AshLearnsToRun

Great Weather in February!

2011-02-18T17:35:00.002-06:00

Wow, what a beautiful week weatherwise! And only 2 weeks after the biggest snowstorm to hit Springfield since I moved here. Yesterday was in the mid 60's!

Coaches gave me quite a week, but I hit every pace! Here's what I did this week:

Sun Feb 13- Long run of 17 miles:
Plan with actual paces in ():
2 mi warm up (10:45, 11:20)
4 mi @ 10:00-10:20 (10:16, 10:06, 10:11, 10:01)
6 mi @ 9:30-10:00 (9:34, 9:35, 9:37, 9:33, 9:32, 9:34)
4 mi @ 9:05-9:25 (9:06, 8:55, 8:56, 8:49) *tail wind*
1 mi cd (10:11)

Took Monday off to spend time with the hubby on our first Valentines Day as a married couple!

Tues Feb 15th- 6.2 mi recovery run, plus I felt awesome so I came home and did 45 min on the trainer.

Wed Feb 16th-Swim 1750, and ran a 9 mi tempo:
1.5 mi warm up (1 mi @ 10:34, 0.5 mi@ 10:20)
2 mi @ 8:30-8:40 (8:31, 8:29)
5 min rec (0.52 mi @ 10:02)
2 mi @ 8:20-8:30 (8:14, 8:11)
5 min rec (0.48 @ 10:30)
1 mi @ 7:55-8:10 (7:46)
1 mi rec (1 mi @ 10:36, 0.46 mi @ 10:34)

Thurs Feb 17th- Hills + Speed: I would not normally do a hill workout the day after a tempo workout, but I was off work wed night and I had to take advantage of that, so I went into town to run on the hills of the frostbite festival course:
1.5 mi wu (1 mi @ 10:46, 0.5 mi @ 11:08)
2 mi rolling hills @ 8:45-9:00 (8:42, 8:42)
1 mi @ 8:05-8:15 (8:05)
2 mi rolling hills @ 8:45-9:00 (8:42, 8:40)
1.5 mi cool down (1 mi @ 10:48, 0.52 mi @ 10:30)

Today (Fri) I'm going to do some time on the trainer, just whatever I can bear. Tomorrow looks like an easy recovery of 1 hr 10 min. I tell ya, I'm hitting these paces in the speed workouts, and I get that I can do it, but I look back a week later going "wow, did I seriously hit those 8 something paces for 5 miles of the tempo workout? crazy!"

Listened to a webinar on getting ready for the Illinois Marathon. The speaker was selling a book, so I decided to pick it up since I got it for a discount for having listened to his speech. It's called Running Anatomy by Joe Puleo and Dr. Patrick Milroy. It looks like an interesting read. Gives a lot of exercises to do and exactly which muscles those exercises target, and then tells you what it has to do with running muscles, etc. I'll let you all (haha, I think I only have one reader anyway! lol) know how it turns out!

Lata for now!

P.S. I started reading the forum on beginner triathlete that's all about the IM Louisville, looks like some really nice people and I'm already getting great info from them. I'll definitely be keeping up with that forum. Looks like there are some group training rides on the course throughout the summer, maybe I can get in on a few of those.

A Big Year Ahead!

2011-02-12T07:35:00.002-06:00

Ok, training update:

I'm at the end of week 5 of training for the Illinois Marathon. Here's what my week turned out:

Monday- I did my long run because I worked on Sunday. Did 18 miles like this:

2 mi warm up (10:52, 10:57)
5 mi @ 10:00-10:15 (10:16, 10:12, 10:08, 10:03, 10:01)
5 mi @ 9:30-9:45 (9:29, 9:29, 9:29, 9:30, 9:29)
5 mi @ 9:00-9:15 (9:00, 9:02, 8:58, 8:47, 8:21)
1 mi cool down (11:14) this was thru town in the slush and nastiness, hard to run on!

Tues- normally I do a 6-7 mi recovery run. Didn't do it. My legs are dead and I needed a day off.
Wed- 9 mi of tempo like this:

1.5 mi warm up (1 mi @ 11:02, 0.5 mi @ 10:59)
2 mi @ 8:35-8:45 (8:37, 8:35)
5 min recov (0.5 mi in 5:19 with a pace of 10:28)
2 mi @ 8:25-8:30 (8:23, 8:24)
5 min recov (0.5 mi in 5:07 with a pace of 10:22)
1 mi @ 8:00-8:10 (7:56)
1.5 mi cool down (1 mi @ 10:49, 0.5 mi @ 10:54)

Thurs- I normally do a trainer ride session. Again, feeling dead. Took another day off. (That's two in one week, got to be like a record for me so far this year)

Friday- 7 mi Hills that went like this:

1.5 mi warm up (1 @ 10:37, 0.5 @ 10:44)
1 mi @ 8:30 (8:27)
4 repeats up and down the hill at a steady pace (1.5 mi= 1 mi @ 8:24, 0.5 @ 8:32)
1 mi @ 8:25-8:40 (8:29)
4 repeats up and down the hill at steady pace (1.3 mi= 1 mi @ 8:30, 0.3 @ 8:42)
1.5 mi cool down (0.8 mi @ 9:56)

Sat- (today) to do a 6-7 mi zone recovery run.

The week went good considering how achy and tired I felt. I hit all the major/important runs that I was supposed to and I hit all my paces in those runs. I just took a non active recovery approach this week. But the good news is that I think I've identified the problem. I believe I'm running on dead shoes. I didn't expect them to go dead so fast, so I didn't even think about it. But I forgot that I've been putting in some pretty good mileage in the past 3 months, more than usual. I guess it's time to start searching the internet for my next pair of asics 2150's.

Ok, so no on to the big news!

So far my plans for the year have grown and grown. This was clearly looking like an epic year for me and my racing. So far, I'm signed up for the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon on April 2nd, the Illinois Marathon on April 30th, and the Ironman 70.3 Racine in July.

Now I've just signed up for the Ironman Louisville! That's right, the big mama of all triathlons! I can't believe I'm going to do it, but it is so exciting. I wanted to get it in before I have children, which we want to do pretty much right away. I told my husband that I would like just one good season of racing before we start trying. He's totally down with that, but I'm not sure he knows just what he's in for. I explained the best I could without having actually done an ironman yet. He gets the fact that I'll be gone training all the time and he's going to support me. That's about it. So, there you have it. One epic year. I just couldn't pass up on the excellent fitness I'll have with the Illinois Marathon and only put that toward the 70.3. Which would have been fine in itself. But I've been dreaming of the full Ironman distance since I started triathlon 3 years ago, and I know I won't have a chance to do it until all of my children are in full day school, and even if that.

That's it for now. We'll see what the coaches have in store for me next week. Should be lots of fun!

Week 2 of Marathon Training

2011-01-20T06:29:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm midway through week 2 of Marathon training! Things are going very well so far! Here's what I did last week.

Sun-16 mi Long Run with specific paces (no LSD for me!)
Mon-Bike on trainer
Tues-6 mi Zone 2 recovery run + Swim
Wed-9 mi Tempo + Swim
Thurs-Bike on trainer
Fri-7 mi Hill workout
Sat-off (was visiting family)

Week2
Sun-6 mi recovery run
Mon-17 mi Long Run with specific paces
Tues-6 mi recovery run + Swim
Wed-9 mi Tempo
Thurs (today)- bike

I still have a Hill workout and a recovery run to do this week also. I want to rest up real good for my long run on Sunday. Those seem to take the most out of me. I find lomg runs much more manageable now than I did during my first marathon training cycle back in 2009. I remember just dreading each long run, and I just slogged it out to get the miles under my legs. Now I have specific mile pace goals. By the time I figure out which mile I'm on and what pace I have to do, the run is over! I just take it one mile at a time. It works so well. I think it's great mental training for the marathon, too.

