Monday, September 23, 2013
Lessons Learned
I am now almost a month into regular classes at CrossFit Lion's Pride. Some days are easier than others but each day I leave the box feeling satisfied and completely drained. I'm not the fastest or the strongest, but I'm putting forth my best effort and that is all that really matters to me.
Some things I've learned in the last few weeks:
1. I love group exercise! And I'm not talking about that crazy zumba crap, where they jump around and scream for an hour. CrossFit is hard and working out with a group of people (some of who are the same every day) gives you an opportunity to learn each others strengths and weaknesses and cheer each other on through both. We're not allowed to put up our equipment until the last person finishes. It gives you a sense of community; that we are all in it together.
2. A good jump rope is necessary. The speed ropes at the box are too fast for a beginner trying to learn double unders. They are also one size and for a shorty like me, you have to adjust the rope which leaves a one foot long piece swinging around smacking you in the arm. By the time you are done, you have huge welts and look like you have taken 50 lashes from a really skinny belt. It's a $50 investment...worth it.
3. Coordination is needed for everything. Double unders, kipping, thrusters, even wall balls, to name a few. If you lack coordination, these things will be exorbitantly more difficult to master. Practice may not make it perfect but it's gotta help, right?!
4. It hurts when you rip your hand. Enough said!
5. Hang power cleans leave giant bruises on my thighs. My shoulders would always hurt after doing cleans. Come to find out it was because I was doing some weird rotation of my shoulders to get bar down from the front rack back to the hang. The fix was basically to drop my arms straight down with the bar into my legs causing fairly significant bruising with heavy weight. However, I will take bruises over shoulder pain any day!
6. Some WOD's, when complete, cause me to cough uncontrollably. No amount of water is helpful to make it stop. After one WOD, I literally coughed for 3 hours and had a sore throat the next day.
7. I'm stronger than I think I am...and the group dynamic certainly helps to bring it out. 3 months ago I struggled to bench press 45#. I'm now at 65# and while its still difficult, it is an improvement. I am certainly getting stronger and I'm excited to see where another 6 or even 3 months will take me!
I wouldn't consider myself to have been "out of shape" coming into CrossFit. However, after one month I've seen improvement in my strength and mobility. I've got a long way to go, but improvement is improvement! I've also seen improvement in my mental strength, which is a hard thing for many people to overcome. I still struggle with it (like when I'm wheezing to catch my breath on my 3rd 200m run in a WOD of 7 rounds). But I push through and each day I make myself a little better than I was the day before.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
A New Journey!
It's been a long time since I've posted anything and I've decided to start it back up. The original purpose of this blog was to follow the training for my full marathon...hence the name. However, I started too late and only captured the last month and race day. I kept it up for a while after the race but quickly ran out of interesting things to talk about...until now.
I am still running and training for the Evansville half marathon in October, but my focus has shifted. I still love it and love talking with all of the amazing people I've become friends with over the past 4 years, but running just isn't doing it for me anymore as far as my fitness goals are concerned. I've also been battling some serious runners knee for the last 2 years and can only run about 5 miles before it starts to really hurt. Pain + running = ZERO FUN...so I'm taking a break.
Around the beginning of the year, Trenton started doing CrossFit. As with running, he tried to get me to join him and I said "I can't do it". After hearing about it for a few months and seeing how it was already affecting his fitness and the way he looks, it peaked my curiosity and I decided to give it a try.
What is CrossFit? If you Google it you will find a million different websites, articles, blogs, etc. I honestly have a hard time describing it. The idea of CrossFit is to get a person in overall great physical condition buy using olympic weights, functional movements, gymnastics, mobility, and of course proper form (to name a few). It is meant to not specialize in anything and have constantly changing workouts. This way your body doesn't get used to the same old thing. CrossFit is done in a group setting with 1-2 trainers/coaches. I have just completed 4 weeks of on-ramp classes at the newest Evansville gym, CrossFit Lion's Pride. On-ramp gives an overview of the basic movements and allows you time to learn them properly so when you are put into a regular class (which I'm super pumped about!) you wont be all "deer in the headlights". Before starting on-ramp, I was doing CrossFit with Trenton for a couple of months so I had an idea of what to expect. The on-ramp classes haven't really allowed for much strength training because they are meant for you to learn the proper movements before adding weight and a lot of intensity. However, it has been greatly beneficial to me and I'm sure now that I have learned the proper form, and will still be learning for some time to come, my strength training can only get better.
