Just a Few Thoughts

So this post doesn’t really fall into any of the categories of this blog but…. Here are a few thoughts I’ve had over the last couple days….

1. Folding laundry might be the worst thing ever….can you tell I have laundry waiting for me in the dryer to fold? But really, come on engineering friends, can’t you come up with a folding machine too? How hard can it really be?

2. I am loving having sunny mornings. Not that it makes me get out of bed any earlier, but it is so nice to not be getting up in the dark anymore. Thanks daylight savings!

3. I’m looking for book suggestions…. I really like inspirational sports books and health and fitness books. Has anyone read Wheat Belly? I almost caved at target the other day and bought it but just wasn’t sure about it.

4. I’m thinking of taking a social media break; no Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for a month (with the exception of posting my blog of course). Who has done this before? Did you like it or did you feel like you were missing out on things? I feel like I waste so much time on social media that I am due for a break from it.

5. What would you like to see more of on this blog? More fitness routines? Healthy recipes? Life updates? Other? Always curious as to what my readers would like to see more of.

6. Shout-out to The Blue Dishes. I love reading your blog most every morning Haley. Does anyone have any blogs they really enjoy reading?

7. What are the holidays going to be like as an adult who has to work? I know this sounds strange to those of you who are seasoned veterans to the working world, but y’all this is my first year where I don’t have a huge break for the holidays….I have always been a student. I get two days for Thanksgiving and three for Christmas. I’m thankful for those days but also having a bit of a pity party over it.

8. I am really ready for a break from the endurance world. I love running but I am ready for a break. November 15th can’t come soon enough! As mentioned in here and here, I will be competing in Thunder Road Marathon on the 15th then it is off season for me.

Thats it for today! Hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday night!

5:45 1:49:26 13.1

Wondering what those random numbers are? Well I’ll clear up the confusion, they are the numbers that represent my Sunday morning. So lets start from the beginning with 5:45, this is the time that my alarm went off and 1:49:26 is the time it took for me to run 13.1miles. Continue reading for a recap of the entire City of Oaks Half Marathon.

5:45AM — the alarm goes off and boy am I thankful for day light savings time. That extra hour of sleep was clutch after all my other weekend madness.

6:15 — leave Bre’s apartment. Thanks for being such an amazing race morning host…I hope I wasn’t too loud as I moved about your apartment doing my typical race morning circles.

6:30 — Meet Kathryn at the start line for one last potty stop and to line up.

6:58 — Find the 1:45 pace group.

7:00 — The gun goes off and I am already thinking damn this is a quick pace so I quickly let the pacers go ahead of me but still keeping them close.

Mile 1 — Yep! I was right, the pace group went out really quick! Time to back off a bit.

Mile 2-3 — Settle in. Feeling good.

Mile 4 — Choke down some water. Running and drinking water is just something I will never master.

Mile 6 — Hello wind tunnel!

Mile 8 — Dear Peace Street hill, we will never be friends. You won the battle but I won the war. I walked about 30seconds of you but conquered the rest feeling strong.

Mile 9-10 — Uhh hello! forgot about you hilly Raleigh neighborhoods. You are so pretty and cute but must you be so hilly!?

Mile 11 — Whhhhyyyyy?! Really this extra little out and back is such a tease.

Mile 12 — HOME STRETCH!!!! Just have to make it past the NC State library and it is all downhill from there.

Mile 13 — maybe I should start smiling….there is a camera right in front of me….I’ll give it a try!

Mile 13.1 — DONE. 1hour, 49minutes, and 26seconds. I made it under 1:50 so I was a happy camper.

What I learned from the day:

1. If you want to run with a pace group, you need to ask the pacers if they are planning on banking time.
2. Not having spectators on the course specifically for you is super strange. Definitely have an even greater appreciation for my great race day parents now. Love you mom and dad!
3. Half marathon is a super awesome distance. It is tiring but you still can be a productive member of society after it is done with.
4. Take your fuel as you planned….I didn’t take anything along this race like I had planned too and definitely regretted it at about mile 12.
5. I should really sign up for more half marathons. This distance is really great.

