HKRS Parents’ Mile Race Recap

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Healthy Kids Running Series, HKRS, Mile Race, Mother's Day, Race, Running May 9, 2016

First, let me say that I was so overwhelmed by your guys’ support for my crazy NYC PR goal. I’m still undecided about what number I’m going to choose for my training paces, but your belief in me definitely gives me a boost in confidence ❤

The past 5 weekends, my kids have been participating in the Healthy Kids Running Series. Last year, my daughter did it, but was overwhelmed by the crowds and wasn’t comfortable running unless mommy ran with her.

Not this year though. Each and every single race, she ran with a HUGE smile on her face. Even the weekend that she was sick.

My little runner ❤

I had a feeling my son wouldn’t struggle. Even though he’s the same age my daughter was last year (and she struggled then), I knew he’d love being in the midst of craziness. That’s just his style, lol!

There he is–red shirt, black shorts–cruisin’ ❤

We remembered from last year that there was a Parent’s Mile after the last kids’ race. My husband and I didn’t participate last year (I don’t remember why) but we figured we’d run it this time around. I’ve never done a mile race and thought it would be kinda cool. I had very little expectations.

My husband went first. There was a good crowd of dads and right when the whistle blew about 5 of them took off! My husband didn’t, and I knew that he was going to run a smart race and not start out too fast. Sure enough, he started picking off runners as he ran but the first place dad (who was one that took off) had gained quite a bit of distance–too much ground for my husband to cover in a mile. He ended up taking second with a 6:10 clock time and 5:56 Garmin (his watch had him at over a mile–we thought it strange the big time discrepancy).

Then it was my turn. There were more moms than dads and as we crowded at the start, all of us chatted about not really knowing where to go on the course. One mom said, “I’m sure there’ll be one of you leading the way.” Another mom asked who ran 8 minute miles and me and one other woman raised our hands. I guess we’d be the ones leading.

Sure enough, when the whistle blew, it was me and her leading the pack. She had a couple of feet lead but I was just trying to make sure that I had enough in me to finish the whole thing. I didn’t want to burn out.

As we ran, I kept her close in sight and as we turned to begin the second (last loop), I knew I had to make a decision:

Should I speed up and pass her, knowing that once I did, she’d speed up and it would be a fight for first?

Should I maintain pace, and finish second, knowing that that was a done deal and I’d have enough energy for my Mother’s Day 5k the next day?

I had to choose quick and when we headed towards a straightway, I decided to go for it. I took advantage of being past the turns (each one we had to slow down for) and picked up my pace on the straightaway, gaining on her each second that went by.

Closing in…

We turned and I crept up behind her, passed her, and did a little surge. I could tell she was tired but not out for the count.

Surging!

We kept going. She was right behind me, and I knew that at the last turn towards the finish, it would be a fight.

Down to the wire!

The last turn came quickly, and I heard her husband shout, “You got this Julie!! You know what to do!!” I was still in front of her and while I’ve always been confident in myself that my kick is strong, I dug deep for all the strength I had so she would not pass me.

I was pumping my arms up and down–running as fast as I had ever ran in my entire life, not feeling, hearing, thinking anything. Just run, Helly!!!

Those last 10 seconds were the most painful I’d ever felt–Garmin said I was at a 4:56 pace!

And I won!!!!

The clock time read 6:50 and my Garmin said 6:53–either one, it was the fastest I’d ever run a mile.

There was no medal, no certificate–we weren’t running for anything, lol! Just pride, I guess. Ha!

When I finished, I high-fived the second place mom. She had ran track in high school (which explained her husband encouraging her at the final sprint). Her husband had taken third, behind my husband, in the Dad’s race. People came up to congratulate us, saying how exciting the race had been to watch. My kids kept yelling, “Mommy, you were the line leader!!” And my daughter gave me a huge hug.

But, I was feeling extremely light-headed and told my husband I needed to sit down. We still had a busy day ahead of us–a birthday party literally right after and a baby shower in the afternoon. I ended up spending the whole day extremely exhausted and when I crawled into bed that night, I could barely move. I had zero regrets for giving it all I had that morning; I saw something in me I had never seen. But, I knew that I was paying for it.

–Have you ever ran a mile race??

–Has it ever gone down to the wire for you in a race?

–Ever felt light-headed after running fast?

Helly + Hanson’s = Marathon PR??

Posted by hellyontherun in Marathon, Marathon Training, Running and tagged with Base Building, Hanson's Marathon Method, Marathon Training, Race Goals, Running May 4, 2016

Welp, I’m getting on the Hanson’s Marathon Method train.

After reading Colby‘s success (and BQ!) and Allison‘s craziness towards a sub 3:05 (which she got!) using Hanson’s, I’ve decided to drink the kool-aid.

