Run the Bluegrass 2015 Review

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great weekend! Today is the Boston Marathon! That got me thinking, I need to finish writing up my review! I'm a slacker! Actually, I have been sick for the last few weeks. I think my antibiotics are finally kicking in. So, now that I'm feeling better, I can get this done. Yay!

Anyway, it's hard to belive that Run the Bluegrass has come and gone. This is easily one of my favorite races. I'm so thankful that I've had the opportunity to participate as a Pace Team Leader for the past 2 years. It's been an honor to work with everyone involved. It had been such a busy week leading into race day. Tuesday night, I attended the volunteer meeting, Friday afternoon, I sat at the Pacer table answering questions, and work had been exhausting all week.

Speaking of the Pacer table, this years special guest was an amazing man and athlete, Harvey Lewis! In 2014, he won the Badwater Ultramarathon! This is a 135 mile foot race that takes place in Death Valley, CA. Not only was he speaking at the pre-race dinner, he was also part of the pacing team! He would be pacing the 2:00:00 hour group. So, he was at the Pacer table with myself and a few other pacers Friday afternoon! Such a wonderful man! 

Every year, Run the Bluegrass has a different Thoroughbred Horse Racing related theme. Being that the race begins and ends at the world famous Keeneland Racecourse, this only makes sense. This year, the theme revolved around 2 champion racers from Stonestreet Farm, Curlin and Rachel Alexandra. The ribbon on the medal matches the Silks/colors of Stonetreet and the medal itself shows the 2 champions on the reverse side.

This marked my 3rd year running this race, and 2nd year pacing. The race begins at 9:00 am, however, I was to meet the other pacers at 8:20 to get our signs, meet with our partner, and get into our assigned wave. After last years fiasco, getting in to park, I got to Keeneland extra early, 7:20 am (you can read my review from 2014 here and here). I wasn't taking any chances for a repeat of that. For the first time, Run the Bluegrass had over 4000 runners! To keep runners a little more spread out, there is a Wave start. As a 2:45:00 Pacer meaning I finish the half-marathon in 2 hours and 45 minutes, with an average pace of 12:35/mile) I was to begin in Wave 6. I got into my Wave at 8:30 am and waited for the race to begin.

(Half of my race photos are me looking at my watch. Lol. I guess I was focused)

 Even though it was cold (22 degrees) it was a beautiful, sunny morning. 9:00 am came pretty quick and once Waves 1 through 5 began, it was our turn!

We began with a goal in mind to get to the 5 mile mark in 60 minutes, averaging a 12:00 min/mile pace so that we'd have extra time to walk up the steep hills in the second half of the course. This strategy worked really well last year, and again this year. Walking up some of those hills in the later miles, is basically a necessity for me! We were able to follow the plan almost exactly. It was so hard not to run faster though toward the end. I was feeling so strong, my legs wanted to go, but I had to reign it in, so we'd finish at the right time.

According to my watch, we finished in 2:45:02! Official time was 2:45:08. Couldn't get much closer, if you ask me. I would have liked to be a little under, rather than over though.

Once again this year, the Pacers received a genuine bourbon barrel head as a gift from the race director! It's really beautiful! Now I just have to find a place to hang it up!

All I can say, is that I have been really fortunate to be part of this awesome race! The people I have met along the way are incredible, and I can't wait to run it again next year!

I hope you all have a great week! I'll be resting up for the Derby Festival miniMarathon this coming Saturday! Woo hoo!

Railrunner 10 Miler Review

Hey guys! I hope you all had a good weekend.

Racing season has begun! I'm so excited!

On March 21st, I ran the Railrunner 10 Miler. I know that was a couple weeks ago and I'm just now reviewing it, but I've been busy. What else is new right!?

I won a free registration to this race, and it was originally scheduled to be on March 7th, but Mother Nature had some other ideas, and hence it ended up being rescheduled for one week before Run the Bluegrass. Since I now had back to back weekend races, I pretty quickly decided to use this race as an 'easy' training run.

Fortunately, we ended up with some beautiful weather on race day. It was a little chilly, but the sun was shining and I couldn't have asked for a nicer day.

