Since the race was only 40 miles south of me I didn’t get a hotel. DH drove me down on Saturday to pick up my race packet, South Beach was pretty crowded but he dropped me at the curb and drove around while I was able to get in and out pretty quickly. They must have assigned numbers based on when you registered as I got #59...and we all know I’m not Mrs. Speedy LOL. Bright orange goody bag, samples included sample packs of KT tape, Fiber Gummies and cinnamon brown sugar almonds...and some Halloween candy of course. Made a last minute run to pick up more Gu gels, then in bed by 8pm.
Race day woke up at 3:30am and left the house by 5am...only to turn around right away as I forgot my iPod *duh*. Only took about 45 minutes to get there, then walked about a half mile to the shuttle (so I could park at the finish line...and I was about 500 feet from it so VERY worth it!). Arrived at the start line at Jungle Island (where Parrot Jungle is), then went in search of the restrooms-long line for the girls but it moved pretty fast. During my search and wait in line the rain came pouring down...thankfully it stopped after about 10 minutes, although that made for a very muggy start since it was 76 degrees out. We started on time (7am) and about 5 minutes in it started to sprinkle again but it didn’t last too long. We were dodging puddles for a while and after walking for about 20 minutes to start I began doing 4/1 walk/run intervals. I would have done 3/1 but I had no way to change the track on my iPod shuffle as my headphones broke and I was using DH’s which don’t have controls on the cord...so my shuffle was stuck on my 3/2 mix from my last training run-I just watched my Garmin to see when I hit 1 minute then started my walk portion. First part started along MacArthur Causeway right next to the Port of Miami so we were going past all of the cruise ships...tried to take pictures but they didn’t come out. Passed Star Island (no stars in sight) and the ferry to Fisher Island before going over our one bridge and then onto Miami Beach. It was really nice walking along the Miami Beach Marina and then through South Pointe Park
Once out of the park we were right next to the beach on an out and back all the way up to 47th Street where the boardwalk ended (South Pointe Park is below 1st Street). We started along the Esplanade, through Lummus park and the Serpentine Walkway, then onto the wooden boardwalk at around mile 6.5. Note to self-a wet, wooden boardwalk does not make for solid footing...my feet kept slipping on the wet wood. Once we were on the boardwalk, I went to just walking. At least once we hit the turnaround at the end of the boardwalk and started coming back most of the wood had dried. By the time we hit mile 10 I was feeling drained. I was taking water at every stop after 6 miles (plus each time I had a Gu and one or two early stops) in addition to my G2 in my fuel belt-which I was wearing since I train with G2 and they had some sports drink called “Title” I had never tried before. At about 12.5 miles after re-entering South Pointe Park, we climbed a hill (a little taller than climbing up to a 2nd story), then down again and around toward the finish line. Miles 1-8 I was doing 16 and change minute miles...9-12 were 17 and change; mile 13 was 18 and change, by that point I was just so glad to see the finish line! I have always run across every finish line and did the same here, giving me a 14 and change minute mile pace for my last 0.1 mile. I was just so happy to be done!
My official finish time was 3:40:12, my slowest half marathon. I finished last in my age group and 1081/1092 finishers...slow but not last! The temperature at the end was 79 degrees with 72% humidity, but being as we were along the beach the whole time it was more moisture than where Weatherbug was reading (at the police station). My Garmin 305 was amazingly accurate, reading 13.10 miles and 3:40:13.
Lots of fun costumes along the way...plenty of superheroes and people sporting wings and headbands with ears and such. The most interesting costume I saw was a couple...she had a hospital gown with a pregnant belly underneath (lordy, I hope it didn’t weigh as much as a pregnant belly!); coming out from under the gown was a cord-painted red-which was attached the the man running with her. He was in a nude-colored body stocking with red paint splashed on the area where the cord connected-his belly button...so mom running with attached baby. All in all a good race, FABULOUS bling (a coffin that opens revealing the vamp inside and Finisher-R.I.P. on a black lanyard splashed with red blood) and a nifty Brooks technical shirt with vampire fangs dripping blood.
