To the Hills

A few photos from the half-marathon today in Emigrant. Perfect day for a run, although the last four miles were a little hilly and windy!

Pre-race photo with the half-marathoners

Running around mountains

Running to Emigrant Peak

Bison support

Hmmm not sure I love 13.1 miles of hills!

Finished (despite a horrible hill at the finish line)!

The half and 10k runners.

Only five weeks til the marathon. The next two weekends I'll be tested BIG with 18 mile and 20 mile runs. 

*With limited miles left to run through Montana, I've decided to travel "as the crow flies" taking the mountain route instead of the highway (especially fitting as I've been adding hills to my workout!). Thus landing me in the heart of the rockies in Montana, closing in on Glacier National Park. 

"Hills. We love them. We hate them. They make us strong. They make us weak. Today I chose to embrace hills." 

-Hal Higdon, running writer and coach 

Uncharted Running Territory

The end of March is near and with it the promise of spring, I think? Yesterday's long run definitely made me question that "spring" is here.

Up til now the longest I had run at once was 13.1 miles. My training plan required me to run 15 miles at this point. It all was starting to sink in that I was in uncharted running territory. What would I encounter?

Luckily I had the company and encouragement of a group of hardcore running gals called the Sage Leapers. This group seems to go out rain, snow, wind, animals, whatever! I met them for a gorgeous, winter wonderland run along a dirt road in Tom Miner. I was a little unprepared for the run, not wearing my normal getup. The road was wet and muddy. The bottom seam of my pants were soaking up all the water and it started to feel like I was wearing ankle weights! 

Along the run we saw deer run past, dodged some bison, and ran up never-ending hills. But the miles came and went. Soon enough it was time to part ways with my running partners. They were leaving me at Mile 12. The last three miles it was all me. I guzzled some nuun, ate some energy chews, and pushed through the snowy wind. The last few hundred feet my legs were TIRED. But I was pleasantly surprised it was a feeling I was familiar with. After a long day of hiking, you experience the same thing. But pushing through that pain, I did it! WOOHOO!

I wasn't on my A-game this run, but yet I persevered. Distance running is a mental game. Your body will ache. You'll feel pain all over (heads, shoulders, knees, and toes!). You recognize that most of the time those pains will pass and with each step you move closer to the finish line. I can't wait to cross that 26.2 mile finish line soon!

"A true runner has the heart and the soul for the sport which does not have to be proved to anyone else but oneself." 

Half Way There!

13.1 miles! Half way to my marathon goal. This morning I ran a half marathon here in Bozeman: The Run to the Pub. You finish out the run with a beer and the potential to win a trip to Dublin! Sadly I didn't win the trip (although someone behind us did, which felt like I did!). Here's how it went down.

I woke up nervous. The two days before my muscles were tight because I ran a little too hard on a long run. A few years ago I ran my first marathon in Eugene Oregon. It was fantastic and I was really wanting to beat that time. So I pushed myself. What's the old saying "Pride comes before the fall"? Well it was close. When pushing your body, sometimes it pushes back. My muscles were tired, tight, and angry with me after my long training run. And I was starting to get a cold. 

I listened to my body, got a massage to work out some kinks, started drinking LOTS of water, tea, and taking zinc. I finally invested in a foam roller to work out ongoing muscle knots. I did not want to get injured on this run, my main goal is the marathon (and to figuratively run across Montana). The night before I had a delicious carbo loaded pizza meal and got plenty of sleep. But I had no clue how it was going to play out.

The race started later in the morning, 10 am. Nice. Plenty of time to get ready, eat a good meal, and make sure I was ready. The weather had turned out nearly perfect. A little bit of wind, and a bit chilly, but I had worn the perfect amount of layers amazingly. The one funny thing you have to know about the race is that it is St. Patty's day themed. So everyone was dressed up in green and costumes. But when you are running 13 miles, you start to think about comfort. Thus I decided to forgo the costume. And my green was a little lackluster, technically more of a blue. Someone actually yelled at me (umm aren't they suppose to be cheering, not jeering from the side-lines) "You're suppose to wear green, not blue!" 

The line to the porta potty pre-race

The first three miles SUCKED. I felt my legs being a little twitchy. I was slow, tired, and nervous. At times I even felt like crying. Am I going to fail? I was just imagining myself getting into the finish lines hours later or having to be picked up. Come on body, don't fail me now. Somewhere around the first water station, I started to get energized. My legs were getting into a groove, the course was going downhill, my pace was picking up. I was RUNNING and it was great.

The starting line (and that's when I stopped taking pictures)

As the race went on I was feeling good. My pace was solid, but not too fast. But I was starting to get tired. I thought the race was going to provide some energy gels or something a few times along the way, but every break seemed to just have water. I started to freak out a little, without replenishing by eating something, I was going to crash. I looked to the ground to see if anyone had accidentally dropped one of their gels: nada. There was a hill coming up, uh. How am I going to conquer this depleted? We turned the corner and that's when I saw it: the human banana costume. YES!!! "Do you want a banana?" YES!!!! It was perhaps the best tasting banana ever. It gave me what I needed to push on the last 3 (or 4, I forget) miles. 

From there on, it was downhill (mostly, little hills even feel rough at that point). The race ended downtown, I even had a cheering team at the finish line. :) 2 hours and 20 minutes. I might not have beat my previous time, but I was darn close and proud of my muscles and limbs for what they accomplished. 13.1 miles to add to the journey through the state. Leaving me in the state's capital: Helena.

And now for a move to my new training grounds this week!