.

While I intend to do more detailed reports on these races let me give you a quick recap:

New Jersey Marathon, May 6, 2012: This was going to be my sub 4 hour race.  I had trained for it, I was ready for it and for various reasons but mainly me taking off like a bat out of hell and running the first half at a ridiculous pace it didn’t happen.  It still ended up being a great race for me and I finished with a 10 minute PR of 4:23:59!!!

Make it a Great Day Half Marathon, May 19, 2012: I ran this only because most of my running friends were doing it and I had 13 on the schedule.  The following week I would be running the Memorial Day Marathon so I was treating it mainly as a training run.  I was hoping to run it under 2 hours but I think I was dehydrated going into it.  I felt ok for the first half or so and then had some cramping.  I tried walking at times and finished in 2:05:37- not my best or worst half marathon time.

Memorial Day Marathon, May, 27, 2012: This was the hardest race I have ever done and probably the one I most proud of.  It can be described as rolling hills for the first 18 miles and then all uphill for the last 8, with the last 6 being the hardest uphill ever.  Oh and did I mention the heat and humidity?! That being said this was an awesome race on a super hot day.  I am so glad I did it. I finished in 4:46:28- again not my best or worst but I earned every mile and I am proud!

My next race it the Boilermaker, a 15K on July 8^th.  I am also running the Hudson Mohawk Marathon on October 7^th so training starts in 2 weeks for that.  For now, I am in recovery mode, trying to listen to my body and run however long and fast I feel like.  I am amazed at how good my body feels after all of those races in May.  I never thought I was capable of 2 marathons in a month and now I find myself thinking about how many more I can do...

Catching Up

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted.  The weather was so beautiful here the last 2 weeks. We've been spending most evenings outside that I haven't really had a chance to blog.  Unfortunately the temperature has gotten cooler today- mid 40's which is more seasonal and not too bad temperature-wise but it's very windy.  I'm glad today is a rest day, it's a good day to stay inside. 

After my 20 miler two weeks ago, my muscles didn't feel too bad.  I had very little soreness but I was exhausted all week.  I'm attributing it to a certain time of the month combined with that long hilly run.  It was a cutback week and I was able to run a few evenings outside with Mia in the stroller, but I cut my mileage way back that week.  I'm really glad I did because on St. Patrick's Day I had a race- The Runnin' of the Green 4 miler in Green Island.  I'd been looking forward to this race for a while because many of my running friends were running plus it was a good chance to test my speed.  My husband had to travel that weekend so I ended up having to run with Mia.  We got all decked out in our St. Patrick's Day green gear and met up with the ladies at the race.  Mia was fine a little quiet but fine...until right before the race started.  She started crying.  I thought maybe the crowd scared her a bit, but we've done so many races I couldn't understand why it would bother her this time.  I checked to make sure she had her snack, binky, and anything else that's normally the source of tears.  I figured she was tired and would fall asleep once we started running.  She's never really cried for more than a half mile.  She cried THE WHOLE RACE.  It was great fun, but on the plus side I ran really fast to get it over with.  My chip time was 34:10! Not too bad considering I was pushing a stroller and stopped twice to try to calm her down.  All of my friends had great times too.  Aside from the crying which stopped right after the race it was a really fun morning.

This past Sunday, I met up with the ladies for a long run.  It was big group of this week and I got to meet some new friends that I had only met through our online group.  Tami, Karen and I were doing 16 and the rest were doing 8.  The plan was 1 loop for them, 2 for us.  Everyone was running at different speeds and we kept getting separated.  This made for quite the adventure.  I was chatting away with a new friend, Sheila, and her and I got ahead of the rest and missed a turn.  We ended up adding 2 miles to the first loop.  When we finally got back to the cars Karen and Tami were waiting for us.  It was pretty funny.  Poor Sheila only had 8 on the schedule but got  2 bonus miles.  She's a really strong runner and I hope she will join us again.  After that, Karen, Tami and I set out for the rest of the run.  I think I took the first 10 miles a little too fast because the hills Tami took us on on the second loop were killing me.  Finally we hit a downhill stretch and I felt better.  I ended up with 16.66 miles total at a 9:42 pace which is faster than my plan called for.  I felt pretty good after too.  I actually felt guilty because Tami and Karen had two more miles to do and I felt like I should have kept running with me.  Who am I?!!!

