North Face Endurance Challenge

 Tis racing season. I love it. My latest race this year has been the North Face Endurance Challenge- marathon relay. Can't think of a better way to run a marathon than in a relay. Best. idea. ever.
I had an awesome team that consisted of my sister and two good friends from church - Lindsay and Maren.  I had zero expectations for the race since it was a trail run. I usually hate trail running. It's hard and trails (non-paved) are few and far between in the greater DC area. But we all had a great time. I would definitely do it again. And of the 3 teams participating in our ward, our team won. Always an added perk. We didn't win the whole race, but we were all happy with our individual portions. Anyway, somehow I didn't manage to get a picture of our whole team, so the three of us will have to suffice. Above it the start/finish line. Sister started the race and I ended it.

 Did I mention that it rained like crazy the day before the race? The trails were a slick muddy mess. And the last 400 meters leading up to the finish line was basically a wading pool. So by the time you finish the race, you are spattered with mud and soaking wet.

It really was a perfect day. Great company, great course, smaller race, and perfect temperature with very low humidity.  All in all, it was a success!

Racing in the USA

I ran a half marathon this past weekend. It was a race of many feelings. I had a great couple of months of training and was excited to put the pedal to the metal. Unfortunately, things definitely didn't go as planned. I felt great for the first half and fell apart for the second. Now this could be due to several things.

Felt good because:
Lost 5 lbs by replacing my brick GPS watch with something a little more sleek and modern.
Trained well
Was ready for the pace.

Felt bad because:
30 mph winds. TERRIBLE.
9 miles of hills...the last 4 miles weren't really downhill like they promised.
It just wasn't my day apparently.

Needless to say, I'm a little disappointed and now I'm looking for redemption. You can't slave away for months on end without a good race, no?

There was a silver lining. Despite the first 9 miles being uphill (whose bad idea was that), I dropped a minute from my 5k time and 3 minutes from my 10k time. I suppose this could have added to my demise...
The end of the race. I beat sports bra girl. Just goes to show that you don't have to sport the bra to beat people. Although those are the people who win. Maybe it is time to make the switch and I'll start winning? Just kidding, I won't.
This little turkey was a good sport, says Bill. I wouldn't know, I was suffering. I'm sure he would have rather been at home in his element (see below). But he did enjoy the endless cheering and all the puppies that were there.
And it wouldn't be a race report without seeing the damage that I inflicted on myself. Shield your eyes if you have a weak constitution, as this is gross. Don't say I didn't warn you.










My big toenail is about to come off. I taped it down for the race so that it wouldn't pop off and then dig into another toe throughout the race. But the tape left a nice little blister on the toe next to it and I have a monstrous blood blister (as you can see) on the side, plus another one on the ball of my foot. Both required multiple drainings. Nike Lunaracers look cool, but they are terrible shoes. Don't buy them.

Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

This past weekend, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler with my friend from our ward. It went better than I ever expected. I was a little concerned that my goal time was a little lofty for the type of training I had been doing for this race. We don't have access to a gym right now, and so quite a few runs were canceled due to the weather, or because I was sick (4 times within 6 months). Despite any of the setbacks, I was very pleased with the outcome of the run. It was a fun course which started at the Washington Monument, ran over the Memorial bridge to Arlington Cemetery, ran by the Watergate Hotel, back through the Tidal Basin and back to the Washington Monument. I even managed to run it 30 seconds faster than my goal time.
My running partner. We've signed up for the Baltimore marathon and half marathon. I'm the half, I'm over running marathons right now. Imagine that?
Asher did not have as much fun as I did. In fact, he was pretty miserable the whole time. Many cheerios were eaten to hold of the crying. It was a little chilly to be standing around.
I'm in the blue. Bill says I'm really good at running behind people just when he is trying to take a picture. Whatever. I wore my new Nike LunaRacers for this race, and despite have a great training run in them, I had monstrous blisters on my toes afterwords. Disappointing, but they look pretty sharp and fast.After the race, Bill and I saw this lady walking up the hill carrying her dog like a baby. It was pretty funny, no? The dog seemed to be enjoying the ride.A post race family shot. Washington Monument in the back ground and Asher crying, he had had enough.

