Halloween and Football

This weekend was filled with fun "fall" type events. On Saturday I finally decided what I was going to be for Halloween:

Black Swan!!
 
Among my friends were a soccer player, Keith Stone, and a Geisha

Pilot and Keith Stone, again
 

After partying all night for Halloween we woke up the next morning and hiked to Sports Authority Stadium for my very first pro football game
 

Ready for the game!
 
We had amazing seats! 14 rows up from the field!


This was the boy's favorite part...the cheerleaders

Pretty fun weekend, and now its time to get back to work.
Happy Halloween everyone!!
What are you dressing up as?

You guessed it!

After carefully tallying all of the votes and taking into consideration all sides, we have a clear winner...
It was a landslide win for pumpkin #1

Who carved this work of genius you ask?....

Yes, I guess you could say my pumpkin trumped pumpkin #2

On the running front I have been DYING to do another race! I loved all of your suggestions from a couple of posts ago. I looked into some relays and this one seems pretty freakin cool...
 
Its not until August, but that would give me plenty of time to get a team together. Anyone wanna join?!
I also would LOVE to do the Vegas Half Marathon, like ALOT of you are doing. My roommate is actually going to be in Vegas that weekend, so I might just try to make it happen, we will see. 
And now I leave you with the most important question of all....
What in the world should I be for Halloween?!!!

Denver Rock N' Roll Marathon Race Recap

SO here it is, finally getting to my marathon review. It has been a CRAZY and amazing weekend and I am sooo happy to report that on Sunday I successfully completed my very first marathon! And here is how it went:

The race was scheduled to begin at 6:55AM. The start line was only about 1.5 miles from my apartment and the boy had decided he would drop me off and then head for the first park that we were going to run through and wait there for me. This meant I didn't have to wake up TOO early, so that was great!

I woke up around 530 (except I think I was waking up every hour the night of, because I was afraid my alarm wouldn't work and I would miss the whole race.) I threw on the clothes I had strategically picked out the night before, loaded up my spi belt, and strapped on my garmin and my ipod..and I was ready to go!

What I wore: Mizuno Wave Elixir shoes, Mizuno compression capris, Nike DriFit Tank, and Nike Jacket.
I was so nervous that I didn't think I could eat a damn thing, but I knew that I was about to be running 26.2 miles, and I should probably eat something. So I brought a banana and a CLIF bar in the car with me. I ended up only choking down the CLIF bar.

The boy got me pretty close to the start line, so I jumped out of the car and walked a few blocks to my Corral, just as they were telling people to start lining up.

The sun had not come up yet, so it was still pretty cold. (about 35 degrees). But as we were standing there waiting for the start the sun started coming up and you could tell it was going to be a PERFECT day for a run!
They made a few announcements, sang the national anthem, and then we were off!

My plan for the marathon was to run the first 10 miles at a conservative pace and then pick it up for the last 16. And it turned out to work pretty well that way.

I knew that the boy was going to be waiting in City Park, which was at about miles 6-9. So I kept counting down the miles until I got to see him.

First 6 mile splits were 9:26, 9:01, 9:02, 8:54, 9:08, and 8:41


We made our way into the park and I saw him! It was pretty quick though, because I just got a chance to chuck my gloves at him and keep going. But then a little ways into the park I see a boy racing through the field on a bike with a little dog trailing behind. It was the best/funniest site I have ever seen. He made it to the next turning point in the park before I ran by, so of course I had to run and jump into his arms and give him a big kiss.


We ran through the park until about mile 9. I knew that we were going to split with the half marathoners at about 11.5 miles, so I used that as my next thing to count down to.

Mile 6-11 splits were 8:52. 8:49, 9:05, 8:50, 9:05, (took a GU at mile 10), 8:31. Notice mile 11...told you I was going to try and pick it up after mile 10 :)


We finally made it to the point where the half marathoners went one way and the full marathoners went to other way. I remember running by this when I did my first half, and being so glad I was almost done and not regretting just running the half AT ALL. But this time, I felt SO PROUD to be splitting with the full marathon runners, and everyone waved and cheered when we split and it was the best feeling in the world.


From here I decided that the next check point would be the half marathon mark. Up until this point the 4 hour marathon pacer had been slightly in front of me. I didn't want to push it to catch up with them, but I knew if I kept up my pace I would eventually catch up. And right before the half marathon mark I found myself right in the middle of the 4 hour pace group!


Miles 12 and 13 splits were 8:59 amd 8:35.

I realized that the average pace of the 4 hour pacers was about 8:30 and this pace felt pretty comfortable for me, so I decided to just stay with the pace group and not try to run ahead until the last 10K.
Well, I did that for about ohhh a mile, and then I thought, "what the hell, I'm feeling good, I'm going for it!!"


I knew that we were going to be running through another park at about mile 19 and I secretly hoped that the boy would have taken it upon himself to be there too. So I made this my next check point.

Miles 14-19 splits were 8:41, 8:35, 8:39, 8:47, 8:45, and 8:40. (took another GU at mile 19).

