Week 12 Update - 2,982 Miles

3 months down, and 572 miles completed. This week's 46 miles brought us to the city of Payson, which is at the south end of Utah Valley. We are getting SO close to Salt Lake, and one more good week should bring us the rest of the way to Linsey's house in the Salt Lake area. So exciting that we are almost to our first major stop in this journey! Stay tuned for a big celebratory post when we arrive in Salt Lake. 

Running "Fast"

Trying to keep things in perspective. 

I have been trying to make a more conscious effort lately not to call myself a "slow" runner. Or to say that I'm not fast. While I do have goals with regard to my pace, and I am working on improving my speed, I am certainly not aspiring to win the Boston Marathon anytime soon. Note that I didn't say that I don't want to run Boston, just that I probably won't win it in my lifetime. And that is okay. But what I have decided isn't okay for me to do is to beat myself up for where I am as a runner. I am improving, and I am setting new goals for myself every year. I ran the Ogden Marathon in 2011, and my goal was simply to finish. I did. I have registered for two other marathons since that race, and have had to withdraw due to injuries both times. Huge bummer. But I signed up for Ogden again in 2015, and am feeling confident that I am ready to take on 26.2 again, and I have a plan to stay healthy for it this time (and maybe a pace goal too). But that's a whole separate post, so let's stay on topic, shall we? 

Too often, I compare myself to other runners, and end up making myself feel bad about running 11 minute miles for 8 miles (as an example). Then my brain comes to a screeching halt as I remind myself that I just ran 8 miles! No matter what the pace was, I. Ran. 8. Miles. While other people might run 8 miles faster than I do, there are also people out there who run 8 miles slower. And that is great! But I need to remember to give myself credit for those 8 miles first. 

I have also been trying to give myself credit for what I have accomplished with regard to my running goals instead of beating myself up for what I haven't been able to do yet. In June of this year, I ran the Drop 13 Half Marathon in Salt Lake, and set a new PR. Prior to that half, my best time was around 2:30. I set a goal for myself to finish at or under 2 hours for the Drop 13, did the work and training to get there, and on race day, I ran 1:58:52. And almost cried. I had taken half an hour off my half marathon time. WHAT!? That is awesome! And I'm comfortable saying that what I accomplished was a big deal. It might not be a big deal to other runners, but it was to me, and that's what matters. What that race reaffirmed to me is that I am capable of doing things that are hard, and that I may not initially think I can do. But if I make a plan to get to those goals, and stick to it, I might just surprise myself. I am running the Drop 13 again in 2015, and am setting another ambitious goal for that race - I want to drop another 13 minutes off my finish time. That would put me at a 1:45 finish time, which is averaging just over an 8 min/mile pace. And I think I can do it. It will require more speed training, strength training, and overall determination and motivation, but I know it is possible. And I also know I have a wonderful support system of people who will help encourage me when I have bad days, and cheer me on when I have good days. 

Week 11 Update - 2,982 Miles

Looks like I never got around to posting our Week 10 Update on here last week. For the record, we completed another 31 miles in week 10, bringing our mileage total to 480 miles. 

We are over the 500 mile mark of our journey, and it is looking like we will make it to Salt Lake before the end of the year. That little red star isn't looking too far away now. Woohoo! 

Week 11 added another 46 miles (huge props to Ami for adding 23 of those herself!). 2015 is starting off with a half marathon for a few of us in January, and I expect our weekly mileage will start to increase even more in the coming weeks as a result. It will be so exciting to get to Salt Lake and make the turn to head back south to Houston. Now if only the weather would actually warm up as soon as that happens. ;) 

Week 9 Update - 2,982 Miles

This week was a little lower mileage for The Sweat Sisters - 31 miles. It's kind of funny that I feel like 31 miles isn't very much, but when I think about the fact that we ran a 50k between us last week, that is still pretty impressive! Keep it up ladies, and we'll be in Salt Lake in no time at all! 181 miles until we hit our first city goal!

