Richmond Race, Take 7

This year was my 7th time running the Richmond half marathon or marathon! It was my first race back in 2011 and I ran either the half or full marathon every year since then, with the exception of last year when I was working in Hawaii. Now that my streak is broken, I'm probably going to do some other fall races in the future, so this may be my last time running Richmond for awhile.

Since this was my swan song to the Richmond race, I wanted to get a sub 2 and PR the course. But I haven't exactly been running stellar speeds lately, so I wasn't sure if I had it in me to sub-2 this year. Kyle encouraged me to go for it and said he would run the last 6 miles with me.

For the first 7 miles, I was just trying to keep each mile under 9 minutes and trying to make it to mile 7 where Kyle was waiting for me. I had to push myself to keep the pace, but I did pretty well the first 7 miles. Only the second mile was over 9 minutes. I thought if I could just get to Kyle, he could pace me for the rest of the race.

Then I got to mile 7 and the hilly section in Bryan Park, and started falling apart. Kyle jumped in with me, and my friends were on the sidelines cheering, but I suddenly realized how tired I was. Around mile 9 I had to stop and walk for a full minute. At mile 10 I walked a little bit more while Kyle ran to the side to get me more Gatorade. Several of those middle miles were over 9 minutes.

With only three miles left, I was still tired but I was so close! And I knew that I could still get under two hours if I ran the rest. Kyle stayed with me, but a little bit ahead to pace me, and he wouldn't let me quit! I know this race so well that running through the downtown area in the last mile felt like the end already. I knew that big downhill finish was coming up!

I crossed the finish line on Brown's Isle with a sub-2 and a PR for the Richmond course. It's my third best time for a half marathon so far. I couldn't have done it without Kyle, because honestly the entire second half of the race was a struggle! I was really thankful for the perfect race weather which made it a little better. At the end I felt sick and had to sit down for awhile. I was proud of how hard I pushed myself despite not feeling my best during a race. This was also my 30th half marathon!

Official Time: 1:58:28
Pace: 9:02

Later that day, we all went to a small beer festival and celebrated!

Kauai Half Marathon

I signed up for the Kauai half marathon thinking I'd be back working on Big Island, and could just island hop over to Kauai for the race. It turns out my plans changed and I didn't come back to work on Kauai, but I decided to make the trip anyway and have a reunion with Audrey and Lacy!

I loved the Kauai Half Marathon. I think I got lucky and  happened to run it on a weekend that was less humid and hot than typical for Kauai. My friends and I woke up to cloudy skies and cooler weather than normal. We could still feel the humidity in the air, but it wasn't as bad as usual that day. We walked out to the start when it was still slightly dark and started the race early in the morning.

The course was beautiful! We ran through a tunnel of trees, saw the mountains in the distance, and finished along the beach. My favorite part was the local Hawaiian culture along the course. There were hulu dancers of all ages, drummers, fire sticks, and dancers at different points performing traditional Hawaiian routines. That was fun to see!

Lacy wanted to do her run/walk method, but Audrey wanted to try to run the whole thing, so I ran with her. I had a great time running at a casual pace and just enjoying the scenery, the music, and the Hawaiian dances along the way. At one point, we saw 2 guys running with bilateral prosthetics- it was very inspiring!

The finish area had free beer, snacks, and beautiful views of the ocean. We hung out for awhile recovering from the race and watching several HUGE sea turtles swim in the ocean right offshore. Although I've seen plenty of sea turtles living in Hawaii, it never gets old to spot them from the beach.

Despite a few hills, I really enjoyed this race. Also have to mention we had a delicious Italian dinner the night before at LaSpezia. It was the most amazing pasta, perfect for a pre-race meal. And I couldn't go back to Kauai without getting brunch at Kountry Kitchen again. They have the best coffee and breakfast ever!

All in all, a great race, and a fabulous weekend with some of my best friends!

Official Results: 2:15:25
Pace: 10:21

Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon

I love going to Nashville and wanted to run my Tennessee half marathon there. It worked out that my friend Audrey also decided to run the half, and Emily had signed up for the marathon, so we all met up in Nashville! I had come off a month of vacation time so only partially trained (typical me). Audrey and I decided to run together and just had fun running through some beautiful Nashville neighborhoods, and along the river. It was hilly and pretty warm, but I enjoyed the race.

The night of the race we went out to the country bars and had a fun girls night! I always love going to Nashville!

