Love it!

I've been bored this afternoon and came across this from another blog...and I really LOVE it!

I completely agree! 

Thanks Amanda!

WOW, 3 months, really?

I can't believe that I haven't written a post in almost 3 months. And you'd think that I would have at least posted about my marathon that I finished in June! I'm so embarrassed! All the talk about training for the marathon, and no post marathon post! Oh well, i guess that's what happens when summer is here and I have no time to do extra stuff with the kids around 24/7!

So here it is....I finished my 1st Marathon! The San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon 

on June 5, 2011!

My hubby & I on the shuttle after the race!

I REALLY did it! 

4:58:11

I PROMISE that I will do a recap this week....FINALLY!

It was definitely the hardest thing that I have ever had to do in my life, other than having my kids! 

Found this today, and LOVED it!

For reals!

100+ miles for April and my 18 miler

This is a first for me...I hit 100 miles in a month. After my run tomorrow...105!

SO excited! I hit 100 miles for the month of April! As you can see...that is an ALL TIME high for me!
So excited!

The 18 miler from yesterday really upped that number. It was a hard run for me. I started at 9AM and it was a beautiful morning...3 miles in, it was HOT HOT HOT! Not the kind of weather I wanted for my 1st 18 miler. I only had my 12 ounce hand held and I was out by mile 8. Luckily there was a gas station at mile 10 to fill up...and it was refreshing cold water...water never tasted so good! I was already pretty tired at this point and it was baking hot. I told myself that starting at mile 12 I would try out the Run/Walk thing. I started out running for 5 minutes and walking for 1 minute...but found myself liking the 4/1 ratio better. It added a little bit of time to my pace, but I think that in the heat if I didn't have those 1 minute walk breaks that I would have felt pretty bad. Here are my splits from the miles where I did the walk/run:

Mile 12: 10:17

Mile 13: 10:36

Mile 14:  11:16 (Big Hill)

Mile 15:  10:43

Mile 16:  10:39

Mile 17:  11:09

Mile 18:  10:44

I am definitely going to try this run/walk on my 20 miler to see if it makes a difference. The overall pace of my 18 miler was 10:27 which was right on what I wanted. But I couldn't imagine doing a whole more 8 miles and keeping that average pace. Guess we will see in a few weeks! Anyone else feel really doubtful that they could complete a marathon at this point in their training...I had serious doubts yesterday!

I'm still here...AND a giveaway!

Yes, I am still here. I can't believe I haven't posted in like 3 weeks! The kids were on spring break for 2 weeks, we were helping family move...so we have been kind of busy around here! ;) Kaitlyn is back in school and I can now get back to my routine! I LOVE routine....I like to have my schedule for the week all planned out, I'm weird like that. Anyways, training has been going good. Since my last post, I went on to conquer a 16 miler (in crazy weather!), ice bath #2, a split up 17 miler, and ice bath #3! The 16 miler involved running in the dark for an hour and a half (with a friend of course!), running in almost hail for 3 miles, and ending soaking wet walking into a 7-11 to buy ice! Jenn & I were laughing that we probably looked like idiot's walking into a 7-11 soaking wet to buy bags of ice! HA! We did it all for the story, right?! I now swear by ice baths! My muscles have yet to be sore after a 15, 16 and 17 miler...and I believe it to be because of the ice baths! I was dreaming of an ice bath during my 16 miler even though I was soaking wet and freezing. I swear...they are the best ever! 

I can't believe that my 1st marathon is 6 weeks away! I only have 2 main long runs left (an 18 miler and a 20 miler) I can't believe it! The only thing that I am sad about is my running partner will not be joining me for this Marathon...so I will be running solo on race day :( BOOO!!!! 

My only concern so far is that I had a scheduled 17 miler on Friday. I didn't have a 3 plus hour window that day, so I had to split up my run through out the day. So I did 3.5 miles on the treadmill @ home...went to get Kaitlyn from school, fed kiddos lunch, did another 5.5 miles on the treadmill at home while Mason napped...and then a few hours later met a friend for the last 8. Is that OK to do? Does it still count and have the benefits of a straight 17 miler? I thought that it felt harder to split it up because my legs have time to get heavy and stiff. Oh well, I thought that it was better to split it up than to miss it completely!

AND

Michelle at Michelle Goes Running is having a giveaway that ends tomorrow! Enter to win a free 8x10 canvas print! This would be a great gift for anyone!

