Tag Archives: half-marathon

Rest of the week randomness

Posted on May 5, 2013 by pugmamastace| Leave a comment

All in all, I had a great week! After I got home Tuesday, I went by Pomegranate Café and got their Wild West Tacos. They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

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Ali apparently thinks so, too….she got a couple of pieces of sweet potato. She loves sp’s! Whenever I cut them up to make fries, I always give her the small pieces on the end. She eats them raw! Glad they’re good for her!

Then I took like a 5 hour nap because I got like zero sleep the night before, and I was exhausted.

Later that evening, I decided to try my luck at finding spaghetti squash again. I called Safeway for shits and giggles, and they had just gotten some in that morning!! Woo hoo! Spaghetti squash boats for dinner it is!!

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Never in my life have I been so excited over a vegetable. Compared to the typical human being, I don’t really even like vegetables. I don’t like cucumbers, celery, brussel sprouts, or raw tomatoes that aren’t chopped small like you chop food for a toddler. I only like green beans from a can, and I don’t like raw broccoli, cauliflower or carrots (only steamed.) I know, I know….at least I eat them, though!

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Thunderous, yes it was.

Currently, it hurts to walk. I have to get up from sitting to standing with my weight evenly distributed between both feet, and even yoga poses where you have to balance on one leg hurt. Yet, look what I want to do!!

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Look at this elevation profile!!! When I get healthy, I am going to PR here!!

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Right now, my injury is really humbling me. I switched my avenue of healing to Dr. Ackerson by recommendation of my coach, who happens to have recovered from the same injury as me. Did I tell you guys that my hamstring issue is ischial tendonosis with degenerative tendinopathy (In both legs)? According to Sports Injury Clinic.net, here is the definition:

Hamstring Origin Tendonitis

Hamstring tendinitis is inflammation of the hamstring tendon as it attaches to the Ischial Tuberosity at the top of the back of the thigh.

Symptoms of Hamstring Tendonitis

  • Pain and tenderness at the ischial tuberosity.
  • Pain when stretching the hamstring muscles.
  • Pain when bending the knee against resistance.
  • A gradual onset of pain following a sprinting session.


What is Hamstring Tendonitis / Tendinopathy?

Hamstring tendinitis is inflammation of the hamstring tendon as it attaches to the Ischial Tuberosity at the top of the back of the thigh. It can follow a tear of the hamstring tendon which is poorly treated or more often is an overuse injury.


 

 

  • Biceps femoris muscle - the largest of the three hamstrings

So I am completely sidelined from running right now. I agreed to take 4 weeks off from running completely, and only to do workouts that don’t aggravate my injury. Even strength training on the hammy aggravates it right now. I did some on Wednesday, and since then, it has hurt to walk. I may be taking even longer than 4 weeks off. We’ll have to see. I just know that I am kind of depressed right now that everything I do hurts, and I need this to heal. Completely. There is a Zero Gravity type of treadmill thing I found out about in my neighborhood that I am thinking about trying if it doesn’t hurt. I just have to get in some form of exercise, and I am still trying to convince myself to try swimming.

Anyway, on a happier note, I finally got a new trash can/ Kleenex box holder for my car! It was $15 at the car wash and worth every penny. Look!

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Yes, I finally got my car washed. It IS indeed black, and not brown, lol! While I was at it, I enjoyed one of these:

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and I got some of these for the car:

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I discovered a really good new healthy snack! Tara actually let me try one of these crackers at Ragnar, and I finally found them at AJ’s!

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I got the hummus at Sprouts, and with the Almond crackers, it is perfect!

I also cooked some great healthy stuff this week. I am going to blog about one of the recipes soon. Here’s a sneak preview:

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Right now, though, I need to be doing this:

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I have an early day tomorrow, so I’m hittin’ the sack. I hope everyone, including myself, kicks Monday in the face!!

‘Til next time….

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Posted in General, Healthy Eating, Running, Vacation Time, Working Out

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Kentucky Derby Festival Mini-Marathon Recap

Posted on April 27, 2013 by pugmamastace| 4 Comments

I got up at the crack of dawn (middle of the night Phoenix time) this morning to run 13.1 in my hometown!

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Here was the finish line being put up this morning

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(source: KDF Facebook page)

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Starting line potties!

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This was my tribute to Boston this race Smile

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These ladies had awesome shirts that they had made for their Boston tribute!

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(source: KDF Facebook page)

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(source: KDF Facebook page)

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Corral C where I started

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Lots of spectators at the starting line! Great way to get pumped up!

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My picture of the starting line. May not look like it, but it was perfect weather for a race!

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We got to run down Main St past the Yum Center!! (Where U of L BBall plays!)

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This girl’s sign said she “is getting hitched on Derby Day!” How cute!!

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There’s the girl running with the American flag-too cool!!

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I liked his shirt Smile

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Mile 3!!!

