" 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!

Bobcat Bolt 5k and Currently!

Today was the Bobcat Bolt 5k in Durham NH;  I love this race, I love that it takes place at my old high school, love seeing old classmates, love the race's organization, love its kid fun run feature, love what it stands for (read about it here), but I do not love that every year (today was my 5th time running the race), I go out WAY too fast at the start, and flounder about a 1/2 mile in!
 This year, I talked to myself and made a pact that I was not going to take the first mile faster than 7:30, especially since the 1st mile is mostly all up hill!

Neil likes doing this race too, so I registered him, as well as Max for the kid race. Last year,  I had signed Max up, but he wasn't digging the race, and ran in the opposite direction.

This morning, the weather and temperature were almost perfect; no wind, no rain, sunny skies and temps in the mid 60s.  The race started at 9am, so Neil, Max and I drove to Durham to meet my parents at the Oyster River High School (they nicely watched Max while Neil and I ran.)  I set off to do a 2 mile warm-up, and at the end of my warm-up was greeted by a crying Max who was angry at me that I had warmed-up without him...so we did a quick warm-up together.

post tears, and post warm-up

At 8:55, Neil and I lined up to run.  I stood by two Six03 ladies who I had not met before; we introduced ourselves.  They looked fast, so I didn't expect to keep up with them, and my expectations were correct! :) 

At the start of the race, I reined myself in, and tried not to look at my watch too much, I did the first mile in 7:35, which was perfect.  I was able to get up the two big hills without feeling like I was going to puke or curse. Every single year, I have had to walk up at least one of the two hills.  By the 2nd mile, I was still feeling good, I was able to pass a few people, and keep a steady speed.  I dropped down to 7:15.  By the 3rd mile, I remembered again why I don't like 5ks, so much pain!!!! I was getting tired, and definitely hot- I kept telling myself that I could make it for a few more minutes.  The 3rd mile was 7:30.  The last .10 of the race is flat, I pushed it as hard as I could and crossed the finish line in 23:25.  It wasn't my fastest 5k, however,  I felt like I had pushed as hard as I could have, and was glad I wasn't a doofus with the first mile!  I ended up getting 34th overall (there were only 206 people in the race...), 2nd in my age group and 10th woman overall.   One of the two Six03 ladies came in 3rd for woman, and the other one got 1st in our age group. 

Afterwards, Max had his fun run, and successfully ran in the right direction! He was a good sport, and even though he didn't "win", he had a ton of fun.  He kept asking to race for the rest of the day, he saw some older boys running the bases of the baseball field, and asked if he could run with them.

Such a proud moment for me, check out his form!

He took a great nap later!

"Currently" Survey

I saw this survey kicking around on a couple of blogs, and wanted to play along! Play along if you'd like!

Current Celebration:  Tomorrow is Father's Day, celebrating dads everywhere!

Current Confession: I am stressing out about potty training Max;  Max saw a commercial for Disney World and told me he really wanted to go.  I told him that you had to be potty trained to enter the park.  He didn't buy it. 

Current Product Find: This  -  Chi Keratin Silk Infusion;  it was included in my purchase of my Chi straightener. I LOVE this stuff.  My hair is super, super thick and coarse.  I just need a bit of it and it helps de-frizz my hair a ton!

...and Lesser Evil Buddha Bowl Organic Popcorn. So good, and I should not be alone with the entire bag.

Current Book:  Just finished "Luckiest Girl Alive" by Jessica Knoll, it was good but I really enjoyed "Behind Closed Doors" by Elizabeth Haynes (read this right before "Luckiest Girl Alive.") So good, and so suspenseful!

Current Purchase:   These (Viscata Escala wedges)- they are so comfortable, and come in a ton of different colors.  I purchased this style, as well as a black crochet style

Current Drink: Drinking a cranberry lime Polar seltzer, wild Saturday night!

Current Show:  I'm excited to watch the new season of Orange is the New Black, but, I am not watching until I finish with Lilyhammer.  This show is so funny,  it's like a funny Sopranos set in Norway.  Now that I am watching the show, I am falling in love with Norway and want to visit! I'm on the 3rd season.

Current Obsession:  Spotify has a new running feature;  you can choose the "running" option on your Spotify app, choose the type of mix you want, and Spotify will custom the beat to fit your running tempo and cadence!  I love this new feature, and have liked all of the songs they have chosen...except for a few.  Check it out!

National Running Day, Women's Running Magazine Offer and Stitch Fix #15!

June 3rd is 'National Running Day!'  This means get on your gear, and head out the door- or to the treadmill!  In honor of National Running Day, there are a lot of great deals happening through various running-related companies!  Women's Running Magazine, has a GREAT deal going on.  For today only, you can get 6 months of Women's Running Magazine for $5!  I subscribe to Women's Running Magazine, it's a great, fun read that focuses on tips for women's running, nutrition, running fashion and runner features.  Click here to check out the deal!

