All Hail the Ambassador

Despite the fact that I've been running for more than 2 years, I still consider myself a bit of a newbie. I'm not hip to all of the different brands of activewear, hydration packs, GPS watches, or headphones. I wrote a post last year, Get Into Gear, that talked about the different gear I had at the time and also about my desire to become an ambassador for something. Well, last month my friend and fellow runner started selling Zyia Active. She asked me if I would be interested in becoming an ambassador to help spread the word. Of course, I took her up on the offer. 

Zyia is a fairly new company. They were founded in February 2017 by three women. The company started out primarily geared toward woman, and it largely still is, but in one of their recent "new release Wednesdays," they introduced some men's items. 

I've never been an activewear "snob." I've been content to buy shirts or capris at my local big-box stores. I have remained pretty brand loyal to Champion and C9, but that's only because I do a fair amount of my shopping at Target. I've also bought activewear at Walmart, Kohl's and Dick's Sporting Goods. I've been in a few high-end activewear stores, but only because I had to pick up a race packet. I've looked at the prices on the items in those stores and thought, "No way!" It wasn't until I was introduced to Zyia that I didn't scoff at the price tag. I somehow ended up on a Zyia reps Facebook page and I won a gift card to her shop. I decided to buy a pair of Zyia's Light n Tight Hi-Rise Capris 2. I didn't even wash them once they arrived in the mail—that's how excited I was to try them. I put them on and went for a run. I can honestly say that they are the first pair of capris that I've ever run in that I didn't have to adjust AT ALL! They are made of a 4-way stretch fabric that also offers compression. The Light n Tight Capris 2 have pockets on each leg and come in a variety of colors and patterns. Zyia also has other styles of capris and, as mentioned before, there are new releases every week.

In addition to buying the capris, I decided I needed to get a tank top to match them. I ended up getting one of Zyia's Copper Charged Tanks. As stated on Zyia's website, their Copper Charged collection "incorporates a technology that infuses copper yarn to help block odors during the toughest performance activity through its anti-microbial properties." The tank is super lightweight and breathable, and I don't feel gross in it no matter how much I sweat.

Shortly after my initial Zyia purchase, my friend Christina became an independent Zyia representative.  That was when she offered to provide me an outfit in exchange for my promoting it. Given how much I already liked my Zyia pieces, I had no problem agreeing to Christina's proposal. 

The pieces that I selected were the Gray Track Shorts and the White Twist Tank. The first pair of shorts that Christina sent me ended up being a little small. The Gray Track Shorts are an item that Zyia actually recommends sizing up on. Oops. Christina sent me my new size and they fit like a dream. 

The White Twist Tank is super comfy.  It features an opening in the back to help with ventilation and twisted straps, which are a nice touch to jazz up an otherwise plain white shirt. 

The first time I wore the outfit was for a seven-mile training run. I cannot say enough good things about the shorts. They are the most comfortable shorts I've ever run in. They have a long enough inseam so as to cover my thighs and prevent rubbing, but I also didn't have to adjust or fix the shorts even once during my training run. It was awesome. 

The tank was comfortable. It's made of a heavier material that holds sweat, but I couldn't really feel the dampness of the shirt while I was running. After my training run the tank was soaked, but I didn't have any complaints about it. 

It wasn't until I wore the shorts and tank for a race that I discovered I could say a few more things about them. I wore my Zyia outfit for the RBC Race for the Kids half marathon on August 4, 2018. It was a disgustingly humid day, and it actually rained toward the end of the race. My shorts didn't let me down at all. Surprisingly, they seemed to be dry during the whole run, even though every other part of me was drenched. I might have to get another pair of the shorts, because I love them that much.

The Twist Tank gave me some issues at the half marathon distance. Sometime shortly after mile ten of the race, I noticed I had terrible chafing on the underside of my arm. I've never had an issue with chafing before. The thickness of the shirt and the wetness caused by the humidity and the rain is what I attribute to have been the cause of the problem.

I'm not saying that the Twist Tank from Zyia is a bad shirt. The first time I tried it on I loved it because it was so comfortable. However, it might not be the best shirt for running 13 miles in. I didn't have any issues running 7 miles in it, though. A better option for longer distances would be a tank from their Copper Charged collection that I mentioned earlier. In the future, I think I'll be more inclined to wear my Twist Tank for short runs or cross-training or just for lounging around.

