See Jane Run Half Marathon Pictures

I love the pictures from the race photographer. 

 My leg looks awesome in the above picture! I never thought my legs looked muscular and I didn't understand it because of all the running I do but this picture proves me wrong. Go chicken legs!

I do this weird head tilt when I'm running and super tired.  I did it in high school track when I ran hurdles too.  I'm totally not aware of it until I see pictures.

Finished!
Running makes me so happy! Thomas and I have a duathlon that we have in mind to do the beginning of September.  Having an event to train for and look forward to is what keeps me going and keeps me excited about life.

See Jane Run Half Marathon

Today I ran my sixth half marathon.  This training period has been super smooth, even with being so worn out through student teaching.  My training runs were right on track and sometimes even faster than goal pace. My goal was to maintain an 8:45 pace. Friday night, Thomas and I headed to downtown Boise for packet pick up at the See Jane Run Store. Afterwards we went to the park where the race would be at and played ladder ball for about an hour.  Thomas had surprised me with it as a gift for finishing up student teaching.  We played it once while we were dating and have wanted it ever since.  I am loving lawn games.

After ladder ball we headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory.  I had been to one before for a state track meet in Seattle but it was super small and squished.  This Spaghetti Factory was spacious and even had a train on the inside with booths.  We were seated in the caboose.  When our waitress came to introduce herself I realized it was one of my old friends from elementary school! It was so fun seeing her and chatting. We did some yummy carb loading and then headed home for a night in relaxing by watching Justin Bieber's movie. Both Thomas and I liked it :) It inspired me to download some of his music for my half the next morning.  We also popped open some mango lemonade martinelli's to celebrate.

The first 10K of the race I was feeling REALLY great.  I was looking down at my garmin and seeing 8:30 pace a lot. 

At first it concerned me because I have a tendency to go out too fast. But I figured since I was maintaining that pace I'd just go with it. 

At the halfway point I started passing people which was a mental boost.  Normally I'll take some Clif Shotblocks at mile six but I wasn't feeling it at that point in the race so I held off.  At mile 9 I got a bad sideache on my right side.  I tried breathing deeply for a few minutes with no luck.  So I got out the shotblocks and chewed on those and that actually seemed to help.  At 10.5 miles I took a cup of water.  My plan was to go all out the last mile and do an under 8 minute mile.  At mile 12 I had another sideache that was killing.

I saw Thomas at this point and told him I was dying :) He ran across the park to meet me at the finish line.  I had a few goals this race my first being to get under 1:56:30 which was my former personal best.  The second was to get under 1:53 and the third was to get under 1:50.  At the halfway point I was feeling like I was going to accomplish at least the second goal but after the sideaches it messed up those plans.  I finished in 1:54:38! I came in 5th out of 36 in my age group and 40th overall out of 529.  I'm proud of that time and I saw my potential and see an under 1:50 half marathon in my future :)

The race shirts for this race are awesome! They are fitted for women and are a tech fabric.  At the end of the race they had champagne glasses and chocolate for the finishers.

Great race and I'm excited to sign up for the next one.  Next up I think will be a 5K so that both Thomas and I can run it and get PR's.

Long Friday run

Today was my first long run of this training cycle (8 miles).  I really haven't run more than 5 miles since probably August.
Thomas picked me up from work at 4:30 and we headed right over to some trails a couple miles from our apartment.  Right away in the first mile we were thinking "uh-oh!".  The switchbacks and hills were killer.  Luckily to every uphill there is a downhill.  It was great running on dirt and giving our knees and feet a little softer surface.  After about a mile and a half I was really starting to feel loose and the pace seemed to pick up.  The weather was a perfect 55 degrees with just a slight breeze.  I'm convinced 55 degrees is the absolute perfect running weather.  I was expecting to run about a minute slower than race pace (8:50) so about a 9:50 pace, especially with the hills.  We ended up running an average 9:26 pace. 

As soon as we got home we jumped in the hot tub and relaxed a bit. We are loving having a big hot tub to use whenever we please.
I was really impressed with Thomas putting in that long of a distance.  I think the time I took off from running really helped mentally and physically.  The Bob and Jillian workout videos have gotten me used to dealing with "the burn" and working through it.  Also, I think the different workouts have helped somehow.  This training cycle I am incorporating yoga into my off days and I think that will really help with soreness and hip problems which have been a pain to me previously.
Tomorrow I am going to my first hot yoga workout with my friend Tess! I'm so excited (hoping I don't pass out so hydrating a lot today). I love living in a bigger city and having all of these different workout options.

Camelback Park Hike

Friday night we got to spend with our friends Tess and Ryan Smith and had our first BBQ of the year.  We had a great time chatting, eating, and playing one of our favorite games called Mexican Train.  
This Saturday was an ideal one for Thomas and I.  We slept in till about 9am and around 10am were out the door.  First we stopped by a local elementary school for a teacher's retirement supply giveaway.  The teacher had all of there stuff from years and years of teaching out on the lawn and you were able to pick through it and take whatever you wanted.  We got there about 10:15am and pretty much everything good had been taken.  The stuff that was left over looked like it was form the 70's :) I did get some old tapes that I could record over for when I am teaching fluency and have the kids read passages and record themselves to then listen to. 
We then headed to Camelback park which is right out of town. 

