Running a Half Marathon

As you could undoubtedly surmise from my previous post, we completed our first half marathon!  The day was full of excitement, exhaustion, and a little delirious humor towards the final stretch.

our bibs and medals

We started the day early, awaking to warm up, eat a healthy breakfast, and don our newly acquired running apparel (sidebar:  The one thing you learn while training is to train like you will run, meaning run in clothes you will wear, eat foods you will eat, and drink as you will drink on race day.  The week before our race, temperatures dropped nearly 40 degrees.  So...on our way to Columbus we stopped to purchase some new Nike cold-training gear for the race.  As it turns out this had no negative effects on our performance and made us much, much warmer.  It was barely 30 degrees when the race started.)

We ate responsibly the night before at Brio (a healthy dose of carbs from delicious pasta) and Sunday morning's fuel consisted of Clif bars, water, and jelly beans.  Six months ago when we signed up for the race, we were smart and booked a hotel two minutes from the start line.  Ingenious, idea.  A little after 7am, we made our way downstairs, walked around the Ohio State Capital Building, crammed into the starting area, and began our race.

a fuzzy before-race photo

I'm not sure if it was the brisk temperatures, the culmination of a long training cycle, the live band playing Born to Run, the exhilaration of race day, or the combination of all these things (the most likely option), but we started our race well.  Miles 1 - 6 seemed to just zip by.  Jen ran her fastest 10k time here and I ran my second fastest - not bad when we still had more than another 10k to go!

Miles 7 - 10 seemed a little spacier.  These weren't terribly more challenging in any way, it just seemed to take longer between mile markers.  Fortunately, we had prepared some great iPod playlists and were still conscious enough to have intelligent and humorous conversation.  This is where having a running buddy really helps you out!

Although, we didn't have to rely entirely on each other for entertainment and motivation.  The course was filled with live bands playing around every mile, active volunteers swarming the water/goo stops, and of course, some eclectic fellow runners.

Miles 11 - to the end were pretty exciting.  By this time, we had left German Village and made our way to the Brewery District.  Downtown and the Arena District were all that was left.  The crowds were thicker and even more motivating through here and that made the endorphins skyrocket.  We had to consciously hold ourselves back for fear we might burn out before we actually reached the finish!

The last 1/2 mile was probably the most challenging hill-wise, but once we crested High Street and rounded the corner onto Nationwide Blvd., there was nothing standing in our way.  Thousands of cheering spectators, arches of multi-colored balloons, and an announcer bellowing out the names of racers crossing the finish line.  This is where we really cut loose.  We opened up with all we had left and booked it to the end.  It felt amazing to hear the course announcer call out our names as we flew through the last arch of balloons and were wrapped in space blankets.  Utter, unbelievable pride.  That's what I felt after running a half marathon.  That and a strong hunger for bagels.

Here's a shout out to everyone who helped us train, gave us tips, wished us luck, or saw us finish - THANK YOU!

WE DID IT!!!

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Jen and I are pumped.

I just came off one of those energizing days of work.  The kind where you are busy every minute of the entire day but yet you're not tired, angry, or anxious when you get home.  The kind where you are energized because you have a sense that you accomplished at least one important thing that day.  If you don't have these kinds of days, you need to read John Kotter's A Sense of Urgency.  Go to Amazon.com.  Right now.

Jen made it to our old school spinning class (I had to bail due to work but did go to the gym) with "Jillian" and she always feels super excited about life after that.  Jillian is by far the most motivating and hard-hitting instructors at our gym.  I don't think it's possible to not feel great after riding with her.

So, as I said before, Jen and I are pumped.  And our Half Marathon is only a few short days away.  It's been a great experience training (or sometimes trying to train...) for this race.  I know we will both do well and, hey, even if our times are outlandish we will have accomplished something that we've never attempted before.  And that rocks.

What's been playing in my mind...

Let the Countdown Begin

We both want to run the race.  I'll admit it, we're a little tired of the training.  The schedule was appropriate given that this will be our first long race but it has taken forever to get to this point...THE FINAL WEEK!

