February is almost over...

As February comes to an end I think about all I have accomplished already this year.  The two biggest things I had planned this year are behind me.

1.    The GOOFY Challenge

2.    The Cowtown ULTRA Marathon

And I do have to say, both were amazing successes.  I am very proud of myself, the work I put into them, and the outcome.  Also between the two of them, I set a new PR for the half marathon distance.  Several people have asked me, what’s next?  I didn’t have a clue.  I have been so focused on these events and visitors; I have not had time to look past them.  Well, the past few days that is all I have thought about, what’s next.  I think I have figured it out.  What’s next is a break.  I’m tired.

I am not quitting running by any means.  I am just not doing anything long then a half marathon until the fall.  I am going to focus on the gym, biking and volleyball.  I am still going to aim for 20-25 miles per week (not per Saturday).  I think I will run the White Rock Marathon in December and possibly attempt a sub 4, so distance training won’t start until September. 

March Goals –

·        Mileage: 80

·        Gym Unicorn: 12 days

·        Biking: 4 times

·        CPCU: Pass test

Randomness –

1.      Was able to play volleyball last night with minimal leg soreness

2.      Cowtown marathon collected all the discarded clothes from the course, washed them, and had them available for you to pick up (all you have to do is describe your clothes).  Anything not picked up will be donated to charity.  I thought that kind of odd, but in a good way.  Most runners, when they discard a shirt, don’t expect to get it back.  And the fact that they wash them for you….interesting!

Cowtown

Yesterday was the Cowtown Ultra marathon and here are my thoughts on it, in bullet points because that is the way my mind is working….

·      I AM AN ULTRA MARATHONER! 

·        I can walk shockingly well today

·        I want to hug the person who invented compression socks.

·        One of the highlights of the day was getting to meet Larry, who was running his 1,000 marathon.

·        Runners are some of the best people ever

·        For the Ultra part, you veer off from the marathon and run 5 miles on a path by the river.  There is very little crowd support, and you are tired from the first 25 miles, so you have to support each other.  EVERY SINGLE runner I passed on the way out or the way back acknowledged you.  Good job, way to go, congratulations, keep pushing, you’re almost there, a wave or a head nod.  Runners are awesome!

·        I AM AN ULTRA MARATHONER (just wanted to say that again)

·        Cowtown does a great job putting together the event.  Plenty of water stations, plenty of medical attention, course well laid out, great stuff after the race.  Job well done!

·        Running through some of the neighborhoods, so kids brought out all their stuffed animals and had them set up along the course.  Super cute!

·        Couple of beer stops, but a few more would have been welcomed ;-)

·        Whataburger and a McDonalds shamrock shake afterwards really hits the spot

·        Managed under 11 minute miles for pace

·        They said miles 8-18 were hilly.  St. Louis has jaded me, because I didn’t think much of the hills.  There were several, but they were short.  I have conquered my hate for hills!!!!

I am extremely proud of myself.  Before the race, I wasn’t sure I was ready.  That is, until I was talking to Nicole.  I put in perspective everything I had done since October.  I had done 2 20 mile runs (before Goofy), the NYE double half marathons, Goofy, and then an additional 23 mile run.  About 2 days before the race, I realized I did the work. 

My only goal was to finish.  I ran the whole way with Megan (except the last ½ mile).  We did walk some of the last 10 miles, but I think that helped with how well I feel today.  I finally left her in the finish, because the starting and stopping was hurting my knees and ankles.  The only thing that hurts today is my right ankle.  I might have to do it next year just to see what type of time I could conquer.  But who is to say that I will feel this good next year, or that I won’t have an off day, or that the weather will cooperate.  I just don’t know!  I am extremely happy with how I feel.  Do I want to chance having a bad day and ruining this feeling?

We shall see….

I am taking some time off of distance running.  I will only be doing half marathons the next several months.  I never thought the day would come, where I would say only doing halfs.  Time to rest and reset!

It's Friday...

