Three Things Thursday

1. First I have to send out a big congrats to JJ Watt on being the 11th pick in the NFL Draft tonight. The Texans got themselves an amazing pick in both a player and a person. #DBWH

2. Sorry if I came off a little whiny in the last post. I didn't mean to. I blame it on the weather. Seriously. I don't think we've seen the sun in like over a week. And of course it rained today. Again. So it was indoors to the treadmill. Again. I pounded out the 6 miles I needed (and topped 100 miles for the month - that's two months in a row!). The run went fine, but the sports bra I was wearing? Not a good choice. I had won an Enell Lite sports bra a couple months ago when Fleet Feet had a Diva Night. I don't wear it very often. And when I have worn it it was for short runs, like the 2 or 3 miles variety. Tonight it was the only one clean and I thought nothing of it. Mental note: Do NOT use this bra for runs longer than 3 miles! See the bra has the hook and eye closures up the front of the bra. Well. Let's just say those hooks and eyes must have gotten hungry since they took a nice chunk or two of skin off my chest. Ouch.


3. I won't be able to watch the Royal Wedding tomorrow morning. And I kind of wanted to (if only to see Kate's dress). Nope. Instead I'll be awake and driving to Madison (yay!) for a two-day work conference. Good thing I upgraded to a Droid a couple of weeks ago so I can find out what Kate's dress looked like during a conference break! And another plus? It's alumni weekend on the University of Wisconsin campus. Might have to swing by my old stomping grounds before heading home Saturday.

Three running tales on a Tuesday

1. I'm not going to lie. There's a little part of me that feels like I failed on Saturday. That 15 mile run that was on the schedule? Technically it didn't get done. Although I did manage to run 11.6 miles. Initially I had plans to drive out to the park where my Fleet Feet group had been meeting. But then I didn't get to bed until late. Which meant I didn't get up early enough and soon it was noon and I still hadn't gone. I was dragging my feet. Part of it was I scared to run the long miles alone. But I put my shoes on and headed out.

The worst part about waiting so long was that the wind had picked up. So the first 4-5 miles were straight into a steady 20 mile per hour wind. Tough. I got the wind at my back for some, but by then I was at the point in the run where I was making a lot of turns, so it seemed like I could never escape the wind. By the time I made the last turn and was headed home, I was beat from battling the wind for what seemed like almost the entire 11.6 miles. So I stopped. I guess I could have tacked on the extra 3.4 miles (or even headed downstairs to my parents' basement and their treadmill), but my legs were trashed. So the plan called for 15, I finished 11.6. A part of me feels like a bit of a failure. But then there's a part of me that's saying, hey at least I got 11.6 miles done.

2. Monday called for a short 3 mile recovery-type run. To sum it up: It was hard. The hardest 3-miles I've run in forever. The only thing that kept me going was that I was running with my friend Jess.

3. Since Mother Nature decided to dump 2 inches of rain on Oshkosh today I headed indoors to the treadmill. And let me tell you, after Monday's run, I was not looking forward to attempting 7 miles on the dreadmill. Once I started running I was having this argument with myself about the reasons why I could/should cut the mileage down. Ultimately I stayed strong and busted out the 7 miles. In order to make it a bit more entertaining, I ran miles 2, 4 and 6 at a faster pace and took the other miles slightly slower. It got done.

Bonus: Is it bad that I'm looking forward to the Green Bay half marathon, not only for the race itself and another chance to set a new PR, but also because it means I'll be able to have a little bit of a break? For the chance to not feel guilty about not running?

Prepping for a new mileage number

It's kind of a scary number. But I've spent sometime logging out a route along roads I've run many times during the past few months.

There's nothing left to do but run the 15 miles the training plan is calling for in the morning. The other scary part? I'll be logging the miles solo. No training group. Just me. My shoes. And my music.

#DBWH

Ran in circles for a long time. But I didn't fall down!

You ever have one of those runs where you stop and go, "Whoa. What's going on here?"

It was one of those runs tonight.

I'm being a little flexible with my training plan this week since it's just a few days after the Oshkosh Half Marathon. I did a short recovery run last night and tonight, even though the plan said 3 miles, I wanted to get in the 7 miles that I supposed to have done on Tuesday. Just some minor flipping.

But I really wasn't in the mood to run 7 miles on the treadmill. I just didn't have it in me tonight. And it was still pretty sloppy outside (the 6-inches of dang snow Mother Nature dumped on us yesterday was starting to melt) and I really didn't want to destroy the new pair of shoes I'm breaking in on their second run. I was psyching myself up for the treadmill when it hit me.

The running/walking track at the YMCA. You know, the one where 11 laps equals a mile? Was I up for 77 laps or would I get dizzy after running in circles for that long? Didn't matter to me. .

I got to the YMCA and started to run. The first mile? It seemed pretty easy and honestly I thought I was going fairly slow. But when I finished lap 11 I glanced down at my watch: 9:15. Uh, what? Knowing I still had 6 miles in front of me, I tried to hold back a bit. I guess I was successful since I clocked a 9:25 for the second mile. But I was still feeling good. So I tried to keep the pace. The next three miles were all in that 9:15 to 9:30 range. In fact my two slowest miles - 9:44 and 9:56 - were during the last two miles where my legs were starting to get a tiny bit angry with me.

