M-day or otherwise known as Marathon Day December 1, 2013

Well, we did it.  This is NiCole.  I know Nic and I didn't do a great job of keeping up on writing blog posts but hopefully we can continue writing blogs as we attempt to start our next goal.  I will get to the next goal at the end of the blog post and instead focus on the marathon.

I drove down to Cocoa Beach, FL by myself because Nic wasn't able to make it to my house so we could drive to the race together.  Instead she carpooled with a few other people that we had talked into running the race as well.  Driving to the race packet pick up was fun and had me thinking of the race the next day.  Once we got our packets we wandered around the expo to see what they had.  This expo was not as big as other ones we had been too but it was at Kennedy Space Visitor Center which made it very cool.  Plus it really drove the space theme home for the race the next day.  We took a nice group picture of all of us with our race bibs under the big Space Coast sign they had.  Nic and I bought some nice hats from one of the race vendors and picked up our nifty race shirts!

Nic and I then left the rest of the group to check into the hotel room we were sharing and get all of our gear out of the car.  Then we met up with the rest of my running group for dinner at Olive Garden to make sure we were full of Carbs!  Olive Garden was packed since everyone in town was there for the race and they all wanted to carbo load as well.  Then it was back to the hotel room to make sure we got to bed early since the first shuttle left at insanely early!  We made sure to set out the outfits we were planning on wearing and plugged in our Garmin watches so we could track the race. Then we had one beer to relax a bit before we went to sleep.  

Then super early the next morning we got up and got to the race course.  We got on the shuttle and as we are sitting there on the bus I realize I forgot to put my garmin on.  This was not good since we use my watch for the run/walk intervals we had been training with.  Luckily the bus was not ready to go so I ran back to our room and got it.  I only gave Nic a minor heart attack when I realized I forgot it.  We got to the race site relatively early and wandered around until the rest of our running buddies got there.  Then the half-marathon started before the full so we had to wait around for awhile before we got to embark on our run.

It wasn't a bad run.  It was humid and overcast most of the day which was unfortunate since you would think a run in December would be cool.  Well, not in Florida!  We got through the run with some minor bathroom stops and stretches for aches and pains that we had throughout the run.  I can definitely say going crossing the finish line was very intense and gave me a sense of accomplishment.  The best part about the finish line was the medal of course, beer, and a Coke.  You have no idea how refreshing a soda is after having water, Gatorade and Gu for most of the day.  The beer was also very tasty.  They had pizza and breakfast but I wasn't super hungry right after the run. The only thing I could think about was drinking my beer.  In fact Nic and I were so concerned with finishing our beers that we missed the shuttle bus back to our hotel.  We had to take a cab back to the hotel.  The nice thing about our hotel and I got to say the best 35 dollars I ever spent was they let us do a half day so we could shower.  A shower before driving home was way better than driving home sweaty and gross.

We were going to get something to eat with some of our other running buddies but I decided I just wanted to get on the road back to Jacksonville.  I was worried I would be very sleepy driving home by myself and wanted to get on the road before the tiredness kicked in.  I attempted to stop and get Wendy's but at the two exits I tried at they were a lot farther away than I wanted to go.  Instead I drove home and stopped at the Publix near my house since I needed to get some milk.  I got sushi from Publix and ate the entire container the 5 minute drive from Publix to my house.  Then I just laid in bed and relaxed.  I took the next day off to recover and watched TV all day while wearing my compression socks all day.

Overall, the race was an experience but I don't feel that I will be repeating that anytime soon.  The new goal for 2014 is to work on eating better, losing some weight and running a half-marathon a month for the entire year.  Here is to more blog posts on my new goals for 2014.

Training getting Intense

NiCole here!  Hope everyone is doing great!

Last weekend I ran the farthest I have ever run before during one of my training runs.  I was 14 miles and before this run I had only ever ran as far as a half-marathon.  I realized as I was running that I will be hitting a lot of these runs where it will have been the farthest I have ever run during this training process.  It makes me appreciate the training even more than the upcoming race.  All of this training has made a difference in my running because I am not as sore as I would be and I actually enjoy most of my runs so far.  