We both gave ourselves ample recovery time following last weekend's Reggae Run.  We made it back to a spinning class for the first time in a few weeks and did a short run.  On Saturday, we hopped in the 'bru with Wally and field tripped to Oxford.  After a "we really miss college" lunch Uptown, we spent the entire afternoon walking around campus.  I think Wally marked the entire place.

This week's schedule:
S: 4 miles
M:  x-train @ gym
T:  4 miles
W:  rest
R:  x-train @ gym (light)
F:  2 miles
S:  rest, head to C-Bus
S:  run our hearts out

Jammin' at the Reggae Run

Alright! Here's the run down:

Saturday, 10/3

6:50am - woke up for last session of running club

7:20am - started running with running club - 8 miles

9:00am - enjoyed a delicious Bruegger's egg white/cheddar/pumpernickel bagel and low-fat chocolate milk

9:20am - arrived back home

10:30am - Jen wakes me up as she returns from the gym - a nap with the windows open was superb

Mid-day - ate lunch, went shopping for some fall casual attire, took another nap

5:00pm - left for the Reggae Run

5:45pm - stretched and lined up at the starting line

6:00pm - Ave Maria completed and the start gun fired - off we went

6:05pm - realized my legs were super sore from running 8 miles a few hours before

6:30pm - crossed the finish line with Jen (both finishing much better than our last Reggae Run)

6:35pm - stuffed our hungry bodies with corn on the cob, popcorn, fruit, wine, jambalaya, pulled chicken, pulled pork, beer, LaRosa's pizza, grilled cheese...

7:00pm - ran [walked] back to the car to get some warmer clothes and a closer parking spot

8:30pm - enjoyed the beautiful view and the amazing party:

Spinning Opt Out

Jen and I met at the gym tonight with the intention of hitting up a spinning class. We were expecting to ride with Jillian (her name is Sonia but she is a close double of Jillian from NBC's The Biggest Loser - which is an awesome show, by the way). As it turns out, the schedule changed and another instructor was leading the class...so, we just cross-trained with the elliptical, bike, and weights instead.

Tomorrow is Friday! I like short work weeks. Tomorrow night will be another round of cross-training with some hills in preparation for Saturday's 5k. Now I need to go have some homemade pizza and Sam Adams Octoberfest brew.

Night Runner

Jen and I recently returned from our well-deserved and much-awaited vacation to sunny San Diego. The trip was amazing - some of the best fun we've had in a long time. Unfortunately, we were busy having so much fun that we didn't run or workout while we were on the West Coast. We did walk a measurable distance and swim in the Pacific Ocean; that counts for something, right?

We've had to modify the training schedule as a 12 miler was in line for this past Saturday; we'll make that up in 2 phases this coming Saturday. Tonight we ran our infamous loop (with an extension to boost it to 5k length) to get back into the swing of things. As an added surprise (especially after returning from San Diego), tonight was the first cold run we've been through since our formal training began. The temperature was in the low 50's and the sun was set for most of the run. Overall, it went very well; but needless to say we started assembling our clothing strategy for the Columbus Half.

The plan is to cross train at the gym Thursday and Friday and then tackle a medium distance at running club Saturday morning with the Reggae Run 5k Saturday night.

And...we're back.

After a few weeks hiatus from posting, Jen and I are back. And back with intensity - on Saturday, we both hit 10 miles. That's awesome. Now, I'll fill you in on how we got here.

So the last post was in July when we upped our runs from 4 to 5 miles. That was a big deal. We continued around that range for most of July. Then, on August first, Jen ran the Cincinnati Ladies Distance Classic 10k. Obviously I wouldn't be running in a women-only race but I still did my part, waking early to get Jen to the course and then volunteering as a course monitor. Basically I made sure all of the ladies made a certain turn. It was a lot of estrogen, but I did get a pretty sweet t-shirt out of it...and requests for kisses.

Throughout August we adjusted are weekly training schedule to something more like this:

• 1 fast light run (5k distance)
• 1 steady medium run (5-7 mile distance)
• 1 steady long run (changed upwards each week - currently at 10 mile distance)
• 2-3 bouts of cross-training (including light lifting, spinning, or elliptical training)
• 1-2 days of rest

That's been working pretty well for us, in terms of both our schedules and our physical/mental preparation. I've even gone so far as to show an interest in both trail running and the full Flying Pig Marathon. We'll seen how those crazy ideas pan out.

