Running a Half Marathon as a Training Run

This past weekend I ran the Air Force Half Marathon, and since I am currently training for the Columbus Marathon, I thought I'd use this event as a training run.  It would also give me experience using the new running belt that I was planning to use for the full marathon as well as to try out some new running strategies, namely the strategies where I just run the race for fun and don't even try to set a P.R.

The weather was amazing.  It was a clear day with no rain, which is great because I already have run two races, a half marathon and a full marathon, and a few training runs, in the rain. And although I have claimed that running in the rain is fun, I completely believe that running in clear, cool, sunny conditions is funner.

I have to say that this race was the most fun I'd ever had running, and I really love to run.  The only goals that I had set for this race were to have fun, take it easy, and finish strong.

At the start line, I lined up right behind the 2:20 pace group, since that was my finish time for my last half marathon race, and because I was hoping to run into one of my friends that ran the race last year at the same pace.  I didn't have luck finding her, but I did get a chance to meet some really cool people at the start line.

One of the most exciting things about this race are the flyovers that they have at the start of the race and during the race.  Right before the start, a parachutist came down with the American flag, and some really cool planes (I admit it, I don't know what types of planes they were, but they were pretty cool), flew overhead in formation.  Then, about three minutes later,  a wedge of geese, not to be confused with a wedge of cheese, flew overhead, and we all started to clap and cheer for them just as we had cheered and clapped for the the really cool planes that had flown over a few minutes before.

Finally, we were off, and about four minutes later, I crossed the start line.  I started out slowly.  The 2:20 pace group had taken off.  I kept reminding myself that this was just a training run, and to not hurt myself trying to set a P.R. and then not be able to run the marathon next month because I had overdone it at this race.  That would not be good, right?

Anyway, like I said, I was running slowly when all of a sudden I caught up with the 2:20 pace group.  At that point I decided that I would go ahead and stay with the group, since they seemed to be going at a leisurely pace and I was having fun hanging out with them.  The pace group leader was great at keeping everyone in the group focused and on pace.

Then, all of a sudden it was mile 8, well that's the way it felt anyway.  I was running, and then it's mile 8.  Weird, huh?  At that point I realized that maybe I had gotten faster from last year and that maybe this pace was not fast enough for me, so I picked up the pace.  I was passing people right and left, and I wasn't even trying to pass them.

Soon I was seeing people from the 2:10 pace group, and that really freaked me out.  There's no way I'm running this race at that pace, right?  Next, I'm at mile 10 and feeling strong.  Well, from this point on it's basically just a 5K race, I tell myself, so I pick up the pace again, and end up finishing the race at 2:13:31.

Okay, I was really excited. 2:13 is not going to make headlines in Runner's World magazine, but it was great news to me.  Maybe this strategy of not trying to set a P.R. is the correct strategy.  I didn't push myself, had fun, and set a P.R.

After the race I found some of my Team in Training friends.  We were hanging around, drinking our free beer and I was like, "Maybe this is the way to run a full marathon.  You run 13.1 miles, stop to eat pizza, drink some beer, and then go out and run another 13.1."  Maybe I was crazy.  Maybe I was high on endorphins, but I really felt great; however, before I actually set out to run the course again, someone handed me another beer coupon (maybe to shut me up?), so I had no need to run the race again.

This weekend, I will be running a 20-mile training run, the longest run before the actual race.  I just hope I feel at least half as good as I did after this race.

It's the Most Wonderful Time

No, I'm not talking about vacation time or free time (not that I even know what free time is), what I'm talking about is Back to School time. This year, we didn't have a great summer filled with wonderful memories, great vacations, time at the pool, or relaxing moments in the backyard.  We actually had a pretty stressful summer that actually went by too quickly.  I barely had time to do the things that needed to be done, let alone have time to do the fun things we wanted to do this summer.  Anyway, because of the terribleness of our summer, this year, Back to School time means back to a routine, back to business, and interestingly enough it has also led to more things getting done, and less stress.

Right now we're on our third week of school, and things have gone along rather smoothly.  The key has been making sure that we all get to bed early and get up early.  This way we have been able to get our school work completed before 3:00 p.m.  Makes a lot of sense, right?  I mean most schools operate this way.  The students go to school for six hours and are usually done by 3:00 p.m.  So I figured, why not?  Why not try doing things this way.

This was actually a new idea to us because as a homeschooling family, not only do we decide how we will be educating our children, we also get to set our own daily schedule.  And when you don't have someone telling you that the children have to be in school at a specific time in the morning, it's easy to start the school work later and later each day, until you push the start time all the way to noon, and end up with a hectic afternoon schedule with tired, grumpy children trying to focus on their work while all the other children in the neighborhood are back from school.

Setting a homeschool start time early in the morning has been one of the best decisions we have made for our homeschool this year, and even though we don't get to ship our children off to school for six hours a day, Back to School time has been the most wonderful time for us.

Summer Break, Broke, Broken

With wonderful plans for my summer break, with not many of those things accomplished, and with the summer break almost to the end, I would like to know where the summer break has gone. And even with not making much of a dent on my list of things to do this summer, I have been busier this summer than any other summer before. I've even been busier this summer than I have been during the school year when we spend our days homeschooling while also getting all the other regular life things done.

Why is it that I've been busier during this summer than during the school year, and I have nothing to show for it? I wonder where the time has gone.  Sure, I've been extremely busy finishing up the homeschool year, organizing, decluttering, training for a marathon, and driving the kids all over town for their various summer camps.  Oh wait, that's right, I think it's the driving all over the place that has taken up my time this summer, and my money; have you seen the price of gas lately?

