2012 Daily Mile Report

Daily Mile sent me an email with a link to my totals for 2012 (based on what I posted on their website). This made me curious, so I clicked on the link and wow. Kinda interesting.

It's funny. I completely see the higher mileages in the early part of the year and despite my training for the Atlantic City Half Marathon in the fall, I understand the low mileages in the latter part. I was training for the Shamrock Half Marathon in the early part of the year and was on a huge momentum swing. I joined the YMCA and went four nights a week. I was running on Saturday mornings. I was in the zone!

The next few months I had me running quite a few races, so I kept up the training and of course the races themselves. After Shamrock, I ran Hershey 10k, Sole of the City 10k, and Armed Forces 5k. It kept me off the streets...well, not really but it kept me out of trouble.

Then the heat hit. And I'm an awful runner in the summer. See those 6 miles in June? Yea, 3.1 of them were from the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k. LOL! July was a biggie due to the Spartan Race and the start of AC Half Marathon training. I was gung-ho.

Wish I had stayed that way. You can see how awful I was in August, September and October. Now I'll be the first to tell you, I didn't record all my runs during those months because I had a 10 miler alone in September, then a trail run 5k the following weekend. So, I know it's not 100% accurate (not Daily Mile's fault obviously).

And since the AC Half? LOL! Yea. It's been a bit downhill. That's when motivational issues really reared their ugly head and I just didn't have it in me to run.

I'm hoping the new year will help get past this funk. Though, the scraped knees aren't helping. Can't really run when I can't move my knee too high. I have high hopes for a run on Saturday. Fingers crossed!

Do you have a year-end report? Are you happy with how last year ended in terms of miles?

New Year's Eve

Happy New Years Eve! It is insane to think we are at the end of the year and tomorrow starts a brand-new, fresh start.

Today I am going to throw up a few things I am thankful to 2012 for. Over the next few days I'll be talking about my goals/resolutions for 2013.

JANUARY

The year started off with hubby and I enjoying the shores of Negril, Jamaica. We celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary going back to the island we honeymooned at. A new resort and a new town, but a fantastic time.

Hubby and I joined the local YMCA because I felt I needed more opportunities to workout. I had been doing Wii Fit and running, but I needed more. And after joining the Y, I started trainer sessions. I've kept them up almost all year, had to take a break in July because I signed up for a few too many races in June/July and ran out of money. LOL!

FEBRUARY

I interviewed at the PA State Archives for a permanent position, rather than the temporary one I had. While the new position would be part-time, I knew I needed to get in there permanently if I wanted a get a career in the archives field.

The end of the month had hubby and I celebrating our 16th dating anniversary. Crazy! We went to the same restaurant we had our first date. It's a tradition we've been able to keep up now that we've moved back to PA. 

MARCH

Wow. March was busy! We had three races - Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5k in Baltimore, Shamrock 8k and Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. We love the Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5k because not only is it a fun race, but our friend Ada runs it too! We hang out with her and her friends afterwards in Baltimore. Such a fun time!

The following week, hubby and I went to Virginia Beach to run the Shamrock 8k and I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon. Hubby became injured in January and had to defer running the Shamrock Marathon, but he had been able to get back to running and trained for the 8k. We ran these races and had a really good time.

The next day was the Half Marathon. I headed off (without a camera) and had an amazing race! I PRed and knew it at about mile 10. I was laughing and jumping out of my skin knowing I PRed this race. I felt invincible at the end of this race and I even danced at the after party!

Later in the month, we hosted a Caribbean party and a number of our friends made it out. We had a fantastic time! It's so good when friends you don't see often get together. We've already decided we're hosting a party next year, but with a new theme.

APRIL

Again, another busy month! The second weekend of the month took us to Baltimore and Philadelphia for opening day baseball! We are both baseball fans, but cheer for different teams. Friday, April 6 brought us to Baltimore. Then Sunday, April 9 brought us to Philadelphia.

I ran my first 10k in April. LOL! Yea...yea. A little late, but whatever. We ran the inauguaral Hershey 10k. Not a bad race. A bit hilly, but fun.

Then the following week we ran the Sole of the City 10k in Baltimore. Honestly, this was to be my first 10k, but I couldn't pass up the Hershey 10k. Obviously I PRed in Hershey, but I beat that in Baltimore by one second! LOL!

