Imma 13.1

As mentioned a few weeks ago-- I finally set my sights on another race. I'll be running the Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon on February 16th, 2014!! If you can count (I cannot, so I googled it), that is 11 weeks away.  

I picked this race for 2 reasons-

1. I needed an excuse to fly out to Arizona to visit my brother-- and this race is just 40 minutes from where he lives. Boom.

2. Winter running is not always fun. Having a race to train for will help motivate me and keep me purposeful about the miles I'm logging despite the sub-freezing temperatures. 

For my first 1/2 marathon I used Hal Higdon's beginner training plan and it worked really well. I was completely new to running, fueling, tapering, cross training etc and I followed the schedule almost to a T. I went into race day feeling confident and excited!!
Since then I've run over 600 miles, a handful of short distance races and my first full marathon. I'm not a running expert, but I feel comfortable enough with the sport to fudge a little bit on the traditional plan and write my own schedule.

My training plan for this 1/2 is going to include a lot more cross training than last time, mostly crossfit classes. This spring I dropped my mile average by an entire minute by incorporating speed work and extra crossfit classes. For my miles I am looking for more quality over quantity. I plan to run 3 days per week with an occasional 4th day thrown in for fun-- 1 long run, 1 speed run and 1 mid-distance run. 

I realize that good training does NOT always equal good racing-- you never can predict what will go down on race day. I'm toying with a couple goal finish times, but at this time my only goal for the 1/2 is to beat my previous finish time (2:28:25). Of course I'd also like to negative split, meet my future husband and get my pictures taken with Ellen Degeneres while running this 1/2, but we'll see what happens. 

I'm excited! I love training, I love racing and I love the discovering that  occurs during each training cycle and resulting race. These are not just workouts and miles logged- they are life lessons and minutes added to my life.

 I'm already taking suggestions for songs for a killer playlist-- what should I add?? 

Vacation, Oregon and Running!

Hello from Oregon!! 

My two goals for this vacation are to sleep and to run! My schedule this fall has been ridiculous and I am so grateful for a chance to sloooow down and take it easy this week. 

I rolled out of bed after 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep feeling like a completely new person. Absolutely amazing how refreshed I felt! Perfect start to my vacation!

I was so excited to go for my run this morning! I love exploring new places while running! I had forgotten how much I love running in the cold! So invigorating and refreshing! 

I am extremely proud of myself because I took the above picture with my nose! My gloves make using my phone while running impossible, but apparently my nose was still warm enough to do the trick and is a darn good photographer of I do say so myself. Curlypinkrunner's nose is available for hire at all your special events to capture your precious memories. 

Three miles never felt so good. I took it easy and ran music free. Oregon is really beautiful running country!! 

My trip will be spread out in several states this week, beginning in Oregon. My friend has been working at youth ranch in western Oregon all summer and is going home to Nebraska for the winter. We will be diving home, so I will be running, eating and sleeping through Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. 

If you're not following me on Instagram-- doooo it! You can find me on Instagram @ curlypinkrunner because I am soooo original like that.

What's your favorite thing to do on vacation?? 

How many miles did you run today? 

then there was hope.

Running is more than just running. Come with me and see.

 

the excitement bubbling up inside while changing shoes.

the quick stretching, loosening up my legs.

the tension of the day slipping away as my feet meet the street.

the first rolling hill, my legs reminding me of yesterday's heavy deadlifts.

the late afternoon sun slipping towards the horizon, shifting colors every minute.

the strains of Eric Church spilling out of the truck with two pairs of boots protruding from beneath the hood.

the heart-rate building, the pace quickening.
 

the pavement decorated with leaves.

the truck full of teenage boys that circled the block. three times.

the unnoticed lip in the street that nearly caused a faceplant.

the light shifting, causing my own shadow to scare me.

the gratitude welling up within me for the ability to run.

the prayers going up for my running friends who are injured.

