Friday, May 29, 2009

And I have a taker!

Sammy and I are in for the Great Turtle in October! WEEEEEEEEEEE Mackinac here we come!!!!

I plan on following the Novice plan by Hal Higdon. I am excited for another goal, for motivation to keep up with my running, and for Samantha to start training. This is something that we can do together! EXCITING!

I ordered a new Garmin Forerunner 201, I am waiting very impatiently for it to get here....UGH. It has been a week! WHERE ARE YOU?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Mackinac Island

Those that know me, know that Mackinac Island is one of my favorite places. It has become a ritual for my husband and I to go in August for my birthday.

If you aren't familiar with Mackinac Island, click here: Mackinac Island Info

So anyway, it is one of my favorite places to be and I will never grow tired of visiting. It is the most romantic place, so charming, a perfect getaway. Now that I have just finished my first race, I am ready to plan my next. I need a goal, something to train for and to look forward to. I came across these:


Click here: 39th Annual Eight Mile Run

Click here: Great Turtle Half Marathon and 5.7 mile run/walk

PERFECTION! So now I must decide if I want to train for the 8 mile in September, or attempt to train for the half in October! Anyone want to join me?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Green Bay Marathon ---spectator report

When I was done racing at 7:45 a.m., I had a few beers to celebrate and then I put my racing bib away and put my spectator hat on. I was cheering on my friend Crystal who was doing the half, and Kim and Nigel who were doing the marathon. We had our map and an idea of where we would catch the racers on the course. Before we set off we got to see the first 5 finish the half, they finished in 01:05:00! WOWZA! Talk about exciting to see them zoom in, we had our signs out and cheered them on. We set out to see our friends with 3 kids in toe. Now 10,000 racers means tons of road closures, spectators, traffic. We spent the majority of the time either lost, or sitting in traffic. We completely missed Crystal on the course and at the finish. I FELT HORRIBLE. We should have just stayed at Lambeau, but we really didn't anticipate being trapped or lost. We some how found our way to mile 20 and stood on the bike path, I was getting text updates on Kim so I knew she was close to us. We cheered on the racers and waved our signs. 90% of the racers nodded or thanked us for the encouragement. We saw Kim would looked great as if she was just out for a leisurely run, it was great to see her and to hopefully give her a bit of motivation to finish strong. We weren't getting text updates on Nigel so we were unsure of where he was, we decided to head back to Lambeau to hang out with Crystal and wait for Kim to finish. We had a hard time getting back due to traffic or road closures. We ended up walking about 5 blocks, at this point our kids were exhausted (having been up since 5:00 am) we found Crystal and I greeted her with a hug and congrats--we were so proud of her! We saw Kim finish and I snapped some pictures for her. I loved cheering and watching the runners, it gave me so much motivation to kick my running up a notch. Only once did someone respond rudely to my cheering, it was at mile 25 and I got an "enough already" ....I suppose since he was at mile 25 I will let it slide HA! Being there was an amazing experience. I encourage anyone who has the chance to be a spectator at a marathon to do it!!

CONGRATS to Crystal, Kim, and Nigel---you are my inspiration!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Green Bay Marathon ---my 5k report

Whew what an experience! I am totally recharged and ready to kick my running up a few notches, I am totally inspired! So Friday on our way down to my sister-in-law's house we stopped at Lambeau to get my packet as well as my brother-in-law's packet. We got there about 3:45 p.m., 15 minutes before the expo/packet pick up opened and there was a line outside. My youngest came with me (as she is going through this phase where she can't be parted from me) and my other two and my husband waited in the car. Once inside I got our packets, scanned our chips to make sure they were programed right, got our tshirts, goodie bags, and posters, I took a quick look through the expo and headed out to my waiting family. Considering I had no idea what I was doing, just following the crowd, it was very smooth and quick!

Sunday morning we got up at 5:00 a.m., I ate a protien bar and drank water, got dressed (it was 35 degrees outside), woke up my three children, packed the car (as we were headed back to the U.P. after the race) and headed to Green Bay. My brother-in-law has ran for a while, but this was his first race as well. We parked right at Lambeau, snapped a quick picture, our familes headed off to cheer and Chris and I headed to find a bathroom and the start line.

Photobucket

I hit the bathroom and heard the announcement for 2 minutes to start, we hoped the guard rails and slid into start, we were towards the back and had just a moment to get our iPods situated and we were off. There was no time to be nervous! My first race, 6 months after I started running, only one month after I had ever ran in public. There I was, feeling strong and confident, excited and ready. There were so many people, I was weaving in and out of people, hopping the curb and up on the grass to pass people the entore way. Looking back I only remember 2 songs on my iPod, one at the water station, and the other while running through Lambeau. I was focused and so in the moment that I am not sure I even heard my music. I saw my family and my sister-in-law and her kids at mile 1, it was great to have their support, all the crowd was amazing. I know now how important support and encouragment is, it meant so much to me on my little run, I can only imagine how it feels on long races.

The water station was at the half way mark, I stopped briefly to drink a bit of gatorade and I was off again. This is another part where I was up in the grass dodging people, kids, wagons...There was one small hill on the course and I ran up it, I said in my head "I love hills" it worked. I ran past strong looking men who were walking up it, it made me smile. Once I saw Lambeau around the corner I knew I was in the home stretch. I ran down into the building which was so bloody hot I thought for a split second I could puke, ran out through the tunnel onto the field. This is where I remember my iPod and started singing along to the music as I was feeling tired, my family was in the stands cheering me on with their signs, it was great.








Back into the tunnel where again it was so hot, I was tired, I am sure I looked pained, I was a rookie and didn't smile, didn't put my arms in the air etc. If a picture was taken it will suck. I looked up at the time and saw 38 and felt ok about it, my goal for myself was 35 minutes, I was happy to learn that my offical chip time was 00:35:49. Not bad for all the dodging I had to do, certainly that ate up at least a minute LOL.

Chris finished his first race with a 00:27:31! We celebrated with a few post-race beers at 8:00 a.m.!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

echo

This blog is lonely! (pout)

so my first race is in 5 days! YAY! MY FIRST BIB NUMBER! We are headed to the Green Bay Cellcom Marathon. I am doing the 5k with my brother-in-law and a few others, I have a friend doing the 1/2, and two friends doing the full marathon. Is it bad that I am more excited to cheer the others on than to run myself? I can not wait to experience the marathon, I KNOW that it will be HUGE motivation for me to kick my running up a few notches. My children and I are making signs tonight to help encourage our friends on their long treks. So yes this is it. This race is why I started running in November, this was the goal. Now I am NO WHERE where I want to be, or as far or as fast as I thought I would be. Nursing school kicked my ass this winter and put a damper on running. But I am here, I will be there and I will run. Something I never thought I would do. Hell up until last month I had never ran in public in my life. I never played sports growing up, nothing. So yes I am here, I will finish, I will not be the fastest, but good god I will not be the slowest. It is about the experience, about setting a goal for myself and following through, about improving and being active, about my beginning as a runner. Bring it on!