Goodbye 2014...

 There are just a few hours left of 2014, so what better time to be nostalgic about the year that has passed then now? No big plans for the evening, except a few extra teenagers, a little take out, and a midnight run planned for later.

There has been a lot of baking this year, but how about everything else?

There has been some running...

1. Chicago Marathon, definitely a bucket list race, I got stung by a bee, and I'd like to do it again and run stronger.
2. OKC Marathon, the last time I ever run the full in OKC, it was brutal.
3. National Running Day, that day that I didn't actually do any running.
4. Route 66 half marathon, the horrible half that turned into an upper respiratory infection and pneumonia
5. Sooner State Games trail run, the day I seriously thought I was going to be last.
6. Strides of March half marathon, my second fasted half ever, and the reason I decided to run the full at OKC. What was I thinking?
7. Birthday running, I love birthday running with the girls.
8. Walking the Turkey Day 5k, got Josh out of bed to walk that with me.
9. Scorcher half marathon, the wettest race I've ever ran, and my last race in the 35-39 age group.

 And some other fun stuff...

1. My 40th birthday, when my aunts and great aunt flew in to surprise us.
2. Joshs's 41st birthday and one of those times he did a shot of tequila on his birthday.
3. Rochelle's birthday celebrating at Blu.
4. The girls' birthday at the Melting Pot in Dallas
5. Food basket deliveries for the Elks Lodge before Christmas.
6. The tailgate after the crappy OU game Josh and I went to.
7. The Daddy Daughter dance, only one year left...
8. Spring break in Branson, or that time we tried to go to Silver Dollar City and it freaking snowed.
9. Birthday celebrating for Sarah and Rochelle.

By the numbers:

• 1,047 total miles
• 7 100+ mile months
• 2 marathons
• 3 half marathons

I think I ran my most miles in a month in October with 147 total miles, and my least amount of miles this December when I logged only 9 miles. That is quite a drastic change. Two marathons in one year is a lot. 

I am looking forward to a fresh start that the new year brings. Time to get back on track, set some new goals and decide what comes next. I can't wait!

Another Route 66 Half Marathon…

It has been crazy busy the last three weeks! That paired with the fact that I feel like I have had the plague the entire time it has been hard to keep up with everything.

I ran the half marathon in Tulsa again this year. I love this race, it’s the fifth time for me to run it, and even though I was didn’t feel prepared to run a strong half this year I still registered for it. I have been less trained in the past and it’s been fine. Spoiler alert! It was a very hard day for me. Probably the hardest of all the previous years.

We got lucky and it was not 19 degrees this time, there was no ice storm two days before the race, and it was not raining. My luck pretty much ran out.

There were pictures before the race, but they seem to have happened on someone else’s camera and I have not managed to get them.

My goal was the same as last year, just run by how I feel and go with it. No goal times or pace. I’m really not sure what happened but it was just so hard to keep running. There were many walk breaks and there was a side stitch that nagged me in the second half. I just felt tired. I had done an almost 11 mile run the week before the race and felt fine, not great, but almost good, so I had been confident I could go run 13.1.

I was again plagued by guilt at knowing everyone else was waiting for me at the finish line. I really need to get over that, but it’s hard when you feel like your forward progress is slower than a snail’s pace. I did keep moving forward, and if there is one positive from the day it is that I didn’t quit.
They changed the route AGAIN this year. This is one of my favorite races, but seriously they need to pick a route and stick with it. I enjoy the six miles of hills at the start of the race, but in the past you always know that it’s going to level out when you get by the river. Not this year. It was like they wanted to have as many hills as possible, and they managed to get in a lot.

I must say that the little out and back on the bridge once after running by the river before you headed into downtown was probably my least favorite part of the whole race. It seemed so pointless and stupid and I am not a big fan of turning completely around like that in the middle of a race unless it’s an out and back and you know it’s half way and you get to go back the same way you came. Might just be me, but it’s hard on my legs/knees/feet.

Anyway, the finish was the same place it was last year, and while I like that you don’t have to worry about taking a bus back to the start to get in your car, I kind of miss the finish in Veteran’s Park. It just seems so crowded when we finish downtown.

I finished up, running my slowest half marathon to date and found my super speedy friends for finish line pictures.

Tiffany, me Sarah, Lauren, Rochelle, Lauren and Kara.

Aside from the actual running it was a great weekend. We got to hang out with the in-laws and celebrate Josh’s birthday with Mexican food on Friday night.