Why do I CrossFit? I need a change and a new challenge. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would soon have a finishers medal for a full marathon, I would have laughed hysterically in your face and said that after having surgery on both knees, it was impossible. But on November 5, 2011 I did just that and finished in 4:58:41 which was just shy of my 5 hour goal. Though it was close, I did meet my goal. I dedicated 4 months of my life to running 6 days and 30+ miles a week. I went to bed early on Friday nights to get up at 4:30am on Saturday's to run 20 milers. I worked my ass off and I didn't just receive a medal. The feeling you get from crossing that finish line is priceless and will be something I will never forget. I also learned that my body is capable of doing amazing things if only I put my mind to it. It is the same thing with CrossFit. A workout last week called for a 12 minute buildup to your one rep max dead lift. I haven't done heavy dead lifts for close to two months and at that time my max was 175#. That workout I pulled 205# and at over 150% of my body weight, I think that's pretty darn good! That's the stuff I'm excited about with CrossFit...doing things you never imagined were possible. And considering I've just started, who knows where I can go.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Owensboro Memorial Day Half Marathon
On Memorial Day, the husband and I ran the Owensboro Half Marathon. This was our second time to run this particular race and my only goal was to not finish last, like I did the first time I ran it. It's a small race of around 200 people with a time cap of 3 hours. The first time I ran it, I slacked on my training as I thought I would still be in good shape since I had just run a half marathon a month before. I was seriously wrong and I paid for it. I literally had the trailing police car following about 20ft behind me for the last 3 miles. It was embarrassing to say the least.
This year I continued with my training after my race in April doing a long run of at least 10 miles every weekend to stay in half marathon shape. My only worry was that I would be in Japan on business the entire week before the race. I wasn't sure if it would help or hurt. Plus, only having one full day of rest didn't seem like enough time to recover from jet lag.
The race started at 7am and it takes a good 45 minutes to get to Owensboro so we were up and going at 4:30am. Just what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, my body was still on Japan time. I was awake and felt fine, but the rest of my body was not functioning like a normal race morning. I won't go into the details but anyone who is a runner knows exactly what I'm talking about. It was warm, muggy and sunny at the start but luckily they changed the course this year which allowed for more shade and turns, which I like better than a bunch of straight roads. So the race starts and Trent decides to hang with me because he's not exactly feeling the best. We start out pretty slow thinking I want to hold back a little in case I want to speed up later. I felt really good until about mile 7. Once I found a port-a-potty at mile 8 all was well again. However, at mile 9 both knees were starting to hurt. Apparently the IT band issue in my right knee I got from my November marathon is never going to go away...it pretty much hates any run that is longer than 8-10 miles. The new thing was the pain in my left knee. I know I have a torn meniscus but it's never really bothered me when running. Imagine what it would feel like to run with a knife stabbing through the side of your knee every time your foot lands...then imagine that feeling on both knees for about 4 miles. It sucks!!! However, unlike many people that would have called it quits so they don't injure themselves further, I continued to run and finished the race in 2:24:30. Trent stayed with me the whole time, even when he almost puked at mile 12.
I've never quit a race and I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to running. Because of that I finished the race, but I could hardly walk the rest of the day and limped around for more than a week after. Since Owensboro I ran the 8 miler Indian/Celina Challenge trail race. I started to break down around mile 6 and again I pushed through and finished the race in 1:38:45. It was a really fun race and I look forward to completing the half next year.
Up next is one of my favorite races of the year...the Laufenfest 5K in Haubstadt. It's a relatively flat course and the turnout is really good considering they give out free unlimited beer after the race. Anyone who doesn't want a cold keg beer after a hot race is just plain crazy!
This year I continued with my training after my race in April doing a long run of at least 10 miles every weekend to stay in half marathon shape. My only worry was that I would be in Japan on business the entire week before the race. I wasn't sure if it would help or hurt. Plus, only having one full day of rest didn't seem like enough time to recover from jet lag.
The race started at 7am and it takes a good 45 minutes to get to Owensboro so we were up and going at 4:30am. Just what I wanted to do. Unfortunately, my body was still on Japan time. I was awake and felt fine, but the rest of my body was not functioning like a normal race morning. I won't go into the details but anyone who is a runner knows exactly what I'm talking about. It was warm, muggy and sunny at the start but luckily they changed the course this year which allowed for more shade and turns, which I like better than a bunch of straight roads. So the race starts and Trent decides to hang with me because he's not exactly feeling the best. We start out pretty slow thinking I want to hold back a little in case I want to speed up later. I felt really good until about mile 7. Once I found a port-a-potty at mile 8 all was well again. However, at mile 9 both knees were starting to hurt. Apparently the IT band issue in my right knee I got from my November marathon is never going to go away...it pretty much hates any run that is longer than 8-10 miles. The new thing was the pain in my left knee. I know I have a torn meniscus but it's never really bothered me when running. Imagine what it would feel like to run with a knife stabbing through the side of your knee every time your foot lands...then imagine that feeling on both knees for about 4 miles. It sucks!!! However, unlike many people that would have called it quits so they don't injure themselves further, I continued to run and finished the race in 2:24:30. Trent stayed with me the whole time, even when he almost puked at mile 12.
I've never quit a race and I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to running. Because of that I finished the race, but I could hardly walk the rest of the day and limped around for more than a week after. Since Owensboro I ran the 8 miler Indian/Celina Challenge trail race. I started to break down around mile 6 and again I pushed through and finished the race in 1:38:45. It was a really fun race and I look forward to completing the half next year.
