Nope, not a running post...not yet!
Alex and I had the chance to go to a Colt's game via his generous boss who gave us tickets. The group we were sitting with was about 20 strong and included mainly people I did not know. I knew a few though. The Indianapolis Colts played the Jacksonville Jaguars. I am not going to recount the game itself, just the experience of attending...
Alex and I parked at his parents' and walked to Lucas Oil Stadium - about 1 mile. The streets were crowded, tailgating was in full swing, and although the Colts have not won a single game this year, there was not a soul in sight who wasn't wearing blue and white. As we approached the stadium, a man on a bull horn was shouting in a thick southern accent, "Welcome to Lucas Oil Stadium - shorter lines to the left." I, however, thought he was saying 'borderlines' to the left - Alex set me straight. It is impossible not to notice all the people asking for donations around the stadium. There were homeless people, cheerleading groups, school groups, charities, ect...I had no cash, but would have needed at least ten one dollar bills in order to give to everyone I walked by.
We had to wait a bit to meet up with everyone and get our tickets. I met and shook hands with all the people in our group. My favorite was a boy about 4th grade or so - he reminded me or me when I was his age. He was slightly shy, but polite. his Dad immediately told everyone that he was in the Indianapolis Boys' Choir, to which he quickly corrected, "there are girls in it too, DAD!" Alex asked if he had any Holiday shows coming up. He told us 2, and spared no detail :) I asked him about sports and he said he gave up basketball to do choir and spellbowl - a kid after my own heart! Then he articulately told about his upcoming spellbowl meet and although he was only the 2nd alternate he was expected to practice the words. There was more to the story, but I'll cut it short. It was adorable how excited about being the 2nd alternate on his spellbowl team he was. Throughout the game, I wanted to to talk to him more, but I never got to. I did figure out who he reminded me of (besides myself) - Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory! He looked like Sheldon from 4th grade!
Once inside the stadium, the crowd just got tighter. If I had a child, I would have been death gripping him/her. We got a coffee ($5.50 - robbery). We got to our seats and I just took in the stadium - its massive!
If I am not going to recount the game, this post is about over...but there is one last topic to discuss...the Colts Cheerleaders...Holy Moly. Skanktastic is the best word to describe them. After what I saw, I doubt I would ever let a daughter of mine be a cheerleader. DIE-SCUSTING. Seriously. That's all I have to say about that.
If only Peyton was still playing and the Colts actually had a shot...maybe next year with a little Luck! ;)
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
I performed minor surgery...on myself!
Remember on LOST when Jack was going to remove his own appendix or something? Well...I removed a good portion of my feet! (Ewww, I know.)
I'm walking normal, I've ran a few steps through parking lots and to cross streets here and there since Saturday. I think a short run is on the books for soon! Of course, I will be taking Kenda - she's 1 year old now! Her birthday was November 8th and we celebrated by taking her on a long walk and to the dog park (Alex took her) and we got her a new Kong toy :) And we let her stay up past her bedtime of 9:30 :)
We are putting our Christmas tree up this weekend (!!) Alex would like to wait, but I want to put it up! It is our first Christmas in our new house and I would like to enjoy the decorations through all of the holidays.
For now though, continued rest and recovery...
I'm walking normal, I've ran a few steps through parking lots and to cross streets here and there since Saturday. I think a short run is on the books for soon! Of course, I will be taking Kenda - she's 1 year old now! Her birthday was November 8th and we celebrated by taking her on a long walk and to the dog park (Alex took her) and we got her a new Kong toy :) And we let her stay up past her bedtime of 9:30 :)
We are putting our Christmas tree up this weekend (!!) Alex would like to wait, but I want to put it up! It is our first Christmas in our new house and I would like to enjoy the decorations through all of the holidays.
For now though, continued rest and recovery...
Monday, November 7, 2011
2011 Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon Race Report: Dang Feet!
Long time, no blog. I've been busy...
This post will contain a recounting of my first half marathon experience, nothing less, maybe a little more. Soon to come: a training update, a report on the 2011 Hilly Hundred, and more Kenda, Alex, dog park, running, life, Christmas decorating, ect...
