Running and a new home!

Week 3 of training for the Detroit marathon is in the books! And it was a hot week!! Was able to stay well hydrated even on my long 16mile solo run on Saturday! Even though I started at 6:30 it was already 77degrees outside! But luckily where I now live there were plenty of shaded areas on the way.
For me this past week of training was most tiring then before, due to the move into the new house! Yay new house, but not yay with all the cosmetic things I am trying to get done before we actually get our stuff! I have painted 3 rooms and still have 1 to go!
I will look forward to finally having Internet in a week as well, and hopefully have more time to blog again!
Until then happy running!! And stay cool out there!

Who's training for a full or half marathon? And how has the weather been affecting your runs?

Training at Races

This weekend was filled with races and training all wrapped into one! When we set a date for me to move from Alabama to Michigan, one of the first things I did was look for races. It wasn't necessarily to go and run them, but more to maybe meet people and to not have to do my runs alone! So this past weekend I had the Solstice Run, which was a 10mile route but I added 2 at the beginning. And then on Sunday was the Heart of Detroit Run which I did the 10k route. 


You may ask, "Why would I run a race as a training run?" Well that's an easy answer for me to answer...I have just started week 1 of my training for Detroit Marathon on October 21st! I ran my 1st marathon in March, read all about it here, and I am ready for the next one, and hopefully a better one! The one thing that I am doing differently for this marathon compared to the 1st one, is I have a running coach! We may not be in the same state, but there are a lot of online programs, so I figure this will work. I know my coach, I met him Alabama and actually talked about being my coach prior to knowing I was moving. But I will go more into that a different time. But I will say, so far it is nice to have a plan written out and with the pace I need to be at. I am one of those that needs things written out to completely understand. So I am really excited for this journey and really excited to see the end result on October 21st!


As for the races this weekend...they were both at different locations and had different terrains! But I learned a lot from both of them!

Solstice 10miler +2

Solstice Race:
It was in Northville, and the weather was perfect for a run! I had 12 on my schedule so I had to add 2 miles in addition to the 10 miles on the race course. I ended up parking at the High School and instead of taking the shuttle to the start line, I ran the 2 miles to the start line. I was supposed to be at 10:44 pace for today's long run, well it kind of happened. The 1st 2 miles were a bit to fast....even though I knew I had enough time to get to the start line, I was still worried about taking a wrong turn (even though it was impossible) and not making it in time. But I think going to fast the 1st 2miles ruined the average pace on the Garmin, which made getting to my training pace difficult when the 10mile race started. ~Live and learned from that one!~
I was looking forward to this hilly route, still can't believe I am looking forward to hills! This is from the website for the race------->10 Mile, 10K, 5K USATF Certified Courses: Run famous "KONA HILL" -challenging hill at 3/4 mile mark on 10 Mile Kona Run and 10K Aloha Run courses. But I guess I am still somewhat used to the hills in Alabama because at the end of the race, I was still looking for the hill... (sorry to those who are reading this & are saying those hills were tough) My tune might change in a year, after running on flat surfaces!

At the Tiger prior to Race

Heart of Detroit Race:
This was just an awesome location! Comerica Park!! Where the Detroit Tigers play. And at the end of the race....you cross the finish on the field!! How awesome is that?? This one I was better about keeping my 10:04pace, I was a little faster then planned, but at times I stopped focusing on my running and just took in the sights of Detroit! Oh how it has changed, this area was so clean and built up! I know there are areas that are not like this, but this was all new to me! I am also hoping this was a small preview of the Detroit Marathon...if it is, it looks like it might be a flat race, which is good and bad.

an hour later...on the Field!

Here is what I learned from this weekend:

1) Going to race with out my running family is a little different. A race is more fun with a running family.

2) Both races I ran with no breaks! No 'water' stop breaks, for either the 10mile or 6mile. Which was great for a training run. As I am trying to limit my 'water stop breaks' or at least cut down on the stop time when I do stop.

