New blog!

Ok, so I got injured and neglected this blog for a few months.  I've decided to come back to the blogging world, but!  I decided it would be nice for a fresh start.  So, please direct thyself to:

pitbullsandpavement.blogspot.com

Hooray!

"RESPECT THE DISTANCE."

Ok, so I know that plenty of folks out there regularly run long runs of 15-20+ miles.  I, however, am not there yet.  So having only run up to 7 miles before, I decided that yesterday I was going to at least make it that far.  The longest I had run since my 10k on March 31st was about 4 miles.  

I set out with as zen an attitude as I could muster and The New Pornographers on my iPod.  I tried to start out easy, smoothly moving along through mile 1.  When my Garmin beeped, my pace was about 11:21 -- what?!  That's not my "easy" pace!  My "easy" pace is (was) 12:30!  Ok, time to slow it down, I have to cover ground here.  So I slowed down (so I thought) and came in at mile 2 -- 11:26.  At that point I figured, hey, I've been increasing distance and doing speedwork, maybe my easy pace has improved!  So I just ran the rest of the run without looking at pace, only paying attention to distance and trying to focus on feedback from my body on what felt good.

It's amazing how much different 8 miles can feel than 7.  I found myself going through phases of feeling through this run, much like the rollercoaster of a relationship.  My internal dialogue shifted drastically mile to mile, something like this:

"Ouch, my calves are tight.  How long will it take for me to warm up?  This is hard."

"Ok, feeling good, feeling loose.  Nice and relaxed, easy.  Breathe.  I love this.  Beautiful evening."

"Breathe deep, don't panic.  It's ok.  Keep going.  Relax.  You can do this."

"OUCH PLEASE WANT TO STOP!  CAN.  I.  JUST.  STOP."

"Oh man, I am in such a groove.  I could do this all day.  This is awesome."

"I HAVE A GOD-GIVEN TALENT!  I AM A KENYAN!"

....and so it went, until I finally reached mile 8.  I couldn't believe I had done it, sore knees and all.  Success achieved!  When I finally stopped running I sort of had to regain my bearings, my legs were a bit noodley and I nearly fell down.  I had to walk it off for a minute, it kind of felt like when you get off a roller coaster and you still have that feeling of momentum.  When I started out the run it was bright sunlight outside, and I even had sunglasses on.  By the time I finished it was starting to get dark out and I had ditched the sunglasses.  Holy long run!

I came inside and got myself together, hydrated (I didn't bring any fluids but I may start stashing them under neighbor's bushes, I hate carrying things), and plugged in my Garmin to see my results out of curiosity.  Final verdict -- 8 miles in 1:33:13 with an average pace of 11:39.  WHOA!  My 10k race pace was 11:37.  I had no idea I had done this well.  I was just running what felt good at the moment.  Of course, everyone has those days that suck and those days that feel awesome, where you just say to yourself "Let's open this bitch up and see what she can do!"  This run had moments of badassness but I think due to the distance, I had my ups and downs.  But overall I am VERY happy with my performance and I can now add a new distance to my resume.  At this distance and with this time, I am right on course for my half marathon goal -- 13.1 miles in 2:30 (stretch goal of 2:25).  I could run the rest of my 5 miles at 12 minute pace and still be on course for this goal so I am very pleased.  I do, however, have a whole new appreciation for what "long runs" truly involve.  13.1 miles is a distance to be respected, and the marathon distance is just out of this world to me at this point.  But I am happy to see progress and am excited for the journey ahead.  (Sidenote: I also have my first black toe.  Icky, I know, but the third toe from the left on my left foot is black at the tip from yesterday's run!  I hate to admit it, but I'm kind of proud.  And grossed out.)

As most of you know, I also have a bit of a Lululemon addiction, and since I work at the mall I am in that store all the time.  I got some lovely items yesterday -- in particular, I really love anything in the Flash color (obnoxious neon pink).  The Cool Racerbacks are quite possibly my favorite item of clothing ever and are by far my favorite warm-weather running item of clothing.  They're all I reach for.  I think I have 7+ of them now.  Yesterday I got one in the lime color, as well as the Vinyasa scarf in Flash (been waiting on this for weeks!) and a special edition Swiftly Short Sleeve with the jacquard mesh.  Photos below!!

