Lucy Activewear has a birthday!

Lucy Activewear (http://www.lucy.com/) has a birthday today. They are twelve years old today and everything in their stores and on their website is 25% off, today only!!! Go over to their website and shop around...they have some really cute stuff for all activities!

Help...please!

I posted a question at the end of my last post and didn't receive any comments :). So, I'm posting my question again and would really love any suggestions you can give...

I really want to finish my next mini in under 2 hours. My last one was 2:01:31. I know the pace I need to keep is 9:09 or below. Any suggestions on how to do this, whether it be keeping the same pace the entire race or using negative splits?

All suggestions are welcome!

Update and a question...

Why am I a joke? Well, simply put, I've let my blogging fall by the wayside while I started a new job. But, the job is settling down some, so I will start blogging more.

Just an update: Ran a 15K this past Saturday. I really wanted to be able to finish at a 9:09 pace so that I know I can finish my next mini marathon in under 2 hours, but it didn't happen. At about mile 6 1/2, both of my Achilles started to ache, so I had to slow down tremendously. I REALLY NEED NEW SHOES! I will be purchasing them this week. I finished at a 9:23 pace, which ticks me off because I kept below race pace for the first six miles and then let it fall that much. UGH! The funny thing is that I'm not usually one to let things like this bother me. I usually just chalk it up as a bad run and move on, but not this time. I literally haven't stopped thinking about it since the finish.

Question: I finished my last mini with a 9:14 pace. I really want to finish this one at 9:09 or less, preferably below 9:00. Any suggestions on a pace scale that includes negative splits instead of keeping the same pace the entire race?

A Few Race Recaps in One! On the road to becoming a better blogger...

Well, it's been awhile. I've been directing the music for a stage production of Oklahoma!, so it's been hard to keep up with blogging, friends, etc. for the past couple of months. So, I haven't been doing my race updates like I should be, so I'm going to catch you up to speed in one post...how about that?

Let's see...

1. Jennie Carol's Memorial Mother's Day 5K - this race is in memory of a dear friend of mine, Jennie Tarter. We taught together and I taught both of her young boys. After completing her second mini marathon, Jennie had a terrible accident while eating dinner, got choked, and was without oxygen for long enough to lose her life. She was a fabulous person and now we run to honor her. This was my first race after the marathon, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But, I PR'ed!!! 26:03 was my time!

2. Next came the Haggin Memorial Hospital 5K at Shakertown. For this race, it always pours buckets of rain! As expected, it did! I don't even remember what my time was for this race. I'm sure it's on my sidebar, but I don't feel like looking. The great thing about this race? It was my brother-in-law's first race and he did great! That's him in the picture below.

3. Then came the Wellness Center 10K. I can't remember what happened that morning, but I showed up in a bad mood. So, I went out, ran 6.2 miles, and was happy with whatever time I got. I know I came in under 56 minutes which means a 5 minute improvement over last year's time. YAY!

4. After that was the Pregnancy Resource Center 5K, which is held in Millennium Park. I loathe running in the park! But, much to my surprise, I did pretty well. I got a new PR! 25:36!!! Not to mention, I got 1st in my age group, Bobbie got 2nd, and Katrina got 3rd! Talk about rocking an age group!!

5. The next race was the Beef Festival Stampede. I had never run this race before, so I was a little worried about the hills, but it didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would be. So, I was pretty pleased and only missed my PR by a few seconds, 25:41. By the way, the picture below is of myself and my running buddy, Bobbie. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE this picture!

6. Then, the Run for the Brass. Millennium Park, once again. My time was 25:59 this time. You can tell by my face in the picture that I'm trying to get to the line in under 26 minutes. Ha!

I have another race to recap, but don't have the pics yet. Now that the play is over, I promise I will back to my normal blogging self! Thanks for following my journey! :)

Monday...

Just a few thoughts for Monday...

1. I got a new job! I officially have my first job as a guidance counselor at a middle school in the school system in which I already teach! :) I am nervous, but so very excited about this new venture in life. GO BULLDOGS!