So far, so good with the training. I need to figure out a better plan to incorporate better biking and swim training because I do have to train for the half ironman in July.

Toodaloo for now!

New Year

2011-01-13T17:34:00.003-06:00

Well, the start of another new year. I just love the beginning of the year. It's a great time to think about what I really want to accomplish in my next race season. This one is extra special. I feel like this is my last year of real racing. My new husband and I are looking to have kids fairly soon, but he promised me just one more year of racing before I give up my body and time. I know I can still race after I have kids, and I will. It'll just never be quite the same as when you're free of any responsibility.

So, my plans? Fit in as much racing as I can afford! First off is the 2011 Illinois Marathon on April 30th. I will also do the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon leading up the that race on April 2nd. After that I would like my focus to change back to triathlon. If I can come up with the money, I would like to do the Ironman 70.3 Racine on July 17th. And even more shocking... and expensive.... the Ironman Louisville on August 28th. I told you I wanted to fit in everything in one year! But we'll see. The full ironman goal is a bit lofty, both time and money-wise. I don't, however, have a doubt in my mind that I can finish it if I put my mind to it and train for it to the best of my ability.

I do have a coach for my marathon in April. 2 coaches actually. I'm extremely excited to work with them! I am midway through the first week of real training. My week started with a long run of 16 miles. There are also two Zone 2 recovery runs, plus a tempo and a hill workout this week. I am very happy to have this great opportunity to work with great coaches that are so much smarter than me when it comes to devising a training plan! I'll try to update more during training. (this is the first post since April of 2010! Ouch)

1st week of Tri Training Complete

2010-04-03T19:35:00.002-05:00

Ok, let the Tri Training begin! I've set a training plan up for the Evergreen Lake Triathlon on July 17th, 2010. I've also, just by chance, got another olympic distance triathlon one week later, so which ever one I feel good for and the weather is right for, that's the one I'm going to put all my effort into.

Mon- Bike: Plan called for 1 hr. I went 1:23 at a distance of 22.92 mi. Just kept an even pace.

Tues-Swim: 1600 yds with some base intervals mixed in. Run: 3.14 mi with some 1/4 mi repeats, split paces were: 8:03, 7:56, 7:40, 7:43, 7:55, 7:34.

Wed-Swim: 1800 yds with some fartlek intervals. Bike: Went with the Wheelfast group: 19.66 mi in 1:04:02. Sprint at the end.

Thurs-off

Fri-Swim: 1600 yds endurance swim 300 wu, 1000 straight, 300 cd. Run: 2.1 in 21:33 Just a short easy run to loosen up the legs for tomorrow's half marathon.

Sat- Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon: 13.1 in 1:57:07. PR!

So far so good, I'll try to give more updates on my training. Next up for races is my Pioneer Sprint Tri on April 18th!

2010 Race Calender

2010-03-03T21:30:00.002-06:00

Hmmm.... 2010 What Will You Bring Me?

It's the beginning of March, and I'm already signed up for multiple races. First, there's the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon on April 3rd. That should be fun, I've got some friends running it, love the medals they give out. Then April 18 is the Pioneer Sprint Triathlon. I did this one last year and it was probably my favorite race ever! It was my first triathlon ever, and it was so much fun. I didn't go out there with ANY time goals. I just wanted to finish. I ended up getting an age group award, which totally rocked!

This year, however, I want to beat my previous time. I've been doing some speedwork in preparation for the half marathon, but my cycling is seriously lacking. I can't get motivation to do it. Running is so much more fun for me.... even on the treadmill. I would much rather do a treadmill run than any trainer ride. I force myself onto it about once a week or so. I have this issue where the right side of my right foot ALWAYS goes numb. I've tried doing so many different adjustments, but nothing ever works. I think I just have to live with it. I've noticed the numbness on an occasional run also so maybe it's a pinched nerve or something. Who knows.

Next up after that is another sprint tri... this one will be in Sullivan. I've never done this race before, but it looked like fun and it's a good one for the family to come and watch because it starts at 12:30 which means that they don't have to wake up at o-dark-thirty.

So far in May, the only one I'm signed up for is the Capital City Biathlon. I loved this race last year, but I remember being kinda sick with a cold going into it and not feeling that great. I'm hoping to improve this year.

The only other race that I'm actually signed up for as of right now is the Evergreen Olympic Distance Triathlon in Hudson on July 17th. I'm VERY excited about this race because I get to meet up with some new friends from the GOTRIbal community from Naperville IL/Aurura IL area. Plus there should be some pretty good talent there since it's some kind of qualifying race for something or other (can you tell I don't plan on doing THAT good?).

I do want to do the Ironabe on July 25th and the Railsplitter on August 14th, but we'll see.

My biggest goal this year is to volunteer for at least one race. I have a lot on my plate this year with my wedding planning adventures. That is the reason that I pushed my first 1/2 iron distance race to next year. I planned on going for it this coming June at Kansas, but it is just too much money and all of my funds are strapped with the wedding coming up.

So, up next is the half marathon. Last year my goal was to break 2 hrs. I came in at 2:00:01. Ouch. So this year my goal is to definitely break that 2 hr mark. Wish me luck!

Not my year for PR's

2009-12-08T17:43:00.004-06:00

And here I thought I was in better shape this year than last. I don't think that is the case.

I missed my PR again in the Jingle Bell 5K by 10 measley seconds. Race was alright... somewhat unorganized. It started 20 minutes late, but hey, what do I know about directing a race? At least the timing was accurate! This was a fairly flat course on a very nice day... if there was going to be a PR, today was the day. Not in the cards for me this year. Oh well.

The Frostbite Festival 10 miler was this past Sunday. This was the second time I ran this race. I really like this race. Great distance, great jackets in the race packet, and a challenging course! Last year my time for this race was 1:27:58, an 8:47 pace. This year... not as good. 1:29:25, an 8:57 pace. I felt like I gave it my all and I guess that's what counts. Last year I did a full 1/2 marathon training plan to prepare for this race. This year I did a marathon in Oct, recovered for a few weeks with very few runs in there, and then did a 5 week plan from runners world. I think I know what the difference is now!

So, now on with the holidays. I love this time of year! I'll definitely need to watch myself with all the yummy goodies. I could stand to lose a few lbs... also might have been a factor in the lack of PR's this year!

My plans for after Jan 1? Well, I'm dyyyyyyyyying to do a 1/2 ironman triathlon next year. I really really really really want to do Kansas 70.3 on June 6, but I'm not sure I can come up with the funds. It's over 200 bucks to enter! I suppose it's well worth it with the experience, but it's just hard to come up with it this time of year. Hopefully it doesn't fill up before I get the money! I know, I know, I'm in an expensive sport... but I'm still trying to be thrifty!

Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of you folks!

A missed PR

2009-11-15T17:22:00.004-06:00

So throughout my short running career, I've only run a few 5K's. Weird, I know. I've run every distance up to a marathon, but only 5 5K's before yesterday. My first one... well it was my first. I did my best, it was a HUGE accomplishment at the time. It was the Burn Center 5K in June of 08 and my time was 28:23. My second one was kind of a last minute decision to run. It was the Rochester Lost Bridge Trail 5K in July of 08 and my time was 25:58 (my PR). My third one was interesting! It was supposed to be a biathlon in September of 08, but it got rained out a bit. Hurricane Ike knocked out the bike portion, but we still got to run a 5K. That time... and it was POURING DOWN RAIN... was 26:33. Missed my PR by 35 seconds. I was ok with that considering the conditions. My fourth one was just this year in May 09. It was the Brian McMillian Veterans 5K and my time was 26:08. Another missed PR, this time by 10 seconds. Well, there was no excuse for this one. Nice conditions, a little warm, but not too bad. Just didn't make it. My fifth 5K was in July 09 and it was the Burn Center one again. I ran this with a friend who made it her 1st 5K, so I wasn't running for time. Our time at this race was 31:45.