Saturday was race day. It was chilly, dark, and crowded at the start. I had imagined what a few thousand people would be like, but experiencing it is something else. I lost my friend before the race even started. I was walking up and down the sidewalk looking for her about 5 minutes before the start only to realize that there were metal barricades between the sidewalks and the race participants..."uhhh, I need to be over there?" Without giving away all the embarrassing details, I made it into the corral. Metal barricades, pfffft!
The "Go" was totally lame. It was literally like this: "on your mark, get set, GOOOOOO!" I was like, what are we, 4 years old? Anyways, then came the shuffle to the actual start line (when there are thousands of people, you can't just take off). I just walked, others oddly jogged - I was ready though. My plan was a slow first mile. I did not want to get carried away and blow it on a quick first mile. This was easier than I expected, I would have had to bob and weave in order to run faster, which would have wasted energy...running along with everyone put me at 7:55 for my first mile, that worked, I would have even taken slower. Overall, my main goal was to break 1:45. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to average under 8 minutes per mile.
Miles 2-4 are a blur. They went by so. fast. The only detail to spell out is this: S. T. R. A. W. Straw. Read it and remember it if you are planning on running a long distance race.
**Let me tell a quick prefacing story: Friday night we went to Alex's parents house for dinner - Ellen made me fettuccine alfredo, my favorite. I planned on spending the night since they live about 5 minutes away from the start line. I had forgotten to pick up a straw, so I asked them if they had one. I received a couple confused looks and then the inevitable, "what do you need a straw for?" I explained and Bob went to a coffee shop around the corner and picked up muffins for breakfast and an assortment of straws - all shapes and sizes. I love them so much!**
A single straw cut in half made my race better. Hold a straw with you and at water stations, drinking is cake. I learned this from a fellow Bedfordite (I'm telling you, that place is crawling with high class endurance athletes - I saw 3 of them while running on Saturday!) At the first water station I took water (the 2nd station) I did not have my straw out of my pocket - so I took the cup, continued moving, and tried to drink. I sputtered, coughed, and coughed, and threw the cup, and coughed...sigh. Then I got my straw out and thought to myself, "I am going to hold this dang thing the entire race." Needless to say, after that I was well hydrated :) NOTE: cut the straw in half so its easier to hold and carry the other half with you - I dropped my straw at one point, but had the other half in my pocket so I was ok for the rest of the race.
Mile 2: 8:04
Mile 3: 7:46
Mile 4: 7:51
Miles 5-9 were slightly different for me. I really felt myself getting into a groove. I thought about holding my pace, about relaxing my upper body, about my stride, and about the pain that was creeping into my knee. Now, I believe myself to have a higher than normal pain tolerance, but who wants to run on a pained knee for 9 miles. It was tolerable, I was holding on easily - feeling strong.
Mile 5: 7:55
Mile 6: 7:48
Mile 7: 7:47
Mile 8: 7:51
Mile 9: 7:53
Then it happened. My dang feet gave up on me. By that I mean I developed blisters I could feel at each and every foot strike. Terrible. I'll spare you the gory details, but seriously, I mangled my feet. It is something I wasn't expecting at all. I worried about my knees, lungs, cramping, and ability to keep going, but not my feet. In all honesty, I developed this issue during mile 9, but at mile 10 I was really feeling it. I have never been more uncomfortable running in all my life. I prayed for them to hold out for the duration of the race. Looking back, I will take it as a blessing. When I run my first marathon and I am at mile 22, my quads will be screaming. I will be thinking (hopefully) at least the skin on the bottom of my feet is still intact (sorry to any queasy readers). I really will think that, its a fact. And the bonus: I wasn't even feeling my knee pain anymore, just my feet.
So, with every step being a struggle, I was faced with one of my biggest worries...this little voice in the back of my head started in: "you could just stop and adjust your shoes, maybe that would help," "you could walk a few steps, it might help,"you could stop, you don't want to injure yourself." NO - I'll keep going, thank you for your concern.