Up next is one of my favorite races of the year...the Laufenfest 5K in Haubstadt. It's a relatively flat course and the turnout is really good considering they give out free unlimited beer after the race. Anyone who doesn't want a cold keg beer after a hot race is just plain crazy!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
It's a 5K and Half Marathon Year
It's the beginning of May and we're well into 5K season. I've also completed my first half marathon of the year. After running my full marathon in November, and spending a fortune in the months leading up to it to heal micro tears in my calf muscles, I have now been spending the rest of our money to fix an IT band issue that haunted me from mile 15-26.2 of the race and has yet to heal after 6 months. I've decided that, as great as my chiropractor is, it's just not helping like I had hoped. I'm sure it has nothing to do with continuing to run around 20-25 miles a week which includes a long run on the weekends of around 8-10 miles. Nah, can't be that. With all that said, I've decided this will be the year of the 5K and half marathon. As much as I would love to run another full, I just don't see my knee cooperating.
I started training with the SIC group in January for a half marathon in Florida in April. My first 5K of the year was in February and was the Hearts on Fire held at USI. It was bitterly cold and windy (though sunny) and I just wanted to get it over with as I could hardly feel my fingers and my nose was frozen. I finished with a PR of 26:33. I had never broke 27 before and was unaware my short legs could move so fast.
My next race was The Run of Luck 7K in March. Terrible day. Trent, me and another running buddy met up before the race to get in some extra miles as we needed to do 10. It was at about mile 4 of the first 6 that I started to bonk. I finished the first 6 miles, got some water and some shot blocs and felt better. I thought that would fix me and I could run the 7K at a slow but decent pace...wrong! I felt terrible after 1 mile and ended up walking a majority of the race. If there was anything good to come of this race, it was that Trent's brother has bragging rights that he has beat me in a race.
Now we're on to April and the half marathon. Trent and I went to Navarre, Florida to stay with a high school friend of his (and his wife and little girl). We left on a Friday after work and drove to Birmingham, Alabama where we slept. Saturday morning we got up and drove the rest of the way getting there around noon. We picked up our packets and hung out that night not doing anything to special. Sunday morning was the race so we were up at 4:30am for a 7am start. The race was the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Pensacola Beach. It was an out and back course running alongside the white sandy beach. It was flat though it was also hot, humid and sunny! My goal was to run the whole thing only walking through the water stops. That worked until about mile 5 when my knee started to hurt. I pushed through it a few more miles and then started walking more frequently. I finished in 2:25:28 and was satisfied given the circumstances.
My most recent race was the Newburgh Rivertown Trail 5K. It's a nice little course in downtown Newburgh that runs mostly along the riverfront. It's was only the 2nd year for this race and unfortunately, both years, it rain the night before though it didn't rain during the race. I didn't have my watch so I had no idea of my pace but it felt good and I was running with a friend and talking so I stayed with it. Around mile 2 I started to get winded so I walked a little and played slingshot with Meagan for a while. When we got to the last half mile, I lost Meagan and was unable to keep up. I still finished with my 2nd best race time of 26:57!
Some of us have come to the conclusion that being "good" before a race by eating well and drinking lots of water is a bunch of bull. Our best races have been after eating Buffalo Wild Wings and drinking beer the night before. I'm going to continue on with this theory...its way more fun than the alternative!
As for the rest of this year, there are a handful of 5K's I'd like to do as well as the Owensboro Half Marathon on Memorial Day, the Heartland Half Marathon in Jasper in September and of course the Evansville Half Marathon in October. Team 13 starts in early July!
I started training with the SIC group in January for a half marathon in Florida in April. My first 5K of the year was in February and was the Hearts on Fire held at USI. It was bitterly cold and windy (though sunny) and I just wanted to get it over with as I could hardly feel my fingers and my nose was frozen. I finished with a PR of 26:33. I had never broke 27 before and was unaware my short legs could move so fast.
My next race was The Run of Luck 7K in March. Terrible day. Trent, me and another running buddy met up before the race to get in some extra miles as we needed to do 10. It was at about mile 4 of the first 6 that I started to bonk. I finished the first 6 miles, got some water and some shot blocs and felt better. I thought that would fix me and I could run the 7K at a slow but decent pace...wrong! I felt terrible after 1 mile and ended up walking a majority of the race. If there was anything good to come of this race, it was that Trent's brother has bragging rights that he has beat me in a race.
Now we're on to April and the half marathon. Trent and I went to Navarre, Florida to stay with a high school friend of his (and his wife and little girl). We left on a Friday after work and drove to Birmingham, Alabama where we slept. Saturday morning we got up and drove the rest of the way getting there around noon. We picked up our packets and hung out that night not doing anything to special. Sunday morning was the race so we were up at 4:30am for a 7am start. The race was the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Pensacola Beach. It was an out and back course running alongside the white sandy beach. It was flat though it was also hot, humid and sunny! My goal was to run the whole thing only walking through the water stops. That worked until about mile 5 when my knee started to hurt. I pushed through it a few more miles and then started walking more frequently. I finished in 2:25:28 and was satisfied given the circumstances.
My most recent race was the Newburgh Rivertown Trail 5K. It's a nice little course in downtown Newburgh that runs mostly along the riverfront. It's was only the 2nd year for this race and unfortunately, both years, it rain the night before though it didn't rain during the race. I didn't have my watch so I had no idea of my pace but it felt good and I was running with a friend and talking so I stayed with it. Around mile 2 I started to get winded so I walked a little and played slingshot with Meagan for a while. When we got to the last half mile, I lost Meagan and was unable to keep up. I still finished with my 2nd best race time of 26:57!
