Tag Archive | Half Marathon

Don’t follow the plan….. Have the Race You excpect

I had a plan. I had a very good plan. I never followed it. Ok, I did follow it in the beginning. More to the point the closer I got to the Moore/Fitness Half Marathon, the plan fell to the wayside. I would like to say that it was due to lack of time. I can’t even say it was lack of dedication. Ok partly. I think mostly it was because the plan changed even if I didn’t fully admit to it. That being said, I DO NOT RECOMMEND not running AT ALL two weeks prior to a Half Marathon. Really. Just don’t do it. Really. I am paying the price for it today and I paid the price for it yesterday.

Here is the crux of the situation though. I’ve been dealing, ok not dealing but avoiding dealing with my feet, since Philly. With my upcoming schedule, I realized that it was time to get my head out of the sand and deal with it. If you were here yesterday, you read that I finally went to the Podiatrist and what the problems were. So maybe it was good that I took a little bit of a break.. All will be good as the Cortisone shot is already helping, I will do the stretches, and follow the plan. The doctor knows the plan does not including my stopping my running anytime soon. Back to the Race.

Besides not doing any type of training 2 weeks prior to the race, I made some other mistakes. First, I didn’t hydrate enough the days leading up to it. I normally will just drink extra water leading up to an event to avoid feeling dehydrated. I’m not sure if there is actually any physical benefit, but I know there is a mental one from me. Then there is the fact that I didn’t bank my sleep during the week either. I try to go to bed earlier leading up to the race too. This way if I don’t get a good night sleep the night before at least I’m not as bad. I went to bed 12:20 the night before and had my alarm set for 4:45. Not smart. I was tired.

When I came up with my goals for the year, I thought it would be cool to run a sub 2 half on my 46th Birthday. The closer I got though, the more I knew it was not happening for this race. I then embraced that this would be my fun Birthday Run. I have to say as far as day went, it was fun. I think I spent more time worrying about my outfit than the actual run. Ok, I know I did, but look how cute my outfit came out…..

You know it’s all about the outfit and the accessories. Don’t you like my crown?

Ok, probably not, but I will say that this outfit did help me during the race. Really!

The Clown Car as we like to refer to it was leaving town for NYC at 5:45. As early as it is, we are all still smiling. Due to caffeine, I didn’t realize how much my lack of sleep would effect me. It did. Still we had a good ride into the city and were all smiles at the starting line.

We met the cutest elderly woman at the starting line while she was walking to her corral. She was adorable. I just wish we had thought to take a picture with her. Although, I did find one of her crossing the finish line and getting her medal! Go Granny Go!! I hope that I have her spunk when I’m her age. She was talking about the bus ride and people thinking she must be crazy. I thought she was awesome!

Right, amazing! Did I forget to mention her crutches?

And, yes, she is wearing rocking legging, long sleeved shirt, and some type of purple skirt dare I say tutu.

I hope that I’m still moving like this with this type of attitude at her age!

We line up in our Corrals. The excitement of waitig for the race to start never gets old for me either. Off we go. Two of the ladies were planning to run together. My cohort was going to push it and I was just going to take it easy. I end up staying for the first lap of Central Park with the two. I will admit though that I did think they were planning to take it easier than they did, but it was good. We chatted when we could. Did double takes when we saw someone running with what appeared to be nothing under her tutu. (We ran past her). We just had a good time. After we hit mile 6 or so though, I told them to go without me. I knew that I probably could push it to stay with them and part of me wanted to. Luckily my brain won out this time.

Lap two was not as good as lap one. I realized that I dropped my Salted Carmel Caffeine Gu. I walked when I felt I needed to. I ran when I thought it was time to push a little. I will say that my Princess Birthday sash and tutu helped me run a better race. Really. No lies. It helped because there were times that I was going to start walking and someone would run by, tap me and say something like,

“Happy Birthday Princess”

“You’ve got this Princess”

“You can do this Princess.”

“You got this hill Princess”

Some of them I even trailed for a bit as Dawn will tell you that is what I like to do sometimes. I’m like a shadow. These women motivated me. These women may not realize it, but they really did help me get to the finish line in a better time than I would have if I was alone on the course. Standing out in a crowd of more than 7,000 other runners isn’t a bad thing.

My Official Finish Time is 2:20:23.

I’ll take it.

