Covenant Health Knoxville 5K

Happy April Fools day and Palm Sunday! This morning I participated in the Covenant Health Knoxville 5k. A co-worker of mine and I had first talked about running the half, but at the last-minute after neither of us had truly trained, we opted to just sign up for the 5k. Diana and I met in the parking garage at 7 a.m. to have plenty of time to park and make it down to watch the marathoners and half-marathoners start.

This morning it was very foggy and a tad bit chilly, but perfect weather to start a run (maybe even a bit hot for the longer races).

We got to the start line with some time to people watch. It was during this time of people watching and hearing the national anthem, that I realized I love running — especially races! I had a couple of feelings — 1. I can get the feeling of a race with 5ks and 10ks — which is great. 2. I love the half-marathon distance. I almost felt inadequate in that all I was running was a 5k — I love the feeling of accomplishing a half -marathon. It might be time to look for another half-marathon. Okay.. now to finish telling you about the 5k!

The first group to take off were the wheel-chairs — there was only two this year! These people inspire me and remind me how much I often take for granted. My hats off to them!!

A few minutes later, the marathoners and half-marathoners got to  start their race! Oh I know the excitement and nervousness they are feeling! Good luck to all of them!

Our pre-race picture! We are ready to go! We got to start at 7:45 — 15 minutes after the marathoners and half-marathoners.

Finally, it was our time to start. I told Diana she was free to run and go at her pace, but she was nice and opted to stick with me.

Mile 1 done! 11.09 pace, 99 calories burned, 170 bpm!

Mile 2 complete! I remember now why I don’t like the Knoxville half-marathon — there are way TOO many hills! I have got to start adding hill training into my running routines. Stats — 11.19 pace, 103 calories burned, 173 bpm.

Diana ran the Knoxville marathon last year, so I had her pose by mile 26! What an accomplishment!

Mile 3 — almost done! 11.00 pace, 105 calories burned, 176 bpm.

.1 — Time to turn it on! 8.43 pace, 13 calories burned, 183 bpm! Another race completed!!

Finish stats (these are per my Garmin 405) — 34.46 minutes, 11.03 pace, 320 calories burned, 173 bpm, 3.15 miles run (all the darting in an out of other runners/walkers).

After we got water and cooled off, we hung around for a few minutes to see the half-marathon winner — he came in around 1 hour, 6 minutes — impressive! The top female for the half-marathon came in around 1 hour, 16 minutes! Congrats to all the winners!

Do you enjoy races? What is your favorite race distance?

ING Miami Half Marathon 2012

First of all Happy February! I cannot believe that it is February already – this year is flying by! Before too much time went by, I wanted to write about the ING Miami Half that I completed this past Sunday (January 29th, 2012).

Sunday morning started early with a 4:30 wake up call. After hearing the alarm, I got up and got my race gear on. Breakfast consisted of my raisin bread toast and peanut butter and a few sips of coffee. By 5 we were on the road to get to the start line and the 6:15 start time. Brittany and I were in a back corral, so we did not actually cross the start line until about 6:40.

Waiting to start the race.

Not totally sure on my pose here, but chalk it up maybe to nervous energy before a race. 🙂

Brittany and I decided to take this race easy and listen to our bodies. I went into this race knowing that I had not properly trained so would not be having a great time, so I opted to just have a great time running. I talked to various runners and talked Brittany’s ear off. Not sure where I had all that energy from, maybe it is time to start working on speed for the next half. I do though attribute a lot of it to the spin classes I have been going to. Thanks AM!

Some of the people I talked to were veteran runners. One older gentleman told me that his was his 205th marathon and third one this year alone! Wow! Later in the race we ran with a gentleman on crutches who had run 155 marathons and now runs halves. He was telling me of a guy who had run 700 marathons — I am just in awe of this. I had so much fun though talking to and hearing the stories of these men who have run for 40 plus years and all their accomplishments.

My inspiration!

Running across the bridge and seeing the cruise ships.

We pretty much ran the whole first 5 miles, then decided to run to walk mile 5. We ran miles 6 through 8, walked 8, ran 9 through 11, walked 11, and then ran the last mile. I think the walking gave me recoup time to run the rest without proper training. It also allowed me to take lots of pics of the amazing course.

And some of us being silly. 🙂

There were also some great signs along the way motivating us. We also got to see the Orange People for the race.

Our last sign was the best as Brittany’s mom made a personal one for us! Thanks Margie!

I truly had a great time running this half marathon!

Hot to Trot 2011

This morning I ran the Hot to Trot 10k through Turkey Creek. When my alarm went off I totally did not want to get up. The temps were in the upper 30’s, and it felt very cold. I almost didn’t get up, but I thought I already paid for it. Plus I need to get in some exercise before I eat all the yummy Thanksgiving food.

Luckily I knew people running today, so I was not going to be solo the entire time. Knowing that others were going to be there definitely helped. The race started at 7:30 and was another 2 loop course. The majority of the runners/walkers were there to run the 5k, but there was a decent amount of 10kers as well. The second loop was much more sparce though. 🙂

I would lie if I said that the thought didn’t cross my mind to only do the 5k as I finished the first loop, but I didn’t! 🙂 I finished the second loop and got in my 6.2 miles in for the day. I forgot to set my watch, so I am not sure what my time was, but I think it was somewhere around 1 hour, 14 minutes.

