I Did It! My First Half-Marathon!

I just want to thank my fellow housewives for not kicking me off our blog yet. I totally missed the day I was to post last time and almost missed today! EEK! 
Since I forgot to post two weeks ago, I didn't get the chance to share about my experience at the Route 66 race. As you may recall, I had been training for my first ever race - a half-marathon. Our group at the Owasso YMCA trained three times a week for 16 weeks prior to the race. Did I forget to mention that we trained at 5:30am? And, on those longer runs we met to run even earlier than that. Getting dressed that early of a morning even left me with putting things on backwards and not even knowing it until one of my running friends pointed it out! 

For about 13 of the 16 weeks I dealt with extreme shin splints. I even did six weeks of physical therapy for them. During three of those weeks I also had IT Band issues and had therapy on that as well. Many mornings after a run you could catch me looking like this...

I DID NOT GIVE UP! 

There were so many reasons for me to give up on this goal. I had the shin splints and IT Band issues to deal with, the early mornings, and just all over pain early on. The old me would have just said, "Running is not for me" and gave up. I'll tell you what really kept me going.  It was the fact that I was so "out there" on Facebook with my running and all the encouragement and support I received from those who had been there or those who were inspired by me doing something I'd never done before. THANK YOU!! (Oh, and the fact that my thighs and butt were getting smaller. Ha!) 

I must point out, in case you've forgotten, had never ran a race before, not even a 5K. Here I was training for a half-marathon. To say I was scared is an understatement. I didn't even realize how many miles were in a half-marathon until I'd been in training for three weeks. DUH! Once I figured it out, I immediately thought to myself, "There's NO WAY YOU CAN DO THIS. Are you freaking crazy!?" But, I continued to show up for training. 

13.1 miles - The red part is the half-marathon map. 

When I first saw this map I was a little nervous, but didn't become too freaked out until we actual drove the course. There were SO.MANY.HILLS. To be exact, turns out the first nine miles were nothing but hill after hill. 

I actually rested well the night before the race. I'd eaten properly for the three days prior to the race and hydrated well. I'm so thankful for the help we got from our training group. I woke up early and prayed over my shoes before putting them on. These shoes and I have spent lots of time together training. 

The first part of the run was pure adrenalin. I enjoyed running with a few of my running friends. Several of us stayed together to almost the very end. The route was beautiful, but the hills were killer for me. I had not been able to do much hill training at all because of my shin issues. We ran intervals the whole race. We ran 3 minutes and then would walk 1 minute, over and over. By the end of mile 9 we decided we should have ran 2 minutes and walked 1 minute instead. We had pretty much exhausted ourselves through the hills. It made it very hard to stick with the run 3, walk 1 the last three miles. We did change it to run 2, walk 1, but even that proved too difficult for me the last two miles. 

Before the race,  the furthest I had ever ran was 10 miles. Let me tell you, miles 10-13 took everything I had mentally and physically to finish. By mile 11, I was fighting tears and by mile 12, I just cried while I ran. I literally felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. The bottoms of my feet felt numb, my hips were hurting, my chest was hurting and honestly, I just felt like I was looking down from above myself wondering what in the heck was going on?! 

When I came to the very end, (you know the part where everyone was standing and cheering?) all I wanted to do was walk in. But, I sucked it up and did my very best to make it look like running. I had envisioned running hard across that finish line with a HUGE smile on my face. It was anything BUT that. As soon as I crossed the finish line a few of my friends were standing there. I just bent over, out of breath, and bawled. 

Here's the video my husband captured of me coming in to the finish. I'm the one in the bright pink. (It's not a great video.)

I've had some people tell me the minute they finished they wanted to sign up for another one. I've even had truly crazy people tell me when they crossed the finish line they wanted to train for a FULL marathon. When I crossed the finished line all I wanted to do was fall on the ground, curl up in a ball, put my thumb in my mouth and cry like a baby. Who are those people? What gene did they get that got left out of me? I am STILL hesitant to sign up for another half. I'll never feel the desire to do a full. No, uh huh. Hesitant that I am, I am thinking about signing up for the Oklahoma City Memorial run that will be in April. If I sign up, I'm going to rush right out and get me one of these t-shirts, ASAP! 

