A Long-Term Relationship

With running that is ;)

We've had an on-again, off-again relationship for about 4 years now.  Before that I had avoided running because it seemed so intimidating. I had admired runners for years but thought it was out of my league. I am definitely not built like a runner and I was afraid to try because I was sure I would fail.

In 2008 one of my best friends and I decided to sign up for the Army Run 5K and I finally had a reason to give it a shot. I remember how we were both in awe that we were doing this, and the tremendous feeling of accomplishment when we finished that race. But that new-relationship glow faded after the race. Without anything to train for I lost interest in running and went back to my regular gym routine.

It wasn't until 8 months later that I revisited running, this time signing up for a 10k race. And boy was that race awful! The entire time I kept thinking to myself "Why am I doing this?!" and "I will never run again after this race!" So once again, I broke up with running. I told myself it just wasn't meant to be and gave up on being one of those people I had admired for so long.

In 2010 my sister-in-law decided she wanted to run the Army Run 5K. I had such great memories of that race that I decided to do it with her. And it was just as fantastic as the first time. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we decided to do the half-marathon at that same race the following year.

Unfortunately my training for that half-marathon did not go as planned. I ended up injuring my knee and falling the week the before the race and hurting my tailbone (have my mentioned I am a total klutz? cause I am!). My sister-in-law was going through some health issues of her own so we ended up walking that half-marathon. I have to say that was a lot of fun and I would totally walk a half again. But I still couldn't get the thought of running a half out of my mind.

And that is why I entered the lottery for the NYC Half.  What better place to run my first half than in one of my favorite cities in the world? So when I found out I got in, I vowed to make it happen this time. I surprised myself with how diligently I followed my training plan and somewhere along the line I realized I had truly falling in love with running.

I was afraid I would lose that feeling once the half was over. But after taking a week off from running, I was eager to get back to it today. I did an easy 5 miles on the treadmill and it felt so good :) My next race is not until September, when I'll be running the Army Run Half-Marathon, but I know I will continue to run consistently over the next few months.  I am finally ready to commit to running. And I have a feeling this time it's going to last ;)

Has your relationship with running been smoother than mine? 

NYC Half Finisher :)

Hey!

Well, I'm back from an amazing weekend in NYC.  The highlight, of course, is that I ran my first half-marathon!

I don't think I can fully express how amazing this run was! I was a nervous wreck the week leading up to it, but somehow when I woke up on Sunday I was super relaxed. I got up at 4:30, had breakfast, got dressed and arrived in Central Park at 6:30.  The race started at 7:30 but, being in the last corral, I didn't cross the starting line until around 8:10.


My only goal for this race was to finish so I wanted to maintain a comfortable pace, which for me is around an 11 minute mile.

I thought the first mile dragged on forever until I saw 2 mile marker and realized I had missed the first one :P I heard the hills between miles 3 and 4 in Central Park were killer but thankfully they were not nearly as bad as I had expected.

I barely even noticed the first 6 miles go by and before I knew it I was running through Times Square. There are seriously no words to describe that feeling - that 1 mile would have made all 13 worth it even if the other 12 had been torture!! You can tell by my splits that I got a little excited there ;)

Everything was absolutely perfect until around mile 10 when I felt a sharp pain in my right thigh. I'd never felt anything like it and I panicked. There was no way I wasn't finishing this race! Up until this point I hadn't taken a walking break because I didn't feel as though I needed it. Well I tried taking one when I felt the pain but it was as though my legs had forgotten how to walk and that seemed even harder than running. So I kept running but slowed down until the pain subsided a little.

From that point on any time I tried to run faster my thigh screamed at me so I had to keep to a slower pace but I was just so grateful that my body wasn't making me stop altogether.  Miles 10-12 along the West Side Highway were the hardest, but I think I would have enjoyed it much more if it hadn't been for the pain. I wish I could have pushed harder for the finish but all that matters is I crossed that line :D

I finished in 2:30, which I am incredibly happy with! I was honestly worried about not finishing within the 3 hour time limit so it was such a relief to know that I had that cushion while I was running. Here are my splits:

Mile         Pace     

1              10'54"/mi

2              11'33"/mi

3              11'05"/mi

4              11'18"/mi

5              11'19"/mi

6              11'06"/mi

7              10'36"/mi

8              10'38"/mi

9              10'54"/mi

10           11'22"/mi

11           11'55"/mi

12           12'07"/mi

13           11'48"/mi

Maybe it's just my intense love for NYC,  I don't think any race can top running through Manhattan.
I really, really hope I get to do it again next year!!!

NYC Half Playlist

Only 5 more days to go til the half! I seriously wish I could just fast-forward through this week cause I'm already getting nervous about the race, but in a good way! (I think :P)

I did my last long run on Sunday and it went pretty well. My shins were feeling it though so I stuck to the elliptical yesterday and today to be safe. My plan for the rest of the week is to run tomorrow (4-5 miles), elliptical/upper body strength on Thursday, and run 2-3 miles Friday. And then I'll be off to NYC :D!!

I just changed up my playlist a little; for some reason having the right music really stresses me out! I'm not really sure how much I'll be using my IPod for this race since there will be entertainment along the course and I'd like to just enjoy the atmosphere but I know there will be moments when I'll need to just zone out to my own stuff! 

This only gives me an hour of music but I'd rather listen to the songs I know motivate me twice than add ones that might not. Do you have any suggestions for new songs?

So who watched the Bachelor last night? I really regret staying up past my bedtime to watch 3 whole hours of Ben and Courtney but for some reason I just couldn't turn it off. I'm really confused as to how they went from not knowing if they were in a relationship to being engaged again over a commercial break but I think its time I stopped caring ;) That being said I wish we didn't have to wait two months for the Bachelorette to air... oh and Canada is getting it's own season of the Bachelor :)

Yep, I need a new hobby....