So there you have it, my crazy numbers are explained and you now have the entire recap of my weekend. Hope you’re having a great week so far and getting in those couch to 5k training session. I’ll be back Friday (or Saturday if I’m slacking) with week two’s training.

Have a goodnight y’all!

Raleigh 70.3

Ooops! Sorry I’ve been MIA for a couple weeks. I have lots to catch you all up on but let’s start with my “big race.”

5:15… Alarm goes off.

6:00… drop my run gear off at T2. Man working there assures me I am LATE. Panick sets in as we drive to T1, nearly 45min away. When I get there transition is closing momentarily. I quickly set up my bike. I am scrambling and forget the most important part…. I didn’t put my fuel on my bike. Thank godness for another scrambling triathlete that helped me out.

7:00… First wave goes off. Time for me to eat breakfast. Almond butter sandwich and a Gatorade.

7:50… Wetsuit wiggle. The water temp was low enough by less than a degree making for a warm, wetsuit legal race.

8:00… Line up.

8:18… Gun goes off for my wave. I was in the last wave of the day.

Swim starts off great, sighting is easy and I found my groove quickly. All was great till about the last quarter of a mile when my wave caught LOTS of waves ahead of us. It turned into swimming through what I’d imagine swimming through a lake of dead bodies (that occasionally kick really hard) would feel like.

Upon exiting the water I was super excited… They had wetsuit strippers!! Best thing ever! I was out of my wetsuit in about 3seconds!!

T1 was a little slow, as I did take the time to put on socks and had to put all my fuel in my pockets. Something I’d typically already have taped to my bike.

On to the bike… I quickly realize I forgot something important as I see lots of people fixing flat tires on the side of the road… I didn’t put my kit back on my bike! Nerves set in a little but I quickly manage to calm myself. No sense in worrying about something that you can’t change now.

The course starts off with a big climb. About 5miles worth of a climb. I felt good. I just spun my legs all the way to the top. I also felt fast as I was passing tons of people!! An advantage of starting last.

Once the climb is over, into the wind we go! We fought a headwind for quite a while. I felt surpringly good.

At about the half way point the course took a nose dive! It got wayyyy hilly!! Lame right?! I fought though it and still managed to pass quite a few people but man did I slow down. On a positive note, the aide stations were awesome! Never have I seen so much support on the bike.

T2, quite a bit faster than T1. Flying dismount and quick exchange of gear. Did take a second to put on some body glide and a headband… Priorities right?!

On to the run… It sucked!!! The run was a two loop course that passed right by the finish line at the start of loop two… What a tease!!! If you break the run into 4 parts, it was uphill for part 1, downhill part 2, uphill part 3, and downhill part 4.

The initial uphill got me a little, my legs were super tight coming off the bike. I did a little more walking than I would have liked early. I managed to work out the tightness and got though it back to the start of loop two.

Going uphill the second time killed me. I’m sure I looked pitiful cause I sure felt it. It was a battle of wanting to run but my body saying “ehh…better not” (my fellow pitch perfect fans should know this fat Amy quote).

Coming back to the finish line, John managed to see me several times. He kept yelling at me to run. Surprisingly this helped a lot. Still not sure how he managed to not run on the course and see me so many times along a 2mile stretch… Magic?! Regardless it was much appreciated!!

I ended up finished in a time of 5:54:40. It was a little slower than I had hoped but overall I was happy with my performance. Going into my next race, I think I’ll put a little more focus on the run portion.

Speaking of next races… Here’s what’s on the calendar:

July 19th stumpy creek international

October 25th beach to battle ship half ironman

November 15th thunder road marathon

So back to training for me! Be sure to look out for some training updates over the next couple months 🙂

Happy Wednesday y’all!

