Cap City Half Marathon Race Recap

How ’bout that 7 minute PR!

Heck yes, that happened. I went into this race with little expectations. I trained for 12 weeks but it was loose training. I did 13.1 miles 3 weeks prior to race day but otherwise I wasn’t as rigid and anal as I usually am about my training, and guess what…it paid off! All the races I’ve trained for in the past I’ve been so worried about the weekly mileage and sticking to my schedule but this time around it was right after our move and in the middle of house hunting so I went into it just wanting to cross the finish line. On the other hand my training runs were fast and I was aiming for that sub-2 but I’ve done that before. I’ve trained averaging 8 minute miles and then choked on race day (I call it my half marathon curse) BUT don’t worry there is a happy ending, on this day the curse was broken!

The race morning was great. I had my usual peanut butter on toast and our friends Hope and Paul picked us up to head downtown bright and early. Paul and I were both in the same corral and Jon stood nearby as our cheering squad. It felt good to be back in downtown Columbus for a race, it reminded me so much of the marathon and made my heart and soul REALLY happy. The gun went off and I felt good. I paced myself the entire race and stuck around the 8:08/min mile range for the first 5 miles. Then mile 6 came and I slowed it down. I saw Jon at mile 7 and my spirits shot back up. Around mile 9 we started to head into German Village and this is where I lost my way. It was SO smokey (there was a huge factory fire in south Columbus the night before) I felt like I was about to have an asthma attach any minute or maybe it was just in my head. Regardless I panicked a little and my pace fell to the 8:40 range. It was a serious struggle to run those last 4 miles but I tried to put it into perspective… 4 miles, that’s an easy day, you got this!… I trucked on through and finished with a 1:52:04- oh snap!!! That is a 7 minute PR for this girl and I could not have been happier A) with that time and B) that that race was over.

At the end of the day, every race has its hiccups but it’s how you react to those obstacles that make you a true runner. I so badly wanted to walk, quit, go get a hotdog at mile 10 but I pushed through. It took everything in me to get up that final hill at mile 12 but when I crossed that finish line I was stronger than I was 2 hours prior. That’s why we do this crazy thing known as running right? To see what our bodies are capable of. At least that’s why I do it. 🙂

Hot Chicken Takeover is the best post-race meal, hands down.

Week 15 and the run I will never forget.

Sooo I ran 20 miles on Saturday and it was AH-MAZ-ING! And now that that is over it’s all about maintaining until race day….relaxing, eating, sleeping. Honey boo boo style.

In all seriousness, I cannot believe week 15 is over and there are just 5 weeks left to go, it’s been a looooong road (pun intended ) To be honest, I was in a bad place a couple of weeks ago where I just could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I felt exhausted, bored, anxious, overwhelmed and a mix of a million other things. I read that a lot of people feel this way right after they hit the halfway mark.  It was as if the training was never ending and between work, family and being insanely busy this summer I felt like I was just staying afloat with everything. BUT…with that, just as running can exhaust you it can also make you feel like a million bucks. All it took was one 5:30am sunrise 4 miler to get back to my happy place.

We were staying at my parent’s house last week which meant gorgeous lake running routes.

We made a stop the 9/11 memorial on our way home from work last Thursday and spent a couple minutes reflecting on that day 13 years ago. We were both freshmen in high school when the planes hit the twin towers and it was a day I’ll never forget. Living just an hour outside of the city many people in my area were affected and things were never really the same. Now New York City is like home to Jon and I and we’ve seen this massive tower being built over the last 4 years and we’ve never really stopped to think about the whole thing. It was nice to take a moment and really digest what happened that day and all the lives that were lost.

Sorry for all the sad stuff, lets turn this post around and talk about happy things

Speaking of happy things, lets talk about the 20 miles I did on Saturday (Garmin pic below for proof!) It truly was amazing/ life changing and I NEEDED it. I only stopped once for about 1-2 minutes to refill my water bottle otherwise I trucked through all 20 miles and felt strong throughout. This was HUGE for me, I have been stopping a lot on my long runs because let’s be honest its been summer and its been HOT! Saturday was in the high 50’s and it was glorious. My legs started to hurt in places I never knew existed but I reminded myself “pain is temporary” and it eventually went away. Mile 19 was my fastest mile and I felt like a rockstar. It was exactly the run I needed to boost my confidence. I even got a little emotional at the end (oh yeah I’m totally going to cry at the end of the marathon, lets just get that out there right now). The important thing is I totally had 6.2 more miles in me and I officially feel ready to rock this race in 5 weeks. Hallelujah bring on the Chipotle!

 

 

Paris is for lovers.

We just got back from our 1st anniversary trip to Paris and mannnnn was it perfect! First off, it could not have come at a better time, between work, training and some tough family stuff going on we NEEDED a little getaway big time.