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Running through Old Louisville was beautiful!! So much green, I loved it!

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Heading into Churchill Downs through the tunnel

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The World Famous Twin Spires!!

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The grandstands

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Horses running on the track practicing for the Derby!!

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The split off of the marathon and the mini marathon-I’ve never been so glad in my life to take a left!!!

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Kevin Ware’s cardboard cutout was hanging out on the side of the road!

That was the last picture I took during the race because it was at around mile 10, and it was time to focus and dig deep.

The race was in general really great! I enjoyed it so much and plan to continue making it a yearly event! Hopefully making 26.2 miles happen next year!

My hamstring behaved for the most part the whole time. I was told by Devin that he would kick my ass if I looked at my Garmin during the race! He was concerned that I would push myself too hard if I kept looking at my pace. That’s what happened during PF Changs. I did look at my Garmin, but I didn’t let it dictate my pace. I tried to adjust it based on how my hamstrings were feeling. I was able to keep it around a 10 minute mile the entire time! I purposely pulled back several times because I started to notice that my right hamstring didn’t like me very much. It helped! I struggled once I got to around miles 9-10, because I started feeling the fact that I hadn’t run more than 4 miles at a time for like 2 months! I was able to pick up my pace once I hit mile 12. I held it at around 9:30-9:40 until I rounded the corner to the finish line, then I finished really strong. My pace on my Garmin when I crossed the finish line was a 7:41.

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It didn’t hurt then, but I am pretty sore now. It felt so good, though! After the race, I got my mylar (thought they only gave those out at fulls!?) and my medal, and found Mom and Dad.

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Before I found Mom and Dad, though, I saw a cutie that I just had to get a picture of! His name is Rafa! What an adorable Corgi! I took this pic to send to a special someone-you know who you are Winking smile

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Nice braids, Stace’!

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Love the Riverfront! Planning on a nice recovery run there tomorrow.

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How cute are they!! Front and back of their Team Stacey shirts they made!

Great job on the color and the design Mel! Great idea guys, I loved them!

I’m going to end with my new favorite race picture, taken by my sister:

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This shows how truly happy I was to have my amazing family there today to support me. I have never had family at a race before, and it felt so awesome and made me SO happy!! It just felt right today. Running in my hometown with my family there to support me, and actually pulling off a 2:19:30 to boot!! Wow what a day!

Now, I’m sore and my body hurts, so I am going to bed. It was all worth it, though. Hopefully, the next race recap I do will be a PR and I will be nursed back to health finally!

Thanks so much to my Mom and Dad and Mel and Johnnie for coming and cheering for me! Best race ever!! I love you all!!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Posted in Running, Sweat Pink, Vacation Time

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PF Chang’s RNRAZ Half Marathon recap and An Awesome Giveaway!!

Posted on January 26, 2013 by pugmamastace| 8 Comments

I registered for the PF Chang’s Rock’n’Roll Arizona half marathon back before we went to NYC. After NYC, I planned on upgrading it to the full marathon for it to be my first full. About a month ago, my dream of running my first full marathon with a couple of my good friends had to be sidelined again due to a hamstring injury.

I kept thinking that I wouldn’t have run the race if I hadn’t already registered, but I am SO glad I did!! Injured and all, I had an amazing time! I also got to watch two amazing ladies and fellow AZ Bloggers cross the finish line of their first full marathon!! Check out Ari’s recap here. I think I was more excited about them crossing the finish line than I was about me running a halfway decent half marathon!

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(Taken by Ari’s hubby Steve—doesn’t he take amazing pics!!)

I got up early Sunday morning, threw on my new BTB tank with a running skirt and some calf sleeves, wrapped my hammy with a heating pad and was off to pick up Devin.

We got to the race with about 25 minutes to spare, hit the porta potties, and got into our corral. We were in corral 11. (At least I was, and Devin, who has the patience of a saint and Mother Theresa combined, started with me and stayed with me the whole race!)

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After the national anthem, and the first 10 corrals, we were off to the races!

I felt pretty good at about a 10:30 pace for the first 3-4 miles. Around mile 4, my hamstring started bothering me. I felt a small sharp pain in the middle of my hamstring, and knew I was in trouble. I kept running and slowing down. Every time I looked at my Garmin, I would get pissed at what I saw. I needed to slow down, though! I decided to just turn off my Garmin and stop torturing myself sometime during mile 4. It was the perfect decision. I stopped worrying about pace and started to pay attention to how I was feeling. After that, I settled into a pace that felt good and didn’t hurt.

