Tips for running (and training for) your first half-marathon

If you missed it, I previously wrote about running (and training for) your first 5K and your first 10K. The half-marathon distance is where things take a big leap, and your training gets longer. You're probably no longer a "beginner", and you've likely done a few shorter distance races.

My first half-marathon was a race that I had walked for three years in a row before I decided to run it. It was the Indy 500 Festival Mini-Marathon, which is the largest half-marathon in the country, and third largest in the world (source). I didn't have a time goal in mind, but I really wanted to truly enjoy the entire race--and I think that made all the difference in how great of a race I had!

I've now completed 11 half-marathons, so it's no longer an intimidating distance for me. My favorite distance is still the 10K, but half-marathon is a close second. It's long enough that you have to train for it, but not so long that the training consumes your life (like a marathon does). Anyway, I hope these tips will be helpful! Feel free to share your own tips in the comments.

A couple of other posts that may be helpful are:
A guide to "running lingo"
50 running tips

*I do not recommend a half-marathon as your first race. I'd start with a 5K, move to a 10K, and once you get at least a couple of races under your belt, then think about the half. I think if you've finished a 10K, you're running regularly, and have the discipline to stick to a training plan, you're probably ready to tackle the half-marathon!

*Choose a training plan based on your goal. If your goal is just to finish, feeling strong, find a plan that doesn't focus on a bunch of speed work. I've written a plan for beginners, which you can find here on my Training Plans page. I don't recommend having a time goal for your first, because it adds a lot of unnecessary stress in what should be an enjoyable race.

*If you DO decide to have a time goal, at least make it a realistic one. I love this pace calculator. You can input a recent 5K or 10K time, and it will give you a prediction for a half-marathon time. That is also a realistic goal.

*Pick a race that works well with your goal. If you're a slower runner, or a walker, you'll probably want to choose a race that has a lot of people in your pace range. You can check the website to see if there is a time limit on the course, and then check out the previous year's results online to see where you fall. Just for reference, the winners of a half-marathon will usually finish just over an hour; and a common time limit for a half is 4 hours (18:19/mi). So in general, you'll be finishing somewhere in there ;)  (Fun fact: In 2012, the median finish time for males was 2:01:28, and 2:19:47 for females. Source)

*Announce on Facebook, and all your social media sites, that you've registered for your first half-marathon. Telling the world makes you much more likely to stick with the training ;)

*Don't slack on your training! While some people can manage to complete a 5K or 10K with little to no training, the half-marathon distance is definitely tougher--even if you plan on walking it. When I walked my first, I didn't train at all, and I paid the price for that (I had to wear a walking cast for a few weeks because I had bad tendonitis). You should get in a long run of 10 or more miles about two weeks out from the race.

Walking my first half-marathon

(*Also, don't wear your bib as high as I pinned mine. I had no clue when I pinned it there, but nobody wears their bibs that high!)

*On a related note, if you DO happen to miss a run for a very good reason, don't worry about making it up. Just start where you left off.

*Practice your fueling plan during your long runs. When you run for 13.1 miles, you're going to on the course for roughly 2-3 hours--and you're going to need something to help give you the energy to keep going. During training, you can experiment with gels, chews, sports drinks, etc. to find out what works for YOU. This is one area that truly is unique to each individual. Your training partner may do great with gels, but they might make you nauseous. Or vice versa. Try out all different types of fuel during your training runs to find out what agrees with YOUR body. In general, I'd aim to take in 1-2 gels, or 3-6 ShotBloks (or equivalent) for a two-hour half-marathon (maybe miles 5 & 10?). An additional gel for three hours.

*Check out the race website to see where the water stations are, and practice taking in your fuel at those points during your training runs.

*Make a mental plan about what you're going to do at the fuel stations. Personally, I walk through the stations and drink at each and every single one (unless I'm doing a 5K or 10K). It's important to hydrate early on, before your body gets upset that you're running for so long. And yes, walking through the water stations still "counts" as running a half-marathon ;)

*If possible, find a training partner to prepare for the race with. Running with a partner really helps the long mileage fly by!

Jessica was my training partner for my first full marathon, and it helped a LOT!

Partners that run together, treat themselves to fro-yo together!

*Check out the course, and try to mimic the terrain if possible. If there are tons of hills, then you'll obviously want to include a lot of hills in your long runs. If it's a trail run, then you'll want to run on trails.

*If your shoes accumulate more than 300-450 miles, you may want to swap them out for a new pair. My shoes have to retire at 350 miles, not a single mile later! I learned this the hard way ;)

*Running your first half-marathon is a really big deal, so make sure you treat it like one! Let your family and friends know how much it means to you, and if you want them there, just ask. Non-runners usually have a hard time understanding how important a race is, and it's not personal. Just tell them what you're hoping to get from them--cheers, posters, whatever floats your boat.

*Like always, don't go out too fast when you're at the race. Chances are, you'll be feeling great, and with the spectators and other runners around, you'll want to push the pace a little. But that almost always will come back to bite you later. Start out very conservatively, and if you're still feeling great at the 10 mile mark, push the last 5K.

