Shamrock Half Marathon- Virginia Beach, VA

Distance:  13.1 Miles
Overall Time:  2:33:46
Pace: 11:44.mi

We started at the expo by meeting up with some friends the day before the race. We hit the expo late, but got checked in and picked up our bibs. We checked into at the Cottages at Dam Neck before carb-loading at an amazing italian restaurant, Mannino's Italian Bistro. The food was fantastic (all four of us ate like Kings and Queens and it was under $100, I believe).



Chillin' at the Convention Center for the Expo



Amazing race for me...KT Tape and wrapping my feet kept the heel pain at bay, and allowed me to set a new PR by about 8 minutes! I didn't expect it, and I didn't push hard for it, for fear that I'd mess up the feet, so I stayed between a 10-11 minute pace throughout most of my run. I did slow down at water stops and to help pace my friend (she beat her PR by 20 minutes- so it was totally worth it) and my time reflects it. Overall, couldn't be happier about this run.



Before the run

It was a brisk (to say the least), and windy to boot when we got to the Half Marathon Starting line. Cold, to me, is better than warm, so once we got about 2 miles in, I was grateful for the cool temps. It was a beautiful morning to be running, and I felt worse for the spectators who came out in mass to freeze while the cheered us on- at least we were getting warmed up!

Our first few miles I maintained a 10:30ish pace with my friend, Samyra, who I decided early was going to be my running partner for the duration. She's a bit slower-paced than I, and I wanted to take the run easy, plus she wanted to beat her previous PR...so it worked out perfectly. We stayed together through many, many miles- uphill, across Fort Story, down Atlantic Avenue- when we finally parted ways around the 11-mile mark. Sam had slowed slightly, and my legs were starting to cramp, so I picked up the pace and headed for the finish line.

Home stretch down the boardwalk

 I knew I would beat my PR by close to eight minutes, and I was psyched, since I didn't go into the race with that in mind. Once I saw the finish line though, I got excited and sprinted the last few minutes.

Far left, already complete

Crossing the finish line

Afterward, I got my medal and waited for Samyra to cross the finish. She was a short minute or so behind me, crushing her PR by about 20 minutes. We were excitedly shreeking about it when a reporter from WTKR came up and asked to interview us. Which, since we already felt like rockstars, we agreed to.

Afterwards, we waited for my husband to come across. He was the last of us running the half, and we had one more person in our group who was running the full marathon. My husband, Jeremy, came across about 15 minutes after Sam and I, just under 3 hours for his first half marathon. So far, three PRs.



Me and my husband, Jeremy, after the half

 We hung out at the finisher party for a bit and dropped by the car to dump off our stuff and get a dry bag with Wayne's clothes, for when he was done running too. When all was said and done, Wayne also PRed his run, making us four-for-four!

This was amazing for all of us. I couldn't be happier.

Virginia is for Lovers 14K

Distance: 8.7 Miles
Overall Time: 1:36:36
Pace: 11:19/mi

This run was one I'd had on the books for a while, and although I knew I wouldn't be running at 100 percent, I was still excited for it. So far, all the J & A Racing events have been a lot of fun, and have had fast and fun-costumed runners to enjoy it with. The Virginia Beach area had recently seen about 4 inches of snow, however, so the ground was soft and slushy for race time. The course was extremely slick from the melted snow mixed with low temps, but this wouldn't have bothered me much if I was running by the beach. Unfortunately, the course was change last-minute, and it was not as scenic as the Virginia Beach courses I was used to.



I was in a lot of pain after about mile 2, and with my recent diagnosis of heel spurs in both feet, I wasn't surprised but I was disappointed. I alternated running and walking, something I've never been good at, and by the 8th mile I was stiff and sore.  Truly, the photos tell the story:



Photo credit: Tri Duo Sports Photography

 I tried to push through, but my time was the worst I'd had in quite some time for an 8+ mile run. I was pretty happy to see the finish line after such a brutal hour and a half. It was a downer for sure, but I still hope to heal enough to get a decent time for Shamrock next month.

Healing What's Broken...

As a girl in a constant state of busted-footedness, I've tried a lot of methods to keep my long distance running going. I've had plantar fascitis for several years and I live a regimen of stretch-run-stretch-motrin-ice-stretch-night splint-stretch. It's exhausing, but I love running, so I make due. The past couple months, however, I've noticed a lot more pain to the back of my heel. And not just in the morning or after a run either- for the first time, I'm having sharp pain if I just squeeze the sides of my heel. Booo.