I remember when I would be upset if I had to get up early to run on the weekends.  Now I get up at 5am no questions asked on Saturday so I can meet my group to run at 6am.  I am okay with the fact that I only get one day to sleep in a little and that I am usually ready to go to bed by 9pm most nights. I have always been a night owl and now I can barely keep my eyes open after eating dinner or getting home from teaching.  It probably doesn't help that most nights during the week I do not get home from either running or teaching until 8 or 9pm at night.  The only thing I have to work on yet is my eating habits and that is a work in progress.

The 14 mile run last week was tough.  The end way by no means pretty and I was ready to be finished when we stopped at the car to get some water before heading out for the last 3 miles. It was hot and traffic had picked up for the cars and the road bikes that were out. I have decided while water breaks are awesome and necessary it would is hard to have that water break be at the car.  It is like a psychological torture in a way because you really want to be finished but you know you have to run a few more miles until you can take off your running shoes and let your feet breathe.  Also I am usually thinking about what I am going to eat for breakfast because I am usually hungry by the time we are done running.

While last week was hard on the long run.  This week it was a lot better.  One of my runs during the week I was feeling great so picked up the pace and had a nice tempo run.  I personally think it was the Spark I drank earlier in the day and the PB&J sandwich I had 40 minutes before running.  The long run this week was 15 miles and I didn't want to just pack it in at mile 10 or anything.  It helped that it was cooler out this weekend.  I even ended up running half way up a bridge because my running buddy and I just wanted to finish so we were trying to take on all the mileage we could on our last outing for the 15 mile run.  Next weekend is going to be easy compared to the last two weekends.  I am only doing a half-marathon with Nic in Gainesville!  Of course to most people only a half-marathon is still a lot and it is but I am not dreading it as much as I would of in the past.

Committing to the marathon training has helped make me more accountable for my training and also makes me more aware of what my body needs to continue to handle this training schedule.

Shopping, beer, and running!

NiCole here!  I thought I would get a start on the joint blog post.  It seems that whenever Nic is town we either go shopping for running things (as any good runner would do when their buddy is in town) or go to a few craft breweries.  We also are usually competing in some race that we have both signed up for so there is some running involved as well.  The last two races that we have done together have both been in Jax.  So I had a house guest for a few weekends!

The first run we did was the Tour de Pain.  This race required us to run three races in 24 hours.  The first was a 4 mile run on the beach.  Most people like running on the beach but I am not a big fan of it.  Some of the reasons for my dislike include sand getting in my shoes, dodging the little kids that are on the beach playing or the holes they have dug at some point during the day, and the fact that it seems to go on forever when you are doing an out and back course.  We did intervals for this race since that has been how we have been training for the marathon.  We didn't do too bad.  After that we went to see a preseason football game for the Jaguars which left a lot to be desired but that shall not be discussed in the blog since it makes me sad.  

 This is Nic! I don't like running on the beach either, so this was my least favorite of the 3 races. I'm not a fan when beach conditions are perfect, but the 4 miler was especially bad as the sand was all churned up in parts, families were still hanging out with the kids darting in between runners and we had to run at a slant for a while to let the faster runners through, who were making their way back. We were also in a rush, since I had just driven in from Gainesville and didn't quite make it before the gun went off. Things could have gone better but we got there, we completed the race and got some of my favorite race photos of us taken. Since we were already kind of tired, and the Jags weren't playing their best, we cut out early from the game and headed back to NiCole's for dinner and an early-ish night.

The next morning we had to get up and run a 5K.

The course for the 5K was pretty nice, most of it in a neighborhood, but it was really humid. We started out by running continuously and had a pretty good pace for the first mile but once we reached the first water station we realized that we needed to do intervals if we wanted to save some energy for the third race. So NiCole set her watch for 4:1s and we did okay. Certainly not our fastest, but our goal was to just finish all three races. No PRs necessary! 

 Afterwards we bought some stuff at one of the local running stores since the race started at the store.  We also went out to breakfast with my running buddies since they were running that morning while we did the race.  Breakfast was good as usual.  Afterwards, we went back to my house to rest up for our one mile sizzler.  For some reason this race seemed to be the scariest one of them all.  I have never timed myself while running a mile so I was scared I was going to be really slow.  Instead I surprised myself and ran it pretty fast.  I will say running 3 races in 24 hours wore me out and made my hips hurt on my next training run because I think I over did it when I ran those 3 races. 
 

