Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon:::: Race Review

Race #3 of 12 in 2012 (and second half in two days)


So on Saturday March 31st I Ran The Bluegrass in Lexington, KY and the very next day I ran the Knoxville Covenant Health Half Marathon. I didn't mean to do this but it turned out to be an awesome weekend for me (now if you ask B-rad who had to drive all over creation, get up early, and wait around while I ran, he might have other opinions).

My major gripe with this race was that there was no race day packet pick up. I know they want to get you to the expo and make you spend more time in the city but come on. I-75 South was a parking lot due to some construction so the trip was HORRIBLE. Long story short we took two different detours, I got a ticket for improper passing (and a lecture from an a-hole sheriff), Brad had a melt down because he thought we weren't going to get to see the UK game.... and all the while we're wondering if we're even going to make it to town in time to pick up my packet. IT SUCKED.

Luckily it all worked out but if I hadn't been able to pick up my packet, I'd have been out money for the race and a hotel room in Knoxville for the night. Makes me mad just thinking about it, but anyways.

We got up early and headed to the start line.

What I wore:
Nike Miler shirt
Nike Pro Combat capris
iFitness double pouch belt
Garmin
Active Band headband
Mizuno Wave Riders
Road ID wrist elite ID
iPod shuffle
Yurbud earphones

This race also had a full marathon, it's the first race I've done like that. It was kind of gloomy at the start, but the weather felt really nice. We ran around downtown Knoxville and the UT campus first, then went to more residential areas. The race finished on the 50 yard line of Neyland stadium. I'm not a Vols fan at all, but it was really cool running onto the field.

I started the race thinking, 'Take it easy. Don't hurt yourself. You got a PR yesterday, just take it easy.' I was mainly concerned with finishing. I took off running though, and around mile 3 I felt surprisingly great. Part of the course was along a green way and it was beautiful.  The course was unfortunately HILLY. Yes, I have a gift.

I walked the hills and ran the rest. As we were finishing they announced our names and also put us on the big screen in the stadium, very cool.

After the race, looking all squinty eyed. I've got to get some sunglasses to run in. This was the first race that I've done that gave out space blankets. Don't think I'm horrible, but after the race I noticed that the first aid tent was EMPTY. I knew that some ice would be great for my knees so I ran inside and the volunteers were amazing and hooked me up. I was in and out in about 5 minutes. ***No I wasn't injured and I obviously wouldn't have done this if they were busy**

Third half of 2012 complete. Here are the stats:

What am I happy about?
If I hadn't PR'ed the day before, this time would have been a new PR for me!
Look at my 10K split, my 10K PR is 1:09:21. I shaved off 3 MINUTES (in the middle of a half, my second half of the weekend!).
I ran two hilly courses in two days and finished strong.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant that B-rad picked:

The food was good but it took FOREVER. But we got to sit outside and watch the marathoners finish. Man I was in awe of those amazing people.

icing my knees while waiting for food.

he's just happy it's over and ready for some food!

As always, my iFitness belt worked great:

I came away from this weekend on a running high. Am I fast? Definitely not. But am I strong? Heck yes.

Isn't it an awesome feeling to challenge yourself then rise to the occasion? I highly recommend it. 

Run The Bluegrass 2012::: Race Review

Race #2 of 12 in 2012

Two weekends ago (I am such a procrastinator) I ran two half marathons in two days. On Saturday March 31st I did the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Our basketball team had a huge game against U of L to advance to the Final Four so I experimented with iron on letters and made what I thought was a pretty bad ass shirt!

Brad was my official photographer, so I actually have some pictures from the race!

My thoughts going into this race we all about getting through it fairly conservatively so that I would be able to walk/run the next day. I had heard horror stories about the hills so I was nervous but I was excited to be racing in Kentucky and I was super excited to meet several blog friends!! 

I picked up my packet the morning of the race and was REALLY pleased with the shirts. Nike Dri Fit and women sizes!!

