The Love Run Half Marathon

My alarm buzzed at 4:55am. I was well rested, being in bed and asleep by 11pm on Saturday night. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and geared myself up for the race ahead. CW-X compression pants with my Chelsea FC shorts overtop. Under Armour compression shirt with my Phoenixville PAL Boxing t-shirt overtop. Shock Doctor compression socks over my pants. Finished off by my Under Armour jacket, Brooks winter headband, and Brooks PureFlow kicks. It was a bone chilling 28 degrees with a wind chill in the teens. I brought a pre-race jacket and knit cap. 

I had a breakfast of sprouted grain toast and organic peanut butter, followed by brown sugar pop tarts in the Jeep on the drive down. I left the house at 5:50am and parked in a parking garage around 6:40am. I drove around 10 minutes to find a close spot. The street parking was only for 2-4 hours, so I chose a parking garage. I parked about 10-15 minutes walk away.

I made my way to the race and was happy I brought my jacket with me. They had a bag check, so I didn't have to carry it with me. Then the wait. I checked my bag at 7:20am. It was cold. My fingers got numb, then my toes. I took refuge in a tent from the wind. At 7:40 I made my way to the start line. It was separated by mileage pace. I entered as a 8:30-9 minute mile and took my place. I made a little small talk with a few people around me and started to feel the warmth of the sun. Soon enough it was 8am, and we were on our way.

The first 2 miles were a cluster of runners trying to find their pace. We started at the Philadelphia museum of Art and ran towards City Hall and Chinatown. I felt my pace was decent, not super slow, not super fast either. I started to feel my fingers and toes again. Honestly, the first three miles were a bit of a blur other than the scenery. Art museum, City Hall, Chinatown, independence Hal. Then we headed down the Schuylkill River Trail. Before I knew it I was at mile 5, right around 41 minutes. Then around mile 6, the hills came. The hills were nothing to write home about, but still it took it out of you. I refused to walk and ran my way through the elevation part of the run. It was a long, slow elevation. I swear, close to a half mile. I pushed through and saw the first runners starting to walk. And still I ran. 

I remained on pace of a 8:45 mile till mile 10. My legs felt they were running through concrete. They ached. I had two options in my head. Walk a bit or not be able to drive or walk back to the car. I stopped and walked around 10 and a 1/2 miles for about a minute and a half or so. I knew if I walked too long, I wasn't going to want to run again. Two and a 1/2 miles seemed like an eternity away. I started my slow jog again. My leg knee started to bug me and my legs were sooo tight and heavy. I promised myself I'd keep running till about 11 and 1/2 miles, and then I'd walk again. I really started to worry that my legs would be too shot to drive home. I also knew my pace was most likely would take me over 2 hours. I stopped and walked about two plus minutes and I could see the 12 mile marker down the trail. I bucked up and started to run again. I pushed through the 12th mile and got a bit of a boost with the crowds of people cheering everyone on. I finally saw the finish line and could not wait to cross. The time read 2 hours 3 minutes and 41 seconds. I was honestly happy with time. I think even if I didn't stop to walk that I still would have been over 2 hours and limping back to my car. I was just happy to finally be FINISHED.

I got my well deserved medal and grabbed some water. I was walking like a newborn fawn. My legs were spent. I kept walking so I wouldn't tighten up. I grabbed a food bag and demolished the soft pretzel inside. I finally stopped to stretch out. I was so off balance. After stretching I picked up my bag at the gear check and decided to start making my way back to the parking garage. My knee was still bothering me and my legs were like jelly. At least my shoulder felt fine. After I got to my car I stretched out for another 5 minutes. I hopped in the Jeep, destroyed a bottle of Propel and busted open my bag of Apple pop 'em rice cakes. I felt fine driving home, made it back by 11:30, and took a long, hot shower.  I ended up napping on the couch with Victor in my arms a few hours later. My legs didn't feel that awful. They hurt, but I could walk fine. Thank you compression pants! And probably good I did stop and walk a little bit. It would have sucked if I really pushed it and still came in like seconds over the 2 hour mark.

