Post race to-do's

It has been several weeks since my first half marathon of the year, but I just now completed the last items on my typical post race to-do list.  Other than posting the race recap to my blog, there are two other things that I do.

Within a few days after the race I also post a race review to BibRave.  I don't remember how I even came across this website, but I enjoy writing reviews for restaurants and businesses so writing reviews for races just made sense!  You can create an account so that all of your reviews are grouped together.  You can choose to follow certain athletes so that you are notified when they post a review.  You can also "Upvote" their review if you found it helpful.  BibRave is much like any other review website in that it gives you a REAL review from a coAthlinksnsumer's perspective rather than the race director's perspective.  It can be helpful when you are trying to decide between races and how to spend your hard-earned money.  Check it out and start adding your reviews today!  Click here to see my profile.

A few weeks after the race, I go to Athlinks to see if my race results are posted.  Most of my race results will post to the website 1-2 weeks after race day, but some smaller races do not show up on this website for whatever reason.  Honestly, I don't know why some are tracked and others are not.  Either way, 90% of my race results show up and I can claim them and save them all under my name,  That way, I don't have to go to each individual race's results page to find my times.  They are all in one place.  Click here to see my account to see what I mean.  Go ahead, search your name to see your results.  Now there may be other athletes with your name, so be careful when claiming your results.

Other than checking the items above off my to-do list, I have been trying to get over the plantar fasciitis that has developed in my right foot so I have been taking it easy and working my way back up from ground zero.  More details another day.  Happy Memorial Day!

Medal Monday featuring Frank

Happy Medal Monday!  Today I am featuring one of the very first running bloggers I met (virtually) when I started blogging myself.  Meet Frank, who blogs at The Fat Runner.  His favorite medal (by far) is the medal from the Walt Disney World Marathon, which was his first marathon.  It is his favorite medal because it was his greatest running accomplishment so far.  He says the Walt Disney World Marathon was fun and as magical as he had hoped.  The last 5K of the race was difficult, but thinking about his family got him to the finish line!

Follow Frank's running adventures by checking out his blog: http://afatrunner.blogspot.com/
Like him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFatRunner

Do you have a favorite medal?  Email me (willrunforamedal@gmail.com) a picture of you and your medal and tell me why it is your favorite medal.

Have a great week!

First Power Plate workout

Have you heard about Power Plates?  I had never heard of them until I bought a Groupon to E2 Fitness Studio for 10 Cardio Accelerator sessions.  I started the Cardio Accelerator sessions back in January and was spreading them out, so I used session 6 today.  I would often talk to E2's owner/manager after my session and he spoke highly of the Power Plates that were also in his gym and he tried to convince me to take one of his classes.  At first, I wasn't interested so I said no, but I Googled them because I was curious.  Session after session, I saw the Power Plates in the gym and my curiosity grew.

Last week I emailed the owner to see how many Cardio Accelerator sessions I had left, and he FINALLY convinced me to stay afterwards to try his 30 minute Power Plate workout.  Before class, he explained a bit about the science behind the Power Plates, but you can click here and read more about them yourself.  The exercises weren't any different than what I do on my own or in classes (lunges, squats, planks, stretches, etc.), but the vibration under my body really accentuated each move.  I will keep you posted as I take additional classes but so far I feel great and I am wondering whether or not I will be sore tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

GO! St. Louis Half Marathon race recap

It has been one week since the GO! St. Louis Marathon and Family Fitness Weekend.  Saturday morning was the Read, Write, and Run children's fun run, the Mature Mile, and the 5K all in Forest Park.  I spent Saturday morning working one of the t-shirt pick-up tables at the expo.  It was a four hour shift but because we were so busy, the time just flew by.  Not only do you get a free t-shirt for volunteering but as I mentioned before, your volunteer hours also accumulate and can earn you free GO! St. Louis apparel or free races!

After my volunteer shift, I met my co-worker/training buddy so that we could pick up our packets and walk through the expo.  We then decided to eat on The Hill, which is St. Louis' famous Italian area.  She chose Favazza's, and the weather was perfect for sitting out on the patio.

Favazza's on The Hill

I was excited about this race, but also nervous.  I didn't make it to as many training runs or run as much as the training schedule indicated.  The longest training runs were rough and my legs just felt tight, but I was still excited to be part of the Fleet Feet group and was glad that I didn't train on my own this winter.

The Fleet Feet Training group - Full and Half Marathoners of various paces

This was the 3rd time I have run this particular race but this year's course was different and in my opinion, more interesting since we ran over the Mississippi River into Illinois and back.  I was only able to snap a few pictures at the beginning of the course since I was running with my training group for part of the course and it started sprinkling within the first five miles.

