Marathon Season is Here... and so is the heat.

I ran a 12-miler on Sunday, so I guess you can say training for the Mo' Cowbell Marathon has officially started. It wasn't good.

I ran two laps around Forest Park. The first lap was good. It was lightly raining, a bit cooler than it has been. The second lap was crap. I had to stop to catch my breath about 50 times. I laid down on a bench for a good three minutes. Of course, this all isn't counted in my total time. I'm supposed to do a 13-miler this weekend and I'm scared. I better get my sub 2-hour half marathon this year dammit!

It was too hot to run Saturday morning, so we walked around the neighborhood and I snapped a couple pictures. I love the architecture in Soulard, so beautiful.

Here's hoping this weekend's long run is better!

Warrior Dash circa 2010

I ran this race {Warrior Dash} way before this little blog became living. But first, let's go back a bit. Back in 2009, I signed up for a little race called the Chicago Marathon. I even started to train for it. My longest training run was a meager 5 miles. Long story short, I dropped out of training for the race because life got in the way (marriage, new house, travels, etc). I also started training for the Marathon completely wrong... mainly treadmill runs that lead to extreme boredom. After I dropped out, I didn't cut out running entirely, but I wasn't running nearly as much as I am now.

My friend Greg told me about this new race called the Warrior Dash. But there wasn't a Warrior Dash in St. Louis, so we drove to Chicago and made a weekend out of it. I ran one 3-miler in preparation for the race.

I think I ran the first mile, but after that it was a lot of walk/run. I had so much fun.

The reason I'm bringing up Warrior Dash 2010? I've ran the race every year and I'm not sure if I'll run this year. It's in the same area that I ran the previous two and I wonder how different it will be. Should I just stop running the Warrior Dash? Should I continue the tradition? I mean, if it wasn't so expensive I'd for sure sign up with no hesitation, but all of these races keep adding up.

Here are some photos from Warrior Dash 2010:

What's a girl to do?

All American 5k

My friend Ann joined me for this race! We used to be running buddies back in undergrad, so it's been fun running together again. There was a heavy downpour right before the race start, so I didn't run with my phone and instead grabbed my iPod Shuffle. However, my Shuffle crapped out so I had to run with no music. I was not looking forward to being music-less because I was hoping I could PR if I had some tunes to take my mind off the pain.

Ann and I before the start.

I hate running with no music during races. I heard this lady say as we all took off, "I think it's funny when all these people sprint out of the start and end up walking in the end." Well, I was 'that' person, but I am trying to push myself. I can easily run a 9:15 pace and run the entire race. But I want to break a 26 minute 5k and yes, that means I have to push myself.

I ran the first mile in 7:52. By mile 1.5, I had to take a short walking break. The air was so heavy and I was having troubles breathing. I think some dude even looked back at me to see who was breathing so hard. Yup, I was struggling. I took two walking breaks during the second mile (8:47 pace) and two more walking breaks during the third mile (8:42 pace). If I WOULD STOP WALKING and just push myself, I would have come in under 26 minutes.

I finished the race in 26:14 (8:27 pace), which is 10 seconds off my PR...

And I have another horrible finish line picture to add to the collection:

Heading to the Finish!

I'm not registered for any more 5k's this year... thinking I need to find a good one to run and just push myself, not wimp out and walk.

I found a beautiful story online about Bret Dunlap, a man that was told would never walk again because of a horrific accident he faced as a child, but is now a marathoner! I fell in love with one of the quotes in the article: "You know that speed and distance are the standard measures of a runner's success, but that like a lot of standard measures, they're wholly inadequate to measure your experience. They're wholly inadequate to measure you." You can read the article here.

Benton Park 5K

A new 5k PR!!!

We had several storms last night and I wasn't surprised that it was still raining this morning. It was a nice, calm rain though, unlike last night.

Heading to the Race Start.

We live near Benton Park, so we had a nice walk to the start. As soon as the race started, the rain nearly stopped. I really pushed myself at the start. When I checked my watch, I was under a 7 minute mile. I knew I had to slow it down or it was going to be rough. My first mile was 7:50 and then I took a short walking break at the water station. My heart was pounding and since I wasn't listening to music, I could hear myself struggle to breathe. But I told myself to keep going and get my PR. In the end, I finished in 26:04!!! A near PR by a good minute. My new goal is now 25 minutes.

Surprised by my rank!!

I'm really happy with my time... But there were a couple spots I had to walk and I should not be doing that!!!!

At the Finish! I don't remember smiling... I remember pain. 

I haven't uploaded any of my photos lately. I just got a new lens, an 85mm, and I'm in love!! Here are a couple of my favorites:

Blurry Bokeh

Flower Bud

Happy weekend!!

39th Annual University City Memorial Day Run

I really wanted to run on Memorial Day and there were several runs around the St. Louis area. I chose this one because I knew it would be scenic, hilly, and shady. You could also choose two distances: a 5k or 10k. I went for the 10k.

The race started at 7:30 am, but it was already feeling pretty hot outside! My friend Cristen and her finance were visiting, so they joined me!

Start of the Race.

I monitored my heart rate on this run and I felt really strong all throughout the race! I even ran all of the hills. When my heart rate went up, I slowed it down.

Race Start. I'm on the far left!

This was not my fastest 10k, but it was enjoyable. I finished in 1:01:42 (341/546 overall). Here I am coming into the finish (hehe):

At the Finish!

I never look cool running. It was a great race!

Our SeaWheeze shorts arrived yesterday and our flight to Vancouver is booked. I'm really looking forward to running the SeaWheeze again. Tomorrow we are doing the Benton Park 5k, I'm hoping for a PR! But the weather looks a bit stormy, so we'll see!

His and Her SeaWheeze Shorts!

Updated Calendar

June 1: Benton Park 5k
June 16: All American 5k
June 29: Macklind Mile
August 10: SeaWheeze Half Marathon
September 14: Tough Mudder
October 6: Mo' Cowbell Marathon
October 13: Halloween Half Marathon
October 27: Rock n Roll Half Marathon ?????

Crusher 5k Mud Run

SeaWheeze Short

They released an image of the official 2013 SeaWheeze runner shorts! Can't wait to add them to my collection.