Friday, May 27, 2011

Haggin Hospital 5k @ Shaker Village & Terrible Back Pain

Once again this week I have been hit with TERRIBLE TERRIBLE back pain! I woke up 3am Monday morning with pain in my upper back and felt like I couldn't breathe. It really bothered me because usually when I have back pain it is in my lower back so I was scared it was something else so I went to my medical doctor. She said that my muscles on the left side of my back was having spasms gave me some muscle relaxers and strong ibuprofen, I think that  I took about 5 muscle relaxers(not all at the same time of course!)  and still no relief! Tuesday was the same, Wednesday I tried to go to work but sitting in my chair hurt so I left at lunch and finally Thursday I went to the chiropractor before going into work even though I was still in pain. Today (Friday) I am starting to feel better, like 75% and that's a HUGE improvement. The hubs will be pleased also since I have been keeping him up at night moaning and groaning and crying!

Back to the race recap-
         This race is memorable to me in two ways..... 1 This was my first race in the rain last year and ever! Not only did it rain, it was monsoon rain with wind, thunder and lighting!! 2 This is also the race the me and my running buddy (I consider best friend too not just running friend:) started talking and hanging out with each other! From that day on last year one of the best friendships have developed not only between us but also our husbands and families.

Now on to this year..........................May 14, 2011
  OF COURSE it HAD to rain! At least it wasn't monsoon type rain it was just rain. I choose to keep my long sleeve shirt on because of the rain and although I did get a little warm and I am glad that I did. This course is tuff the first half is on pavement and the second half is on a gravel path and it is full of hills!!! Through out marathon training I have really been trying to pay attention and 'learn' how to run, things like pacing myself and such. But I always do it and get caught up in the fast take off at races, I really tried not to at this race due to it raining and the pavement being wet, I didn't want to fall. Wasn't too successful at that though my first mile was a 7 something but it was mostly downhill! I slowed my pace way down to where I felt more comfortable at until the last mile came along, it is all uphill and mostly on a gravel path! This of course ended up being my slowest, I was out of steam and walked about 5 steps to catch my breath! Once I got off the gravel and back on the pavement I knew it was just around the corner to finish. This is something else I have been trying to focus on, saving just a little energy to have a nice strong finish. Too my surprise I was the 2nd overall female:) !!! Even if there was only 44 people I was thrilled!!  Even better was the fact that last year my time was 31:17 this year.............27:20!!! What an improvement!!

I think this pic is really cool! Great motion shot-Thanks Mom! :)

Me with all my winnings

Me and Sheri- Love ya girl:)
DON'T FORGET MY WALKMAN GIVEAWAY HERE!!! YOU HAVE UNTIL MONDAY the 30th TO ENTER!!!!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Smokin' @ the Jennie Carol Memorial 5k

Please forgive me, I am several race reports behind so here goes catch up time.

May 7, 2011 Jennie Carol Memorial 5k
     This is a larger race for our local area, it is in memory of Jennie Carol Tarter who was a runner and died unexpectedly (I did not know her) and the proceeds goes to the Backpack for Kids foundation. There was 479 finishers our local races usually have around 50 - 85!  This also happened to be the first race after my marathon (one week after) and the first race of the Wilderness Trace Run/Walk Serres that I participate in.
     I was a little nervous about it and told Sheri after we took off I would like to start off a little slower and build up some speed. She told me I better slow down then because like always I was getting caught up in the fast take off. But for whatever reason I just keep on going, I did slow down some but I was still movin' on! And I felt good, not tired, worn out but fresh and ready! I forget what my first mile was but the second was around 15:56 and I thought to myself maybe just maybe I can finish with a 25 something and a new PR?? I also knew there was one hill left so I tried to save some energy for it as well. The race ends at Centre College's track, they had their time clock going on the scoreboard, when I entered the track and saw the time clock it said around 24:35 all I could think is GO GO GO!!! There was a girl in front of me that i had been gaining on the entire race and in the last turn of the track I zoomed right past her! (Sorry but I really wanted to do that:) I hit stop on my watch, took a second to catch my breath and looked down to see my finish time ~ HOLY COW!!  25:31!!! For me that is flat out smokin'!! And a new PR!!! AWESOME even if I didn't get an award!
     Overall I was 82/479, so I was even in the top 100. Now if I can just keep this up all summer long maybe just maybe I can break through with a 24 something???..................