Some of us have come to the conclusion that being "good" before a race by eating well and drinking lots of water is a bunch of bull. Our best races have been after eating Buffalo Wild Wings and drinking beer the night before. I'm going to continue on with this theory...its way more fun than the alternative!
As for the rest of this year, there are a handful of 5K's I'd like to do as well as the Owensboro Half Marathon on Memorial Day, the Heartland Half Marathon in Jasper in September and of course the Evansville Half Marathon in October. Team 13 starts in early July!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
London - November 2011
As most of you know, Trenton travels internationally quite extensively for his work. Because of this, he accumulates more frequent flier miles and hotel points than we typically know what to do with. Not to brag, but the last plane ticket either of us have purchased was when we went to Costa Rica in May of 2007. And that reminds me of another story I can post later. :) Thankfully, his work allows him to keep all of his points for our personal use (one of the very few perks of him being gone so much).
Because of these points, we have had many opportunities to travel and stay basically for free. There have been many weekend trips to Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville and St. Louis. Our favorite is to go to Huber Orchard and Winery in Starlight, IN for the day and have a night out on 4th Street in Louisville that night. To use up the frequent flier miles, we have gone to West Palm, Key West, Cozumel, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Orlando (twice), Jamaica, and the latest was London. Currently, we have plans to fly to Pensacola, FL in April to visit a friend of ours and run a half marathon with him. Then in July, we are planning a trip to Aruba with an awesome couple we met in Jamaica last year. We are very blessed to have these opportunities yet they do come at the cost of Trenton not being home for many weeks out of the year.
So about London...
Trenton doesn't always give much notice when he is going out of town. Sometimes its a month and sometimes it's two weeks or less. When he found out he was going to London, it was about a month in advance and allowed enough time to plan for me to tag along. There were two other wives going as well so we decided us girls would explore the city while the guys had to work all day. Sounded like a fantastic plan to me!
We left Evansville on Monday, November 14th at 1pm. Because I had to use all of my vacation time, I had to go in to work for 6 hours beforehand which meant I was up at the butt crack of dawn and to work at 5am. Needless to say that by the time I got on the plane in Evansville, I was already tired. However, sleeping at that point was a bad idea considering I had hours and hours of travel time left. We had a layover in Detroit and left there around 6pm. After sitting on the plane forever, and making fun of "Kenny Tarmac" who was sitting a few rows in front of us next to Trent's co-worker and his wife, we finally took off. After drink service, dinner, a movie, some reading, some sleeping and more reading, we were finally there. We arrived at Heathrow airport in London around 7:30am. Keep in mind that London is on GMT which is 6 hours ahead of Evansville. It was a long flight but nothing compared to the flight to Japan. That is a LONG flight!
We waited in one of the restaurants for the last couple to arrive. They are from Brazil but had been in Florida the previous two weeks. Once everyone was there, we got our bearings and took the train (or tube as they call it), all the way out to Loughton. Of course, this was the farthest point in the exact opposite direction. Since we were so far out from the city of London and it's attractions, w all bought Oyster cards for the tube, rather than pay every time. It took over an hour to get there and once there we had to cab it another 10 minutes to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, the guys had meetings in afternoon and a dinner that night. The girls and I decided to stay close to the hotel rather than go into London so we took a cab back into Loughton. It was getting dark so not much time for sightseeing but we did check out the Waltham Abbey Church. Unfortunately, it had just closed when we got there so we were unable to go inside. Looking through the small window on the inner door only gave a glimpse of how really beautiful it was. We walked around the little town but it was mostly dead. We stopped in a pub and had one beer before we moved on. The next pub was packed with locals who most likely go there every night. We ended up staying a few hours and had a really good time talking with everyone and playing ridiculous songs on the jukebox.
Over the course of the next several days, us girls took off into London during the day while the guys had to work. We would get up and eat breakfast with them and head off on our journey for the day. Breakfast was pretty good too. If you are a mushroom fan, they had giant, cooked portobello mushrooms that were delicious! The second night we ate dinner with the guys and some of their work people. I had the fish and chips...a definite must.
So about London and our daily sightseeing. It took around 45 minutes to get into London from out hotel. Once in London, it was a LOT of walking. Considering I had just ran a full marathon the weekend before, my legs were shot by the end of the trip! We saw all of the famous sights like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, The London Eye, The British Museum (the Rosetta Stone was the most famous piece), Piccadilly Circus, the London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London. The guys were with us Saturday and Sunday as well so they were able to see many of these things too.
Of all the things we did, my favorite was the tour of the Tower of London. We had a Yeoman tour guide explaining all that was around us and what went on inside those walls so many, many years ago. This was the place where prisoners were kept and tortured, people were executed in the Tower Green, royal beasts were held captive for hundreds of years and ravens are protected and held captive as legend states the tower will fall if they ever leave. This is also the home of the historic White Tower and the crown jewels are kept in the Jewel House. Imagine wearing on your head, a crown that has over 3000 diamonds, pearls, sapphires, emeralds and rubies! One single diamond in one crown was slightly larger than a golf ball. I can't remember the exact amount of carats, but it was something ridiculous like 400. They told us before going in not to compare to our engagement rings!