So I finished my first half marathon! And had a really good time in both senses!! I'm so happy I did it!! All my training did pay off. Maybe next year I beat that 2 hour mark.

I would have taken more pictures but my phone died out at mile 10. Imagine my delight of having dead legs in the middle of Philly, not sure if my legs would last for the drive home. I was too tired to really worry! 

Less Than Twelve Hours To Go

Hopefully 12 hours from now I'll be coming up on mile 5 on the Love Run Half Marathon tomorrow. The time I'm writing this is 8:41pm. I'm excited and anxious. I picked up my bib on Friday afternoon. It was a long day of driving for me. I took the hour long ride to Reading with Victor to see my Grandmother on her 91st birthday. She looked good and said she felt good, so I was happy for her. She's 91 with some dementia, but I think she enjoyed the company. My mom bought a cake, we sang Happy Birthday, and she got to hold and watch Victor. I'm glad we made the trip. I got home around 2pm and decided to drive to Citizen's Bank Park (Phillies stadium) to pick up my bib for the race. I handed Victor off to Zim, got some gas, and took a forty-five minutes/hour long drive into Philly. I could have picked it up today started at 1:30, but I would have been driving straight into Flyers traffic. No thanks. I pulled into the lot at 3pm and made my way to the expo.

The expo was actually in CBP. I had to go up an escalator to get my bib. They had computers available if you didn't know your bib number. I looked up mine on Thursday so I was good to go. I also received a voucher for 2 free Phillies tickets ($38 max a ticket, not bad!) that could be used for any April game, excluding the home opener. After I was directed through the ballpark to the indoor Hall of Fame section that was full of vendors to pick up my free mug. It's a nice quality mug. Then I was directed down about 5-6 flights of stairs to go through a bunch more vendors to pick up my long sleeve tech shirt. Then I had to exit walking past the vendors again and out of the park. Three thoughts. 1)If you were in a hurry, you'd be pissed at the set-up 2)If you had a stroller or had little kids with you, you'd be pissed. 3)It was a real nice expo if you had a lot of time. Altogether it was a nice expo, but it could have been a little more streamlined.

The race starts tomorrow at 8am. I'm not so much nervous in running the race, my biggest worry is parking. There is no designated parking. It starts and ends in front of the art museum (the Rocky steps) and there's not a ton of parking garages. And not too many less than a mile away. I'm hoping I'll find a close garage or decent street parking. And there will be 15,000 other people around. Plus the road closures. I plan on leaving my house around 6am and hopefully get there around 6:30-6:45. I'm sure I'll be fine, but it's in my head.

My shoulder is feeling MUCH better. Every now and then I'll feel it in certain movements, but it's not painful, more of a soreness. I'm very happy about that. My left knee, which has never hurt before, felt a little sore on Thursday, but I'm not very worried. Here's my last week of training workouts:

Sunday: 46 minutes in the elliptical at my parents

Tuesday: TRAIL run!! Yay!! No more ice! I did 6.26 miles in 55 minutes.

Wednesday: Leg workout

1)Squats: 20 reps, 15, 12, 10, 8.

2)Jumping Lunges: 20, 15, 12, 10, 8

3)Calf raises: 20 reps/50lbs - 5 sets

4)in & out crunches: 30 reps - 5 sets

5)tip-toe lunges: 20, 15, 12, 10, 8

Thursday: 3.4 miles in 30 minutes on the trail

Wish I could have had one more week of training. I really wanted to hit 8-9 miles. I think I'm going to be okay though. I have my clothes out, bag packed, and I'm ready to go!

Compression Pants Review

I'm FINALLY done wearing, running in a few times, and enjoying my compression pants and shorts. Depending on your needs, all the pants worked well in their own ways. Here's what I found:

Nike Pro Combat pants

I received a $100 gift card to Nike for Christmas. I went online bought a pair of full length compression pants on sale for $50 and a pair of 3/4 length pants that come down right before your knee on sale for $35. The full length were nice, fit tight, but we're more or less like leggings. They did cling nicely to my knees and quads, but left me with little support in my hamstrings and glutes. They do keep you warm and they kept me dry. If your looking for a budget friendly pair of pants to keep you warm and dry, this is a good buy. If you're looking for full compression, I'd suggest another company. I was using mine for strength workouts in my garage during the winter. 

