Overdue Race Report.

I am alive!! Life has been super busy since the best weekend of my life so obviously haven't had time to post about the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

There is SO much to say I don't even know where to start. I had the time of my life....not only with the marathon, but with Seattle, my team, the Gay Pride Parade, everything! Definitely think Seattle is where I'm destined to be.

Going to try to make this short but from the beginning...

Thursday:
Arrived at the airport at 4:40am super stoked to get on the plane and start off an awesome weekend. Long story short... we didn't leave the Wichita airport until 5:55PM. Ummm yeah, very irritating. So... we spent 12 hours in the airport doing this...

Team bonding. An absolute blast.

We arrived in Seattle at about 2am. We were all pretty bummed we missed the Mariner's game, our limo ride to Salty's, a night out... but everything happens for a reason, right? We were just happy to be there.

Friday:
Woke up and headed to the expo where we got our race packets, shopped around, and got tons of free samples of all kinds of stuff. Went to lunch with the team at the Pike Pub, walked around Pikes Place Market, then headed back to the hotel to clean up for the TNT Inspiration Dinner.

Go Kansas!

Race day:
I used to think getting up at 3:15 to go run was crazy, but we went to a whole new extreme... 2:45am. Yeah, nuts. We were told to meet in the hotel lobby at 3:45 in order to catch the first trolley over to the race at 4:00. Well, we did and had over 2 hours to waste once we arrived at the race. Better to be safe that sorry, right?

A huge plus of arriving so early is that we were the first ones to use the honey buckets (port a potties). I think we ended up going 5 times before the race even started! About 3o minutes before the race, we met up with the bloggers which was awesome! I feel like I already know all you guys just from reading your blogs, yet have never met any of you. Can finally put an actual face with the blog! So great to meet all of you!

Pre-Race Pictures

The race... this is where I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say, where to start. It was an absolute blast.

Miles 1-17 seriously flew by. Hannah, Yvette, and I were talking, laughing, taking pictures, just like any other Saturday run.

I said mile 17 because this was the first time I thought, "oh my gosh I'm tired." I got a little upset because I had ran 20 miles 3 times before the race and didn't want to be tired yet! I blame the hills. I was so unprepared for hills so they definitely wore me out... I mean come on.. I'm from Kansas!
We kept truckin along and all was well until mile 21. Dun dun dun... pretty sure Michele hit an emotional wall. We were in one of the dungeon tunnels and I pretty much wanted to die. I told Hannah and Yvette I wanted to cry but could hardly bring myself to do it because it made breathing a million times harder! Tons of negative thoughts were going through my head.. I hate this, why did I think I could do this, I'm too unprepared, I never want to do this again.

With some words of encouragement and singing of Britney Spears, Hannah and Yvette helped me get through and clear my head of all negative thoughts. Hannah kept talking and talking and singing and talking and I am SO thankful. She said she thought I was going to kill her but I needed it to keep my mind off my calves that were about to explode.

Miles 21-26 were definitely the hardest miles I have ever ran. But.. I did it and got to the last .2 and took off. Hannah and Yvette have wheels! We wanted to finish together, so I knew I had to keep up. I even said to Hannah, I can't run any faster than this. Her reply, we have to get around these people (pretty sure she used different wordage but that's beside the point) so we can get a good picture. So I hit my nitro and jetted to the finish line.I did it!! My time was 5:08.21. Wanted to get under 5 hours, but I'll take it. Hannah and Yvette were absolutely amazing. I never thought I wouldn't finish, but without them it would've been a whole lot slower and a whole lot harder.

There is tons more to say about the race, the rest of the weekend, the days after the marathon, but this post took me forever to write and I need to go hit the books!

Although I said to myself I'd never do it again... I'm already signed up for my next one. Denver Rock'n'Roll October 17, 2010. Woot, can't wait!!

Out of here.

Just posting to say...

Next time you hear from me, I'll be a marathoner!!!!!

Head games.

This morning was our last team run before the big day, EEK!! I can't believe in one week I will be running my very first marathon!

Here's a short review of the past week...
Well, let's just say that it basically sucked. Looking back on my last post "contented", everything was going so good.. then last week, a completely different story.

Last Saturday was my last 20 miler before the race, definitely didn't feel as strong as I'd hoped. Leg cramps, extreme hotness, tiredness... mentally, I just wasn't there.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... 4 miles, 2 miles, and 6.5 miles... all a struggle. I don't know what my deal was, I just couldn't get into my groove. I really think my motivation started dwindling when the San Diego group left for their marathon. I wanted to go too. I had been training as long as they had and I was ready. Yet, I had another 3 weeks of training.

Thursday...blah. Woke up, ankle hurt. Fabulous. I told myself that missing one day of running this late in the game due to a weird pain would not be a big deal, it would actually be smart. Of course, physically, I was right. Mentally, not a good idea. So on Friday, my normal day off, I woke up and wanted to run. I never run on Fridays because Saturday is our long run. Basically, I had a fight with myself about whether or not I should go run. I even ended up texting Hannah and asked her to tell me I was being a freak and to just take the day off and have a good strong run Saturday. Sure enough, she told me I was being a freak and gave me some words of encouragement to make me feel better. Knew I could count on her.

And now for today...thank goodness for today! 13 miles, turned out to be a great run. I actually had fun on this run... for the first time in over a week. Some of the Seattle ladies decided to buy these green sparkle spirts to rock out during the marathon. You know what they say... don't try anything new on the day of the race. So... we wore them to the training run this morning to test them out. Loved them!

Our totally awesome Seattle team... (missing Andy, Stacy, and Kevin)

Sparkle skirts!! Backview...

