That One Time When I Blogged....

Admittedly, I have been a major social networking BUST so far this year. 
I unintentionally kind of put blogging on the back burner. 

Like, waaaaaaay way back there in the back of my closet.
 Next to the pants from high school that I swore one day I would fit into again. 

Needless to say, I decided to resurrect the blog and give away the high school pants. Let's be real, those things don't stand a chance.

When 2 Chainz talks about the girl saved in his phone under "big booty", he's actually referring to me. I am collecting royalties as we speak.

I figured now was as good of a time as ever to try and get back with it. I love writing and kind of miss it! So, here's a quick update of life's highlights so far in 2014. It may be only 4 months in, but there are plenty of things to share. 

I smelled the roses.

 This boondoggle really deserves a post of it's own.
 

Getting to the National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was a true test of God. But once I was there, it was all worth it.

 

Summary:

• Find out at 10pm the night before our flight that our 6AM leg from Tampa to Atlanta had been cancelled.
• Called airline. Weighed options: fly stand by, fly out of another city and miss part of game, not go at all.
• Thought of one more option: DRIVE TO ATLANTA and then get on the plane there (mind you Prateek had not packed yet...yes...it was 10pm the night before. Welcome to our life.)
• Confirmed that the 8:30 AM Atlanta to LAX flight was on time. 
• Packed, rented a one way car to Atlanta, and drove 8 hours through the night
• Pulled into the Atlanta airport with about 2 minutes to spare and got to the gate as they were boarding the plane.
• Got off the plane at LAX, went to In N Out (duh), then went straight to the Rose Bowl

The game was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. Even though Auburn didn't pull through with the win, it was worth every sleepless minute it took to get there.
 I was so proud of them I almost cried. War Eagle, y'all.
 

I injured myself. Like, really bad this time.

I've had running injuries before. But nothing that has kept me in a sedentary state for THREE AND A HALF MONTHS. A strained tibial tendon may sound minor. After a month in a boot, another 6 weeks in an ankle brace, and then being limited to only "low impact" activities for another 4 weeks, I officially respect my tendons.

My waistline (and my sanity) can't wait for me to fully heal.

Thankfully, a resurgence is near. I ran my first pain free mile last week. I was so happy I cried. It was slow and I had a side stitch the whole time and I kind of wanted to throw up at the end, but it was the best mile I've ever completed in my running career thus far. Bring it on, recovery! I have new Oiselle duds that need to be worn!

I sold the first "big girl" thing I've ever owned. And then purchased the first "big girl" thing I've ever purchased.

 I sold one of the loves of my life -- my 2002 Honda Civic with 190,000 miles on it - and bought a new car. I cried when the Honda sold. Then I cried again when I signed the paperwork on my Audi.

I think maybe I cry too much.

I am the greatest fantasy football commissioner and player to ever exist in the history of time.

OK, not really. But I did kinda love being commissioner. And I did in fact win two of the three leagues I was in this year (and came in 2nd in my other one). 

Had hit records on my demo..did y'all boys not get the memo?

Oh, and I went on to win the March Madness office pool as well.
I think everyone at work hates me. It's tough at the top, y'all. Haters gonna hate.

I got Bollywood Fever. 

This also really deserves a post of it's own.

  

 Everyone knows I'm no stranger to a packed social schedule. I've been fortunate to have attended hundreds of concerts and shows and events in my lifetime. IIFA, however, tops the list of them all.

The IIFA Awards are Bollywood's version of the Oscars, and had been hosted all over the world but never in the United States. This year, Tampa won the bid to host the awards and Prateek and I were so lucky to attend all of the events and their respective after-parties.

 

Imagine mixing the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, a Broadway musical, and Cirque du Soleil. That is what the IIFA production was like.

I've never seen anything like it and probably won't ever again.

The show was taped and will air sometime in June to over 800 million viewers worldwide. Incredible! 

And that brings us to May. 

The month that I have been simultaneously looking forward to as well as dreading since around this time last year.

But I'll save that for another blog post.

