Born to be barefoot

So, since my marathon, I haven't been able to run.  At all.  Knee pain- did PT, x-ray, MRI, everything, and don't know whats wrong.  Long, frustrating story, but my knee is finally getting better.  And I've decided to run barefoot.  Well, not completely barefoot, I wear crazy toe shoes called Vibram Five Fingers.  Yes- I'm one of those freaks now.  

Actually though, since the first time I heard of barefoot running, I've been obsessed. I would notice every runner that was either barefoot or in the crazy foot gloves.  I read about it online, I thought about how cool it would be, and I wanted to try it. It just vibes with how I tend to try to live my life.  As natural as possible.  Barefoot running makes sense- we were running LONG before shoes were invited, why do I need them now?  Anyway, but to start running barefoot, you pretty much have to start from scratch. Running just a few minutes at a time to get your body used to running with no support from a shoe, and I was not about to do that (not after how hard I worked!) so I put it on the back burner.  But still enjoyed spotting all the barefooters out there.

After my knee injury, I did a lot of research, and lots more reading on barefoot. I decided to finally try it out. I hadn't run for over 2 months so I was going to be practically starting over again anyway. 

I also read Born to Run. I read about the book on just about every bare-foot running site or in any bare foot running article. Then it started popping up on some blogs I read, and every time it came highly recommended.  Since I was committed to trying to run barefoot when I finally started running again, I bought it on Amazon (only $6 used!). I read it in less than a week-  it was an awesome book.  So good I made Steve read it.  And he loved it so much it inspired him to run- and he was about to start, until I pointed out it might be a bit insensitive to the fact that his wife was injured and could not run and maybe he could wait until she was healed so her injury wouldn't be rubbed in her face, but thats a whole other story....

Anyways, so I am now wearing the vibrams every day to the gym, and have started running/walking on the treadmill.  I've been starting slow- building up by starting at 5 minutes 3 x's a week. I'm determined to do this correctly and not hurt myself again- but so far so good.  Its amazing to notice how my stride has changed, and how much lighter I feel.  And make me realize how much I have missed running.  Really hoping this works for me!

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt my first barefoot mile.  I will let you all know how it goes ;)

marathon tips

So, I've run a marathon.  Thats kinda a big deal.  Up there in my top 5 life accomplishments, after giving birth to my daughters, marrying my husband, being born, opening &; running my own business, and tied with earning a degree.  Maybe even more of an accomplishment that being born, because I really didn't have much of a say in that one.

Anyway, a few tips for any other Mama's out there who are thinking of running a marathon.

First off- you can do it!  If I can do it, any one can.

Second, I've read it over and over and its SO TRUE.  Its 10% physical and 90% mental.  And if you're a mom, you're already mentally very tough.  You have to be!

If you're running the race alone, find a pacer.  All of the peeps running around the pacers are up for conversation, including the pacers themselves!  I chatted with the pacer for a bit, and then met up with another gal and ended up running with her from mile 2ish to mile 13 (where I saw my family so I slowed down a lot to say hi and give kisses, then could not catch up because of my STUPID KNEE)

If you can, have friends & family cheer you on at different mile markers.  So so encouraging to see them when you need it most!

Remember, you have given birth to a child.  (In my case, a almost 10 pound baby with no drugs.)  Child birth is often compared to running a marathon.  So yeah, you've basically already done it.  And everytime I was struggling I chanted this in my head.

If you're running a marathon that has a 1/2 marathon running as well, ignore the 1/2 marathoners.  Don't look at their mile markers.  Its only going to piss you off.

If you need some encouragment, a high five, something- ask for it!  Especially at the water station.  Those peeps are all about it!  I asked one chick for a high five and ended up running through 25 + people, slapping high fives to them all!  It was awesome!

Ok, so those are my tips.  I've only run one, and I ran it with an injury so yeah, I'm no expert.  Just some running wisdom I learned and thought I would share.

