Weeks 12-15: #itsgoingdownatphx

Welp, looks like I’ve gotten a little behind on these recaps, lol!! To catch you up, training has been going really well. Which of course, makes me nervous.

I’ve had some pretty amazing workouts at paces I never thought I could do. So far, I’ve completed an 18 miler, a 20 miler, and an 18 miler, with my last 20 coming up this weekend. The last two long runs were super tough leaving me wondering if I can really do this thing, but let me tell you something, besides running these past few weeks, I’ve been working on my mental game LIKE WHOA.

I’ll do a full recap on the reading I’ve done (and podcasts I’ve listened to <—finally catching up with the times!) after the race, but I do want to say that immersing myself with positivity has been such a help for me this training cycle.

I wouldn’t be able to have hit these paces without believing I could.

Of course I get nervous, will I have had a great training cycle but an abysmal race? But as soon as those thoughts start creeping in, I shut them out.

And if for whatever reason, things go to shit and I don’t BQ, I’m guaranteed a fun time because… my friends are getting married at mile 26!!!!

follow the fun at @rundrunklove

Love them!

the bride-to-be and meeee!

Yessss!!! How awesome is that? So I “met” Scott through his (now defunct) blog and then met him in real life when we both ran Chicago Marathon 2015. That’s when I met Marsha, the girl he’ll be marrying. We hit it off and now we’re the best of friends ❤ They came out last year for Phoenix Marathon when Marsha was trying to BQ (she did) and then came out again to baptize my son.

I ❤ this pic.

Hoping to ring that bad boy again this year!

Regardless of the outcome of the race, I’m so glad these two will be there. I know that they’ll be my tequila drinking buddies if I need to drown my sorrows or celebrate the good times 😀

CAN’T WAIT!!!

–Have you seen a mid-marathon wedding?

 

No Running–Week 3 Recap

Halfway there! Hopefully….

It was a busy week despite no running as it was finals week at work and my last official week of teaching.

Monday started our Secret Santa exchange and I knew I was off to a good start with who I got:

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#idonutcare

I did an medium/easy upper body workout before bed. Just a series of different arm weight reps, nothing big.

I had a few friends and their kids over Tuesday to do some pre-birthday celebrating and it was fun to chat with friends who would tolerate me complaining about not being able to run.

One minute plank before bed.

Wednesday was my birthday!! 😀 I turned the big 3-1 and would’ve liked to run a nice, neat 5k (3.1) but alas…

I did however, go to track to hang out with my running buddies. If I can’t run, at least I can hang out with people who love to run.

My kids got me these hip new running pants <3

My kids got me these hip new running pants ❤ and went to track with me

Missing quite a few candles on that hat...LOL

Missing quite a few candles on that hat…LOL

Let it be known, that up to this day, I had gone 2+ weeks with NO SODA. Since the discovery of my injury, I had proposed to myself a challenge of no soda during my no running time frame.

But, so many of my students knew of my love of all things Coke and I was treated to several different sizes of the beverage on my birthday. I couldn’t turn it down.

I could totally feel it though, as I spent the entire day bloated, lol!!

Thursday, I did this video and I felt so good afterward. She can be a little….much…but she’s a good distraction as I find myself listening to her instead of focusing on how I’m struggling with the reps, lol!

It was my official last day at work on Friday and I certainly felt the love from my students. There were moments of the day that were tough, but overall I felt more relieved than sad, and that made me feel like I had made the right decision.

Our local running store had a Donut Run/Walk 5k Saturday morning and my daughter and I were all about it.

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My and my daughter, and Runner Jenny and her daughter. And a person wearing a donut costume.

I skipped the donuts though, letting my daughter take care of it 🙂

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Later that night, it was our run club’s holiday party and oh boy….

Each year there are gag gifts sprinkled in the White Elephant exchange (that’s where you pick a present but don’t know who it’s from). Of course I ended up picking a gag gift … It was a pair of lingerie underwear!! I was SO embarrassed and was forced to hold up the gift for all to see. I don’t want a picture of me holding up a pair of pink lacy underwear on the inter webs so I’m skipping posting the pic LOL But here’s one of me while opening it and dying.

Trying unsuccessfully to hide the gift...