We made it to the park and there was the boy, the puppy, AND his sister and her whole family!! This really gave me that extra little boost that I needed at this point. I passed them and high fived them all as I ran by.
Then I see the same awesome sight that I saw in the park before. Except this time it was even more awesome. It was the boy, with his niece on his shoulders, his other niece running with the puppy, and his sister pulling the twins in a red wagon...all sprinting across the field so they could meet me again!


When I ran past the boy the second time, I took off my headphone and yelled "I passed the 4 hour pacers!!!" He gave me the thumbs up, said I was doing great, and I kept on running.
From here I didn't have much of a checkpoint, except for the end! I knew I just had a 10K left to go, so I settled in and kept running.

Everything was going great...until it hit at about mile 22....I HAD to use the bathroom!! There was no more water going into my body until I could let some out, and I knew trying to run 4 more miles without drinking anymore water would have been stupid.

I kept looking for the next port-a-potty. I wanted to keep going SO BAD and I even considered just letting it go while I was running. But it was so damn cold, I knew that probably wouldn't be a good idea ;) Finally I see one up ahead, so i book it for the closest one and speed-pee as fast as I possibly can.
I was so disappointed that I was doing so well and had to stop, I just knew that the 4 hour pace group had passed me, but as I kept running I never saw them, and I was starting to see some of the same people that I was running with before I stopped.

Miles 20-24 splits were 8:46, 8:43, 8:41, 9:19, 8:49.


And then it happened. The wall. A big, huge, ugly wall. Right at mile 24. I decided I might need to take in more calories, so I got out my last GU. I squeezed a plop into my mouth....
and almost barfed. Then the guy in front of me stopped and barfed, and I REALLY thought it was going to happen then. Then I started thinking about the huge spaghetti dinner I had the night before....

I knew it was all mental from here. Yeah, my body wanted to stop. I had been running for over 3 hours!! I pushed bad thoughts from my head and told myself "just 2 more miles and you will be a marathoner". So I put my head up and kept running for the finish.


Miles 24-26 splits were 9:19, 8:45 and 8:17. Yeah I think I picked it up the last mile because I was so ready to be done.

We turned a corner and there was the finish line. I started tearing up because I couldn't believe I had accomplished something this big. I knew I was going to beat my goal and I was going to be a SUB4 marathoner! Then I saw the boy and his family all cheering me on at the end and I REALLY lost it!
I crossed the finish line at 3:55:28. (The clock time shows the time from the very start and my coral started about 5 minutes later)

Official Stats:

• Finish Time: 3:55:28
• Average Pace: 8:59
• Overall: 618 out of 2381
• Division: 39 out of 210
• Female: 136 out of 1020

Im so proud that I can now say "I am a SUB4 marathoner"

NEXT UP...BOSTON QUALIFIER!! :)

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?

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?!

Blue Plum 5K

Every year the city that I live in has a HUGE festival for the first weekend of June, called the Blue Plum. Don't ask me why...I have no idea! Anyway, its always TONS of people, TONS of drinking, and TONS of fun. And on top of all that fun they throw in a 5K on Saturday morning!
Now, I am going to start out by telling you that I had NO intentions of running this race. And here were my reasons why:

• I usually don't like short distance races, because they are too fast for me. I would much rather run long distances and keep a nice pace, then flat out sprinting for 3 miles! VERY intimidating!
• The race was scheduled for 9 AM...I was scheduled to be into work at 10AM
• I had already planned on taking advantage of the before mentioned "TONS of drinking" the night before

All those reasons had made me pretty much decide against it, even though a small part of me really wanted to do it. Hey, it was a race, it was close, and it was cheap...and you got a free t-shirt!
I guess that little part of me decided to jump on out when I accidentally asked my cousin Matt (who runs races with me usually) if he wanted to run with me on Saturday. I was kind of hoping that he would say NO, but he was SUPER enthusiastic about it. So, I got myself stuck.
You would think that knowing I had to wake up at 8AM for the race, I would have taken it easy last night. Yeah, you would think. I managed to only have a few beers, but my cousin and my roommate had a few more than that...which meant we didn't get home until after 2AM in the morning.
A brief 6 hours later, I was up, lacing up my running shoes, and pinning on my race tag.

My cousin Matt and I ready to run!
30 minutes after that I was standing at the starting line wondering if I could make it without falling asleep mid-stride.
The announcer came up to the start, mumbled something about the race...the which the guy beside me mumbled to me "so basically just start running when everyone else does, right?" Yep, he had it figured out.
Annndddd we were OFF! And let me just tell you it was HORRIBLE!! And here is why in a nice bulleted outline:

• wayyyy tooo fasssttt!!! haha. maybe I am just a weakling, but I am just not good at short, fast distances (like I mentioned) I am much more comfortable with long, steady distances. When we started out I ran the first mile in 7:32. Again, WAYYYY TOOOO FAAASSSTT! And the thing was I kept telling myself it was too fast, but for some reason I didn't slow down! haha
• It got HOTT and HUMID quick.
• those beers I drank the night before were NOT helping me in the least
• headphones were not allowed. this was the first time that I had ever ran without headphones. AWFUL! I had to listen to the people beside me breathing all heavy and worrying if they were gonna pass out right beside me! This makes me nervous. And nervous running = no good.

