Pilates on Steroids!!!

I've been going to pilates on the reformer now for a couple of months.  I really love it.  I see it making a difference both mentally and physically. But, my favorite instructor took another job at another studio (and I have no idea where she went) and the new instructor at the Y, well, I don't particularly like her style.

So I took a break.  I didn't do it for a few weeks.  I missed it so I wanted to try to find something else, something similar.  Most studios are STUPID expensive, but there was a first time fee for a local place call Butcher Shop Fitness.  As my mom says, only a masochist would go to a place called Butcher Shop, but I've got to tell you, I loved it.  It was like pilates on steroids.

Meet the Megaformer.  Pictured: not me.

The megaformer is about twice the size of the reformer and has more pulleys and has a front and a back and has about a zillion different weight settings (springs).  The workout itself is called Legree Fitness, which is like some dude that made up his own version of pilates.  The workout was intense.  I shook and sweated and felt like I had zero fitness.  But it was awesome.  I went back a second time. And now I have to find a way to afford to get a monthly pass or something so I can go all.the.time.

Have you tried Legree Fitness before?  Have you seen the scary megaformer?  Would you go to a workout facility called Butcher Shop Fitness?  :) 

Warm Up Columbus Half Marathon 2017

You can't win them all.  Or even come close, I guess.

I'm in the thick of marathon training.  It's four weeks until the race which means I have 1-2 weeks of heavy training left.  My body is shattered.  I have back pain that is not going away.  My calves and hamstrings are tight.  I am so tired I could sleep at the drop of a hat.  My mind is fragile.  I'm teetering somewhere between excited for the race and wanting to not do it at all.  I want to quit with every workout I do and yet I'm excited to run every day.  I am a mess.  You would think with this fitness, now would be a good time to run a half marathon.  Except, it wasn't.  My body and my mind just said no and I had to work to finish the race.

 That's me in the grey tank with black arm sleeves and green shoes.

I started off well, maybe even a little too fast.  I was in the 7:30s-7:40s - a pace I should be able to hold.  I was trying to calm down, though, as it felt a little tough and I knew there was a lot of race to go.  With longer training, those first couple miles lie to you, so I kept telling myself that.  Unfortunately, it wasn't until mile 5 that I felt good and also unfortunately, that seemed to be the only mile that felt okay.

You'll see in a lot of these pictures that I'm looking over to the right.  Lots of speculation on Facebook as to why.  It is actually because the husband and kid stayed home and I was hoping they'd surprise me and show up.  I was always looking for them.  I really wanted them there.

In my head I wanted to drop out of this race so badly - at the 5K mark, at the 10K mark.  But the course is a one mile loop you do again and again.  I could talk myself into doing "just" another loop.  

In the last mile I got passed by two women and that didn't make me happy.  I wanted to go with them but I really had nothing left.  In the end I came up 10 seconds short of 10th place and an award.  This may be the first time I've run this race and not gotten an award.  I'm not going to lie, I was super disappointed with this race.  I wanted it to be better.  I wanted to be faster.  I want to look thinner and leaner like I feel.  I want to be fast like those chicks that were whizzing past me.  This wasn't the confidence booster I needed going into the last few weeks before the marathon.

 Don't I look exhausted?

But, the marathon is a different beast and I don't have to run balls to the wall like I do in any other race.  Plus, the marathon is at the beach so there will be other things to see.  And the husband and maybe the kid will be there.  I need my support team. 

Just a few more weeks of focus and then the real goal. 

For bonus blogging points....is this 26point2ers Amy's KOB?  Dude, he was FLYING!!!  He lapped me no fewer than 4 times during the half marathon.

Life Update

It's winter.  It's dark outside.  I'm working all day and surviving the evenings.  And I'm running lots of miles.  There's really not a whole lot to say.  But I swear there's a few of you reading this that would probably like an update. 

Let's start with the dog since I left you hanging last week.