I know that this is a great time. I will admit that it is my worst time and I was slightly disappointing. Off by almost 15 minutes. When I said this to Dawn, she told me to shut hell up. She as often is right. This may not have been the race that I envisioned when I set my 2015 goals, but it was still a great race. There will be other races where I can chase the elusive 2:00:00, but there will only be one Birthday Run!

So cheers!

Have You Met Jen? A Non Runners Perspecive on Racing

Jan27

As I mentioned yesterday, my sister also ran a half marathon this past weekend. I thought it would be fun feature her as a guest blogger especially since she is the writer of the family.

Really……

As she puts it, “This week, I’m press for the SANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST” where she will be at the Cinema Vanguard Awards. Last year she met Oprah. She hosts her own blog (The Wild Awakeness Project). She is even author of a book available on Amazon and some of her local book stores. (Shameless plus – The Virgin Asanas: How Yoga, Sex, and Mother Mary Changed Everything). We lead very different lives, but I am always in awe and inspired by the life she leads and the way she leads it.

Anyhow as mentioned, my sister is the real writer of the family. I thought that it would be fun for her to share some thoughts about her half that she ran this weekend too. So without further adieu……

Have you Met Jen?

A non Runner running her second half marathon.

By the way, she is the one who calls herself a non runner – not me:)

She’s the one in the middle in the hat.

See how different she got to dress for her half and why I stole, I mean borrowed, her hat?

So what made you want to run a half marathon?

Life doesn’t give us many markers, many “finish lines” so to speak, where we physically get to cross an end point, notice our timings, see how far we’ve come, and post a sweaty picture on Facebook. Sure, we do this at graduations, weddings, births, and funerals, but outside of these more grandiose moments, we really are left creating our own goal posts. When I turned 30 five years ago, I had a minor freak out, thinking certain things would have happened in my life by then. Since they hadn’t, I decided to create what I could: I could learn to run. Or, more accurately, I could be pouty about all the things that fell apart and channel that energy into anger – which does, by the way, help you run really far and fast. I finished my first NYC half in 2010 with a time of 2:20.

Fast forward five years. It is now 2015 and now, I’m turning 35. I wasn’t planning on commemorating this birthday with another race, but a friend invited me to do a Habitat for Humanity half marathon with her. “Come on, it will be fun,” she lied. While I couldn’t pretend that running was my favorite way to celebrate (I prefer gluten free cake with berries), I couldn’t say no to Habitat. So, I signed up, claiming that halfs were my new tradition. My new “every five years” tradition. I registered. My friend bailed. I had another minor freak out, registered her anyway, and then conned her into running with me. And the rest is running history.

How did you prepare for it?

Once I signed up, I went into denial for a few weeks. While I enjoy races, I don’t enjoy training. It gets in the way of all the other fun non-running things I want to do with my time, like eating dark chocolate. Nevertheless and in the meantime, my sister (who owns this blog and shall rename nameless) signed up for and completed a FULL marathon in Philadelphia. Without much whining, she trained and ran in the East Coast cold. I figured I should at least start jogging in sunny California and ought to plan out a schedule I could follow, one that included the minimum days possible of running. So I planned. I ran 5 miles once before Thanksgiving, at which time I pulled my calf and weird butt muscle I didn’t know existed. The next month, I got a bad sinus infection and threw a rib out, which sadly prevented me from training (cough, cough, ouch, ouch). Seriously though, it was a rough month and before I knew it, the holidays had arrived. And who has time to run when you have a family to be festive with? But by New Years, the race was four weeks out, and I couldn’t procrastinate any longer. I did a long Saturday run the last day of the year, and then trained three times a week for the last few weeks. Which was not super fun, but it did let me eat lots of ice cream without guilt – the best perk of running.

And did your expectations for your race match the reality of running it?

Two weeks before my race, I had one of those moments you know Forrest Gump was created for. With the wind in my hair, I could almost hear Spielberg whisper, “Run, Jenny, run!” I was solid. Strong. Unstoppable. I put 10 miles on my shoes — no problem — with my headphones blaring my new favorite motivational-gospel-preachers-turned-fitness-instructors-DJ Pandora. It was bliss. I was bliss. I had captured the runner’s high. I tapered the next two weeks, ate lots of carbs, treated myself to the spa as a pre-race congratulations, and woke up ready to run.

