One And Done? & the Spartan Race Winner!

Today's topic for TOTR really spoke to me...in a way that made me laugh! I've never been a "one and done" runner. I never even said it about my first marathon. I knew that no matter how it went, I'd want to run at least two.

I'm joining Erika and the ladies for TOTR!

But really, I was tickled by this topic because I'm notorious for running the same races over and over again. I have so many duplicate bibs and medals from local races - especially 5ks - because I just love a familiar, nearby course! Here are some notable repeats in no particular order (all the race recaps can be found on My Races page):

Sanibel Race for FISH 10k. This is my favorite 10k and I've run it four years in a row. I plan to run it again this year and I'll be dragging Elizabeth along as well. The course is beautiful and always a joy to run. This is my most-often repeated race because they've never changed anything about it and the date (early October) is always easy for me to fit into my schedule.

My PR is on this course and I hope to break it here again this year.

Race the Roof 8k/15k. This race is absolutely gorgeous. It winds through lots of vegetation and over boardwalks. The inaugural year they offered a 5k and 8k, and after that they bumped the 8k to a 15k. I missed it in 2014 and 2015 because they don't advertise registration very well and I always miss it, but I plan to repeat it a third time this fall.

The Fast and the Furriest 5k. This was the first race I ever ran alone. I loved that the course was the same as the Race for the Cure course, so I knew it really well and could plan my strategy by it. I ran it the next year with my friend Kim, who drove over from the other coast to visit and run it with me, and that's another reason this race has such good memories for me. They moved it in 2014 and now it's too far for me to drive for a 5k, so I don't run it anymore, but I'll always think of it fondly.

A1A half/marathon. When I ran this half in 2015, it was on my birthday and I was getting over some sickness. I was surprised by how strong I felt and how much I enjoyed the entire course. Obviously I returned this year and surprised myself (and everyone else) by running the full. Again, I loved every step of the course. I'm debating going back next year for logistical reasons, but this is definitely one I like to repeat.

ALSO Youth Turkey Trot. I really loved this race when it was a 10k, but when they got rid of the 10k option I ran the 5k once and lost my love for it. Running over a HUGE bridge twice in a 5k is just too much to ask of me; I'm not against running it, but it hasn't been a priority for me over the last couple years. I do love the cause it supports, though, so I hope they bring back the 10k option eventually.

Shark's Tooth 10k. The Shark's Tooth is a 10k I've run more than once but probably won't run again. Last year it was just too hot! The first time I ran it was as the last race in a series challenge, and it was fairly cool out and a nice race. The next year, it was downright brutally hot. I wish it weren't an April race because the course is lovely and the medal is cute, but there's no shade during the entire 10k and the start time is after sunrise, so it's just too hot for me to truly enjoy.

Pretty course...but no shade at all! In April in Florida, that's a deal-breaker.

These factors make me want to repeat a race: location, cost, swag, and my own personal experience on the course. If I had a magical time out there, I'll probably be back for the next one!

PS: The winner of the FREE entry to the Spartan Race is my good friend Montana! I know that seems improbable, but I used Rafflecopter to generate a random winner, so who am I to argue?!

I know the race entry is going to someone who will really use it, so that's good news, too :)

Are you a "one and done" racer?
What is a race you like to do every year?
What factors win over your race loyalty?

ABK

Blog Mistakes & Evolution

Monday night around 6pm, I thought it was about time I updated the header over here at Hit the Ground Running. Little did I know, it would cause a little stress and take two hours of my time to fix.

To keep a long, boring story short, what happened was that I considered turning my blog blue instead of its usual purple. Rather than changing the colors manually, I fiddled around with the template, and the next thing you know, the blog was restored it its original settings, which meant it was coral!

I shouldn't have clicked that...

Luckily I had saved the specs for my backgrounds, headings, fonts, etc. So I dug out my external hard-drive and set everything back like I had it, one setting at a time.

And this is why we back things up. I was so relieved I still had this!

Then I played with the header. Choosing pictures is really hard! I felt like all the running photos were redundant, but I wanted to pick photos that were important to me currently and more recent than in the old header. 

I also cleaned up the text a little; I wanted a simpler look to go along with my focus on simplicity in my running this year. I'm not a graphic designer or artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I did okay.