As we got to the top of the incline that was the entire length of Thomas Rd we ran on, we turned south and ran into Papago Park by the Buttes. It was beautiful! After running through this area for a for a bit, we ran by Lori and Jeff-my physical therapist and her man. It was SO awesome to see people I knew cheering for me!! After that, we only had about a mile and a half left to go. They had some really cool signs set up with inspirational quotes and sayings that were actually really motivating! They were set up at the perfect spot-just when I needed to have a little bit of a mental boost. The people at the aid stations were holding signs as well. My favorite one was “Chuck Norris never ran a half marathon!!” SO great! Made me laugh out loud Smile.

As we crossed the bridge on Mill Ave, there were tons of spectators cheering and holding signs on the other side, and all the way until we got to the finish line. It was such a cool atmosphere!

When we crossed the finish line, I was relieved to be done. It wasn’t my best race by a long shot, but I finished strong, and hopefully didn’t do anymore hamstring damage. I chugged some water and headed straight for the medical station to get some ice. Then, I headed back towards the finish line to wait for Coach Susan to cross the finish line. She came across (the marathon side) at just under 3 hours. Amazing. An inspiration. Wow! Soon to follow were Samantha Meyerhoff (also an amazing inspiration!), Carrie, and Kelly (both BTB’ers.) It is so cool to be part of such an amazingly talented team of runners! (I think I said that last week in a post, too!)

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We then headed over to get some Rockin’ Refuel for recovery and a banana because I was hungry! We checked out the family reunion area, then headed back to the finish line to wait for Ari and Nicole. When they crossed, I jumped up and down and screamed like a proud mom! I am so proud of them both for becoming marathoners, and hope to be right there with them as a marathoner soon!IMG_0598

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What an amazing day! I will definitely run RNRAZ again next year if I can.I really enjoyed it. In fact, I would travel to another city to run another RNR race. If you are looking for a good race, definitely check out RNR!

After I got home and relaxed a little bit, I got on Facebook to play around like I always do. I saw Rockin’ Refuel had posted something about RNRAZ, so I commented on their post. I said something along the lines of “I am so excited that I auditioned for Team Refuel at the RNRAZ expo and I hope I make the team.”

I got a response! They said that it was so great that I am a supporter of RR and that they would love to send me a goody bag with a Rockin’ Refuel Race Jersey and some other swag and coupons. How cool was that?!! So I messaged them my info, and they sent me an awesome running shirt and some coupons for RR, and said they would love for me to be a part of their team! So I am on Team Rockin’ Refuel!!!! They are also supporting a giveaway for my readers!!!! Could I be anymore excited!??

So, Rockin’ Refuel will provide the winner of my giveaway with a Rockin’ Refuel T-shirt and a case of their non-refrigerated Rockin’ Refuel Intense Recovery.

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All you have to do is like Rockin’ Refuel and Pugmamastace  on Facebook, and follow us both on Twitter (if you Tweet.) Leave a comment below letting me know you have done both, and tell me if you like chocolate milk as a post workout recovery drink! The cool part is that I have always loved RR, and get it whenever I can find it at the store after my long runs and intense workouts. What a great opportunity to help promote a product that I actually love and use myself!

Did you run PF Chang’s this past weekend?

Full or half marathon?

Have you run Ragnar? Tell me all about it!!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

I was given the product mentioned above, and Rockin’ Refuel is providing product for this giveaway. I am not otherwise being compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.

Posted in General, Healthy Eating, Running

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19 Minute PR! It’s about time!!

Posted on December 3, 2012 by pugmamastace| 3 Comments

My amazing friend, fellow blogger and runner Ari talks about a day in her life when the stars aligned and she had the race of her life. I always wondered what that would feel like….until yesterday.

My finish times of my first two half marathons (1st and 2nd), were nothing to write home about. Going into yesterday’s race, my PR for 13.1 miles was 2:27:48. During those two races, I had “F-it” moments right in the middle of both of them. I still finished, because I’m not one to DNF unless I’m truly injured-but I gave up on my goal time during both races. I have come SO far since then! I knew I had more potential than my official race times have shown.

Yesterday, I woke up, had come coffee, a Clif Bar and a banana, then shaved my legs (can’t sleep with prickly pear legs, and didn’t want to run with them either!) Then, I headed over to my running partner-in-crime Devin’s to ride up to Scottsdale for the Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon.

Parking was a mess, but we managed to park. The porta potty lines were ridiculous, because there were like 5 of them for the entire marathon, but we went. We met Megan in line, then headed over to the starting line. Then, we started 5 minutes after the official start because we thought they were calling last call to line up! Oopsie!! They were calling last call to start running!! So we jogged up to the starting line, made it over the blue mat, and were off!

Coach Susan sent all of the BTB team members an email helping us to prepare for the race. The most noteworthy aspect of the email to me was when she talked about strategies for the race. She suggested segmenting the race up into a “5-5-5.” First 5 miles, second 5 miles, then a 5K. The first 5 miles were to be taken a little bit slower than goal race pace. The second 5 were to be around goal race pace. The last 5K could be run at goal pace, or could be pushed faster if possible.  I also got a race pace bracelet with splits for a goal finish time of 2:15 to help along the way.