Santa Clarita Half Marathon

Santa Clarita Half Marathon

On Sunday, Nov. 2nd, I ran my second half marathon in Santa Clarita, California. I ran "with" four other friends that also happen to be my neighbors at Edwards Air Force Base. The women from left to right are - Ashley, Gina, myself, Sonjia and Katie. Four out of five of us had the goal of completing the half in 2 hours or less. Three of us accomplished the goal and the fourth one only missed it by 2 minutes. Close enough in my opinion!!!

It was a beautiful, clear morning and the temperatures ranged from about 46-52 degrees from start to finish of the race. The event was very well organized, which made making parking and finding our way around a breeze! This race had a lot more runners than my first half marathon; however, the only way I felt this impacted the race was that I had more people around me the entire length of the course. That being said, it did not feel too crowded.

I had a loose goal of finishing the race at 2 hours because my last few long training runs had ended with tension headaches. I decided I was just going to run what felt good to my body and just hope that I ended up close to 2 hours, or at least beat my first half marathon time which was 2:05.  I was just ahead of the 2 hour pacers until around mile 8 when I slowed down a bit to run with my friend Ashley. We ran together until about mile 10 when she had to start going slower because her hips were tightening up on her. At this point the pacers were much farther ahead and I just kept running what felt good. I do run with a Garmin watch but I do not like looking at it because I feel it mentally messes with my running performance. During my training runs I typically get faster the last 3 miles so I thought I might catch up with the pacers.

I don't think I saw the pacers again. Around mile 12 I normally just let my legs go and just push out as much as I've got left. I purposefully did not do that because my friend Katie had run this course the previous year and distinctly told us to hold back the reigns because there were 3 pedestrian bridges the last .2 miles of the race that would be really challenging. Those bridges were definitely hard and I passed A LOT of people walking them. The good news was that there were only 2 bridges, but the bad news was that I kept holding back my speed because I expected a 3rd bridge! Once I realized there wasn't another bridge coming I let loose and ran. The clock at the finish line said 2:00:45 and I was immediately bummed I had missed the 2 hour mark by 45 seconds. I forgot to stop my watch too so I didn't have that to give me a more accurate chip time. However, hours after the race I found out my true chip time was 1:59:48. I had done it, and with 12 seconds to spare!!!

To be honest, I was surprised I made it under 2 hours because I had totally given myself permission not to. There is something to be said about the energy that sweeps a runner into the collective frenzy that occurs during a race. During the first mile when everyone was just running and in such high spirits I seriously almost yelled, "This is so awesome!" But, I kept my enthusiasm to myself and just relished it. During my course I would mentally dedicate parts of the race to the people who love and support me, and I believe this motivated me to "up" my game in order to give them the effort I think they deserve out of me. Even though I had a goal, this race wasn't about me or going after a personal record. I ran this race for others...and the karma came full circle.

I was greeted at the finish line by my husband and daughter. Matthew and Tess are my #1 fans, and they provide me with the daily support and motivation to run. Seeing their smiles and having them physically there made that finish line so much more enticing! I am so happy I committed to this race and had such a good experience. I even managed not to get a tension headache after the race, which was very surprising to me considering the extra effort I expended to quicken my pace.

Race finisher photo with my daughter Tess

Loves from my daughter Tess at the finish line

Unfortunately, my glory is a little shadowed today because after going for a 3 mile run this morning to burn off some lactic acid, I'm pretty positive I strained my right quadricep during the race. The course was described as "relatively flat with a few elevation changes due to pedestrian bridges." In my opinion, this was not an accurate description. I would've described it as "rolling hills with lots of pedestrian over and under passes." I think the frequent elevation changes combined with my quicker pace just overloaded my legs and caused injury. So, I will be hanging up my running shoes for several days while I nurse my leg and hope that it is just a simple strain.  The lesson I learned from this race is that love and humility empowers my running. So from now on, I will not run for myself but for others.

My husband Matthew, who is my #1 fan

Cheers to a great race!

Ami