*Some half-marathons have "pacers", which are people who are assigned to finish the race at a particular time. They'll carry a sign that reads the projected finish time, so you know who they are. If you're afraid of going out too fast, or if you want to finish in a particular time, you can always choose to stick with a pacer to help with your goal.

*This is an obvious tip, but make sure you go to the bathroom before the race! The porta potty lines are long, so allow enough time.

*Don't worry about stopping your Garmin, or other sports watch, right as you cross the finish line. There will likely be a photographer taking photos of you, so smile big and forget about your watch until you are well across the line. You want great race photos ;)

What NOT to do when you cross the finish line!

A perfect finish line photo ;)

*Be prepared to be sore for a day or two after the race. Once your legs are accustomed to doing that distance, it won't be so bad; but after your first half-marathon, you'll likely be pretty sore! Plan on taking a week off of running to recuperate.

You may need help putting on pants (be careful not to spill
your celebratory beer). 

I hope this helps! If you prepare yourself by training well, and sticking with realistic goals, I would bet that you'll do great at your first half marathon! Make sure you take pictures so you can submit your accomplishment for Motivational Monday ;)

Continue Reading...

Thrift store finds

Well, I guess I spoke too soon about the fish flies not being too bad this year. Yesterday, Jerry and I went to the rec center so I could sign the boys up for football camp, and I couldn't believe how many fish flies were on the wall!

In the afternoon, we went to the thrift store to see if we could get cleats for the kids for baseball. Whenever I go to the thrift store, I end up browsing around for the longest time, just looking at all the interesting stuff that accumulates there. I found a couple of cool things:

A CamelBak! It was literally brand new, and only $2.99; the only problem was that it was missing the bladder. But I knew I could buy a replacement bladder, and Jerry really wanted the CamelBak, so we bought it.

I also found this book, which I just had to buy!

I love that the woman on the cover is wearing a button-down collared shirt to run ;) The book was published in 1978, so I'm really curious about what kind of advice it offers. Should be an interesting read, to say the least.

Last night, the kids had a baseball game at 7:00. I had to leave early, because I had a Skype interview at 8:00 with Heather from the Half Size Me podcast. I was on her podcast before, in the fall of 2012, and I really enjoyed chatting with her. I love her podcast, so I was happy to do it again. We talked about maintenance, and the struggles I've been having, as well as a little about the From Fat to Finish Line documentary. I really don't have any news about the film--when I asked Angela, the producer, she said it could be a while before it's available. Apparently, documentaries take a LONG time to go from filming to screen.

Anyway, the interview went great (at least I hope so). I felt a lot more comfortable this time around, and I don't think I said "um" so much ;)  Heather is really easy to talk to! I'll let you know when the interview from yesterday is available for download.

This morning, Jerry was off work and we decided to let the kids play hooky from school today. They only had a half-day, and their last day is Thursday (tomorrow and Thursday are also half-days), so we didn't see any harm in letting them stay home. As soon as I got up this morning, I wanted to get my run out of the way. It was already 73 degrees with 83% humidity at 7:00 this morning! I only had three miles on the schedule, so I wanted to get it done before it got any hotter. I hoped the fish flies would leave me alone for 30 minutes.

To say it was a hot run was an understatement. I hate when it's super humid, because my sweat doesn't evaporate, which makes me feel like a slippery mess. I ran at a 9:00/mi pace for the first couple of miles, and was tempted to slow it down for the third mile. As soon as I hit the start of mile three, some birds started dive-bombing me, and I ran hard to get away from them. After that, it was really hard to maintain pace, but since I'd already gone 2.2 miles at that pace, I decided to just try and run a sub-9:00 for the last mile. Not a bad pace for this humidity!

When I finished my run, I was pretty much gasping for air. It was so hard to breathe when the air was so thick. I sat in front of the fan drinking some ice water for a few minutes before taking a shower.

In the late morning, we took the kids to the wave pool at the Metropark. There was a threat of a thunderstorm, but it looked like it would hit north of us, so we took a chance and went to the pool. I really don't like swimming, so I brought Bart Yasso's book (that I bought at the Runner's World Half expo), and sat in the shade to read while the boys swam.

It was really windy, and I started to worry that maybe we would get a storm, but it never came. Because of the wind, the Metropark deflated their huge water slide, though. The kids lasted a few hours in the pool, and then we headed home.

We're supposed to have thunderstorms tomorrow, too, so we'll see what happens.

Continue Reading...

Motivational Monday #65

Happy Motivational Monday, Friends! It's been a couple of weeks, and I have some great MM posts for you today. Enjoy!

---

Sam just completed her first FULL marathon! She has run short distances, including a sub-28 5K time, but she prefers to race-walk. She worked on her race-walking technique for about a year, losing 50 pounds in the process(!), and just completed the Vancouver USA marathon with a time of 5:39:59. (This blows my mind, because that's a pace of 12:59 per mile--that's a VERY fast walk!). The race was very special to her because it was at that race a year ago that she completed her first half marathon.