The Track Shorts, on the other hand, might just be the only shorts I wear for races from here on out. Aside from the fact that they are ridiculously comfortable, I also love that there's a small zippered pocket that I can put my keys in. Currently, the Track Shorts come in Gray and Green. But if you can't find something you like on the website now, you only have to wait a week to see some new items. The Zyia operation is a pretty small one, so if you do see something you like you better snatch it up. Items seem to sell out pretty quickly, and there are no guarantees that they will be restocked.

If you have any questions about Zyia, you can check out Christina's Facebook page, Instagram, or independant representative page. Let her know that I sent you, and you'll get 10% off your first order.

Hopefully, there will be more ambassadorships in my future. On the top of my list of companies I want to be an ambassador for are SPIbelt and PRO Compression. But, for now, I'm honored to be a Zyia ambassador.


Hey! If you want more Running on Empty, connect with me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

2,017 miles in 2017

I set a personal goal for 2017 to run 35 miles in races. I could've started that goal in May when I turned 35, but I opted to just make it a goal for the calendar year. I actually ended up running 51.42 race miles which included many firsts for me. Though I did not start out the year planning to run a half-marathon, 2017 marked my first one. This year also marked my first mile long race, which I ran faster than I had ever imagined possible. 2017 earned me my first age group placing, too. Between training and racing, I ran a total of 288 miles. I walked about that many miles, too. I actually don't know how many miles I walked, because I was pretty terrible about logging them.  I hope to improve upon that in 2018.

I don't think that this year would've included so many firsts if it weren't for the inspiration I received from the folks participating in Run the Year 2017. I've mentioned Run the Year before, but I never actually wrote a post about it. I figured that now is as good a time as any, since the year is over.

I started running in 2016, and it all pretty much began with my first race. Although, it wasn't until my second race that I really fell in love with it. That year, I set a personal goal to run five 5ks. I trained semi-regularly, because I wanted to avoid injury and make running a regular part of my life.

That same year, one of my friends was posting pictures from races she had run. She had made a personal commitment to run 33 miles, since she celebrated her 33rd birthday that year. To the best of my knowledge, she didn't really train for the races, she just went out and ran them. At some point during the year, I commented on her goal and she mentioned to me that there were people in the world who actually "run the year." I hadn't heard of that concept before and the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became.

At the end of 2016, I found myself on the Run the Year 2017 website. I knew that I'd never be able to run 2,017 miles in a year—having three kids and Minnesota's harsh winters would prevent me from meeting that goal. However, the website mentioned that one could count their daily steps. Run the Year had an online tracker that would sync automatically with Fitbit data. Suddenly, the idea of averaging roughly 5.5 miles a day didn't seem so impossible. I'm usually fairly active in the warmer months, but I did a lot of sitting in 2016, especially in the winter. Some days, I was lucky to hit 5,000 steps. It frustrated me because I was gaining weight. I decided to give myself some motivation to keep active, and I signed up for Run the Year on New Year's Eve.

The Run the Year challenge encouraged me to use Wii Fit to freestep while I was watching TV. The challenge helped motivate me to run a half-marathon. The Run the Year challenge helped me go 500 miles farther in 2017 than I did in 2016.

Some Run the Year participants only count dedicated exercise miles. Maybe I'll be able to do that someday. But, for me, counting my daily steps isn't cheating. Walking to my basement to get more paper towels might not be "exercise," but the Run the Year challenge helped encourage me to do things like that more often, instead of convincing my kids to do them for me. I worked for every mile of my 2,017 miles, whether I was completing a race, pacing around my kitchen, or even just putting laundry away. I am proud of my 2,017 miles.

I will be participating in Run the Year 2018. My goal is to complete the challenge before December 31. In fact, I'd love to get 2,100 miles. I'm hoping for a minimum of 300 running miles. Injuries prevented me from hitting 300 running miles this year. Thankfully, 2017 has taught me so much, and I'm looking forward to what 2018 has in store.

I'm Lazy And I Know It

In addition to participating in the Run the Year Challenge, in which I am counting all my daily steps, I’m also participating in my city’s fitness challenge. For that challenge, only walking, running, biking, and swimming miles count. Swimming miles are worth four times as much and biking miles are 1/4 as much. Walking and running miles are 1:1. 

