OBX Marathon Weekend Recap

After months of training, the big weekend was upon me. My husband and I were making it a mini vacation with our 2.5 year old daughter, Hannah. We left for the Outer Banks on Friday. Crossing the bridge into the Outer Banks, we were greeted by the beautiful, huge, red moon coming over the water. I also noticed the Washington-Baum Bridge I would be running over at mile 23 of the marathon, gulp.

Colington Cafe (Picture from their website)

We went out to eat at Colington Café. It looked like an old B&B on the inside, only with all the rooms converted into dining rooms with many tables. The décor at first seemed a little old lady to me with lots of old looking flower patterns and old fashion hats and baskets. However, as the night went on the décor started to grow on me.

My favorite part was that they sat us in our own room, so we didn't have to worry about Hannah embarrassing us. Normally she does very well in restaurants. But of course she is a toddler, and at almost three, she is really beginning to test her boundaries. She likes to yell no on occasion and can talk really loud... The food was delicious!

We then went to the hotel. We were pretty tired, but Hannah was all wound up from sleeping in the car for almost four and a half hours. We tried having her in a bed by herself, but she kept jumping on it. I tried to sleep with her, and she kept kicking me when she would toss and turn over and over again. I had it when she head butted me. The rest of the night was a blur, so let’s just say I did not get much sleep that night.

Tim & Sally's 10K

The next morning I got up early to go see some of my fellow RUNegades / RunnerDude Fitness friends run the 10K and 5K. It was Tim’s first 10K, so I was excited to see him run it. I enjoyed getting to be a spectator of the race. It actually got me a little emotional as I started thinking about what it would be like to cross the finish line of the marathon.

Tim did awesome on his first 10K. I was really happy I got to be there for him. I know how awesome it is to have people you know supporting you in a crowd full of strangers. His wife Sally ran by his side the whole race. It was really sweet. Tim ended up beating his time goal by 5 minutes!!!

After the race we hung around a bit. Tim and Sally told me about their race and gave me some pointers, since some of the 10K course ran on the marathon course. Our friends David and Rachael showed up soon after that. David was running the 5K. Both Sally and David were doing challenges where you run two different races and complete them both to get a third bonus medal. It was very neat. To participate, I would have had to run the 10K and the Marathon. Not thinking that was a smart decision for my first Marathon, I opted to just stick to the main attraction. David ran the 5K and the Half Marathon. Sally ran the 10K and the Half Marathon.

I missed David's 5K as I needed to get back to the hotel to Jeremy and Hannah. I got his finishers results via text though. He had done a fantastic run and had earned himself a new 5K PR. So far this race weekend was going great!

When I got back to the hotel, Jeremy was in the shower and Hannah was still sleeping away at 9:45 am. Not surprising, the girl was tired from all her overnight shenanigans.

We hurried up and had breakfast, then rushed back for Hannah's diaper dash race. Upon getting out of the car Jeremy threw his back out. Not a very good sign for the rest of the weekend, but he was a trooper and proceeded to head to Hannah’s race.

We had told Hannah all about the diaper dash the week before, and she had been excited. This morning she was having none of it. As soon as they said "go" she just sat there staring off into space. When I prompted her to go, she firmly sat down. I tried to get her to stand up, but of course she was planted. Finally I picked her up and crossed the finish line, laughing, and grateful that this race had been free. As we were going back to our car, Hannah started saying she wanted to run in the race. Oh toddlers!

Diaper Dash

We went back to the hotel. Hannah and I enjoyed some time on the beach, while Jeremy took a nap to hopefully help with his back. Hannah loved walking in the sand and finding sea shells. It was very relaxing. I loved getting some alone time with my bean.

The beach right outside our hotel room

Wild Horse Adventure Tours

We spent the rest of the day on a Wild Horse Adventure Tour in a hummer. We got to see the Wild Horses, which was really neat. It was a great way to spend the rest of the day.

We enjoyed the tour. The 13 passenger hummer was very comfortable. The ride back was pretty cold though, due to it being open, but they provided blankets and I had brought a hat and blanket for Hannah. So we survived.

