Leavenworth Oktoberfest Half Marathon Recap

Where to begin, this half marathon completely exceeded all of my expectations. I'm so happy that when Julia shared the details of the race earlier this Spring, we all decided to take the plunge together and do this run!  And I'm especially thankful that during those early weeks of training when I was sobbing by the side of the road thinking I might just have to let this goal go because I really didn't think I had it in me, my hubby would not let me give up! I learned you just have to believe in yourself!!

All week leading up to the big day, we'd been watching the smoke air quality reports and anxiously awaiting updates from the race organizers.  Due to fires in the nearby area, they were cautiously proceeding with organizing the event, with the condition that they would still possibly have to cancel as close to as an hour before gun time if the air quality was unhealthy.  They had made it very clear all along their main concern was our well-being.  Crossing our fingers the run was still a go, we arrived in Leavenworth Friday afternoon and after settling in our hotel decided to pick up our race bibs. Gah, this was getting real!!

 

Our friends showed up shortly after and we had a pasta feast (thanks Jules!) at their suite and talked about how we all were anxious, excited, nervous, and everything in between!!  We went to bed early and in the wee early hours hubs and Bailey were still sleepy and myself, well nervous of course!

 

It was super cold that morning, but oh was it a beautiful sight.  Leavenworth is an adorable little Bavarian German village surrounded by mountains everywhere.  Definitely the perfect setting for our first half marathon.

There were some girls in the parking lot by us blastin' Beyonce jams from their car, and we couldn't help but get pumped up as well!  And with that, we walked, skipped and hopped to the start line.  Lots of people, equally excited and nervous as us!

There were some folks dressed up in lederhosen and women as beer maids - I kept thinking I wish we'd have thought of that!!  At any rate, we got in our appropriate time groups with big smiles, we were ready to DO THIS!

There was virtually no cell reception and therefore I couldn't play my go-to Britney Spears Pandora station (don't judge, she's got some groovy tunes). Luckily I had Pink's Greatest Hits album on my phone, which turned out to be the perfect running soundtrack! We looped through neighborhoods, downtown, along the river, on trails all leading us back to where we started.

photo from www.brightroom.com

Although Hubby has been a long-distance runner for many years, he stuck by me the entire time!  He kept telling everyone beforehand, "I have to make sure she crosses that finish line, even if I have to carry her!!"  This picture is awesome, look at him - a poster running child, he's like a freakin' gazelle!  I hope my form looks this good one day.

photo from www.brightroom.com

I was losing steam about mile 9 and just kept chewing on my honey stingers and sipping my water.  It was definitely all mental from here on out and I just kept praying, "Lord, I have x miles behind me please see me to the end of this run."  My mantra became "I can't walk, I won't walk any of this, I'm too close to give in."  Mile 12.9 or so and at this point I was drained; so ready to be done but as soon as we saw the finish line in sight I had a new burst of energy and we full-on sprinted to the end!

photo from www.brightroom.com

And oh my gosh you guys, we did it, we seriously did it!!! After crossing the finish and getting our medals, we made our way to water station, immediately followed by the snack line. Not gonna lie, I was feeling a little queasy so a bagel and nutella were about all I could stomach.

And just a little over a week later,  I'm still in awe that we accomplished this!  Cheers to a wonderful experience surrounded by good friends and the mark of a major milestone for all of us! We're half-marathoners, yay!

So what's next on my list of fitness goals? I'm not sure but I know after 18 weeks of training I have a real love for running! 

Winter is coming and I'd like to stay motivated to keep active through the cold days, by golly we have snow flurries in our 10 day forecast! There is a half marathon in my hometown this February I've been considering running.  We shall see :)

Bloomsday 2012!

Yesterday marked my third year of running the Bloomsday 12k, and another beautiful race day at that. I sure missed my bloomie partner but she was definitely there in spirit!  I started the morning off with a peanut butter banana protein shake and was ready to dominate this race!

Ok, who am I kidding! Actually, I was really super nervous! The nerves happen every year but I had my hubby running by my side, along with approximately 48,000 enthusiasts ready to rock and roll.

The race itself went pretty well. We had a pretty steady jogging pace until about mile 4 when my knee really started acting up. I went from "I need to listen to my body and take it easy" to "I hate you knee, you will not come between me and my goal!" and everything in between. 

My official time ended up being 1:32:13. I missed my goal by just 2 minutes! Oh well, on the bright side, it was 12 minutes faster than my time last year. Yesterday evening while I was recovering, I thought about my fitness journey and where I was 10 years ago. I never would've imagined I'd be doing this. In fact, I used to dread anything fitness-related.  At nearly 200 pounds, I could barely run 1 mile, let alone 7.5 miles.  Putting things into perspective helped me realize how far I've come over the past decade.  And for that, I am incredibly grateful and humbled.

362 days until Bloomsday 2013!

Happy List 5-2-11

My happy list this week is all about BLOOMSDAY! This year we were expecting sunshine and warm weather, and yesterday did not disappoint. What a great blessing after having bizarre weather leading up to the event.  I was nervous all weekend with my "what-ifs" worrying about my injury but my husband did a great job smoothing over my fears. My childhood friend, Sarah, came from out of town and joined in on the fun.

 There were SO many people!

I didn't get as many pictures this year because I was so focused on trying to finish the race and not giving up to walking the entire route. I didn't do much training for the race, hoping I could minimize any inflammation in my post tib tendon. And I definitely felt the lack of training as it was so hard to keep a jogging pace.  But I definitely pushed myself like I've never pushed my body before and although I didn't do as great in my time as last year, it was so rewarding seeing that finish line and knowing I didn't give up! And Hallelujah - no falls this year!!

370 days until Bloomsday 2012!

What's on your happy list this week? Be sure to link up.

My First 12k!

That's right, my first race ever! A group of friends (my girls I've known since kindergarden!) ran in Bloomsday this weekend! 50, 661 people crossed the finish line, the biggest turnout since 1996. It was so much fun and so exilerating! Our official time was 1:55 but that included a detour to a friend's house in the neighborhood for a potty break and a medical stop when I totally wiped out at mile 3, haha! I brought my Garmin FR60 along, and I started/stopped it during those two detours and it's time said 1:36.We jogged nearly the entire route, except Doomsday hill. I can't wait to do it again next year, sans the road rash!