Johnny Miles half marathon

I did it. I got through half marathon #4 and it aws as much of a success as I could have hoped for. Although I was in a pretty significant amount of pain for about 40% of it (Bluenose was about 70% pain) and I worked for each and every step. Here are my splits from my new Garmin: (and my garmin only measured 12.97miles but its a Boston Qualifier race course so I know it was at least 13.1)

Mile 1- 10:12

Mile 2- 10:24

Mile 3- 10:12

Mile 4- 10:13

Mile 5- 10:23

Mile 6-  09:58

Mile 7 - 09:57

Mile 8- 09:53

Mile 9- 10:04

Mile 10- 10:05

                     Mile 11- 10:50 <- I was really struggling here

Mile 12- 9:11

My complete time was 2:11:31 and my overall pace was 10:08 (with the several walking breaks that I took in the last half hour.

Here are some pictures from the race:

This is my family pre-race. We covered 3 of the 4 distances: 5km, 10km and Half marathon.

Dad and his two running daughters on a great fathers day.

Thats me in the yellow shirt giving 'er to the finish line.

Hows this for an action shot. My legs are blurry? or just shaking? Haha I was happy to be passing that other chick,

Clock time was 2 minutes faster than my Garmin. Im guessing Garmin will be closest to my chip time.

Post race photo with the sister. I was TIRED! I think my eyes are slightly open in this picture. But only slightly. Heather is not looking to hot haha.

Such a great weekend. The race was such a success not only because of the run but because of the great organization. My family and I drove into New Glasgow for Saturday for the pasta supper and race kit pick up. The kit has some great stuff like a tech tee and a nice hat and a magazine.

The pasta supper was pretty good, but not amazing. Although they did have spaghetti with the option of meat sauce or plain (I chose plain, obviously) but the Ceasar salad had bacon on it which I was a little unimpressed with because its not exactly something you can pick out. There were also bananas, chips, cookies, and donuts to go with the supper. Plus Gatorade, Tims coffee and tea, and water of course.

The expo was small but had some cool races and a great apparel booth from Runalicious with some awesome women's running clothes, that I was unfortunately too poor to buy anything from. But its a new company started by some Halifax women that you should check out :)

We drove home that night, and back up the next morning. New Glasgow is 1.5 hours from Dartmouth, so we covered a lot of distance in less than 24 hours, but Im glad I got to sleep in my own bed rather than a motel. Anyways start time was 8:30, and we were there and parked by 8:10. Parking was a breeze, and it was awesome cause there were some porta pottys in the parking lot. Clearly Im impressed by small details. The start line was like 4 minutes from the parking lot, and we walked by the pre-race food setup, which would be nice if you needed a quick snack.

The race course itself was nice. 1 loop for the 10km'ers, 2 loops for the half and 4 dreaded loops for those crazy marathoners. About 40% of the run was on a trail by the river which was super nice. There were some areas with a very nice breeze, and since it was a warm day that was very appreciated. Water stops were about every 4km with water and Gatorade. The finish line was my favourite part (which seems obvious but the finish line of Bluenose is uphill and pretty brutal). You turned off the road onto the bridge, had about 100m on the bridge and turned a corner and could see the finish line, about another 100m down the way. Another plus: it was slightly downhill! I was able to sprint with 2 girls, one beat me, and one who I beat!

Post race meal: sandwhiches from Tim Horton's, yogurt, fruit, granola bars, coffee, tea, bagels, donuts, etc. And the had veggie sandwhiches! It was awesome.

Overall, great weekend, great race, and great result :) I am a happy girl, ready for a solid sleep.

Physiotherapy

So here's the situation:

I have a half marathon on this upcoming Sunday. And I have an injury. Well, two really. My 4-6 month long pain in the balls of both my feet that I get after about 10km. And recently (last week and a half) I've got a pain (when I both run and walk) just above the heel of my left foot.

I don't want to hurt myself more so I've only run three times in the two weeks (12 miler last Sunday, then a 4 miler and a 4.5 mile on this past Sunday). This is a really hard thing to do, considering that I just got a new Garmin Forerunner 405. I can't try it out until Sunday but Im so excited to! Anyways, not running=hard. Hurting myself permanently=worse.

So I went to physio today to see what the situation really is. She seems to have an idea of whats going on but I have to go back on Thursday for a treadmill run. And on Thursday she is going to tell me whether it's okay for me to run on Sunday or not.

This is where it gets complicated. I've run 12 miles on both injuries recently (week and a half ago) and it was really hard but I got through it and I dont think I hurt my feet anymore. So I dont think running the half would be detrimental to my health. But if she says I cant run it, I know I shouldn't. I know that, but I really want to. I'm a little scared or training (and paying for) a half marathon and then not even trying it. That seems like such a waste for me. I don't know. I hope that when Thursday comes, Ill be okay with the possibility of not running on Sunday but right now, Im not okay with that.

