Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon Race Recap

One of the cool things about my past two races is that they both were the first ones ever!  It's like being part of history when you're at the inaugural races ;-)

Saturday morning Maddux, my nice friend, and I headed down to Hampton, VA, for the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon weekend.  I was beyond excited for this race because it's by J&A Racing, which has put on probably my favorites races I've ever done (Wicked 10k, Virginia is for Lovers, and the Shamrock Half Marathon--my first and best half!).  All the races have been extremely well organized and lots of fun.  I was also excited because we were right around my old college city so I got to see some of my old haunts.

Our first stop was to Plaza, my all time favorite Mexican restaurant.  I was so happy to see two of my favorite servers there and it was great to catch up with them for a few minutes.  (They still know me after a few years of being away...can you tell I went there maybe too much?  One of the servers even knows my mom and offered to be my at school mom when she found out my parents were moving to Pennsylvania!).  

So many memories...good times with good friends :-)

Since we had Maddux, we got our food to go and had a nice picnic out on the Noland Trail, which is where I put in the majority of my college miles, and is one of my favorite places in the world.  Maddux was so happy exploring new territory.

Once we got to Hampton, we checked into our hotel and went straight over to the expo.  It was small, so I didn't spend much time there, but the volunteers were all extremely friendly.  The best part?  I got to see my best friend!  She decided to run her very first half marathon!  Yay Ashley!

This is us looking pretty along with my amazing college roommate.  We didn't take a sweaty picture because it was raining and we are responsible adults who take care of our phones now :-)

I woke up on race day with all kinds of nerves.  I foam rolled, ate a Power Bar, and drank some G2 and water and finally headed out the door to meet up with Ashley and her friend before the race.  The sky was gray, but the temperatures were nice and cool which was encouraging.  After chatting for a little while, we headed to our corrals and awaited the start.  The race announcer was dressed as a crab which made me smile.  As we started off, my legs felt surprisingly fresh and I was feeling pretty optimistic about the race, even though I tried to convince myself not to set my expectations too high and to just enjoy the race.  When the first mile marker came into view I looked down and saw that I was at 9:15.  My first thought was "OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!!!"  A 9:15 pace is fine for a few miles, but I knew that definitely wasn't happening for an entire race.

The first 5 miles flew by.  I smiled knowing that at mile 4 I felt like I hadn't been running more than a few minutes.  The course was mostly flat.  A lot of the miles weren't too exciting and just along streets where you would pass a McDonald's or something, but some of the miles were along the James River and absolutely gorgeous.  I laughed because I had assigned a mile to a bunch of my friends and family so that I would be held accountable (who wants a crappy mile?) and my brother left a message on my Facebook saying he would be honored if I walked his mile, mile 8.  His mile ended up being my favorite!  It was all along the river, there was a guitarist playing, and super friendly spectators sipping their morning coffee and cheering us along from their front yards.  I'm not sure why, but they didn't want to trade their coffee for a run.  Yes, I really asked.  I did get a couple of high fives though.  Seriously, what's better than a sweaty high five from a stranger?  Another cool part was running through Downtown Hampton past the Air and Space Museum.  Too bad it wasn't open yet or I may have stopped in.  

There were tons of water stops, a few radio stations out on the course, A CANDY STOP!!, and a band to keep us motivated.  I was smiling like a fool for the majority of the race.  Then mile ten hit.  Mile ten kind of sucked.  It was into the wind and I felt like I was on it forever and it was COLD.  Luckily, as soon as we turned a corner, we were back to a slight breeze at your back.  Things were going well again, but as soon as I hit the mile 12 mark the skies opened up and it started pouring rain.  My shoes got so heavy and my socks felt so gross!  At that point I just kind of laughed and was thankful I only had a mile left in that nonsense to go.  I tried to pick it up a little and started picking out targets I wanted to pass (got 'em all).  I would like to say my final kick was strong, but I honestly don't remember.  I was a little emotional because I was so happy to be done in a time that I felt good about so I was half laughing and half on the verge of crying (who am I?!).  I can't wait to see that finishers pic....

My final time was 2:08:42, only 2 minutes (and some seconds, who knows) slower than my PR and 10 minutes faster than that blasted RnR race.  I think I'm still riding the runner's high this morning :-)  Now I'm thinking that 2:05 time is within reach again and am ready to find my next race so I can kick some butt!

