Bring on October!

The first few bars are not proportional to the later ones

Just to give you a bit of history, I only used to train for mostly 5Ks back in the day, pre-baby. Which meant the furthest I ever ran on any given running day was 4 miles. I ventured into the 10K distance for a short time before I got pregnant and did a couple 10K races (both 10Ks were bridge runs, so I am looking to eventually do a flat one to try to PR -- sub 1 hour is my goal!)

I joined a training group in June this year with my local Fleet Feet for beginner half-marathoners (specifically training for the Rock and Roll Savannah Half in November) and they have been excellent for making me get out of bed in the mornings. I knew I could never follow any type of plan by myself because I could easily have just said, "I'll run tomorrow" or, "I'll just make up the miles this weekend" or... any other excuse not to get up and get my miles in.

Another group that I joined this year: Moms Run This Town, has given me even MORE motivation and support to go out there and run. Plus I've made a bunch of awesome new mommy friends -- which is a milestone in itself because I am not the type to go out there and join a "mommy group" but I am so glad I did. I love the group and try to pitch in as much as I can to give back to the cause and support I have received in return. I was recently promoted to be a co-chapter leader for our Savannah group, which I am honored to do so, but not worthy! I'm just doing my part! :)

Doing the LoCo Motion this past Saturday!

One of my last posts dealt with new records for the month of September -- I have even more to add. It's just getting a bit ridiculous -- the amount of achievements I've done this month -- but it's all true and noteworthy that I have to mention it! haha It's like it just keeps getting better!

• Finished my first 10-mile race, the LoCo Motion 10 Mile Run/Walk in Callawassie Island, SC (details below)
• Ran a record number of miles in 1 month: 78 (see image at top)
• Reached a total of 400 miles run for 2012 thus far (according to Daily Mile, yet the screenshot above totals only 388... which is fine because there were a few times I did not log!)
• Completed my highest total number of organized races for the year...so far! And more to be added! I am at 6 thus far in 2012, whereas my previous highest was 4 in 2010!)

Last Saturday morning, while pretty much everyone was out doing the Big Nasty Mud Run (I'm so jealous!), I was out running the LoCo Motion 10 Mile Run on Callawassie Island in SC. It's a 3-day, 30 mile event which benefits breast cancer research, screening and treatment. Callawassie Island is the first community in South Carolina to be designated a Community Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation, so the course was BEAUTIFUL - half golf course and half shady neighborhood streets. But the race started at 9 am! HOT! I've grown accustomed to seeing dark morning stars and beautiful dawns on my runs.

I guess I'll start with the few CONs of the run: First, the late start time, nuff' said! It was a very casual race, which meant no chip timing (no big deal, I knew this before hand and was prepared with my Garmin and was not expecting a PR). But it also meant that the course was most likely not measured correctly -- my GPS readings were minus .2 miles from each mile marker, so I had to make up for it after I crossed the finish line. It also meant that the start was not really officially announced - I thought we were doing a group "warm up" walk, but then after I saw people in the front of the pack start running, I started my watch and tried to make my way past the walkers, which also kind of sucked, because I was in the back and I'd say 75% of the group were walkers. Plus the start was on a golf course path, so it was really narrow and really hard to maneuver past. I read on the website that they'd give runners a 3 minute head start. I guess they forgot!

Now that all the bad stuff is out of the way, I can get on with all the GREAT stuff!

1. It was a beautiful, scenic, mostly shaded course.

2. TREMENDOUS community involvement: high school cheerleaders were cheering, residents had pink bows on their mailboxes, and a lot of them were outside their houses cheering everyone on and waving.

3. TONS of water and snack stops along the way, which made it fun and really broke up the course -- some residents had unofficial stops where they set out some snacks, drinks, candy, pretzels, oranges, chocolates, watermelon (OMG the watermelon hit the spot!) and played music. I wasn't planning on stopping along the course so much, but I loved how they all came out to support the race!

4. It was a small race - maybe 150-200 participants that day, so parking and bathrooms were not an issue!

5. The overall vibe and energy of the morning was great! Maybe due to the intimacy of the race because it was so small? I was definitely catching the vibes of all the different groups and runners out there. For some, it was the 2nd day in a row to be walking or running 10 miles. That's amazing to me.