As for the 3/4 length pants, I felt they fit better in the glutes and were tighter on the hamstrings. This was one of my problem areas, so I was quite happy with that. They didn't go below the knee though. I used them for elliptical workouts. They will show sweat if you don't buy a pair in black. I bought a pair in grey, and I make sure I wear shorts over them. Two words...crotch sweat. Now that I ruined your appetite, they were a GREAT purchase for $35.

Under Armour pants

I have an Under Armour outlet about 10 miles from my house, so one lazy Sunday I went up to check out what they had. I bought a pair of their compression pants for $35 and a pair of their compression shorts for $20. The full length pants reminded me of the Nike Pro Combat. Nice in the knees, quads, and calfs, but felt like leggings. Hamstrings and glutes had very little support. They did keep me warm and dry, but never felt like "true" compression pants. They would be something I'd wear for a short run or weight training. Not bad for $35 on sale, I believe they retail over $50. 

As for the shorts, I really liked them. Tight in all the right areas. I switch between these shorts and the Nike's for elliptical workouts. $20 was an absolute steal for these shorts, they retail closer to $35.

CW-X Stabilynx pants

These guys I bought off Zappos with Christmas gift cards as well. They retail for $105. They are full length, tight in all the right areas, the material feels slightly thicker and more durable, have a drawstring at the waist, and have a nice little key pocket tucked in the inside waistline. They are a bit of a bitch to get on, but I find it totally worth it. My calves, quads, knees, hamstrings, and glutes get full support and feel great. They've kept me nothing but warm and dry, even on my hour plus runs. I highly recommend them. If you're looking for that extra support and don't mind spending a couple extra bucks, these are the pants to get. Wear something over them though. They leave nothing to the imagination.

2XU Women's Compression Tights

I bought these guys at Dick's Sporting Goods. They retail for $109. They are full length, tight in all the right areas, have a longer waistband in the rear to support your back, have thicker and more durable material, and keep you nice and toasty on long runs. They're as much of a bitch to get on as the CW-Xs, and I have no problem with that. My favorite function on the pants is the extended waistline in the back. With having some sciatic issues, these pants were GREAT. I had great support in all areas. I also fell both times in these pants, and they never tore. They only tore the pants I wore over them. I recommend them as well. I switch off between these and the CW-Xs.

CEP 3/4 Compression pants

I bought these bad boys at my local running shop, All Kinds of Fast, for $89.99. CEP is a company that I mostly knew from their compression socks, which are expensive ($60) but are frickin awesome. Apparently, according to their company rep I talked to, are only making 3/4 length pants because of the popularity of their compression socks. I understand though. The pants are great! They come down a few inches under the knee. They greatly support the knee, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. The one area the majority of compression pants don't support are the ankles. Understandable. With the CEPs the pants and the socks meet up in the middle, more or less, giving full support to all leg muscles and joints. I usually put on compression socks over my compression pants, and is a bit of a pain in the ass. They are also warm and toasty, kept me dry, but if you were going to do an obstacle race with water, there would be a slight gap in your leg. I've actually been using them more of a recovery tool, and they've been great for that.

Depending on your body and your budget any of these pants are great. My favorites are the CW-X for long runs, CEP for recovery pants, and Under Armour Shorts for lighter workouts.  Zim bought a pair of SKINZ and absolutely LOVED them. They retail closer to $150-200. And you're not supposed to wear underwear with them. He highly recommended them.

That's my review. Cheers! 

Doing BETTER

Nine days till D-Day...well my run. I'm feeling better. Like 80%. I've been hitting up the elliptical as much as I can, but still I just feel...bruised in my shoulder, pec, shoulder blade area. Not bloody, dig the knife in deeper pain. Just bruised. I'm happy with this. I think I'll be ready to go for race day, but I really think my 2 hours or less goal might be done. I'm okay with that. Shit, I've been through a TON of injuries and upsets in my training. Hell, under 2 hours would be amazing. But my goal now is...just do it. Just finish. See where the day takes ya.