I could not have trained and gotten over that finish line without my running group. I love them and the encouragement they shared. 

Michele and Shea - the two I ran with the most. Lots of good conversation on those early mornings. 

Michele even provided some much needed comic relief there towards the very end. :) 

Love these girls as well - even though I mostly just saw their backsides during our training. Ha! 

The majority of our group gathered together at the downtown YMCA before the race. 

So, how did I do time-wise you may wonder? I had set a hefty-goal for myself of 2 hours and 30 minutes, but was going to be happy with 2:45. I finished in 2:35:39 and that was with one potty stop where I had to wait a few minutes. I was pleased for my first run. I know I can do better next time. GULP! I just said it, didn't I? I said, "NEXT TIME!" *smacking forehead* 

(Photo taken when I was still happy at around mile 6?!)
Since the Route 66 on November 18th, I have finally ran a 5k. Mrs. Priss, along with myself and others ran the Jingle Bell Run benefiting the Arthritis Foundation last Saturday. I should clarify that Priss and my hubby walked the 5k while the rest of us ran it. What a super fun run, one that we plan to do every year now. (I got my PR - 32:19. I'm shooting for 30 min. on my next 5k.) 

Priss & my fun husband! I LOVE them! 

Mrs. Albright,
and obviously a glutton for punishment!

Lights, Wine, Breaking Dawn & Route 66 Half Marathon

I'm too tired to think of wonderfully creative title.  Heck, I'm tired from just typing the title.  We had so much fun at Lights On Main Street Jenks last week. 180 Kitchen & Bath Designs showroom is beautiful!

  

We believe every housewife should pick up

 these napkins this season.

Each of the RHOK girls brought their favorite wine to share.  Mrs. T & Mrs. A were professionals. 

It wouldn't be a RHOK Out without a game. The ladies traded papers to see who had the highest score. A former teacher "graded" this one. Notice we said former.

180 Supergirl to the rescue!

180 has an awesome steam shower. Of course a few had to try it out.

Mrs. Albright brought antlers. They are the accessory of the season.

Stop looking at our racks! Go like 180 on Facebook. Tell them the RHOK sent ya. We love RHOK Outs because women connect. Mrs. T & Mrs. D found out they were at OSU at the same time & had a lot in common.

So it was on to Breaking Dawn 2

We had some fun in the theater.

And by "we" I mean Mrs. D.

Here is our "official" review by Mrs. Albright.

 Yes that was her in her seat. She looked so comfy. Bye Bye Twilight franchise.
Mrs. Albright needed her rest. She ran the Route 66 half marathon. We are so proud of her. My girls & I went down to provide some encouragement.

We saw quite a few girls we knew.

Mrs. A did AWESOME! 

Here she is crossing the finish line.

She did it in 2 hrs. 35 mins. Did I mention this was her first run, her first half?! She's a stud. So there you have it. A recap of a few events this weekend. Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Neither am I. Off to a Pilgrim Play & the store. When I give thanks this year. It will include you. xoxo, Mrs. Montgomery Living like...

Run, Mrs. Albright, Run!

A few weeks ago I shared that I've recently taken up running. Okay, I use that term loosely. I hardly see myself as a "runner", but my training group leader keeps insisting that I AM a RUNNER! Who knew I had it in me?! 

After completing an Ease into 5K program on my iPhone, my sweet friend Shea (who just also happens to be the director at my local YMCA) talked me into joining the training team there. What really didn't compute with me is that it was a training for a half-marathon. I'm going to be real with you here... When I say that I didn't know how many miles a half-marathon is, I'm not kidding. And even after I learned how many miles, I still had no clue how many hours that might take. LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL AND MY BODY! What have I gotten myself in to?! I am now registered for the Route 66! Gulp!  Well, happily, I can report to you that I've almost made it through 5 weeks of training and I still haven't died. BUT!! I'm no where near ready for a 13.1 mile run. As a matter of fact, my farthest distance so far is 5 miles. Tomorrow we will go 6 miles. I'm already getting a little stressed and anxious about it. How can I do 6 when 5 seemed almost too much? However, I have no doubt that I'll be able to do. I continually shock myself when I do just a little bit more or a little bit better than the time before. SHOCK, I tell ya. My mind seems to be my worst enemy. My shins are a close second.  I'd like to share with you how we train. It's because of this training philosophy that I'm able to do this and even remotely think of myself as a "runner."  I've always thought to be a runner meant you couldn't walk - at all. 

