Running Blog 2
Well my goal of posting once per week flew out the window.
Over the past month we have gone through a lot. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way I work, Ben works and the whole world works really. We also lost our beloved fox red Labrador on April 29, 2020. He had a ruptured disc in his neck and the surgery in my opinion would have complicated his life even further. We are getting by slowly as a family of 3. I have been sure to give Winston lots of love and attention and we now go for a lot more walks.
Where I left off was my first half marathon that I bonked. I signed up for my second one in 2014 at the same venue in Deadwood. I trained roughly the same and was nervous at the start. Once the gun went off my goal was not to start out too fast. I was slow, and slow for most of the race until the end. My time was the same time down to the second as the year prior. This really had me confused since I went easy but finished about the same. I know that I needed to change something in my training plan.
Switching up my training, diet and footwear I signed up for the Fargo Half Marathon in 2015. Going into the race I was set to break the 1:53 PR that I had previously set. The weather was 22 degrees at the start. I was wearing capris and a light zip up. One thing you may not know is that I excel in cold weather. I ended up not feeling most of my body for the race (in a good way) and broke my PR with a 1:51. I regained my confidence and was ready for my race in 2016.
In 2016 I signed up for the Fargo half marathon again, and this time I ran with my two cousins and my cousins son Reece. The weather was crazy warm compared to the year before. I was excited to have my parents there, my cousins and husband Ben. My goal was to break a 1:50. When the gun went off I was in the pace group to break this PR. After a few miles others in the group noticed that the pacer was way off pace. For those who do not know, big races have pacers that hold a sign of the goal time you want. You just stay with them and run while trying to pass them at the end. This pacer was going around an 8:10 when she should have been around an 8:22. This was a bit too fast for me back then. I broke off of the pace group after 4 miles and felt horrible. The wind stopped and the sun started to beat down. I ended up doing some run walking and then the pace group behind me caught up to me-they passed and I barely finished with a time of 1:58. I was so uncoordinated at the end of the race I hit one of the guardrails and was carried to the medical tent. Sitting in the tent feeling deflated I was upset with myself and embarrassed. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I decided I would be back the next year and better.
At the end of summer 2016 we lost my grandma of 98 years. Since the Fargo race was close to her home my cousins and I said we wanted to race again. This time I wanted to become a marathoner. I wanted to do the full race and not the half. Training was going to be rough. 40-45 miles per week meant that some Saturdays I would have a 3 hour long run starting at around 5:30 am. The training plan had me running over 600 miles for the entire stretch. I stuck to the plan and only missed one workout due to sickness! I was ready for race day. This time on race day in 2017 it was Ben, and two sets of aunt/uncles and my cousin. She ran the half marathon and finished about an hour to an hour and a half before I did.
I want to detail this race because it was the best race I ever had. My goal was to finish but ultimately to break 4 hours. (9:09 pace) The weather was 41 degrees, little wind and no sun. These are the perfect conditions for long distance running. I was emotional at the start of the race knowing that this was for my grandma. I also saw a dog that looked like our red lab Boone in the first few miles and missed my training buddy. Mile 10 was the absolute worst. I started to have hip pain to which I took some Advil for a quick fix and another gal through her water on my shoes on accident. The halfway point had a mat that you cross at mile 13.1. This was on the Concordia Moorhead campus. The bands were playing and cheering for me and I crossed right at 2 hours. I felt really good so I knew that I could bring back the second half faster than the first. This is what we call negative splitting in the fitness world.
Ben met me at mile 14 since there was a chance of rain that day. He had an extra pair of shoes and socks that I did not need. I waved to say that I was doing really well and felt good. Also, it was at this point that I saw the 4 hour pace group in front of me. I let them get away from me in the beginning because I thought that they were going too fast. By mile 18 I hear that this is where people "Hit the Wall." Hitting the wall is where if improperly fueled an athlete literally feels like they hit a wall and cannot move any further. I pushed past this and kept consuming gels/fruit snacks. I got to mile 22 and finally was caught up with the pace group. Sergio was our pace leader and he kept encouraging us. I got to mile 25 and decided to break free from the group. I actually was going really fast the last mile and did finish beating my goal. My official time was 3:58. After a poor performance the year prior I was proud of myself.
I did my last half marathon in 2018 in Brookings, SD. I had minimal training that spring due to the amount of snowstorms that kept closing down the Y and the roads. I ended up going a 1:54 which was pretty good for the minimal amount of running that I did.
The reason I took a break from long distance running is because of what happened next. In 2016 I got a taste of my first triathlon and I will be going more into detail in the next blog about my triathlon life.