Don't forget my Walkman Giveaway!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

My Shopping Experience & PlanetGear.com

Last night I told the hubs to get together we are going to Kohl's, I had $20 in Kohl's cash and a 30% coupon, he needs shorts so I told him come on let's go! I am a passenger almost always, I like it that way! So as I am day dreaming out the window I heard a noise and asked "What the heck was that?" He said it was a plastic bottle that blew from across the road and hit the tire, Ohhhh okay. We get to the intersection of Kohl's (in Nicholasville for anyone local reading:) there was a break in the traffic and I said "GO!!" the hubs pushed the pedal to go and OMG :/ it sounded like the engine fell out of my car and we was stuck! Not just on any old road but a VERY BUSY road! We ran over to Starbucks to use the phone book for a tow truck, waited for the tow truck, called my mom to come and get us and off to Kohl's we walked!! He did get some good deals two pair of shorts and a pair of  Nike running shoes and only owed $67!!! SWEET :) I told the cashier our sob story and asked if we qualified for the next Kohl's commercial?!?!?!  She just laughed !

Although we did get some good bargains, maybe a safer or easier way is to just shop at PlanetGear.comPlanetGear.com is a pretty cool site that has different sales every week on great outdoor products. This weeks special is on KSWISS.
Super cute and for ONLY $19.95

Adorable! A steel at $17.95

The Outfit above could be all yours if you go to PlanetGear.com now!! PlanetGear.com also has KSWISS shoes for $74.95~ another bargain!! They have different sales every week and they  usually start on Tuesdays! All sales have limited quantities so don't delay go to PlanetGear.com now!!!



I have NOT been paid by PlanetGear.com although I do hope to do a review/giveaway with them soon!!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Gotta have some Music- Sony Walkman W-Series Giveaway

I know several have already seen or done this same review for the Sony Walkman W-Series , well this is LONG over due but I truly used or tried out my Sony Walkman in my first ever marathon and thought if I and it can survive that then I can post a review:)
I mean just look how cool the Sony Walkman W-Series looks!

When I received the Sony Walkman and ripped open the package I was unsure how I was going to like it. I felt like it wasn't going to fit my head properly and wouldn't stay put. To my surprise it fit PERFECT! Then I was hesitant on wearing the Walkman outside, I am one of those people that only wears one earbud to make sure I can hear everything going on around me. With the Walkman you don't have the option of wearing just one but it isn't a problem as long as you don't have the volume LOUD LOUD) During the marathon I even took it off and ran with it around my neck for a while~ it never bothered me and was SUPER EASY to put it back on!! The only problem I had with the Walkman was putting music on it, however it was my own stupidity and trying to hard because it was really easy! Not only do I use my Walkman while running but also while doing exercises with the Wii Active or doing things around the house. Another wonderful thing about the Walkman the battery life, its lasts forever!! The package says 11 hours it seems way longer than that! A neat feature with the Walkman is a shuffle, its plays a few seconds of each song until you find the one you want!

The fine people at Sony was kind enough to let me GIVEAWAY a Walkman~ HOORAY!!! But just in case you don't win or just want to purchase another Walkman you can go HERE and purchase a fabulous Walkman for ONLY $48.99!!!! (normally $60)

How do you ENTER to WIN
* You MUST be a follower of this Blog! (I promise I will try to keep it exciting:)
* Look at the Sony Walkman site and tell me what you like best about it
*I am always searching for new music, What's YOUR favorite song to run too
* Spread the word BLOG IT, FACEBOOK IT, TWEET IT (one entry for each one)
* I am looking for more followers send your blogging friends my way if they become a follower and say YOU sent them YOU get an extra entry!!

A Winner will be selected on May 30

I was given the walkman to try out and review with my own opinion~ NOT paid for it!!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Flying Pig Marathon- My first Marathon

Sorry this is a long one!

