Hoka 10k 2018

Hoka 10k 2018

Sunday, October 30, 2016

BMB: Week 6 and Ruthie Randoms

Building My Base
 
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Flashback to the OSU 4 miler on Sunday. This was as we were finishing. [Tamara K., Meg, ME, Katie, half of Jen]

Post race. [Tamara K., Meg, ME, Katie, Jen]

This is the last week of BMB. I officially start half marathon/marathon training on Monday!! There is no turning back. I have registered and committed to these races so I must follow through with training. EEEK!

The word "consistency" was on my mind a lot this week.
 
This week has been pretty awesome because I've had a lot of free time (P.S. Still no word about when I'll get to return to work after the car accident). I haven't had to wake up for any 5 a.m. runs, AND I've had the chance to catch up with long lost friends.
 
  • 10/24: REST. After tweaking my foot on Saturday, I knew I needed to give my body a day of rest. I was still having some throbbing in my foot but it wasn't as intense. I took James to the zoo, so I did a lot of walking, but I rested from running.
    jd3 showing off his WPS pride!
  • 10/25: 6.21 miles, 9:00/mile; 30 minutes leg/core stability workout. I FINALLY got a run with Jackie. Just like the old days before we met our other amazing runner friends. We really had no agenda so we just ran. Aren't those the best runs?! After our run, she introduced me to this delicious coffee shop in Hilliard. YUMMY!!!
  • 10/26: 4 miles, 9:13/mile. I met Amanda at The Y for a little treadmill action. It was really the perfect day for it because it was raining most of the day and sometimes you just aren't in the mood for cold and rainy. I kept it short and easy to make sure I didn't aggravate my foot.
    Amanda is so fast she's blurry!!
  • 10/27: 7.3 miles, 8:51/mile; 15 minutes core/hip workout. Jackie: "Lisa, I need help keeping our pace in the 9s. I'm horrible with pacing." Me: "I got you, girl. I'll pay attention to my watch and make sure I never see an 8 in front." Rrrrright. That lasted two miles before we forgot our agenda. Oops.
    Trying to cover Jackie's ASSets. I done good.
  • 10/28: REST. I already had runs secured for the next three days including Highbanks and a long run with Marion and Jackie. I knew I would need a rest day before conquering those two things. Trying to play it smart with this post baby body! I decided to take my mind off of running by volunteering for packet pickup at Front Runner. Ha!!
  • 10/29: 6.21 miles, 9:58/mile. We took it to the mean streets...I mean, trails...of Highbanks. If I'm going to conquer this half marathon in a few weeks, I need to get myself used to hills again. What used to seem so natural, now is SO CHALLENGING!! Highbanks is so beautiful right now. I was excited that I could find a couple of crazies to come along with me.
    Love this place! P.S. That guy in red was going SO FAST on these hills. It was way too intense. [Kelli, Noemi, ME]
  • 10/30: 10.10 miles, 8:53/mile. Hills (and too much wine the night before). OMG. Something that I used to conquer without thought has become one of my biggest challenges (HMM...sounds like a repeat of what I said yesterday!). Between my injury this year and having a baby, I didn't run hills for a long time. They feel so hard to me right now, but I refuse to quit until they become my thang again! I'm not one to back down from a running challenge!! My half marathon in December was described as "moderately hilly." That could mean anything! I'm going to assume the worst and hit those hills hard the next month.
    
    So incredibly hot. October 30th and running in a sports bra! [Marion, Jackie, ME]
 
**********

-Ruthie smiles ALL THE TIME! I love it.
Fun at Ms. Jane's (outfit from Aunt Amanda).
-She continues to be OBSESSED with her "jungle gym."
-My girl is larger and stronger than James ever thought about being! She might be the first female linebacker in the NFL.
Future Razorback (hat made by Aunt Amy when I had James).
-She loves to bounce.
Say whaaaat?! (top from Aunt Marion)

-She has started sucking on her hand and it's the cutest thing.
 