The evenings during the weekend were fun filled with more sightseeing and stops at a pub or two along the way. Dinners were very tasty with the chicken and mushroom pie being my most favorite of the entire trip. The beer was good though served a little too warm (which is the proper way to serve it) for my liking. We couldn't have asked for better weather in November as it was partly sunny during the days with highs around 45-50. The nights were a little cooler but nothing a scarf and gloves couldn't fix. I had a fantastic time and am glad I was able to join the trip.
Because of these points, we have had many opportunities to travel and stay basically for free. There have been many weekend trips to Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville and St. Louis. Our favorite is to go to Huber Orchard and Winery in Starlight, IN for the day and have a night out on 4th Street in Louisville that night. To use up the frequent flier miles, we have gone to West Palm, Key West, Cozumel, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Orlando (twice), Jamaica, and the latest was London. Currently, we have plans to fly to Pensacola, FL in April to visit a friend of ours and run a half marathon with him. Then in July, we are planning a trip to Aruba with an awesome couple we met in Jamaica last year. We are very blessed to have these opportunities yet they do come at the cost of Trenton not being home for many weeks out of the year.
So about London...
Trenton doesn't always give much notice when he is going out of town. Sometimes its a month and sometimes it's two weeks or less. When he found out he was going to London, it was about a month in advance and allowed enough time to plan for me to tag along. There were two other wives going as well so we decided us girls would explore the city while the guys had to work all day. Sounded like a fantastic plan to me!
We left Evansville on Monday, November 14th at 1pm. Because I had to use all of my vacation time, I had to go in to work for 6 hours beforehand which meant I was up at the butt crack of dawn and to work at 5am. Needless to say that by the time I got on the plane in Evansville, I was already tired. However, sleeping at that point was a bad idea considering I had hours and hours of travel time left. We had a layover in Detroit and left there around 6pm. After sitting on the plane forever, and making fun of "Kenny Tarmac" who was sitting a few rows in front of us next to Trent's co-worker and his wife, we finally took off. After drink service, dinner, a movie, some reading, some sleeping and more reading, we were finally there. We arrived at Heathrow airport in London around 7:30am. Keep in mind that London is on GMT which is 6 hours ahead of Evansville. It was a long flight but nothing compared to the flight to Japan. That is a LONG flight!
We waited in one of the restaurants for the last couple to arrive. They are from Brazil but had been in Florida the previous two weeks. Once everyone was there, we got our bearings and took the train (or tube as they call it), all the way out to Loughton. Of course, this was the farthest point in the exact opposite direction. Since we were so far out from the city of London and it's attractions, w all bought Oyster cards for the tube, rather than pay every time. It took over an hour to get there and once there we had to cab it another 10 minutes to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, the guys had meetings in afternoon and a dinner that night. The girls and I decided to stay close to the hotel rather than go into London so we took a cab back into Loughton. It was getting dark so not much time for sightseeing but we did check out the Waltham Abbey Church. Unfortunately, it had just closed when we got there so we were unable to go inside. Looking through the small window on the inner door only gave a glimpse of how really beautiful it was. We walked around the little town but it was mostly dead. We stopped in a pub and had one beer before we moved on. The next pub was packed with locals who most likely go there every night. We ended up staying a few hours and had a really good time talking with everyone and playing ridiculous songs on the jukebox.
Over the course of the next several days, us girls took off into London during the day while the guys had to work. We would get up and eat breakfast with them and head off on our journey for the day. Breakfast was pretty good too. If you are a mushroom fan, they had giant, cooked portobello mushrooms that were delicious! The second night we ate dinner with the guys and some of their work people. I had the fish and chips...a definite must.
So about London and our daily sightseeing. It took around 45 minutes to get into London from out hotel. Once in London, it was a LOT of walking. Considering I had just ran a full marathon the weekend before, my legs were shot by the end of the trip! We saw all of the famous sights like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, The London Eye, The British Museum (the Rosetta Stone was the most famous piece), Piccadilly Circus, the London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London. The guys were with us Saturday and Sunday as well so they were able to see many of these things too.
Of all the things we did, my favorite was the tour of the Tower of London. We had a Yeoman tour guide explaining all that was around us and what went on inside those walls so many, many years ago. This was the place where prisoners were kept and tortured, people were executed in the Tower Green, royal beasts were held captive for hundreds of years and ravens are protected and held captive as legend states the tower will fall if they ever leave. This is also the home of the historic White Tower and the crown jewels are kept in the Jewel House. Imagine wearing on your head, a crown that has over 3000 diamonds, pearls, sapphires, emeralds and rubies! One single diamond in one crown was slightly larger than a golf ball. I can't remember the exact amount of carats, but it was something ridiculous like 400. They told us before going in not to compare to our engagement rings!