Getting Down To Business

Someone once asked me how many times you had to run a race before it started to be all about what your time was, and less about running just to run.

My answer was simple - only one. 

Running is incredibly enjoyable for me, don't get me wrong. After your first race however, it almost becomes a game to see how much better you can do next time.

 And the next time. 

And the next time. 

And it becomes even more fun when you keep beating your previous times.

 

Basking in half marathon PR glory is a beautiful thing. It's been a week now since the elusive 1:44 graced my Garmin, and unfortunately it's time to move ahead from that and start figuring out what's next.

I'll be running the 15K in the Gasparilla Distance Classic this weekend. I've never raced a 15K and am pretty lost as to what pace I should be aiming for. I figure I'll just go for a little faster than my half marathon pace and see what happens -- thinking maybe around a 1:13 finish time? 

Who knows. 

 After that my calendar is fairly open. I may do the Iron Girl Half Marathon again in April, just because I'm a sicko and I love running bridges. 

Bring it.

Looking beyond that, I believe I can be marathon ready by May. There are a few races that have peaked my interest.... one specifically being The Calgary Marathon.

I love Calgary. Every time I've gone to visit, I've had an incredible experience. It is such a beautiful city and am pretty jealous of my sister Rachel living there.

In the summer months, at least!

 

While the marathon is definitely not a flat course and certainly not one I'd expect to PR on, I would get to spend time with Rachel. Plus the weather would be incredible!

 

If I were to do Calgary, I'd most likely take a few weeks off then get back into gear and get speedy for the Twin Cities Marathon in October - AKA The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America.

Hopefully I can talk my Uncle Dan into joining me! 

 With all these races in mind, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty and focus on my training plan.

 

I want a marathon time in the 3:40's. Barring any unforeseen injury, this WILL HAPPEN in 2013.

  I can feel it.

 

Wait...That Wasn't Supposed To Happen!

There will be a day when I can no longer sign up for a half marathon 10 days out, with no hard training to speak of, and go on and PR the race. 

Sunday was not that day. 

I am a huge ambassador of St Petersburg, FL. I love this city to it's core -- from the beautiful waterfront parks to the incredible art scene to the funky laid back vibe of downtown, I'm so proud to call it my home.

When the Rock N Roll series announced it was doing an inaugural half marathon in St Pete in 2012, I was incredibly bummed out to not race it (due to injuries sustained from my first marathon in San Francisco). I love supporting the city and it's running community in any way possible.

Then 2013 rolled around. I knew I wanted to run it, however with a nagging piriformis issue I didn't get my hopes up and waited until after Ragnar to make sure I was going to be healthy.

 I'd barely done any speed work, my weekly mileage was still fairly low, and was just kind of going through the motions of running with no real goal in mind. But I still wanted to do it.

I finally signed up on January 31st, 10 days before race day. 

Procrastination, anyone?

The nice thing about this race was I had no expectations, which meant no real race week jitters. I thought it would be awesome to beat my previous PR of 1:48, but knew if I wasn't feeling the love on race morning that it wasn't a big deal. I just wanted to run in my city. And dance around to Sean Kingston at the end while I drank my free Michelob Ultra.

Priorities, people.

I went through all the typical motions of race prep -- wore flats, ate my customary pancakes for breakfast and pasta for dinner, chugged Nuun and Gatorade all day. 

Danielle, Christine, me, and Esther - Carbed up and ready! 

My good friend Esther was running and it was her first half marathon -- the excitement of the morning built as we met up and I saw the vibrant look on her face, ready to dominate! 

Race Morning

I love welcoming people to my crazy running world with open arms! 

I was in Corral 2, Christine was in 3 and Esther was in 5. We all hugged each other and went into our corresponding places, ready to take off. 

Starting Line 

As I stood there I decided to set my Garmin's virtual pacer to 8:12/mile. That would give me a 1:47 finish time, which was enough to PR. If that pace was going to push it too hard and make me crash and burn, that was OK...at least I'd know what I was capable of.

I told myself just to go with the flow and honey badger it. 

 You know....just not give a ____.