15 miles and my 1st Ice Bath

I can't believe I did it! I ran my 1st ever 15 miler AND I did my 1st ever ice bath!

I must admit that I was kind of nervous of how this 15 miler would go. After last weeks 14 miles giving me nausea and only being able to drink Gatorade and a coke for dinner, I was hoping that this weeks long run would be better than that!

I had made plans to run with a friend of mine for about 8 miles which means that I either needed to go earlier and crank out 7 extra miles or figure something else out. I decided to do 5 miles on the treadmill before the hubby came home, and then when he came home, I left to go and meet my friend. I parked about a mile and a half from out meeting place and ran to meet her. We ran 7 miles together, stretched, and then I ran the last mile and a half back to my car. That last stretch was hard, my legs were really heavy, not sure if it was the hour break between the treadmill session and the 10 miles, or what....but all in all I DID at least feel better than last week and did my last mile at 9:36! :) AND, NO NAUSEA! YAY!

Luckily, I felt good after the run...but I was NOT looking forward to taking my first ice bath. I HATE being cold!

I had called the hubby to ask him to start some hot coffee for me...he was so sweet! Thanks babe!

I have found a few of you with advice on how to do an ice bath, so I decided to follow your lovely advice!

•   I filled the tub up with cold water first.
• I wore my clothes.
• I prepared myself a hot beverage...although, I should have taken a shot of tequila like Marie at The Quarterlife Quandary
• I got into the cold water BEFORE adding the ice. I couldn't have imagined the pain if the ice were already in there. I think this stage is the worst part...even the cold water hurts getting in!
• I added the ice and stayed in that hell tub for 15 minutes!

Enjoy these lovely pictures taken by my 5 year old!

I think it really did help with the muscle soreness. I was only slightly sore in my hamstrings, but I think that was from pulling weeds on Wednesday and not from the run! The only think that hurts, is my left shin is a tiny bit sore. I wore my compression socks all night last night, and have been wearing them today also. I even iced this morning!

Thankfully week 8 of marathon numero uno is almost complete...just a short recovery run tomorrow! Next week is a fall back week so hopefully that will give my shin some rest! Happy Friday every one!

BOOYA!

I nailed my longest ever tempo run this afternoon! I am super duper excited!

I hope I did that right, first time copying a screen shot!

Anyways, super stoked to have done 4 miles at tempo pace instead of 3 to hit my 7 miles for today! Excited for Kick Boxing tomorrow!

I can't believe it has been almost a month!

I am such a slacker blogger! YIKES! I DO stalk read daily, but I never find the time to post...what is with me?! GEEZ! I guess I have just been busy training, doing all the mommy and wife stuff, and working. That's all the excuses I've got anyways! On the training front, I just finished week 7 and starting week 8 of Marathon #1 training. I was super stoked to have finished my first 14 mile run ever last week, and boy did it ever make me realize that training for a marathon is a long long long way! This week I have scheduled 15 miles as my long run, so I am hoping that I feel better than I did last week. I was uber nauseous ofter the run on Monday and couldn't even eat dinner. I downed a Coke and a Gatorade...that was my nutritious dinner. I NEVER drink Coke, but it really did help the nausea! 

Congratulation to all the LA Marathon runners on Sunday, from what I have heard, it was a wet one! But so many of you PR'd! Good job! :) 

My schedule for this week:

Monday:  6-7 mile tempo run with 3 @ Tempo pace (9:13ish)

Tuesday:  Cross Train (Kick Boxing Class)

Wednesday:  REST or Easy 4 miles

Thursday:  15 miles

Friday:  Cross Training

I kind of wanted to do my long run today, but it has been raining on and off all day...so hopefully Thursday the weather will be much better. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday...and rest up all you who raced this weekend! ;)

Time for me to stop playing on the computer and being lazy so that I can got do my tempo run!

"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired."
Jules Renard

Week 4 Training DONE!

So happy for this week of training to be done...and I kicked butt! :) The only reason I am saying that is that I am super proud that I completed my longest treadmill run EVER this week. 11 miles on the darn thing...in the garage, with a 3 year old, and NO TV! Can you believe it?! 