The Ultra Marathon is next weekend, and I do not feel prepared.  Sure, I did Goofy about 6 weeks ago and had a solid 23 mile run with Megan since then.  However, that is about all I have done in the realm of long runs.  Yes, I have been working out and hopefully my fitness level hasn’t dropped all that much, but I am worried.  Last weekend I did a 9 mile run, and it was HARD.  9 miles at this point is not supposed to be hard.  I know there is nothing more I can do with training so I just have to do my smaller runs and wait and see.  Thankfully last night I did a GREAT 5 mile run.  It is probably one of the easiest run (effort wise) that I have ever done. 

It was a beautiful 70 degree day in the great state of Texas.  I started the running knowing I just wanted to get in 5 miles – nothing else really mattered. 

Splits:  8:59, 8:58, 8:58, 8:56 and 8:55

If that is not consistency, I don’t know what is.  I felt like I could have run forever (which is good, because I only have to add on a marathon to that run next weekend).

Ready or not – Ultra Marathoner – Here I come!

**Side Notes –

~My parents will be here this weekend. 

~I found a pair of jeans I like over Christmas (maybe Thanksgiving) and they didn’t have them in longs.  The sales associate told me they don’t sell longs in stores, you have to order them online, however they were sold out of my size.  I have been checking nearly EVERYDAY since then and they only had 0/00 longs or 12/14longs.  Finally today, they had my size!  I ordered them in a flash.  Happy day!  I just hope they fit still!?!?!

~I’m getting better at darts.  They are now going closer to where I am actually aiming!

Time to get ready for some weekending!

Three for Thursday –

1.     Gym Rat Unicorn– I finally have a general routine that has been working well for me at the gym.  I try and go twice a week, Monday and Wednesday and here is what the day looks like.  First, I do 3 miles on the treadmill.  Lately, I have either been doing hill work or speed training.  Next up, I lift the circuit.  6 machines, 3 arms, 3 legs.  I understand that is not hitting every muscle, but it is better than nothing.  Lastly is the stair machine or elliptical (depending on what is open).  That gives me a little bit of everything and is a nice supplement to just running.

**Side note:  Very happy how much I have gone up in weights over the past 2 months

2.     I need to get my eating back on track.  Ever since the holidays I have been struggling.  I am up 5-7 pounds since this fall.  While not horrible, not what I want to see.  It is by far because of my eating habits.  Several friends use the My Fitness Pal site that tracks both calories and exercise.  I know I have not been eating healthy lately, but the My Fitness Pal is an eye opener to just how many calories I have been consuming.  Dang milkshakes!!!!  (which I’m going to be in BIG trouble because it is Shamrock Shake season).  I want to maintain my social life, which includes going out to dinner and bars, so I guess it is all about portion control on nights out. 

3.     This weekend starts Visitor Season.  I have 4 sets of visitors over the next two months.  That means, gotta keep the house up, which generally isn’t too hard for me, but it is that extra little stuff that I need to do.  I also finally bought new sheets for the spare (twin) bed.  The bed used to have my sisters old crazy, bright, tripped out, frog sheets that had to have been 10-15 years old.  It was time to say good-bye to them.  The fence is fixed, most of the cleaning is, and I am ready!

Motivation Monday!

Let’s count the ways the past few days have been a success!

We returned from our Property Meeting with tons of work on Friday.  Since no one was in the office to get things done, everyone needed everything immediately.  I had renewed motivation to work.  Lately I have been lacking motivation.  When I have a lazy boss, I feel no need to work hard.  Jerry appears lazy at times, but I know he does a lot of work at home and on weekends.  It’s just hard when I see him bumming around, talking to people and never really working to make me want to work.  Coming back from the meeting I felt a new sense of motivation and purpose.  I wanted to work and wanted to get things done.  That paid off with 3 binders Friday alone (go me!).