Paris was way more beautiful than I imagined it to be. It was like stepping into a movie and I will admit I may have watched Midnight in Paris a few too many times before our trip, but it seriously was magnificent. From the quaint cobblestone roads to the street corner bistros buzzing with people watchers morning, noon and night it was truly an experience. I feel kind of guilty saying this because Florence Italy has and will always hold the key to my heart but Paris is VERY high up there on the most magical cities list. Here is a list of my top 10 favorite things:

1) It was SO romantic. Between the love lock bridge, candlelit brasseries, champagne for days and midnight strolls along the Seine it’s no wonder everywhere you turn people are cuddling up everywhere. The place screams romance.

2) It was clean! Like really clean. It may be because I’m exposed to New York City and the Jersey turnpike every day that my clean scale isn’t that high but honestly Paris is one clean, smells good city.

3) The people were SO nice. Shame on you stereotypes!

4) The Eiffel Tower at night is one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen.

5) Running in the Luxembourg gardens

6) The Lourve Museum. Many people said don’t bother with the Lourve go to Musee d’Orsay instead but we obviously couldn’t leave Paris without seeing the Mona Lisa and we’re not really museum people to begin with so we went andddd it was really freakin’ cool! From the “medieval Lourve” in the basement to Napoleon’s apartment there were tons of neat things to see.

7) Ladurée and their macarons. Quite possibly the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten, vanilla specifically.

8) St. Germain and The Latin Quarter

9) Fresh, 7am baguettes and chocolate croissants

10) Reims, Epernay (beautiful places) and anything relating to champagne.

We honestly could not have asked for a better 1st anniversary. From getting engaged in Florence, honeymooning in Hawaii, and celebrating our first anniversary in Paris we are really setting the bar higher than high! Our motto has always been- there is no time like the present; go everywhere and see everything and that is what we’re doing (more like run everywhere, see everything for me :-P)

Here are some photos from our trip.

         

18 miles and Paris is always a good idea.

18 miles, 18 whole miles! Who am I? It felt SO good to get this run under my belt. This one was super important to me because for some reason conquering 18 miles makes me pretty confident that I can complete 26.2. I had to stop a few times for water and shade due to the heat but all in all it wasn’t terrible.

Another reason I am SO happy to have gotten up to 18 miles is because I’m taking a few days off from running. There is some MUCH needed romancing & celebrating in order with my handsome husband for our 1 year anniversary! We tried to think of the best place to do all of this romancing & celebrating and obviously decided on PARIS! As Aubrey said…

Au revoir!

Country living and halfway there.

Last weekend we roadtripped to Ohio to visit Jon’s family for the weekend. I absolutely love visiting my in-laws because they live out in the country and it’s such a relaxing change of pace from our city lives. We’re starting to become champs at the 8 1/2 hour roadtrip, it’s really not so bad when you have family (especially an adorable niece and nephew) to look forward to. I had only been to Ohio once for a volleyball tournament before I met Jon and now it’s my second home. Who would have thought this crazy Jersey girl would end up with tractor driving, Carhartt wearing midwest county guy! I love it. You know who also loves our visits out to Ohio, little Miss Finley, she was in heaven all weekend with acres of open land to play in.

We spent a lot of time over the weekend exploring Dublin which is right outside of Columbus and I never wanted to leave because of two things; Jenis ice cream and a chocolate shop that hosts the local running club, my kinda people!

Another big perk of being out in the country is that it is perfect for peaceful and scenic runs. Jon joined me for my 13 miler on Sunday (best husband ever).

           

Side note- If anyone’s reading this in the Columbus Ohio area you NEED to check out Buckeye Bounce. It’s a huge trampoline place thats great for kids and even more fun for adults :)!

We soaked up every minute of family time and relaxation all weekend. As much as I love living in the big city, a weekend in the country really hits the spot.

 

Starting to get this thing down.

I’m starting to get this marathon training thing down. My pace is finally staying around the 8:45/min mile range which makes me very happy. 9 days off in Alaska + running in the heat set me back earlier in July but I’m feeling great now. I also started 2 new things! 

Thing 1: Ice baths! Sitting in an ice bath after my Saturday long runs has helped me tremendously. No soreness, no lead legs and I feel spectacular for the rest of the weekend. Why didn’t I think of this sooner!?

Thing 2: Gu Energy Gels. I put trying these off for a long time because they are straight up gross BUT I absolutely need to find some good fuel for these long runs and for marathon day or I will be dunzo at mile 6 and to be honest if I don’t make it to the free beer at the finish line I will be one sad lady. I decided to give Salted Caramel a try and it wasn’t so bad. I don’t get how someone can eat the whole thing in one go but I guess I’ll get there right? :-\ The important thing is that it worked. No stomach ache, no cramping, and I felt a burst of energy to carry me through the rest of the run. This has caffeine which I’m realizing is a total must have. I’m going to stick with this and give some additional flavors a try.