It was pretty neat riding on the open beach and then pulling into random areas looking for the horses. The horses traveled in small herds of 2 to 4, that we saw. They were funny because they would wait for each other. Hannah really seemed to enjoy it. I would definitely recommend Wild Horse Adventure Tours.      

The morning of the marathon, I woke and got ready just like any other race. Everything felt kind of like a dream. I was more worried about what I ate and how I felt. Luckily everything felt great.                            

Am I really doing this?!!!

We drove to the course start in Kitty Hawk, NC. I was happy that we got there with plenty of time to spare so I could just focus on the race. We took a few pictures by the start banner, and I made my way into my corral. The corrals were not very defined. They just had signs for A-D. The elites were placed in the A corral. I was assigned to corral D because when I had signed up I had projected my time to be 5 hours. I literally had no idea how long it would take me.

This year the event organizers had added pacers for the first time. I had trained for 4:30 and then had my plan adjusted to 4:15. I had been having an internal battle about what pacer I was going to use. The decision was made for me when they ended up not having a 4:15 pacer.

When I got in the corral, I could not locate the 4:30 pacer and by the time I did there were a good 500 people ahead of me to get there. Knowing from past experience in half marathons I knew that the beginning of the race is the most congested, and that I should be able to catch up to them without a problem once things thinned out.

The journey begins

I met two other ladies in the corral who were also running their first marathons. It was nice to be around other newbies dealing with the nerves. Then before I knew it, it was time to GO.

When I hit the starting chip mat I took a deep breath and thought to myself "here we go, we are really going to do this". I spotted Jeremy and Hannah up ahead. Luckily I was on the same side of the road as them, so I was able to wave to them and blow kisses to Hannah.

I felt really good and just kept reminding myself to run a smart race. I knew I needed to hold back and not start too fast. I wanted to have enough in the tank to finish the race feeling good and strong. So I just started listening to the conversations around me and enjoying the beautiful fall trees. I eventually found myself clustered up to the 4:30 pacer. The group was pretty large, and was pretty congested, so I decided to go ahead of them. From then on I just focused on effort and running my forever pace.

One of the funny things I saw was a pastor standing outside her church dressed in her robes along with some other men dressed in robes. As we passed, she said she was praying for our health and that we would get a PR. Then I heard one of the men with her ask what a PR was, and she told them it was a personal record. It was definitely entertaining and made me smile. Not something you see everyday out running.

I would not say any of the race was a blur. I was pretty aware of everything the whole time. I focused on making it a really good, positive experience. I got a lot of joy interacting with spectators. I high fived kids with signs saying "free high fives". I hit signs that said "hit for energy". I said good morning to just about anyone I made eye contact with. I also thanked volunteers. Most of all I kept a smile on my face. Why do something like this if you are not going to have fun?!

Going into the marathon I had been worried that I would get lonely as I had done all my really long runs with friends. The funny thing is that I never felt lonely. I didn't even listen to music. I brought headphones just in case, but never took them out. I found an inner peace that kept me company throughout the race. I focused on the scenery and the perfect weather conditions. I found all the positive aspects of the journey and just lived in the moment.

Wright Brothers National Memorial

Around mile 9, I was surprised to see Jeremy and Hannah. It was right after I had passed the Wright Brothers National Memorial. It was so good to see them. I ran over and gave them a hug and kiss. I laughed when Jeremy said "keep going", as if I was wasting precious time coming over to see them. I smiled about it for quite awhile.

Around mile 10, we entered the Nags Head Woods Nature Preserve portion. I found this section to be somewhat challenging but the beauty of the trail kept me focused and happy. Most of it was on a hard packed dirt road, however, there were loose rocks everywhere. I was careful not to roll my ankle or fall on any of the rocks. I smiled when I thought of my "I Run 4 Buddy" Ava, telling me not to fall in a video she had sent me.

