Was thankful to spend the night with Michele the night before and spend time with friends and her sweet family. We got to hang together all morning in the athlete village and even ran the first 2-3 miles together which was fun. We didn’t realize we’d run such similar times or else we’d have just stayed together!

Going into this race I thought on a really great day I could break 3:30 on the NYC course. I have always heard how difficult the bridges and hills are. It’s a pretty rolling course and if I’m being honest, I’m pretty intimidated by hills. I live in Indianapolis where it’s really flat and I don’t seek out hills ever.

I did not have a big build or base of long runs for this race – which was why I felt cautious about how fast I could handle. Since Boston in April I kept a consistent 8-12 mile long run on the weekends but other than that only did one 15, 17 and 20 miler leading into this race. I just really thought it wasn’t enough long runs to produce the time that I ran on Sunday.

Here’s why I think I was able to run that 3:23 given then lack of training. 

• Experience. This was my 16th marathon. I know very well the pain of the last 6-10 miles of the marathon and I think my mind and body benefitted from that hugely.
• Being mentally prepared for the hills. Not physically but mentally. I actually thought they would be worse than they were.
  • Ashley really prepped me for the Queensboro bridge at mile 15 and that was HARD, but I was ready for it. I was ready to get up it and down it. And surprisingly marched past quite a few people up it. The downhill of the Queensboro bridge heading into all the cheering crowds was an amazing feeling.
  • The last bridge at 21 (I think it was 21) was really challenging but I just kept telling myself YOU WILL recover from this hill. Get up it, loosen up and recover on the downhill. That was kind of my mantra on the hills and bridges… YOU WILL RECOVER.
  • The last hill though at mile 23ish- 5th ave. murdered me. I was in a fine space mentally but physically I just held on as fast as my body would let me move. A lot of grimacing but also some laughing through the grimaces. One of those things where you can just do what you can do. My legs were so heavy I was turning them over as fast as I think I could It was similar to how I felt in Boston going up heartbreak in April.

Fun facts from my race:

• Fastest mile was mile 16 when I dropped a 7:06
• Slowest mile was mile 24 when I dropped a 8:42
• Half marathon split: 1:40:26
• First mile over 8 minutes (I was trying so hard to stay under that) was mile 22 when I ran an 8:14
• Total time: 3:23:05
• Average pace: 7:45/Mile
• Positive Split by 2 Minutes and 13 seconds

I knew I was running aggressive. I knew it was likely I could blow up entirely on the second half but decided I’d just see what happens. My speed work would indicate I can run at least a 3:23 – but I haven’t built that up too much or for very long and then the big thing was the lack of long runs. So I knew it was big gamble. My legs were feeling the faster miles by mile 10 but I felt like I was having a day and was feeling very mentally strong. (there were definitely some moments of doubt) but I was pretty relaxed about everything. It’s just running, this is for fun and this is an incredible gift that I am healthy to be out here pushing my limits. So let’s go all in and see where that lands me.

It was fun to run hard. In Boston in April I just wasn’t physically ready to run hard for 26 miles. I was 8 months post partum and my body wasn’t there yet. That was very clear to me when I ramped up longer runs. Over the past three or four months I have seen my body go back to it’s natural, happy place. That’s been totally gradual and it’s due to more time post partum, exercising more consistently, eating food that fuels me well while also having treats and wine and more sleep.

This race has me excited about what’s to come. I’m not planning to ramp up crazy or anything like that, I’m just planning to gradually keep building off where I am currently. In the past I’ve really wanted to get back to that PR shape quicker. (My PR is 3:11:52) A lot of that is because I knew I still wanted to have more babies and wanted to squeak out a PR between kids. Man that’s hard to do. So this will be the first time since I started having kids in 2012 that I’ve been able to just let my fitness build wand that is really exciting to me.

Thank you to everyone who cheered on Sunday and all the kind messages on social media- the crowds were so loud it was really hard to catch everyone, but I know I caught a good handful of people and even grabbed a kiss from a couple of you (Beth, Mary and Ashley!!)

Priority – Make out with your friends at mile 19 of a marathon.

You don’t cry as you approach the finish line?

Here are my splits for the whole race: 

Ok, that took way too long and I should be prepping for my live show this weekend but I really wanted to get some thoughts out! Perhaps I can do a quick podcast on it next week as well if people would be interested in hearing. Let me know!

Congrats to everyone else who ran this weekend!!

I ran this race for the first time in 2005. It was my very first half marathon. My mom, dad and one of my sisters did it too. My sisters and I actually just recorded my third podcast episode and we discuss the experience.  (More on the podcast in an upcoming post) I ran the first 6 miles with my mom and then finished on my own. I wasn’t trained- had ran around 6 miles for the longest run leading up. It was so hard. In the 10 years since that first time, I’ve done it 8 of the 10  years. And it’s fun every time.

Once you’ve ran a few half marathons, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon of “Oh the mini is too crowded”. People who have done it a few times, sometimes think, I’ve been there done that, I don’t like it, there are too many people…. It’s only for first timers. I’m here to say that I am no first timer and I LOVE the mini. Here’s why:

• It’s an amazing event for our city. HELLO- it brings thousands of people into Indy and is great for the local economy. Duh.