So then there was yesterday. Yesterday was the Titan Trek for Tech 5K in Chatham, IL. They were raising money for the technology at the Ball-Chatham schools. Weather conditions were just about perfect. 45F or so at the start with sunny skies. I had a good feeling about this race. I was gonna PR. I had to. I just ran a marathon last month, surely I was in better shape then last year's PR. Race start was a little shaky. We all walked together over to the start line... some guy yelled something and then everyone started running. No air horn, no whistle, no car horn. Just started running. I was midway through the pack and this was not a chip timed race. (The start of my excuses). I scrambled to get my garmin to sync before I hit the start. It took me a good 10-12 seconds to cross the start line, and then me, a friend and her dad were all off! I started the timer on my garmin at the start line, but it didn't sync with gps, so no pace. Oh well. We went up the side of all the people and tried to pass as fast as we could. A lot of people were either younger (grade schoolers and high schoolers) or older than us (their parents). We weaved in and out of people for a bit. By the time we hit mile 1 people who went out too fast were starting to slow down. We definitely passed a lot around this time. I think the garmin said 8 min and some change.

Mile two was kind of a blur, but I remember just trying to keep up with my friend and her dad. We've all run together at races before and I know that we all run about the same pace. But somewhere between mile 1 and 2, I started to get a side cramp (the excuses continue). It was just a twinge at first. No big deal. I ended up dropping back behind my friends, but I was still right on their backs. I don't remember the time at mi 2, but it had to be somewhere in the 16 min's+ area. By mile 2.5 I had fallen back a bit, but I just tried to hold on tight. The side cramp was killing me by now and I just wanted this race to end. I kept checking the time on my watch, and I remember thinking 'I can still do this'! I gave it all I had at the end. I usually have a pretty good kick, but I didn't have it this time. I crossed the finish line in a saddening 26:04. I missed my PR by 6 SECONDS! I don't believe it.

I recovered fairly quickly, congratulated my friend who came in just before me. We all hung around for the awards which were pretty quick to come. My friend and I were talking and I mentioned that there probably weren't that many people in our age group and she might win an award. Yeah. She did. She won 1st in our age group (they only gave awards for 1st in each category) and I got second. I think some 10 year old won 1st overall female... that was unreal! She was amazing! Overall a great race... but I'll have to try again for my PR. Like next weekend at the Jingle Bell 5K!!!

Bank of America Chicago Marathon 2009

2009-11-08T11:01:00.012-06:00

Well, I stink at blogging as it turns out. I really do want to get better. I wanted to blog my entire Marathon training... that didn't happen. I just didn't want to be on the computer. Who knows. Anyway, I did have a great marathon!

BANK OF AMERICA CHICAGO MARATHON 2009

For my trip to Chicago, Brian, my fiance, and his son were the only people coming with me. That was fine with me, they are the ones who truly supported me throughout all the training anyway. We started out from Springfield on Friday morning (Oct 9) as soon as Tyler got out of school at 11. We decided to stay Fri night at my parents house in Dwight, about an hour and a half or so southwest of Chicago making the trip a little shorter for us the next day. On Sat, I got in a quick 2 mi run in the morning just to loosen up my legs from taking 2 days of rest. We left Mom and Dad's house at around 10 am. I was driving, basically because I stink at navigating and Brian could then just tell me where to go.

The 1st stop in Chicago was the marathon expo at McCormick Place in downtown Chi town. We made it, without dying, and paid our 20 bucks to park. Holy crap, yeah. 20 bucks to park at the expo! We definitely aren't in Kansas anymore. From the parking garage it was about a mi hike into the expo, but it was easy to find because of the thousands and thousands of other people there doing the exact same thing. Just play follow the leader! I didn't really know what to expect at this expo, but it was definitely huge! I wanted to take care of business first so that if we had to bail early because of some tired legs or whatnot, I could. After asking a few people questions, we made it to the check in to get my bib and chip, and then over to chip activation. Simple enough. Then I learned that we had to go through the entire expo to the other side to get to the packet pickup. Well why the heck not put it all the way over there! So we made our way through the crowds of people to the other side where I very excitedly picked up my packet complete with my race shirt!

After making sure I got what I needed to race, there were two other stops that I wanted to make before just browsing the expo. I needed to make it to the RUN FOR OUR SONS booth to say Hi to the charity that I was there running for. I raised $800! I really wanted to meet Missy who was the person on the other side of all those emails that updated me on everything that had to do with the marathon and getting there and what I had to do. She was SOOO helpful.

Next stop was the Nike Pace group booth. I decided that I wanted to run with a pace group so I could avoid the mistake of going out too fast and not being able to finish strong. I decided on the 4:30 group. I knew I could run the pace. That's all I want to do is finish smiling. Not too much to ask!

After I did the necessary stops, I wanted to do some browsing. Brian and Tyler were still going fairly strong, they were so supportive and acted like they wanted to be there! Very sweet! So I went up and down some of the rows of booths. I was on the search for a marathon tshirt for kids so that I could give one to the little boy that I was running for the charity for. They didn't have any that said Chicago Marathon 2009 in small kids sizes, bummer. I did find the Nike booth, the single biggest booth in the entire expo! I got a pair of Chicago marathon shorts. I also got another tshirt at the asics booth.

After a few other purchases and some tired family members in cargo, it was time to go. We hiked it back to the car and got ready to make the couple mile, very scary drive over to the Hard Rock Hotel. We made it, got checked in, and decided it was time to rest for a few hours! We had pasta dinner plans with the RUN FOR OUR SONS charity at Quartino on State St. With no clue how to get there, and knowing it was only a few blocks, we decided to take a cab. Dinner was amazing and totally free! Well, I guess I did raise 800 bucks for them, but still, it was VERY nice! Now it was time to get back to the hotel, get my race day gear all ready and hit the sack. I knew it was going to be pretty cold out on race day, and I think I brought my entire arsenal of running gear to prepare, so I had to decide what I was going to wear. The temps looked like mid 40'sF for a high! I knew at 5 am when I was going to haul my family to the charity village that it was going to be really freakin cold. I decided on underarmour frosty tights, and underarmour long sleeve moisture wicking tee that I made with Carson's picture on it, and my State Fair Parade Run 2 mi race tshirt over top. (I just love that shirt! So comfy!)

Contrary to most predictions, I did sleep pretty well on race eve. We had two alarms set, my phone alarm was going to go off first. I even hit the snooze a couple times! I did my routine, ate a bagel with cream cheese and a banana. The only thing I was missing was my coffee. I gotta have my morning coffee! I didn't want to make any there in the room and figured there were probably about half a dozen Starbucks on the walk from the hotel to the charity village. Turns out there was only one. And it didn't open for another half an hour! Oh well, I'd have to live without. I was absolutely freezing by the time we got to the charity village. I had even bought extra through away paper layers to put on!

The whole charity village was flooded out from the days and days of rain before race day. Some of the charity's had to move their tents to other places, ours was just moved back out of the water. I sat and waited for the other runners to arrive. As I was waiting, someone slapped down a box of Starbucks coffee right in front of me! I couldn't believe it! I got my coffee afterall!

Pretty soon it was time to go find the line up. Brian, Tyler and I walked with the other runners from the charity up to the start area. There were SOOO many people! I needed to find the 430 pacers, so we walked along the line of thousands of runners toward the start line. We saw each pacer, 5:30, 5:15, 5:00, 4:45, and finally 4:30. Now it was time to say goodbye to Brian and Tyler. This was something I wasn't expecting. I quite literally started crying because I didn't want to leave them. I was so scared! There were so many people! What if I never found them again!?! I felt so alone among all those people! Crazy, I know. I'm even tearing up as I write this because those scared emotions are coming back as I think about it. Brian talked me through it. He is my rock. He reminded me that we had a plan AND a backup plan to find each other afterward. He told me not to worry, I was a runner and this is where I belonged. At a marathon. I'm not sure these were his exact words, but that's basically the feeling I got from him. He and Tyler were so proud of me, but I needed to get out there.

