Pictures from 2009 Spirit of Survival

Here are some of the better pictures from the race. Don't have alot from the course, most of them were at the turn around.

This one was coming up to the top of the hill before the turn around. (too bad none of these show much scenery

in the back ground.

Coming back down the same hill, felt like i was flying! (this one was taken by my cheerleaders, only ones on the course!)

Heading up to the finish line. I look so strong here, I'm not. I'm thinking, don't collapse before you cross the mats!!!!

And the grand finish!!!!!!

Spirit of Survival 1/2 marathon

Well 1/2 Marathon #4 is in the books. It was quite an experience, but I really had a good time and was really pleased with the outcome and the effort I put forth in this race.

A little background on the race weekend and race day before I launch into the race report. It was a fairly small race from the ones I have run in. There were only about 700 total runners in the marathon/ half race. There were a lot of runners that participated in the smaller races though. It was held in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. They said this is the only race held in a national wildlife refuge, so that was kind of cool. Was hoping I would see a buffalo or elk or something, but nothing. Race day was a mixture or rain, mist, fog, clouds, etc. This made it hard to see the scenary while racing which sucked, but it was still a very beautiful setting which helped keep my mind off the race at points. Also, the race course wasn't closed to traffic so the second half of the race was spent dodging cars from one side of the road to the other. very annoying

Race started at 8am, for some reason they decided that the race shuttles from the hotel needed to leave at 5:30am though, so we sat at the lodge at the start line from 2 hours while it poured rain outside. Not good for warming up but I did meet some really nice people. Finally stopped raining and we all ventured out around 7:45am to start lining up. Went to the middle back of the 9-10 minute pace group to keep with my slower start pace.
Mile 1- 10:01: Well I tried to start out with a nice easy pace - unfortunately the entire first mile was downhill. Yes this will come back to bite me at the end of the race.
Mile 2&3 - 10:34, 10:24: Much more like it. Fell into a nice pace. Found some people to pace myself with.
Mile 4- 10:21: First of the killer hills. Legs were pretty fresh so I took this one pretty well. Took two shot bloks at the end.
Mile 5- 10:14: took advantage of about 2 miles of flat ground to get into my goal pace and make up some time i would lose on hills. uneventful
Mile 6&7- 10:24, 10:36: Huge killer hill. This one probably stretched about 3/4 mile to the turn around point. And I thought it would never end. There was a rest stop about half way up that i really wanted water from but i knew if i stopped or diverted concentration I would never make it up the hill. At the turn around point was my friends and mom to cheer me on. Note this was the only spectators on the entire course besides the people at the water stop. Makes it difficult to push through the hard areas without cheers!
Mile 8- 10:00: Down the monster hill. Really was able to pick up pace and make up time.
Mile 9&10- 10:29, 9:57: stopped for 2 more shot bloks and water in mile 9, but was able to bump up my time in mile 10 (the other downhill from before). Feeling pretty good at this point and thinking i would definitely be able to race the last 5K.
Mile 11-13- 9:47, 9:39, 10:29: I'm actually surprised how fast these were. The beginning of mile 11 was downhill so picked up speed, but then around 11.5 we started going back up a pretty big hill. Kept my speed fairly well, thinking this was the last big one. Nope, turn back onto the final road to discover that the fast pace I had in the first mile was a long mile hill. All up, last mile. OUCH!!!! managed really well. Didn't want to stop and walk, but with about 1/2 mile to go I walked for about 30 secs because I really didn't think I would make it if I didn't. Was still able to "sprint" to the finish and then almost collapsed at the end. Took me about 5 minutes to even catch my breath. Checked the results: 2:15:05 chip time!!!! yea!!!! and garmin said i actually ran 13.21 miles so if i had run just 13.1 i would have been under.

I'll post pics and such later once I collect them.

Countdown to Spirit

Well here I am 13 days from my next 1/2 marathon. Haven't said anything since the last race skits about time to step it up.
Starting off Jenga wants to say a few words: awwwwwoooooo! Okay so that really says: mom has gotten back to taking me on runs. Lost alot over the long summer and a mile is really hard. I know mom gets really aggregated with me cause I slow down so much and poop out before she can finish a lap, but I really do have fun going. I hope she knows that I will get better as it gets cooler. I want to be a running pup! Even if I don't like putting on my running harness!

Now onto training report. I am once again going after the golden 2:15:00 mark. I felt really good before the last race, but I learned a valuable lesson about not using too much energy in the first 6 miles of the race. No matter how I feel at the gun, I have to hang back for a few miles and conserve. The other problem with the last race was the weather. Training for the April race was mostly don't in 30-50 degree conditions. On race day it was close to 75 humid and super windy. Became one of those conditions where plan B comes into play. I'm hoping for good conditions this time.
My last race sim run was great on Saturday. Did 4 miles at a race pace. Pulled back some for 6 miles, then did some fartlek striders for the last mile. Tonight I just did a run without looking at my watch the whole time and had a 9:54 pace. Close to fastest time ever for just an easy non structured run. So hopefully the cooler weather mixed with crazy heat training will pay off huge in two weeks. Only time will tell though. If I can pass this hurdle I feel like I could really achieve so much more. I fell held back because I don't live up to my timing for shorter races in the 1/2.
I'll check back in post race and hopefully have great news!!!

Wish list

I decided I should make a wish list of races I want to do in the future. I'm only 28 so i have many years to accomplish this list, and I'm sure it will grow. Hopefully it will give me a chance to see the US by foot and really appreciate the scenery and areas around the race path.