Our 10:1 pace group

Our group started together running 10 minutes and walking one minute before repeating the process again.  I was able to stay with my group until we were crossing back into Missouri.  This is where two of us fell behind and I saw the group slowly disappear in the mass of runners.  At first I wanted to fight to keep up, but I have run most of my races solo so I was OK with finishing on my own.  The great thing about being part of a large training group was that I never felt alone because I kept seeing other Fleet Feet runners and we would yell words of encouragement to each other.  While I was on my own, I wasn't sticking to the 10:1 pace.  I just ran and walked when I felt like it.  Then just past the halfway point, my pace coach appeared out of nowhere. She was at the base of a hill that I had every intention of walking up, but she wouldn't let me walk it.  We started back on the 10:1 pace, but by that point I was pretty exhausted.  Luckily, she is a talker so we kept talking (I was mostly listening) and that helped the miles pass.  There were so many times that I wanted to walk, but she wouldn't let me.  The hills seemed so steep, but she wouldn't let me walk and kept encouraging me.  Her energy and determination to keep me moving was amazing.

Once we were finally making our way to the finish, we ran by the Fleet Feet tent and everyone screamed.  This was a great spot for them because you see the finish line, loop around the block, and then head uphill to the finish and I really needed that last boost before the uphill to the finish.

My coach stayed with me all the way until the finish, and then she went back to find the other woman in our group who fell behind on that bridge.  I don't think I have ever been that happy to be done with a race.  I was just exhausted and so thirsty!  Although my 2:42 time was nowhere near the time I had hoped for, I knew that I wouldn't have even gotten that time had my coach not been there.  I thanked her for being there for me on race day, but I get a little emotional when I think about how great it was to have her there.

The Fleet Feet training experience was a great one, so I am already thinking about joining their fall training group, which starts in July.  I had another half marathon lined up in May in Indianapolis but my parent's kitchen renovations had some unexpected delays and I am moving into St. Louis County next weekend, so this spring is just too hectic for all of us to go out of town.  I was incredibly sore for several days after this race, so I think I may start all over with my training, literally ground zero with a couch to 5K program until the half marathon training program starts again.  I also know that I am not going to get any faster until I can drop some of this extra weight, so I am going to spend more time at the gym and try to eat better too.  So although my time wasn't what I had hoped and the race was literally painful, I learned a lot about myself and have many new goals going forward.

Have a great week!!!!

Giving Back

Over the past several weeks I have been giving back to the running community by volunteering at races and packet stuffing events and I had a blast at each event!  It all started with the locally-famous St. Patrick's Day Parade Run in downtown St. Louis.  My cousin is the course director and I have both run the race and volunteered in the past.  This year I managed to get the boyfriend up VERY early to volunteer with me.  He ended up enjoying it because he had the megaphone and was yelling words of encouragement as well as letting them know that the water stop was on the right.  He loved the power his volunteer assignment gave him!

The next weekend I volunteered at a water stop for the Run for 21K half marathon and half marathon relay.  We had a large group of volunteers and we even had a pom pom group!

The Tuesday and Wednesday evenings after the Run for 21K water stop were filled with packet stuffing for the GO! Marathon and Family Fitness Weekend.  GO! St. Louis rewards their volunteers by letting them accumulate their hours towards free merchandise and most importantly, FREE RACES!  So after the two nights of packet stuffing, all of my volunteering in 2014, and my upcoming volunteer shift at the race expo, I will have 19.5 volunteering hours and you get a free half marathon with 20 hours.  Only one more shift, most likely at the GO! relay this summer, and I can run the half marathon next year for FREE!  So not only is it fun to give back to the running community, but you usually end up with at least free shirt and snacks and sometimes a free race entry in the process.  Give back when you can, you won't regret it!

1st experience with Endless Relays

This is the track work details I receive Monday via email:

Track Work Details

It is time for a little speed play. Your schedule reads Endless Relays. Here's the scoop.

Purpose of Endless Relays: The purpose of this workout is to provide you with short bouts of moderate to vigorous activity coinciding with short rest periods.

How to Play Endless Relays: Begin by choosing a partner. You will run 400 meters (or one lap) while your partner rests. After you complete one lap, tag your partner who continues the relay by running 400 meters (or one lap) while you rest. The relay continues until the clock dings 40-minutes.

If you can't make it out to the track, simply perform a two-minute work bout, followed by a two-minute rest bout for a total of 40 minutes. Work intensity should be fairly aggressive (a Rating of Perceived Exertion of an 7-8 out of a 10-scale)

Please bring a watch to hold your own rest intervals.