July, when I trained for and ran a half-marathon, was a high mileage month. I got 110 miles in. That allowed me to join the city’s 100 Mile club, in which you have to complete 100 miles in six months. 

My mileage has steadily declined since then: 55 in August (I was in PT for my knees and wasn’t running as much), 39 in September, and 27 in October. I really didn’t do much of anything in October after I ran the Unleash the SHE 10k. I was making Halloween costumes and being lazy. 

Now that I’ve reassessed where I am at in the RTY challenge, I know I need to hit 5.76 miles or more a day to reach 2,017 miles by year’s end. 

I’m still not running at this time, because I need to see the doctor about some pain I’ve been having in my hip. But, I’ve committed to walking every day, as that is the only way I will hit my goals. 

As far as the city fitness challenge, I have until the end of June 2018 to hit 500 miles and until the end of 2018 to hit 1,000 miles. I’m already half way to 500 miles, and with my renewed commitment to exercising, I know I’ll hit 500 by the end of this year. 

I’m a person who needs motivation to get off my butt. If I don’t have a reason to walk or run, I would probably spend all day sitting, either snuggling with my toddler, watching TV, surfing the web, or even sleeping. That is why I joined the RTY challenge. Having more than one challenge that I’m participating in really helps me to stay motivated and committed to exercise, even if there may be some fantastic months and some not-so-fantastic months. 

My biggest personal challenge right now is my lack of strength training. I need to find the motivation to work strength training into my routine. I know it will only bring positive changes, so I’m not sure what my hang-up is other than I’m lazy.

There will always be room for improvement. Every year I get better. I can’t wait to see what next year will bring. 

Panther Foundation 5K 2017

Last year was the first year that I ran the Panther Foundation 5K. Who am I kidding? Last year was the first year that I ran any race. But since the Panther 5K is a fundraiser for my school district, after running it last year, I pretty much decided that I would run it every year in the future, as long as I was able. The whole event is fun for my kids, because they love the carnival and the inflatables. Last year, I managed to get a PR. I wasn't planning to get one this year because my training had slowed down considerably after my half-marathon and my subsequent knee pain. In any case, I still wanted to get out and run this 5K to the best of my ability.

The day before this year's Panther 5K was a Walk-a-thon for my daughter's school. I wasn't planning on running any of it (Hello? WALK-a-thon?), but I ended up running and walking almost four miles. I really hoped I wasn't going to regret it.

I woke up on Saturday morning feeling pretty good. The weather this year was perfect. There was a light breeze and plenty of sunshine and the temperature was right around 55º at race time. Before the race, I actually got to the point where I regretted my long pants and wished I had worn capris. Oh, well.

My neighbor/running buddy and I ran together. We started off pretty fast, and after we had ran about three-quarters of a mile, we decided we were going to do 3:00/00:45 run/walk intervals. We kept up a pretty great pace doing that—just under 10:00/mile. We seemed to be really far out in front of everyone or really far behind. We weren't entirely sure. We passed a cyclist riding in the opposite direction who said we were the first women she had seen. Now, we KNEW we weren't the first women, because we knew there were people in front of us. However, we were unsure of how many people were in front of us, so the comment from the cyclist was really exciting! 

It wasn't too long after we passed the cyclist that my buddy started having trouble breathing. It wasn't a lung issue, though. She must have had some sort of subluxation in her spine because it was causing her excruciating pain. I tried my best to motivate her and keep encouraging her to push hard, but she probably wanted to punch me in the face. 

We skipped a run interval and started walking a little as my buddy tried to breathe through her back pain. Then, at around 2.5 miles, we saw a couple of women in front of us. A couple of women that, as I recall, we had "leap-frogged" with a few times over the course of the race. I told her that I really wanted to beat those women. She said, "Go for it." 

It's hard to leave a running buddy behind, especially when they are hurting. I felt really selfish taking off without her. Then, at about 2.75 miles, I heard the announcer call out the first place female time as the runner crossed the finish line—27:00. I honestly couldn't even fathom that it was possible that the first female runner had just crossed the finish line. I quickly started trying to figure out how many women were between me and the finish. I knew there weren't many. 

I started getting pretty fatigued, and I wanted to slow down. I had taken off too fast with too much race left. Then, I reached the point in the course that came back onto the track at the high school. There were roughly 250 meters between me and the finish. I dug deep and found a little more speed. 