6. I got to wear PINK! It was a perfect race to don my hot pink CEP compression socks! I got multiple comments and compliments on them!

7. Race goodies! For a small race, they sure had a good amount of free stuff out there: along with the usual bottles of water, bagels, grapes, bananas, granola bars, they had large bags of sweet potato chips (yum), medium size bottles of Gatorade, pink lollipops (grabbed a few for Liam) and other pink candies. And in the race bags there were pink cups, bracelets, a pink beer koosie, nail file...

8. Great race support staff - I had many questions before the race, which I asked on their FB page and they were quickly answered!

Finish time was 1 hour, 43-ish seconds on the race clock. I wasn't paying too much attention because I had to go the extra bit after crossing under the finish line arch to reach 10 miles on my Garmin, which was 01:48:30.

I'd totally do this again next year. Maybe even try to do this and another one of the other days as well! The final day of the event was 10 miles on the beach!

Time for bed... It's October now... where how did September go by so fast? :)

New Running Friends and Update on my Hip

The last part of April and beginning of May, I decided to start moving up to 6 miles for my weekend long runs. My weekday 5Ks were getting a tad bit slower, from averaging in the 29 minutes to now back to the 30 minute range. It's getting hotter so I wasn't too worried.

During this time, I ran many 2012 PRs (thus far):
6.2 miles at 01:04:32
4 miles at 38:34
(non-race) 3.1 miles at 29:06
and 1 mile at 8:40 (listed below as 8:35, but it was also short according to my watch, so we will go with 8:40)

Hip Update:
During my last 4.25 mile run, I seriously felt pain after the 4 mile mark - it was supposed to be a 6+ mile run, but I had to end it early. I guess all the running on the bum hip caught up with me and it just flared up on me at that point. It sucked. I had to walk back home.

I went to an orthopedist the week before who referred me to a Physical Therapist who told me that my hip injury was due to a tweak during a treadmill run... I knew those things were EVIL!! He recommended rest and very light, non-repetitive activity (including running and even elliptical) for 2 weeks. It would probably need a full 4-6 weeks to heal. He wasn't able to pinpoint exactly what was causing my strain, and also told me take Ibuprofen twice a day for 2 weeks - which sounded crazy. So at the advice of my new friend Jennifer (read on below), I went to see another trusted PT, who runs marathons. He told me that it was my IT band. He pretty much said to take it easy, do other forms of cardio in the meantime, but it would take about a month to heal. He told me to use a foam roller on it, which we have, and to do a few of the same stretches that the other PT told me to do. I also got a chance to try out the Alter-G treadmill which takes off some/most of your body weight so it doesn't impact your joints when you run. It was awesome.

So for now, I'm going to try to give it a rest for maybe a week or two more and slowly get back into running. I want to join the RnR Half training group soon!!!

Let me tell you, it SUCKS not being able to run, especially after I meet some new awesome running buddies!!

My first new friend I met through Dailymile.com. Cori lives quite a way from me, but luckily she was willing to drive 40+ minutes to meet me at Tom Triplett Park one morning to do a 5 miler. It was nice to have someone to run with that is around my pace. Chatting away while running makes the time go faster and more enjoyable! She has a blog, Workin' on my Fitness, which I will be adding to a blog list on the side of this blog soon...

Cori then introduced me to a Savannah Mothers Running group on FB (momsrunthistown.com Savannah Chapter), where I met a few more awesome potential running buddies. Hope to have another meetup again soon!

Jennifer and I after the Savannah Mile

Through this group, I met Jennifer, who just so happens to be my 2 doors down NEIGHBOR!! LOL She has a 12 year old who runs as well - and is quite FAST! We did the Savannah Mile on Saturday, and I hope to do some runs with her as soon as my hip is healed. She has a blog too: Running, Our Way.

So even though I can't or shouldn't run for a while, I really can't wait to get back into it. These girls are really motivating and supportive. I just wish I could get out there dammit!

For now, I am going to try to work on my strength (full body), make my hips stronger, continue to go to Bikram (just have to save up for another month session) and MAYBE start working on my diet... I also need to break out the rowing machine at some point. Just have to clean out that damn garage first!!! :)

Happy belated Memorial Day!