So, instead of resigning myself to a broken and broke summer break, I think that I will be spending what's left of this summer not driving my kids all over town.  I'll be on a  hammock in the backyard, reading a book, with a cold beverage in hand, trying to enjoy what's left of the summer break. But first, I will write that one down on my to-do list.

My Achilles' Heel is My Achilles Tendon

Just like the Greek hero Achilles' weakness was his heel, so too is mine right now; however, my hope is that unlike Achilles, this will be a temporary condition for me and I will be able to heal my heel and continue training for my second marathon. No downfall for me, I hope. Yes, I just recently completed my first marathon about a month ago, and after finishing my first marathon, and while still high on endorphins, and during a moment of insanity, I decided to sign up to run another marathon this year.

Finally recovered from my first marathon race, I started training for my second marathon.  Things were going quite well with my training until about two weeks ago when I injured my Achilles tendon.  It was such an easy thing to do: get injured.  I thought that after two weeks off from running, and another week of very low mileage, I was ready to get back to my normal, pre-marathon training mileage.

Yes, I know exactly how I hurt my heel.  It has something to do with the terrible too's of running: too much, too soon, too fast. Not just that, but running too much, too soon, too fast while training on hills, in other words, I was asking for trouble, but believe you me, I sincerely didn't realize that I was asking for trouble at the time, even after repeatedly being lectured by the Team in Training coaches about how to avoid injuries. Therefore, because of my lack of judgment, I now have to cut back on my mileage, slow down considerably, and avoid running hills.

I applied ice to my Achilles tendon almost continuously for close to a week, I rested my foot as much as possible, stretched my calves all during the day, taped my heel with KT Tape, and used compression socks.  So far, so good.  Right now, I've been training very cautiously.  I make sure to warm up well by walking slowly, stopping to stretch my calves really well, and then I run/walk until I can run continuously for a few miles on the treadmill.  Running on the treadmill instead of running outside makes it easier for me to control my running speed, to control the surface I'm running on, and to avoid hills.

I'll continue to take it easy until my foot starts to feel better, which I'm sure will be soon because my foot only hurts in the morning.  And I'll try very, very hard to be patient.  Hopefully, I learned my lesson about the terrible too's.

The Circular Package Beckons Me

I used to be a soccer mom, you know, the type of mother that lives in her minivan while driving her children around town from soccer game to soccer game.  After years of being a soccer mom, I gave it all up to be, instead, a taekwondo mom.  Now, instead of driving around from soccer game to soccer game, I get to spend my days at the taekwondo training hall. 

Most of the time I like to wait inside the building talking with the other parents, reading a book, and watching the children train.  It sure is boring waiting in the parking lot alone in a minivan during a thunderstorm, wondering if I should wait it out in the van or run for refuge inside the air-conditioned training hall and get soaked.   But that’s just where I found myself the other day.

Stuck in the minivan during a violent thunderstorm, waiting for my son’s taekwondo class to end, unable to open the doors or roll down the windows of the van for fear of ruining the interior by allowing a burst of torrential rain into the van, fearing the gas tank nearly empty and the battery dead, suffocating in the stale heavy air in the van, the allure of a circular pack of mints with the name Ice Breakers® was too strong.

Ice sure would be amazing. Wonder how it would feel in this stifling air to have just one of the tiny mints inside the package actually be made of ice: a tiny ice chip to cool me, to settle the unsettled, to quench the thirst, to help me forget the lack of a breeze in this self-inflicted prison cell inside my van. 

Popping the lid of the package open, I find a dozen tiny ice chips.  I violently and quickly throw one into my mouth.  The coolness was immediate.  The thirst is gone. The rain slows down long enough for me to open the door and feel a strong cool blast of a thunderstorm breeze blow on my face, or so it seemed.

Yes, I’ve gone certifiably insane, I decide.  It’s time for me to either make a dash for the building, go to the gas station to fill the tank, drive around town for awhile to make sure that the battery is charged, or continue to suffer in the van, being taunted by a package of mints.

Guess which one I chose.

 
 

I Can't Even Hear Myself Think

With Goggie all tucked into bed, with my computer finally working, with Bubba and Hubby at a Boy Scout meeting, it was actually quiet around here for a few minutes, long enough, I thought, for me to sit down and write the most amazing blog post imaginable.  My brain was full of amazing ideas: wonderfully witty words to entertain everyone.  The Great American Blog Post.

Then Bubba and Hubby walk in the door, and the quiet walks out the door.  To make a short story short, the world will have to wait for that great post, that is, if I can hear myself think long enough.

First Harvest

I know, I know, it's been a week since my last post, but it's just been crazy, crazy, crazy at our house these past few days.  Not only has the weather improved (no more rain, no more tornadoes, and finally warmer weather), we're getting to the end of the school year.  And not to be outdone, the garden is off to a great start.

Here you can see our first planting of radishes ready to be harvested.  

And here you see them right after being harvested.

I was never a fan of radishes, that is, until I started gardening, now I love radishes.  They are one of the funnest vegetables to grow, mostly because they can be planted in the early spring, they grow quickly, and they don't get diseases or pests like some of the other vegetables do.

These radishes were amazing in a radish salad of radishes (obviously, right?), orange segments, red onions, fresh mint, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Yum!

I can't wait for the next crop of radishes to be ready so I can have that salad again.