Holding my 3rd place medal in front of the finish line.

I don't remember for sure, but I think I saw at least one of my kids at track side holding out their hand for a high-five and saying, "Go, Mom!" I crossed the finish line at 30:33. That's only eighteen seconds slower than last year, so I was and am pretty happy with that. Perhaps the more astonishing thing was that right after I crossed the finish, a third place female medal was placed around my neck. My first age group placing!

I looked up the times from the race last year and I learned that NONE of the placing times this year would have placed last year. This year was apparently a much slower race. I have to wonder if it had something to do with the fact that the race was on TC Marathon weekend. Maybe all of the fast runners were participating in a bigger race the next day so they opted to not participate in the Panther 5K this year. Whatever the case, I'm grateful for the opportunity to finish with a medal.

In case you're wondering, my buddy finished fourth or fifth for females. There may have only been one runner who finished between us. That runner placed, too, I think, because she was in the senior age group. But I'm not positive about anything that happened after I finished the race. I was on cloud nine, and I was trying to locate my family.

Overall, I'm incredibly happy with how the race went. The Panther 5K served as a training run for my 10K that I was scheduled to race a couple of weeks later. While I don't expect to be able to place in my age group ever again, it was a very nice surprise. I'm already looking forward to next year. I hope that some year my kids will want to run the race with me, but I don't blame them for wanting to stay and play on the inflatables. I guess we shall see what next year brings.

Torchlight 2.0

In July 2016, I won an entry to run the Minneapolis Torchlight 5K. Everything about that race made me fall in love with running races. So, when I received an email about early bird pricing for the 2017 Torchlight, I jumped on the chance to run it again.

I'd been feeling good about my training, and I had been increasing my distance for the half-marathon at the end of the month. A 5K race should be a piece of cake, right?

Storms threatened this year's race, but the temperature was much more tolerable. At the Torchlight this year, I had more of a cheering section than I did last year. We drove the twenty-ish miles to Minneapolis with a full vehicle. My dad, step-mom, husband and all three kids came along. We met up with a friend of my husband once we got down to the city.  We had to walk about a mile from the parking ramp to the race start. My dad and step-mom stopped at a fast food joint with the plan of meeting up with everyone later. The rest of us continued on. Part of the pre-race activities included a family fun event at Loring Park, which was near the start area. After we stopped by the race check-in area to get my 21+ wristband, we made our way to the park.  My husband and his friend watched the kids play carnival type games and jump on inflatables while I did a super short warm-up run. Then the kids had pony rides. Eventually, the time came for me to head to the start line and for the rest of the group to meet back up with my dad and step-mom. 

After I made my way to a porta-potty and then the race start, I did some stretching. The layout/execution of everything was slightly different than last year. The line of porta-potties was in a different place — maybe it helped to ease some congestion. What surprised me more than the bathroom location was that the pace corrals seemed slightly more disorganized this year. Last year I seem to recall that many pace corrals had a couple volunteers with a rope in the front, so that the pace corrals wouldn't get mixed up. It's advertised that the pace groups are especially important with the Torchlight because the race coordinators time each corral's start times so that the runners don't have to stop for the light rail train which crosses the race course. It seemed as though there was less pre-race communication this year, also. While some general announcements were being made, it felt like some of the important things that were said last year were omitted this year. I guess I was thankful to be a Torchlight veteran, because I feel like I would've been uninformed otherwise. 

Once I got lined up with the rest of the folks in my pace corral, I just had to hang out and wait for the race to start. The national anthem was played. Then after some loud motivational upbeat music and a short countdown by the emcee, the first pace corral was sent off with pyrotechnic flames shooting out from either side of the start line banner. There was plenty of excitement in the air. 

Each pace corral had to wait for a few minutes, with the idea that trains could pass between the large groups. After the race I heard that many people ended up having to wait for the trains, which was no doubt frustrating, especially given that some of the people had to wait 45+ minutes just to cross the start line. 

Thankfully, I was able to cross the start line about 10 minutes after the official race start time. I kept to the left of the road, knowing that a couple of blocks up, my family was waiting to wave to me and cheer me on. My kids seemed pretty excited to be able to see me running by. My dad took a video. My daughter was not only holding up a sign that said "Go Mom!' but she also had her hand out for a high-five. I had to leave her hanging as I was holding on to my wedding ring. I had planned to take it off before the race but had forgotten. In the first few blocks after I started, the sweat on my hands was just causing my ring to annoy me, so I handed it off to my husband. Thankfully, he grabbed it from my hand and it didn't get dropped and lost.

