Wedding Time!

whew! What a BUSY weekend! The boy was the best man in his best friend Justin's wedding this weekend and it was a PACKED weekend of events. I had the whole weekend off of work, but I felt just as tired because of all the activities that were involved in the weekend!

It turned out great, though. The wedding was gorgeous and it was a fun time. Of course, I got some pics to show off...so nice of you to ask! ;)

Me with the in-laws

The groom and his mother walking down the aisle

Saying the vows

The first kiss

The boy walking down the aisle

The two groomsmen....they clean up well

The boy and I

     

Me with the gorgeous bride

And thats it for now! The boy is yelling at me to make dinner so I gotta run :) Ok, maybe my tummy is just yelling at me to make dinner!

Oh yeah, and did I mention....12 MORE DAYS UNTIL MARATHON DAY!!!! AHH!!  

Denver Half Marathon Recap

This weekend was the Denver Half Marathon. As you guys know, I was kind of worried about this race because it was my first trail race and it was small. I was worried my time would be super slow because of the trails or that I would get lost because there was not that many runners to follow. So heres how it went down:

• 6:30AM: Alarm goes off. Roll out of bed, throw on my running clothes and gear, brush the teeth.
• 6:55 AM: Punch the still asleep boyfriend in the face and tell him he has five minutes to get ready because that is when I'm leaving. (Ok, you guys know I'm kidding, I was actually really sweet and nice about it) Plus we made a deal that he would get up and go with me if I got up and made him coffee. I make the best coffee. It gets me things.
• 7:10 AM: We leave the apartment 10 minutes late. What the hell? Why am I always freakin late?!
• 7:40 AM: We get to the park where the race is being held. 20 minutes from the start time. We kind of speed walk to the start line, while the boyfriend makes jokes about how dorky runners are. Thats right fellow runners, this guy thinks your a dork:

lk

• 8 AM: Line up at the start line. The race announcer talks for a little about the course. I don't really listen. Figure I'll just wing it. Why was I afraid of getting lost on the course?
• 8:10AM: These things never start on time.
• 8:11AM: WERE OFF!!
• Miles 1-3: Feeling pretty good. The trails haven't really started yet, but they said that they wouldn't until about mile 4 or 5. Mile splits are 8:15, 8:03, 8:02. I'm on pace so far to beat my 2 hour goal.
• Miles 4-6: Hit the trails. they are single track, so if you get stuck behind a slow poke your doing some bush waking to get around them. Luckily I got just the right distance behind a girl that was right on pace with me. It kept my pace up and kept me confident that I following the right course. Mile splits are 8:12, 7:54, 7:58.
• Miles 7-9: HIt the half way point still feeling pretty good, it starts to warm up a little but right about then we go through a wooded area. I keep thinking "THIS IS SO COOL!!" we ran across streams, rocks, and the whole time it was shaded by trees and prefect weather. Mile splits are 8:16, 7:59, 8:05.
• Miles 9-11: I knew that this was an out and back course and on the way into the wooded area I saw the sign for the 11 mile mark. I just kept waiting to come back through those woods, because I'm tellin ya it was awesomeness! About this time I catch up with the guy that has been slightly ahead of me the whole race. We stop at the water station and he asks me what mile we are on. I tell him and for the rest of the race we are BFFs. Mile splits are 8:19, 8:13, 7:53.
• Miles 12 and 13: Last leg of the race. I keep counting down the mileage to my new BFF who is pacing off of me now. I also tell him not to use me for an unfair advantage. (Totally kidding). Finish strong! Mile splits are 8:19 and 7:40.
• The last leg: My watch says 13.1 but the finish line is no where in site! "Oh yeah, I think I remember them saying it was a little more than 13.1, Ok now I see it...wayyyy up there....at the top of that HILL!" What kind of cruel joke is this?! I have a little "Kara Goucher-esk" race with a girl right at the finish line. Smoke her. See the boyfriend and the dog, high five em'. FINISH!!
• My watch ends up saying 13.6 miles. Geez can we adjust my time for that?!
• I FINISH 13.6 IN 1:50:02!!!!! WOO NEW PR!!

I was so proud of myself for reaching my stretch goal. I had a blast and spent the rest of the day looking up what trail race to do next. Its love.
Oh yeah, and if you want to see some awesome (in a totally "I'm running 13 miles, don't even THINK about taking my picture" way) you can go to this link: PBC Sports Photography. This guy did a great job with the pictures. Im thinking about buying one in poster size for the living room. The boyfriend and the roommate would LOVE that huh?!