Race Results: 2:16:12

Reputation: favorite moments from T. Swift's album

It's taken me this long to write a post about Reputation, because I still don't know how I feel about it. I like it. I enjoy many of the songs, But I don't have clear favorites like I did with 1989. When I listened to 1989, I settled on my faves pretty quickly: Blank Space. All You Had To Do Was Stay. Wildest Dreams. I Know Places. I still love those four songs. My top faves were surrounded by others I enjoyed almost as much. Style. Welcome to New York. Shake it Off. Bad Blood. I even came to love songs I didn't initially like that much: Out of the Woods. This Love. Clean. There was very little not to like.

Reputation had big shoes to fill. I was worried when I heard the first single, Look What You Made Me Do. I didn't care for it. (Although I absolutely loved the music video and consider it one of Taylor's best!) Luckily there are much better songs than LWYMMD on Reputation. I still can't pick one song that stands out above the rest. Here are all my favorites.

Getaway Car
This is the song that stood out when I first listened to the entire album. It's fun, catchy, and has some great lines.

"The ties were black, the lies were white"
"I knew it from the first Old Fashioned, we were cursed"
"We never had a shotgun shot in the dark"

"Should've known I'd be the first to leave
Think about the place where you first met me"

And ultimately, "Nothing good starts in a getaway car"

Delicate
Then this was my favorite for awhile (before it started getting overplayed on the radio). I think anyone can relate to being in a new relationship that feels fragile- when you're afraid of saying too much for fear of scaring the other person away before they even really know you.

"Dark jeans and your Nikes, look at you.
Oh damn, never seen that color blue.
Just think of the fun things we could do"

"Third floor on the West side, me and you
Handsome, you're a mansion with a view
Do the girls back home touch you like I do?"

And finally, "We can't make any promises, now can we babe? But you can make me a drink"

King of My Heart
Took me a couple listens, but I like this one a lot. My sister said it's my song, because it opens with "I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own. I made up my mind I'm better off being alone." lol. I'm not the biggest fan of the chorus, but I love the pre-chorus, the verses, and the bridge, so that more than makes up for it. This might be my current favorite? Other memorable lines:

"Now you try on calling me baby like tryin' on clothes" (loooove how she says "tryin' on clothes")

"Cause all the boys in their expensive cars
With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars (love how she pronounces every syllable of "Jag-u-ars")
Never took me quite where you do"

"Is this the end of all the endings?
My broken bones are mending
From all these nights we're spending
Up on the roof with a school girl crush
Drinking beer out of plastic cups
Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff
Baby, all at once, this is enough"

Ready For It
It's hard to know how much I really like this one, because it was her second single after LWYMMD. I loved it at first, and the rest of Tay's album wasn't out yet, so I played it all the damn time. By the time Reputation was finally released, I was over it a little bit. But I still like it.

"He can be my jailer, Burton to this Taylor
Every lover known in comparison is a failure"

"In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, bay-bee hmmmm"

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
This one is just fun. And refreshingly non-subtle. Taylor gets one more revenge song, but it's way better than LWYMMD.

It starts off so nice:
"Everyone swimming in a champagne sea"
"Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year"

Then all of a sudden Taylor's "shaking her head" and "locking the gates"

She doesn't mince words.
"You stabbed me in the back while shaking my hand"
"Therein lies the issue, friends don't try to trick you"

And the chorus is hilariously condescending:
"This is why we can't have nice things, darling
Because you break them, I have to take them away-a-a-a"

So far those are the top 5. But I also really like:

Don't Blame Me - I like the soulful sound and the comparison of love to a drug. It reminds me of Hozier's "Take Me To Church" and brings back memories of Kesha's "Your Love Is My Drug" at the same time. ("trip of my life, every time you're touching me") ("Lord save me, my drug is my baby, I'll be using for the rest of my life").

I Did Something Bad - I liked this song better once I heard it in concert. It was just exponentially better live. The beat, the drop, the atmosphere, the smoke, the fireworks - the experience was incredible. Favorite line: "this is how the world works, you gotta leave before you get left". Taylor at her most cynical. (PS. I hate the burning witches line, but some people love it??)

Call It What You Want - It's not my favorite song, but I love some of the lines. Of the two softer ballads, I like this one better than New Years Day.

"My castle crumbled overnight
I brought a knife to a gunfight
They took my crown but it's alright"

"All the drama queens taking swings
All the jokers dressing up as kings
They fade to nothing when I look at him"

"And I know I make the same mistakes every time
Bridges burned, I never learn, at least I did one thing right...
Starry eyes sparking up my darkest night"

I feel like Call It What You Want kind of sums up the whole album. Taylor made some mistakes and had to deal with some major blows to her public image, but in the midst of it, she found love. According to her poem, "a love that was really something, not just the idea of something". Taylor disappeared for awhile, but now she's back from the dead, and lets us all know "I'm doing better than I ever was".