Devin, Megan and I started together, and I purposely held back to align myself with coach Loken’s strategy. The first 5 miles were at or around 10 minute miles. I felt really good from the beginning. Throughout the race, my physical feelings were up and down just like my mental ones were. I went into the race with the attitude of “this is going to happen,” as in my goal finish time.  Susan always says that anything can happen if you just believe. I truly believe that now. More on the mental aspect later. During the times when I got a little bit tired. I would just tell myself that it will be up and down the whole race.  I would feel better in a little bit, and just focus on the mile I am on. It totally worked out that way!

The second 5 miles gradually increased in pace as we went. Sometimes, I didn’t even feel like I was going as fast as I was! Devin continuously paced himself a little bit ahead of me. I assumed he was pushing me, and he was! I am grateful for his efforts to help me meet my goal! It worked, didn’t it!? The second half of the course was mostly on a path that allowed us to go under all of the roads. It added small uphills and downhills to the course making it interesting. When I got to mile 11.5-12, I really started pushing the pace. Devin suggested that when we get to the last quarter mile, we should crank up the pace and finish strong. I told him that we were already running in the 8’s (mind you, like 8:55!!) and that I was more of a “last tenth of a mile” kinda girl, lol! I was definitely trying to be comfortable and tactful being uncomfortable at that point! I looked at the time on my Garmin and knew that there was a chance of breaking not only 2:10, but possibly finishing within a 2:08. As we rounded the corner to the finish line and it was looking pretty close, I took off. It’s like I turned on reserve rocket boosters! The combination of the crowd cheering and the potential finish time were my motivations! I have never felt so amazing crossing a finish line in my life!!  Here are the splits laid out in detail:

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I have struggled with my mental game when it comes to running for a long time. Coach Loken suggested I read a book called “Running Within.” I am still in the process of reading it, but so far, I really like it. Our bodies try to signal fatigue way before we are actually at the physical point of it. We can push ourselves much further than we realize. It takes practice to find out what our bodies are actually capable of, and to get used to feeling comfortable being uncomfortable while running. Obviously, we want to be aware that we should only push ourselves so far, as to not cause injury or physical harm to ourselves. It is just a matter of getting to know our own bodies. Do what you feel comfortable with, and obviously consult a doctor before starting to train for any kind of race if you are new to the game. That is my medical professional disclaimer, lol!

Anyway, coach Susan’s firm belief that you can accomplish anything if you believe has become truth to me. Going into the race with the attitude that what I want to happen IS going to happen was one of the things that kept me going throughout the race. The book talks about visualization as a tool for success. I visualized myself crossing the finish line at 2:10 (even though I set out to get 2:15), and didn’t even entertain the option of it not happening. It worked. I am grateful!

I can’t thank Susan enough for her amazing coaching and race preparation strategies! She is amazing, and I am proud to be a member of Believe Train Become, or BTB, and have her as my coach! I am also so thankful to Devin for making sure I met my goal, even though I didn’t outright express that I was going for 2:10. He kept pace to finish at or before 2:10, and ran with me the whole time even though he could’ve smoked past me from the start! What an amazing friend!!

So I finished the half marathon in 2:08:45, with a PR of 19 minutes and 3 seconds!! BTB came in second overall as a team! Susan came in second and Carrie Weldy third of the women! How amazing!!!!

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I’m definitely getting this one engraved!

Best. Race. Ever.

What is your best race ever?? What is the largest time by which you’ve PR’d? Have you ever felt like you just can’t get your shit together and run a race up to your full potential!? Leave me some love below!!!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Posted in Running

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First Time Visiting San Diego/AFC Half Marathon Recap-Part 2

Posted on August 30, 2012 by pugmamastace| 5 Comments

There are some really good pictures that Ari’s hubby Steve took of us while in SD that I want to share with you. Steve is an amazing photographer. Ari is not only lucky to have such a great husband, but he takes all of the pictures for her blog! He knows how to do the lighting and shadowing and everything you can imagine to make the pictures look perfect! So check out some of these:

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Ari and I “running” to the expo

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Ari and I at Coronado Beach soaking up some sun

After we got ready, and I got my Rockstar, we went to a little Italian restaurant in San Diego to meet the team for dinner. Susan, our coach, was there to greet us with her awesome smile and enthusiasm!

 

I ended up having a pasta with mushroom and tomato sauce with grilled pesto chicken, and Italian Wedding soup. Dinner was pretty good. As we were waiting for our dinner, Susan went around the table and gave us these sweet little motivational cards. Her training team is called “Believe Train Become,” so these were so perfect!

Each person’s card had a different quote inside. Mine was perfect! I have a pretty cool story, and I blog to share my journey with the world! I loved my card Smile By about 7:30, we decided to head out so we could get to bed early. We swung by Nordstrom on the way back so I could get a bright colored running skirt, since I brought all grey and white. Oopsie! Not the best way to stand out in a crowd!