I just kept going and going while the little one just played, colored and watched toy story on his DVD player. He did awesome! Thanks little buddy! Mommy needed that! ;)

So:

I NAILED my 6 mile tempo run on Monday

Got a kick ass kick boxing class done on Tuesday

RESTED Wednesday (I was supposed to do my hill workout but had tons of paper work to do for our mortgage loan stuff)

Cranked out my 11 miler on the treadmill on Thursday

THEN,

Today, kick boxing class kicked my butt this morning & my treadmill kicked my arse this afternoon during my hill workout.

But, in the end, I did everything I was supposed to do this week and I am thankful to have gotten through it! I'm on a mission...

I need to print this out and tape it to my treadmill! This photo gives me the boost to work it!

...to look, run, and be like Kara Goucher! A girl can dream, right?! ;)

Hope everyone had a fabulous week!

Commenting back

I was wondering...I consider myself still relatively new to the blogger world; but how do you comment back to a comment left on your page. I mean, I do comment back, but does that person know that I commented back? I was searching online this morning for answers and found this tutorial.

HERE

Any help here is appreciated! :)

President's Weekend & Training update

My family & I had an AWESOME holiday weekend! I took the weekend off and the hubby took Friday off and we went camping in the desert. We ended up having a compound! 12 adults and 8 kiddos!

It was definitely an adventure! It rained on Friday from about 6pm to about 7 am Saturday morning...we only a few breaks in between. At least we got a 10 minute break in the rain to make smores! ;)

Yummy!

Before it got dark and before the rain came, we luckily got in a hike! Right behind our camp site was a steep mountain peak that my hubby, myself, my BIL and his Dad wanted to hike up. We made it up to the top and saw some pretty awesome views of the wash and Fish Creek! 

Anyways, it was a beautiful hike, and I was glad to be able to have done it before the rain started! Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day despite the flash flood that flooded the wash below us! It was crazy! 

We weren't sure how long it was going to take to drain out, we were hoping that we would all be able to leave the next day! Luckily it washed out by the afternoon and we were able to drive up the wash to check out the sights!

Driving up the wash

Some parts were still flooded!

The Fam Bam in the Jeep

My son, hamming it up for the camera!

Papa & Mason

Cutie pie!

I even got to go shooting!

 All in all, the trip turned out to be AWESOME! The kids all had a blast exploring and playing together and I was just happy to have spent some quality time with the whole family! Can't wait for the next trip!

The drive home was absolutely amazing!

And on to training!

I am in officially in week 4 of my 18 week training plan to Marathon #1! I am happy to say that I have completed all scheduled runs so far! YAY me! I think that I have come to a decision to mainly use the FIRST training program. I like the concept of only "having" to run 3 times a week. I also like the fact that the plan incorporated fall back weeks for the long run. For example: once hitting 12 miles for a long run the sequence goes...12,10,12,13,14,12,16,13,18,10,20,13,8,RACE

I was thinking of changing it up a little bit, but keeping the same concept:

12,8,12,14,10,14,16,18,13,20,16,12,8,RACE (this was based on a friend's opinion of a long run sequence...she is a crazy marathoner whom I always ask my silly running question to!) 

My ONLY concern was the difference in what week the infamous 20 miler was in. In the FIRST training plan it is 3 weeks before the race whereas my friend has it 4 weeks before the race...I'm guessing to give me more time to recover and taper. Any thoughts?

This weeks training:

Key Run #1: 10-20 minute warm up, 12x400m (90 sec. RI), 10 minute cool down

OR

3 mile HILL workout

Key Run #2: 1 mile easy, 4 miles @ Tempo, 1 mile easy DONE!

Key Run # 3: 11 miles PMP+45 sec/mile

***Also, 2 days of kick boxing and 2 P90X workouts.***

Training, food, and more food

I am happy to say that my training plan for RNR San Diego is almost figured out. This week ends training week #2 of 18!!!! Here is my plan in works:

RNR Marathon Training Plan (Tentative)

I was happy to be able to fit in my 10 mile run this week on my treadmill...well I wasn't happy about the TM part, but happy to get it done!

This was the first 8 miles...had to leave really quick to pick up my daughter from school...then I finished the last 2 as soon as I got home! Happy to report an average pace of 10:03...close to MP! Anyone know what happens after you get to 99:00? I have never ran that much on a TM!

Not that I am running more than I was during half marathon training, but with my running, kick boxing, combined with a few P90X workouts a week...I have been SO hungry!!! WOW! I feel like I eat all day long! 

