Spring Training

I'm so excited about spring training. We finally decided on a half-marathon for me this spring, the Aquarium Run Half Marathon. We went back and forth trying to decide. Part of what I love about half-marathons is the atmosphere. I enjoy the big races with lots of spectators and plenty of people to run with. The Aquarium Run is a smaller half marathon with little to no spectators. Depending on who shows up on race morning there's a good chance I could be running alone for much, if not all, of the race. My top choice for a spring half-marathon was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. It is huge and the atmosphere is amazing. I ran the full back in 2008 and it's impossible to run it without feeling a huge amount of emotion. Along the course there are flags with names of people who lost their lives in the Oklahoma City bombing. It is a very special race. I have wanted to go back and run the half ever since I ran the full there. But the race is the same weekend as the Dylan Meier Get Busy Livin 5k which we have run every year for all 6 years it has been run and I'm not about to miss it now, so the Aquarium Run it is. I figure if I have to run a large portion of the run alone, that's okay, I ran alone from mile 4 to the finish at the Route 66 half anyway.

Starting off 2017 with the Race Into the New Year.

My main goal for 2017 is to make better choices. That means not overbooking myself with playdates and activities with the kids during the day as well as not overbooking myself with races. I'm really focusing on looking at my long term race goals and how different decisions will impact me in the long term rather than just getting excited and signing up for races because they sound like fun. It also means putting a bigger emphasis on getting enough sleep. I've found time and time again that when I get up early to run a hard workout on not enough sleep, it doesn't go well. I'm better off turning off my alarm and going out for the run in the evening after Ty gets home.  I'm also focusing more on recovery and what I can do to help myself in that realm. I have always been pretty lazy about stretching. I would stretch in college because everyone did it together and I was great about taking ice baths. But once I graduated and was running on my own, I stopped stretching and only occasionally took ice baths. My friend Sara was fairly accident prone when we ran together. She was naturally faster than me and I knew if she could just stay healthy, she'd run crazy fast times. She has since remained healthy for multiple seasons in a row and has run huge PRs in almost every race distance. She suggested foam rolling to me and I filed it away in the back of my mind. Then I started having soreness in my left glute that ranged from tight to painful as I ran. I went about a month just rolling on a tennis ball before I broke out a foam roller and, I'm not kidding, the next day was the first run in a month where I had no soreness in my glute! It was amazing. So I'm committing to foam roll after every run. I also just got back into strength training which I hadn't started back up after the half marathon, eek!

My goal for the half-marathon is to run a PR. I was 14 seconds off my PR at the Route 66 which had nearly 400 feet of elevation gain. The Aquarium Run course is extremely flat. I'm thinking an easier course on it's own will get me those 15 seconds plus some. For the Route 66 half I knew there was a possibility I could run a PR but I didn't focus on that because I knew it was a lofty goal. I focused on breaking 1:32 and then the fact that I was so close to a PR was super exciting for me. I didn't go into the race dead set on running a PR and that kept me from being as disappointed that I was so close and didn't quite get there. That's why for the spring I want to focus on chipping off those 15 seconds to run a PR rather than focus on running sub-1:30. I don't want to put a bunch of pressure on myself to run a certain time and be disappointed if I don't quite get there. I'd rather focus on a goal I know for sure I can achieve if I work hard and run a good race. I know there's a chance I can break 1:30 if I have a good race but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself to get there. I want to enjoy this training cycle and finish it with a PR half.

This past week was my first week of official training for the half marathon which will give me 12 weeks of training, including 3 weeks of tapering back at the end of the cycle. I'm getting pretty pumped up about where I am fitness wise, especially in comparison to where I was at this point going into my fall training cycle. I went into training for my fall half with 31 miles as my highest mileage week and my first week of the cycle was 37 miles. Coming into this training cycle my highest mileage week was 45 miles and I finished out the first week with a 50 mile week. I plan to stay at 50 miles for the majority of the cycle, taking a few cut-back weeks when I have races or when my body needs them. I ran my first tempo since the Route 66 half a couple weeks ago. My goal was to hit 6:50 pace as I'm hoping to be around 6:50-6:55 pace for the Aquarium Run half. I totally bombed my tempo, finishing in an average of 7:10 pace. I couldn't figure out where exactly I went wrong. I knew part of it may have been lack of sleep and part of it may have been that I was underdressed. I've always struggled with running bare legged in colder temps and got a hard time about it from my teammates in college. It was upper 30's and I ran the tempo in shorts and it did not go well. The following week the temperature was about the same but I ran that tempo in tights. I finished out a 6 mile tempo in 6:51 pace so I felt fairly confident the shorts may have had something to do with it.

