Hello everyone,
I hope you'll allow me to join you here. I have been perfectly on plan for 22 days and have had great results. I hit my 20lb. mark over the weekend and hope to lose a bunch more (not putting a number on that yet) I'm slowly easing myself back into running which I gave up about a year and a half ago. I'm back up to about 2 miles and want to run a a HM in April. Hope everyone has a great day! Thanks for listening.

Jessica

Good Morning,

OK - so I have lived to tell about it! I survived my first half marathon and I have to say that it was the most positive running experience I have had to date. I'm not exactly sure why I feel like this but I think it is just the sense of accomplishment in laying out a plan, doing the training and completing the race. I had three goals for this race: #1 was to finish - yup, did that. #2 was to not walk at all during the race no matter how slow I was going up the hills - yup, did that (THIS was without a doubt my biggest accomplishment on the course yesterday!) and #3 and the least important in my mind was to run it under 2:30 even 2:29:59 would have been cool with me - yup, coolrunning has me at 2:21:34.

So here's how it all went. I went to bed nice and early 9:30 which with the clocks being turned back was really like 8:30 and I needed to get up at 6:00 so I got plenty of rest and slept like a log - no nerves kept me up - YAY!

My biggest dilemna of the morning was how to dress. It was 36 when I woke up and the high was suppossed to be 55. I first got dressed in a long sleeved shirt and capri style pants but changed into my favorite "fast" shorts (the ones with a zebra print on the hips - that makes you FAST!! - LOL) and wore sweats over them until 5 min before the start.

I met up with my cousin who I talked into running this with me a couple of weeks ago. She has been running for 3 years but does 5 milers and 5K's. I had been asking her to train with me since July but she finally took the bait at the end of October. We stretched, peed and took a 1/2 mile warm up run and it was off to wait for the start. (DH & DS did not get there before the race started but I knew they would be there for the finish - it was chilly and they would be waiting for a long time so I told them to come around 10:00 figuring I would be done by 11:15 to 11:30).

It was loud and we could not hear the speaker giving the instructions - there was no national anthem and if a gun went off I didn't hear it but we all started running. My first observation of this start was that the pace was so much slower then any race I had been in. My first mile was a 9:20 pace and I didn't feel pushed by the crowd (my usual first mile in a race ends up being in the mid 8's because of the crowd push). I liked this start. I wasn't winded and my legs never felt heavy like they do after a 1/2 mile in a short race.

The biggest challenge for me were the hills. These were hills like I have NEVER run. My cousin and I stayed together throughout the entire race. We really enjoyed the entire race - hills and all. I used my hill mantra (or is it Bo's?) I LOVE HILLS, I LOVE HILLS and I matched this up to my breathing - I do think it helped. I shared this with my cousin at the top of what was the worst hill - .76 long. I told her I might modify it if we hit another hill like that to I LOVE HILLS, I LOVE HILLS, _ _ _ _ THESE HILLS! Honestly, I never changed my mantra - I still LOVE THOSE HILLS - but I will NEVER run them again!!

Most of the final mile was all downhill and I was surprised at how there was really no one there to cheer us on. My Garmin told me we were close to the finish and yet no one. We took a left onto Elm Street which was the final .20 of the course and TONS of people were there to cheer us in. My cousin and I had talked about how neither one of us was going to try to sprint to outdo the other and that we would finish together. We gave it our best pace which really was a full run for the final .20 and our time on cool running is identical 2:21:34 (although they list her first - so I guess technically she beat me!! LOL).

Hubby and DS9 were there at the finish along with my Aunt and Uncle who I guess were screaming my name and I never saw them. Funny how the adrenaline kicks in like that. My son said it seemed like we were ignoring them - that he had his hand out and practically touched me as I ran by and I never even saw them. I assured him that I would NEVER ignore him but that I was so focused on getting to the finish line that I truely didn't see him - he seemed to understand. My only disapointment for this race is that my oldest children didn't come out to support me. They are 19 and 18, have their own cars and could have easily come. Instead they chose to sleep in. As a Mom I have supported everything they have ever done and a part of me is hurt that they couldn't give a little of themselves back. I guess thats how teenagers can be - self absorbed.

Today, I woke up an hour ealier then I needed to (time change thing hasn't caught up to my body yet). I was a bit surprised at how my whole body really felt decent. One knee is a little sore when I go down stairs and my hip joint is a little sore but I have no muscle soreness at all. With the extra hour I had I grabbed a cup of coffee and went out to the hot tub for a soak. It was so peaceful, chilly and hot - it gave me some alone time to reflect on yesterday's experience.

I am very happy!

Have good runs and enjoy your points! Colleen

Ok I'm going to try to post these pictures again. I haven't run since the race Saturday. My next race is the Mercedes Half Marathon on 2/10/2007. I think that our group is taking a short break before we get into training for that.

My weigh in day is today and I only lost .2 lbs. It's still a loss so I'll take it. I can tell that my Halloween snacking got the best of me. All the candy is gone though, so no more temptation!



Our group at the finish line:


Just me in front of the finish line


Lining up. I was so cold!!


The post run celebration


Me and our coach Danny





http://This message has been edited by Brandyshea (edited Nov-05-2007).

Good morning everyone!
WI stayed the same. Guess the Halloween candy caught up to me. At least I didn't gain, right?

Colleen-Great story! Sounds like a great race. I can understand your dillemma in decided what to wear. I have issues when just dressing for my training runs.

Brandy-Love the pics! Cute running skirt. And .2 is better than nothing, right?

For everyone running on Thanksgiving, what are you planning on wearing? I know I should plan on running making it feel twenty degrees warmer, but I'm so nervous about being properly attired. Hat? Gloves? Help! I'm going with runners that know what they're doing and they kinda looked at me like I was crazy when I asked what to wear. Apparantly newbie nerves mean nothing to them.

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Hey Guys,
I have been completly MIA for about 2 months now. Usually when I have been MIA I was still getting a chance to read the posts but I haven't been able to at all. In the beginning i was only a week behind, always playing catch up and then a month went by. So I don't know whats been going on with everyone but I do know that you all are doing great as always!!!

Pluggin-WHOOHOO on the HM!!!!

So Many new people!!

The reason I have been MIA from here and also have not worked out in 2 months is the fact that I had quit my job without having a new job or an apartment. My boss hired someone before I even had my first interview. So working out was put on the back burner and I came up to Boston once a week for interviews and had to apply every night. Well my boss hired someone to start Oct 8th and I had only until October 24th to find a job and an apartment. But I did so and now I am up in Boston living with two strangers and I just started a new job last week. But the first thing I did when I came up was join a gym! I then had to take the first week off of running again because I was having furniture delivered and had to be home for it. But starting today I am OP!!!

Sorry for the very long catch up

So Excited to be back-WHOOHOO

Last year I finished the 5k in 39 minutes, Iam on the left.


This year I finished in 31:35 almost 8 minutes faster!!


I like this one DH snapped right on the finish time exactly.



http://This message has been edited by shannon4 (edited Nov-05-2007).