So far today I had:

Breakfast- 2 pieces of wheat toast with whipped butter and cinnamon on top. 2 cups of coffee.

*Then I went to kick boxing class

Lunch- Stopped at Subway after picking up K8 from school. The kids and I shared an Oven Roasted Chicken Sandwich on wheat bread with everything on it. A little bit of Cool Ranch Doritos, Diet Coke, AND a chocolate chip cookie! Don't judge!... ;) We ALWAYS get subway cookie...to die for! MMMM!!!

Sorry, the cookie was eaten before! OOPS...see they are that good!

Snack- Even my daughter was still hungry so we had our all time favorite snack. Low fat Vanilla yogurt with strawberries, granola, carob & yogurt chips!

I'm pretty full now, but who knows what's gonna happen in 5 minutes! HA! 

I have also been addicted to these:

They are sooo good! 

So for all my marathoner blog friends, how do you deal with being soooo hungry all the time? Any particular food or meal that really keeps you full and isn't too health nutty?! Don't get me wrong, I like to eat healthy foods, I love fruit and some veggies; but by no means would I consider myself a "healthy" eater. 

Wahoo...socks!

I FINALLY got the CEP Compression Socks that I won in Kim's giveaway! 

They were out of stock for some time, and I am so happy to have got them today!

I'm so excited that I am even wearing them now ;) I only did kick boxing and ran a mile today, but gosh darn it, I am wearing my new socks! I have my long run planned for tomorrow, so I will definitely be wearing them tomorrow night! 

I also can not wait to get our tax refund...I am in dire need of new running shoes like yesterday! I have over 500 miles on mine. OOPS! AND...with that money I will also be officially registering for my 1st Marathon! 

Even though I have not officially taken the plunge and registered, I am still working on my training plan for it (actually in week 2) and I've gotta say, I am wondering if I am going crazy. Why is it so hard to make a training plan? Geez! Anyone out there just do a marathon or have done a few in the past and wouldn't mind sharing the training plan they came up with? I admit, I am really picky with my scheduling. I only want to run 3 or 4 days a week because I also kick box twice a week and have kind of started doing a few P90X videos with the hubby a week. I have thought of mixing up the FIRST plan with the Hal Higdon plan. Anyone try that before? 

P90X

Well, we finally broke down and bought it! 

We were borrowing it last week from the hubby's co worker; and since we liked it we decided to go ahead and buy it. We found it brand spankin' new on CraigsList for only $65! Yea!!!! Obviously, the hubby is following the classic schedule, I on the other hand am not sure whether or not to just do the same as him, or do the lean schedule. I am kind of torn, because I am still trying to plan out my training plan for my marathon in June. I know of one fellow blogger, Kim who has done both P90X and trained for a half, but I'm not sure what to do yet. Any suggestions?

Shoot, if I'm going to be doing BOTH P90X AND Marathon Training, I better look like this this summer! HA! ;)

OR.....this will do:

I would LOVE to have legs like this!!!
Ah...I can dream can't I?! ;)

Carlsbad Half Marathon

I did this Half Marathon last year as my kick off race.  My new found passion of running sparked the plan to finish the 3 races here in So. Cal and earn the triple crown award.

The Triple Crown Award is awarded to runners who complete the Carlsbad Half Marathon in January, the La Jolla Half Marathon in April, and America's Finest City Half Marathon in August. THAT people, was my goal for 2010. 

Carlsbad Half Marathon 1/23/10
Finished in 2:05:04

La Jolla Half Marathon 4/25/10
Finished in 2:11:00

If you followed my journey last year, you would know that YES, I did finish the beautiful Carlsbad and I DID finish the VERY difficult La Jolla. 

Sadly, my goal was not met, as I waited too long to register for the 3rd race of the series and it sold out! I didn't get my Triple Crown Award. :( BOO! I did however, grow as a runner and learned a lot about what I AM capable of accomplishing. I got over it...and decided my new goal was to run Carlsbad again, and beat my 2010 time. 

Middle of my 12 miler on the course!

Training for Carlsbad 2011 began in mid October and I was determined more than ever to beat my 2010 time of 2:05:04. I had a great training cycle! I only missed 1 or 2 runs and met my goal paces on all of my runs. I knew I was going to crush my time! That's what I thought anyways. I mean my longest run of my training cycle was done at a 9:23 overall pace, I also had a 10 miler done at 9:21 overall pace...which would put me at a finish time of about 2:03 or less. I was stoked!

