10 Miles on National Coffee Day

Two weeks from today is the Chicago Marathon! When I signed up for the race earlier this year, I was terrified that I wouldn't make it through all the weeks of training, but here it is, only two weeks remaining. It's been exhausting, but the journey has been completely worth it.

I planned on running Saturday morning, but I woke feeling less than fabulous and decided to take the day off and run this morning instead. I don't normally run long in Georgetown, but since the group had no official run today, I decided to stay close to home.

I found this at the beginning of my run. Good advice if you ask me.

My route took me through Georgetown College. This is actually the starting point for many of the 5k races that are held in town.

I've been practicing my fueling/hydration plan the last few weeks and I think I've found what works for me, Nuun enhanced water every 2 miles and Clif Shot Bloks every 4 miles.

This morning was my last double digit run until race day. I was scheduled to run 12, but I did 10 because I wanted to make it to church this morning and I just ran out of time. It was a good run and I felt like I could do more which is always a good feeling.

It's National Coffee Day! A Holiday made just for me!

Time for some football and some coffee! Happy Sunday!

Time to Taper and New Shoes!

Well, I made it to the taper! Months of training completed and just over 2 weeks till race day! Let me just say, I have been exhausted this week after doing 20 miles on Sunday. Monday was bad, but Tuesday was even worse. Soooo tired. It wasn't until Wednesday that I started feeling back to normal. Needless to say, my scheduled runs suffered this week. Tuesday, I did 3 instead of 4. I just couldn't do any more. I was done. The fatigue continued Wednesday morning when I did 5 instead of 8. I was upset about it for all of 5 minutes and then I just figured that I needed the extra rest. This morning was the best of the week. I did 4 of 4 and I felt good afterwards.

Aaaand, I finally got my new shoes! Yippee!

They are the Brooks Ravenna 4s. 

I wore them for Wednesday and today's runs. I'm really liking them so far. Yay! I've got my marathon shoes!

Even though I made to taper week and got new shoes, this was the highlight of my week!

Liam's project this week in daycare was to tell a story and draw a picture! So naturally Liam has a story about running :)

And the picture is of Liam and Mommy running together! I'm so proud! Of course he'll be so much faster than me once he grows up! It's already hard to keep up with him and he's only 2 1/2!

 

I was going to get in bed early tonight, but I'll be staying up to watch the season premiere of Glee! Good thing tomorrow is a rest day!

20 Miles Equals Donuts and Iced Coffee

Today was amazing, a little overwhelming actually. From the start of my marathon training, I've been looking ahead to this day on the training schedule. I've worried about today and lost sleep thinking about today. Here it is. Today is the day; the day I completed my first 20 mile run. 

Whoa! Look at that calorie burn!

Up at 4:30 am, I felt well rested, and slightly nervous. I had everything prepared and ready the night before so I wouldn't have to think too much this morning.

Lots of fluids! Gotta hydrate!

Breakfast was my (pre long run) usual Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter and banana sandwich and a glass of iced coffee to get some caffeine on board. It was kind of chilly this morning, but I remembered my gloves this time. No frozen fingers for me! 

I love watching the sun rise in the early morning.

I had my little running buddy with me. Good boy Gunther!

The first 16 miles went by pretty quickly. I even ran into my friend Kim who is also training for the Chicago Marathon. She was also running 20 today, but she had just started and I was almost done, so we said hi quickly and kept going. 

I started to struggle once I got to 17 miles. It began feeling like it was just never going to end! I kept thinking, 'keep moving forward, keep moving forward'. I was overwhelmed with emotion once I got to 20. I had to just sit for a minute to take it all in. What an amazing feeling of accomplishment.

The whole run went really well although I did have some minor pain in my left hip again, so I kept a slower pace and walked up most of the steeper hills. This seemed to really help out and it didn't cause any problems. Mile 20 was my second fastest mile overall and I finished feeling like I still had some gas in the tank. Big confidence booster for the big day.

The best part of all of today is what happened next. Yep. You guessed it. Iced coffee and donuts from North Lime! I've been craving donuts for weeks now!

 I had the North (Key) Lime. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.

I'm in the homestretch now. Three weeks from today is race day. I can't believe how close it is!