A last funny thought-I forgot to turn the power off to my Garmin after stopping it at the finish line and happened to look down at it while I was driving home on I-95. It said I was running at a 0:50 pace...which cracked me up. Yeah, I’m fast all right LOL.
MAKING IT HAPPEN- Reading, reviews & travel. Sometimes you just have to make things happen.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
A Confession, Reality Check and Recommitment
This is from my blog on SparkPeople, which some of you may know is a site I've been using for my weight loss journey. Some of it I've already posted here but I wanted to put the whole thing out there to make sure I'm documenting my full story here, sorry about anything that I've duplicated from prior posts here:
So, I had a setback during Summer 2010 where I was just worn out from my Winter/Spring training and races and had to take a break...during which I hardly exercised and didn't eat very well. At the end of July when I last blogged here, I thought I had only gained back 11 pounds…turns out my scale was messed up and it was actually 20.2 pounds. I was not only shocked when I saw that but upset and to be honest, embarrassed. Had I really indulged that much? Was I really that inactive? When I first started using SparkPeople, I lost 45 pounds. In just under four months I’d undone almost half of what I had accomplished.
I didn’t want to log my weight on SparkPeople and see my weight loss ticker jump so far the wrong way-I’ve even been using an app on my iPhone to track my weight recently instead, figuring I’d start doing it here again once I’d lost all the weight I had gained back. I thought of all the people on here who had told me I’d inspired them and felt like I’d be disappointing them if I tracked the reality here where they could see the huge backslide. But I’ve already disappointed myself and really, that’s what hurts. The past week I’ve been trying to get back into my good eating and exercising rhythm so I can fix my mistakes...and thankfully when I got on the scale this morning, two of those pounds were gone. When I got on the computer this morning and started doing my daily SparkPeople stuff, I decided to just own up to it and chalk it up to lessons learned.
Maybe I just did too much too fast-not the initial weight loss but the training/racing part-and pushed myself too much...this past Spring I did do two half marathons two weeks apart, followed by a 5K two weeks later and a 10K three weeks after that. For some people that may seem like nothing, but afterward I felt burned out and like I deserved a rest-I just took it too far. So today I’m publicly admitting I messed up BIG TIME and moving on. I’ve already gotten back to my training, going slowly here at first (speed-wise and number of weekly sessions), planning my training to gradually build myself back up-with all the huffing and puffing like when I first started.
The big thing-I have signed up for my first full marathon in January, the Walt Disney World Marathon. I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I first started adding running intervals to my walking and know if I do it properly, I will be able to cross that finish line without burning myself out. I do have a half marathon on Halloween and another mid-December that I signed up for before the whole backsliding thing happened. These fall on training weeks that have approximately that distance on the schedule so they are really like training runs; I won’t be putting any pressure on myself to PR...well, not for the Halloween one anyway. The one in December has a 3-hour time limit before opening the streets back up (although they will have the mats down for 3.5 hours) so I may push just a little on that one-my PR is currently 3:16. I was considering another half marathon for November but I think that might be too much pressure and might drain me again so I’m not going to do that.
I hope my friends out there keep up with me this fall...I plan on blogging as much as possible during my training to help keep me honest and from falling by the wayside. After all, as much as a cheapskate as I am, I’d be really ticked off after spending $135 plus Active fees (plus another $12.79 for a Disney marathon pin-total $150 and change) just to get swept in January LOL. So come along for the next chapter in my journey...I’d love to have you along!
So, I had a setback during Summer 2010 where I was just worn out from my Winter/Spring training and races and had to take a break...during which I hardly exercised and didn't eat very well. At the end of July when I last blogged here, I thought I had only gained back 11 pounds…turns out my scale was messed up and it was actually 20.2 pounds. I was not only shocked when I saw that but upset and to be honest, embarrassed. Had I really indulged that much? Was I really that inactive? When I first started using SparkPeople, I lost 45 pounds. In just under four months I’d undone almost half of what I had accomplished.
