Matters of Importance Come Race Day

My car has been in the shop for almost 4 weeks! Seriously?! Anyways I told them they HAD to be done by today because I needed to drive to my race this weekend.  So on my way there I walked past this billboard and thought it was pretty funny.  It is sad but true.......

Moving on.  I am so excited for my race this Sunday and I am not really sure why?  Maybe it's because I only trained for 6 weeks or maybe it is because I told myself I am doing this for fun and no pressure.  Just to do my best. 

I decided to put together a list of Matters of Importance come race day.  The top being the most important and the last been the least but still important.

1. Get a TAN! (I am so ready for the summer and to get myself a nice tan)
2. Look Good and Run Faster
3. Have Fun
4. Enjoy the scenery
5. Keep a Good and Enjoyable Pace, not too fast but not too slow.
6. Finish Strong
7. Finish Happy
8. Finish Healthy
9. Listen to Good Music
and
10. Get an even better TAN :)


This is what I will be wearing, yes I planned this out and tried to match and stuff.  I do this because when I look good, I feel good and when I feel good I run stronger and run faster.  So I am pretty excited about my outfit :)

Who else has a race this weekend??  Good luck!!

XX
Sarah

Good Luck Jen!

Good Luck Jen you will rock it!  Have fun and good luck to all of you girls.  Wish I was out there running with you!

California or BUST!

Hey All!

This is Sarah here but I am doing a quick post for Jen who is sitting on a plane in Denver getting ready to head out to California for her marathon.  They are de-icing the plane as we speak.  Good thing they are leaving super early so they (her and her two girlfriends) have time to get to the expo and stuff.

She is going to send more pictures when she lands and I will give you an update!  She has been training hard with the RLRF plan and is shooting for a 3:40!  I know she can do it!  She is a way better pacer than me :)

I am really counting on her because I need her to pace me at goofy!!

Good Luck Jen!!

Rhythmic Walkers

If you read Heathers post yesterday you would know that for a little less than half of the marathon we had to walk.  Unfortunately Heather's knee had no interest in running this race.  Although she was more than prepared sometimes our bodies just won't allow us to achieve what we would like.

When we first signed up for this race Heather told me that she would sign up if I promised to run it with her.  She wanted to run it in the first place but this was her way of making me sign up too.  So I signed up and agreed to make her training plan as well as coach her through the race.  I decided that Heather and I could just use the same training plan.  This was partly due to my laziness of making two plans.  Anyways, I realize now that for a beginner marathoner she did not need to log so many miles.  I feel like this may have attributed to her knee problems. 

Moving on, I am not going to re-cap entirely the whole marathon because you heard most of it from Heather yesterday.  What I would like to add is that this was my first walk/run marathon and I will say that it is just as hard and painful as running one.  When you are walking, you will log much more time on your legs.  Mentally it is exhausting if you actually think about the time it will take you to finish.  In the beginning of the race both Heather and I were feeling great.  My legs were rested and I was ready to fly.  When Heather's knee pain set in I could see her discouragement.  She kept going and I kept trying to keep things positive.

It was when the pain was to hard to bare that I began to feel helpless.  In my head I prayed and prayed that her pain would be taken away so she could run this marathon.  Her knee pain was only getting worse.  I will be honest, when the realization set in about what was happening I thought for a moment that I could just go.  I was feeling good my legs wanted to run but I knew that I could not leave her side.  Emotionally it would have been to hard for her to finish alone and she would quit.

At that moment I put all of my ideas/excitement of what this marathon could be aside and put all of my hopes and positive energy into helping her get through this.  She is my sister and I love her dearly, and I know she would have done the same for me.  No marathon PR is stronger than a bond with your family.  I love her so much and am so proud of what she has accomplished.  She is the strongest woman I know and hands down this was my best marathon yet! I will never forget this race and I wouldn't have ran it any other way.

Let me just say that I have never received so many compliments on a race before.  People loved us!  One because we were totally matching, Two we had the best Rhythmic walk ever and Three because people could see how much fun we were having.  We even were complimented on our great bums :)

Can't you just tell we were powering through it....?  Below you can see our faces like "What??  This is it?" Ha!

Heather needed to make a quick call to her husband who just finished his FIRST marathon in 3:24!  He was smokin!