Taylor Swift Faves

In honor of going to see Taylor Swift's concert tonight, here are some of my T. Swift favorites.

Best music videos:
1. Look What You Made Me Do
2. Blank Space
3. Mine
4. Wildest Dreams
5. Shake It Off
6. Our Song
7. You Belong With Me
8. Love Story
9. Picture to Burn
10. Bad Blood

Favorite songs: (these change in order pretty frequently)
1. Blank Space
2. All Too Well
3. I Know Places
4. All You Had To Do Was Stay
5. Fearless
6. I Knew You Were Trouble
7. Wildest Dreams
8. Come Back... Be Here
9. King of My Heart
10. Ready For It
11. Should've said No
12. State of Grace
13. Getaway Car
14. Last Kiss
15. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Best Album:
1. 1989
2. Reputation
3. Red
4. Taylor Swift
5. Fearless
6. Speak Now

Learning to love the 5k

Ever since I started running, I've liked longer distances. I've never been very fast, so it was easier to increase my distance rather than my speed. I could still feel accomplished after running a long distance race, no matter how fast I finished. My first race was a half marathon and I really enjoyed 13.1 miles and 10 mile races. I didn't want to waste my time or money on shorter races.

Recently though, I've run a few 5k's and realized they can be a lot of fun! Yeah, they're over pretty fast, but it's a great chance to push myself and work on my speed. For years, my "fast" pace has been around a 9 min/mile, but running shorter distances has given me the opportunity to try a faster pace.

I surprised myself by improving a lot in the 5k over the past year. It's still not my favorite distance, but a 5k can be a great little race, and I've come to really enjoy it. I especially love that it's a race my whole family can participate in!

2014: 11/27/14 - This was my first 5k and I ran it a few weeks after a marathon. I was still sore and recovering. Not my best race! Just a fun run with friends. It was a few years before I ran another 5k.
Race: Turkey Trot 5k in Lynchburg, VA
Time: 28:30
Pace: 9:12
Place: 26/120 in age group (25-29), 123/886 females, 471/1696 overall

Last year: 7/22/17
Race: U Can 5k in Raymond, Maine
Time: 25:29
Pace: 8:13
Place: 1st in age group (30-39), 5th female, 22/71 overall
Prize: Baseball tickets

This year: 3/10/18
Race: Run for Hops in Kona, HI
Time: 23:13
Pace: 7:29
Place: 1st in age group (30-34), 4th female, 23/437 overall
Prize: Kona coffee and a pint glass

7/11/18

Race: 5k by the lake in Harrison, ME
Time: 38:40 (Ran with Lilli)
Pace: 12:28
Place: Lilli got 3rd place in her age group, and she got an award for being the youngest runner!

7/21/18
Race: Newport Craft Brew Race in Newport, RI
Time: 24:40
Pace: 7:56
Place: 8/119 in age group (30-34), 46/596 females, 181/1142 overall

The Kona race was my 5k PR. I never thought I'd be able to run a 7:30 pace for 3 miles! I contribute the success of that race to my conditioning with Crossfit. I didn't do a ton of running in Crossfit, but we did do short intense workouts and occasional 400 and 800 meter sprints. For now, I'm continuing to focus on half marathon training, but I'd like to see if I can beat my time and get a new PR for a 5k sometime!

Twenty Random Questions

Twenty random facts about yourself that may surprise people. Bc why not?

1. Do you make your bed everyday?

Not every day, probably a couple times a week. Sometimes when I'm feeling really organized, I make my bed every day for a short while.

2. What's your favorite dream job?

Still trying to find it! Something outside maybe, or teaching.

3. If you could, would you go back to school?

No way. I'm over the stress and I'd rather get paid for hard work!

4. Can you parallel park?

Yes, I'm actually pretty good. I'm better at parallel parking than regular parking.

5. Name a job you had which people would be shocked to hear you had.

My first job was editing and publishing a website for a council on homelessness.

6. Do you think aliens are real?

No. But I think spirits are real.

7. Can you drive a stick shift?

No. My dad tried to teach me when I was 16 and I stalled the car out like 20 times.

8. Guilty pleasures?

Keeping up with the Kardashians. I secretly love it, but I hate that I do.

9.Tattoos?

Nope.

10. Favorite color?

Used to be purple, then yellow. Now I think it's blue.

11. Things that drive you crazy?

People moving too slowly, angled parking spots so you can't pull through, chaos and disorganization.