Then we came upon an awesome water stop that was handing out orange slices and banana bread. I helped myself to both. They really hit the spot. The woods portion ended on a single track trail. I actually really enjoyed this section. It felt like pillows after being on the rocky road. It was also rolling hills, which I enjoyed. A lot of runners were struggling through the woods portions and were complaining about the rocks and the hills. I actually really enjoyed this section. I liked the change of scenery and terrain. The trails were lined by beautiful live oaks splashed in beautiful autumn colors. I truly felt like this was an adventurous journey of different lands.

As we came out of the woods a volunteer would say "Congratulations, you made it out of the woods". I thought it was cute.

I hit the halfway marker, and evaluated how I felt at that point. I was still feeling good and had found my groove. I thought to myself that I had just started a half marathon now. My own mind game.

Around mile 14, we turned onto a road that was lined with the biggest crowd yet. I was a little overwhelmed, until I noticed some amazing familiar faces. There Jeremy stood smiling with Hannah telling me I was doing an amazing job. Such an energy booster. I had figured I would only see them at the start and finish. I was really happy to have seen them two times in the middle of the course as well.

The rest of the run leading up to the Washington-Baum Bridge went well. I made sure to fuel and hydrate. The only time I walked the whole time was through some of the water stops to make sure I ate and drank properly.

When I hit mile 20, it felt surreal. I had ran 20 miles twice in training, but this time by far, I felt the best about those 20 miles. I knew every step after this was a distance PR. I had been really worried about these last 6.2 miles in the days leading up to the race. Yet, as I was actually staring them down, I felt a sense of determination and fire. I would do this!

Washington-Baum Bridge
(Pictures from Marathon Website)

Soon I saw the ominous Washington-Baum Bridge in the horizon. I had wondered how I would feel at the bridge when I would think about the upcoming race. I had wondered if going up the bridge would feel terrible at mile 23. I actually found myself excited to see the bridge. I knew I would finish this marathon at this point, no matter what. The bridge was a landmark. I yelled out "yeah the bridge". Runners around me looked at me like I was crazy, haha.

Running over the bridge was breath taking. The day was perfect, and it was hardly windy at all. I found myself passing lots of runners, as I ran up the bridge while many were walking up it. I actually found the bridge to not be that bad. I think it helped to train in hilly Greensboro. When I reached the top, I did a little fist pump for the cameraman. And then welcomed the downhill portion.

Reaching the top of the bridge

The last 3.1 miles did seem to take the longest, but I still felt really good. At this point many runners around me were struggling. There were some stretching out tight legs, and some that were walking. We passed the big inflatable crab. I got really excited when we passed a bagpiper. It was so cool. I got chills.

The last mile was by far the hardest. I could feel my left calf starting to cramp up a bit. It was on the edge. I was so happy to know I just had one mile and I would be done. The crowd started telling us the finish line was just around the corner. I laughed and told the runner near me that they better not be lying. She laughed and said "Right!". I looked down at my Garmin and knew it was true.

I turned that corner to a roaring crowd cheering for all the runners. Then I started to hear my name. I looked around and spotted Sally and Tim. Then Rachael and David. David ran out behind me and ran for a bit cheering. It was so awesome. I missed seeing Jeremy and Hannah, but Jeremy said I had almost looked at them. I was so overwhelmed with what I was about to accomplish.

I crossed the finish line as a marathoner. I thought I would cry, but instead I just had a stupid grin  that I could not get off my face.

I met up with everyone, and it was awesome. I really was happy to have so many familiar faces at the finish. I loved hearing that both Sally and David had ran great races as well. They both got PRs and earned their bonus challenge medals.

Rachael, David, Me, Sally, & Tim

The marathon seriously could not have gone better. I am still in shock. I ran a smart race. I never hit a wall, and I remained positive the whole time. The weather was absolutely perfect. The Outer Banks was beautiful. The event coordinators run an amazing race. There were ample water / fuel stops. There were lots of energetic spectators. I highly recommend this marathon, so much so that I think I want to do it again next year.

I really believe I did so well because I followed my training plan from Thad at RunnerDude's Fitness. It is so valuable to train well, and to have a coach that is so supportive and helpful. Thanks Thad!