The support of my family left me with a big smile. As I ran down Hennepin Avenue I tried to take in more sights than I did last year. Sometimes, it's easy to run a race and forget to actually ENJOY the race. 

We came up to the first turn and I was felling pretty good. I walked a bit, because with my half-marathon training I had been using run-walk intervals, and I knew that a walk break could benefit me. I was running a pretty good race and didn't feel like I should shame myself for wanting to walk for a bit.

Once I started running again, I quickly came to the point in the race course where the second turn is made. Much to my surprise, people weren't turning. My mind began racing. Why is the course different? They didn't change the course map online. It's still a certified course. What is happening right now?! Of course I followed the course that was laid out before me. I was now running a stretch that was not the same as last year and was not supposed to be part of the race, but I trusted the race coordinators. I followed what ended up being a little "out-and-back" that felt like it went on forever. In reality, it was less than a quarter mile. I hoped that this little stretch meant that maybe the finish line was moved up. 

I kept moving right along, taking in my surroundings and remembering the walk that my kids and I had been on a couple of weeks before the race. I had taken them down to that area to explore. It was fun to recognize the landmarks and buildings, because when were on our walk, I barely recognized any of it even though I'd ran last year's Torchlight.

As I approached the entrance to the Stone Arch Bridge, there was a water station. I don't recall it being there last year. It seemed like the location caused a bit of a bottle neck for runners, but I just worked my way passed them as I had no intention of getting a drink.

Some where on the bridge, I learned that I had hit the 5K distance. I got a little bit frustrated as I was really close to a PR. When I finished the race, my GPS said 3.24 miles. So much for this being a certified course. 

I met up with my runner buddy and neighbor, who just happened to show up near the finish line right about when I did. She wasn't running, but she wanted to come say hi. We wandered around the after party area, and I took advantage of free race swag. Eventually, we parted ways. She drove herself home, and I took a free shuttle back to the race start. Well, I thought it was supposed to go to the start but it didn't go quite that far. It actually dropped everyone off near the parking ramp where my family parked when we first arrived. I texted my husband to let him know I'd be heading his way. We met up, headed back to our vehicle, and made it home safely. The kids had enjoyed themselves at the parade that started immediately after the race. Fun was had by all.

It didn't take long for the Torchlight coordinators to respond to the race course discrepancy. They talked to many racers and learned that the course was definitely longer than a 5K. What happened was that the city told race officials they needed to move the finish line up to create an emergency evacuation lane. To make up for the lost distance, the little "out-and-back" portion was added. However, the portion was placed incorrectly and the result was a 3.3 mile course. In order to rectify the mistake, race coordinators had the official distance changed to 3.3 miles, so that race finish times and paces were reflected correctly.  As an added bonus, this year's racers (about 4,000 of them) were offered the opportunity to sign up for next year's race at a discount. 

My experience with the Torchlight this year was completely different than it was last year, but I still loved it. It was awesome to have my family with me. The extra distance was a disappointment, but the events team owned up to the mistake and handled it marvelously. Needless to say, I took advantage of the discounted registration, and I'm already signed up to run next year. Even with the extra distance this year, my time was still seven minutes faster than it was last year. I cannot wait to see what next year's race will bring.

My First Half-Marathon

I went to bed the night of July 28th feeling nervous and excited. I needed to wake up much earlier than usual in order to get to my half-marathon on time. I had all of my gear ready to go to make sure I wouldn't forget anything. I had also helped get everything ready for my husband, who had to get our oldest two kids to softball games while I was at my race.

My bedtime ended up being later than I had hoped or planned. By the time I took a bath, did yoga, and foam rolled it was after ten. Then when I finally laid down in bed, I was too wired to actually fall asleep.

My toddler, who room shares with my husband and me, made sure I didn't get a great nights sleep. He's been going through a bit of separation anxiety, and he seems to wake up in the middle of the night just to let me know that he's not close enough to me, despite his crib being right next to my bed. In addition to him not sleeping well, my poor husband was getting over a cold and he was experiencing a nagging cough that kept him and me awake.

