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

Waiting for the storm to end...

Hey hey! It's Nic! So we've been kind of rubbish updating this thing, but we are going to try and get up to date! I am currently sat in my car at SAMs club waiting out a storm (BIG hailstones!), so I've got some spare time! 

So, what's new? We've run 3 5Ks now since our last joint post. My time got better with each race :) training helps... Who knew?!? I have a new running buddy, Melanie, which is awesome. We run together for the long runs on Saturdays and all the runs have been on campus at UF so far. Melanie is also going to do the space coast as her first marathon... So we're trying to decide on a training plan we both like, since that would make our lives way easier! We're leaning towards the one published in the July issue of Runners World. This one has you run 20 miles twice, you know in case the first one was a fluke. So far we have run 5 miles, then we had a week gap for a 5K that we both did in Jacksonville, then last weekend we did 10K as a virtual run with the Moon Joggers. That 10K was hard going! The weather seemed nice and not too hot, so we decided that we didn't need to take water with us, but 10 minutes into the run someone cranked up the heat and we were regretting our decision to leave our fuel belts in the car!

I decided that it would be a good idea to buy a photo from one of the recent races as my 'before' photo, since I want to lose some weight along the way! So here it is, hopefully the 'after' shot won't be so jigglicious:

So that's pretty much where I'm up to. This weekend we're going to be going for 8 miles!  
Bye for now!
Nic

Running the whole way

Hi there! It's Nic this time :)

So as I've said before I'm just starting to train again after an on-off relationship with my running shoes. You might ask: why the heck are you planning on running a marathon when you can't even run an entire 5K yet? Well, I like big goals and the pressure they put on you (1st year grad student ahem!). Also, I've done it before so I know I'm capable, it's just a matter of putting in the work to get back to where I was.

Cut to last week; I'd been back to training for a few weeks and was pretty comfortable in my walk run ways and I decided to turn off the alerts on my watch, you know, just to see how it felt not being a slave to the beep. Tuesday: scheduled 1.5 miles, ran the whole way! I bloody did it! I managed to get my breathing under control and I made it! Wednesday: scheduled 3 miles, I ran 3.6! The time sucked but that is what it is...something to deal with later! 

I think the point to this is that running isn't just physical, it's also mental. Once I had overcome my mental barriers about needing walking breaks, even on my puny 1.5 mile runs, that was it. I was able to run over twice that distance without a break. And now I know I can do it, there is no stopping me! When I'm tired and wanting a break I can say to myself: Hey, you did this a couple of days ago...you can certainly do it now!

Right now, all I'm concerned about is getting out there and getting the mileage done, speed will come later. For anyone interested, I am following Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme training program. This is a 30 week schedule with 4 days of running plus one day of cross training per week. I liked that it starts out easy so I could use it to build up to running continuously and progresses slowly to the higher mileages. I'm probably going to tweak it though, since I'm not sure about running 10 miles mid-week!

Anyhow, that's about all I've got for you right now. I'm heading to J'ville for Memorial weekend to hang out with NiCole and some other friends and also to do a 5K! We're planning on working on that other joint blog as promised, about our previous weekend together here in Gainesville. 

Cheers!
Nic

Just 3 miles....

I remember when I first started running and thought 3 miles was really far to run.  Now I just scoff at running 3 miles because I feel like that is nothing compared to how far I have run in some of my races.  Some days I have a good run and other days it can be a struggle.  Most of the time when it is a struggle I can pinpoint why I am having issues as I am running.  Usually I can chalk it up to not drinking enough water during the day.  I blame work on that most of the time.  Since I work in a lab setting I sometimes forget to drink as much water as I should because my water bottle sits outside the lab.  

I really do need to set a timer and go have a drink every hour instead of waiting until I am thirsty.  As I was perusing Pinterest the other day I saw an idea that I am thinking of implementing into my training plan.  I am going to take a water bottle and draw lines to indicate how much water I should have consumed in an hour.  It is amazing what you can find on Pinterest by the way.