Have you gotten in your exercise today?

Secret City Half Marathon

This morning I embarked on a new journey. A couple of weeks ago I signed up to run the Secret City half marathon in Oak Ridge. I had intentions of running before hand, but do to various different things, I did not make it out on a run a single time between the Marine Corps marathon and the Secret City half marathon. Not only did I not run since the marathon, but I did nothing to prepare for this half marathon — I did not hydrate adequately yesterday, sleep well, or eat appropriately. This was going to be a moment of truth — how hard was a half marathon going to be for me with no preparation.

This was also the first race that I did all by myself, there was no one I knew with me at the start line. There was also no one there at the finish line. I was in this by myself and had to find my own inner strength for it.

I left my apartment around 7:30 after a breakfast of toast, sunflower butter, a banana, and a cup of coffee. I arrived around 7:50 leaving just enough time to get myself to the start line and not have to stand around for long. The race gun went off at 8:10. The weather was a nice 55 degrees with a slight cloud cover. I actually ran in capris and a short sleeve shirt, only feeling chilly at the start line and when I my body cooled down after the race. A much warmer day then yesterday.

I thought I had looked at the race course, but obviously did not read the description as I did not realize it was a two loop course. I am personally not a fan of having to do the same course twice… it has to do with passing my car which makes me want to be done. I did great for the first half of the marathon. At mile 5 I was running at 58 minutes, which is great in my opinion! I continued to do well as I passed the start line again and through mile 8. Somewhere around mile 8 I lost heart in the race. Honestly my legs felt fine, but I lost the desire to run. I ended up doing a fair bit of walking in the last 5 miles and saw my time getting slower. At that point I was just ready to finish, but seemed to lack the heart to run. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 41 minutes. Not a stellar time, but another half marathon in the books.

The race had 800 or so runners, with some being marathon relays (two runners who split the half marathon – each doing a loop). They required a 3 hour finish time, so I think that deterred several runners from running. I was proud that the race winner and the next 4 runners were the only ones that lapped me on this two loop course. I was almost at mile 6 when the race leader came by, he was booking it and the second place guy was several minutes behind him. I guess that was one perk of the two loops, I got to actually see the race leader. 🙂

With the smaller race, that also meant there were a lot fewer spectators, so the energy as great. All in all though, it was not a bad race. I learned that much more about myself and what my body can do.  I now know that if I just keep running smaller distances with an occasional longer run, I can do half marathons when they come up. I also know that I prefer the larger races with more runners and more spectators. While it was not my favorite race, I would consider doing it again — there were very few hills, which is always a good thing in my book. 🙂

Plus I got another medallion to add to the collection. 🙂

What do you do to prepare for a race?

 

 

I Might be Crazy…

I signed up to run the Secret City Half-Marathon next Sunday — crazy or smart idea? Time will tell. 🙂

One thing in my training for the marathon is that I need a goal and a race to be in training for to motivate myself. My new goal in running now is to run a half-marathon in under 2 hours. A few reasons for deciding to run this marathon are:

1. While I am aware that I won’t finish this half-marathon in under 2 hours, it is a great place to start and be my baseline.

2. I am already used to running long distances, so no extra training is needed.

3. The course is flat and starts and ends in one place, so logistics will be easy.

4. I do not want to gain weight over the holidays, so a few races will help.

So in the words of my fiance, “why not?”

Marine Corps Marathon

I AM NOW A MARATHONER!!!! I did it!! 

This is Jason and I right before we took off. I think we ran together for all of a couple hundred yards before he took off. A quick kiss and an I will see you when I finish… then it was me and the road. I got into a rhythm and watched the mile markers go by. I actually took my camera with me, so did take some pics along the way.

One of my favorites:

Miles 1-20 felt great… I was not super fast, but I was feeling great. I did have in my head though from mile 18 on that I kept running my personal distance record as my longest training run was 17.85. I hit that long bridge around mile 20 which really took the energy out of me! My mom and brother Rob were tracking me and said that all of the sudden my time went way down. I started struggling both physically and emotionally. We then went through Crystal City which was also long and hard for me. I did get some renewed energy in the last few miles — I knew that I was going to complete this marathon and that was all that mattered.

.2 more! I can do this. Little did I know though that the .2 was a short steep hill — really?!? Who does this? Oh well… I did it! I got up that hill and made it to the finish line.

My wonderful boyfriend was waiting there for me at the finish line! I remember rushing into his arms and bursting into tears. I had finished — me the non-runner had finished. I was about 13 minutes slower than I my goal, but it didn’t matter. I accomplished my goals — I crossed the finish line standing up; I was nowhere near the last person to finish; and I finished before they started closing down!!

After the race, we met some friends at Ragtime for some food and drinks! Jason and I both completed our first marathon!

Our medals — we were both so proud!!

Stay tuned for what happened after the race! 😉