Just a bonus pic of jd3.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

BMB: Week 5

Building My Base
 
**********
 
What a craptastic week...might as well keep with my life theme of 2016. I had a rough start by having a bit of an illness. I followed that up with a car accident (also with a side of wrist injury). I decided to tweak my foot on Saturday, BUT ended with some fun at the OSU 4 miler on Sunday! Phew.

Part of the crew at the OSU 4 miler. Hmm...I'm the only one in shorts. Also, fanny pack front and almost center. [Steph, Tamara, Meg, ME, Jen don't call her Jennifer, Jennie/Jen/Jennifer]
  • 10/17: 4 total miles. 2.7 miles @ 9:16 pace, 1.3 at who the heck knows pace. After a well deserved rest day, I was ready to hit the road. I agreed to meet my friend Allison for her long run of 7 miles...4:45 a.m. and we were ready to go! Aside from being sleepy, I felt ok when I woke up. When we started our run, my body was a little fatigued, but that's pretty typical for me. I take a while to warm up. A mile or so into the run, I broke out in a full body sweat. At this point, I didn't say anything to Allison yet because I thought maybe it was the humidity. Another mile went by and I told her I wasn't feeling well. We stopped so that I could strip my shirt. I thought that might make me feel better. NOPE. I was feeling lightheaded and nauseous. No bueno. We decided to turn around at 2.5 miles and head back. We hit 2.7 and I had to quit...like, literally quit. I convinced her to keep going, finish her run, and come back for me. I walked about three quarters of a mile and still felt like crap. At that point, I sat down on the side of the road. Part of me was hoping Allison would show up so I didn't have to continue. The other part of me was annoyed that this was happening and that I was a quitter. I decided to go ahead and start running again. I made it 1.3 miles (I didn't start my watch so had to map it out later) when Allison pulled over to scoop me up. I was never happier to see a human in my entire life. I ended up calling into work that day.
  • 10/18: 4.09 miles, 9:55/mile. If my pace doesn't tell you how I felt, I don't know what will. I still didn't feel awesome but I was determined to get some miles after yesterday's epic fail. I "slept in" until the hubs had to get up so I could help get the kiddos ready. I did a late morning run in my hood before work. It sucked. I was so tired. I wanted 6 miles but it wasn't happening. I had to force myself to do four. I knew I had to make myself rest the next day.
  • 10/19: REST. Although this was an intentional rest day, I decided to mix things up a bit and get into a car accident (obviously sarcasm). I'll spare the details, but the accident happened while I was on the job between patients. All of the airbags deployed. I have a few bruises and air bag burns along with an injured wrist.
    A few hours after the accident.

    Side view.


    At this point, the extent of my injury is still unknown. The urgent care doctor confirmed that there was no fracture, but had concerns about the soft tissue structures. Because of this, she put me on a 10 lb. lifting restriction for at least two weeks in addition to referring me to an ortho. Unfortunately, because it's a work comp. claim, I have to wait for approval before I can see an ortho. I feel like I can perform my job duties but the doc says otherwise. My employer has to go by what the doc says. UGH. I'm super annoyed. I just hope to get back to work ASAP.
  • 10/20: REST. I woke up sore and stiff from my accident. I contemplated going for an evening run but just wasn't feeling like getting out in the rain. I'm super lame. I probably needed to rest anyway.
  • 10/21: 4 miles, 9:15/mile. I thought yesterday's rain was stupid...today was WORSE! Not only was it pouring literally all day, it was crazy windy as well. I cancelled an early run with one of my besties because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up. I was also still nervous about running after my car accident. I decided to go to the Y for a short run on the mill so that I'd have the option to stop at any moment. Fortunately, I had no pain!
    Random: Took Baby Boo for his flu shot. This was his post-shot treat.
  • 10/22: 6.4 miles, 8:55/mile. I met three of my besties for bRUNch. We planned six miles but I wasn't sure how I'd feel and wanted to make sure I'd survive the OSU 4 miler tomorrow. We definitely started too fast for me because I was not feeling awesome after the first two miles. I decided to turn around and give myself the option of running only 4 miles. After slowing down, I started feeling better. I decided to go off route a bit to get some extra mileage. The more I ran, the better I felt! I was getting closer and closer to 6 miles to I decided to go back to the route and catch up with the Marion and Theresa. After the run, we joined Jackie for some delicious brunch from Be Fit CafĂ©. Side note: I tweaked my foot toward the end of the run when my foot slipped off of the road to the grass. I felt it in the area of my fractures. It scared me at first but I didn't feel anymore pain after that. It did throb occasionally the rest of the day and was a little tingly on the top of my foot.
    Two of my loves. I have missed running with these girls so much this year. Here's to 2017! [ME, T, Marion]
  • 10/23: 7.45 total miles. 3.5 warm up miles,  9:21/mile; 3.95 miles, 8:16/mile. Today I did the OSU 4 miler with some friends. SO fun! I'm not doing a race report because it was more of a fun run to help me practice race pace for my upcoming pace gig. I mostly failed at keeping the intended pace of 8:30, BUT it did show me that I will be able to hold an 8:30 pace for that race without dying! Our splits were (8:34, 8:15, 8:08, 7:39 for 0.95). I did have a couple of dry heaving moments right after the finish...must be from trying to be the "I" in O-H-I-O for the last quarter mile. LOL.
    The supposed to run 8:30 but actually ran 8:16 crew. Hehehe. [Jen, Meg, Tamara, ME, Katie]