This past week I had a terrible speed workout. I hadn't done speed work in over a month and the speed work I'd done since the half marathon had all been pretty abbreviated, focused mainly on keeping me from losing all of my speed while I gave my legs and mind a bit of a break. I didn't think all that through and just jumped back in with 8x800 repeats with a 1/10th of a mile recovery between. I ran out into a 25 mph wind and just knew I would kill it on the way back with the wind at my back but actually struggled to even maintain pace, running a few of the repeats slower than the first half. I had planned to run a 7 mile tempo a few days later and was a bit leery to do so since I bombed my speedwork so hard. I went out for the run prepared to turn it into an easy 12 mile long run if need be. I think sometimes that helps me not put too much pressure on myself for a tempo run because some of my best tempo runs have been when I was worried I wouldn't be able to complete them. I killed the workout, finishing my 7 mile tempo with an average of 6:47 pace. I took off the last mile hauling because I wanted to make it my fastest mile and the mile before had been 6:42. Toward the end of the mile I looked down to see my pace and I was running 6:10 pace! I was shocked and super excited to see my last mile split was 6:29. Last winter I was stoked to run my last mile of a 5k in 6:27 and here I was running the last mile of a 7 mile tempo in 6:29! Of course I had to look back for comparison's sake and during my fall training cycle I ran an 8 mile tempo run week 2 in 7:21 pace. So my tempo run this past week was an average of 34 seconds per mile faster than what I ran in the fall! I know I could have run another mile at that pace, especially with my last mile not quite as fast. I know I won't improve as much over this training cycle as I did in the fall because I'm coming into the training cycle in better shape than I went into my fall cycle, but if I can even just keep my tempo run pace within 8 seconds of what I ran this week I would be stoked. I am definitely already enjoying this cycle and it's just getting under way. I've really kept my races to a minimum in the spring so I can focus on my training and really do work to my PR. I have a 10k in February at the Sweetheart Run, a 5k in March at the St. Patty's Day 5k, and then the half marathon at the Aquarium Run. It is possible I may add another race into the mix, but it's looking like I will most likely stick with those 3 races with a couple more after the half. I have my sights on a 10k PR of 41:49, a 5k postpartum PR of 19:29, and a half-marathon PR of 1:31:35. We'll see what happens! I'm definitely feeling strong and confident right now. Ty would like for me to add in his current running success, he ran twice in one week this week! That's a huge improvement from running twice in the span of about a month (a race at the Tulsa Run 15k and a race at the Route 66 Half Marathon). Cheers to him! 

There's been lots of cold weather running around here!

Golden Driller Half Marathon

After my disappointing performance at the Aquarium Run, I really wanted to run another half-marathon in the spring to prove to myself that I could do it. I had been pondering running the Golden Driller 10k 3 weeks after the Aquarium Run so I could go after a 10k PR. I knew I'd lose some speed and fitness waiting that long after the race, but I felt confident I could still pull off a 10k PR. I decided instead of running the 10k, I'd run the half-marathon. I signed up pretty soon after the Aquarium Run. A week after the race I ran a 4 mile tempo not feeling quite recovered yet and finished with an average pace of 7:05. I decided I'd be happy with finishing the race in 7:05 pace if I could finish strong and feel good about my race. Two weeks out from the race I was feeling off and wondered if signing up for the race on a whim had been a mistake. I hadn't really taken time to think it over and just signed up right away once I realized it would work logistically. Then the week of the race I felt really strong and started getting excited for the race.

My main goal was to finish the race strong and regain my confidence, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking a PR might still be possible. For some reason 6:55 pace kept sticking in my head. I felt like if I went out conservatively in 7:00 pace and then picked it up to 6:50 pace on the way back I could average 6:55 pace and run a PR. I felt strongly that was possible but I didn't want to put pressure on myself. I wanted to really focus on a conservative start and finishing strong. The week of the race I checked the forecast at race time. It kept showing 16 mph winds and that put a bit of a damper on my thoughts of running a PR. It was also supposed to be 62 degrees at the race start and the high for the day was in the mid-80's so it would heat up fast! My mind kept going back to the fall of 2015 when I felt like I was in shape to run under 1:40 and ran a 1:41 at Prairie Fire. Then I came back at the Route 66, finishing about 5 minutes faster in a high 1:35. I kept thinking it was possible I'd have the same thing happen here. If I ran 5 minutes faster than the Aquarium Run that would be a high 1:29. But I also knew I was running after a super long taper and tried not to let myself use that experience in 2015 to get my hopes up.

I set an Uber up to pick me up between 6:15 and 6:30 so I could make it to the race start well before the 7:00 start time. I set my alarm for 6:00 but I woke up at 5:15 so excited for the race I couldn't fall back to sleep. I went ahead and got up. I had plenty of time to eat my Clif bar, drink my Nuun, and get dressed. I also knew I'd have some time to finish getting my nutrition in on the drive to the race. I was ready early so I decided to do some pre-run yoga from Yoga by Adriene on YouTube. It was just a 7 minute video which put me ready for my Uber right when it arrived. We decided it wasn't worth me running with my phone so I left it in a bag by the door for Ty to bring me when he came to pick me up. He'd talked about bringing the kids out around 8:30 to see me finish but I wasn't sure whether they'd actually make it to the finish area in time or not. Since I didn't have my phone we decided I should take my mace just to be safe. I was a little worried because I memorized the license plate number before putting my phone away and it wasn't the right car. I didn't want to get in but the guy looked like the one shown on the app and he had an explanation as to why it wasn't the right car. I had my mace so I went ahead and rode with him and it ended up being fine.

I finished eating on the drive and threw away my water bottle when we got there. It was a little bit chilly just standing around in my tank and shorts. I wished I had worn a long sleeved shirt to drop at the start, especially because the wind was so strong and chilly. I actually thought about running a warm up because I was so cold. Since I've never run a warm up before a half and I was running this one as a bonus half after a long training cycle I decided not to push it by adding extra mileage. I found a bush down by the river to stash my mace in and was pretty confident no one would find it and take it. I was right as it was still there when I was finished and went over to get it. Then I found a place to do my calf stretches out of the wind so I kept from getting too cold. My stomach was feeling a bit off and my Clif bar didn't seem to be sitting very well in my stomach. I was a little worried about how it would feel once I got going. I headed over to the race start with about 5 minutes to go before 7:00. They said the race would start at 7:00 sharp and it did which was perfect. At the start line I saw a woman who I had seen doing a warm up and drills before the race. She looked fast and I noticed her eyeing me and checking my bib to see if I was in the half or full marathon. I enjoyed that because I always feel like I am a bit on the heavy side to be a fast runner so I felt good that she picked me out as her main competition.