The race took place on the RJ Corman property in Nicholasville, KY. It is a beautiful course that allows you to run on an airplane runway. I didn't have any real goals for this race other than to just enjoy the day and finish under 2 hours. 

The race started at 9 am and from the beginning, I took it slow and enjoyed the scenery. I ran this race 2 years ago, and one of the only things I remembered was how long the runway felt. And...just like 2 years ago, the runway took forever! It's well over a mile, and completely flat. Kind of boring, really.
 I kept a consistent pace throughout, and managed to squeak by just under 2 hours, 1:59:03. At the finish line, I received my medal and got some home made banana ice cream! So delicious!

After getting some food and water, I packed up and headed home, so I could rest and recover for Run the Bluegrass. 

Not a whole lot to report on this one, but I did enjoy it and it ended up being a useful training run. So, kudos for that!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, and enjoy the coming week! Hopefully, I'll have my review of Run the Bluegrass done soon. Enjoy!

My Whole30 Experience

Hey! Happy Saturday!

This morning, I was supposed to be running the Railrunner 10 Miler, but the race was postponed because of some extreme weather a couple days ago. Here in Kentucky, we got some crazy amounts of snow. I ended up with 20 inches at my house! 

Liam really enjoyed playing in the snow!

Although it's been cold and snowy, it sure makes for a beautiful sunrise!

Anyway, the race was postponed till March 21st, only one week before Run the Bluegrass...so we'll see how that goes. I don't think I'll be "racing" it now. Most likely, I'll treat it as a training run. Oh well.

With the race date being changed, I planned on hitting the treadmill for 11-12 miles, but I overslept and that totally threw me off. So now I'm drinking coffee, making breakfast and chatting with you fine people. I hope that the roads are clear tomorrow and I can run long outside! I'm so ready for spring!

Ok, back to my original point. On March 2nd, I finished the Whole30. It was a really great experience and I learned to really enjoy eating in a different way. Actually, I learned a lot of things. First of all, I discovered how important it is to read and understand food labels. They put sugar in everything! Second, I don't need to eat breads or pasta every day to be a distance runner. Third, I can make it through Valentine's Day without eating any candy hearts. (Not gonna lie, that was really tough. I love those stupid things) Lastly, I am absolutely in love with Lara Bars! They are made with real food and only a few ingredients. Several of the flavors are Whole30 approved and are totally delicious!

The Cashew Cookie is my favorite!

As for my results, I didn't really take any before and after pics, but I did lose nearly 8 pounds in 30 days.

I have found that I don't really need to be as strict with my calories to keep my weight going in a downward direction. The type of food you eat, is more important. 

I think the biggest struggle was figuring out what to eat prior to/during a long run of 10+ miles. I used to eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich on wheat bread before, and during I'd have some sort of energy gel. Since, peanuts, bread and all sweeteners are out, that left me with just a banana. So what do I eat with my banana??? I have turned to baked sweet potatoes and either almond or cashew butter before my run. During my run, I've been bringing a couple of the Lara bars. This has been working well, as my last 10 mile run, was one of my best in a very long time. Even with walk breaks, I was able to run 10 miles under 2 hours. I haven't done that in months!

This pic was taken during a training run over the Horse Capital Marathon course.

I've decided to keep eating according the Whole30 plan for a little while longer. I've lost another pound since I finished the 30 days and that has really got me motivated. Last year, I struggled on a daily basis to lose weight, and I eventually lost about 9 pounds with restrictive eating and lots of exercise over a period of 5 months, but I slowly gained most of it back around the holidays. Blah

The Whole30, on the other hand, has been so easy! I can't believe I've lost 8.5 pounds in less than 5 weeks! What a difference! 

Some people would say that I don't really need to lose more weight, but for me, it's not really about losing more weight, it's about not gaining. I don't ever want to go back to my nearly 240 pound self. That would be devastating. So, yes, I want to stay as far away from that number as I can. And, yes, I monitor my weight often, because I know how easy it is to gain it weight. It's a daily struggle. Maybe one day it won't be, but right now this is how things are. The most important thing is that I'm happy...and I am.

If you've been thinking about trying the Whole30, you can find info at 

www.whole30.com

(P.s. Go ahead and try it, you'll be happy you did!)

Have a great weekend!

