A Half Marathon Isn't Half of Anything....

...especially considering this course!

Rolling hills, surprise hills, hills from start to finish!  Sure the race finished downhill, but we had to run up what felt like one hundred hills to get there! 

PJ and I got to the race really early.  Like 2 hours early-my fault.  On the bright side it gave us time eat some bagels, stretch, use the restrooms and get our nerves in order.  On the not so bright side, PJ had to get up earlier which he wasn't too happy about ;)  We parked the car and hopped on the shuttle which brought us close to the start line.  We waited in the gym and stretched and waited for the race to start.

Both of us had been battling little pains throughout the week so we were nervous that they would only get worse as we ran since we had both taken the prior week off from running.  Luckily, we both ran without pain!

The course started out in a residential area, running through side streets and neighborhoods.  Then after about 2 miles we transitioned onto a trail.  This is where me and PJ split up and I lost my sweatshirt (I'm always paranoid I'll be cold, but I ditched my sweatshirt in the woods almost immediately).  It was perfect running weather.

The trail was really fun to run on.  There were some potholes but it was mostly smooth and not without hills!  The trail lasted until about mile 6 (I think?) where I had gel #1, then we were back on the road.  

On both the trail and the road there were people playing guitars and singing and even one guy hula hooping, wearing rollerblades, and playing the violin!  It's times like these where I wish I ran with my camera! 

Around mile 5 my left IT band started giving me a little pain.  I thought I was finished.  I thought by mile 8 I would be done because usually when I start to feel a little tug, it's all over soon thereafter.  To help my leg I fixed my stride by landing mid-foot, quickening my step and straightening up my upper body.  When I did this, all I could think about was my job and how I have never been more thankful for a job in my life.   This seems kind of random but because pretty much all I talk about in my spinning classes is extension from the mid-section, I knew exactly what I needed to do.  Once I extended my upperbody, my lower body followed and I could feel my butt and hamstrings working!  Success!!!  Once I fixed my stride, the pain was gone and it didn't bother me for the rest of the race!  After I hit the mile 8 marker I pulled over and gave my left hip a good crack (my sister and I have determined that I'll need a hip replacement by the age of 40) and I had my second gel.  It was smooth sailing until mile 10.

This is where things got kind of difficult.  I looked at my watch and saw that I was running a 9:15 pace.  This was not ok!  Not at this point!  So I got out another gel and sucked it down!  I retuned to a 8:40 pace.  At this point in the run there was a turn around where peolple who were ahead were running back towards me.  I really hate that.  It's like, you think you're doing great, then you see hundreds of people running back past you and it's really kind of discouraging.  It took a mile to get to the turn around where they had some spectators and water.  When we made it back onto the main road it the homestretch.  I had one more mile to go!  I saw PJ just before I turned right to head onto the last leg.  It was a great pick-me-up! 

Once I turned the corner I thought it was time to pick up the pace.  I was much too quick to assume I was almost finished... because then came another damn hill.  I actually laughed out loud when I saw it because I really thought I was over the hump!  I got over the hill and started to speed up.  Then came the downhill.  I ran as fast as I could at that point and crossed the finish line at 1:55:59 (my PR)!  I immediately saw my Mom and Dad.  I was so happy they made it and that they were right at the finish line! 

We watch PJ finish, took some pictures and my parents headed home.  PJ and I stuck around and ate some pizza and had some cookies (excellent post-race fuel!), then waited for the shuttle to head back to the car.

Today I feel great!  A little tired and I have a pair of sore hip flexors, but otherwise I feel really good!  Not unlike everyone else who runs races, I can't wait for my next one!  I'm not sure when my next half will be, but I'm so happy to know that I can still do it!

The Day Before!

It's the day before the half marathon!  I've been drinking lots of fluids, eating lots of carbs (no problem with that!) and I'm stretching my legs a lot! 

Yesterday I went to get a massage since my leg was still bothering me.  The masseuse I had specialized in deep tissue and sports massage.  I was lucky!  She did a great job on my back working out the knots, but wasn't the best on my legs, which I asked her to focus on.  I should have asked for more pressure, but either way, it's good to get the circulation going. 