How are you celebrating National Running day today?? 

Stitch Fix #15!

Yesterday, I received a notification that my Stitch Fix had been delivered, so I came home from work very excited to try everything on.  I panicked a bit (ok, a lot), because my Stitch Fix was nowhere to be found!  Finally, after much searching, I finally found the package wedged between one of our side doors.  At least it was there!

 I was very happy with this Stitch Fix!  I ended up keeping three out of the five items!  Here's what I received...

Pinkish/Reddish waffle sweater-....I love sweaters, especially long, slouchy ones.  I usually wear a lot of red and a lot of pink, but for some reason, this color just did not look good on me at all.  I felt like a Pepto-Bismol tablet.  I sent this back.

White/Black striped sweater-  I feel like I have a lot of striped sweaters, but I really liked the look, fit and feel of this sweater.  It was light enough that I could wear it on a cooler Summer day.  It also seemed to be versatile enough to wear into Fall or early Winter. I kept this one!

Long, gold, leaf necklace-  I rarely wear gold jewelry, and rarely change the jewelry that I do wear.  This was cute, but I couldn't justify keeping it. Return!

Black, bootcut work pants- FINALLY!!! While I really wanted wide -leg work pants, these will definitely work as well.  The length was perfect, the fit was perfect and they will work well for work ,and after-work events. I love them, these were a definite keep!!

Blue/black cap-sleeved maxi dress-  This was a hard decision, I have a very similar looking maxi dress, only the one i have doesn't have cap sleeves.  This dress was slightly more dressier than the other one I have as well.  Ultimately, I decided to keep this, it fit really well, and I love maxi dresses!

Redhook 5k!

Sunday was the Redhook 5k;  it's a local race that's put on by my favorite local running store, Runner's Alley, and is held at the Redhook Brewery on the Pease Tradeport.  It's a really fun, really organized race that has activities for the entire family, and beer afterwards for the adults.  Going into the race, I wanted to get close to where I was in the fall with a time around 22 minutes and change,  but I was secretly hoping to see 21 in the number!  I felt good after the 1/2 marathon the weekend before, and felt okay to race.  

  Going into the weekend, I wasn't feeling 100%, but not bad enough that I couldn't run.  Sunday morning's weather wasn't even that bad, it was warm with a breeze.

The race has a late start (around 11am), so at 10am, Max and I drove over to Pease to meet my parents- they nicely agreed to watch Max while I ran.  I am NOT driving in the picture above, we are parked!

After dropping Max off, I parked my car and met up with my friend Stephanie.  By this point in the day, the breeze seemed to have gone away and the temperatures were getting closer to the 80s.  We did a quick warm-up, and I drank an entire bottle of water afterwards- I was already hot and feeling dehydrated, not a good sign!  

Steph and I lined ourselves up towards the front (right behind an older, shirtless, very tan man with extremely short shorts), and got ready to go!  I knew Stephanie was going to do well, even though she hasn't been running very long, she's already picking up speed quickly!
The gun went off, and we started!  Like a rookie, I did my first mile WAY too fast, or too fast for me at least.  I did 6:40, this was the worst idea ever.  It was super hot by this point, and the course has minimal, if no shade.    I normally don't stop to get water during 5k races, but because I had pretty much used up all of my energy during the first mile, I had to stop at the water stop, and had to stand for a few seconds to catch my breath.  The second mile was a full minute slower at 7:55.  At this point, I knew i wasn't even going to be close to getting 22 minutes!  I was super overheated, and had to stop again at the 2.5 mile mark to sit down for a second.   I watched a guy in front of me pass out, and another kid running by, throw up on the course!
  Stephanie ran by, she was doing great!!  I followed behind her, and barely made it through the last mile in 9 minutes.  I crossed the finish line in 24:15, I was so bummed, but knew I had made a dumb mistake with the first mile :).  Stephanie did awesome, and to add to that, she ran the 5k in longish pants;  based on the heat, that's even more impressive!

   I was disappointed in my time, but not that hung up on it as just a few years ago, I would have been super excited to see 24  minutes for a 5k! I was more frustrated that I know I could have done better, and also know better than to start a race about 30 seconds faster per mile than I should have.

Overall, it was a really fun time w. Stephanie, and hopefully I will get to 21 minutes someday!

Wallis Sands Half Marathon Recap

Before!

Yesterday was the Wallis Sands 1/2 Marathon;  it was my third year doing the race.  It's one of my favorites,  it goes directly by my house,  is really well organized, and is fairly flat (with the exception of a hill around mile 6.)   Going into the race, I wanted to do well-  I was hoping to get close to my 1:45 PR from November, but I thought that was going to be a stretch.  I got that PR when I was in the midst of training for a marathon;  when 13 miles is an "easy" run on your training schedule.  Overall, I was hoping to do better than I had at last month's Great Bay Half Marathon; with all of its hills, anything faster than that would be a nice bonus!