---

Sara just started running in February, after losing about 25 pounds, and she recently ran her very first 5K race! She did the Women's Fitness Festival 5K in Sacramento with a friend, who helped pace her by doing a run/walk interval, and she completed her goal of finishing in 45 minutes! She plans to run another 5K on July 4th. (Sara's race report)

---

Sharon is official a triathlete! She completed her first triathlon (a 300 meter swim, 10 mile bike ride, 4K run) on June 1st. She did the race with her sister, and both of them placed in their age groups. Her stomach cramped up on her during the race, but she kept moving and is very proud for finishing (especially considering she didn't even start biking or swimming until February of this year)!

---

Anna and her husband just completed their first race--a 10K! When she signed up for the race six weeks ago, she hoped she'd be able to walk a 15:00/mi pace; then once she started training, she realized she could only do 18:00/mi, and was a little disheartened, thinking that her goal was unrealistic. Well, she completed the race with an average pace of 15:02/mi! Her husband was proud to discover that he could run the entire distance (he only trained up to 3.25 miles). (Anna's race report)

---

These posts below are "oldies but goodies". Because of a stupid mistake I made with forwarding my email, I missed these posts when they were sent to me! But they were too good not to share, so here they are--a little late. Better late than never, though!

(March 2014) I really love that Robin shared this story--it's non-weight loss, non-fitness related, but she did something awesome, and it's definitely worth bragging about! The COO of Robin's company was raising money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation to conquer childhood cancer, and in the eleventh hour, was still $2600 away from his goal. After finagling with some coworkers, Robin felt brave enough to offer up her hair, raising $1565 to shave her head! The money she raised, along with the other coworkers, brought the COO over his fundraising goal. Robin said she started an active lifestyle in November, and this is something she never would have done at her heaviest.

---

(November 2013) Kristen is VERY proud of her son, Elijah, who completed his first 5K race! At only 10 years old, he ran/walked the Awesome 80's 5K in San Francisco, earning a huge medal with Darth Vader on it. Throughout the whole race, he never complained or stopped moving! (My kids are so jealous of this Darth Vader medal, and now they want to train for a 5K so they can get one too, haha) Elijah, keep it up--you did great!!

---

(February 2013) Pam has been maintaining a huge weight loss for a little over three years now, and she struggles just like I do. When she wrote in for Motivational Monday, she was very proud to have conquered a difficult situation--a buffet for her grandson's birthday dinner. The buffet had bread, pizza, a salad bar, a table of all Mexican food, Chinese food, desserts, kids favorites, wings, pasta, and all sorts of other things. Pam was determined to stay on track with her healthy new lifestyle, so she took some yummy foods from the salad bar: fresh fruit, pickles, broccoli salad, a small garlic roll, and half a cup of spaghetti with marinara. She avoided ALL the other temptations and stuck with her plan, feeling proud when she left the restaurant.

---

Congrats to everyone for your accomplishments! Don't forget to check out the Motivational Monday Facebook post for more stories :)

Continue Reading...

Pecan Pie

My kids stayed the night at my parents' house last night, and Jerry left for work early this morning, so I had the perfect opportunity to sleep in again. But of course, when opportunity presents itself, it just doesn't work out. I was up by 7:00.

I started to get dressed, and then had the sudden urge to go for a run. My last run was the Heartbreak Hill Half last Sunday, and I had planned to take a full week off of running in order to get my head back in the game. I think it worked, because I definitely felt like running today! So I started back to it a day early.

It wasn't humid this morning (thank goodness!) and the fish flies seemed to be hiding out. It's kind of strange--they hatched and were ALL over the place a couple of days ago, but now, they aren't too bad. I decided to run a four mile out-and-back route, away from the lake, so that the fish flies wouldn't be so much of a problem.

I was a little nervous about how my legs were going to feel after six days off of running. For the first half-mile or so, I felt a little stiff and clumsy, but I could feel myself loosening up as I went. I was sure my pace would be 11:00+ minutes/mile, but my pace was under 10:00, so I felt good with that. I think the week off was good for me.

I saw my dad's truck as I was turning a corner, and he was heading home. Since it was only 7:30 in the morning, I immediately thought, "Ohhh, I bet he just got doughnuts from Monica's!" and I was so tempted to just run straight to his house, but I kept going ;)  (I later found out that he did, in fact, get doughnuts from Monica's.)

After the first few miles, I saw that I was finishing each mile progressively faster, so I decided to try to aim for negative splits all around. I ran a sub-9:00 fourth mile, and felt really good!

I sat on the porch for a little while, just enjoying being outside without the humidity.

My calves were bothering me a little after my run. I had noticed that they were hurting a little while I ran the Heartbreak Hill races, and I think it may have something to do with the hills--I'm just not used to them here. At the expo, the blogger group I was with was given a coupon to get "The Stick" (or another product from that booth). I'd heard of it before, and I know a lot of people swear by it, so I chose the "Stiff Stick"--sounds so naughty, doesn't it?! The first one I picked didn't fit in my suitcase, so I had to exchange it for a smaller version.

Anyway, I decided to give it a try on my calves today.

It definitely hurt while I was rolling it over my calves, so I think that means I was doing it correctly. It reminds me a lot of foam rolling, only it's a lot easier to do. I don't know how well it works, but some of the other bloggers I was with said they love their sticks ;) It may have been my imagination, but my calves did feel better after "sticking" them.