2. I am competing in my second duathlon on Sunday to benefit the Markey Cancer Center in Lexington, Kentucky. I have been riding my bike a lot lately, so I feel ready for it. The bike is in the shop getting a tune-up as we speak. The only part that worries me, and always does, is the run after the bike. Jello legs!

3. I miss my runniing buddy! Right now, I'm teaching in the morning, getting into a new job, in a play that rehearses several nights a week, among other things. What does this mean? Not much time to run with my girl, Bobbie. I'm having withdrawals!!!

4. I recently invested in a semi-minimal shoe, the Brooks Green Silence. Can we say AWESOME? I absolutely love them! They look and feel fabulous, and they really do make me feel faster!

5. I promise to be a better blogger. Sometimes life gets in the way, but I promise I will be reading and commenting more!

FIRST Marathon Report - Better Late Than Never!

Well, I ran my first marathon on May 1, 2011. I know this post is over a month late, but when you're a teacher, May is a busy month! So, without anymore waiting, here it is.

My running buddy, Bobbie, and I decided we wanted to do the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati. We gave ourselves plenty of time to train for it, but of course, things don't always go as planned. On April 3, we ran a half marathon in which we both set a personal record. The very next day, I was hospitalized for a fever of 105 and seizures for which there were no answer. It ended up that I had strep, but was showing no symptoms, which can apparently be pretty dangerous. So, due to the illness, I missed out on two weeks of training and never was able to complete a 22 mile long run.

But, the show must go on. We left on Saturday afternoon in plenty of time to be able to spend some serious time at the expo. But, once again, there was obviously another plan. We got stuck in horrible traffic about 20 miles outside of Cincinnati. What should have taken us 20 minutes, took 2 hours. We were able to spend about an hour at the expo.

Upon waking on marathon day, the rain was falling and we had a walk of about one mile to get to the start line. It wasn't raining hard, just little drizzle. Here is a picture of us walking to the start line.

We found our corral and awaited our turn. We started the race and I felt pretty good. I knew going in that I wasn't going to do as well as I had originally planned, due to the fact that I missed out on some serious training. But, when I felt pretty good the first 9 miles, I thought that maybe I could meet my goal of finishing in under 5 hours.

We were originally told that as long as we trained on Bluegrass Pike in our hometown, that we would be able to handle the hills of Cincinnati. Well, that was a lie! :) No hills that I've ever run will ever compare to the hills that I ran while running in downtown Cincinnati and through Eden Park. Whew!

The worst part of the race for me? At about mile 4, we crossed a bridge from Ohio into Kentucky. As we were crossing the bridge, I felt nauseous. I am not one to feel this way while running, so I was a little concerned given that I hadn't been feeling very well the weeks before the race. I looked around and realized that it wasn't nausea. The bridge was bouncing up and down! Yes, you read that right. The bridge was bouncing up and down from all the runners. A little scary if you ask me.

One of the things that I loved about the race was the fact that our names were printed on our bibs. So, as we are running through the streets of Cincinnati, there are tons of people cheering for you, even though they don't know you. This definitely kept my spirits up when I began to hit that wall at about mile 11.

Crossing the finish line!

I reached the halfway point at 2:20:46, which is faster than the first half marathon I ever ran, so I'm okay with that. I crossed the finish line at 4:55:15! Almost five minutes under my goal of 5 hours. Not only did I finish, but I finished in my goal time. Will I ever run another marathon? SURE! If you asked me that when I crossed the finish line, I had a different answer. I will never run the Flying Pig again, but given a course that has less hills, I might see another marathon in my future!

I Promise...

Geez...it's been awhile! I haven't even done my marathon post yet, but I promise to have it up by the end of the week. You see, I'm a teacher, and the end of the school year is VERY hectic for me. So, blogging has kind of fallen by the wayside until things settle down at school.

I promise...I will have my marathon post by the end of the week!