 

 the struggle to stay on pace.

the mental debate what my post-run fuel will be.

the first big hill.

the perfect Hollywood Undead tune to propel me to the top.

the feeling of accomplishment.

the dog that chased me and can indeed run faster than I can.

the coworker that honked and waved.

the thoughts about life. is this all my life is? if this is always how my life is, am I okay with that? who do I want to be? do my choices on the daily reflect where I want to end up in life?

the temptation to shortcut my intended 4 miles for 3.

the reminder that nothing worth having is easy.

the sweat dripping off my face.

the hill that felt like it would never end.

the little voice "this is too hard".

 the fight to try.

the realization that my running capris are tighter than they used to be......and not in a good way.

the choice to remember that the size of my pants has nothing to do with how valuable as I am as a person, or much I love running or what I will remember at the end of my life.

the dead end.

the scent of laundry freshener spilling out of the tiny white house on the corner.

the steady rhythm of my unused ear bud thumping against my chest.

the worry cropping up inside for my friend who is struggling.

the assurance that God will hold her just as closely as He holds me.

the elderly couple with walkers, circling the block together.

the end in sight.

the last little bit of energy expelled.

the dash to the end.

the smile.

the victory.

the hope that emerged within me.

If you saw me running, it may appear like just another run. Just some sweat, the city streets and the cool evening breeze.
But when we run, it's more.

What did you feel/notice/believe during your run today?

I was sure I was going to drown.

I know I know, it's all over the internet, but I can't get enough of it. 

Two reasons;

 1. Can you be funnier than Jimmy Fallon #notevenpossible 

2. it's really turning me on to this whole hashtag craze. 

I've been watching it on repeat more than is probably healthy or normal, but seriously......it's hysterical.

I had an easy 3 miler on the schedule post nightshift, but the thunder and lightening made me second guess myself. My first thought when I saw the rain pelting down was "hmmm......this could be fun". My second thought was along the lines of how much I hate to get my  running shoes wet. My third thought was somewhere in the vicinity of saving my run for later in the day when I'd get wet from sweat, not rain. Thankfully a coworker came to my mental rescue......."you're not going to run in that are you?"
#watchme.

I left my gps in the car because I didn't want to ruin it and stuck to running in circles on the track to avoid unnecessary puddles. Running in the rain is a tug of war between two different sections in my brain. The "running shoes are expensive stay avoid the puddles" section and the "see-all-the-puddles-jump-in-all-the-puddles" section. #kidatheart


 I felt a little bit like a triathlete- look at me  run and swim at the same time. Triathletes are absolutely mind-blowing, ridiculous rock stars that I stand in utter awe of. Running in the rain is the closet I'll ever come to a tri, that's for sure and certain.

By the end of my 2nd mile the sky was getting light, but the rain was also picking up a bit. I was pretty sure I was going to drown. My messy mop of really-needs-trimmed  hair was collecting water that poured directly down my face.  

I thought about taking multitasking to a completely new level- I could throw some shampoo in my hair and call it a free shower. hmmm......probably no.  #crazyandiknowit

Post run soakingness. It really was a beautiful run! Running in the rain can be cold, but this was pretty much the perfect temperature! While I was running I wrote this post in my head, but somehow it was a lot funnier in my brain than it is out on paper............#ithinkimfunnyevenifyoudon't 

When was the last time you ran in the rain? 

How do you dry your running shoes?

What's your opinion on hashtags?

Mr. Marathon, my one and only.

Lots of people run marathons-- it's uncommon, but it's not as rare as you might think. Marathoners slip through the cracks of sanity into one of two different buckets; Team A. "marathons are amazing! que chronic marathon training and annual marathons." Team B. "I temporarily lost my mind and nothing could ever compel me to live through such torment ever again."

When I crossed the finish line of my first marathon, the pieces of my body were dumped equally into aforementioned buckets leaving me with the middle-of-the-road approach to marathons (please note the pun).

Running the marathon was one of the most amazing experiences in my entire life. It was a truly amazing accomplishment for me. My training plan fell apart, I struggled with crazy health issues and nearly gave up, but I crossed that finish line happy and healthy and insane!!

Post marathon I had a stress-fracture scare that kept my shoes unlaced for 3 straight weeks, allowing me plenty of time to think about where I wanted to take my running. I'm a planner, and every step I take is premeditated.
What am I going to do with running? 

Another marathon?

Crazy run a mile everyday streak?

Do I want to run a Boston Qualifier??

