Family fun at Lego KidsFest

My boys (ok, I'll be honest, ALL of us) are really into playing with Legos right now. We build and play with them just about every day. So when Jeff called me up a couple months ago to tell me there was a Lego KidsFest in Cincinnati, should we go? I, of course, said yes! Even though I have a race Sunday, I said, the kids will LOVE it, we have to go!

After lunch on Friday, we hit the road. Hyatt was a partner hotel with the festival, so we got a good rate and discount on the tickets, which makes it even better! Also cool was on-line hotel check-in. We checked into our room before we left home and they emailed us as soon as our room was ready---that is a fantastic feature that I hope every hotel starts doing! Checking into the hotel, I felt a little bad for an older couple that was also checking in. They were looking at the many small children running around the lobby and you could just tell they were thrilled to have what's usually a quiet hotel invaded by all the Legoers (like how I make up words? I do it quite often when there isn't one to suit my needs).

The boys LOVE hotels! We are so glad that they love the sense of adventure and excitement like both Jeff and I do. (or maybe the boys just love the cable tv? anything's possible!) After checking out our room, we decided to head to the pool. Jacob (2.5 years) is FEARLESS. And that's a problem. I'm sure he gave me more gray hair yesterday (thank goodness I have a hair appointment next week!) Anyhow... Jacob spent about an hour jumping off the side of the pool with one of us catching him.  Zachary (5) also enjoyed that, but luckily, he didn't want to do it quite as long as Jacob did. I think they succeeded in wearing out mom and dad, when we had really wanted to wear them out!

One kid on a roll-a-way bed and one in the king size bed with us did not make for the best night's sleep, but it was definitely worth it to see them at the festival today! HUGE piles of legos for the kids to play in, build, knock down. It was AWESOME!

Doesn't that look like fun?! A pile of Legos!

There were several different types of activities geared to all different age levels. Lego did a fantastic job making sure that no matter the age, everyone would have fun! Walking around the exhibit was almost as fun (at least for the grown-ups) as playing. There were several character statues (Lightning McQueen, Darth Vader, Batman just to name a few). The kids were excited to see some of their favorite characters and have their pictures taken with them.

Building cars to race down the speedways, building castles and farms, wow! No matter what we did, I just love seeing how their brains work, how they figure out how to build things and their look of accomplishment when it all fits together.

We were building a farm (with palm trees); complete with airplanes
garden hoses and flowers.

Some people have asked me if it was worth the month and the sleepless night. ABSOLUTELY! For my Lego obsessed children, it was totally worth EVERY PENNY we spent for the weekend. If they are still as into Legos next year when the Lego KidsFest comes back, we will be there!

Another Wordless Wednesday....Before & Now

December 24, 2009
"Before"

March 28, 2012
NOW! 

Wordless Wednesday

Boys + Machinery= (an) hour of entertainemnt

Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Training, week 10

Week 10 of training for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon and the ORRRC Half Marathon are done. That means training will really be ramping up for Cleveland! I looked at the rest of my training schedule last night and there are less weeks to go than weeks already completed. Time is FLYING! (I know, I think I say that every week!)

Last week, we had fantastic training weather! I was glad that my schedule didn't call for much of a cut-back on miles so I could take full advantage of the unseasonably warm March.

Tuesday I decided to try a run in the warm afternoon sun. It gave me a little reminder of how hard it is to run in the heat. I believe it was 80*F and sunny! By the way, thank you everyone for your tips on dailymile and twitter on what brand of sunscreen you use when you run. I have some different choices to try out!

Friday was my final run before the half marathon and I added strides to my run for the first time. Why did I wait so long?!?! That was FUN! When I saw that my Garmin clocked a 5:41mm for my fastest pace, I was positively giddy! In the past, I have gotten my pace into the low 6:00s, but never as low as 5! I'm sure I hit the 5:41mm for a second or maybe two, but just the fact that I could push my body to that speed amazed me! I will certainly be adding strides into future workouts!

Proof! (upper right hand corner)

Sunday's half marathon was a lot of fun. I won't bore you with all the details again here, you can read my race recap for that!

