My 3rd Half Marathon

Brad and I both had been training hard for the Rock n Fly Half Marathon.  It was our second time running this race, we both were in better shape and I just knew we were doing to do awesome.

The morning of the race on March 21, 15 was beautiful and sunny.  Brad and Mike played the national anthem again this year and they did a great job.

At the starting line!

Before the race Brad and I decided to race separately.  My training runs were a bit faster and his knee was bothering him.  But, he was so sweet and ran the first 5 miles with me before we parted ways.  

Pockets full of race necessities like an extra phone battery since mine looses battery fast, my phone because I use it both for my pace and music chews, keys, ID.  Where do people put all their stuff without a stroller?! Thank goodness for all the pockets in these Lululemon pants. 

Crossing that finish line is always such an incredible feeling!  I came around the corner and was so excited to see that big clock reading out a number that meant that all my hard work for months was going to pay off.  I had a 13 minute PR from last year knocking a minute off of each mile time!

SO HAPPY TO BE DONE!

I kept an eye out for Brad so I could cheer him on and I ran the last little bit with him so we could cross the finish line together. 

Finish line hug!

I finished in 1.47 and Brad in 2.03.  He also had a huge PR from last year! I'm so proud of both our times. 

Feeling stronger than ever!

108 out of thousands of runners!  And 6th in my division.  Really amazing feeling to make a goal and then crush it! 

Half what?!

I'm home in Northern VA!!  It is so amazing to be back with my family and friends.  I'll be here for 3 weeks.

Tomorrow morning at around this time I'll be starting my first half marathon!  I feel so nervous I am hoping I don't barf on the starting line.  I do not feel prepared for this run at all! But, I've been wanting to run one, this race looks great, and I get to do it with my best friend, Kate, after not seeing her for years.  What a way to reunite.  One of the people she was running with couldn't do it, so I'm going to get her spot.  So, I found out I'm going to run this thing ummmm 2 days ago.

I'll be participating in the North Face Endurance Challenge!
In this race you can do the 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, 50k and 50 mile! Oh my god, 50 miles!

This run will be far from boring.  The site says: The North Face Endurance Challenge returns to Algonkian Regional Park, Great Falls Park and the Potomac Heritage Trail again in 2012. The course keeps runners on their toes with ever-changing terrain. Overall, the course consists of 50% singletrack, 30% dirt or gravel doubletrack, 10% gravel carriage road and 10% paved road.
 

I will certainly be pushing my limits tomorrow.  Last summer when my friends and I climbed Mt Fuji my girlfriend she said she'd rather run a marathon than climb that mountain again, so I'm hoping that's true, because Mt Fuji was one of the hardest physical and mental things I've ever done.  And this time I'll only torture myself for like 2 1/2 hours.  My only goal is to make it to the finish line, not die, and preferably not loose control of my legs and/or pass out.  And hopefully I will be able to move tomorrow at least a little.  Massage is already booked! 

Wish me luck, I'll need it. 

Hooked!

About 2 months ago one of my fabulous clients at the stable was getting her yoga instructor certification and needed to practice teaching someone and offered to teach me yoga.  I told her I'm super in-flexible and don't know anything, but she said that was perfect and that she needed to teach a beginner.  So, we started weekly private yoga classes and for the first time yoga was explained to me in a way that I could relate to and I loved the way my body felt afterwards.  I'm hooked.  I love it!  Last month at the barn we had an adult camp weekend and Jill came in and did a yoga class for us at the barn.  It was so fun! 

Now in addition to our weekly sessions, I practice at home and have tried going to some yoga classes on base.  I never knew yoga was such a workout!  She loaned me a book all about bio dynamics and which muscles are stretching and flexing in each pose and it is so interesting!  My yoga instructor, Jill, has made yoga feel accessible to me that I didn't need to be a "pretzel person" to benefit from yoga. 