The temperature was perfect for running, cool and a light mist. The race started right on time [with George "Bucky" Sallee playing the bugle like he does at Keenland!!!] and sure enough, there were plenty of rolling hills [the Asheville Citizen-Times Half was way worse though]. I quickly adopted a walk the hills, run the rest plan. 

The course was BEAUTIFUL! Horse farms, bluegrass, beautiful homes, horses everywhere... LOVED it. The course support was amazing and there were plenty of water stops.

Around mile 10 I realized that I was way ahead of my normal time, so I decided to bust it and try to get a new PR. Brad was waiting for me at the finish line and got these pics:

Starting to kick and this guy in the yellow came up and was trying to pass everyone!

Time to dig down deep!

I'm not usually this competitive but I did not want to let him beat me!

I'm too busy trying not to die sprinting to smile!

Not smiling now, is he?!? CHICKED!

I might look like a hot mess in these pics, but I was not about to let him beat me!! 

FINISH TIME:  2:22:25 **NEW PR**

Overall:  1039 of 1500 (69%)

Age Group:  94 of 146 (64%)

I am SO PROUD of my new PR. Couldn't be happier! 

After the race we were in a huge hurry (I didn't even have time to shower before we had to pack up to head to Knoxville to pick up my packet for the Covenant Health Half Marathon) but I did get some ice cold chocolate milk and of course my medal. 

This is by far my favorite medal so far!!! I love the blue and white ribbon and the horseshoe! 

I would definitely run this race again, I'll actually be really sad if I don't get to next year! I was originally supposed to run with my friend, Becca, but a foot injury sidelined her. Next year I hope we can run together!!

The organizers did a great job with this race and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a challenging but beautiful course!!

Showing off my awesome double pouch iFitness belt. This thing is a lifesaver and truly the best running belt I've ever used. iFitness is sponsoring 12 in 2012 and gave us all single pouch belts. I bought the double right before my first half. 
I love both belts but like the single for long training runs and the double for long races. Just because it holds more and I like to have my phone to take pictures!

The Resolution for Women - A Preview!

On Wednesday I started reading a new book called 'The Resolution for Women,' by Priscilla Shirer. I'm only a few pages in but I really think it's going to be a really great book. I just have to share a few excerpts with you guys, because it really encouraged me and  I hope it'll do the same for you:

The book is obviously about making resolutions, more specifically the resolutions that God has for you. The author starts by saying that she wasn't much for resolutions and said the word even disturbs her a little.

"...I've made so many of these goals and promises before and haven't always followed through..."

"Fail enough times and you don't feel like trying again."

"Some of us, for our own varied reasons, ultimately decide they're not worth the effort."

These statements, especially the last one, really stuck with me and I spent a lot of the day going over it in my mind. I can really identify with that feeling of thinking you aren't worth the effort.

In January I was in a really crappy place as far as my weight went. I'd been there for awhile and unfortunately it had become the norm. I was running a lot, but I wasn't making the effort to clean up my diet. In my mind, I wasn't ready to make that commitment to change. 

"Right now - whether you realize it or not - you're choosing to treat people a certain way, to stay committed to certain activities, to live a certain life, to be a certain kind of person, to not be a certain kind of person. Either way, you've made a decision."

It's funny how right she is! I never though about it that way, but I was actively choosing to disregard my body.  Making a decision that I wasn't worth the work. I was afraid to make the decision to care because I didn't want to fail again.

If you want to do something, make the decision to DO IT rather than making the decision to not.You have to make a decision either way, why not make the one that ultimately makes you happy and a better person?

Do the work. You're worth it.

I'll share more as I continue to read :) Thanks for all your all's awesome encouragement throughout my weight loss journey so far, it really means the world for me!

 

 

 

Weekend Adventures, Virginia Creeper Virgins

Today's workout:  20 minutes stair climber, 20 minutes Cybex, 15 minutes elliptical

Today was my first day back to work and I'm already ready for a day off! Not because I don't like work but because I feel like I have so much to do!!