Frontview

Love them? Hate them? Indifferent? Either way... we had a blast wearing them and can't wait to rock them out again in Seattle!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Contented.

Yesterday, we had our travel meeting for our TNT Seattle group. Oh my goodness, let me tell ya... this got my emotions going crazy. I feel so overwhelmed (in a good way) with every happy emotion you could think of!

There are 12 (I think?) of us Wichitan's going to Seattle, which made for a pretty tight nit group. We are in the process of making plans to go to a Mariner's baseball game, go to dinner at Salty's (some fabulous Seafood restaurant, according to Stephanie), shop at the expo, go here, go there... it's just going to be an absolute blast! Stephanie grew up in Seattle, so she knows all the hot spots that we must go see.

Stephanie, Yvette, and I headed over to Hannah's house after the meeting to have lunch and hear all about her San Diego marathon experience and how she totally rocked it!! SO proud of her. Her race report will be up soon so stay tuned! I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again... I don't know how I got so lucky to have crossed paths with these ladies, but I did, and I am ever so thankful. They are not just running buddies anymore, they are friends for life.

Okay, probably sick of hearing my sappiness. In other news...

Yoga: Absolutely loving it. I've taken a few different classes now from a few different instructors and I have to say my favorite is probably the Hot Fusion class. From the Siva website..

HOT FUSION is a series of 26 poses focusing on breath and holding
poses for longer periods. Mixed with some flow. Detoxify, strengthen your
body, and lose weight.

Sound amazing? Yes, it is. And it's in a 90+ degree room.... love it. Unfortunately, I have class on the nights it's offered, so I will just have to wait until July to join back in!

Running: Still going strong. Last week, my weekly mileage totaled 27 miles. Not the greatest week for me mentally, every run seemed like a struggle. Luckily, things were back to normal this week and this week's mileage (after Saturday) will total 40. Saturday is my last long run until the marathon!! Last 20-miler and last 4am run for awhile! Woot! Oh and the Garmin, got it exchanged and it works like a charm! Love it.

Life: Life seemed fitting. I was going to put class, work, fun, other, but that all describes my life so there we go. Life is better than ever. I'm doing things I love with people I love and loving every minute of it.

Have a fabulous weekend!

The fab and the unfab.

Of course, it's been another week since I have posted, which means another week of fabulousness. (yeah, fabulousness is definitely a word now)

Actually, one thing that I am very sad to say has not been so fabulous is my Garmin. I am SO bummed about this. Let me explain.

Two Saturdays ago, I went on my first run with my Garmin (the rain prevented me from trying it out before this). After taking forever and a day to locate satellites, it took foreverrrrrr for the pace to update. At first, I thought I was just being impatient but after running a good 2 miles and the pace not dropping under 14 minutes/mile I started getting a little worried. I knew for sure I was not running that slow. Every once in awhile I would look down and see a 10:something mile, which is way more realistic than a 14! I pretty much spent my 14 miles checking my Garmin far too often to see if the pace had updated. Very aggravating.

I told Coach Scott and Hannah about the situation and they informed me that maybe that day I had a bad signal. I thought this could definitely explain the situation, so didn't get too worried about it. However, I ran with it again this last Saturday, along side Hannah, who has the exact same Garmin. While we were running right beside each other hers said we were running at a pace of 11:oo or so and mine said 13:30. Normal? I think not.

Hopefully all will soon be well, I called First Gear (the store it was purchased at) and he said to bring it in and he would just swap them out for me. Love that place. I plan to head there tomorrow, so hopefully next time I will have fun Garmin news!

Okay, enough of the unfabulous.

I think the greatest thing that's happened since my last post was my run this past Saturday. I had 20 miles on schedule and was worried about getting these miles in since I had plans to go to the lake on Saturday morning with a big group of friends, who were leaving town at 8:30am. I emailed Coach Scott for advice, and he basically responded with.... 4:00am Saturday, see you there.

I thought oh great, 4:00am, 20 miles, then the lake for the rest of the weekend? Impossible.

However, it ended up being amazing. It probably took us a good 4 hours and I loved every minute of it. Of course, my legs were hurting but there was never a point where I thought I couldn't do it. I absolutely loved it. I had my coach with me, my amazing friend and running buddy Hannah with me, tons of TNT teammates along the course cheering me on... how much better could it get?! This was definitely the confidence boost I needed going into these last three weeks of training.

What's 6.2 more miles? I can't wait!!!!

Stretching it out.

Okay I have a lot to catch up on but for now, I'm just going to tell you about my new obsession... yoga.

On Friday, my friend and teammate Hannah had a fundraiser called "Get Bendy for a Cure". I was SO excited to hear this, I had always wanted to try yoga and this was the perfect chance. I attended the 6am session and absolutely loved it. A friend that Hannah introduced me to a couple months ago, Nickki, was the instructor. She went at a slow pace, explaining all the poses as she went along. It was perfect.

Sure enough, yesterday I found myself at the Yoga studio taking a flow class with the owner, Adrian. Golly, I looooved it! At the beginning of the class, he told us it was over 90 degrees in the room. You can only imagine how sweaty I was by the end of class. The class was the perfect length, 70 minutes, with probably about 10 other students. I was kind of nervous walking in, because well first of all, it was my first official yoga class. Second, it was with the head honcho so I was scared I wouldn't be able to keep up. And third, I was by myself. But I was just fine! Nickki did a great job introducing me to all the concepts so I had no problem catching on and keeping up. I am probably one of the most inflexible people alive, so I definitely think yoga would be good for me. Yep... I'm pretty much the new yoga freak in town.

Ha... someday.

Do any of you do Yoga? (I know a lot of you do, from reading your blogs) Have you noticed any major differences in your running?

P.s. One month until marathon day!!!!