    Post race field action.

    (Foot update: It still doesn't hurt but I do have an achy throb. I'm going to rest from running tomorrow in hopes that it will go away!)
    Me and my rockstar marathon friend, Meg.

    Just me and my medal in front of The Shoe.

 
Excited about what I'll call my do-over week. Hopefully lots of easy miles sprinkled with a couple of faster miles (unless my foot says otherwise). I also need to get another 10 miler under my belt before marathon training starts! Happy Running, friends!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Ruthie Mae at 2 months

She was laughing at big brother.
 
She keeps growing and growing...Roop is so much bigger than James ever thought of being! At her 2 month appointment she was 10 lbs. 15.5 oz (so basically 11 lbs.). James was 9 lbs. 6 oz.! Roop is 23 inches long which is about the same as James at that time.

Bath time!


Angel's not impressed.

She still is very irregular with her sleeping, but is definitely awake more during the day. On her 2 month birthday, she decided to nap more. Not only did she sleep most of the night, she slept 6 more hours after she woke up around 6 something that morning to eat. She didn't make a peep which freaked us out a bit (and hurt my boobs).

Siblings.


James love sitting by his sister.

She started going to the babysitter with big brother this month. Ms. Jane was very excited about having a baby again. I struggled knowing how much milk to send but we finally established that she usually drinks three 3 oz. bottles. I just make sure I send four just in case!

Jane sent this to me the first day I left her there. Made my day.
Roop's favorite toy is her "jungle gym," she can fit into some of her 3 month clothes, and she's a mommy's girl!!
Jungle gym time!
She's been on a few runs with me this month including a race! Her mileage PR is 9 miles.

Roop's ready to run!
Potential 2 month milestones:
 
  • Follows moving person with eyes...CHECK.
  • Smiles...CHECK. And it's soooo cute!!
    All smiles.
  • Responds to familiar voices...PARTIAL CHECK. She definitely knows my voice.
  • Lifts head...CHECK. We just started tummy time so it's getting stronger by the day.
    Tummy time.
  • Eyes focus on objects in front of them and can follow them side to side...CHECK.
  • Responds to loud noises...CHECK. Particularly the dang dogs.
  • Makes happy noises...CHECK. I love the little coos!!! Melts my heart.
    Sunday breakfast.


She's turning into a cool little girl. I can't wait to see what she brings us this coming month!!
My mom made this collage on my birthday. Pics of me when I was a baby. I can see the resemblance!

Sunday, October 16, 2016

BMB: Week 4

Building My Base
 
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My Week.