Week 10 stats:

Monday: 6.11 miles (mile repeats)
Tuesday: 9.01 miles
Wednesday: 3.21 miles
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: 4.01 miles with 3 strides and one HMP mile
Saturday: Rest day (from running!)
Sunday: 13.1 miles (ORRRC Half Marathon Recap)

Total for week 10 of marathon training: 35.51 miles


Hope you all had a great week training! Anybody else race this weekend? How did it go?

Everything different...and a PR!

Perfect weather conditions yesterday morning for a race. It was in the low 50s for the race start, overcast and foggy. I thought the fog would get annoying, but the dampness really helped keep me cool! There were five of us from our running group (Yay, RunDMC!) that drove to Xenia, OH together (approximately 1.5 hours away) for the ORRRC Marathon/Half Marathon.  

Everyone waiting for the start

This was quite a different race experience for me;

1. We went out of town Friday-Saturday for family weekend at LegoFest and didn't sleep a whole lot.

2. I was running WITH a friend whereas I usually run on my own with my music. This time, we were running together to push/pull each other to the finish line (goal was sub 2:00 for Angie and a PR for me). And it was great. I never even missed my music!

3. It was a "small" race with only about 1,000 racers total for both the half and full marathons. My other halfs and the full had well over 10,000 with the different distances combined.

4. There was no on-course entertainment, just a few spectators along the way. It was great to have Allen and his girlfriend, Chikako, there to cheer us on and for all the great (?) pictures. (I NEVER like my race pictures).

Angie and I started about mid-pack hoping we were in the correct starting position. It seemed to work out great for us. We tried to keep our speed on goal pace for the first couple miles and not go out too fast with the excitement of the race. Looking at our splits, we were very consistent the entire race (with the exception of mile 10). For what we had heard that it was a "flat" course, there were many points during the first half of almost continuous uphill that we were swearing at the hills! They weren't huge hills, just enough of an upwards incline that you could feel it! We were doing great and feeling great until the turnaround point just never seemed to appear. Honestly, I didn't look too closely at the course map, so I wasn't sure where the turnaround point was; just thinking it would have been close to the halfway. It felt like forever to get to the turnaround; actually at mile 8something! Mentally, once we turned, we were much better off. 

Around mile 9something, I felt a pain in my knee. The same knee that I had a torn meniscus during marathon training last summer. Not good. We stopped for a minute to stretch it and check it out. Felt ok, so I decided to keep going. We kept our pace slower for a few minutes, then I felt fine, so we picked it back up. (Looking at the splits, this was the slowest mile at 9:16!) After the turn it was more downhill so we were able to make up the time. 

I really started thinking we were going to make our goals. However, I wasn't willing to go all out and risk hurting my knee. I kept telling Angie to go ahead as I knew she was going to get the sub 2:00 she wanted.  Finally with around 1.5miles left, she pulled ahead. I couldn't wait to catch up to her at the finish line to see what her final time was. So proud of her!!

When I saw 1:58 on the clock, I knew I had made it!

I really enjoyed the small race and running with Angie. At times, it was pretty easy to forget that we were in the middle of a race, it honestly felt like a (crowded) training run. Thank you, Angie, for sticking with me when I thought I was injured and for pushing/pulling me to the end. Without your help, I don't know that I would have made it. 

Yay!!! We did it! Sub 2:00 for us both!

Official time: 1:58:10 (1 minute 45sec improvement!!)

OA: 298/674

Female: 102/348

AG: 20/50

PRs for us all! Great day for racing!

Taper? What taper?

As any of you who have read my past few posts know, I have a race on Sunday. It is the ORRRC Half Marathon in Xenia. It's a smaller race and boy, the price was right! ($25 for either the half or the full!) It fell at the perfect time in my training for the RiteAid Cleveland Marathon, so I signed up. It feels strange for me to have a half marathon that I haven't specifically been training for. Last May was my last half marathon and I worked my as tail off on increasing speed. And it paid off with a 1:59:55! Training for my 'A' race of the marathon has me concentrating on miles more than speed, so I feel like I am a lot slower than I was last year at this time. Nobody else agrees with me, so I'm hoping they are right! We'll find out on Sunday how accurate my perception of my own speed is.