I went to see a Family Practice doctor and convinced her to give me a referal to see a podiatrist, and hopefully I will be able to get an appointment for some time in the next few weeks. Gotta love Tricare for the hurry-up and wait! I am hoping that I can get a custon orthotic to assist me with the amount of miles I want to put in (usually between 20-30 depending on the week of training I'm in).  In the meantime, however, I was told sternly to not run. Pfft. This lady obviously does not know me.

Me, beer, football, icepack. Just a normal state of affairs at this point.

So I stepped up my game in preparation for the Virginia is for Lovers 14K that is on Saturday (12 Feb). I know I won't be able to run the entire thing, but I definitely don't want to walk the enture thing either, so I did a jog/run/walk combo on Sunday before the Super Bowl, and during the running, I felt good! I did 5 miles, which is around half my run next Saturday. After the workout was over? Not so good. The pain and swelling brought on ice, motrin, and a generous foot rub from the husband. 

On a brighter note, I bought some amazingly cheap (on sale) running skirts from Running Skirts and I can't wait for them to arrive. I am especially pumped about a green plaid one that I'm thinking of wearing for the Shamrock Half Marathon in March. Sure, I'm still chunky...but I gotta show off the legs I've worked so damned hard on!

Fat Girl on a Diet

Disclaimer: I curse. If this bothers you, exit now. I'm just saying. It's only gonna go downhill from here.
So back in my MySpace days, I used to write a little piece called "Fat Girl on a Diet". This usually meant that I was motivated to do something to spur me off my couch and work on killing my inner fat kid. Needless to say, this never lasted very long, and as soon as you could say "Can you bring us more chips and salsa?" I was back to being a lazy-ass fat girl.
I'm happy to say that 2010 has been the happy kick in the rear that I needed to get my shit together, and thankfully I've stuck to it for nine months and lost 30 pounds of ick. It hasn't been easy or effortless for me; my doctor recently diagnosed me with a condition that had 'weight gain' as one of the main symptoms. Most people would be like, "woohoo! This shit isn't even my FAULT! Pass the cheesecake."
I'm not most people.
So the past few months, I've had a lot of folks either ask me questions or comment to me, and I decided to dust off FGOAD so I could respond to everyone.

• Wow you've lost a lot of weight, huh? You're so lucky!

Um...no. I'm not. My body is not suddenly magical and took it upon itself to drop weight while I chilled out and ate cheeseburgers (mmm...cheeseburgers). I completely overhauled my diet. I eat more fiber than any one person should ever have to, and I write down everything I eat. Most days I hate this. Food journals, while constructive and essential to losing weight, are a huge pain in the ass. But I do it and I write what I ate whether or not I'm proud of eating it (damn you, pirouette cookies)

• I want to lose weight but I'm not a runner. You run, so that's why you lose weight.

Again, fucking wrong. Running is not grounds for a free-for-all buffet. I have weeks where I eat too much and it completely cancels out the 25-30 miles I ran. Those weeks suck ass. Eating is 1/2 of your issue; you are still gonna need to move your fat ass though. Swim, walk, bike, fucking somersault, I don't give a shit. You need to move more. If you park in the closest parking spot to whatever you're going to, you're doing it wrong.

• I'm just always gonna have this gut/fat ass/roll. I've always been fat so that's not going to change.

Okay, you're just a dumbass. Get the fuck out of my note and delete me off your friends because I'm better not knowing you. Seriously. If that's your attitude, GTFO.

• I don't know how to get started. How did you get started?

Honestly, I was inspired by a friend of mine and started by stopping by Weight Watchers. I didn't think I could do this on my own and if you need a fatty support group, this is the way to go. I still pay the dues although I only show up sporatically at best (Sorry Cheryl, I know I suck) but they give you a way of looking at things that could help. Once I picked a few fitness goals, they kind of overruled me going to Weight Watchers anymore.

• Buy new pants! Your pants are too big!

Fuck you, pants are expensive! Who has $30 per pair to just wear the new pants for 1-2 months? I'm broke, ya'll. Unless you are buying me pants you'll just have to look at my saggy ones until I'm done losing weight.

• How much do you want to lose?

My goal weight is about 25-30 pounds less than where I am right now. So basically I'm 1/2 way there. A year ago, the idea of 60 pounds to lose was almost too much for me to think about so I didn't. I set goals- 10, 19, 30, 40 (current goal), 50, 60. Those are my milestones but I have no set timeline. I might orchestrate this, but I can't make the weight go exactly when I want it to.
Anyways, there are a few of the things people have asked/said. Feel free to ask me questions; just know that I'm gonna be honest and if that's hard to hear, then I'm sorry.
I'll leave you with this ~ Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.
<3

S.