 This week, I attempted to add to my long run and even did it times two! I'm trying to keep my weekly mileage over 30 so that my body can slowly get used to training. I would like to climb safely to my usual 45-60 that I run during marathon training. I will likely dial it back a bit this cycle. I just don't want to injure myself after all that I've been through this year. I also decided I would allow myself one run per week that pushes me a bit. All other miles are to be easy to super easy. I still have 4 1/2 months until I run the Little Rock Marathon so I'm in no hurry to get crazy!!
  • 10/10: REST. Although I felt good the day after my 5k, resting seemed like the right thing to do. I needed the sleep and work was crazy.
    Flowers from my love. Just because.

  • 10/11: 10 miles, 8:52/mile. I did another early week long run. After my work meeting, I headed out to the streets of Hilliard. Hard core. It was a nice, cool day. PERFECT for running. I had no goal for my pace. I just wanted it to feel comfortable. My first 5 miles were easy, ranging from 9:04 to 9:24. After the first half, I was FINALLY feeling warmed up. I unintentionally sped up...I assumed I would just stay in that low 9 range since it seemed to be working out for me. When my watch beeped at mile 6, I noticed it read 8:48. The mile felt very comfortable so I was surprised to see that pace. Mile 7 beeped...8:38. Mile 8...8:25. Hmm. I had something going there. Unintentional negative splits. With only 2 miles to go, I couldn't stop there! The next mile was 8:19. I still felt good but didn't think I could run faster than 8:19 for the final mile because it went up a very slight incline. The runner in me wasn't going to let one mile screw me up. I clocked that mile at 8:12! I'll admit, it wasn't as easy as the other 9 miles. I was so happy with this run and super encouraged by it.
    A nice, cool run in Hilliard.
  • 10/12: 5 miles, 9:46/mile. With my successful long run behind me, I knew I could take it easy the rest of the week. I was a little tired from the day before so this pace was perfect for me. I met up with the girls in New Albany and helped a couple of them with a faster run. I LOVE the joy on peoples' faces when they have a good run!!
    New Albany Street Runners!
  • 10/13: 3.02 miles, 9:25/mile. It was time for our monthly donut run. Most of the group is in taper week for the Columbus marathon so there were a lot of short runs. I had been up since 2:45 a.m. (baby stuff) so I was ok with only 3 miles! Side story: We were running on the road (against traffic) because the sidewalks suck ass and are pretty dark and uneven. We had our nighttime gear on and cars were doing a great job of going around us. All of a sudden, this vehicle is speeding down the road and we all had to jump over the curb to the grass. The vehicle swerved at the last minute and immediately turned around....IT WAS A COP! He turned on his lights and parked in the middle lane. We kept running (while cursing about his jackassery). I think I might have gone crazy if he scolded us. I guarantee you his ass wasn't paying attention and he saw us at the last minute and had to swerve. If he wasn't distracted and simply did it on purpose, then he's a jerk face. I hope he realized he was in the wrong and that's why he didn't say anything to us.
    Anyone else want a donut RIGHT NOW?
  • 10/14: 5.17 miles, 9:13/mile. Running partners are usually hard to come by during marathon taper week. I usually can't do the late time of 5:30 a.m., but was able to work it out today! I met up with Lynn and Marcie for a quick 5 miler. First time in tights for the year...a crisp 41 degrees!
    Tights and Jacket season....for one day.
  • 10/15:10.01 miles, 9:50/mile. I was pretty tired this morning. I was going on my fifth day in a row of running, fourth day to get up for a 5 or 5:30 a.m. run (two of those were extra early due to mommy problems), and my second 10 miler of the week. I didn't feel tired until halfway through the run. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm so glad I had Lynsey to keep me going! She wanted 7 miles so I just parked a little over a mile away from our meeting spot. I knew I'd be tempted to quit at 7 if I didn't. Not sure why I wanted 10 miles, but that's what I had in my head. I was happy to finish and even happier to eat my donut.
    Glad to be finished.

  • 10/16: REST! Spectated the Columbus Marathon with Christine. So exciting to see my friends run by in the 21st mile. Their strength and perseverance are so motivating. I wanted to go home and run my own marathon!
    I made a comment that I wasn't stressed because I was spectating. LIES! Spectating friends when they have specific goals is STRESSFUL!!
 
