Race Report: Run Like a Diva Half Marathon

Ahhhh, back from 10 days of vacation!  We travelled to Virginia, Maryland and New York, so it was quite a busy trip.  My mother-in-law was signed up to run the Run Like a Diva Half Marathon in Long Island on Sunday, 7 October....so I decided I should run it too!  

At first I was pretty nervous.  I haven't run more than 6.5 miles in the last 10 months.  But I thought, why not?  It might not be my best time, but I love all women's events and this seemed like a great opportunity to get in my first long run.  

So for the race recap: weather turned out to be PERFECT!  They had been calling for rain all week and I really don't like running in the rain when it's cold out.  The temps were a little cold for me - I think it was 54 degrees when we arrived at the race.  But the sun showed itself as we started the run and it was perfect running weather.  

The course was overall very flat.  We ran around Eisenhower Park and some museums which was cool.  There were tons of folks out cheering us along the route.  Aid stations were placed every 2 miles and were very well run.  It never got too crowded when trying to get water.  

Now for my favorite part - at mile 12 they had a station where they handed out pink feather boas and tiaras!  How much fun is that???  I loved it.  

Fixing my tiara for the photo-op!

At the finish line, we were presented our medals by some very nice looking firemen sans t-shirts ;-)

They had a ton of post race food to include the standard bagels and bananas, but also had flutes of champagne (or ginger ale for the non-drinkers like me) and delicious Luna bars.  

I ended up finishing in 1:55:10, which I was thrilled about!  I would absolutely run one of their events again!  What an awesome event that encourages women of all fitness levels to get out there and challenge themselves!!!  

Not One of My Best...

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Last Saturday, Stroller Warriors participated in the second race of the Have to Half series. It was brutally hot despite our early (7am) start, and I was thankful I hadn't signed up for the full race! Instead, I planned to log a short 7 with some friends. I lucked out and got the morning off from stroller duty while the Weasel slept in. 

The run started off ok. We tackled some hills for the first 2.5 miles and it wasn't terrible. I was running with my biking water bottle in hand as a test for some of my longer runs. Overall, it wasn't difficult to hold the bottle and run, but in the future, I think I'll look at different options. I've gotten so accustomed to running with the stroller and having a place for everything, that I am spoiled:)

We turned onto a nice shaded trail and took a quick break to say hello to some of the ladies manning the water station:

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

We kept a decent pace along the Greenway trail, but I was hurting and had gone a little quiet (typically I try to talk for most of the long runs I do). As we neared mile 6, I told the group I most definitely HAD to slow down, but urged them to go ahead. Naturally, they slowed their pace with me and just encouraged me along! I LOVE MY STROLLER WARRIORS! We took a short walk break and managed to finish out 7 miles, but it took every ounce of effort I could muster. I wasn't happy with the results, but it was over and I was thrilled.

Self-portraits post-run...how I felt, and how I was trying to pretend I wasn't hating every minute of it!

In a hurry to get back to the weekend, I headed home without properly stretching...MISTAKE! I wasn't too sore after, but I know just taking 10 minutes to stretch would have made a world of difference. Then later in the day, I hopped back on Facebook and saw some awesomely inspiring stories from some of the ladies who had finished their first half marathons! I couldn't believe they had covered twice the distance with smiles on their faces! Here are some of the pictures from the event:

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Hand towels on ice to cool down the runners...what a great idea!!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 One of the wacky ladies who created the Have to Half series! 

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Now this gal is inspiring! She's a mother of 3 who had 2 in tow during most of this race. She even stopped twice to nurse the baby!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Mini Warriors out to show their support!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Leading the pack...here's Jane and Jen running as though it was a nice cool 60 degrees!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

As if running a half marathon isn't difficult enough, try adding a double stroller...for the ENTIRE race. Go BRE!!

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

 Candice finishing her first half marathon! 

Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Harlow

Whitney and her husband tackling her first half! She did awesome!

If this doesn't inspire you to get over those bad runs and leave them in the past, I don't know what could!

Have to Half

I've mentioned my awesome running club, Stroller Warriors, a few dozen times. This post is all about just how great this club is! Back in March, a HUGE group of us participated in the Quintiles Half Marathon. Following that, several of the girls ran either the Hope for the Warriors Half or the Myrtle Beach Diva's Half (one of my favorite gals even ran BOTH!). Since then, there has been a shortage of races in the local area. SW wouldn't let a small thing like that get in the way though...

