July Recap... or lack of anything to report?

Alright, so seeing as I haven't posted anything the entire month of July here is a brief recap of what I have been up to, or not up to...

After the Marathon I was pretty wiped out. In addition to this, work got quite a bit crazy with the office being re arranged and people being on holidays, that I was getting run down/overwhelmed at work and it was definitely following me home each day. I took a week off from running after the marathon, bought a new pair of runners, and went for a run along the Seawall in Vancouver one week after the marathon.

Brooks... anyone surprised? Didn't think so.

 My garmin and I are on a temporary break. (Yepp, this type A girl aint trackin anything!) I don't have any idea of the distance or pace of my running adventures these days, but thats a good thing. I feel like I need to enjoy running for a bit and incorporate some new things into my routine and work on my energy levels. Based on the foods that I eat and my activity level I shouldn't be as tired as I am so I've been experimenting with protein powders and I think I have found one that works (more importantly I can actually drink it almost without gagging! yay me).

I haven't been swimming or biking much this month, but I think part of that is just recovering from the Marathon. Additionally I took an unexpected trip to Calgary for a weekend and have just been enjoying time with friends. That being said, I often do end up doing active things with my friends... or perhaps its more we do active things at the same time at the same start up and end points? (sometimes your doing separate work outs but its the accountability of going together and seeing one another doing it that keeps us honest).

How is it that frozen fruit makes any drink look much cooler then it is?

With August right around the corner I have a few tentative goals floating around but nothing solidified. As it stands, I'm going to try to get swimming and cycling back into my routine in addition to running and we will see where that takes me. For now,

The Almost 20 miler...

This past weekend I went for a long run with my co-worker who is doing the Rock'n'Roll Seattle Marathon as well. He had found a route for us and we agreed to meet at a mutual location that wasn't too far from where either of us lived, and would set us on a good starting point to run a route without many traffic lights, and minimal traffic.

So Saturday morning, I woke up, filled up my water belt and did a warm-up around my favorite go to place and headed out to meet up with him. I had beat him there but just had to wait for a few minutes before we took of.

By the time we hooked up I had run 4 miles at about a 9:15-9:20 pace, a bit too fast but I was feeling good and it wasn't hurting so I didn't think I was in trouble (insert foreshadowing of what was to come!).

As we started off down the road, headed toward a rolling hill, I had taken my head phones out and was casually talking with my co-worker. Unconsciously we had dropped the pace for miles 5- 8 so they looked a little like this: mile 5- 9:12, mile 6 - 9:04, mile 7 - 9:10, mile 8 - 9:22... now, seeing as I wasn't even half way through my run, and was throwing down miles like it was no big deal I should have known that the worse was yet to come...

Ignorance is truly bliss, those first 8 miles were fantastic, now the rest of the run fell apart in a big way! The hills came, walking took place, I attempted to have my running buddy leave me (he refused, thank goodness otherwise I likely would have sat on the side of the road and called to get picked up... or just laid there spread out waiting for my imminent death, likely the later of those two). So the mileage pace took a beating:

Mile 9- 10:14, Mile 11- 10:04, Mile 12 - 12:03 (pretty sure this was a hill that I walked up!), Mile 13 - 10:46, Mile 14 - 11:10, Mile 15 - 9:38 (probably running downhill), Mile 16 - 10:27, Mile 17 - 12:43, Mile 18 - 10:02, Mile 19 - 13:03 (was walking while on the Phone) and then .24 of a Mile at a 11:52 pace..

Yes a common theme these days, the wheels came off! 19.24 miles in 3:17:23... now in looking back and thinking of how I felt during it, it was awful. However, there are some positive notes, first of all I did manage to do a long run. Yes, I did walk, but I did manage to get myself to run again. Mentally I was getting owned, and that was I think my biggest issue, but the thing is, that I'm glad it happened while I was running with someone, on the back roads and I forced myself to finish (was refused to be abandoned lol).

While I was running this, I had serious doubts about whether or not I want to do the Marathon at the end of the month. Do I do it and risk having it suck and hate my life, or do I switch to the Half and try to own it... these were my thoughts and fears while I was running. Upon getting home though and sharing my time and mileage with my Mom, she was tremendously excited for me claiming that I could do this Marathon in under 4:30... well then. Myself at that moment, oh gosh I need fluid vs Mom- complete optimism... Thankfully positive thinking > negative thinking, so I consumed multiple liquids (oh ya, another problem, I was tremendously thirsty on this run, what is up with my body and over heating these days!) and as the Gatorade, water and carbonated water was consumed, optimism crept in.

4 days later, I'm actaully looking forward to attempting the full. I can't thrown down low 9 min miles, I'm not going to run a sub 4 hour marathon, but I may, just may be able to pull out a time between 4:15- 4:30 and while in the world of bloggers that may not be that good, in my world, that would be awesome!