As I am writing this, I am exhausted! My partner and I each ran 8 times around the track to get us to the 40 minutes. It sounds awful, but I wanted her to run her 400's slower and slower because I wanted more rest in between my 400's, but she and I both stayed fairly consistent the entire time. My 400's looked like this (no judging or giggling since I know you would run it faster):

Lap 1 - 2:28

Lap 2 - 2:25

Lap 3 - 2:24

Lap 4 - 2:23

Lap 5 - 2:22

Lap 6 - 2:23

Lap 7 - 2:31

Lap 8 - 2:22

Now that I am done with this workout, I can honestly say that I liked it and will probably repeat it sometime. At several points I wanted to walk a bit of the last turn because I tend to start out too fast and then fade. But I didn't walk because my partner would see me as would all of the other runners waiting at the line for their partners to finish. The other runners and having a partner waiting for me to finish definitely motivated me tonight, so grab a friend and hit the track for Endless Relays!

Medal Monday featuring Jennifer

Medal Monday returns and today I would like to feature Jennifer, a fellow MO' Bassador.  Jennifer is very busy lady between being a wife and mother, working, and running.  She has been running for over seven years and her favorite medal is from the Divas Half Marathon in Branson, pictured below.  If you are not familiar with the landscape of Branson, MO it is HILLY so any races there have an added level of difficulty.  Check out the course map and elevation chart here.  

Be sure to check out Jennifer's blog: https://livelearnloverun.wordpress.com/
Her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/livelearnloverun

Sick AGAIN!!!!!

It has been over a month since my last post, but it feels like several months rather than one.  I had been so busy in February preparing for my vacation that I just didn't have much to post.  The plan (defined as something that a person intends to do) was to run while I was in San Juan, Puerto Rico and then a virtual half marathon while I was on the cruise to counteract the consumption of crazy-delicious food.  Best laid plans, right?  

This was my reality....I got on a z pack the Tuesday before we left for vacation because what started out as a sore throat had lead to congestion and then a cough.  My last day of the z pack was the Saturday we were in San Juan, which was the same day that the boyfriend got on a z pack because he started to get sick.  The good news is that you DO NOT need a prescription for a z pack in Puerto Rico, so my entire family stocked up.  Quite the vacation souvenir if you ask me.  

We got on the cruise ship the next day and although I was so excited to finally be on a cruise that we had booked over a year and a half ago, I was congested again so the rocking of the ship made me feel miserable for the first couple days.  I still participated in activities and laid out in an attempt to get a tan, but I was so exhausted that I napped A LOT the first couple days.   

I started feeling better on day two of the cruise but then I started having an allergic reaction to the z pack, so I had a lovely rash across my chest and neck.  The ship had a walking/running track as well as a well-equipped gym, so I decided to check out the gym since I was feeling better.  We were at sea this day and I was still a bit congested, so I had a difficult time walking in a straight path on the treadmill.  I ended up holding onto the sides of the treadmill as I walked since my sense of balance was WAY off.  I didn't dare run that day as a result, so I ended with 30 minutes of weight training and rowing.

Although I started feeling better mid-week, I was still coughing throughout the night and I would constantly have a bottle of water at my side to prevent a cough attack during the day.  By the end of the week my coughing started to decrease, so I walked/jogged on the outdoor track a total of ONE time, ONCE.  I felt like such a slacker because I had planned to go to the gym or run on the track EVERY DAY of my vacation and I only went twice! I have been back almost a week now and I haven't worked out once because I have still been so tired.  Luckily the weather turned from snow to 60's this weekend and is supposed to continue this week, so my "plan" is to get back on track this week!

Now if you had looked at the list of my upcoming races prior to this weekend, you saw the Swap House Half Marathon, which I was planning on running the virtual option while on vacation, and then the Quivering Quads Half Marathon which is in progress right now.  I ended up missing both as a result of being sick.  I just knew I couldn't pull off a half marathon today after working out twice over the past couple weeks, so I decided to let my body rest one more day instead. 

As long as I can get back on track, my next race is the Alton Half Marathon on March 21st.  Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Hopefully your training is going better than mine.  Have a great week!!!!

I need your story!

It has been a while since my last Medal Monday post, but I want to get back into the routine of posting your stories every Monday.  Remember these runners:

Erin
Esther
Montana
Gabi
Stephanie
Lynna Do
Helly
Michelle
Kathryn

Please email me a picture of your favorite medal or you with your favorite medal, your name of course, and tell me a bit about why you chose that medal as your favorite.  Since I am preparing for my vacation later this month, I hope to start Medal Mondays again March 9th.

Are you next?

 

 

I think I fell in love yesterday.....

One of my goals or resolutions for the year was to complete a half marathon closer to my Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio PR of 2:20:16.  That was in November of 2010.  It is now 2015. 

Back in 2010 I was still living in DC and my weekend long runs included running through parts of the National Mall and by the Lincoln Memorial before I crossed over the Potomac River into Virginia to continue my run on the Mt. Vernon Trail.  This trail took me right by Reagan airport, where I often took a short break to watch the planes taking off and landing.  Sometimes I would turn around and head back before I reached Alexandria and other times I would end in Alexandria just so I could walk up King Street to metro back home.  The scenery I came across during those long runs was beyond motivating. 

