Chicago Women's Half Marathon

I signed up for the Chicago Women's Half Marathon in December or January...as soon as it was possible. Last year was the first year for the race & they gave away yoga mats!! I am a sucker for cool giveaways & I love yoga mats...but this year we didn't get something as big. We got Sweaty Bands, which I never use, but I used the morning of the race & it truly didn't slip!! I was impressed, so I might need to get some more of those :)

Anyways, my goal was once again, to come in under 2 hours. I really do think I broke 2 hours in Kentucky, but since it wasn't my official time, I feel like it doesn't really count. I started off pretty well, I was running about 8:30 min/miles for the first few miles. I kept trying to slow down to conserve energy, but I could only slow down to 8:45 min/mile!! However, it was getting hotter as we ran (race started at 6:30 AM) & I haven't trained in the heat this year. In fact, I wasn't trained well for this race very well. The last run I had over 10 miles, heck, over 5 miles, was the Kentucky Derby Half Marathon, in April!! I had been lifting weights 6x a week in April/May, but not really running. I've run a few times since we moved & got in a 5 mile run last week, but that was it. I knew I would be pushing my body & most importantly, my mind to finish this race.

Quite a few times I wanted to give up, eventually, at about mile 8.5 I just wanted to finish!! I was done trying to come in under 2 hours. The sun was hot & the course went from shady/to open trail along the lakefront. I met a friend along the course at about mile 9, we had originally wanted to start together, but we didn't have each other's correct phone #s. We ran together for about a mile & a half, when she kept going & I started walking LOL I just really couldn't do it anymore. So the last few miles I ran/walked b/c I was just so hot & not in shape for the race.

I finished the race in 2:02:58. I am PROUD of that time!!! It is my fastest "official" time at a race, plus with being over heated & not really trained for the race, I am ecstatic!! Now I need to sign up for a fall race to really prove to myself that I can achieve a sub 2 hr half-marathon. I KNOW I can do it...I just want better weather to do it in. There are some halfs coming up this summer...but I feel like it would be even hotter in July/August. Plus, I would almost rather do trail runs than road races at this point. I just enjoy them more :)

SO-this whole race was awkward for me. My eye started watering in the car on the way to the race. It calmed down a little bit before the race, but once I started running, it was watering beyond my control. I literally had a tear coming down my face for almost the whole race!! Needless to say, my eye make up on that one eye was GONE, while the other eye had all of my make up on! LOL I looked horrible. Not to mention being hot & sweaty and stinky...OH MY..I was a hot mess! Literally!!! LOL I was embarrassed of how I looked, especially as I walked around after the race & picked up some goodies & talked with my friends. Ay yay yay, every race comes with a story, does it not?! Thankfully I had previously read a blog about a woman who started her period while running a marathon, which I kept reminding myself of when I felt embarrassed. At least that didn't happen to me...yet! BAHA!

Earth Day 15 mile run

Today I ran a 15 mile race. I hadn't really thought about it or trained for it this month b/c of the flu & then the cleanse. It definitely showed!! I had a hard time making it through the last 5 miles, thankfully I was running with a buddy and with his encouragement, I was able to finish strong!!

The good things about the race were; it was a 5 mile loop that we ran 3 times. It was REALLY well marked, it was mostly dry, there was only 1 muddy spot. We stopped at the aid station 3 times & the people there were REALLY sweet & encouraging! It was great :)

The bad things were; the hills!! I was SO unprepared to run hills today. I tripped over a brand/tree root & I fell in the dirt. My legs were cramping SO BAD after the race, I couldn't sit, I couldn't walk, I couldn't stretch! NO matter what I did, I was in pain. It showed on my face & a kind soul had mercy on me & offered me some tylenol. I GLADLY took it & have been feeling awesome the rest of the day. Mental note for my next race: Pack Tylenol! LOL

So my next race is Saturday! HAHA! I am really excited about it though. I'm driving down to KY with my younger sister & we're going to stay with my older sister. I am so excited at the prospect of a sister weekend!! I am running a half-marathon down there & part of it is on the Kentucky Derby race course! I am super excited about it. It's a road race, so it will definitely be a smoother course than the trail run I did today. I am learning to love trail runs though, they are more intimate & you get CANDY at the aid stations :) My meal plan was lifted for today & I definitely ate candy at the race. If you can't eat it when you're running 15 miles, when CAN you eat candy?!?!

Snowy 10 mile run.

Today I did a "two-a-day". I ran 4 miles this morning & lifted weights and then this evening I did a Jillian Michael's DVD. Feeling pretty strong today!! I am just motivated to keep working on building strength, especially now that I am training for a 15 mile run in March. I don't want my strength work to suffer b/c I am getting more miles in.

Speaking of more miles, I ran with my running buddies yesterday. 10 miles.Outside. In.the.snow. DEFINITELY not comfortable! lol I went into it knowing my feet would get wet. I was telling my running buddies that as we were at mile 3 or so, and we were commenting on how the snow didn't seem to be "wet" snow, we felt pretty good. Well, going on mile 5, we were feeling it. A few times during our run, we would cross streets & that's when you would feel the difference. The concrete just felt right. In the snow our feet were slipping, and every time our foot would come down, you would need to stabilize it. It was hard work and mile 6-8 were terrible. Even mile 9 was hard, but I knew we were almost done, so I hobbled through it. When we were done running, my legs just felt like tree trunks, or elephant legs. They were just heavy. And the PAIN! Oh my, I was scared to sit down, but I knew I had to go get my kids & I had to drive to go get them...so my muscles cramped up, all that stabilizing in the snow? Yeah, I felt that in every single muscle in my leg! A hot shower helped, but I still needed to take some pain medicine later that day. Sheesh! It was hard, but definitely worth it!!

It's the hard things, where you don't know if you're going to finish, that make you stronger. Running is definitely a mental thing, even more so than physical, I think. Your mind can either be your best asset or worst enemy, so that is where the real test comes in. I think a lot of things in life can be related to that. In fact running in the snow reminded me a lot of how life works out. Sometimes your footing is unstable, you may even slip & slide when you take a step. However, you keep going, not knowing how the next step will turn out. You fight through the mush, that wants to pull you down, to keep going & keep moving. Every step is a step of faith, & you need to be strong mentally & physically to finish strong. It is not easy, but it is worth it, it is painful, but you are getting stronger.

sweaty from my work out, but excited about my muscles!