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!

Great Bay Half Marathon Recap!

It's finally shorts weather!!

*Warning- This blog entry is going to be all over the place;  I am in dire need of ice cream, and my son is playing a techno version of 'Where is Thumbkin" on his iPad over and over again. Like 10 times now.  I apologize in advance.*

Today was my 3rd time running The Great Bay 1/2 Marathon, and my 11th 1/2 marathon.  The Great Bay 1/2 is definitely much hillier than most of the local races, but it has some of the best scenery.  It starts in downtown Newmarket, loops through some of Newmarket's neighborhoods, continues onto a dirt road for 2.5 miles, and then runs along the Great Bay.  It's a tough course, but has a ton of great volunteers, spectators, and even musicians and belly dancers along the race course for entertainment.

We lucked out with the weather today;  I actually thought I was going to be too cold with a t-shirt and shorts, but this was definitely not the case.  It was sunny, hardly any wind, and low to mid 60s! 

In the morning, I met my friends Stephanie and Justin, in Dover so that we could all carpool over to the race.  It was going to be Stephanie's first 1/2 marathon!  She's been so great with her training; going into the race, I knew she would do so well....and she did! She ran a 1:55 for her first half, and a hilly one at that!

The race starts at 11am, so I split up my breakfast so that I ate 1/2 at 8am and the other half at 9am...yeah I know, not a big time difference. I had a Ray's bagel and almond butter, coffee and water.

While we were waiting for the race to start, Justin, Stephanie and I did a mile warm-up, and try to find Lenny and Mariette- the phone reception was horrible so I didn't find Lenny until the start, and didn't find Mariette until the first 100 meters of the race!

My friend Laurie, who paced me last year, came to cheer us all on- she reminded us to not go out too fast and to stay hydrated.  The race starts with a 5k, so it's very easy to get swept up with the 5k runners' paces. 

My goal for this year was to hopefully do 1:45 like I had done at the Seacoast 1/2, but I was going to be happy just to finish feeling good.  Last year, I really struggled from the 10th mile on, and had to walk a ton.  

Normally, I run with my TomTom Runner Cardio watch, however, I broke the strap of it on Monday, and my replacement strap isn't coming until tomorrow....gasp....I had to run without a watch!  

Once the race started, we definitely didn't start out too fast- I was also excited to find Mariette so we chatted for the majority  of the first few miles. The hills didn't feel too bad, and I didn't feel super tired.  At mile 9, I told Mariette that I would only be able to grunt at her until the end because I was starting to get tired. :)

Around mile 12, I got a little bit of pep back in my step, I kept telling myself that I could definitely make it for another 8+ minutes. Justin, Mariette and I were pretty close in proximity to one another, so it helped to have them push me forward.  Then, I got to my nemesis hill, the horrible, horrible hill that isn't even that high, but feels like the highest hill on the course.  I had to power walk up half of it, and run up the second half (it's really not that long, or big...I'm just being dramatic, it's just a tiring hill because it's so close to the finish!)  Finally, the last .10 miles are downhill into downtown Newmarket!

I finished in 1:50:26, not a PR, but still makes me happy :)!

I also received a coupon at the race for 40% Sofft shoes (they had a booth set-up right by the refreshments)....so of course, that was great as well.  Well-played Sofft, well played.  

Stitch Fix #13 and Getting Ready for the Great Bay Half Marathon!

Unacceptable.

I got my thirteenth Stitch Fix yesterday; it must have been lucky, because for the second time, I kept everything in the box!  It was fun, and made up for the fact that we got 2 inches of snow late yesterday (see above picture.)
  Here's what I got:

1. Print a-line skirt and "statement" necklace.  I am not usually a statement necklace kind of girl, I tend to wear the same jewelry over and over again.  I expected to not like the necklace at all, but I tried it on with a few shirts, and was surprised! Another plus to the necklace is that one side of the "statement" pieces is black, and the other brown wood.  The a-line skirt, I loved - I wear a ton of skirts and dresses to work, and this skirt seemed like something that would work in all seasons!