Fabulous Weekend.

As the title implies, this weekend was fabulous.

On the running side of things, it was a pretty easy Saturday. Last week was our slower week, so our mileage for Saturday only called for 12 miles. Wow, I never thought I'd say "only" 12 miles. Anywho, woke up Saturday morning and it was raining. UGH! I have never been one with the rain so was kind of apprehensive about getting out there and running for 2 hours in it. But really... it wasn't so bad! I was definitely not feeling on top of my game though, with a headache that pounded with every step, yuck.

Holy moly, Seattle is getting soooo close!! A little over a week and a month! SUPER excited. Hannah and Madison have started talking about what to wear, what to pack, what to eat... goodness I don't want to start thinking about that already!! AH!

In other news, I graduated Saturday! I officially have my Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, woot! I didn't walk at graduation, but did have a small celebratory dinner with the family followed by a night on the town. It was a blast. I invited my friend Madison to come along to dinner with me then met up with some more friends to go downtown.

All dressed up ready to go to din!

Could that box be the size of the box of the Garmin I want??!

I think so!! Thank you Mom and Dad!!

Super excited! Running while at the dinner table.

I have a Garmin: I'm a real runner now!! I can't wait until Saturday to try it out on our long run. I plan on actually reading the Owner's Manual to figure things out... something I rarely do. I'm sure you will hear all about my Garmin experiences after Saturday!

Quality time.

Of course another week has flown by and here I am, trying to remember everything I want to post! Probably not so much about running... and more about pictures and fun. Sure why not!

First of all, I have super exciting news.... I met my fundraising goal!!!! As most of you probably know, I'm doing the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll with Team in Training and set out to raise $3,600. Right now... my page says $3,614.76 with more donations to be added soon! WOOOOO!! I am just so amazed, touched, speechless, happy, and excited by this. Thank you SOOO much to everyone who helped make this happen. You are all amazing.

Sheesh. I could go on forever about how excited and thankful I am.

Now onto the quick running part of this post... 10k River Run. With 16 miles on the schedule for Saturday a 10k obviously wasn't going to cut it, so Madison and I met up with Hannah and Yvette for 10 miles then headed off to finish our training run at the River Run. I just love the atmosphere of races. Everyone cheering for everyone, people taking fun pictures, the excitement of crossing the finish line and getting a medal... love it!

After the race, we ran into our friends Nickki and Janelle and of course had to pose for a quick pic with our medals! Madison and I finished in 1:02:47. Not our best time, but considering our 10 miles before... I'm okay with it! Especially since the 10k River Run was not the race I'm training for... Seattle here I come!!

Saturday night, my friend Kari talked me in to going out with her and some other ladies. Okay, maybe she didn't have to talk me into it that much... I was definitely ready for a night out on the town with the girls. Clear my head before cramming all week for finals.

Us girls about to go downtown and start a riot.

Then of course Sunday was Mother's Day so I headed to Sedgwick to spend some time and cook dinner with the family. Pretty flowers for a pretty mom...

She was SO surprised!

At the beginning of the year, I set my vacation for this entire week... to study for finals. I did this last semester and it helped a ton. Kept my stress down, had plenty of time to study, to rest, to think. Well, my vacation got approved... but studying for finals? Ummm...not so much. My closet was in dire need of summer clothes, other clothes, summer shoes, other shoes, summer purses, other purses, ha you get the point.. basically everything. So I had this grand idea that I wanted to take a shopping trip to Kansas City. I loooove shopping in Kansas City, beats the heck out of shopping in Wichita. But when would I do this? What better week than finals week?! So.. long story short... I talked my mom into going with me! Oh my golly... we had a blast!

We set out Tuesday morning at about 7am (after an early morning workout of course, can't miss those runs!). I love road trips. Jammin out to music... pretending that I can sing.

We arrived just as there stores were opening, ready to do some damage!
First mall... check! Legends was definitely a success! Woot!

After Legends, we ventured over the the Plaza... which was another success! Beautiful day for Plaza shopping.

By the end of day one of shopping, we were exhausted! We ate dinner then headed to the hotel and basically crashed right away... had another full day of shopping adventures ahead of us.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and ran a quick 4 miles at the hotel workout facility. A "quick 4 miles" was actually a grueling, overheated longest 4 miles ever. The workout room did not have a fan! No air flow whatsoever! I had plans do to 6 miles, but thought I was going to pass out of heat exhaustion so decided to call it quits at 4. I'm actually really proud of myself for waking myself up and trucking out those 4 miles. I remember back in the club volleyball days... I went to a tournament in Texas with my coach, she got up and went for a run in the morning and I thought she was absolutely nuts. And now there I was, doing the same thing.

Anyway, after we got ready we actually headed back the the Plaza... I just had to get this shirt that I couldn't stop thinking about. After a quick stop there, we stopped at this place...

The coolest coffee shop ever! I've seen this place a few times but never had a chance to stop. I'm a sucker for cute little coffee shops. Wish we had more in Wichita.Look at the middle of the menu. French Press coffee??! No way!! I was JUST talking about how I wanted to try French Press coffee a few days before. So excited! The verdict? Amazing! Fresh, black, and delicious.

After enjoying my wonderful coffee, we headed to our last destination... The Oak Park Mall. More shopping, more fun, then a long ride home... in a storm.

Was skipping studying for finals to go shopping worth it? Definitely! This is not even a valid question. I had a blast spending time with my mom, got a lot of awesome new things, and I'm really not too stressed about my finals. Actually took one last night and breezed right through it. Only one more to go!! Woot!

Truckin.

Goodness! I haven't posted for over a week, where did all this time go?!

Thank you everyone who has left encouraging comments, advice, or anything on my posts. I get so excited when I get a notification of a new comment!