I promise I'll post a little more frequently than I have over the past couple months, especially now that we are down to less than 1 month to our big race!

Upping the Ante

Starting on Saturday, July 4, we loyally followed our training schedule and upped the ante of our runs, from 4 miles to 5 miles, 3 times per week.

Our Independence Day run left us feeling a little worried about bumping to 5 miles; fortunately, we were able to attribute our "lack of excitement/long time to finish" to the route itself. We had put together what seemed to be a well thought-out route when looking at a map. In reality, changes in elevation that you don't readily see on a flat map can have a HUGE impact on your run. Long story short, our run simply included far too many, poorly located hills. :)

Our subsequent 5 miles runs have resulted in a much better experience. Due to the humidity (thanks, Ohio), we switched to early morning runs (aka pre-sunrise). We've worked out a great out-and-back route that we continuously chip a few seconds off with each run. Yesterday was our first time back with running club since it started and we actually completed the 5 mile run nearly as fast as we had completed the 4 mile run a few weeks back - now that's improvement!

We stick at 5 mile runs for a couple weeks which is great because we'll have the opportunity to continuously improve our speed and form without having to worry about the additional miles.

HP Blast!

We were out of the country last year during the Hyde Park Blast and the year before that we were moving into our new place. I can't offer an comparison to how this event rolled in the past but this year, it was larger than life.

The race itself was packed with over 2100 runners and walkers. The water stops were well-placed just after the 1- and 3-mile splits. There were plenty of dogs. The route's aesthetics were stunning. And Jen and I started, ran, and finished strong! We beat our Wednesday night test run by a full 8 minutes - the fastest improvement we've ever had on a course. Running the route before the race took a little suspense out of the race but we were able to pace ourselves better and mentally prepare for the hills (there was quite the abundance of these).

Immediately following the finish line, we grabbed our complimentary biodegradable and reusable sport water bottles (very nice!) and caught the attention of a few friends that also ran the race. A little stretching led to the best part of the race - the after-race food! Some delicious Bavarian pretzels, mimosas, toast, eggs, and ice cold Moerlein draft later, we witnessed the incredibly speedy Elite racers cross the finish line. These men and women are fast...they ran roughly 4:15 miles. Wow!

Great race, all around. Looking forward to chopping double digits of my time next year. :)

Where does the time go?

Well, we certainly have a lot of catching up to do....

For the 1 year anniversary, we had lots of fun, enjoyed our patio, a Riesling, and this (yum):

and ate some delicious seafood followed by a movie. Throughout our entire break, we just really enjoyed ourselves, both relaxing and keeping up with our training plan, and I'll even venture to say that I had even more fun than I did on our honeymoon (which is pretty good since unwinding on a beautiful tropical island is hard to beat).

After our stay-cation weekend, it was back to a full week of work for both of us. I think we were both a little worried about how well we could maintain a thorough training schedule. I won't lie, by Thursday, I really needed a break - but we both pushed through and had an amazing week. Here's what we did:

Mon - ran a shorter version of the Hyde Park Blast course - really helped us get a feel for the route before the race

Tue - cross training @ the gym

Wed - ran the full 4-mile course of the Hyde Park Blast - 54 minutes

Thu - spinning with "Jillian" @ the gym

Fri - recovery day (finally!)

Sat - Hyde Park Blast (more on that next)

Here we go!

We survived day #1 of running group! Today they offered 4, 5, or 8 miles to run- Brian and I both opted for the 4 mile loop. The humidity was disgusting already at 7:30 am, but it wasn't totally unbearable thanks to the mostly flat course. It was great running through a different neighborhood than our usual routes. Every week the training plan bumps up the mileage but starting out we do 2 weeks in a row of just 4 mile runs, which I'm very thankful for :)The sun is finally peeping out from behind the clouds. Brian and I have great plans for our 1 year anniversary eve:

plus delicious cake and a fancy dinner out. But more on that tomorrow. ;)

Twas the night before running club...