Some of the best fish tacos I’ve ever eaten, and the guacamole was amazing.

And they gave Josh a shot of tequila for his birthday.

We drove home after the race and by Sunday evening I knew that I was getting sick, I just didn’t know that I would still be sick three weeks later. But more on that later.

End Of The Year Plan…

This year of running has been much different that 2013, some good, some bad. If you had asked me in January if I would be running two marathons in 2014 I probably would have laughed at you. But now the year is starting to wind down, and my family is getting very irritated by the Target Christmas commercials that are ALREADY on tv.

So with the holidays just around the corner, I thought I would take a minute and see what’s next. Because as a runner, there is always a next, right?

Well, first of all, what is NOT next is another marathon. It will be a while before I jump into another 26.2, and I have let all my friends know that if they pick another marathon PLEASE let it have a half marathon. I don’t want to even consider a 3 hour training run for a long time.

So what is happening next is Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, where I will be running the half. I am mostly running this for nostalgia, this will be my fifth year in a row. It was my first half, and while it hasn’t always been a great race (read: it was below freezing last year), I love this race.

We go up, hang out with the in-laws, and I go run a little with my friends and then we go home and get ready for Thanksgiving. Sounds like a great weekend to me.

What kind of expectations do I have? None. Last year I was coming off injuries, surgeries and accidents. This year I am coming off about six months of pretty horrible running. I am in search of my love of running so I will lace up, hopefully not have to bundle up too much, and go run for the fun of it. Plus the medals this year do this little spinny thing like my first medal in 2010. I do have a couple of friends that are running the marathon, so there might be some marathon stalking after I cross the finish line.

After that there will be the Turkey Day 5k. The inaugural race was last year and it was so much fun.
Plus I didn’t have to drive All The Way to OKC, it was practically in my front yard. Need I mention that they gave us long sleeved cotton race shirts, and Christmas ornaments?

Then there is talk of some of my friends running a marathon in December. If that happens I would definitely up for going with them to run the half, but we will see how that turns out.

Running for the fun of it, seems like such a novel ideal. I am hoping to get my head on straight so I can set some goals for 2015.

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One of my favorite things about running is birthday runs! I love that my friends love to get up on their birthdays and log some miles as the start of their special day! We celebrated one yesterday, in fact.
My friend Sarah turned one year better. (Not older!) We had to take pictures!


When I posted this on Instagram, I managed to cut most of my fact off.

I have mad photography skills. Anne’s son Pace said “I can see Becky’s eye!”

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Finally, I posted that I didn’t have a copy of the pictures we took after we finished Chicago. Almost immediately my friend Lauren texted me the pictures.

What a great shot of Chicago in the background! Notice that they all have on their comfy clothes and look well rested, while I look horrific. Oh well!

WIAW, Lets Talk Half Marathon Fueling...

#RWrunstreak day 8, one mile with Josh after work. I'm glad he went with me because it was really dark already.

For my WIAW post this week I thought I'd talk about the improper fueling I did for my last half marathon.

{As I type this we are watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas. One of my favorites, but its still November.}

Anyway, I should probably throw in some pictures of some recent eats before I talk about the food I didn't eat. So...

As the weather gets cooler I find myself making more soups and stews. On Sunday I made a pot do Veggie Pot Pie Soup from the Cheeky Kitchen. You should check out her pics because they are much more beautiful than any I could take. This soup is every bit as good as it looks.

I recently discovered a new foodie blog that has some fantastic looking recipes. I decided to try out the Honey Dinner Rolls to go with the soup. {Have I ever told you that I aspire to be a bread maker? No? Well I would love to make wonderful homemade bread. There, now I've told you.}

Now that we have that out of the way lets see what it looked like...

After one last rise we threw them in the oven and they turned into this...

I'm not gonna lie to you, these are AMAZing. You should make them immediately. We just had the last one with the leftover soup and I'm very sad they are all gone.

So back to half marathon fueling. We went up to Tulsa Friday night before the marathon. I ended up sleeping in on Saturday morning until 9:45! For anyone that knows me they might think I was seriously ill. I never sleep that late. I got up and went for my 30 minute shake out run, when I got back to the in-laws house I had a peanut butter and honey sandwich.

After the girls and I hit up the expo we went by Cherry Berry and got some frozen yogurt. By the time we got home it was after four, and then there was the waxing field trip. For dinner my MIL made a salad with yummy roasted veggies and lasagna.