• It’s fun. Stop taking yourself so seriously. You aren’t trying out for the Olympic team and it’s not a big deal if you have to weave around in the first few miles. If you really want to avoid that- run a race beforehand to get yourself a starting spot in a closer to the front corral. Last year I ran a 1:38 starting in something like corral F (which is sort of far back for that time) and it really wasn’t all that bad. I mean there was plenty of weaving, a bathroom break, and it was fine.

• How fun is it to see our city filled with people full of energy and happiness (or despair if you check in on them at mile 10) all morning. You’ve got first timers, people who do it every year, people running for fun, people running with a family member or friend who are doing the race for the first time ever, people trying to PR, people running for a charity close to their heart. There are SO many reasons they are out there testing their limits or just having fun and it’s a good thing. Who cares if you have to bump elbows with some of them for the first few miles?

• It’s the 40th running of the 500 festival mini AND the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. That is cool.

• You get to run through Haughville. You might say it’s a dumpy part of town, but I say, open your eyes when you run through and think about how maybe you could be a part of making it better.

• Speedway is totally the new “in” part of town with Big Woods, Dare Devil — I noticed how cute it was and how much it had changed already last year when we ran through. My friend who runs the speedway running club told me I won’t even recognize it this year.

• The finishing shoot is amazing- they play old clips from the 500 which is so cool. The stretch on New York is long, but it’s a fun and fast last mile with plenty of people cheering you along the way.

This is the breakdown of my 500 Festival Mini Marathon Experiences:

• 2005 – First Half Marathon Ever- along with my mom, dad and one of my sisters. Nobody was prepared. We all wanted to die. I ran a 1:59:52. My goal halfway through the race became to break 2:00. The longest run leading up to it was 6 miles. I was REALLY proud of that sub 2 hours. I so wish I could find a picture. Sad face.

• 2006 – Started dating Glenn this year and convinced him to run it with me. I think he beat me though. No he did. I just checked. He ran a 1:46:24 and I ran a 1:47:15. At least he didn’t walk. When he ran his first 5K with me the year before, he had to take a walk break halfway through.The best part about the picture below- well there are a lot of best parts, but Glenn is rocking a cotton pizza express shirt that said “I get it every night” and you better believe that cotton shirt had blood streamed down the front of the shirt at the end from his bloody nipples. We didn’t know about body glide back then. I can’t even talk about the leg chaffing I experienced. Because my legs don’t not touch. (There’s an inside joke there; after the race, as I was basically crying from the leg chaffing pain, I looked over at my mom who had ran too and asked her if she had the same issue, to which she responded with “My legs don’t touch”) So that will forever be etched in my mind. My legs touch, but my moms legs don’t touch. Whatever man. Pro leg touching over here. (No bashing my mom, she’s great, these are just the things I just like to call her out on)

• 2007 – We ran again, Glenn ran 1:52:14 and I have no clue what I ran, because I must have used someone else’s bib. There is no record of Lindsey Andersen running, but I did run it that year.

2007 Mini Marathon

• 2008 – This was the year, we got married, bought a house and ran our first marathon. We did this as a training run for the marathon. I ran a 1:37:30 and Glenn ran 1:37:45. This is actually a funny story, because we started the race together and broke apart around mile 6 and never saw each other again until the finishing shoot… where I was in front. Sorry bout’ ya Glenn. Your soon to be wife won. But really because of this race, I realized it was a possibility that I could try for a BQ on that first marathon. It planted the seed of confidence I needed. (keep in mind BQ standards were 5 minutes slower back in the day) Oh my gosh. We were babies.

• 2009 – This is the year I trained senior citizens at the John H. Boner Community Center to walk the 13.1. It was a long process, but it was pretty cool. I spent a lot of hours walking with this group and riding my bike next to them in the months leading up to the race. We must have been newly weds, because I somehow convinced Glenn to walk the whole race with us. It took us over 4 hours. And like Mildred always said “who said we couldn’t do it.” Mildred was one of the seniors I worked with who is no longer with us- she actually wasn’t one of the seniors who was able to do the race, but that was one of her favorite phrases and I carry it on. And let me tell you- this was an experience these women will never forget. What an accomplishment.

• 2010: The year we thought we were too cool. I actually think I had Glenn working all day cleaning up one of the seniors houses. There are stories for another day of all the things I had Glenn doing when I worked at the JHBCC. He’s moved furniture, put together desks, rode around on holiday lights tour of the city, made chili, took the day off work to help me with a picnic for 350 senior citizens. I was really good at bringing him into my work. For some reason, he’s never brought me into his… he must not trust my spreadsheet skills.

• 2011: The year I coached a bunch of Tech HS kids and ran with them: This was part of The Super Bowl Legacy project that I was proud to be a part of. When the Super Bowl came to Indianapolis, the community center that I worked at was heavily involved in all of the efforts to revitalize the city- specifically the near eastside. This was one of several amazing projects that came about due to the Super Bowl Legacy project. Also, my little sister SHELBY (who was rocking the pink hair way before it was cool, ran her first and only half marathon that year and wrote about it.

