Ice Bath aka Torture

I've heard all of the benefits of the ice bath, but I tried it once and jumped out after about 15 seconds.  Holy crap, people willing do this?  I'm sure it would be an effective form of torture for our military. 

However, after hurting for nearly a week after the New Orleans half, I decided I would have to give it another try.  I'm proud to say I made it 15 minutes today!  Of course, I'd have gladly spent that 15 minutes running more, but I don't think it would have had the same effect. 

Here is my ice bath survival guide:

- A positive attitude - this is for your own good (definitely didn't have this on my first attempt)

- Warm clothes (t-shirt and my hoodie on top of it)

- Hot hands warming patch - ok this was probably overkill, but the first attempt was a disaster so this helped...it actually did a lot to keep my core warm

- Steaming hot drink - I chose pear tea...YUM

- Ipad and facebook (facebook could easily be substituted for Angry Birds)

I got in the tub with lukewarm water and gradually increased the water to all cold and started adding ice.  There is NO way I could get straight into an icy tub.  I stayed in for 15 minutes.  I've heard if you don't stay in a minimum of 10 minutes it's not doing you any good.  Since my first 2 minutes weren't really cold, I decided to stay 15 minutes. 

Now an hour later my hips, legs and feet are still cold despite being under a blanket for an hour.  I'm taking this as a good sign.  Hopefully, sore muscles are not in my future!

Goals, Goals, Goals!

The best way to be successful in anything you do is to set goals.  The goals need to be written down and reviewed often.  At work, I have monthly goals, that are then broken down into daily goals.  Daily goals means I always know where I am...and more importantly where I need to be.

I have lots of running goals - some long term and some short term.  I've always wanted to visit every state.  Since I've started running, I've altered that goal.  I want to run a half marathon in every state.  This goal will take at least 10 years to accomplish.  Registration fees and travel expenses really start to add up.  Short of winning the lottery, it'll take me at least 10 years to be able to afford to do one in each state.

For 2011, I have several goals.

1. Finish a half marathon with a time of 2:30 or better.

2. Complete my first full marathon in Dublin, Ireland.  I'm thinking this accomplishment will need to be celebrated with a tattoo.

3. I have the standard issue "lose weight" and "improve fitness" goals.  I'd like to lose 30 pounds.  And before anyone says that I don't need to lose that much, trust me, I've seen the scale and the ideal weight range for my height...and yes I definitely need to lose 30 lbs! 

4. Run 11 races in 2011.  Originally, I was going for 11 half marathons, but with the addition of the full, I'm changing it to 11 races. 

Here are the races I'm thinking of now:

February 13, Rock n Roll Mardi Gras Half New Orleans, Louisianna

March 12, Tom King Half, Nashville

April 30, Derby MiniMarathon, Louisville, Kentucky

May 1, Flying Pig Half, Cincinnati, Ohio

August 7, Rock n Roll Providence Half, Providence, Rhode Island

September 5, Franklin Classic Labor Day 10k, Franklin

September 17, Warrior Dash, Manchester
September 24, Women's Half marathon, Nashville
October tbd, The Middle Half, Murfreesboro
October 31, Dublin Full Marathon Dublin, Ireland

November TBD
December 4, St. Jude Half, Memphis

As for the 28 day challenge, I'm still on track!  This Sunday is the first race of 2011.  I love the city of New Orleans.  I'm so excited about this trip.  I promise to blog before and after the race!

What a Difference a Year Makes...

2010 was a good year, I would even go as far as to say it was a great year. But I have high expectations for 2011. It’s going to be the best year EVER!


Sadly, I’ve neglected my dear little blog lately. I’m sorry for that. One of my goals for 2011 is to post on here every week. I know what you are thinking, but I will post weekly. And if I don’t someone please call me out on it.


Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my blog and the one year anniversary of when I started training for my first half marathon. It’s amazing how far I’ve come in a year. This time last year a half marathon was a big, scary dream of mine. Now it’s an accomplishment I’ve completed 6 times! Tomorrow I will be pacing a group of interval runners, instead of being the extremely frightened first timer.


I have so many goals for my running in 2011! One of my long term goals is to run a half in every state. So far, I have completed 3 states: Tennessee, Illinois and Georgia. I’m going to add at least 4 states in 2011, starting with Louisiana on February 13. I want to get faster this year and maybe run longer intervals.


By far my biggest goal for 2011 is to run the full marathon in Dublin, Ireland on October, 31 with Team in Training. I’ll turn 30 just 8 days before the race. Running a full and going to Ireland are 2 things on my bucket list. I think it’s the perfect way to celebrate turning the big 3-0! I’ll need help raising the $5,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but we have plenty of time for those details in a future blog post.

The best thing about running in 2010 is the friends I’ve made. I’m not sure if I’d get up (very) early and run no matter the weather (freezing, extreme heat, sleet, snow, rain, and everything in between), if it were just me. I can think of many times I wanted to give up running because I was sure I wasn’t a runner. But having my friends running with me (or in Karen’s case way ahead) has made all the difference. I’m sure I’ve left someone out, but Gail, Chrystyna, Carol, Nicole, Erin, Joe, Karen, Lou, Byron, Victoria, Delaina, Jeanie, Kelly, and all the rest of you who I’ve run with THANK YOU! You have no idea how much each of you mean to me. Thank you for always encouraging and supporting me. Of course none of us would be where we are without the amazing people at Fleet Feet...best store and people EVER!

The other best thing (yes there can be 2 best things) about 2010 is that Mark started running with me and joined our little group. I hated leaving him to go run all the time, and now he’s there with me. It’s a great feeling to share the sport I love with the man I love! (yes I know it's a little mushy.) One of my favorite moments of 2011 was running across the finish line with him in his first half marathon!