Sloopy
We brought Sloopy home from the hospital one week ago today.  The first two days were rough.  We cried a lot.  We didn't sleep much.  I worried we had made the right choice in doing the surgery.  I worry about her quality of life.  I worry about our quality of life.  But after several days we have settled in and seen improvements that give us hope.  Honestly, the bathroom thing is not that bad.  She's easy to squeeze the pee out of her (most of the time) and when she has to go #2, she does.  She doesn't leak and I've only been peed on twice.  It's kind of like having a baby all over again, except I can put the dog in her crate and she will sleep all night.  The first couple of days were rough in getting her to eat and especially with taking her medicine.  Now she eats her own food and we're down to one medicine a day which she easily eats with a chunk of cooked chicken.  She still has no use of her back legs but we have seen improvement.  She now wags her tail, which, from what we read, is voluntary and a good sign that signals are moving down her spinal cord.  She also stiffens her legs when picked up and can hold herself up for a blink because she's still not stable.  She has started licking in hindquarters which may mean that she has regained some feeling and is trying to get the pins and needles she's feeling.  We have even seen her move her legs a few times.  She does not respond to pain, however, she doesn't respond to pain even on places she can feel.  She's never been a dog that yelps when she gets hurt.  Her staples come out next week and we have a follow-up in a few weeks.  From what we have learned and read, this is a VERY long process.  We are trying to be patient and still holding out hope that we have made the right decision.

Running
My marathon is coming up fast.  It's only about 6 weeks away.  My training has been okay, at best.  I was on a roll until I got sick the entire month of December and then I basically had to start over again.  Two weeks ago I did an 18 miler that felt like death.  When I got home I had to have Dave take off my shoes and pants and help me into the bathtub.  This past weekend, though, I did a 20 miler that was great.  I hit all the paces and it didn't seem so bad.  I wasn't that sore and have been able to return to working out quickly.  This week is another big week of training ~45 miles for the week, and I will conclude with yet another 20 miler.  I, finally, get to race next week and am hoping for something good.

Back to Work
I've now been back to work two months and things are starting to fall into place.  Those first couple of weeks were really rough.  Anderson and I both battled some serious illness.  We both had sinus infections.  We both had pink eye.  We had a cough that wouldn't quit.  We both visited the doctor twice.  And then one day we were better.  Now every time I see a kid with snot all over his face at daycare I get nervous, but Anderson has been in preschool and child watch programs for years so hopefully we are over the initial sickness shock to our system.

Just a few weeks after I started at my job they informed us that we were moving offices to a different suburb.  I was PISSED!  I specifically chose this job over a different, probably, better option because it was walking distance from my house and I could keep the little one in his preschool.  I was so upset that I even thought about calling the other company and seeing if I could continue with the interviews.  But, I have decided to stay put.  Yes, I will have to pull Anderson out of his preschool and put him in his daycare all day (which is one of the best preschools around, but not a Christian preschool like he is currently in) and yes, I will have to drive to my job now, but I have to give this a chance.  It's good for me to get back in the game, refine my skills, and then decide what I will do in a few years once Anderson starts school.

In addition to the full-time job, I have continued to fill in time-to-time at the Y.  It's kind of a pain in the butt, but I like it there, I'm comfortable there, I adore my manager there, and I also get to keep my reduced family membership.  I have no plans on leaving and they have no plans on getting rid of me, so I'm sticking with it.

God's Watching Over Us
Probably the most stressful thing for the last several years has been finances.  It's hard to be on one income and my part-time job paid for nothing.  We thought me returning to work would allow us to live a little more comfortably and be able to do the things we wanted to do.  But our dog getting sick really threw us for a loop.  I have been scared out of my mind.  Would I be able to do my marathon in March (it's out of town)?  Would our vacations we planned this year be put on hold?  Should we cut back on some of our expenses like TV, etc. (things you don't need but would struggle to live without)?  But God's been watching over us.  We did our taxes which is going to help out tremendously.  And Dave got bumped from a flight this week that gave us big money in airline vouchers.  So this month is still going to be a challenge as we pay off our credit card debt but barring any other craziness, life should return to normal soon.

- - - - - - - - - - -

So that's what new.  Life has been busy.  Life has been uncomfortable.  We're managing.  We're going to get through all of this and see the sunlight again.  And I swear I will revive this blog with rainbows and puppies sometime soon.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Weekend

I was planning on an easy weekend.  I didn't have to work at the Y; I had easy training; and the goal was to work on our bathroom remodel.  Unfortunately, the weekend didn't go that way.