I’ll be using Hanson’s Marathon Method for New York City Marathon.

Reading about this crazy training, I didn’t think this would be a plan that would work for me. It’s SIX days of running. SIX. As in, only one day off. Both Colby and Allison used this training plan holding down jobs and still nailed each run like the freaking awesome people they are. Me though? I was already struggling with work and kids and knew there was no way I’d find time to schedule in 6 runs. Not with my already 4:30 a.m. wake time.

But hey, now I don’t have a job, lol! And I figure, now would be the perfect time to try this plan so I’m going for it.

Hanson’s calls for high mileage–40+ miles after week one. I had already planned to do some base marathon training to build up to Hanson’s higher mileage as I didn’t want to jump into the plan and go straight to 40 miles/week, something I’ve never done. And after doing a little more research, and reading Kristina’s blog post about it, I found that Hanson’s actually has 8 week base training plans that could help lead me into full blown marathon training; the plan starts next week and goes up to the start of official marathon training in July. I’ll be modifying the first couple of weeks because each week of the base plan is 40 miles (and I need to work myself up to that first). I was little bummed the plan itself didn’t do that going in, but it was easy for me to see where I could make adjustments.

Plus, there is an online Facebook group for people using Hanson’s plans where Luke Humphrey himself, the writer of the Hanson’s Marathon Method, has a very active presence. We’re able to ask specific questions and he, along with other Hanson’s plan veterans, offers up suggestions. I asked Luke about making modifications to the base training plan the first couple of weeks, and he totally agreed that it was a simple few changes to make it work.

In addition to the base training plan, I created an account on Final Surge, Luke’s site, which is a free training log website. (It seems to be similar to Training Peaks–which I’ve never used but have heard of.) One component of the site that is of interest is the Workout Intensity Calculator. This is where my quest for a PR comes in. You plug in your most recent 5k, 10k, or 1/2 time and it gives you a marathon finish estimate along with the paces you’d run your weekly runs.

Yes, you read that right. According to this little calculator, I could be aiming for a 3:45 marathon.

The other distances shown–the 5k and 10k–align pretty closely with my current PRs in those distances: 23:46, 49:29. I even plugged those in to see what marathon time it gave me, lol!

All said 3:45.

When I look at the paces for each run at that goal, they seem challenging yet doable. Long runs at 9:20-9:40, Tempo runs at 8:35, Strength runs at 8:25, and Easy runs between 10:20-9:40.

I have to choose a goal if I’m using Hanson’s Marathon Method. It’s just crazy to me to think that this could be it. A part of me wants to go conservative and shoot for a 4:15. It would still be a massive PR. Another part of me says go for the sub 4. And then a little, teeny voice in my brains whispers just go big.

–How do you determine your race goal/pace? I definitely consider the course. NYC is said to have some hills?? (is that true NYC veterans??) and it’s a destination marathon, so I think about all of that.

A Running Throwback Thursday

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with Family, Memories, Running, Throwback Thursday April 28, 2016

It’s been a week of reminiscing as I’ve been reminded of a lot fun memories that happened around this time of the year.

Two years ago , in a lot of ways spontaneously, my husband and I flew to Europe (Spain, Italy, and France). We ran Rock n Roll Madrid, Spain April, 27th as our first out of the country race.

It was an absolute blast and super interesting to see how races are somewhere besides the States. I wrote about it here, but one of the funner tid bits was that there were no portapotties!! Or like, very few. I remember as a I ran, seeing dudes just pull up to the side and do their thing, lol!!

Another interesting note was that the water stations consisted of water bottles, not cups. It pained me a bit to see people take sips and then toss the bottles but then remembering how expensive bottled water was in Europe, I decided to hoard some and run double fisted.

There were no waves. As soon as the horn blew, everyone just went. There were corrals but I wasn’t sure the purpose if everyone started at the same time, lol! And boy, was it crowded! Oh , and it was vastly men running and my bib had a big fat “F” for female.

One of my fave race pics — having fun doing what I love (and in Spain!)

Anyway, Miranda @ThoughtsAndPavement commented on my recap that she’d run the race this year and reignited the fun times I had during the race and my time in Europe. She also noticed many of the same things, most especially how crowded the race was.

************

This weekend last year , I flew to Ohio, also sorta last minute, to see my brother run his FIRST half marathon. He had been training hard, and I was so proud of him. I said out loud to my husband after reading one my brother’s training runs (he texted them all to me ❤ ) how I wished I could be there to see him. My husband immediately got me a plane ticket.

I’ve written about my brother before and his amazing transformation. A total non-runner, overweight, sedentary but awesomely good guy. Last year, he lost over 60 pounds and completely changed his life.