How you wake up, however, is not always indicative of how your day goes. The morning felt great. The race felt fumbly. Okay, I’m being nice. The race was the hardest physical thing I have ever done. As soon as I started running, my right foot went numb from the morning chill. My allergies, which I’ve never had before, started pouring bodily fluids out of my nose. I became that strange, spitting running girl you all want to send to the woods. I wanted to send myself to the woods. Except I couldn’t, because I had 13.1 more miles to run through the woods to get out of the woods. My friend who claimed to be slower than me outpaced me by mile 1. By mile 2, I was nauseated. By mile 3, I was walking. A lot. The wind burned. My head pounded. For entertainment, I jogged behind a weird barefoot hippy who was, no doubt, “feeling the race energy” through his fleshly soles, but even he outran me.

And this is the crap shoot of running. You can train. You can prepare. You can eat right, sleep well, buy the right goo. And still, some days you just feel off. And not even just slightly off, but the worst version of yourself off. And still, dear Robert Frost, there are miles to go before you sleep.

Did you run with a pace group?

That’s an interesting question, because one thing I’ve learned from this race is to trust your own pacing. Seriously, don’t let anyone make you move any slower or faster than you can. Listen to the sound of your heartbeat and recognize it as the truth.

Why do I know this? Because I didn’t do this during my race. Even though I had an electronic pacer on my phone, I ignored it, and instead ran with the human pacers. My goal was under 2 hours, so I started halfway between Pacer 1:50 and Pacer 2:00. This was my first mistake. Had I trusted myself, my own watch, and my own body, I would have been fine. But instead, I trusted Pacer #1, who was 6 minutes faster than their stated pace. By mile two, I had depleted myself as I went out too quick and burned through a bulk of my blood sugar in the first 10 minutes. That led to a side sticker which led to my new friendly batch of allergies. Where was my Forrest Gump moment? Lost in the wind that was making me freeze.

Trust your own timing, my friends. Your own metronome is your greatest gift and it will keep you in the race for the long haul.

So what happened and are you happy with the outcome?

I fought for awhile to stay near the 1:50 Pacer, with a strange mixture of running and walking (Thank you, Jeff Galloway, you saved my life.) But when the 2 hour pacer passed me at mile 10, I had to come to terms with a hard fact. That after all this struggle, I would not make my goal of under 2 hours. This was the hardest moment yet.

But something didn’t seem right. I checked my watch; I looked at my Garmin phone app. I was running my normal pace of 8:45, which was right on target. At this moment, I realized all along I had been chasing an eroneous goal. I was going to be under 2, even if I ran a slower last three miles, and even if I came in a few minutes after the 2 hour pacer. I would still be right on time.

I never got the runner’s high on race day. In fact, I think my endorphins took a vacation and left their friendly cousin cortisol in their place. But I did make my goal and crossed the finish line to a wonderful group of girlfriends and for that, I feel very blessed.

So when is your next race?

Well, now that I’ve started this five year tradition, I can kindly announce my next race will be at age 40. Should any other life marker occur before then, I’ll lace up my tennies, but for now, I’m saving them for actual tennis, and leave the running to my dear sister. Although it is nice to know I can do an easy six miles, “just for fun” and come home to some chocolate.

Time’s They Are Changing…. Or Are They?

Jan18

When I ran my first Half Marathon in May of 2014, I had no plan. I had not a care in the world other than finishing the race. I literally went into it on a wing and a prayer. No training plan and hoped to finish. No idea. Just planned to run. I think all first Half Marathons should be like this. Actually this is how all my first races no matter what the type went!

Things are a little different now. It’s not that suddenly I know what I’m doing (because I don’t). It’s just that I’ve now run a few Half Marathons. Not many actually. I’ve only run 4. Although it seems like more. The difference is due to all the different events that I have run in the last year, I do have an idea of what I can and can not do. I’ve also followed actual training plans and have goals. That being said, I am still figuring it out.

So next week, I will be running my 5th Half Marathon. My first race that will count towards my 9 plus 1 program for NY. This race has snuck up on me and I will admit that I have, sadly, NOT been doing any training for it AT ALL. So maybe times are not changing as much as I would like to think. I have been sporadically running, but not training. Chalk it up to post marathon I need a break from training and am just going to run now.