After a couple of final hugs and kisses, I made my way through the fence and followed a 4:30 sign holder to the middle of the street full of people. I found myself shoulder to shoulder with many interesting people. We were all so cold and the fact that we were so close together was actually a good thing. I couldn't imagine being that close to people if it was hot! I was right next to a group of 4 or 5 guys from Ireland. Very interesting to me, I've never met anyone straight from Ireland. I listened to them encourage each other in their own language and got encouraged myself.

Before I knew it the star spangled banner was being played and the gun went off. Of course we didn't move right away, but right as the gun went off I imagined in my head the best runners in the world starting off the race! I can't believe I was about to run in the footsteps of the greatest runners in the world! Awesome! We slowly shuffled to the start line, and soon enough we were off! I stayed toward the right hand side in hopes to see Brian and Ty again. That didn't happen, but I was in awe at all the people! Well, this was the start line after all, surely there would be times along the course when there weren't any people.

I remember images of the course. I remember seeing signs people made for their loved ones that were running. I remember saying over and over in my head "The first ten miles is run with your head". Just get to mi 10. The water stops were weird to me. I skipped the first one just so I could scope out what happens at a water stop of this size. People were tripping over each other to get to the sides to get some liquid. Some stopped dead in their tracks and started walking to get their drink, which tripped up other people. At the second one I decided it was time to give it a try. I saw it coming up ahead and started to get toward the right side kinda early. I was in perfect position to get a cup from one of the first volunteers. I grabbed one, used my triathlon skills of running and drinking by pinching the cup and took a big gulp. YUCK! I grabbed Gatorade! I hate Gatorade! Blah! I threw the cup and kept running. From then on I made sure to get water! I had to catch up with the pace group a little. I noticed they were going a little fast. I made sure to stick with the pace group as close as possible.

I expected the crowds of people running to thin out, but it never really did. I expected the crowds of spectators to thin out, but it never really did. Amazing. Such a big race. Soon enough I hit mi 10... then my mantra was "The second ten miles is run with your legs". I expected pain. I waited for the pain. It actually didn't hit until around mi 18. I said "Oh, THERE you are". My pain was mostly in my right knee... the IT band was going to rear his ugly head. I just kept trying to keep my torso up, running nice and tall, trying to hold my form as best as possible. There were a couple of times my knee kinda gave out a little, but overall I did ok.

The pacers were at times kind of slow to me. I guess they were ahead of the game a little, because they walked through a couple of the water stations and I found myself really ahead of them. I turned my head, saw that they were behind, and decided to wait for them. So I slowed my running down a lot. I promised myself I would stay with them. That would at least guarantee me a 4:30 finish. I was afraid to get ahead of them and burn up all my matches per say and then not be able to at least accomplish the 4:30.

Finally I hit mi 20. My next mantra was "The last six miles is run with your heart". I had to repeat this one a lot. I remember seeing some of the same spectators multiple times at this point. Some of the same signs. I got a motivation boost every so often by high fiving random spectators! I saw one sign that said "Free hugs". I was tempted. Then I saw a sign that said "Pain is weakness leaving the body". I repeated this to myself throughout the rest of the race. I hit mile marker 24 and kinda of woke up. Holy crap, this is it! Last 2 miles! I know I can finish now! So I went ahead of the pacers at this point. Nothing too crazy, just ran at my own pace and never looked back. By the time I hit mi 26 the crowds were INSANE! They were going crazy! I felt like I was the winner! Finally I rounded that corner and saw the finish line. I sprinted with everything I had left. There wasn't much. But that was ok. I was smiling! I did it! I crossed the finish line in 4:28:45. I made all my goals! I finished. Smiling. In under 4 hours and 30 mins. I can't believe it!

The finish line was somewhat overwhelming. Once you crossed everyone came to a dead stop and started walking. The volunteers immediately hand you a bottle of water. You just keep walking and get handed stuff along the way. A mylar blanket (cool!), your race medal, food, chip removal. There were hundreds and hundreds of volunteers. I couldn't believe it. I felt like they were all there just for me. And I think all the runners felt that way. The runners around me just kept looking at each other and smiling, and I did the same. We did it. We were rock stars. There were even photographers insisting that we move our medals to the side so they could see our numbers in the picture they were going to take of us. (they wanted us to buy their photos later, but it still made me feel special!) Someone handed me a beer. I grabbed it, took a couple swigs, and promptly realized what I was doing. I hate draft beer. I set that down and went over to the finishers photo area.

When I was finally done with all this I realized I had no idea how to get back to the charity village from where I was! I asked several people. Some had no idea (even volunteers!). Others said "over in that area" and pointed in one direction or another. I finally made it the village. I stood at the top of the stairs by Buckingham Fountain and looked out over the village. I saw Brian and Tyler in the distance! Then I looked at the stairs that I had to go down. How the heck was I going to maneuver this? I can barely walk, let alone do stairs! I monkeyed my way down holding on to the railing. Brian saw me! He started coming over to me! Finally we got to eachother and I wrapped my arms so tightly around his neck! I said "I did it, babe, I did it!" He said "You sure did! Way to go!" I didn't want this moment to end. It was perfect.

We made it over to the tent. The RUN FOR OUR SONS people were so supportive! Brian set me up with a chair and got me some food. I was so happy to be done!

Well, it was time to go. We had to get back to the hotel, get the car, and head back to Dwight. We had such a good time. My biggest thanks goes out to my biggest fans, I couldn't have done any of this without them!

Week 2 of Marathon Training

2009-06-14T18:04:00.003-05:00

Week 1 and 2 of marathon training is in the bag!

Week 1 was, of course, fairly easy. And that's the way it should be! I did the 4 mi on Sun, which I posted about last time. I got in all the other runs that I said I was going to also: 2 on Tues, 3 on Thurs, 3 on Fri, and 3 on Sat. This moderate consistent plan seems like it's going to work out so far! I don't dread Sun long runs anymore! I'm just having fun with this, kinda testing out some speeds, and trying to figure out what speed hurts, and what is the easiest (without walking). I just want to know where my range is so I can figure out just how fast I'm going to try to go in the marathon. I don't know how I'm going to figure that out yet, but, whatever. I'll figure it out. No biggy. My main goal is to finish. So anyway, week 1 done and I'm feeling great!

Week 2, still feeling really good. Here is what I covered this week:

Sun 4
Tues 4
Thurs 4
Fri 4
Sat 4

LOL Yeah, this was pretty easy to remember how far I was supposed to go each day! On Sun I did a 1 mi road race called Springfield's Magnificent Mile. I had very low expectations for this race considering I've never been very good at the shorter faster races. And I've never placed in my age group in a running race (only triathlons) so I really didn't expect to start this day. Well, I did. 1st in my age group actually. Who woulda thunk. My finish time was 7:09, and it hurt! I felt like I was going to throw up afterward which brought back memories of track practice in junior high! I did throw up once after practice and I thought I was going to get in trouble with the coach who was kind of a hard a**. She ended up finding me afterward and telling me that she was proud of me because throwing up meant I worked hard. I was stunned. I always thought that woman hated me, but who knows. Anyway, after the race I went home, and since my schedule called for 4 miles today, I had to get out and do 3 more. Ouch. That was a death shuffle. But I got it done. I did Tuesday's run in 85F and sunny weather. Thursday's run was at a hotel in Schaumburg where I was visiting for a work conference. So icky treadmill running. Friday's run was in Dwight, my hometown, where I was visiting my parents and dropping off my doggy so that they can babysit him while I'm on vaca. Sat's 4 was a very hot 85F sunny run. This was the first run that I had my new hand grip thingy water bottle. I like that thing! And guess where I got it? The all to famous 'Runners High 'n Tri' running store in Arlington Heights, the exact same one that sponsors (or whatever) the great podcast 'The Age Grouper Triathlon Podcast'.