I know this is kinda selfish and I know that there are more races ahead in my future, but Bluenose was so hard for me and I think if I run this one smarter (read: go out slower) it would be so much better. Plus I love the fact that its a course Im unfamiliar with and Ill be able to look around/be distracted and what not. Plus, my whole family is doing either the half or the 10km and I really want to be able to run with them instead of just watch them.

Anyways, Poor little me! Haha life has been very interesting lately. But still no job. Boo

Tired Runner

I ran 12 miles this morning. I feel like is stole my spirit. Haha not really but I am just exhausted. I've spent the whole day watching shitty tv and laying in bed and eating tostitos with some sick salsa leftover from last nights grad party.

I ran it in 2:06:31. Which is a 10:31 min/mile pace. Im happy with that. It is slower than what Id like to do for the half (which is two weeks from today) but thats what training runs are for right? They are meant to be slower than goal pace. This is something that I try to tell myself during my long runs, but I always feel like Im wasting them by going slower than I intend to during the race. Is this a normal feeling? I feel like I pushed myself a little too hard today, but Im happy with my effort and that I didn't give up.

And I chafed. Like a you know what. Man, I forgot how brutal it is for skin to rub against skin for two straight hours. And yes that sounds dirty, but it is the opposite! Painful. Ugh, so I'm going to be body-gliding the shit out of any chafe-prone area for every future run. Oh the glamour.

I had a family bbq last night. It was my graduation party :) It was a fun afternoon and I was able to eat relatively healthy (although the 6 beer I drank weren't so healthy...but they were drank, not ate) and eating vegetarian was no problem. Although that may have something to do with the fact that I helped plan the menu.

Man, not really feeling this blogging thing lately. Sorry Brad. Haha :)

Marathon Fever

So I ran my third half marathon this past Sunday. I finished in a time of 2:13:03. I was pretty happy with the time although I know that if I had run smarter, I would have done better and finished stronger. I went out too fast (I was trying to run with my mom's friends daughter who's run a sub-2 hour half for the first 8km) and ran a positive split: aka slower on the 2nd half than the first. My 10km time was about 58 minutes , and the last 11 was...well you can do the math.

So it was a great time, and a great event. It was very warm but the course is pretty great and the crowds are fun! I was in pain from about 6km on. I've got some sort of weird pressure pain on the balls of my feet (both of them, but the left is worst) and it hurts on my long runs (not my short). For some reason, during the half, it started earlier than usual. After about an hour I started doing 10 and 1's, and I think that helped a bit.

All in all, it was a good race, good time, and I was so proud of my sister for doing her first 10km, I think she's caught the running bug! :)

To make up for my not-so-smart running I'm going to do the Johnny Miles half marathon on June 20th with the fam. My dad is hoping to do the half marathon too and my sister and mom will probably do the 10km. Im very excited!

And yes, I have the marathon fever. I think Im going to start training for a fall marathon (Im thinking PEI or Valley Harvest). Im very scared of 26.2 miles, and I know its going to be the hardest thing Ive ever done, physically and probably mentally. But at the same time, I know I can do it. My body is so strong and can run for that long, as long as my head can keep itself straight. My dad always says that after about 20 miles, it has nothing to do with your body anymore, its all mental. And thats what Im going to try and focus on preparing.

Still on the job hunt...anyone know of any sweet jobs in Halifax for BSc grads? If you do, let a girl know :)

Life is good

I'm gonna try this whole watching TV AND blogging at the same time, so I might be a little distracted. But there is a super bitchy lady on Say Yes to the Dress, so I want to see how it turns out.

Anyways, things have been going very well on the home front, although I am still unemployed and have heard nothing from any potential employer. Oh well, I'm just going to continue what I'm doing and try to work on the ol' resume. I'm taking a first aid/cpr course tomorrow so that might help :)

I just finished reading Eating Animals. It's a fantastic book about factory farming, the idea of "ethically raised" animals and vegetarianism. It has definitely confirmed my decision to go vegetarian. Up until now, I have been eating fish still because I thought fish were a bit more immune to the horrors of factory farming. Although it is different, the treatment and effect of fish farming and wild fishing is still pretty horrible. I might try to faze out my intake of fish. Dolphins are above all, my favourite creature, and to think of how many are killed during this kind of food production, is enough for me to give it up.

My mom did not react to this news well. I haven't told her for sure yet but she heard me tell my sister what I was thinking. She got mad because she thinks I'm restricting myself by not eating foods that I love. And honestly I do love lobster and shrimp and salmon etc etc. It's true. But the thing is, I love animals more. I love the environment. And I love food. Guess what? You can eat delicious, non restricting, healthy meals that do not include meat, poultry, foul or fish.