Wallis Sands starts at 8am, with six separate waves (starting every 5 minutes.)  Mariette was picking me up around 7am, and we were driving over to the race together.   I woke up at 6:25,  got dressed quickly, and ate an Udi's bagel with almond butter and 1/2 a cup of coffee.  The morning temperature was *kind of* chilly (around 55 degrees), but 55 degrees was more than warm enough for me!  

Around 7:15-ish, we parked at Wallis Sands and went to go look for Nicole, Angela N. and Lenny. We soon found them, and of course, got our obligatory group picture (except for Lenny, who nicely took our picture!)  We then went back to our cars to get our stuff ready for the run; I had one chocolate GU, and stuffed two more in my skirt pocket for later.  I went to go look for my inhaler, and realized I had left it at home. Oops!  Luckily, my asthma isn't that serious that I need to use it before every run, I just didn't know how it would affect my performance.

 At 8am, we lined up in Wave 1 to get ready to run;  we lined up towards the back of our corral.  The 1st mile was great, I felt comfortable.  There were already tons of Six03 spectators cheering everyone on, best cheerleaders ever!
Mile 1: 8:00
Mile 2: 7:46 (whoops)
Mile 3: 7:51
Mile 4: 7:52

Mariette and me around Mile 4

I was still feeling pretty good, but knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with Mariette forever! I told her to feel free to move ahead;  I always also walk through the water stops, and didn't want to slow her down!

Mile 5: 7:56
Mile 6: 8:00
Mile 7: 8:02
Mile 8: 7:49

I tool a GU at mile 6, which seemed to help.  I was starting to get tired, but kept thinking how much stronger I felt than last year's Wallis Sands 1/2.  Again, Six03 spectators were all over the course, and helped SO much.  Mariette was ahead in the distance, so it also helped to use her as a pacer bunny! People kept passing me, and I kept telling myself to run my own race.

Mile 9: 8:14 (yikes)
Mile 10: 7:48 (guess who had another GU?)
Mile 11: 8:34 (ick)
Mile 12: 8:22
Mile 13: 8:04


In the distance, I saw Mariette turn into the finish line- I saw that the finisher's clock for her said 1:43xx.  I knew I had a chance of not only being close to 1:45, but potentially getting a PR.  I picked up my pace and crossed in 1:44:16!!!!   I was so happy!! I placed 6th in my age group!

Done, baby!!!

After the race!

Lounging

After was great, we all got coffee from Summer Sessions down the road, and sat outside enjoying the sun- actually, we all got Nutella Lattes, which were amazing.  

Then, I went back to the real world and did laundry.  Blah.

The Heat is on....

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mommies out there, hope you all had a great weekend!

Max's Daycare had a Mother's Day party today-  I love his teachers,  and loved the  creativity that they put into the Mother's Day gift!

It's that time of the year again when I complain about running in the heat.  I really shouldn't complain; only two months ago, I had to cut a run short because I was too cold.  I'm happy it's warm again, but running in the heat just zaps my energy.  Yesterday, because of timing issues, I headed out the door for a 10 mile run....at 1:30pm. It was 87 degrees out.  Neil suggested that I go later, but I just wanted to get outside and run.  I would be fine, I insisted! I'd just go slow.  

  I was fine, but 10 miles turned into running for 40 minutes before getting so hot that my heart rate monitor was almost at 200! I started walking for 5 minutes, and then alternated it with a slow mile.  All in all, I only actually ran 8 miles, and walked 2 miles.

 Here are some tips that I should tell myself before Summer/warm weather runs:

1.  Don't be afraid to throw your pace out the window, you're going to run slower in warmer weather.  If you're doing a long, slow run- make it a long slow run.  Yesterday, I did my first 3 miles at an average of 8:20.  That's not my slow pace- I should be closer to 9-930 minute miles on long runs.  

2.  If you cannot run in the early morning or evening, try to run in a shaded area.  Yesterday, I ran the first 1/2 of my run along Route 1A with absolutely no trees, lots of car exhaust from beach traffic, and no breeze. 

3. Carry more than 8 oz. of water;  I don't like carrying water, it's a pain in the butt. Yesterday, I figured I would be fine with a tiny bottle of water.  I was finished with the water by the 3rd mile. Luckily, I was able to refill at a beach water fountain, but I finished that bottle by the sixth mile.  It's a no-brainer,  find a hydration system that works well for you (I have a Nathan's hand-held water bottle and a Nathan's Hydration back-pack.)  I like them both, I just was missing some braincells yesterday, and decided against bringing either one.  

4.  Embrace the booty shorts-  hot weather means light-colored tanks and short shorts. GapFit makes a really good lightweight tank.  Here's my favorite one! (Tank)

The rest of the day was great! I went to my parent's house for a Mother's Day brunch.  I am obsessed with my niece's chunky legs; seriously, nothing is cuter than chunky baby legs.

I also binge watched episodes of 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' on Netflix.  It's such a funny show!