My 3 week recovery finished beautifully and I was back in motion. I ran free for a month (and dropped my pace by a full minute), ran in the middle of the night, and ran a 339 mile relay and kept running my little heart out all summer long. In the back of my mind I was planning to run another marathon this fall.........but I kept procrastinating on any sort of training plan. Some weeks I ran every day, other weeks I'd spend less than 20 minutes with my running shoes.

Subconsciously, I started feeling like I was failing at this whole running thing. Shouldn't I be training for another marathon? Speed work, tempo runs and buying stock with GU or Shotbloks? Running = racing, right? I'm a runner, but I don't own a garmin, a heart monitor and I don't have wireless ear buds.
There was this little mountain of pressure starting to grow within me.
 I'd run a quick 2 miler before work but as I untied my shoes, a little voice would chirp "that should have been 5."
I'd crawl into bed on a Saturday morning after a long night shift and my instagram flooded with post-long-run photos from my runner friends would make me horribly jealous and contemplate skipping sleep to go run.
A combination of poor nutrition and a significantly less regular running schedule made my mile pace slip from the low 8's back to the mid 9's.
I tried to plan for another marathon this fall, but my heart wasn't in it.
Running started to become a guilt-ridden and leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

Ahem, time to re access.


I really love running.
It's precious me time that I value for the wonders it works in my heart and mind. The mental and emotional value to me is far greater than the physical benefit.
When I run, I can forget the snarky comments from a coworker, the horror about how much my new tires will cost, the frustration with my blog HTML, the pressure that I put on myself when I look in the mirror. Running frees my soul in a way that few other things.
I don't run to compete, to push myself or get crazy fit.
I run to enjoy, to savor and to restore my mental clarity.

I don't want to take my running anywhere. 

I don't want to box it up, schedule it out and make it another check mark on my to-do list. I spend too much of my life bouncing from item to item on my to-do list --- the last thing I want to do is make running a requirement instead of a release.

I want running to take ME places. 
(just not the the fridge.)

I want to run another marathon.
Marathon training takes time, a heck of a lot of energy and a decided disinterest in your toenails.
I have a shortage of both time and energy and I'm already down two toenails (hello gym-fail).
There's another marathon on my horizon, but it won't be in 2013.
Somewhere, sometime down the road, I'll be running more and set my sights on another marathon.
Until then you'll find me enjoying the course, loving the miles and letting the pressure go.

When is your next race?

Do you run for pleasure or for purpose?

How many toenails do you have right now?

Racing Mr. Trash Truck Man.

I do believe I tempted summer to revamp the temperatures with all my fancy summer's over talk.

 Hey hey 100 degrees, nice to see you again. Since this is the week that I started bringing my mileage back up a little bit, I'm reminding myself that ahem, cool fall runs are right around the corner.

This morning I ran in an area that I don't typically run in and it was great to switch up the scenery. It was after 8 am, so the sun way UP and it was really warm. I was dripping in sweat before I made it the length of a block.

If we had a contest to see who could be the most random while out for a run, I'd win. Case in point; 

Part way through my run I started to smell something pretty wretched, which thankfully turned out NOT to be me. The trash truck and I played tag for a few minutes up the street until I said "Last one to the next bag has to lift it!" I thought I was joking, but I ended up getting beaten by a dude with a pretty mad sprint despite steel-toe boots. Nastiest bag of trash I have ever met, but I threw that sucker like a pro and the driver offered me a tootsie roll. 

The best part about it was the roofing crew on the house next door who all burst out in applause, obviously for my stellar trash-bag-lifting skills.

  

The second best part was it reminded me of this gem of a video. .

What's the most random thing that has ever happened to you while running?

So you're gonna run a relay...........

If you are a runner- go find a relay to run. NOW. And, when you realize that you are 1 runner short of a full crew of crazy; call me. I will be your 3rd wheel, chatty cousin, last call, stumpy-short-legs, last ditch resort.
In all seriousness, relays are not exactly child's play- but they are so much stinking (ha to the ha-ha, please someone laugh at my pun!) fun!! Can I get an AMEN?!? You have to participate in one to fully appreciate them, but yeah- go get yourself some relay action.

Relay Must-Haves.

1). Game plan. This includes a training plan, a packing plan and a how-to-not-be-hated-by-your-team-mates plan. Make it and break it, but have a rule of thumb to keep you focused.

