Boston qualifier

Fantastic Friday

September 16, 2011 by Kristy 6 Comments

TGIF, indeed! I have a 3-day weekend ahead of me and I could not be happier. I must confess that I did take off to register for the Boston Marathon on Monday. Let’s hope I’m registering at 10am on Monday and not sulking!

DSCN1731 — I caught a glimpse of a rainbow outside my house last night. Good omen for Boston registration?!?!

This week has been hell at work. All day meetings from Tuesday to Friday. I am so looking forward to this weekend.

Tonight, Matt and I are going out to dinner to celebrate my BQ. I told you I would milk this for as long as possible!

I found out there is a 5K on Saturday morning right in my neighborhood. My initial thought was to race it (seriously). I mean, my legs feel fine. And by fine I mean they don’t hurt when I walk down the steps and get up from a seat. I finally came to my senses and realized “racing” a 5K was not happening. Kara suggested running with Hawk. The race website said they welcome strollers and pets so me, Matt, and Hawk are going to walk the 5K.

DSCN1516 — As long as it doesn't interfere with my nap schedule

And then Sunday is the Team RTLR Half Marathon! I have lots to look forward to this weekend.

You still have plenty of time to enter my giveaway! I will pick 3 winners on Monday, September 19. If you don’t use Twitter or Facebook (or already follow me on Twitter and Facebook), leave a comment anyway and consider yourself entered!

My First Giveaway

September 15, 2011 by Kristy 43 Comments

As of this morning, registration is still open for the Boston marathon. Yesterday the BQ-10 group got their chance to register and tomorrow the BQ-5 group can register. Then, as rumor has it, registration will close. I would be completely lying if I said I wasn’t jealous and envious (and a lot of I-may-want-to-steal-your-entry) of all the speedy bloggers that are already registered.

Moving on to something upbeat and fun: my first giveaway! A few weeks ago Kara, Philly native and creator of ChickBands, offered to send me a ChickBand to test out. ChickBands are running headbands backed with velvet so they won’t slip during a run. They also soak up all the nasty sweat. The verdict? Me like.

PRE-RUN

POST-RUN

As you can see, the ChickBand did not move an inch. It was also comfortable (i.e., did not give me a headache). The fact that it didn’t give me a headache is impressive since I have a rather large noggin and big hair.

The ChickBand that Kara sent me sells for $8.00. A very reasonable price considering a thick SweatyBand sells for $18.00. Why pay more for the same headband?

Kara graciously offered to give away 3 ChickBands to lucky RTLR readers!

Here’s how to enter…

Mandatory (please leave a separate comment for each entry):
1 – follow me on Twitter
2 – tweet: I want to win the ChickBand giveaway from @RunTheLongRoad

Extra (please leave a separate comment):
1 – like RTLR on Facebook

I will randomly pick 3 winners on Monday, September 19. Make sure you enter a separate comment for each entry so you can maximize your chances to win! Good luck!

*I was sent a ChickBand at no cost; however, the opinions are my own.

What's Next?

September 14, 2011 by Kristy 14 Comments

Since I sorta scratched the Boston itch (sorta since registration is still “up in the air”)…what’s next? Believe it or not, I’m running a half marathon this Sunday – the Philly Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon (which I will always refer to as the PDR or Philly Distance Run). I run this race every year. It was my first real distance race back in 2002 when I trained with TnT.

Scan_Pic0001 — Just crossed the finish line. I remember thinking I was going to die.

It’s tradition to run it each year, even when it falls 1 week post-marathon. Obviously I’m not looking for a PR so I’m just running it for fun. Actually it’s a Team RTLR event! I trained my friend Sara and her co-workers for the half marathon and we’ll be sporting our Team RTLR shirts. I cannot wait to race with no pressure and to enjoy myself.

Once October rolls around, I’ll begin training for the Philly Half Marathon in November. I really want to blow my old PR (1:49) outta the water. I haven’t trained for a half marathon since 2003 so this should be fun. I usually do them as tune up races during marathon training.

Also in November, I have a 12K (7.46 miles to be exact). This should also be interesting….a little longer than a 10K but not quite as long as a 10-miler.

I also want to throw in a 5K. I hate my 5K PR (23:22 – from this past summer) and I want another chance at it once the weather gets cooler.

Basically, I want to end the year with a few more PRs, specifically the half marathon and 5K. I also want to give my body a break. I have been training and running marathons for 2 years non-stop. A mental and physical break is much needed. Of course, if I get into Boston, all hopes of recovery and rest are off!