Friday evening I tested out my new Pure Flow 2 shoes with a 5 mile run.  My legs were still not fully recovered from my 23 mile run on Saturday, so they felt heavy.  I did a nice progressive run where each mile got faster and faster.  Love the new shoes.

Saturday was a success.  I got up early and got a ton crossed off my to do list.  Everything from shredding documents, to donating clothes, to getting my race packet.  And Mark started fixing the fence.  He took done the leaning section, took out the wood posts, used his phd (post hole digger) and set the metal posts in concrete.  Still has to put up the paneling, but I am now not worried about the fence falling on a little kid.  I was started to get anxious about that.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and studying.

Sunday was the Texas Half.  It was a perfect day for running and I planned on just taking it easy this run.  Megan wanted to push it, so I knew we were running on our own.  We started off and she was flying, so I was just bumming along.  I knew I was going faster than normal, but figured it was just beginning of the race adrenaline and that I would settle into a normal pace (generally the first mile is fast than I calm down).  At the mile 6 I was still running right at an 8 minute pace.  My half marathon PR was an 8:17 pace.  At that point I knew I was going for it.  I was just going to hold on to my 8-8:15 as long as I could and hope I banked enough time in the beginning to make up for slowing down at the end.  Total positive splits, which are bad, but at this point I didn’t care.  I knew I couldn’t maintain an 8 minute pace the whole way, so I just pushed as long as I could and tried to hang on.  By mile 11 I thought I was done for.  I considered walking, even if just for a minute, but I shuffled on.  I was maintaining an 8:30 pace at the end, but it felt like a 12 minute pace.  Once I hit 12.5 miles I knew I was golden and just pushed to the finish  That also finished up my 4 Seasons Challenge, which means - extra bling!

Final time: 1:47:21 (50 second PR) – I thank the new shoes!  

Megan ran a 1:41:30 (over 3 minute PR and good enough for 2^nd in our age group).

After that I went home and sat in my grandma’s rocking chair on the patio and read for several hours.  Read my runners world magazine and half of a book.  Ate way too much food during the SuperBowl and spent the entire 3^rd quarter  (where all the action happened) trying to get the possum out of my garage.  Watch part of the 4^th quarter, enough to see the safety at the end, which won me $$ on our SuperBowl squares!

Petey - possum in the corner of the garage in my toy bucket

I don’t think my weekend could have gotten any better!

I'm back!

After Goofy, I kind of shut down.  Both Nicole and I got sick, I think 44 miles in 3 days really does take a toll on your immune system.  I was miserable the weekend after Goofy, but that didn’t stop me from taking a trip to Choctaw casino in Oklahoma for a Toby Keith concert! 

I never did do the Marathon update.  By far, it was one of the greatest running experiences.  I never hit a wall, I was never miserable, there was never any doubt that I wouldn’t be able to finish, and I don’t even think the idea of walking entered my brain.  There were a couple of times Nicole would pull away from me a bit, but never got more than 10-20 feet ahead.  Then she would bring it back down.  My main goal was not to feel like I was holding her back too much, and I didn’t until the last 2-4 miles, which is a win for me!  We took all the pictures we wanted, waited for 8 minutes in front of the castle for a picture with Mickey and Minnie, and in the last 2-3 miles there were NO lines for characters and princesses INCLUDING DOPEY.  I was also super excited to see my parents near the finish.  We knew where they were going to be during the course, but the finish we weren’t sure.  And there were less characters the second half of the race, so we finished earlier than expected (per the runner tracking).  It never fails that I can find my dad in any crowd.  Seeing them always gives me an extra boost.  We also got our names announced at the finish.  Something along the lines of ‘Here is Nicole Fritz,…and Lisa Fritz, the Fritz’s girls are coming to the finish.’  Then there was Goofy waiting for us right at the finish, and we were able to get our picture with Bar Yasso once we crossed the line.  We had a meet up spot for my parents, and of course they brought us beer, because they are the best!!!  All in all a GREAT experience.  I was extremely impressed with my walking ability the next day.