Friday afternoon was hectic.  Anderson was tired, I was tired, and we were not getting along.  There was a lot of yelling on both sides.  Our dog, Sloopy, is a very nervous dog.  With loud noises, especially yelling, she begins to shake and pants and wheeze.  I noticed she was doing this Friday but didn't think anything of it.  We snuggled her and babied her and went to bed as normal.

Saturday she continued to wheeze, which seemed odd.  In addition, she wasn't really going anywhere.  Usually she is my shadow and follows me everywhere.  She just stood in one place and when she did move she was limping.  Her back legs weren't working right.  She looked like she was drunk.  I was very concerned.  We decided to take her to the emergency veterinarian.

They evaluated her there and the news was not good.  She had a herniated disk in her back which would require surgery and shouldn't be a big deal, EXCEPT, our dog has a heart murmur and she would need to be seen by a cardiologist to determine if her heart was even strong enough to make it through surgery.  Sloopy is only 7 years old and a member of our family so we had to give her a chance so we agreed to go forward with all of this.  We had to leave a $4400 deposit up front. 

The cardiologist evaluated her on Saturday evening and said her heart looked better than they thought so they approved her for surgery.

Sunday morning, the phone rang at 7:55am and it was the vet hospital.  Sloopy had gotten worse overnight.  She now no longer had function of her back legs.  The possibility of recovery had dropped significantly.  She needed surgery right away and even then may never be able to walk again or go to the bathroom by herself.  Again, we agreed to have the surgery done.  They did more test on her and did the surgery.  We did not hear back again for nearly seven hours.

The update we got after the surgery is that she had a very bad herniation and because of the force of the hernia, her spinal cord had been badly bruised.  They told us not to come that day, that she needed to rest and recover.  A tech called us later in the night to let us know she was alert and responding and even told us she had moved her back legs.

This morning, though, the doctor called us to report there was no news.  Sloopy was alert and happy and sitting up, however, she has not yet moved her back legs (unlike what the tech had told us) and she has not responded to any pain stimulus.  The doctor said that's right where she should be, that only time will tell if she gets function of her legs back again.  We get to see her today after work.  Oh, and the financial people are probably gonna tell us we need to spend another $2000.  (Guess, we'll be putting that camper up for sale!)

This has been extremely rough.  Dave and I have cried all weekend.  Our dog is not that old!  We want her to come home with us and be the dog she was before.  But we also have to make tough choices about what happens if she never regains mobility.  And on top of all that is how all of this is explained to our son.  He has been with us through all of this and we've been very delicate in our wording to help him understand what's going on without scaring him.  I wish this didn't happen.  I wish this nightmare would be over.  I want my Sloopy girl to come home.

How to Wash Your Running Clothes

After much trial and error I have finally figured out how to wash my running clothes and get the stink out of them.  Silly, I know, but they get stinky and good running clothes are expensive so you've got to make them last.  I have tried every detergent known to man, including those fancy ones for workout clothes (made me break out), but finally Google gave me the answer.

First I soak the clothes in cold water with some cleaning vinegar.  I usually do this for about 30 minutes unless I forget about setting a timer and forget I'm doing laundry (pretty typical) and then they may be in there for who knows how long.  Then, after draining the washing machine, I wash them in warm water using Arm & Hammer baking soda detergent.  Although the embedded yucky smell may not come fully out it's sooooo much better than it was. 

And because a blog post without pictures is just plain boring I give you this...

My kid is sick for the third time in 7 weeks.  Again!  Daycare is kicking our ass.  We just cannot keep him (or us) healthy.

The magic circle, aka, the circle of death!

I have a new passion.  Pilates.  I have tried yoga in all different variations, but don't love it.  But I am in love with pilates.  Even better, I have discovered pilates on the reformer. 

Sex toy? Exercise equipment? Torture device?

Our YMCA has a boutique location that has small, specialized classes that include pilates on the reformer.  I have been going now for three or four weeks and the class size has been just me or one other person.  I love it.  I love the personal attention.  I know I am doing it correctly and she has been tailoring the workouts to what I need as a runner.  For example, last night.


