I crushed it!

This weekend was absolutely fabulous! I ran the Annapolis Half Marathon. And although, I am beyond excited to share how the Annapolis 13.1 rocked my world, I cant – not yet, not until I can get the professional race photos to post. So until then, I’ll just tell you this – I crushed it!

And this is what they gave us at the end of the race...

And this is what they gave us at the end of the race…

One of my close friends commented on this photo on fb. He said, “Good Swag.” Yes I agree.

~ race photos should be posted on 12/4… so look forward to reading an exciting race post from me.

© 2012 Sweatdaily

Annapolis 13.1 (the night before)

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For those of you who have been following my blog, you may already know my night before a race ritual. But for those who don’t know, I won’t leave you in the dark.

The night before every race I always prepare by laying out the clothes I will run the race in. Because I am not a morning person, this helps me stay organized in the dark early hours before the race.

Now for the ridiculous part… I then take a photo of my race outfit and upload the photo to facebook and Instagram. For my friends who are not runners, they may think this is crazy, braggy, or annoying. But I do this, because it gets me pumped up for my race, and it allows my friends and family who are runners to show their support.

So here it is – my night before race ritual photo of my race outfit. I will be wearing Lululemon, Newton’s Gravity Shoes, my iPod, my garmin. I have my bib pinned to my shirt. I have my fuel- sports beans and honey stinger waffle. Last but not least my Run like a Girl hoodie.

The race starts at 7:00 am, and it will be a cool 43 degrees tomorrow.

So bring it Annapolis. I’m ready to tackle 13.1 miles if hills!

© 2012 sweatdaily

12 mile training run

I just got home from my 12 mile training run. It was 40 degrees out, with a lot of wind so I prepared myself, and dressed in my winter running gear.

My pants and coat are from Lululemon. My hat is from anthropologie.  My scarf is from lucy. I did not wear my Newton Gravity shoes, instead I wore my Brooks Glycerin. This is the first time since April that I wore anything but my Newtons.

Lately, I have been curious about how I would do in my old shoes. I actually forgot what they felt like. I just wanted to have a little more cushioning on my feet. I wanted to get lost in the run and take a break from always focussing on form. However, I don’t think my form suffered, and after I removed my scarf at the end of mile 1, I felt perfect on the trail – not too hot, not too cold.

Don’t be afraid to switch up your shoes. It is actually really good for your body. Just how your body can get accustomed to a certain work out- and you stop seeing results. Your body can become accustomed to your shoe, if you always wear the same one. Plus different runs might need a little bit of a different shoe, so switch it up and work different muscles. My legs have changed shape since wearing the Newton shoes, and having a shoe rotation.

12 miles

Anyway, this 12 mile run was awesome! I ran this 12 miler on the south side of the MVT, because I don’t have to stop for street lights. It has some slight rolling hills, and some beautiful views of the Potomac. My legs did get a little tired at some points, but I reminded myself to take short strides and land on my forefoot/mid-foot.

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 12.01 miles

Time: 1:41:06

Average Pace: 8:24 min/mile

Best Pace: 7:46 min/mile

Calories: 977 C

Cadence: 96 – which can’t be accurate.


This was a pretty good long run for me, super fast. I drank water every 2 miles. I ate a Honey Stinger waffle right before the run and refueled with Honey Stingers at mile 6 and then again at mile 9.

I am starting to get excited for my race next Saturday. This coming up week consist of shorter runs, and lots of rest. The taper begins.

What is your favorite winter running gear?

© 2012 sweatdaily

SOME Turkey Trot

I don’t start enjoying a run until mile three. My body needs time to warm up. By the time I am warmed up, found my rhythm, and begin enjoying myself, my 5K race is over. And that is why I hate running 5Ks.

However, the Turkey Trot is by far one of my favorite races. Running a Turkey Trot is one of the few, if not the only, 5K I run a year. It feels so amazing, to wake up bright and early on Thanksgiving morning and start the holiday off with a race.

I have run a couple different Turkey Trots in the area, but SOME is the best one. The race is located in DC. The route use to be down near Hains Point, but this year the race started on Pennsylvania Ave. I liked this route better, but parking was hard to find. The race is $35, but the money goes to SOME – So Others May Eat.

Although, just a 5K, I still did my normal night before race ritual – laying out my race outfit. 

Ready to run SOME, on Thanksgiving morning. Then jumped in my car. Picked my sister up. Headed to the start.
The start was well organized with a view of the Capitol.
We lined up near the 8 min/mile pace group.
I wore my Newton, Gravity shoes, and my new barefoot running socks.
These are the socks that I wore the day of my race. They felt really good, and helped me avoid a blister I get regularly on my third toe when wearing the Newton Gravity shoe. I learned about this product from the blog, Barefoot Monologues. Read a more detailed review on this product here.
My sister and I at the race. The race was easy, short, flat, fast. A typical 5K. A typical Turkey Trot. I ended up with a PR of 24:33. Thats a 7:55 min/mile. The best part was that Panera Bread handed out bagels at the finish line.
If you are ever in the DC area on Thanksgiving day, I highly recommend this race.
Questions for You
  1. Did you run a Turkey Trot?
  2. What is your favorite type of run? 5K, 10K, 15K, 10 miler, 13.1, 26.2

© 2012 sweatdaily

Breathe. Relax. Appreciate.