Happy Trails

Last night we watched the documentary "Ultra Marathon Man". Can we just say, he is crazy. In case you aren't familiar with this guy, he ran 50 marathons, in 50 days, in 50 states. Madness. But it was exciting in a way that probably only a runner would really appreciate.
I've been getting back into running, slowly but surely. In fact, I have my dream stroller to aid my quest of getting back into shape--The Bob, the Mecca of running strollers. Can I just tell you how much I love this thing...I do. I took my sweet babe out for a run this morning (it has a car seat adapter, so he is nice and safe, don't worry) and a mile into the run, it started to pour. It felt like the good old days of running- except that back then all I had to push was myself. It was most enjoyable and very wet (for me).
Speaking of getting back into shape, I got on the Wii fit yesterday and it said. "Hello Kate, it has been 359 days since your last session!" Then it told me that I didn't succeed in my weight loss goal from 359 days ago. Whose fault was that? I blame the baby.

Now I just need my dream car to haul around my dream stroller. The Audi Allroad Quatro, the sporty/luxury wagon. Too bad they are discontinued.

Running Forum Posts

I like to read the forums at Runner*s W0rld. One forum I read occasionally is the women's forum, and on there you will find a rather zealous God fearing individual who post quite frequently. Here are the titles of her most recent posts.

Nutella + Jesus = Wednesday
Jesus is our rock - Tuesday
Hello again Monday - with Jesus
Satisfied Sunday with Jesus
Cast your cares on Jesus - Saturday
(She must have skipped Friday - nothing posted)
Jesus Jesus Jesus....Thursday
Wet and windy Wednesday with Jesus
Rev em' up Tuesday with Jesus
Motivating Monday with Jesus

You get the picture. I can't help but chuckle when I see the title of her posts.

Soldier Field 10 Miler

Pre-race picture. There was actually a lot of people there for the finish. But I guess a race of 9,000 would bring a lot of spectators.I ran the Soldier Field 10 Miler this weekend. It is a pretty cool race since the race begins and ends in Soldier Field (where the Chicago Bears play). It didn't go as well as I had hoped. But I suppose it was my own fault, I wasn't feeling it, and I shouldn't have gone to Flaco's Tacos for dinner on Friday night. Oh but those greasy tacos were sooo good. Oh well, I guess I'll have to run it again next year.

Boston

I thought I would grace you all with 2 more pictures. Picture #1. Bill, me, & Christa outside of Regina's Pizza in the North End.
Bill and me at Mike's with the left over pizza and a little piece of heaven (the whoppie pie).

My last thoughts on Boston:
Running a marathon is like being Mormon, every where you go, you have an automatic best friend. It goes something like this: You're wearing running shoes, I'm wearing running shoes, we must be kindred spirits.

The Boston Marathon

It is time for my report. If you care, keep reading. If you don't, then stop here.
So we didn't take very many pictures....and non of Bill. How terrible. I said to him, "hey, we don't have any together pictures". He didn't seem to think it was a big deal. So time to call in a favor - Dearest Rob & Christa, can you send us a picture or two? Thanks.
Moving on, we had a great trip to Boston! We were able to hook up with our favorite people and eat........because that is what you do at social gatherings........and we played games. So we arrived in Boston, picked up my bib and perused the expo. If felt smaller this year, I think we can thank our tanking economy. Boo.

Here I am with my bib.

Next up....eating. I ate an entire whoopie pie from Mike's and I think it was the key to my success.

Skip forward to Monday, Boston marathon day. Here is Kara Goucher. She took 3rd, bummer. But she is awesome none the less.

Here is Ryan Hall, he also took 3rd, and is also awesome. Did you know that the purse for 3rd place is still $40,000. I wish someone would have told me, I would have kicked it up another gear.

Here I am, suffering at the finish line.
(Note to self, never post a picture of yourself next to an elite athlete)

And here I am finished and back at our friends. Oh hallelujah.

So do you want the details?
I didn't cry. I threw my hands up in the air like Lance Armstrong as I crossed the finish line because I finally broke a major time barrier (for me). I'm happy with the race. It was really hard, and despite all of my hill training, the down hill tore me up by the time I got to the Newton Hills, but I did it. At mile 24, I had a major argument with myself (brain vs legs) about how it really wouldn't be a big deal if I didn't hit my time, that it really wasn't that important anyway, and how I should just walk. But my brain won out and I charged, or hobbled to the finish line!

