Race Day Eve!

Hi all!

   I figured I should do one last post before the race. The next time you hear from me, I will have lots of race day pictures and a recap! :)

   Tonight, my parents, my aunt, and my cousin all came from New York for the race. It is really overwhelming to know that they came all the way here just to see me stumble across the finish line, sweaty and disoriented. I know that having them there will be such great motivation to keep going. Today, Tim and I spent the morning shopping for a big party that my in-laws are throwing at the house after the race to celebrate me running the half marathon. It's really crazy to know that so many people are cheering me on. My nervousness and anxiety for the race is quickly turning to excitement.

Shoes and race uniform ready to go! Please don't judge my messy dresser.....

 I feel ready to race! I have almost 3 hours of music on my iPod, my clothes are laid out and I have drank more water in the past week that I did in the previous two months combined ;) I feel sentimental, because only one short year ago I was running .6 miles before I had to stop. It's really amazing to set your mind to something, and then actually see it staring you in the face. I visualized myself finishing the race in my mind a million times, and cried almost every single time. Fortunately, I don't think I'll have enough moisture left in me to actually cry tomorrow at the finish line. Which is good, because I don't want to be THAT girl.

  I'm sorry that this post is a little rambling, but like I said, I'm pretty sentimental and overwhelmed and tired and excited and every single thing in between right now. It's actually pretty awesome. I hope to share a great deal of pictures with you tomorrow (or maybe the next day....) of me before, during, and after the race.

 I will leave you with the reason for all of this. My Uncle Tom. I know that when I feel like stopping tomorrow, I just have to feel the breeze and know it is him pushing me along. We love you and miss you.

Lessons Learned!

Well, since I'm writing this, you all know that I did indeed survive the 12 mile run! Woop woop!

I did survive the run somehow, and learned a few lessons along the way. I think that these are important for anyone looking to run longer distances to know, and I thought I would share them. Im sure that lots of other runners have learned these lessons, either the hard way or the easy way, but I figured I would share :)

Lesson #1: Sports Bras are worth it.
If you're anything like me, you walk past the sports bra display in Dicks and laugh. "Fifty bucks for a sports bra?! You have to be kidding me."

No, sadly. They are not kidding you.

During my run, the last thing on my mind was my sports bra. Afterwards, when I jumped in the shower, something awful happened. The hot water hit the skin on my back and I honestly for a second thought I was dying. Turns out I wasn't dying, but the skin on my back had totally chafed! I have no idea how this happened. My cheap-o cotton blend sports bra had caused the skin on my back to literally rub off. First it stung like a sunburn, and now it itches like no other! Bottom line: Invest in the good sports bra, unless you want your skin to rub off. And Im not sure how much you want to mess with that, especially in the bra region :)


Lesson #2: iPods are a great idea.
Two hours and forty three minutes alone with my own thoughts was more than I needed. 

Lesson #3: When you're sure your body has had enough, and couldn't possibly go any father, you can put one foot in front of the other and keep going.
I hit a wall at mile 10.5. I was starting to fall pretty far behind my running partners, and I was insanely far behind Tim and our coach, Tom. Coach Tom ended up coming all the way back to run with me, and thank goodness he did. In someone's front yard in Southport, I had what I think is an Exercise Induced Bronchospasm. My chest got tight, and I couldn't breathe without making this awful noise. I was able to breathe my way through it using some things I had learned in yoga. After a couple minutes of walking, I knew I should start to run again. And I somehow managed to get it together to run another 1.5 miles to the finish.



Lesson #4: Your running friends are more than just friends.
The friendships you make with the people you run with are unreal. You are instantly bonded with them. I know how close I feel with the girls I run with that I met through Team in Training. I instantly bonded with Coach Tom, too. He gave me so much advice and I am really very thankful for him. After our run, we hung out and ate fruit and bagels, drank chocolate milk, and told each other how awesome they were. Running friends are the best.


Here are the stats from this past run.