Lehigh Valley Marathon Race Recap

September 12, 2011 by Kristy 22 Comments

Where oh where do I even begin?! I thought a lot during the race about how I would approach writing a recap and decided to break it up into 3 components: pre-race, the first 13.1, and the second 13.1. And…no worries, I’m not going to give an exhaustive play-by-play. Nothing screams “mark all as read” in Google Reader like a lengthy race recap! Here goes…

Pre-race
Matt and I drove up to Allentown on Saturday, went to the (lame) expo, and headed out for my standard pre-race dinner (pizza). I was surprisingly calm, cool, and collected. A funny thing to note: Matt was flipping channels in the hotel on Saturday and he caught a quick snippet of a bad music commerical…ya know the ones where the songs scroll on the screen while the singer sings in the background? The only words Matt heard were “come visit Boston in the Springtime”. He asked me if I heard it (I didn’t…I was busy laying out all my race day clothes like a psycho). I pretty much took that as a sign that Sunday would go well and I would get that BQ. As for visiting Boston in the Springtime, we’ll see how that goes.

Race day weather was perfect, at least for early September. Overcast the entire time with just a touch of humidity. There was even a nice breeze at some points. Sorry, Mother Nature, for calling you a bitch last week.

I was all ready to go.

I wrote some mantras on my hand to keep me focused (sidenote: this was the first time I ever did this and found it very helpful during the race).

DSCN1699 — I think Nike has the best slogan ever

The First 13.1
My goal was to run even splits; keeping my average pace around 8:30 for the entire race. During the first 5 miles, 8:30 pace felt ridiculously easy. It has never felt that easy! I knew it was going to be a good day right then and there 🙂 But I held back knowing full well 8:30 pace would feel hard eventually. The first 5 miles were re-routed due to flooding and they were some beautiful miles. We ran on back roads in Allentown past these gorgeous houses. There were some rolling hills but nothing substantial.

Then we moved on to the towpath. It wasn’t as muddy as I though it was going to be but I couldn’t wait to get back on paved road. It was narrow so I had to dodge a few runners and I just felt like I was working a bit harder to maintain my 8:30 pace.

I passed the halfway point around 1:50-something and smiled. My half marathon PR is 1:49 (from September 2010). I can’t wait to crush that PR in November!

Splits for the first 13 miles. Pretty consistent. I was a slave to the Garmin but it worked! I was still feeling very good.

The Second 13.1
We entered another towpath in Bethlehem for an eternity. I think we stayed on that same path for 8 miles. No spectators, just you and a few runners, and lots of labored breathing. At Mile 17, negative thoughts started to creep in. I quickly ignored them and checked my “objective” legs. They felt alright, no different than my 22-miler 2 weeks ago. So why was I suddenly doubting myself? I kept looking at my hand, where I wrote “believe”. I knew I could do this. I just needed to hang in for 9 more miles. I just focused on the mile I was currently in. I didn’t worry about the future. I also took 2-10 second walk breaks. I would stop, count to 10, and then resume running. It was such a short break but it helped tremendously.

Finally, at Mile 20, we exited the towpath and climbed a hill to paved road. I checked my pace band – I had a 2 minute cushion. I decided that once I reached Mile 22 I would allow myself a 20 second walk break (I know, I was getting a little crazy here). I looked forward to that walk break like you would not believe. It was heavenly…but extremely brief. I also thought about seeing Matt, my sister, and Hawk at the finish line. I was starting to hurt but there was NO WAY I was going to let 22 miles of hard work (and a BQ) slip away. I wanted it too badly.

Mile 23 to 24 were rather interesting. I was faced with a monster hill. My pace – no lie – slowed to a 11:00 minute mile climbing that hill. I didn’t freak out because I knew I had a cushion. I just wanted to get “up and over” that damn hill. Once I reached the top I saw and equally steep downhill. Ahhhh, thank god! As you can tell from my splits below, the only time I went outside of 8:xx pace was Mile 24.

During Mile 25, I got an awesome surprise. Some of the Mains (who? what? see here) came out to cheer me on! I couldn’t believe it! I hear all these people calling my name and then I see an orange sign saying “Cams, Cams, Cams!” (a nickname). I was floored and shocked. AND, on Friday before the race, I received a gift card for a post-race pedi from the Mains. I am blessed to have such amazing and caring friends.