I have mentioned to my instructor that I don't have a lot of hip strength and I would love to get my inner thighs tiny enough again to wear booty shorts while running.  She listened.  Last night we worked on inner and outer thighs as well as hip strength the whole.damn.class!  It started with the magic circle, aka, the circle of death.

Circle of Death!

This magic circle is used in all kinds of torturous ways.  Usually we put it between our ankles or our knees and squeeze it while we're doing all kinds of core exercises.  Last night we used this almost the entire class.  We also put our legs through it and used it to strengthen the outer thigh by pushing out with it while doing some other exercise.  Oh, and she wasn't done there.  We also stood on the reformer and the carriage and slid one leg out sideways with the springs on to strengthen the inner and outer thigh and hips.  It was so hard and yet so awesome.  I came out of the class with jello legs but feeling strong and ready to tackle the world.


Booty shorts!!!

2017 Plans

Yeah, yeah.  It's the 10th of January and I'm just now blogging about my 2017 plans.  I've got some goals, some big goals, but I'm going to keep those private for now.  I'll let you know if I achieve them.

So, here are my plans athletically.

• A couple of half marathons.  I was thinking one next month, but I'm frozen to the bone.  Winter running is stupid.  I'll keep thinking.
• Early spring marathon.  I would really like to qualify for Boston again.  In 2018 it falls on my 40th birthday and I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate such a big milestone (who the hell would say that running a marathon for their birthday is fun?!?!)  I have yet to sign up for the marathon, but I'm planning on the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach on March 19th.  I haven't done a race yet in Virginia so this also checks that off.
• Aquathlons, aquathlons, aquathlons!  Surprisingly there are three or four aquathlons in Ohio that are eligible towards USAT ranking points.  I'm going to do as many as I can to help my ranking and to give me experience towards....Aquathlon Nationals.  I've got some BIG BIG goals for this race.  Nationals will be October 1st in Austin.
• Also some fun stuff like run 2000 miles (that'll never happen but I'll at least try for it), swim 200K yards, do pilates once a week, stop skipping strength workouts, continue to eat healthy foods, etc.

Let's talk about personal stuff.  I love the new year.  I love new goals and resolutions and all that jazz.  Here are some thoughts I have personally.

• Read more than 12 books.  I know this is the same goal every year, but my Kindle is awesome and I read much faster with it.  Now if I could just get the ebooks faster from the library.
• Take more pictures.  I swear this is a goal I set every year for myself.  I was making a Shutterfly calendar this week and struggled to find enough pictures from last year to put it together.  Unfortunately, the memory is full on my phone right now and my laptop is on it's last breath and I really can't afford a new one so I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish this.
• Be more present.  Honestly, I am still really struggling with having put my kid in daycare to go back to work.  It's been 6 weeks now and he still cried and throws a fit every time we go (although he does the same at the end of the day because he doesn't want to leave).  When we come home I want to pay attention to him.  I don't want to be on the treadmill leaving him to play by himself.  I don't want to be on my phone reading Facebook.  I want it to be family time.  Truly, this has been hard.  Aren't we all addicted to our phones and Facebook and Instagram (and for me, the TV)?  As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer I think family time is going to become even more special.

I thought 2016 was a great year.  2017 is going to be even better.  I'm back to work.  I've got money again.  I can make improvements to the house.  I can camp with the family now.  The kiddo is a fantastic age - he's so fun.  I'm really looking forward to what lies ahead.

What are your thoughts on 2017?

Eff this Sh!t!

When I was first starting out I loved winter running.  I still love running in the snow but I used to be able to handle the cold temperatures like a champ.  As I've gotten older, I don't really want to be in the cold.  I hate the cold.  Why DO I live in Ohio?

But, of course, I chose a March marathon to try to qualify for Boston so winter training it is.  This weekend it was like 7 degrees and I had a two hour long run on the schedule.  I was wearing...