The pictures I settled on are: me after PR'ing the A1A marathon; Kristin and me crossing the finish line together after running the Gasparilla 15k; me contemplating life at one of my favorite running spots; me and Matt on my birthday at the A1A half; me doing my two favorite things at once.

My header has been through quite an evolution as I've gotten more into blogging. Here's what it used to look like way back in the day:

This was the first time I ever created something like this, and I was pretty proud.

Then, I decided my photos needed to be more fitness oriented, so I got rid of the headshot.

Of course, then I discovered PicMonkey and loved how streamlined I could make everything look! I never liked the space between all the pictures in this one, though.

Anyway, once I had the photos figured out, I finalized the look with a new subheading and uploaded it...only to decide that the background was a smidge too dark. So I remade it all over again. And then I decided I didn't like the zoom on one of the photos, but by this time it was 8pm and I wasn't going to waste the rest of my night on this thing!

Just kidding, I fixed the zoom, and it took me another 30 minutes because I was having trouble matching the background color perfectly again.

Now...back to contemplating the color scheme...

When's the last time you updated your blog's look?
How did you choose your header pictures?

ABK

And Now...This

I don't know if you guys watch John Oliver, but I completely stole this post title from him, so here's a little something completely unrelated for your amusement:

The real purpose of this post is to (hopefully) answer the question rolling around in my head for the last week or so: now what? A1A is over and it's time to settle in for a year of speed work and short distances.

Look at that grin! I was zeroing in on the clock; nothing else mattered.

I gave in and ordered a couple pictures despite Marathonfoto's exorbitant prices because PR...and because I forgot to get a picture with the medal after the race.

I know that to get consistently faster, I need to run faster. I need to relearn getting familiar with discomfort for longer distances.

I'm not necessarily looking to officially break any PRs this year because I may not be racing much, but I want to keep those PRs in mind because they'll help me keep track of my progress.

It's time to dust off some of these PRs and get back to these paces!

I plan to incorporate bridge repeats into my weekly plan, along with either a tempo run or a fartlek or interval-type workout. I'll finish any "easy" runs with a few sprints. I want to continue doing a "long" run on the weekends, but what "long" means is up for interpretation at this point. That will give me four running days a week.

I know that getting faster also means getting stronger. I'll be incorporating some kind of resistance or weight training into my weekly schedule. I plan to start small so that I don't overwhelm myself; that means committing to daily planks and squats again and really building that habit before adding anything more complicated.

If speed work two days a week ends up being too much, I'll adjust as necessary until I'm stronger!

Finally, consistency is key here. If I keep my weekday runs around 5 miles and my weekend long run around 10, I'll average 25 miles a week. That's much higher than my usual "off season" mileage and I think it will help me build a really strong foundation and will get my body tuned up and ready for speed!

I'm nervous about this plan; it's not necessarily that lofty, but it's going to take commitment. This is always a tough time of year for running because second semester is always a little tough on my time-management. But I want this, so committed I will be!

...And I hope you guys will help keep me accountable, too, of course! ;o)

I won't begin this routine right away. I'm down for the count from a post-marathon cold, and I need to give myself some time for recovery runs before I started pushing myself too hard. But in the next few weeks, I'll set the plan in motion.

What does your maintenance running schedule usually look like?
How often do you do dedicated speed work?

ABK

Free Race Photos

The Fort Myers Marathon last weekend may have been brutally hot and a major strugglefest...but at least there are free pictures!

I think the pictures really capture the heat, our fatigue, and the general pain that was this morning.

Kristin and I still looking relatively happy at the bottom of the first bridge.

This is just before we went searching for ice at the Wendy's. We're pretending to be happy but too tired to run for the camera.

At the bottom of the last bridge, coming around the final turn to the finish line.

These finishing pictures make me laugh. I was too tired to raise my arms all the way, and my relief is tangible.

I think more races should offer free photos, because it's a motivator to share them, which is free publicity for the race. Honestly, I don't care to reminisce about this race enough to have considered buying/sharing photos otherwise.

Best Damn Race is hoping to provide free photos as well, and that makes me really happy because I think professional pictures of a full marathon are worthwhile keepsakes, but they're usually stupid expensive.

What determines if you'll buy race photos?
Are free photos a factor in whether you'll run a particular race?

ABK

Fort Myers Half Marathon/18-Miler

I was really unexcited for this race. It has a pretty bad reputation for inadequate water stops, the forecast called for ridiculously hot weather, and the race course itself included two giant bridges at the end of the race.