2. White sweater...the stylist card called it a "dusty pink" sweater...but there is no sign of pink in this sweater (or she had the shirt pictured below lying underneath the sweater.)  Either way, I kept it, it was really lightweight (which would be perfect for Spring and Summer) and went well with the necklace and skirt!

3.  Raspberry colored blouse- I was on the fence about this one; the bulk of my wardrobe is gray, black, white, light pink and blue...not a lot of bright colors, and it just didn't seem like my style.  I did end up keeping it because it seemed like something that I could ending up really liking.

4.  Coral colored bermuda shorts- Imagine me pulling these out of the StitchFix box yesterday while snow was falling outside, it was like a sick joke.  I was definitely on the fence about these shorts, I have never worn bermuda shorts, and didn't think I was going to like them.  When i tried them on, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they fit perfectly! Plus, they would go well with my non-dusty rose sweater!


Here's my StitchFix link if you're interested in trying it out!
https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3596515

Almost time for the Great Bay (Hills) Half Marathon!

I am signed up to do the Great Bay 1/2 on Sunday, it's in Newmarket NH; it is a beautiful course with a fun after party....but, it's definitely hilly (or hillier than what I'm used to running.)  I've done the course twice before.  The first time I ran it, I barely trained, I ran maybe 10 miles a week (on a good week) and just had no idea how to pace myself.  I ended up running the first four miles, and had to walk and run (more walking) for the remaining 9 miles.  I also wore a cotton tank top to run in, what a running fashion faux pas!

  Last year, I did it and had a ton of fun, I wasn't running as much as I am now, but I was consistently training and definitely had more mileage than 10 miles a week.  It was challenging last year,  especially during the last few miles, but I ended up running my fastest 1/2.  

All smiles coming down the last hill of the course!

In November, at the MUCH flatter, faster Seacoast 1/2 course, I took 10 minutes off my Great Bay 1/2 time, and PRd at 1:45xx.  I'd love to do something close to that for this weekend, but I'm not going to overly stress out about it.  I will also not wear a cotton tank top!

Other fun things!

Running with Mariette a couple of weekends ago - April snow brings...???

Oh yes. That's Hall and Oates. Such a fun concert! 

Paddy's Five Miler Recap! (I failed at taking pictures)

Today, the weather was as feared; freezing cold, and wind gusts of up to 35 mph! Luckily, the race started at 10:30 am;  I love that kind of start time, it's nice not to feel rushed in the morning!

  I had my usual race breakfast of a Ray's NY bagel, coffee and almond butter.  I checked the weather 5 million times to see what the temps were going to be at 1030am.  I finally decided on wearing fleece-lined tights, a long sleeved tech shirt with my Six03 shirt over it.  I packed my warmest gloves, and brought my white wool headband to wear on my head.

My parents nicely met Max and me at the Pease Tradeport at 9:45;  they agreed at the last minute to watch Max so that Neil could do our taxes! It worked out well, Neil got to do our taxes with minimal interruptions, Max got "ya ya" and "pa pa" time ,and I didn't feel as stressed about rushing back after the race, especially since the post-race beer was something I was looking forward to!

  After parking my car, I met my friend Lenny to do a 1/2 mile warm-up-  the warm-up didn't really warm us up at all!!  Just before 1030, we lined up towards the front, and got ready to race!  I had to start my music on my phone before the gun went off, as I had no intentions of taking my mittens off.