So next weeks runs include:
Sun 5
Tues 5
Thurs 3
Fri 3
Sat 5

Tues, Thurs, Fri, and Sat runs will all be done in Colorado which is where we are vacationing. I don't expect very good paces considering I'm going up in elevation by a few thousand feet. We'll see how I acclimate this year. Catch ya'll in a week or so!

Marathon Training Begins!

2009-05-31T19:20:00.003-05:00

Training for the 2009 Chicago Marathon Begins Today!
Bad Start?

Up until a few days ago I had a training plan all set and completely mapped out for the next few months. I was planning on using a Hal Higdon intermediate plan. I had calender all written out and everything. Then I saw some tweets by good ol' Steve Runner. He was talking about the reason that he uses the Hansons Brooks moderate consistent plan. He said that he used to use Hal's plans, until he was injured one too many times. I have heard him talk about the Hansons Brooks plans a lot on his podcast, so I knew what all it entailed. I decided to change my plans at the last minute to go with a Hansons Brooks plan because I just don't feel like getting injured. This new plan only has me doing my longest runs at 16 mi. I've already done 16 before during my training for the half marathon, so I know that I can do it. The HH plans had me doing a long run of 20 mi which was a little daunting. So, Hanson Brooks it is, I hope it works!

So the original plan that is laid out for Hansons is an 18 week schedule. I'm going to follow it very closely (hopefully!) plus I allowed an extra 2 weeks for mishaps or bad weeks. Plus I have a vacation during June so I wanted to allow myself some leniency.

Today was the first run of the training schedule. 4 mi seemed easy enough. Nice way to start the Sun long runs! I was really excited to get started. Until I got a half a block down the road.

Problem #1: You know that rule of thumb that says if you're running and you're thirsty than you are already way too dehydrated? Yeah. That was me. Half a block into the run.

Problem #2: It really didn't help that I had two very large cups of coffee before this run. I work the midnight shift and tonight is my night off. So I got off work this morning, got a 5 hour nap, and woke up early so that I can sleep at normal times tonight with my family. I had my coffee and no food.

Problem #3: No food? Really? I thought I knew better than that.

Problem #4: Also, I just raced a biathlon yesterday. A great race, but it definitely left me feeling a little tired today.

Bad Start? I refuse to believe that any start to any marathon plan would be considered bad. I'm out there. I'm doing it. There is nothing but goodness that surrounds the excitement of training for your first marathon. So, in an attempt to keep a good attitude about my said problems, I decided to start working on strategies throughout this training schedule.

Strategy #1: HYDRATE! I've always had issues with this, but I need to make this a true priority. Starting this past January, I started carrying a 1 L bottle of water with me everywhere I go. Now I just need to discipline myself to actually drink it empty at least once a day!

Strategy #2: CUT DOWN ON THE COFFEE! Ok, I've got serious coffee addiction. I drink at least a pot of coffee a day. It's quite ridiculous. I'm going to attempt to cut down to one cup when I get up, and one to go cup on the way to work. If I can do that, then I'll see if I can go even further.

Strategy #3: FUEL! I need to learn a good fueling plan. This one is kind of hard because I am trying to drop a few more pounds and I'm very concerned with every calorie that goes in. And I also don't like to eat when I first wake up, but I need to get over that. I can always have some fruit or something before a run instead of starving myself!

Strategy #4: STRETCH! I need to stretch and use the foam roller as much as possible because this is the only thing that keeps the IT band pain away.

So, I'll take this hard 4 miler as a chance to learn from my mistakes and a great new focus for this training season!

This weeks schedule:
Sun 4 mi (today)
Tues 2 mi
Thurs 3 mi
Fri 3 mi
Sat 3 mi

My First Triathlon

2009-04-27T19:38:00.005-05:00

I have had many anxieties when it comes to doing a triathlon. What equipment do I need? How do you go from one sport to the next? What clothes do you where and how do you get them over your wet swim suit? Could I survive the physical demands? Do I have to fuel, and if so, at what time during the race?

Well, I started by tackling the anxieties one sport at a time. Running I can do. I’ve been a runner for about a year now and I was in the process of training for my first half marathon. Swimming I didn’t have a clue about and cycling… well, I figured I could just wing it.

I signed up for a tri swim class back in Feb of this year. I saw that Hardybreed Dan was doing it and I thought it was exactly what I was looking for. I also bought a road bike, just a starter one, but a better one that I had nonetheless.

At the tri swim class our instructor had people coming in all the time teaching us about the sport of triathlon and how to do them. I learned a ton in the class about transitions, fueling, gear, rules, endurance, etc. Best of all, I learned how to swim without overexerting myself! Now I was ready to give it a “tri!”

I signed up for the Pioneer Sprint Triathlon in Petersburg, IL on April 18th. It consisted of a 300 yd pool swim, 13 mi bike, and a 3.2 mi run. This seemed manageable to me. I was going into this triathlon figuring on something going wrong, just because I was a newbie.

Most people have ‘day before a race’ traditions, like eating a certain meal, getting a certain amount of sleep, laying everything out. I had to work the midnight shift the night before the race. So I packed all my gear up the evening before and hoped I didn’t forget anything. I got home by 7 am, slept for 2 hrs, then had to get up and go to the race. I wanted to get there early to help calm the nerves and get a feel for the race before it started.

I arrived at 11 am and left all my stuff in the car while I went to pick up my packet and get body marked. This was the first time I got my body marked for a race, and it made me feel like an Olympian. The only other triathlon I’ve seen was the Olympic Tri in China on TV last August! I came out and saw that other people were already setting up their transition areas. I figured I’d better get my stuff out now and ‘mark my territory’ as I was taught in tri class. On my way to the transition area, I saw Lance and his son. That calmed me down a lot because I was walking in with someone that I knew!

I mounted my bike by the seat on the railing just like I was taught (do it on the handlebars and you may damage the brakes). I put down my bright orange and pink towel and folded into the smallest square possible that would fit all my other stuff. I don’t have a tri-suit yet, so I was stuck wearing my swimsuit. I do have a road bike, but I haven’t bought any accessories yet, so no clipless peddles. I planned on putting on my running shoes (complete with new yanks shoe laces) during T1 and using them for both the bike and run portions. So my transition had my shorts, socks, shoes, helmet, running visor, water bottle, and race number belt. I prayed that I didn’t forget anything.

When I got all done with that, I was surprised not to feel more nervous than I was. I think it was mostly that I only had 2 hours sleep and I was denying my fatigue. I hung out for a bit and talked to Nancy and Lance and watched all the other people set up their areas. For being such a newbie type race, as I was taught that the sprint distance mostly attracts, there was a lot of high tech gear! This made me feel a little intimidated, but Nancy and Lance assured me that I’d do fine.