After the kids came home, I decided to make a pecan pie for my dad. I never know what to buy him for Father's Day (or his birthday, for that matter), but he loves pecan pie, and I actually make a pretty good one. Normally, I can't bake to save my soul, but I can make a damn good pecan pie. It came out picture-perfect!

The kids and I went to get a Father's Day present for Jerry, and then we brought the pie and a card over to my parents' house. I made sure to leave before my dad cut into it, because it would be too hard to resist--and it's something like 500+ calories per slice! I usually only have it once or twice a year--Thanksgiving and my dad's birthday.

Well, we are off to take Jerry out for dinner! It feels like a Friday night, for some reason, and I keep forgetting the kids have school tomorrow. It needs to be summer already!

Continue Reading...

A walk with the kids

I slept SO deeply last night. I haven't slept that well in longer than I can remember! This morning, I woke up from a very vivid dream, and was kind of confused for a minute, and then before falling back asleep, I glanced at the clock. 8:30. What the heck?! I am usually thrilled when I can sleep until 7:00, so I was shocked to see that I slept that late.

It felt so good to sleep in, but I flew out of bed to check on the kids. They had woken up at their usual 6:30, and played their iPods. I felt bad that they were awake for so long while I slept, but I really needed to catch up on my sleep, and they didn't seem to mind.

Because the fish flies are so bad near my house, I decided to take the kids to the Metropark this morning for a walk on the trails, because there aren't any fish flies there. The kids groaned about going, but it was gorgeous outside today (practically no humidity at all), so I wanted to get in some activity.

We went to the park and I decided on a lollipop route that goes on gravel/dirt trails. I never run that area, but it's nice to walk. I spent probably 10 minutes explaining to the kids what a lollipop route is. I even drew it the air, to help explain, but Eli misunderstood, thinking that WE would be going up in the air, "like in a helicopter" and flying in a circle.

Once we turned onto the dirt part of the path, the kids were both really happy to be out there. Noah even said that this was way better than playing his iPod.

We called my dad, who was working at the park, and told him to meet us at the boat launch. We stopped to talk to him for a few minutes, and then continued on the trail.

It felt like we were walking forever, but it actually wasn't even two miles. We stopped several times to look at stuff, so it took us well over an hour. It was a nice morning with the boys! I think we'll do it again after one of their half-days of school this coming week.

In the afternoon, I let them talk me into taking them out for an ice cream. While we were waiting in line, I heard a dog bark, and when I looked around, I noticed it across the street. We were on a pretty busy road, but there was a pit bull tied to a fence in a parking lot across the street from where we were standing.

There weren't any cars or people around the dog, so I was curious as to what it was doing there. I kept watching to see if anyone went over there, and after about 10 minutes, I figured I should probably call animal control. It appeared as if someone had just abandoned the dog there. So I called animal control to let them know, and they said they were going to send someone out.

About five minutes later, as we were getting ready to leave, I was going to ask for a cup of water to bring to the dog. Right as I stood up, I saw a man and a little girl come out of the store, and walk over to the dog. The man took the leash from the fence, and they walked away, bringing the dog with them. So I'm assuming he was the owner, and just tied his dog up outside the store while he shopped. Normally, I don't jump the gun on that kind of stuff, but I felt bad for the dog just standing there in the sun, and it really did appear abandoned. So I just called animal control back to let them know.

My brother, Nathan, ran his first 10K race this morning. I got a text from him with his finishing stats, and he finished in 49:36! That's an awesome 10K time, especially for his first. He had been hoping for sub-50, so he definitely hit his goal. I told him that he missed my PR by 13 seconds, so next time he should aim to beat his sister ;)

So speaking of running, I'm only taking one more day off, and then I am going to start with a much-lower-mileage running schedule. I'm keeping it super basic and open to running however I feel that day (if I want to run slow, I'll run slow, and if I want to speed it up, I will). But it will pretty much look like this:

Monday- speed work (intervals, hills, tempo, fartlek, whatever I feel like doing)
Tuesday- 3 miles
Wednesday- rest
Thursday- 4 miles
Friday- 8-12 miles (9:1 run/walk, if I want)
Saturday- rest
Sunday- 4 miles

That's about 25-30 miles per week, so it's enough that I feel like I'm maintaining fitness, but not so much to make me get burnt out. I'm really looking forward to running just to run, and not really "train" for anything! I'm going to be doing a couple of half marathons this fall, but I don't think I'll start training to PR until early next year.

Continue Reading...

Hatched

I couldn't have picked a worse month to do my challenge of walking 12,000+ steps per day! Not only am I taking a whole week off of running, making it harder for me to get in steps, but yesterday, the fish flies hatched.

Fish flies are these really nasty looking bugs that come around for a couple of weeks in the summer (usually mid-June). They don't sting or bite, but they're a huge nuisance. This is what they look like up close:

Ugly, right? They're attracted to light, movement, and shade. If you leave a porch light on overnight, the porch will be inches deep (literally) of the bugs. Normally, they just land on something (like the shutter in the photo above) and stay there until you walk by. They like movement, so they fly off and swarm you, trying to land on you. They also like to sit on the road, particularly in the shade.