So far- 12 miles down this week. I am LOVING this cooler summer weather and the sunrises have been on point all week!

Monday- Strength training/arms

Tuesday- 6 miles

Wednesday- 3 miles

Thursday- 3.2 miles + hills

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Finally! And grabbing this year by the horns.

Finally, my best week yet! I feel like shouting from the roof tops so that’s what I will do. This week kicked butt. I took it easy during the week to try to give my body a little rest so that I could tackle my long run on Saturday and it totally paid off, 12 fantastic miles from start to finish! I slept great the night before and woke up at 5:45am on a Saturday (who does that!) to get my run in before Jon’s flight lesson. It was about 15 degrees cooler at that hour than my usual 9:30am runs and it made a HUGE difference; I could breathe, I felt energetic and I felt like I could run for hours. I also brought a towel with me this time which was a huge help. It’s so hard to wipe your sweat in a tank top mid-run, I must look ridiculous when I do that. Moral of the story: I will never do a long run past 6:30am in the summer again. This was exactly what I needed especially after last weekend’s horrendous long run. I feel so much more confident in this marathon training and I’m 110% ready to take on that 26.2!

Weekly mileage:

Monday- Rest

Tuesday- 6 miles

Wednesday- 3 miles + hills

Thursday- 1 mile sprint + 6 miles on the bike

Friday- Rest day

Saturday- 12 GREAT miles

Sunday- 2 miles

Total= 24 miles

Aaaaand the totally rad reason that I had this awesome run was all thanks to Jonny’s flight lesson being so early on Saturday. Yes, Jon flew a plane!! This has always been on his bucket list and he finally did it. He was super nervous at first but he was a total pro, the instructor even let him take off! I definitely see a pilot’s license in his future. We always joke that one day we will quit our jobs and become professional travelers/ tour guides, now we’re one step closer 😉

This summer has just flown by and it’s sad that everything you look forward to in the winter goes by so quickly but this year is truly all about doing everything and ANYTHING we want. Whether it’s flying a plane, a trip to Alaska, numerous late nights out in the city, a spontaneous trip to Paris or running a marathon, we are grabbing this year by the horns and making every second count. Life is tooooo short to wait for the right time to travel or complete items on your bucket list. People say we are always so busy, and hell yes we are- every second counts and each adventure we take is another story in our wild, fun, roller coaster book of life.

Week 7 and a really bad run.

Last week was my highest mileage week in a long time and Friday’s long run was one of my top 5 worst runs of all time. I’m a happy person and this is a happy blog so I’m going to keep this short and sweet- it was HOT, I was tired, my legs felt like lead and I wanted to quit at mile 3. I’m so proud of myself for sucking it up and running all 11 miles but it was not pretty. Everyone has a bad run from time to time so there it is and now I will kiss it goodbye and forget about it forever. Weekly recap:

Monday- Rest

Tuesday- 6 miles

Wednesday- 3 miles + strength training

Thursday- Rest

Friday- 11 miles

Saturday- Rest

Sunday- 3 Miles

In other news, I’m continuing the running fuel & hydration hunt and I’ve been testing out some new products. This week is all about cocogo, a drink powder made with real fruit and coconut water that is packed with electrolytes. I’m loving the raspberry passion fruit flavor. The best part about this product is the taste; it is SO good. I’ve been drinking it all week and it really quenches my thirst before and after running. I’m definitely going to order some additional flavors and keep this as a top contender in the hydration department.

During my long run on Friday I ate half a pack of Margarita flavored Clif Shot Bloks. I wanted to try these out because they are packed with salt and I figured the extra sodium would help ward off cramps. I definitely didn’t get any cramps during the run but my stomach was in knots the entire time therefore this is a goner, NEXT!

The rest of the weekend was a blast. My sister was visiting from California and it’s always great to see her. She finally met Finley and they were instantly bffs.

Also, my dad bought a stand up paddle board for his boat and I was excited to take it for a spin!

We also had a really intense corn hole tournament at my uncles house Saturday night. The men in my family are absolutely hilarious and so much fun (especially when a little Jim Beam Honey is involved). It got pretty competitive, Jon claims he is still sore.

Your weekly dose of Finley:

Someone REALLY loves swimming, like really really. Jon and I went camping 2 weeks ago and we found this great little secluded lake. She was a little hesitant jumping off the dock at first but once she got in the water we could not get her out it.The cutest dog in the world just got way cuter.

Hope you are all having a great week and enjoying every second of summer like a lab puppy that just learned to swim 🙂

Our Alaska road trip!