Vinyasa scarf in Flash

Cool Racerback with Vinyasa scarf

Special edition Swiftly Short Sleeve in Flash

Close-up of jacquard mesh detail in Swiftly Short Sleeve

Anyway, I need to stop spending money now because I'm pretty much broke.  But there always seems to be justification for new running clothes -- right?  I mean, I wear them, I work hard in them, they need to perform.  Or maybe that's just my "but I WANT IT!" self talking.  Ha.  

Time to rest up for speedwork tonight at the track -- fun!  That is, if I can manage to make my broken legs do much of anything, haha.  Hope your running week is going well!

MONUMENT AVENUE 10K RACE REPORT

Yes, I know.  It's been a while.  I've been preparing for my biggest race yet -- a 10k!  Between working retail, speed workouts at the track that have completely drained me of energy, and sleeping/eating I have been pretty scarce.  But now I have a race report for you!

After having completed two 5ks and an 8k, I decided that a 10k was my next challenge.  I had managed to cover 7 miles twice in training runs so I knew that the distance wouldn't be a problem.  (I like heading into a race knowing that I can at least finish the distance.)  My goal time was 1:15, which is about a 12 minute pace.  I finished the Sweetheart 8k back in February in 59:54, which is also about 12 minute pace, but it was also 21 degrees and my body felt like a big block of ice.  Anyway, I digress.

The Monument Avenue 10k is one of the largest 10ks in the country and regularly attracts 40,000+ participants.  So this was my first large race.  I was really excited about the expo; I'm such a sucker for products.  I racked up on a ton of freebies, including water bottles, cow bells, and free samples!  I also got three sparkly Bani Bands which I love -- they are adjustable, unlike Sweaty Bands.  I wore two of these bands to my race, a black sparkle and a pink sparkle!  Yeah!

I unfortunately couldn't sleep on Thursday or Friday night before the race on Saturday.  I had heard that it's ok if you don't sleep well the night before the race, it's the night BEFORE the night before that really counts.  So of course, I couldn't get to sleep just because I knew I should.  Awesome.  But once Saturday morning dawned, it felt like the morning of a field trip in middle school -- you're so excited, it doesn't matter that you're up before it's light!

My mom wanted to come to this race with me for support so we met her friend (who had run the race before) at a parking lot where we could leave our cars and carpooled.  We drove right to a deck and popped right in; considering the vast amounts of people, it was really well organized.  The wave starts really help, I think, as we had no trouble leaving either.  Once we walked to Monroe Park, the central location of partying/eating/prepping, you could tell it was a huge party atmosphere.  Corn dogs, funnel cakes, speakers blaring LMFAO, etc.  It was a sort of chilly drizzly morning, but that didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. 

I made the mistake of registering way too far back, in wave UB (70-75 min. finish time).  I didn't take into account that lots of slower runners/walkers hop ahead, so next year I will register up a few waves.  My wave started at 9:38 so we walked down there 20 mins. or so early, which worked out great.  I had enough time to get comfy, check my shoelaces, turn on my iPod, and get my Garmin going.  My Garmin didn't want to pick up a signal at first, I'm guessing due to the tall buildings and massive amounts of people.  Luckily it kicked in just as the start gun went off!

The start was super crowded -- there were 1500 people in my wave alone.  But once we got out of the first few twisty blocks and out onto Monument, it opened up a little bit.  I will say -- I had to keep dodging slower folks/walkers for the entirety of the race.  PLEASE -- if you are a walker -- don't stop in the middle of the road, and get to the right!!  I don't want to have to mow you over, but I signed up for this race in the appropriate wave to race it, so please move.  Ok, thanks.  (Also -- please don't toss your cup right into my path, or spit to your left when I'm right there.  Really.)