I also could not have done it without my husband Jeremy. He was super supportive, and made it possible for me to get in all my training runs. He spent many hours watching Hannah, and for that I am truly grateful.

I am lucky to have so many supportive friends and family; who blew me away with all their well wishes on Facebook. I feel so very blessed and loved. Seriously, I still can't get over it. I spent the whole trip home reading messages from all of you.

A special thank you to my "I Run 4" buddy Ava. I thought about you a lot during the race, and am so lucky to be paired with such an amazing little girl. You were worth the 3 month waiting list. My shoe charms were my lucky charms.

Last I'd like to thank all my awesome running buddies who ran with me at various times during my training. I could not have done it without your help getting me out there, and helping me get it done. Especially my friends Brittany, Laura, Melanie, and Cara who got me through the really long runs. You ladies rock!

I cannot believe I ran and finished a marathon! 

Here are all the stats:

Official Results

Garmin Splits on Strava

New Distance PR!

What's next.... Maybe the Charleston Half in January. I'm thinking I need a new Half Marathon PR.

Triad Ten Miler

I had signed up for the Triad Ten Miler on National Running Day. They were running a promotion where it was like $30 to register. It was a local race, so I thought it would be fun.

It was scheduled to be a training run. I had all intentions of keeping it that way, until I arrived at the race. It was a beautiful cool fall day. Not to mention, this was my first ten mile race. Our running group also had a lot of runners running the race as well. Which also fueled the fire.

I did not have a goal time in mind starting out. I just decided to run by effort, and not worry what my Garmin said. After the first 3 miles I was averaging under 9 minute miles. So I decided to try and run this race keeping every mile under 9 minutes. Which would be absolutly amazing for me.

It was a hilly course, but I was feeling good. The course was beautiful. It ran through some really pretty neighborhoods and along a nice golf course.

RunnerDudes & Dudettes

I had seen two of my friends (Melanie and Michele) from my running group running about 30 seconds ahead of me for the first 5 miles. I wasn't sure if they were trying to race or just run the course. We are all very close in pace and always tend to run near each other.

They were just far enough ahead of me that it would take too much effort to catch up. So I just kept running my own race.

Then at mile 5, Melanie and Michele slowed at a water stop. I was able to catch up and began running with them. We had a great time talking, and helping to push each other up over all the hills. It really helped to make the time go by faster. I also truly believe they were the biggest reason I ended up getting such a great time in the end.

The last mile was the hardest. It was a gradual incline and you could see far down the road, but could not see the finish line. When we finally hit the final stretch, we discussed how it would be fun to try to cross the finish line at the exact same time.

The announcer spotted us and started making comments about whether or not we were going to race it out in the end. We all silently stuck to the plan, and crossed at the same time. <3

Photo Finish!

It was seriously my favorite race finish to date. I am still surprised by the relationships you make with other runners. It's a bond that happens so quickly. I really enjoyed sharing that finish with Melanie and Michele.

RunnerDudes & Dudettes with awards :)

The best part, was that none of us had ever ran a 10 mile race, so this was a PR for us all. On top of that, we truly killed this race!

We finished in 1:27:15 (average pace of 8:43 per mile)! 

We were all super excited, as this was a really good time for each one of us. I'm not sure I could have kept that pace on my own.

The icing on the cake was that I actually placed third in my age group!

Such a fun memorable race!


Running Stats:

Strava Awards

Elevation Profile

Splits According to Strava

This sums it up :) Love my Sole Sisters!!!

Race 13.1 Midtown Raleigh Fall Review

I had a great time at the 13.1 Mid-Town Raleigh Fall race. The weather was finally beautiful. We did not wake up to nasty, muggy air, making us sweat as soon as we stepped outside.

I stayed in a hotel with my friend Brittany, about 10 minutes from the start line, which again was really nice. We were able to just get up and go.

From the beginning of this race, I had planned for it to be a training run. I had learned my lesson from my 5k incident. Plus it really helped that I had finally gotten my sub 2 hour half marathon. I felt relaxed and excited to just enjoy the race, not having to worry about a PR.

