Trying to be “fast” again

This week has been the 2^nd week of “Fit for Summer”.  So far so good, class was actually so packed last night I ended up in the last row – I don’t like that.  It was a lot harder to hear and see what exactly we were supposed to be doing.  We ended class with a good 10 minutes of Barre work – I was really glad that I have kept up with going to “Booty Call” class because that’s the muscle group we were working and it was super tough – I can only image what most of the class was feeling…and based on the cries and “Oh my Gods!” it was bad :)

Future Whootie

On Tuesday I started “officially” training for the Baltimore 10 Miler.  This race is just under a month and is kind of a cult thing.  It always falls on a HOT and HUMID day in June.  The course is a hilly semi out-and-back and is usually torturous to run…but it’s also so fun!  This will be my 4^th consecutive year running it with some BFFs. The race almost always has an awesome premium and you are greeted at the finish line with an ice cold towel and slice of watermelon.  So worth it.  Not to mentions the 2 drink tickets you get :)  Last year we spent the post race on a giant inflatable slide meant for kids. 
 

For training – I have decided to use the same Men’s Health Half plan – since it worked so well for a 10 mile distance the first time.  This time I will remember to hydrate, and even if I fall apart after 10 miles, it won’t matter because the race will be over.

My weekend “long” run will be at a small “race” out in the burbs.  It’s put on by a local running store and it’s called the “Full Moon Run”. It starts at 9pm and you are given glow sticks to light your way.  No headlamps or other lights are allowed.  It was a lot of fun last year. It was totally overcast which made for almost total darkness.  Plus I had no idea the distance – so just kept running until we hit the turn-around point.  It ended up being a 10k – surprise!  I am hoping that some Saturday I will get a little more “umph” back in my running.  Since the ROC half it has seemed l am going so slow – my pace hasn’t really changed, it just feels harder.  I need to get some more pep in my step – asap!

Tomorrow evening will be fairly epic.  A friend is hosting a night called “Gin & Ti-tonics”.  We are watching TITANIC and drinking gin & tonics made with ice cubes in the shape of a sinking Titanic.  It will be the perfect start to a 3 day weekend! Woo!

Recap and the return!

Oh, hey…I forgot I started a blog!

So, in a major FAIL – I haven’t updated in FOR-EV-ER!  But, after a small intervention this weekend (aka – Alyssa asking why I haven’t updated) I am back!

So here is the super-fast-forward summary of what’s been going on +plus an actual recap of ROC half marathon:

-gym time
-running (seems so slow lately!)
-Color Run! (so fun!)
-Started a new 6 week program at the gym “Fit for Summer”

Roc Half Recap

The Friday before the race (aka Carbo Load Day) was pretty EPIC.  After work that night I met up at Carolyn and John’s apartment with Alyssa and Eric.  We were greeted with the TV blasting Turquoise Jeep videos in preparation for the concert we were seeing SEVERAL hours from then.  We got ready for the show by eating some pizza and having wine.  John called to confirm what time TJ would go on stage – 11PM!  This triggered everyone to put down the alcohol and switch to coffee and soda. (def not showing our age there or anything)

We made it to the show and had a great time! 

The next morning I flew to Rochester for the race!  I spent that day picking up my race packet – the bib for this race was awesome – a photo and you name on it! Then, hung out most of the day visiting family at my Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Later, we drove out to see my brother’s new place in a town a bit outside of Rochester.  We had a mini adventure looking for a place to eat – which included almost being killed by a rabid gang of cats and a raccoon. (OK, really we just pulled into a little family restaurant – but then saw about 7 cats and a raccoon all hanging out at the dumpster – staring at us…we did not eat there)

Luckily, we found a good pizza shop – I got a sandwich, nothing special the night before the race, But, they did list “Chicago Style” deep dish on the menu – so I ordered a small one to go and planned to eat it the next day after the race.

On race morning, my cousin, her husband and her friend picked me up.  It was nice that it was a smaller race – I think about 4-5k total for the races so we got to park in a garage 1 block away from the start.

The weather was perfect that morning and though, the speaker system was shoddy – there was a nice National Anthem and then a sing-a-long to “Sweet Caroline” in honor of the Boston Marathon runners and victims.  I was “Bum! Bum! Bum!!ing with the best of them!

The course was great – however it was not the course I went in thinking I was running.  The day before – my uncle commented about looking at how hilly it seemed.  I panicked a little and saw I had been looking at the wrong elevation chart the whole time, there actually was some decent hills in this race – not as bad a Baltimore…but they were there.

We ran past some of my old favorite coffee shops that I used to go to as a teenager, some nice old mansions including the Eastman House, museums and even spent a lot of time in Mt. Hope Cemetery – looking for famous people buried there like Frederick Douglass.

We were also cheered on A LOT!  There was a contest among the different neighborhoods – and they all did a great job.  I was a little nervous about crowd support, being used to bigger races in Bmore and DC, but ROC was out cheering us on! In the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood people were dressed up like her, and my favorite site was in another neighborhood while going up a long and steep hill, people placed a nice comfy looking Adirondack chair out at the end of the yard and wrote in chalk on the street a giant arrow pointing to the chair with “Temptation” next to it.

Overall this race was excellent – it felt almost easy the first 10 miles and we were pacing to finish in 2:05. I never felt like I was struggling or hurting even going at a pace faster then I trained at.  That was until about the 10 mile mark.  Since I felt SO GOOD, I totally failed at following my normal race rituals…things like oh, HYDRATION.  I grabbed a drink at one H2O stop maybe around mile 7 or 8 had a sloshy sip or so while never breaking stride.

I normally have 2 Gus in a ½.  One around mile 5 and one around mile 10 – they ones I use also have a little caffeine in them – for some extra energy.  This time I had zero.  Another fail.  I started getting a creeping side stitch around mile 10 – worked it out – then it hit me on the other side.  By mile 11 I had them BAD on both sides to the point I was hunched over.  My pace had slowed to over 11 min/mile.  I finally spotted the last water stop and grabbed a cup and chugged the whole thing.  I started out slowly again – but was able to eventually get closer to a 10 min mile again for the last ¾ mile or so – then sprinted the best I could to the finish line.

I finished in 2:10 – which was still 10 minutes faster than my previous PR.  I am happy with the time – but know I would have totally killed it if I had drank more water and had a GU on the course.  After a few minutes of seeing stars and feeling off – I had some more water and felt fine again.  The deep dish pizza didn't even see me coming a few hours later :)