Category: My Races & Training

Thunder Road Marathon

Although I finished, today didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. I even finished 12min past the worst case scenario I had played out in my head. To recap today… 

6:00 am, the alarm goes off. I quickly head downstairs to make my usual breakfast of an English muffin and almond butter. I had a harder time than normal eating it but I just accounted that for race day nerves. 

6:45 we are headed out of the house and into the city. 

7:20-7:35 warm up and social time. We ran into one of my best friends (Bre) who was running the half marathon and of course and had to have a few hugs and some last minute race chat. 

7:40 national anthem and pre race speech. This year’s speech was given by a Boston survivor. She was great and very inspirational. 

7:45 the race car fired up its engine and the green flag was waved. Kimberly and I got off to our usual quick start but shortly settled in at the 3:45:00 pace. 
We made it to about the 10k (6.2mils) mark and I realized I was in trouble. Although I am in probably the best shape of my life, I was having a hard time breathing. At about the 9mile mark I got my first cramp in my abdomen. I was hurting pretty bad but made it through this one with out stopping. I then had about 2-3miles of feeling ok before I really started feeling bad. 

Kimberly and I ran together to about mile 14-15 before I told her to go ahead. At this point I was starting to have a hard time breathing as my upper abdomen was constantly cramping. I started walking at about mile 16. I would walk a bit, the cramping would release a bit but as soon as I started up again I was cramping again. This was super frustrating.  

Mile 18 things turned for the worst, I now not only was cramping but I was starting to get light headed. I significantly slowed down at this point. I was basically doing a walk/jog now. I saw my family at about 20 and they could tell I was in trouble but they were awesome and cheered me on as if I was in first (marathon fans are the best fans on the planet). Mile 22 rolled around and my dad ran over to me to make sure I was ok, he even asked if I felt like I needed to stop. I knew I looked bad but what I didn’t know was I had gone completely white. I also was not even sweating anymore (for those of you who don’t know me super well, I sweat a lot and super easily). I was what you’d call miserable but I told my dad I was going to finish. That was the last place I saw them till the finish line. 

The light headedness and stomach cramping didn’t go away but I managed to tough it out to the finish line. My final time was 4:12:??. 
I wasn’t happy with the outcome but had I stayed strong and fought till the end. I hope for a better outcome in my next race! 

Kimberly and I at packet pick-up and health and wellness expo Friday evening. 

Race Packing

As fun as it is to travel, sometimes traveling for a big race is a bit of a nightmare. This is because you have all the “what if” scenarios that you actually have to take into account. For example packing for tomorrows race, I can check the weather 10times but up until the morning of I won’t know exactly what it’s like outside. Plus 50 degrees and humid is totally different than 50 degrees and windy. So here is my list of race essentials then I will go into packing for the weather.

RACE ESSENTIALS:

– Watch ( I love my Garmin 🙂 )
– Race Belt (this is to hold my number on which ever layer is the outer most at the time)
– Road ID (I never hit the roads without it…kinda like my little security blanket)
– Compression Socks
– KT Tape
– Extra Hair Ties (nothing worse than having to run a race with your hair down if it broke at the start line)
– Body Glide (best stuff ever!!!)
– A good fitting sports bra (I may not be big chested but I can certainly still tell if I don’t have a good one on…ouch!!)
– Running Shoes with bungee laces (If your feet swell like mine the bungee laces are a must!!)
– Fuel

**I’ll touch on fuel, KT Taps, and Compression Socks at a later date 🙂

CLOTHING…Packing for the weather:

Scenario 1: HOT HOT HOT
Minimal clothing.  One days like this I tend to only wear my short and sports bra then strap that race belt around my waste. Days like this are essential for body glide as their will be friction when you get super sweaty.

Scenario 2: 50-60degree…nice day
This is the perfect running weather, throw on a pair of shorts and your favorite running top and you’re good to go.

Scenario 3: 40-45degrees
This is a range I tend to struggle with cause at the end of the day 40 is cold but running will warm you right up. I tend to go with shorts and 2 layers up top, a tank or tee with a light weight long sleeve over top. On days like this I try and do about a mile run close to where I am started to see what all I really want to have on. Somedays I keep it all and other days I shed that top layer. I will also break out the gloves at this point….I hate cold fingers.

Scenario 4: Below 40degrees
This is when I start to layer up especially up top. It is extremely important to keep your chest warm when you are working out in the cold. You’re already breathing in that cold air thats going to burn in your lungs so lets not put a double whammy on that and have a cold chest too. For my layers I start with a tight fitting long sleeve then add another lighter layer long sleeve and usually a fleece vest on top of all that. For the bottom half I wear my running tights (….this is the only good thing about cold running, I love wearing my running tights). Gloves and a hat or ear warmers are essential at this point.

A few tips for dressing for the weather in a race (or just a run)…
– As a general rule of thumb you want to dress like it is 15ish degrees warmer than what it says. For example if it says 50, pretend its about 65.
– Do a “warm-up” mile close to your starting point is really helpful. This will help you to decide exactly what is essential for your run ahead.
– Wear what is comfortable for you and don’t change it up on race day!! (I had some nice bloody feet after a race where I used new socks…not good!)
– If it’s cold, keep those layers on as long as you can before that gun goes off…I usually only have about 2min worth of feeling chilled at the start line.

I hope this helps a little bit as you are preparing/packing for your next race 🙂

Final Big Race!!

I’ve got a few days left till my final big race of the year and I couldn’t be more excited. This year has been full of training and my body is about ready for a rest after I get through this weekend. 
Many people have asked what I do to train for a marathon and the simple answer is I run a lot and learn to enjoy those miles upon miles. Well I at least most of the time enjoy all the miles. A more indepth answer for what I do to train is I run about 5 days per week, one to two short runs (under 5), two middle distance runs (5-10ish) and one long run a week. This long run distance is what really builds every week. This year since I had already trained for a half iron distance race I started my long runs at 15 and built up to 22miles. However, I added an extra twist, I ran the City of Oaks Marathon about 2weeks ago so I guess you could say I trained up to 26.2 miles this year. Since running city of oaks I have dramatically cut back my miles to let my body recover as much as possible before this Saturday when I take on the roads of Charlotte for the 3rd time. The week leading up to a marathon is more about rest than it is about training. So this week I am doing 2 runs and an easy spin and stretch. 
My goal for this weekend is to break 3:50:00. That will be about 2min faster than I’ve ever gone before. 
Well I’m headed out for my last training run with Kimberly (my only friend dumb enough to tag along for a race like this 😉 ) 
Be sure to send me some good vibes and extra energy this weekend as I take on Thunder Road! 🙂