When the gun went off,  I realized that we had placed ourselves further back in the crowd than we had expected, there were a lot of people to weave around.  The 1st part of the race was great, the 1st mile is mostly all downhill, and the wind hadn't yet picked up much.  I got to the 1st mile marker at 7:25.  This felt comfortable, but probably because it was the 1st mile.
  The 2nd mile felt great as well,  I was getting into a rhythm, and despite the cold temps, my breathing was ok.  (7:12.)  The 2-3 mile is made up of a slight uphill and turn-around point, it was great being able to see the lead runners run by, and fellow Six03 runners!  The wind had picked up a bit, not horrible at this point, but uncomfortable. (3rd mile at 7:53.)  After the turn around, I felt a lot better, the wind had died down.  After about 3/4 of a mile, the course turns right, it goes up the street where we do hill repeats at lunch.  I saw my friend Karla parked right alongside the hill- she told me in advance she was going to yell at me (in a nice, but aggressive way :) ), she helped, and was there at the perfect time!  The wind by now had picked up so much, that I had to do everything in my power to not get blown over.  Fourth mile (7:25.)
  The last mile was BRUTAL. Not only was it slightly uphill (feels like a giant hill at this point in the race), but the wind was blowing so hard, that it tripped me up! I could hardly move forward at all, and had to focus on just keeping my head down, and trudging forward.  I really was trudging.  Right around the 4.5 mile marker, I had a similar dizziness and blurry vision that I had from the last race.  I'm stating the obvious by saying that I will talk to my doctor about this now.  Luckily, I was able to make it through the finish line in one piece.  Official time per Cool Running was 38:58.
  I got in the tent, had a ton of soup and water- and went to find the beer!!

Forgot to stop my app after crossing the finish line! 

Play List for Tomorrow's Race!

Tomorrow is the Paddy's Five Miler on the Pease Tradeport;  it was supposed to be held last weekend, but was pushed to this weekend due to a snow storm.  Last weekend, I pictured that I would be running the race in capris and a t-shirt;  I also optimistically thought that the bulk of the snow would be melted.  I am a fool. It's snowing again, and tomorrow's forecast looks like this:

Not horrible, but not expected for temperatures at the end of March!

The race is held in the office area where I work, so I'm used to running the course from my runs at lunch.  It has a somewhat late start (10:30am) because finishers receive a beer at the end of the race! I've only done the race once (back in 2011), and had fun.  I like the 5 mile distance too, it doesn't feel like your lungs are going to explode as much as 5ks do!

I'm excited for tomorrow, and will hopefully be able to recap the race tomorrow!

Now, on to the important things.... (besides my running outfit for tomorrow, which is still yet to be determined because of the weather.)

My playlist!  I love listening to music when I am running in a race, it helps me focus, and helps draw my attention away from any discomfort.
 I did take the time to put together a playlist last night, here's what on the latest list! Let me know if you have anything to add!

Don't knock "Jukebox Hero"...also, I title my playlist "Seacoast 1/2 Marathon Playlist" because I'm too lazy to make a new playlist for each race, I just keep editing my string of songs.
Here are some of the songs for tomorrow:

Other songs include:
  -Shark Attack- Grouplove
 -Right Thurr- Chingy
-Sabotage- Beastie Boys
-Get Low- Lil Jon
-The Man- Ed Sheeran
-Rather Be- Clean Bandit
-Flashed Junk Mind- Milky Chance
-Yellow Flicker Beat- Lorde
-Carry on Phenomenom- Kishi Bashi
-Cigarette Daydreams-Cage the Elephant
-White Winter Hymnal- Fleet Foxes

Back by No one's Demand!!! :)

Stitch Fix #13!

After 2.5 months, I decided to blog again;  I missed writing, and now that I'm not training for a marathon, I have a few more minutes in the day to do one of the things I love.  Maybe the 80" of snow on the ground, or biting cold temperatures had made me feel gloomy,  but yesterday's 50 degree temperatures helped get me out of a funk.

  Since I last posted, I have run 1 race (the Mid-Winter Classic) on February 1st and have received 3 Stitch Fixes.  Last night, I received Stitch Fix #13 (*number is probably not accurate, it's somewhere around 13.)  I am training for 2 races- both are half-marathons (Great Bay Half and the Wallis Sands Half.)