Compression sleeves
Wool socks
Tights
Long sleeve base layer
Another long sleeve shirt on top of that
Jacket on top of that
Buff
Winter hat
Mittens

And I was carrying about 90 gallons of water on my back.  At first I was hot - sweating within a few minutes.  I quickly took my mittens down to gloves, took the Buff off my face, and unzipped my jacket a little.  But, my legs were cold and my heart rate was jacked.  I was shuffling along and it was sucking with every step.  When I finally reached the light were I could turn around or keep going, I said fuck it and headed home.  I had the biggest bitch fest when I got there that included me screaming, "I don't even want to do the fucking marathon!  I have nothing to prove!"

I wound up with 4.3 miles and I am sore like I ran a half marathon.  I'm probably going to try the run again today after work, but even though the weather is looking better, I think I'm going to take it inside to the treadmill.

Bite me, mother nature.

Athlete of the Month

I totally forgot to write about this earlier this month.  My coach named me "Athlete of the Month" for her Multisport Mastery program.  She gave me this honor not because of some achievement I had received, but because I have been embracing the whole picture and working towards bigger dreams.  She sent me a series of questions to answer and ask me for some pictures and VOILA! 

Check it out here!  Thanks Liz for thinking of me, pushing me, and being the best coach I could hope for.

Books Read in 2016

Last year for Christmas I got a Kindle and I made good use of it this year.  I didn't read as many books as last year, but I still managed about one book per month.  I can't say that any of the books stood out to me as overly awesome but most of them were entertaining and pretty easy reads.  Here is my list:

"The Martian" by Andy Weir
"The Do Over" by Karlyn Pipes
"The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
"Running: A Love Story" by Jen Miller
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
"Me Before You" by JoJo Moyes
"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo
"Sixty Meters to Anywhere" by Brendan Leonard
"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
"Yes, My Accent is Real" by Kunal Nayyar
"The Girls from Corona del Mar" by Rufi Thorpe


What did you read in 2016?  What can you recommend to me to read next year?

#ParentoftheYear

The little one was in daycare one whole week before he caught his first cold.  I'm not really surprised as one day I picked him up and the boy playing next to him had snot just running out of his nose.  Anderson's cold was so bad that on Monday he stayed home from school and daycare.  When I came home from work he curled up in my lap and fell asleep (heart explosion!!).  Then he crawled in bed around 7:00 and went to sleep without any dinner.  The next day I noticed his sinuses were so backed up that it was leaking out of his eyes.  I know that can happen to kids so I thought nothing of it and took him to daycare.  Wednesday morning he woke up and his eyes were glued shut with goop.  Lovely.  It took a warm washcloth and some prying but we got them open.  He seemed to not be feeling as well as he did on Tuesday but nonetheless he went to school and daycare.  But I was getting concerned about his eyes.  When I picked him up from school to take him to daycare, his eyes were very goopy and he just looked bad.  While at work I searched the internet.  WebMD told me he was going to go blind and his eyes would fall out.  Everywhere else told me he probably had bacterial conjunctivitis.  I called the doctor and got him in right away.  And you know what?  Yep, he had conjunctivitis.  I had sent him to school and daycare for two days with a very contagious eye condition.  Lovely.  So, Thursday he stayed home, we started him on prescription eye drops and by Friday he was good as new.

#ParentoftheYear

This is an interesting development

I got this in my email today:

I guess by just being on Team USA for the aquathlon this past year that it automatically qualifies me for the triathlon national championships.  Two years ago I qualified and trained for it only to get injured and never got to compete.  The Husband has done it and says I should do it someday.  But, I don't think it will be in 2017.  It's the day before we leave for vacation and I don't want to ship my bike all over the US getting to the race and to vacation.  And then there's that whole....I hate to ride my bike thing.

Thursday Thoughts

I haven't even started my new job and I was contacted yesterday to provide a list of 5 small gifts that I'd like to be part of a secret Santa thing.  Here's my list:

Colorful socks
Lottery scratch off tickets
Toothbrushes
Ultraswim shampoo
Paw patrol bandaids

My sister, who also works for this company, told me I was weird.  What?!  I think those are great small gifts.

So, what would be 5 small gifts you would want in a work gift exchange?

The Long Awaited Job Update

Back in July I posted about going back to work.  Well, I have been working.  I mean, going back to work full time at a big girl job.  At the time I had been offered a promotion at the Y to become our swim lesson coordinator.  It was a job I really wanted and knew I could do a good job at, but the hours would suck as would the pay.  So I told my boss I still wanted to be considered but that I was keeping my options open.  I thought I would be finding a job quickly as I was contacted by my previous employer about a new position, had an interview, and then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally I was told that the position was not going to be filled.