Our training is based on the run/walk method by Jeff Galloway. I'm learning to love that man. My leader encouraged our group to buy a book by him. She said it really didn't matter which one because they are all good. I bought the book called Running: Getting Started. It was a very easy read and made SO MUCH SENSE!  Run/walk means you do interval training. You run for a certain time and then walk for a certain time. Beginners generally start out at a 1:1 (run a minute, walk a minute, run a minute, walk a minute, etc.) Those in our group that have been running for a long time are running 4:1.  I've learned a few very important bits of information from him and one that really surprised me.  1. You shouldn't run with a long stride. It should be a short stride and more of a shuffle. It's important not to "pound" the pavement too hard. When you run with too long of a stride or too fast, you can do damage to your shins. Sadly, I learned this the hard way. I should have read this book BEFORE my first run with the group. My first two times out with them I ran way too fast and too hard (4:1). My shins have paid for those two runs ever since. I now have to ice my shins after my runs, take Naproxen and wear compression sleeves on my legs. I also have slowed my running way down to a 2:1. I did do a 3:1 interval on our Wednesday run but that proved to even be painful on my shins. Boo! My mind and most of my body can move up to a faster interval but these dang shins are refusing to comply. 

This is a picture of me wearing shorts to run in for the first time along with my lovely compression sleeves. 2. Stretching isn't necessary for running. WHAT?! Yes, you heard me right. When my shins started hurting and I posted about having to take a few days off from running on my Facebook page, I got all kinds of feedback from my friends. And all of them said I needed to be stretching before and after my runs and that's probably why my shins were hurting. Of course that made perfect sense to me so I started stretching. I also did everything else that was suggested - ice cups, compression sleeves (I personally recommend these as they let your leg "breathe" and not get wet with sweat), getting a massage, anti-inflammatory medication,  and rest. It's good to know my shins weren't hurting from not stretching and more because I pushed myself way too hard before I was ready.   Jeff Galloway talks about stretching in the following short video. 
3. You can burn more fat by interval training and then on your "off" days, walking at least 30 minutes. I'm a believer in this now. The week I incorporated this I weighed in at Weight Watchers and had lost 4 pounds!! The past two weeks, however, I haven't tracked my food like I should and I've not lost any more. This running business makes a person hungry!  I also learned something else new this week from an article sharing running tips. Chocolate milk is an excellent recovery drink. The perfect mix of carbs, protein and sugar.Who knew?! Apparently lots of sports moms, that's who! Mrs. Montgomery informed me her boys' coaches have them drink it after practices and games. I've happily started drinking a glass of chocolate milk about 30 minutes after I run. No need to buy those expensive recovery drinks. 

I hope I've inspired a few of you to give running a try. For those of you who consider yourselves a runner, did I share anything you didn't already know? Have you read any books by Jeff Galloway? If not, I'd highly recommend that you pick one up. I'm going to pick up his book on running and weight loss and the one on training for a half marathon. I need and want all the help I can get.

Do you know what I really, really love? I love that runners everywhere are genuinely supported of each other. It's like I belong to some sort of cool club where everyone is nice. Want to join my club? If I can do this, most anyone else can as well.

Priss shared this one on my Facebook wall and it made me LAUGH OUT LOUD! 

I'd like to give a special shout out of thanks to a few people who have been extremely helpful and encouraging to me while I'm learning to run: Jonni, Jen, Tracy, Dana, Shelly, Michele, Shea, Jennifer P, Jennifer K, Nicole, and countless others who "like" and comment on my run posts on Facebook. You all encourage and bless me in ways you'll never know. Mwah! 

~Mrs. Albright  I'm a runner and....