It's a beautiful day for a RUN

What a beautiful weekend it was here in Boise!

The weather was beautiful! I got in two awesome runs for a total 17.5 miles this weekend.

Saturday was my long run of 10 miles but ended up running 11 cause it felt good to be outdoors and it was just one of those runs where you feel like you can keep going and going.

Today I ran 6.5 with no specific pace, just enjoying the beautiful fall day (picture above is from my run this evening). My legs felt heavy for most of today's run. I have a feeling it's been all the halloween candy i've been eating :/ Tomorrow is our work halloween party and after that I'm going to try my hardest to clean up my diet and try to feel "lighter" on my feet for Vegas RnR.

Speaking of halloween party, we are all dressing up! Our theme is super heros :) It's going to be AWESOME! Make sure to check back this week for pics of that and of my son's costume after we take him trick or treating :) 

Well now that I just finished watching one of my favorite tv shows, Walking Dead, it's time to clean up the kitchen from dinner, oh and I probably should take a shower from my run too, then it's bed time :)

I'll leave you with a few more pics from my run this evening.  



High Speed Pursuit Half Marathon

So last Sunday I ran the High Speed Pursuit at the Prison Half Marathon. 

I kind of decided last minute to run this race. My work was supposed to have a booth so I registered on Monday (the week of the race), but they ended up not being able to attend the race. Either way I was glad I registered. It benefited the Peace Officers Memorial Fund. I love when registrations fees go to a great cause.

Getting ready to head to the race, wearing my BLUE, capris cause it was kinda cold and sparkle red headband

The race started out at the Idaho State Correctional Institute (the prison). It's actually about 25 min away, out in pretty much the middle of no where. The beginning was kind of chaotic. They had odd packet pick up times (Wed and Thur the week of the race only between 4-6) so I had to pick up my packet race morning. The odd thing was they had 2 lines to get your stuff. The first line was bib/shirt pickup and second was timing chip pick up. I was chatting with the girl behind me how we were cutting it close to the starting time and still had to stand in a whole other line when she ended up recognizing me from a race earlier this past summer, funny thing about small races is you see a lot of the same people :)

I finally made it thru both lines and still had to go drop of my stuff in my car so I sprinted back dropped it off and tried to do a quick warm up to make my 14 miles for the day. I wanted to use the porta potty one last time but there was a huge line. I was debating going out to where all the cars were parked and told that to the lady in front of me, she was thinking the same thing so we said lets just do it. So we sprinted out to the cars with about 4 minutes till start time, squatted and did our business. We both laughed and ran to the start line. The national anthem was being sung and there was also a stunt plane doing some tricks up above. Before we new it there was a loud bang and then the prison alarm sounded as we all took off. I thought that was actually really cool. A few yards away was the prison CERT team (Correctional Emergency Responce Team) lining both sides of the road with full on gear (sorry no picture but they looked similar to a SWAT team with full on shields).

There was also a 5k and 10k and we all started at the same time which was odd but it didn't bother me too much. I started far enough back to not start out to fast with all the short distance runners but also far enough ahead to not be held up by walkers.

The website didn't really have a course description and I didn't know anyone who had ran this race so I didn't really know what to expect when I got out there. My plan was to at least average out a 9 min pace cause that was my goal pace for my 14 mile training that day anyway. I felt surprisingly good and was holding about an average 8:30 pace for most of the first half. This pace actually felt really good. My pace started slowing at about mile 8 and I could feel that we were running at an incline now. I had to walk a few times on some of the bigger inclines. And then I see the 12 mile marker, but right after that is a big hill. I cursed whoever made up this course and how evil they were for putting a hill at the last mile. I tried hard to run but I ended up walking a little bit too. But right after the hill I refused to walk and sped up as much as my legs allowed. The person in front of me was too far up to catch but I made sure no one passed me at the end.

The elevation map from my garmin confirmed the second half being at an incline but overall I was very happy to cross with a sub 2.

Official time was 1:56:32. 7th in my age group (out of 27) and 40 out of 166 overall.

My sweet medal...

Here's a few pictures from the race...

Short one on the right ;)

My attempt at smiling for the photographers...

And I'll leave you with the cutest picture ever... as I was trying to take pictures of my medal and race shirt my dog Dash decided he wanted some attention....



Finding motivation through others

So it's been over a week since my last post where I said I would blog more, but I promise it's just been cause I've been busy. Busy with work but I was also able to get in some good runs!

Saturday before last I set out for a 10 mile run on the Boise Greenbelt. I knew my brother would be running his first ever 5k race that day with some coworkers so I sent him a good luck text while I was out.

On my way back at about mile 8.5 I saw the runners heading towards the Boise State stadium. I asked the volunteer what time the race started and figured my brother hadn't reached that point yet so I waited to see if I could him. Unlike me my brother is tall so he was easy to spot and I started waving like a crazy person to get his attention...

I ended up jumping in and running half a mile with him into the Boise State stadium where I went around to try to see him finish. I can't say enough how proud I am of him. I was so excited for him when he first told me he was running a 5k. He ended up placing 3rd in his age group!

They got to finish in the BSU stadium and hang out on the blue turf

After chatting for little while I finished off my run ending with 11 miles for the day. But just being so proud of him for running his first 5k helped me get motivated to get out the door and run.