Walking to the bus stop today was awful! Half of my street is completely shaded in the afternoon, I plugged my nose and covered my mouth, waved my arms, and just walked as quickly as possible down the street. They swarmed me, of course, and I had to pick about 10 of them off of me once I got into the sun.

Here is a pile of them next to the road:

I went for a couple of walks today, but it was awful. I'll probably have to walk and run on the treadmill for a couple of weeks until they're gone.

Anyway, that's what's going on here :)

---

I saw a snack/meal idea in Weight Watchers magazine this month for zucchini with spaghetti sauce and mozzarella cheese that really gave me a craving for zucchini. So weird. But I bought some yesterday, and today I made it with a couple of modifications. I cut the zucchini into spaghetti shape, and then sautéed it, along with some mushrooms, in coconut oil. Then I added marinara sauce, topped it with mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and the put it under the broiler until the cheese started to brown.

Holy smokes, was it ever good! The whole thing was only 5 PointsPlus.

Zucchini will never be a substitute for pasta, in my eyes, but as a dish in itself, I really like it. I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of it this summer.

---

Last night, I was over at my parents' house for a few minutes, and my mom gave me a box of stuff that she'd saved over the years. Inside, there were a bunch of copies of my high school newspaper that I wrote for. I randomly pulled one out, and flipped to my story, and read it out loud to Jerry. I was cracking up! I wrote it 1999, and it was about how trends have changed. Well, reading it today is hysterical, because the trends have certainly changed once again. (You can click to enlarge)

I cringed while reading it, but it was too funny not to share. I'm excited to go through the rest of the papers and see what else I wrote ;)

Continue Reading...

Back of the pack runners

This whole week is going by so fast. I can't believe that it was a week ago that I left for Boston! Not running this week has made me feel like I have so much more "free" time, but I can't really say I've been super productive.

I started the process of changing my email address. I was at the point where I was feeling embarrassed to tell people what my email address was, because when I started my blog, the email address was just meant to be kind of funny/clever. (It's SlimKatie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com--I came up with "SlimKatie" because I'm an Eminem fan, and it rhymed with Slim Shady... um, yeah, it seemed clever at the time!)

Anyway, I really wished I didn't add that "Slim" before "Katie", so I've decided to drop the Slim. It sounds like it would be really simple, but I used my blog email address as a sign-in for a lot of sites, and it's all over my blog, so I've been slowly but surely changing it over.

In the process, I logged into the email address Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, which I had created a couple of years ago in case someone typed that by mistake, and I noticed a big problem. I had set the email to forward everything to the SlimKatie one, and there were several emails that were never forwarded. Which meant I never saw them.

I felt awful, because some of them were great Motivational Monday posts! Even though they are now outdated, I'm going to post them on Monday. I think I've gotten ahold of everyone who was affected by the error, but if not, I'm so sorry about the mix-up. From now on, my email address is Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, but I will still get the emails to the other address. I feel a little more like a grown-up now, after dropping the "Slim" part ;)

---

Heather, one of the bloggers that was at the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival, wrote a great post about her experience during the half-marathon. Heather is normally a pretty fast runner, which she explains in the post, but she was sick the morning of the half, and wound up finishing next-to-last. Her experience was very different from someone in the middle to front of the pack (not in a good way), and sadly, it happens pretty often during races.

I experienced being in the back of the pack before, too. I think some races do a much better job with it, and some races just seem to "forget" about the back of the pack. But like Heather mentions in her post, all of the athletes pay the same registration fee, so they should all be entitled to the same experience. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. I'm hoping that her post will really help open the eyes of race directors (who can take it into consideration while planning races), as well as the people in the front of the pack (who just aren't aware that this is going on).

When Jerry and I went to the Detroit Free Press Marathon in 2013 specifically to cheer on every single athlete, I felt so sad for the people in the back. When I ran the marathon in 2012, and came out of the tunnel at mile 8, there were a ton of spectators cheering and ringing cowbells--it was awesome! I knew that's where I wanted to hang out during the race as a spectator, and we watched the first person come through, and then we stayed until the final walker came through.

Jerry and I were literally the ONLY spectators still standing there when the last person came through that tunnel.

We rang the cowbells and cheered, and the walkers bringing up the rear of the race thanked us and said that nobody ever stays to cheer for them. That was heartbreaking! They're out there nearly twice as long as the average runner, but they don't get to feel the excitement in the air and the hear the cheers as they work on a very physically challenging goal.

I know there are some races that definitely cater to the back of the pack as well as the leaders, so I'm hoping that maybe in the comments here, we can compile a list. If you've been in the back of the pack at a race before, but had a great experience (all the water stations and spectators were still there, the volunteers were still out, etc), please leave a comment to let us all know which race that was.

Personally, I think the Indy 500 Festival Mini Marathon (13.1 miles) is an amazing race for front and back of the pack runners. That's the race that I did when I was 253 pounds, and the cut-off time is 4 hours. I walked the entire thing, and finished in something like 3:52--definitely the tail end. But the experience was awesome!

I noticed that the people in the back are usually a little more talkative, and it was fun to chat during the race (I'm usually super quiet, but I get very talkative during a race!). There were bands playing throughout the entire course, and none of them packed up to leave before the race was over. All of the volunteers and aid stations were still set up, with plenty of supplies. The finish line party was going full-swing. A great race, and I highly recommend that for a first half-marathon (or if you're just looking for a fun race).