Here I would like to point out to the lasagna makers of the world that it is not necessary to put white sauce on veggie lasagna. Really, red sauce is made of tomatoes and as a vegetarian I have to say I enjoy tomato based sauces. You can make a perfectly wonderful veggie lasagna with zucchini, mushrooms, spinach and red sauce. Talking about this is making me want to make some lasagna.

I am grateful that I have the worlds greatest MIL and she bought me my very own veggie lasagna, I just didn't eat as much of it as I should have. That seemed to be the theme for the entire day. I should have done some serious carb loading.

I did do a good job of drinking lots of Nuun water, but the lack of proper fueling really affected my race. By the time I got a Gu at about mile 8 my tank was empty. Gu on an empty stomach actually made me a little nauseous. It was not a fun feeling.

I did make it through the race, even if I was a little unhappy with my performance. The most frustrating part is that this was completely preventable on my part. I guess if running was easy everyone would do it. I did learn valuable lesson and will work hard to not repeat it next time.

 

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Route 66 Half Marathon Recap...

This was my third time running half at the Route 66 Marathon. It was my first half marathon two years ago, and we went back and had a much improved run last year.

As with any race there are pros and cons. This year I was again impressed at how well run this event is. From the packet pick up at the expo to the organized corral system at the race start. The OKC Memorial Marathon could learn a lot about how to have a more organized start at their race.

I must say that the Memorial earns high marks in my opinion for the ability to defer an entry due to injury. Tulsa was supposed to be my sister Karen's first half marathon, she managed to break her fibula last week and got a shiny pair of crutches on Friday. She was basically out of luck and out her entry fee. I just think race directors should get it together, if a race like the Memorial can figure it out...

Anyway, After a nice 30 minute run around the neighborhood, I took Camy and Carson to the expo where we meet up with my sisters and two of my nieces. There was no line to pick up our packets, and imagine my surprise and excitement when I learned that the race shirts were technical shirts. I would have loved long sleeve, but they were much better than the cotton shirts from the last two years.

This guy followed us around for a bit. We visited the OK Runner booth, and bought a few Sweaty Bands. My expo excitement has diminished a little over the last couple of years so we didn't stay too long.

We got a random stranger to take a picture on our way out.

We got back to Josh's parents' house just as Rochelle was getting there. Rochelle and I decided to go check out the European Waxing Center where Josh's mom works. All I have to say about that is Ouch!

After dinner we called it a night pretty early and went to sleep hoping that the great weather from Saturday would still be around on Sunday.

We had per race photos before we left to head to the start.

We were sporting our new OK Runner shirts in Thunder colors.

Followed by two goofy pictures. Josh had agreed to drive us, and he dropped us off near the gear drop and we headed to meet the rest of the OK Runner crew.

Kara, me, Rochelle, Kelsey, Laura and Lauren representing our favorite running store.

After a quick run we headed to the corrals. We were in corral A (gasp) and we had a few minutes to hang out there and chat about the weather and Laura running the marathon.

She didn't look nervous about the 26.2 miles she was about to run.

Before we knew it we were off. I had a plan prior to the start of the race but by the time I crossed the starting line I managed to throw it all out the window. {Spoiler Alert: it was not a very good move on my part.}

The first six miles of this race are hilly, and that was about as long as I felt good. Rochelle slowly got ahead of me around the first relay exchange and the wheels fell off shortly after that. I thought I would be able to catch back up after the hills but I was never able to. Apparently Ro thought I was still with her for a while because she was still talking to me even when I wasn't there.

I had my first walk break around mile 8 or so, and it wasn't like our normal walk breaks. I wasn't recovering so I could pick it back up after. I grabbed Gu from the water stop before we made out way back to Riverside and for the first time ever I actually felt nauseous after taking it. I felt like my stomach was completely empty.

Once you get to Riverside you run a couple miles down and then about three miles back to the finish line. It was a very long out and back, I did get to see some friends, and Laura caught me and passed me along there. I knew I was in trouble then.

It was along the river that my feet started to hurt. I didn't find out until later that this was part of my problem.

Not the best picture bit that is a blood blister that was on the side of my toe that ran along the bottom of my toe too. There was also another blood blister on the top of my pinky toe. It is not uncommon for me to have blisters on my toes but these were painful.

I made it to the final uphill to the finish line and found Rochelle waiting for me. She had an awesom PR run. My sister Jen came in shortly after and there were pictures.

We found Kelsey too, she was so close to finishing under two hours. I know she will get it next time.