One more picture from dinner by Steve before I move on to the race:

Source: arismenu.com

Ari, Susan and I at dinner the night before the race

Now for the race. It was a beautiful morning in San Diego, and we got to see the sun rising from the starting line.

It definitely wasn’t cool by any means, but I never could’ve predicted, based on the weather at 5am, how much the weather was going to affect my race.

One thing I LOVE to see at races is lots of these:

There were two beautiful rows of porta potties at the starting line! I probably went to the bathroom about 4 or 5 times before the start just in case. It took no time to get into them either. SO great! You can tell a woman was involved in the planning Winking smile

Here was my PaceTat that I wore to help guide me to my goal. More about that later….

Ari and I before the race. How cute are these blogger girls!! That is the purple skirt I got last minute the night before the race. LOVED it! I plan on buying more Nike Women’s Running Skirts at Sole Sports soon!

Our feet were ready! Ready to PR in our pink shoelaces!

I wasn’t able to take any pictures during the race. I was too nervous and too focused on my goal. I think my goal was way too ambitious for me at this point in my training, and in the hot, humid weather we experienced that day.

I wanted to run between a 2:05-2:15 if I couldn’t keep up with Ari the whole time. We started off at a fast pace for me, and kept it going for about the first 3-4 miles. There was a decent sized hill in the first 1-2 miles, so it was harder than expected to keep the pace. I pulled back from Ari at about mile 4, because I just couldn’t keep up a 9:00 pace any longer. I was already hot, and my legs were already complaining. I backed off to about a 10:00 pace and stopped to use the porta potty around mile 5. Through miles 6-8, I had a few “F%#& this! I don’t care about my time anymore, because this sucks!” moments, and took a few walk and stretch breaks. At this point, I knew that my goal of a 2:10, or even 2:15 half marathon was not going to happen.

Continuing on, I poured a few cups of water over my head and soaked myself, along with chugging quite a few cups. Thank GOD for the awesome volunteers at the race! Note to self: Do not drench yourself when wearing this kind of running skirt. It started to stick to my legs, and get on my nerves. I tucked the skirt up into itself so I was just wearing the spandex shorts underneath it. I actually really liked just wearing the shorts! I might have to but some of those, as well….

I somehow started to feel better during miles 8-11. I went through a period of Runner’s High, and though to myself “I am going to finish this thing so strong! I am going to kick that hill’s ass!”

Those were great miles.

Then came the hill.

So I’m running through more of a downtown area, and the road starts to incline. I started to turn the corner to the left, and I’m thinking “that wasn’t so bad,” then I saw what was around the corner. There were people and hill as far as my eyes could see. I know this sounds bad, but seeing that was such a mental blow to my confidence, that I totally psyched myself out. I took a walk break, and then ran/walked the whole rest of the hill. It was like a mile long!! Wow, was that a terrible thing to hit during the last few miles of a race!

After getting to the top of the hill, I turned the corner again, and ran into Susan, my running coach. She had already finished in like 1:26. Yup, wow. Wow! She is amazing isn’t she!? She ran with me until about mile 12.75 or so, encouraging me, and telling me that the heat was really affecting everyone. Even the elite runners were 5 minutes slower than their regular times. I told her I was miserable, and she said she knew. We were dealing with circumstances beyond our control. I took a walk break, and then she said, “ok, lets get going,” so I did. She told me I needed to drink Gatorade after the finish because I looked white. I had no idea I was dehydrated after all of the water and sports drink I had! She turned me loose to finish by myself, and I pulled the fastest sprint I could out of myself.

My legs were tight and my lower back hurt, which had never happened to me before. I got my medal, walked around, found Ari and Steve, got some Gatorade, and headed over to find our team.

I finished in 2:27:55, which was a PR for me. I was disappointed with my time, because it was SO much slower than I had hoped for; but Susan says to always be happy with a PR, no matter what! I learned that you always have to be flexible with your expectations come race day. You never know how you are going to feel, and how the conditions are going to affect your race. I also went out way too fast! I really wanted to keep up with Ari for as long as I could. I think I ended up, without knowing it, sabotaging my last several miles by wiping myself out at the beginning. It’s my own fault. You live and you learn, right!? I wonder what it would feel like to go into a race with absolutely no goals or expectations of myself? I think I might try to do that this fall after NYCM is over. Ari did a review of the race that addressed a lot of these issues, and did a great job writing it! I totally agree with the things she learned that she pointed out. Go check out her AFC Half Marathon Recap!

After the race, we took showers, checked out of the hotel, and went to brunch. I had a Lobster Egg White Omelet with some veggies, and potatoes. It totally hit the spot!

We got some really good cupcakes, then headed home.