Carolina International

This weekend I took part in my second race of the season, Carolina International. However, leading up to the race things were anything but normal… It was my good friend and training partner, Kimberly’s bridal party get-a-way weekend. So needless to say, going into this race there was a little extra eating and drinking and a little less sleep. All that being said though, it was a great weekend and the race didn’t suffer too much because of it. To recap the weekend (briefly) and the race….

Friday — Arrive at the lake, finish getting everything ready for the weekend then head out for a quick
run and some strides. The rest of the bridal party and Kimberly arrived at the lake house around 8:30. We all do plenty of talking, giggling, eating and a little drinking then finish the night with the movie Dirty Dancing.

Saturday — SLEEP IN!! Woohoo! Then we all headed out to the lake and unfortunately got a little burnt… yikes!! Kimberly and I ditched
the party for a little while to get our race packets and drop
our bikes off in transition around 5:30. Then by 7:30 we were all painting the night away with Wine & Design at the house.

You win if you can guess what this is!!
Hint…it is not a cat!!

Sunday — RACE DAY!! Sunday started bright and early with the alarm clock buzzing at 5:15 (only about 4.5 short hours after it was set…whoops!). After throwing down a quick almond-butter sandwich and some gatorade it was time to hit the road.

Although the race was close to where we were staying, this was a point to point race so it was bit more work in the morning. We headed to T2 (the second transition point) to drop our run gear and to be body marked then quickly made our way to T1 to get our bikes ready for the day ahead (I have to say, I have great race parents…my dad got up at the crack of dawn with us and drove us all around making the morning super smooth!! Thanks dad!!).

After a little wetsuit wiggling (if you ever want to be entertained, watch the shore before a wetsuit legal race…they are not easy to get on so you will see all kinds of straining and wiggling), the gun went off and we were on our way. The swim was 1500 meters and was a point to point event with two turns. Going out to the first turn was great, it felt smooth and sighting was easy. To make things even better, Kimberly and I had quite the cheering squad at the first turn. I could hear them even when my head was under water. They were great!(thanks for rallying the troops mom!!)After the first turn, it got a little rough. We were going directly into the sun and this was the longest leg of the swim. There were terrible glares off the water that made sighting nearly impossible. Then at turn two we headed back for the shore and out of the sun (thank goodness). I came out of the water in just under 30min.

On to T1…brutal! It is just under a half mile run up a gravel / grassy hill to transition. I made it though this and onto my bike in just under 4min.

Flying mount and I am off! I successfully made it on to my bike without having to break my stride too much. To do this I had my shoes already clipped onto my bike and rubber-banned into the correct position so I could immediately start riding once I crossed the mount line. As soon as I got up to speed I reached down and strapped my feet into my shoes while continuing to ride. At about this point, the cheering section was in sight and they had some great signs that were sure to make you smile. My favorite was “SMILE if you peed in the water.” The bike course was a total of 27miles on crappy roads (VERY BUMPY). The first 10 were pretty rough. It seemed as if you were constantly going up or down hills the entire time. The next five were great and filled with rolling hills. At about mile 15 the cheerleaders were back at it. It is always nice when you can break from thinking about the race and smile for a second. Then we went back to hills for the next 10. I did hit a new speed record though, I maxed out at 42mph going down one of the hills… Scary but totally awesome!! The last two miles were filled with turns and through neighborhoods. I ended up averaging just under 19mph.

T2 was much better than T1…. it didn’t involve any gravel or hills. I was able to do a flying dismount, my feet were already out of my shoes and I was able to get off the bike while it continued to move and was in and out of T2 in about 45 seconds.

Kimberly (left) and me (right) leaving
transition two.

Run Run Run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me…. JUST KIDDING! Lots of people caught me. The run was a hilly and hot 6.2miles. I went out of T2, a little too hard and the hills and heat got the best of me. I ended up finishing the run in about 52 minutes. That is about an 8:20ish pace, so not terrible but I am defiantly capable of better.