The temperature for the day wasn't too bad, there was a bit of wind and the temp was high 40's. But once we ran into Boston the wind kicked up. I crossed the finish line and wandered aimlessly towards food, water, blankets etc. But I was picked up along the way and taken to the medical tent. I was okay with it (and very coherent), because I could take a wheel chair instead of walking for another mile. Too bad I had to stay there for a while, my temperature was 93.1 degrees. Awesome. Who would have thought it was so cold out there. There were a lot of people in there with the same problem.
So I warmed up, and headed out to find my very supportive husband who stood outside for the whole race and was still waiting for me. All is well! And I'm finally done with Boston. I think I can leave it alone for a while.

And a special shout out to Jeff & Paige, Rob & Christa, and Eric & Camille! Thank you all so much for everything!!!

The End

Running Update

Do you like my picture? One morning I woke up to find a mouse in my shoe. Luckily, it was of the fleece variety. (Bill wasn't so lucky and found a push pin in his. His foot was bleeding for a good 10 min.)
So this week was kind of a low mileage week again. Well it should have been more but I had a little mishap earlier this week. So my total mileage was 35.8 miles.
I hadn't slept well in a while, and so Bill told me to take a sleeping pill. So I did, no big deal. So Tuesday morning I woke up to do 4x100 meters strides and then 4 miles, so my total run should have been about 6 miles with warmup/cooldown. But When I got down to the gym, I could not get moving. I did my warm up mile and my strides, and I was struggling to hold my warm up pace. So I only did 4 miles total, 2 of which were walking. I was a mess at work too. So lesson has been learned, don't take a sleep aid if you don't have 8 hours to devote to sleep.
Mileage is going up this next week.

Boston

Here are some pictures from out excellent trip to Boston, and we couldn't have asked for better weather! So in here you will see pictures from the Freedom Trail, the Marathon Expo, Paul Revere's house, our Harvardian friends - Christa and Rob, and Paige and Jeff (thanks for a great time!!), the inside of the LDS church we attended which was a broiler factory or something, the tall glass things are a Holocaust Memorial, yummy pastries (whoopie pie), pre race (thanks white cap for the shirt), heart break hill (my demise), post race, airport, and everything in between. Enjoy.

as for the race, well I finished! Last year I thought that the Newton hills were totally over rated, but this year, the Newton hill pretty much ended my race. I'm going to blame the flat land that I live in for this early demise. I was holding pace or close to it until about mile 16:) As for my marathon career, I'm getting a coach for my next marathon, case closed!!!!

Running Update- The Final Countdown

It's the final countdown until Boston, 9 more days!!! So for this last week I've put in 37.7 miles, and maybe I should have cut down more, but oh well. This next week will be pretty easy with lots of rest.

My fun fact for this week is....the Boston marathon will be broadcast live on Versus at 10 AM ET. I think I've got my racing outfit picked out, so look for me in a red top and black shorts, weather permitting. Also, Nova is doing a segment on the Boston Marathon which airs on Tuesday at 8 PM CT or Sunday. Check it out.

Running Update

For my last week of hard workouts, I did 50.1 miles. I'm only taking a two week taper since my mileage never went above 60. This last week was bitter sweet. It was sweet because I've got the last of my really hard workouts out of the way, and bitter because Boston is only 2 weeks away and then it will be over before you know it. Then I will have to find another race to train for. I think I will do some half marathons next. No I haven't signed up for Chicago, I'm not a big fan of doing multiple marathons per year, it is just too much stress and strain, especially for someone who can't just have fun during a race. I have to race a race.
Anyway, my fun fact for this week is......well I'm not sure I have one. I did get to do my long run outside yesterday!!! 15.6 miles and it was marvelously warm and sunny, and my freckles have made their grand entrance for the season. Oh here is my fun fact (this might only be fun for me). Treadmills are bull crap. People say that running on a treadmill is way easier than outside. I think that is false. Aside from there being no wind (except for the built in fan), treadmills are way harder than running outside. My pace decreases by like a minute when I'm in the great outdoors. So from here on out, I will be in my home away from out, the great outdoors, doing my last 12 runs before the big day! Oh and here is my other fun fact, Lance Armstrong will be running Boston and so will Kristen Armstrong, his ex-wife who is also a writer at Runner's World. So I'm going to try to get pictures with both of them to add to my collection of superstars.