I am really familiar with Monument Avenue which was a blessing and a curse.  Sometimes in a race where the course is unfamiliar, not knowing how far away the finish line is sort of helps you to keep going.  But knowing how far I was from the finish was hard psychologically.  I made myself start really slow knowing that I really wanted to go all out the last few miles.  The adrenaline of all the people, the bands, and the cheer sections really make you want to pick it up.  It took a couple of miles for me to really feel loose, and after the halfway point I said to myself "Ok, all out, sister."  My 5k split was 37:xx (I just glanced at my Garmin) and I thought to myself "That's ok, it's on pace for your goal time, but you can do better."  Needless to say the second half hurt more than the first, and I left nothing on the course.

My splits were mostly negative, per the below:

Mile 1: 12:27

Mile 2: 11:55

Mile 3: 11:37

Mile 4: 11:26

Mile 5: 11:31

Mile 6: 11:10

Mile .2: 2:22

The last .2 miles were agonizing.  There is a series of small hills at this point of Monument, where you crest and dip a bit and you lose sight of the finish line.  You can see it from probably a half mile away and I was thinking "ALMOST THERE!"  Then dip, you go down the hill and you can't see it anymore.  You think it must be a million miles away.  Then, like an oasis in the desert, there it is again!  Sweet savior, you're nearly there!  With about a few hundred meters left I think I lost total control of my lower half.  My Garmin says my best pace was 6:45 so I think at this point a Kenyan must have possessed me, I was just ROLLING.  All I wanted was to finish, and finish I did -- under my goal time!  Final chip time was 1:12:27, beating my goal time of 1:15 and my own personal PR around the neighborhood of 1:13:48.  I am thrilled.

Me in the pink, having just crossed the finish line

I have heard a lot of people say that they love to run this race because of the cheer sections along the way, the bands, etc.  I can definitely see that.  But to tell you the truth, I had tunnel vision.  I tried to tune out the bands because I had my iPod, and though I saw the cheerleaders etc. on the sidelines, I didn't really take much of it in.  I was so focused on the road ahead and taking it a block at a time that what I remember are snapshots, tiny snippets of faces frozen in time here and there.  I kind of got into this zone where I didn't really let my mind drift too much because if I did, I got distracted and that's not the kind of runner I am.  When I try to remember the race itself I kind of feel like maybe I was coming out of amnesia; you know, how you remember some small moments here and there but overall, I can't really tell you much.  Hah.

I would definitely run this race again as it's a Richmond tradition and SO well done.  I really thought that the crowds would stress me out and really be a headache, but it was great.  If you're local to the Richmond area (or don't mind the travel) I'd definitely recommend this race.  A great time, a nice flat course, and a fab expo!  

More pics:

 

 Me being silly with all my pink, including glitter nail polish.  Runners also got White House rolls at the finish; they are so epically delicious.

Mommy and me

I was so happy after finishing this race, both with my time and the overall experience of a larger, longer race that I registered for the American Family Fitness Half Marathon this November!  I'm officially training for a half marathon, how crazy is that.  I can't wait!!

I AM ALIVE!

I know, I know -- it's been a long time.  But things have been busy!  Work is picking up with a lot more design consultations on the calendar (yay) and I've been working more Saturdays, which are hell in the retail world.  But that hasn't stopped me from getting the miles in -- I just haven't been writing about it!

I ran a nice 4 miles yesterday at an 11:39 pace, which is fast for me considering the distance.  On Sunday, two days prior, I ran my longest run ever -- 7 miles!!  I wanted to hit the 6.2 mark for extra confidence heading into my 10k at the end of the month.  But I could tell by mile 2 that it was going to be a good run; you know how sometimes you just know?  I had my Ke$ha remixes and Ellie Goulding's "Run Into The Light" (excellent running tunes) to motivate me and I just kept on trucking.  I've mapped out a loop around my neighborhood that's about a mile, and it seemed easier for me to conquer this distance by breaking it up this way.  I just knew I had to go "x" amount of times around the loop, taking one loop at a time.  Before I knew it, I had hit the 7 mile mark!  When I hit a rough patch (you always do on longer runs, moments where it's harder than others) I just kept telling myself "I'm a tough bitch."  It worked.  I hit the 10k mark at exactly 1:15:46, and 1:15 is my goal time for the race.  So I am feeling much better about my chances of doing well. 