2). Sense of adventure/flexibility gene. Relay conditions can be less than ideal. Think; peeing in ditches, sleeping on a concrete gym floor surrounded by snoring runners, eating off the hood of your car (5 second rule becomes 5 MINUTE rule) and finding out you're up to run the next leg 12 minutes after you carbed-up. Do yourself a favor and decide to have fun no matter what, and be prepared to follow through!

3). Proper Gear & Fuel. Don't wait until the day of the relay to find out that your earrings don't match your running skirt. Don't be a pack-rat. Your team will have limited space for gear, so don't bring the kitchen sink  or the family photo albums- stick with the fine china and family silver and just the basics that you'll need.

4). If at all possible; leave your nose at home. Running + infrequent showers + a 15 passenger van housing your stankiness in 95 degree weather. Ya'll may or may not smell like a garbage bin on wheels. The good news is, your running mates likely won't notice your smell because of their own odor.

5). Peanut Butter and Jelly. I'm not sure if there is a situation in life in which pb&j is not a good idea, but I digress. Pb&j is terrific fuel, smells goods and makes you happy. Bring it, eat it; thank me later.

6). Awesome teammates that you like and that like you. It gets hot. You loose count of your mosquito bites. You spill chocolate milk. You leave your blinking tail light on while attempting to discreetly use the facility ditch it, so yeah- the whole van gets to see your business. It's super fun, but it's also still work, HARD work, and it can get tough. Your teammates are what will get you through. Laugh a little, laugh a lot.

7). An excellent team captain. Someone has to be in charge, and end up being the bad guy sometimes. Distributing legs, planning for fuel stops, navigating the check-points, staying on track, handling the paperwork, money work and getting you to run your legs off work........not just anyone can handle it. Be kind to your team captain, follow orders and be grateful. Remember, he holds the keys to your leg- do you want hills or flat.............

8). Recovery. Hello- it's the name of the game. Relays are amazing, and you will be astounded at what your body is capable of, but you must take recovery seriously. Get some supplements, stretch and foam roll like it's your JOB.

9). Pack the food you need. There is nothing worse than bonking out because you're not properly fueled & getting enough calories. You cannot count on the availability of a convenience store or restaurant or grocery store. If there is one available, you may not have time to stop, or you may not be there during their hours of operation. Bring what you need. It's no big deal if you bring food home or feed the L.O.'s to the birds, but you don't want to start gnawing on oak leaves because you don't have any grub at 3 am.

Also worth noting;

--there is no such thing as too many pairs of socks.

--take too many (pointless) pictures. you'll be glad you did.

--white shorts + impending rain is an absolutely perfect recipe for the fastest leg you will run over the course of the relay.

--it's perfectly normal to consume an entire gallon of chocolate milk over the course of your relay.

--on your last leg of the relay, your legs are going to be spent and you will be convinced you can run no faster. that German Shepherd the size of a golf cart hurling down the hillside towards you will prove that yes, you indeed CAN run faster.

--sleep IS overrated, and you don't need it to run capably. you may start loosing some fine motor skills, but no-biggie.

--smart phones are a relay runner's best friend, until you loose 3G or all 8 of your iphone chargers get lost in the van in the inky blackness of night.

--people will give you strange looks. get used to it.

--your toothbrush is your best friend. you may not be able to shower, but you can have clean pearlies.

-- running a relay is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you're a runner, go find a relay.

Anything I missed? 
What is your #1 MUST-HAVE when running a relay?

Independence Day 5k.

Back in January when I was assembling my mental running goals for the year, I set my sights on setting a new PR for my 5k distance on the 4th of July. Let's face is; getting a PR on one of the hottest days of the year just makes the PR that much sweatier, I mean sweeter. 

The 5k is organized and run by my friends and neighbors, and the start is less than a mile from my house. It's a great event for our community. It's a little bit different than your typical race because I run the route, with a couple variations on a weekly basis. Most races you don't have the advantage of knowing the course like the back of your hand. 

I ran this 5k last year intending to PR and ended up having a horrible race-- finishing at around 31 minutes. The course is pavement, with a 1/2 mile stretch of gravel and at the 1.5 mile mark, there's a gradual-appearing-but-actually-butt-kicking-incline. Last year I crashed and burned on the incline, and this year I was looking for revenge!