What's also strange is the lack of taper built into my plan for the week. The only noticeable difference in my plan for last week and this week was a 10miler for my long run instead of higher. It hasn't bothered me at all not to be doing a traditional taper, but with a rest day today, and the race approaching, I'm reflecting on the week before CapCity last year and second guessing everything (of course). I have myself scheduled for a rest day (from running) today and Saturday. I front-loaded my mileage for early this week and have already logged 18 miles so far, more than the week before a half marathon would typically have on a schedule. Tomorrow morning will be another 3-4 "easy" miles.  I know I'll be able to handle the distance on Sunday, hopefully I am rested enough for the speed. I think being in the middle of a training plan and having 7 more weeks until my 'A' race has helped to calm the taper madness this week, too. Maybe I should do this for every race...hmmm...so for a marathon, it should be halfway through an Ultra Race Training Plan? Yeah, maybe not!

Someone mentioned a couple months ago that you cannot expect to train well for two different race distances at the same time. I didn't agree with the statement at the time, but we'll leave it up to Sunday to see who is right. My goal all along has been to train well for BOTH races and hopefully PR in BOTH. Go Big or Go Home, right?!

I don't do well with resting or tapering; I know most runners do not. However, I know it is necessary for my muscles and my body. I WILL resist the call of this gorgeous day.

Know how hard it is to resist? This
is a day that is MADE for running!


Have you ever successfully trained for two race distances at the same time? Do you taper for the first race and if so, how much?

So much to do....

Happy Spring!!!!  Yes, it is the official first day of spring, but here in central Ohio, it's felt like spring and early summer for the past week now. I am definitely NOT complaining! With this wonderful weather, though, we have so many things to do! Ok, really, it's just so many more possibilities that we can do. We have been to the zoo twice in the past week, gone on bike rides, gone to several playgrounds, played soccer, T-ball, had several meals on the patio and all in all, just stayed BUSY. I wish it could be like this ALL year! The kids love, I love it and a big one (for us parents) is that EVERYONE sleeps better!

Wish you could see better, but
there is a little stream down there
and all the trees are turning green.

I was smart and wore my hat and my sunscreen today. Also, today marks the first day (I think ever?!) that I've worn a tank for running! Thanks to Pushing our Luck, I have been very diligent with my arm/upper body strengthening. I'm not quite where I would like to be, but definitely seeing signs of improvement!

Now I need help...the supposedly sport sunscreen that I wore today was terrible. It felt greasy on my arms, and sweated off of my face as my cheeks got a little rosy. What sunscreen do you wear when you run, ride or just play outside? 


It's looking like another gorgeous day for Wednesday, so we will be outside a lot. What are some of your favorite activities to do outside with the kids? 

The Zen Run

Wow! Week 9 of training for Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon is finished. Only 8 weeks to go until the Marathon. And that also means that this is my Half Marathon race week; I'm excited to see what I can do this week!

March has really surprised us here in central OH weather-wise. This past week was more late springlike than end of winter. I've worn shorts, t-shirts and even got to try out my new running skort! Spring can come early every year, I don't mind!

I am taking part in the March Pushing Our Luck ChalIenge. This was Denise's idea after our February abs challenge ended. She decided to up the challenge; keep going with the abs and also add arms by using the Hundred Push Ups Challenge. I noticed that just doing weight training (at home) once or twice a week, while better than none, wasn't really increasing my strength.  If I can never do 100 pushups at one time, I'll be ok with that, but I am enjoying the increasing strength and toning in my upper body. I've now completed two full weeks of the challenge (based on my initial test, I was to start in week 3) and they are getting easier! And let's face it, if I don't have a "challenge", I am not as diligent about any exercises other than running.

Thursday afternoon I was able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather for a run. I tried out a new path along the Hoover Reservoir and had a great time, even running across the dam twice. I LOVE running along water and wish I could run there more often. Unfortunately, with my early morning running schedule it just doesn't work (about 20-25 minute drive from my house).