Distance: 12.04 miles 

Time: 2:43:50 

Pace: 13:36 (Slower than I'd like, but this includes where I stopped for my bronchospasm so I think I technically ran maybe closer to a 13 min mile)

Temperature: Beautiful, sunny, and upper 70s

Miles on my Kayanos: Honestly, I lost count. I have 107 miles on my watch, with a few runs I have done without my watch. Let's call it 120 miles :)

Half Marathon Countdown: 11 days!

Long Overdue Update!

Hi everyone!

Sorry that there has been such a lag in posts. Life has been crazy busy! I have still been running, and now the countdown to the marathon is on!! I figured I would bullet the updates so it would be easier to read.


1. So far, I have raised $1,310 in memory of my Uncle Tom for Team in Training! My goal is to raise $1,500 in his name, so I only have $190 to go. The deadline for donating is coming up soon, so I'm hoping I can make it in time.

2. Running has been going really well! Last weekend, I ran 10 miles in Milford with Tim, Kate, and Sarah. Coach Cindy was there with water stops and bananas and chocolate milk at the finish :) I was really, really happy to hit the 10 mile mark. Almost to 13! I stopped to walk a few times, but overall I was pretty happy. It took me 2 hours and 5 minutes to run the 10 miles. We have a long run next weekend of 12 miles, and then we have a short run after that. The weekend after that is the race! Holy cow! 

3. Countdown update: The race is THREE WEEKS from today! I can't wait.

Tonight, Tim's brother Josh came upstairs and mentioned that he was hoping to get a corner desk in his room. I immediately thought of the desk that my Uncle Tom hand made for me when I mentioned that I liked the desk in his daughter Jodi's room. I was really emotional for a minute to think about it in someone else's hands. But I feel happy knowing that even after his passing, my Uncle Tom's craftiness and generosity lives on. And it's moments like that that make me remember why I am doing what I am doing.

Talk to you all soon! Hopefully with an update after my 12 miler next weekend.

GO TEAM! :)

Checking in!

Hi everyone! 

 I wanted to check in and say hello. I have been keeping up with my training schedule fairly well. There are days I skip, but I try to make that up during the next run. I am really feeling good about my training though, which is so awesome. I really feel like if the half marathon was tomorrow, I could do it! I was explaining this to Tim and he said "It's all about pacing. You feel like you can run all day because you are running at the right pace." I think that is a really important thing to keep in mind. Running at a pace that you can handle means you can run a lot farther. It made me feel good, because even though I dont run at the fastest pace, I run at what is right for me to be able to run the 13.1 miles.

Yesterday, we had an AWESOME event through TNT! They had a "poker run" to benefit Team Brenna. Brenna was a 5 year old who lost her battle with a blood cancer at age 5. We each paid $10, then ran our 7 miles. There were three stops along the way, and at each stop, we got water and a few playing cards. We marked off our poker sheets with our cards and kept running. I felt really, really lucky to have two other people to run with. Kate, who I ran with on the Trumbull trails for my first 6 mile run, and Sarah. We are all around the same pace with a similar goal for the half marathon, so it feels great to run with them! They keep me motivated to keep going.

Here we are at the final water stop, at 5.3 miles:

It is really great to have the support that I have through TNT and I am so grateful to have met the people I have! I am already planning my next half marathon because this is really a great feeling.

Oh! And the best part of the day? I won the poker game! I got a t-shirt, TNT car magnet, bag, water bottle, and free registration for my next TNT event.

I will check back in soon, it is much harder to update now after every run because we are running much more often now. But I will keep you updated the best I can!

Thanks everyone.
ALSO I am starting my half marathon playlist, so get your ideas ready! I'll ask for suggestions in the next few posts :)

Another day, Another run

This is essentially how I feel after this weekend.

I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go home now.