It was a very hard race, but I learned a lot from it, (and set myself up to PR again on my next half!) Probably will be RNRAZ, a.k.a. PF Chang’s in January. Weather will be much better, and I will have finished a full marathon by then.

Stay tuned for more posts later this week! I am reviewing BIC Bands, and showing you some of the fun NYC Marathon stuff I’ve been checking out.

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Posted in General, Running

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Playing in the Puddles

Posted on August 17, 2012 by pugmamastace| Leave a comment

 

I missed my track workout Wednesday morning, so I did it Thursday morning instead. I Google Earthed the elementary/junior high by our house to see if they had a track, and they did! I was so excited!

I had 4X400 meters at 5K pace with 400 meter recovery intervals between followed by a mile at half marathon goal pace. I, for some reason, thought it was mile pace, so I did the 400’s at mile goal pace. Oopsie! I hope that doesn’t bite me in the ass on Sunday when I am running in San Diego!

So I get to the “track” and realize that the track is a dirt track. It rained the night before. So it was a dirt track with puddles. And mud. So here is what a GPS map looks like when you are running in circles dodging puddles while trying to keep up a good pace!

image

Like that? Yeah, it was great Smile I’ll be traveling to Desert Vista next time I do a track workout on my own.

Despite the zigzagging and muddy shoes, the workout went well! Here were my splits:

image

Everyone else did a one mile time trial this week, but Ari and I didn’t because we are running our half this weekend. I am curious to see how much my mile time has improved. (Hopefully it has.)

Next week is going to be tough for sure! Included in our training will be hill repeats instead of track, and a 14 mile long run on Saturday. Last time Ari and I tried running 10 miles the weekend after our halves, we were dying by mile 6 or 7.  This is where we really have to start digging deep!

Well, we just crossed over the Arizona/California border on Interstate 8. I can’t wait to go to bed! We are going to hit the expo tomorrow morning, then probably relax on the beach during the afternoon. NO WALKING the whole day before for me this time!

I will definitely blog this weekend and keep ya’ll posted on how things go!

Happy Trails!

Stacey

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Latest Reads and Eats

Posted on July 15, 2012 by pugmamastace| Leave a comment

I finished my last book this week, which was Point of Retreat by Colleen Hoover.

Point of Retreat

It was the second book in the Slammed series. I t was a good series, but not as good as the last few I have read. I liked Love Unscripted better. I feel like these two books were a bit anticlimactic in comparison.

I just started Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens:

Thoughtless (Thoughtless, #1)

The second book in this series is called Effortless:

Effortless (Thoughtless, #2)

Has anyone read these books? They have popped up in all of my recommendations like on Amazon and Goodreads.com, so I am really excited to read them! Goodreads.com is a really fun website! It has a system designed to recommend books for you based on your ratings of books you have already read.  I already have six more books lined up to read this summer. You can also “friend” people on there and look at books they recommend. Check it out!

I have been making even more candy cups to benefit CFCAZ. I made some samplers this week to let people try them to see if they like them before they order.

I made some new flavors this time, and they turned out amazing! My favorite is the dark chocolate cherry chip cake batter dip filled candy cup. I also made dark chocolate almond butter pretzel, which Cameron LOVED! The white ones with the blue icing swirl in the picture are white chocolate/milk chocolate (top/bottom) with dried blueberries in the middle. I can put any flavor of cake batter dip (strawberry, rainbow chip, cherry chip, butter pecan) in any flavor of chocolate (white, dark, milk, or even butterscotch chip). I am selling them for $1 per cup to raise money for Chances for Children. Let me know if you would like to order some!

Tonight, I made an amazing recipe that I got from Ari’s Menu that I’ve been wanting to try for awhile! Here it is with some chicken satay skewers that I got from Costco:

Check out her yummy recipe here!

I’m really glad to be done with my weekend of work for another two weeks. I have jury duty on Thursday. How exciting, huh? I have been called twice in 6 years here in AZ, and my hubby? None! WTH?? We’ll see if I end up staying the entire time. I still have to go to work afterwards to complete my 12 hour shift for the day. Then, I am home free for another three-day weekend!

On the training schedule this week are a couple of short recovery runs, a track workout, and an 11-12 mile long run on Saturday. I’ll be recapping my week 4 on here soon! Hills are slowly, but surely becoming an acquaintance….not yet a friend Smile.

Happy Trails and Have a Great Week!!

Stacey

Posted in Books, General, Healthy Eating, Running

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Diva’s Half Marathon San Francisco Bay Recap

Posted on May 7, 2012 by pugmamastace| 13 Comments

Yesterday morning, I woke up after a long day of walking and about 5 hours of sleep, and decided to go on a little run by the water.

