Zeitgeist Half Marathon

When I was pregnant with Gideon I began formulating a plan for getting back to running after he was born.   I knew that I wanted to get myself back in half marathon condition so I figured that I need to find a race and just plan on it.  I needed something that was this calendar year, but not so close to May so as to allow myself adequate time to train after he was born.  After some searching I decided on the Zeitgeist Half Marathon.  It gave me 5 months from my due date to recover and train.

I trained, only missed one long run, and after my 12 mile run 2 weeks ago I was feeling good.  I'd incorporated some hills into my long runs and I felt ready to rock this race!  I have been having trouble sleeping lately, and even though I went to bed late last night, I still managed to get a good amount of sleep and woke up ready to go.  As ready as you can be, right?

We ended up running a little late this morning so we arrived at Optimist Park only 30 minutes before race time.  I picked up my packet and nursed Gideon then handed the kids off to Tyson and went to line up, ready to go.

The race started, I felt good, and started out a bit faster than I should have.  It wasn't too bad though, I was doing great, for a while.  You see, Zeitgeist is not a flat half, not even close.  Over the course of 13.1 miles you gain about 1180 feet.  Around half of the way into the first hill I switched to run/walk intervals because it was steep.  I'd trained on hills, but my biggest hill was only 200 feet up over the course of a mile and the first hill here was well over double that.

I survived the first hill but around mile 4 my IT band started giving me grief.  I hadn't had issues for ages, but today is acted up so I had to slow down on the downhill, I kept running, but I wasn't booking it the way that I would have liked to.  Once we hit mile 6 I went back to my run/walk intervals and then turned into straight walking between miles 7 and 8.  That hill was so steep, the headwind was so strong, and I honestly wanted to just sit down and cry rather than go another step.  It took everything I had to keep moving and then I finally turned the corner after mile 8 and started heading back downhill.

However, then I another issue popped up.  I started cramping.  First they were wave-like cramps through my calves, so I stopped for a minute to stretch and that seemed to help, but around mile 11 I got a strong cramp, almost a charlie horse, in my left calf and foot that forced my foot to curl up.  That eased, I started running again, and then it happened again.  I was really disheartened.  I'd survived the hardest parts of this just to cramp up and turn lame on the downhill.  I managed to run/walk to rest of the course and finished with a time of 2:48 (not official, just according to my watch), which is more than 30 minutes longer than it took me to run my first half marathon.  I'm not too disheartened though.  This course was a challenge and in so many ways I'm still working on coming back from having Gideon.

When I got to the finish line Tyson and the kids were waiting for me.  It isn't often that they come to my races, but it was so heartening to see them there waiting for me as I approached.  I was also greeted by a bottle of water, chocolate milk (the BEST post-race refreshment on the PLANET), and a finishers shirt.  Sadly, there were no medals.  I'm rather sad about that.  I love collecting race medals!  That was the most disappointing thing of all, a $50 entry fee for a race should pay for a medal, just saying.  Other than that one detail, the race was great.  The course and scenery were beautiful, Fall in Boise at its finest!  There were wonderfully cheering groups along the way to encourage you on, random cars drove past blaring songs like "Eye of the Tiger" and one home along the way was blaring music from inside while they stood along the road cheering.  Boise has a wonderful running community, it just doesn't get any better.

After the race I was able to meet up with 2 of my fellow mamas from our Moms Run This Town club who both chose this beast for their first half marathon.

There was a post-race party with really good looking food, but Tyson had to leave for work right as I finished and after I finished feeding Gideon it started to rain and since I had 3 little ones with me I decided that we'd best just go home.  The girls were tired and cold, Gideon was squirmy, and I was struggling to get back to the car which was parked quite a ways away.  Thankfully this sweet lady, also headed to her car stopped to see if I could use some help.  I smiled and intended to say no, even though I really did need help, somehow, I just wasn't sure in what capacity.  She asked if she could carry my baby for me (since he was screaming about being in the stroller) and I said that I would love that.  So she carried Gideon while I pushed the girls in the stroller back to our car in the rain.  I was hurting and cold and this woman was my angel today.

Half marathons are hard, excruciating at times, but honestly, I love the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment.  I'm amazed by the fact that even though I am hurting and this race made me want to cry, I want to do it again, but not until next year.  I need a while to recover.