This is us during the one mile sizzler run!

 Whilst we were downtown, we decided to go and visit our favorite craft brewery for a beer and to fill our growlers, since we don't get to go there very often.

Pretty cool medal and a well deserved beer!

After that we went to Brewer's Pizza for some tasty craft beers and food.  The beer as always was very tasty after all the hard work we did during the race series.  The food was amazing!

If you ever go there, try their calzones :)

The next race we ran was a 3.5 mile run on Labor Day to celebrate 1st places sports 35th anniversary here in Jacksonville.  This was a course we had already run since it is used for some of the local 5K races so we weren't surprised by the course and had a good run.  It was a little warm but it has been that way all summer so no big surprise there.  

The worst part was the first mile and a half running directly into the sun (and I had decided that I didn't need sunglasses/visor), but I made it without tripping over! This course was pretty much the same as the 5K from the Tour de Pain just extended a little to add the extra mileage. Since it was a special occasion, with the anniversary, we got medals! Yay!

We chose yellow as our color to wear!

We went shopping at 1st place sports since, by participating in the run, you were eligible for 35% discount on all merchandise except electronics.  So we both got some new running shoes since we have been doing a lot of running lately and it was a good deal.  Not to mention some visors and amazing running socks.  Plus we ended up buying visors for a bunch of our running buddies because we had the discount and they needed new visors to wear!

The running socks we got are called Feetures and I had been eyeing them up on Amazon for a while. The 35% discount sealed the deal, so we each bought a pair when we went to pickup our race packets. We wore them for the race and they were so good that we both bought another 2 pairs whilst we had the discount. They are super comfortable, come a little higher up than some of the other socks that I've tried and my feet didn't get really hot!

After the race, we went and grabbed breakfast then headed back to NiCole's to shower. Then I had to head home to Gainesville. On the way I stopped at Home Depot to get supplies as we had decided to make our own medal racks! I guess I'll save that story for my next post though.

Bye for now! 

An Unexpected Race...

Hello! It's Nic :)

Since my last post I have done one race, other than the ones we both ran. The funny thing is, I wasn't meant to run that race, the 5K Stadium challenge at Everbank Field in Jacksonville. I was planning on going with with my Gainesville running buddies to cheer them on, and for Mexican afterwards, but their friend who had registered was unable to run, as she has plantar fasciitis, so I ran in her place! Needless to say I wasn't really trained for that type of run, but I managed :)

The run started outside the stadium, ran through the practice fields (that counts as cross country right?!?), then into the stadium where we ran up the ramps (I think there were 8) and down them twice, then finished with a lap around the field. Because I hadn't done ramps in my training, I decided to walk most of the up ramps, but I ran the rest and I was pleased with my time. We got medals too :)

 

Training has started to get serious now! Our mileage is starting to build up, and in 2 weeks the long run will be the farthest that I've ever run! 14 miles! While we are still doing 4:1 run:walk intervals for our long runs, since that is our marathon strategy, I decided to work my way up to running continuously again during my midweek runs. With the heat and humidity, doing the shorter intervals definitely helped, but now the weather is getting cooler I need to start working on my times for shorter distances! Last week I did 5:1s; they seemed kind of hard and I found myself looking at my watch, wondering when the beep was going to come. This week I set my watch to 6:1s and somehow this seemed easier. I decided to try and avoid looking at my watch, since seeing 4 minutes to go is a little disheartening! My pace was slower than my fastest 5:1 run last week, but as soon as I am back to running continuously again, I can work on time.

I decided that I needed somewhere to hang my medals as I'm starting to gather quite a collection, so I looked online. There are some expensive ones out there!! I saw some I like but I really didn't want to pay what they were asking, so I decided to make one myself! I bought myself some wood, spray paint, metallic paint sharpies, hooks and a picture hanging kit and got to work. And this is what I came up with:

This one is full already, so I need to get working on another one!

Until next time...

Nic x

  

Races and training

Hey!  This is NiCole.  While I wasn't taking any classes this summer I was teaching a Microbiology class.  It was a pretty intense summer semester because it was so short and the amount of information that I had to go through.  Now I am currently on a small break before I start teaching in the fall.  