We finished, grabbed a water and a banana, and took off back home so I could shower and be ready for work in 45 minutes!

I didn't get to stay for the official results since I had to be at work so I was anxious all day to find out my time and placing.
As soon as I got home I jumped on the computer to check the results...I was rrrreeealllyyy hoping for a time of under 25 minutes and was SUPER bummed when I saw that my official time was 25:04.
However, the "bummy-ness" quickly turned around when I clicked on the link for age group placings. And saw this:

Female 20-24
Place O'All Name Bib# Age City St Time ===== ===== ========================= ==== === ===============  
1 120 Emily Harvey 486 24 25:04                              
2   151 Ashlee Jenks               197  24                                                                
3   196 Jessica Jones              550  20

Yep thats me! FIRST PLACE IN MY AGE GROUP!!! :)
I have never placed in a race before AND this was a PR time for me. So I guess all in all it wasn't so bad after all! And I am sooo glad that I decided to do it and not back out because of stupid reasons! In the end I bit the bullet, took the challenge, and came out on top. And even though I barely missed my goal of under 25 minutes, I still couldn't be happier with the race!
No its nap time and then another night out for Kelli's 21st! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
<3 Em

It's Officially Official

Good morning everyone! Its hump day which mean we are officially half way through the week...which mean I am half way through the last week of my single life. Come Monday I will FINALLY have my long distance boyfriend of 2 years LIVING WITH ME!! In case you are new to the blog and don't know, the boy lives in California...I live in TENNEESSEE! Yes, that right on the complete opposite side of the country! Not for long though :)
I have also been informed that it is officially National Running Day as well!

Click on the link to learn more about how you can participate, even if you are a non runner. You best believe I will be throwing on my running kicks for a nice little run today. Update on that later!
Continuing with the "official-ness" of today, last night it was officially my best friend Kelli's 21st Birthday!  This is exciting news, because I am 24...so it has been verrry difficult having a bestie that is not 21 yet! No longer will she have to worry about getting caught sneaking a sip of my drink or not being able to get into a place where we are all hanging out! It was a HAPPY day FO SHO!
And little Miss BIRTHDAY DIVA went all out! We had a fancy dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. Her boyfriend and myself went early to decorate the entire restaurant for her 21 guests yes, she made sure to have 21 guests! haha. It turned out so cute and she had a great night!
 
This was my substitute date, since my boyfriend still lives on the opposite coast line for now. Cory is one of my very best guy friends! he came early to help set up too!

The birthday girl and I. Her hat has a huge "21" on the top and says "Where's the Bar?" haha.

The table all set up! We had 3 DOZEN BALLOONS!

My date and I

This is Tanya, my boss, and one of my very best friends

Kelli made everyone party favors...they were plastic martini glasses filled with margarita flavored jelly beans and dots gummies for the olives, pretty clever huh?!

me, the birthday girl, and tanya

Kelli and her boyfriend Jimbo. He did such a great job with everything! What a sweetie!

A shot of the whole table

Her first "legal" drink! hehe

Cheers to the Birthday girl
 
the birthday cake

blowing out the candles!
What a fun night! Everthing turned out just as planned and it was great! Happy Birthday KELLI!
<3

5th Grade Graduation

Good morning my dears! Sorry for the lack of update for a bit! I leave for California a week from today, so I have been running around like crazy trying to get everything ready. And I really only have a one track mind! haha.
Any ways, running hasn't been #1 the past couple of days, and my knee is still giving me a little trouble so I have been trying to stay off of it as much as I can. There is no need to push it and cause something REALLY bad!
In other news, my little sister graduated from 5th grade this weekend! I went to her graduation, and it was just the cutest thing you have ever seen! All the little boys were wearing suits and ties, and the little girls were all dressed up too.
Just a little fact that you should know about my little sister...she is a GENIUS! And I'm not just saying that. I swear she is 11 going on 30. Its kinda crazy. So at the graduation I think they called her name somewhere around 563729 times to receive awards! haha


can you see the resemblance?! Probably not. I'm pretty sure that I was the milk man's baby. Everyone in my family has dark curly hair and I'm the oddball. Oh well, I like being different :)
In other news, my BIG trip to California is only 5 DAYS AWAY! I would be lying if I didn't say that I was FREAKING OUT! Mostly about packing for a two week trip (50% of that will be in the car) the other 50% would be meeting the boy's ENTIRE family, friends, etc.
What are some of your best tips for packing for a long trip?
I have been making list after list of things to pack, things to do before I go, things not to forget, blah, blah, blah. I just need to calm it down! haha.
Tonight is my best friend Kelli's 21st Birthday! We are throwing her a huge party at her favorite restaurant, so that should be fun! I mean what 21st birthday isn't fun?! I'll update with pictures tomorrow :)
Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!
<3 EM