Rain, Rain Go Away

I had hoped to run today since it was my day off, but the weather had other plans.  It has been raining ALL day.  I'm grateful for the rain, but a little disappointed that it's kept me inside.  I would normally go to the rec center, but they're closed for Labor Day.  Tomorrow I'll run for sure -- whether it's outside or at the rec center.

2011 Blue Ridge Half-Marathon

This morning I ran the Blue Ridge Half-Marathon.  Last year was the Inaugural race and my first half-marathon.  I had such a great time that I had no doubt I'd run it again this year.  In fact, I even signed up to run the full marathon, but later decided the half would be a better distance for me this year.  Mathis was signed up for the half too, but he hurt himself earlier in the week and decided to spectate this year instead of run.

Yesterday I went to the expo to pick up my race packet.  I was a little disappointed that the shirts weren't technical, but I do like their design.

As I do for nearly every race I laid out all my "gear" the night before...

Carter helped...

I had my eye on the weather all week, and it didn't look promising.  We've had beautiful spring weather every day this week, but the forecast for Saturday was 90% chance of thunderstorms.  They were predicting a ton of rain, so earlier in the week I splurged on a rain jacket.  I knew I'd be running rain or shine, and I wanted to stay as dry as I possibly could.  Here I am sporting my new jacket before we left the house this morning...

We got down to Roanoke around 7:00am and the race started at 7:30am.  It was already raining pretty hard, but fortunately we were able to wait inside the Taubman Art Museum before the start.  Here I am before leaving Mathis to head out into the rain...

Mathis documented the start of the race well.  

You can see how everyone watching has out their umbrellas!

There I am in the pink!

For obvious reasons I didn't run with my camera during today's race.  I usually love documenting the race with photos, but there was no way I was running with a phone or camera today.  And because of the rain there wasn't too much to see.  When we got up to the Mill Mountain Star the fog was pretty bad, and you couldn't see downtown (unlike last year!). 

But it was still such a beautiful and FUN race.  The temp was great -- I was never hot or cold.  I am SO beyond grateful for my water resistant jacket.  I still got wet, but it kept me as dry as possible.  What didn't stay dry was my feet. :(  I ran through so many puddles, and it rained the entire race.  I had put body glide all over my feet in hopes of avoiding any blisters, but the weight and sogginess of my socks and shoes was not fun.  My wet feet definitely bothered me towards the end.  

One of the things I love most about races is the camaraderie of runners.  I ran next to a man running his 87th marathon!!!!!!  He ran the Blue Ridge Marathon last year, and he said it is the most beautiful marathon he's ever done!!  And around mile 9 I ran next to a woman who's run a marathon in 48 states!  Two states to go and she's got all 50.  She tried teaching me a few techniques for running the hills, and they helped! :) I saw a young boy running the half who couldn't have been over 13 years old.  Runners are amazing people, and I'm so proud to be one.  

The volunteers were pretty incredible.  It's one thing to run in the rain... it's an entirely different thing to stand in the rain for hours and pass out water.  I tried to thank every volunteer and spectator I saw -- they make all the difference at races!  Unfortunately the race was spread pretty thin, and a few times I almost ran off course.  It's hard when you can't see anyone running in front of you, but for the most part I didn't get too lonely.  I managed to stay on the right path, and I'm so glad!  

While trying to avoid some of the puddles I hurt the bottom of my foot.  It wasn't a bad injury, but it really worried me at first.  From that point on I made it my goal to finish the race injury free.  I ran through the puddles after that, and didn't worry about how wet my feet got.  

I ran with my Garmin, but throughout the race I kept it under my jacket to avoid it getting too wet.  It still got a little water underneath, and I'm sorta regretting having run with it at all.  I think it's going to be fine, but I have it in a bowl of rice just to be safe.  I usually glance down at my watch multiple times, but I wasn't able to do that today.  It definitely affected the way I paced myself, and I think I would have done better if it weren't for the monsoon that I ran through. :)  

I got so excited towards the end -- I had absolutely no idea what my time was, but I knew Mathis would be waiting for me!  He took a few pictures at the end...

I was so glad to cross that finish line!  My time was somewhere around 2 hours, 22 minutes -- still don't have the official time.  I met my goal of finishing the course faster than last year!!  Not my fastest half-marathon, but no surprise there since the hills are CRAZY!  I plan on running this race as long as I can, and I'm excited to work on my time each and every year.

The first thing I did once I crossed the finish line was grab two chocolate milks, and take off my shoes!  I love love love that they had chocolate milk at the finish.  It is my favorite recovery drink!  And I definitely walked barefoot back to the car -- those shoes were NOT going back on. :)

Once we got to the car I changed into some dry clothes, and we went to Fork in the City for breakfast.  They were hosting special "marathon hours" and giving runners with medals a discount.  Fork in the City was on the course so we got to watch the marathon runners go by while we ate breakfast.  And I won a "golden fork"$10 giftcard while I was there!!

The coffee and food were great, and I loved watching the runners go by -- from the warmth of my booth!  They had live music playing, and it was the perfect way to celebrate the race.  I am so grateful for my health and ability to run -- it's something I never want to take for granted.  I love that I am able to participate in these races, and today is a race I'll never forget.  I can't wait to run the Blue Ridge Half-Marathon again next year.  I definitely plan on running this race as many years as I can to maintain my legacy runner status! :)

Miles: 13.1
Time: 2 hours, 22 minutes

Miles this Week: 19.5
Miles this Month: 46

Rain Won't Keep Us Away

This morning I had plans to meet up with Wendy and Hannah at the Huckleberry for a GYRO long run.  It was softly raining when we set out, but we were determined to get out there!  Hats and hoods on we headed out into the misty rain.  The rain let up quickly, and then it just felt cool and even refreshing.