I also went to Lululemon and completely obliterated my gift card.  Ha!  I got three Cool Racerback Tanks, the Run: Inspire II crops (with the cool black and white print), the Vinyasa scarf in a gray and white stripe, and some Speed Shorts.  I'm a little upset about the Speed Shorts; the sizing is so inconsistent!  I had a pair of size 4s that I had already run in and I loved them.  So I picked up another pair thinking that I knew my size and everything was fine.  However, they were way too small!  The waistband was about an inch smaller than the other pair of size 4s I had.  I went back to the store and took the original 4s with me and turns out, none of the shorts on the shelf had the same waistband size, even if they were marked as being the same size.  Now that sucks, for shorts that are $54 a pop.  I pointed it out to the sales girl and she seemed surprised.  Love the shorts, but not the inconsistency.

Now -- for some photos!

My little Speed Short collection

Run: Inspire II crops (I couldn't resist -- 2 pairs!)

Left: 2 Cool Racerback tanks (I also got a dark grey but it's dirty) and a dark grey Swiftly Racerback.  The folded square at the bottom is the Vinyasa scarf.

I probably spent way more than I should have but I couldn't help it.  That store has a way of just sucking you in; the clothes are so flattering and so unique looking that I just started picking up item after item thinking "This!  I must have THIS!"  And the sales girls at our location are so nice and helpful.  They even have a 5k and Chardonnay run club that meets every Thursday.  I haven't gone yet because I'd like to get a bit faster (though they welcome all paces).  

So that's my little update.  No serious mileage today, I'm going to get my second massage today at 2:00 and then I have our group track session tonight at 6:00.  So I've been cuddling most of the day with Lizzie on the couch, like so:

In other exciting news, I used my sweet employee discount at Pottery Barn to re-do the top of my dining table.  I have a boyfriend who's really into the dark rustic look, and I'm really not.  So I try to take advantage of tabletops and things like that that require little money and no large objects to express my tastes -- and hope that he doesn't mind it.  Oddly enough, the dining table was a big hit; he even thought the flowers were real.  They're beautiful faux peonies in a bubble mercury glass vase, with mercury glass candleholders on either side and ivory pillar candles.

We still need curtains in here (and I'd like new lamps for the buffet) but hey, you take it a step at a time.  Money ain't free.

Hope everyone is having a great week; the weather here has gotten really lovely, so hopefully you are getting some sweet runs in!  I'll try to start testing out some of my new Lululemon items and maybe posting some reviews.  I also started the first book in The Hunger Games trilogy yesterday and finished it last night (eek!) so I'd like to start the second book, Catching Fire, today.  It seemed like everyone was going crazy over this series so with the movie coming out, I figured I'd give them a read.  They're really good, actually; now Katniss, that's a tough bitch.

Happy running, everyone!

REST WEEK

So I didn't run any last week after the 8k, with the exception of two sessions at the track.  They were mostly conditioning/strength training sessions with a few laps thrown in, but nothing too crazy.  I was so tired!  That ridiculous cold/hilly/exhausting 8k really took it out of me.  I didn't have a true "run" until yesterday, when I ran a solid and pleasant 4 miles at about a 12:13 pace.  It felt great -- it had just started snowing and it was so serene!  Granted, I was wearing my glasses so I did a lot of wiping, but it was so calming and peaceful to be running through the flakes. 

I'm starting to get in "let's prepare" mode for the 10k on March 31st.  My farthest distance to date is only 5.5 miles so I need to get up to running 6.2 so that I feel comfortable with this distance.  I still have plenty of time so I'm not necessarily in a rush, but it would be nice to have that mental check mark.  If I can get this 10k under my belt, I'd really like to start looking at doing a half in the next year or so.  I am thinking maybe the Shamrock Half in VA Beach next March.  I had my eye on the Disney Princess Half but I didn't think that combining my first half marathon with travel/flight/hotel would be a great experience.  I would probably be way too stressed out.  So why not run by the beach instead?