The evenings during the weekend were fun filled with more sightseeing and stops at a pub or two along the way. Dinners were very tasty with the chicken and mushroom pie being my most favorite of the entire trip. The beer was good though served a little too warm (which is the proper way to serve it) for my liking. We couldn't have asked for better weather in November as it was partly sunny during the days with highs around 45-50. The nights were a little cooler but nothing a scarf and gloves couldn't fix. I had a fantastic time and am glad I was able to join the trip.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Catching Up - Marathon Race Day
I haven't been on here since the beginning of November. LOTS of things have happened since then and I've got some catching up to do! It was suggested I make a New Years Resolution to keep up with this blog and I am going to do my very best.
Where to start...I guess we can begin right were I left off....the marathon. Before I get to that day, I want to again say how grateful I am for Martha and Meagan, my running buddies. We started our training around mid July and for 16 weeks we ran 5 days a week through the good and the bad. We ran on perfectly beautiful days, during extreme heat advisories, pouring rain and even a thunderstorm or two. We ran on days when our stomachs were upset or our legs/knees/feet/back hurt. But we also had days where it seemed we could have kept running forever. Running the actual marathon was only part of the battle. The weeks of training leading up to it are just as taxing on your body in every way, if not more so. You're always hungry and tired and something on your body always hurts. Your heart has to be there. There is no half-assing. Without Martha and Meagan, I would have quit. They kept me going on days when I wasn't feeling my best and I did the same for them. I couldn't have created better running buddies if I were able to do so and I thank them immensely for everything!
November 5th, 2011 - Marathon Day. Race starts, 8am.
I woke up around 5am to eat a little breakfast, let my body wake up, go to the bathroom at least 35 times and put all of my clothes/gear on. It was going to be chilly in the morning and around 50 degrees by the time we were done. I didn't want to over dress so I wore black shorts and a neon green t-shirt. I also wore compression sleeves on my calves and knee high socks (grey with different colored hearts) on my arms (which were purchased at Target the night before). I cut a hole in the toe so I could wear them like mittens if needed to keep my hands warm as well. The thought was once I warmed up I could dump them on the road but I never got that warm. The socks were Martha's idea and Meagan bought some as well. We probably got 20 compliments on our "arm warmers" during the race. I also had on a thin headband to keep my ears warm and a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. Lastly, I had a pouch I wore around my waist that contained my shot blocks (for energy) and bio-freeze (for injury). I was ready to go and we all met up about a half hour before the start.
Standing in the cold for a half an hour only left us enough time to wonder if we were really ready for this and if we should maybe go to the bathroom one more time. We lined up somewhere between the 10 and 11 minute pacers hoping we wouldn't get trampled or have to fight to get around slower people who should line up further back. Our husbands gave us a kiss and wished us good luck. They played the National Anthem and all the runners together said the Serenity Prayer and the next thing we knew, we were off! 16 weeks of training and we were finally taking the first steps of our first full marathon! It took roughly 5 minutes and much hurdling of all of the sweatpants/shirts that were left on the street before we actually crossed the start line. We trained by running 8 minutes and walking 2 and running between a 10-11 minute per mile pace. Since none of us have mastered drinking and running at the same time, our strategy for the race was to run to every water station and then walk for 2 minutes to get a drink and/or some energy gel/shot block or beans and maintain roughly an 11 minute per mile pace. We agreed to stick together until mile 20 and if any one of us was feeling good and wanted to pick it up, then no hard feelings if someone was left behind. We were running together, but were also running for ourselves too.
Trent decided to bring his road bike and ride to different points along the course to cheer us on. He and Meagan's husband were at the 3 mile mark first. Then it was just Trent on the bike and he met up with us at mile 6. Everyone is still feeling good! We saw him again, along with some other friends that live in Indy, at mile 9 and we were still going strong. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew and niece were cheering for us at the halfway point at mile 13.1 with posters that said "RUN LIKE YOU ROBBED A BANK!", "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon, but YOU ARE!", and "RUN JULIE, RUN".
One of my favorite signs I saw at the Evansville Half Marathon in October was "Don't poop your pants" held by a boy around the age of 10. Hilarious....and so very true.
It was mile 13 that my right knee started to bother me. I thought it was a little early for that so I put some bio-freeze on it hoping that would fix it. It helped for a while and I had to reapply around mile 15. More running and the pain continued. Whatever it was that was hurting, bio-freeze was not the fix.
We next saw Trent around mile 18 and apparently that is when I first told him it was hurting. However, the picture of us on Facebook shows us all still smiling. I remember it was somewhere between mile 18 and 19 that I started to fall behind just slightly. At this point is when my right hip was beginning to hurt as well. I continued to push through it and run as much as I could. When I saw Trent again at mile 22, the pain was all I could think about. I told him I had never hurt that bad in my life. On a scale of 1-10, I would have given it a 15. Every step I took was intense and it felt as though my leg was going to give out at any time. He told me I was doing great, and I started to cry. Crying and running do not mix well together. I started to hyperventilate and had to tell myself to calm down and breathe. I was too far into the race and quitting was not an option. I continued to push on.