Wendy did 3-4 miles with us, and then Hannah and I ran an additional 5 miles since we're running the Shamrock Half-Marathon together in a few weeks.  It felt great to be back out on my feet!  I know that pretty soon I'll need to invest in a new pair of shoes.  I can tell I shouldn't be running in the Kayano 16s anymore, and I'm excited to go get fitted for a new style.

After the run Hannah treated me to some coffee...

Here I am stretching on the rug and enjoying some java.  

What a perfect Saturday morning!!

Miles: 9

Miles this Week: 14
Miles this Month: 14

I Don't Mind One Bit

It's been raining here the past few days, and I had a slight hesitation about running in the rain this afternoon.  That's when I could hear our (undefeated!) high school football team practicing, and I thought if they're out there, then I can be too!

I headed out the door, and it felt really great.  If the rain means cooler weather (and in this case it does!) then I don't mind one bit.  I avoided the hills today so I could work on consecutively running without walking.  I was able to do it, and I'm proud of my time!  I don't think there's anything wrong with walking, I just don't want to get too reliant on it.  And don't worry, I know how good the hills are... I'll hit them up later this week! :)

I just have to say that I really love running.  It doesn't always feel good, but today in the cooler weather it felt sooooooooo good.  I love marathon training (thus far!) and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to be able to run.  Here's to Week #5 of my training!!!!!!!!!

Miles: 3
Time: 31 minutes, 31 seconds

Miles this Week: 3
Miles this Month: 50

GYRO 10K Race Report

Saturday morning was the highly anticipated GYRO race.  Sarah and I began talking about organizing a GYRO race months ago. We thought it might be a fun, no-pressure way for the GYRO runners to celebrate their training this summer.

The night before the race, I decided to make some signs to add a little bit of fun.

GYRO typically stands for Get Your Run On, but I thought that on race day, GYRO could also stand for Get Your RACE On!! :)

Mathis and I got to the Huckleberry at about 7:00am Saturday morning.  It was lightly sprinkling when we arrived, and it rained on and off for the next 30 minutes.  The other runners started arriving, and it looked like we might end up running in the rain.  I was just thankful that it was cool outside!

Five people ran the 10K and six people ran the 5K option.  Sarah and I ran the 10K together, and we kept a great pace.  We talked some, and the run really seemed to go by quickly!  This is us coming up on the half-way point.

As you can tell, it was pretty wet.  We were definitely soaked by the end of the race, but  it never seemed to pour down very hard.  Again, I'll take the rain over the heat any day of the week! :)

My goal was to run the 10K in under an hour.  I knew this was a pretty big goal to meet, and I didn't want to pressure myself to much in case it didn't happen.  But once Sarah and I made it to the half-way point, I began to really think I had it in me!  The last half was TOUGH, and we had one big hill to climb (over the train tracks).  Sarah really pushed me to keep going, and I knew I was running fast, because my breathing was all over the place!  We made it to the finish line in 57 minutes, 37 seconds.  Since my Garmin was a little short of 6.2, I made Mathis run an additional .10 with me to reach a finish time of 58 minutes, 33 seconds.

I cannot tell you how HAPPY I am to have that time!!!!  When I ran my 8K in April, I had a time of 52 minutes, 14 seconds (10:30 pace).  The fact that I was able to run this 10K at a 9:25 minute pace makes me soooooo happy!!!!  I've known that I can run at a 9:30 pace for the 5K distance, but the fact that I could keep this pace for 6.2 miles is so exciting!  I am really proud of the progress I'm making, and it definitely encourages me that I'm going into my marathon training with a strong base built up.  I know that relatively speaking, I'm still somewhat of a slow runner, but I've made SO much progress since beginning last November.

Mathis finished in 52 minutes, 26 seconds (8:26 pace).  He ran with another guy, named Evan, for the whole race, and they kept a great pace.  I'm always amazed by Mathis' speed, and I'm so grateful to be married to a runner! :)

Here's a shot of (most of) the runners and volunteers post-race.

After finishing our rainy race, we headed over to Sarah's for a victory celebration!  We slipped off our wet shoes and had a FABULOUS breakfast!

The brunch was a great way to celebrate together.  Sarah even had mimosas for us!  My legs were already feeling a little sore at this point, so I decided to stretch out on the floor while eating the delicious food.

Even though the race was low-key, it was a lot of fun!  I would have never ran that fast if it was a regular training run, and I'm glad that I pushed myself yesterday.  I'm so grateful for GYRO, and for all the work Sarah puts into this running club.  It was a great race, and I'm already looking forward to the next GYRO race!!

Miles: 6.2
Time: 58 minutes, 33 seconds

Miles this Week: 9
Miles this Month: 56

Running in the Rain

Today I met up with my GYRO friends to run an easy three miles.  We ended up catching some rain at the end of the run, and it felt good.  I have really enjoyed helping other runners build their base... it's nice to run some miles a little slower, but hopefully I do a few runs on my own (or with Mathis) this week to pick up my pace.

Nothing much to report on today's run.  My goal for the week is 20 miles so I've got 17 left to go!! :)

Miles: 3
Time: 35 minutes, 29 seconds

Miles this Week: 3
Miles this Month: 27

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

I want to run sooooo badly today, but it's rainy really badly here in San Antonio right now.  I guess my next run will be in Virginia on Monday.

I really hate when I don't follow the training program exactly, but I guess I just have to be flexible from time to time! :)