Another reason I have not been training is because from the time I signed up for this race, I knew this was one that I was going to run just to run. A way to jump into the 9 plus 1 early. I do not plan on setting any type of PR’s. Plus since it is a winter race, I was not and still am not sure what the weather conditions will be that day. Therefore, from the get go this has always been a race that I planned to just run to finish.

See I am even borrowing a cute hat from my sister to keep me warm and have some fun:)

I will check out the weather later in the week to finish up what I will run in.

Now all this being said, I am still putting more thought into this than I did my first half. I know that I am not running full throttle, but I still want to finish decent. I would be happy with around 2:20 which is what I ran Gretta’s Gallop (same location as this half). Although, I did have a great pace setter then that I will be missing this race. (Robyn – the ski slopes can wait and I miss you!) But I do think it might be time for me to put my Big Girl panties on now and set my own pace.

YUCK!

This requires thought.

This requires knowing what I’m talking about.

and

This requires follow through.

So I found a online Pace Calculator and working it all out.

WHAAAAAAA

It’s so much easier to just follow along:)

Do you have a race plan?

Friday Five: Why Run a Half Marathon

Oct24

Another Friday Five! This time it’s 5 reasons to run a Half Marathon and considering that I just ran one and am also diligently looking for another one to run next month, I thought I would jump right in on the conversation.

Now please remember what Friday Five is all about……It is a weekly Friday link up to other like minded blogs — a “Friday Five.”

So without further ado,

5 REASONS TO RUN A HALF MARATHON

The Challenge and Accomplishement of Crossing the Finish Line: It’s a long enough distance to be challenging, but not so long that your life will become consumed with training still giving you time for a life. I ran my first Half before I even really knew what I was doing not that I really know now.

When you cross the finish line no matter what your time, you feel such a sense of accomplishment. There are always crowds cheering you on and the people are amazing. It’s even better when you cross the finish line with a smile too!

Bling, Bling, Bling –

(Yup, I’m going to use that picture as much as possible:)

Where else can you show up and when your done they will give you a pretty medal to wear, hang up, look at, and impress people with especially yourself. They are a reminder of what you can do when you put your nose to the grindstone or better yet your feet to the pavement!

Location, Location, Location

Since these races cover more ground and have larger crowds, they are usually held in larger locations. Every town can host a 5K (now, I’m not knocking the 5K because I like them too and actually one of my goals in 2015 is to run one in 25 minutes – Did I say that out loud). Most towns though can not host a Half Marathon leaving larger venues to hold them. So most have really good location or at least the ones I’ve been to – Central Park and Rolling Hills of Bethlehem, Pa just to name my two favorites. The Super Hero half also had a good location running through the hills of Chatam/Moristonw.

I’ll let you in on a secret – I’ve only done these three.

For now….

Tutus and Costumes

When you are running a Half, it is still a short enough distance that you can have fun with it and dress to impress without hurting your run time. You can still run a challenging race but manage not to take it so seriously that you can’t have fun.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Eating for the Run

While training for a Half, I needed to eat. So I ate. I ate to fuel but also because I could. Part of preparing for any race or run is making sure that your body is properly fueled, so I was just doing what I needed to do:)

According to the Runner’s World Calories Burned Calculator, I burned the following in my last Half:

You burned 1,486 calories.. Check out the table below for your calorie burn rates at this pace too.

Distance:13.1 miles

Duration:02:06:08

Pace:9:38 / mile

Calories Burned:1,486

Calorie Burn Rates:

113.44 / mile
706.9 / hour
11.78/ minute

So when you are burning up calories like that you don’t feel so bad going for that extra snack at night.

Now I will say these are not the only reasons, because I didn’t even get to the goodie bags and expos! So just sign up already and see what it’s all about!

You can join the Friday Five Link Up hosted by DC area bloggers Eat Pray Run DC, Mar on the Run and You Signed up for What?!! Don’t forget to visit each host and a few other blogs 🙂

Running With The Pack

Oct21

As I’ve discussed before, I’m usually a solitary runner when it comes to my training. Not because I’m a hermit, it just seems to work out that way. I’ve said before, I don’t mind and kind of enjoy it. That being said though, I do like to run with friends too. Especially on Race Day. Not to say that I haven’t run by myself at an event, but usually I stand at the starting line with someone. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve gone to an event solo. Hat Trick Day 1 and Hat Trick Day 2. Yup, that’s it. What a time to be flying solo too, when there is so much to see and do.