So here's to optimism and a great training week (that is half over). Happy running, and Happy RUNNING DAY!

Run For Water Abbotsford

Hey,

So it has been quite a while and for that I apologize... I wish I had a better excuse then just being drained, but seriously, this whole working full time, commuting, plus taking a Undergraduate Course and trying to train like a bad*** is exhausting!

Moving on, my training is going pretty well. I fearfully agreed to run with a coworker during lunch last week, and it was exactly what I needed. I get terrified of running with others, as I get concerned that I will hold them back, or get dropped back, but it ended up being really good and a great boost going into my first 10 km run this weekend.

I had signed up for the Run For Water Abbotsford awhile ago, thinking that it would be fun to do a 10 km in between the half and full marathon, with the full marathon being the main focus of my training. Having never ran a 10 km before, but knowing roughly where I would be at, I set my sights on coming in sub 50. I knew it would be a challenge, but I thought that the way the course was outlined, and the fact that it was local may work to my advantage.

The Expo wasn't anything to write home about, quite small which is reflective of the race and a bit confusing in its layout, but my friends and I went, got our bibs and were back in the car within 8 minutes.

The morning of, we woke to the sound of light rain fall, which I was informed would pass but greatly doubted... (I had good cause to doubt this and was unfortunately right)

Fitting, we are running the run for water in the rain

My house is located a block and a half from the start, so other friends of mine parked at my house and we walked down to the start an hour or so early... in hindsight, it was way too wet and cold and we should have only started heading down there 30 minutes before the start. But hey, live and learn. 

The rain started to really come down in heavy, monsoon like style but luckily there was no wind. Ahhh the Pacific Northwest, even in May you can mistake the weather for October... I settled myself in the middle of the coral for 45-60 mins. The start is up a bit of a hill, but seeing as this route is right by my house, I run this little hill all the time. Totally crushed it and started passing people on the inside, attempting to run smart tangents. I knew that wanting to run a sub 50 would be hard but figured if I could stick around 8 - 8:15 min miles for the first 4 I would be able to somewhat hold on until the end to make it happen. 

Getting boxed in by people meant that my exertion for the first mile was more then the time reflected but I did manage to get an 8:20 or so pace, and then I dropped it like it was hot and went sub 8 for the next 2 miles. Mile 4 I managed to hang on to the 8 mile pace and then things got a little bit difficult. I passed people on a downhill stretch but then got passed on the slight uphill portion. The crumby thing about these short distances is that if your calves get tight, all you can do is suck it up and hope you can hold on. Mile 5 was closer to (if not actually) a 9 min mile, but I was passed by one of the guys I knew and he managed to spur on a bit more out of me then I thought I had. 

On the last home stretch, about a half mile or so, I managed to catch up to a guy who had passed me and just held on for dear life. In the end I came in strong and.... 

 That sweater was supposed to come off, but was too heavy to get off...

and the hat was front words... Until it got too heavy and I couldn't see!

While the clock may have said 51:37, the bib time was... 

Melissa Epp

49:25

4:57

Female 20-29

13/198

35/746

Heck yes, that would be a sub 50! I was so happy, and it hurt in such a different way then the half, or my memory of the full marathon does. After I hugged my family who showed up in the pouring rain (my grandparents even skipped out on church to watch me!), I gave them my gnarly sweater and ran out to join my friend Kelly, and help run her in to a huge PR.

After that, we waited for my friend to finish her first ever 5 km, which according to her was cruel and unusual punishment... (she is convinced the 3 km marker was actually at the 4km mark and they didn't measure the course out properly). 

Either way, despite the rain, it was a great day and it was awesome to run a race right close to home. After warming up and eating some delicious food I started to get myself refocused for the full marathon that is 3 1/2 weeks away... 

I hope that if any of you did races this weekend you had an amazing time, perhaps ran in better weather then I did and that your training this week is going well! I am bitterly not allowing the rain to keep me from training, but I am seriously starting to get concerned about what I will look like once I finally dry out... swimming in the rain, running in the rain, I'm getting tired of the rain :(

Happy Tuesday! and Congrats to those who raced this weekend and good luck in your training this week!

BMO Vancouver Half Marathon Recap

The BMO Vancouver Marathon was this Sunday, and I did the half so here is the recap of how it all went down:

Now although I have been sick and not logging in the training miles needed my plan going in was to try from the start for a PR and if it didn't feel right, I'd adjust my goal as need be...

I set myself up with the 2 hour pace group and at the start I dropped it like its hot, naturally ;), and hit the ground with low 8 mins miles, on par for what I wanted to do at the beginning, as it was downhill, and then hoped to hold onto 8:30/9 min miles for the remainder....