And I do hope to run another one.  Already planning it :)

Silver Strand

I ran my second 1/2 marathon back in November
Silver Strand Half Marathon in Coronado
Ran it with some running friends, the Divas
I beat my first time by 11 minutes, I ran the whole thing by myself (getting ready for running a full by myself in January), with no music.  Wasn't planning on the no music thing, just kinda went with it the day of.
It was a beautiful day, and full of fun people watching.
I felt cute in my orange running skirt & pink shirt
My time:
2:11:57
I was pretty proud of myself :)
Now, to finish my marathon!

(pictures taken by my friend Lori)

I did it!!!!!!

I ran my first 1/2 Marathon!!!!!! Yes, I said first- I plan to do it again. I have the running bug big time. I am loving it!

I signed up for the San Diego Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon back in January. I had gotten to my goal of running a 5k (the Oceanside Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning) and decided that I needed new goal.

My college roomies and I plan a get together every summer- every year since graduation (um, is that 6 years now??? I'm feeling old......). I lucked out that all of them are also doing the running thing and they agreed to run the 1/2 with me! I was going to be the only 1/2 marathon virgin going in to it, and they were all nice enough to agree to run my pace so I could actually finish it!

Dani & Amelia arrived Friday night (Julia had to pull out last minute. We missed her mucho!) Right away I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. Man, I love my college roomies.

We just chilled Saturday morning, and drank a ton of water. We left my house around 2 to head down to SD.

We checked into a fancy smancy hotel, Westgate hotel in Down town San Diego. FANCY. Like, too fancy for us rowdy girls. But we enjoyed- check out the view! And look Hammer, no marine layer!

We headed to the Expo to sign in and get our gear. Did a little shopping and browsing, then headed to Sammy's Woodfire Grill to carb up! I was able to get a gluten free, dairy free pizza there. And it tasted fabulous.

Walked back to the hotel, goofed around in our fancy hotel robes, and prepped for the next day.

We were asleep by 9:30 at the latest- we had to get up at 4:30 am for this dang race!!!!!! But we did it without grumbling, blasted some music and got ready!

We all ate our little breakfasts- mine was gluten free toast w/pb and 1/2 a banana. Then we walked to the start line- a nice little mile walk warm up. There were sooooooo many racers out walking around!

We managed to all get into coral 19 together. We decided to skip the porta potties, cause man- they stunk. And the lines were insane.

The energy was awesome, I loved seeing everyone that was racing. People from all over the country! Its so awesome to see how runners come in different shapes & sizes, and different levels of seriousness. So many silly costumes, and also some hard core runners!

I believe it was 30,000 runners. Thats insane. Dude, we even got to run on the 163 (thats the freeway for any non-locals reading)

We keep our pace up, only stopped for a quick pee break right before mile 8. Right after that we were cheered on by Steve, Jessica and Izzy. That seriously made my run- seeing them gave me the energy to finish the race, and I was so happy that they came to cheer me on! (They couldn't meet us at the finish line because it was too hard to get to with 2 young kiddos)

Check me out- I was smiling, must be having fun!

Mile 12 was the only mile that was really hard on me, and I think it was because we decided to pick up the pace AND I just wanted to be done! In my head (and, I won't lie, occasionally out oud, too) I started to give myself this pep talk "you pushed out a almost 10 pound baby WITH OUT DRUGS. You can run one more damn mile." My friend Amelia ran right next to me and kept saying encouraging words to me, and that helped me get that crazy jolt of energy that made me sprint across the finish line

(I love that I look like possesed in that picture)

I finished!!!!! And I immediately burst into tears.

Because thats how I roll

Finished in 2 hours, 22 minutes and 9 seconds. About a 10:50 mile pace. Pretty proud of myself considering I have only been running less than a year :)

We had to stop and take goofy pictures afterwards. Love my neon pink face.

This one was for Julia. We are good flexers. :)

Making fun of the crazy subleasing roomate we had one summer. Cause we're mature like that.

After we made it back to the hotel and showered up, we headed off to get some much deserved lunch

Mexican food and Margaritas!!!!!!!

I had an amazing time, and it was made even better by my friends doing it with me. I cannot get over how amazing the human body is- dude, running for 2 hours + strait, and still having energy for the rest of the day? Crazy!

I plan on doing more 1/2's, and maybe even a full one day???? And I really hope to do more with my college roomies. Julia, you must be with us next time!