I looked down at my watch after the 1st mile, and my split was 7:43.

Way too fast, I thought. I wanted to push hard but those numbers were just asinine. 

(Or so I thought!)

By the 3rd mile in a half marathon, I'm typically in a good rhythm and any adrenaline that I had previously has worn off for me. But, I was still averaging an 8:05 pace.

Around the 4th mile I had begun drafting the 1:45 pace group. I enjoyed staying close to them, and it kept me motivated on keeping my form and my breathing in check. I'd look down at my watch every once in a while and see current paces beginning with 7, but brushed it off. 
If I was feeling good, I was going to keep going. No regrets. 

happy runner

 I had been practicing eating my Gu and drinking water without slowing down in recent training runs, and that helped immensely. I had no stomach issues, and was able to blow right through the aid stations.

After a while I did begin to wonder... why in the world do I feel so good right now? I shouldn't be feeling this strong. This shouldn't feel so easy. This shouldn't be happening.

By mile 10 I knew I was going to PR. By how much was still a question. The last 3 miles of a half marathon are where your true wit is tested, and with my sub-8 pace up until that point, I was venturing into uncharted territory. 

Had it been too much on my body? Would I disintegrate at the mercy of the 12th mile? 

I never looked down at my watch again until I got to the finish. 

By the 11th mile I was starting to get really excited. 

1:45 was an elusive time that I had once before only dreamed of achieving. Now there I was with it in my grasp. That thought alone carried me through to the finish. 

At some point I passed the pace group, maybe in the 12th mile? It's all kind of a blur now. 

Finish time: 1:44:24

Average pace 7:58/mile 

Splits: 

5K: 25:09 (8:05/mile)

10K: 49:46 (8:00/mile)

10 mile: 1:18:25 (7:50/mile)

I crossed the finish and ran over to Prateek. He shouted Congratulations! 1:45! 

I quickly corrected him in front of lots of people and said Nope, 1:44. 

That one minute makes a huge difference, y'all. 

I watched Christine cross at her new PR of 1:55, and then cheered on Esther as she crossed the finish line of her first half marathon at 2:15! 

We also caught up with our friend Danielle who ran the 5K -- it was her very first race as well, and she dominated! 

We stretched and relaxed in the finishers area, grabbed our Mich Ultras and jumped around to Sean Kingston. 

 Rum and Raybans, anyone? 

We soon decided food may be in our best interest so headed over to Fresco's for brunch. And mimosas. 

 

Cheers! 

 Looking back, after crossing the finish line I was out of breath for only about a minute and still had energy left to spend. I think I could have gone faster.

 A good friend told me to not look at it that way, as it sets me up for the next one. 

Which is absolutely correct.

Now I know what I'm capable of. I know that I'm ready to tackle a tougher training program this year and am ready to push myself to numbers I never thought possible. 

 2013 is going to be a fast year, I can feel it! 

Oh, you're still here?!

You get the pleasure of viewing some of the worst and scariest race photos ever documented in the history of time.

Viewer discretion is advised if you'd rather not ruin your image of me.

No, seriously. Do not continue on unless you want these images deeply embedded in your memory forever.


Hey, if you can't make fun of yourself, who can you make fun of?! 

 I call this one the "I want my mommy" face

 This is me trying to look focused, but instead looking a little gastrointestinally challenged

 Heavy mouth breathing means weird protruding cheeks which means embarrassing race photo moments

I call this one the "baby bird"... feed me!

I'm not certain what's more impressive here: my gravity defying braid, or my quad muscle bulging out of my left leg. Eww.


Can't get enough?! Need some more laughs? 

There are more amazing race photos of me for from the Chicago Marathon here. 

What can I say, I have no shame.