Since the last time I wrote I have run two races on my own here in Jacksonville.  While Nic ran the Melon run on the fourth of the July I ran the Celebration 5K run on that day.  In fact this was my fastest 5K so far.  I only need to shave off a couple more minutes and then I will finally get under 30 minutes.  While not very fast to everyone but it is fast to me and a definite improvement over my other races over the years.  Here is a pic of me at the finish.  Even though Nic wasn't there to run with me one of my Running Buddies ran the race with her brother so we all started together.  Then hung out for a little bit afterwards.

The next race that I decided to do was the Vestcor Bridges 5K.  I thought I could use a little bridge running in my life.  Which was hard considering that most of the time I run on flat, fast roads.  This run was later at night on a Saturday so I still did a long run that morning but only 6 miles because total I needed to run 9 miles.  Considering that I ran earlier that morning I was pretty proud of finishing just a minute slower than my fastest 5K time.  

It seems that all this running is paying off.  While I may not be super fast to other people to me I have definitely gotten stronger and faster.  I never thought I would get up at 5am so I could go meet my running buddies at 6am.  I now get up earlier to go running then I do to go to work.  I guess that totally makes me a runner.  

I am trying to do better on this whole blog thing but sometimes it is a struggle to find time between running, teaching at night and working a normal full time job during the day.  I can say that just by keeping up a consistent running program I have more energy because of it.

Until the next blog post which will probably be a combined blog!

Hi there, this is Nic! Training has been going well, except it has been difficult to get out there this week. I'm currently taking a pretty intense course at school and the first exams were yesterday. Of course we went out to celebrate/commiserate afterwards so it was difficut to get out of bed this morning. 

On July 4th I ran the Melon run here in Gainesville. It's held by the Florida Track Club every year and there was a good crowd of people there. We got really nice tech shirts as well! The course was 3 miles and was pretty hilly, which was tough going since I don't do many hills in my training...I should probably work on that! The picture below is me and my Gainesville running buddies and one of their friends from Jacksonville; they like to dress up so I joined them in their tutus!

The last long training run we did was a half marathon for a virtual run by Will Run for Bling. It was called the Peace and Love Bug run and the medal is awesome! 

 
We ended up running continuously for 5 or 6 miles then started doing 3:1 minute run/walk intervals. It worked out pretty well for us and we were able to cope with the heat. We finished in just under 3 hours which I was excited about since the 2 other half marathons I did were 3:05 and 3:07,and this one had the added difficulty of being in the dead of summer! I'm looking forward to adding this medal to my collection!

So, the marathon training program officially starts this week! 137 days to go until the big day!

Bye for now!
Nic x

Hogtown 5K and Beer Festival Weekend

NiCole here.  Since our last joint blog post we have actually completed three 5K's.  One of the races that we did was the Hogtown Beer Fest 5K.  The morning started out nice and cloudy with a little bit of drizzle.  The course wasn't too bad in the state park we ran in.  There was a little bit of trail running in the wet weather but overall it was a decent run.  Especially since it wasn't super hot out yet.  Plus after the run we got a pint of yummy beer from one of the local breweries.  

This is Nic! The Hogtown Run was here in Gainesville, so I had a visitor for the weekend! Yay! I really enjoyed the race, even with the crappy weather and I basically threw my phone on the ground, but it survived so it's all good. At this point I was still run/walking and NiCole stayed back with me for the first couple of miles. It was the first year that this race took place and I hope they have it again next year, but they could improve a little by chip timing. Anything combining running and beer is okay in my book :) Here is us nice and soggy after the run and a beer, and check it out...I was #1!!!!

Sadly our this was the last outing for Purple Fanta and Orange Crush since NiCole's is basically falling apart after pinning too many bibs to it!

After the run we went back to Nic's place to get ready for the Hogtown Craft Beer Fest.  This is an event that is had once a year in Gainesville that brings a bunch of craft breweries together so you can try all of the yummy beer.  Plus those breweries are paired with local restaurants so you also get some yummy food.  Nic had the perfect plan so that neither one of us had to drive.  Since she is in Grad School she takes the bus a lot.  So she mapped out a route that would take us close to the gardens where the fest was being held.