• 2013: The year I grabbed a bib and used it as a training run. I was just coming off my Shamrock Marathon PR and pretty much serial racing. I had very recently raced Rock the Relay, (ran that really hard) and the Carmel Half Marathon the following week. I had just started triathlon training for the first time and was on my way to my first half Ironman.

• 2014: The Year Glenn ran & Marshall and I cheered. I had just ran Boston, was newly pregnant, but didn’t know it yet and was dealing with some series plantar fasciitis. Glenn ran a 1:24 and then I sent him home with Marshall so I could hobble/run home with my plantar fasciitis foot.

• 2015: My first half post Louis. It was fun for the first half of the race and I worked hard for the second half. The second half ended up being a great confidence building run for what was to come over the summer and into the fall. (before I epically tore my plantar fascia) DAMN FEET.

I haven’t full out raced the mini since 2008 right before our first marathon, but I’ll plan to do that sometime in the next couple of years. I do plan to run for sure this year, but not sure if it will be used as a race, training run or for fun run.

All this to say. I’ve only missed two years since the first time I ran this race. And now looking back, I’m sad I broke a good streak. You should get on the train too man. It’s fun. And you ain’t too cool to run it. Also- if you’ve never run a half marathon- this is a great place to start!

Have you ever run the 500 Festival Mini Marathon?

Are you running it this year?

What’s your favorite part of the race? 

Why do you Mini?

But I’m feeling myself again. Lucky you. I took 6 weeks off for the darn plantar fasciitis back in May right after Boston. During that time, I found out I was pregnant. Something I’d been hoping for ever since I stopped breast feeding Marshall back in March 2013. The kind of thing where every month you have a glimmer of hope you might be pregnant. My stupid genetic mutation has me wanting to speed up having kids as I know a hysterectomy is in my nearish future. Marshall will be 2.5 when the baby comes though and I’m really not the kind of person who would handle kids much closer in age very well. My patience could use some work. So, looking back on months I’d hoped I was pregnant,  I’m so thankful for this timing and am confident it is right for our family.

While I won’t be running any fast times in 2014, I will be running as much through my pregnancy as I can & loving the joy it brings me with no pressure. I did run throughout my whole pregnancy with Marshall, but of course I have no clue if that will happen again. I’m also doing the whole stroller running thing pregnant- something I’ve never taken on. These are some slow miles.

I’m 17 weeks- baby expected to arrive January 15th. I’m already hungry for some serious training in 2015. I ran my fastest times ever in the year to year and a half after having Marshall. Then my surgeries slowed me down a bit, but I needed a little break at that time anyway. This is what I love about the pregnancy thing, it gives me time to relax, reflect and get rejuvenated for what is to come.

The below picture was taken when we were in San Diego for the Women’s Running Cover Shoot at 13 weeks. I’m popping out sooner with this one. I was rockin’ more of a tiny baby pooch than a cute little 6 pack that most people do on the cover of a running magazine. I’m not mad about it.

So my good old plantar fasciitis wasn’t a cover up, but it came at a decent time when I was ready to rest my body anyway. It was weird to not run the first few weeks of my pregnancy and pick back up at 10 weeks. It took some getting used to but I’m feeling good now. Still being cautious of the PT, but I’ve built up to running 3-5 miles with the stroller and a longer run (8 miles so far) on the weekend, sans stroller. Running nice and easy and just enjoying it for what it is. I’ve been particularly thankful for the cooler temps July brought this year.

For now, I am planning on running the Monumental Half in November with Marshall 2 in tow. (We don’t know if it’s a boy or girl, and I don’t think we are going to find out, but I think I’ll just call he/she Marshall 2) We’ll see what I have to say about that here in a few months though. (Both running the half and the not finding out part….)

Did I keep my secret well? Where you already on to me?

]]> https://lindseyhein.com/2014/08/05/this-is-the-right-time/feed/ 30 https://lindseyhein.com/2014/04/26/boston-recap/ https://lindseyhein.com/2014/04/26/boston-recap/#comments Sat, 26 Apr 2014 18:25:42 +0000 http://outforaruntraining.com/?p=2230 more »]]> When Boston registration opened last year I had decided I wasn’t going- then a couple days after registration opened, I gave in to the pressure of everyone else registering.  I felt like I’d be missing out on something incredibly special in the running community if I didn’t go. I decided if I would run, I’d just go by myself and find some roommates. (Only one plane ticket & splitting a room 4 ways would make a lot more sense than both Glenn & I going cost wise and then we also wouldn’t have to find someone to watch Marshall for 3 days)

So, I simply tweeted that I was looking for some girls running or spectating who would be interested in rooming with me, secretly hoping no one crazy or annoying responded. The names changes multiple times, but I ended up in a room with Katie, Ruthie & Sarah. All amazing women and I’m so glad I had to opportunity to get to know them and spend the weekend together. It’s crazy how you meet some people for the first time and you can “pick up” like you’ve known each other for a long time. This group definitely worked.

With the roomies:

Katie & I at the Oiselle Team Dinner. I’ve got a lazy eye going on or something. Thank you so much to Rebecca for opening up your beautiful home to us! 