The rain finally slowed down and I easily found my nice friend and Maddux after the race to get a sweaty hug and my crab chowder bread bowl.  Then we headed to the finish line to watch Ashley finish her race.  If only I had a cowbell.   

When Ashley finished it was raining pretty hard again, and my tank top was just not cutting it in the 50 degree weather, so we said our goodbyes and after a hot shower, we packed the car and headed home.  A big thank you goes out to my nice friend for standing in the rain to support me and for hanging with the pup so that he could be a part of my race weekend!

Today I am very sore.  Maddux and I have been cuddling on the couch and the only productive thing I have done is type up this post and make delicious pumpkin pancakes.  Fall really feels like it's here now!

So gourmet.  I should switch to food blogging.  Or maybe I should just leave it to Pursuit of Sweetness.

Thanks again to J&A racing for putting on another fabulous race and for giving me a lot of crab jokes to read along the course to share with my nice friend on our drive home.  I'm sure his laughs were real and not just pity laughs.  Now he thinks I'm hilarious and probably is more inclined to keep me around for a while ;-)

Lindsey Likes to....Walk?

I told a fib.  Yesterday was not a rest day.  I woke up fully intending to take a break, but I had SO much energy.  I'm not really sure where it came from because I've been totally embracing this whole lazy summer thing.  Since my favorite walking buddy is still out of commission, I decided to head to the gym for an elliptical workout.

I'll be here when you get back.

I took it pretty easy, but it felt good to work up a sweat and get my body moving a little.  My 45 minute work out looked like this:

5 minute warm up

1 minute focusing on pushing with arms

1 minute focusing on pulling with arms

1 minute "sprint"

1 minute increased level (from 7 to 9)

1 minute recovery

5 minute backwards 

Repeat until 5 minute cool down

I've found that continuously mixing it up on the elliptical makes the time go by waaay faster and keeps me from getting bored.  

When I got home I made sure to stretch extra well since I was still planning on running today.  Maddux supervised to make sure I held each stretch long enough.  

Excuse me, you're not stretching.

I must have done a pretty good job, because by the time I was done with my stretches this happened:

Sleepy pup.

I also did my usual arm workout  (10 front raises, 10 tricep kickbacks, 10 bicep curls, 10 overhead tricep thingies, repeat to do three sets)  and some planks while I watched Rachael Ray.  I only use 5 pound weights, but it keeps my arms from getting too jiggly :-)

Today something miraculous happened.  I made it out the door and started my run before 9am  (8:50 to be exact).  I even foam rolled before!  The first 15 minutes or so felt pretty good, but then I just started to get hot and I got this weird tightness in my hips.  I took so many walk breaks during the run.  To give you an idea, I ran for 45:30 and didn't finish my run until 9:50.  That's almost 15 minutes of walking.  My (uncalibrated) Nike+ said that I ran 4.16.  Ugh.  However, I don't have too many problems believing it today...  On the plus side, I had a strong finish and made sure to give it my all for the final minute.  

I think the highlight of today's run was discovering some other little pieces of trail that go off the main loop of the park I was at today.  This park definitely has long run potential and it was fun exploring the different parts of the trail today.  There's lots of shade on the side trails and it's SO pretty.  Having great scenery makes running so much more enjoyable, especially when it's feeling tough. 

Thinking about my outdoor runs lately, I've decided that I really need to just practice running in the heat  with real terrain.  While the treadmill runs have been an awesome confidence booster, I don't think it's doing me many favors in training for an outdoor race.  Since I just registered for a 15k during Labor Day weekend, I figure I need as much outdoor training as I can get so that my body doesn't take the heat as a complete shock.  As we've established, in hot weather I have no problem taking walk/water breaks, but I think now my focus should be on figuring out when I really need water and walk breaks and when I just really want to stop for a minute.  Today I stopped twice for water and that felt pretty good for today's heat (low 80s).   

On a happier note, I celebrated being done with today's run with a homemade frappuccino.  

No Cesars included.

Since I've been on my saving money on nonessentials kick, I've experimented a little in the kitchen to give me some alternatives to my beloved Starbucks.  I've found that tossing some ice cubes, strong (cooled) coffee, milk, a hot chocolate packet, and a few chocolate chips has given me something comparable to a $4 sbux drink.  Pour it in a Starbucks cup and it's practically the same thing, right? :-)

I've also been making smoothies a lot this summer.  I'm sure my neighbors are LOVING all the blender noises coming from my apartment lately.