I guess being 4th overall and running a faster pace for my half than the marathoners, I should have started up farther.

When we took off I was surprised by how slow the race went out. I guess because there were likely some marathoners up front but it took me a little bit to get down under 8:00 pace. If I ever run this race again, I'd start up closer to the start line. It sprinkled a little off and on in the first miles of the race and it was cloudy which helped keep it from feeling too warm. I thought we were going out toward the bridge on Southwest Boulevard and would cross to the other side of the river on the bridge. I was disappointed to see we were going under the bridge on the old train bridges turned into a running trail. That kept us from running up a hill to the bridge but it meant we ran in the Bermuda Triangle of Riverside where my Garmin loses satellites so my mile split is always off going through there and I lose anywhere from 0.05-0.1 on my distance. I went through the first mile marker on the course before my watch beeped for the first mile which didn't surprise me after running through the Bermuda Triangle. When my watch beeped for the first mile, it showed my split was 7:18. I figured that was likely due to the loss of satellite connection but I also told myself if all I had was 7:18 pace today, I'd be okay with that. The woman I'd seen at the start had a decent gap on me and I was tempted to try to close it but I kept telling myself, "run smart and be patient." After that first mile we turned with the wind at our face. It didn't seem as bad as it had been at the Aquarium Run which may have been because we were running out into the wind instead of coming back into the wind!

I felt really strong even running into the wind and I started to feel like it was going to be my day even though it was pretty early on. I could feel that the wind wasn't effecting me as much as it should have been. I went through the 2nd mile in 6:51 which was faster than I had planned on but I didn't worry about it. I figured that mile might have registered fast since my first one had likely been slow due to Garmin malfunction. Plus I felt like I was just cruising and I figured if I was going to have a good day, there was no sense in holding back too much and wasting it. It was a little scary to listen to my body and run what felt like the right pace when doing so at the Aquarium Run had ended so badly! We hit the first water stop around in there and I grabbed water. I made sure to take water at every stop since it was so warm and I'm still not quite used to the heat yet. I had my sunglasses on my head so I could put them on later when the sun came up and the wind almost blew them off a few times because it was so strong! Mile 3 was 6:53 and then we had an uphill in the Gathering Place. I felt strong going up it and could see that I was closing the gap on the woman ahead of me a little bit. She looked like she was running conservatively on the way out as well. She'd tucked in behind the man ahead of her and was allowing him to block wind for her as we ran into the wind. I was a little jealous she had someone to run with as I didn't. I'd passed all the men around me and was running alone.

Mile 4 was 6:52 and I was excited with how easy that pace was feeling. I went through mile 5 in 6:55 and was pleased knowing I could likely pick up the pace on the way back with the wind at my back. I went through mile 6 in 6:56 and saw the guy leading the race come back by so I knew we were close to the turn around. I was having a little bit of a mental pep talk with myself that I started to feel a little rough around mile 6 of the Aquarium Run and since I was feeling so good at 6 miles here, even running into the wind, that hopefully I wouldn't fall apart again. I switched my Garmin over to the next screen so I could see my overall time and overall pace at the 10k mark. I went through the 10k in 43:15 and knew I was off pace for a sub-1:30 but was pretty sure I was on pace for a PR. I ate my Gu a little before the turn around and it went down fine. It actually seemed to calm my stomach a little. When we hit the turn around I looked and was at 45:40. I told myself if I could run 44:20 or under for the return trip I could run under 1:30. My Garmin showed I had run 6:59 pace on the way out which was exactly what I had hoped for in my wildest dreams hopes before the race. I started attempting to calculate what I pace I needed to average on the way back but then realized I was calculating for a 10k and not for 6.55 miles. I was able to pick the pace up when I turned back for the return trip but then could feel that my legs were tired from running into the wind which made the return trip a little harder. The woman ahead of me had seen me behind her at the turn around and really took off. I was maybe 45 seconds or so behind her at the turn around. Within a mile or so of  the turn around I caught and passed the guy she'd been drafting behind on the way out.

Mile 7 was 6:51 and then mile 8 was 6:41. Around the 8 mile mark the sun finally came out and I was so glad it had been cloudy up until then. I really started to feel the heat and I felt like the sun started to effect me. By the time I finished, my face was bright red! I hadn't looked at my watch other than to see my mile splits and check my overall time at the 10k point so I decided to keep my watch flipped over to overall time and pace. Mile 9 was 6:44 pace and I told myself when I got to mile 10 and had a 5k left I'd check to see what I needed to run the last 5k in to run under 1:30. We had the hill at the Gathering Place to go up again and it got me a bit this time. I struggled to get up and over it and could see the woman ahead of me really pulling away on the downhill. After the turn around when she took off I knew I wouldn't be able to catch her but it was fun to have her close enough that I could focus on her. She started pulling away enough that I couldn't see her as well. Once she really gapped me it was much harder to keep pushing without anyone to run with. Mile 9 was when I really wished I had Jeremy to run with again. I really missed him at this race and that's when I missed him the most! I went through mile 10 in 6:53 and knew if I could run the last 10k in 21:00 or under I'd be able to run under 1:30. At first I felt 6:45 pace was doable but once I went through mile 11 in 6:52, I knew it was not going to happen, especially considering I would have to run into the wind for the last mile. I started to feel a bit rough during mile 12 but nothing compared to what I've experienced in the past at Route 66 in 2016 and the Aquarium Run last year in 2018. I had hoped to run my last mile the fastest for the Strava Last Mile event but I knew with the Bermuda Triangle and the wind, that was a tall order. Once I knew sub-1:30 wasn't going to happen, it was hard to keep pushing. I told myself to go for under 1:31. Mile 12 was 7:03. There was a water stop with a mile and a half or 2 miles in the race and I was hot so I went ahead and took water. It was a bad pass so it all spilled and I had to reach back and grab some Nuun. I normally only drink water during races but I wasn't worried about taking Nuun since it doesn't sit on your stomach like Gatorade does and I had no trouble with it.