My runs during the week were primarily morning runs when the streets were quiet and I felt like I had the city to myself.  When I lived on Capitol Hill, I would run by the Capitol Police onto the Capitol grounds, down the hill to the National Mall and towards the Washington Monument.  Then I would turn around and go back up the hill (whew), back by the Capitol Police and then stretch in Stanton Park.  When I lived near U Street, I would run to the Dupont Circle area where the streets were absolutely quiet in the mornings.  I also ran with Pacers Running Store once per week.  Everyone in the Pacers group was much faster, so I fought to keep up.  All of this running plus my weight training at the gym helped me get that PR in 2010. 

In 2011 I moved back to Illinois to be closer to my family and because I was dating a guy from my hometown.  Now imagine my beautiful runs in DC where I prided myself in being able to run by monuments on my weekly long runs that other people would take vacation days to see, and then imagine flat Midwestern farm country with limited trails and scenery.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am the person I am today because I grew up in a small town, but it is difficult to re-adjust to small town, rural life after living in the hustle and bustle of our nation’s capital.  My running suffered because I completely lost my mojo and my motivation to get outside and run.  I couldn’t find that “click” anymore.  The only reason I continued to run was because I LOVED races and medals and races were my reason to escape the country for a weekend.  But my training leading up to each race was nowhere near where it was when I was living in DC, so my times suffered.  I was running under-trained and pretty unprepared.

Eventually I realized that I was no longer fit for small town life and that boyfriend and I parted ways.  In 2013 I found a great job in St. Louis and I moved back to an urban area.  STL is a great compromise; it is close to home so it does not require a flight and someone driving 1.5 hours to pick me up from the airport, but it is far enough away and urban enough for me to feel like "me" again. 

I picked an apartment in St. Charles because it was just across the Missouri River from St. Louis County and it was near the Katy Trail, which connects to numerous other local trails.  The Katy Trail also runs along the river, much like the Mt. Vernon Trail runs along the Potomac.  The Katy Trail is scenic in a “natural” way more so than a national monument way but on the weekends in the spring and summer, the Katy is just as busy as the Mt. Vernon Trail  was.

Even though I had access to numerous trails again since moving to the St. Louis area, something still just was not clicking.  I still lacked motivation to train properly, but I still continued to run races.  I actually signed up for a free half marathon training program through a local running store last spring, but I never went.  Not once.

It was when I went in to Fleet Feet to have my Caloric Expenditure test done that I met Coach Tim who is in charge of many of Fleet Feet’s training programs.  Even though Fleet Feet’s 12-week half marathon training program cost $140 vs. the free program I had previous signed up for, I knew this was a better fit for me.  I thought it was exactly what I needed to get back to the way running used to be for me, and paying for a program would hold me more accountable plus I would get the socialization back that I had been missing. 

Since I signed up for Fleet Feet’s training program, I received emails about training programs from the other local running stores:

http://www.bigriverrunning.com/run/training/full-and-12-marathon-training-teams/
http://www.truerunnertraining.com/default.aspx

I could try one of the other programs next time since they are cheaper, but I think I just fell in love with Fleet Feet’s program and may stick with it for fall training too.  I was immediately impressed with Fleet Feet and their attention to detail.  The head coach and I played phone tag last week as he tried to get me into the right pace group.  We finally settled on the group shooting for a 2:22:00-2:32:00 half marathon.  This group runs for 10 minutes and walks for one minute at a 12:00 per mile pace.  My other option was the 2:30:00-2:40:00 group which runs eight minutes with a one minute walk at a 12:00/mile pace.  I don’t quite understand the science behind training at a 12:00/mile pace and running a race day pace between 10:50 and an 11:36, but that is why I am paying them and following their training plan.  Plus their training plan is far more advanced than my recent training plan of “winging it.”

Coach Tim actually ended up explaining how this training method works in one of the emails leading up to the orientation/celebration yesterday.  Click here to read more.

Orientation and the celebration was at Ballpark Village, and there were more people signed up that I had imagined.  We received a folder with our training group listed as well as our individualized training plan.  I am on the 10:1 Intermediate plan.  

First week of my training plan

My goal paces - VERY lofty goals!

Bagels, energy bars, COFFEE, and water was also provided.  We also received a training t-shirt along with other goodies pictured below.  

Our first group run went well and I really like my group.  Several runners are veterans of the program, with several of us being new to the group but not new to running.  One runner was brand new to long distance running, so we have a wide range of experiences and abilities, which I love.  I am really looking forward to working with this group and am just going to sit back and trust the training rather than question it.

Have a great week!