Our friends Cara and Melanie were pacing the 2 hours 15 minute group, so we decided that would be perfect. It is really easy to get caught up in a race, and before you know it, you are running much faster than you are supposed to be for a training run. Plus, we had 5 more miles to run after the race, for 18 total miles (my longest distance yet).

The plan went without a hitch. The course was beautiful, running mostly on the Crabtree Creek Greenway. We got to meet a group of great runners with different goals. Katie and Janine were the two I got to know the most.

My favorite experience of the race was helping others reach their goals. Cara and Melanie do an amazing job of being race pacers. They are high energy, and really help keep everyone around them in good spirits. I really enjoyed getting to be a part of it in this race. They almost make me want to be a pacer, ALMOST. (I think it would be stressful to have to watch the clock so closely. Mad props to them!)

There was one lady around my age, that had a young son at home, her name was Katie. We had a lot in common. I really enjoyed getting to know her. She was trying to PR a 2:30 half marathon. She had ran two in that time. The second time she was like 7 months pregnant! She told me she really wanted to get a 2:15 half marathon. She picked a hard race to PR but she did it. She stuck with our group the whole time.

Around mile 10, Brittany and I pulled a little ahead of the 2:15 group. Up until this point I felt great. Problem was during this section, you come up near the finish line, only to be detoured onto another greenway for another 2.5 miles. At that point, I just all of a sudden wanted to be done. So I started to pull ahead from the group. Plus, I knew the dreaded Lassiter Hill stood in front of me and that finish line. I think Brittney was feeling the same, because she paced right along with me, as did Katie. We were all pretty quiet  at this point.

Then we came across Janine. She had started the race with us, but had pulled ahead pretty early. At this point she was walking. This was her first half marathon, so as soon as I saw her I knew she needed some support. So we started cheering for her, and telling her we were almost there. She started running with us again.

We hit the last water stop before Lassiter Hill. We walked through it knowing the hill in front of us was going to be a bear. You know it is bad when you can purchase a shirt that says “Conquer Lassiter Hill”.

We hit that hill all “Brave Heart” style yelling "Conquer the Hill". Brittney ended up pulling ahead. I just kept telling myself to just keep running no matter how slow. Katie paced right along side of me. I lost sight of Janine, but I never turned around to look for her, as I was fighting my own battle at this point.

As soon as I crested the hill, I could hear the crowd and could see the finish line. I pushed to go faster, but nothing crazy as I knew I still had 5 miles to do after the race. I was just crossing the finish line, when Katie went whizzing past me. Normally I hate getting passed right near the finish line, but this race had been about so much more. I smiled so big, and was so proud of her. I love getting to be a part of her PR story. I’d love to hear how she tells it J

Here were our finish times:

Brittany 2:13:40

Katie 2:13:55

Me 2:13:56

Janine finished her first half marathon in 2:14:53. I was so proud of her. Not only did she complete her first half marathon, but she did it under her 2:15 goal. I’d like to think we had something to do with that, but seriously she gets all the credit.

After race photo op

Race 13.1 Greensboro, Fayetteville,
and Midtown Raleigh

In some ways, this half was more satisfying then my sub 2 hour in Fayetteville. It was a tougher course in elevation, but it was way more beautiful. I also loved running with some of my sole sisters. I enjoyed not having the pressure I put myself through to PR. Most of all, I enjoyed meeting new people and helping them to reach their goals.

This was also my third finished race in the Race 13.1 Series. I received my X3 medal. That brings my half marathon count to lucky number 5.

Fun race stats:

Official Results

Course Elevation Profile

New 5K PR & Learning Lessons

It's funny how easy it is to overdo something. You feel good so you push harder, until one day you get a dose of "Oh crap, I hope I'm not going to regret this".

Since Memorial Day 2014, I had started a run streak. I ran at least a mile a day every day. It was going great. Initially my goal was to complete the 40 day challenge from Runners World. The challenge ran from Memorial Day to Independence Day. I enjoyed the challenge, and ended up continuing it after the 40 days.