I then went in to check out the pool area so that I could visualize the race. I saw the mats that led from the pool out the door so I followed them back outside and walked back to my transition because I wanted to see exactly how many rows to walk down to get to my bike. I stood there a second and looked at my stuff and imagined putting on my shorts, then my socks, shoes, race number belt, and finally my helmet. I then walked over to the bike out area and saw the mounting line where I would be able to start riding. The dismount line was at the same spot, so I imagined coming back in and walked again back over to my transition area. I looked down and saw my running visor and imagined taking off my helmet and grabbing the visor. Then I walked over to the run out area and saw the start/finish for the run portion. Ok, I think I’m ready.
As I was walking inside to use the restroom, I saw GerriAnne from my tri swim class! I totally forgot that she was signed up for this race! I ended up sticking to her like glue the whole time since she was a veteran triathlete. I watched her set up her transition area and saw her pull out food. Oh crap! I didn’t eat anything today! I completely forgot to eat! She kindly offered me a protein bar and I gladly accepted! Disaster averted! We chowed as we were being ushered out of the transition so that the mini race could start. This was very cool to see, it made visualizing my race that much easier! I loved cheering on the kids, who absolutely amazed me with their triathlon talents! This is where I saw Dan from Hardybreed and I proudly showed off my new Hardybreed shirt! Lots of people came up to read my shirt because they couldn’t understand why I was so proudly wearing a shirt that said ‘I heart smoking’ to a triathlon (‘the competition’ of course).

Now it was time for me to get ready to start. They called all the sprint distance folks into the pool area for the prerace meeting. I took off my extra clothes and threw them in my bag, grabbed my swim cap and goggles, and headed inside. This is where they gave us our timing chips. GerriAnne reminded me and those around us to put it on our left leg, so that it didn’t get caught in the chain on our bike. Smart thinking! I seeded myself towards the back because I know my talents in the pool, or lack there of. I can swim without overexerting myself, but I cannot swim fast by any means. I was able to cheer on Dan and GerriAnne as they swam.

As I got up toward the start line the nerves had really built up in me, but as soon as I got in the water, everything went calm again. Ahh, this I can do. I can swim 300 nice and easy. I finished the swim in 6:17. I trotted out to T1 and did everything in the order that I practiced. It went very smooth for my first one. My goal for the bike was to just keep an even cadence and never stop peddling. I don’t know much about cycling, so this is all that made sense to me. I was having a blast! I was smiling, and cheering people on that were on their way back already. I saw GerriAnne and she was doing great! I started to notice that my feet were going numb, but just kept going. The hills started to hurt a little on the way back, but it went flat again just in time. My feet were very numb by the time I was heading into T2 and I just prayed that I didn’t fall down when I got off my bike. I wasn’t sure what caused it, but I loosened my shoe laces during T2 and hoped for the best. The bike portion took me 46:05. I started running out of transition and notice that weird feeling that everyone talks about when you go from biking to running. I had practiced this a couple of times, but never had numb feet while doing it. It was a little awkward. I was not out to set a PR in the 5K portion, so I just trotted out. This was definitely my favorite part of the race because there were people to encourage us along the way! I caught up with GerriAnne and talked for a second, and before I knew it my feet were not numb anymore and I was able to settle into a good pace. I ended up talking to an older gentleman for a little bit. He was very encouraging! I was starting to get very fatigued as I was about to head up the last hill. Then I saw Lance and his son again! That was perfect timing! They cheered me on and Lance told me to just focus on the guy in front of me, and that’s all! I could do that! I picked up the pace and passed him on the hill with a huge smile on my face. Then I entered back into the high school parking lot and came into a sprinting finish!

Wow, what a blast! That was the most fun I’ve ever had during a race! Everything went so smooth for a first timer! I couldn’t believe it. I did it! GerriAnne and I got massages and some food afterward. Then I was getting ready to leave and I saw they had posted the results per age group, so I went to check it out. Holy crap, I got second in my age group! No way! I actually won something! Unbelievable! Well, I HAD to stay for the awards now! I planned on scooting out of there to get home and get a couple more hours sleep before having to go back into work that night, but I couldn’t pass up an award! This entire triathlon was put on so well! It was so organized and well thought out! I couldn’t give it more praise. And, maybe that doesn’t mean much to some because this was my first one and I don’t have anything to compare it to, but as a newbie, I felt very comfortable, encouraged, and well aware of what was expected of me as a racer. My hats off to the directors and volunteers! Thanks for a great first race!

By the way, I was asked to be a Wild Hare on Hardybreed's website, so be sure to check out this same story over there at www.hardybreed.com!

Swimming

2009-03-17T18:51:00.002-05:00

Did I mention I'm taking a swimming class? One night a week it's a beginner triathlon swim class to teach me the basics of swimming efficiently. It's really going good! The teacher has broken a swim stroke completely and started off showing us how to do the most basic piece, then she adds to it each week.

First came balancing in the water, just learning that when your head is up, your legs go down... not a good thing. We had to learn to glide along the surface of the water (on our side) and kick from the hips, not the knees.

Next came switching from gliding on one side to gliding on the other side with one smooth movement. This was a little trickier, especially when we had to control our breaths to every third switch instead of every one.

This past week we learned the zipperswitch, which teaches us to bring our stroke hand up along our side and pierce the water. I'm still a little shaky on this, but we're getting there. I've practiced this twice so far this week and hoping to get in one more swim before class this Thurs (in two days).

This is turning out to be a lot of fun! I'm learning soooo much! I've already met people in my class that are well known in the community in multisport! I've seen these guys at every race I've been in so far!

I'm so ready to 'dive' right in to this multisport lifestyle! I'm loving every minute! I've signed up for my first Tri: April 18th, 2009 the Pioneer Sprint Triathlon in Petersburg, IL! It includes a "300 yd pool swim, a 13 mi bike ride on a rolling flat prairie road, and a 3.2 mi run through picturesque Petersburg," according to their website. It also says "The run will take you past century old architectural gems, past the Edgar Lee Master’s home, past the courthouse where young Abraham [Lincoln] practiced law and up and down the streets of Petersburg." Sounds awesome!

Running for Reason

2009-03-13T20:17:00.002-05:00

On October 11th, 2009 I will be joining the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy RUN FOR OUR SONS team at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. The RUN FOR OUR SONS team is a group of parents, grandparents, families, and friends who will proudly run the 26.2 mile full marathon to help raise funds and awareness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), a devastating, progressive muscle disorder which slowly robs those diagnosed of their independence and eventually their life. I will be running this race for Carson DeMarse, who has Duchenne.

This year the RUN FOR OUR SONS team will represent thousands of young men diagnosed with Duchenne. I am participating in this great event because I can and because the Duchenne community needs my strength and endurance to move ahead.

Duchenne is the most common lethal genetic disorder diagnosed during early childhood, affecting approximately 1 out of every 3,500 boys and 20,000 babies born each year. Duchenne causes loss of muscle function and independence. Most young men with Duchenne only live into their twenties, and there is currently no cure.

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is the largest nonprofit organization in the United States focused entirely on Duchenne and is proud to lead the Duchenne community. PPMD strives to improve the treatment, quality of life, and long-term outlook for all individuals affected by Duchenne through research, advocacy, education, and compassion. They uphold the highest ethical and financial standards, and consistently receive high marks from watchdog organizations, including a seal-of-approval from the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance.

If you would like to sponsor my efforts, please make your checks payable to Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy or PPMD and clearly mark my name and ‘marathon’ on the memo line. PPMD will issue you a tax deductible receipt for your contribution. If you would like to donate via a credit card, please use the space provided on the envelope to enter your information. (For those folks who are only receiving this letter by email, sorry no envelope for you).You can also visit my personal fundraising page at www. runforoursons. org. Click on the ‘FIND A RUNNER’ link in the left hand column, click the 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, then search for my name. There you will be able to donate via internet, and you can also see my fundraising progress as I get closer to the big event!

Thank you so much for your support and for helping me support the efforts of PPMD. With your generosity and my successful completion of the marathon (fingers crossed!), we will end Duchenne.

Ashleigh Handzus

Newest Purchase!

2009-02-17T18:21:00.003-06:00

YEP, THAT'S RIGHT! I'm so stoked for my brand new garmin 405. I feel like a rock star for actually getting the newest version of some piece of technology like this. I even got the heart rate monitor strap, and now I'm drowning in info, and loving every minute of it! I haven't learned how to use all the features yet, but that will soon come. I'm so happy that I got it before the racing season begins! Ok, I'm done now. lol

New Shoes!