The last 0.2 miles were slightly uphill. At that point I knew I had the BQ in the bag and it was so surreal. Soon I spotted my sister, Matt, and Hawk on the sidelines. My sister was screaming. I may have done a fist pump or jazz hands as I approached the finish line. I’m not sure what I did but it caused the announcer to say “here comes Kristy…she looks very happy”. I crossed that finish line in 3:43:46 and was FINALLY a Boston Qualifier. I have DREAMED about this moment for years and it was finally coming true.

I immediately start to cry, or attempted to cry. I was sobbing but no tears were coming. I guess I was dehydrated. Volunteers thought something was wrong and I just kept saying over and over “I (sob) qualified (sob) for (sob) Boston”. They couldn’t understand me so I just gave them a thumbs up. These next few pictures are priceless.

DSCN1701 — I was overwhelmed with emotion...and exhaustion.

DSCN1702 — My sister is attempting to give me the blue towel on her arm but I seem frightened.

Almost forgot…my split times for the second 13.1.

In addition to the awesome orange sign, the Mains also made BQ letters for me. I later asked them what would they do with the letters had I not BQ’d. They said they would have hid them from me. How great is this?!

DSCN1713 — Me and my sister. I'm surprised she had a voice post-race.

DSCN1717 — Seeing your dog at the finish line is awesome.

DSCN1719 — My biggest cheerleader and supporter. Matt encouraged me to run the LVM back in May because he knew I could BQ.

Official results:
3:43:46
overall: 243/667
division (F 18 to 34): 28/90

There is still a permanent smile on my face. I think it will be there for quite a while!

I cannot thank you enough for the encouraging comments, tweets, and messages. The blogging community is really incredible and I’m so happy to be a part of it.

To my family and friends…I am so lucky and fortunate. You have all been an amazing support system and I could NOT have done it without you.

Now comes the hard part…registering!

I Am A Boston Qualifier!

September 11, 2011 by Kristy 33 Comments

9/11/11
26.2 miles / 3:43:46 / 8:32 avg pace (official results)

I AM A BOSTON QUALIFIER!!!!

I feel like I’m dreaming! Ten years (yes, 10 years) of hard work finally paid off today when I crossed that finish line with a minute and 14 seconds to spare. I immediately started to cry. It has been my dream to have the title of “BQer”.

I am overwhelmed by the support, well wishes, and congrats from my family, friends, and readers. I cannot thank you enough or put into words how much it means to me.

I have A LOT more to say (let’s see how long I can milk this ;)) and will provide a full race recap this week.

I’m still hopeful about registration but realize my chances of actually running the Boston Marathon in 2012 are slim. I get the chance to register on 9/19/11 if slots are still available. But…crazier things have happened, so you just never know!

I am celebrating tonight with beer and a DQ Blizzard. I bet you’re shocked.

Keep It Simple Stupid

September 9, 2011 by Kristy 20 Comments

9/9/11
3 miles easy / 28:04 / 9:21 avg pace
*And with that, training cycle #9 is complete!

My college chemistry professor always used to say K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple Stupid. When answering a test question, he told us the answer (or the way to go about solving it) is usually simple but we often make it more difficult than it needs to be. The first time he said this in class, I thought he was speaking directly to me since I have a tendency to make things harder than they need to be.

So how does K.I.S.S. apply to my marathon? It actually applies to my strategy and goal for the race.

Strategy
Keep my average pace between 8:30 and 8:35. This is exactly what I did during my 22-miler and it worked out well. Keeping a more consistent effort throughout is the way to go. That also means no speeding up and doing 8:20s during the middle miles! I’ll have a pace band, a usual, but will only use it to compare my total time against a 3:45 marathon time.

Goal
I have no A, B, or C goals. My goal is run a 3:45 and qualify for Boston. Plain and simple.

Mother Nature is being a bitch again and is bring historic (weather.com’s words) flooding to Philly and also the Lehigh Valley area. To say that I’ve been freaking out about maintaining MP on 12 miles of flooded towpath is an understatement. The LVM has been great about updating us on course changes. The latest and greatest:

The LVHN Marathon is scheduled to go as planned. Due to Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee, our region has received more than 10 inches of rain in the last 10 days.
*The first five miles of the marathon and relay course have been redesigned to place runners on hard surface roads….
*The race surface will be damp, wet and possibly muddy in some areas.

My guess is about half the marathon runners are attempting to qualify for Boston. At least I’ll be in good company.

So that’s it my friends. I’ll post a quick update on Sunday (you can also follow me on Twitter). Thank you for all the well wishes this week. I will recall many of them during the race for motivation!

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