Despite the lack of sleep, I woke up and was ready to start my day around 4:30 AM. I figured that would be enough time to do all of the things I needed to do before I had to leave. I arrived at my race feeling about as ready as I could be to run 13.1 miles. After a pep talk from a friend who was also running, I lined up toward the back of the pace groups. My goal was 2:45:00. The air horn blew and off we went.

Within the first two minutes, I had made my way passed several pacers; partially, because the start was congested, and I was trying to get away from the crowd. I was intending on using intervals of running for three minutes and walking for one minute. The freedom of not pushing the jogging stroller was wonderful. I felt great. I was slightly self-conscious when I started my first walk interval. Here we were, only three minutes in, and I was walking. People passed by me and I felt as though all of them were judging me. But, I was determined to use intervals, since that was how I trained and that was the only way I felt I could complete the distance.

The first three miles went by without much incident. My time was on track with my goal. In fact, I was actually ahead of my time. After the 5K mark, the race course had just under two miles of unpaved trail. Somewhere in that section, my interval timer stopped telling me when to walk and when to run. It took me another three miles to figure out that I should just restart my interval app. Once I did that, I had my verbal prompts again and I was ready to continue. I hit the 10K marker around 1:06:00—a new 10K PR for me. I wondered if it would it be possible for me to finish the race fifteen minutes faster than my goal. I thought it could be. I was almost half way done and was feeling strong. The walking intervals helped my body get enough rest so that I wasn't feeling overly fatigued.

Around the eight mile marker, I was transitioning from a walk to a run when disaster struck. My outer knees both sent shooting pains through my legs and almost gave out on me. I panicked. What was happening?! I continued my walking, now with a slight limp. Many runners asked if I was okay. I said my knees were fighting me, and they offered encouraging words.

I walked for a few minutes, and when I started to try to run again, my knees adamantly disagreed. It was at that point in the race that I knew I needed a new plan. I attempted to change my intervals to ninety seconds of walking and sixty seconds of running/jogging. However, before I was able to do those intervals, I knew I needed to walk for awhile.

I walked for almost two miles. I used the time to text my dad, who planned to meet me at the finish line, and to call my family to get some encouragement. I walked beside a race volunteer on a bike. She wanted to stay by me to push me. Little did she know that I had no intention of quitting. I didn't need to be pushed. I wasn't sure if I could say the same thing about my knees, though.

I walked much more of the last three miles of the race than I care to admit to myself. But along the way, I received such encouragement and kind words from other racers. Two women even stopped to walk with me just to chat. I guess it helped me forget about the pain for a little while. Someone (jokingly?) offered to carry me. I thanked them, but told them I planned on finishing the race on my own two feet.

At mile eleven, there were some small hills that caused me excruciating pain. I hoped there weren't many more hills. I did learn that my pain wasn't as bad if I continued to jog slowly instead of stopping to walk. So, I continued on (starting around mile twelve) jogging as much as I could, however slowly.

When I saw mile marker thirteen, tears welled up in my eyes. I knew I was going to make it. My friend was waiting for me just after the mile marker, and she jogged into the finish with me. My dad found me and told me how proud he was. I limped my way around the finish area, eventually making my way to the medical tent for some ice.

In the end, I still finished the race under my goal with a final time of 2:39:30. I should have been proud, but my first emotion was more anger than anything. I was angry that my body failed me. As much as I enjoyed not having the jogging stroller, I think that it may have contributed to my downfall. Running without it allowed me to start off fast, and perhaps, I pushed my body to give too much, too soon.

In the week since the race, my anger has turned into determination. Although I got injured during the race, I have every intention of running another half, and I plan to do it with more than four weeks of training time. I want to do it correctly. I am proud of how far I have come in the last year, and I'm amazed at the things I am doing—things I NEVER thought I'd be doing, things I never thought possible.

For now, I have to take some time off from running. I'll be seeing a physical therapist for my knee injuries, and I'll be getting in my daily miles with walks instead of runs. Despite everything, I would not change anything about it. I have no regrets about my training, or lack there of. In the end, I still completed a half-marathon. In the end, I still have a goal to beat next time. And most importantly, in the end, I know that I am capable of completing a half-marathon. This one was my first, but it will not be my last.