Anyway, I don't even know where to start. Basically, I've been trucking out paper after paper the past week so by the time I finally have a chance to blog I'm all typed out!

Good news though... only one paper, 2 assignments, and 2 finals away until I graduate with my Undergrad Degree in Accounting. WOOT!! The official graduation date is May 15, but I've made the decision that I'm not walking... for a lot of reasons. First and definitely most important, I would have to miss a Saturday morning team run. Um, not happening! I look forward to Saturday team runs all week. I've already asked off work for that weekend due to graduation... soooo instead of walking like originally planned, I will just take my day off and enjoy the a nice long run with my Team. Another reason is that I will be graduating again in a little over a year with my Master's Degree in Accounting, so I will walk then. Another WOOT!! I'm so excited to say that I can finally see an end to all this madness. Basically... 2 semesters, 2 summers, some studying for the CPA exam, some domination of the CPA exam... and I am donezo! I would woot again, but that might be a little excessive.

Okay on to the running...
Last Saturday, Yvette and I met at 4am to run our long run because we both had to be at work early so couldn't make it to the team run. Actually, Yvette didn't have to start till about 5:30am but she sacrificed her sleep just so I didn't have to run alone... do you see why I'm always saying how much I am SO thankful for these ladies and TNT? They are seriously awesome. Anyway, we had a really good 17 mile run. The entire time I couldn't stop thinking about these bad boys...

www.recoverysock.com

Okay, these things seriously are amazing. Hannah talked me into getting these after she swore about their amazingness. Not gonna lie, I was a little skeptic... I mean, come on.. they are socks, and an expensive pair of socks at that. But nope, not just any sock.... I now believe they are magic socks. I put them on about 30 minutes after our run and left them on basically the rest of the day. The next day... my legs felt almost brand new! The week before was my 20 mile run and my legs hurt for 2 days after! This week I felt like I could run the next day. I can't wait until my next long run, just so I can wear these again! Have you ever tried these?? If not, you should.

Pretty much a random post and I have lots more I'd like to share...but it's getting late and I have a running date in the morning so I must get some sleep.

Firsts.

Today was a day of firsts for me:

• First run over 16 miles.
• First official half-marathon finish, which means personal record!
• First time hitting mileage in the twenties, 20.15 to be exact!
  

Today was the Wichita Half-Marathon. I signed up to run it with the TNT group knowing that just running the half-marathon was not going to satisfy the mileage our training schedule called for (which was 20 miles). Soo.. Hannah, Yvette, Jen, and I decided to meet before the race to run 7 miles. We had a lot of people ask why not just run the 7 miles after the race... we were hosting a fundraiser at a local sports bar following the race, the 2nd Annual Half-Marathon Victory Celebration.

Back to the running...All in all, wasn't so bad! I'm not gonna lie though, it was definitely tough...probably the toughest run for me so far. The 7 miles before wasn't so bad, but as soon as we hit the race and we saw the mile markers that only said 2, 3, 4.... we were like holy moly only 2 miles?! So we quickly decided that we were going to say 9, 10, 11... heck we had already ran 7, why not add it to the mile markers! This helped regain my mental focus tremendously. I'm just amazed how time seems to fly when running such long distances. Thinking back to the race.. I don't really remember a whole lot. I do, but I don't. I guess I was kind of just in a fog, focused on finishing. My official race time was 2:18:40 (10:35 pace). Personal record, woot! Definitely satisfied with my time, especially considering the 7 miles we ran before.

To promote our fundraiser, Hannah made signs for our backs...

(Come to Heroes, 12:30-4:00, 1/2 Price Burgers)
Madison also wore "With a $5 Donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society"
but this was after she took off... great job Madi!

Maybe I was a little too excited? Nah.

Almost done!!

All smiles after the race! Good thing my face doesn't show the pain my legs were feeling.

All in all, a great Sunday. Thank you to everyone who cheered us on during the race, to my mom and dad for taking such great race pictures, to my team for keeping me going even when my legs were sure to fall off, and to everyone who came out to Heroes for half-priced burgers. You all are awesome!

Lockdown

For the past few days and probably for the next week or so, my social life has been put on halt. The end of the semester is upon us... my absolute favorite time of the year. Sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.

Luckily I live right across the street from a huge Barnes & Noble, so I can just walk over here and get to work. I've found that if I stay at my apartment and attempt to study nothing gets accomplished. I will clean, cook, reorganize, sleep....anything to get out of studying! This place has pretty much become my second home...


There's that freak girl that spends her whole life at Barnes & Noble. Seriously though, the people that work here probably think I'm some total nerd/loner/freak who has no life. Eh, oh well.

Due to my overloaded schedule of papers, presentations, and tests, it hasn't been the greatest week for running.

Monday: Had a 5am 6-miler on the schedule with Madison... didn't happen. Stayed up way too late finishing a paper and knew I needed the extra rest for the rest of the week. Sorry Madison for bailing!

Tuesday: Actually turned out to have a really good workout. Ran 3 miles on the treadmill at an average of 9:06 pace with 1o minutes of it on an incline. After that, lifted legs, did abs, and got out of there to hit the books.

I should probably mention that I had an 8-10 page paper due Tuesday by 5:30. Thank goodness I was off work Tuesday...because I started it Tuesday morning. Got to work on it at about 9:00am and was done by 1! I'm actually really happy with how it turned out too... quality. Crunch time is always when I seem to be able to write my best papers.

This morning: Met with the ladies for an 8-mile jog that was cut back to about 6. Eh... although we didn't do the planned 8, I'm happy with the 6. Especially since my legs were sore from lifting on Tuesday, which I totally didn't expect. Sheesh, maybe I should be lifting more often?