I did not know how long I would streak for. I began to think 100 days would be a good goal, and even thought about a one year running streak. Problem is, I knew I was getting into marathon training, and I was not sure how my body was going to handle all the extra miles. So I figured I would just play it by ear.

I was feeling strong. I had built my long run up to 15 miles. I was still streaking daily and had added some PiYo into the mix.

Then I made a stupid decision. I was scheduled to run 16 miles (for the first time), 15 miles being the most I had done up to that point. So I decided I would run 13 miles, and then run a 5k race. I felt good during the 13 mile run. So when I arrived at the 5k race a half hour after completing my run, I decided I felt good enough to actually try to PR this race.

I ran the race strong. I felt good. In the last stretch I came across a boy who seemed to be struggling. I told him we were almost there, and he was able to pick his pace back up. Then I had the brilliant idea to tell him I'd race him to the finish... Yep, I sprinted my butt off trying to beat this 13 year old looking boy that was probably 20 years younger than me, and who had not ran 13 miles before this race. Brilliant idea! He beat me by seconds, and it was fun. I ended up earning a new PR of 25:23 :)

For the rest of the day I felt great. I felt kinda badass even. That is until Sunday morning. I woke up to my right heel hurting. And upon Googling my symptoms (never a great idea), I came to the conclusion that I must have plantar fasciitis, and all my races for the rest of the year were in jeopardy.

I was really worried about having a bad injury that would take me out for the season. So I decided to walk my mile for the streak, even though up until this point I had ran at least a mile everyday.

I woke up Monday to it still hurting, and decided to not run that day and to end my streak all together. I ended up going to see a physical therapist, who determined it was not plantar fasciitis. Thank God! I had just over done it and have tight calves. She did some laser treatments to my foot and gave me some stretches to do before and after every run. She said I needed to be better about stretching.

Luckily everything worked out, and I have been running pain free for over three weeks now. So moral of the story, listen to your body and your trainer. My goal right now is to complete my first marathon, not risk injury on last minute 5k PR's.

Does running fry brain cells?

RIP Run streak! I made it 90 days of running at least a mile each day.

Sub 2 Hour Half Marathon!

I started this blog last year while I was training for my first half marathon. I thought it would be fun to document my journey. Little did I know that I would fall in love with running in the process.

When I set out to complete my first half marathon, I had no intentions of ever doing one again. As I neared the end of my training, I had the itch to do the Raleigh Rock n'Roll Half. Once I completed my first half marathon race, I set the goal of doing Raleigh in under two hours. To accomplish this I would have to shave almost 7 minutes off my time.

You can read about my Raleigh Rock n'Roll Half race. I did not get a sub 2 hour. I still PR'd at 2:04. Then I tried again at the Race 13.1 Greensboro. This time I came up short by 29 seconds!!!

Jeez, this was turning out to be harder than I thought.

Yesterday I completed my 4th Half Marathon and FINALLY got a sub 2 hour! 

Here is my recap.

I traveled to Fayetteville, NC to run the Race 13.1 Fayettville. I had been warned that it is super hot and humid there. I was excited that it was supposed to be a flat and fast course.

I met up with some of my running buddies and we had an awesome girls night out. We stayed in a hotel from Saturday until Sunday. The race was on Sunday and the hotel was less than a mile from the start line, which worked out great.

The crew before the race.

Weather according to Garmin

Luckily the temperature was in the high 70's on race day and it was cloudy. The humidity was the worst part by far. We were already sweating before we even started. The course had no shade, so the cloudy day was a necessity. I'm not sure I would have been able to complete the race if it had been clear and sunny. There is nothing worse than running on the road with no shade with hot humid temps. Plus I sunburn really easy...

The vast majority of the course took place on the All-American Expressway. That was my first time racing on a highway, so that was interesting. Although, I would also add it was very boring. Not to mention the event staff failed to remove a poor dead dog from the shoulder. They should have at least covered it, as we had to pass it twice. I almost cried, it was so sad. 