She's at the end of her course now and asked me to answer a couple of questions:

1. What drew you to a yoga practice?

I was drawn to yoga because my doctor recommended I stretch more when I expressed my concerns that my father and grandmother have had double knee replacement surgeries.  I love running and she told me that when I was younger I may have gotten away with running without properly stretching, but as I get older stretching properly is very important to prevent injury.  I did not think yoga was for me, but Jill happened to be getting her yoga instructor certification and she offered to teach me yoga and it totally changed my mind.  I love that yoga is low impact and I can still get a great total body workout. She re-defined what I originally thought about yoga and explained things in a way that I could relate to.  I thought to be good Jill motivated me to expand my awareness, stretch, learn and pursue yoga. 

2. What do you expect to get out of it?

Through our practice together Jill has taught me to learn breathing, and correct postures and movement.  I love how yoga is a mind and body experience.  I would like to strengthen my body and bring attention to my mind and my thoughts through yoga practice.  I hope yoga helps me to gain more flexibility, especially in my hamstrings.

3. Do you feel yoga helps you "off the mat"?  How or why?

I am completely absorbed by yoga and very open to it's possibilities.  Yoga has helped me accept myself for the person I am and has helped me gain self confidence.  Yoga has helped me center myself in life, in my goals and in every day moments.  I find myself focusing on my breath and on my state of mind even off the mat.  Yoga has helped me to find joy in my bodies capabilities.

4. What would you like to learn more about in yoga?

I ride horses and I find that yoga is very similar in it's infinite possibilities.  I am open to as much knowledge as possible.  Jill has expanded my knowledge base considerably, helping me to understand biomechanics,  alignment and basic yoga principles.  Jill has also inspired me continue my self practice and grow as a person.  I will continue my yoga practice and gradually increase my strength and discipline.  I am fascinated by yoga, the principles and the fundamentals.  I will continue to learn and grow through mind, body and spirit. 

5. Where do you see your yoga practice one year from now?  5 years from now?

I hope that yoga helps be be healthy and strong in mind and body.  I believe yoga, in these 2 months, has helped me considerably in my day to day life and I love learning something new.  I can already feel my body getting stronger and less stiff.  I can only imagine, and look forward to, the positive effects of yoga over a span of a year or 5 years. I would like to gain more flexibility in my hamstrings and perhaps be able to do a handstand one day.  I've bought a mat that is supposed to last me a lifetime, so I am all set!

Can't wait till my Manduka stuff gets here!

Mt Fuji Adventure

Last Saturday at this time I was slogging up (or down) the massive Mount Fuji. I cannot even tell you how amazing it is NOT to be on that mountain today and be warm, dry and not feeling like I might die. Ok, so here we go. I will tell you the adventure of my Mt Fuji struggle.

My girlfriends Becky and Brandy (and her friend from the States, Deb) invited me to go along with them first to Tokyo and then onto Mt Fuji and I excitedly said yes! It was something on my Must-Do-Before-Leaving-Japan list. So, we booked the trip and bought some hiking boots. So, August got really busy. I had tons going on at work and then my friend suddenly came to visit. Never once did I google Mt Fuji or do more than ask a few people who had done it before what they thought of it. I figured I was in good shape, I can run like 8 miles right now, so I'll be fine. We got a list of things to bring on this trip and I really hadn't even looked at it until I was packing the night before and really didn't worry about it. Wrong! I was SO not prepared for this hike.

#1 I hadn't looked at maps or anything prior to arriving on this mountain. I figured kids and grandparents did this hike, it was easy... we got lost TWICE.
#2 I didn't pack appropriate gear. The weather on Fuji changes incredibly quickly. It was cold. It was pouring down rain. Nothing I had was waterproof. Or all that warm. This made for a horribly uncomfortable hike (understatement of the year).
#3 This hike is challenging. It was not easy. In fact it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

Our bus left Tokyo for Mt Fuji at 2:30 in the morning. Yes, 2:30 am. It took about 2.5 hours to get over to Mt Fuji so we started our hike at about 6am. There are a bunch of different trails to get up and down this mountain. They range in difficulty. We were supposed to take the yellow trail all the way. Well, right off the bat in the start of our hike, back when we actually still were excited about the whole thing, we took the wrong fork in the trail and ended up going the wrong way. Oops. We probably should have realized we were going down when we were supposed to be hiking up the dang thing. Anyway, we got back on track and it immediately sucked. It was like stairmaster hell. It was tough going and it only got harder. The trail has all these stops where you can take breaks and get your Fuji stick stamped. Well, from station 5-6 is long. Really long and a huge wake up call for people like us who thought this would be a walk in the park. We started looking at each other and exclaiming "This is HARD!" and "oh no, I immediately regret this decision." We kept going up and up. The stations started getting more frequent and we started racking up the stamps.