Really the walk we were going for was the walk from the old TV show Kath and Kim.  Did you ever watch it?  It was only on air for two seasons but I totally loved that show.  So funny!

Heather, Jen and Bryan it was a blast!!  Thanks for the great memories!

Now I have 4 weeks off before I start my training for ING NYC Marathon! Woohoo!

XX
Sarah

PS Yes I may have taken screen shots of these pix ;)  Pls don't think I am a bad person.

My Race

Me and Sarah walking together .  We were side by side the whole time.

This is how my race went down.  It started raining.  Which I was totally fine with.  Heck.... I trained in the rain all the time.  I could deal with windy, rainy conditions.  A knee pain I could not handle.  My knee started to act up right around the time I ran the Stillwater Half Marathon.  It was sort of hurting about a week before Stillwater, but I never gave it a rest.  I consider myself a pretty tough person and thought I would just be able to run through the pain.  I did rest it for the entire week before Grandma's.  And as many of you know got some fancy tape put on it.  I really was feeling good, and thought I was going to run this marathon strong and have a great time. I did have a great time but wish that I could have run it stronger.  Here is the breakdown...

Results

5:32:27

12:42 pace

Miles 1-5  Felt GREAT.  Loved all the great energy.  No knee pain.  Was happy to be running with one of my best friends.

Mile 5-15  My knee was starting to ache a little.  Right when I started to feel it I told Sarah lets run 9mins walk 1min.  I would stay on top of the pain.  Give it a little break and kept telling myself it would be fine.  Well as the miles went on it started to hurt a little more and a little more.  Around mile 9 or 10 my friend Diane ran by me.  She talked to me a little and that was the first moment that I could feel the tears building up.  This lady really helped me a ton during my training season and I was sad that I couldn't keep up with her.  She then ran on.  I pushed the sad feelings aside and just tried to keep the positive energy coming.

Mile 16-26.2  By mile 16 my knee would not bend when I would stop to do my minute walk.  It was harder to change back and forth between running and walking.  I talked to my amazing coach...aka.. Sarah and we decided that it would be best just to walk the rest.  Let me tell you friends that walking is MUCH harder then running.  You think 10 miles sounds long running.  Well walking it seems even farther.  But I needed to listen to my body and it was telling me to stop running.

We walked as fast as we could.  Talked about everything.  Laughed about tons.  Saw some crazy people.  Some hurt people.  And had lots of people comment on the speed we were walking.  I was going to walk the fastest I could if I couldn't run it.  

We finished like ROCK STARS!!!!  I had a really really great time.  It wasn't until that night that the emotions and frustration set in.  I was so upset with myself.  Why couldn't I just run through the pain.  All the training that I had done and then couldn't even run all of it.  Why did my knee have to hurt??  Why couldn't it have been the crazy lady dressed like a bird that had knee problems?  Tears came and it felt good.  Always feels good to get a good cry in right??  

I couldn't have asked for a better coach that day.  Sarah continued to tell me that I was doing GREAT and that it didn't matter one bit if we had to walk it.  She told me over and over again that the miles were going to fly by.  And they did cause I was with her.  Thanks Sarah.  I love you.  And Jen I love you to and I know that if I needed you there you would be right by my side as well.

What do they say??  What doesnt kill you will make you stronger??  Well this challenge for sure has made me stronger.  I will run another marathon.  And I will be stronger next time because of this one.

This is the awesome video that Bryan took of us crossing the finish line!  They called us The Rhythmic Walkers.

-Heather

One Week To Go!

We are on the final countdown until Grandma's Marathon!  Woot! Woot!  And better yet I will see my sisters in less than one week.  We are all getting so pumped.  In fact the marathon sleep syndrome, which is what I like to call it has already begun.  It actually started this morning.  I woke up at 4 am, and my first thought was the race.  Then I woke up again at 6:30, first thought was the race.  I would say it is different then in the past because this will be my first race running with friends/sisters.  Plus I am not going for a PR.  I am strictly running to have a blast!  It is kind of a huge relief not having to worry about my time.  I decided that I will shoot for a PR this fall when I run NYC.

Isn't this picture rad!  This was in March when I went cruising with my sisters in the Caribbean.  Jen is on the far left, then Heather and then me.  That is actually the order of our age, in case anyone was wondering...Jen is the oldest then Heather, then me.