I didn’t want to log my weight on SparkPeople and see my weight loss ticker jump so far the wrong way-I’ve even been using an app on my iPhone to track my weight recently instead, figuring I’d start doing it here again once I’d lost all the weight I had gained back. I thought of all the people on here who had told me I’d inspired them and felt like I’d be disappointing them if I tracked the reality here where they could see the huge backslide. But I’ve already disappointed myself and really, that’s what hurts. The past week I’ve been trying to get back into my good eating and exercising rhythm so I can fix my mistakes...and thankfully when I got on the scale this morning, two of those pounds were gone. When I got on the computer this morning and started doing my daily SparkPeople stuff, I decided to just own up to it and chalk it up to lessons learned.
Maybe I just did too much too fast-not the initial weight loss but the training/racing part-and pushed myself too much...this past Spring I did do two half marathons two weeks apart, followed by a 5K two weeks later and a 10K three weeks after that. For some people that may seem like nothing, but afterward I felt burned out and like I deserved a rest-I just took it too far. So today I’m publicly admitting I messed up BIG TIME and moving on. I’ve already gotten back to my training, going slowly here at first (speed-wise and number of weekly sessions), planning my training to gradually build myself back up-with all the huffing and puffing like when I first started.
The big thing-I have signed up for my first full marathon in January, the Walt Disney World Marathon. I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I first started adding running intervals to my walking and know if I do it properly, I will be able to cross that finish line without burning myself out. I do have a half marathon on Halloween and another mid-December that I signed up for before the whole backsliding thing happened. These fall on training weeks that have approximately that distance on the schedule so they are really like training runs; I won’t be putting any pressure on myself to PR...well, not for the Halloween one anyway. The one in December has a 3-hour time limit before opening the streets back up (although they will have the mats down for 3.5 hours) so I may push just a little on that one-my PR is currently 3:16. I was considering another half marathon for November but I think that might be too much pressure and might drain me again so I’m not going to do that.
I hope my friends out there keep up with me this fall...I plan on blogging as much as possible during my training to help keep me honest and from falling by the wayside. After all, as much as a cheapskate as I am, I’d be really ticked off after spending $135 plus Active fees (plus another $12.79 for a Disney marathon pin-total $150 and change) just to get swept in January LOL. So come along for the next chapter in my journey...I’d love to have you along!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
9/9/2010-It's official!
Yup, now that I'm gainfully employed again and still have plenty of my parting money from my last job left, I officially registered for the Disney Full Marathon this morning. So on January 9,2011 I'll be participating in my first full marathon. I've already begun my training (in week 3 right now) as I wanted to be prepared if I did get a job in a decent amount of time so I could afford the trip...and now it will become a reality. I do have 2 half marathons on my fall schedule-the Miami Beach Halloween Half Marathon (on Halloween of course) and the Weston Rotary Run for Tomorrow Half Marathon on 12/12/10 (couldn't pass it up-right here in my suburb, only $20 and we get a spinning medal, such a deal!). I may also add another half for the 2nd weekend in November, still thinking on it and will make a decision in the next couple of weeks.
So now I REALLY need to put my nose to that ole grindstone and whip my bootie into shape. Getting the miles in is not my issue...I start to get lazy when it comes to my cross and strength training. I've already got my training calendar set up, it's just a matter of sticking to those non-run/walk days like I should. I know strengthening my core will really help me out, I just need to override the part of my brain that says "Hey, is that a couch? It looks so comfy...and just look at that stack of DVDs waiting to be watched...and those books waiting to be read...oh, look-a soft, fuzzy blanket too!" *sigh* Someone kick me in the butt, will ya?