Thirteen Point Freaking One

It's amazing what happens when you tell people that you're going to run a half-marathon. (The what?) There is such a wide array of reactions that you receive. I guess that goes for anything in life. If you tell someone you're having a baby, you're bound to get many people who are happy for you, but for every one of those happy people, you'll probably get a person who rolls their eyes and says, "Why?" The negative reactions probably increase with the number of children you have.

I almost think the same holds true for the number of miles that are in a race you plan to run. While there will always be people who support you and are proud of you, there will likely be many people who make you question your decision.

Of course training for a longer distance race, especially in a short window, will put you at risk for injury. Training too fast, too hard is a lot of stress of the bones, the muscles and the body. Shin splits, stress fractures, torn ligaments...those may as well be curse words when you're a runner. Ideally, a runner would want a significant amount of time to train for a long race. However, that isn't always a possibility.

During the last week of June, I saw an advertisement on Facebook for a local half-marathon that was scheduled for the end of July. The price was reasonable and all of the profits are given to a local nature center. A half-marathon has not, I repeat, NOT been on my radar for this year. As I've mentioned a few times before, it's difficult to find weekend races that work with my schedule. My husband works 12-hour shifts on the weekends, and I don't like imposing on the same people over and over when I need childcare. My husband has already gone above and beyond when it comes to supporting my running. I don't expect nor want his vacation to be used up solely so I can race on the weekends. I try really hard to find weekday races and none of them are half-marathons.

With that being said, I noticed that this particular half-marathon was on a weekend that my husband had planned to take off of work for our kid's annual softball tournament. I asked him what he thought about the idea of me running a race Saturday morning, before the softball games started. My question wasn't greeted with enthusiasm, but it also wasn't greeted with, "No." Hmmm.

My next step was to search for four-week half-marathon training plans. Could it even be done? I found a training plan that was based on walk-run intervals. The plan was supposedly good for people who were currently fit enough to walk-run five miles. That described me. Hmmm.

After looking at the training plan, I contacted my doctor and asked if I could get her okay in running a half-marathon. After my appointment, she said there was no concerning issues and that I could go ahead with my training.

At this point, I hadn't actually registered for the race. I was waiting for the pieces to fall into place. After they did, I went ahead and registered for my first half-marathon. Honestly, my stomach turned after I clicked that "submit" button. What had I just done?

Now, here I am less than two weeks away from the race. My training is going pretty well. My long run last week was eight miles and was my longest personal run ever. I used 4:00 run/1:00 walk intervals based on information I found in an article: "Run-Walk-Run to Faster Times, Faster Recovery." by Jeff Galloway. If you haven't heard of Jeff Galloway, I suggest you do some research on him. I became aware of his name when I joined the Run The Year 2017 Challenge. Many people participating in that challenge use Galloway's methods to run races. They've seen quite a bit of success walk-running. And after my eight mile run I noticed that I wasn't as fatigued as I'd been in the past. Normally I'm ready for a nap after a long run. Not so, this time. 

Running, whether training for a specific distance or not, can lead to injury if one isn't careful. I know that the people who are worried about me are only warning me out of love. However, on any given day, my life is just as likely to cause me injury as running is. Last October, I stubbed my toe on my bed frame. I thought it was broken and I had a race coming up. I had to take a few days off, and run with my toe taped. A few months ago, I tripped going up the stairs and I landed on my knee on the wood floor while simultaneously hitting my head against the wall. I also fell out of bed a few months ago. I was at the edge of the bed, closer than I thought, and when I went to put my legs over the edge, the mattress compressed just enough to send me to the floor. My back hit my nightstand and my tailbone hit the hardwood floor. Ouch.

I've injured myself more times than I can count. As Pink sings, "I'm a Hazard to Myself." I could just as easily get hurt getting out of bed as I could while training to run a half-marathon. If I'm being honest, I think I feel more safe while I'm running, because I'm focusing on my surroundings more. In any case, I have every intention of completing my first half-marathon on July 29th. As long as I can maintain a 16:00/mile or faster pace, I should be okay. I need to be that fast in order to beat the course time limit of 3.5 hours. Based on how my runs have been going, I'm setting a goal of 2:45:00 for myself. I think it's realistic and completely achievable.

Over the next two weeks, I'll continue training. My next long run will be between ten and eleven miles. After that it's thirteen point freaking one. And even though I didn't have that in my sights two weeks ago, I'm determined to succeed.