So while I attempted to talk Matt out of spectating - since I wouldn't be racing it anyway - I also decided to rope Kristin into joining me. Misery loves company!

Apparently bridges are a selling point for some people.

Kristin planned to meet me at the house at 4:45am so we could run 5 miles before she signed up the morning of. Then we'd have some time to relax and stretch before the race began at 7am. (Race organizers in Florida need to realize that a marathon/half marathon should start at 6:30 at the latest. Starting after sunrise is asking for disaster.)

I hate you, Florida. Honestly, the weather is making me really nervous for BDR.

Matt was insistent on cheering us on, even though I told him he didn't have to, so I told him he could join us at the finish line so he could sleep later. He decided to come with us and run the 5 miles and spectate the entire race. His presence ended up being our saving grace...but more on that later.

After our five miles, the starting line began to fill up.

Our five miles went smoothly. We got perfect free parking at the start line because we were there so early, and we had plenty of time to have water, use the bathroom, foam roll, and eat before the race began.

And we're off!

The race itself was hot. I know that complaining about weather is one of the most annoying things ever, but seriously. My eyes were burning from my sweat for most of the race, and the heat made it really hard to fuel. Sweet, thick, goopy Gu is just awful when you're running double digits in 90 degrees.

We saw Matt at mile 3 or so and told him to bring us ice the next time we saw him. The course wound through semi-shaded neighborhoods. We struck up conversation with a few other runners. One of the highlights of the course was around mile 5, when we saw "puppies" playing in a yard that turned out to be baby goats. So cute!

We were soon taking walk breaks at each water stop - about every two miles or so - and using landmarks to get ourselves running again. We saw Matt around mile 8, just before we began climbing the first bridge, and at first it looked like he'd forgotten the ice...but fear not! He'd put some in his water bottle for easy transport.

Still all smiles despite the heat.

I shouted, "You're my savior!" as Kristin and I dumped ice in our bras.

We had agreed from the beginning to walk the bridges' ascents. The first bridge had a slow, long slope, and this was our first really long walk break. There was no shade or protection from the sun here, and very little breeze. I began to play mind games - as a race director, what would I add to the race to make it better?

Watermelon. Fruit kabobs. Misters. Troughs of ice along the route. A giant sun-shade to protect the course.

We ran the descent, but the bridge brought us to blacktop and a long, hot slog along 41. Desperate for water, we veered off course to a Wendy's to see if they were open, but no luck.

I texted Matt:

By the time we got to mile 11 of the race (16 for us), we had decided to run to the start of the next bridge, then walk up, as planned. Around 11.5 a woman on the side of the road was providing handfuls of ice, and we gratefully stuffed our bras again and kept trucking. At this point, I just wanted to be done.

My legs felt fine the entire run, but I was just absolutely sapped of energy from the heat. It was really frustrating; if it were cooler out, we could have killed this run.

Bridge 1 on the left, bridge 2 on the right.

Anyway, we got to the base of the bridge and walked. I thanked Kristin for joining me last minute for this long run/race because I think I would have quit without her, it was that miserable. Having a partner really, really helped.

At the top, we knew there was only about half a mile or so left of the race, so we ran down and refused to walk from that point on. We saw Matt just before the finish, and Kristin shouted, "There's Matt! I've never been so happy to see your husband!" I heard Matt yell, "You're almost there, I have your Cokes!"

We ran through the finish together and sat in the grass, where I finally checked my GPS. The half was long, at 13.7 miles.

Matt found us and gave us our Cokes. (Mine said "#1 Fan" on it...so sweet.) Coke after a hot, long run is seriously like the nectar of the gods. If I ever had a doubt before, I know with 100% certainty that Matt is the best spectator ever.

We had water and bananas and generally just tried to cool down in the shade a bit.

The official half time was 2:42ish, about a 12:26 pace, which was fine for a long run, and considering the course was long, my GPS puts the pace at 11:59. Either way, I'm satisfied with that. Our 5 miles before that was at 11:21, so I'm pretty pleased, especially considering all the walking and the horrendous conditions.

Sean had a Go Kart race and couldn't come to the marathon, but he joined us at the end to cheer a bit. It was cool that the top three marathoners were women, but the fact that the lead man had to DNF due to the heat is pretty telling.