This weekend I have a 20 miler scheduled and I'm really excited about it. After that it's a cut back week and then another 20 miler the following.  The marathon is so close!!!! I can't wait!

Oh What a Run!!!

In preparation for this mornings 20-miler Joe took me to see Jersey Boys last night.  It was an amazing show but we were out until almost midnight and I was scheduled to meet Tami and Felice at 7:30 this morning.  Oh and 7:30 was really 6:30 because we had to change the clocks back.  Needless to say when my alarm went off this morning all I wanted to do was turn it off and go back to sleep but I got up and I am so glad I did.

Today's run was awesome! Tami planned a loop for us near Dyken Pond which was super hilly.  It was a 10 mile loop that we had to do twice.  The first 5 miles were basically all uphill but the 2nd 5 miles were basically downhill so that helped.

In the first mile or two I had trouble catching my breathe again on the hills but eventually I found my pace and felt better.  The first loop flew by, especially when we got to mile 5 and were able to cruise a little on some of the downhills.  We were all feeling good but tired when we got back to the cars to refill our water and start our 2nd loop.

The second loop started out HARD.  The first mile or two of hills was killing me, my breathing was all wacky again and I had to walk a little.  I told Tami and Felice to keep going but luckily each time I caught my breathe I was able to catch right back up with them so I didn't really lose anytime.  After I got through that the miles started flying again and we were around mile 15 where we started hitting some downhill stretches again.  It was so nice.  Finally we were at mile 18 and I was amazed at how good I felt.  I felt like 2 more miles was nothing.  And then we were at 20 and I still felt great! I felt like I had a few more miles in me if I had to.  We finished out the run at 20.35 miles with a 9:58 pace.  

Tami and Felice were so great to run with.  Pace-wise it's a good match for us all.  We had so much fun chatting along the way.  They are such positive people and really make it fun.

This was an extremely hard run on mountain roads. If I can run a route like this and feel strong, I feel confident I can take on the New Jersey course. 3:59:59 here I come.

I'm Back!

After a week of not feeling so hot I was so psyched to be feeling better on Friday and looking forward to my long run on Sunday.  Well I forgot that one member of our household still hadn't been hit by the bug...Yup! Friday night just after I put her down Mia started puking and puking and puking.  Of course Joe was away so I was on my own to tend to her, clean up the messes and continuously wash everything.  I think by Saturday morning every pillow, blanket, sheet, and towel in our house had been washed.  Luckily she was feeling better by Saturday afternoon so I didn't have to cancel my plans to meet the girls for my 18 miler Sunday morning.

My friend Tami had planned a route out by where she lives for a group of us to run. Tami lives on a mountain and told us it would be a hilly run but I had no idea what I was in for.  This was one of those cases where ignorance is bliss.  If I had known going into it what these hills were like I don't think it would have helped me. 

We started the run on a pretty steep uphill.  Tami kept assuring us that this was the worst hill of the run, and we would be coming up on a nice downhill soon.  It was so long!!! I could not catch my breath, I think because it was the beginning of the run and I hadn't gotten into a steady pace yet.  I was getting nervous.  I kept thinking about last weeks 17 miler and how I feel apart near the end after a good start.  If this is how I was starting out, how would I last 18 miles. Tami was right though, once we got over that hill there was a nice downhill and I started to fall into a rhythm.  The rest of the run was pretty hilly- big freakin' hill but none were as bad or as long as that one.  We all chatted away and before we knew it we were finished with the first 11 mile loop.  We refilled our water and headed out for the final 7 mile loop.  This loop was not as challenging hill-wise but by this point we were all starting to get a little tired so there were a few hills in there that felt like they could have been comparable to the first one even though they weren't. 

We all finished strong at 2:58 with a 9:54 pace! My training plan had me running my 18 miler at a 9:52 pace which is slower than my marathon goal pace.  I'm really happy that I was able to complete this particular run so close to what the plan called for because no where in the plan does it say to run your 18 miler on a freakin' mountain! I felt really tired and tight after the run but I came home and stretched and used my foam roller.  My legs felt much better after that.  I took my scheduled rest day yesterday which I definitely needed because I was still very tired but my muscles felt pretty good.  Tonight I was able to run 5 miles on the treadmill with no problem at all. 

After what happened at the end of my 17 miler this 18 miler was a huge confidence booster.  If I can run strong and steady on hills like that I can run my marathon goal pace on a flat course like New Jersey!