With my goal of doing a race per month this year, I've been thinking about the CASA Superhero Run on April 28.  It's for a great cause and I'd get to dress up as a superhero -- win!  I'd like to put together maybe a Wonder Woman outfit with a red Team Sparkle skirt.  I have time to get creative so we'll see.

In other news, my amazing boyfriend got me a huge Lululemon gift card for Valentine's Day!  So much better than flowers.  (I did also get chocolate.)  I keep wandering around the store on my break at work, wondering what to get with my gift card, and I always leave empty-handed because I can't decide.  It's always when you have the money that you can't find something to get.  I'd be lusting after a billion things if I didn't have the gift card!  I've had my eye on their Vinyasa scarf, I just need to decide on a color.  And I'd like to get a new race outfit for the 10k.  Hopefully I can grab some items to review soon!

SWEETHEART 8K: RACE REPORT

As I've posted previously, I've signed up for the Monument Avenue 10k at the end of March.  As a "practice race" I decided to run this 8k to test the waters at a newer, longer distance.  I was really nervous given my recent dips in performance but decided to give it my best shot anyway.  I mean, hey; I had already registered, and you can't in good conscience wear a race t-shirt for a race you didn't run!

Sunday, Feb. 12th dawned dark and cold.  And I mean cold.  The temperature was about 21 degrees with a wind chill of about 10 degrees.  I actually thought for a split second that I might get an email saying the race was canceled due to the extreme cold.  But I should have known better - we runners are pretty extreme ourselves.

I bundled up in a thermal shirt with a fleece on top, my fancy new CW-X tights and a Nike headband/earwarmer type thing.  I packed my iPod too, as I had just downloaded a bunch of Ke$ha remixes to get myself all hyped up.  I was gonna need some seriously motivating tunes to get through 5 miles of this.

I drove the 20 minutes to the race location, which was in a nice, scenic neighborhood.  I was running a bit late so I didn't have time for too intense of a warm-up, but it did the trick.  About 250-280 runners lined up at the start in varying degrees of clothing; there was one hardcore guy probably 70+ years old in shorts and a tank top.  I heard he finished in about a half hour!  That's a hardcore, life-long runner.

Me (L) and Karen (R), post-warm up

I put myself in the back of the pack at the start, not really knowing how I would do.  I went to turn on my iPod and was met with a squiggly screen.  It was so cold it wouldn't even turn on!  The crystals in the display were frozen and wouldn't move.  Great -- 5 miles with no music.  

All of a sudden we were off -- and everyone seemed to move forward with way too much speed.  We came around the first bend and we were met with a huge hill.  I mean, one of the steepest hills I've ever seen.  A lot of people sped right up it like it was nothing, but I hadn't been doing hill repeats so this was a bit of a hiccup for me.  I tried jogging up it but ended up powerwalking it with just as much speed, without expending as much energy.  I knew that if I used up all my gas on the first hill within the first quarter mile, I would be exhausted and it would set a bad tone for the rest of the race.  The "powerwalk the hills" strategy ended up being one I used for the remainder of the race.

After that first huge hill I started feeling better.  Then I realized that I had some "latchers" -- two guys who were doing the run/walk method and would catch up to me, pass me, and then walk -- only to have me pass them and have the cycle continue.  If you've had this happen to you, you know how distracting and annoying it is -- so at the first big downhill, I used the downhill advantage to gain speed and put some distance between us.  Thank goodness!

The course was very hard, at least for me.  I'd only been running around my neighborhood which are low-traffic roads with few hills.  This neighborhood had trails with bridges (that were icy) so the terrain had a lot of variation.  There were so. many. hills.  I was totally unprepared for the hills.  During the entire race I kept looking at my splits thinking "I'm doing so terribly.  I'm going so slow.  I can't believe I'm blowing this.  I can't breathe."  But I kept going, motivated by the other runners -- one of which was a very pregnant mother-to-be just ahead of me with her husband.  Seeing her bouncing along so steadily in her delicate condition was good for me.  If she could do it, I could do it!