AND we received our very first ever ATTrio GIFT!!  I was so pumped when Scott's Aunt Karen sent us these.  (Well I am not technically sure if she is his Aunt, but somehow they are related and I married Scott which means I am adopted in :)) Anyways, Karen is a super awesome runner and has given us so much advice!  It has been super helpful.  Sad part is she lives in Southern California so I never get to run with her.  I like to call her my Long Distance Coach.  Scott and I hope to get out there soon for a visit.  So THANK YOU Karen!!!  We are so excited about these and can't wait to run and take pictures in them next week.  Oh and she also sent me Coach's Oats. (Just for me, I am not sharing) Have you guys tried them??  They are soo soo good.

Last but not least, when I was in Cape May over Memorial Day Weekend Scott and I went to a craft fair.  At the craft fair was the A+H Bracelet Girls.  They made a sold friendship bracelets.  They were way cool and I was super impressed by their business skills.  I mean these girls were about 10-12 years old and they already had business cards?!  These ladies are going places that is for sure.  Anyways, Scott and I loved them so we each bought one for ourselves.  Later that day I was thinking these are so cool and Jen and I had discussed earlier how it would be nice to get something for all three of us Trio to wear.  I thought these bracelets would be perfect.  So as so as I got home I looked up their website and contacted the girls.  I had them make us matching braclets for the race.  I sent them our ATTrio colors and they were ecstatic to make them.

I just received them in the mail yesterday!  Are they not the coolest things ever?!  I can't wait to wear them.  PS I love friendship bracelets so much that I am pretty sure these will stay on my wrist till the end of the summer :)  Thanks Girls!!

After my 8 miles today Scott and I are heading to the UWS to visit his family and then to buy a new goldfish.  I am also hoping to stop into 16handles for some fro yo!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Have ever tried Coach's Oats?
-They really are the best!

Did you ever make/wear friendship bracelets growing up?
-I made them all the time when I was a kid.

Have you ever run a race just for fun?  No PR intended?
-Grandma's will be my first.

XX
Sarah

I hate my IT band

Today was one of those days.  Got up.. ate a good breakfast.

(cottage cheese with cinnamon)

  Got my kids to school. 

 Went and stocked up on things and Sams Club.

  Then headed out for a run.  Was suppose to go 10 miles.  My legs were tired from the 21 miles I did on Saturday.  I kept telling myself go slow... it will be ok.  At about mile 3 I could tell my IT band was tight.  My knee was feeling some pressure.  Stopped at mile 5 to have a Gu and stretch.  Then right at mile 8 I had to stop at a light.  As soon as I got the OK to cross my knee was so tight I had to hop across the street on one foot.  It was so EMBARRASSING!!  It was at a very busy intersection. Luckily I was very close to a gas station were I limped to and to wait for a ride.  The rest of the day I spent on the foam roller.

I need some help!  I will not let this get me.  I need to figure out how to fix it so that I can start running pain free and have a good marathon.  Any suggestions??  Please let me know what has worked for you!

-Heather

My 2nd 5k was.... A SUCCESS! Finally...

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to run the Larkridge Chick-Fil-A 5k and I am happy! I did good =) I typically don't tell my times on here, but who cares, I'm tellin' ya. My 5k time according to the official results was 22:26! My Garmin was a couple seconds slower but I always take the faster time and base my performance off of that ;) Not once has my watch and the official time been the same and it can go either way. Anywhoo, to keep braggin about it I ended up placing 7th overall for women and 2nd in my age group.

This is most of my friends and I at the start, and YES I did beat that cow but for a cow he did really well ....(I have grey on in-between fellow run clubbers Tara(blue coat) and Pam(Pink coat). It was cold out and very windy.

These chicks below are the speediest ones of our group. They actually took the overall women's 1, 2, and 3 spots. The one on right right is Kim. She is one of our coaches and very speedy. She won this race for the ladies and came in 20:26. The other two are Amber and Corey, they rocked it. But here is a warning my dears.... once I figure out how to unleash the beast inside of me I am going to come knocking on your heels.... ;)

Here I am with Corey and Tara C. Tara won 3rd in our age group and came in just after me.  Really as a "team" we all did great! 

