And we're off

As of 7:50 this morning, Team Peanut Butter Jelly Legs has taken off. We arrived at the hotel around 11:00 last night and left this morning at 5:30, so we are running on pure adrenaline and excitement and little sleep.

After running the prologue together, approximately one mile, Ashley started with her first five mile leg.

Woo hoo, go PBJL!

Let the fun begin!

You guys, I am SO excited about this weekend! It's Texas Independence Relay time!

I have been waiting for this day for such a long time. My BFF Ashley (no seriously, since I was 2) organized a relay team of her, me, and ten of my favorite strangers to run 201 miles across Texas. Best part: my handsome husband (who still needs a blog name btw) is my driver. One of the rules is that you must have a runner on the road at all times. Basically we will be running/traveling for 30 hours straight. And I will be blogging about all of it.

So basically, here is the skinny. We start at 7:50 tomorrow morning. I have legs 2, 14, 27, and 37, for a total of 18 miles. My longest run is a little over 6 miles and shortest is 3. Since we will not have much time to rest Saturday night, we will be staying and showering at a local high school gym. Should be interesting.

So here are the details and half of our team aka van 1.

Little Rock Half Marathon

We are traveling back to Little Rock this weekend for my dear friend Ailini's baby shower and the drive has me thinking about the race a couple weeks ago. I haven't a chance to post about it and I am sure you all are on pins and needles, so here it goes.

I won't say much about the race expo or the race course because I didn't stay at the expo long enough to have an opinion and I think the half course could do a better job showcasing the city. I will say that the organizers and volunteers were SO nice! The race really has a small town feel, which I loved.

And now .... drum roll please... the race. First, lets talk about the goals I had planned for this race: 1. Negative splits; 2. stay positive; and 3. Finish under 1:55.

I am not sure how close I came to the first goal, but I managed to maintain even splits for the entire race, except for mile 12. During mile 12, I was beginning to be delirious and got confused on the race signs. I thought I was closer to the finish than I was and believed I actually had a chance to finish under 1:50, which resulted in me running my 12th mile in 7:40 - much faster than my pace during the rest of the race. It just goes to show that the mind is a powerful powerful thing! Once I saw the actual 12th mile marker I slowed back down to my planned pace. With the 7:40, I technically did have negative splits.

Hmm, did I stay positive?? At times. Other times I had to work really really hard to keep the negative thoughts at bay. I never wanted to stop and walk but I had to resist the constant "this course sucks" mentality.

Oh yea, and that last goal? CRUSHED IT!! Final time 1:50:46. I hope you guys don't think I am gloating over here, (OK, maybe a little), it's just that this is so much better than my previous times and I am not sure quite where it is coming from.

When it comes to running, I know all about things feeling too far out of reach. When I first started running again as an adult and one of my friends talked about running 3 miles at a 10:00/mile pace I thought, man if I could do that I would be happy. Then, my dad told me how he ran 6 miles at 9:00/mile pace and I thought, no way, that will never be me. Truly, that sounded so impossible. A year or so later I ran my first half and finished in 2:07, walking in the last mile. Second half, same result. Now here I am, running 13.1 miles at 8:30/mile.

Now lets be clear, I am by no means the fastest runner, or anywhere near the front actually. I'm a middle of the packer all the way. But to look back at where I came from and see what I have accomplished with running -what I thought was impossible- it feels good.

And there you go, now you know why it's so addicting. :)

Evan, Bill and Bill's mom did come down to watch, but I never saw them. The temps were in the thirties so I think they stayed inside at the coffee shop, but they swore they stood outside looking for me. Oh we'll, at least Evan makes a cute cheerleader.

My friend Ailini and her family came to watch and saw me three times on the course! Thanks for coming Lini, I loved seeing you,

Lets get colorful!

It turns out that paying $45 to have someone throw colored chalk on your while you are running in the summer heat can be quite fun.  As you know (if you are keeping up with my ramblings), Ashley, Bill and I ran the color run this past Saturday.  We had to wake up at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning to pretty up.

Blues Brothers 2020

It was still dark when we left OKC.  We left about 5:30 after stopping at McDonalds for coffee.  Bill said he didn't want to spend the day with me if I only have 4 hours of sleep and no coffee.  I am not sure why, I think I could be completely pleasant under those circumstances.   

Post coffee smiles (Side note - thank you Dr. Debbie for cleaning my sparkly whites)

We arrived in Tulsa about 7:00 to pick up our race packets.  The race website said race day is crazy and it would take a long time to get your packet if you choose to pick up the day of the race.  Note to The Color Run - 5 minutes is not a long time and a ten person line is not crazy! Needless to say, with the first wave of the race starting at 8:00 and us being toward the back, there was plenty of time for lounging. 

We met up with my friend Linsey from lawschool who for some reason wanted to join our crazy crew.  God help you Linsey. 

   

The race was pretty small. I think there was only about 10 other people running. 

Traditional prerace photo

The Color Run is unlike any other 5K I have completed, both in good and bad ways.  On the one hand, you are constantly entertained, it is fun and time flies by.  On the other hand, there are no time clocks or no control over whether runners start before walkers.  Basically, extremely unorganized.  That is why I am not claiming fault for the three people I ran over with the jogging stroller while running and weaving through the crowd.  WALKERS TO THE BACK.  I kid, but seriously I wish they would have had walkers on the right, runners on the left or something.  It was impossible to run the whole thing even if you wanted to. 

 The color stations were similar to getting into a fight with about 500 lbs of colored chalk.  

In each racing packet, you get a packet of chalk to throw at the end.  We threw some of its on each other.  

True story - probably 2 -3 times throughout the race I did not recognize Bill because I thought his hair was blond.  