Was also so much fun meeting a lot of Oiselle teammates 

About the actual Race:

I had  Blast on the bus and hanging with some awesome ladies before the run. This was such a different experience than the first time I came. I don’t recommend running Boston as your second marathon, I really don’t. It was intimidating and I was all alone, didn’t know anyone. For some reason in a sea of thousands of people where you don’t know anyone, you feel more lonely than if you were with only 5 people knowing no one. This year, I felt like I knew everyone and it was one big runner party- so much fun.

With the girls heading out to Hopkinton on the buses. Yes we sat in the back of the bus and were super chatty the whole time. Yes we were probably annoying to those around us. No we didn’t care.

I knew going into this race, my range for my finish time would be between 3:25-3:40. Thought if I felt amazing & super rested I could pull 3:20 out, but not likely- around 3:30 was what was most realistic. I started the race with Ashley and we planned to hang together through most of it. (She got bored with my crawling at mile 18 though and decided to move along a bit) It ended up being a pretty hot day- I think the temps were nearing 70 when I finished and it was super sunny. I felt the effects of the heat early on. I only skipped one water stop and started dumping water on my head at every stop pretty early on.

We ran the first 10K too hard- both full knowing that we were but the down hills were a lot of fun and running a bit faster was enjoyable. I knew for sure we wouldn’t hold that pace, (7:20-7:30) but we were cruising, super chatty and having fun. I bet I high fived 100 people in the beginning. Eventually I put a stop to the high fives because they were starting to wind me. They push you back.  I tried to make sure to give one for kids who looked under 5ish either way, how can you say no to that. The first 6-7 miles ticked off quick. At mile 8 we decided to pull back a bit.

My left foot where I have some painful plantar fasciitis was giving me trouble early on and I was kind of worried I would end up hobbling to the finish, thankfully it let up a bit once we hit 14 or 15. My legs were feeling the hills around mile 11 and they just burned up through the rest of the race. I had anticipated this and it was completely expected.

At mile 13, we passed the girls at Wellsely and I gave two kisses and the second I literally knocked the girl off the metal railing they were all hanging over. Oops. Guess I got a little aggressive. If I wasn’t racing, I was gonna get some kisses. I don’t remember Wellsely being nearly as loud or fun when I ran in 2009, but it was by far one of the highlights of the course this year.

Ashley and I even took a selfie during Wellsely– YES Ashley posted on Facebook during the marathon. Multitasking at it’s finest. (No, I don’t normally carry a phone when I race, but I brought it along for fun, plus in case I couldn’t get to my checked bag at the finish, I wanted to have it one me.

I had some serious moments of doubt once we were through that section. For some reason, I’m finding out that mile 14 is usually a tough one mentally for me. I told Ashley I felt like crying and she told me then I should cry. I chose not to but was having a hard time wrapping my mind around 12 more miles. The legs clearly weren’t ready for running 7:30s for the first half of the race. You know what you do when that happens? You collect yourself, slow down a bit and just keep running. Remind yourself that you are grateful to be there and you get to do what you’re doing right now.

The rest of the race was pretty much just run, it will hurt and you’ll be fine- once again I found myself smiling big on the uphills even though I was running at a very slow pace and my legs felt like 100 lbs. At one point I realized I had smiled so much my cheeks hurt. Smiling through pain makes it so much better. Every mile, I just focused on getting to the next because the thought of 3, 4, 7, 8 more miles seemed awfully far and the single miles were ticking by pretty quick. A mile really isn’t that long. Really, it’s not so if you think of it like that, it helps… most of the time.

While the downhills wear on you know matter what- I could tell I’m a much stronger runner than I was in 2009 (I better be!) based on the fact that it wasn’t incredibly painful to run down the hills. While it was more effort than what a downhill usually fills like and my legs were heavy, my quads weren’t screaming like they were the first time I ran this race. It’s pretty amazing what experience will do for you.

 I saw Michele and Leticia at mile 25 – this is how excited I was (Below pic) I thought I might see then sooner than that and wasn’t sure if I’d missed them. Was so glad they spotted me. Didn’t care one bit about losing time, made sure to run over and give them big hugs!

I have to say, it got to a point, I think around mile 23 when I was feeling pretty tanked that the screams were making my ears ring. There was insane energy and screaming through the whole race. Taking the turn down Boylston street was amazing. As I ran down the street on the last straight away, I was eyeing where to bombings happened last year, thinking it wouldn’t have happened yet at this time and all the chaos and sadness that took over the city just a little bit later in the day. I am grateful that I got to be a part of this day and honored to run the streets with people who have big dreams and care so deeply about what this race really meant this year.

Below is a picture of Ashley, Mary, Me & Laura. Ashley, Laura and I were all running for fun & Mary was racing. She killed her current PR running a 3:08! I’m excited to be back in the game and aiming for times like that sometime soon! I really am SO happy for her. She honestly killed it- she started a few corral back from us, but didn’t pass us until mile 14 and clearly KILLED the second half of the race. Well deserved and well ran my friend. So happy to meet you in real life. Interested to see what your splits were!

I ended up running a 3:32:48. I’m completely content with that. My mom reminded me that it’s literally only been three months since my surgery. While it seems like I could have plenty of time between surgeries to build and then pick back up after- especially since the reconstruction wasn’t a huge procedure, it’s still a hard thing to do. You have to factor in so much to prevent injury and keep your body healthy (especially the older you get… not that 30 is very old… but it’s not 20!)