20 Miles..In the Books!!

Thats right kiddos, I tackled the 20 miler this morning! And it actually wasn't so bad.
I didn't even have to get up at the crack of dawn to run either because the weather has been PERFECT here. It was about 65 this morning, with a little bit of a chilly breeze, so it was great for running.
I woke up around 730, strapped on my camelback, packed up some GUs, ate a cliff bar, started up the Garmin and the Ipod, and was out the door by 8!
I swear sometimes I feel like I'm bogged down with all the crap that I have to bring on long runs, but it really does make all the difference to have all of that when you are running for more than 3 hours at once.
I ran on my usual running trail, out and back. The first 10 miles were great, I started out slow and just tried to enjoy the run and before I knew it, it was time to turn back around and head for home. I stopped for a bit and stretched out my legs and ate a GU and then booked it for home.
I was planning on stopping at mile 15 and stretching again and taking another GU, but when I hit mile 15 I was still feeling pretty good so I decided to keep truckin'
I'm not gonna lie, my legs are pretty mad at me, but I still feel good about the run and feel like it was a strong run. This makes me SO excited for the marathon! Let the taper begin!
Here are the splits:

• Mile One: 9:45
• Mile Two: 9:27
• Mile Three: 9:28
• Mile Four: 9:31
• Mile Five: 9:36
• Mile Six: 9:28
• Mile Seven: 9:24
• Mile Eight: 9:23
• Mile Nine: 9:27
• Mile Ten: 9:19
• Mile Eleven: 9:14
• Mile Twelve: 9:25
• Mile Thirteen: 9:07
• Mile Fourteen: 9:08
• Mile Fifteen: 8:57
• Mile Sixteen: 9:12
• Mile Seventeen: 9:04
• Mile Eighteen: 8:59
• Mile Nineteen: 9:16
• Mile Twenty: 9:09

I feel pretty good about the splits! I don't know if I can do the sub 4 hour marathon that I would LOVE to do, but we will see! The half next weekend will be a semi-determining factor. So we will see how that goes :)
Does anyone have any Labor Day races this weekend?

Earndit

Earndit...have you guys heard of this website? If you haven't you should totally click on that link and check it out. My friend from work, who is also a runner and training for a half marathon, told me about it and its awesome! Basically you just go to this site, sign up, and then you can upload all of your runs from your garmin or any other device you use. Certain mileage gives you a certain amount of points, and once you save up some points you can cash them in for things like gift cards, etc. If you are a runner you should totally check it out NOW!
In other news....I GOT SIGNED UP FOR THE HALF MARATHON NEXT WEEKEND!! I had mentioned in my previous post that I wanted to run the Denver Half Marathon next weekend, but it was limited to only 1000 runners and they were full by the time I found out about it. Well, I did a little begging (no shame here) to the race director and he let me in!!
It looks like a pretty cool race. Here are some of the details:

• 13.1 miles
• Only 1000 runners
• 90% dirt tails, bike paths, and roads
• Paths mostly take you along the Cherry Creek Reservoir
• Elevation: around 5,500 feet

Here are some awesome picture from their website of some of the trail.






All images are from Denverhalf.com
I am kind of nervous about it being such a small race because of issues like getting lost, not enough water stations or course support, etc. I also have never done a trail race, which worries me a little as well.
BUT! I am just going to use this as a fun training run and do my best :) I am aiming for under 2 hours for my main goal and a stretch goal of 1:50 or better. Stay tuned for the race review after next Sunday!
Anyone else have any races or events coming up?
Any advice for trail runs?

Getting Organized

I am now down to 5 more weeks until marathon day! That means that next week will be my biggest week as far as mileage, and then starts the taper. Next week I will total almost 40 miles if I get all the runs in that I am on schedule for. Here is what it looks like:

• Sunday: 20 miles
• Monday: REST
• Tuesday: 5 miles
• Wednesday: 5 miles
• Thursday: 10 miles
• Friday: REST
• Saturday: Cross Train

I also am looking for a half marathon for Sunday the 11th. Hopefully I can find one, because I haven't done a race in a while and I think that would be a fun way to get my long run in. I found one but it was full, I emailed the race director but I have yet to hear back :(

Hopefully I can get all those runs in this week, because my schedule is getting filled up pretty quick! The last semester of grad school starts today, so in honor of that I went out and bought me a nice little planner...and already have it filled.

Yes I am a super nerd, but hey it helps to be organized!!

Speaking of organization, I had a little spurt where I kept losing EVERYTHING! I left my ipod at the gym (thank GOD someone turned it in), I left my phone at work, etc, etc. So the boy gave me a little tip. Have a home for everything and always make sure whats supposed to be there is there. Sounds easy enough.

So on my next Target trip I picked up this little baby on clearance for $1!!

It holds all of my running gear:

Anything that I use for running is in here. My ipod and headphones, my RoadID, my Garmin and all its little plugs, my Spibelt, and everything in between. So far I think its a pretty awesome idea. And great for my because I tend to "misplace" things pretty easily.

Do you have any of your own organizational tips or tricks?

Anyone else running any race on the 11th?

Awesome Splits and Long Runs

I have some runs backed up that I haven't really talked about since I had a little friend time. So instead of talking about them all in a long boring post, I will just talk about the most recent ones.

And those just happen to be my favorites. Is it weird that I have "favorite" runs? Probably. Oh well.