At mile 22 I couldn't see Meagan anymore. Martha was still in my sight but far enough ahead I was not going to catch up. I started to walk a lot more and I switched between walking and running, whichever hurt less at the time. I noticed more and more people around me starting to walk as well. Everyone always talks about "hitting the wall" at mile 20. Most people don't train beyond 20 to 22 miles leading up to their marathon so you just don't know how your body will react in those last miles. I'm not completely sure of the definition, and maybe it's different for each person, but I would define it as being so completely exhausted you have nothing left in you to move further. I never got fatigued or out of breath. However my leg felt as though I was being stabbed with knives. I had the energy to keep going, and so I did.
At mile 23 I started to tell myself I only had a 5K left. Anyone can run a 5K!!! I said that to myself over and over and over. I was playing mind games and trying to think of anything other than how bad my leg hurt. Around mile 24, the pacer for a 5 hour finish came running up along side me. My goal was to finish under 5 hours and I still had 2 miles left. I knew I wasn't going to keep up so I figured my goal was shot. I paced him for a while listening to him and some girl talk about how many marathon's he has ran and what her goals were with running. It kept my mind off things for a while but eventually I had to walk and let them go on. I tried stretching my leg each time I would walk but it didn't help. I just telling myself I was almost done. Around mile 25, there were more and more people cheering and many of them were racers that had already finished. As I got closer to the finish, I could hear the loudspeaker and when I got really close, I could hear the cheers from the crowd as people were crossing the finish line. I had no idea where the finish was but when I turned the corner and finally saw it, all of my pain was literally gone and I started to cry again. Everyone was there cheering me on and I ran as hard as I could to the finish line.
Martha finished about 5 minutes ahead of me. Meagan was about 5 minutes ahead of her.
My final time was 4:58:40. Under 5 hours. I will never forget how I felt in those moments right after I finished. Hugging Trent and crying on his shoulder and having my family there was priceless.
Almost 2 months later, my right knee still hurts and I can't run much over 3 miles at a time. I'm still paying a chiropractor to fix me weekly. Will I run another marathon...absolutely.
Where to start...I guess we can begin right were I left off....the marathon. Before I get to that day, I want to again say how grateful I am for Martha and Meagan, my running buddies. We started our training around mid July and for 16 weeks we ran 5 days a week through the good and the bad. We ran on perfectly beautiful days, during extreme heat advisories, pouring rain and even a thunderstorm or two. We ran on days when our stomachs were upset or our legs/knees/feet/back hurt. But we also had days where it seemed we could have kept running forever. Running the actual marathon was only part of the battle. The weeks of training leading up to it are just as taxing on your body in every way, if not more so. You're always hungry and tired and something on your body always hurts. Your heart has to be there. There is no half-assing. Without Martha and Meagan, I would have quit. They kept me going on days when I wasn't feeling my best and I did the same for them. I couldn't have created better running buddies if I were able to do so and I thank them immensely for everything!
November 5th, 2011 - Marathon Day. Race starts, 8am.
I woke up around 5am to eat a little breakfast, let my body wake up, go to the bathroom at least 35 times and put all of my clothes/gear on. It was going to be chilly in the morning and around 50 degrees by the time we were done. I didn't want to over dress so I wore black shorts and a neon green t-shirt. I also wore compression sleeves on my calves and knee high socks (grey with different colored hearts) on my arms (which were purchased at Target the night before). I cut a hole in the toe so I could wear them like mittens if needed to keep my hands warm as well. The thought was once I warmed up I could dump them on the road but I never got that warm. The socks were Martha's idea and Meagan bought some as well. We probably got 20 compliments on our "arm warmers" during the race. I also had on a thin headband to keep my ears warm and a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes. Lastly, I had a pouch I wore around my waist that contained my shot blocks (for energy) and bio-freeze (for injury). I was ready to go and we all met up about a half hour before the start.
Standing in the cold for a half an hour only left us enough time to wonder if we were really ready for this and if we should maybe go to the bathroom one more time. We lined up somewhere between the 10 and 11 minute pacers hoping we wouldn't get trampled or have to fight to get around slower people who should line up further back. Our husbands gave us a kiss and wished us good luck. They played the National Anthem and all the runners together said the Serenity Prayer and the next thing we knew, we were off! 16 weeks of training and we were finally taking the first steps of our first full marathon! It took roughly 5 minutes and much hurdling of all of the sweatpants/shirts that were left on the street before we actually crossed the start line. We trained by running 8 minutes and walking 2 and running between a 10-11 minute per mile pace. Since none of us have mastered drinking and running at the same time, our strategy for the race was to run to every water station and then walk for 2 minutes to get a drink and/or some energy gel/shot block or beans and maintain roughly an 11 minute per mile pace. We agreed to stick together until mile 20 and if any one of us was feeling good and wanted to pick it up, then no hard feelings if someone was left behind. We were running together, but were also running for ourselves too.
Trent decided to bring his road bike and ride to different points along the course to cheer us on. He and Meagan's husband were at the 3 mile mark first. Then it was just Trent on the bike and he met up with us at mile 6. Everyone is still feeling good! We saw him again, along with some other friends that live in Indy, at mile 9 and we were still going strong. My parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew and niece were cheering for us at the halfway point at mile 13.1 with posters that said "RUN LIKE YOU ROBBED A BANK!", "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon, but YOU ARE!", and "RUN JULIE, RUN".