When we turned back into the wind, it was really demoralizing. It felt like the wind had picked up during the race but it also may have been that I was tired so the wind felt worse. I was coming up on 10k runners who were making it to the turn around and I felt like I wasn't blowing by them as quickly as I should have been. When I made it to the last half mile I started picturing running that section of the course during the Race Into the New Year and how I had really rocked the finish. This area of the race was where I struggled the most with running all alone. There were also no spectators out on the course and I didn't realize that was making the race harder until I came up on the finish and got a huge 2nd wind when people started cheering for me. Mile 13 was 7:21 but that was also likely not really my mile split since I lost satellite connection during that mile. I felt like I had slowed down and was concerned I wasn't going to finish in under 1:31. When I turned the corner to the finish the clock was at 1:30:30 so I knew I was going to break 1:31. I heard my friend Audrey cheering for me and I felt a huge rush of emotion over what a victory this was, especially with how scary it was to come back to race after the Aquarium Run's fall apart finish. I gave her a big smile and started pumping my fist. I knew that would slow me down, but I didn't care. I finished the last portion of the race in 6:20 pace and finished in an official time of 1:30:41. I heard someone yell my name and looked up to see Ty approaching. Carter and Elise came running over to see me right after I was handed my medal. I was pleased that even with my last mile I ran a negative split. My first half of the race was 45:40 and my second half was 45:01.

Audrey took a picture of the family together after I had Ty take a picture of me with her. I had finished 4th out of 291 overall, 2nd out of 182 females, and 1st out of 20 in my age group. My average pace was 6:55 pace which I thought was crazy since that's what I secretly hoped to run and felt like was attainable for me. I had been a little worried that I'd lose too much since I tapered for 2 weeks for the Aquarium Run and then followed that up with 3 weeks of low mileage and mostly easy running afterward. I definitely think if I could have put together a solid race at the Aquarium Run, my PR would have been much bigger, but I was pleased to have the chance to still get a PR out of this training cycle! I also think without the wind I could've maintained 6:50 pace or possibly under. I'm so glad I had this big confidence boost to show me I did have a big PR in me! I was so happy with this race, especially sneaking it in so long after my goal race and taper. I hadn't run a hard workout in 6 weeks by the time I stepped up to the starting line of this race. Carter and Ty were headed to a boy scout campout which had been rescheduled due to rain and needed to leave around 9:00. So I picked up my award early and we headed home. They dropped me and Elise off and then drove to the state park for their campout. I'm so thankful Ty is so supportive and understood how much I needed this race. Even though it wasn't convenient he went out of his way to make it work for me. He never complained or tried to persuade me not to do it. When I suggested it, he immediately said I should do it. If it hadn't been for his support I don't know that I would have been brave enough to put myself out there again after what happened in the Aquarium Run! That meant just as much as the PR does! It was also a confidence boost when I mentioned to my dad that I'd be happy to finish the race in 7:05 pace and he said I'd run faster. Even with my big blow up, he still believed in me!

Me and Audrey.

Me and the kids with the Golden Driller statue replica.

Audrey took live photos so on my phone Elise's hair is whipping around in the picture. So. much. wind!

Best support system ever!

Although I would have loved to put together an awesome race at the Aquarium Run, I'm thankful for this experience. It taught me that no matter how well prepared and tapered you are for a race, things can go wrong on race day with no clear explanation as to why. It also made obvious what an amazing support system I have through my family. When I was trying to figure out how to run this race with Ty and Carter going to the campout, my mom immediately said they would come watch Elise for me so I could run if they didn't have anything going on that weekend. When they realized they did have plans, Thomas was willing to spend the night at our house to be there when Elise woke up. Thankfully with the 7am start time and Ty not needing to leave until 9am, it worked where no one had to cover for me! I am so lucky to have the amazing, supportive family that I do. They just get it. It means so much to me that they saw everything I put into this season and were willing to make sacrifices so I could see that work through. No one wants to end a season of hard work, great tempos, and faster than ever speed workouts and 5ks with a blah goal race to show for it. I'm so glad I was able to pull together a good race on Saturday and reap the benefits of all that hard work and even more thankful I have a family who will go to great lengths to help me achieve my goals. Now I just have to decide if I want to add a flat half-marathon to my schedule in the fall to try to chip those last 42 seconds off my time, or if I want to only run the Route 66 knowing with 400 ft of elevation gain those last few seconds will likely remain. Decisions, decisions!

So pleased for this PR!

Aquarium Fun Run

We were signed up for the Aquarium Run well before Covid-19 made it to America. The race was close enough to Boston that I didn't want to race. My mom signed me up for the fun run with Elise and my dad because Elise said she wanted to run and my dad was just getting back into running. Carter didn't want to run, he just wanted to go to the aquarium, so he wasn't signed up. When the race went virtual I asked Carter if he wanted to run with us or if he'd rather Elise and I do it without him after Ty got home from work. He surprised me by saying he wanted to run it with us! I asked Elise where she'd like to run it and she replied with the aquarium. Why didn't I think of that?! Our bibs had a free admission to the aquarium on them so we would run and then go into the aquarium after. Thomas gave us his bib so all three of us could get into the aquarium for free.

