Five Things Friday

Since this blog is fairly new I decided to let you guys in on a few things about me. Excited? You should be.

I figure I could probably do a different "five things" every Friday, so for the first one I thought we would start with the basics.

Five Things that Make Me Me:

1. I am the oldest of three sisters, thats right my poor Dad had to live in a house with four women. He got a dog as a companion...oh wait, she was a girl too. I think my dad probably has stock in tampons. ;)

Allie, Kelly, Me, and Tatum

 

2. I am currently two classes away from receiving my Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. That's people, watch out, I may be teaching your children some day!

   

My best "teacher" pose...yes, I am holding an apple. Thats what teachers do, right?

3. My Second Family here in Colorado includes the boy, Moe (our dog), and myself. We're cute, I know ;)

He also doubles as my race photographer/coach. He is pretty tough.

He also cleans up pretty nice too.

4. My third family is by best friends from back home in Tennessee. We have all been through a lot together (did I mention we were all coworkers as well?!) and I can honestly say that I love these girls more than anything. They truly are family.

Kelli has never smoked a cigarette in her life. This was merely a prop!

  My best friend Kelli also just got engaged. She has a ROCK! and by that I mean this thing is freakin HUGE!

I miss all these girls alot. But Kelli is coming to visit this weekend, so I am SUPER excited about that :)

5. I fell in love with running 3 years ago when I ran my first 10k. Since then I have done so many races I lost count. And I am now preparing for the biggest step in my running career...THE MARATHON, in two months! But you guys knew that, where have you been?!

This is me 3 years after running my first race. It was cold, raining, and miserable. But I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT and I was hooked!

Ok so there you have it. The top five things that make me me. Because you were really interested. I know. I know. Thank me later!

So now that you know more about me. Tell me something about you!

18 Miles...CHECK!

Today I completed the longest run of my marathon training so far. 18 miles! Oh yeah!
Last night I got everything ready...my camelback, my ipod, my garmin, my running clothes, my GUs...man it takes a lot to be a runner huh?!
I set the alarm for 6AM and went to bed ready to tackle my long run this week! I'm not gonna lie, I was DREAMING about being finished with this run. I know pretty nerdy. I kept waking up thinking it was time to get up. Man I really need to get more of a life outside of running! ;)
Before I knew it the alarm was going off and I was rolling out of bed to start my 18 miles.
I'm pretty sure that I was still half asleep for the first 3 miles, but after that I snapped out of it and really started feeling good. It is such a confidence booster when you can run like that and still feel good afterwards. Maybe I actually will complete this marathon! :)
I ate one GU at 7 miles and then the other at 14. And I stopped at 13 miles to refill my camelback. Here are the splits:

• Mile 1: 10:08
• Mile 2: 9:50
• Mile 3: 9:32
• Mile 4: 9:30
• Mile 5: 9:08
• Mile 6: 9:04
• Mile 7: 9:03
• Mile 8: 9:27
• Mile 9: 9:06
• Mile 10: 9:06
• Mile 11: 9:22
• Mile 12: 9:06
• Mile 13: 9:25
• Mile 14: 9:12
• Mile 15: 9:02
• Mile 16: 8:46
• Mile 17: 8:20
• Mile 18: 8:24

Total Time: 2:47:12 
Those are some weird splits! The first mile was slow because after about half a mile I got a nose bleed! I had to stop and walk for a bit and I almost turned around and came back home. But I kept walking and after a few minutes it stopped. I took it easier for the first few miles after that just in case, but it never came back. Weird huh?! I also worked on picking it up and paying more attention to my pace on the way home. The first half of my long runs I usually don't even look at my Garmin and just try to stay at a comfortable pace. I am pretty proud of my time thought, because I was really planning for about 3 hours.
Good thing I have the rest of the day off because I am taking it easy! I have a Target date with the boy tonight when he gets off work. Gotta replenish that toothpaste and paper towels. Oh we live exciting lives :)
I leave you with one of my favorite pictures from the Double Birthday Weekend:

Anyone else have any good runs this week? Any long runs planned?!

Double Birthdays!

This weekend has been CRAZY so far...and its not even over yet! Why you ask? Well, because not only was it the boy's birthday, but it was also our roomates birthday too! Pretty random huh?!

Well, their actual birthday was on Thursday, so we celebrated a little then...we celebrated a little on Friday...and we are having a cook out tonight for the BIG celebration!

On top of working all day everyday and all the "celebrating" that has been going on, I haven't had much time for anything else!

I did however, get my butt up this morning to get a run in before work and it felt good!

I did 8.5 miles at a 8:50 pace. Here are the splits:

• Mile 1: 9:20
• Mile 2: 8:55
• Mile 3:8:43
• Mile 4: 9:00
• Mile 5: 9:03
• Mile 6: 8:17
• Mile 7:8:31
• Mile 8: 8:10
• Half Mile cool down: 10:14

Total Time: 1:15:31

When I got home I went for my go-to after run fuel...coffee, greek yogurt with banana, and wheat toast. Now its time to shower up, get ready for work, and then get ready to celebrate tonight!

Everyone with the boy and the roommate a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What is your go-to after run fuel?

Running With Music: Good or Bad?