Oh and I literally jumped into the starting corrals with Todd Oliver, Carmel Marathon Race Director and then crossed the finish line at the same time as Michelle- one of our Carmel Marathon Pacers and Dan Ball, one of my Indy friends from Back on My Feet.  (Dan ran a stellar race- he also wasn’t going for a PR, but ran amazing negative splits!)

A great weekend. I’m so glad I decided to go. I think it’s so important to go do stuff like this, I want Marshall to grow up seeing me do things I love and being adventurous- sometimes together as a family and sometimes on my own. And to me finding three random girls on twitter who I’d never actually met and heading out to Boston by myself was kind of adventurous haha. Maybe I’ll get a little more dangerous next time.

Thanks for tracking and all the love on Monday- was so much fun knowing friends where cheering for me and all the other runners out there! 

Did you run Boston? How did it go? What was your favorite part?

Did you live stream the race? 

GO MEB!

The Hoosier Half Marathon is a very hilly course. Elevation for this race was 760 feet…. now that Glenn is all fancy with the Garmin he bought from Marathon Dan, we know these kinds of things from the watch. Hilly course or not, I’m in no shape to try to PR and today my intentions were to run strong, run smart and have a good time working hard. I can honestly say, GOALS accomplished. I was working, no doubt, but I was smiling through most of the race. There was no moment in this race where I felt defeated. Even though my time was much slower, I felt a lot stronger than I did at Indy Women’s Half…. and happier for that matter. (I always underestimate the heat we had that day, not to mention, I was just off) I went into this race with only two very short tempo runs since January (one in February, when I promptly aggravated my hamstring and then one this week) and absolutely no speed work other than that. Just very easy miles (mostly around 8-8:30pace) and a decent amount of time biking compared to my norm.

My mile splits are below- they are kind of weird, since the course is so hilly. Mile 9 for instance, is up Winslow hill, it’s a short hill compared to the the Jordan extension on Mile 4, but it’s steep and I was moving slow. It’s easy to get discouraged on the big hills, because you’re huffin’ and puffin’ and feel like your crawling, but I kept telling myself to “just do me” and not worry about who was passing or anything at all, just get to the top and roll. I would usually be passed by a couple of guys up the hill and then I’d roll past them on the downhill. I’m a good downhill runner?  I would literally smile at the top of every hill and even as I was climbing them I was smiling. There weren’t a ton of spectators on the course, but they were probably wondering why I was so happy to be struggling up a hill.

My Splits:

Mile 1- 7:07

Mile 2- 7:05

Mile 3- 7:23

Mile 4- 7:30 – Long uphill

Mile 5- 6:50 – Long downhill

Mile 6- 7:18

Mile 7- 7:05

Mile 8- 6:55 – downhill

Mile 9- 7:42 – Steep uphill

Mile 10- 7:29

Mile 11- 7:26

Mile 12- 7:28

Mile 13- 7:25

Glenn finished way ahead of me and took a couple of pictures. I love the one below because it is truly a picture of how I felt the whole race. I seriously felt like I was smiling the whole time. There was no pressure here, just wanted to work. I looked at my watch only one time during the whole race and that was at mile 1. I kept it under my arm warmers from then on and never checked back. I had a pretty good feeling what I was running though and since time didn’t matter, I decided there was no need to look.

Glenn had a great race. He is also coming off a bit of a baby injury (had some achilles stuff going on) and took some time off but has been slowly adding in some speed work and building miles. He didn’t decide if he was going to run hard until about a quarter mile into the race.  We started together and he slowly just drifted away from me after about 2 minutes, I just said “well, see ya!.” Going into the race, he was thinking of just running with me, we also contemplated just running the pace he’s pacing for the Carmel Marathon next weekend (around 7:25 pace, which was pretty close to what I actually ran) BUT, when we registered the night before the race and it was $70 an entry, I told him he should just race so we could get our money worth. He ended up running 1:22:30, which is 4 minutes off his PR, but a PR he ran in better shape, on a very flat course. He was very happy with the time & effort (his splits are amazing) and it gave him a good idea of where he really is. Yay! (I’ll make him write a race report soon…)

We could both definitely tell we’ve been doing some runs in Bloomington, while I wasn’t super speedy up the hills, I felt ok, whereas normally I would have been dying up the hills. Glenn dominated them. He has always been pretty strong on hills. I think it has a lot to do with being willing to hurt more than most people. We’ve both decided that we like a hilly course. Breaks it up and in my head the miles go by faster because of all the change. The miles in this race ticked up so quick. They might slow your time down sometimes, but it’s really fun to run down them.

After I saw Glenn with about a half mile to go, I realized there was a girl pretty close in front of me and immediately thought, wait Lindsey what are you doing, there’s no reason to not go pass that chick. So I passed her and with that last 200 meters running pretty hard, with that last 100 being up a gross hill. I guess it put me over the edge because I immediately threw up when I crossed the finish line. I don’t think that would have happened if I wasn’t pushing that last bit in. P

I placed 19/493 for women and 3/121 in my age group. It was a good day. Hopefully Glenn will write up his race report soon.