 Coming out of the trails at mile 2

I finally reached the mile 4 marker and wound my way around even more cul-de-sacs and hills, wondering when the torture would be over.  I came around a corner and realized I was back where my car was parked -- and saw the finish line ticker!  I saw a volunteer waving to me, and realized she was pointing me towards the left -- not in the direction of the ticker, but around the lake.  Damn!  I still wasn't done!  My running buddy Karen, who had already finished, caught up to me and ran the last lake portion with me.  She tried her best to motivate and push me, but by this point I was so broken down I was just trying to keep moving.  We finally got to the point where we had wound around and could see the yellow finish line cones, and I could hear our coach screaming "59:34!  Hustle, come on, break an hour!"  Well, that did it.  I had been feeling so horrible that I had seriously thought my time was already about 1:05, 1:10 so the prospect of being sub-1 hour was amazing to me.   (I had stopped looking at my Garmin out of sheer exhaustion.)  My legs went into overdrive and I blew through the finish at 59:54.  My finish time put my pace at under 12 minutes per mile, which I was super pleased with considering that a) I power walked the hills; b) felt terrible and c) had done my training runs of 5+ miles at about a 12:30 pace.  Success!!

Almost at the finish line!

After the race we all went out for breakfast and coffee at a local diner.  You should have heard us, we were all coughing like crazy for about an hour after the race due to the trauma our poor lungs had been through with the extreme cold.  But it was really nice to have had this experience with my coach and teammates and we all felt a sense of accomplishment.  Now I have a new distance under my belt and feel great heading into the 10k in March!  That course is a dead flat out and back course in (what should be) lovely spring weather, so if I can handle this I can certainly handle that.  Right?  (Right....)

So far I've done/have scheduled one race per month for 2012 -- the First Day 5k in January, this Sweetheart 8k for February, and the Monument Avenue 10k in March.  The goal is to do a race per month this year, so now I just have to choose a race for April.  What race is next up on your calendar?

Happy running!

CRESTS & VALLEYS

I'm not dead, I promise.  I've been trying to reach a happy place with my running.  I've been slowly building my mileage back up; Tuesday I had a 4 mile run at an average pace of about 12:17 per mile, which isn't bad.  But I still haven't been able to get back up to the 5.5 mile high I was at a few weeks ago.  I am just learning that every now and then you have to pull back to move forward.  Patience is key!  I did take time out last Friday to get my first massage ever, which was amazing.  I felt really sore the next day but it was worth it.  Evidently my calves were solid knots; I've got to work on my stretching.  I've been using my Range Roller more and trying to dedicate at least a few minutes after each run to work the kinks out.  I'd like to try to get massages bi-weekly though because it really was worth it.

I have an 8k race this weekend so I haven't run since the 4 miles on Tuesday.  I'm hoping I can do it -- this will be the first race my boyfriend has come to, so I'd really like to finish strong and not drag myself across the finish line.  With 4 miles in one go under my belt for this week, I know I can do it.  I would just like to do it well.  I'm shooting for an hour as my time; I finished 4 miles in about 49:10 so I don't think that's too unreasonable.  Hopefully adrenaline will kick in and I'll finish even faster.  The first third of a mile is supposedly uphill; we'll see how that goes!

Tomorrow is "easy jog" day heading into the race on Sunday.  It's supposed to be super cold all weekend, with snow showers tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Sunday has a high of 39, so it should be in the high 20s when I run my race that morning.  Hooray!  At least I have my new CW-X tights to try out, hopefully they will keep me warm.  I was going to get another sparkle skirt in pink since the theme for this race is Valentine's Day (it's the Sweetheart 8k after all) but I decided I was cutesy last time.  This time, it's serious ninja business!  Race report coming soon; and also a review of my cool new tights!