Out of my zone

The other day I signed up for a race that is outside of my comfort zone!!  I'm usually a road race 5k or 10k type of girl.  I like the weather to be nice so some time between May or June to Sept or Oct.  But earlier this year I did a trail run that I really liked!  Go read about it here! Kellie has talked to me about running The Huff for a few years. It's actually an utlra trail run that you can choose to do one loop (10 miles), the whole thing (30 miles), or a 3 man relay (which I still think would be fun!).

So I did it!  I signed up for the 10 miler.  Just to give you a taste of what I could be in for, here is the link to the registration site with some pictures.  And HERE is a video from a few years ago (including the above picture).  Oh and did I mention this race is on Dec 20?  And is in Northern Indiana?  If you don't know anything about Northern Indiana, you should know that it snows and is COLD!!!! (see the below picture!)

I have no idea why I'm doing this race other than it's supposed to be really fun and a good experience. I guess you never grow if you don't step out of your comfort zone right?! Look our Huff 2014 here I come!!

Love, Lacey

Last long run before the half

So for a few years I have had horrible toe issues.  My toes are pretty crooked and nasty and running doesn't help that. For some reason the shoes I have always used have decided to keep shrinking their toe box. Well as you can imagine it is not good for my toes.  So despite all my best efforts (toe socks, bandaids, lube, tape) I needed to abandon my usual shoes and get new ones just a few weeks before my first half of the year. I'm so thankful we have an amazing local running store that is full of really awesome people to help! I went to see my favorite sales guy and told him show me shoes with the widest toe boxes. He brought out 3 different ones for me to test out and these were the winners.  They are the Adidas  Supernova Sequence Boost 7.  I picked the bold pink color and used some bungee laces that I already had to lace them up.  

This was actually my second run in these shoes and so far so good.  The real test will be next summer when my feet get hot & sweaty. My feet tend to swell and I think that is part of the problem that there just was not enough room in my old shoes.  This run felt pretty good.  I felt a little sluggish but that really didn't have anything to do with my shoes. 

With only 1 week left until my first half of the year (I'm running two this year!) I feel pretty good.  I have a time in mind and I will do my best to hit it but if it doesn't happen it doesn't.  Now I'm not saying I won't be upset if it doesn't happen.  I'm a pretty competitive person and when I don't hit a goal it is NOT ok.  But as I learned last year (I bonked during my half big time!!) life goes on! I've done some things different in my training this year and have a friend that I'm hoping to run with to cheer her on and keep me moving.  Another great thing about this race is they offer pace groups for the different goal times.  So I will be settling in with a pace group and just keep moving! 

I love to finish off my long runs with an ice bath.  I know this is kind of a debated thing but I love it.  I don't know if it helps me recover any fast but I can tell you that nothing feels better after a really long hot run than a tub full of cold water and ice. I try to sit in there for 10 min and usually cruise facebook or instagram (go follow me on both!  I'm LoveLacey365 on both).  The time seems to go quickly and after that I jump in the shower.  

This week will be full of short easy runs, rest, and lots of carbs.  It's time to put my money where my mouth is so to speak and prove that all these miles and training runs have been worth it. That's the funny thing about distance running.  You set a goal to run a certain number of miles on race day. But what you don't think about is all the hours and miles you will put in getting to race day.  Those training miles and hours are the ones that define you. The mornings that you get up pre-dawn to fit in a long run before you leave on vacation. Or the nights that you put the kids in bed and then jump on the treadmill because you didn't have time during the day.  The miles and the hours of training often are the ones you remember.  I definitely remember my races but I have had some of the best runs and times of prayer in my life on just an average Tuesday run.  Life is kind of like that too isn't it? It's not how long you live but what you do with that life. Running is a lot like life and has taught me more about myself and about my life than I could have ever imagined. In 7 days I will be here writing my "race day recap" for you.  I pray that I get to tell you that I got the PR that I'm looking for. But if I don't, I have had some pretty amazing breakthroughs this year and will choose to be happy with those (after I cry and be upset). 

Love, Lacey

My longest run so far!

I'm sorry that I have been missing lately.  I have just felt so overwhelmed with life that I had to take a break.  But I'm here NOW!! I promise I'm back to twice a week updates and motivation!

As a lot of you know I have a half marathon coming up in just a few short weeks.  I have been training really hard.  This is not my first half but I decided to take the advice of a few runner friends of mine and do a couple really long runs to not only get the miles on my legs but to really challenge myself.  As I had told you before I struggle with my mental strength in running more than anything so this was a good way for me to show myself that I AM strong and capable of so much more than I give myself credit!

When I long run I don't worry about time just distance.  I'm just out there to put miles on my legs.  I try to keep my pace some where around 30 secs to a min slower than my race pace but really just keep myself moving forward.  I don't listen to music either which I know is strange but running is my time to really talk to God and look around and notice things I normally wouldn't. We live in a suburb but in just a few short miles I can be out in the middle of the country.  There are always new houses and views! 

I have a typical long run route but as my miles keep going up I have really struggled with how to get the miles I need. On this particular run I was supposed to run 15 miles.  My normal route sets up well for about 10 but anything over that I have to repeat part of the run or run around our neighborhood which I find really boring. So my wonderful husband (who grew up in this area) checked out a map and showed me a pretty easy route that would get me pretty close to 15!  It was really nice to have a new route and see new things.  One of the things I saw was this cemetery that had a tank in it.  I'm assuming there were some military buried there but I didn't stop to read the sign.  Just a quick stop to grab a picture! 

I always love to take a runfie (a running selfie) when I get back that explains how I felt either during the run or directly after.  I think this picture explains exactly how I felt after this run.  The run itself felt pretty good too.  But this "OH MY GOSH YEAH!" face sums up how I felt! So I ran 15 miles in 2:55:54 total.  My average pace was 11:43 which isn't too bad for a run that long.  I am pretty happy with how my training has gone this year.  I struggled a bit at the end of this run.  Something about 14 miles I got really upset and frustrated feeling like I was still so far from home and was just struggling.  But as soon as I crossed the major road that leads me home I got a second wind or something and finished strong.  

 With only a few weeks until my first half of the year I am feeling really good.  I'm kind of nervous as I'm going for a PR (personal record) but I have done the work. I have pushed myself, I have eaten healthy, & drank more water. I am into my tapering weeks and I'm nervously excited to be breaking in new shoes (more on that to come) and getting ready to get that PR!

Love, Lacey