Any other suggestions of a good race, for fast or slow runners/walkers? Give them a shout out!

Continue Reading...

A day with Eli

I've taken the last few days off of running, and it feels so good! I've actually been looking forward to a break after the Heartbreak Hill Half, because I was just feeling the burnout from so much training. I'm going to take a few more days off, and then run a schedule with about half the mileage I'd been doing. It will be a nice change for the summer!

My goal for June is to get in 12,000 steps per day, and so far, I've done it. It's been pretty hard to do the last few days, since I haven't been running. I got in a ton of steps over the weekend at Boston College. We walked everywhere, and rarely had a chance to sit, so I wound up with over 30,000 steps a day. These are the stats from my Fitbit:

I averaged over 21,000 steps per day, and my total distance was over 74 miles! I'm used to just tracking my running mileage, so it's been kind of fun to see just how much distance I actually cover, between the running and the daily tasks/walking.

Yesterday, Eli had his appointment at the otolaryngologist at the children's hospital in Ann Arbor. His appointment was at 10:00, so I told him he could stay home the whole day--that we'd go to his appointment, and then have lunch together afterward. He was definitely excited about that ;)

The doctor ended up putting a scope through his nose and into his throat to check out his adenoids. It was just what we suspected--his adenoids are way too large, and they're blocking part of his airway. That is likely the cause of his snoring and heavy breathing. I was surprised when I saw the picture at just how big the adenoid was (you can see that it's blocking the airway quite a bit).

So, Eli will be having surgery to remove his adenoids and his tonsils. The doctor said that they remove the tonsils at the same time as the adenoids, and the whole procedure is only about 15 minutes. I'm so glad that we know what is going on, and that the surgery will hopefully correct it!

After his appointment, we were driving through Ann Arbor, and I really wanted to eat somewhere different for lunch. I hate driving through unfamiliar cities, though, and I couldn't find a place on the street, so we just ended up going away from downtown and stopping at Max & Erma's. I'd never been to Max & Erma's before, but the menu looked good. Neither one of us liked the food, though, so we won't be going back. But I did like the wrapper that was around my napkin:

We couldn't go to Ann Arbor without stopping at Whole Foods for dessert, of course. So we each got a brownie to take home with us. It was such a long time since I'd been to Whole Foods! I wanted to stay and browse around, but Eli was ready to get home.

In the evening, I realized I still had to get in about 7,000 steps. I decided to walk to Kroger, which is a little over three miles away, and then have Jerry come pick me up. We needed to get milk and bread, so I figured I would at least feel like I was walking with a purpose. Eli asked if he could come with me, so of course I said sure.

I really didn't think Eli would last the whole 3+ miles. He walks slower than I do, so it felt like it took forever, but we had a good walk. Some of the things he thinks about crack me up. Out of nowhere, he said this: "Wouldn't it be really cool if there was an elevator that went to the top of Mount Everest? And inside the elevator, there would be a treadmill, so you could run on the treadmill while the elevator went to the top. Then you could tell people, 'I ran all the way to the top of Mount Everest!'"

Almost two miles in

Hahaha, I thought that was very clever thinking (while totally random). About two miles in, Jerry and Noah drove by, and Noah decided to get out and walk the rest of the way with us. I was surprised that Eli made it the whole way, because it took us over an hour, but he did it! Right as we got there, I hit 12,000 steps.

Right now as I type this, it's 7:45 pm and I'm only at 5,700 steps for the day. Not even halfway there. I don't want to ruin my streak, but I don't know if I'll be getting in all 12,000 today. It's been a long day!

---

Update at 9:01 pm... I did it! I called my best friend Sarah in Arizona, and chatted on the phone while I walked about five loops of my neighborhood. Glad to keep the streak going ;)

Continue Reading...

Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival: Half-Marathon race report

You can read my recaps of the race weekend here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. And now, on to the final post, Part 5!

I woke up on Sunday morning uber early again. I had my alarm set for 6:00, but was wide awake by 4:45. I was nervous about the race, but was looking forward to getting it done so I could stop worrying about it. Thankfully, my legs felt great! I was expecting the worst, but I think the fact that I ran at an easy pace for the 5K and 10K (and doing Hansons' Half-Marathon training) really paid off. 

I wore my Heat Gear capris and a purple and black tank that was given to us by a New Balance rep the day before. The tank was really cute and comfy, so rather than wearing the shirt I'd brought for the race, I wanted to wear the new tank instead. I also wore Mark's bracelet again, knowing I would need the push to get through this race!

We walked to the race at 7:00, for the 7:30 start time. I'm really glad that these races started early! The heat was already pretty bad, even that early in the morning. I can't even imagine an 8:30-9:00 start, which is pretty typical here in Michigan. We took a silly group photo before the race:

My plan for this race was to meet up with Caitlin and run the entire race with her at a very easy pace, so we could have fun and enjoy it, and maybe take some goofy pictures while we ran. At around 5:30 in the morning, however, I got a text from her saying that she'd gotten some sort of stomach bug and was sick all night/morning. She was bummed, because she was registered for the Hat Trick and had already done the 5K and 10K, but there was no way she could complete the Hat Trick.