I'm in the blue shirt and white hat

I had decided to run with the 2 hour pacer to try and go for my sub 2. He was a nice guy with a lot of energy. As time went by I felt like he was running a little fast and around mile 5 I fell a little behind. My goal was just to keep him in my sight, so if at any point I felt really good, I could catch back up to the group. 

I definitely would not say I felt great during this race. The humidity sucked, and the course was boring, with lots of terrible gradual inclines. Sometimes, I hate those more than hills. It's funny to even look at the elevation map because the course felt a lot hillier. I also did not like the fact that I could see for miles ahead of me, which made the distance more daunting.

Elevation Course Map

I don't think I have ever drank so much water and Gatorade during a race. I could not replenish fast enough. Everything was sweating right out of me. I managed to catch back up to the 2 hour pacer around mile 8 and noticed they were walking through the water stations. So I decided to follow their lead. I even had time to refill my water bottles by doing this. Normally I just roll on right by them because I carry my own water and Gatorade.

Around mile 9 to 10 my wheels started falling off. I just wanted to be done. I can't really say what exactly was going on, as nothing was bothering me. I was just tired and my shoes were starting to get wet from my sweat, which I cannot stand. This is also when I saw the dead dog and right near that an ambulance and fire truck were taking care of an injured runner. There was also a yucky long incline up over an overpass that was concrete. My legs really felt the impact of the concrete.

I again fell behind the pacer and had just decided this was not my day. So I plodded along just hoping to finish soon. I walked through the last water station kinda sulking about missing my goal again. When I came across the mile 11 marker, and looked at my Garmin to realize I could still get in under 2 hours! I was so excited. I willed myself to go faster. I forced my legs to move even though they felt like bricks.

Around mile 12, I caught up to a runner that was running with a full sized American Flag. His friends started lagging behind him and he was trying to get them to go. I ran up beside him and said I'd run in with him. So we killed that last mile. It was such a welcomed way to end the race. He brought in a lot of crowd support which really helped me finish stronger than I felt.

I was excited to see that I crossed the finish line in 1:58:36. My chip time was 1:58:09. Finally!!!

Honestly, it is still a little surreal. It was a strange race. It was not terrible but it was not great either. It definitely was not a race where I felt like I had it. If anything I felt the opposite. I'm so glad I pushed through all those thoughts to finally do it.

Official Results

My Garmin came up short on distance but it was a USATF Certified Course so I'll take it :)

Splits according to my Garmin

I have 2 more half marathons and a ten miler race left before my full in November. Those will all be training run races leading up to the full, so I'm glad I was able to PR this race. Now I can just focus on marathon training.

Garmin Forerunner 220 Review & Storage Solution

Earlier this year I got a nice little bonus from work and decided to treat myself to a new GPS watch. Up until then I had been using my cell phone and the MapMyFitness App to track all my runs. After doing some research I settled on the Garmin Forerunner 220.

I loved the purple color of the watch. I also liked that it is really simple to use. I liked that it had the built in accelerometer for tracking treadmill runs. (I have yet to try that feature as all my runs have been outside.) I spent the extra $50 to get the added heart rate monitor strap.

I like that while I am running I can quickly look down and see what my current time, pace, and distance is. I love that you can set vibrating alerts. I have mine set to tell me my current pace at each mile I hit. I can choose to ignore it or see how I'm doing. You can also set up workouts. I have only played with this feature a little bit but you can use it to set up workouts like intervals, progression runs, and Fartleks.

The GPS on the watch seems to work very well. It connects quickly and even caches your location so you can get quicker connecting times for the next time you run in the same area. The watch is comfortable. I'm also in love with the fact that I can upload my data to any site that allows me to. I am no longer only married to MapMyFitness. I have many running friends that use Strava so now I can link there as well. So definitely no regrets on this purchase.

I am very happy with my Forerunner 220. It was pricey at $300 for the Garmin Forerunner 220 Heart Rate Monitor Bundle. I bought mine at REI and got the REI Membership plan. I get 10% back at the end of the year. So I paid $300 and will get $30 at the end of the year. Membership was $20 so in the end I get $10 back. However, now I am a life long REI Member and can get money back on other eligible purchases.

