Heart of the City Half Marathon! PR!

Today was the long awaited Hear of the City Half Marathon. It was my first half and my farthest run I have attempted. My main goal was to finish and my secondary goal was to finish under 2 hours. The morning was very nice with a temperature of 70 degrees and completely sunny! Probably the best run conditions I have been in. The race started at 7:30 am at Nicollet Commons in Burnsville and wound down to the banks of the Minnesota River.

The first six miles were great and I ran with a fellow runner up to that point. I pulled away from him and at that point I was running at a 8:50 pace. I needed a 9:10 pace throughout the race to reach my two hour goal. Miles 6-8 were a little slower and was on a fairly flat part of Black Dog Road by Black Dog Power Plant. Mile 8 was the turn around point and by then I was feeling it in my right knee. I kept pushing on though and realized how incredibly lucky I am to be able to do what I was doing. Although I put in a lot of training leading up to the race, I have been blessed with the health and the ability to run which is something a lot of people cannot do.

Up to this point the farthest I have run has been 11 miles and at that point I was ready to be done. I picked up pain on the outside of my right knee and it burned. Bad. So bad that at about Mile 12 I thought about throwing in the towel. My time was starting to slip and I was hobbling pretty bad. I decided to keep pushing and run through the pain. The last quarter mile was amazing! There were tons of people cheering including my fiancee and parents. I pushed harder then I have ever gone that last quarter and finished with a time of.....1:59:57!!! I made my goal by 3 seconds! Little closer then I was comfortable with but I did it! Now I am sitting here with outside knee pain (ITBS coming on???), sore shins and a hurting hip! Rough shape but I would do it all over again! Next up is hopefully a massge and a week off from running to get healthy for the start of the Twin Cities Marathon training!

Pushing the last quarter mile!!!

Pictures with the parents and my medal!!!

Jessie and I at the finish line. Can you tell it was bright? :)

Thanks for the support and encouragement everyone! It means a lot!!!

Its All in the Numbers...

I am sitting here less than a week before my half marathon. I only have two 3 miles run before I take a few days off. The Heart of the City Half Marathon is on Saturday and admittedly I am feeling a bit anxious about it. The most I have ever run has been 11 miles. This race is that plus 2.2 miles. Very doable. My main goal is to finish and my secondary goal is to finish under 2 hours. I believe it will be tough but within reach (just went 8.25 miles at an 8:54 pace). I would just need to keep it up for another 4 some miles.

I wonder if I'm ready. Today I had a 5 miler that didn't go as smoothly as I hoped and I am still a little banged up (while I am typing I am icing both shin splints). I am just happy that I kept track of everything with my Garmin. That is what tells me I am ready. I started training on March 7th and at the time of the run next weekend this is what I will have done: (1) Lost nearly 30 lbs (2) Ran 242 miles for a total of 39 hours 30 minutes and burned 45300 calories and (3) Set a 5k PR by over 7 minutes!

If at all I question my ability to run next weekend I need to look at how I prepared and know that I did the best I could have done.

Weekly Weigh In and Others

I had my last session at St. Davids and I decided I would conquer the rock wall that I had been stuck on the last three times. The wall is about 60 ft high and I have been able to go half way up before giving up or falling off. Last night I made it all the way to the top. I wanted to give up half way through but the belay person kept pushing and encouraging and I made it!

I had weigh in today and I was down -1.2 lbs for a total loss of 29.2 so far. Its been a tough week getting back and staying on track after the Milwaukee tailgating trip. Doing better with it though and was surprised by the result!

The shinsplints have picked up a little bit but I am in the middle of my two week taper and will be running easier and lighter until my half marathon next weekend. Thats all for now!

Road Trip to Milwaukee

Well needless to say I didn't do to well sticking to the diet over the last few days. Took a roadtrip to Milwaukee to catch Saturday and Sundays Brewers and Twins game. Twins won the first won 8-2 and lost the second game 6-5. Very good time but it involved grilling and no running. I will have to see what the damage is during weigh in on Friday.

Have another vacation set up now. Will be heading out to Providence, RI from July 2nd-7th and will be staying a block or two from the beach. Am also planning on driving up to Boston for a day to see Jess and take in more of the sites. Looking forward to it!

Finally, had my long run today. Started off poorly (forgetting my Garmin at home) but was able to make the best of it and go 11 miles. Felt pretty good but am slow and am feeling the shin splints quite a bit. The good news is that it is my last long run until my half marathon on June 2nd and my taper has begun! Excited and nervous but am looking forward to a new milestone! That's all for now.

Weekly Weigh In and Update - May 16

Yesterday I had my weekly weigh in and lost another 1.5 lbs. That pushed the total to 26.7 and I hit my 10% total weight loss mark. I am hoping to drop another 25 lbs before the marathon! I am changing the weigh in day to Fridays from now on. I tend to be a little less strict the day after weigh in and on weekends so if I combine them into one then I might be able to stay on track a little easier.

I went 10.5 miles on Sunday and with Mother's Day brunch and 90 degree and sunny I hit a wall. My goal was 12 miles so I fell short of that but either way it was longer than the scheduled run. Had a 4 mile on Tuesday night and a 3 mile Wednesday morning. I tried going without my shin splint wraps and it seems like they are still lingering on.

It will be a tough weekend staying on track this weekend. Planning on tailgating for both the Brewers and Twins games and driving back Sunday night. I have a 3 mile tomorrow morning and a 7 mile early Saturday before we are off on the road. Will check in after I return on Sunday.