3)*I am far from being a fast runner* but it was interesting watching those who were racing this weekend while I was just running. The biggest observation I took was the breathing! Because I was going at a slower pace then normal for a race, I took in how everyone was working really hard and they were all breathing hard! Do I sound like that too, I wonder? & it was great to see how many people were out there! I also learned that going at a steady pace does help, because at the start of the races I had many people past me, but by the end with my steady pace I did end up passing these same people. 

4) It was hard for me, a little bit, to not speed up! I really wanted to, but I know that all of these slower runs will pay off! I have a huge goal for October and following the plan will help me get to those huge goal!

5) During the races, I made sure to take the time to say Thank You to all those who were helping with the race. There were a lot of police and volunteers out there! So next time your at a race make sure to say thank you as much as possible, they really do appreciate it!!

Sorry for this long post....but it was a fun weekend and great end of week 1 of Detroit Marathon Training!!

~~~Did you race this weekend? How did it go?

~~~Have you ever gone to a race and used it as a training run? What did you take out of it?

Post Marathon life with a twist

Mike and Me! Go Blue!!

My own little rant....so life after the marathon! It's been an interesting life to say the least!! I ran it! It took me a week to accept that I ran, just because of how I did, but after that week I did finally accept that I am a Marathon Runner !! and ready to do another one! But as I was running it my post marathon life was already starting to move along. I am originally from Michigan and my husband and I had been talking if the right opportunity ever came about we would probably go back home. Well that opportunity presented itself just day before we left to go to Atlanta. So not only did I have the actually race in my head to worry about now I had this little thing lingering! Well on the Tuesday after the race, he flew to Michigan had the interview and returned on Thursday and was offered and accepted the position on Friday!! So as you can tell my post marathon life has been in a different sorts. It has now been a month post marathon, and life is anything but normal. I did take the week off from running, but my mind has not turned off.  I have read of people have post-marathon depression, just due to all the training and then it's over! I did have a bit of that but mainly it was everything going on in life!

Bo and Brady

Morgan

I am finally back into a running schedule, that has taken on a different twist since he has left. Oh, yay, he's been up in Michigan since 1st week of April and I am still in Alabama with my dogs & cat. And all the commitments that I had scheduled prior to this turn of events. Since the marathon the one thing that has been out of sorts is running with my running group! We usually have our long runs on Saturday's and Since the life change, I have only been able to make one of them just due to prior commitments that I had made on Saturday's. So I have been running on Sunday's, which has been a bit lonely, but in one sense better get used to it! Seeing that I am not sure where we will be living, not sure where any running groups will be at. All I know is that we might be living close to Mason, MI, so maybe Okemos. I really do hope I find some, because Detroit Marathon training starts soon! I really want to improve (alot) at this race!! I know that I have 1 Saturday open before I make the move! Which hopefully it will be a good run.
I do have one other fun thing scheduled before I leave...Dixie 200 Relay Race This I am looking forward to!! 200 miles, 24 hours, 2 vans, 12 people! My last little trip around the south before moving back north!!

So needless to say, my post marathon life has been unique! but I am ready to start the pre-marathon life again, the training!!

76 degrees in January

What wacky weather we are having down here in Alabama!! Today was my half day at work and the same night we have our group run. I had 8 miles planned for the day. I had planned on going early and meeting the group at 5:30 for the final 3 miles. But with weather as nice as it was and I was off work for the afternoon so what better thing to do but run! Why stay inside and clean the house when the sun as out!!
It was a nice run! I was trying to use a piece of advice I just received about training for a marathon. Go Slower! You would think that was easy, it was mentally challenging to try and change pace. It didn't dawn on me to do your long runs at :30-60 seconds slower the race pace until I talked with Alex this past weekend. And when he explained it so you get used to being out there on actually race day your legs won't want to give up. Which makes so much sense after hearing it out loud! So I thought I would try that today on my 8 mile run, and after hearing my 1st split (yes hearing Nike+ gps app on he iPhone) and it was 8:45, I knew I had to work at going slower! Who knew it would be a mental run as well as physical today! But I am going to take this advice with me on Sunday as I have 17 miles to run!
I am happy to keep learning new things as I pursue this journey towards my first marathon that I clearly remember saying I would never do!