I broke the 2 hour 1/2 marathon mark!

Z and I did the Hampton Rockfest 1/2 Marathon on Sunday. I started off diligently obeying my heart rate monitor, keeping it at the 80% level but got tired of hearing it beep and having everyone pass me at about mile 4. I turned off the alarm and started to pick up the pace. I was able to catch up to the 9 min/mile pacer and had him in sight for most of the way. At the water stop at mile 10, I actually passed him. That moment didn't last long, as I heard the tromping footsteps of the pace group right behind me and they proceeded to pass me. I still kept the man in the yellow hat in sight, but he started become more and more on distant horizon. As I approached mile 11, I looked at my watch at recognized that even if I slowed to 10min/mile pace, I would still make under 2 hours. So I relaxed a bit but I was starting the feel the stress on my body and I was cursing the fact that I decided on the long-sleeve instead of the short-sleeve shirt. When I saw the finish line, I dug deep and pushed myself to the end even though I felt like collapsing. Then I saw the clock at 1:58 something and I knew made it. Actual chip time was 1:58:49. Z came in at an impressive 1:41:53, a PR for him.

As predicted, we didn't stick around long enough for the band but opted to go to Portsmouth for lunch where I satisfied my craving for a grilled cheese sandwich and fries :-)

Another Hot One for Chicago

The Chicago Marathon has been on my to-do list for a while. I am glad that I didn't make it this year either although it was a little better than the debacle from last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/sports/othersports/13marathon.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Centerpieces are done!

Totally unrelated to training but I wanted to share my craftiness. I can't believe the wedding is less than a month away. No wonder I haven't blogged in a while.

Why I Love the Fall Season

Yes, I know I can get candy corn year round these days but it doesn't seem right without the original colors.

On the mend...

The shin is feeling a lot better and I am hoping to start running again this weekend. I made a lame attempt (meaning I went to the gym once) to do some cross training this week but I just really want to run. I have a dress fitting on Saturday so I am hoping that the lack of exercise and junk food this week won't do me in.

Even though I said I shouldn't do another race before the wedding, I am contemplating doing the Hampton Half and Rockfest .One of my favorite bands, Entrain, is scheduled to play after the race. It always seems so cool when there is a band and post-race party when I sign up for these races but most of the time I just want to head home, shower and take a nap after a race. It's far enough ahead that I have time to train up for it despite this setback and I'll have two weeks to recover before the wedding. May not be such a bad idea...

Ouch!

As I mentioned, I completed the Reach the Beach Relay over the weekend with 11 other crazy running friends. I am normally conservative in my running but I must been overcome with all the excitement of the race and I went out too fast on my first leg. This was also my hardest and longest of the three legs (8.6 miles) that I was assigned to run. This was not my brightest idea. I ended up feeling wasted in my second leg and hobbled through the my last leg. My right shin for some reason decided to act up. When I got home, I showered and went to bed only to wake up at 3 AM in excruciating pain, to the point that I was in tears. Z feel asleep in front of the TV and it took all my power to make it down the stairs. Even though I woke him up, Z was very attentive. Neither of us was really sure what to do. Do I go to the ER? Can I tough it out? Well, I opted for the latter and thankfully some RICE, TLC, and Advil PM helped. I felt a lot better after I slept and even better today although I still have some tenderness. I learned my lesson here about how not to run a relay... and maybe hold off any major races until after the wedding

Reach the Beach Recap

Reach the Beach has come and gone. Reach the Beach is essentially a race you do with 11 other friends that are crazy enough to run 200 miles collectively and continuously for 2 days. It's like a roving party with a little running and, if you're lucky, some sleep, thrown in.

Z captained a team, The Colbert Nation, again this year. Overall, I think it's the smoothest relay that I have done (two RTB's and one Green Mountain Relay (GMR)). I think the relay veterans on the team got this relay thing done to science including how to get the marker off the van windows before returning them to the rental place (diaper wipes work really well).

The race organizers revamped some of the logistics to stagger the runners going through the transition areas (TA's) a little more. That meant that our start time, 11:40 AM, was about 3 hours later than the previous two relays. There was definitely concerns about getting to the finish "before the chicken got cold". We actually did very well with an overall time of 30:39:30 (8:47 min/mile pace), about hour faster than last year even with the additional 6 miles this year. Of course, the time is not all that important.