I want to begin this race recap with acknowledging that I have an AMAZING running group! I am a member of the Kitsap, WA chapter of Moms Run This Town. Simply put, we are a group of busy moms that share a love of running. We all understand that the kids come first and if we need to bring them along on a run, our stroller will GREATLY decrease our pace. That all being said, my race on Saturday was a virtual run sponsored by the national Moms Run This Town chapter. We paid a very affordable $11 (just for the medal if we chose) and decided what distance we wanted to run; 5k, 10k or half marathon. I, of course, chose the half marathon. I wanted to push myself and this was the best way.
I woke up at 6 am when my alarm went off. Let me tell you, if it was just a training run I probably would have skipped out. I was tired. I always find it difficult to sleep the night before a race, and the virtual race was no exception. But I dragged my tired butt out of bed anyway. I quickly got dressed in my long running pants, blue Under Armour, grey running jacket and my lucky running socks (yes I wrote lucky socks). After I was dressed I came downstairs to have my ritual breakfast, oatmeal and coffee. I was still trying to shake my nerves as I gathered all of my gear.
Here is a list of what I brought with me:
- Phone (this is essential to me. I feel a little bit more safe knowing anyone is a phone call away in an emergency)
- Headphones (just in case I needed some tunes or my running mates no-showed)
- Water Belt (both bottles were filled)
- 4 packets of GU (I used 2 of them on the run)
- Larabar (this was something new I got in my January Birchbox)
- Sugar-free gum (keeps your mouth from getting too dry while running)
- My Winter Runnerland Medal (I refrained from even trying it on before running the race)
- Wallet (need to have my driver's license with me when driving)
- Headlamp (we were starting at 7 am and this time of year it is still dark at that time)
- Reflective arm band (also for safety during the dark hours)
- Head band ear warmer (it was COLD out....and raining)
My one last KICK ASS item was the blue and white tutu that I created just for this occasion. It is so cute! I decided not to wear it for the first 10 miles simply because I didn't want it to get soaked and kick mud in to the back of it. But I did put it on for the final 3!
I pulled in to the Silverdale Waterfront parking lot at 6:45 am. I had to get a few last minutes things done (apply some chap stick, attach my race bib, warm up, etc). I didn't see Sara or Syri yet so I waited in my car for a few minutes. As previously stated, it was COLD! They finally pulled in and we all got out. Sara didn't have any safety pins for her bib so I brought a few extras. We were hoping to get started at 7 am but we started just a bit late. Our route was nice and flat so we kept a pretty quick pace for me, averaging around 10:45/mile. Sara is a little faster than that but she was insistent upon staying with us and Syri hadn't run a long distance in a few months so she wanted to take it slow and steady as well. Sara and I are true believers in the Galloway method of running. In other terms, we run in intervals. Typically 3/1 which means we run for 3 minutes and then walk for 1. You might think that slows down the overall pace but it doesn't. During the walk breaks, your body is able to rest the muscles it uses for running. It makes running long distances tolerable and you are less likely to get injured post run.
I had a blast running with these two women! They certainly made 10 miles breeze by! There were a few times during the run that I started getting pain in my right hip and right knee but I ran through the pain. It wasn't awful and by now I know the difference between pain from discomfort and pain that is more serious. We were definitely on target for making it back to the waterfront within two hours! Woohoo!
By the time we made it back, we were about 5 minutes late but only because we started after our goal time of 7 am. Here is where I made my mistake.....we were meeting up with the 5k runners for the final 3.1 of the run but they weren't quite ready when we got there. I wanted to shed some clothes and put my tutu on. This was the wrong choice. During the few minutes it took to take off my head lamp, headband and to put on my tutu my muscles got cold. And of course since my muscles were cold and I wasn't stretching, I started getting sore. This was BAD. We started back up and I was moving extremely slower than I had been. Not just a little slower, but a LOT slower. All those little aches and pains I had been running through earlier all caught up with me in those final 3. I managed to keep my running pace close to the same as earlier but my walking pace was greatly slower.
But I continued on and ran through it! I felt bad because I was holding Sara and Syri back, they were great to stick with me. We got back to the waterfront (finally) and I stretched out while we waited for the rest of the runners to come back. The best part of the run was meeting 3 new women in the Kitsap chapter of MRTT. And the Panera we had after as a treat :)
Overall the race was good. We finished in 2:50:42, which was a new PR for me! I wish I had been able to power through and run a little faster on the final 3 miles and get it done a little faster but I am still proud that I shaved another 6 minutes off of my record. I am now one day out from the race and I am only mildly sore. Nothing like the last half I ran in which I could barely walk for 3 days!! I think I did so well because I had two amazing moms running along side of me and keeping me motivated. They were awesome and inspiring and we chatted the entire time. To me, that is a great day!
Red Kisses,
Krissy
I know it's been awhile since I updated last! So sorry! Tomorrow I will be running my very first virtual half marathon...EEK! I am nervous to say the least. The two half marathons I ran were organized and I feel like I barely finished in one piece! How will I do without aid stations and spectators? We shall see. The nice thing about a virtual race is you get to choose the date, time and route that you will run. BONUS! The race I am running is called Winter Runnerland. It is sponsored and put on by the running club I am apart of, Moms Run This Town (MRTT). There are 3 distance options: 5k, 10k and Half Marathon. I, of course, chose the half. Because there are several other moms that are running the other two distances, we as a group decided that we would all meet up at 9 am to run 3.1 together. That means that those of us not running the 5k distance will need to run our extra miles prior to 9 am. Those of us running the half will be meeting at 7 am to run our 10 miles and I hope I can make it in time. I have not yet finished 10 miles in less than 2 hours so hopefully I can safely push myself to do it. The course that we have chosen for our 10 miles is relatively flat, probably the most flat to date. I will definitely update in the next few days and let everyone know how it went.