This weekend I will be having a second go at speed work with a planned 6x800!  I'm excited after the last workout.  It's definitely a new kind of challenge for me!  Happy Friday! 

  

Probably TMI

First off, Maddux is a survivor!  

Maddux was ok with resting.  We love naps :-)

I got in a run at the trail after I dropped him off to keep my mind off what was going on at the vet.  I don't know if I just had too much on my mind or if it was the fact that it was already over 80 degrees a little after 8am, but it was not the awesome run I was anticipating.  It just felt hard.  Normally if I am close to making 5 miles during my 45 minute runs I just keep going until I've hit it.  Not this time.  As soon as my watch hit 45 minutes I was done.  A few hours later the vet called and told me I could pick up my little boy.  I think the vet office workers may have made fun of me a little.  The tech said "Wow, I can tell you really missed him," when I went to pick him up.  Is it that obvious?  Maddux is recovering really well and except for the spot where he actually got the shot, you can't even tell anything is wrong with him.  Woo!

My run schedule got a little off again this week.  My little brother came to visit!  Wednesday it was 104 degrees out, so I managed to convince him to go to the outlets with me for a little shopping.  

There was also beer.  That probably made shopping a little better for him.

Thursday it was still a little warm, but we decided to go and see the sights of DC.  Since we were getting some quality walking time in I decided to put off my run until Friday.  Ben finally got to see the highlights.  We started at the Lincoln Memorial and made our way around the Tidal Basin to the Jefferson Memorial.

Hey DC, meet my little bro!

It was nice to have someone to explore with.  I feel like so often I miss out on doing cool things because I'm over the traffic in this area.  When you deal with it the entire work week you aren't too excited to go back in it later, but I'm pretty sure seeing the sights will never get old.  Days like this remind me of why I love living where I do and how lucky I am.  I like when people come visit me so I can pretend that I am an awesome tour guide.  

I'm pretty sure Maddux is going to be this big after he's done with steroids.

Friday I got my butt out the door for another run.  I ran on the treadmill (surprise) and I was pleasantly surprised that it went much better than I expected.  I had a little bit of a cold the past couple of days, and when I finished up my 5 miles in 46:19 I was pretty excited.  I felt a little tired going in, but after I eased into the run it was actually really good.  Ben is a huge Braves fans, and lucky for him, his visit coincided with the Braves/Nationals game.  

Ben tried to cut out my Nats shirt.  Also, we are happy because it wasn't raining yet.  The Nats also hadn't blown their lead yet.  Gotta say, it was not their best night.

The game ended up going into extra innings after the Nats decided it would be fun to blow a 9 run lead.    I think I hit a record for staying up late.  I'm an old lady when it comes to staying up, but made it until 2AM(?!?!).  Needless to say, I did not get up early to run on Saturday.  I had 10 miles on the calendar, but decided to push it until today because my friend and I were going to Gonzo Fest at Flying Dog.  I mean, "Good people drink good beer."  It was definitely worth postponing the run for good beer and fun.

I kept putting off the run today.  I got to another late start (lazy weekend, anyone?) and was in serious need of groceries.  My fridge looked so sad.  I reasoned that after running 10 miles I would need to refuel so of course I had to go shopping first.  I didn't end up getting to the gym until almost 5pm.  I decided to take it nice and slow.  I wasn't feeling confident at all about this run.  Physically I felt fine.  I was a little worried about my IT band because I could definitely feel a little strain on my run on Friday, but other than that I had no reason to think it would be a bad run or that I couldn't finish.  I foam rolled like a champion a few times today to help alleviate that worry.  I'm really happy to report that I didn't have an ounce of IT band pain this time around!  I kept the incline on .5 until mile 5 and then I wimped out and dropped it back down to 0.  My pace ranged from 6.0-6.2 (10:00-9:40ish) and overall there really wasn't anything remarkable about this run.  There were a few times when I struggled mentally.  I counted to 100 and back to 0 a few times and that helped pass some of the time.  I stopped for water every couple miles and then had a strong finish for my last mile.  I finished my 10 miles in just under 97 minutes.

Proof!

  

Ready for the TMI?