Mile 10: 7:59
Mile 11: 8:08
The end. Just kidding! Mile 12 took the longest to get to. I thought I was never going to get to the mile marker. It was here that the rest of my body really started feeling the implications of running this far. As I passed mile 11, 12, ect I was able to say to myself..."hey! you have never ran this far at once before!" It was exciting, and as every stride was painful, excitement was what I needed. But, as I was saying, the rest of my body...my abdomen was getting tired and my pace was accordion-ing, I wanted to be done. BUT. A very large and important BUT. But I was enjoying it immensely. Stupid feet.
Mile 12: 8:13
At this point I was thinking about what I was going to be thinking later in the day when I thought back on the race - ya follow? I knew I had to give it all I had. Everything. Leave it out there - or I'd beat myself up. I was doing good, I could meet my goal. I felt ok physically. AHHH if my feet didn't feel like they might fall off I could kick. But no, I was stuck feeling every. single. painful. step. Its a blessing, Jenna, a blessing...*through clenched teeth*
Mile 13: 8:06
I had managed to pick it up slightly. I was ready to be done.
Then I saw it, the finish. Yes.
Final time: 1:45:35
If it wasn't for my dang feet, under 1:45 would have been easy. EASY. So now, I have to figure out what happened and how to avoid it next time. I learned an unbelievable amount about racing, running, and myself during this race. Straws are clutch for proper hydration. Not training much during the month leading up to a big race is something I will regret. I will always wonder how quick my debut half marathon could have been - if only I had ran more consistent in October. And most importantly, I learned that I will never give up during a race. Ever. Maybe I already knew that though.
The end of the race was blissful. I will never take one of those aluminum blanket things, no way. There was so much food and all I wanted was water - I was not even a tiny bit hungry. There were a lot of people. I wanted my medal. I wanted to get to my husband. I wanted to leave the crowd. I wanted to sit!
All in all, I had a great time. I am already pushing up my next half marathon to about 2 months from now. I want to do this for real and see what I'm capable of. It is exciting. The only problem: right now I can hardly walk...
This post will contain a recounting of my first half marathon experience, nothing less, maybe a little more. Soon to come: a training update, a report on the 2011 Hilly Hundred, and more Kenda, Alex, dog park, running, life, Christmas decorating, ect...
Saturday was race day. It was chilly, dark, and crowded at the start. I had imagined what a few thousand people would be like, but experiencing it is something else. I lost my friend before the race even started. I was walking up and down the sidewalk looking for her about 5 minutes before the start only to realize that there were metal barricades between the sidewalks and the race participants..."uhhh, I need to be over there?" Without giving away all the embarrassing details, I made it into the corral. Metal barricades, pfffft!
The "Go" was totally lame. It was literally like this: "on your mark, get set, GOOOOOO!" I was like, what are we, 4 years old? Anyways, then came the shuffle to the actual start line (when there are thousands of people, you can't just take off). I just walked, others oddly jogged - I was ready though. My plan was a slow first mile. I did not want to get carried away and blow it on a quick first mile. This was easier than I expected, I would have had to bob and weave in order to run faster, which would have wasted energy...running along with everyone put me at 7:55 for my first mile, that worked, I would have even taken slower. Overall, my main goal was to break 1:45. In my heart of hearts, I wanted to average under 8 minutes per mile.
Miles 2-4 are a blur. They went by so. fast. The only detail to spell out is this: S. T. R. A. W. Straw. Read it and remember it if you are planning on running a long distance race.
**Let me tell a quick prefacing story: Friday night we went to Alex's parents house for dinner - Ellen made me fettuccine alfredo, my favorite. I planned on spending the night since they live about 5 minutes away from the start line. I had forgotten to pick up a straw, so I asked them if they had one. I received a couple confused looks and then the inevitable, "what do you need a straw for?" I explained and Bob went to a coffee shop around the corner and picked up muffins for breakfast and an assortment of straws - all shapes and sizes. I love them so much!**
A single straw cut in half made my race better. Hold a straw with you and at water stations, drinking is cake. I learned this from a fellow Bedfordite (I'm telling you, that place is crawling with high class endurance athletes - I saw 3 of them while running on Saturday!) At the first water station I took water (the 2nd station) I did not have my straw out of my pocket - so I took the cup, continued moving, and tried to drink. I sputtered, coughed, and coughed, and threw the cup, and coughed...sigh. Then I got my straw out and thought to myself, "I am going to hold this dang thing the entire race." Needless to say, after that I was well hydrated :) NOTE: cut the straw in half so its easier to hold and carry the other half with you - I dropped my straw at one point, but had the other half in my pocket so I was ok for the rest of the race.
