Hot Mama Half Marathon and Relay 2012

Kaite, me and Jen after our run last Saturday - with our medals! (I love my Bondi band!) Thanks for the pics Katie!

This past Saturday, me and a few other of my fellow running momma buddies ran our Hot Mama Half Marathon and Relay - a virtual race put on by momsrunthistown.com. We ran it out at the Rails to Trails trail and Fort Pulaski with the Savannah CREW training group. My group's distance for Saturday was only supposed to be 5.75 miles, but in order to do my leg, I had to complete 6.55 miles (half of a half). It was pretty dark and humid by the time we got there around 5:30, but it seemed a lot less humid than my normal weekday morning runs due to the breeze from the river and ocean nearby. The Savannah CREW team is much larger than my Pooler CREW group - which consists of about 10 people! The nice thing about the larger group is that there are plenty of different paces. I think the whole time I ran, I was with someone or at least caught up to another person going my pace at the time. It's a good break from the Pooler neighborhoods my group runs during the week!

Anyway, we started out on running on the roads of Fort Pulaski and ended up on the Rails to Trails - which I'm not sure if I liked or not - it seemed to go on forever because the path looks the same all the way down. It was a nice path, though! Cute little crabs would run across the path every now and then! And it was shady for the most part. I miscalculated my distance to where I was supposed to turn around so I ended up running over 6.55 miles before I got back to the start. I decided to just go for 7 since I was feeling good and also, I like round numbers! It wasn't such a great run for my running mommas Katie and Jen, but we all have our off days... At least we got it done! :) Looking forward to the next Virtual Half! Maybe I will be able to do the entire 13.1 next time! [[I want to note that the day before, I had a spaghetti lunch and a French bread pizza dinner... and of course lots of water throughout the day. I also stretched out my hips, foam rolled my IT bands, and iced my right hip the night before...]]


My average pace for the 7 miles I did was high 10s - which was what I was aiming for on this long run. I think it was 10:47. Based off that run, I think I could probably keep that pace for 13.1 miles. And I'm sure I will only condition myself to get faster by the half in November. For 10:47 miles, I would be on pace to do a 2:21:15 half.... which is above my goal time (sub 2:30), but not quite my "secret" goal time - which is 2:20 (the time it took my little sister to run her first half last year). LOL! I'm excited to find out how I will do.

Me with my fellow Pooler CREW training group members - Chris and Amanda - after our Mock 5K

In other race news, my training group did a mock 5K last Thursday. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I planned to do it in sub-30, which I did, but I BARELY made it! The night before, I had a rough bootcamp session, plus I had a couple beers without water after dinner AND I had not been getting much sleep at all last week due to a crazy deadline on a freelance project (very late-nights, and then getting up to work regular job at 8am). So yeah, I was in no position to be running any PRs. It was still fun though. :)

Time for sleep! Wake me up when it's August...

Mid-July Update (sorry my subjects are not exciting)

It's the middle of the month of July and I have already logged 35 miles! Woohoo! I have at LEAST another 27.75 left for the month - which is what I have scheduled with the training group, but I always like to to go a little above the set schedule each week (or so has been the trend), so I'm sure I will do more. So if I just did the scheduled distances with the group, my total monthly miles for July will be 62.75 miles! Let's see how much we can add to that...

I've been out of town this past week in Atlanta for work. I managed to get my miles in as well as do a 4-mile race with my friend/coworker, Justin. Our boss threw a shindig at her lovely house the night before and we ate and drank and had a great time. We of course left way later than we should have and definitely ate more than we should have, but it was all so good (we had home made mac and cheese AND lasagna)! So on little sleep and full carby bellies, we went out and did the race the following morning. Not too bad for me - there were hills of all sizes on this course. A shock for my body, but I liked the challenge. I ended up finishing in 41:03.

7.2 miles into my new PDR!

Jen running through the beautiful Isle of Hope neighborhood

On the 4th of July, some of my running mama buddies and I did the Watermelon Crawl at Lake Mayer/Isle of Hope put on by our local Fleet Feet. There was a choice of a 6-mile or 8-mile course, and I did the 8 mile with Jen (thanks for popping my 7.1 cherry, girl! LOL). This was a new personal distance record for me!! The previous longest distance I had done was 7.1 miles (recorded by Nike+ in 2008). The Isle of Hope is an awesome place to run.

I'm testing out some new inserts for my flatass feet. I tried them on the 5-miler today, well one insert in the right shoe only. I tried both on last Sunday's 5k and my left foot started feeling funny (in a bad way) during the run. It says you have to get used to them, but today, I didn't feel like getting that foot discomfort on a long run, so I only used an insert in one shoe (right). I might just wear them both around the house or something to break them in more. I don't know. Or I might ditch them altogether. I guess "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" My arches/feet have not been bothering me at all, but I read that if you over-pronate due to flat arches, it can cause back problems and knee problems. My knees are pretty bad (thanks Dad!), and I get back aches sometimes after runs (which I figure is due to my scoliosis), so I figure I'd give it a shot. They make my feet feel like they are being pushed to the outside of the shoe. A weird feeling. We'll see.

Happy running!

June Summary

June started off on a low note, as I was still in "rest mode" to let my hip heal. I tried to stay active by rowing and starting some bootcamp classes. Upon the followup with my PT, I was told that I could run again, but to take it easy and to continue with my routine of stretches he gave me. I did start of with a few low mileage runs building up to a trial 5k to see how I would do back at my normal distance. I felt fine afterwards and decided that I was ready to join the Fleet Feet C.R.E.W Half Marathon Training Group.

My first run with the group was on Saturday, June 16. Saturdays are our long run days. This Saturday we were scheduled to do 3.75 miles. I ended up doing 4.4 miles due to some course confusion! We start and end all our runs with lots of stretching, but when I come home I still feel the need to ice and stretch my hips and IT band out some more. I feel that by doing this, I am preventing any more issues from arising. It's been working out well so far. I love the group and the dynamic and it really motivates me to get up and run in the mornings!

I am proud to say that in June, I have run a personal record amount of monthly miles: 45! Not bad for coming off a hip injury! I am looking forward to increasing that number each month until my half in Nov!

In the beginning of the month I had started a Jillian Michaels 30-day DVD. I am sad to say that I have only done a few days of it, BUT I do plan to continue to do it until I actually do 30 days of it. I think with the bootcamps and running, I am getting enough exercise throughout the week. I go to bootcamp every Wednesday night and I am thoroughly sore the following days after! I love that feeling! I can tell that I am getting stronger.

I am also sorry to say that I have not been to yoga this past month due to my yoga buddy moving away and well, just not having enough time to go. I still have 5 classes left on my one punchcard with one yoga studio and I just have not been to any Bikram classes at all this month.  I love Bikram, but I think I will have to put it off until the off season. I have way too much stuff going on as it is and $20 a class is a bit much right now!

This month I have a few things going on, such as my 4-mile Race in Atlanta with my coworker on the 14th, and my first (virtual) half marathon RELAY on the 28th. Then in August, I am starting a 5 week Crossfit class with Jen – who has quickly become a great friend and running/workout buddy!

All that PLUS a few other trips and fun things sprinkled in between that I am pretty excited about. This half of the year is starting off on a high note! Hopefully it will continue like this until the end of the year! Happy Half Year!