Foreshadowing: this would become a theme.

I decided to keep looking.  I sent out applications left and right.  I tweaked my resume.  My husband and I became experts at composing a cover letter.  About 95% of the time I couldn't get past the freakin' computer program that read my resume and immediately turned it down without it ever getting to the HR department.  Seriously, I got turned down for a job I was well qualified for within 12 hours.  I had a few interviews, one of which went amazingly well.  I was told at the interview that I would be coming back for a second interview.  I thought for sure that one was a lock.  Then two weeks later again I was told that they were not going to fill the position.  Disappointed.  Devastated.

And yet I kept looking.  In total I think I sent out over 25 applications.  I got turned down for all of them - except two.

I accidentally stumbled upon a position at a small company walking distance from my house.  I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it, but my interview went great and the very next day they gave me an offer.  I also got an interview at another company I had worked for before.

Although the second place probably would have been a better career choice, I took the offer from the small company.  Home, job, preschool, and daycare are all within two minutes of each other.  It's a good way for me to transition back into full time work and allow the little one to transition as well.  I start on Monday.  I'm nervous and I've cried a lot of tears about being a working mommy, but I'm pretty sure I've made the right choice.

Working moms, tell me I'm going to be alright.  Tell me my child is not going to be all screwed up because he's in daycare.  Tell me I've made the right choice.  Please!  I need some reassurance!

Thanks for Giving 4 Miler 2016

Like all warm blooded Americans who like to run, I too ran a race on Thanksgiving morning.  And I freakin' rocked it!

I didn't get much of a warm up in so I thought I would use the first mile as a warm up.  Well, if you consider a 7:13 mile a warm up then so be it.  The whole race would go this way.  I just kept catching people and zooming through the miles in the low 7:00s.  During the last mile I passed one of my high school coworkers who recently went to the state cross country meet.  WOAH!  The final time was 28:07, a 7:02 average (I had the course a little short, but hey, I'll take what they give me), and a 1:23 PR.  I finished 6th female and first in my age group. 

If you don't look like death at the finish line, you weren't running fast enough.  Also, how can you not feel fast when you're wearing a Team USA shirt from the world championships?

So in addition to working my ass off for the last year, I've made some serious nutritional changes in the last couple of weeks that have made a huge difference for my training, racing, and every day life.  More on those in the coming days.

I Got Locked Out

Sunday I did my long run.  It was an hour and 25 minutes.  While away, the husband took the boy to the park for a "nature walk."  I figured they were going to the local metro park as they had asked me to go with them and run there.  I took a key just in case they weren't back in time.

I finished the run, walked up to the door, opened it, and BAM!  The freakin' security chain was on.  Oh crap!  And they weren't home yet.  I sat down on the front step thinking they would be home shortly.  The waiting became longer.  I took out the newspaper and read some article.  They still weren't home.  I went through the ads and picked out the coupons for the week.  Still not home.  My stomach started tossing and turning (as it does after most runs anymore).  I worried I was going to have to find a hiding spot on my property and drop trough.  Still not home.  I moved into the sunshine.  I was getting cold.  I looked at my watch.  I had finished my run an hour ago.  Where the hell were they???  Oh yeah, I should mention, I didn't have my phone with me.  I don't carry one when I run (safe, right??).

Finally, they came home.  Dave knew as soon as he pulled in the driveway what had happened.  Guess we'll be going to the Home Depot this week to get one of those garage door security pad thingies.

Races, Races, RACES!!!

Have you ever counted up the number of races you've done?  The husband and I were wondering how many half marathons I had done.  It's my favorite race distance and it seems I race it often.  So, I counted.  And then I started counting the rest of the race distances.  Um, bored much?  Here's what I came up with.

1 mile - 4
5k - 42 (for a gift who doesn't like the 5k, I've sure done a lot of them)
4 miler - 8
5 miler - 10
10k - 7
7.5 miler - 1
10 miler - 4
Half Marathon - 28
15 miler - 3
20 miler - 3
40k - 1
Marathon - 17

I didn't count triathlons or aquathlons or relays or any of the distances within those races.  Totals?  118 races.  Dude, time to find another race...