Mile 2: 8:04
Mile 3: 7:46
Mile 4: 7:51
Miles 5-9 were slightly different for me. I really felt myself getting into a groove. I thought about holding my pace, about relaxing my upper body, about my stride, and about the pain that was creeping into my knee. Now, I believe myself to have a higher than normal pain tolerance, but who wants to run on a pained knee for 9 miles. It was tolerable, I was holding on easily - feeling strong.
Mile 5: 7:55
Mile 6: 7:48
Mile 7: 7:47
Mile 8: 7:51
Mile 9: 7:53
Then it happened. My dang feet gave up on me. By that I mean I developed blisters I could feel at each and every foot strike. Terrible. I'll spare you the gory details, but seriously, I mangled my feet. It is something I wasn't expecting at all. I worried about my knees, lungs, cramping, and ability to keep going, but not my feet. In all honesty, I developed this issue during mile 9, but at mile 10 I was really feeling it. I have never been more uncomfortable running in all my life. I prayed for them to hold out for the duration of the race. Looking back, I will take it as a blessing. When I run my first marathon and I am at mile 22, my quads will be screaming. I will be thinking (hopefully) at least the skin on the bottom of my feet is still intact (sorry to any queasy readers). I really will think that, its a fact. And the bonus: I wasn't even feeling my knee pain anymore, just my feet.
So, with every step being a struggle, I was faced with one of my biggest worries...this little voice in the back of my head started in: "you could just stop and adjust your shoes, maybe that would help," "you could walk a few steps, it might help,"you could stop, you don't want to injure yourself." NO - I'll keep going, thank you for your concern.
Mile 10: 7:59
Mile 11: 8:08
The end. Just kidding! Mile 12 took the longest to get to. I thought I was never going to get to the mile marker. It was here that the rest of my body really started feeling the implications of running this far. As I passed mile 11, 12, ect I was able to say to myself..."hey! you have never ran this far at once before!" It was exciting, and as every stride was painful, excitement was what I needed. But, as I was saying, the rest of my body...my abdomen was getting tired and my pace was accordion-ing, I wanted to be done. BUT. A very large and important BUT. But I was enjoying it immensely. Stupid feet.
Mile 12: 8:13
At this point I was thinking about what I was going to be thinking later in the day when I thought back on the race - ya follow? I knew I had to give it all I had. Everything. Leave it out there - or I'd beat myself up. I was doing good, I could meet my goal. I felt ok physically. AHHH if my feet didn't feel like they might fall off I could kick. But no, I was stuck feeling every. single. painful. step. Its a blessing, Jenna, a blessing...*through clenched teeth*
Mile 13: 8:06
I had managed to pick it up slightly. I was ready to be done.
Then I saw it, the finish. Yes.
Final time: 1:45:35
If it wasn't for my dang feet, under 1:45 would have been easy. EASY. So now, I have to figure out what happened and how to avoid it next time. I learned an unbelievable amount about racing, running, and myself during this race. Straws are clutch for proper hydration. Not training much during the month leading up to a big race is something I will regret. I will always wonder how quick my debut half marathon could have been - if only I had ran more consistent in October. And most importantly, I learned that I will never give up during a race. Ever. Maybe I already knew that though.
The end of the race was blissful. I will never take one of those aluminum blanket things, no way. There was so much food and all I wanted was water - I was not even a tiny bit hungry. There were a lot of people. I wanted my medal. I wanted to get to my husband. I wanted to leave the crowd. I wanted to sit!
All in all, I had a great time. I am already pushing up my next half marathon to about 2 months from now. I want to do this for real and see what I'm capable of. It is exciting. The only problem: right now I can hardly walk...
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