**Mid-Winter Classic Recap**

I was nervous going into this race; it was my first 10 mile race ever, and the race happened to fall right after one of our 500 snowstorms of this Winter.  Plus, it was the first race I was going to do after the Honolulu Marathon. Luckily, I was going to be running with some of my girlfriends, so that helped a lot to have familiar faces around!  I did want to race it, and take advantage of some of my lingering marathon fitness.  My goal going into the race was to try and finish between 1:15-1:20 with less than an eight minute mile pace.

The morning of the race, I had my usual Ray's NY Bagel (the closest thing to actual NY bagels that you can find in New Hampshire) with almond butter.  My friends and I met each other at the liquor store at the traffic circle, not to pre-game, but to carpool.  The temperatures were pretty cold, and we heard rumors that the course's conditions were not going to be good.  I went back and forth about wearing trail shoes to help with traction on icy roads, but eventually settled on my favorite race shoes, the Saucony Type A6.  They are racing flats, but are very comfortable for all distances- and mentally, they make me feel faster.  I wanted to be warm enough so I wore my Under Armour fleece-lined tights..these are by far, my favorite tights ever- and so cheap for tights! Check them out here.
I wore my Saucony 26 Strong hoodie that we got in Honolulu and my Six03 Endurance shirt over the hoodie.  I was cold at first, but felt fine throughout the race.

The course was super hilly, with lots of fast runners- the first few miles were a lot of rolling hills (actually, the whole course was a lot of rolling hills.) The course ended up being ice-free, and very well organized by the race's volunteers.  Around the 5th mile, there was some ice, but nothing bad.

  I felt pretty good for most of the race, but around the 9th mile, I felt like I had the worst brain freeze ever and started to not be able to see straight!  Now that I type that out, it sounds a lot scarier than it actually was...I was probably just tired and in need of a donut.  Just before the finish line, I saw my friend Laurie cheering- that helped me push through the last little bit.

  Despite not being able to see straight through the finish line, I ended up finishing in 1:19, and luckily, my vision was soon restored!
  After the run, my friends and I all went to Whole Foods in Portland for coffee..and I got a donut!

With my next half-marathon in less than a month, I am hoping to add more long runs into my training...it's been difficult with the constant snow, but I've been been watching Orange is the New Black and Scandal* on the treadmill.

*PS- I've decided that if recruiting doesn't work out, I should probably work for Olivia Pope with my master super sleuth internet research skills.  (self-decided.)

Stitch Fix #13!

I have three other Stitch Fixes to talk about, but I'll only do my most recent one.  For the past three months, I have been asking my stylist to PLEASE not send me anymore scarves, skinny jeans or polyester blouses.  I'm not really a scarf person, and I have way too many skinny jeans.  Wide-legged jeans and pants are coming back in, and I really wanted a pair.  Last month, I didn't get a pair, so I was very excited to see them when I opened up my Stitch Fix, yesterday!

I was really nervous that the pants were going to be too short, I have a 35" inseam, so it's hard to find pants that fit well.  I was SO excited when I tried on the pants and they were just long enough! Neil thought they looked like mom jeans...but whatever.  I kept them.

Then, I tried on a striped lightweight sweater.  It was cute, and would look good with cutoffs in the Summer or with my sexy mom jeans. Keep!
  The next piece of clothing was a  light green shirt with bat wings...I forget what the style is called, but it legit had bat wings, or flying squirrel wings.  That shirt got a big thumbs down from everyone. No way, Jose.  See, now I'm talking like I wear mom jeans.

  Then, I tried on a purple colorblock sweater;  I thought it was super cute, and pretty reasonably priced- keep!
  Finally, I tried on a sleeveless silk tank that looked like it was printed with exploding butterflies; it also made me look 7 months pregnant.  Return.



So that's some of my life of late- I'm hoping I will be able to blog at least once a week!