What an experience! Sheri and I decided to leave around 1pm Saturday to set out on the 2hr drive to Cincinnati to the expo and pick up our bibs. That would leave us a good 4hrs to go through the expo except there was road work going on which led to one lane only and it took us over an hour to drive 6 miles~UGGHH!! We finally got through and to the expo at 5:30 and it was over at 7pm! What we did get to see of the expo was great, its the first one we have been too although I think we missed out on all the freebies because there was several empty booths but you could tell people had been there. But wow what great deals you can get at those expo's!

Us girls went up early and the husbands came up later so we decided to wait for them to go eat. They hit the same road work and didn't get there until about 9pm. The nerves of doing the marathon really hit me around Thursday and really had my stomach to pieces. This made me nervous about eating so late. We ate at Johnny Rockets and it was wonderful (or maybe I was just really hungry) the fries were hot and crispy ummm! Then back to the hotel ( a little less than great but perfect to sleep in just for the night!!) and by the time I showered it was already 11:45pm, the marathon started at 6:30am, the room was hot and the air wasn't working so needless to say there was little sleep. Got up around 4am ate a few peanut butter and crackers, loaded the rest of my music, got dressed, fixed my hair, saw the forecast of rain so I grabbed my hat, already had my belt loaded with GU, carried all of our stuff down and yep I still hadn't used the bathroom, this worried me as I always end up with GI issues during long runs! We had to walk about a mile to the start area which was a nice warm up and surprisingly enough I wasn't nervous as much as I thought I was going to be?!?!??? We we first stepped out it was perfect weather about 55* and still I didn't even feel like I needed my throw away shirt half way there and the wind started picking up and I was glad I still had my shirt:) and of course it started to rain.  (For my first half it was a terrible cold windy monsoon rain so of course it has to rain for my first full right??) It started as a light rain that wasn't so bad while we were waiting in the corral but about the time we took off it was more of a steady down pour!
Miles 1 - 6.8      Time 1:15:45 Pace 11:05
        Looking back unfortunately these were my best miles.  Another friend of ours (Sheri and mine) Carmen also ran this with us. On the way there her and I discuss what our goal pace was and we was both hoping for the same and had the same thoughts about starting out SLOW. I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with Sheri although I so BADLY wanted to, so I was glad I had another person to try to hang with. Like all races I always get caught up in the crowd and start out too fast, we were around 9:30 off and on during all these miles but not the entire time of course. I feel like I was way too up and down during these miles and have you ever heard of the HILLS in Cincinnati?? Except for the first little wind down at the beginning and the little flatness around 6 - 6.8 these miles were pretty much all up hill. I think around 3.5 - 4 we crossed a bridge over the Ohio River which swayed terrible with ALL the runners my stomach jumped up and down and I got a little dizzy ~ ugghh that wasn't very fun! The crowd support for this race is unreal! There is people everywhere and just about every couple of miles there is some type of entertainment like bands and such. During these miles there was mostly bands and since it was raining I can't say that I ever saw the bands but you could hear them! The greatest part was the end of this leg was through downtown area and there was hundreds and hundreds of people along the way. I told Carmen I felt like I was in a parade or something, it also didn't help with my crazy pace either!  By this time I couldn't see Sheri anymore and in my mind I was sending her good vibes:) Carmen also decided to get a water I wasn't ready so I just walked through to catch a little breath and wait for her but due to the crazy amount of people when I reached the end of the stop I still couldn't see her so I went finally went SLOW so I could hopefully find her again and sure enough she found me:)
Miles 6.9 - 13.1          Time 2:26:35   Pace 11:12
