12 for 2012 - Run 12 Races

I set several goals for myself this year, including one to run 12 races.  Basically, the goal was one race per month.  I hit this goal this past weekend.  Let's review:

January
I started the year off right by racing on the very first day with the Columbus River Run (1).  The race featured the Columbus Marathon race director who started at the back of the field and raced.  Anyone he did not pass received a free entry into the marathon.  I thought I had a shot.  I didn't take into account, however, that (a) I was really out of 5K shape and (b) Darris, the race director, is crazy fast and passed pretty much the whole field except three people.

I raced again in January at the Houston Half Marathon (2).  Our "group" had decided to go to Houston to watch one of our own in the marathon Olympic trials and we would run the half or full marathon too.  This weekend was an absolute mess for me.  I was at my lowest point for my depression/anxiety/nervous breakdown.  I couldn't leave the hotel room for anything.  I was able to get out to watch the marathon trials and ran in the half marathon.  Thank goodness, the year could only go up from here.

February
Now that I was on the upswing of my total mental mess, it was time to race again.  I did my favorite winter race, Last Chance for Boston (3), the half marathon, and did WAY better than I thought I was going to do.  Maybe this year wouldn't suck after all.

March
I didn't race in March, but did tackle another one of my "12 for 2012" goals of running every day for a month.  I did most of these runs without a watch and without any idea how far or fast I was going.  I had no idea what a HUGE difference this running would make for me.

April
A former athlete of mine decided in June to meet up and do a half marathon.  I really wanted to train and race well for it, so in April I started following the "Run Less, Run Faster" training plan for this half marathon.  The plan was intense and had a lot of speed work, so I decided to do one of the speed work sessions as a 5K, the Bunny Hop 5K (4).  I was like a total amateur at this race, forgetting my watch.  Turned out to be a good thing as I raced myself to a new PR.

May
To test where my fitness was for my June half marathon, I decided to do the Cap City Half Marathon (5).  I didn't expect much but sure had a great performance, with one of my fastest half marathons ever.  Excitement on a stick!!

June
The big half marathon, Deckers Creek Trail Half Marathon (6), for which I had been training so hard!!!  And it paid off with yet another new PR this year.

July 
This was the month of races.  I started out with the Westerville Rotary 5K (7), which was kind of a disaster after having no power for most of the week and then my parents' house not having power.  Very little sleep and it was hotter than balls outside.  Whatever!  You can't PR every race.

Then the very next weekend I decided to do the Columbus Running Company's 1 Mile Run (8).  With all the speed workouts I had been doing I thought I would smash my PR.  Instead I got my pride smashed by husband who destroyed me in this race.  Little did I know there was something else that affected this race.

The last race of the month was the Giant Eagle Multisport Festival 10K (9), which I did great in with a new PR and 3rd place overall female.  Funny enough, I found out the next day I was pregnant.

August and September
With the new revelation that I was pregnant and feeling like crap during my first trimester, I didn't race. Heck, I didn't run much at all, but I was doing enough to keep off the extra pounds and just stay in shape.  I, obviously, missed my marathon I was training for which I was training so hard.  There will always be other marathons.

October
Now into my second trimester, I found running to be mostly enjoyable again, albeit slow.  Dave and I found a race last minute to do, the Celebrity Ghosts 5K (10), and although I was crazy slow, I really had fun.

Just a few days later I did another 5K, originally a 2 mile walk that my mom was supposed to do.  The Step Up for Stefanie 5K (11) netted me a new 5K PR - pregnancy record.

November
Now, I'm not one for gimmicky races, but the family wanted to do the Hot Chocolate 5K (12), so I signed up too.  I had fun and the loot was great.

In two days, on Thanksgiving, I will be doing the Flying Feather 4 Miler.  This will be the longest run I've done since I found out I was pregnant.  Race report coming on Friday.

December
Races get harder to come by around here when the weather gets colder.  I might have one more race up my sleeve if the price is right.

There you have it - 12+ races for this year.  Not bad considering I've been pregnant for half of this year.  I'm hoping to repeat this feat again in 2013, which will be even harder.  Who doesn't like a challenge, though?

Step Up for Stefanie 5K 2012

I mentioned yesterday that my grandma has not been well, which has meant, pretty much, round the clock attention from my mom and my aunt.  My mom and dad had signed up to do a fun run/walk on Sunday called the Step Up for Stefanie, which was a 5K run or 2 mile walk to benefit the Stefanie Spielman Fund for breast cancer research.  My dad texted me on Saturday night asking if I wanted to take my mom's place because she couldn't make it.  She was signed up for the 2 mile walk and because it was not a "race", she never got a number.  Hmmm....I didn't want to do the walk, but did want to do the 5K.  So I told my dad I was in but that I would bandit the 5K.  (Although, technically, the price of the 5K and 2 mile walk were the same and my mom paid for her entry so I really wasn't a bandit.  I just wouldn't have an official time because I had no bib/chip.)

From 80 degrees on Thursday to 40s and COLD on Sunday, I bundled up for the race.  Dad picked us up at 9:00 (Dave would spectate and freeze his tail off) and we headed down to campus.  The race was LARGE with lots of pink.  We miraculously found a parking spot and a bathroom and waited for the start.  This race must have been bigger than anticipated because the start left a lot to be desired.  Dave told me after the race that the last of the people to cross the start line barely got out of there in enough time for the finishers to come through the chute (same area).  The start was on a tiny two lane road right behind the stadium, then a right hand turn and straight up a bridge.  Of course.  We weren't even a half mile in and I already had to walk.  But then things flattened out and I was jogging pretty steadily.  I hit the first mile in 10:30ish.  Nice.  The next mile had another incline over another bridge, which slowed me to a walk, but then it was all jogging from there.  I hit the second mile also around 10:30ish and the third mile around 10:00.  Wow!  I was doing pretty well.  It's so much easier for me to run in the cooler weather in this pregnancy.  My time via my watch was 32:34.  Another PR (pregnancy record).  Dave, dad, and I all found each other and headed out to the field at Ohio Stadium for a picture op.

I am signed up for one more 5K this year and probably will do a 4 miler at Thanksgiving, which will put me at 20 and 21 weeks pregnant and will top my "12 for 2012 Challenge" of 12 races in 2012.

12 for 2012 - 100 Pushups

So after a long 6+ weeks of training (closer to three months than six weeks), I finally completed the pushup challenge. Again, I did "girl" pushups (on my knees). No I did not touch my nose to the ground, but {mostly} I bent my arms 90 degrees.

Count with me now..

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12 for 2012

I'm one of those people that loves the new year. It's a chance to start over, to set new goals, to restart. Unfortunately, the last few months have been really rough on me and I can easily say that I'm at the lowest point that I've ever been. I'm really struggling and although I'm in therapy and working through it, no day is easy. As the calendar changed this weekend, nothing really changed for me. I'm facing a year of uncertainty with nothing really to look forward to. That being said, I wanted to establish 12 goals for myself that, although they're not the goals that I've gone after in the past, they're unique and something to focus on.

Here's what I came up with (in no particular order):

1. Three hanging pull ups
2. 100 pushups (girl style)
3. Stay on the balance board on a smooth surface for more than 5 minutes
4. At least 3 squats at 135 pounds (Dave said this goal is soft)
5. Be able to bench press 100 pounds at least once
6. Be able to touch my nose to my legs in a pike position
7. 3 hanging V-ups
8. Run streak for one month
9. Do 12 races
10. Do at least one item on the Life List or contribute to items on the Life List
11. Read 12 books
12. Set a PR