Today, Tim, his dad, and I ran the Donnelly Dash in Fairfield. This is a 3.5 mile road race that benefits a couple from Fairfield who were killed when someone robbed their store. It was really amazing to see so many people there. They had 225 people running, and lots of people walking.

Anyway, I didn't quite make my goal for a 36 minute race. But, I came fairly close. I finished in 38:49, with a 10:58 pace. I am pretty happy too because my last mile was my fastest! I was determined to beat this bonehead that was running near me, so I really turned it on at the end. It makes me wish I had turned it up a little sooner! But anyway, I am happy with that. And now, the usual run down....

Distance: 3.5 miles 

Time: 38:49

Pace: 10:58

Temperature: 40's and sunny. So nice!

Miles on my Kayanos: 52.2 miles

So, that makes my total for this weekend 9.5 miles. That's pretty good for me! The most I had ever run in a two day span before this was 8.0 miles. I am going to take tomorrow off, because I am in some pain from running. Im going to take the extra time to let my blisters and some pain in my shins ease up.

I may be crazy, but I signed up to do the track workout on Tuesday again. I am hoping that it is a much better day for me than last time :)

Oh! And in case anyone is wondering, I did beat the bonehead. Girl power! I think Shosh said it best....

Awesome Saturday :)

Today was a really awesome day. I started off with a run, then Tim and I took Sawyer to her doggy class, then we volunteered with some other Quinnipiac alumni for a veterans shelter in Bridgeport. Definitely a cool experience!

My run today was really great. I ran with Kate, a fellow TNT-er who is running in honor of her dad. We did a nice, easy six miles. It was awesome to run farther than I have ever run before! 

We actually ran FASTER from miles 3-6! I think its because the wind was to our backs, and on the way out in the trails we were running right into it. I felt great the whole way, no pain! I did manage a huge blister but I am more impressed with it than anything.

Here are today's stats:

Distance: 6.0 miles 

Time: 1:15:38

Pace: 12:28

Temperature: 33 degrees but sunny

Miles on my Kayanos: 48.7 miles

 Kate and I right after our 6 miles!

Still cant believe I was able to run 6 miles without stopping. I really feel like if I can do it, anyone can!! 

Tomorrow we are running a 3.5 mile race in Fairfield so I will do my best to update everyone on how that goes! I am hoping for under 36 minutes, but we will see. That will definitely be pushing myself pretty hard, but I am hoping to do it.

Thanks for reading! :)

"These calves are on fiyahhhh"

As you can tell by the name of this blog post, I have re-worked the Alicia Keys song into my own version that I continue to serenade Tim with. 

I had 3 "easy" miles on my TNT training schedule to run today, so I got home and got them done right away. Basically, it means just run them and don't really extend yourself too much. I figured I could handle that ;) They hurt, but I did them. Soooo.... I am trying to stay positive on that note. 

Here are today's boring stats ;) :

Distance: 3.0 miles 

Time: 34:38

Pace: 11:32 

Temperature: 50 beautiful degrees!

Miles on my Kayanos: 42.7 miles (I've got a couple runs that I didn't blog about)

MORE importantly is our FUNDRAISING success! We had two more people donate to us yesterday, which was awesome. 

                                                               

Tiff Bell

Jodi Giroux

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING THE LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA SOCIETY IN MEMORY OF MY UNCLE, TOM GIROUX!!

The good news is, Tim and I combined need only $355 to reach our goal! We are so happy, we are thinking of raising our goal a little higher.

To everyone who has donated so far, start watching your mail! We are mailing out a special thank you to everyone who has donated to us so far.

For those of you who dont know, or have forgotten, we are running for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in memory of my Uncle Tom Giroux, who lost his battle with Lymphoma in 2010. You can donate by clicking at the top of the page where it says "Donate". Every little bit helps! 

Okay all, I will be back on Saturday or maybe Sunday. I have 6 miles on tap Saturday morning with my fellow TNT-er, Kate! Then 3.5 in the Donnelly Dash race in Fairfield. EEEEK!