After the run, we had breakfast at First Watch.

I had the avocado and bacon skillet with three eggs over easy.

I took a super long nap once we got home. My legs and feet actually feel great, but I'm exhausted. I really hope we get some cooler weather for BDR, because I can't imagine doing a full in this kind of heat.

ABK

Getting Crafty

What does a 20-something teacher a week away from winter break do on her Friday night? Crafts, of course!

Admittedly I'm not a very organized person, but I really wanted a way to put all the photos and memorabilia from the marathon into one place. I had so many photos, etc, to keep that it seemed like overkill to frame and display them all; a scrapbook seemed like the way to go.

After work I stopped by Target to pick up supplies (and let me just say, the snowbirds were out in full force and I spent a good ten minutes in the parking lot laughing myself into tears at some of the "driving" I witnessed), then spent the rest of the night diligently piecing together my memories.

Photos and supplies are ready to go!

I took a break for dinner and observed the mess I had made of the living room. Being crafty isn't tidy, that's for sure.

A work in progress.

Matt and I watched Edge of Tomorrow while I finished my project. I was pleasantly surprised. I may think Tom Cruise is a few sandwiches short of a picnic, but he's still one of my favorite actors.

I'm really happy with how the scrapbook turned out. I fit in the photos I liked most, my D-tag, notes of encouragement, and pages from the welcome packet. Plus, the blog came in handy; I printed out my recap and added it to the end.

Bart Yasso and the Sub 30 Club got their own pages.

A few pages from the finished book.

Now I can annoy guests by insisting they look through the scrapbook. Isn't that the main purpose of photo albums and the like? The bad news is that I may have found another hobby I want to take up...putting the book together was really fun and relaxing!

How do you save and store your race day memories?

How do you typically spend a Friday night?

Are you a Tom Cruise fan?

ABK

The Frosty 5k 2013

Today's race was one I was really looking forward to! It's the first in the 22.4 challenge and marked the beginning of winter break!

The race began at 8am at Twin Lakes Park. Based on my runs this week - fast legs on Monday, heavy legs on Wednesday - I was tentatively hoping for a PR. (Hope only gets you so far; I knew I'd have to push myself.) My goals were: A) break 27:40; B) actually race; C) push through the mental wall I always seem to hit 2/3 of the way into a race.

At the start line...can you find me? (Hint: I'm in the middle, grinning like a lunatic.)

There I am!

The race went well. There were all kinds of costumes to take in on the course (there was an award for best costume) and the majority of the race went through well-shaded neighborhoods. There were two patches of grass that weren't nearly as "firmly packed" as promised, and the final quarter mile was on packed shell around one of the lakes.

I don't envy this guy...he's got some great spirit, but he must have been dripping by the end!

RUNNING'S MY FAVORITE!!

It was a flat and beautiful run. I didn't PR, but I'm really happy with the effort I gave it. (My first mile was a way-too-fast 8:41, and I had positive splits for the rest of it, but I kept each mile safely in the mid-9s.) When I got to mile 2 and could feel that familiar mental barrier creeping up on me, I focused on my positive self-talk and kept on moving. I relished the discomfort because it meant I was actually running a race, not just "enjoying the atmosphere", which I'm often guilty of.

I'm shouting, "Oh thank the looooord I'm almost doooone!" or something like that.

I feel like a hypocrite because I've said in the past that a medal for any distance under a 10k is silly, but today's race awarded a pretty, festive snowflake medal that I can't help but love. Plus it's a bottle opener!

Because this race is part of the 22.4 challenge, I think giving a finisher's medal makes some sense, but I'm definitely eating my words!

So excited for the next race on my schedule!

Just another normal day in Florida.

Official results are: 10/36 AG; a time of 29:03; and 213 of 663 runners. I'm absolutely thrilled with those results!

This was a humbling experience that reminded me that to carve off even a little time from a race, you need to adjust your entire plan for each mile. For awhile I was setting new PRs every race, but I didn't get there by luck. I need to put the work in if I expect to see results.

After the race, we grabbed brunch at First Watch.

Avocado, bacon, and tomato hash with over-easy eggs. Just what the runner ordered!

I've been lounging around while Matt tears up the golf course with my brother. As far as winter break goes, I'd say this is a pretty great way to start, and a great race to cap off the year...2013 is a wrap.

ABK