I had so much fun at the St. Jude Marathon today! Of all the marathons I've run, it's my favorite event because it's local and for a fantastic cause, but mostly because there are SO many friends out there running and watching!
I "only" ran the half this year, which was a perfect distance for me today. I hate when people say they are only running a half, because that is still a long distance and a HUGE accomplishment. However, now that I've run plenty of full marathons, I came into today's race with a little bit of an "only a half" attitude. Even though it's still hard, and if you do it right it's still going to hurt, the anticipation, pre-race planning and nervous jitters are so much less intense for a half! If you've trained for a full marathon, you know you can make it through 13 miles even on your worst running day, so there's a little less to worry about.
Anyway... when I signed up for the half I intended to run it as fast as I could, trying to walk away with a clear answer to the question "What is your half marathon PR?" Prior to today, my "real" PR was around 1:54, but I ran a 1:47 split in the St. Jude full last year. Unfortunately, I didn't look that time up before the race to know what to shoot for! I went out fast and maintained it until around mile 8, then gradually slowed down. There were a couple (ok, several) times that I walked when I didn't really need to, or mentally gave up, but all in all it was a pretty good race for me. I finished in 1:48:29, which I was really happy with, given my level of training and current fitness. I wish I'd pushed through some of the times that I stopped to walk, but that's ok!
Justin was a GREAT spectator, watching the half around mile 7 at a friend's house. Before the race I had chained my bike close to the finish at Autozone Park, so after the race I grabbed the bike and rode over to watch the full marathon's pass my friend's house at mile 22. We had a great time cheering, and I was really glad to do it because the last stretch of the full marathon is LONG and BORING with few spectators. It was a fun day and I'm glad I ran it! I'm also amped up to train harder and hopefully pull out a good time for the New Orleans Marathon in March!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thanksgiving and our Holiday Running Streak
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with many reminders of how blessed we are and how much we have to be thankful for. We spent the weekend in Nashville with my parents, but got to spend time with Shelby, Alex and Justin's dad Frank too.
Much of the time when we were all at my parents' house we also had all 4 dogs, which led to some interesting times! They mostly get along ok, but every now and then Cooper decides to growl at Riley and kinda jump at her like she wants to fight. Cooper would lose, but neither he nor Riley know that, so we have a boxer that is scared to death of the westie, and a westie that has no idea the danger he is putting himself in! One major point of contention between the two is where they each get to sit. Everyone likes to be in someone's lap and sometimes they don't share this nicely!
Kelsey doesn't like the excitement, so she hides out in the bedroom and won't come out most of the time.
The dogs are entertaining, at least!
We spent Thanksgiving day with my dad's side of the family, pigging out on DELICIOUS food, playing cornhole and just sitting around. It was a great day!
Friday we took a Christmas card picture with all 6 people at 4 dogs... It was challenging but fun, and successful!
Justin and I completed day 3 of our holiday run streak, where we have vowed to run at least one mile a day and to take our dogs with us. We know they need exercise and will be better behaved and healthier if we walk them daily, but it's so hard to motivate ourselves to take them. So, between now and New Years, whether we want to or not, we are going on daily walks/jogs. I'm hoping to get Kelsey under a 10:00 mile and teach Cooper to pace himself! The highlight of the runs so far is that Cooper slept until 7:45 this morning... That is unheard of! But, then again, it was a tiring weekend for everyone!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Much of the time when we were all at my parents' house we also had all 4 dogs, which led to some interesting times! They mostly get along ok, but every now and then Cooper decides to growl at Riley and kinda jump at her like she wants to fight. Cooper would lose, but neither he nor Riley know that, so we have a boxer that is scared to death of the westie, and a westie that has no idea the danger he is putting himself in! One major point of contention between the two is where they each get to sit. Everyone likes to be in someone's lap and sometimes they don't share this nicely!
Kelsey doesn't like the excitement, so she hides out in the bedroom and won't come out most of the time.
The dogs are entertaining, at least!
We spent Thanksgiving day with my dad's side of the family, pigging out on DELICIOUS food, playing cornhole and just sitting around. It was a great day!