Rest and recovery for the night, and then on to the taper! 

Somebody's tired! It only took 15.5 miles to wear him out. Yes, he's got that much energy at 9 years old.

10 Mile Tuesday

Well, it's finally here. The last week before the taper. I've got 40 miles scheduled for the week, with the big 20 miler set for Sunday morning. Eek! 

My plan calls for 5 miles today, but since I have off today and it's perfect running weather, I decided to run 10 miles today instead of tomorrow. This also saves me from getting up at 4 am to try and squeeze in 10 miles before work. When I say perfect weather, I really mean perfect weather! Sunny, 57 degrees, and no humidity. I couldn't ask for a better day!

I decided to run at the Legacy Trail since I haven't been out there for awhile. I used to do all my long runs out there and I've been missing it lately.

I brought my running buddy with me this morning. He's a 9 year old German Shorthaired Pointer named Gunther. I rarely run with him, but he's got so much energy 10 miles is no problem for him. Wish I could say the same for myself.

It was a beautiful day on the trail! 

I made it all 10 miles and felt great up to mile 7. My left hip started to tighten up, but now that I'm home and all stretched out, it feels fine.

My normal post run treat would be some froyo, but today I got a Reuben Grinder from Mancino's! Yummy! I mean, who doesn't like toasted bread and cheese!?

I think I'll be relaxing the rest of the day and sippin' on my favorite iced coffee!

Happy Tuesday!!

Midway at Dawn

One more week until the taper! I can't believe I have come this far into the training. The race is only 4 weeks away. Time flies when you're a mom who works full time and everyday just runs into the next having fun.

Well, once again this morning I met the LexRunLadies in Midway on the Iron Horse Half course at 6:15am. I was up at 4:00 am to make it to Midway by 5:30 so I could get in a couple miles before I met with the group. They were running 12 miles; I needed 14. I would much rather start early and finish with everyone else than have to keep running after the group goes home. I'd probably quit early if I did that.

Running under the stars was so peaceful this morning, but let me just say that it was freezing! 48 degrees! I'm not complaining as the heat and humidity have been killing me, but it took me 8 miles to warm up! My hands were freezing and I couldn't really get them to work properly. I had a real hard time getting my GU Energy Gel open. Once the sun came up it was so beautiful!

The horses were out enjoying the morning as well!

 

Saw this little weanling at the fence. What a cutie!

Today's run went pretty well. No major aches or pains the whole run! Awesome! My legs felt heavy and tired, but I'm pretty sure I'm still recovering from last week's 18 miles.

Even though I was cold at the start, it ended up being a perfect day for running. 

Next week I'm scheduled for 40 miles! Lucky for me, I have the bestest mom ever and she is staying with me all week to help me get through it! I'm hoping I'll be able to get some extra rest this week since I know I'll need it for sure!

Have a good weekend!

Tuesday Adventures at Keeneland and Star Sightings

Anybody who knows me, knows that I love horses, especially the Thoroughbred Racing Industry. At the age of 5, I attended my first Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. I was hooked! It's been a family tradition that began in 1985, continuing on to the present.

                                                                              1985 Kentucky Derby.

This is what originally brought me to Kentucky from Wisconsin over 10 years ago. With a degree in Animal Science from the University of Wisconsin, I took an internship with the Kentucky Equine Management Internship (KEMI) As an Intern, I was placed on Lane's End Farm, and worked with the Mares and foals during the breeding season, 2003. After the internship, I began working in the surgery department of a large equine hospital, Rood and Riddle until 2010. The racing industry is very complex, and I participated in many different aspects of it.
In the interest of keeping this short and sweet, I'll cut to the chase. It's September, and in Thoroughbred industry, that means Keeneland hosts the September Yearling Sales. The auction runs for 3 weeks and is one of the largest in the world. The sale is open to the public, free of charge. If you'd like to read more click here.
Since I was off today, I ran my 5 miles early this morning, got cleaned up and loaded up the fam and headed out to Keeneland. The sales started at noon today, so we went to breakfast at the Track Kitchen! Yummy!

                         
                                                          The sales ring (yes, that horse sold for 1.5 million!)

