" How I Run" Q & A!

This fun survey was on the Jen Chooses Joy blog the other day;  I am such a dork, and love filling these out! Especially if they are running related!

Here are my answers!

1. Would you rather run along a beach path, or a mountain trail?

Hands down, a mountain trail!!! While I feel really lucky to live so close to the beach, for me, nothing beats being in the mountains.  I just feel happy and relaxed- it's my happy place.

2.  If you could choose the flavor of Gatorade at your next race's aid stations, what would you choose?

I'm not the biggest fan of Gatorade, but if I had to choose a flavor- I would pick the red one? Fruit Punch??

3.  If I gave you a $100 dollar gift card to a running store, what would you purchase with it?

Another pair of sneakers, of course :) I would either get another pair of the Saucony Triumphs, or I would try out the Nike Lunar Glide Tempos...or the Brooks Launch....

4.  Do you prefer to follow a training plan, or wake up and then decide how fast and far you want to run?

I definitely prefer to follow a training plan, one of the things I like about my Garmin watch is that you can load your training calendar to the device.  I just feel more accountable, like a little man inside my watch is going to yell at me if I don't complete my training!

5.  Would you rather start your run with an uphill and end on the downhill, or start your run with a downhill and end on an uphill?

Definitely would like to start with an uphill and have a fast finish!

6.  When you can't run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do?

I just started doing Kayla Itsines's 'Bikini Body Training.'  I am not a big fan of the 'bikini body' phrase, but I liked the idea behind the program.  It's not about getting skinny, or about getting the perfect body, but is about getting your body to be strong and in the best shape possible.  I had been getting in a bad habit of mostly just doing cardio, and very limited strength training.  I'm on my 3rd session of the program, and it's hard, but not super time consuming (3 x a week 28 minutes per session.)

My first sport love is with swimming, I always love swimming!

And of course, all bar games....

7.  What is your preference:  out and back, point to point or loop runs?

Point to point, but that's sort of hard to do without an on-call chauffeur, so probably a loop run!


8.  If you could recommend ANY running related to a new runner it would be?

Getting fitted at a local running store- in my area, Runner's Alley for a proper fitting and comfortable running shoe!

9.  Do you see any wild animals while out on your runs?

The majority of my runs tend to be in the middle of the day;  before I had Max, I ran early in the morning and saw: deer, fox, coyotes, rabbits and turkeys- always turkeys.  They scare me!!

10.  Ever gotten lost while on a run?

Yes, in the pre cell phone era, I went for a run during my senior year of high school in some of our town trails by myself for the first time.  I ended up wandering around for what I felt was miles and miles (but it was probably only a quarter of a mile.)  I got really upset and started to panic, but luckily a little while later, a couple walking their dog directed me back to the trail head.

11.  If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days, what would it be?

Lately, it's been so hot that I would ask for a margarita with salt...but that's probably not a good meal. Probably an omelet, a latte and a smoothie, a margarita smoothie.

12.  Capris or shorts, what do you run in the most?

I love the way capris look, but I end up only wearing capris maybe a handful of times during the year.  My favorite shorts are the Oiselle Mac Rogas!

13.  At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go?

It depends on the temperature outside, but probably 20-30 minutes into the run

14.  What do you do with your key when you run?

Hide it or carry it in my Spibelt!

15.  If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one?

The Honolulu Marathon!!!  So much fun, some day soon, I hope to do another marathon!

16.  What type of run is your least favorite?

Any run that's on a treadmill-  no matter how little clothes I wear, no matter how many fans I have on me- I get SO overheated. It's probably all mental, but the treadmill feels 5x harder than road running to me

17.  When you go for your run, do you leave from your front door or drive somewhere to start?

During the week, I run from the front door of my office building!  On the weekends, typically just leave from my front door

18.  When running in daylight, are sunglasses a must, or an annoyance?

I feel silly looking in sunglasses, but they do help on sunny days

19.  When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting?

The mean training man in my watch!

4 on the 4th Race!

Laurie and me post-race!

Today, I ran the York 4 on the Fourth, in York, ME.  I decided to run it a few days ago; Laurie was going to be doing a 12 mile long run Saturday morning, and offered to pace me for the race.  This was my first time running the race, and I'm really glad I signed up! 

The race starts at 8am, so this morning, I woke up at 5:15, ate breakfast and drove Max to my parent's house so he could play with them while I ran.  The race started at York High School, and I was able to pull in the parking lot at 7:10, pick up my bib and use the clean, non porta-potty! Yay for runs that have access to nice, indoor bathrooms!

 Laurie arrived shortly thereafter, and she and I did a 2 mile warm-up.  I felt really good on the warm-up, and really happy about the weather! It was in the high 60s and partly cloudy.

   We talked about my race strategy; the last (and only) four mile race I ran was in 2014 for the April Fool's 4 Miler in Salisbury.  I was pretty happy with that time (30:02), but figured it was because the course was super flat, and the temperatures were really cool.  I was hoping to stay right around 30 minutes, but would be of course excited to get under 30!  Laurie told me that we would stay right around 7:30, and if the pace picked up, she would signal for me to slow down.

  

As we were getting ready to line-up, Laurie and I ran into one of my Six03 friends, Jeff.  Jeff had a time goal he was hoping to set as well- we wished each other luck, and told each other that we would catch-up afterwards.

When the gun went off, I listened to Laurie and didn't do an immediate sprint so that I was gasping for air by the first 1/2 mile, we kept it comfortable enough, but still speedy (for me.)  The first mile was completed in 7:09!

  By the 2nd mile, I was still feeling good, there were only a few rolling hills, and then the rest of the course was flat (and followed the ocean.)  I made sure to take water at all of the stops, and made sure to listen to Laurie.  I kept looking for the time clock for 2 miles, and hoped that it would be under 15 minutes...and it was! (Mile 2: 7:19)

The 3rd mile was when I started to get super affected by the humidity, I kept telling myself that I was more than half way there, and it was all flat.  There were a ton of spectators which really helped!  Laurie kept pointing out people ahead of me to zero in on as a goal to pass- it worked, but I was definitely tired.  When I saw that the Mile 3 marker clock read 21:50, I realized that had I been running a 5k, I would have probably PR'd! (Mile 3: 7:20)

Laurie told me that I had 1 mile left, and I had time "left in the bank" for staying under 7:30.  I was really hurting, super hot, and just wanted to be done.  I kept telling myself that another mile was nothing, but it really felt like a lot!  By the time we turned into the high school for the last quarter mile, my legs felt like lead, and I felt like I was going to throw up!  I finally got to the finish line and was ecstatic to see my time of 29:45! (Mile 4: 7:27)  

Afterwards, I drank two bottles of water and had like 19 slices of watermelon.  I thanked Laurie for pacing me.  I ran into Jeff and he met his time goal as well!

I definitely did positive splits, but at least it was a 15 second PR!

I checked my results and saw that I was 4th in my age group, 11th overall woman and was 107th out of 825 people. 

I'll definitely plan on running next year!