I finished the 7 miles in 1 hour, 6 minutes and 30 seconds for a 9:30 min/mile pace. Umm, where did that come from? Did I get new legs overnight and nobody tell me? Because I don't think I've ever done that before. Not that I'm complaining.

Obviously I had a good night running in circles at the track. My only gripe? There were a lot of walkers up there tonight and most of them understood how it worked. Slower folks on the inside lanes, don't walk 4 people across. Well except for one couple. They were spread out across the entire track and I'd have to weave around them every lap. You'd think after I passed them 15 times (remember I was going for 77 laps) they'd get the hint and realize they needed to walk on the inside and not spread out. Nope. Did it the entire night. Frustrating. Especially when I'm trying to pass them on a tight corner. Grrr.

Mother Nature, where the heck is spring?

Did I sleep through spring, summer and fall? Because today felt an awful lot like winter. Or winter with a little spring/summer storms thrown in since there were time when it was raining, snowing and hailing at the same time.

And I have to admit, hearing thunder and seeing the big bolts of lightning in the sky while you're brushing snow off your car is a bit freaky. All we need is a tornado or two and we've got all the major weather systems we typically get here in Wisconsin covered.

Obviously Mother Nature is confused. Or having a weather crisis.

And that crisis is why I ended up doing my first post-Oshkosh Half Marathon run inside on the treadmill. But the run? It felt fabulous. Didn't feel like I just turned in a PR at a half on Saturday. I like it.

Oshkosh Half Marathon Race Report

It will definitely be a race I'll remember for a very, very long time.

And not just because I smashed my PR. Nope. There was so much more that went into it.

Like all the miles I logged with the Fleet Feet training group in the months leading up to this day. Or the friendships I've made. Or the laughs we shared over our team carbo loading dinner the night before. And that's not even including the weather. Oh Mother Nature. We are so not friends anymore. Not after what you threw at us runners on Saturday.

For the second time in a week, the weathermen were right. And actually? I think the weather turned out worse than they predicted. It started Friday night with wind. And cold temperatures. And rain coming down so hard that when combined with the wind it was coming down in sheets. Needless to say I went to bed Friday night hoping and praying that there would be a miracle and I'd wake up to bright sunny skies.

I didn't.

Still raining. Still cold. Although the wind had died down momentarily. I got the phone call from my Mom though, "You won't be upset if I don't come watch, will you?" No. Heck. If I hadn't put in the miles and formed the bond with this team, I don't know if I would have gotten out of bed. But I did. I eventually decided on a race day outfit (nothing like waiting until the last minute), grabbed my waffle smeared with peanut butter and I was out the door.

I met up with the rest of the Fleet Feet crew, we stowed our bags, took a quick group photo and we were off to the starting line.

I was going to be running the half marathon with Krystal, one of the assistant coaches. We've run together a bunch of times over the last few months. While waiting in the rain for the national anthem we discussed a plan. She asked me what my goal was. I told her initially I was hoping for 2:30 but with the weather I wasn't sure. She looked me in the eyes and told me she was pretty sure I could still do it. So we decided on a plan of attack, start out kind of conservatively, but build up a little bit of a cushion, and still have enough left in the tank to push it at the end. Sounded good to me.

The gun went off. We started to run. And a bit of info, the jacket I was wearing? Yeah, it was already completely wet. This was going to be an interesting 13 miles. I made it 2 miles before I stepped in a huge puddle and my feet were left making a squishing sound with every footsteps. Oh well. They weren't going to stay dry anyway.

The first two miles were through the college campus that's in town and out to a cemetery. Once we hit the Mile 3 mark, the route reminded me more of what I'd expect to see on the trails. We were going to be running on the Wiouwash Trail, which snakes along the Fox River. On a dry day, it's great. A crushed limestone-type surface. But Saturday? After constant rains for nearly a day? It was mostly puddles and mud. While some runners were trying to dodge the puddles and mud, after a bit I just decided to run through them. Remember, my feet had been soaking wet since Mile 2.

We got off the trail around Mile 6 and headed onto an out and back portion. I kept my eyes peeled for some of our faster training buddies. The wind had picked up at this point, and Krystal told me to tuck in behind her so I didn't have to face the full brunt of the wind. I did. We kept running, hit the turn around point and headed back.

Miles 7 and 8 passed. Still raining. Still running. Still feeling pretty decent. We hit Mile 9 and head into South Park for a loop. Starting to struggle a tiny bit, which isn't surprising to me. This is that part of the half marathon when in the past I've began to struggle. But I know I can run the distance. I've done it before. We hit the water stop at the end of the park. So far I've been doing a fast walk through the water stations, mostly because I can't seem to multi-task - that whole running and drinking thing was giving me problems. I linger a bit too long on the walk this time.

"Come on. Let's go."

I start running again. We keep going. I'm starting to zone out a bit. Just after passing the Mile 10 marker, Krystal looks at her watch and does some math in her head.