Heartbreak Hill....for a Band Geek Athlete

With the Boston Marathon just finishing up a few weeks ago, it made me think about the famous Heartbreak Hill. As much as I would love to give my own personal account of how the course is, I unfortunately haven't quite made that qualifying time yet! However, The stories I've heard from other runners regarding this hill range anywhere from "not so bad" to complete misery. According to Wikipedia  the hill itself is actually only an 88 foot climb (I use the term "only" very loosely)…. but, the thing about this hill is that it comes between miles 20 and 21, when the muscles are totally depleted and runners are hitting the terrifying “wall” – you feel as though you can’t go on any further, and would rather eat dirt than take one more step.

Now I'll take a step back-- About two months ago, I was going along on my weekly Sunday long run. The morning was beautiful, and I was feeling awesome. If you take out the summer humidity, I live in a runners dream world. I am surrounded by large bodies of water, and can see a sunrise and a sunset every day. There are wide sidewalks and large trees for shade throughout the many downtown parks. There is always some sort of nice gentle breeze, and everything is flat. On a typical long run on Sunday, I will be running right along the water 9 out of 13 miles. It's incredible. 

I took this with my iPhone during one of my morning long runs!

So on this fateful day, around mile 10, my left hip begins to feel tight and a little painful. For me, I had run through little aches before, and they just went away. So at this point in my run, I just kept going. I went about another half mile, and realized the pain was fairly serious. I stopped, stretched it out, shook it off, and tried to continue. It got worse and worse, and finally I could go no further.

I had never NOT finished a run before, so numerous emotions came over me: failure, defeat, anger, sadness, fear, pain. It’s a lot like what I would imagine feeling after trying to climb Heartbreak Hill I suppose. Running to me was my meditation time. It was my time to enjoy music that I love blasting through my headphones. I could eat whatever I wanted and still fit into my jeans. It made me feel revitalized and alive.
Was this going to be taken away from me now?!

Me, getting in the zone before my first half marathon ever-- Disney Wine and Dine 2010

When Prateek got to the side of the road where I was to pick me up, he said that athletes get hurt all the time, and that all I need to do is rehab it and take some time off, and I’d be fine. Athlete?! I’ve been called many things in my life – everything from nerdy to band geek  to stuck up sorority girl, but have never been called an athlete. Was it true? Is that what I am now? What a bizarre and interesting thought.

I picked my pathetic self up off the sidewalk and went home to a bag of ice and bottle of ibuprofen, pondering the athlete comment. I took what seems like an entire bottle of Advil, tortured myself in the gym with boring strength training, and put my knee and hip through the anguish of countless bags of ice (one time I actually burned my skin the ice pack was so cold!!). I felt like if I couldn't hit the pavement again soon I was going to go mental.

Then, an unexpected surprise: an email from Nike Women’s Marathon – My random lottery registration was accepted! OH. MAH. GAH. Y’all, not only is this marathon the real 26.2 mile deal, and not only is it hilly and challenging…you get a Tiffany&Co necklace handed to you at the finish line instead of a medal. And they’re handed out by the tuxedo-clad San Francisco Fire Department. I am scared out of my mind but thrilled at the opportunity. 

So yesterday I decided was D-Day. It was time to find out whether or not I was ready to run pain free. I didn't want to do anything over the top just in case I was still in some pain, so I went out for a two mile run. The entire first mile I'm thinking to myself: Does it hurt? Am I going too fast?  How is my heart rate? Have I gotten completely out of shape? Do I need to slow down? Is my form OK?

After 8 minutes of driving myself crazy with questions, I relaxed and enjoyed the rest. 

And guess what?? No pain!  

In Boston, after you’ve climbed the hill, and you’re at the top, the marathoners get their first glimpse of the Downtown Boston skyline where the finish line is located. Runners that can make it through the agony of that one last hill of the race get that reassurance that the finish is only a few more miles ahead. Could I be at the crest of my own personal Heartbreak Hill? I pray to the sweet baby Jesus that I am. 

Crossing the finish line after my last race in February 2011, Gasparilla Half Marathon - I PR'd in this one!

I am wishing/hoping/thinking/praying that the marathon registration, along with the continued rehab and slow introduction of long distances over the next few months, will help me get to the finish line injury-free in San Francisco on October 16^th, as a true athlete, where I will be greeted with a blue box and a little white bow.