Evan post race 

Ashley really wanted a picture of us jumping in the air.  This is the closest we could get.  Don't be jealous of our sexiness.

Race Stats:

Date: June 23, 2012

Time: 8:00, although I am sure our wave started way later 

Weather: not to bad for June

Course: I have no idea. My mind was too preoccupied with COLOR

Overall:  race and course organization could have been better (walkers to the right), but definitely worth the experience

Race 2

 After cleaning and decoloring, we headed to Which Wich for lunch and Pink Swirls (frozen yogurt) for dessert.  In other words, we continued the lets-do-everything-Jodi-loves-because-she-said-so theme.  We then rested up and prepared for 5K number 2. 

 Evan especially was excited to cheer on mommy and aunt Ashley.  Or maybe he was excited at the prospect of watching mommy collapse from cramming too much activity into one day.  Either way, he was excited. 

my mom is crazy.  She also fed me brussel sprouts, but more on that ridiculousness later.  

Bahahahaha.  I convinced everyone to do what I wanted all day! 

Seriously in denial about the heat, exhaustion, and the general age of our bodies.  

As you can tell, the race was small.  I like the big fish, small pond approach.  Don't judge. :) 

Pre race photo

The race started off fast.  My watch flash a 7:00 minute/mile a few times and I think it might have been laughing at me.  Within a half mile, we got a lot more realistic and we settled into a comfortable 8:00 pace, which we stayed at for the first mile.  Miles 2 and 3 were a little slower, around 8:20.  I blame the heat, the time of day, my general physical shape, and the chafing happening in between my post pregnancy thighs.  I also didn't want to make this guy look bad by getting beat by two girls. 

We crossed the finish line in 25:40.  Didn't quite break 25 as we hoped, but we gave it our all, didn't puke, and received first and second place in our age group.  Every other 25- 29 female in OKC apparently has a life on Saturday night. 

Joking aside, I loved running two 5Ks on the same day.  I would do it every weekend if I could and if I didn't think Bill would find new friends.  That's the great thing about racing.  Every time I toe the line, I think why in the heck are you doing this, it is going to suck so bad if you fail. And, every time I cross the finish line, I think what do we have planned for next weekend?

Race Stats: 

Date: June 23, 2012

Time: 8:00 p.m

Weather: Hot Tamales

Course: easy, flat out and back

Overall: Nothing special about the course or race, but certainly was fun for a Saturday night.  

Run The City Challenge

30 under 30 number 29 has been decided.  My good friend Carlie (hi Carlie) saw this idea on a blog and it is perfect for my running group and my 30 under 30 challenge.  The plan is to pick a city and spend the day running and exploring.  Run three miles, stop for a coffee and bagel, run a few more, stopping to shop along the way, run until you see a good place for lunch, you get the idea.  Now we need ideas for cities that would be fun to explore by foot.  All ideas welcome!!

Speaking of exploring by foot, today has been quite the active day for me.  I ran 8 miles with my running group this morning and Evan and I did a three mile walking expedition in our neighborhood this afternoon.  Well, he mostly slept while I explored, but I am pretty sure he had a great time!

Track workouts

I completed my first track workout last night.  I swear that the track was smaller when I was in high school.  No wait, I just got slower, that's right.  The workout was fun but difficult.  Will it going to make me an elite athlete? I doubt it.  Will it make me a little faster than my slow butt currently is?  Hopefully.  Will it help build lean muscle and tone up my flabbiness?  One can dream.

National Running Day

Who doesn't run on National Running Day? Me, that's who.  I had big plans to take Evan on an easy run for his first of many National Running Day celebrations.  Then Oklahoma weather happened.  We did run into Target, does that count?

So instead, lets discuss why it is exactly thar I run.  I run to make new friends.  I run to lose weight.  I run because at a very young age, my parents told me I should.  I run to wear cute clothes (fist pump for spandex!).  But mostly, I run for me.  To challenge myself.  To reward myself.  To escape from everyday life.  To find out what I am capable of.  To make everything else in life seem just a little bit easier.

I read an article this evening in Runner's World that describes perfectly the experience of running.

If you run long enough, you'll do so in every conceivable way.  You'll run smart and stupid, fast and slow, short and long, in good weather and bad, with dogs, with friends, with children, alone, on a full stomach and nearly starving, in fancy shoes and old beaters, on college tracks and over mountains, on country roads and city streets.  Identical runs will be easy one day, gueling the next.  You'll have long runs that fly by, short ones that grind on forever.  One day the syrupy waffle bogs you down, the next day it fuels that final sprint. 

(the article was written by Marc Parent.  Read it!) 

Marc goes on to explain how running inspires. 

The first person you have to inspire everyday is yourself.  Running will do that.  We're all terrible at something.  Why not make up for it with a strenuous completely unrelated activity?  When you are nothing but a slob at your desk, you can instantly turn yourself around with a quick run.  I've never been in a ditch so low that a run would't pop me out of it.

Love that last line. Running has become like an old trusted friend.  She will pick you up when you're feeling down, push you because she knows you are capable of more, and pace quietly along side of you when she knows all you need is a little comfort.  I run because I can't imagine not.  

Running in Edmond

There are some days when my morning runs are relaxing and refreshing.   Other days, it is like getting hit by a bus while eating a mouth full of dog food.   Today was a bus/dog food kind of day.

No I do not eat dog food, but there is a Purina plant in Edmond and when the wind is blowing in the wrong direction, it stinks!!  Couple that with breathing rapidly in an attempt to save your life while running entirely too fast with your too fast running buddies and I am pretty sure I looked like this:

Well, except my hair is a little longer and my feet are not quite that big.

In all actuality today's run was a the same pace as most runs and slower than some we have been doing recently.  I think maybe I am just exhausted and need a spa day.  Whose with me?