Saturday, we were out in San Francisco all day, and I managed not to walk too too much. Then we decided we wanted to go home from Fisherman’s Wharf, which is at the far north side of the city. We made a wrong turn walking to the trolley station, and ended walking for WAY too long. My feet actually started to hurt. I knew I was screwed, so I decided to call it “tapering cross-training” to make myself feel better Smile

Back to the morning of the race. I arrived around at the race about an hour early, because I wanted to make sure I got there with no problems. Thank God I did, because this was a women’s event with over 5600 women-all of which had to pee before the race-including myself!

Yup, that’s the line for the porta potties. It took about 25 minutes to get through the line. I still got to the starting line with plenty of time to spare.

Here was part of the pancake flat course:

I found my corral, which was based on average pace, and we were off within about 8 minutes of the scheduled start time.

You’ve gotta love a sea of pink!

So we were off! The first 4 to 5 miles were good. I kept my pace at or around 10 minutes. As I approached the end of mile 5, the girl who ended up winning passed all of us going the other direction. She was amazing!! I think she finished in about 1:28! Right after that, I had to take a potty and a stretch break. I was starting to feel the tiredness in my legs. 

After the break, through the turnaround and into mile 6, I started to feel a hot spot around my big toe. Just after mile 6, I took my first and only gel, a Strawberry Banana Gu. Of course, I picked the no caffeine one by accident when I needed caffeine the most!!

I kept going through mile 6 into 7, and I felt something “release” and burn a little bit under my big toe. The blister split open. OMG. I got so scared that I was done for! Blisters can be show stoppers if you still have a lot of distance left to go. For me, I was only a little bit over halfway. As I continued, the pain of the blister didn’t get any worse. Thank God!

I think it was during mile 7 that I stopped to re-tie my shoes and stretch a little bit. Mile 8 was hard, because I had to go to the bathroom again, and my legs were starting to feel like lead. I told myself I wouldn’t stop until the next porta pottie. That was around mile 9. I stopped to use the restroom, and sat down. There are toilet seat covers in these things in SF! I did not want to get back up. My legs were fatigued. After spending way too much time (probably 3-4 minutes!) sitting and stretching, I got back on track and continued running.

It was at about this point where I really started to struggle. My legs were like lead, and both feet started to feel tingly like they were on fire. They weren’t tingling because my legs were numb, like a nerve tingle. My feet were bothering me just from running so far in my shoes! It was horrible! The ends of my toes were even hurting. For the last 5K, I decided “screw my time, I cannot run the rest of this. F*$& putting so much pressure on myself, because in this condition, I’ll be lucky if I finish. I cannot believe I signed up for a half, I’ll NEVER be able to do a full!! Not if I have all of these issues!!” I ran and walked the next 2 or so miles, until I got to about mile 12. The crowd started to thicken up, people had signs and were cheering, and I knew I was getting close to the end! I kept looking for the tiara and boa station, because I knew it was right at the finish. When I saw it, I got SO excited! I had managed to keep running the last mile and not stop! I grabbed my tiara and slung the boa around my neck, and took off! Then, right before the finish line, I saw Cameron with the camera and got all geeked out and waved and smiled!! Then I really gave it all I had for the last stretch, and crossed the finish line at 2:28:29!! I grabbed two waters, and a banana and took down almost a whole bottle! Here are my splits:

image

Even though I had an “F this $#!T moment” during the last part of the race, I am still SO happy that I did it! Here I am post race decked out in my Diva gear and my amazing medal!!

This was a completely awesome event! The Divas Half Marathon series is well organized, energetic, and a lot of fun! The only complaint I have is that the “coat check” which is the gear check they had took forever to get us our bags after the race. The line was longer than the bathroom lines at the beginning, and it took Cameron and I 45 minutes to get my bag. If I hadn’t checked my brand new $50 VS Pink hoodie, we would’ve said forget it and just left it. Other than that, I highly recommend this event to anyone that likes girly fun stuff (and loves to run!)

There are, as I mentioned in an earlier post, events in other fun places; including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Maybe we can plan our first Hawaiian vacation around a future Divas Half Marathon!

There is a really great picture of Cameron and I and “Rockman” the DJ from the race that I wanted to include. I can’t post it right now, though, because my phone is having issues with its internet connection hotel room. I will save it for the next post.

Thanks again to everyone that followed me on my journey through my first half marathon! It means SO much to me to have such support!! It made it that much more fun to have all of you cheering me on! It really helped with motivation during the hard times, as well.

What is the worst race experience you have ever had?

What on earth am I doing wrong to cause my feet to epically fail in every way possible during long runs/races???? (This problem MUST be fixed for me to continue training at high mileage.)

Tell me about your first half marathon? How was it? Did you have a F&”#! this $#!% moment at any point during the race?? Did it take you some time to finally realize you want to do it again?

Happy Trails!

Stacey

Posted in General, Running

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Twins!!

Posted on April 28, 2012 by pugmamastace| 8 Comments

No, not me! Heidi!!

