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? :)

The inaugrual post!

This is going to be a blog about my personal journey to get back into shape and the obstacles I face. A thank you goes out to Rene, a fellow December 2009 mommy and runner! She has a blog that I follow where she documents her Adventures in Running. Her blog motivated me to start this one! I initially posted my musings on weight-loss, running and health issues on my art blog, but it obviously did not belong there.

This is my back-story:

I started running in 2006, when a friend and his girlfriend invited Joel and I to do a Sweetheart/Valentine's Run 5K. I had never considered running a race, so I figured, WTH, and signed us up. Unfortunately the race course was totally screwed up and my pseudo-finish time was somewhere in the 23 minute range! Not bad for a beginner, right? haha Well, I "finished" before Joel (my husband, the former high school cross-country star). Needless to say the race was a flop for both of us, but it motivated me to sign up for more races and in turn, keep trying to beat my previous 5K time and also eventually run longer distances as well. During this time we also went to the gym regularly, too.

In 2009, I got pregnant, but somehow ran 5K PRs in my first trimester. I stopped running after pregnancy symptoms set in (not morning sickness, but fatigue and general laziness), but continued to walk and do light exercise until I was unable to see my feet. After I had Liam in December of that year, I was so busy with baby that I had no time for myself. But after we got into a routine with our lives with a baby, it actually was not that hard to get back into running, other than dealing with the fact that I had all this extra weight to run with - which was just motivation to do it more often. We did a few 5Ks in 2010, but one was not even chip timed and another had course issues which interfered with Joel's final time.

Later in 2010, we moved back to the DC area. I signed up for a half-marathon in November 2011. I was excited to be able to run and train in an awesome area. But my first run after a hiatus from running turned out to be my last of the year, as I experienced severe cramping and mild knee pains after that run. I decided not to run again until I was able to see a doctor. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon who told me that my knees were perfect, but the cartilage was rubbing together which was causing pain. He also said that if I wanted surgery in my future, that I should continue to run. That news almost brought tears to my eyes. Almost as if someone had told me I only had a few months to live. (Well, not that bad!) He suggested I stop running and find other methods of working out. I bought a rowing machine and use it whenever I can. I gave my 1/2 marathon registration to a friend in Savannah. Also, we do not have a gym membership up here because we are stuck in a stupid contract with our former gym in GA! So needless to say, it's been a little bit of a challenge to stay in shape.

It was not until recently that I have been persuaded by friends to get a second opinion from a physical therapist. I am also trying to work out my legs to strengthen them to support my knees when running. I have not yet seen a physical therapist, but I hope to visit one soon so that he/she can help me manage and lessen the pain I may feel in my knees from running. And that is where I am today!