It was not my best run race, it was about two minutes faster than last year, and I was so glad that the weather cooperated.

My official chip time was 1:56:34, I was 44th out of 361 in my age group. I am happy that I could go out and run 13.1 miles, after my injury earlier this year I had felt like my next half marathon would never happen. While I am not completely satisfied with my time I do think I learned from this race and it will help me be stronger for the next one.

I think it's only 95 days or so until Cowtown and I can't wait.

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Race Weekend...

As I type this I am sitting on the couch in my pajamas at my wonderful in-laws' house. {I changed into my pjs the second we got here, gotta be comfortable.}

The girls are watching Toy Story 3 and Jill and I are drinking wine and checking out social media.

The boys are hanging out in the other room. No telling what is going on in there.

Little Edith is snuggling with Camy.

There has been some excitement today with the race. My sister Karen, was running a few days ago and stepped off a curb wrong. Her leg was bothering her so she went to the doctor today and they did an X-ray.

Turns our she broke her fibula! Seriously! She broke it. {I would like to note that she is not a vegetarian.}

Sadly, I will not be running with her on Sunday for her first half marathon. Not sure if there's a PR waiting for me here in Tulsa but I think I'm ready to run.

I saw my chiropractor and got my IT band taped up today, and my leg has been much better this week. I've got a Thunder inspired OK Runner shirt to wear, and I have way more running stuff than I will actually need in my suitcase. Can't wait to check out the expo tomorrow.

So now I'm gonna drink my glass of wine and hope little Edith doesn't kill us all with her gassy stomach and call it a night.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

 

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Wahoo! It's race week again, and I am very excited.

On Sunday I'm running the Route 66 Half Marathon for the third time, with this girl…

It also happens to be her birthday tomorrow, we did a little celebrating on Saturday night, but that's for another post.

On Friday we are loading up the family, dropping the dogs off at the kennel (Seriously, I called to get them a spot this morning and they got the LAST spot. Gotta work on the procrastination), and heading up to the hang out with the in-laws and run a little race called the Route 66 Marathon. I am running the half, but our speedy running friend Laura is running the full. How awesome is it to have all your slacker friends run half the distance you are running and then hanging out to wait for you finish your race? Well I've been a part of the slacker crowd before and it's awesome! It's even more fun when you know the person that wins the marathon and comes in about 30 minutes after you finish your race. (I can't wait to go back to Cowtown in February.)

Just so I don't upset anyone, I don't think that only slackers run half marathons. I have only run one marathon, and I LOVE the half marathon distance. I'm a fan of any distance that I can run basically untrained. (See last year's recap.) This will be my sixth half marathon, and my third trip to the starting line in Tulsa. I have a love hate relationship with Tulsa. I love that it was my first half marathon two years ago; I hate the six miles of hills at the start of the race. I love that it has been a really well run race the last two years, I hated the crappy weather we had to endure last year.

So we are heading up to T-town and have plans to celebrate some birthdays, Jose and Gordon's, and partaking in some Thanksgiving lasagna.

I love race week! I love checking and stressing about the weather. Really you cannot check the weather six days out and get an accurate picture of what the weather will be like. Unless you are lucky to live somewhere where the weather is always in the 70s and it never rains or snows. If that place is right by the beach I am totally moving there.

I love trying to decide what I'm going to wear. Because really, that is one of the most important parts of race prep; forget the hill repeats and speed work, it's all about the outfit and the pictures.

I am happy to report that I have made up with my IT band and we appear to be on a much better path than we were previously. I saw my chiropractor last Wednesday and got adjusted and they used the taped up my knee. I wonder if I could just put the tape all over my body because it has made my leg feel much happier.

Ro and I ran a naked 4.4 miles last Thursday morning, first run in a LLLOOONNNGGG time where I didn't have my Garmin and no one else had one either. On Friday we got up as the freaking crack of dawn to get our long run in with Patti before she headed out of town. I don't care what anyone says, meeting at 5 am is A LOT harder than meeting at 5:15. There is just something about leaving the house when the clock says 4:50 am that seems much harder. We ran just over 11 miles and while my leg had a few twinges during the run, while I was moving I was fine.

I am heading back to the chiropractor this evening and I'm planning to go back on Friday morning to get taped up just to make sure I'm good to go come Sunday.

Looks like I might be running Sunday with my sister Karen. It's her first half marathon and I am excited at the prospect of supporting her for her first half.