I've made some incredible meals the past few days: This soup last night, and this peanut noodle dish tonight. They are healthy, delicious and meat-free.

I've got half marathon #3 on Sunday and I'm so excited. Im on taper week so I had a 5 miler on Sunday but only have 1 or 2 runs for the remainder of the time (I'm still doing 30 day shred so I'm trying to take it easy on the running front). I've been trying to eat very healthy and clean until the marathon.

Oh wait, did I mention I have a pubcrawl on Friday?

So I'm trying to eat healthy and clean, not including the dozen beers I will most likely consume on Friday night. I know I should probably be skipping the beers/late night of drinking but you know what? I have plenty of runs/races/half marathons left in my life (and left in the summer) so I'm not going to skip a night spent with some really great friends and people (aka my sister and her nursing friends who I love).

All in all, life is good. Running is amazing. My eating has been exciting, delicious and healthy. I may or may not have a crush on a gorgeous boy. I just need a job (so I can start training for a marathon).

Jillian Michaels: Friend or Foe?

So I started 30 day shred yesterday. 

Man, I thought I was in good shape. Well, after day 2 I'm reconsidering that thought. Actually, that's a lie. I know I'm in good cardio shape. How do I know that? I ran 12.5 miles on Saturday and could have gone for much more (marathon training anyone?). But, those strength moves in the DVD: killer. And they are not something I'm used to.

So I'm definitely happy I bought it/started it. I'm a little worried about doing it while starting the taper for my half marathon, but I guess all I really mean when I say taper is "no long run this weekend" so a 20 minute workout everyday isn't going to hurt. I also probably won't do it on Saturday (5km race) and the day before, of and after the half. So max I'm looking at is getting 26 of the next 30 days done.

But I'm still looking forward to seeing  some results. My eating has been pretty good and my running is going amazing so I'm hoping to lose a bit of fat/toning up a bit for the beginning of swimsuit season! And once these 30 days are up, I think I'm going to keep using some of the workouts on the DVD for my cross training days.

Anyways, still on the job hunt. Hoping to get back to volunteering very soon. I miss working with animals, so so much, so I emailed the SPCA and told them my situation. Seriously, if you don't already volunteer, please please consider doing so. It's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had and it's opened me up to so many opportunities.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I've got my 5km race on Saturday and then sleepover with my sister and 15 year old cousin that night. And no long run, I think I might actually miss it though! I am seriously a crazy person.

Employment

...or lack thereof.

I have been unemployed now for about a week and a half. Well, actually Ive been unemployed for almost five months, but most of those months were spent in my last semester of university (working towards straight A's, my first and only 4.0 of my undergraduate career). Now, I have no school. No MCAT studying (which is what I did all last summer). My focus for these next few weeks (or, god forbid, months) is job hunting. Job hunting AND running.

Thank god for running right now (and I know, this is my second time mentioning god in the span of about 2 sentences, I do recognize that). If it wasn't for running right now, my day's wouldn't have the purpose they do. Yes, Im constantly looking for and applying to jobs (I'm trying to get something in the healthcare and/or research field) but for the most part, that is out of my control. I don't control when and what job postings go up and I can't control if they are applicable to me or not.

What I can control is my running. And this is not some obsessive compulsive lose-weight thing. This is a "when I wake up in the morning, I have something substantial to accomplish other than applying to one job and this makes me feel good" thing. When my parents ask about what I did today, yes I start with the employment thing but I can also say "I ran  three and a half miles today in the rain" (which I did, this morning, 730 this morning actually).

Running gives me something to work towards, and although I dread it sometimes, it gives me something to look forward to. Like I said, I can't really control what employment positions go up or what interviews I do or don't get. But you can be damn sure that I have control over my workouts. And tomorrow, I'm taking it to the track.

It's been a few months since I've done a track speed workout. I have done a few treadmill speed workouts and some tempo run's outside that I consider speed workouts. But my 400 and 800 repeats? Not since January I think. I think I've mentioned here a few times that I have been getting faster. Im running a sub 10 minute mile pace for my half marathon training long runs, and that should help me reach my goal of a 2:15 or less half marathon (on may 23rd). But I've also got a 5km race (actually it's called the "spring sprint". Whoever named that is NOT a runner. 5km is not a spring, 400m is a sprint) on the horizon, may 15th.

Although I do enjoy my long distance running, Im hoping to work on my speed over the next few weeks, and over the whole summer, on shorter distances like this 5km. My goal for the end of the summer is a sub 25 5km, but for the one coming up, maybe sub 27? sub 26 if Im feeling good. Either way, Im pumped for the track.

Like I said, running gives me something to look forward to. I know that tomorrow Ill have to look for some more jobs, and Ive got errands to do. But beyond that, I know Im going to go to the closest track, and run my little heart out. And if thats not something to look forward to, I don't know what is!