Photos below from top to bottom: Sergio and I from the Fargo 2017 marathon, my cousin Kristin and I after the marathon next to my grandma's grave, me running and eating during the Fargo Marathon, Fargo half in 2015 pace group-I lost touch with them a little after this, Ben and I after the 2015 Fargo Half Marathon)
Over the past month we have gone through a lot. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way I work, Ben works and the whole world works really. We also lost our beloved fox red Labrador on April 29, 2020. He had a ruptured disc in his neck and the surgery in my opinion would have complicated his life even further. We are getting by slowly as a family of 3. I have been sure to give Winston lots of love and attention and we now go for a lot more walks.
Where I left off was my first half marathon that I bonked. I signed up for my second one in 2014 at the same venue in Deadwood. I trained roughly the same and was nervous at the start. Once the gun went off my goal was not to start out too fast. I was slow, and slow for most of the race until the end. My time was the same time down to the second as the year prior. This really had me confused since I went easy but finished about the same. I know that I needed to change something in my training plan.
Switching up my training, diet and footwear I signed up for the Fargo Half Marathon in 2015. Going into the race I was set to break the 1:53 PR that I had previously set. The weather was 22 degrees at the start. I was wearing capris and a light zip up. One thing you may not know is that I excel in cold weather. I ended up not feeling most of my body for the race (in a good way) and broke my PR with a 1:51. I regained my confidence and was ready for my race in 2016.
In 2016 I signed up for the Fargo half marathon again, and this time I ran with my two cousins and my cousins son Reece. The weather was crazy warm compared to the year before. I was excited to have my parents there, my cousins and husband Ben. My goal was to break a 1:50. When the gun went off I was in the pace group to break this PR. After a few miles others in the group noticed that the pacer was way off pace. For those who do not know, big races have pacers that hold a sign of the goal time you want. You just stay with them and run while trying to pass them at the end. This pacer was going around an 8:10 when she should have been around an 8:22. This was a bit too fast for me back then. I broke off of the pace group after 4 miles and felt horrible. The wind stopped and the sun started to beat down. I ended up doing some run walking and then the pace group behind me caught up to me-they passed and I barely finished with a time of 1:58. I was so uncoordinated at the end of the race I hit one of the guardrails and was carried to the medical tent. Sitting in the tent feeling deflated I was upset with myself and embarrassed. Instead of feeling sorry for myself I decided I would be back the next year and better.
At the end of summer 2016 we lost my grandma of 98 years. Since the Fargo race was close to her home my cousins and I said we wanted to race again. This time I wanted to become a marathoner. I wanted to do the full race and not the half. Training was going to be rough. 40-45 miles per week meant that some Saturdays I would have a 3 hour long run starting at around 5:30 am. The training plan had me running over 600 miles for the entire stretch. I stuck to the plan and only missed one workout due to sickness! I was ready for race day. This time on race day in 2017 it was Ben, and two sets of aunt/uncles and my cousin. She ran the half marathon and finished about an hour to an hour and a half before I did.
I want to detail this race because it was the best race I ever had. My goal was to finish but ultimately to break 4 hours. (9:09 pace) The weather was 41 degrees, little wind and no sun. These are the perfect conditions for long distance running. I was emotional at the start of the race knowing that this was for my grandma. I also saw a dog that looked like our red lab Boone in the first few miles and missed my training buddy. Mile 10 was the absolute worst. I started to have hip pain to which I took some Advil for a quick fix and another gal through her water on my shoes on accident. The halfway point had a mat that you cross at mile 13.1. This was on the Concordia Moorhead campus. The bands were playing and cheering for me and I crossed right at 2 hours. I felt really good so I knew that I could bring back the second half faster than the first. This is what we call negative splitting in the fitness world.
Ben met me at mile 14 since there was a chance of rain that day. He had an extra pair of shoes and socks that I did not need. I waved to say that I was doing really well and felt good. Also, it was at this point that I saw the 4 hour pace group in front of me. I let them get away from me in the beginning because I thought that they were going too fast. By mile 18 I hear that this is where people "Hit the Wall." Hitting the wall is where if improperly fueled an athlete literally feels like they hit a wall and cannot move any further. I pushed past this and kept consuming gels/fruit snacks. I got to mile 22 and finally was caught up with the pace group. Sergio was our pace leader and he kept encouraging us. I got to mile 25 and decided to break free from the group. I actually was going really fast the last mile and did finish beating my goal. My official time was 3:58. After a poor performance the year prior I was proud of myself.
I did my last half marathon in 2018 in Brookings, SD. I had minimal training that spring due to the amount of snowstorms that kept closing down the Y and the roads. I ended up going a 1:54 which was pretty good for the minimal amount of running that I did.
The reason I took a break from long distance running is because of what happened next. In 2016 I got a taste of my first triathlon and I will be going more into detail in the next blog about my triathlon life.
Photos below from top to bottom: Sergio and I from the Fargo 2017 marathon, my cousin Kristin and I after the marathon next to my grandma's grave, me running and eating during the Fargo Marathon, Fargo half in 2015 pace group-I lost touch with them a little after this, Ben and I after the 2015 Fargo Half Marathon)
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