Things at work that annoy me: when there's not a trash bag in the can, when there are no pull-ups or wipes and I need to help change a patient, when people don't put the patient sheets back in the right place!

12. Fears? 

Rejection. Failure. Being alone.

13. Favorite tv show?

There's only a few that I really love. Alias, Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Wire, Prison Break, and Veronica Mars.

14. Do you talk to yourself?

Sometimes.

15. Do you like doing puzzles?

Not usually, but every once in awhile I get in the mood to do one.

16. Favorite music?

Taylor Swift is my favorite. And country.

17. Tea or coffee?

Coffee. My Starbucks order is an iced caramel latte half-sweet with soy milk.

18. First thing you remembered wanting to be when you were growing up?

A teacher. Or a mom.

19. Social Butterfly or Introvert?

I'm an introvert, but I every now and then I enjoy being a social butterfly. It has to be the right situation though for that side of me to come out!

20. If nothing held you back like family, money, etc., then what would you be doing right now? 

Traveling the world or hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Maui Oceanfront Half Marathon

I heard about the Maui Oceanfront Marathon when I did my race at Lake Tahoe. The race director for that race also runs the MOM. He made it sound really cool- you run along the West coast of Maui, during the coolest month of the year, and you can see whales!

Since I'm working in Hawaii for 6 months, I wanted to do a half marathon while I'm here, and the Maui race seemed perfect! My co-worker Lacy was running the full marathon, so we planned a weekend getaway to Maui from the Big Island.

All of the hotels near Lahaina were super expensive, especially during race weekend, so we ended up booking at Hakuna Matata hostel. It ended up being perfect, because the finish line for the race was literally right outside our front door!

Lacy and I picked up our races bibs on Saturday, got dinner and watched the last half of the Pats game at Down the Hatch, and then walked around downtown Lahaina for awhile. We went to bed super early, around 8pm, because Lacy had to wake up at 3am to take the bus to Wailea for the start of the marathon. The half marathon started in Lahaina and was an out-and-back, so it was easier for me. I got to sleep in until 5:30 and just walk out the door!

The weather was nice and cool in the morning, and we had beautiful views along the coast. I didn't see any whales though! but Lacy said she saw lots of whales on the marathon course. I loved the rolling hills and ocean breezes along the route. It didn't get too hot until the last 2-3 miles, then it started to get sunny and humid.

My training for this half marathon was a little different. I've been doing Crossfit 4-5 times a week, so I was only running once on the weekend, with maybe one shorter run during the week. Other than that, I'd been weight lifting, doing HIIT, and running sprints of 400-800 meters at Crossfit. So I wasn't really expecting to run a fast race. I thought I'd just have fun and try to keep a consistent pace. But I did notice during my training runs that I seemed to be able to hold a faster pace (when my quads weren't sore from squats and lunges, lol).

I started the race at a smart pace. I didn't want to start out too fast. I felt like I was holding back a little, but I still ran the first mile in 9:04! That ended up being the slowest mile of the entire race- good race execution. I'm always happy when I finish faster than I started! From there I was holding an 8:45 pace pretty consistently. I was feeling pretty good until the last 3 miles. Then I started to get tired and it was more of a struggle to hold the pace, but I knew I could break 2 hours and maybe get a PR!

The last mile I was pushing as hard as I could. I knew I was definitely going to get a sub-2, and that was super exciting! but I also knew I was close to my PR. I was getting overheated on that last mile, but I wanted to finish strong! I started to feel nauseated the last half a mile, and after I crossed the finish line I threw up from over-exertion (just a little bit!). But overall it was a great race and I felt great!

I ended up finishing in 1:54 exactly, which is my second best time ever! I missed a PR by 26 seconds, but I had a great run and did better than I expected!

Mile 1:   9:04     slowest mile
Mile 2:   8:44
Mile 3:   8:46
Mile 4:   8:37
Mile 5:   8:56     slow
Mile 6:   8:38
Mile 7:   8:41
Mile 8:   8:47
Mile 9:   8:31     fast
Mile 10: 8:42
Mile 11: 8:39
Mile 12: 8:44
Mile 13: 8:21     fastest mile

This may have been the most consistent pacing I've ever had during a race! Most of my miles were between 8:37 and 8:47.

Official Time:     1:54:00     8:43 min/mile pace     3rd place in Females 30-34

Oh yeah, I also got third place in my age group! I wouldn't have even known, except I was talking to a guy at the finish line, and he said, "I think you may have placed. Not too many girls around your age finished before you." So I went and checked the results and was shocked to see that I got third out of 24 in my age group! I got a really cool award.