What kind of weight training do you incorporate into your weekly routine? I have a hard time finding time to do both weights and get in my miles. Also, I'm always scared to do too much because I don't want to be too sore for my runs!

Blogging counts as studying right?

Another day another success.

Last week I thought going for a run at 4:30am was insane. Try...3:15am!!...this is was a few minutes after I woke up, didn't actually start running until 4:00. I woke up thinking that we have completely lost our minds. But I think this was seriously the most fun I have had on a run... ever. Yvette, Hannah, Madison, Sonya, and I started at 4...then Krystal, Jennifer, and Pavlov (Jennifer and Scott's dog) joined us at 5...then we met with the Team at 7. It worked out great. Your probably wondering why in the world we started so early? Well... we all had different reasons, but most of it consisted of work, fundraising events, and other events we were participating in. Definitely not going to let those things get in the way of our Saturday long run! I don't know about the other ladies, but I felt like the time flew by. The entire 16 miles we talked, laughed, and just had a blast. Seriously, what better things would you be doing at 4am?!

Another thing that worked out perfectly was this bad boy...
Thanks for all your suggestions on the post where I asked for advice on handheld water bottles. I ended up ordering this guy online and it turned out to be exactly what I wanted! Worked like a charm. Yeah, I was driving while I took this picture...I was so excited I got it only 2 days after placing the order that I just couldn't wait to take a picture! Also, notice the bracelet I am wearing... Hannah got me this. I loveeee it. It has such a great meaning, I wear it all the time now. It has a little charm on it that says "Blessed". I am so blessed. Thank you Hannah!!

Another thing that turned out great was our tshirts...
Madison and I teamed up and created this tshirt to sell as a fundraiser. It turned out to be a huge success. I expected to sell maybe 50 tshirts...but we ended up selling 97! I'm very pleased with how the design turned out... short, sweet, and to the point. Thank you to everyone who purchased one of these, we hope you like them!

Hope you all have had a successful weekend as well!

Quick Thoughts.

After my 16.25 miles (woo!) on Friday morning, I knew it was going to be a great weekend. And it was. Had some time with the books, family, new friends, old friends, and myself. Perfect.

(Me, Kooper, and Kimberlin after a night on the town)

Thinking back to last week, I'm almost convinced it was my best week so far as a runner. Maybe I'm just overanalyzing, but I really felt stronger? maybe? I don't know if stronger is the right word. I ran the same mileage as normal and of course I still got tired, but something was different. Maybe all these miles are really doing me some good?! Maybe it's just that I'm coming to the realization that I am really doing this. I really did run over 33 miles in a week, I really do wake up in the mornings and run, I really will be running a marathon in a little over two months... ah!! So excited. Even if this is all just a bunch of stuff I'm making up in my head... I'll take it. Makes me feel confident in what I am doing. Now.. hopefully I didn't just jinx myself by saying all this.

I have to fill you in on my weekend biking adventure...
Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day so I took advantage of it and went out for a nice bike ride. I have a little car with no bike rack, so normally I can't really go too far away from my apartment. Well... my parents happened to be in town with their Explorer, so I had a grand idea to ask them to take me and my bike down to the river, drop me off, and I could ride around the river then just ride bike. I have been dying to go ride along the river, but have been too scared that it's too far away to ride there and back (I still don't know how many miles it is, should probably look that up huh?). On the drive there, I started to think this wasn't such a great idea... it seemed to be way further than I expected. But it turned out to be a great idea! Such a great idea, that next time the weather is nice and I have time I plan to ride there, ride around, and ride back. Sure, I'd have to allot a pretty big chunk of time to do it but I think I could do it. I enjoy riding my bike so much. Last year, I debated foreverrrr if I wanted to buy a bike. SO glad I did.

Anyway, back to the homework I put off all weekend...

16 miles...check!

I did it!! Not only did I run 16 miles... I ran 16.25 miles!!! A personal distance record. Basically, every weekend is turning out to be a distance record for me, since I am training for my first marathon. But WOOOO! I love it.

4:30 am really wasn't as bad as I expected. Except for the fact that I frantically woke up at 1:3o and again at 3:00 wide-eyed and totally freaking out because I thought I was late. My mind must of been racing the entire time I was asleep... that whole 5 whopping hours. No worries though, I don't have to be at work till late this morning so already snuck in a quick nap.

Two other crazies (Madison and Krystal) decided to join Scott, Jennifer (Scott's wife), their dog, and I. It was a beautiful morning to run. A little on the chilly side, but not windy at all! Our plan walking out the door was basically the same as I thought last night: 8 miles with Scott, then 8 miles with his wife. This worked out perfectly so we had a bathroom break at mile 8.

Scott let me try out one of his hand held water bottles, the ones that you just slide your hand in and go. At first, it was a little heavy and my arm got tired...but after a mile or two I really liked it! I'm thinking I might have to invest in one of these. I think it would be more comfortable to carry my water like that, than have water in a belt. I really want an insulated one and am thinking I will have to order it online. Suggestions?

I am so excited to already have my long run in for the weekend! Not gonna lie, 16 miles was tough... but I did it and now I feel great. Okay, my legs are aching... but that's beside the point.

(Me, Jennifer, Madison, Krystal, and superdog after our run)

Have a great start to the weekend!

Time is flying.

Last night, I received my Recommitment Papers from the Team in Training office. AHHH!!! I got nervous, excited, anxious, and even a little bit scared all at the same time. I feel like just yesterday, I was sitting at an information meeting about Team in Training thinking how cool it would be to actually do something like this.

And here I am... in the middle of it all. Running more than I ever have, raising more money that I ever have, and learning more about myself than I ever have. I'm sure no one wants to hear me get all sappy, so I will just say.... I am thankful.