However, my master plan was foiled when we found out that the buses suck on the weekend. We got about halfway and found out that our next bus wouldn't be there for another hour and forty minutes! Well, we didn't have time for that! That would cut into our beer sampling time! So we mapped the route and began walking the 2.6 miles in the pouring rain. We made it to Kanapaha Botanical Gardens where the event was being held only 15 minutes after the festival opened, so we made pretty good time, and the extra exercise made all the beer taste that much better :) The festival was really great, with loads of breweries from all over the country. I discovered that Samuel Smiths Organic Chocolate stout is one of my new favorites and that I really don't like mead!  


 I didn't mind the mead.  Some of it was a little sweet but some of the others weren't bad.  Of course this was after stops at a few pods and quite a few tasters of beer.  We had this awesome plan to try all of the beer.  After an hour or two went by we realized we were not getting very far.  So we moved on to another strategy of just trying a beer at each brewery apiece and sharing.  That worked a lot better.  By the end we enjoyed some yummy beer and had a lot of fun.  Overall, it was a great trip to Gainesville!

The next 5K we ran was the Memorial Day 5K in Jacksonville.  So I had a guest for the weekend.  I had just moved into the townhouse I bought so my house was a little in pieces.  So far the Memorial Day 5K was my fastest 5K time since we started blogging.  Nic and I started out together but it just felt good so I just went.  Nic was only a minute behind me so we could see each other at turns along the course.  It wasn't super hot that day and the course was shaded so that helped out a lot.  After we got our tech shirts and medals!  After all who doesn't like race bling we went to Metro Diner to have some yummy breakfast.  It was a relatively short weekend for a visit but we had fun.  It didn't help that I was stuck waiting on Comcast to come hook up my internet so I couldn't running gear shopping with Nic while she was in town.  Here is an after pic of both of us at the race.

Yup, I went shopping!! I went to 1st Place sports to be fitted for running shoes, since I've not done that before. Apparently I'm neutral and the super helpful guy had me try on a few different shoes. In the end I went for the Asics Gel Nimbus 14s, and they were in the sale! I also got a fuel belt, since summer had been  creeping up on us...definitely a good idea for training through the Florida summer. This was my first 5K where I ran the entire way since starting training again, and I set myself a goal to run it in under 35 mins...which I did by 28 seconds :)

The last race we have done since we last did a joint blog was only a few weekends ago.  We did Run for the Pies in Jacksonville.  We have done this race before and like the course.  Plus you get to watch the elite runners run first.  It is crazy how fast those people run.  Once Nic got into town we did a little shopping at the outlets and then had to use our Mile Marker living social deals.  While probably not the smartest move to have two beers before running it sure was tasty.  We also got the running top we are going to use for our races and a few other running items.  I also found this super cheap running skirt and bought that.  It looked great with my new shirt so I thought I would wear that for the race.

Unfortunately, I should of tested out running in the skirt before wearing it to a race since the running shorts kept riding up the entire run.  Nic and I started out together like we usually do and even stuck together for the first mile of the race but I had to back off because of my clothing not cooperating with me.  Chafing is a big deal and since my running shorts under the running skirt kept riding up I had some issues.  I still had a decent time and was only a minute slower than the Memorial Day run.  There are some pretty good pictures of both of us throughout the race and even some of us together.  I plan on buying a few of the images as before pictures to see how far I will come by the end of this marathon journey.  Since I plan on toning up and losing some weight hopefully during the training process.

2 beers and no lunch! We managed to grab a sandwich on the way back to get changed before the race though. The race was a lot of fun even with the heat. I love the pic above, with us in our new race shirts...it's so cheesy! So, my goal for this one was to beat my time from the memorial day run. Maybe I went a little too hard, since I got a stitch a little after mile 2 and had to stop to try and stretch it out. I still beat my time though...by 59 seconds! Couldn't have been a minute, could it?!? 

Anyway, I think that is all we have for now. We are both doing 5Ks on July 4th, but not together. I'll be doing the Melon Run here in Gainesville and NiCole is going to run the Celebration 5K in Jax.

Until next time!
Nic and NiCole