Today PJ and I went to get our race numbers and t-shirts and saw where we would be running tomorrow.  I got number 130...my number has always been 3 and I was #13 when I was growing up playing sports, so this might be lucky!  The women's t-shirt fits terribly,  but it's always nice to have :o)  Then we went to lunch and then to Sports Authority to see if we could find something special to wear for the race, which we both did!

After I was done getting my stuff for the race, my Dad and I went to a local Japanese/Thai fusion restaurant called Oye's.  I ordered the Thai Fruit and Vegetable Salad and a avocado & cucumber roll.  The salad was SO delicious!  It included avocado, pineapple, grapefruit, green beans and tomatoes over iceberg lettuce and was drizzled with a coconut dressing.  The dressing was unbelievable--as in, I could drink it--and the salad was so fresh.  I'll be going back for more soon...and I'll be asking for extra dressing!

Now I'm just stretching and foam rolling and sticking my leg...I just made my playlist and I'm starting to get really excited!  

Off to relax for the night and drinking lots of water!!!

Playing Catch-Up

The half marathon is on Sunday!  I'm nervous and excited and I'm just hoping to finish at this point!  I have been struggling with my runs lately.  Running has become somewhat of a chore and with the chilly weather in New England it's been tough to get going.  Saturday I ran 8.5 miles and ended up in lots of pain and a WICKED tight IT band.  The massage therapist at work helped me out for a little while on Tuesday and squeezed the crap out of my leg and it seems to have done the trick.  I'm still foam rolling and using the stick on my leg and doing lots of stretching.  I'm just going to try and stay postive and hope to make it to the end!

After the half I am planning on buying a bike.  I'm not sure that my body is built for running long distances.  I feel injured or just super tight really often, so I think something a little more low impact is the way to go.  The weather here should be warming up at some point (fingers crossed!) so it will be fun to get outside on a bike.

The Health Coach program at IIN is so fun!  The online classes are really interesting and I'm learning a lot!  Some of the info is review, but I also haven't been using my nutrition degree for the past year or so which makes the review really nice.  I can't believe that in just 6 months I'll be qualified to take on clients...that's not too far away :o)  I'm starting to think about what kind of people I want to work with...general, children, moms-to-be, who knows!  I'm going to figure it out along the way.

My new job has been so much fun.  I'm about a month in and I'm so so happy.  I look forward to working with my clients and teaching my classes everyday and love how laid back my boss is.  I was done at 12:00 today!  It was great :o)

That's it for now!  Off to watch Idol!

Why Blog?

After reading a million blogs in the past 2 years, I have decided to finally start my own!  Here’s Why:

1.  I LOVE healthy living blogs (I read a LOT of blogs!), but I feel like I read a lot of the same things...running marathons, being vegetarian, going to Body Pump…  I don't think there is anything wrong with any of these things--in fact, I've done a half marathon (and I'm training for my 2nd), I was a vegetarian for over a year and I am currently having an aversion to any meat/poultry for the last month, and I used to go to Body Pump a lot when I had a gym membership.  But, I was always on the search for a more fitness-based blog.  I’ve found some of those too, but not as many as I thought I would. 

I want my blogs main focus to be on exercise, including Spinning (especially playlists and formats), weight training, yoga, and anything else you ask for!  With two nationally recognized Personal Training certifications (as well as Spinning, Group Exercise, Yoga and Kickboxing certs), I think I can do it!

2.  I'm in need of a hobby...I work as a Fitness Specialist in the Boston and while filling out my bio I was asked to list hobbies.  Those hobbies are "running, yoga, cooking, hiking."  Fun, but pretty pathetic...time for a hobby that doesn't include food or exercise.  I couldn't even bring myself to list "reading" because I only read magazines...I'm working on that (kind of).

3.  I don't have all the time in the world but it seems like blogging is fun!  I really want to share the information I have!  I don't have a bazillion clients at work, so if I can reach out to a few people through the blog, I've done my job and I'll feel like I’m using my certifications

4.  My boss had me and my co-workers write Dream Lists back in September.  I recently found that list and remembered that I wrote "start a blog" as one of my goals, so I thought, why not?

So here we go!!