This has been the most physically active vacation I've ever had. :)

Tuesday - we went to spinning

Wednesday - we walked for 5 hours (no joke...but we did have a few breaks in there...)

Thursday - we went for 1.5 mile run followed by 45 minutes at the gym

Friday - okay, so Friday was kind of a "recovery" day, but here's why...

Saturday - we start our running club! That's right, we'll arise bright and early to head off to our first session of running club to really kick off our 1/2 Marathon training. We're not exactly sure of what to expect other than we will probably have our butts kicked. We're pretty much expecting this to be like boot camp. Minus the firearms.

Tuesday = Friday

I decided to take a few days off work (i.e. the rest of the week) so today, Tuesday = Friday. I had to work a little later than usual though to guarantee I wouldn't be walking back into a hailstorm of tasks Monday morning so Jen and I had to divide an conquer at spinning. She took the earlier class and I took the later. Fortunately, they run right into each other so I got a chance to see how incredibly sweaty I would be before it even happened. :)

We did a great climb tonight where we spent nearly ten minutes moving from 1st to 3rd position on the bike, adding road (resistance) at several intervals. Great prolonged workout of the lower body muscle groups. I'll likely be a little sore in the morning....

Summer hair

Something hit me today and it became time for a summer haircut. This might take some getting used to :)
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What time is it?

First of all, I just successfully setup the ability to blog from my Blackberry (I'm a little behind Jen and Wally on this one...).

Second, I wanted to talk up (a) a great birthday present from my wife and (b) a great essential for any runner.  Jen surprised me on my latest birthday with a brand new athletic watch - a Timex Ironman watch - so now we have the "his" and the "her" versions.  :)

(Brian's awesome new watch)

I've started wearing my new watch every time we go to the gym or head out for a run.  I don't know how I ever worked out without one!  (Jen knows - I would just constantly ask her to keep track of our time.)  Not only is this watch stylish and designed to fit perfectly around the wrist, but its various modes are becoming very useful.  Say, for example, that we are running a 5k and want to make sure that we keep our pace consistent throughout the race.  I can quickly slide over to Chronograph mode and use the Split key to record the time it takes to run each of our miles.  We can then adjust our pace as necessary to finish the race when we want at the speed we want.  At the end of the race, I can cycle back and see our time at each mile and our total race time - ingenious!  It definitely beats searching desperately for a clock tower at the exact moment you pass a mile marker during a race.  :)

Of course, the watch also features timer, alarm, and stopwatch functions which are all useful in their own right.  So be sure to check out this watch - if the Ironman puts a stamp on it, it must be useful.  Thanks, Jen - best birthday gift ever!

(Jen's equally cool watch)

Racing to Read

This morning was our second annual go at the Racing to Read in Covington, KY. B and I ran in this 5k last year, a week before our wedding. It hit us this morning when we picked up our packets and we got to wait in the same line - pick-up lines were organized alphabetically by last name. :)

(Brian at packet pick-up, it was super sunny this a.m.)

We seriously kicked butt through the first mile. B says we ran it in 9 minutes but I think he may have started his watch a little late, I had more like 10.5. After the first mile I remembered quickly how much I actually hate this race. I feel bad about it, the race does have lots of great things to offer. For $20 pre-registration you get: a technical top, pancake post-race breakfast, a scenic route along the Ohio River, and to help the literacy programs of Northern Kentucky -good thing, I'm sure they need it ;). I guess what I hate about it is the 3-4 (can't remember off the top of my head) rediculously steep hills that I'd rather punch myself in the face than run up. And the increased humidity from being near the water. And that it's in KY; are you noticing a theme of how I truely feel about our southern neighbor? :)

All in all it was a good race and we both finished better than last year: B=34:45, J=36:10. Too bad we don't get to go to St. Lucia in a week for a honeymoon again like last year.

P.S.- I went to bed at 9pm last night. I guess an early morning workout was a bit much for me on a Friday :)

I did it!