Saturday, we met EARLY for our long run. Kate needed to finish up early, so we met at 6:00. After not getting much sleep Friday night (mom duty), I didn't have very many expectations for the run. I was tired and out of sorts Saturday morning and forgot my Garmin at home. Turned out to be the best thing ever! I LOVED the feeling of just running. I wasn't worried about pace, I wasn't watching the splits. It was AWESOME! I just felt nice and relaxed on the run and could just enjoy the beautiful weather. My schedule called for 10 miles as a taper week, but I figured depending on how I felt, I would run an extra mile or two. Felt good enough to keep going and ended up with a very comfortable Half Marathon training run. I will definitely be leaving my watch at home more often on group runs. For my Type A side, I did need to know the mileage and the time, but other than that I was surprisingly ok with no more information. This run also left me feeling really confident going into the half marathon on March 25.

Week 9 stats:

Monday: 6.04 miles 
Tuesday: Strength Training and week 4, day 2, level 3 of 100push ups
Wednesday: 8 miles tempo(ish) run
Thursday: 5.6 miles afternoon run; week 4 day 3, level 3 of 100 push-ups
Friday: 5.15 miles
Saturday: 13.1 miles
Sunday: Rest day (20 minute family bike ride), exhaustion test for 100 push-up challenge to determine level for week 5.

Total for week 9 of marathon training: 37.9 miles


Have a great week training and/or racing!

I'm baaaack! (and marathon training week 8)

This week was a turning point for me. A badly needed turning point. I'm not sure what happened to cause my "funk". Or what happened to make it disappear. I'm just glad that I'M BACK! (at least until the next time.....) I realized on Friday that I was EXCITED for my long run on Saturday. That hadn't happened for about a month. I'm sure "the funk" was inevitable as I've been running consistently for two and a half years (Sept. 2009). And I have been training for big races for a large majority of that time. It's funny, really; I didn't dread my runs, I just wasn't looking forward to them like I usually do. It was more of an obligation than a pleasure. It had gotten so bad that I was talking about switching from the full marathon to running the half for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.  This week, it seems to have evaporated. YAY!!!! now, I just hope that it stays gone.

After my long run yesterday, I am really looking forward to my half marathon in two weeks and to the marathon in May. I just finished week 8 of marathon training, and have 10 more until the race is complete. It was a good training week, so hopefully, I can keep this momentum going! (NO MORE FUNK!)

Wednesday's tempo run was 1 mile warm-up with 6 miles as close to 8:40mm as I could with a 1 mile cool-down. Very happy with my splits from that run; (8:47, 8:40, 8:48, 8:42, 8:41, 8:33). Can you tell which two miles were directly into the wind? :)

Saturday's long run was really a two part run. The first eight miles were with a friend, then I decided to kick it up a notch for the last six miles. We ran Sharon Woods which is a hilly path around a metropark (well, hilly compared to my pancake flat neighborhood!) and I wanted to see how close to my goal half marathon pace (9:00 or less) I could keep my splits. The answer? Pretty close!  This run gave me a nice confidence boost for the upcoming half marathon!

Today, I got to run across the dam of the State Park lake. I ran across the dam, through the woods, did some stair repeats, then joined my family for some fun time at the playground below the dam. It was a fantastically beautiful March day and we took full advantage of it!


Week 8 stats:

Monday: 6 miles (was supposed to be an easy run, but actually into a great progressive run!)
Tuesday: 2.06 miles Afternoon run in the sunshine 
Wednesday: 8.1 miles tempo run
Thursday: 3.1 miles Treadmill run
Friday: Off
Saturday: 14.1 miles
Sunday: 3.6 miles

Total for week 8 of marathon training: 36.97 miles


Hope you all had a great week training and a good weekend!

Running...the simple sport. Or is it?

It dawned on me tonight as I was getting everything ready for my long run tomorrow morning that no matter if it's a training run or a race, I always go through a ritual. My ritual is most likely different from another runner's ritual, but I do it before every long run that is over 10 miles. It's very calming to me to go through this ritual and I think that's part of what was missing for last weekend's long run. I ran in the afternoon on Sunday, so I did not go through my nightly ritual.