Running Update

I know, you've all been waiting for this. Well I did 48.1 miles this past week and it was tricky. We went to Nauvoo, (see below for Elder Giuliani) and I had to do a 15 miler before we went. So on Friday, I got up at quarter to 5 to get the run done, and then we hit the snow pact roads of Chicago at 8 am. So then I had 4 miles to do on Saturday, so I packed my running freak suit (tights, under armour turtle neck, you get the picture) and my GPS watch to navigate the town of Nauvoo. Saturday morning rolls around, I get up to go run, and from our motel to the Temple was .3 miles (that is one end of town to the other) so I proceeded down to the historical sight and pretty much ran in circles because I ran out of road. (can you run on state highways?) In the end, I managed to get a run in of 3.33 miles.
My fun fact for the day, aside from the aforementioned run, I only have 4 weeks till the big race. Hallelujah, because I'm exhausted.

Oh yeah, one last thing, if you need to carbo load try this.

Running Update

This was a rest week, and boy did I need it. I only did 43 miles this week, but the majority of my runs were done in the easy range. That said, I'm feeling a little burned out so hopefully this little break will be enough to get me through the last 5 weeks of training. Yep, I only have 1-2 more really long runs left until taper time.
As for my fun fact of the week- I have two. I did my workout outside this week 3 times. Hurray for 50 degrees! My other fun fact- Paula Radcliffe, who holds the marathon world record of 2:15:25, ran an easy 10K while 26 weeks pregnant in 42 minutes. That is incredible. She said that she slowed her training runs down from a 5:30 pace to a 6:30 pace. I only wish that my normal training pace were at 6:30.

Running Update

Need I say more?
Well maybe I'll say just a little more. I did 55.8 miles this week and I got my picture taken with the Senator himself. I had to break up my long run of 20 miles today in order to get this picture, but it was well worth it. He comes to my gym frequently and I knew if I didn't get my picture taken with the future president of the United States, I would regret it. So today, he walked it, and walked for a bit and then went over to the wall to stretch. So I jumped off the treadmill to talk to him. I was super nervous, so much so that I think my voice was an octave higher than normal. And asked to have my picture taken with him. He said sure and asked if I have a camera here. I said upstairs I do, and then he replied that he would be here for a while. So I flew upstairs and retrieved the camera. Unfortunately Bill wasn't around so I had to ask and old lady to take the picture. He put his arm on my back (I almost gave him a disclaimer of how sweaty I was, but decided not to. And voila, a picture with Barack. Then I told him he had my vote way before he took this picture with me and thanked him.

Running Update

This week was a rest week so I only did 44.5 miles. Oh well. My workout today was supposed to be a race, but I didn't find one, so I tried to do my workout at a faster pace than normal, and to prepare myself for the infamous Heart Break Hill, I through in some hills too.
For my fun fact of the week: check out the movie Saint Ralph. It is about a 9th grader looking for a miracle to save his mom who is terminally ill. Anyway, he thinks if he wins the Boston Marathon, he will be granted this miracle. So check it out, even if you hate running.

Running Update

This week was a rough week. I took Thursday off (as part of my schedule) and still managed to get in 51 miles this week. Today was especially hard. I had to do my long run of 20 miles and I could barely walk afterward. You know the feeling (well maybe you don't), but your legs and feet ache, and I just want to lie down on the floor. But I still had my errands to run today, so I filled the bathtub with ice cold water and sat in it for about 10 minutes. And voila, I feel great and walked to the market.
So my fun fact for the week is- take a cold bath after a hard workout, it makes a HUGE difference. I too was skeptical, but my cousin Jill told me how she does it all the time, so last year, I started taking ice baths, and it speeds up my recovery 10 fold.

Running Update

Total mileage for this week 50.6. How did I feel this week, tired as usual, but not too bad. I'm excited I made it up to 50, unfortunately, I don't think I'll make it to 60 this year.

Check out this blog for recap of last years Boston- or at least scan the pictures, he does a great job describing the race.

Running Update (With Pictures!)

This last week I did 45 miles, and it was a tough week. I had a long workout on Wednesday, that I had to skip 3 miles of because I just couldn't get moving, but I tacked on an extra mile here and there to make up for it.
Fun fact for the week: the women's marathon Olympic trials are being held on the Sunday before the normal Boston Marathon. It is going to be awesome.
Un-fun Fact: Your toes will look like this if you train for Boston.

Running Update

Our friend Britton told me that if any mileage is done before 7 AM, you get to triple it. So in accordance with this philosophy I ran a total of 142.5 miles. Felt pretty good this week. Bill thinks I have done more miles than are car has this year.
My fun fact for the week: I rotate through 3 pairs of running shoes during the week. I also have a pair of racing shoes which I love--and of course they are gold--the color of champions!