The first one was a five mile tempo run. Since I'm still new to the area (and lets face it I hate track running and really am making excuses), I have not found a track to run on yet. So when I do my tempo runs I will usually do them on the treadmill or outside but really informally. When I say informally I mean "sprinting to the next tree" or "sprinting for the last quarter mile", you know, things like that.

I also try my best to get negative splits. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. When it doesn't I'm pretty bummed, when it does I do a little internal celebration (and maybe brag a little to the boy) :)

I went on a five mile run on Saturday and tried my best to get the negative splits. I think I am adjusting to the altitude change better because I am slowly seeing my times improve. This was the best one yet! Here are the splits:

Mile One: 8:45 <------starting out at a comfy pace

Mile Two: 8:30

Mile Three: 8:17

Mile Four: 8:14 <----two pretty even miles, but picking it up a bit

Mile Five: 7:36 <----WOAH!!!

Total time: 41:36

I don't know if there was a cute guy up ahead or a dog chasing me or what. But I booked it on that last mile! Those times were pretty average for me in Tennessee, but I haven't seen those kinds of numbers on training runs in Colorado yet!

The next run was my long run yesterday. I decided to just see how I felt since I had skipped my long run when my friends where here. Technically I was on schedule for 18 again, but I had skipped the 12 miler, so I knew I shouldn't push it too much. The boy told me to only do 12, in my mind I wanted so bad to do 18. I ended up compromising with my head and my body and only doing 15. Sometimes its all about compromise :)

I had also just read an article about going easy on long runs the night before from Runners World Magazine. I know a lot of us, me included, try to push it on every run because we want to get better. This article really made me think twice about being so hard on myself when I don't run my fastest on long runs. Here are some of the tips that I took away from the article:

• Running slower allows your body time to recover and build a fitness bases. It also allows you time to focus on your running and not get burnt out.
• 70% of your weekly runs should be easy running.
• Your muscles need on average about 30 to 60 hours to recover from a hard run.
• If your event is a marathon, your long runs should be about one to two minutes slower than race pace.
• Easy runs allow your body to build up its fitness level, this helps your body adapt better to stress on the joints and muscles. It also helps your cardiovascular and respiratory system become more efficient so that you can run further and longer.
• If your are breathing at a comfortable pace you should be able to hold a conversation and control your breathing.

Keeping all of these tips in mind, I set out for my long run and tried to pace myself a little better. I know my goal marathon pace it between 8 and 9 minute miles, so I tried to slow down to about 10 minutes miles. I am really bad at slowing myself down though, so some of my miles were a little faster. I still felt comfortable though, so I think it was a success! Here are the splits:

Mile One: 9:23

Mile Two: 9:17

Mile Three: 9:27

Mile Four: 9:23

Mile Five: 9:48

Mile Six: 9:21

Mile Seven: 9:06

Mile Eight: 9:09

Mile Nine: 9:13

Mile Ten: 9:09

Mile Eleven: 9:01

Mile Twelve: 9:04

Mile Thirteen: 9:25

Mile Fourteen: 9:25

Mile Fifteen: 9:01

Total Time: 2:29:03

Not too bad. Like I said I was aiming for 10 minute miles, and averaged about 9 minute miles. But I still would call this an easy effort. Success!

Today is a day off for me and I have a whole list of things to do! So I better get to that. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Do you slow down on long runs? Or do you still try to push it?

What are some goals that you are trying to meet this week?

Where Have I Been?!

With this girl...

And this girl...

Two of my friends from Tennessee came to visit me all last week, and even though I technically wasn't on vacation, I sure acted like I was :)

The first couple of days my friend Jaime was here. She is a runner too, so of course she needed a taste of the Colorado altitude, so she ran a 5K the second day she was here!

 

Gearing up at the start

Unfortunately this was the first race that I had been too where I didn't get to run and was stuck on the sidelines cheering. Let me tell you, running the race is so much more fun. I give the boy mad props for coming to watch all my races because it is BORING!! I did get to see the first place guy cross in under 16 minutes though...wish I could do that!

The next day we visited the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO. Hey, free beer tasting at noon?! Can't beat that ;)

I'm not a humongous fan of Coors, but it is brewed in Colorado, so its practically a sin not to like it here. I do like Blue Moon though.

It was pretty cool seeing how they brew beer. Its a process for sure! I wonder how the first people who made beer thought to do it? They told us that even the Egyptians brewed their own beers back in the day!   

Reaping the rewards of being educated all day. Listening to the boring lecture about many hops go into their beer and blah blah blah can only be interesting for so long!

And no trip to Denver is complete without going to a  Rockies game!

Sportin the purple and black!

Halfway through the week was my favorite part, because it was time for my bestie to come!

  Moe and I missed her LOTS!

Her number one request on her first trip to Colorado was to see the mountains. So I took her hiking outside of Boulder, CO.

The summit was almost 8.000 feet above sea level. And the view was amazing!!

And lastly to top it all off we had a day of Elitch Gardens!

I chickened out of this ride. But if you look closely you can see the boy and some of the other peeps that went with us!

Now everyone is gone and its back to work and back to normal life. I promise your regular running topics will be back shortly! That is why you read this right?!