So my goal for the next week is to drink more water during the day so I can avoid cramps and just not feeling my best when I am running.  This is really important since it is starting to get a hotter here in sunny Florida.  Pretty soon that wonderful Florida summer will be here and the even more amazing humidity will be upon me as I embark on some more serious marathon training!  With this in mind I am going to make sure I stick to drinking enough water during the day and also to get out there to log more miles.  I have had some difficulties this week because I am preparing to move this weekend.  Soon enough I will be in my new place so I  will not be torn between getting stuff ready to move this weekend and running.

P.S. I believe we will be writing another joint blog post soon.  After all we have some amusing tales of the races we have run.

That is all from this half of Nic squared for now anyways!
NiCole

The story so far...

So...Hello!
This is (or will be) a joint blog chronicling mine (Nic) and NiCole's journey to the Space Coast Marathon on December 1st!

But first, who are we? We are 2 friends who met at work in Jacksonville, FL back in 2008. We started running together and after a 5K or two decided we needed a bigger challenge, so we signed up for the Gate River Run 15K training program. After completing the 15K race, I managed to keep running for a few weeks before it got too hot and I got too lazy! 

Waiting for the Gate River Run to Start

Even though I got lazy, I still liked to run races (it's just the training that sucks), so I joined NiCole in some 5Ks, a 10miler and even a couple of half marathons. With minimal training those longer races are tough! Not just the actual race, the following few days HURT!  

So, fast forward a bit, I moved to Gainesville last year to start grad school at UF and lost my running buddy :( Once I'd settled in to school and the new town, I decided to resume running in an effort to lose weight and get fit again. So far, the furthest I've run since starting training again is 4.66 miles, but I'm ready to go!   

Our bit of graffiti at the Expedition Everest

 This is the other half of Nic squared, NiCole.  In fact, we remained friends after she went back to England to finish her degree since Nic had come over to the "states" as an intern for a year.  During those first few months of our friendship we ran a few races but it really didn't become serious until after she came back to Jacksonville to work before going on to school.

During that first year Nic was back in Jacksonville we did end up doing quite a few races and actually improved our times, lost weight and learned a few lessons about proper running shoes and other equipment.  When we first started out we were very low "tech".  We would use watches to do intervals at first and maybe each of us would have an iPod.  Even though we don't run that much together now I still run with one of my earbuds in because we used to have random chats during our runs and I just got used to being able to hear other things besides music all the time.

Just like Nic, I got lazy after we run that first Gate River Run and stopped running.  Sometimes I even had trouble getting up early to make it to the group runs on the weekend.  I really like sleeping in on the weekend so I always had to motivate myself to get up.  I also liked to run races and so we did decide to run some long races with little training but we did have nice shoes!  That first 10 mile I could barely walk after it for a few days.  We have gotten smarter and actually train to run that distance now instead of just running even though we had fun doing it but paid for it later.

After Nic moved to Gainesville to go to graduate school I convinced another woman at work to join me in training for a half marathon on Thanksgiving day last year.  There is a half marathon training class in the fall every year that is led by an incredible runner who likes to share his experiences.  I ended up running two half marathons last year even though at the start of the training class I wanted to run three half marathons in three months like Nic and I had done in 2011 (don't forget that was without training because we are a little crazy).  Unfortunately, life and a slight ankle injury after saving a turtle got in the way.  I did run both of those half marathons faster than I had the previous year and I also had a blast doing it.  It was a little weird to sign up for these races since Nic had left because she was a big part of my running routine but I did it and have improved my times as I went along. I finished the Gate this year in my best time yet but I have slacked off recently and need the motivation to get moving again.

Now that Nic has gotten used to her class schedule and things aren't as hectic for her we have decided to train for a full marathon together but in different cities.  So we sign up for races in each others cities and try to visit each other once a month to keep the energy and motivation going.  We are following a similar training plan and motivating each other through text, phone calls or IM.  You name it and we have usually talked to each other that day with one of those options.  

At the end of the Jacksonville Bank half marathon

This is our journey and I am sure there are going to be some stories.  We already have some pretty interesting and funny running stories that I am sure we will share throughout this journey along with the new ones.

Oh, and one more thing....we really like beer. A lot.