Happy Fall Running!!!

Monday, October 10, 2016

Orthopedic One Spirit Sprint 5k

Pre-race view from COSI.

I can't remember what brought about me signing up for this race. I receive a bazillion emails throughout the week about various races in the area. I must've been looking through and saw one for $25. I hate when a 5k is more than $25!! (cheap ass). When I saw a free kids run attached, I was in! James loves to go to these races. I was also a little curious about my current fitness level. My runs seem all over the place right now, and I wondered how well I could do with a 5k.

Flat James.
**********
 
It was a gorgeous, chilly morning in Columbus. It actually felt like fall! I was a little concerned about getting Ruthie out, but it felt perfect in the sun. It was mid 40s at the start which is PERFECT for racing. I warmed up in warm gear and was able to strip for the race. Booty shorts and short sleeve, baby!
 
Obviously, it's hard to make goals when you have no idea what you can do (i.e. injury and having a baby!). Based on stroller 5ks and recent training runs, I was hoping to average 8 minute miles...hopeful but not confident. After my fartlek workout last week, I thought I would likely die trying to get 8 minute miles. I decided to try it for mile one and just go from there.

My boy was so excited to be at the race with mommy!
After the start, I resisted the urge to go out too fast. I let all the teenagers take that role for me! I knew this course would have some inclines so I kept that in mind. (for those familiar with the usual Genoa route, this race was basically the same but backwards). I kept an eye on my Garmin to make sure I wasn't going out to fast and staying around 8. When I peeked, I was usually between 8-8:15. That concerned me a bit because I wanted to be more consistently at 8. To my surprise, mile one beeped to reveal [7:47]! I must have taken advantage of the declines while conquering those inclines without slowing down too much. I dedicated this mile to my friend, Suzy, who was running the Chicago marathon. When I felt I was failing mentally, I repeated her name. Overall, I would say this mile felt fairly comfortable. I was pushing it, as you should in a race, but not so much that I wanted to pass out....comfortably hard, I would say.
 
After seeing my split for mile one, I decided I would slow down the next mile. There was no reason for me to kill myself this early...save that for mile three! Since I had a faster start than expected, I thought I would keep this one around 8 minutes. After my 1.5 mile warm up and the first mile, I was finally loosening up. My recovery after each incline was improving. Even though I was starting to feel better, this mile seemed to last FOREVER! When I was becoming annoyed, I thought about my dear friend, Dani. She was about 30 minutes into her marathon and I'm over here complaining?! At that point, I quit whining and finished out the mile in [7:55].

Then there's mile three...oh boy. I wasn't yet at the point that I wanted to die, but I knew that moment would be coming soon. I had two things motivating me through this mile: my friend Theresa (who ended up getting a 3:32 PR that day) and the fact that my other two miles were sub 8 minutes. Theresa never EVER gives up. She gives every race her absolute best. I wasn't going to allow myself to see the number eight in front of my final mile. Something came over me and I felt a lot of energy the first half mile. After that, I was close to hitting my limit. I didn't want to quit but really wanted it to be over with! As I looked ahead at the rest of the course, I saw a really nice decline. We had to run up just slightly before hitting that spot (about a quarter mile from the finish. I decided to take advantage of the  downhill to make sure I got another sub 8 mile. After a sharp turn, it was a flat, straight path to the finish. I can't say I had my best kick, but I did what I could in that moment. As I was approaching the finish line (7:13-7:19 on the video),  I saw the clock click to 24 minutes. I knew I was slightly behind the clock because of where I started. I was hoping I beat it!! When I looked at my watch, it read 23:59.2...but what would my chip time say?! It was killing me!!
I went on my phone to look up the live results:

23:59.7!!