I was disappointed, because I was really looking forward to running with her, but I just kept the same run strategy--go easy, and try to enjoy it. We lined up at the starting line, and it was so crowded. The half-marathon had even more runners than the 5K and 10K. 

I would have really liked to run with someone, but the other bloggers were taking it easy at a 9:00-ish pace, and that would have been pushing it for me--on a flat course in cool temps, sure! But not for the Heartbreak Hill Half in June ;) I lined up just behind the 2:15 pace group, and figured that'd be a good place to start. 

The race started, and I surprisingly felt pretty good! My legs didn't feel tired, and the first couple of miles passed pretty quickly. The 2:15 pace group was completely out of sight ahead of me, which was strange because my pace was a little faster than the pace group's should have been. But since I wasn't actually aiming for 2:15, I didn't even think about it, and just ran by my plan.

The sun was really heating up, though, so I wasn't sure how long I'd be feeling good. I kept my pace very conservative, because I knew that the second half of the race was going to be killer (with the hills and the heat). My pace wasn't very consistent, because of the hills (and I walked for about 10 seconds at each water station, to slam some water or Gatorade). 

Halfway through the race, I was still feeling really good, and I started to think that maybe I should set some sort of a goal to work on. I had finished my first half-marathon (in 2011) with a time of 2:10:40, a 9:59/mi pace, and I thought maybe I'd aim to beat that, because my pace was hovering right around 10:03 at the halfway point. 

The 2:15 pace group was still ahead of me, but in mile 9, I came upon them. I hate running behind a pace group, because it's like a wall of people, so I picked up the pace for mile 9 to get past them, and then I settled back into the 10:00-ish pace. 

Once mile 10 hit, it was like another race completely. I was SO HOT, and the hills were getting tougher. I threw any thoughts of a 2:10 finish out of my head, and honestly wasn't even sure I'd finish under 2:15 or 2:20. I desperately wanted to walk the rest of the way, but I also wanted to be done, so I kept running. I also had a goal of running the entire thing, regardless of pace, so I didn't want to walk just because it got tough. 

I kept looking at Mark's bracelet, and I thought a lot about him the last three miles. Every time I found myself thinking about how hot it was, and how I wanted to quit, I remembered Mark and his goal to go home from the hospital. He never gave up working on that goal, and did everything it took to make it happen, even though it was painful for him. Thinking about all of that made me tough it out, and just keep running.

When I got to the last incline of Heartbreak Hill, the 2:15 pacer passed me. It was a little disheartening, but according to my watch, I was still on course to finish under 2:15. When I saw the crest of the hill, I ran a little harder, and passed the pacer, because I knew the downhill was coming, and I didn't want to be behind the pacer for that. I heard her tell someone else that was with her that she had to cut her pace back a lot, because she was going to finish too soon. 

After cresting Heartbreak, it was all downhill (literally) from there. I love the finisher's chute of these races! I rounded the final corner, and picked up the pace a little, just ready to be done. I was looking for the photographers at the finish line, because I had already planned on a particular pose for it, but by the time I spotted them, it was too late. I'm pretty sure I looked like death in all of my photos.

I crossed the finish line in 2:13:25 (a 10:12/mi pace). That was my slowest half-marathon time ever (other than the ones where I walked the whole thing), but it was also the hardest race (or, at least, the last three miles were) for me. I'm very proud of myself for finishing all three races without walking a single hill--including Heartbreak Hill! 

I had brought my 5K and 10K medals with me, and carried them in my FlipBelt (I still love that belt, by the way!), so that I could get a finish line photo with all of my medals. I picked up my half-marathon medal, and wore all three.

---

Final thoughts on the Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival:

*The races were very organized and well-done. 

*I love that the weekend is about much more than just the races--there are seminars, running movie screenings, speeches, book signings, etc. that are free and open to the public. 

*The Runner's World staff was very friendly, approachable, easy to find, and visible all over the place. Bart Yasso himself was announcing the race over the loudspeaker. 

*The course was challenging, but nice. I would definitely do it again, even though it was hard. I actually liked the new-to-me challenge of hills!

*I like that the race had options for a 5 & Dime (5K & 10K) and the Hat Trick (5K, 10K, & Half-Marathon). It gives you a little something extra to aim for. 

*The expo was very runner-relavent. It was small, but each booth was something that I was interested in. I'd rather have that than a huge expo with lots of things that didn't interest me. 

*I liked that we got Balega socks and a hat (along with two shirts) for the Hat Trick registration. The socks are super comfy, and I wear hats all summer when I run.

I really can't think of any negatives about the race festival! I would have liked for it to be cooler, but the weather is obviously out of our control. At first, I thought the race was on the pricey side; but after being there, I think you do get what you pay for. I think the only thing I would have done differently would be to have a beer garden at the finish line ;)  Nothing tastes better than a cold beer after a hot race! But other than that, it was a great race and I hope to do it again next year.

(In full disclosure, I paid my own airfare, but Runner's World covered my race registration, my dorm room lodging, and a few meals. I wasn't required to write a review of anything, but had such a great time that I wanted to post about it.)