Meanwhile, the trail is super crowded. You can only really hike this trail during July and August, and we did it the last weekend in August, so it was packed. When the going gets hard I start going fast. I just want to get it over with as quickly as possible. This has always been my hiking method and mentality (my sister and husband can totally attest to this annoying habit of mine). Fuji is 2.34 miles above sea level, so we were all feeling the strain on our lungs. I/we are passing people left and right, scrambling up the sides of the "trail" on hands, feet and knees if necessary while trying not to fall to our deaths off the side of the mountain. In the US we get so accustomed to railings and safety. This mountain sometimes had ropes guiding the way of the trail but those babies would do nothing if you were to fall. There was nothing between you and death. In fact on average 3 people die on Fuji every year.

And to top off this situation it was a cloudy and misty mess. We couldn't see any of the amazing views that Mt Fuji offers. We were in the middle of an annoying wet, cold cloud. But, it got worse, so much worse. We kept going up and up past stations 8 a, b, c and d (these stations just kept going on and on and we were like "ummm come on seriously we have to be to 10 by now!") and we are getting our stamps and slogging up and up the rocky mountain cliff face. We keep going and we felt like we couldn't be that far off. We asked a friendly stick stamper how much further and when he announces an hour/hour and a half we all want to cry! Around this time the sky opened up. It starts doing this icy, cold, bone penetrating rain. We whip out our jackets and ponchos and try and cover up as best we can. I was wet to the bone in minutes. Completely soaking wet. Miserable. So the huge finale of getting to the summit was completely lost on us unfortunately. We were running up the mountain at this point and knew that the summit would have shelter and something hot to drink. My hands were numb. My feet were squishing in my boots, my whole body was so wet and cold! We couldn't see anything. We could hardly see a foot in front of our face it was so foggy and rainy. We got under some shelter and with shaking hands took our group summit pictures and got our final summit stamps on our Fuji sticks. We found a seat in the completely packed noodle shop and got hot coffee and soup to try and warm us up. We expected temperatures of about 40F, but with the rain and wind I know it was way colder than that. But, we did it! We were on the top of Mt Fuji! All 3,776 meters or 12,388.45 feet of it.

So, here are the facts. Elevation rise of 12,388 feet, it has a circumference of 78 miles and a diameter of 30 miles. I climbed from station 5 to station 10. It usually takes 8 to ascend and another 4 to descend. We got to the top in just over 6 hours.

This point of the hike was so incredibly mentally challenging for me. I was so tired, sore and miserably wet and cold, but knew it would be hours before I could get warm and dry and I knew that the way down was going to be even more challenging. There was no other option. I had to get myself down that mountain. So, we went back out in the rain and started our decent. Very soon we were confused. We saw a trail that veered off, but it was a red trail, not yellow. And might I add that all these color trails have multiple sub trails all with different names. So, we wanted the yellow trail, but had to pick the right yellow trail. And this trail led us back to the same trail we came up on. Were we supposed to take the same trail down as we did coming up? We didn't think so... but what else is there? That red trail?? We tried asking, but had no luck there. We were out on top of this mountain in the rain looking at maps and I started shaking so bad and for a minute I really thought I was going to be on that I Shouldn't Be Alive show. Words like hypothermia kept ringing through my head. We had to keep moving to stay warm-ish. We figured out (after the fact) that you could have taken that red trail down, but we took the yellow trail down the same way we came up (super challenging by the way) and then at the station 8 hotel our trail veered off again for the actual decent trail.