"We're still below goal pace, but we're going to have to pick it up a bit."

We keep running. There's a man running the half marathon while carrying an American flag - he runs most of the local events - and we pass him somewhere between Mile 10 and 11. I almost get a face full of flag since I'm paying attention to the ground at this point. I take a very short (I'm talking probably 20 seconds), non-water stop walk break. It's the only time I walk during the race other than the water stops. I'm starting to struggle. It's still cold. It's windy. By this point, the rain had turned into sleet, which had turned into snow. Which meant it was colder than it was at the start. My thighs are feeling like ice cubes.

We make the last left turn. Straight into an icy north wind. And not just a gentle breeze. More like sustained winds around 15 to 20 miles per hour.

But I ran. Kept putting one foot in front of the other. At times it felt like I wasn't even moving. There was no talking between Krystal and I. She was in front of me blocking the wind again. She'd keep looking over her shoulder to make sure I was still alive. At one point, probably with less than a half-mile to go, I remember pleading with Krystal for one brief walk break.

"No. The bridge is right ahead."

I shut up and kept running. Over the bridge. You could see, and hear, the finish line off to the right. A quick right turn onto the river path. My legs felt alive again. I felt myself speeding up. There might have been a runner passed. A quick left and then another quick right and I'm inside the Leach Amphitheater coming down the finish chute. I hear the people yelling. I see my coaches and teammates. I cross the finish line.

I hit stop on my Garmin. Krystal (you can see her in the blue jacket in the photo above) comes up behind me.

"You did it."

I glance down at my Garmin.

2:30:05

I did. I thank Krystal and give her a hug. Without her I'm not sure I would have been able to do it. Heck, without the entire Fleet Feet group I know I wouldn't have been able to do it. Coach Jim is the first one of the group to meet up with me. He congratulates me and hands me my well-deserved chocolate milk. We head back to our tent. Change into dry clothes, grab a massage and recap every one's races - we all hit personal bests. And of course we mention our next goals - two are running halfs in Indy next month and a bunch of us are running events at Green Bay. Sounds like there will be a little Fleet Feet cheering squad along the route as well!

As I'm walking back to my car what I did Saturday really started to sink in. The 251 miles I logged - whether it was slow, fast, hilly, solo or with a group - and the determination I had that I would hit that 2:30 half marathon. Not only was a new PR for me, but I'm talking about a PR of the 13 minute, 53 second variety (my previous PR was set at Fox Cities in September 2010). And then I think to myself, the Oshkosh Half Marathon was only supposed to be training run for me. That 2:30 mark was supposed to fall at Green Bay next month. Makes me wonder what I can accomplish a month from today if I continue to work hard and Mother Nature gives us good weather conditions.

And of course, since I followed J.J. Watt's Dream Big Work Hard philosophy, I had to tweet about it. And I got myself a retweet (that's 3 for those keeping score at home). Needless to say, I've still got big dreams so I'll still be working hard.

The stats:
Time: 2:30:05
Overall: 1,040/1,241
Females: 475/604
Age group (30-34): 79/104

A teaser

It was cold. And windy. And wet. It started as rain and somewhere around Mile 11 it switched over to snow.

In short? Brutal.

But you know what? All of the hard work I've been putting in these last three months paid off! 

 I walked away with a new PR this morning at the Oshkosh Half Marathon! 

Or more like wobbled away since I couldn't really feel my frozen legs. Once I thaw out I'll be back with a race report. It might take me until tomorrow though. It was that cold.

Three Things Thursday: The Oshkosh Half Marathon edition

1. Dude. The Oshkosh Half Marathon is so close! Right now (almost 11 p.m. on Thursday night) it's less than 36 hours away. Needless to say it was hard to concentrate at work today. I had all these half marathon thoughts going through my head. Good thing I took Friday off. The day will be full of phone shopping (smartphone here I come!), expo-ing with my a friend and heading out for a training team dinner. And at some point I've GOT to figure out what I'm going to wear Saturday.

2. Since I headed out for that very first bone-chillingly cold run with the training group on Jan. 22, I've run 251.15 miles over the course of 49 runs. My schedule was 12 weeks with five runs per week. That's a total of 60 planned runs. I missed 11 - 2 were during the first week when I didn't actually have a plan in my hands, 5 were due to work-related madness, 2 after my car accident, 1 for a migraine, 1 just because I needed a day off. That final run I missed? It was today. And I don't feel too bad about missing it since it was a mile. I'll get that in in walking tomorrow.

3. So do I have goals for the Oshkosh Half Marathon? I guess. Technically I'm using this as a training run for next month's Green Bay Half Marathon. But of course there's that little voice in my head that keeps whispering goals. But given the weather conditions - windy and wet - I'm not sure I can achieve the goals I have in mind. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try though. After all, I didn't put in all hard work these last three months for nothing.

A Goal: To finish with a sub-2:30 half marathon. That elusive goal I was chasing all last year.
B Goal: A new PR would be nice, so anything 2:43:57 or less.
C Goal: Just finish and have as good of a time as I can while running 13.1 miles in the wind and rain.