In other news, this week has been one hundred million times better than last week! My runs this week have been great:

Monday: 6 miles. Remember last week when I said Monday has been conquering me? Nope, not anymore.
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights.
Wednesday: 8 miles. I always look forward to Wednesdays, it's turned out to be kind of another unofficial TNT group run. And this week.. we had a fellow blogger join us! It was very cool to run with her and hear her story. I'm all about learning everything I can from anyone who is willing to tell me their advice!
Today: Off. Let me explain...

Saturday is our regular TNT group long run. Unfortunately, I have to work this Saturday and will miss it and was definitely not looking forward to trucking out 16 miles by myself! I found out that one of my coaches will be out of town Saturday running a marathon, but is planning on doing an easy long run Friday morning (because his dog needs the miles! Yep. This dog is crazy!).

So... our grand plan... I am going to meet him at 4:30am Friday morning (holy moly) and run 10 miles with him and his dog, then he is going to trade off with his wife (who is training for a half-marathon) and she will run the remaining 6 miles with me and their dog. Not gonna lie, I am pretty nervous about this. Reason number one, 4:30 am. Reason number two, I'm kind of shy and have never met his wife. Reason number three, 16 miles.... without my TNT group pushing me through it. Aside from these reasons, I can't wait to do it and be able to tell people all day that I ran 16 miles!! Why wouldn't I be proud?! Last year at this time I could barely run 2!!

Wish me luck.

Spare change changes lives!

What a day...wow I am exhausted!

Today started out with my first 10k (Easter Sunrun)! It was sooo much fun. Met with a group of TNT ladies (and Nickki!) and rode there together. If you live in the Wichita area, I would definitely recommend this race. The atmosphere was perfect. There were TONS of people cheering around every turn, plenty of water stops, good trail, and even a live band!! I don't know about you guys, but having a band there really pumped me up! My unofficial race time was 59:10. A personal record!! (however, it was my first official 10k). 9:32 pace...definitely okay with that.

(Before the race)

After the race, we had a boot to block! 5 TNT ladies and our volunteers took over a corner in Wichita and collected money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Definitely awkward at first, but after getting comfortable waving at people and getting turned down, it was a good time! We made signs, tshirts, had beads, and some pretty rockin donation jars.

(Got change? Change lives!)

The boot block was a definite eye opener. The people who were willing to give money versus those who sat there pretending not to see us absolutely blew my mind. I am so thankful for all that drove by and gave us any change they had. I definitely have a new found respect for those that have stood on a corner collecting money for a charity. I will no longer be the person that who pretends not to see you!

Thank you to all who donated and to all who volunteered to stand on the corner with us begging for change!!

Looking forward to get this week started off great... Happy Easter everyone!

Not my week.

...but it's getting better.

The week started off rough for a number of reasons:

1. Missed my run Monday. Definitely should of went, but managed to find a way to talk myself out of it. Legs hurt, tired, no one to run with, need to study...excuses. Pretty much bummed me out the rest of the day. For some reason, the past couple Monday's I have found it so hard to get out and get a good run in. I don't know what it is. I'm sure everyone has off days...but the same off day every week?! No...not next week, Monday will not overcome me!

2. Tuesday night I had a test in one of my classes that I slaved over for ohhhh only about 13 hours (crammed into 2 days), no big deal. Anddd guess what? ... I ACED IT! Yeyuhhhh!!

3. Wednesday started out with a great 8 mile run with some of my TNT group (have I mentioned that I absolutely love this whole TNT thing? well...just so you know, I do). The rest of Wednesday...deathly ill. Okay, maybe not deathly ill, but I seriously felt awful...nausea, stomach pains, body aches, hot flashes, you name it...

4. Woke up Thursday morning (this morning) and still felt sick! I had plans to run with Madison at 5am and had to cancel. Which, after being bummed out about missing Monday's run, bummed me to the max.

So... this is when I decided I must turn my bad week around.

While sitting at work, I decided I was going to find a way to get my run in that I missed this morning. Today's schedule was super crammed with work, class, review session, poster making...but... I managed to in an awesome early afternoon 6 mile run!

Who doesn't take pictures of themselves after they run?!

I was very pleased with my run. It was SUUUUPER windy today, so was not expecting to have that great of run. I ended up finishing 6 miles at an average pace of 9:42! Okay, that may seem slow to some of you...but that's pretty good for me, especially with the 80 mph winds! Also.. notice the top. A tank!! Woooo. I'm pretty sure it hit 80 degrees today. Yessss!

Advice: (now that I have some followers, hopefully I can get some advice!)
I have been reading some fellow runners blogs and have decided that I need to incorporate "tempo runs" into my week. Still being new to running, I don't really know how to start out with tempo runs or what to do really. How do you recommend starting out with tempo runs? What is a good "tempo run" workout?

Record Mileage! (+ virtual race for the cure)

Virtual race? Yeah, I didn't know what that was either until last weekend.

Hannah informed me of a virtual race that a fellow blogger (Tall Mom on the Run) was putting on, for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After going to her blog and kind of figuring out what it was, I thought...why not?! Hannah and I were already planning on joining the Team for a 15 mile run Saturday morning, so just decided to time the first 10k of our 15 miles. I'm not going to go into huge detail..well for one, Hannah has already done so here (go check it out), and two, I reallllllyyyy should be studying right now so am kind of in a rush!

Quick report:
The race was a blast! Thank you Hannah for inviting me to do this with you! Because we had 15 miles on our plates, we were definitely not actually going to go all out and "race". We ended our 10k in around 1 hour and 5 minutes.

(Hannah and I Pre-Race)

(We took a lot of other fabulous pictures, which you can also find on Hannah's blog.)