     These were some tough miles. Have you heard how many and how LONG the CRAZY HILLS are in Cincinnati?? Holy cow I didn't think the long winding hill to the break off point for the half marathoners would ever stop ~ oh but wait the full marathoners get to continue going up! I think it was during these miles at one of the water stops there was 2 men singing "Gatorade is in the green cups, Water in the white" it was way funny! During these miles I started loosing my steam and fast! I have been taking those crazy hills too fast and should have slowed way down a long time ago. Around 8.5 I pulled out my first GU but I was nervous about taking it due to not using the bathroom before the race so I just kind of sipped on it until I reached the water stop I think I only ended up doing half of it before I threw it down thinking I would wait and see how it does before I try to take anymore, this ended up being the only GU I took the entire time. Around 11.5 I told Carmen to keep on going I was going to walk a bit. That is when the wall started coming up for me:( I managed to run walk through till the half, Carmen had stopped for a potty break so she came up behind me with some great motivation "Come on Bobbie we are Half way there!" This was also about the time the fist spectator said "Good Job Bobbie" (names on bibs:) and that was awesome I pushed on!
Miles 13.2 - 19.7                     Time 3:54:02    Pace 11:53
     As you can tell by the pace ~ I had bombed out :( From 13.2 - 15 I tried to run walk the best I could. From 15 -17 I pushed myself to run at the very least a half mile before I would walk about a half mile. I must have really looked distressed, in every group of spectators at least one person yelled my name along with "Keep on You got this", Really? is all I could think cause I don't feel like I have got this. These miles had more rolling hills like I am used to and that really helped my push through I felt like I knew how to handle them until I reached the straight up hill at mile 17. That's when more walking than running began! And my mind really started wondering towards negative thoughts. There was a huge Bull Mastif dog on the sides and I really considered asking if I could ride him to the finish line. I had taken my music off so I decided to put it back on and just try, try the best I could. My feet were killing me from being wet and it had started to rain again. Why oh why am I doing this? Am I going to finish this? Do I want to finish this? YES, yes I am going to finish. I started crunching numbers and wondered if I could still finish under 5hrs, maybe just maybe.......
Miles 19.8 - 26.49 ?
     Once again most of these miles I walked, probably on average I walked about 9 - maybe 10 miles of the whole thing. Dangit! My feet were absolutely KILLING me by this point, my socks felt bunched up and I felt like I was walking on huge blisters. I considered taking my shoes off and just keep walking in my socks but I didn't like the thought of having to carry my shoes. I considered stopping at one of the medical tents and asking them to just take me back. I felt hungry yet not although I had ate a couple of orange slices and a twizzler and lots of water and Gatorade along the way, in fact I think I had too much water and Gatorade! I had a headache, my hamstrings were killing me and my back was awful painful. I just wanted to be done! I couldn't even enjoy the entertainment on these miles, there was a parrot head club, a belly dancer, hula hoopers and more that I don't remember. I was walking with a man who said he was going to run the last mile I told him I just didn't think I could, he didn't make it the entire mile either cause I caught back up to him! I was determined I was going to be running through the finish. My garmin was way off at each mile marker so I wasn't really sure when to start running again. I decided to start at 25.85 and hope for the best. Slow it was but I was doing it and I just wanted to keep going so it would just be over! Thankfully it was downhill, I still looked in distressed and a lady that had already finished saw me and said" Go Bobbie I promise it is just right down there! You ARE almost there!"  I said thanks and pushed on rounded a corner and could see the finish line! I could not even turn my head to look for my family or anyone I was just so focused on crossing that finish line! My husband saw me coming and jumped out there with me! He was crying and said how worried he was about me and asked me if I was okay, my reply "No, no I am not!" he said "It is right there you HAVE GOT THIS" and with that I pushed straight through that finish line!! (Can't wait to see how awful the look is on my face in my finish photo~ HA!)  Although I did not make it under 5hrs I am VERY PROUD to say that I finished! and when I looked at my garmin my mileage read 26.49!! So I finished my first marathon + in
                                                          5:33:09

What went wrong? Honestly I feel like I had not trained nearly enough. I just didn't have the endurance build up that is needed to complete something that large. And those hills, ugghh! Will I try it again? Not the Flying Pig and my first answer when it was over was never, never again! My answer now, not for a long time but I do see it as a possibility in the future!


Sheri and Me
Sheri, Carmen and Me

   

Sunday, May 1, 2011

It's Over Finally~ Thank goodness

I have finally completed my first full marathon today. What an experience is all I can say right now, full race report to come but let me tell you it wasn't pretty or even close to the finish time I truly wanted. Just glad I finished:/