MAY

The York Revolution had their opening game on May 1 and with our partial season ticket plan, we had tickets. Go Revs!

We had a fun couple of days in Atlantic City, NJ. We stayed at Resorts for the first time and had a fun couple of days. Getting away is always fantastic!

We ran the YMCA Armed Forces 5k in Harrisburg for the first time. It was a nice race, but the same basic course of all 5ks in the 'burg. I ran in honor of my dad who served in the Army and Coast Guard.

 We hit up a couple more baseball games in Baltimore and Philly. Yea baseball!

Baltimore

Philadelphia

JUNE

June took us to Philly to see the Brothers of the Sun tour with Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. Awesome show! So fun that I didn't have a voice for four days. :)

 At the end of June, I ran Baltimore Women's Classic. This is the first 5k I ever ran and each year, I try to run this race. It's a good race and I enjoy running it.

JULY

I got the chance to meet an artist I'm a big fan of - Cowboy Troy!

Two words - Spartan Race. Ugh.

AUGUST

Our only big thing in August was LAS VEGAS! Yup. Vacation took us to Sin City with two of our friends. It was a lot of fun, if hot. LOL! It's always a fun place to go when you're not there for any other reason. We had a blast! Totally worth going if you've never been.

SEPTEMBER

My first race since Baltimore Women's Classic. Hubby and I ran the Sasquatch Trail Run 5k. Fun! It was really hilly and it took forever to finish, but it was fun. Totally recommend it to anyone. What other race has a band playing Deliverance?

We hit up the York Fair for the best fair food ever, pumpkin funnel cake! I have one funnel cake a year and this is it.

OCTOBER

The big thing for October was the Atlantic City Half Marathon. I was all excited for it because I'm a Jersey Girl and I love AC. Until mile eight I really enjoyed the race. Then we hit the boardwalk and eh. Too crazy. It was a race that I was thrilled to see the finish line...even if I did miss my goal time. I was just happy to finish. And some races are just like that.

NOVEMBER

Another race! This time close to home. Yea! Two of our running friends came out so one could run the half marathon. I figured what the heck and signed up for the 5k. After all, they were giving out medals!

Before Thanksgiving our friend from college came home from TX for the holiday. We headed to Philly and had a fantastic time! Fun friends, festive beverages, and 80s cover band. What could be better?

DECEMBER

For the first time in a few years we checked out the Christmas lights at Rocky Ridge Park. The line to get in was awful, but we had a good time walking through the lights. How can you not when there are Christmas dinosaurs?

Time for Christmas! We had a lovely holiday on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. And we had snow!

 December brings our wedding anniversary. This year we headed to Philly and stayed across the street from Independence Hall. We checked out the Titanic exhibit, had dinner at XIX, had drinks with a college friend, then the next day we saw the Prohibition exhibit. Amazing!

Phew! What a year! I noticed a pattern of more activity in the spring than the fall. Hmmm...something to resolve to fix next year. ;-)

Hope you have a fantastic New Year's Eve! Be safe and we'll chat next year!

Atlantic City Half Marathon Recap - Sunday

Race day! We had a wake-up call set for 5:45 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. We got both. But, I didn't want to get up. LOL! I eventually got  up about 6:10 a.m. and started getting ready. And I was ready way earlier than I thought. Oops! I was all ready to go and it was 30 minutes before I wanted to leave the hotel. Strange...

We headed out of the hotel about 7:15 a.m. I figured getting to the start about 7:30 a.m. would work. As we walked down the hall we passed a fellow runner going away from the elevator. She walked down the 12 sets of stairs to the lobby. Wow. More power to you! It was the elevator for me. :-) When we got in the elevator there were three additional runners going down. We were asked how we were getting to the start line. Thought it was a bit funny, but said we were walking. Two of the three laughed. Apparently their friend wanted to take a taxi or one of the rolling chairs to the start. Oops. Sorry!

It was a cool morning, but not freezing. I've read it was in the 50s. I would have preferred a bit chillier, but that's just me. We got to the start and did the pre-race photo.

The start was at the Courtyard at Bally's to my left. Shortly after the photo I took off my sweatshirt and made my way to the corral. I walked in from the front, which was a mistake. It was hard to get to the back this way. They asked us to line up by corral, but there were no corral markers so... I made my way to the back since I knew I didn't want to block the faster runners.