SOOOO CLOSE! I was on cloud nine. I couldn't believe I averaged sub 8. My friend, Amanda, predicted 7:54 average and I thought she was insane. My excitement turned to annoyance for a few minutes when I realized I was 4th in my age group. I missed getting an award by 14 seconds. Even more annoying is that they only had three age groups: 18 and under, 19-39, and 40 up. What the hell?! Of course I was in the hardest age group! Ugh.  If I thought I had a chance in hell to get top three in my age group, I would have made myself run 15 seconds faster. Hindsight.
James finishing up his race...he gets a little distracted along the way.

Overall, I'm ecstatic about my performance. I never could have imagined running this time after what I've been through this year. It was very encouraging and the perfect celebration of Ruthie turning 2 months. It's about two and a half minutes off of my adult PR, but close to my stroller 5k PR...I'll take it! I'm very excited about continuing my no plan running plan and increasing my mileage for my marathon in March. I still have three more races this year to continue testing my fitness. Hopefully I'll even be able to run a decent half in December!
My excited little Roop.

Sunday, October 9, 2016

BMB: Week 3

Building My Base
 
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Columbus, OH on a beautiful fall day.

This was by far my highest mileage week since my accident in March. I was averaging 40-42 miles per week at that time and ran just over 36 miles this week! I had no ankle pain this week and very minimal knee achiness. The worst I felt this week was the day after I did my fartlek workout. I was SO TIGHT!! I'm super excited about how I'm progressing but still taking a cautious approach to getting back in shape.
  • 10/3: 6 miles, 9:22/mile. I wanted an easy run and so did these ladies! One of them had been sick and the other two rockstars ran 18 miles the day before! It was a nice crisp morning that actually felt like fall!
    [Noemi, Tamara, ME, Meg]
  • 10/4: 9.02 stroller miles, 9:46/mile. I was supposed to wake up and run with my friend, Ellen, for her tempo run...didn't happen. I was going on two rough nights of sleep in a row and couldn't muster up the will to get out there. Even though I was pissed about not sucking it up and going early, it did allow me to get my long run out of the way. I had to push a stroller to do it, but it was such a beautiful day that I didn't mind the extra effort! I wanted to keep it easy, so I decided to try and keep it around 10 minute miles. My splits kept reading sub 10, so I just went with it. I had one mile that was 10:01 in which I had a couple of difficult hills, but I was still very happy with the result.
    Gorgeous day in my neck of the woods.
  • 10/5: REST.
  • 10/6: 5.62 miles, 8:56/mile. I was considering waking up early to meet up with the track group, but the thought of doing 1200s made me want to yack. I knew I had a short day at work, so I decided to run somewhere between 5 and 6 miles and include fartleks. I did a 2 mile warm up before starting any fast stuff. It was pretty tough. I got as fast as 7:15 pace but never ran that pace more than 0.30 miles. Trying to run faster and doing it in the sun was not a good combo. I'm happy with the run nonetheless.
    Unusually hot day in Columbus...might be why I wanted to barf. LOL.
  • 10/7: 8.01 miles, 9:39/mile. I met my friend, Leeann, to help her with her tempo run. No one should have to do those workouts alone! I'm so excited she is prepping for her first marathon!!
    Keepin' it real: I took the absolute worst selfie after this run. I tried to fix it by making it black and white...didn't work. I couldn't waste this pic because she did awesome. [ME, Leeann]
  • 10/8: 3.11 miles, 9:38/mile. I had good intentions to rest today since I had a 5k to look forward to (sarcasm). I was SO tight after the past two workouts, I felt like I needed a short easy run and some stretching in order to make my body feel better. Jennifer and I ran the 5k loop while I was trying to peer pressure her into training for a half. Hehehe.
    Easy run, fun calories. [tall vanilla latte]

    Look at that HUGE Saturday group!

  • 10/9: 4.57 total miles; 1.5 warm up miles and 3.07 race miles. Ortho One Spirit Sprint 5k race report to come!
    Me and my boy.
 
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No Ruthie Randoms this week because I'll eventually write a post about her life as a 2 month old! It was exciting following my friends that raced in Chicago this weekend, and I can't wait to spectate the Columbus Marathon this coming weekend. LOVE THAT RACE!