Two of our fabulous group leaders (they run the C25K program for newer runners), developed an idea that was conceived over a glass of wine in the kitchen...the Have to Half series! These girls (pictured to the right) mapped out a course on board Camp Lejeune, complete with mile markers, directional signs, water stations, medals and motivational sidewalk chalk sayings. On Saturday at 7am, almost 30 of us met at Dunkin Donuts to kick off the first race of the series.

This group consisted of ladies who have done several marathons and half marathons to those who have never run more than a 10k!

After a group photo, we walked across the street and got started with a very casual, "Ready, Set, GO!" My friend, Jill, and her husband Pat even brought their son, Liam, along for the entire 13.1! He was a trooper and didn't make a peep for 2 hours in the stroller! The first couple three miles of the course included the only hills on base, so it was nice to get that part over early on. We are blessed with great paved trails on Camp Lejeune with only a few minor detours due to construction, and we took advantage of being able to run in small groups. We had a few gals who came out to support the race by taking pictures and providing directions too. 

If I remember correctly, this picture was around mile 4.

With limited support staff, the coordinators decided the best way to provide water was with these "stations" of ice and water bottles. It was perfect!

At mile 4, the course left the housing area and wandered along a great trail we frequently use for our weekly workouts. It was a great break from the noise of traffic and luckily there were no bugs out! There was a short out and back along the New River that was quite scenic and allowed us to cheer one another on throughout the later miles. We made the final turn toward Dunkin Donuts and arrived at the finish line just short of 2 hours (1:56:45). It was an fantastic event made better by the race bling, beer and chocolate milk found at the end:)

We even had three pregnant mother runners along for the race!

In conjunction with their need to race, the coordinators also do a lot of fundraising. They have decided that each race will be paired with a charity of the club's choosing. This time around we ran in support of the Semper Fi Fund (and raised over $500!). The overall cost to enter was minimal - $5.75 to pay for the medal and whatever donation you chose (if you even wanted to) give to the Semper Fi Fund (an organization that is near and dear to many military spouses). 

I had to take off early, but most of the ladies stuck around to cheer on everyone who finished:

This is a photo of two amazing ladies (white and blue shirts) who volunteered to run with whomever needed the extra motivation and support. The gal in the purple had never done over 9 miles and was super hesitant to run 13.1. Needless to say, she totally rocked it!

And here's a shot of the group once the race was over:

I'm so blessed to have joined this group of women who are crazy enough to think that randomly running a half marathon is a great way to spend a Saturday morning:) I'm already looking forward to next month's race!

Good Initiave, Bad Judgement

The title refers to a common sentiment I heard when I was on active duty. Basically, it means, "I appreciate the effort and idea, but seriously, you've got to be crazy to think that's a good plan." Which brings me to my latest bright idea:

Source

As I'm sure I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm currently training for a half marathon. I was crushing my training plan (well, at least the novice one that I was mistakenly using here) through the end of December and even a bit into January...and then my husband got home, we were out of town for 3 weeks, and I remembered how much I love beer. No worries, after a couple weeks home, Jason is back to work and I've made it to most of our group workouts and logged a couple "long" runs. So, feeling somewhat confident about my readiness for this upcoming race - did I mention it's in a little over a week and a half?! - I went a little crazy. In fact, I've gone totally INSANE!

Inspired by a friend's FB post, I decided to take the Insanity Fit Test on Monday. Terrible idea! I was so sore for our run on Tuesday. But I pushed through in order to make an even worse decision. I did the Plyometric Cardio Circuit following our run. Hey, the Weasel was sleeping, so I took advantage. Yeah, with the half marathon right around the corner, I'm seriously rethinking this brilliant idea. I think I need to push pause until the race is over. But so far I love the program. 

One thing I'm confused about though...the text book definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." So is that really a good name for this style of training? Just wondering... 

Friendly Competition

As a twin, one might say I have a bit of a competitive streak...ok, I might say that! Well, over the years, my desire to compete has somewhat lessened, but it's not entirely gone. Case in point: I have a good friend from my running club, Stroller Warriors, who I often partner up with. We have a similar pace and similar build. (Oh, and we're both currently training for the Quintiles Half Marathon coming up in March 2012.) Every time we run together, we each think the other one is pushing the pace, so we take turns saying, "Hey, I need to slow down a bit, but feel free to keep going." Naturally, neither of us slows down one bit, and typically, we speed up together. Today the training schedule she's following (courtesy of Runner's World) called for an easy 4. Simple right? Well our SW workout was supposed to be 22 minutes out and back. We rolled in at 42:48 with 5.2 miles done. And with our push at the end, my RunKeeper app said we had a current pace of 6:59. Not exactly an easy 4:) 


But mid-way through the run, she said, "This sucks now, but in a month, we're going to be glad we did this!" And since we've stayed injury free to date and are enjoying the push, it's what I'd call friendly competition. It's a healthy way to test your limits and keep yourself from slacking. And when we need a rest, we run solo, or with other friends. I'm thrilled to be part of this awesome running club where I'm surrounded by people like this girl:

Do you have someone who pushes you to your limits without frustrating you?