I will admit that I didn’t think much of being by myself for my 5K & 10K. These were shorter runs. These were the type of runs I do all the time by myself. Plus with the 10K being my goal race, I was focused on making sure that I followed my plan. There wasn’t much more to think about before and during the race except making sure that I was where I needed to be when I needed to be there. No time to think of anything else. Eye on the prize. Eye on the prize. It worked too because I was right where I wanted to be even a little faster than I thought I would be.

On the morning of the Half though, things were a little different. It was a longer race. I had more time to wait and was less worried about making sure that I was in the right spot when the race started. I discussed with my running Mama’s my strategy for this race. Since I had a really good 5K & 10K and was feeling good, I thought that I would start with a pace group. I was playng it by ear weather to start with the 2:10 or 2:15. My thought process was actually to start with the 2:10 because if I felt the need to drop back I would be able to pick-up a latter pace group and still finish in under 2:30. Sounded good.

I wadded through the runners standing around waiting for the start of the race. I noticed something as I was standing there alone. It seemed like everyone had a buddy. Now, I know that isn’t the case, but it certainly felt a little lonely. This was only my third half and the first one I was running on my own. It was time to put my big girl shoes on and do it on my own. But I also know myself, I know that I tend to go out to fast and end up running reverse splits this way. In my previous two Half’s, I let Robyn or Janna set the pace. They calculate and run and I just play follow the leader. I’m a good follower. This is why I wanted a pace group.

Now there are some who may think letting others set the pace proves that you are somehow less of a runner and that I’m somehow “cheating.” I don’t buy that. Unless someone else is also taking my legs and running with them, these running snobs can kiss it. To me this is no different that having a coach tell you what to do. Do you think less of me because I admit this?

So as I was bobbing and weaving looking for a pack to join, I saw the pace setter. From the back, she looked like one of my good friends. This woman had spunk dancing to the music. Plus she had pink gloves on. No sure if you’ve noticed or not, but pink tends to be my color for running. I was sold. I weaved my way into the pack and I stayed. Then during the run, you realize that you do start to think of yourself as a pack. We heard a few times, “Go Pace 2:10.” I wasn’t alone anymore and it was nice.

We also had a leader. Someone to follow. Someone who knew what she was doing too. Someone who gave you confidence that she knew what she was doing, so it was easy to follow her. I’m sure we’ve all heard the story of the pace setters who blew it. This was, obviously, not going to happen. Ingrid not only led us but also talked us through the course. It was a beautiful course, but a slightly (Ha Ha) challenging one with rolling hills, step hills, but also some blessed down hills and flat parts. Ingrid knew them and told us what to expect. I knew that on those big hills not to worry about pace and go by effort, but it was reassuring to have someone say those words out loud. She also reigned me in when I was getting ready to go too fast on a downhill reminding me that just because it’s downhill doesn’t mean you push too hard.

I stayed with the pack. I felt good. My legs felt strong. I got to the point that I was pretty sure that I was going to hit my target. Then something changed. I started thinking that maybe I should pull ahead, but I was worried. Then Ingrid told the Pack that if you were feeling up to it to go for it. She even told us when to take the leap. I pulled away feeling strong and confident. I also knew that if I fell back it would be ok. So off I went.

My last three miles, I ran

9:34

9:08

8:36

Finished with a 7:05

I know I would not have been able to finish this strong without my pace group. Not sure if another pace group would have worked as well, but this was a great fit. The bar has been set very high for the next pace group I join. There is something to be said in running with the pack, but in the end I am a bit of a lone wolf too.

I’m a Little Bit Country, but now I’m also Little bit Rock N Roll

Oct7

Part 2 – Grete’s Gallop Run NYC

I’m a country girl at heart. I grew up with space. I grew up with trees and mountains. Life in the Burbs feels too congested for me sometimes. I have a sister that lived in The City (NYC – because there really is no other city like it). She loved it. She still misses it. Now don’t feel too bad for her as she is now living in sunny California, but it’s different. I really never understood her love for The City until this weekend. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going into The City on occasion, but I honestly didn’t get what the excitement was all about.

I will admit the thought of running in Central Park was very appealing to me especially after missing the opportunity to run the NYC Marathon that I told you about in https://accidentallyrunningmama.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/cant-always-get-what-you-want/

I’ve never dreamed about running in the city. I’ve never really given it much thought. Until recently. Then when this chance came along I couldn’t pass it up. I’ve only been on the outskirts of the park. Never venturing in. Didn’t think I was missing much because really what could The City have that a Country Girl would appreciate. Now I get it. I get why people dream of running in Central Park and NYC. It’s an amazing experience.