Thats right, I won a medal... and it wasn't just because I finished. =) 

BUT, (there is always a but...) now I am thinking about my marathon. As Sarah pointed out on her previous blog post it is only 7 WEEKS AWAY!! I mean, who cares if you can run a 5k fast if the race you actually want to do well on flops.... I don't have a great track record for doing well on race day. But, I am moving on and wanting to be better.  I am asking all out there in blog world to please take note and send me any suggestions you might have. Here are a list of questions that I would LOVE any answers too.

1. how fast did you run your long runs?
2. What was your longest run? How many times did you run 20 or more?
3. How many speed/tempo workouts did you do in a week?
4. How many marathon pace miles did you put into your long runs.... (some people say up to 11, some say 16, some say 20)???
5. What are your race strategies..for example, do you run same pace entire time, do you start REAL slow and then speed up. If so, when do you speed up? How many miles do you run slow?

So help a girl out here.  My first marathon I ended up doing a run/walk situation because I was plagued with the most annoying IT band injury.  My second marathon I did OK. I went out strong and stayed strong until Mile 20 and then I was able to continue running but slowed down to nothing short of a turtle crawl... This time I want to try and stay strong and be strong because I FEEL STRONG DAMIT! I am hoping to show that marathon who is boss and I could really use all the help I can get.

Happy Running and wish me luck as I try to conquer this beast.  -Jen

20 miles.....26.2

Today I set out for my 20 miler.. I felt good, in fact I felt so good that I ended up doing a whole 26.2 miles.  I know what your thinking.  This girl is crazy!  Hear me out, I am running with my sister's in June, we know this.  I have promised my sister Heather that I am going to stick by her side and get her through her first marathon.  Saying that in a way stressed me out, here I was promising her that I would get her through it when I was not even sure if I could do it myself??  It has been a year since my last marathon and I just wasn't sure that I could hold through.  The self doubting was hitting me hard.  I wanted to remember what it felt like to go that far.  I wanted to feel the pain and tiredness in my legs.  So because I was feeling good, I went for it!  Let me break it down for you....

This was me before, I didn't know then what I was in for but I was happy to do my 20 as intended. I wanted to keep and even and steady pace the whole time.  Not jump up and down on my watch so it was pretty important for me to just take it easy.  Not too fast and not too slow.  I had my first GU around 5.6 miles.  I didn't have water with me.  This was going to be my challenge.  Finding WORKING drinking fountains.  I did find some but not enough.  Around mile 19 I bought and Gatorade and carried it to mile 24.  It was heavy and annoying but really helpful in those last few miles.

As I was running up the west side highway, it was so beautiful and it was during that time that I decided to just run 13.1 instead of the 10 and turning around.  I figured I could get to the George Washington Bridge, I pretty much did.  Once I got there I stopped, stretched a little and had my second GU. After that I turned around and headed back.  The scenery was beautiful.

 

This was my time when I stopped my watch at the half way point.  I tried to keep my watch going but did stop it a few times when I had to wait for lots cars or if I needed to stretch more than 30 secs.  I had my third GU around mile 15.5.  I was thirsty.  I really could have used more water. I didn't want to wait to long to take my GUs so I just ate them and waited for the drink later.  I have decided after this I am going to buy one of those water bottles that attaches to your hand.  They are smaller and not as heavy.  Way better. 

I was really important to me that I didn't hit a wall, so I kept my positive thinking going.  I kept saying you are doing this for Heather.  So when you run with her you don't keel over!  I was also doing it for myself, I love running.  I love having personal accomplishments.  It makes me feel so good!  Plus I was thinking this is great prep for your Ultra!

This is me at the end!  I made Scott come down and take a picture of me and also bring me water.  I was thirsty!  Of course I didn't tell him that I listened to music for about 24 miles.  He would have been like "Your Ears!!!" "You are going to lose your hearing you know!"  Hehe... I have been running with out music lately but today I was really enjoying it.  It was cool outside too so I didn't get too hot. It just felt really nice.