Kids' Race

Last Saturday our running club, Moms Run This Town (which is a national club by the way, check it out) put on our 2nd annual Kids' Race  Our children are used to seeing their moms leave to go running and going to races so we like to let them have one of their own.

We bumped it up from November to October and made it a costumed event, and oh my goodness it was a blast!  Each little runner had a race bib and lined up at the starting line, ready to go.

 Well, almost all of them.  Charlotte here had a scary moment where she couldn't see me at the park and thought she was lost and that was upsetting to her so she had no desire to run the race.

 Lily however set off at a run with her friends, but needed me to stay with her to finish it up.  She had a good sprint to the finish line, excited for her prize.

 You'd be amazed just how much these kids love earning their medals!

  I put together some fun little swag bags for the kiddos and some of the wonderful women in our group brought some refreshments for our little runners.

 We could not have asked for better weather, it is bright and sunny and just plain perfect!

 After a little bit of refueling they were off again to go play at the playground.

I loved this event!  I loved how excited the kids were to run and how encouraging their parents were.  We had some grandparents and other family members out to support their little runners and it just made my heart happy.

FitOne 9k

This morning I ran the FitOne 9k with several friends from my running club, Moms RUN This Town.  If you are a woman and you like to run, look it up, there are clubs nationwide!

I've been working really hard to get back into my old running shape.  While I ran...ahem...shuffled...my way through my pregnancy it has still been a lot of work to get myself back to the point where I can handle the long distance runs again.  Before Gideon was born I registered myself for the FitOne 9k, knowing that it would force me to get back to training after he was born.  I was excited when they added the 9k option to this 21-year-old 5k and I was even more excited when I saw the course.  It started up at the Old State penitentiary and moved down to the greenbelt where it met up with the standard race course up Capital Blvd and across Americana to end in Ann Morrison Park.  I love a good point to point race, especially in this cooler fall-like weather.

There were 7 people from our local MRTT chapter running the 9k this morning and I started out with 2 of them.  We barely made it to the starting corral in time!

We stayed together for the first mile and then met up again at the finish line.  The after race fare was AWESOME!  The bagged breakfast was fine, but in addition to that there was Chobani Greek yogurt and CHOCOLATE MILK!  In case you don't know, chocolate milk is the perfect post-race fuel out there.

 Eventually we were able to meet up with most of our Moms Run This Town group for a fun group photo.  We had gotten together earlier in the week to make our shirts and skirts for the race.  A perk that I hadn't anticipated, it was so easy to spot everyone after the race because of the bright, sparkly skirts.

It was so fun for me to get to run with these friends here.  They are my fellow playgroup moms.  Our children are all so close and behave like siblings and I'm beyond excited that they have all chosen to take up running!

 Tyson met me at the park with our children since I wasn't going to make it home in time for him to go to work.  It was a rough night, they were all up a lot and early and I was only able to get about 3-1/2 hours of sleep.  I was a little excited when we got home and they were all asleep, I thought that I might just get a little nap.  But that wasn't to be.  The girls stayed asleep as I moved them into the house, but Gideon did not.

  The best part about the race, other than an instant PR because I've never run a 9k before (though I missed my time goal by 24 seconds) was the great medal!  I love getting racing medals.  If you really want to know what I am working my way back to half marathon shape, this is it.  I want to earn more medals for my collection.

My next race is in two weeks, on my birthday!  It was my last 10k before I dropped down to shorter races for my pregnancy and my first 10k coming back.

The Color Run and a Trip to the Zoo

This morning I ran The Color Run 5k with several friends from my Moms Run This Town running club.  We met up this morning in our clean white shirts and got ready to run.  This is such a fun run when you are with a group of good friends.

 After a fairly muggy 3 miles we finished as a hot and colorful mess!

 Like I said, a MESS!  But how often do grown-ups get to play around like this?

 The best part...I promised the kids that since we would already be downtown I would take them to the zoo.  I brought a clean t-shirt, but that didn't help much.  I went through about 10 baby wipes scrubbing my face before I went into the zoo bathroom where I scrubbed my face and arms for a while longer, but still, I was a blue mess!  I got a lot of interesting looks from people.

 That's okay, the kids had fun.  Lily had to see her beloved jelly fish.

Gideon tolerated it all very well.

I was glad to get to go home and since Gideon was asleep I jumped right in the shower (after putting my clothes in the wash) and still, some of my skin is very much dyed.  Hopefully my neck and ear are no longer blue tomorrow for church...that could be interesting.