So now I REALLY need to put my nose to that ole grindstone and whip my bootie into shape. Getting the miles in is not my issue...I start to get lazy when it comes to my cross and strength training. I've already got my training calendar set up, it's just a matter of sticking to those non-run/walk days like I should. I know strengthening my core will really help me out, I just need to override the part of my brain that says "Hey, is that a couch? It looks so comfy...and just look at that stack of DVDs waiting to be watched...and those books waiting to be read...oh, look-a soft, fuzzy blanket too!" *sigh* Someone kick me in the butt, will ya?
Sunday, July 25, 2010
7/25/10-Getting back to it again
So, once I did my 10K race back in April I started to get tired. Worn out. I think I pushed too much...and so I crashed for a long while. Only 37.35 miles in May and a whopping 4.5 miles in June; so far for July I've only gotten out there twice (that includes today) for 5.7 miles. I just was so worn out and my motivation tanked big time-not just for the running but for all my exercising. And when that happened, guess what followed? Yup, you guessed it, the food. Not so much the types of food (although there were many more added "goodies") but more so the portions and such. And so I've gained weight back...now, couple that with the fact that my position at work was eliminated and my last day was-get this-my 40th birthday, and my downward spiral is complete. I wound up gaining back 11 pounds of the 45 I lost.
Forward to yesterday. I finally sat down to map out my training plan for this fall to prepare for my first full marathon-hopefully, participating depends on the job situation as I am about to start my fourth week of being unemployed. I decided that regardless of the job thing I will follow my training plan so I will be prepared no matter what. I do already have two half marathons (10/31 and 12/12) that I'm already registered for so I'd need to be training anyway so I figure I should be prepared. Anyway, as I saw the amount of training I'll be doing I thought to myself, "You're nuts-you are back out of shape, you've gotta get a hold of yourself or you'll never pull this off. Now get up off your butt and get back to work!" And so I am.
Yesterday I tried out the warm up and cool down of my new Heavyweight Yoga DVD (boy did that feel good stretching everything out) and I am looking forward to doing a lot more of that, probably using it as part of my cross training regimen in addition to the elliptical and stationary bike. It's a great DVD by Abby Lentz doing yoga as a "big" person. Then I made myself go to bed at a decent time last night so I could get up early today and go for a walk/run before it got too hot out. I had to really push myself out the door, and once out there I finally got going...unfortunately even at 8am it was already 85 degrees with 75% humidity giving a "feels like" of 93. Thank goodness the clouds were obscuring the sun most of the way or my outing would have been way shorter than the 3.03 miles I was able to pull off.
I started out doing 3 min walk/1 min run but after 4 run intervals just walked the rest as my heart rate was in the 160s just walking...like I said, I've been out of it quite a while and as a result am almost back to square one fitness-wise. I felt totally exhausted afterward but I'm glad I got back out there. Now I'm off to plot my return plan...my official "training" for the marathon in January that I hope to do starts in four weeks and I need to start getting back into the swing of things because I will NOT disappoint myself. I WILL be ready for January. I have come too far not to make it.
Forward to yesterday. I finally sat down to map out my training plan for this fall to prepare for my first full marathon-hopefully, participating depends on the job situation as I am about to start my fourth week of being unemployed. I decided that regardless of the job thing I will follow my training plan so I will be prepared no matter what. I do already have two half marathons (10/31 and 12/12) that I'm already registered for so I'd need to be training anyway so I figure I should be prepared. Anyway, as I saw the amount of training I'll be doing I thought to myself, "You're nuts-you are back out of shape, you've gotta get a hold of yourself or you'll never pull this off. Now get up off your butt and get back to work!" And so I am.
Yesterday I tried out the warm up and cool down of my new Heavyweight Yoga DVD (boy did that feel good stretching everything out) and I am looking forward to doing a lot more of that, probably using it as part of my cross training regimen in addition to the elliptical and stationary bike. It's a great DVD by Abby Lentz doing yoga as a "big" person. Then I made myself go to bed at a decent time last night so I could get up early today and go for a walk/run before it got too hot out. I had to really push myself out the door, and once out there I finally got going...unfortunately even at 8am it was already 85 degrees with 75% humidity giving a "feels like" of 93. Thank goodness the clouds were obscuring the sun most of the way or my outing would have been way shorter than the 3.03 miles I was able to pull off.