Danielle & I after our 11 mile sunrise run!

Anyways, back to the race! I went to the expo on Friday to beat the weekend crowds...it was great...no standing in lines for my bib or shirt, and I was actually able to move around and look at the vendors booths without punching people! I was also able to meet up with a friend of mine from high school that I played soccer with. 

I was able to pick up an iFitness belt that I won on Facebook!

I really wanted to wear it on race day, but since I had never ran with one before, I thought that I would wait on that! But SO excited to have finally got one. I will for sure be using it on tonight's 6 miler to test it out! 

After the expo, we headed to the jacuzzi for some RNR! I was so excited for Sunday!

I did my usual race morning routine. I woke up at 5:30, had my cup of coffee and toast with peanut butter and a bottle of water. Took a hot shower, got dressed and stretched it out! The hubby then got up and helped get the kiddos ready and we left by 6:40. Luckily, I live only about 10 minutes from the start, so getting there was easy peasy! I had plenty of time to get in line for a one last time pee break and get my stretch on! 

The race started on time, and even though I was assigned to wave 4, I snuck up to wave 3 because I noticed that the pacers in the front of wave 4 were for a 2:20 finish. I was aiming for 2:00. The first few miles were of course crowded, but I never noticed being "stuck" behind anyone. Miles 1-3 went by super fast! Here are my official splits from my Garmin:

1-9:34 

2-8:37(say what?!...oops!) 

3-9:00 

4-8:48 

5-9:12 

6-9:05 

7-9:03 

8-9:09 

9-9:22 

10-9:49(starting to slow down) 

11-10:16 (even more) 

12-10:35(slowest mile, walked here for about 30 seconds, felt worse than running!) 

13-9:49 

last .25 miles-8:17 pace

As you can see, I was having an awesome race until about mile 9. I was so stoked to see my Garmin at mile 7 and see that I was doing it...I was on track for my first sub 2:00 race. I noticed myself starting to slow a little after the hill climb at mile 9 but then I hit a mini wall. I started getting a little nauseous, and was getting slower and slower. Luckily, knowing that my family was waiting at mile 11 kept me slightly energetic. I waved at them around mile 10.5/11 and kept on truckin it! Mile 12 was definitely my low point of the race. I slowed WAY down and even let myself walk up the last little hill bump but it actually hurt worse to walk than to run! I fiddled with my iPod and turned on the music for the last mile. I gave it my all that last mile! It felt like I was running the fastest ever...come to find out...it was a slow 9:49 mile! Ha! Turning the corner for that last .25 miles...I gave it even more and finished with an 8:17 pace! Final time of 2:04:16. Not the sub 2:00 I dreamt of, but better than last years time of 2:05:04. I'LL TAKE IT! 

All in all, I was proud of myself for the great training that I put into this race, and for ultimately meeting my 1st goal. But to be honest, there was still this part in me that was disappointed that I didn't do better. I'm hoping that this is normal...people, is it?!

 I'm over it though, and now on to my next goal...The Rock n' Roll San Diego Marathon on June 5, 2011. BRING IT!

This is my absolute favorite half marathon! Not only because it is near my home town, but honestly, the course is absolutely beautiful. Not to mention that the weather her in Southern California in January has been strangely spring/summer weather. I'm not going to lie, I was cold at the start. I think it was like 44 degrees and I was wearing my capri pants, a shirt, a long sleeve shirt, and gloves. Things got warm, real warm quickly. By mile 5, the sun was out in full blast and there was not a cloud in the sky. Here are a few photos from the actual race on race day, courtesy of Sarah at SkinnyRunner

This is right past my work at about mile 2.5

Such a beautiful January day in Carlsbad...mile 4

This was after the turn around heading up one of the hills on the "flat" course! It amazes me that they call this course one of the flattest...not really!!!! This is about mile 7.5

Here are some photos that my hubby was able to quickly snap!

Mile 3 (I'm the one smiling like a dork!)

Action shot...passing my family at mile 10.5

And there I go!

I finished! 2:04:16

I would HIGHLY recommend this race to anyone! Especially if you are looking for a destination race...so worth it! After running it 2 years in a row, I am happy to announce, that next year, the hubby will be joining me!