My next mission was to find a solution to help protect my purchase when not using it. I looked online and found a Garmin case but it had soft sides, which in my opinion does not keep it very safe. I wanted a case I could throw in my gym bag and not have to worry about it. I also wanted it to fit the watch, heart rate monitor, and the charging/upload cable. After searching and not finding exactly what I wanted I decided I would have to come up with my own solution.

While shopping in Marshalls I came across a cute Vera Bradly Hard Sunglass Case. Bingo this would be perfect to use to keep all my Garmin Forerunner 220 parts together. Not to mention it is cute and was only $7.99!!!

Any large sunglass case would work. There are so many options for colors and designs. Some even have little handles. Jackpot!

Show me your GPS watch case ;)

Half Crazy to Fully Crazy!

So I jumped off the cliff into fully crazy! I signed up for my first FULL marathon, yikes! It still does not feel real. I can't even fathom it right now.

I chose to do the TowneBank Outer Banks Marathon on November 9. I have 3 half marathons coming up this fall so I can use some of them as training runs. I figure now is the time to do it since I have a really good mileage base going into it. I also read a lot of reviews of the OBX Marathon and decided it would be a good first marathon. It is a point-to-point course that is mainly flat. It includes some challenges to keep it interesting. Supposedly there is a semi tough portion through the Nags Head Woods Preserve around mile 12 that takes you trail running for about 2 miles. Then at mile 23 you cross the 35 foot tall Washington-Baum Bridge leading to Roanoke Island (stats: 1.05 mi long, 82' high, with a 650' climb to the top at a 4% grade). Check out the full course description.

The course description gets me excited and nervous. I like how it sounds like an amazing journey in a beautiful place. I just pray for perfect cool cloudy weather for race day. The weather can make or break any race.

I decided to do my training with RunnerDude's Fitness again. That way I have a coach to help me with my training plan and to run with other runners training for the same race. So my official training starts in July.

I jumped off the cliff and we will see how I land :)

Race 13.1 Greensboro Recap

Half Marathon #3 in the books!

Start of Race

 Today I ran the inaugural Race 13.1 Greensboro. I had driven the course a couple times and was concerned that it would be hilly. So I was not sure if I would run it or race it. I decided to just see how I felt the morning of the race. Then about a week out I started getting really excited about the race and had the itch to try to PR it.

First I have to mention that the weather was AMAZING! It was 52° and cloudy. A far cry from the muggy sunny +80° days we had been getting. It was perfect racing weather for sure!

Blowing kisses to my family

The race was relatively small and there were no corrals. This made for a very congested 1st mile. Once the group started spreading out it was really nice. The course was an out and back course. The first half went by super fast. There were a lot more downhills which made the uphills not so bad. I kept reminding myself that these awesome downhills would be terrible uphills on the way back.

I loved running on the Bicentennial Greenway that I run on all the time. I loved that the course was local and out and back as I got to see so many familiar faces. I even had some friends come out and cheer me on. I felt good pretty much the whole time.

Running towards the finish

I loved that I got to see my husband and daughter  throughout the course. I loved having Hannah wave at me and say "I love you mama" when she saw me. It was also nice to have my husband taking some pictures. All in all it was a great day!

I had started off with the 2 hour pacing group in the first mile. However, there were just too many people and I was not happy with the pace they were doing. So I decided to try to stay just ahead of them. They ended up finishing just behind me.

I was really hoping to finally get my goal of a sub 2 hour half. I came so close! I was off by only 29 freaking seconds. I finished it in 2:00:28! Still a brand new shiny PR :) I'll take it!

Coming back was pretty brutal with all the hills. So I am very proud of my performance. My next race is in September and it will be the Race 13.1 Fayetteville .It is supposed to be a flat course. Hopefully it just won't be a hot day. I will sub 2 hour it though! You heard it here first ;)

Race stats below.

Crossing the finish line

Showing Hannah my bling

#3 Done!

Official Results

Elevation Map

My splits and gap times

NEW PR Baby!