Well, low and behold my Garmin died... I have no idea why as I only went on one run with it since charging it! Clearly I need to charge it every time I'm going to go for a run (and this is also why I wore two watches a month or so ago when I went running). So at mile 2.5 I was watchless and to make the scenario even more unfortunate... I had brought my iPod shuffle with me, which left me with no way of timing myself (maybe these people who run with iPhones are onto something).

Hey Mom! Can you take my Garmin as it is no longer of purpose and will just cause a tan line?

 

 

 

But I saw my mom and friend, waived, said hi, gave a hug and told her how my Garmin had died but I was feeling good. I gave her my watch as I didn't see the point in pretending that I had any way of pacing myself and tried to find someone to try and stick with. Unfortunately I just could not get myself into the groove. I put my headphones in and tried to hit the pavement but it just wasn't happening. When the 2 hour pace group caught up to me I tried to stick with them but I was so hot it all just seemed so unbearable. At that point I then tried to find some of the people I knew running the race to join in with them but despite my attempts we missed one another and the will to keep going just wasn't there. 

So, after hitting the 10 km mark way off pace (1:05) and hoarking like the champ I am (thanks awesome nasal/chest/cold yuckness I have) I figured whats the worse that can happen? So I walked, with small intervals of running (I do not think I even ran for a whole song worth), and the heat got to me like crazy. Normally, mid 20 C- 30 C is my kind of running temp, but because I haven't been feeling that well my core body temperature seems to be a lot higher, or at least thats my theory and I'm sticking to it. 

An 11 km walk well everyone else ran and passed me :) always good to have that big serving of humble pie, but honestly, all I could do was laugh and enjoy the scenery and try to encourage those around me. When the wheels have fallen off and you know they have there is no sense in getting annoyed, it just happens. Oh the cold slap of reality, how brisk you can be but heck, it was still a lot of fun. 

Almost done, gotta at least run the last 1/4 km! 

My Mom and friend had a leopard print balloon so that I would be able to easily spot them at the view points we had previously discussed. (Lessons learned from the NWM 26.2 in San Fran). So as I came to the end and saw them, I bee lined it over, once again hugged, and thanked them for coming out and spending a Sunday morning chasing my friends and I around the BMO Vancouver running course. I then proceeded to sprint to the finish and likely confuse many people around me in the process (i.e. how does she have so much energy!?). 

Honestly, my body's inability to perform was an indicator of just how poorly I have been training and treating it (or how sick it has been?). I have 4 weeks to get myself back on track, and if I do not feel confident I will switch from the Rock'N'Roll Seattle full to the half. Running (or attempting) 13.1 miles at mediocre health is achievable for me, but 26.2 miles is not. I often say, 'I know my limits and I play within them', and this is an example of that. 

My final time for the BMO Half Marathon was 2:23:41, the slowest I have ever 'ran' 13.1 miles, and although it wasn't reflective of me as a runner, I still had a great time and my only regret is that I didn't pace my friend who was running her first ever half marathon... I got greedy and thought maybe my body would be able to pull one out (competitive streak). Although it may not have happened this time, I was reminded of how much work needs to go into being the runner that I want to be.

Happy Monday, and for anyone who did a race this weekend, I hope yours was a success!

Race Week!!

So what does race week look like for me? Typically I would go for a nice, relaxed shake out run, and maybe a little sprint/interval one; however, with this delightful chest cold/nasal issues I have (oh ya, went to the doctor, he said it was probably the same one since October and it just kept going underground and popping up anytime my immune system gets weak... Awesome!) K anyways, this week is more of a walk and try to get better. So not much physical activity.

Food wise, I make an even greater effort to stay away from wheat and dairy (hello lunch organization and fruits and veggies), as well as being more conscious of my protein and whole grain intake... Ya I'm a bit of a nut bar.

But on to the exciting parts of race week:
                      Outfit Layout : difficulty of early May races, it is still quite cool in the morning, but you know its going to get warm once the sun is out… shorts or capris? Tees or Tanks? Bahhhh these are the questions that will haunt me for the next few days.                                  
                      Playlist: To be Determined
                      Expo/Package pick up

and the most exciting of all.... Post race celebration! I know of two people who are running their first half marathons this weekend so it will definitely be cause for celebration.

I have no idea what time I’m going to come out with after this weekend, but I am going to do my best with what I have and attempt to give it my all (whatever that may be). So to anyone who is racing this weekend, best of luck and I hope you have fantastic, predictable weather!

Getting it done... even though I don't wanna!

Hey, Okay so most sporadic blogger? Yepp seems about right. So recap of my goals from the last week after my long(ish) 8 miler on Monday:

Tuesday- Workout DVD Check, Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred Level 1
Wed- Gym- Kind of Check? Home ab circuit... It sucked, I was sweating, It was intense so Check
Thurs- Track session or negative split run -Check- 8:30 for 15 then dropped it like its hot to 8/mle Fri- Swimming - Did not happen :( too tired (lazy? I dunno)
Sat- 13 miler (may modify that to 11) - 13.1 miles (split up) in 2:02
Sun- Swimming with coach - Check, but legs were to sore to do anything with flippers

Alright, so all in all, my goals were pretty much met, I was happy!