The People

Every race has people but there was just something different here.

Not sure if it was because of the sheer number of participants, volunteers, spectators,

and just people who could care less that you were running a half marathon because they came to enjoy the park themselves;

but this was different.

The Park

This was the best starting line I’ve ever been to!

The Course

It was challenging, interesting, and you really did get to see the park.

I really wanted to hurt someone and hurt them bad for constantly lying to me

telling me it was all downhill after the turn.

lies, lies, lies

It’s really is Picture Perfect

You don’t get views of the skyline like this in the country!

Probably because there are no skylines like this in the country.

That’s why it’s the country:)

That being said, it is a spectacular view and I’m sure those that live in there don’t even notice it after a while;

but I did.

It really was spectacular!

It also helped that it was a beautiful fall day in the Park.

Wait….

There’s still more:)

Tomorrow!

A Surprise Half Marathon

Oct6

Part 1

(As I think I might have a lot to say:)

Last week I was taking about my upcoming run schedule. I said that I had 13 to do on Sunday. Some friends said that I should come to the city (NYC) and run with them in a half marathon they were doing. I thought about it for like 2 seconds and thought it was a great idea. Of course, just because I thought it was a great idea didn’t mean that it was going to happen. I do have some people that I need to take care of. So as always with the life of a Mama runner, I had to do some scheduling. It was down to the wire, but it all worked out. While I was waiting for the scheduling to fall into place, I wasted no time in getting ready for the race.

The race was the Memorial Sloan Kettering Grete’s Great Gallop to raise money for Cancer Research. On the back of the Tech shirts given out:

Imagine A World Without Cancer

Chilling

We all decided that this was not going to be a run for time. This was just a training run for me and the other two ladies were not running for time anyway. Now since it was going to be a fun run, we thought we would take it up a notch and run in tutus! Now, some love the idea. Some hate it. I am in a group that think it is fabulous!! Unless you are a competitive runner, my question is; “Why Not?” Life is to short and complicated not to have fun when you can. We decided that we would do pink. Unless you live under a rock, you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and pink is perfect. Plus, I have a dear friend who is just starting her Chemo for her breast cancer. I’ve actually been doing all my Charity Mile runs in her honer using Stand Up To Cancer. (If you don’t use that app, you should). I even bought my friend her own tutu and you may see us around town in them. One never knows.

Did we look Fabulous?

Of course!

We finished in style too

2:20:04

Am I happy?

You bet!

What made it so wonderful is when it was all over with and we were recovering from the run, A couple in boas came up to us. They wanted to take a picture with us. At first we thought it was just because they were being silly, but then the woman went onto say that she is from Canada and a 5 year Breast Cancer Survivor.

As the saying goes,

That’s what it’s all about!

She summed it up:

Hope.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow with more race thoughts and racing in the City for the first time!

I’m Baaaaack!!!!

Aug9

I’ve been away for sometime now. I fell off the grid. Since last we spoke, I’ve not only done my first triathlon, but a second with a third just around the corner. I’ve also done two mud runs (Mudderella and Dirty Girl), a few 5K’s, and even a Half Marathon. What started out as just something that I needed to do to prove myself has quickly spiraled into so much more. I’ve made friends along the way that are helping me to improve not just my time, but also my skills. My goal with every race is to finish. I, of course, want to finish to the best of my ability; but finishing is my ultimate goal. With every race that I finish, I am amazed at how far that I have come and further amazed by how far I still have to go.

I’m turning 45 next year and I think that may be the year I up my game to attempt to do an Olympic Triathlon and possibly even a full marathon. The very thought of these things scares me, but motivates me at the same time. Right now my whole training focus is on my next Iron Girl Sprint in September. Then the following month I am going for Hat Trick where I will run a 5K have about an hour break and then run a 10K. Then go home eat, sleep, and get back up the next day to run a Half Marathon. I toyed with just doing one of the races, but I wanted to take it up a notch (plus I might be slightly crazy:).

I realized that as my training progressed, I missed having a place to mull things over. This is that place and I hope you will come along for the ride.

The Accidentally Running Mama

Run, Bike, Swim and Have a Life!