With the quality of horses sold at this auction, there are many buyers and sellers who are very prominent/wealthy experienced horsemen. Sometimes, there are other celebrities who try their hand at it, bidding on horses in the auction ring. Today, we saw Terry Bradshaw! Since I'm also a big cheesehead football fan (Go Pack Go!) I was star struck! It took awhile, but finally got the courage to ask to get a picture. Thank goodness my Mother-in-law is not afraid to talk to people. I, on the other hand, am a big chicken.

 

 

Happy Tuesday Friends!

18 Big Ones

18 miles! My longest run yet! I was so nervous about this run, especially since Thursday's 5 miles were so awful! Up at 4:00 am and out the door by 5:00 to get in a couple miles before meeting the group at 6:15.

This morning we were running a route off of Harrodsburg Road. It was the first time I had been out there. We had a great morning for a run; and finished just before it started to get really hot.

Considering that this was the furthest I've ever run, I'm really happy with how it went! The first 10 miles were pretty uneventful, slow and steady. At 12 miles all I could think about was pancakes and donuts, but I still felt good. At 15 miles, my hips were getting tight and sore, but I kept plugging along until I finished. I was really tired, sweaty, sore, and hungry right after, but now that I've gotten home, showered, ate breakfast, and taken a nap I feel pretty good.

Post-run treat!

Once I got home and cleaned up, I basically parked my butt on the couch the rest of the day and watched a couple episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix (It's ok to be lazy after a long run, right?). I'm a few seasons behind, and I'm slowly getting caught up. I'm really enjoying it!

Marathon Training: Good Days and Bad Days

Today was a bad day. Not bad all around, just a bad training day. I ran five miles and it was awful. Good grief! The whole 5 miles was completely miserable.  I didn't even really enjoy my post run breakfast and iced coffee, and that's the whole reason I run! The only redeeming factor was that I finished what I set out to do.
Yesterday, I ran 9 miles and felt fantastic the whole way. Today, I ran 5 and I totally bombed. I know some days are good and some days are bad, but today I just kept thinking 'this totally sucks!'.

It's days like today that I need a little reminder about why I am doing this. Plain and simple, I love running. I love the good runs, the bad runs, and everything in between. I love my running life!

• "Every day is a good day when you run." 
  -Kevin Nelson
  
  
  
  
  Friday is a rest day (thank goodness) and I've got 18 miles on the schedule for Saturday! Yikes! Wish I could sleep till then ;)
  
  
  Have a good Friday all!

August Highlights and September Goals

I've been procrastinating writing this post all day. So here it is, finally. All in all, August was great. I had a wonderful, much needed vacation with my family. I had 2 long runs that were further than half marathon distance (15 and 16 miles), and I continued running with the LexRunLadies. Everything was going great, until this last week. August really ended on a sour note.
It all started on my 16 mile run last Saturday. About 10 miles into my run, I felt a twinge of pain in the arch of my left foot. I didn't think much of it since the pain stopped almost immediately. I made sure to ice it when I got home, but that didn't stop the pain from coming back for the next 2 days. the pain was gone Tuesday, so I knocked out an 8 mile run. I rested the next few days and did an easy 2 miles on Friday. All was well, or so I thought. Saturday I was scheduled to run 12 miles and I ran 8.6. Why? Because I am a complete klutz and I totally face planted 6 miles into my run. Ouchie. My hands and knees took the brunt of the impact. I managed to make it another 2.5 miles with some walking/running. Fortunately, I suffered no major injuries other than some scrapes and a bruised ego bruises.
So here is August in a nutshell. I ran 108 of 130 scheduled miles, I had my first month of 100+ miles, I had 2 distance PR's, had a great vacation, and fell on my face in front of a group of people. Yay! On to September!
I'm ready to regroup and start the month out fresh.

The Chicago Marathon is 6 weeks from today! 6 weeks! Yikes! My training plan has 159 miles on the schedule including an 18 and 20 mile run.

September Goals:

1. Have fun and stay positive
2. Train consistently
3. Eat healthy and drink plenty of water
4. Get enough rest/sleep
5. Stop falling on my face
6. Buy a 2nd pair of running shoes (still haven't done this, but I'm working on it)