I started out doing 3 min walk/1 min run but after 4 run intervals just walked the rest as my heart rate was in the 160s just walking...like I said, I've been out of it quite a while and as a result am almost back to square one fitness-wise. I felt totally exhausted afterward but I'm glad I got back out there. Now I'm off to plot my return plan...my official "training" for the marathon in January that I hope to do starts in four weeks and I need to start getting back into the swing of things because I will NOT disappoint myself. I WILL be ready for January. I have come too far not to make it.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
4/24/2010-Back to basics
The last few weeks I've been taking time off. I think with 5 races within a two month time period and the training to go along with them just kind of burned me out. One day I would like to make it to the point where a half marathon every other weekend is like nothing, but that's still a while away. So now that I've rested and taken some time off, I'm ready to slowly build back up again. That also includes getting back to my normal eating because for the last few weeks along with the taking time off I've also been eating not-so-great. I know I've gained some pounds back (not sure how many as I'm hiding from my scale for now)...not the right direction to go in. So enough of the slacking off, time to ease back into my exercise schedule and walk/run schedule and to restock the fridge and cabinets the right way. I want to be back under 200 well before my 40th birthday in a little over 2 months so no more goofing off.
I'll be getting back to my schedule:
Mon...short miles (3-5)
Tues...gym for cross training (elliptical/bike/weights)
Wed...rest with possibility of Wii Fit
Thu...short miles (3-5)
Fri...gym for cross training again
Sat...long miles (will start at 6 and go from there until my base is built up again)
Sun...rest (unless Saturday is rained out, then long miles can go here)
Come hell or high water I'll be at Disney in January to do the full marathon. I'll be starting my "official" training plan toward the end of August. I plan to use Marathoning for Mortals again since it worked so well for my first half marathon. Between now and the start of that training I'll be working on transitioning from my 3 minute walk/2 minute run toward a 3 minute walk/1 minute run (or something like that; more running than walking anyway, we'll see how things play out). I do already have a half marathon scheduled for Halloween (Miami Beach Halloween Half Marathon) and will hopefully be able to register for a few more things for the fall and maybe December.
Tomorrow will be mapping out some plans for upping my miles again and my walk/run to run/walk transition as well as fall training. I'm also going to program my Garmin to do the beeps every minute so I can start playing with my walk/run ratios like that. If you've never checked one out, I highly recommend it...ever since I received mine (gift from DH this last holiday season), I've absolutely loved it. Accurate and gives you tons of great info regarding your pace, heart rate, distance and more.
Happy Running!
I'll be getting back to my schedule:
Mon...short miles (3-5)
Tues...gym for cross training (elliptical/bike/weights)
Wed...rest with possibility of Wii Fit
Thu...short miles (3-5)
Fri...gym for cross training again
Sat...long miles (will start at 6 and go from there until my base is built up again)
Sun...rest (unless Saturday is rained out, then long miles can go here)
Come hell or high water I'll be at Disney in January to do the full marathon. I'll be starting my "official" training plan toward the end of August. I plan to use Marathoning for Mortals again since it worked so well for my first half marathon. Between now and the start of that training I'll be working on transitioning from my 3 minute walk/2 minute run toward a 3 minute walk/1 minute run (or something like that; more running than walking anyway, we'll see how things play out). I do already have a half marathon scheduled for Halloween (Miami Beach Halloween Half Marathon) and will hopefully be able to register for a few more things for the fall and maybe December.
Tomorrow will be mapping out some plans for upping my miles again and my walk/run to run/walk transition as well as fall training. I'm also going to program my Garmin to do the beeps every minute so I can start playing with my walk/run ratios like that. If you've never checked one out, I highly recommend it...ever since I received mine (gift from DH this last holiday season), I've absolutely loved it. Accurate and gives you tons of great info regarding your pace, heart rate, distance and more.
Happy Running!
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