Runner's are friendly! I had a nice conversation with a gentleman running his 2nd half marathon. We shared our stories about running and our hopes for the day. He also does the run/walk method so we chatted about that. He was a nice guy to chat with before the gun went off.

I crossed the start line about 2:30 after the gun. I thought it would take much longer, so that wasn't too bad. I ran a little bit before seeing hubby on a bench looking for me. LOL! I saw him first and he got a couple shots.

We left the boardwalk at Martin Luther King Blvd and off we were away from the ocean.  Garmin went off at my first half mile at 5:55. Whaaa?!?! This is not good. Then it went off at the first mile - 11:59. Crap! This was WAY too fast for my lack of training. And it showed later...

I ran past the 1 mile water station. Who needs water that early? I was waiting for the 2.5 mile water station. It being more in tune with the way I hydrate in training. From the 1 mile water station we headed towards the highway...and an uphill entrance ramp. It was crazy! The positive was it was short. I walked it. I knew my training was not what it should be and I wasn't about to kill myself on the hills. Hit the top and made a right down a nice downhill into a tunnel. There was a slight incline, but not bad. It wasn't until we got out of the tunnel did we see the incline. Walked again. And got caught walking by the course photographer. Doh!

The highway we were running along took you out towards the Borgota and Harrah's. Shortly after this incline we leveled off again and there was a radio station blaring music. Which was nice, sorta. It was the only music on the half course. We ran around them and we passed the three mile mark. At the 3.1 mile mark there was a clock and apparently a reader to mark the official time. Mine wasn't too bad - 41:12. With the amount of walking I did up the inclines, I was ok with it. Just passed that we went up again, another on ramp. This brought us to the Borgota. We ran around the back of that and up another incline. From the Borgota we headed to Harrah's, which was fun since hubby and I have spent several of our wedding anniversaries there at the pool. Lots of traffic jams around there I can tell you!

Now I get a little fuzzy because I'm not familiar with the areas we went into next. We had several miles to go before heading back to the boardwalk and this is what I remember:

* There was a marker at mile 5 (I mention this because markers weren't at every mile that I saw)
* Somewhere just before 6.55 miles there was a funeral home. I had to laugh.
* At the 6.55 marker there was another tent where they read your bib for split times. Mine was 1:24:12. Blargh.
* The houses in the Water Basin were beautiful! And there is a statue of Neptune out there!
* I think I saw Donna out there, but wasn't 100% sure.
* There was a woman saying we were halfway there. No lady, we're not.
* Water stations did not seem to be accurate based on the map.

I was pretty excited to see the turn for the boardwalk. I knew when we got there 8 miles were in the books and only 5.1 more to go. I was struggling by this point, but I thought I could do it.  I walked up the ramp to the boardwalk between Revel and Showboat and made the right onto the boardwalk, immediately seeing hubby on a bench looking for me. Yea! He got a few shots here.

And now it was just 5.1 more miles to the finish. I knew I would have to pass the finish line and then turn around further down the boardwalk before coming back. That was a mental block to get past. As I'm running along I realized the race officials did not close off any of the boardwalk for runners. This means until you reached the finish line you were weaving between tourists, having to pass them or get stuck behind them if you couldn't pass. Then, once you passed the finish line, you had to weave among the tourists and the runners on their way back! I can tell you, at one point I seriously considered just turning around before the official turn around point and finishing. Yea, I know it would be cheating, but it was so frustrating having to weave among so many people.

But, while I thought it I didn't do it. I did almost get run over by a cop on a motorcycle as he turned his bike around and then stopped about 10 feet in front of me. I was a bit ticked. And now more honesty. Around 9.5 miles I started power walking. I couldn't run. My feet hurt (along the bottoms), my right hamstring was bothering me randomly, as well as my left knee. I was feeling a bit defeated and I started walking. And I started passing people. LOL! I was power walking faster than I was running. How disconcerting. But whatever gets you to the finish line, right?

I finally made the turn around and kept moving knowing it was just about 2 miles back. I had to guess this of course because at this point the mile markers were for the marathoners...who the first ones were starting to pass me. Slightly upsetting. But I ran/walked back to the finish. I got close to Caesar's and saw a photographer and decided to run it in from there on out. Which worked in my favor because the photo does show me running. Now because there were no lanes set aside we had been running on the left side of the boardwalk. To cross the finish you had to be on the right. So, in the middle of very large crowds (plus) you had to cross from one side of the boardwalk to the other (con). Ugh.