Today was revolutionary- I went to the gym at 5am! I've been trying to get myself motivated enough to fit in a before work work-out since I joined the gym back in November and today it all clicked. I got a good 30 minute cardio workout in before Brian even woke up :)

The Mystery of the Hyde Park Loop

Just in case you are wondering, no, this isn't my latest attempt at a mystery novel.  :)

The Hyde Park Loop is one of our classic runs.  In fact, most of our other runs in the area grew out of this basic loop.  Some nights we just like some familiarity in our workout so we'll break out this straightforward loop.

But we still like to mix it up a little.  So this week, we ran at a faster pace than we had ever ran the Loop before - hoping to get a new finish time record, of course.  We were clipping along at a strong but even pace the entire route.  We finished proudly and out of breath, breaking out the high-fives; a new record time on the Loop.

Thanks to the ingenious, albeit ad-filled, MapMyRun, we were reminded that this entire loop is less than 2.5 miles.  And that is the mystery of the Hyde Park Loop:  only 2.5 miles and somehow we are always stretching to just make it to the end.  Strange when you consider we do okay on 5k (3.1 mile) and 10k (6.2 mile) races....

Regardless, this is still a great classic to have up our sleeves for a weeknight run!

Wear sunscreen

B and I are now fully stocked with sunburn (and skin cancer) preventing SPF 15 to protect us during our summer running. We should probably use SPF 30 but I prefer 15 and how its less sticky feeling than 30.

Our second 5k of the year is Saturday so guess what we're doing tonight...yep, going for a run. Hopefully the thunderstorms are done for today!

19 weeks

Brian and I have been pretty consistently running 3 miles twice a week lately. I'm assuming that the training group that we'll be joining in a couple of weeks will want us to be able to start at 3-4 miles on day one, so we're trying to get a bit faster than our usualy 12 minute mile pace. Now that the weather is beautifully warming up my breathing is becoming more and more of an issue. I can run 3 miles with only a little bit of wheezing, but beyond that I've been really struggling. Brian has convinced (i.e. forced) me to finally see an allergy & asthma specialist to see if I can get an inhaler for running days. Unfortunately I have to wait until July when our new insurance benefits kick in, so until then I'm sticking with 3ish mile runs.

Yesterday I let my running partner sleep in and I cheated on him with this lady:

Karen was in Cinci for a wedding this weekend so I was very lucky to get to hang out with her Saturday a.m. We walked/ran 3 miles, gossiped about Miami people, drank some Caribou Coffee, and plotted Brian and I's eventual move to Atlanta ;) We also decided that very soon we plus Rose need to run a race together, and what better one than the San Fran Nike Women's Half or Full Marathon? Supposedly there's chocolate stops along the route, and you get a finishers Tiffany necklace? Sounds awesome! Only catch is you have to enter a raffle to get registered because it's so popular. Maybe we'll start trying for next year?

Bootcamp

I am fitness boot camping myself as pre-training for the half-marathon training. I haven't seen any blue post-it notes on the fridge yet... ;)
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Mobile blogger trial

Wally is helping me set up mobile blogger.
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Schools of Thought on Spinning

...according to me anyway.

Jen and Phil were unable to make it to spinning tonight so I carried on alone (of course Jen friendly reminded me that spinning isn't a team sport so I would probably be alright...). Our usual instructor was out of town so I spun with a new instructor - and hence the title of this post.

Let me preface by saying that both instructors are great and I've enjoyed my workouts with each. With our usual instructor, spinning class is all about the "ride". The flats, the hills, the music, the team. The entire session is organized in a way that stimulates, even impels, the visualization of riding with your team through the French hillsides. The workout, then, is almost more of a mini-excursion when you close your eyes. A calorie-burning trip to France. Not bad when you compare the cost of our membership fees to airfare. :)

With tonight's instructor, the spinning class is a work out. Period. We spend this song doing this and that song doing that. Here, I didn't get to leave the gym but I did still get an invigorating workout chalked full of awesome tunes and post-ride muscle soreness. The benefit of organizing the session in the shape of a pure workout instead of an actual ride is that I was able to focus on both technique and endurance. Just as an example, tonight I had to stick around in 3rd position with heavy resistance on the flywheel ("climbing a heavy hill") for the entirety of Enter Sandman by Metallica...not a short song.