On Saturday, Brad and I loaded up our bikes and drove over to Abingdon, Virgina to check out the Creeper Trail.

It was so beautiful!  If you're anywhere near it you should definitely check it out! We rode out 10 miles then turned around. Our butts were beyond sore. Gotta invest in either some better padded shorts or a new padded seat. Key word being PADDED. Ouch.

Sunday we got up early for church then went to Tupelo Honey for Easter brunch, YUM. After brunch we came home and napped for 2 glorious hours!!!! GREAT DAY.

Then mom and granny came to visit on Sunday and stayed til this morning. We had so much fun shopping, eating, and we may or may not have seen the Hunger Games. Yes that's three times for me if you're counting. Issues.

Check it out!

I'm guest posting over at the FitFluential blog today, so if you get a minute go check it out and let me know what you think!

If you've come here after reading that post, THANK YOU and I hope you like it here!

Rearview Mirror: March 2012

I have so much catching up to do but I can't seem to sit still long enough to write a coherent post! Hopefully I'll get around to writing about this weekend soon, but honestly I'm still trying to find the words to describe how amazing it was! It's a lot easier to just do my monthly review post instead.

So March madness...

running & training....I ran 64 miles this month! That's more than I've ran in any month since I started in April of last year. I'm so happy with this I can't even describe it! I haven't been following a strict running schedule since January and I've also been spending more time with weights than ever. I really thought my miles would suffer because of this but I'm really glad I got them in! I've been training at least twice a week since January and I'm going to try to log those workouts on DailyMile as well. I really like the feeling of accomplishment that I get looking back over it all.

races... I ran two races this month, the Spartan Sprint Carolinas and Run The Bluegrass Half Marathon. The Spartan race scared the crap out of me but it also challenged me and left me feeling very empowered. I've already signed up for 2013! The Run the Bluegrass was definitely the prettiest half marathon I've ever run.  It was a challenge also (hills, hills, and part 1 of my 2 races in 1 weekend) but as I'll get to in my review later, it ended up being a new PR!

blogging...I got to meet some amazing friends at the Run the Bluegrass, which was really great.

Coy from First in Philly. Seriously if you don't read her blog you're missing out! Every post makes me laugh!  She rocked out a new PR while running 'naked'!!!

Bobbie from Journey in Running.  She ran the race with a group of friends and they killed it!  Funny story, I also got to meet Bobbie's mom, Ruby, who was my sock swap partner this past Christmas! 

It was so nice to put faces and voices with these women! I was also supposed to meet up with Andrea from Bluegrass TriChick but unfortunately we missed each other after the race, I hope to meet her soon!

I am also in the process of getting a blog makeover! That's why it looks so plain right now, but hopefully over the next month  that'll change!

reading...I did some very challenging reading this month. I read 'Assholes Finish First' by Tucker Max and then re-read the first two Hunger Games books to get ready for the movie. AFF wasn't as good as Max's first book (I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell) but it was pretty funny nonetheless. Very similar to Chelsea Handler's books.

movies... I saw the Hunger Games twice because I'm crazy. We also saw Project X (it was okay) and 21 Jump Street (hilarious).

weight loss journey... I had another pretty successful month. I lost 4.5 pounds, making my total loss since January 16.5 pounds! I definitely started to plateau this month but I tried not to let it get me down. I'm still right along with my goal of losing 5 pounds per month and I'm just going to keep at it. I added a new tab to the top of my page (the weigh it is) so that's there if you ever want to check it out.

Spartan Sprint Carolinas Pictures

I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was great but super busy!!! I ran two half marathons, met two blogger friends, saw some KY friends, and the CATS won!!!! I'll post more on all this later, but I wanted to do a quick post to share the pics from the Spartan Race last weekend. Nuvision Action Image did an amazing job, I just wish they'd caught us more! They also allow you two download their files for free = AMAZING!!

The last three are my favorite. Matthew came back to help me with the tractor pull. Love him.

After a girl is grown, her little brother - now her protector - seems like a big brother. ~Terri Guillemets