Just got back from our Alaska road trip and let me tell you, beautiful doesn’t even scratch the surface. Ever since I met my husband, he and his family have talked about their love for Alaska and now I finally understand, it truly is an amazing place. Let me start with the back story… When Jon’s parents got married his mother’s parents took them to Alaska with an Airstream trailer and they traveled around for a summer. They loved the state so much that they decided to go back when they had a family and back again when their kids got married with their new spouses, thus that brings us to our Alaskan road trip vacation and the best family tradition ever (did I get lucky or what!?). 

We arrived in Anchorage on a Friday afternoon and were greeted by Jon’s parents in the RV along with the best halibut sandwich of my life and an ice cold Alaskan beer. We then started our journey along Highway 1 (aka-Turnagain Arm, one of the most scenic drives in the US) to Seward. This seriously was a gorgeous drive along the water through the Kenai Peninsula, just before we reached Seward we saw this on the side of the road:

Yes this is happened in real life. I’m telling you, this place is unbelievable! Later that night we arrived in Seward which again took my breath away. The harbor surrounded by snow-capped mountains was phenomenal. 

The next day we drove to Whittier and went sea kayaking in Prince William Sound, hiked a glacier and saw a woman walking a reindeer.

After Whittier we made our way up to Valdez just in time to see the fishing charters bring in their catch of the day, fresh halibut yum!

After Valdez we started our journey to my new favorite place on earth- Denali National Park. We made a quick stop in Chitina, a small (population 125) town located on the outskirts of Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve. It is an old mining town that is especially known for being near the Copper River, home to those famous salmon catching fish wheels.

On Tuesday night we arrived in Denali National Park and set up camp at one of the park’s campgrounds deep in the woods. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy because on a clear day you should be able to see Mount McKinley from our campsite. Luckily we had a couple of days there so we kept our fingers crossed that the summit would make an appearance later in the week.

The next day we caught the bus from our campground that takes you through the park. It is a genius system; you can get off anywhere you please and go anywhere in the park for as long as you want. You just need to make sure you catch the final bus out that night or your could be tent-less camping in bear land. We got off the bus a few times and hiked throughout the day, it was magical and an experience I will never forget. We saw tons of caribou, foxes, bald eagles and 2 grizzly bears! I even took my first selfie ever:

Later that night we lucked out big time, Mount McKinley made its debut. I then realized why every time I asked “is that it? is that it?” everyone said “trust me you will KNOW” and there it was; massive, snow covered, breathtaking.

The next day we took a float plane ride to get up close and personal with the mountain. This was hands down one of the top coolest experiences of my life. Small planes allow you to really see it all. When we got close to Mount McKinley we saw 3 climbers just about to reach the summit. Our pilot said it usually takes climbers about 20 days to make it to the top so these guys were just about to reach their goal, it was so exciting! (Jon was super envious, he would love to climb a big mountain one day- we’ll do it babe!) 

This was without a doubt one of my top 3 favorite vacations of all time. I want to go back every year.The beauty, the isolation, the lakes, the snow-capped mountains, the national parks, the teal colored glacial water, the animals, the delicious fish… everything that Alaska has is one of kind. It is an outdoorsy person’s paradise. We were only able to see a small part of the state because of the time frame we had, but renting an RV is definitely the way to go. The campgrounds were perfect and being able to go at your own pace and stop in random mountain towns made the driving part of it well worth it. The quality time with my husband and in-laws was so wonderful and the 21 hours of daylight let us maximize every second. If you are thinking of taking a trip somewhere awesome, book your next vacation to Alaska. Trust me!

Side note- No running for 10 days! Since we mostly stayed deep in the woods in campgrounds where there were bear warnings, bear prints and bear scat EVERYWHERE. I REALLY wanted to get in a run while I was in Alaska but I was pretty terrified to run in the woods alone so I didn’t. No biggie I had this as an off week in my marathon training anyways, I did however get in some glacier push ups!

 

A few more photos: 

   

 

Week 3, hydration and gels.

Last week I really started to think about hydration and fueling my runs properly especially as I start to head into the double digit long runs. I’m not one of those crazy nutrition people, gluten free, dairy free, paleo, atkins- no thank you. For me it’s simple, everything in moderation and if you reeeally like to eat (like me!) and you reeeallyy like to drink(like me!) then you better reeeally like to exercise too. With that said, I eat what works best for my body and makes me feel good so as I start to amp up my training I want to make sure my body is fueled properly. I’ve started making protein shakes post-run using Trader Joe’s whey protein and frozen fruit which has filled me up but I’m not sure it’s really helping me recover faster. I’d really love to find something that has protein and vitamins and made specifically for female athletes recovery. The hunt is on…

As for fueling my runs I’ve been using Sports Beans with caffeine before and during all runs over 7 miles which I love, it picks me up bright and early and the carbs help me finish out longer runs. I also really like Cliff Blocks and Gu Chomps with caffeine. These work for me now but I’m still on the hunt to keep trying different gels to find the brand I just can’t live without. Stay tuned as my hunt for the best running fuel continues!