We took off and things were going as I expected, Elise was rocking it and Carter started walking pretty early on. I let Elise go ahead and stayed back with Carter. I think it made Elise a little nervous running ahead by herself so she kept looking back to check on us. I started yelling encouragement up to her so she'd know I was still there, but she continued to look back. At one point as she looked back, she fell and rolled off the path. She was super upset and we all stopped and I swooped her up. She didn't wan to run anymore and wanted to go home. Carter wanted to finish out the mile. We were only a quarter of a mile in. I carried Elise for a bit and then asked her if she could try walking. She did and it wasn't long before she was off running again but she wanted to hold my hand most of the rest of the way. I was really proud of her for being tough, getting back up, and running again! Since Carter didn't mind me running ahead with Elise, I did that for the rest of the way so she would feel more comfortable. She and I finished in 12:08, not bad all things considered, and then made a finish line for Carter to run through. He really enjoyed that!

We stopped off at the car to get a drink and a picture with the kids' medals. Then we put on masks and headed into the aquarium. It was a nice visit and I was so glad Elise had that idea! Doing these virtual fun runs with the kids has made me miss doing my run streak a little bit. I always enjoyed running my mile on my days "off running". I'm a bit hesitant to start a streak again just because I can be a bit obsessive and don't want to get to where I obsess about missing a day of running. But it sure has been a lot of fun!

Half and Full Marathons Plus Some Others

I started getting this post ready before Grandma's and was so sure I'd have another sub-3:30 marathon to add to the list. I was so excited about that, but alas, I did not have a sub-3:30 marathon to add! I'm just thankful I had another marathon to add and that Grandma's didn't end in my first ever DNF. There were multiple half-marathons added. I like keeping track of my longer races because I've run enough half-marathons, I wouldn't be able to keep track otherwise! Carter asked me how many 5ks I've run on our drive home from Grandma's and I had absolutely no idea. I couldn't even give him a ballpark idea.

Finishing my most recent half-marathon, the Joplin Memorial Run.

Half Marathons:

1:30:41, Golden Driller Half Marathon, 2019
1:31:06, Aquarium Run, 2018
1:31:35, Mighty Mo Half Marathon, 2007

1:31:49, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2016

1:32:32, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2019

1:32:39, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2007

1:32:55, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2018

1:34:11, Run for the Ranch Half Marathon, 2007 

1:34:13, Aquarium Run Half Marathon, 2017

1:34:40, Aquarium Run Half Marathon, 2019

1:35:25, Little Rock Half Marathon, 2009
1:35:43, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2015 (8 months after Elise was born)

1:35:56, Joplin Memorial Run, 2023

1:36:49, Virtual Chisholm Trail Half Marathon, 2020

1:36:55, Mythical Half Marathon, 2021

1:36:58, Half and Half Paved Half Marathon, 2022 (weekend after a 20 mile long run, that was a 1st)
1:36:59, Jenks Half Marathon, 2013 (10 months after Carter was born)

1:37:29, Run OK Virtual Half Marathon, 2020
1:38:05, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2013 (9 months after Carter was born)
1:41:08, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2015 (7 months after Elise was born)

1:46:23, Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, 2022 (at altitude and I had no issues!)
1:51:40, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2011 (ran the race sick)
1:56:44, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2014 (14 weeks pregnant with Elise)
2:01:50, Hospital Hill Half Marathon, 2008 (I ran this one after being sick for over a month and learned to respect the distance!)
2:18:12, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2012 (32 weeks pregnant with Carter)

Totals:
25 half-marathons
2 run while pregnant
4 run less than a year after giving birth

2 Virtual Halves (thanks, Covid!)

Cresting a hill during my most recent 25k at Pumpkin Holler.

25ks:

2:11:21, Pumpkin Holler 25k, 2022

2:14:20, War Eagle Trail Running Festival 25k, 2020

2:17:09, War Eagle Trail Running Festival 25k, 2022

2:29:30, Flint and Steel Trail 25k, 2021

2:37:59, Armadillo Ultra Trail 25k, 2018

Finishing my most recent marathon at Grandma's Marathon.

Marathons:

3:25:27, Route 66 Marathon, 2018

3:28:18, Houston Marathon, 2023

3:38:58, Grandma's Marathon, 2023

3:38:58, Route 66 Marathon, 2017

3:40:05, Route 66 Marathon, 2008
3:43:04, Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, 2009 (The wind was out of control.)

3:46:15, Virtual Boston Marathon, 2020

3:58:04, Route 66 Marathon, 2009 (Ran with a sinus infection and bronchitis.)

Totals: 
6 marathons
3 BQs (Interestingly enough, not my 3 fastest marathons. Since Boston Qualifying times keep getting faster, I qualified with a 3:40 when I was in my 20's and then didn't qualify with a 3:38 when I was in my 30's!)

1 Virtual Race (thanks, Covid!)

50k:

4:38:40, Walnut River Gravel Run 50k, 2021

Post-Half Marathon Thoughts

Now that I'm registered for a 2nd half-marathon this spring, I'm really excited and looking forward to it! I just can't leave this awesome spring season I've had with a bad taste in my mouth. My goal for The Golden Driller Half-Marathon isn't to break 1:30 or even to run a PR, it's to run a strong race and enjoy myself. I want to reclaim the last portion of the race and show myself I can run a half-marathon without falling apart. Strava has a last mile challenge through the end of June where if you run the last mile of a half-marathon or marathon the fastest of the race, they donate money to charities. That's another good reason to have a strong finish at The Golden Driller! It's a little tricky with knowing how best to move forward in training for it. It's 3 weeks after the Aquarium Run but I also want to make sure I recover really well from the Aquarium Run since something pretty drastic went on with my body. I know I'm going to lose fitness between now and then, I'm just hoping I won't lose too much! I'm actually feeling really strong and recovered now so I'm wondering if a couple hard workouts would help my performance at the race or if there's not enough time left. The half is 2 weeks from tomorrow. Possibly continuing at my taper mileage is what's best for me. I am planning on running a 4 mile tempo tomorrow just to see how things go when I get down to a faster pace again and hopefully it will give me a little bit of my confidence back. 