Oops...

In preparation for the Quintiles Half Marathon in March 2012, I've been recording my distances. As I wrote down my daily mileage recently on my printed half marathon training plan, I casually glanced up at the top to see this:

I was prepared for everything but the word Novice. By no means do I consider myself a seasoned runner; however, I have completed my fair share of races of varying distances (5k, 8k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon) and I've been running about 5-6 times a week for about the last 8 months. 

Using a pace calculator on Runner's World, I decided (before I began training) that based on my most recent 5k PR, I am capable of running a 1:45 half marathon. When I began training (using the Novice plan), I thought it seemed a bit low on the mileage and was shocked that it didn't include speed work. (That's what I get for not reading carefully until I reached day 1 of week 6!) Now that I've realized my error, I'll be switching to this plan for intermediate runners. I wasn't following it to the letter and I was starting to mix in my own speed work, so hopefully it won't shock my body too much. 

Let this be a lesson to the rest of you though: As my 3rd grade teacher said, "You miss a lot if you skip ahead!"

Impromptu 1/2 Marathon

On Tuesday, December 13th, a group of Stroller Warriors got together to run Kimi's Make-Up Half Marathon. Earlier in the week, she posted her intentions on our Facebook page, asking for suggested run routes. Her post was met with overwhelming support and people offering to run various distances with her. Kimi's goal was to run the half in under 2 hours in the same year as the birth of her second daughter. And yes, she always looks this happy...even before running 13 miles!

This motley crew gathered at 9 am to start the run. We even had some club members volunteer to stay back at the house and watch the kiddos! We took off at varying paces on the first of three loops. The first group averaged about an 8:45 pace for the first 4 miles. As we passed the house, a few ladies headed for their cars and the rest of us continued on the second loop. Our pace slowed to about a 9:07 mile, but our spirits were high and we chatted the entire time. Because of the course, we got to pass some of the other ladies and that was a great source of motivation. 

As we made the turn around and headed for our last leg of the course, our Stroller Warrior leader joined us with her son in tow. It really boosted morale to have some new blood coming along. About 2 miles out, Kimi put her headphones in and our pace dropped back to 8:45ish. She was determined to finish under 2. We turned toward her house and she picked up the pace even more. 

Coming toward the finish line

Kimi's reaction to finding out we actually did 13.25 instead of 13.1!

She finished the actual half marathon distance in 1:58:47! And we made it to the finish line in 1:59:58...talk about cutting it close!  We had one other girl run the entire distance, and she did awesome!

Our most fashionable runner, Nicole, finishing strong!

Nicole gets a congratulatory hug from her youngest son!

This club is so incredible that Stephanie (the group leader) had a medal made and inscribed for Kimi:

And of course, a shout out to my little running buddy, Reagan, who rode the entire 2 hours in the stroller with minimal complaint. Only made me stop twice for snack/drink breaks:)

A Worthy Cause

My fellow Stroller Warrior, Elizabeth, formed a team for the upcoming (March 2012) Quintiles Half Marathon in Wrightsville Beach. This team is running in support of research for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a disease for which there is no known cure. The creator/leader of SW, Steph, has a two-year old son who suffers from SMA. He's a total rockstar and kicks butt with his "magic shoes" and walker during PT sessions.  

Cole's "magic shoes"

Here's a little bit more about SMA: Spinal muscular atrophy is a collection of different muscle diseases. Grouped together, it is the second leading cause of neuromuscular disease. Most of the time, a person must get the defective gene from both parents to be affected. Approximately 4 out of every 100,000 people have the condition.

The most severe form is SMA type I, also called Werdnig-Hoffman disease. Infants with SMA type II have less severe symptoms during early infancy, but they become progressively weaker with time. SMA type III is the least severe form of the disease.

Rarely, SMA may begin in adulthood. This is usually a milder form of the disease.

A family history of spinal muscular atrophy is a risk factor for all types of the disorder.

If you have the time, please check out Steph's blog here to read more about the personal affects of SMA on her family.

Source

I have joined the team to support fundraising for researching a cure for SMA. I know you all run for various causes that you have ties to, and it's the holiday season, so pennies are tight, but if you could spare even $5, we would be so grateful. Thanks for reading about this cause that has found its way into my heart. This little guy sure appreciates it too:

To donate, click here.