On another note, I have recently signed up for a few more races as well. It is my goal for 2013 to run at least 1 race per month. I will post another entry with the races I am signed up for and the ones I am still contemplating. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!
Red Kisses,
Krissy
Hello all! As you know I recently ran in and completed the Yukon Do It Half Marathon on 12/31/12. It was an interesting experience because I was severely under trained. Unfortunately life got in the way (along with the short days and cold weather) and I wasn't able to get all of my long runs in. Here is a recap of that race!
I woke up at 6:30 am on Monday December 31, 2012. I knew exactly what I was wearing because I had set it out the day before. I quickly got dressed and went downstairs to pour my coffee. I like to drink coffee the morning of a race because it gives me a nice little jolt and also aids in pre-race digestion. I made my breakfast, the usual maple flavored oatmeal and a banana. Just enough food to give me energy but not too much that I feel bloated or heavy! This was discovered simply through trial and error. I once ate cereal and milk before a long run and I will NEVER do that again. I will just leave it at that!
After breakfast I was able to put my shoes on and gather my water belt together. I put the water bottles in the fridge the night before so they would be cold. Looking back on that now, it seems silly since it was 30 degrees when I started the race! After I was all ready to go I had a few spare moments to sit on my iPad and play some games to calm my nerves. I should mention that while I was eating and getting myself ready, my husband was waking up our 4 kids and getting them fed as well. I love traveling with my own cheerleading squad!
We all piled in my van and left the house around 8 am and arrived at the start line around 8:30. It was COLD!!! I ran in to my friend Marissa and sat in her car for awhile to try and stay warm. Around 8:50 we decided we should go use the restroom and get ready for the start of the race. We should have gone sooner! We barely made it to the start line before the race started. I think we had 30 seconds to spare and our watches were still locating satellites! I had decided before the race that I would be running 3/1 intervals and my watch needed to locate before I could start them. Right before crossing the start line my watch found the satellite and I was off. I made the rookie mistake of starting out too fast. My first mile was a 9:46/mile. I quickly regretted that. Especially because of my lack of training. I finally settled into a more "doable" pace of 11:30/mile. I am by no-means fast. I will probably never run an 8 minute mile and that's ok. However, I do feel that if I had trained better I could have at least kept my pace around 11/mile.
Miles 1-4 were great! I was cold but I had my Under Armour on and a running jacket. I had also purchased full length compression pants and a fleece head band to wear for the occasion. I was in the groove. Around mile 5 I started wishing that the race was over and wondering where the turn around would be. I was sad that I wasn't able to appreciate the beautiful course I was on! It was a breath-taking run around the water. Yes, it was cold but the sun was shining! Not too many fans were out supporting us, which was a let down but we made it through either way. Between miles 5-8 there were rolling hills and one large incline. I was expecting a relatively flat course and that's pretty much what I got. That was a nice change from my usual routes.
Around 6.5 we turned around and started heading back. I was so glad! It was not fun anymore for me. This was all self inflicted because I didn't train well. And I hate the fact that I wasn't able to enjoy it. I saw my family along the way at mile 1.5, mile 4.5 and again at mile 9. It was nice to see their faces and hear them rooting for me to finish. I had all but given up and each time they urged me to keep moving.
By the time I reached mile 12 I had slowed down to a very slow 13/mile. I was tired, my feet hurt, my thighs were numb from the cold and I was ready to be done. My little brother showed up at the mile 13 to usher me in, taking pictures the whole time. That last .1 mile was the hardest and also the best! I was so glad to be done and proud that I finished! I crossed the finish line and they announced my name! So proud! I received my medal from an adorable little boy and had my chip timer cut off my shoe. Once I was wrapped in my silver blanket I grabbed a bagel and made a beeline for my car. I was SO ready to go home and take a nap!
I am now 3 days post race and am still a little sore. I did strain a ligament or something in my left foot because of the grade we had to run on. It is the part of my body that hurts the most at this point. I have taken many Aleve tablets and slathered myself numerous times with Ben Gay and Biofreeze. I was pleasantly surprised that I did not get any blisters on my arches this time. I have suffered from them in the past. This time around I bought some Body Glide and it worked like a charm! I also consumed 4 GU packets during the race. First one at 3.5 at the aid station and then every couple of miles from there.
The morale to this story is two parts. The first part is to make sure that you properly train for a half marathon. It is not a short race that one can simply expect to show up and just "do". I am certain that I would have ran it faster and I would be less sore if I had some longer runs under my belt in the weeks leading up to the race. The second part is that the human will is so much stronger than muscle. Though I was under trained, I was DETERMINED to conquer this race and finish. And finish I did! I not only finished but I beat my Personal Record by nearly 5 minutes. I can only imagine how much more it would have been.
My next race is January 26, 2013. It is the Winter Runnerland Half Marathon. It is a virtual run that is put on by my running group Moms Run This Town. Though it is virtual, there are several of us that are going to run it together. Solidarity!
Red Kisses,
Krissy