Do you ever feel like your victory races aren’t neccesarily on PR days? 

How do you do on hills? Love them, hate them? Love to hate them? 

So today I warmed up 15 minutes, ran 30 minutes hardish and cooled down for 40 minutes. I started out the 30 minutes at 6:53 pace and realized it was too fast 5 minutes in. Bummer. But I quickly reminded myself, you can’t jump right back to where you were. I took it down two notches to 7:03 and held that until the last 10 minutes where I sped up to 6:58 and then back to 6:53 for the last 5 minutes. It felt good. The effort was there but it wasn’t out of control. Lot’s of smiles, deep breaths, good music, some singing (hopefully just mouthing words) & a good book. If I was doing an interval workout, I wouldn’t read during my on sets, but this pace was controlled enough that I was able to read. I’m reading Rob Lowe’s book – Stories I only tell my friends, it’s pretty good. Don’t ask me why I’m reading it, picked it out to be a mindless entertaining read and it’s doing the job. Pretty interesting too- he was one driven kid trying to break into acting.

As I was running and throughly enjoying the endorphins the hard work was providing me, I thought a lot about being content where I am right now. Stop comparing things to where I was, where I want to be and to whatever everyone else is doing. I think this is something we need to wake up every morning and remind ourselves of depending on our circumstances. Back in December, I was running 10 mile days 4 days a week and was loving it. Now is not the time for it. One 10 mile day plus a long run with some shorties mixed in is where I’m at this week and that’s just fine.

I think I’ll run the Hoosier Half this weekend– I want to get 20 miles in on Saturday and I’ll sandwich the race in between the 20. I’ll push myself during the race, but I’m not sure what that will produce and honestly it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to be in the moment. Enjoy it for what it is, no thinking about what I could be doing or have the potential to do. I am where I am NOW. Working hard feels good no matter where your current shape is.

 So completely irrelevant to the running, I thought I throw in some of my favorite pics from this past week: 

Family pic at my parents house. I wanted to take a picture since we were wearing clothes that weren’t workout clothes. We had a major fail trying to get Marshall in the picture, so just let him do his thing and it turned out pretty good anyway:

Marshal and Cadence. Besties, or so Marshall thinks:

Twins and let’s just note that this kid ALWAYS has a ball in hand:

And this is one I love. The neighbor kids who I mentioned in my last post came over yesterday and played basketball in the front yard, while I enjoyed the sun & although they didn’t realize it, they were highly entertaining to Marshall and gave me a nice break. Gonna miss this house and neighborhood.

That’s all! 

What do you do to stay content right where you are? 

What’s your favorite part of a hard run? (My answer: Endorphins)

I have been following my own special “plan as you go” kind of training plan for Boston. It’s kind of fun to not be so calculated and just work on getting back to into the kind of shape I want to be in. I wanted so badly to get into PR shape after my prophylactic mastectomy and got myself into pretty darn good shape by January, but things just didn’t pan out how I wanted them to after the reconstructive surgery. I was already working on borrowed time after that one and there wasn’t much room for error. There’s a reason most good marathon training plans are at least 16 weeks. If they are only 12-16 weeks, there is likely a nice solid build phase before you really focus and I didn’t have time for all that. I needed 4-6 weeks of base building before serious training and it didn’t happen.

This past Saturday, my “all over the place” training had me running 20 miles. A decision I made after running 17 last weekend. I knew good and well that my legs weren’t going to be recovered from the hilly 17 miles last weekend. I ran them stronger & harder than I had anticipated and felt pretty good. I treated my body very nicely all week and then on Thursday, I ran for an hour on hills with a little pick up in the middle. I really have no idea how fast I ran for the pick up because I wasn’t wearing a watch but it was around 2-3ish miles hard. It felt fast though and it was up and down some good hills. I have done pretty much no speed work since I came back from surgery 2, except for that one baby tempo run I did too soon. (most of the reason, I’m behind now!) So these quick miles on hills definitely tired my legs more than they usually would. 

Needless to say, I knew it would be a slothfest on Saturday, but man I didn’t realize how much. My legs were dead from start to finish. Every mile was hard. At the beginning Glenn kept telling me they’d wake up, and while normally I would agree and I’d be preaching the same thing to anyone I’d run with- I knew that it wasn’t about waking them up. They were just done. Fried. I’m going to go ahead and say that a normal human would have decided to try again another day or most likely wait till the following weekend once they were 5 miles in. I’m stubborn and I was going to crawl my 20 miles if I had to.

We ran out to Griffy again from my parents house in Bloomington. The route we run from the eastside of town to Griffy is a nice rolling route, and then you get to run down Griffy hill, up Hinkle to Bethel and turn around- running back down Hinkle and up Griffy. These are some serious hills that I’ve ran many times and while they are always hard they’ve never felt like this. You are going to breath hard running up the hills no matter what, but your body doesn’t always feel like lead.

Normally Glenn would slow his pace and hang with me on an uphill but on Saturday, he wanted to get some work in up the hills and if he stayed with me, he could have just walked up them. I was determined not to walk, so I chugged along and at every peak I smiled and laughed because it had become comical that I was running on these legs and the thought that I had 12 miles to go made me laugh even more. It was a joke. I wish there was a video of the uphill shuffle crawl I was doing. I really didn’t feel like myself but that’s ok.