One of my favorite signs I saw at the Evansville Half Marathon in October was "Don't poop your pants" held by a boy around the age of 10. Hilarious....and so very true.
It was mile 13 that my right knee started to bother me. I thought it was a little early for that so I put some bio-freeze on it hoping that would fix it. It helped for a while and I had to reapply around mile 15. More running and the pain continued. Whatever it was that was hurting, bio-freeze was not the fix.
We next saw Trent around mile 18 and apparently that is when I first told him it was hurting. However, the picture of us on Facebook shows us all still smiling. I remember it was somewhere between mile 18 and 19 that I started to fall behind just slightly. At this point is when my right hip was beginning to hurt as well. I continued to push through it and run as much as I could. When I saw Trent again at mile 22, the pain was all I could think about. I told him I had never hurt that bad in my life. On a scale of 1-10, I would have given it a 15. Every step I took was intense and it felt as though my leg was going to give out at any time. He told me I was doing great, and I started to cry. Crying and running do not mix well together. I started to hyperventilate and had to tell myself to calm down and breathe. I was too far into the race and quitting was not an option. I continued to push on.
At mile 22 I couldn't see Meagan anymore. Martha was still in my sight but far enough ahead I was not going to catch up. I started to walk a lot more and I switched between walking and running, whichever hurt less at the time. I noticed more and more people around me starting to walk as well. Everyone always talks about "hitting the wall" at mile 20. Most people don't train beyond 20 to 22 miles leading up to their marathon so you just don't know how your body will react in those last miles. I'm not completely sure of the definition, and maybe it's different for each person, but I would define it as being so completely exhausted you have nothing left in you to move further. I never got fatigued or out of breath. However my leg felt as though I was being stabbed with knives. I had the energy to keep going, and so I did.
At mile 23 I started to tell myself I only had a 5K left. Anyone can run a 5K!!! I said that to myself over and over and over. I was playing mind games and trying to think of anything other than how bad my leg hurt. Around mile 24, the pacer for a 5 hour finish came running up along side me. My goal was to finish under 5 hours and I still had 2 miles left. I knew I wasn't going to keep up so I figured my goal was shot. I paced him for a while listening to him and some girl talk about how many marathon's he has ran and what her goals were with running. It kept my mind off things for a while but eventually I had to walk and let them go on. I tried stretching my leg each time I would walk but it didn't help. I just telling myself I was almost done. Around mile 25, there were more and more people cheering and many of them were racers that had already finished. As I got closer to the finish, I could hear the loudspeaker and when I got really close, I could hear the cheers from the crowd as people were crossing the finish line. I had no idea where the finish was but when I turned the corner and finally saw it, all of my pain was literally gone and I started to cry again. Everyone was there cheering me on and I ran as hard as I could to the finish line.
Martha finished about 5 minutes ahead of me. Meagan was about 5 minutes ahead of her.
My final time was 4:58:40. Under 5 hours. I will never forget how I felt in those moments right after I finished. Hugging Trent and crying on his shoulder and having my family there was priceless.
Almost 2 months later, my right knee still hurts and I can't run much over 3 miles at a time. I'm still paying a chiropractor to fix me weekly. Will I run another marathon...absolutely.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Day 6-8 of Thankfulness
Day 6 - Today I am thankful for the rest of my family I have yet to mention. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc. There are too many to mention all of the names but I apprecaite everyone and everything they have done and do for me.
Day 7 - Today I am thankful for my wonderful friends. Again, there are too many to mention but everyone plays a special part in my life and I am blessed to have all of you in it.
Day 8 - Today I am thankful for my marriage. Trent and I have been married a little over 3 years now. I realize that is a very short time in the whole scheme of things, but I couldn't be happier. Marriage does take effort from both sides but I can honestly say I have it pretty easy. The things I do for Trent are things I WANT to do because I love him. I don't have to force anything or be fake. We don't put on our happy faces around others and act all nice and sweet and then go home and yell and scream at each other and sleep in seperate beds. Of course we have our moments, everyone does, but 99% of the time things are fantastic. What you see with us is what you get. I see so many married couples (our age and older) who fight and bicker all the time and are just down rigth ugly to each other all the time. As the title of my blog says, life is what you make it, and I don't have time for all that nonsense.
Day 7 - Today I am thankful for my wonderful friends. Again, there are too many to mention but everyone plays a special part in my life and I am blessed to have all of you in it.
Day 8 - Today I am thankful for my marriage. Trent and I have been married a little over 3 years now. I realize that is a very short time in the whole scheme of things, but I couldn't be happier. Marriage does take effort from both sides but I can honestly say I have it pretty easy. The things I do for Trent are things I WANT to do because I love him. I don't have to force anything or be fake. We don't put on our happy faces around others and act all nice and sweet and then go home and yell and scream at each other and sleep in seperate beds. Of course we have our moments, everyone does, but 99% of the time things are fantastic. What you see with us is what you get. I see so many married couples (our age and older) who fight and bicker all the time and are just down rigth ugly to each other all the time. As the title of my blog says, life is what you make it, and I don't have time for all that nonsense.
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