Friday we took a Christmas card picture with all 6 people at 4 dogs... It was challenging but fun, and successful!
Justin and I completed day 3 of our holiday run streak, where we have vowed to run at least one mile a day and to take our dogs with us. We know they need exercise and will be better behaved and healthier if we walk them daily, but it's so hard to motivate ourselves to take them. So, between now and New Years, whether we want to or not, we are going on daily walks/jogs. I'm hoping to get Kelsey under a 10:00 mile and teach Cooper to pace himself! The highlight of the runs so far is that Cooper slept until 7:45 this morning... That is unheard of! But, then again, it was a tiring weekend for everyone!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Monday, November 21, 2011
New York Marathon and vacation
Justin and I had a wonderful vacation in New York! We were there for the marathon, but got to see and do many other touristy things as well. Here are some of the highlights, as well as my thoughts on the marathon.
First, the "vacation report" followed by a race report:
The Statue of Liberty
9/11 memorial
On the way to the Memorial we stumbled upon the Occupy Wall Street protesters, so I had to take a picture of them too!
Times Square, and the Toys R Us in it!
Spiderman on Broadway. The critics didn't love this show, but I thought the stunts, music and set design made it very entertaining!
Central Park
Macy's. It has 11 floors and had already started decorating for Christmas!
Grand Central Terminal. This was the first place we attempted to ride the Subway. For NYC subway novices... This is not the place to go! We eventually found the subway lines and ended up where we needed to be, but it was overwhelming for a minute or two. :)
"Top of the Rock" - the lookout point at the top of the Rockefeller Center. We got there right before sunset, which was perfect to see the views in daylight, at sunset and at night.
Central Park in the background!
Of course, we ate well while we were there! Yes, we finished this entire piece of cheesecake... But we did have to take it back to the hotel. We also ate pretzels, roasted chestnuts and giros from street vendors, and plenty of other great food!
Two of the best things about that trip was that we got to meet up my friend Ashley for dinner one night, and my cousin Margaret for dinner and to watch the UT/MTSU football game, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that!
Carlo's Bake Shop, from The Cake Boss, in Hoboken, NJ
New York City Marathon Race Report:
Everything about the race was over-the-top, but in a good way! It was HUGE. This was by far the biggest marathon I have run, which has pros and cons but makes for a pretty cool experience.
Packet pickup was really well organized and went smoothly, for such a big race. I love these welcome signs in all different languages.
It was really appropriate, as 22,000 of the finishers weren't from the United States. Everywhere you turned someone was speaking another language as a reminder that it truly is an international marathon. It made me even more excited about running the Paris marathon in April, where we will be the international runners. It's cool how running brings people together.
We went to the expo with our friends Chris and Jessica, which was fun. After doing plenty of shopping and buying a Motoactv GPS music player and some compression calf sleeves, we watched a video about the marathon that gave me chills and made me even more excited about the race.
Race morning, we had to catch a bus in Midtown Manhattan at 6:00 am, even though the race didn't start until 9:40. Luckily I had friends to hang out with, or I would have been bored out of my mind! We took the bus to Staten Island and camped out in the grass on Mylar blankets for a couple hours, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds!
After the Staten Island bridge, the next 13 miles were in Brooklyn, where I think every resident came out to watch. There was never a section without spectators. I had a blast trying to slap hands with every little kid on my side of the course for about a mile, but it was impossible there we so many! We ran up Manhattan Island, then did quick little sections of the Bronx and Queens before heading back to Manhattan. The quietest part of the course was the Queensboro Bridge, around mile18 or so. We were on the bottom of the bridge, and it was a brutal uphill followed by a downhill that actually hurt a little too. It went on and on. There were no spectators, since it was a bridge, so all I heard was the sound of feet on the pavement. As we neared the bottom of the bridge we could hear the crowds in Manhattan. We turned the corner and went from near silence to the loudest cheering I've ever heard in a race. It was the coolest experience! The rest of the race went down 5th Avenue to Central Park, then the last two miles were in the park. I'm sure it was pretty... I didn't notice at that point. I just wanted to be finished! I gave it all I had the last couple miles, but it wasn't enough to finish under 4 hours. My time was around 4:01, but I don't know for sure because my timing chip didn't work.