A lot of things can be what gets you through a run like that, but for me on Saturday, it was all about experience. It was honing in on all the times I’ve been there in marathons, all the times I’ve pushed my limits and knowing that it ends and you’ll be just fine. You just keep going. I kept telling Glenn- I know your legs have felt like this before, but I want to give you my legs for just 1 minute so you can understand what I’m dealing with here.

Our average pace for the run was about a minute slower than I’d normally run a hilly 20 miles. I didn’t ask our pace one time the entire run, but Glenn was keeping an eye on it. I think the only time he got really annoyed was when I pulled a 9:15 mile at mile 18. And then you know what he did? I heard his watch beep to mark the mile and he told me we were at mile 18 and when I was certain we were at 19. I almost collapsed thinking we had 2 miles to go and not 1. You know when you get your head and your heart set on how much farther you have? I hope there weren’t any kids running around in their yards (we were in Hyde Park) because there were words that aren’t very pretty or kid friendly that came flying out of my mouth. It wasn’t pretty.

Beyond that nice little story- running with your significant other is a whole other post. (many people have wrote about it- one day I will.) We’ve put in a decent amount of miles together over the past 8 years and if you know us in real like, you know that we have very different personalities which can make for an interesting – sometimes fun and sometimes frustrating 20 miles….

Really, I’m being dramatic. Because that’s what I do. But runs like this make you stronger, always. I knew going into this 20, that it wasn’t supposed to be a fast run, and I really just wanted to appreciate being outdoors on a beautiful day with no responsibilities for the time. While I did enjoy that part of it- it was hard to truly enjoy the actual run with the 300 lb invisible weights tied to each leg.

Next weekend I’m cutting down to 12-15 miles and then I’ll hit 20 again the following week. This will be a shorter taper than my norm, but what’s really been normal this past year really?

Post run treats

Day after a painful long run… the bike is calling your name.

Sloth On.

What do you do to get through a run where your legs are toast?

Do you find humor in a run that is tougher than anticipated? 

Do you enjoy running with your significant other? 

Hey by the way- I got some sweet new shades. You dig?

For a few years, I’ve been following along one of my  high school classmates journey to a healthy lifestyle. She has come a LONG way, losing over half her body weight along the way. AND, she’s running her very first marathon this Sunday!! Along the way, I would see her posts about running- I remember when she posted about her first half marathon and I was so excited for her. I knew it would only be a matter of time before she signed up for a marathon.

Meet Kassi. A mom, wife, teacher and runner.

Over 4-5 years, she lost 126 lbs and in the middle of all that had two babies. “My best pieces of advice are to start small and make changes that you can sustain for a lifetime.” – Kassi

Tell us a little about your story and what brought you to make a change and start working out and exercising. When and Why did you start running? 

I was initially motivated to make a lifestyle change when I was planning for my wedding.  I was vainly discouraged with dress shopping because of limited options, but more than that, I wanted to start my newly married life healthy.  I didn’t want to be limited based on my weight.  252 pounds on a 5’0 frame is a lot of weight to carry, and although I didn’t have issues then, I know I would have had major health issues if I would not have began losing weight.

I started running about 9 months into my weight loss journey.  One morning I decided to run a mile on the treadmill before school and my students encouraged me to run more and more.  I signed up for my first 5k and immediately got pregnant.  I did a 10k during my first pregnancy and signed up for a half marathon to help me lose the baby weight.  I was 8 weeks into training for the half when I found out we were pregnant with baby #2.  I ran for the first 22 or so weeks of that pregnancy and couldn’t wait to start again once I had Reid.

Now I run for my “me” time and to have that sense of accomplishment when I’m done.  I’ve met so many great friends and have truly done more than I could have ever imagined.

Why running? 

To me, running was something that I always hated.  Never did well in PE class and I would have never thought in a million years that I would one day consider myself to be a runner.  Now I think it’s a great type of exercise and it can be as social or independent as I want.

What does running given you?

Running has given me confidence and an outlet.  Again, I would have never thought I’d truly be a runner and here I am less than a week out from running a marathon.  It has showed me that my limits are endless.  It has also given me some amazing friends that I would have never met otherwise!

Beyond running what are your other favorite workouts, if any? 

I love spin class and group fitness classes.  I hate strength training on my own, but I love doing it with a group.  I’m excited to try TRX classes this Spring and am planning on starting to swim so I can do a Sprint Tri in 2014.

What is your advice to someone who is ready to make a change and make their health a priority?

My best pieces of advice are to start small and make changes that you can sustain for a lifetime.  It’s not about a quick fix- it took me nearly 4.5 years to lose 126 pounds.  Granted, there were two pregnancies in there, but I wasn’t about diets, deprivation, pills, etc.  I used a calorie tracker on www.sparkpeople.com and had an awesome community of ladies there.  Accountability and support are also huge.  There is no way that I could have made the changes if my husband, Steve, wasn’t on board.  So many friends say their husbands won’t eat healthy, tempt them with treats, etc.  He has always been great about helping me make healthy choices and cheering me on at the finish!

