My SPIbelt has arrived!!

This little baby arrived in the mail just in time for my 18 miler...in the rain!!  You probably wouldn't believe that I was able to fit a set of car keys, a Droid phone, and a package of Chomps in this.  It sat nice and snug on my waist for 3 1/2 hours and kept everything completely dry...in the pouring rain.  Worth the money!!  This is the water resistant version.

Fourmile area...in the rain!! 18.01 mi/ 03:25/ 11:21 pace

My first 18 miler!! Woohooooo!! And every bit of it was in the pouring rain. But I have learned to love my rainy day runs. It was actually very pleasant. Running in the rain is so much nicer than running in the summertime heat.

Really happy with this new area I am running in. I did an 8-mile loop and then hooked up with Amanda C. for a 10-mile loop to finish it off. So glad she decided to join me on today's run because it helped keep my mind off the craziness.

I really could have kept running today. I was in that place where it felt so good to hit that new distance...and I didn't want to stop. Once I stopped, my legs immediately felt like I had run 18 miles. It took my breath away for a minute. Walked in the door and hopped right into an epsom salt bath. :) All is well now....and I am beaming! Love marathon training!!!

New Shoes!!

New shoes...and new color! I think they even glow in the dark! Time to work a new pair in before marathon. Woohoo!!

This is my second pair of Brooks Pure Cadence.  Best shoes I've ever had!  The pink is going to take some getting used to.

3 + 3 = 16 miles....3 mi/ 11:20 pace

So after finishing the Talladega Half and setting a new PR I started back around the track for the other 3 miles I had to get in. Took it nice and slow. There were still half marathoners running...and a few others getting in extra miles...so I was in good company. After I finished and met up with Stephanie we headed to the Winners Circle for pictures. My legs started getting sore and throbbing while standing in line. I could tell I had run it HARD today because I am not usually sore are LD like that. And then I was a little nauseous....still not feeling 100%.

But...what a great run today! It felt amazing to run like that, knowing I could potentially bring home a sub 2:00. And when I got my official time, I felt like I had won a million bucks! New PR on a half and a new distance record of 16 miles!!! I am flying high today! Sat in an ice bath when I got home and ate brownies that the kids brought me. Life is good! Now it's time to catch up on sleep.

Talladega Half ~ 13.1 mi/ 1:59:58

Well, 4 am came very early this morning. I was so anxious last night that I got ZERO sleep. But I hit the ground running this morning. Met Stephanie at 5 am, and we got on the road headed to Dega! We were both soooo nervous. Drove thru the tunnel into the infield which was WAY cool! I've never been to the Talladega Superspeedway before. It's HUGE!! Ran into a couple of runners I know. :)

Got started and my legs were feeling good. I had no goal except to crush 2:16 so the pressure was really on. 2 of my 4 halfs I have run uninjured have been 2:16 finish times. I managed to get into a nice pace that felt comfortable but one I could do something with. I looked down and was holding it just below 9:00/ and thought WOW. I maintained a 9:00/ pace up until mile 6-7, when we headed back up the ramp and around the track again. I slipped to about a 9:10/. I was gave myself a nice little peptalk and told myself that it was actually possible that I could come in under 2 hours....that I just needed to keep hanging on to that pace. And I questioned myself the rest of the race. Can I actually hang on to this pace for 6 more miles...5 more...4 more... Dropped down to about a 9:12-9:14 and got a little disapointed. Knew that I would come in with a new PR, but I had my eyes on something else at that point. :)

So around mile 12, I did some calculating and realized if I continued running it HARD I would make the sub 2:00 mark. And that I did! I found a new energy and finished strong! 1:59:58 I wanted to beat the 2:16 so bad, but did not realize that I had way more in me until after I started. I can't even begin to describe what that felt like to finish and be totally stunned.

One thing I love about running halfs is encouraging others on the race course. It's so fun to run up by someone who is having a weak moment and motivate them to "come on and let's do this"! They are usually grateful and pick back up with their running after that. I love that! And it helps me as well. Needless to say, I made new friends along the way. :)

The rest of my race is continued in another post. I had an extra 3 miles to run today!