Overall, the race was a wonderful experience that I'd recommend any marathoner do once, but I probably won't do it again because of the cost and complexities of a race that huge. It was a fun time and I'm extremely thankful for Justin coming with me and cheering me on and supporting me in all my marathons!
First, the "vacation report" followed by a race report:
The Statue of Liberty
9/11 memorial
On the way to the Memorial we stumbled upon the Occupy Wall Street protesters, so I had to take a picture of them too!
Times Square, and the Toys R Us in it!
Spiderman on Broadway. The critics didn't love this show, but I thought the stunts, music and set design made it very entertaining!
Central Park
Macy's. It has 11 floors and had already started decorating for Christmas!
Grand Central Terminal. This was the first place we attempted to ride the Subway. For NYC subway novices... This is not the place to go! We eventually found the subway lines and ended up where we needed to be, but it was overwhelming for a minute or two. :)
"Top of the Rock" - the lookout point at the top of the Rockefeller Center. We got there right before sunset, which was perfect to see the views in daylight, at sunset and at night.
Central Park in the background!
Of course, we ate well while we were there! Yes, we finished this entire piece of cheesecake... But we did have to take it back to the hotel. We also ate pretzels, roasted chestnuts and giros from street vendors, and plenty of other great food!
Two of the best things about that trip was that we got to meet up my friend Ashley for dinner one night, and my cousin Margaret for dinner and to watch the UT/MTSU football game, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that!
Carlo's Bake Shop, from The Cake Boss, in Hoboken, NJ
New York City Marathon Race Report:
Everything about the race was over-the-top, but in a good way! It was HUGE. This was by far the biggest marathon I have run, which has pros and cons but makes for a pretty cool experience.
Packet pickup was really well organized and went smoothly, for such a big race. I love these welcome signs in all different languages.
It was really appropriate, as 22,000 of the finishers weren't from the United States. Everywhere you turned someone was speaking another language as a reminder that it truly is an international marathon. It made me even more excited about running the Paris marathon in April, where we will be the international runners. It's cool how running brings people together.
We went to the expo with our friends Chris and Jessica, which was fun. After doing plenty of shopping and buying a Motoactv GPS music player and some compression calf sleeves, we watched a video about the marathon that gave me chills and made me even more excited about the race.
Race morning, we had to catch a bus in Midtown Manhattan at 6:00 am, even though the race didn't start until 9:40. Luckily I had friends to hang out with, or I would have been bored out of my mind! We took the bus to Staten Island and camped out in the grass on Mylar blankets for a couple hours, but it wasn't as bad as it sounds!
After the Staten Island bridge, the next 13 miles were in Brooklyn, where I think every resident came out to watch. There was never a section without spectators. I had a blast trying to slap hands with every little kid on my side of the course for about a mile, but it was impossible there we so many! We ran up Manhattan Island, then did quick little sections of the Bronx and Queens before heading back to Manhattan. The quietest part of the course was the Queensboro Bridge, around mile18 or so. We were on the bottom of the bridge, and it was a brutal uphill followed by a downhill that actually hurt a little too. It went on and on. There were no spectators, since it was a bridge, so all I heard was the sound of feet on the pavement. As we neared the bottom of the bridge we could hear the crowds in Manhattan. We turned the corner and went from near silence to the loudest cheering I've ever heard in a race. It was the coolest experience! The rest of the race went down 5th Avenue to Central Park, then the last two miles were in the park. I'm sure it was pretty... I didn't notice at that point. I just wanted to be finished! I gave it all I had the last couple miles, but it wasn't enough to finish under 4 hours. My time was around 4:01, but I don't know for sure because my timing chip didn't work.
