STOP! Hammer Time- 24 miler

This is the sign that was at the end of my long run Saturday.  I may have been a bit delirious from running 24 miles, but I laughed until I almost peed myself. 

I ran 24 miles Saturday.  My last long training run before my first full marathon.  19 days and counting....

My friend Kelly and I decided to get a change of scenery for our last official long run and drove 45 minutes to a place called Rails to Trails. It's an old railway dating back to the Civil War that was turned into a running path.  It was gorgeous! It's in the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains and from one end to the other it is 12 miles. Perfect for a 24 mile out and back!

This is what most of the trail looked like:

 

there were also several covered bridges that I didn't think to get a picture of. :(

So enough about the scenery.  This is how the run went.

We got to the start of the trail at 7:30am.  I realized that I had forgotten my Garmin...thankfully Kelly had hers.  I think this may have been a hidden blessing. Instead of focusing on the beeps of my Garmin, I focused on my body.

I got the splits off Kelly's watch and here is how they went:

Miles 1-5 I felt were a little faster than what my MP will be but I was running naked so I just went with it.

mile 1: 8:49

mile 2: 8:50

mile 3: 9:03

mile 4: 8:46

mile 5: 10:06- we fueled up here.  A chocolate outrage GU( my new fave it tastes just like brownie batter)

and some gatorade.

Miles 6-11 I felt good, we passed several people on horseback and even a horse and buggy.  Also had to fend off a few dogs.

mile 6: 9:28

mile 7: 9:03

mile 8: 9:20

mile 9: 9:09

mile 10: 10:15- Took a GU

mile 11: 9:59

Restored church from the early 1800's- also the bathroom stop.

 We stopped here to refill our water bottles and use the bathroom.  I went to the bathroom and about 2 drops came out and it was DARK brown... I knew that was a sign of dehydration and it totally freaked me out.   I didn't feel thirsty and I had finished an entire Gatorade between mile 1 and 11... I have never had anything like before.  I downed a full water bottle of water and refilled the bottle again, said a little prayer and we headed back out on the trail.  I still felt fine.

mile 12: 9:25- this was the end of the trail and our turn around point.

mile 13: 9:54

At mile 13 we made it back to the bathrooms and I downed another water bottle, went pee....it was a little lighter....Yippee!! Who knew I would ever be so excited about urine.

Mile 14-20 I was still feeling pretty good. Though our pace slowed more than I would have liked, I hit that runner's high around mile 16 and just felt great!

mile 14: 10:00

mile 15: 9:33

mile 16: 10:19- fueled with GU

mile 17: 10:17

mile 18: 10:16

mile 19: 10:39

mile 20: 10:13- fueled with GU

Mile 21-24 were slow miles though I continued to feel pretty good.  I kept expecting to hit the "wall" but  I'm not sure I ever did. I'm guessing I would have known it.

mile 21: 10:28

mile 22: 10:28

mile 23: 10:38

mile 24: 10:48

Garmin time: 3:55:53  avg pace: 9:50

Now the time looks great.  However, it doesn't factor in the time it took us to stop and use the bathroom and fuel up.

Other than a ravenous hunger the next day, I have felt great!   I stretched real good this weekend and had a great plyo session this morning.

A few concerns I do have:  Am I going to feel this good marathon day?

This training run was on a gravel path- a stark difference from the paved roads I will be running marathon day.  Will my body handle it okay? 

What if I hit the "dreaded" wall during the race? How will I handle it? Obviously I'm getting a little neurotic....any advice and tips are welcome.....puh-lease share!!!!  

I feel kind of like I did before the birth of my first child....I knew there was something that other mothers weren't telling me because they didn't want to scare me....just go ahead and tell me if it's going to hurt like heck!! 

I can take it!:)

Grace and peace,

Wordless Weds-Turkey with my Turkey

We had Thanksgiving lunch with our Middle Prince at school today

he lost a tooth and won't show his teeth!LOl!

Can you see me now? A Brooks Review.

After my close call last week with a redneck truck, I ordered some new reflective gear.

I ordered the Brooks Nightlife Jacket:

and I also ordered the Brooks Infiniti Running Tights:

 They were a little pricey, $99.99 for the jacket and $ 59.99 for the tights. I think it's a small price to pay thought for my safety...an investment in my life....safety first people!

At least that's what I told J when he asked me how much it cost. ;)

 How they wear:
I tried the jacket and the tights on my run yesterday morning. The same run that I wore dirty socks for. :) It was 48 degrees and froggy out, so I figured it would be best to have maximum visibility.  Personally, I think the colors are a bit obnoxious.  Would love it in black and electric pink. Comfort wise it was top notch.  The jacket kept me warm with just a long sleeve dry-wick shirt underneath, and has an extra soft lining around the neck so that it doesn't rub or chafe.  I haven't worn full length pants on a run in over 2 years, so I really wasn't sure how the tights would feel.  Well, I loved them. They kept me warm without making me hot and the mediums were a perfect fit.  They didn't budge the whole 6 miles.  They didn't bunch or sag or twist, which is the problem I had with previous running pants and why I have only worn skirts or capri's for 2 yrs.  I have to say I was quite impressed.

For comfort  I give these both 5 smiles: ☺☺☺☺☺

How visible was I?
I got a call from my running partner Angie last night.  She told me one of her husbands co-workers(are you following) was getting off his shift yesterday morning and said he almost drove into a herd of ladies running.  He said there were 5 or 6 women running with no lights or reflective gear and he didn't see them until he was almost on top of them.  He said a little while later he saw Angie and I "glowing" down the road. Glowing.  I love it!

For Visibility I give these 5 smiles:  ☺☺☺☺☺

 I am definitely happy with my purchase and recommend that you invest in some good reflective gear....and soon.  The days are growing shorter and if you are anything like me, 99% of your runs will in the dark.  Be Safe!