After my run I took Maddux out to the dog park.  I knew I should eat something really quick before, but my aunt called right when I was walking in the door and between trying to talk to her and get Mad Dog out to pee, I just didn't think about it.  As I went to pick up after my pup, it hit me.  My stomach cramped and I knew that I had to make a mad dash back to my apartment.  Later, I tried to eat a turkey sandwich and it took me a long time to choke it all down after my stomach finally settled down.  This has happened now several times after my longer runs.  I don't remember having these issues in college, and I will tell you they are very memorable ailments.  I'm not really sure what changed.  I think I'm going to talk to a doctor about it, but I'm thinking that I am losing too much salt during my longer runs.  I am a disgusting sweater (work hard, sweat hard, right?) and even though I try to drink gatorade, I think I need to do a little more to avoid this nonsense.  It's not fun and to be honest, it's kind of embarrassing, especially after races.  I practically had to knock someone out of my way in my haste to get to the bathroom at the Hot Chocolate 15k.  I know, nothing anybody wanted to know, but part of having a running blog is sharing the good, the bad, and oh yes, the ugly, too.

On that note, I will end this oh so lovely post.  Hopefully I will have some answers soon so that there will be more good (and even bad) and not so much ugly up here.  Have a happy running week!  

Vacations > Running

It's been a busy past couple of weeks.  A couple of weeks ago there was a crazy storm and we lost power for a few days.  It wouldn't have been so bad, except for the fact that we were in a middle of a heat wave and it was brutal.  Luckily, my cousin was flying back into the country after a year in Spain and my aunt and uncle had to drive by my house to pick her up.  They offered to take Maddux and me in for the weekend and we gratefully accepted their invitation to escape sweltering temperatures.

I'm ready, Mom!  Are you?

It was great to spend some time with my family and I definitely ate better than I would have had I stayed at home.  Since we lacked power I was planning to live off peanut butter, chocolate chips, and my homemade granola!  We went enough days without power that my fridge food couldn't be saved. :-(

About 50% of the time I manage to include my finger in the pic.  You know, gotta be the center of attention.  

Just FYI, the granola turned out to be really good and really simple to make, but you really do have to make sure to stir constantly so it doesn't get quite as crispy as my corners did.  By the time I got home power was restored and I was feeling pretty good about life. 

I officially completed the Runner's World Summer Running Streak on July 4 and it felt oh so good.  Truthfully, I enjoyed running the mile (almost) every day and it's kind of funny how since that's been over my running has taken a downhill slide.  My nice friend and I took Maddux to Pittsburgh for the 4th of July week to visit my parents and my sister.  I thought more about baseball and beer than running.

We had to take the non-Pittsburgher to Church.  You may not know this, but on the 8th day of the creation story, man made beer.  Not sure why they would leave that out...

In the short time we were there we got a lot done.  We went on the Mount Washington Incline to show my friend the city and then walked (through a storm...) to Fat Heads.  My family will do a lot for beer.  I'm not sure my friend will ever go back to the 'burgh with me, because I'm pretty sure he is even more convinced that I am crazy, but at least he ate and drank well while he was with me, even if I made him work for it.  By the time we were done with our beer, we walked back to watch the fireworks from one of Pittsburgh's bridges.  My sister takes better pictures than I do so I am using hers.  Also, I was scared that I would drop my phone into the water because I am clumsy and I trust her more than I trust myself. 

Oooh...Ahh...

Thursday we got to see a Pirates win (in the best park in the world...PNC park) and then the next day my friend and I headed to Kennywood.  From the Rapids ride we spied a haunted house ride and I was super excited because Halloween is my favorite holiday ever and it was like a sneak peek into October. Even better than the fact it was a haunted house, it also let you SHOOT GHOSTS.  The buggy had a laser gun and you got to shoot at targets the whole time.  We may have gone on that ride 3 times...we're both really competitive and had to beat our scores.  Saturday, it was time to go back south, but we got a nice walk in with my parents and our pups.

Sunday, I managed to run again.  It was not pretty.  I did 8.5 miles in about 81 minutes, but man it was tough.   My IT band started being a b again so I've been upping my time with my BFF the foam roller.  Monday I was still hurting going down the stairs, so I figured I would mostly foam roll and relax.  Tuesday I was feeling a little off, but usually I end up feeling better after a run.  Not true in this case.  I will spare you the details, but it was not pretty.  I finished my 5 miles, but then passed out on the couch for the rest of the day.  Today I think will be a rest day to make sure this bug or whatever it is that's ailing me is officially gone so that tomorrow I can champion through.  Happy running! :-)