So, in the end, there are two schools of thought on spinning in my mind. One is a ride through France and the other is a workout at the gym. Both do the job and although a healthy mix of the two will likely be best, I still prefer the "ride".

BTW, If you don't know what 3rd position is...

1st Position: Hands placed in the center of the handles.  You are seated in the saddle.  Good spot when warming up, cooling down, or recovering from a sprint interval.
2nd Position: Hands are just inside the upward curve on the handle bars.  You are standing, not straight up but not bent over either.  Likely spot for sprint intervals and position intervals.
3rd Position: Hands hold on to the top of the handles.  You are standing, leaning into the handles but maintaining your weight above your legs.  Good spot for climbs.

21 weeks

(Less than) 21 weeks till race day. Brian and I went for a couple of 3 mile runs this past week since the weather is warming up quickly. It looks like we're going to have to start rolling out of bed earlier than 9am on the weekends if we want to get our runs in before we're drenched in sweat. To help with the plan I think we're going to join a running group through Fleet Feet. The group has organized runs every Saturday a.m. at 7:30, plus other perks like a training plan to follow and a cool technical shirt. They start June 20th and keep running up until the Columbus marathon/half marathon. Hopefully this will give us a bit more discipline with our training.
Oh, by the way, it's someone's 24th birthday today :) Brian's b-day weekend recap coming soon.

22 weeks

We are officially 22 weeks until our half marathon in Columbus. I wouldn't say we have actually started training yet but this week we did take some steps in the right direction. We booked our hotel room in downtown C-bus for the weekend. Apparently its a good thing we did this so early because we discovered that one of the four recommended hotels for the event is already sold out! We also picked a training plan, it's from Hal Higdon and is recommended by my friend and marathon runnner Karen. It's a 12 week plan so I guess that means we have 10 weeks before we have to start running, right?

Columbus

Last night Brian and I registered for the Nationwide Better Health Columbus 1/2 Marathon :) The race is Sunday, October 18 through the streets of downtown Columbus. And in case you weren't aware, a half marathon is 13.1 miles (yikes!).

So what made us suddenly up and register for a race that is 5 months away and more than twice as long as either of us has ever ran at one time? The rush on registering was because one of my patients told me yesterday that the half fills up really quickly so I should register ASAP. Granted she has never ran the Columbus half, so there may not be any merit to what she said, but she got me to register and commit to the race either way. And the distance is because someday, hopefully before I'm 30, I'd like to run a marathon. Since you have to start somewhere I thought the flat course in Columbus would be great for my first really long race. Brian really wanted to run the Flying Pig half a couple of weeks ago here in Cinci but didn't start training soon enough, so with Columbus being in the fall we'll both have plenty of warm running weather to train in. We may be crazy, but taking a risk is much more fun than not, right?

Post-Pig Week

Look at that. Just a few weeks in and we are already slacking on our posts. Geez. :)

To our defense, both Jen and I have had a busy week. Plus, Pig weekend carried enough excitement to last for a while. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it to spinning this week because of a leadership meeting for GO Cincinnati, but Jen carried on! Our buddy Phil joined her and it sounded like another great workout. I did manage to go to the gym Thursday night where I ran a warmup and lifted for upper body. During my warmup run I experimented with some different paces (trying to match some of the paces our friends carried THROUGHOUT the Flying Pig Marathon) and all I can say is that 9:00 minute miles is faster than it sounds. I liked jumping around to different paces though and I think I'll bump up my gym pace in place of distance for a while.

Speaking of the gym, Jen and I are both going tonight, followed by a delicious Chipotle meal. Don't worry, we get the vegetarian tacos (as opposed to the meat-filled burritos) so it doesn't cancel out the workout. :)

Crossing the Finish Swine

Flying Pig weekend in Cincinnati is one of my favorites. Without a doubt. The excitement that envelops the Queen City is amazing and that is why the Flying Pig is rated as one of the most fun race events in the world.