2009-02-05T15:03:00.003-06:00

When the sides of my lower legs start to hurt, it only means one thing... my shoes must be pretty worn. I got out my trusty training log (aka buckeye outdoors online) and counted up the miles on the new shoes... yeah. Over 500 miles. Ouch. I know better than that. So I finally made it to the running center here in Springfield, where the guy kindly asked if I wanted to buy his last pair of size 81/2 Asics GT 2130's for 65 bucks or if I wanted to upgrade to the 2140's for 100 bucks. Hmm.... that's a no brainer. I own GT 2130's and I love my 2130's, therefore, um, yeah... I'll stick with the 2130's! Gees... 35 bucks is a big difference.

Anyway, I got home and had to do a 3 mile easy run today anyway, so I broke them out of the box, got them on, and headed out the door. I love new shoes. So shiny. So new. They are just a little bit stiff, but they'll be perfect in about 2 to 3 more runs. I'm so excited!

Wait until you see my next post. I've got a big present to myself in the mail... I can't wait!

Runner turning Triathlete

2009-01-27T19:10:00.003-06:00

Ok, so I listened to a new podcast... Kelownagurl Tris Podcast (kelownagurltris.blogspot.com) and by the second episode I was totally inspired to "try the tri" I'm so excited! I went out yesterday and got a membership to the gym so that I can use the pool. I was looking for any excuse to get one anyway, I just couldn't justify the money spent for just running when I can run outside. So I had my very first day at the gym today. I did the 3 mi run on the treadmill. This was my very first time running on a treadmill and it was.... uh .... interesting. I think I'll stick to the roads whenever possible.

Then I got to go to the pool. I had on my new nike 1 pc swimsuit and my new speedo goggles. I didn't expect much out of today's swim... just kind of introducing myself back into lap swimming (I was on the swim team as a young kid, so I had a select few memories of it). I took it easy and did just 500 yds... uh... meters... uh whatever. I'm so not well versed in tri talk. I will try to fit some cycling in this week also, but I'm trying not to overdo it. I'm having a hard time letting go of any of my runs, so for now I'm just stacking the swimming and cycling on top of my 5 day a week running schedule. It's not too bad for now, since I just started. Eventually, I assume, I will have to let go of my two easy runs a week to get in some harder swim/cycling days. So, day 1 a success!

My New Running Friend

2009-01-09T07:07:00.005-06:00

Ok, so loads of people encounter many dogs as they put in their daily miles. I have come across a few, and it sometimes scares the crap out of me! I see these big huge dogs bounding toward me only to stop a few feet from the road that I'm on and run along with me back and forth along an invisible line just barking like crazy to get to me. This is how I learned what an invisible fence was. Honestly, who thought of this concept? It's a pretty good idea, not having to actually put a fence around your entire yard just to keep your dog in, but it is scary as a passerby. And it turns out that there are a lot of people in my neighborhood that like these things.

I'm still very weary about dogs because I still occasionally come across a dog that isn't actually in a fence, but running loose instead. Take for example my new running friend Maggie. I was running along one day on my usual route, and here comes this great big black lab(compared to my 15 lb yorky lap dog). I immediately stopped and put my hands out for the dog to smell me. She took a little sniff but was just so energized and excited, she couldn't stop jumping up on me. I realized she wasn't much of a threat, so I started running again. She bound along me, getting ahead of me, only to find something to smell in the ditch and I would pass her, and then she would come flying up on me again. She ran along with me for about a mile, which is when I hit my turn around point, and she stuck with me for the mile back to her home area. I didn't want the dog to follow me home, so I stopped by one of the few houses that were in this area and asked if the dog belonged to them. The guy (who did not seem to like Maggie very much) said "Oh, that's Maggie. She's a really annoying dog that lives across the street." I said thank you and started toward the only house on the other side of the street. What the guy said really bothered me though, because Maggie wasn't annoying at all! She was energized and fun, yet submissive and she just seemed to need a good run every so often. She reminded me of a kid who had been stuck in school all day with no recess. Poor thing. So I went over to the house and knocked on the door, no answer. I just decided to run home, even if Maggie was gonna follow me. It was only about 3/4 of a mile to my house. I got home and Brian was outside. I told him I didn't know what to do with Maggie since she followed me home, but he told me not to worry because she is a black lab and those are very smart and she'd find her way home.

She did find her way home that night. I look out into the big cage with the dog igloo outside of that house each time I pass to see if Maggie is inside. I've only seen her once since then. Until last night that is. I was again running along my usual route and there was Maggie in the road again! I was the excited one this time! I said "Maggie! You gonna run with me today girl?" And there she was for the middle three miles of my run. I took her home, I stopped in front of her house and pointed to the yard and said, "Ok, go home now Maggie, we'll catch ya next time!" And there she bound up to the front door (ok so I think someone was inside calling for her).

I will now look forward to my runs on that route. I really like having that companion. Maybe if I ever see the owners outside, I'll ask if I can occasionally come and take Maggie out of her cage and let her come with me. Would a dog owner ever do that? Just let some stranger come and take their dog for a run and drop her back off when they were done? Only one way to find out. I'll keep you posted.

Cold Weather Running

2008-12-10T17:42:00.002-06:00

Ok, so this is my first winter of running, and so far it's going alright. I'm learning to layer my clothes. I've seen a lot of people on twitter talking about under armour cold weather gear. I'd love to try some of that. I've asked for some for Christmas, but that brand is a little expensive. I'm not used to spending so much on workout clothes. I usually get mine on the sale racks from wal-mart when they are out of season and stuff like that.

I found that I like wearing a stocking cap rather than the ear headband warmer thingy. The hat just seems to keep me a bit warmer. On one particularly cold evening run, I tried something called a beany (or something close to that) that covers my nose, cheeks, and mouth, but still leaves holes to breathe. That was pretty cool, I never felt a bit cold during the entire run, but I did feel a little confined.

So far, I've been using fleece gloves for running. They are alright, but I should do some research and find out if there is anything better. I do love my fleece jackets that I layer with. They keep me soooo warm! And I love the zippered pockets!

I have the entire winter to get good at this, I suppose. I've been working on getting faster at getting ready. It takes a long time to wake up, get my coffee, and get all the gear on just to go running for 30-40 minutes. I've been setting my coffee to brew automatically, and drinking it as I'm getting all the layers of clothes on. What a great multitasker! lol I already miss my warm weather days (not so much the hot ones though).

If anyone out there in the cyber world has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Other than buying a treadmill, that is something I cannot afford right now! lol

My Very Own Blog!

2008-11-03T08:23:00.001-06:00

Wow! Well here I am making my very own blog! It wasn't so long ago that I didn't even know what a blog was! I guess I figured I needed a way to connect with other runners as I learn to train for a marathon. So let me introduce myself:

My name is Ashleigh and I grew up in Dwight, IL. That is small town of about 4500 people about an hour and a half south west of Chicago on I55. (yes, in IL we measure distances in time, not miles ha ha) It was a great town to grow up in. I ran track in junior high school, but didn't continue in high school because I thought I'd never be good enough. I graduated Dwight Township High School in May of 2000. I did one year of junior college at Joliet Junior College to save some money. Then I transferred to Illinois State University for 3 years and graduated in 2004 with my Bachelors of Science Degree in Medical Technology. I found a job and moved to Springfield, IL at Memorial Medical Center in the laboratory on midnight shift (yuck). In my line of work, you have to pay your dues and work the odd shifts before you earn your right to get hired on dayshift. I've been at this job for nearly 4 years and I'm hoping the option to go to days will come soon.