Continue Reading...

Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival: 5K & 10K race reports

...Continued from Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival, Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3.

Considering I was registered for the Hat Trick (5K, 10K, and half-marathon), you would think that the races would be the major part of the weekend; but with all the other stuff going on, the races were just a small piece. Staying so busy actually helped me to kind of forget that I would be running 22.4 miles before going home! ;)

On Saturday morning, I was up super early. I just couldn't sleep well, and it was really light outside so early in the morning. I chose to wear a super bright orange shirt for the 5K & 10K races, so that I would be easy (well, easier) to spot if a reader wanted to meet up. I had no idea that the race would be so big, otherwise I would have come up with a more specific meeting plan.

I had planned on wearing black capris, but after the Running Skirts "fashion show" that I took part in the day before, I decided to wear the skirt I was given. It actually had black capris attached to it, so my thighs were still covered (I can't wear shorts/skirts because of my loose skin). There was some bright orange in the skirt, so it matched my shirt.

I wore a hat, because it was already really sunny outside, and finally... I wore the blue mustache slap bracelet that my Ragnar SoCal team had worn in memory of Mark. To me, the bracelet represents Mark's positive attitude, and that he NEVER complained about anything, even though he certainly had a lot of things to complain about. I knew that the races this weekend were going to be tough, and I wanted to wear the bracelet to remind me that no matter how bad it got, someone else has it even tougher, and I shouldn't complain.

I was really nervous about the races, because I knew the courses were hilly, and it was so sunny and hot outside, even for a 7:15 AM start. I walked up to the race with some of the other bloggers.

When I say "walked up", I mean that very literally. We had to go up about 60 steps to get to the starting area! My thighs were a little sore before we even reached the starting line ;)

The 5K
There were a ton of people there lined up for the 5K--I got into the corral and the farthest I could move forward was between the 10:00/mi and 11:00/mi pacer. That was fine with me, though, because I planned to run about a 10:30/mi pace for all three races.

When the gun went off, it took a long time to get to the starting line. Once I crossed, I was really glad that I wasn't trying for a PR because it would have been frustrating trying to go around people. Once I started running, my legs could definitely feel the hill workout I'd done on Friday--it wasn't too bad, but my legs didn't feel very fresh.

It was quite a bit hotter than I expected it to be, too. The hardest part about the 5K was giving myself permission to run it nice and slowly. My slowest 5K, up until this race, was 27:17 (an 8:46/mi pace); so it was hard to make myself believe that it's okay to run a 5K at a 10:00+ pace. But I kept reminding myself that the slower I went today, the easier the half-marathon would feel tomorrow.

The finisher's chute on this race is fantastic--you turn a corner, and then the last tenth of a mile is just lined with a ton of people (and shade!). I crossed the finish line in 31:32 (a 10:09/mi pace).

I took my medal, and got some water, then chatted with the other bloggers and walked around a little. One run done, two more to go!

With my roommate, Jessica, who did the Five & Dime

---

The 10K
After about a 40 minute break, I lined up for the 10K start. Again, it was pretty crowded, and I lined up in the same place as before. While I was standing there, I heard someone say my name. Turns out it was a reader named Crystal, and she gave me a hug (poor girl, I was very sweaty after doing that 5K!). We chatted at the starting line for a few minutes before the race started, and then we were off. Again.

I felt better during the 10K than I did during the 5K; I think because my legs had loosened up a little, and the sun wasn't directly in my face.

The 10K course is an out-and-back, which I love. I like out-and-back courses because you can see people ahead or behind you going in the opposite direction. As we ran along, we could look to the right and see other racers. I actually saw Shalane Flanagan go past (way in the front of the pack, of course!). I was on the lookout for Caitlin, who I figured would be at least a few minutes ahead of me.

I heard "Hey, Katie!" and I saw Caitlin wave to me. I kept thinking I saw the turn-around point just ahead, but it ended up being farther than I thought. Finally, we turned, and I had just three miles to go.

I managed to take a pretty good mid-race selfie during the 10K. Dani, from Weight Off My Shoulders, is the master of taking mid-race selfies, and she gave us some pointers. I decided to try it out, and I got (what I think is) a good one!

The last half of the 10K was tough! Miles 4-6 contains Heartbreak Hill, which just feels like a really, really long, gradual incline. It wasn't nearly as steep or dramatic as I imagined, but it was hard! I found while doing this race that the long, gradual hills are much tougher than short, steep hills.

My only real goal for these races was to run the whole thing (except while drinking water at the water stations). I didn't want to walk the hills, because I thought it would be a good challenge for myself. And I was right! I almost caved on Heartbreak Hill, because it was so hot and my legs were tired, but once I could see the crest of the hill, I knew I'd make it. The last part quarter mile was downhill, so you can get a good pace going to cross the finish line. I finished the 10K in 1:02:23 (a 10:03/mi pace).

After the race, I was walking around a bit, and ran into another reader. Her name is Lisa, and she's lost a whopping 75 pounds!

I was so relieved to be done with the first two races. I tried not to think about the fact that I was going to be running 13.1 more miles the next morning!

This post ended up being much longer than I thought. I'll do a separate post for the half-marathon.

Continue Reading...