So this year marks the 2nd year that Jen and I have run the 10K race of the Flying Pig. And I think it's fair to say that we were both pretty ecstatic! As Jen posted below the weather and course were excellent and the support along the way (Flying Pig weekend is one of the largest volunteer and crowd gatherings in Cincinnati each year) was incredibly motivational.

Jen and I stuck together and ran the first 4 miles (through Downtown, Newport and Covington) at a strong but steady pace. We actually were surprised at each mile marker to see we were still running our best and notching our speed up a few clicks! Around 4.5 (back in Ohio, near the Freedom Center) is where the exhausation started to really creep in. Most of our "training" so far has been running roughly 2-4 miles at a strong pace so we hit the edge here. After circling back near the Ballpark and back into Downtown, we both felt our running grooves kick in and maintained a steady pace through mile 6 (east end of Downtown). As we rounded the corner of Eggleston to Pete Rose Way (the final stretch), Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas queued up on my iPod Shuffle and I took off. Perfect song to push you to the finish swine. :)

Jen followed up close behind - our times were (B) 1:14:50 and (J) 1:16:19 - our personal bests and nearly 10 minutes off our 2008 Flying Pig 10K times! We celebrated with some bananas and water (...and animal cookies) and found our way to a few friends that ran the race to share war stories. That's what is great about Flying Pig weekend - it's fun!

6.2, say what?!

We did it, Brian and I ran our second Flying Pig 10K this morning. We don't have our official times yet, but I know I beat my 10K personal record (PR) by at least 1 minute, Brian however may not have because he was busy being an awesome and supportive husband and running with me. :)
The weather turned out to be great, sunny and high 50s (that's my guess). Derek was calling for some possible rain this morning, so we definitely felt blessed to be running sans dripping wet. Brian sported his Paycor technical top they gave him last year- recession this year = no free cloths for runners- along with his new Pig running cap. I think he secretly really enjoyed planning his outfit. I bought a Sweaty Band at the health expo yesterday and am impressed to say that it did not slip off my head once! Happy customer, right here!
All in all I think we are injury free, despite our lack of training for this event. Brian was complaining of some mild left knee pain towards the end, and my right knee down to my Achille's tendon are pretty freaking sore, but I think we'll both survive to run another day. I might look into getting an orthotic for my right shoe if I'm going to keep having pain.
Time to cuddle with Wally, he appeared to be a little upset that we didn't have our typical Saturday morning ritual of sleeping in and snuggling.

Spinning = Awesome + Intense

So for two weeks now I've taken advantage of the free spinning classes offered at our gym; and I'll be honest, I like it.  At the random suggestion of one of my buddies, I went to the 45 minute long class two weeks ago.  I thought it was a great workout (I could tell because I felt both exhausted and energized afterwards) and that led to signing up for the same class this past Tuesday.  Although my selection of a bike (absolutely key in this class) was subpar the second time around, the class was even more invigorating with even better music.

The instructor is...fiesty...but great at what she does, including picking out a playlist that works perfectly with the workout.  Just to demonstrate that point, this last workout ended with the Moby re-version of the James Bond theme.

I definitely want to keep this up; spinning is a great way to have an intense and awesome workout in a short period of time with some great music and friends.  Plus, if my 40-something CEO can do it every morning, there's no reason I can't do it at least once a week.  :)

rat race results

We got our Rat Race 5K results tonight.
Jen = 38:00
Brian = 34:25
Neither of us made our goals, 35 and 33 respectively. On the bright side though, we both now realize how hard the Pig 10K is going to be in a couple of weeks and that we need to step up our workouts in the meantime. So we're going to do that, starting tomorrow :)

here we go!

Brian and I participated in the opening ceremonies of running season yesterday by treking up to Loveland, OH for the Rat Race. Somewhere during the flat 5K run we decided it would be fun to blog about our 2009 running season, so here we are. Go, Craft, Go! is where my superior blogging abilities meet Brian's superior running abilities to create a diary of our experiences as newbies to the sport. This blog also serves to keep us both motivated to run solo while I spend my summer interning in Chicago. Also, expect the occasional picture of Wally ;)