After just over two years of distance running, I feel that I have FINALLY found what works for me. Not that I don't keep experimenting with different fuels, drinks, etc, but I have a pretty good idea of what my body needs and will tolerate. That takes a lot of the stress out of it for me which is a good thing (I stress about enough stuff in life, I don't need a lot of extra running stress. Besides, isn't running supposed to relieve my stress, not add to it?!).

First, I plug in my Garmin to be sure that it is charged. After that, I fill up all of my FuelBelt bottles and extra water bottles that I keep in the car for on the way home or if I need to refill in mid run. If I'm running more than 12 miles, I fill one bottle with Nuun water and one with regular water. Then I make sure that I have enough Honey Stinger Chews (Fruit Smoothie is my current favorite flavor) for the planned distance with some extra, just in case in the FuelBelt pouch. Now, if I'm going at least 13 or 14 miles, I will pack a LARABAR for the drive home.

For tomorrow's run, I have 14 miles planned. The first 8 miles will be with my friend, Kate, but the rest will be on my own so I also am taking my earbuds and my pepper spray (safety first!). So, unfortunately, I do not have enough room in my FuelBelt for everything so if the temperature is cool enough, I can pack some things in my favorite Brooks jacket pockets. If it warms up, though, I will also wear my SPIbelt to carry these extra items.

Whew! That's exhausting reading all that! (And I haven't even gotten to my clothes!) Here's what my kitchen counter looks like the night before a long run:

Whoever said all you need is a pair of shoes?!

Super exciting to me for tomorrow is that my new gloves will be making their debut run. I REALLY hope that they work. With the help of another running friend (yes, we do in fact diagnose ourselves, don't you?!)  we have decided that because of my low blood pressure, I have poor circulation. This doesn't typically cause a problem for me except on a long run in the cold. Until this year, I've never needed more than my cheap gloves that I get from the bargain bins at the store, but with several weeks of yellow fingers and unable to feel them for a while after I stop running, I decided it was time! Fingers crossed that I'll be able to give them a good review!

Now I'll head upstairs to finish the rest of my night before ritual; laying out all my clothes for the morning so I disturb my husband the least amount possible when I get up early in the morning. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I have more of my pre-long run and pre-race ritual with my coffee and breakfast before heading out for the much anticipated run.

For the first time in at least two to three weeks, I am EXCITED to run!!!! I am EXCITED for the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon in just over two months. I am EXCITED for my half marathon in two weeks! (More on all this later...)

So now that you know the nitty-gritty of my pre-long run and pre-race ritual, please share what are some of your rituals?

Cleveland Marathon Training, week 7

While it was definitely not a week I would want to repeat, I made it through. We had a lot of family stuff going on last week and were out of town for Wednesday and Thursday. Surprisingly enough, I was not too many miles short for the week. However, due to poor nutrition choices, lack of sleep, too much stress and not enough water, my run on Friday afternoon was NOT good. I DID make it through five miles on Friday in honor of my older son's FIFTH birthday, but I was not at all pleased with the run. I had to fight hard for every half mile during that run. I can't remember the last time I had a run that physically tough. Mentally, yes; physically, no.

Thank you to my good friend and running partner, Jamie, I had company on my long run this week. Due to the birthday party and family visiting, I moved my long run to Sunday afternoon. She graciously switched her plans around to meet me since Friday was such a tough one. As we started out, I was so grateful for her company. The first three miles were super tough, but she got me through those and I was fine. Well, until the hail started pelting our faces around mile 10! When we finished up the run, I felt like I could run another couple miles, a definite win in my book!

I did miss my strength training during the week, so I have to be sure I get in at least one strength workout this week, plus keep up with my core work. I can definitely tell that I slacked off last week on core work. If you run and you do not engage in core exercises, you really need to! It helps your running so much. That's my PSA for today....

Week 7 stats:

Monday: 6 miles with 3 mile repeats 
Tuesday: 7.6 Total miles (6 on own, 1.6 with family)
Wednesday: Travel
Thursday: Travel
Friday: 5 miles
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 12 miles

Total for week 7 of marathon training: 30.6 miles (planned mileage for week 35)


February miles: 145.12 (highest mileage month ever!)
Total miles for Cleveland Marathon training so far: 206.4
Total 2012 miles: 289.58


Hope you had a good week training!