As far as my running life:

I picked up a book about a year ago called "The complete Book of Running for Women" by Claire Kowalchik. I read it slowly over a period of about 6-8 months. I started to get kind of excited at the thought that I could possibly become a runner. In this book there was a training plan to go from walking/running to running for 30 min straight in 10 wks. I starred at this chart for many weeks wondering whether or not it was possible. The other thing holding me back was the fact that I was a smoker, and I had already quit once the previous year only to fail. I was afraid of that failure again, but I was also afraid that people would make fun of me for trying to be a runner and a smoker. Finally on Feb. 28th 2008 I decided to lace up my very first pair of real running shoes and step out the door. The first week of the plan was to run 2 min, walk 4 min and repeat 4 times. My running log from that first week says things like "great to be starting!" "a little sore, still excited!" "dedicated" "accomplished" "ready to step it up next week!". In the following weeks, more often then not, I mention that I had a hard time breathing and that I need to quit smoking. Then I learned that if I could hold off on smoking in the mornings until after my runs, then the runs were a lot easier. I went with this for awhile.

When I realized that I might actually finish this ten week program, I decided to sign up for my very first 5k race to prove to myself that I was a real runner. My stomach was in knots as I signed up on the internet and paid my money for this race. The race was to take place June 7th and it was for the Regional Burn Center for the hospital that I work at in Springfield. Oh I remember the anticipation and the anxiety that morning. I knew that I could run the distance, but I was very nervous about being around other runners. Real runners. The runners that have been doing these kinds of races and distances for years and years and years. My boyfriend and his son went with me to the race and my boyfriend told me that I was one of them. That I could do this and that I belonged there just as much as any of them. He told me that I worked so hard for this and that I deserved this. This is just what I needed to hear. It helped me more than he will ever know. He got me a gift for my very first race. He got me an ipod. I thought this was so sweet! I had no idea this little gift would change my life the way it did. He already had it loaded with some pumped up music so that I could have it for my first race. I was set.

I ran that race hard. It hurt, as it was very hilly and I hadn't trained on any hills (I didn't even know we had those kinds of hills in the area!). I managed to come into my very first finish line in 28:23, more than a minute less than my goal. Oh I was sooo excited! And completely exhausted. I couldn't believe I actually did it! My boyfriend and his son cheered me on and hugged me and were sooo supportive! I immediately put on my first race shirt because I actually earned it. My boyfriend told me that we should stay for the awards because he didn't see that many females come in before me. I was totally confused at the time as to what this meant, but I was up for sitting for a bit so I didn't mind. When the results came back, it turned out that I was the 7th female finisher and all six female finishers before me got a medal. Wow, I couldn't believe that I was so close on my very first race to getting an award! Wouldn't that have topped it all!?! Oh well, maybe next time.

Next time. When will that be. A friend at work told be about a 10K race that was to take place in August and was pretty well known in the area. A fairly big race with lots of people. I was like, uh yeah right, there's no way. Is there? Well, why not. If anyone can do it, why not me? The book I read to get up to running 30 min straight also had some 5k and 10k training plans. Again my stomach was in knots as I signed up for this race on the internet and paid my money. In the meantime, I ran another 5k race just 3 short wks after my first and improved my time to 25:58. Two weeks after that I ran a 2 mi race in 16:44.

A couple of weeks after that last race I found out about podcasts. I did a search on itunes for running podcasts and found Pheddippidations. The first episode I downloaded was about Steve Prefontaine, the only famous runner I had ever heard of. What a great episode. I was hooked to SteveRunner's voice. So calm and knowlegable. I started looking into the titles of his other archived episodes. I found things like 'the long slow run' and 'cold weather running' and thought that this was going to be a great way to learn about running. I proceeded to download every episode he had. At that time it was about 145 episodes. I listened. And listened. I listened in my car. I listened during my runs. I listened as I did housework, and when I walked the dog. I listened when I couldn't sleep as I lay in bed. I listened to every one of those 145 episodes over the course of 1 short month. My boyfriend asked (jokingly) if I had found a new man. No. What I found was special to me though. I found a running friend. I found someone who knew exactly the way I felt and had gone through the same things I had gone through at some point in his life. I absolutely loved hearing other people's stories too.

On August 17th, 2008 I ran and finished the Abe's Amble 10K road race. My finishing time was 55:51. It was a very hilly course, but I was so happy to finish! I felt so great! A funny thing happened during this race. I started seeing some of the same faces as I had in other races. As it turns out, Springfield has their very own road runners club. Cool!

As I listened to Fdip during the month of August, I heard these advertisements. Steve was promoting a race. First, in 2006, a half marathon road race. I listened to the episodes, and the race reports. I thought, wow, now that's cool! A virtual road race. Then I heard more advertisements for another virtual race in 2007. This one was to have two races, a half marathon and a kick the couch 5k. Another set of very good episodes. As I was catching up on the episodes of Fdip, and I started hearing Steve talk about the 3rd annual Festival of Races, I started to wonder. Could I possibly do this. Could I ever in a million years run 13.1 miles all together? Steve had me convinced. Of course I could. I went to the website I signed up and yes, my stomach was in knots. There I was: racerx from Thayer IL! (racerx: speedracer's brother who always raced but never won). I lent my voice to the Cheers from the Little Blue Bubble episode. And I was set. And so I trained. I ran. I had my setbacks. I was diagnosed with ITB syndrome on Sept. 11th. I still ran. I still trained. I decided to run the race in my hometown of Dwight because I also wanted to be home that weekend to celebrate my Dad's bday. I woke up very early in the morning on Oct 11th. I had my route already set. Two five mile loops and a 3.1 mile loop. It was very cold that morning, completely uneventful. My family had no idea what I was really doing. They knew I was going out for a long run, but they didn't think anything of a virtual race, and that was ok. I had my friends. True friends who actually didn't even knew I existed. I had my Cheers from the little Blue Bubble. I listened to what I consider to be the greats. The other running podcasters/bloggers that I had dabbled in slightly. Steve, Drusy, Nik, Dan, Nigel, Jodi, Marci, etc etc are what I consider the greats. In the midst of these 'famous' voices was my meek little voice wishing every new half marathoner good luck. I thought that was just so neat! As I ran this race, I was soooo very excited throughout the whole thing. I was excited to be a part of something so special. As I was listening to the podcast, I got a bit of a surprise. There were familar voices. Very familiar! My boyfriend and his son, Ty, were there wishing me good luck. I nearly started crying! It was such a surprise! I dashed into the finish in a time of 2:15! I did it! I ran a half marathon! I give all the thanks in the world to St. Stephen of the Phiddippidations podcast for at first giving me the idea to do a half marathon, and then encouraging me along the way.

So far this running podcast/running blog adventure has been a ton of fun. Since I've been all caught up with the Fdip episodes, I started listening to other podcasters. Some of my favorites are Jodi from Confessions of a Runner, Nigel from Running from the Reaper, and Nik and Dan from 4Feet Running. I haven't yet gotten the courage up to write to St. Stephen and tell him what all he has done for me. I feel completely unworthy of his time, which I know is limited with his schedule. But maybe one day.

My goals for 2009 are being set very high. I plan to run the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon here in Springfield in April, and I hope to run the Chicago Marathon as my first marathon in Oct. I would like to run it with the run for our sons organization (http://www.runforoursons.org/) to help raise money to find a cure for Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy.

Thanks for giving this little blog a little looksy!

By the way, I did quit smoking! It was mid August, just after I heard an episode of Fdip when St Stephen was talking about smokers and said "us runners, well we know better, and as for everyone else..." I thought to myself.... of course I know better! What the heck am I doing? So I quit. Cold turkey. Not the easiest thing in the world, but I think I'll be okay as long as I concentrate on my running and how much my breathing has improved since I quit. I know my boyfriend is certainly happy! (He's an ex-smoker himself and it wasn't easy seeing me smoke all the time!)

Anyway, that's it for now. I hope to hear from any and all of you that are checking this out. Would love to know what anyone thinks!