I crossed over and looked for hubby. I got about 5 feet into the finishers lane and saw him.  Yea! I knew the finish was soooooo close. Just a few more feet.

FINALLY! I crossed the finish line and I could stop. I was handed my AMAZING medal by the gentleman in the blue and white shirt in the above photo. The two in the red shirts were photographers. I passed through the shoot and grabbed a water. I walked into the finisher's area where there was all sorts of goodies - Rita's water ice, bananas, oranges, pretzels, and a few other items. I then headed over for my free beer. :-) I found hubby and we sat on the boardwalk and listened to the winners.

After I finished my beer, we headed back to the Continental for a Champaign-O-Rama. Yum!  Then off to breakfast at a little place we found last time we were in AC that served breakfast all day. Had a delicious banana walnut french toast and potatoes. So good!

After breakfast we stopped and checked out the boardwalk kitties. There is an organization that makes sure these little guys are fed and cared for throughout the year. We happened to walk by just as they were feeding the kitties.

Then it was back to the hotel for naps. So tired...

Atlantic City Half Marathon Recap - Saturday

Race weekend finally came! Saturday morning we got up and finished packing. We then got Higgy and Pooka together with all their stuff to take to the sitter. Yes, they need to be boarded when we go away now. They both have hyperthyroidism and need meds, and Higgy needs a blue liver pill to keep his thyroid from destroying it.

Hubby packed the car and we grabbed the cats. It had rained Friday night, pretty badly too around here and the steps were wet. I put my foot on a step and slipped. I remember feeling my foot go out from under me and then nothing until I looked to my right. There I saw my sweet Higgy in his carrier looking at me through the air slots asking me, "what just happened Mommy?" He seemed ok, a little confused, but ok. I on the other hand. Oh heavens did the back of my right leg hurt. I hit it on one of the steps when I landed. Oh, and my right ankle. That hurt too.

I headed inside to change pants because the leaves and dirt on the step rubbed off on my pant leg. Lovely. When I changed pants I saw a nice raw rug burn type injury on the back of my right thigh. Wow. That was not intentional. I forgot to check my ankle in my rush to get to the car. Yea. It was somewhat painful.

We got the cats to the sitter and headed off to AC. What struck me most were the trees on the way down. Peak color season! Gorgeous! I love the Mid-Atlantic in the fall.

We arrived in AC and checked into our hotel. We chose Showboat based on proximity to the start line (1.2 miles) and the price. The price was one of the best of the race hotels or any other hotel as I checked Orbitz to find the best deal. I'll be honest, we thought Showboat would be kinda a dump. We hadn't stayed their before, but it always seemed as if no one we knew stayed there. But, it was so bright and colorful. The check-in staff were very friendly. I was happy we picked Showboat.

We dumped our stuff in the room and headed to Bally's where the Expo was. One of the security guards told us how to get to the 6th floor and off we went! We walked in and things were clearly marked. I walked to the check in table to get my bib. I was 1605.

Then she turned away. I had to ask where to go next. They had everyone get their chips checked to make sure they worked. Nice touch. The lady at that station then directed me to women's t-shirt table for my shirt and bag.

I grabbed my bag and shirt (long sleeve, very nice!), then headed over to the event merchandise table. Since the event shirt was long sleeve I wanted a short sleeve shirt to wear in the summer. When I asked about it, I was told they had no short sleeve shirts in medium. Actually, they had no women's shirts in medium at all. Also, no large's. Ummmm...huh? I know we got to the expo about 4:00 p.m. on the second day (it was open until 8:00 p.m.), but still. Statistically more women run half marathons than men and the half is bigger than the marathon. I was pissed.

We then went into the Expo itself and it was small. Way smaller than I anticipated. We wandered through rather quickly as it seemed vendors who were scheduled to be there had packed up. I was hoping to see BeeCause Charms, but they were not there even though the race people said they would be there. I don't know what happened there, but I was disappointed.

After the Expo, we headed over to the Continental, which is one of our favorite restaurants. We enjoyed a yummy drink before heading to dinner.

Yum!