I had been so excited about this race all spring, so when I was shocked to wake up on the 4th with zero desire to run, let alone race. I woke up and wasn't feeling the greatest and completely unmotivated. I decided not to run, but at last minute talked myself into going because I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. I immediately chucked my idea of PRing, I was going to be happy just to get my butt to the finish line.

The race started and I still wasn't particularly feeling it, but I started to find my pace and just enjoy myself. It's amazing though, because it didn't take long for my inner race monster to wake up and shake the decks. Hey, if we're gonna race........let's RACE! 

I set an slightly uncomfortable pace and just hung on. It was warm, but there was a good breeze- not strong enough to be difficult to run into; just enough to keep you cool. The end was tough, but you when you finish smiling and on empty- that's a win in my book!

In the end I finished with a brand new of PR; 25:37 which demolished my previous PR of 28:27! I was elated to meet my goal, despite not feeling the best! 

My current training plan is geared towards longer distances, but I'm looking forward to another 5k sometime this fall, and this time the goal is to sub-25!

Post-race text out to my sister, who was also racing that morning, just in a different state. She set a new 2 mile record, like a boss. Last year we raced together, and I definitely missed having her race with me.

Relay Iowa (Part 3)

Part 1 & Part 2
So here we are- 0900 am on Sunday morning, closing in on the finish line!! The night shift runners ran their final legs- and they were tough. The hills at the end of our route were brutal!!! I didn't get a picture of them, but they were intense! Everyone was tired and ready to be done.
 The last couple of miles of the relay followed a bike trail, wound through a residential neighborhood and ended with a steep hill as you enter the park and arrive at the finish line.

Our team decided that it would be fun to finish is true relay style- run super short legs of .2 or .3 miles. We weren't entirely sure how much ground we had left to cover, so we just started rotating our runners, dropping a runner every .2 or .3.

Rotating our so fast made the last bit of the relay fly by. The entire team was totally psyched to be so close to the finish! There was so much energy, but also so much fatigue!!
The route flew by as we sped through our 'mini-legs'. We were trying to keep the entire team together so that we could finish together!! We pulled into the park, vehicles parked and everyone piled out to finish together!!!

We climbed the last bit of hill, and there was the finish line!! VICTORY!!!

Our team set a goal to run the relay in under 48 hours and maintain an 8:30/mile pace. We finished in 47 hours and 4 minutes, and our average pace was 8:19.


In celebration of our accomplishment, we made sure to properly thank our Team Captain!! We managed to catch him completely off guard for a good dunking!

Now comes the fun part- sorting, repacking and a million pairs of running socks missing their sole-mate. :)

At the finish line we were able to Skype with the founders of Restoring Hope International and several of the children from the orphanage. It was amazing to see the little faces that we had run all those miles for.

My celebration burger!! :) After two days of mostly carbs and limited protein, this girl was ready for some meat!  

The park was beautiful! It was such a perfect day- very sunny and super lovely out! There were so many trees, and the river was right there on the edge of the park.  

 

 

 

 

 Team Bfanana Banana! Finished; 47 hours, 4 minutes!!!

The relay was an amazing, fantastic experience! There are just not enough words to explain how awesome it was. Our team was amazing and each person played a significant role- running, encouraging, giving advice, sacrificing sleep etc... Having never met most of the team prior to the relay, I was so glad to see how well we all meshed together and worked together so well.
We all had an amazing time and are already planning a Reunion for Relay Iowa 2014...........Bfanana Banana RUNS AGAIN! :)

Relay Iowa (Part 2).

11am on Saturday, we completed the first 24 hours of our relay. Our team had previously set a goal to finish the relay in under 48 hours, and we were sitting right about the half way point. Most of the team was still feeling strong and we had a lot of miles left to cover. Through the middle part of the day our entire team stayed on the road together for a few hours, instead of some of us going to sleep.


After my 5 mile leg, I had almost 10 hours before my next leg. I did a lot of rolling and stretching, but my legs were feeling super awesome! My last leg on Saturday was at 7pm and my splits were 8:02, 9:25 and 8:58. My pacing over the course of the relay was not particularly stellar, but I was happy to be seeing lots of miles in the 8:XX area.
The weather was still pretty great- low 80's for a high, barely any wind and great cloud cover. 