I can’t wait to start a new training program tomorrow!

Race Day Confession

Today, I ran the Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon. It was my 3rd half marathon. The course was beautiful! It was a great way to see the city. My training had a little bit of a set back about 6 weeks ago when I tripped on a hickory nut and fell during a training run. I sprained my left ankle and scraped up my right knee pretty bad, and worse, had to take a couple weeks off from running.

The race started off great. I was running just over a 12 minute pace at the 3 mile mark. I was feeling really good about my run so far. Usually, the first 3 miles are my least favorite, but I felt awesome and was making great time. And I must have not been paying much attention, because the next thing I know I was literally being picked up off the ground by a really nice man behind me.


My fall was caused by a place in the road that was broken up and my over confidence and lack of attention to the road in front of me. I reinjured my ankle and scraped up my knee again. UGH! I spent about 10 minutes sitting on the sidewalk in tears hoping I could at least finish the race, but it seemed unlikely since I still had 10 miles to go.


After feeling sorry for myself for a while, I got up and hobbled a few minutes. I decided to test my ankle and see if I could run. I was able to run - most likely because I had my brace on my ankle which minimized the swelling. I was able to finish the race…just a little bit slower than I’d hoped.


Mark always does a great job finding a tall place to stand and cheer for me. I was afraid he would see my knee, which had been bleeding, at mile 6, but he couldn’t see it. It was definitely a tough mental race after I fell. But I’m really glad I could/did keep going!


The highlights of the race - besides the incredible views - were misting stations, ice cold sponges at mile 10, an icy cold towel and popsicles at the end of the run. I had been expecting it to be a little cooler, and actually the first half of the race felt great and then all of sudden the temperature skyrocketed!


The very best part of the race was after I had finished. As I was walking to meet Mark at the family reunion area, a girl came up to me and told me I did a great job. She said she’d been running with me for the last several miles, and I helped her finish. Awwwwwww! This made the whole race so much better for me!

My First Half Marathon!

Last Saturday, I ran my first half marathon!  I will try not to bore you with too many details.  Since it was my first half all the details seem important to me.  My official time was 2:44:22, for those of you who are none runners...yes the seconds matter, at least they do to serious runners and if they make or break a new PR (personal record). 

The race was the Tom King Half Marathon.  It starts at LP Field and ends inside the stadium on the 50 yard line - which was awesome!  The course was very flat - ideal for my first or any half really.

I ran with Joe & Gail.  We started at the very back.  And for most of the first 2 miles we had a police and ambulance escort right behind us!  For clarification, it probably would have been with us longer, but around mile 2 we entered onto the greenway trail.  Our first 6 miles were probably way too fast, but as you can imagine, it's hard to slow down when you are being tailed by an ambulance. 

Joe & Gail are exactly the kind of people you want running with you!  They are motivating and supportive.  They told me stories and helped keep my mind off of all the ugly things my legs were trying to tell my brain.  We ran 3/1 intervals for the first 10 miles.  After much begging on my part we ran the last 3 miles doing 2/1 intervals.

Mark, Jesse & Matthew came out to cheer for me.  They were the best cheerleaders I could ask for.  I saw them at the very beginning of the race and when I came onto the field at end.  When I saw them at the end, I immediately teared up.  They still had their signs they'd made, but had added air horns and the champagne bottle confetti poppers to their celebratory arsenal!  Seeing them made the end of the race even sweeter!



Gail set a new PR and so did Joe's wife Karen (who is way faster than we are).  I'm convinced Joe also could have set a PR, but he stayed with us and never even mentioned it.  Carol met us at mile 11 or so and finished the race with us, which added some motivation. The Fleet Feet waterstop at mile 12 was awesome!  Drew is full of energy and some of it must have rubbed off, because I had an extra spark after the stop.  A friend of mine from high school, Daniel, was also at that waterstop.  I was so excited to see him, I must have looked like I was going to attack him as I ran to hug him. 

Here we all are at the end of the race!

Finishing the race, felt so good.  It's amazing what you can train your body to do.  Now that all the soreness is gone and the desperate moments in the race have mostly faded, I'm so glad I did it!  Bring on the Country Music Half!

The First Run

Today was my first run training for the Country Music Half Marathon. I'm doing my training with the Fleet Feet...I highly recommend them for any running/walking needs you have.

The run for today was supposed to be an easy 4 miles, however mother nature had a little surprise in store for us. Though the snow was should have quit on Thursday, at least according to our weather people, I woke up to a fresh coat of snow on my car. Briefly, I thought about staying in and putting in my four miles on the treadmill. But I was already dressed and thought I would at least meet the group and check in since it was the first day. If it was too bad I could always skip the run.

I had been preparing to run in the freezing cold, but I had not been preparing to run in the snow. My biggest fear was slipping and falling...even on flat dry surfaces, I'm not exactly what most people would consider coordinated.

After signing in, I decided to at least start the run. Bargaining with myself, I decided if it was awful I could turn around. I started out in the interval group running 6 min and walking 1 min. But they proved to be way too fast for me. I fell back to the 4/1 group. It was a much better fit.

I made it the whole four miles, in the snow, uphill both ways. OK, so maybe not uphill both ways, but there were times it certainly felt like it!

Thanks to Rebecca, Erin, and Christina for starting with me...and to Christina who joined me in the 4/1 group and then we progressed/regressed to the back of that group. Judd is an excellent leader and came back for us at the end. It was a great start...and I'm looking forward to next Saturday...well as much as you can look forward to waking up at 6 in the morning on a Saturday and braving the freezing cold. But it will be worth it!