We hit up Gallagher's Burger Bar at Resorts and had a yummy burger. I know everyone goes the pasta route before a race, but I'll be honest. I hadn't been good about getting in protein this past week. I figured between the beer I had at dinner, the roll, and the fries I would be covered on the carbs front. We had a great server and the meal was delicious! I would recommend this place. If we hadn't been there for the race I would have hung at the bar too. 

And because it's night before the race, I wanted dessert. The dessert menu at Gallagher's didn't impress me so we wandered off. We got back to Showboat and decided to stop at Crossroads at the House of Blues. We read the menu outside and they had a Key Lime Pie. Sold! We got a seat and our waitress came over...wearing the 10k medal! Go Donna! She is 58 and this was her second race, her first being the 10k last year. She told us all about her race and said she would be volunteering at the Water Basin the next day. I told her I would look out for her.

After dessert (which was delicious!), we headed back to the room to get settled. I got all my running stuff out. I like pulling it all out so come race morning I don't have to think.

And as a girl, I like doing my nails for the race. I know. But, whatever. I found the perfect nails for the race. Loving the new nail sticker trend!

How can you not love these??? I had several people comment on them. Awesome!

Got all my stuff together and headed to bed. I'm a night owl so going to bed early for these races always causes me problems. I lie there for a while waiting for sleep, then kinda freak out that I won't be able to sleep at all. LOL! I did fall asleep. Eventually...

Last trainer workout before AC

Met up with the trainer tonight for my last session before the Atlantic City Half Marathon. I've been holding off on leg work because of the shin splints, so we worked on arms. I tend to baby injuries rather than challenge them.

Here's what we did tonight. Hardest session I've had with the trainer:

:20 pull up push-ups (without the push-up) (10 pound weights)
:10 second rest
:20 right arm kettle ball toss (15 pounds)
:10 second rest
:20 left arm kettle ball toss (15 pounds)
:10 second rest
:20 modified burpee
:10 second rest
:20 plank
:10 second rest
:20 inch worm push-up
:10 second rest
:20 overhead press with squat (10 pound weights)
:10 second rest
:20 mountain climber
:10 second rest

Did that three times. When we started out in February, I was doing maybe 3-4 exercises during a set. Apparently, I've moved up in the world. We rounded the whole thing out with sit-up punches with 5 pound weights. I managed to do 10 punches per 20 seconds three times, then on the fourth set managed 12 punches. Guess that isn't too bad.  :-)

Just 6 more days til the half...

The next day

Woke up this morning with some lovely hip pain and upper back pain. Not surprised. Haven't trained well for this race. The upper back pain is odd, but I'll survive. Honestly, I'm glad I'm feeling it for a couple reasons.

1. Because I know to expect it next week. I'd rather know that I will be sore after the race and the next day now so I know there (probably) isn't anything wrong later.

2. As a reminder that I haven't trained well and that I need to do a better job for the Shamrock Half in March 2013. I know I can do better. I have done better.

3. That I do not like running in summer and because of that no amount of excitement over a race will make me go out and run. I must remember that next year when signing up for races. Late November or December will be fine. September/October are not good long race months for me.

Live and learn.

Last long run before AC

The last long run before the race. It was today. I got up and got ready. The temps were gorgeous! By the time I got to the parking lot it was 43 degrees. I had a light long sleeve jacket on, but by mile 2 it was off. Beautiful weather!

I headed from Manchester into Mount Wolf because it is the only route I know besides the Rail Trail that will give the mileage I was looking for - 8-9 miles. I wasn't sure which it would be, so I gave myself the range.

I had a nice run if not slower than my training runs for Shamrock in March. I ran the hills and wandered around Mount Wolf. I like running there because there are always people out doing stuff - walking the dog, mowing the grass, decorating for the holidays, doing repairs. Always lots of things to watch as you run by.

Had a nice visit with two adorable chocolate labs while out and about. They were sweet. Headed back towards Manchester shortly after saying hello and felt ok. I'll be honest, I walked about half of Maple Street. It's just so darn hilly! I know I can run it, I've done it before, but I just didn't feel like it today.

Got 8 miles in total and felt fine afterwards. Had I been better at mileage I could have gone 9, but I just didn't have the heart to run past my car. It was calling to me. LOL!

So, that's it. Last long run before next Sunday's 13.1 miles. Going to aim for two 30 minute runs this week and hit the gym twice. Should be good. I won't PR AC, but I'll cross that finish line!