As if that isn't enough motivation I had a running date with Linzi last Thursday.

This run was nothing shorter than AWESOME. I forget how much fun it is to run with someone else, just forget about pace and distance and just run for the fun of the company. If you read her blog you know she is moving to Georgia this week so we chatted about that, our races and hopefully some destination races in the future :)
I attempted to take a picture with the beautiful view of Boise in the background but it didn't work too well

Here's the view I was trying to get :)

We ended up with 5.5 miles of pure fun. She definitely motivated me by just being there and running with me. I'm sad she is moving since we just met and started running together but also excited for her and all the places she will be able to race at. Good luck Linzi I can't wait to read about all your adventures!

With all that motivation I registered for a half marathon which I ran this past Saturday! I'll post the race report on that tomorrow but my time was 1:56 which I was completely proud!

I've learned that the motivation is there, you just have to look for it.  No excuses. Just get out there and do what you love to do. For me, it's running.

It's been a long time....

Hello my blogging friends. It's been a long time, too long!

I kind of disappeared for a little while. It wasn't really a planned break. I just lost motivation there for a little while. Well a long while really. So many things piled up, mostly just excuses that prevented me from getting out the door and doing what I love to do. First it started with my work schedule, working 9 plus hour days, getting home after 6pm. Then I would feeling guilty for going out to run after I was gone all day instead of spending that time with my family. Then it was the hot summer days I wasn't used to (nothing like the weather I was used to running in the PNW) and being to lazy to wake up before work to get my run in. Then I got sick for about a week, then after that I kind of just gave up trying to make up excuses. I would occasionally get a run in here and there, but my training was pretty much out the window. It actually made me sad cause when I did go out and run I could barely run 3 miles without having to stop and walk. Yes granted I would still try to go run when it was blazing heat outside and that had a lot to do with it, but I would be mad at myself for letting myself get to this point when I had built up such a great base of speed and endurance.

So now all there is left to do is stop beating myself up for letting myself to get to this point and just start over. This weekend gave me lots of inspiration and motivation. Even with such little training I ran a half marathon this past Sunday. It wasn't my best race, and probably wasn't the best idea to run it but I felt like I needed to for myself, I love the race atmosphere and I thought it would give me the motivation I needed again. I walked a lot more than I have in any half marathon and the last two miles were probably my slowest. No matter hard I tried to run faster my legs just wouldn't go. I managed to run it in 2:01:17 which is my second best time.





Before



After



After the race I was happy to be done and glad I ran it too. I waited around for a little bit and thought about going home. But instead I decided I should support my friends running the race. I drove to try and find my friend Kacey who was running her first marathon and Linzi who was running her second marathon. I text her to see where she was and started driving slowly, feeling like a stalker looking at all the runners haha. Then suddenly I spotted Linzi's pink hat and honked and cheered! I drove back to the finish line, parked and ran back on the course to wait for her. I saw lots of runners as I waited for them. Many of them shuffling along, in obvious pain, other's with family members following them on their bikes along the course. I thought of the way I feel at the point in past marathons I have run. How much everything in your body hurts and you just want to be done. But also how good it feels to hear people cheering for you, so that's what I did, cheered for each runner and told them good job as they ran by. It actually was quite inspiring to watch them run by, so close to finishing yet so far away. At least for me those last 2 miles seem to take forever. For a second I wondered how I could put my body through that (3 times), but then I remember how good it felt to know all your hard work and months of training was finally paying off. I realized I missed that sense of accomplishment.

I saw Linzi and Cambry running towards me. I cheered and hopped on the trail to run the last bit with them.

This was actually the first time I have met Cambry. She ran the last 9 miles with Linzi and it was also a mileage PR for her. You can read all about Linzi's marathon HERE

I also got to see my friend Kacey finish her first marathon and was her official finish line photographer

She made me remember how just a year ago I had ran my first marathon.

All those feelings from my first marathon came back to me and made me smile. I was glad I could be there to share that moment with her.

Kacey, Cambry and Linzi probably don't realize how much they inspired me.

Kacey helped me remember the sense of accomplishment after running your first marathon. Knowing you freaking ran 26.2 miles and that marathon runners high you feel for the next few weeks. How even though her first marathon was rough she finished it and knows she wants to do another, just not soon :)

Cambry helped me by remembering what it was like when you reach that first mileage PR. The longest distance you have ran and how bad ass you feel and how you know your goal of whatever race distance you have set for you is attainable.

And Linzi, running her second marathon, looking like a rock star even at mile 25. All smiles and cheerful. Even though she wasn't going to meet her goal she was still going to finish strong and not let anything get her down. She was so inspiring, watching her sprint to the finish line. I was honored to be able to run the last bit of the marathon with her and cheer in to the finish line.

I'm telling myself this was a small set back but I WILL get back into solid training and back to just doing what I love, running.

And I WILL start blogging again. Not cause I feel like I have to. But because I love the friendships I have made through blogging. I met Linzi and now Cambry through blogging as well as other inspiring bloggers. I need to use my blog as a way to motivate me again. It does make me feel good to know that there are people who enjoy what I write and miss my blog (thanks Ashley for the motivation on dailymile :)

I'm going to learn from this set back and hopefully rock my training the rest of this year :)