Trying unsuccessfully to hide the gift…while the MC announces what I’m opening.

It was a fun, busy week that kept me distracted from not being able to run. I’ll be attempting my first swimming adventure on Tuesday and that will definitely be interesting…jaja!!!

I hope everyone has a great week and happy holiday! ❤ , helly

–Any fun holiday party stories??

–What did you ask Santa for for Christmas??

–Anyone else with a birthday in December? Do you get the, “This is your birthday AND Christmas gift.” Grrr…LOL

 

 

 

Positive Phoenix Marathon Memories

I didn’t actually finish Phoenix Marathon–if you missed the story of my DNF, you can catch up here.

Thank you so much to those who commented and reached out to me. Your support really does mean a lot. I love how amazing the running community is ❤

Thankfully, not everything about the weekend was bad.

The Expo

I left work early to get to the expo in time for the meet up of all meet ups.

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It was definitely going down at the Pro Compression booth.

Pretty much everyone got there at the same time and I was surrounded by bloggers and Instagrammers galore! So many faces I recognized from stalking following on social media, I was like, “I know you!” and “I know you!” Except, of course, I didn’t really know them lol!

I saw my girl Meg (aka: @Maxfitgirl29) first and went straight up to her and introduced myself.

<3 her!

I ended up chatting with her the most and she was as awesome in person as she is on her Insta.

And the ever cool @dasilentassasin was also behind the booth.

Suuuuch a nice guy.

Suuuuch a nice guy.

The infectious smile that is Carlee

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I saw one of my faves @michrun4 again. I’ve seen her a few times around town as she’s local (but is moving–sniff, sniff)

Don't gooooo!

Don’t gooooo!

Pavement Runner had sent me a good luck shirt and I sported it at the expo. I was lucky enough to snag a pic with him too. He is seriously an awesome dude.

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#runallday

 

And then I got to meet RunEMZ and The Athletarian (so many of these peeps have such cool names I noticed. I’m just helly 🙂 ) RunEMZ is another local who is so amazing. She’s a well known ultra-marathoner around town (and elsewhere) who recently ran a 100 miler–having given birth less than 6 months earlier!–and got 1st female overall. Like, seriously whoa. Oh, and she trains on the treadmill. She is not only a badass but she is suuuuuper nice. And that’s the best. I love it when people are nice.

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Me, RunEMZ, and The Athletarian

There were soooooo many people who were running this race it was difficult to find everyone. I was sad I missed Suz (who BQ’d!!) and Gregg and Smitha (and others) but it’s just another reason for a destination race 🙂

Race Day

While I waited for Runner Jenny to cross, I cheered several of those I’d met as they made their way to the finish. I was cheering and cheering and the guy next to me said, “You sure know a lot of people!” Eveeerryone was running this race.

And me, well I was an emotional mess. I was disappointed and super disheartened at having not completed the race but at the same time, I was rejoicing with every person’s accomplishment. Even those I didn’t know! I saw people crying as they crossed, people pumping their fist in the air triumphantly, and even others spreading their arms out wide and soaring in across the line. I saw kids running with their moms, husbands with their wives, friends pacing their friends–it was absolutely amazing. I had never stayed and watched at a finish line like I did that day. And even though the circumstances were tough to swallow, I am so, so glad I did.

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The finish line

My friend Nadia had told me on the phone earlier that she herself had crossed the finish line of the 10k and snagged herself a second place age group award!! I didn’t get to see her to squeeze her but she sent me a pic of her awesome award later that day.

Post Race (The Next Day)

I could have stayed home and sulked the next day, drowned my sorrows in fast food and soda, but instead I went to my run club’s post-race celebration picnic and heard everyone’s race stories. Several of my friends had PRd, a couple won age group awards, and a few had ran their first 1/2 marathon and marathon. I didn’t want to miss their post race glow–we had all trained together.

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Lisa, who snagged a sub 4 hour marathon PR, me, and Runner Jenny

So even though this race has a dark cloud over it for me in many ways, there are definitely spots of sunshine throughout the weekend that doesn’t make Phoenix Marathon 2015 a total disaster. One thing is for certain, I will return in some capacity next year 🙂

–What’s your favorite part of a race weekend? The day before (the expo), race day, or post race (all the food!)?