Listening to music while running, exercising, biking, or whatever physical activity you do has been something that has been debated for years. Does it just come down to personal preference, or is there actual science behind this debate?
A recent study done at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise had 12 subjects ride a stationary bicycle at a pace that they could sustain for 30 minutes while listening to a song of the subject's choice. In successive trials, they rode the bikes again, with the tempo of the music variously increased or decreased by 10%, without the subject's knowledge. The researchers found that the riders heart rate and mileage decreased when the tempo was slowed, while they rode a greater distance, increased their heart rate and enjoyed the music more at the faster tempo. (Hudson, 2010).
However, A 2004 found that runners performing at a pace where they were at 90% of their peak oxygen uptake enjoyed listening to music, but that the music had no effect on their heart rate or running pace, regardless of the music's tempo. (Tennebaum, 2010).
Here is a video that I found on the effects of music on athletes from BBC News

Dr. Karageorghis is a professor at Brunel Univeristy who organized a series of tests to study the effects of different kinds of music on athletes and runners. According to Dr. Karageorghis there are 4 different factors of music that effects athletic performance. These four things are:

1. Rythmic Response: Your bodies response to the beat of a song
2. Musicality: combinations of cords and instruments that effect our moods while listening to a certain song.
3. Cultural Impact: Your personal response to a certain song based on social upbringing.
4. Association Factor: How we relate to a certain song based on past experiences and life associations.

According to this, the science is behind choosing the right song for you that meets all of the 4 criteria for the perfect song to get you pumped up. So a song that you may love to run to, another person may not get anything at all from it.
Some runners find that listening to music motivates them to get up and go, while others value quiet while running so that they are more in tune with their bodies.
Really when it comes down to it, staying "plugged in" while running is a personal choice. I personally think that it is best to experiment with both "natural" running, and running with devices such as watches, ipods, etc.
There is definitely something to be said for just getting out there and having nothing else between you and the road. But something a little upbeat music can get you out the door and going, and there is nothing wrong with that!
Now that you have heard all the boring scincetific facts, I am going to bless you with some of my favorite songs to run to. Please don't judge :) And remember, according to good ol Dr. Karageorghis every song has different effects on different people!
Some of my ALL TIME FAVORITE SONGS include:

• The Blackeyed Peas - Just Can't Get Enough
• Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha
• Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
• Jennifer Lopez - I'm Into You
• Shakira - Did it Again
• Wiz Khalifa - Mezmorized
• Kayne West - Im Your Pusha
• Destiny's Child - Solider
• Glee Soundtrack - Open Your Heart/Boderline
• Paramore - Feeling Sorry
• Eminem and Lil Wayne - No Love
• The whole Girl Talk Album
• Maria Carey - Side Effects and Cruise Control
• Outkast - The Way You Move

All pretty random huh?! I change it up depending on my mood so my music changes alot. This is just a small sample of what gets my butt in gear during runs!
So what do you think, music or no music?
What are some of your go-to "pump up" songs?

Treadmill Long Run

Confession: Im TIRED!
Working on your feet all day and running 30 miles a week will do that to ya, I guess.
So this morning when the alarm went off for my long run at 6AM, can you really blame a girl for wanting to sleep in a little bit on her only day off?!
Add on to the fact that this is what I share my bed with:

pretty darn cute huh?
So yes, I kept sleeping and by the time I was up and ready to go at 830 this morning it was already 78 degrees. Oh yeah, and my garmin was dead. Guess you kinda have to charge those things if you plan on using them often. who knew?
So I did what any good/totally insane runner would do, and turned to the treadmill.
Yes. 12 miles. ON.THE.TREADMILL. I got to watch Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly, AND two episodes of say yes to the dress. Lets just say everyone in the gym today was thrilled that I got there first and had control over the remote!
So I got it done. Even though it wasnt the most enjoyable thing in the world. Now its time to relax by the pool. If you ask me, it was well earned :)
I also want to thank everyone for your race suggestions! Sarah suggested a muddy buddy race which I think would be perfect. The boy even said he may just do that one with me.
Hope everyone is having a great week!
Any training set backs that you have conquered?

Drop Your Drawers and Run Wild 5k Race Recap

First of all, let me just tell you that yes, I had a goal in mind for this race.

Yes, it was a steep goal. Basically I wanted to PR for this race with a hopeful time of sub-22 minutes. This would not only be a PR for racing at this elevation, but a PR in general.

I was ready to tackle to challenge and get that time that I wanted. However, it just didn't happen :(

I think that there were a lot of things that made this goal a bit difficult. Let's start with the fact that I worked a 9 hour shift at work before jetting out of the store in my running clothes at 530 to be at the race by 6.

I got there just in the nick of time and lined up at the start line. A second thing that made my goal a little difficult was that it was HOT! I'm pretty sure it was still in the upper 80s or lower 90s even at 630.

I was hot and tired from the start! My race photographer (the boy) didn't make it until after I had already finished, so I didn't get any of those lovely finishing photos that we all know and love.

I ended up finishing with a time of 24:11 and placed 4th in my age group, 12th female overall. Not quite what I was hoping for, but I guess it just takes more time to work up speed when you are racing at a different elevation then you are used to.

After the race we got to walk around the zoo and check out the animals at night. Oh yeah, and we also got FREE BEER! I'm sensing a theme here...

Of course I had to grab my beer and head over to see my little friends from the last visit to the zoo

There was also a band playing in the zoo while everyone walked around

Not sure whats up with the outfits...but I guess dressing weird is just part of being a musician...

case in point. From fashionbombdaily.

The band also had a captive audience with one of the zoo animals...

Overall, I would say that this was an awesome race. It was fun to get to run at the zoo and it was an awesome turnout. Even though I didn't make my goal time, I still had fun and it just gives me more motivation to try try again!

What should my next race be? Anyone have any races planned that are coming up?

Race Night!

Tonight I will be running the "Drop Your Drawers and Run Wild 5K" through the Denver Zoo!

Wish me luck!

Race Recap to follow.