Thanks for visiting and if you are new to my blog ...welcome!

Grace and peace,

Just another manic Monday...

I had a great weekend! 

I felt great on my long run Saturday morning.  I pounded out 15 miles with a 9:30 min average pace and my legs felt fantastic the whole time. Then, since J and the two older boys were out deer hunting, me and my littlest prince went shopping.  I have been on the hunt for 6 dining room chairs for over a year now.  I had a picture of the perfect chair in my head and have not been able to find it...with in my price range anyway.    On a whim, I popped into a local antique store...and there they were....6 of the most beautiful chairs.  They were even better than the picture in my head...

 

Whats even better is that they were only $10.00 each! YAHTZEE!!  So, because I was already saving J so much money getting a bargain on these chairs, I bought a buffet too.  I don't have a picture of that yet because I had to wait for J to get home to load it up. It's beautiful though.  

I don't know if it was a high from the 15 miler or from the amazing purchases but when I got home I was in the mood for holiday baking. I'm NEVER in the mood to cook so it had to be happy endorphins.  I spent the rest of the evening making chocolate almond and chocolate cafe almond biscotti(J's favorite).

It was a great weekend.

Monday, Monday

This morning I woke up for my morning run at 4:15am.  I failed to prepare last night and have all of my running gear laid out, and I paid for it this morning.  The batteries in my running light were dead and I couldn't find any working batteries. I even tried the kids Wii remotes and they were ALL dead!  Then I couldn't find my water bottle, I'm pretty sure one of the boys took it with them when they went hunting. All of my dry wick running socks were dirty...I only have 4 pair(I never think to buy socks!) so I put on a pair of dirty socks. Don't judge.;) 

I had a 6 miler this morning and at mile 4.2 my Garmin battery died. Oops, must have forgot to charge it.  Wrong.  I hooked it up to the charger and synced it to my computer and then it died again.  Now, it won't respond at all.  Won't turn on, won't beep, nothing...sniff, sniff. It's dead.  I tried calling the Garmin help line and it was a 35 MINUTE wait!!! WHAT!? Who has time to wait that long?  So I shot them and e-mail and they said someone would be with me in the next 3 days!!! Those people must be doing some SERIOUS business!!!

So I'm going to have to run naked now.  I am already going through Garmin withdrawals and it's only been a few hours.  I have no clue what I am going to do Saturday when I have my longest training run ever! 24 miles with no Garmin.....oh Garmin...I miss you...

 Garmin come back, you can blame it all on me

I was wrong, and I just can't live without you

26 days until the marathon...dun, dun, dun....

Grace and peace,

Close Call

I normally get my runs in early in the mornings before the kiddos wake up.  However, lately my schedule has been shaken up a bit by hubby's work schedule.  So Tuesday evening I headed out for an easy 4 miler around 5:15pm.  It was still light, but the light was fading fast.  At about mile 2 it started to rain.  Where I live most of my running is done on the roads in my community.  I always follow the rules of the road and I also wear reflective gear and carry a light when it's dark or rainy.
Tuesday night was no different.  I was visible.  At mile 3 I was running on one of the main road in our small town where the posted speed limit is 25.  There also happens to only be about 18" of shoulder on this road and so I was over as far as possible.  I saw a newer model black Chevy Z71 headed my way. (I'm not sure what it is, but from my experience, it seems men driving trucks can't be bothered to slow down or give room to a runner more often than not.)  So because of my past experiences with men driving trucks, I slowed down.  I was already as far over as I could go without diving into a ditch.  I made eye contact with the driver just in time to see him swerve towards me. I ducked, to avoid having my head taken off by the passenger side mirror, and twisted my back toward the truck.  As I twisted I drove my elbow back into the passenger side of the truck.
One thing you should know about me....I don't scare very easily.  When my adrenaline gets going...I want to fight.  In the "Flight or Fight" response...I only have the "Fight"...maybe from being raised with all boys..who knows.
I was hoping he had a nice little indentation of my elbow in his pretty truck. I know not very nice....

Anyway, I turned to see if the truck stopped and it hadn't, but I did see it turn down a road that leads to the local gym.  So I turned around and ran to that gym. Hubby later scolded me for this.  By the time I got to the gym the driver of the truck had already gone in.  So I wrote down the license plate number and went in to see if I could find out the name of the guy.  I told the guy at the front desk what happened and asked him if he knew who the owner of the truck was, he said he didn't know but would find out.  I told him just to let the guy know that he had hit a runner(though technically I hit him) and that I was turning his license plate number over to the police.  I gave all of the info to the local police, one of whom I coached in the Fleet Feet No Boundaries program.  I don't know what they will do with the info, but I hope it's at least enough to scare that road bully.
So, that was Tuesday evening...Wednesday I ordered more reflective gear and will be ordering a Road ID this weekend.  I don't know why I have been putting that off.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for God's protection and that my head is still attached to my body!

What do you do to make sure you are visible when you run in the rain/dark.

Have you had any close calls?
Grace and peace,

Weekend recap and a PR

This is going to be a short one....we had the fall festival at church yesterday and over 6000 people showed up.  So, we have been cleaning up all day and I am T.I.R.E.D!
I ran the Life Without Limits 1/2 marathon Saturday morning and got my best. time. EVA!! I'm still on cloud nine!!! I came in at 1:54:31.  My goal was 1:55.
I will give a full race report tomorrow.


Yesterday at the church festival we had a blast and we all ingested entirely too much candy!

Mario, SuperBaby, and Ghostbuster

Super baby Fly!!!  BTW, I made that costume.:)

Super baby JUMP!

Candy OVERLOAD!!

Me and my Super hero

How was your weekend?

Grace and peace,