Going down was no less than awful. At first when we were going down the same trail we went up the "steps" were huge and full of loose rocks. You had to get yourself safely down these natural monster steps and straight down the mountain. After the trail split off it was even harder going. The trail consisted of extremely steep switch backs down the mountain and the footing was rocky. Big rocks, little rocks, all of them moved and shifted when you took a step. At first we started running down this decent trail, but after slipping, falling and almost careening off the side of the mountain we had to slow down. These switchbacks seemed never ending. On the way up at least we had all those stations to break it up a bit. The decent was awful. It seriously felt like my toenails were floating around my sock somewhere. And The loose, gritty red and black volcanic pumice on the descending route got everywhere on my rain soaked and frozen body from head to toe.

On the up side, on our way down the sun miraculously appeared! When that sun came out I think my whole mind, body and soul drank up every second! It was beautiful and most importantly warm. We stopped and snapped a bunch of pictures. That bit of sun was incredible. I only wish we had been able to have some sun at the summit, but I gladly took that little bit we got.

When we finally got back to the bottom I celebrated with a change into dry clothes and we shared a Fuji cake. I'm not going to lie, I was hurting. My body was upset with me! I got this horrible charlie horse in my right calf that made me seriously consider that I had ripped or torn something in there. That pain pretty much eclipsed all my other pains in my feet, knees, hips, butt, and shoulders. How do kids and old people do this hike?! Oh my gosh it was horrible! The hike was challenging enough, but the rain and cold was too much. It was quite a mental and physical feat for me. We may have been miserable, but I tell you what... We laughed so much up and down that mountain. It was either laugh or cry. I will never ever forget that hike and the ladies I got to experience that hell with. I'm glad I did it, but I will never do it again!

So take my advice: plan ahead and do your research, pack your gear light and wear waterproof everything and mentally prepare for a long day (and day after) of pain!

Check out my picture slide show from Mount Fuji:

Setting the bar high

Well, I got out of the habit of blogging when I was on my trip and man alive, it's hard to kick start myself into doing it again. Ok, I'll be honest, it's been hard to kick start myself into doing much of anything after this trip home. I have the post vacation blues, majorly. While my motivation levels were sky high in the states now that I'm back here I'm struggling to hang onto those feelings and keep myself pushing forward. I found myself again when I was in the states. I got the feeling that I was strong enough, smart enough. I remembered who I was and what was important to me. I got my confidence back and I'm going to run with it. Literally.

I ran a lot when I was in the states. I ran a 5k right before I went home and kept up with my running. I loved it. I loved running at dusk when the fireflies came out, I loved running on the trail around Burke Lake and around my neighborhood. I was running fast, feeling great. The day before we left for Maine while stocking up on chemical free bug spray and sunscreen at REI I grabbed a women's running magazine at the register. I didn't open it up until a few days later and saw there happened to be a half marathon training plan in there. I got to thinking. Then a couple weeks later, after finding the first magazine so motivating, I grabbed a second running magazine and it had an article about running your first half. So... here it goes. I am going to see if I can train for a half. Just see how it goes. Ok, I've said it on here, announced it. So now I have to do it. I'll keep you updated and posted about how this goes for me. I'll say this, I ran 7 miles this morning and thought I was going to pass out or barf, but I didn't and I'm super proud of myself. I haven't picked the half I want to run, but I want to do one in the fall before Brad gets back. And preferably one with the least amount of hills possible.

Massive, overwhelming and scary goal #2: In the states I got a crazy thing in my head, the desire to go back to school. It crept up on me suddenly, hard and fast like a wave. I graduated college in 2006, I have no idea if I could even get into a grad program and how I would navigate starting a program while overseas or if I'd have to wait until I get back to the states. If I have to wait I'm worried this desire for school will wane and I'll never do it. I feel like I need to do it now. So, there are a lot of questions, a lot of areas that I need to explore, but I'm just thrilled that I want to even think about going back to school. Up to now this was unheard of for me, college was hard, borderline hate-my-life hard and on my graduation day my friend reminded me of my exclamation of "thank god I never have to do this again!" So, I'm going to talk to some people, do some poking around on the internet and see what I can see.

Of course I have other more attainable, small goals like taking a scuba class this summer and I have my usual horse related goals. Bring it!