After the excitement of our 10k, we still had a good 9 miles to run! I wasn't so sure about this whole 15 mile idea...I was thinking more like 13. But...guess who ended up doing 15 miles and loving it?!? Meeee! Not gonna lie, the last 2 miles...brutal. My legs felt like they weighed 800 pounds each. Running with my TNT group made it so much easier though, I definitely would of collapsed without them.

Oh, and no thanks to the little bug who decided to fly down my throat around mile 8. I seriously coughed, hacked, and choked to death for almost a mile before that sucker went away. It was the most uncomfortable feeling ever. Hannah let me have a sip of her water to try to wash it down..unsuccessful. Tried to swallow a shot block to maybe get it unstuck...unsuccessful. Finally...after some more coughs and some more water, the critter went away!

I suppose its back to the books... joy.

Love my team.

Well, spring break is over...so it's back to the grind of juggling running, work, class, homework... But you know what? I love it. Sure, there are days I feel too tired to get up at 5am after getting home from class at 10pm the night before...that's when I remind myself, I am doing this for people who have suffered far worse. Feeling tired and drained? Pssht, they would give anything to just feel tired and drained.

Onto my running progress...
Sunday and Monday: Both days, my body just hurt. Saturday, I ran my 10 miles on the treadmill at a pretty fast pace...especially the last 2 miles. I think this is what got me. My legs really haven't been sore after a run in a long time..tired, maybe..but sore muscles, nope. Sunday, my legs were sore. Monday, woke up to my alarm at 5am and my back was sore. Sheesh, am I getting old or what?! So.. I got up to get ready and had to force myself back in bed. I hate missing days, but I kept telling myself...miss one day now because your back hurts...or possibly miss a whole week because you go out and hurt your back even more.

Tuesday: Woke up and felt rested, unsore, and ready to get my week of running started. Met Madison and Alfredo for a quick 6 mile run.
It ended up being another beautiful day at over 60 degrees! So..later that afternoon, I squeezed in an hour long bike ride in between work and class. Definitely taking advantage of the nice days we have. Loveeee bike rides!

Wednesday (today): I always look forward to Wednesdays, because this has become kind of our second Team Run day of the week. Hannah, Madison, Scott (TNT Coach), and I set out for an 8-mile run. It was sprinkling when I walked out my door which kind of threw me off guard, since yesterday was such a beautiful day! I have never ran in the rain before, so was kind of apprehensive about this mornings run.
It ended up being perfect weather! For the first 2 or 3 miles it was lightly sprinkling, but it cleared up and felt great.
And oh my golly... apparently, we had a gun pulled on us??! I didn't see it, but we ran by this older woman who was walking by herself who pulled something out and pointed at us. The 3 others saw it..but of course me being blind and without my glasses didn't see anything. I don't blame her, if I was an older woman walking by myself at 5am I might want a gun too!

Later this morning: Had a meeting with my fundraising group and my mentor, Meg. Absolutely love this aspect of Team in Training. We had a great talk about fundraising events, training woes, training highlights, nutrition... everything! I have learned so much from these ladies it is unbelievable! Meg is the most encouraging person ever. After our meetings, I always feel so rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.
Watch out goal...I'm gonna get you.

Thoughts.

"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Irish playwright and critic

I found this quote on another blog and now I can't remember whose I found it on. Argh. So thank you to whoever you are! I think after you read it, you will understand. It's one of my new favs.

Running
...it's going really well. No thanks to the weather. Well, maybe I shouldn't complain because Thursday was practically the best day of my life. As you probably recall, it was a lovely 60 degrees outside so I decided to take advantage and go for a long bike ride...

It was absolutely amazing. I got my bike last year, right before it turned cold and yuck so I never really had a chance to get out and enjoy it. Thursday, I rode for almost 2 hours! Where did I go? Everywhere! I found a couple trails, rode through some really nice neighborhoods, and basically explored the northeast side of Wichita. I almost got ran over by a big white truck one time, but then realized it was just my friend Tyler.. so I just laughed, waved, and kept on my journey.

Because of the snowstorm, our Saturday morning TNT group run was cancelled. Bummer. I decided I was going to wake up on Saturday morning anyway to see how the weather was and either tough it out and run outside or go to the dreaded treadmills at the Y. 6am rolls around, look outside..HA! There was like 80mph winds and it was still snowing. Off to the Y I go...

Ended with a good 10 mile run. On the treadmill...bluhhh. Physically, I felt awesome. Mentally, a different story. I find it very hard to stay focused and not get bored when running in one spot for that long, especially when the dang TV is on cartoons! I kept hoping someone would walk by in front of me and I could ask them to please change it for me...but by the time I had the chance, I was almost finished so no need to bother. There was a guy running next to me, probably mid-late 30s, for about 5 miles of my run. I noticed he kept looking over at my treadmill, reading my screen...which kind of started to irritate me! Mind your own business sir. Well, once I was finished he took off his earphones and said "Do you always run that far?" Although irritating at first, it actually kind of made me feel good that someone noticed how far I had actually ran! It was kind of like last week, when I wanted to yell to all the cars driving by that I was on mile 10, 11, 12!!

Fundraising
...guess what?! I hit the 50% mark of my fundraising goal!!!!!!!! I am soooo very thankful for everyone who has donated. I could not do this without you. The fundraising aspect of Team in Training has really been eye opening to me. I have never really put this much effort into raising such a large amount of money. When I first joined TNT, I knew we had to raise this much money, but I was unaware of the amount of time and effort that is actually put into raising it. Since day one I have been writing letters, sending emails, brainstorming, making phone calls, setting up events...I would not take back any of that time for anything.

