Monday, March 29, 2010

S.I.K.E..................


Well, I want to thank everyone for their support over the weekend on my desperate last post. Yes, I did think I was going to have to run 11 miles by myself
BUT GUESS WHAT.....
the photographer canceled (boo on the picture people) but yeah on getting to run my 11 miler with my girls!!! So, sorry for my boo hoo of a last blog...but thanks for the support anyways!~

Now on to how the run went....we met at Creve Coeur park at 6:30am, and there was all 4 of us together. This is the first time we have had more than 3 girls to run, so I was super excited! I actually felt like we had an official "running group!"
Beck wasn't feeling so hot when she got there, and actually ended up making herself throw up before we started...(not a good sign when we still have 11 miles to run) But, we started up...I was feeling great! Just glad to be there running with everyone, and the weather was nice too. A little chilly, but not bad. We hadn't ran this course in the 1/2 training (ran it a few times when I trained for my 10 miler last year) It is a beautiful course with a huge lake that the trail run around. There were quite a few people out when we started, and as our miles added up, so did the people. At around 3 miles, Beck decided she needed to stop (to throw up 3 more times, we found out later) and so me, Kris and Sar ran on. At mile 4 we stopped for a water break and Gu and ended up finding Beck (this course has a lot of different ways you can go and back track etc) So, she decided to start up with us again. We took off and started onto a trail, which was a nice change. Again, I was feeling really good (did have a few stomach issues, but I had that before we started) We talked about the upcoming 1/2 and what we were going to wear etc. Beck again had to leave us due to not feeling well. We continued on, and picked her up again around mile 7.5 or so. At mile 8 we stopped again for a water and Gu. By this time we were all the way around the lake and close to where we had parked. We decided we would run past our cars 1.5 miles and then turn around and head back. So, we started back up, again, I was feeling Fabtabulous!!!! I don't think I had had such a good run...EVER!?!? (knock on wood) As we turned around at mile 9.5, everyone was getting a little tired, and we started to run into the wind, which wasn't good, but I was still feeling good and had a really good pace going. With only a little more to do, Sar (who had been having some burn out issues with running, and her longest run to date also) picked up speed next to me, and her and me sprinted the remaining .25 miles. It felt great to finish, and I totally felt like I could have gone more! Kris and Beck were right behind us. Beck had finished 9 miles herself, while puking 3-4 times (she ended up sick the rest of the day with the flu...go her for sticking it out!!!) I told her afterwards that a true runner was someone who could puke and keep going...and she did!!!
Afterwards we all gave high fives and walked back to the cars to stretch. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment, and made me feel like I was really ready for the Go St. Louis 1/2...in ONLY 13 DAYS!!! :)
We are going to taper a little next week and do only 10 miles, but I think we are going to just pick a place around St. Louis and run...no real course to follow. Thought this might be fun for our last run before the 1/2.
And guess what....while I was typing this post, I received an email from Go St. Louis, and I received my official bib number: 12515
So super cool!!!

The rest of the weekend was spent with family. On Sunday I did hit the gym with my hubby and did some weights and abs! Tonight I am heading to the gym with my neighbor for Body Combat, and then we are going to stay to try out Zumba. Never done it before, but heard it is fun! Can't wait to burn some major calories!!!

Have a great week, and I have some really cool things in the works for my 1/2 marathon outfit...still working on a few details, but when everything is finalized, I will post a pic! I can't wait!
Here is to a week of happy running,
Steph

6 comments:

Julie said...

Love the pic! I'm glad it all worked out for you! Good luck this week!

Jenn said...

Awesome Job! I bet you feel great right about now! About the 30 day shred, I think it's pretty good-yes not the hardest thing ever but not too time consuming. I started on level 2 and really just do it intermittently right now as my mileage is up and I'm running out of hours in the day! I also do P90X videos. After Boston I may get a little more regular with them. I'm excited to see how the half goes for you. My best race ever and the one I am MOST proud of was my first half!! Good Luck!

NY Wolve said...

If you can run 11, you can run 13.1. For my solo long runs, I like to run loops around my neighborhood. I have run the loop some many times now, I know where the mile marks are, the elevations, etc. One time I ran my loop backwards (I ran counter clockwise rather than clockwise if you are looking at it on a map), and I nearly freaked out. Even though it was the exact same course, same elevation, same up hills and down hills, it was completely different.

Any way, good luck.

Heidi said...

I will definitely run my 10K thinking of you doing your first half. Good luck with that!

Your friend is hard core! ( miles, with puking - WOW! You know you're a runner when .....

Kerri Olkjer said...

I sort of miss my longer runs when I read posts like this! Oh well, 5k for me right now, lol. I hate running into the wind, the worst...and your friend amazes me, I'd be over it!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

Wow that is one tough friend you have!! I love confidence builder runs, I had one last week on my long run.

Love your CD pass on idea. I will keep that in mind once I get the IDEAL playlist together. Think 25 of the BEST fastest songs, upload and mail to the next.