Half Marathon list:
Disney Princess 1/2 - Walt Disney World
Women's Nike Half marathon - San Fransisco
Rock n Roll 1/2 - San Antonio
Kansas City 1/2
any 1/2 in Hawaii


Full Marathon list:
NYC Marathon
Chicago Marathon
Boston Marathon

Race Report for OKC marathon 2009

So for those who just want a short run down of the race here it is. I ran a 2:20:33 official chip time. I had wanted to run a 2:15 but there were some uncontrollable factors like wind and temperature that affected me. I did PR by about 7 minutes over my last 1/2 marathon so I'm way happy about that. I really beat myself up on the course over losing my time but in the end I realized that I gave it my all so I've come to grips. Just gives me more reason to try another one!!!

Now for those of you who like to have something to fall asleep by I will go into all the gritty details...

To start there were a few uncontrollable factors about today that affected the race. The wind was about 25 mph from the south (which would be the direction of running for the final 5 miles of the race) and the temperatures started at around 70 degrees with a relative humdity of around 68%. My average long run has been about 40 degrees.

Friends dropped me off about 1/2 mile from the start with about 1 hour till gun time. I walked to the porta potties with my gear check bag and waited the 15 or so minutes in line. I then headed out for gear check. I couldn't find it anywhere. I went to the street where they said it was and couldn't find it. Ended up running back and forth about 3 blocks looking for it. No one knew where it was. I try to justify this crazed running as striders, but I think in the end this was problem one of the day. Did finally find bag check. Right street but hidden on the other side of the starting corral and hidden behind a building and a line of porta potties. Just a tad bit upset about that.


Jumped through the fence into the corral. Was lucky that I found the 10 min pace area pretty quick. Located the 2:15 balloons and lined up about 50 paces behind so I didn't try to keep up. I took the remaining 10 minutes before the race started to catch my breath and relax. Gun went off at 6:30am and after standing completely still for about 4 minutes the masses started to move. I think I crossed the start line about 5 minutes after the gun.

The first 2 miles were wonderful. Was able to control my pace and kept below my goal pace of 10:18. (10:40, 10:27). At that point we were headed North with a 20+mph tail wind. I took a little too much advantage of that. I allowed myself to slip of my pace and dropped way to close to the 10:00 mark then I needed too. Of course it was still the first 6 miles of the race so my legs didn't feel it, I was just happy I felt so good. As I was passed by people I was thinking - I'll pass them later (um little to cocky!). Tripped through the water station just before the 4 mile mark and continued on. Took a gel around the 5.5 mile mark with some water and went on. Splits for miles 3-7 were 10:06, 10:11, 10:07, 10:08, & 10:11. Crossed the 10K mat at 1:04:14.

The wheels came off the wagon after that. Saw my friends the first time a little after mile 6. Quick high 5s and I was off. Turned north again and legs started to fail. Even though I was 4 minutes slower then my 10K time, I had run miles 3-6 way to fast. Started a routine of walking 1/2 block and running 1-2 miles. Eventually it was walk 1/2 block run a mile. I started getting really aggrevated at myself. Kept thinking I could push through this mental block and move on. A couple times I would and my legs would lift, but then there would be another hill (there were lots of those). Splits for 8 & 9 were 10:21, 11:06. Then I turned to start the run back to the start - and all the sudden that wonderful tail wind became a head wind at 25 mph. Ouch! As if my legs weren't just tired now they were fighting hurricane force winds! Took another gel at mile 10 and dug deep. The next 2 miles or so were a blur. Saw my friends again and parents which lifted me a little, but not enough. I walked and ran knowing I could pull out a push at the very end but that my 2:15 finish time was now a pipe dream. I hated seeing people pass me, but I knew my legs only really had about 1/4 mile of hard running left and I had to save it. Splits for 10-13 were 11:24, 11:47, 11:24, 11:01.

Finally I could see the finish line - or believed the dude that said it was only 2 blocks, try 4 - and I started my "sprint". I gave everything I had left in my (around an 8:30 mile) and just ran for the finish. I really didn't think I would ever make it there and I was so zoned in on getting there I didn't see the clock or friends, all I saw were the blue timing mats. So the finish was 2:20:33. Not bad accounting all that walking I was doing. I still PR'd by 7+ minutes and finished in the top 35% of both age and gender. This is a massive improvement over my first 1/2 last year where I finished in 2:50 so I have tons to be proud of. I'm not happy with the overall outcome but I'm really happy with my efforts. I left it all on the course - to bad it was in mile 3-7 but I did the best I could.

I discovered that for me running races is a learning experience. This time I learned the importance of pacing in the early middle miles, no matter how good it feels. Eventually I will put it all together and hit my PR of 2:15, until then I will just keep running!

She's trying to kill me!

So my mom is this crazy runner person who races. And for some reason she thinks that I can run forever like here. She just doesn't understand that i'm a little puppy that plays and sleeps all day! We started out on a nice jog on campus and it just kept going and going. My poor puppy pads were exhausted and I couldn't move my legs anymore. Mom got mad at me for quiting, which i felt really bad about, and dropped me with S who was walking ramps at the stadium. I stayed with S till mom got back and we walked up and down the ramps...down is tons of fun!!!! Mom came back and apologized for getting mad at me and I licked her face. We agreed that after the race she would start me out slowly, especially since it is hot out, and I would be a better running partner through practice.
I really loved going on the walk though! I love walks....