One day, we will find a cure. One day, Leukemia & Lymphoma will no longer take the lives of our loved ones. One day, I will be able to say...I helped.

Papa...this is for you. I love you and miss you.

Spring time!!

...only until tomorrow. UGH! 60 degrees today, then snow tomorrow? Really?!?

Quick update of this week:

Monday: I am pretty much the worst running partner ever. Why? Well...Madison and I made plans to meet at 5:00am at Genesis for a morning jog. So, I set my alarm for 4:20am...plenty of time to get up and ready to run! I even went to bed pretty early! The morning rolls around and I wake up to the sound of my phone vibrating.. look at it and it says "I'm here". OH NO!!! I look at the time and it says 5:00am!! I frantically jump up and start sprinting around my apartment trying to find all my running gear, while texting Madison back telling her how sorry I am. I am SURE I set my alarm at 4:20.... so I look at it.. 4:2oPM. Awesome. Glad I wanted to be up by 4:00 in the afternoon! Most people would of guessed I was late because of daylight savings time, but nope, I actually had that part right! Anyway, I made record time. I pulled into Genesis before 5:15 and was ready to go! Definitely the fastest I have ever jumped up and gotten ready. I'm sorry Madison!! Because my morning was all out of whack, it wasn't the best run. We ended at 4 miles.

Tuesday: 4 miles at the YMCA followed by some different cross training. I'm really liking getting back into lifting a couple days a week, I think it's really going to help on our long runs. Yeah?

Wednesday: Chilly 8 mile morning jog. Originally, Madison and I were planning on doing 6...but we talked each other into putting in couple more miles. Glad we did.

Thursday (Today!): Met Alfredo for a run this morning. Got a good 6 mile jog in... at a faster pace. When Alfredo runs with Madison and I, he is normally a good distance ahead of us...but Madison is out of town, so I told him not to leave me too far behind, it's scary out there in the dark mornings by yourself! I'm sure he slowed down a bit, but it was still a faster past than the rest of the week.

Andddd...the quick post because its 60 degrees outside and it's time to go for a bike ride!!! WOOO!!

Okay, so this was when I first got my bike last year...but it seemed fitting. I have hardly had a chance to ride it. Can't wait!!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week, it's almost time for the weekend! Yes!

On cloud nine.

So many good things happened from Wednesday to now, I don't even know where to start! Since this is probably going to be a long post, I'm going to fast-forward to Friday night.

Friday night: Turnback Creek had a concert at Cy's bar in Sedgwick. Madison and I thought this would be a great opportunity to have a fundraising event. We called Cy and told him a little about what we were doing and he gave us the okay to have an event! We brought 3 big Team In Training signs and 3 buckets... our plan was to basically just ask people for donations. We got to the bar at like 9:30 (the concert started at 10:00) and felt totally awkward. Cy wasn't there, so we weren't sure what to really do. Luckily, my mom's friend Lisa came with us, who knows some of the ladies that work at the bar. They said we were welcome to do whatever we wanted, they just didn't want to be held responsible for watching any buckets. So we grabbed a table, posted some signs on the wall, and worked our magic.

People were SO much more generous than I expected. I was expecting change, dollar bills, maybe a five or two.... but there were several 20 dollar bills! Madison handed one of the buckets to her grandma, who ended up passing it on to someone else, who passed it on to someone else, and it just kept going around the bar! It was so awesome to see it going around the bar and people reading it, then reaching for their wallet. I wish there was a way I could express to them how thankful I really am for their support.

On top of the successful fundraising, Turnback Creek sounded awesome! Anyone who knows me knows that I am definitely not a fan of country music, but I really liked Turnback Creek. If you have not heard them, look them up... you will like!

Thank you everyone who came out and supported. And a HUGE thank you to Cy and Turnback Creek for allowing us to do this at your concert and giving us all kinds of shout outs! The night wouldn't of been as much of a success without you!

Saturday: I was kind of nervous for Saturday, I really wanted to get a good long run in, but didn't really have a good time to do it. After getting less than 4 hours of sleep on Friday night, I was in dire need of a nap after work. After my nap...I woke up feeling groggy and fought with myself for a long time about whether or not to suck it up and go out for my long run or make it up on Sunday. Madison was in Sedgwick, Alfredo was out of town, TNT group ran at 7:00am, so it was either go out and run by myself or don't go at all. At about 5:00, I looked outside and it was sunny! That basically made my decision for me.

I got this new fanny pack kind of thing to wear on my long runs, so I can have my snacks with me. Okay, it's not really a fanny pack, way smaller and way less dorky. I took a picture of myself before going out for my run, but unfortunately my phone is dunzo so I will probably never see that picture. Ugh. My TNT coaches have advised us that we need to start experimenting with different kinds of nutrition during our long runs, in order to stay refueled. At first, I thought this was crazy...why would you want to eat while running? I figured all it would do was make me nauseous, but it really does make a difference! So far the only thing I have tried is GU Chomps, which I really liked. And my fanny pack, perfect! I was concerned it was going to ride up and be uncomfortable, but it actually stayed put. I love all my new running gear! Sure wish I had the picture I took before I ran... I looked like a pretty legit runner. My watch, my iPod, my fanny pack, my new shoes, my running socks, my under armour, my tights... man I was rockin.

Anyway... I ran 12 miles!!!!! This is the furthest I have ever ran! My original plan was to run 10 miles, but after about mile 6 I decided I wanted to push myself and go a couple more. And I did!! I was so ecstatic while running. I seriously felt awesome. I probably looked like a freak running down the side of the road by myself with a smile on my face. I wanted to tell everyone who was driving by that I was on mile 9, mile 10, mile 11...mile 12!! Needless to say, my legs are dead today, but I'm still on cloud nine.