Takin' It Easy

Tuesday I had a set back with my shoulder. I have no idea how I hurt it more, but Tuesday afternoon I was in a bunch of pain. It was either how I feel asleep on the couch for a nap or I wretched it picking up Victor. Wednesday I bit the bullet and went to the Urgent Care center which is about 2 miles down the street from me. They do X-Rays and other tests there so I chose them over my doctor's. I literally waited only like 10 minutes and a doctor saw me. I have full range of motion so nothing is broken or torn. The final ruling was a contusion and muscle spasms. No X-Rays were needed. I was prescribed muscle relaxers which have helped, but they make me drowsy. I only take them in the late afternoon when Zim is home and before I'm about to go to bed. Other than the pills, rest, ice, compress, elevate, which I was already doing. I'm also taking Aleve to help the inflammation. I'm taking one every 12 hours. I'm also wrapped up in Rock Tape. This morning is the best I've felt since I hurt it. So no running or workouts for me for a little while. If I do run next week the earliest day would be Wednesday. I don't want to push it. At least it's slowly getting better!!

Long Runs/Clumsy Girl

Saturday early afternoon temperatures around here were close to 40. Sweet! I decide to get my run in Saturday, so I could rest up Sunday with Zim being off from work. I was still worried about my right leg's hamstring/sciatic. It's been feeling pretty good, but I know what long runs can do. I ended up running around my neighborhood, because the trails are still covered. I must say it was pretty nice out. The ice and snow was starting to melt a bit. I hit a few patches of snow/ice but I would stop and walk around them. I'm not the most graceful of women. I got a little over an hour in and was in the last homestretch, where, yup, I fell again. I was literally a half mile or less to my house. A car was heading towards me and I ran off to the right side of the road and saw ice. I avoided the ice and I guess switched off my mind. Bam! Tripped over my own feet or a manhole cover. I landed on my left shoulder, jumped back up and finished my run. At first I really thought I hurt myself. I broke a clavicle as a stupid 16 year old kid, and that pain was awful and quite intense. I didn't feel that way. Luckily I didn't break anything, but I did re-aggravate my damn anterior serratus nagging injury. I'm damn lucky I didn't break my collarbone. I'm sore, but I'm okay. I just can't let my guard down anymore. And my right leg...perfect fine. Some good news. Anyways I ran 7.33 miles in 1 hour 7 minutes and was averaging a little less than 9 minute miles. I'm pretty happy with that. I felt I still had a bunch in the tank and could have busted out a couple more miles.

If I feel back to normal I plan on getting a 5+ mile run in mid week and do one last long run in on the weekend. I'm hoping 8-9 miles. It's looking like temperatures will be in the 40s and 50s for this week too. Nice! I'm just hoping I'll be healed more up and feeling better. Fingers crossed!

Ice Ice Baby

Come on spring!!!! This whole week thus far has been crappy weather wise. I got to shovel slush and chop at ice in my driveway this morning while Victor was napping. Fun, fun. And another 4-8 inches of snow coming this way tonight into tomorrow. Then it looks like temperatures for Saturday on will be in the 40s and DRY. Sweet!!

Since I have to get the mileage in, I luckily ran about 6 1/4 miles in 55 minutes yesterday. It just started to flurry and sleet in my last 5 minutes. Happy I got it in. Today, after my hour of shoveling and chopping a got a short but quick workout in when Zim came home. Here is goes:

5 minute warm-up

As many rounds as you can in 20 minutes:

3 asst pull-ups

10 squats

10 push-ups

20 sit-ups

15 jumping lunges

5 burpees

I did 7 rounds in 20:16. Kicked my butt! I finished with 2:30 on plank and side planks and stretched out. 

I'm expecting my workout tomorrow will be shoveling again and keeping my eye on Victor as he slowly starts to crawl. My kitty is going to be in trouble soon!!