Overall, the race was a wonderful experience that I'd recommend any marathoner do once, but I probably won't do it again because of the cost and complexities of a race that huge. It was a fun time and I'm extremely thankful for Justin coming with me and cheering me on and supporting me in all my marathons!
Location:New York, New York
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Tiger Football Fun!
Despite the Memphis Tiger's dismal football season, our tailgating group is thankful for an excuse to get together on a regular basis! This morning's game was at 11:00, so we fixed a breakfast of french toast and bacon, with sides of muffins, potato casserole and doughnuts. Yum!
Our group's children were out in full force, providing entertainment during the tailgate and the game. They are getting so big and it was great to see them all!
I got some cute pictures, then realized as we were leaving the stadium that I had the camera set to a VERY low resolution, so they aren't very good. Bummer. I need to work on the most basic of photography skills!
Here is our new tailgate grill, and Justin the master chef!
This picture has 5 adults and 5 children that are all looking at the camera with their eyes open. If only the picture resolution was better!
Justin looks really manly with a pink diaper bag:
I think the only thing the crowd had to cheer about for an entire quarter was the cheerleaders. Everyone actually stood up and clapped. Perhaps these guys should try our for football.
Our group's children were out in full force, providing entertainment during the tailgate and the game. They are getting so big and it was great to see them all!
I got some cute pictures, then realized as we were leaving the stadium that I had the camera set to a VERY low resolution, so they aren't very good. Bummer. I need to work on the most basic of photography skills!
Here is our new tailgate grill, and Justin the master chef!
This picture has 5 adults and 5 children that are all looking at the camera with their eyes open. If only the picture resolution was better!
Justin looks really manly with a pink diaper bag:
I think the only thing the crowd had to cheer about for an entire quarter was the cheerleaders. Everyone actually stood up and clapped. Perhaps these guys should try our for football.
Destin and Logan:
Jessica and Virginia
Emily, Rowan and Grace.
We missed Peyton and Stephen whowere at home sick. :(
Sweet picture of Virginia
And a sweet one of Ella! She's cheering for the "boys" I'm sure!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Weekend project - Music Intercomm
When we bought our house one thing that I knew I wanted to do eventually is get rid of the 1970's music intercomm system in the house.
We figured there were two options - replace it or do a LOT of drywall work and painting. Since we hate drywall work and painting, and we could probably replace it for less than the cost of hiring someone to do the work, that's the route we chose.
Naturally, I assume that Justin can do anything, so I wasn't TOO concerned when I got to the part of the instructions that said the work should only be done by a qualified electrician. We got hung up when we were supposed to replace the old transformer with the new transformer, but it turned out the old transformer was hidden in the ceiling somewhere. Justin had to do some complicated (in my opinion) wiring, but he figured it out!
Naturally, I assume that Justin can do anything, so I wasn't TOO concerned when I got to the part of the instructions that said the work should only be done by a qualified electrician. We got hung up when we were supposed to replace the old transformer with the new transformer, but it turned out the old transformer was hidden in the ceiling somewhere. Justin had to do some complicated (in my opinion) wiring, but he figured it out!
The final product looks a lot better and more modern, plus it has a CD Player and iPod dock! I'm sure there will come a time when someone buys the house and wonders what the heck an iPod is, but that will be their problem! :)
The remote stations in our other rooms look a lot better too.
I haven't told Justin yet that he's going to be to expected to switch out that off-white lightswitch to white, as well as many others like it... I'll break that news soon enough!
Another perk is that we figured out the wiring for the outside doorbell works, so we can replace it instead of having a non-functional speaker in the front wall. Because there was no way we could fill in that brick!
I'm really happy with the way this turned out and have enjoyed listening to music instead of the TV all the time!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Orange Beach Vacation
Justin and I did do a little more than just parasailing while we were in Orange Beach, so here are the rest of the pictures! I wanted to get a nice picture of the two of us on the beach, which I knew would be a challenge without having someone else there to take it. We almost lucked out on Saturday. We were on a pretty beach in a state park where there weren't many tents, beach chairs and umbrellas to mess up the picture. A woman saw Justin taking a picture of us by holding the camera out in front of us and came over and asked if she could help. Turns out she was a photographer and was happy to take several pictures. I say we ALMOST lucked out because we looked like this -
No photographer can turn those outfits into a frame-worthy picture!