On Saturday, I went to the Running Room on Cambie street in Vancouver for a vamp up to the BMO type shindig in the morning. John Stanton was there (founder of the Running Room), and gave us a little talk with advice (super helpful, lesson learned... HILL WORK OUTS, GET ON IT!) followed by a 3.5 mile run with the peeps who were there. It was nice to go out and run in Vancouver with a large group of other runners (something I don't do).

After this my friend Kelly and I went to the sea wall in Vancouver (which owned me last year during the BMO half) and I wrapped up with 13.1 miles total for the day... Yes I was super pumped (and incredibly sore the next day). Splitting up the 13 miler definitely helped, mentally my head plays games with me sometimes and the small break was a huge mental relief.

So I had similar goals for this week: 

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - Workout DVD Check Jillian Michaels Shed and Shred Level 2 (did not realize it was longer then Level 1... may have spent half of it staring at the tv trying to figure out what the heck it was she wanted me to do).
Wednesday - Tempo Run Check, 5 miles in 43 mins (getting closer to my sub 50 10 km goal)
Thursday - Ab work out
Friday - Hill Training on the TM before work
Saturday - 15 mile run

All in all I'm pretty satisfied with where I am in my training. However, I am struggling with my mid week runs, so last night I did a shout out to my friends on facebook who inspire me to run and be active. I used them as motivation to get me out the door, and ended up having an amazing run, holding 8:15s for all but mile 3 when I had to take a walking break (aka where the heck is a washroom, and please do not be closed!).

I'm hoping to do at least 3 solid hill sessions before hitting the track for some 800 m sprint sets, and I am not too sure what I am going to do next week with me being at Disneyworld and Universal Studios... but I'm sure I will come up with something...

Amusement park exploration counts toward my long run goals for the day? No? hmmmmm.....

Random Race Recap: Fort Langley Historic Half 2012

Alright... so even Plan Z was not going to happen... After 10 days of being house bound, two failed attempts of going back to work, Sunday February 17th, to my dismay, I was a spectator at the Fort Langley Historic Half.

So instead of doing a race recap of this years race, I will do a brief recap of last years:

The Fort Langley Historic Half was my first experience with the half marathon... it was also my first race since elementary school where I cried the whole time while my Mom encouraged me... all the way up till the end when, naturally, I sprinted to the finish line (if only I had that back kick now). I didn't know what to expect as the longest distance I ran was 14 km, but I knew that I could do it. I started with the last group of runners, at the back of the pack. I had ran part of the course before work one day so I knew what to expect and allowed myself to get into a comfortable pace.

Due to the fact that I started in the last wave I was passing quite a few people, which felt great, and is it just me or does it feel absolutely fantastic to pass someone who appears to be so much more of a 'runner' than you? (this being said, the downside is when they pass you again). My friend Kelly had given me some gel's which I took just after the 10 km mark, right before a massive hill was coming, which turned out to be a good idea, bad idea- sprinting up a short steep hill, why? Because you truly do feel like vomiting and that is when my first mental panic attack of 'Can I do this' took place . I had done the 10 km in 56 minutes and my ideal/ultimate/dream goal was to come in under two hours. At this point I realized it might be possible.

The back half of this race is much easier than the first which was a huge benefit for a first half marathon.As the second half had a huge hill that you ran down, the flat parts that followed seemed rather boring (but still, looking at my watch I thought 'Hey, this may just happen'). By about 17 km's a small hill came, but at that point in the race it felt like I could have been running up Mt Everest! I had to walk this part which made it extremely hard to start back up again. At the end of the day I finished my first half marathon at 1:58 and was extremely thrilled to have come in under 2 hours. I didn't prepare much but had the confidence to know that I could finish it and the determination to finish strong. The weather was great, I wore the right clothing and fueled properly for this half marathon.

Fort Langley Historic Half 2012- Kelly (R) and I (L)

In looking back on this race it was the best I could ever expect a first marathon to be and I am disappointed in the sense that I couldn't partake in it again this year, but at the end of the day I have to take care of myself and look ahead to my Spring/Summer runs.

Being a spectator was great, it was neat to experience the other side and it was awesome to cheer on my friend who is normally at the end cheering me on. I was able to run the last km with her, and attempted to just help her keep pace, pick it up and I am happy to share that she CRUSHED her old PR! Literally, buh bye 6 minutes!!! Racing is fun, the energy and the atmosphere is so exciting and right now I'm doing everything I can to get myself healthy so that March 3rd I can officially start training for the Rock'N'Roll Seattle Marathon. :) Happy Wednesday!