When I look back at all my half-marathon times, the Aquarium Run was about half-way down the list. It was my 8th fastest half out of 17 with 2 of them run while pregnant. The half-marathon has always been my bread and butter. I've felt like it is my strongest race distance and when I look back at all my races I realize why. Outside of the Aquarium Run I've only bombed one other half and that was because I ran it after missing 2 months of training due to being sick and was only back to running for a week before running the race. So needless to say, I set myself up to bomb that race. I've only had one other half where I ran slower than what my tempos showed I was capable of. Other than that all my halves have been really strong races with paces faster than all my tempo runs leading up to the race. Pretty much every single one I ran faster than I though I would. I've had plenty where I struggled during mile 12 and 13 but that's to be expected with a half. I've never had a race where I slowed by over a minute per mile or even 30 seconds per mile at the end. I considered my Route 66 finish in 2016 a bad finish because I fell about 15-20 seconds off pace in the final 2 miles. 

In the fall of 2015 I felt I was in shape to run the Prairie Fire Half Marathon in under 1:40 but was surprised when the race just didn't go as planned and I finished in 1:41:08. Even then I didn't tank the last miles, I actually struggled from the start. I was able to pinpoint the likely cause of my bad race which was a huge blister on my foot that formed early on in the race and caused issues with my form. But then I came back from that race and finished the Route 66 a month later in 1:35:43. Knowing that makes me feel better. I have been a little bit scared that by adding another half marathon to this season, I'm setting myself up for another failure, but maybe I'll be able to drop 5 minutes like I did that year! I'm not expecting that or even hoping for that, but who knows. I knew I was in shape for a certain time at the Prairie Fire but things didn't come together on race day and I didn't let that effect me. I was able to come back from that and run even faster than I had expected at the Route 66! The big difference for me is that at that race I felt off from the start and with this one I felt great until all the sudden I didn't which was weird. But as my dad pointed out was likely due to the wind and the effect of the heat and humidity as the race. Sometimes things don't come together on race day no matter how well you prepare for a race. Nothing has taught me that better than the marathon, although I've come to expect things to come together nicely for a half as long as I have a good taper going into the race.

With the marathon I have come to expect the unexpected. No matter how well trained you are so many factors can go into a disappointing performance on race day. Out of my 5 marathons, I've only had 3 good races and one race where everything went wonderfully. That one amazing race was even in poor conditions with strong wind and light rain for portions of the race! But I guess I've been spoiled by the half-marathon. Out of 17 half-marathons, I've had good races and run faster than I expected to in 14 of them! I'd like to get back to half-marathons falling together perfectly on race day but who knows what will happen! I am guardedly optimistic about what race day will bring. I am excited but expecting nothing. I'd like to be able to pull together a race in under 7:00 pace but I also know I'm going to lose some of my speed in these weeks between my goal half and my last minute half. I will also likely be dealing with the same crappy weather conditions I dealt with last weekend. My plan is to go out conservatively and hope I can pick it up in the 2nd half, rather than bomb the 2nd half, so I can walk away from the finish line feeling good about what I accomplished. I've always been really good at negative splitting races and it just feels so much better and gives you a lot of confidence when you do that. I need more of that in my life!

Post-Marathon Thoughts and Recovery

It has been a week since one of the most enjoyable races of my life, The Route 66 Marathon! My recovery has been pretty great. I was able to run again after just 2 days off. I won't run anything hard again until The Ugly Sweater 5k and Beer Mile on December 15th. Until then I plan to just run easy, mostly low mileage to allow my body to fully recover. I know even though I feel great, pushing it too much could prolong my recovery or cause an injury. Since my glute/hamstring issue flared back up during this training cycle, I'd rather err on the side of caution. I'm hoping without as much time off after the marathon, The Ugly Sweater 5k won't be a struggle fest like it was last year. I felt out of shape and miserable during the race and would prefer not to repeat that, if possible. Last year I took a planned week off after the marathon and then another full week off due to being sick, so I ended up with 2 weeks before I started running again.

Walking to the start of the Route 66 Marathon on race day.

Moments before heading off to run a huge PR!

I've been surprised that I'm actually itching to get back to strength training. I typically hate strength training but once I got into a good habit of getting my workouts in twice a week I actually started to enjoy it! That's one thing I did really well this training cycle that I hadn't done in the past. That wasn't the only thing I did differently this season. I changed up my training a lot. I usually have a loose training plan in my head and follow it pretty closely as the season goes on. Last year when I decided to run the full marathon instead of the half part-way through the season I sat down and actually wrote out the weekends and what my long run would be to ensure I got all my long runs in. This season I got a little more hard core. During the summer I sat down and planned out my entire fall using an excel spreadsheet. That really helped because we run so many races in the fall. I was able to plan my long runs around races I knew we'd run. Since we have so many races in the fall I decided on a 16 week training cycle rather than my usual 12 weeks. That gave me more flexibility with long runs. Though I did start the training cycle with a 15 mile long run already under my belt so I was able to run a 16 mile long run workout during the first week of my training.