So a short breakdown...  Felt good for the first 15-16 miles, started to get tired after that but still ok.  About mile 22 I was really tired and ready to be done.  Mile 25, super annoying because I had to run up and over the bridge to get home!  I mean really lame, I could have used a flat surface.  That would have been great.  Mile 26 ready to be done and would have picked up more speed but like I was saying before, I was trying to keep an even pace. The last quarter of a mile I just kicked into high gear and made it home.

Woohoo!  I was so proud of myself.  Here is a little fun fact.  It is true that runner's are crazy.  The more you run, the crazier you are.  I could almost sit back and watch myself get more crazy by the day.  Getting up to run 26.2 miles just to see if you can do it and also knowing that you are doing it again in 7 weeks....that's crazy talk.  And I know this is only just the beginning!

Yum for my treat after!  All you NYC marathons coming this fall.  Van Leeuwen's ice cream!  It doesn't get much better than that.

Do you ever feel the urge to just run the 26.2 miles? 

What do you like to eat after a good hard workout?

Do you listen to music while you run/workout?

Happy Running to All!!

XX
Sarah

Hair

Have any of you experienced a rat's nest on the back of your head after a long run... or even a short run? Well I have a solution.  I know this hair style is not new be any means, but it totally works for keeping your pony from turning into one big tangled mess.  Try it out on your next run or even at the gym.  It works great! I also am in love with the Untwisted Headbands from Lululemon.  They fit great, don't slip and don't give you a headache.

Check out my sisters hair after a marathon..... that's all I'm gonna say.

Revised Plan

 This is my makeshift workout area where I do the Tracy Anderson Method.

Training has begun and so I have noticed a few kinks that needed to be worked out in the plan.  So over the weekend I revised the plan and have a new one up! 

Sunday will always be a rest day with the Long Slow Distances (LSD) falling on Saturdays.  I threw a day of speed work in there on Tuesdays just to help us improve each week!

I know the training plan is small so if your interested, we can send you a larger PDF.  Just leave a comment below!

Running in the Cold...

Well you all know that I am training for my first marathon.  Yikes.  So far it has been good.  It is not like I have never ran anything before.  The longest distance I have ever ran is 12 miles and I didn't die when I was done.  That being said I HATE running on the treadmill.  I just won't do it.  Which makes a little bit of a problem for me living in the frozen tundra.  So far I have not had to run on the treadmill once.  Yes it has been cold but ok once you start going.  But this last Saturday is was -2 when I headed out!!!!!  FREEZING.  Good thing we had date night, Friday night and headed to my favorite store Lululemon to see what they had that I could wear to run in.  I bought this coat that I am wearing in the pictures above.  It is called the Hustle Jacket.  I have to admit that once I got about two miles into my run I called Bryan and had him meet me at a gas station with more socks.  My feet were the only thing that was cold!  It was really a great run although it was cold it was very peaceful and beautiful out.  I had the trails all to myself.

Foam Roller

When I first started running I knew nothing about it. I ran in my Nike Shocks for an entire year before I realized that I needed different running shoes. So I stepped up, bought new shoes and was on my way. I didn't even run with a watch, I guess you could have called me a purest in some sense. I started training for my first marathon and began having shin splints. I had my coach give me some stretches but didn't look any further into it. It wasn't until Jen started running that she informed me of the Foam Roller. Of course I had heard of it but never bought one. Jen likes to research about everything. So when she first started running and ran into major IT Band problems she looked into it and found the foam roller, and then proceeded to tell me to get one pronto. Now I can't go without it!

Long story short is that the Foam Roller is vital for stretching your muscles and preventing injury. I have a small travel size one because I live in a small apartment but the longer ones are great too. There are tons of videos on YouTube about how to use the Foam Roller. If you are a beginner runner or even advanced and don't have one, I recommend buying one! It is well worth it.


I made a little video using a Vintage Video Maker app (thx Reagan for showing me this!) on my phone. Really I just wanted to experiment and I didn't have anyone to help me so please forgive me for the poor footage(my head cut off in the beginning) and it being a silent video, I am talking but all you can hear is the music. But to see more informative and longer videos go HERE.