President's Day with Snow (lots of snow)!

Happy President's Day! I hope you all are somewhere safe and warm! 

Here in Georgetown, we are under a winter weather alert! We've got 6 inches of snow on the ground, and lots more coming!

Thankfully, I was not scheduled to work today. I did have a dentist appointment, but I got a call that it was cancelled early this morning. I can't say that I was too disappointed about that. Today is a great day to just stay home and binge watch some shows on Netflix.

No running today, but I did get in a good strength workout! Thanks Jillian!

So, last time, I mentioned that I signed up for 2 half marathons. Well, as luck would have it, that same day, I won a free race registration from 3 Way Racing for running 5+ miles and picking the correct winner of the Super Bowl. I'm now signed up for the Railrunner 10 Miler! Woo Hoo!

And...I've officially made it halfway through The Whole30. I thought it was going to be incredibly challenging, and I figured I'd be struggling, but it hasn't been too bad. It does take some meal planning though, and I'm still working on what to eat and how to fuel for my long training runs.

Here are some of my favorites that keep to the plan.

And I know, you're not supposed to weigh yourself during this time, because the plan is about more than weightloss, but I couldn't resist.

Here's day 1 vs day 15! 

Just about 8 pounds gone! In two weeks! Wow! 

Seeing this keeps me motivated to keep going. Plus, I feel great! I don't have the same sweet cravings that I had before. So yeah, I'm loving this!

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week! Stay safe!

Time to Catch Up and I'm Starting the #Whole30 Today!

Hey guys! How have you been? Sorry I've been MIA for a few months. Some life events and the holiday season took priority to just about everything else. I'll try to fill you in as best as I can without being too long winded.

 I last left you in October, when I was completing a Run Streak of at least 1 mile per day through the entire month. Well, you'll be happy to know that I completed that challenge. I also had a "secret" that I would reveal later (I'm sure you were all on the edge of your seats. Lol). I can now reveal that I am a returning Pace Team member for the Run The Bluegrass Half Marathon, March 28th, 2015!  Yay!

On October 10th, my little guy turned 4! I can't believe it! He's turned into such a sweet, smart, and energetic little boy! I love him to pieces!

So, here's where things got a little crazy at the end of 2014. Sadly, my Grandmother passed away on Friday October 24th; she was 99.

That same night, I was scheduled to run the Black Cat Chase 5k. Emotionally exhausted from the day, I drove to Frankfort to give it a shot. I gave it everything I had, thinking of my Grandma the whole way. She was definitely one of the kindest people you could ever meet. I was fortunate to spend so much time with her and my Grandpa while growing up. Even though my finish time was unimportant, I ran my second fastest 5k.

On Thanksgiving Day, I ran the Thouroughbred Classic 5k. I always like to get a good run in before making/eating a big meal! 

On Black Friday, I bought a new running watch. The Polar M400! I really like it! I may have to do a review of it later.

After Thanksgiving, the rest of the year flew by. Since I have family in Kentucky and Wisconsin, Christmas kind of spilled over into the first 2 weeks of January when I finally got a chance to go home.

Here's some photos from Christmas in KY and WI:

Santa was really good to us this year!

This was an awesome show!

Sisters!

Go Badgers!

Sisters' night out! 

Great present from Lauren!

West Sixth Brewery-Lexington

Now that things have settled down a bit, I can finally focus on my health, nutrition and running. As much as I hate to say it, all these things suffered the last few months and it's time to get it under control! 

Along with Run The Bluegrass, I recently signed up for the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and the Columbus Half Marathon! So, I've got some training to do!

And, today marks Day 1 of the Whole30 plan!

You can read about it here. Basically, it's a system reset, eliminating sugar, alcohol, processed foods, dairy, legumes and some other foods for 30 days. It emphasizes protein, veggies, and fruit. I am hoping to eliminate my sugar cravings and just eat healthier. I also recorded my starting weight and took my measurements and plan to do so at the end of the 30 days.

So...that's basically what's been going on. What have you been up to?

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. The Seahawks vs The Patriots. I like Russell Wilson, but I think the Patriots win this one. Honestly, I'm still kinda bummed about the NFC championship game.

 Who are you cheering for? 

Happy Sunday!