There are so many things I did differently during this training cycle that I think helped with my marathon performance. The biggest one being long run workouts. I had never done a long run workout before and I did 3 of them this training cycle along with a half-marathon. I stayed pretty simple with them since I had never run a workout within a long run before. I did a 16 mile run with a 4 mile warm up, 8 miles at marathon pace (goal was 7:45-8:00 pace), and a 4 mile cool down. Then I did an 18 mile long run with 10 miles at marathon pace and a 20 mile long run with 12 miles at marathon pace. During my next build before a marathon I'd like to get up to 16 miles at marathon pace within a long run. I also did more long runs this cycle. I ended up running 20 miles 3 times and one 22 mile long run. In the past I usually only run one or two 20+ mile long runs. Last fall I ran a 20 mile long run and a 22 mile long run. I think having done 20 miles more times made the distance seem easier on my body.

I planned out my cycle with my fast runs on Wednesdays. I'd do speed work one week and then a tempo the following week. My longest tempo run was 9 miles. My favorite speed workout was Yasso 800's. I averaged 3:19 for my 800's and only took a 2 minute rest in between instead of resting for the same amount of time as I ran like I've read. I've always found I can run Yasso 800's a lot faster than what I can run my marathon in. Supposedly your average for the 800's in minutes and seconds predicts your marathon in hours and minutes. I've always figured that's a more accurate predication for true marathoners and I'm more of a faster/shorter distance runner. I always have fun with the race calculators too even though they aren't very accurate for me. My fastest 5k time this season predicts a 3:12 marathon and my half-marathon which wasn't even a very good race for me predicts a high 3:13. I'm just a stronger runner in the shorter distances. I'm not sure if that's simply because I'm built more for those distances or if it's because I know how to train for the shorter distances better so I haven't quite trained perfectly for a marathon yet. I'm interested to find out. The marathon is just such a different beast and I'm enjoying doing the research to figure out different ways I can tweak my training to improve my marathon time.

One other thing I did this season that I didn't do last season was an extra workout without really doing a 3rd hard day. I alternated a really hilly run with strides every other week. So one week I'd go out and run a course with around 1,000 feet of elevation gain and the next week I'd run 5 strides during the last mile of my run. Both workouts added something to my training without making me tired or worn out the next day. There were a few weeks I skipped hills due to an upcoming race but for the most part stuck to that. I really think that helped. I even ran strides the Tuesday before the marathon. I like that you can do them and get your legs moving faster without wearing yourself out or feeling sore. A typical week of workouts would look like this: Monday off, Tuesday easy, Wednesday speed work or tempo, Thursday easy, Friday hills or strides, Saturday easy, Sunday long run. Sometimes I moved things around and ran easy Monday after my long run to shake my legs out and then took Tuesday off but for the majority of my training cycle that's what a week would look like.

My mileage this season was also a little higher than what I've done in the past, excluding the spring of 2017 when I injured myself. During my 16 weeks of training I only ran under 40 miles for 6 of the weeks. Three of those weeks were my taper weeks, one was at the very beginning of the cycle when I had a 10k race instead of a long run, and the other 2 weeks were in the lead up to my half-marathon when I was having glute and hamstring issues. I peaked at 53 miles and had 3 weeks at or over 50 miles with 4 more weeks at 48 miles. This is one area I'm sure I could change to improve my time, weekly mileage, but I'm not sure I will. Running 40-50 miles in a week, especially with a 15-22 mile long run, is very doable for me. Anything over that would be hard. At this point in my life I'm not interested in running more than once in a day. Maybe when the kids are older that would be something I'd want to do, but right now I'm all about really manageable miles that I can get in before the kids wake up.

I'm looking more at ways I can tweak my workouts to improve my performance. I'm thinking more long run workouts and possibly a 20 week build to help get more of those long run workouts in. I'm all about little tweaks here and there. I'm okay with just dropping a few minutes here and there in the marathon. I think I'm capable of running under 3:20 in the marathon for sure but I'm also totally fine with 3:25:27 being my PR for the rest of my life. I'm a little surprised by that because I walked away from the race on Sunday feeling awesome and knowing I ran my best race but also confident I could run faster next time. But I'm really proud of that 3:25 and I don't have this desperate need to beat that time, I just want to run another marathon because it was so much fun! That's really not like me. The moment I finished the Aquarium Run Half-Marathon last spring I was desperate to start training again to lower my PR. I think part of it is that I know the marathon is such a different beast and getting that perfect race can be hard. Anything can happen on race day. Although my current PR was run in less than ideal conditions, temps in the low 30's with "feels like" temps in the mid-20's, light mist, and strong winds. Plus the course has over 800 feet of elevation gain so it's not exactly flat.

Just for the fun of it, I want to record some stats from my training cycle and compare it to my training cycle last fall when I ran my old marathon PR of 3:38:58.

Weekly Mileage Compared 2018 vs. 2017:
Week 1: 44 vs. 24.5
Week 2: 37 vs. 27.1
Week 3: 47 vs. 27.9
Week 4: 47 vs. 24.7
Week 5: 50 vs. 32.7
Week 6: 47 vs. 36.5
Week 7: 51 vs. 38.7 
Week 8: 42 vs. 40.8
Week 9: 53.5 vs. 45.1
Week 10: 33.2 vs. 31
Week 11: 27.5 vs. 46.3 
Week 12: 48 vs. 26
Week 13: 41.4 vs. 30.27
Week 14: 37 vs. 33.2
Week 15: 31 vs. 22
Week 16: 39.6 vs. 40
2018 Average Weekly Mileage: 42.3 miles
2017 Average Weekly Mileage: 32.9 miles
So I averaged about 10 miles per week higher this year. I could see getting that average up to 45-50 miles per week. I think that would be doable.