Books

I am so excited for my sister Heather to be running her first marathon!  I promised her that if she ran, I would do it with her and stay by her side the entire time.  I think this is good for two reasons, one is that is it always good to have a support system with you when you are running and two, is that I have been so hard on my body with my last two marathons that it will be good to take it easy.  As I say this I am thinking that Heather is really not as slow as she thinks she is so ultimatly I think we will make a good match.  Jen will be up head working on her speed so Heather and I will keep up the tail end :)

Back to the point!  I wanted to reccomend two books out there for all of you runners.  Even if you don't plan on running a marathon, these are good to have. 
The first is Beginner's Guide to Long Distance Running.  This book is good for helping you with the basics like, shoes, stretching, avoiding injury, diet and food.  It also has training plans for those who would like to run a full or half.  Jen really likes this book.
Second is Nancy Clark's Food Guide for Marathoners.  Ever wondering what you should and shouldn't be eating??  Well this book will tell you everything. How many grams of fiber, how much protein when and what to eat for optimal performance.  I really like this book and go back to it consistently for reference.

Well there you have it!  These two books will help start you on your way towards an awesome marathon!

Staying Motivated

This was me after a nice summer run.  I like to stretch against that brick wall behind me.

For most of 2010 I have been injured.  Injured enough to keep me from running.  I have been running for a few years now and I would say it is my favorite workout. That being said, because I haven't been able to do my favorite thing, I have had to look for alternate options.  It is easy to get down on yourself when you physically can not do the things you would like to do. So this is what I do to keep my spirits up!
I try out a new classes at the gym (this was when I was at 24 Hour Fitness). Yoga, Spin, Bootcamp etc.  Anything that would keep me moving but took the impact of my leg.  Currently I do not belong to a gym, so I try other at home methods.  DVDs are a great way to keep me moving at home.  To keep from getting board with DVDs, I play them on my laptop and then have a TV show on in the background.  This will distract me from getting bored while I am doing the same moves. I was doing the P90X series for a while but recently I have been changing it up. Netflix has a lot of different workout option DVDs.  I rent them and if I like it, great! But if I don't, I just send it back to try another one.

The most important thing here is staying positive.  I try to remember that with most injuries, they will heal over time.  It is being patient during that time and finding alternate plans of working out. I think of it as a time to get to try something new! To get me out of the rut of doing the same thing over and over again.  Remembering your body loves to change it up.  I may even loose a pound of two, or even better tone my body in a place that was not being targeted before. 

For me it's staying positive, staying motivated, being creative and before I know it, time will fly by and I am back to doing what I love again!

This is Scott my husband handing me flowers after my marathon.

Yoga and Oatmeal 5k's

First off, I tried Yoga the other day. It was very interesting and intense. It reconfirmed what I already knew about myself, that I am NOT flexible and very tight. I wonder if Yoga and running would be a good combo???

Also, on a side note, this picture below is of me and one of my girlfriends before we ran the Long Beach marathon in October.

This Saturday I am going to go out of my comfort zone and run my first "real" 5k. I feel much more comfortable tackling a marathon then a 5k. I am the steady eddy type. So WISH ME LUCK!! Who knows what will happen. Every time I think about giving all I've got within 3 miles I feel completely overwhelmed.

GOOD MORNING RUNNERS!!

So this is our first post on our training blog. We are three sisters all with some competitive spirit and love of exercise! There are three of us, Jennifer, Heather and Sarah.

Above is Heather and Sarah chillin up in the Big Horn Mountains =)

I (Jen) am the one with stripes on.... thats right, stripes. I am not sure why I bought that shirt either. Anyways, the two dudes in the pic are our dad and our oldest brother James. We have another brother Chad who we love as well, but he was too busy in being in Hollywood and the time =) LOVE YA FAM!!

This is just another cute picture of Sarah.....=) (Of course this was taken after we had finished the Wasatchback Ragnar Relay back in June)

So yep, I am the oldest Jen. I am up at 4:15 (that is when my alarm went off) to get some food into my body and then back to bed until about 5 when I will wake up take a small drive to plant some water and then head out for a 16 mile run today. Nothing like training for a marathon when it is hot outside. Although I am still up in the air on whether it is better to have long runs in the blazing heat or the freezing cold. Too bad you can't just schedule your long runs only on the nice cool spring or fall days =)

Also, a big shout out to Heather my sister who is doing her first 10 mile race today!! She rocks and we know it. I can't wait to hear about it.

Well would you look at the time. I got distracted with blogging and now only have like 15 mins to get some sleep. Later =)