After that we were dependent on finding a spot to prop the camera, setting the timer and RUNNING through the sand to get into the picture, while trying not to sweat. It was quite a challenge, but we got a few good pictures!
Saturday night we went to dinner at a place called Flippers because a couple we met in the ocean said they had awesome seafood nachos. It was way off the beaten path, but they did have good nachos and a fun band in the tiki bar! And a gorgeous view of the sunset from our table!
After dinner we went on the obligatory night out to Flora-Bama! :)
It was a great trip and so much fun to spend a weekend together relaxing!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Parasailing!!
Justin and I took a rather last-minute trip to Orange Beach this weekend and had a blast, but one of the highlights was parasailing! I'm VERY afraid of heights, so the thought of being way up in the sky connected to a boat way down below was pretty scary, but I figured it was a good thing to do to help conquer that fear!
The rope between the boat and the parasail was 800 feet long and didn't appear much stronger than the rope we use wakeboarding or tubing... the one that snapped several weeks ago while Justin was pulling someone on a tube. There was a group of 5 women on the boat with us, and three of them went up first. I was glad to get to see how it worked, but watching how high they were made it even more scary! Naturally, Justin and I were too cheap to pay $35 to get pictures taken during the ride, but these women were nice enough to take some and email them to me so we'd have evidence! Here are some of the pictures.
This is one of my favorites. Even with the rope in front of my face you can see that I'm screaming, and I'm gripping the straps so tightly that I'm sure my knuckles are turning white. This is as the boat is first pulling us into the air.
Here's a little further out - Justin looks relaxed, and I'm still holding on for dear life. My hands and forearms were actually tired by the end of the 9 minute ride.
It was actually a TON of fun and not very scary at all. I didn't realize the harness had a back strap so you could lean back and relax. That would have helped a lot! I was holding myself up like on a swing the whole time! We had a great view of Orange Beach (and probably Gulf Shores and Pensacola, too) from the sky. We also saw a shark swimming around underneath us! Part of the fun is to get "dipped" where the boat slows down until you float down to the water, then pulls you back up. We were a little nervous about being dipped after seeing the shark! He pulled us waist deep into the water, I guess because he knew we'd enjoy it. He only dipped the other women's toes, but I think our way was more fun! It was a great experience that I'll definitely do again!
I'll post more Orange Beach pictures soon!
The rope between the boat and the parasail was 800 feet long and didn't appear much stronger than the rope we use wakeboarding or tubing... the one that snapped several weeks ago while Justin was pulling someone on a tube. There was a group of 5 women on the boat with us, and three of them went up first. I was glad to get to see how it worked, but watching how high they were made it even more scary! Naturally, Justin and I were too cheap to pay $35 to get pictures taken during the ride, but these women were nice enough to take some and email them to me so we'd have evidence! Here are some of the pictures.
This is one of my favorites. Even with the rope in front of my face you can see that I'm screaming, and I'm gripping the straps so tightly that I'm sure my knuckles are turning white. This is as the boat is first pulling us into the air.
Here's a little further out - Justin looks relaxed, and I'm still holding on for dear life. My hands and forearms were actually tired by the end of the 9 minute ride.
It was actually a TON of fun and not very scary at all. I didn't realize the harness had a back strap so you could lean back and relax. That would have helped a lot! I was holding myself up like on a swing the whole time! We had a great view of Orange Beach (and probably Gulf Shores and Pensacola, too) from the sky. We also saw a shark swimming around underneath us! Part of the fun is to get "dipped" where the boat slows down until you float down to the water, then pulls you back up. We were a little nervous about being dipped after seeing the shark! He pulled us waist deep into the water, I guess because he knew we'd enjoy it. He only dipped the other women's toes, but I think our way was more fun! It was a great experience that I'll definitely do again!
I'll post more Orange Beach pictures soon!
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