I finally found time today, around 8 pm, to sit down. This has been a nonstop busy day, week, month, year. Life, my body, started to be painful and exhausting. After so many busy days in a row I finally was able to squeeze in a night time run, since my long run on friday. Although, it was just a short, fast, easy 5k – it felt amazing. It was just what my body needed. I usually don’t run at night, but tonight I did and it was peaceful.

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In the morning, I will be running a turkey trot. It is a Thanksgiving tradition for my sister and I.

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I will be wearing my new socks. I can’t wait to try these out.

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I am looking forward for the next three days off to just relax, breathe, appreciate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And this is why I love fall time…

The other day, I did a short post on Washington, DC: Rave Run worthy. In the post there was a photo of Washington, DC durning the peak of Cherry Blossom season. It was a pretty photo I found on tumblr. Well yesterday, I went running again on the MVT and I had to stop to take some photos, it was that gorgeous.

Although, DC, is pretty during the spring, nothing beats the Fall time here.

And this is why…

Color

The Potomac shines from the sun.

I feel like I am bragging, but I can’t help it. I live in a city, but I get to run by this everyday!

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 3.03

Time: 27:48

Average Pace: 9:11 min/mi

Best Pace: 8:19 min/mi

Calories: 245 C

Run Cadence: 93

© 2012 sweatdaily

10 mile Run with Em and Honey Stinger

Last week two exciting things happened.

  1. On Saturday, I ran a 10 mile run with my sister, Emily.
  2. And I also finally typed up my Blog Award post. If you have any desire to get to know me better, you should read the post, because it is super personal.

Anyway, in my Blog Award post I was asked what was the last movie I had watched. I answered with, The Fighter. One thing that I love about the movie, The Fighter, is the bond the two brothers, Mickey and Dicky have. I am very close with my family, so I can totally relate to this.

Dicky is the older brother, who has a star shining boxing moment back in the day. He still wants to be involved in boxing so he coaches his younger brother Mickey. Drug abuse ends up becoming an uncontrollable obstacle that alters Dicky’s ability to coach. Although, Dicky’s quality of life suffers, the brotherly bond never breaks.

Of corse there is no drug history among the relationship I share with my sister. I can relate to this because in life, your sister, is the one person, you can be totally honest with, and who will push you to your fullest potential (especially in sports.)

And that is exactly what happened during my 10 miler.

My sister pushed me to my fullest potential.

Here is what went down…

I met my sister at her apartment. Before we left we looked up this Half Marathon Pace Chart. I am no longer just going out there to run. I learned from Hal Higdon, if you want to run fast, you have to train fast several times a week. So we decided to practice our 10 miler by running at a pace similar to the one we are planning to run race day.

We decided to hit the MVT, but to get there we had to run down hill for two miles, stopping at some street lights. Once we got to the trail, we ran three pretty flat miles and then turned back. The last two miles were off the MVT and up hill. We wanted to add two miles up hill because Annapolis is super hilly, so we are expecting a lot of hills race day.

Honestly, I don’t know what happened during this 10 miler. Normally my sister and I run at a similar pace, and sometimes I am a little bit faster. But during this run my sister was much more speedy.

There is a quote from the book, Born to Run, it goes like this, “But you can’t muscle through a five-hour run that way; you have to relax into it like easing your body into a hot bath, until it no longer resists the shock and begins to enjoy it.”  Even though, it may seem like an excuse to you, it is the truth. During this run, I just wasn’t feeling it. I couldn’t find my running rhythm.

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 10.00 miles

Time: 1:37:31

Average Pace: 9:45 min/mi

Best Pace: 7:51 min/mi

Calories: 814 C

Run Cadence: 96

HONEY STINGER

One thing that did help me when I felt a little bit low in energy was my Honey Stinger. This is the first time I have ever tried this product. I actually had never heard of this product until the blogger from All Seasons Cyclist suggested I give them a try.  I am really thankful I did. I love the fact that this product is more natural and free of chemicals. They also tasted really good, and didn’t cause any stomach problems. The Honey Waffle was a fantastic post run snack. For a more detailed review check out the blog All Seasons Cyclist or click here.

 
Tomorrow, I am scheduled to do an 11 mile run with L. So stay tuned…
Questions for You
  1. Have you tried Honey Stingers?
  2. How did your long run go this week?

© 2012 sweatdaily

Speed Work Drill

I wanted to share with you another recap on a speed work drill I did last Thursday. Again this was run on the treadmill in my Newton, Distance U shoes.

picture found on tumblr

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

11: 40 PM

RUN ANALYZE

SUMMERY from my Garmin

Distance: 3.10 miles

Time: 25:19

Average Pace: 8:09 min/m

Best Pace: 7:14

Calories: 253 C

Run Cadence: 97

I felt really good about this treadmill drill. However, because I am only doing daily 5K runs, my weekly mileage is drastically lower.

© 2012 sweatdaily

Washington, DC: RAVE RUN worthy!

 

I love that my home is RAVE RUN worthy. I probably have run this area along the potomac a million times. If you were ever wondering what it would be like to run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler, this is what it looks like.

Questions for You

  1. Is your home town/city RAVE RUN worthy?
  2. Where is the prettiest place you have ever run?

© 2012 sweatdaily

* photo found on tumblr.

 

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