There are miles and miles of trails for hiking and biking.  It was a perfect 60 degrees out, just perfect for a hike.  We hiked about 6 miles.  There were tons of runners and bikers out and all of them were so friendly.  We feel lucky to live so close to a suburban area, the city, and to have nature so close as well.  I will definitely be doing some long runs on those trails in the near future. 
Today was my first week of half marathon training.  Thomas will be doing the first few weeks with me and we are signed up for the Susan G. Komen 5K at the beginning of May.

Mesa Falls Half Marathon Race Update

I loved this race and completly enjoyed myself and feel great about the results and my performance. I'll start from packet pick-up last night. 
We had Karlee my new running buddy and her hubby Will over for a pasta dinner around 5:30pm.  I'm so glad that we are making new couple friends.  Running is such a great way of connecting people.  Then we all headed to the small town of Ashton, Idaho about 40 minutes away to pick up our packets.  It was at an elemntary school and you just go in the doors and there in the hallway were the boxes with the race packets in alphabetical order.  It's such a small race you just pick out your own packet and... that's about it.  But guess what the packet bags were?! Potato sacks! It cracked us up.

Karlee and I with our "race packets"

 The shirts are pretty "unique"  they are collared with a fish on them. I told Thomas he could have it and wear it to work but he declined.  Although he did try it on.

 Our race swag included some runner's lube, blister pads, nutri grain bar, quench your thirst chewing gum, and a $500 dollar gift card to some sunglass company.  The $500 gift card is totally a scam.  What the company does is distribute these gift cards and then charge you ten percent of the $500 for shipping and handling and then send you a cheap pair of sunglasses from China.  I googled it cause it sounded too good to be true.

 After picking up our gear we drove the car around the course.  This was my first and only marathon so it brought back some great memories.  I didn't remember it being so hilly! But it was even prettier than I remembered.
We then headed back to our house for some banana cream pie Karlee had brought.  Got to bed around 10pm and the alarm went off at 6am.
I at some toast (butter on a whole wheat sandwhich thin) at around 6:30am and then later had three Clif Shot Bloks at 7:30am.  Used the bathroom seven times.  We got to the elementary school around 7:20am and waited to load the buses which took the runners to the start at about 7:45am.  The race started at 8:30am.  It was pretty chilly in the morning so originally I was going to wear a dri-fit jacket but a minute or two before the race started I decided to take it off.  Good choice.  The first four miles or so was on a dirt bike path.  Loved that! Plus it was a slight downhill and we were running along a river.  At mile four our hubbies were there taking pictures.

The first aid station and our hubbies first siting of us.

Mile four to six was a big ol' hill that went on forever! I felt strong going up it but lost Karlee at mile 5.25. Luckily our hubbies were there to bike alongside us.  I stopped to eat 3 shot bloks and drink some water at mile 6. 
We had some good flats and downhills for a mile or so and then pretty much the rest of the race was rolling hills.  I had trained a lot on rolling hills and so I actually really enjoyed them.  The downhills sometimes give me a sideache so I'm actually relieved to start going uphill for a little bit. 

Part of the hill

My face tells all on how I felt about that long beast.

Finally some rolling hills and not an straight up incline.

 I felt really strong through the rolling hills and Thomas was pointing out people for me to catch. Finally, there was a mile left and I was dead. Usually when it gets this close I can kick it up a gear and finish a bit faster but at this point I was just putting one foot in front of the other and that was enough. Thomas kept telling me I was hunched and needed to straighten up. I just told him to "Go!" I justed needed to focus and get er done at the point, hunched back and all.

Yay! I can walk now!

We did it and had fun doing so.

I loved having Karlee to run a big chunk of the race with and Thomas to bike alongside me.  He kept telling me I was doing awesome and he really encouraged me.  My official time was 2:03:13, not a PR but I am happy about that time. And it's the toughest course I've done and my second best time.  It was a tough hilly course and I felt strong mentally and physically and had fun.  That was my biggest goal for this race was to enjoy myself.
4th out of 20 in my age division (Karlee got 3rd!)

The Medal

Continuing the fish theme of the collared sheet.

 After the race we stopped to get a free huckleberry milkshake for the hubbies and then headed home. I took a nice warm sea salt bath and then we headed to Dairy Queen.  I can't eat for a few hours after a race but when the hunger comes, it comes with a vengeance! Once we replenished our carbs we were ready for an hour and a half night, to get us ready for a fun night of bowling.
We went with my sister Bea and her hubby Ivan, and our friends Natalie and her hubby Jacob.  These two little cuties came too:

Preston and Alex loved the bright balls.

Love this guy.  And he's an amazing bowler.

Ivan and Bea.

Ivan had trouble keeping his eyes open in the pics.

Natalie, Preston, and Jacob.  Aren't they the cutest little family!?