Columbus Half Marathon 2016

The last time I ran the Columbus half it was a real sh!t show.  Literally.  My stomach just exploded and I had to take three port-a-john stops.  This time I had different thoughts.  I wasn't nervous, my stomach emptied early in the morning, and we had good logistics and I was able to stop into the port-a-john before the race without incident.

Things started pretty well.  I goofed and didn't have my watch on autolap per mile, which of course, I didn't figure out until three miles in.  Just in enough time for my stomach to revolt.  You have got to be sh!tting me!  Literally.  I got lucky and cut a guy off to get an open port-a-john somewhere in the three to four mile range and decided to just do my watch manually.  That's probably better anyway as my Garmin is always off from the mile markers (especially in a race downtown).

I was cooking.  I was moving.  Things were going well.  I really felt like I was racing, like I was back to the old Meredith. 

Mile 5 - 7:35
Mile 6 - 7:31
Mile 7 -  7:54 (uphill? long mile? gel?)
Mile 8 - 7:24

Then my stomach started to bother me again.  You have got to be kidding me?!  How can this keep happening to me?  I have, literally, raced more than 30 half marathons including faster ones than this.  How are my guts not cooperating?  I took another bathroom break.

Mile 9 - 8:23 (bathroom stop)

Dave saw me right after this.  I didn't see him.  But I was angry that I was losing time so I know I was going fast here.  The picture even looks like it.

Mile 10 - 7:22

Alright five kilometers to go and my legs and lungs and heart still feel good.  Come on Meredith.  Salvage a good race here.

Mile 11 - 7:40
Mile 12 - 7:48
(Both of those were uphill into downtown.)
Mile 13 and 0.1 - 7:49 (7:11 pace)

The overall time was 1:41:43.  Ya know, I'm okay with that time.  I haven't done a half marathon in over a year and I didn't have any specific training for this race.  I was able to take the endurance and speed I had from aquathlon training to turn this into a decent race.  If I wouldn't have had the stomach problems I wonder what I could have done.  For years my goal has been 1:35 or better.  I know I've got this in me. 

PS - Dear Marathon Foto, it you're going to charge me $24 for a single download, I am totally going to steal your images and put them on my social media.  Love, Me

Official Pictures from the World Championships

I spent about a million dollars to get four pictures from the world championships.  This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I HAD to get the pictures.  Right?  RIGHT?!?!

Coming into T1.  I like that you can see hair stuck to me as this proves how freakin' humid it was even with only a 1.55 run.

Coming out of the swim.  I don't know if I am starting to look like I've got swimmer's body or I just need to slim down my arms/chest.  Either way, doesn't everyone look stupid in a swim cap?

 Heading out on the second run.  Look at the focus.  Or, I'm saying, "where the heck is everybody?"

And the finally, quite possibly the coolest finisher picture of all time.  The time is irrelevant as it was from the start of the first age group wave and I was in one of the last waves.  But how cool to have the finish line all to myself, waving my flag, with my hands up in victory?!

Week in Review

I got back to business this week and totally kicked ass!  With the little one in preschool several days a week I have been able to do ALL my runs outside.  I also did some core work and got back in the pool.

Swimming - 4950 yards
I missed one swim this week.  I had intended to do it on Saturday but forgot there was a swim meet that closed down the pool.  Maybe I'll try to fit it in next week.

Running - 29.02 miles
Woah!  You read that right.  I had a great week of running - 4 runs, all outside.  I did a fantastic track workout of several 800s, the fastest one being 3:12.  I haven't hit that pace in a long, long time.  I also did a long run with hill repeats.  I found the steepest and longest hill I could find and made it my bitch!  Half/full marathon training has begun.  It's my happy place.

Strength - 0.5 hours
I did two small core workouts this week that left me crazy sore.  The first one was done with our middle school swim team.  I totally schooled them, but was sore for days.  The second workout was done at home, late at night, waiting on the bug-a-boo to fall asleep.

Next week - more running, more swimming, more core.  I see PRs in my future!!!