I went to a wonderful baby shower today for my amazing friend Heidi and her twins! She is absolutely glowing, and beautiful carrying those little ones. (Heidi is responsible for igniting my hiking addiction, which eventually lead to my running addiction. Thank you Heidi!!!)

I am SO happy for her and her husband Bill! They do not know the genders yet, and will be waiting until they are born to find out. Today was full of green, yellow and ducks! “There can never be too many ducks!”

Heidi's Shower2

Even I felt the slightest bit maternal, for about 5 seconds. Don’t tell anyone.

Molli brought the ridiculously yummy cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes. OMG I was out of control eating them! I had three (kinda little) pieces!!

Wow. That is all.

More ducks! I love onesies! I even have one of my own….again, don’t tell anyone.

You’re doing so well practicing, Heidi!! Smile More ducks!

Heidi's Shower

I am so amazingly blessed to have such a great group of women as friends. What a fun group! It turned out to be a beautiful day, as well!

After the shower, I came home and actually did a few one productive things. Ok, I started a load of laundry, too, so that counts as two, right? I also took a nap! Three!

Since I increased my mileage, especially after yesterday’s 10 miler, my appetite has been out of control! Does anyone else have this problem? Thank God I run!! I had fro-yo again tonight, and the dinner of champions:

Yes, that is a Pretzel Lean Pocket. Lean Pocket, ok? Not processed at all! I also found some yummy flavors of Laughing Cow light at the grocery. Queso Fresco and Chipotle, and Sun-Dried Tomato something. They were good. Oh, and that’s caffeine-free diet Pepsi with cherry behind the food. Like I said, dinner of champions. Don’t take nutrition advice from me. Ever.

 

Now, Ali and I are having girls night. Watching TV, blogging, reading blogs, and planning some fun stuff for San Francisco next week. Yes Cameron, that is Ali in the bed. That’s what happens when you leave your girls unattended. When the cat’s away, the mice will play. She’s curled up by my legs at the end of the bed on my side, don’t worry. Smile

Do you become a human garbage disposal when you run a lot?

Are you hungry every 2-3 hours?

To what extent do you taper the week before a half-marathon?

Hope ya’ll have a great weekend!

Happy Trails!

Posted in General, Healthy Eating, Hiking, Running

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What’s a PDR?

Posted on April 13, 2012 by pugmamastace| 11 Comments

So today I did my long run with this amazing girl through the wonderful streets of Ahwatukee. I hadn’t run with Ari before, or done a long run with anyone for that matter. I preferred to keep my wimpy walk breaks and possible inability to actually do a long run to myself. When she tweeted me to see if I wanted to run 10 miles with her on Friday, I told her I was up for 8, and might not be able to hang. I was honestly scared to fail!

                                      Funny Running Bassett Hound

Ari took me under her wing, set a good (reasonable!) long run pace, and we were off. An hour and a half of awesome conversation, my nose draining like a faucet, Circle K bathroom breaks, and finally getting to run along the route I take to get to work every morning (I usually get jealous of all the people running down 48th St as I drive to work!), we were at mile 8.3. Ari says to me “Just to let you know, I am a workout pusher, so I am going to push you to run 9 miles today.”  Wow! She’s serious? Ok! So we did! I felt amazing, and my confidence bounced back almost immediately. I can DO this! I CAN run a half-marathon! We even pushed the pace to around 9:20-9:40 during the last mile or so. So I have a new PDR (personal distance record-thx for the dorky running term lesson Ari Smile)!!!

Needless to say, I have an amazing new friend, and had a fantastic time running with her today! She is so positive, and really makes you believe in yourself.

I’ve realized that the reason why I get miserable and hate life during so many of my longer runs is that I really do push myself too hard. I don’t give myself a break and just enjoy myself! I have always been too hard on myself, and running is definitely no exception.

                                            Don't Be So Hard on Yourself

So thank you Ari for having patience and believing in me! (–AND for showing me Dutch Brothers!)

We met this amazing girl at Dutch Brothers for some post-run caffeine and sugar-free white chocolate goodness. I wish I could’ve stayed longer! (I wish we had taken a pic! I forgot…)

That’s ok, because all of the girls are running The Firefly Run tonight!! I am SO excited to hang out with all of you awesome ladies again; and, I finally get to meet Diana!

I also got a new pair of running shoes today that I am SUPER excited about! The Asics Gel Kayano 18’s.

                    

Something about them when I tried them on felt SO good and supportive and stable. Thanks so much to my friend Karen at Sole Sports for helping me to make sure these were perfect for me. I can’t WAIT to try them out!

Is anyone running the Firefly run tomorrow night?

Tell me the story about your PDR and how you felt afterward.

What is your favorite kind of caffeine to get after a good workout?

                                 Awesome Quote

Happy Trails!!

Posted in General, Running

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