Supportive husband Steve!

 What’s the hardest part about staying motivated and how do you stay committed?

One of my biggest issues is facing the mommy guilt.  Being away from the boys when I work out, or placing them in the daycare at the gym, has always been a struggle, but I know that a healthy mom is a happy mom.  I want to be able to run and play with them for many years to come.  They motivate me by wearing my medals and saying they want to run like me.

I still struggle with binge eating occasionally, and when I do, I go straight back to setting goals and rewards and tracking my calories.  I also get really honest with Steve about the struggles I’m having because I need that extra accountability.  I know that eating/weight will always be an issue and struggle that I have to face, but since I’ve truly made lifestyle changes, it’s maintainable.

What race are you about to run THIS Sunday?

National Race to End Breast Cancer.  We are running in memory of a great friend, Amy, that lost her battle with breast cancer.

How have you prepared for your first marathon?

I’ve followed a pretty loose 3-4 day/week training plan with a few friends…usually 30-40 miles/week.  I have two 20 mile runs and one 23 miler under my belt.

PRs:

5k: 26:26

10k: 58:14

Half: 2:02

Hometown – now I live in Anderson, SC

Family – Husband, Steve, 2 sons: Parker (3) and Reid (1.5)

Profession – Teacher, (soon to be stay at home mommy at the end of this school year)

Favorite post race/run food – Pizza

What do you like to do beyond running? Watch college football, hang with my boys, shop, read, craft

Favorite quote or motivational saying– Philippians 4:13 is my guiding quote for life in general

Best of luck to you Kassi- I know you are so prepared. Love that you have 26 prayers for the race, you have great support and your playlist will be the bomb. Most importantly though- trust your training. It’s there.

Can we all take a little inspiration from Kassi and get motivated to do something BIG? 

Any words of encouragement for her VERY FIRST marathon this weekend would be greatly appreciated!

Have any good songs for her playlist on Sunday? Tell her your two absolute favorites!

• 7 runs
• 64 miles
• 2ish workouts

Monday – 8 miles

Easy/recovery miles from the weekend double. 7:42 pace. I am making a point to slow down my easy runs this cycle.

Tuesday – 7 miles

More easy running. 7:30 pace or so.

Wednesday – 10 Miles

Medium range run. 10 miles…I love that distance. 7:24 pace

Thursday – 7 miles

4 mile descending tempo. Used the first two miles to work down from 6:40 to 6:11. Ran last two miles @ 6:11 & 6:03 
1 mile cool down. 

The problem.

Fixed. Power still works. Also lubed the deck. Success.

I also fixed the treadmill. The outlet needed to be fixed. Just call me Bob Villa.

And I kind of miss this guy:

I thought about how last year at this time, I was in between marathons, coming off a really hard race that shook my confidence. No matter how hard you try, being totally prepared for a marathon so soon after having a baby is really hard. I don’t care who you are. It’s hard. Your body is physically and emotionally on a roller coaster. But we all have races like that- not just coming back post baby, there are a million reasons for having a race like that. Every race can shake your confidence or blow it up to making you feel super human.

I thought about how last year at this very time in my life, I was scared daily about something that is almost behind me. I kid you not, after having Marshall, I walked out of the hospital with my boobs filling of milk, freaking out, thinking what if I have breast cancer and I can’t tell because I get clogged milk ducts and I can’t handle this and oh my gosh breast feeding had to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever experienced. (Minus the last 10 miles of said race I mentioned above..)

I tried hard to embrace the bounding experience with my first child, but a big part of me was frantically worrying about the what ifs. Now knowing I won’t ever have that experience again, I am so thankful I had it with him. Last year at this time I wouldn’t have even typed the words cancer, because I would have been too scared to. My genetic fate was haunting me. And now it’s not. Now I know. There are things I can’t control, but the things I can control, I will.

It was when I was on the bike trainer, training for my first 70.3 this summer that I decided to make an appointment to get the blood test to see if I had the BRCA 2 gene. I mentioned this in my original post-

“I remember swimming laps thinking about it and I can guarantee that my thoughts were a lot more positive in the pool, on the bike or out running than they would have been sitting around feeling sorry for myself. “

This is why I love running, or really you can categorize this into sport or exercise in general- whatever it is that gives you what it gives me. This is why we become addicted to it. It drives us to be stronger, not only in physical aspects of life, but emotionally as well. It helps us to make tough decisions. I know, like any hobby or activity you spend excess amounts of time doing, running can be a very selfish thing. But it’s a selfish thing that makes me a better person. And it probably makes you a better person too.

There are days when I wake up and it’s the last thing I want to think about but everyday I finish up, I know I will be happier, stronger, more independent and BETTER if the I’ve given myself the gift of endorphins.

And I’ll close this with a piece of an email (an email that had me tearful) I received from one of the athletes we coach, Belle, who finished her first half marathon this weekend:

“Lindsey, in short, running has given me a new way to look at life, a new way to prioritize, a new way to live with dignity and grace.” 

Preach on Belle. Go be the best self you can be and if running or rowing or playing tennis, whatever it is helps you do that… do more of that.