Long Runs Compared 2018 vs. 2017:
Week 1: 16 vs. 7
Week 2: 10k vs. 10k
Week 3: 18 vs. 10
Week 4: 15 vs. 12
Week 5: 20 vs. 14
Week 6: 15 vs. 16
Week 7: 20 vs. 18
Week 8: 15 vs. 15
Week 9: 22 vs. 20
Week 10: 8 vs. 10k
Week 11: half-marathon vs. 22
Week 12: 20 vs. 8
Week 13: 13 vs. 12
Week 14: 10 vs. 12
Week 15: 8 vs. 5.5
Week 16: Marathon!

Fall Races Compared 2018 vs. 2017:
Blue Moon 10k (August) 44:13 vs. 46:04
Corndog Challenge 5k (September) 20:15 vs. 21:51
Tulsa Run 15k (October) 1:06:20 vs. 1:07:39
Run to the Lights 5k (November) 20:04 vs. 20:40
Route 66 Marathon 3:25:27 vs. 3:38:58

My current plan is to take the whole month of December easy, with no hard workouts, just easing back into 40-50 miles a week. My longest run last week was 4 miles and this week will probably be 5 or 6. Last week I ran 13 miles and this week won't be much over that. I'm really going to ease back into things. Then I'll start my training cycle probably in January with the Aquarium Run Half-Marathon as my goal race this spring. It is my hope that they have the turn around in the correct place this year so if I run a PR, I'll actually have the official time for it! Until then it will be fun running and back to the trails. I love the off season because it means more trail running which is a nice reset for my body and my mind!

Some trail running this summer. I became friends with a guy in our running group and this was his cover photo on Facebook, I was surprised to find myself photobombing his sunset picture!

Half and Full Marathons

I was looking back over Route 66 Marathon posts on Route 66 Marathon day because I was a little sad not to be participating this year. Then I came across my post from 2019 where I listed all my half and full marathon times. I've added some more races to the list since then, mostly virtual, so I thought I'd update it with my virtual races included. I've surpassed 20 half-marathons which was a fun, little benchmark. I thought I would also add my 50k to this post in case I ever run another ultra so I can track them here as well. Since I added that, it seemed like I should also add my 25ks so I did that as well. That 1:33 half-marathon time still eludes me. I've now run every time from 1:30-1:38, except for a 1:33. Which is funny because I've run 1:34:13 on a course that was long so technically I've run a 1:33 but no official time in the 1:33s. I was planning to run my first official marathon since November 2018 this spring. I got the flu during my first week of the training cycle which pushed everything back 2 weeks because I was sick for a week and then needed a week to ease back into things. Then a month later I got Covid. Ty told me that was a sign I needed to get a new hobby. I decided it was a sign I needed to not run a marathon this spring, haha! I figured it was best to just scrap the marathon so I wouldn't rush coming back after Covid. Thankfully the version I got is all upper respiratory so it hasn't effected my lungs! Here's my list of all my half-marathons, marathons, ultras, and 25ks.

Running my PR Half-Marathon at the Golden Driller Half Marathon.

Half Marathons:

1:30:41, Golden Driller Half Marathon, 2019
1:31:06, Aquarium Run, 2018
1:31:35, Mighty Mo Half Marathon, 2007
1:31:49, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2016

1:32:32, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2019

1:32:39, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2007

1:32:55, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2018

1:34:11, Run for the Ranch Half Marathon, 2007 

1:34:13, Aquarium Run Half Marathon, 2017

1:34:40, Aquarium Run Half Marathon, 2019

1:35:25, Little Rock Half Marathon, 2009
1:35:43, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2015 (8 months after Elise was born)

1:36:49, Virtual Chisholm Trail Half Marathon, 2020

1:36:55, Mythical Half Marathon, 2021
1:36:59, Jenks Half Marathon, 2013 (10 months after Carter was born)

1:37:29, Run OK Virtual Half Marathon, 2020
1:38:05, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2013 (9 months after Carter was born)
1:41:08, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2015 (7 months after Elise was born)
1:51:40, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2011 (ran the race sick)
1:56:44, Prairie Fire Half Marathon, 2014 (14 weeks pregnant with Elise)
2:01:50, Hospital Hill Half Marathon, 2008 (I ran this one after being sick for over a month and learned to respect the distance!)
2:18:12, Route 66 Half Marathon, 2012 (32 weeks pregnant with Carter)

Totals:
22 half-marathons
2 run while pregnant
4 run less than a year after giving birth

2 Virtual Halves (thanks, Covid!)

Running my fastest trail 25k at War Eagle.

25ks:

2:14:20, War Eagle Trail Running Festival 25k, 2020

2:29:30, Flint and Steel Trail 25k, 2021

2:37:59, Armadillo Ultra Trail 25k, 2018

Ending my marathon drought by running my first marathon in 9 years at the Route 66 Marathon in 2017.

Marathons:

3:25:27, Route 66 Marathon, 2018

3:38:58, Route 66 Marathon, 2017

3:40:05, Route 66 Marathon, 2008
3:43:04, Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, 2009 (The wind was out of control.)

3:46:15, Virtual Boston Marathon, 2020

3:58:04, Route 66 Marathon, 2009 (Ran with a sinus infection and bronchitis.)

Totals: 
6 marathons
2 BQs (Interestingly enough, not my 2 fastest times. Since Boston Qualifying times keep getting faster, I qualified with a 3:40 when I was in my 20's and then didn't qualify with a 3:38 when I was in my 30's!)

1 Virtual Race (thanks, Covid!)

Running during my only ultra marathon.

50k:

4:38:40, Walnut River Gravel Run 50k, 2021