Overall, the race was a success though. I was 47th overall, 9th female overall, and first in my age group with a time of 2:53:07. Thanks to all the support that I had out on the course, it made what could have been a brutal race, a great race.

Me, Kimberly, and Brittany (left to
right) on the boat after some good
wakeboarding.

Once all the race day festivities were over, it was back to the house for some lunch and lake playtime. I was able to get my first wakeboard run in of the year and caught a few more rays before heading back to good ole Raleighwood that evening.

It was a great weekend and one that I know I won’t forget for a while to come. Thanks everyone who helped make it great!! Y’all are awesome!!

Tri Season Opener!!

Woohoo!! Triathlon season has finally arrived. I feel like I’ve been training forever so I’m super happy to finally start competing again.

Yesterday, I competed in a super sprint race called “Girls Run the World.” It was an all female event and a great way to shake off some of the rust before heading into my bigger races in the coming weeks. It was a 250yd pool swim, 10mi bike, and a 2mi run. So a super short race but still a very strenuous race.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with triathlons, a super sprint is just as it sounds…a SUPER SPRINT!! You go all out the entire time. This is defiantly not the kind of race I enjoy as I tend to enjoy a more long distance, aerobic race as opposed to an anaerobic sprint. But, nonetheless it was nice to have an entire race done with in under an hour!!

Now to recap yesterday….

5:00AM — beep beep beep!!! Alarm goes off in blaring fashion.

5:20 — headed out the door with breakfast in hand.

5:55 — arrive at race site.

6:00 — unload car and get set up in transition.

6:30 — body marking.

6:40 — warm up. 10min jog and about a 200 in the pool.

7:00 — pre-race meeting.

7:10 — line up in the pool.

7:11 — START!!

My swim started strong. I was feeling good. It was a 10lap snaked swim through the pool. At about my third turn I swallowed a huge mouthful of water as I breathed right into someone else’s splash. This defiantly took me out of rhythm a bit but didn’t slow me down too much. Fortunately for me, the people around me seeded themselves correctly so I didn’t have to do any fighting in the super narrow lanes to pass. Getting out of the pool was a bit of a challenge for me… I missed the railing for the ladder and slammed my right shin on the edge of the pool (Sporting a pretty battle wound today). Again, not slowing me down as I was determined to catch the other half of the K squared team (my training partner Kimberly) who was up ahead of me.

Team K Squared 🙂

Transition one… Great! Got in and out in about 18seconds. Everything went pretty smoothly.

Bike…HELLO HILLS!! This I was not prepared for. Since it was such a short race I did not look into the course before it started like I typically would for a longer race. I ended up averaging 18.5mph but defiantly feel as if I am capable of going a little faster than that on a more flat course. I ended up passing two other triathletes on the bike course. Tough course but was overall happy with my performance.

Transition two, subpar. My “dumb” brain had set in a little and I wasn’t focusing quite as well…tends to happen when I’m working hard for an extended period of time. I struggled to re-rack my bike making me lose a few seconds.

Run… Bring on the hills round two! This was a tough 2miler that couldn’t end fast enough. My feet were asleep for about the first mile. Tends to happen after being on the bike for a while. Still, I managed through this. I didn’t end up having my best run of all times but it was still decent. I averaged a 7:54 pace. Something for a longer race that’d I’d be super happy with but not for this short of one. Was hopeing to be closer to a 7:00-7:15 pace. Still I managed to hold off the girl behind me that was closing in quickly.

8:05 — DONE! Crossed the finish line in 53min and 47sec. This placed me 5th overall and 1st in my age group.

As a whole, it was a decent race and defiantly helped me shake off the rust. Happy to have it under my belt.

Look for me to be back in action racing next weekend at Carolina International down at lake Norman 🙂

Have a great Monday y’all!!

PS thank you Bre and John for coming out and cheering me on!!! Love you two!!

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! 🙂