Saturday afternoon some of the team was starting to get some aches and pains going on. All of us had double digit miles on our legs, and fatigue started to play a role for some of the runners. 

Ice-bath anyone?? 

Saturday afternoon we were stopped by the news crew that covered the relay and they asked if they could interview us. Yours truly got stuck with the microphone. Can I just say now that I hate my recorded voice?? 

Let's just be as awkward as physically possible, because the cameras eat that stuff up.

At 9pm we split into two shifts again and it was my turn to sleep. We stayed in a gym with showers and a very cold floor. I was tired, but had a really hard time actually sleeping. The night shift laid down some really good fast miles for our team and then called us to switch around 2am.
Running in the dark was my favorite part of the entire relay! It was just you, the road and the night! So amazing. Loved every minute of the night legs!! 

The day shift runners were excited to put out some pretty fast miles and keep up the good pace that the night shift team had set up. Through the night they had passed several more teams, and at that point there were only a couple teams ahead of us. When the night shift drove ahead to camp out, they counted and let us know that there were only two more teams in front of us, one just barely 1/2 mile ahead and the other one closer to 2 miles ahead.
Time to catch some runners. :) We passed the first team almost immediately, and then set our sights on the one remaining team ahead of us.  
We were running just a couple miles ahead of some pretty heavy storms, so it was cool and there was quite a bit of wind. The headwind made the morning legs a little bit tough, but still doable.

I was the 4th runner in our morning rotation, so by the time it was turn for my leg, we had pulled up close to one of the runners remaining in front of us. I knew he was far enough ahead of us that I probably wouldn't get the kill, but I wanted to shorten the gap between us so our next runner could pass him.
It was a perfect morning to run- my leg was at 4:15 and I was feeling really good. Just before I hit the 1 mile mark, I realized that I could see the red blinking tail light of the runner in front of me. He had some good ground on me, but I was determined to catch him. I got my 2nd kill of the relay when I passed him just before the 2 mile mark! Woohoo! I got a second wind after passing him and just kept pulling away from him. (Yes sir, you got chicked!!!) My splits were 8:19, 8:52 and 8:57. 

Field of dreams in the middle of the morning!! When the sun came up, the wind picked up even more. It was  almost chilly out! So far we had not run in any rain, even though we were sitting at 60-70% change of showers for the past 12 hours.
During the night legs you were required to wear a reflective vest, headlamp and tail light. We had two sets of lights, but only one vest, so transition took a little bit longer because you had to get the vest off & on the the new runner. At one transition, in the fumble of handing over the vest, the finishing runner forgot to hand the GPS off to the new runner. Tim had already taken off about 1/3 of a mile down the road before we realized. Our first response was to jump in the van and bring it to him, but that would have felt like cheating- even though he ran the entire distance, it was our error to not give him the GPS, and that didn't mean we could use the vehicle. One of our other runners took off in a dead sprint to catch him, while we went ahead in the van and told him to stop and wait. Thankfully we caught him and quickly remedied our error. Early morning brains don't always function the best!! :)

My 2nd leg that morning was at 6:30, and I was starting to slow down just a touch. This particular part of the  leg wasn't super well marked, and I was afraid that I was off course. I spent about a mile worrying that I was lost. Since we had passed all the other teams, there were no other runners or support vehicles out on the road to help reassure me. My splits were 8:41, 9:28 and 9:04. Thank you mr. german shepherd for chasing me and increasing my speed for the last 1/2 mile of my 3rd split.
At the end of that leg I was sitting right at 29 miles. I was ready to be done, but really wanted to hit 30 miles before I was done. :) 

We ran though the town where the night shift team was camped and they broke camp and rejoined us. It was time to get in our last 30 miles and finish!! Our team was excited, tired and ready to be done. It's amazing how tired you can be, but yet completely amped up on adrenaline at the same time.
There were quite a few runners on our team who were starting to feel pretty slammed, so we switched up the legs for the last couple of miles so that they could fall out of the rotation.
My last full leg was a 1 mile leg--- uphill. It was tough, and my legs felt pretty spent! I ran the last mile in 8:46, not horrible, but I had hoped for a bit faster.

9am on Sunday morning- the sun was up, the clouds were looming and we were within just a  miles of the finish!!

Stay tuned for part 3-- the FINISH!!