Conquering THE Hill-#bestfoot

Just like last Monday, I am participating in the #bestfoot Monday link-up hosted by the awesome ladies at  Run to the Finish, Sweet Life Ericka and Darwinian Fail. Please check out their blogs as well as the other linkers!

Most runners I know have "a hill". This is a hill that you study and ponder but don't quite feel ready to face. I actually have two of these hills that I think to myself when driving them "I'm going to get you one day."

Well, this past weekend, I officially ticked one of them off my list. I have been running my long (6 miles right now) runs in Forest Park, which is about 2 miles from my house. Forest Park is a HUGE urban park (bigger than Central Park) and is a really amazing benefit of living in St. Louis. There is an incredible amount of things to do and see there, so running it is always a new experience.

One of the best parts, for a runner, is the fact that there is a foot path for walkers/runners that circumnavigates the entire park, forming a nice 5.66 mile loop. Normally I begin running south from my preferred starting point so to avoid "the Hill" which is the western edge of the park along Skinker Blvd. It has a climb of about 219 feet in .7 miles. I know that's not huge but it is a long constant hill. I decided that this Saturday, I was instead going to begin my run north and face it.

The start of the run was good, but we are quickly moving away from ideal running temps here into hot/humid conditions, even fairly early in the morning. I could really feel it on the run as it seemed like the sun was much hotter and the air was thicker...and it's only April, it's just going to get worse!

By the time I got to the hill I felt ready for it and just plowed on ahead. As I was running it I reached three separate times when I thought I was "at the top" but forgot about "one last turn". I kept reminding myself that I wasn't worried about maintaining pace (which would be crazy) but only with maintaining effort. By the time I finished it I was SO happy for it to be over and also really feeling drained.

It made me realize that with the increased temps, I really am going to need to start hydrating on my runs, even ones that are only an hour. I probably made it for another 3/4 of a mile after reaching the top before I did something that I haven't done on a run in well over a year...I stopped to walk. I know many people are fans of walk/run intervals and I think they're great for those for whom they work. For me, I've always found that it's that much harder for me to start running again if I stop to walk and it's just not been my thing (this could change when/if I start training for a full marathon). I only walked about 20 seconds or so and then got back to it.

However the second half of my run was just bad pace wise, I had forgotten that after "the hill" the back half of the park consists of quite a few rolling hills, and I ran over 11 minute miles, which is slower than I've been doing lately. Overall I was not happy with the run. I didn't like slowing, I didn't like having to walk, and I was super annoyed that my hat blew off twice (I hate distractions like that). So why in the world am I including this for #bestfoot? I'm including it because I beat the hill, even though it took its toll. I faced something that had been a fear of mine and lived to tell the tale. It wasn't a great run, but that's just the way it crumbles sometimes. I'm still proud of myself for doing it and ready to face it again!

#Bestfoot Link-up

Hi all,
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! The weather here was gorgeous which allowed for a lot of outdoor activity including a 6 mile run on Saturday around Forest Park (biggest urban park in the country).

Today I'm joining the #Bestfoot link-up hosted by Run to the Finish, Darwinian Fail and Sweet Life Ericka ...three awesome blogs that you should really check out.

#bestfoot is about keeping yourself accountable and writing about how you put your best foot forward the week prior to keep your progress moving forward.

As anyone who has read this blog before knows, while I'm not new to the world of running, I'm new to the world of racing, training, etc. I am running my first half-marathon in October with a goal on eventually running a full marathon sometime in the future.

In order to start my progress toward my half-marathon, I know that I need to increase my weekly mileage totals. Right now I'm not too focused on pace, just on building my endurance.

This week, I put my #bestfoot forward by increasing one of my weekly runs by 2 miles and rolling/stretching daily. I know in the grand scheme of things adding 2 miles to one run isn't a huge deal, however this move is designed to help me transition my weekday "short runs" from my typical three miles into something more, thereby allowing me to get to a place where I can increase my weekend long run more significantly.

So on my Thursday run instead of 3 miles, I did 5 and I felt great! I then did another 6 on Saturday, brining my weekly total to 20 miles. This is my highest weekly mileage to date, and my goal is to replicate that for the next two weeks or so before increasing it slightly again.

So how did you put your #bestfoot forward this week?

PS-Congratulations to all those who ran Boston today and to those volunteering and cheering them on. I watched the coverage of the elites and now have the live feed camera on to watch two of my friends cross the finish line!

Friday Five Link-up: Fitness Goals

Happy Friday all and Happy Holidays to those that are celebrating a holiday!

I participated for the first time last week in the Friday Five Link-up hosted by You Signed Up for What?!, Eat Pray Run, DC and Mar On the Run. Thank you ladies for hosting this link-up and for giving us great ideas each week!

This week is 5 Fitness Goals. This was a great one and really got me to focus on my fitness goals are in general and for the immediate future. So without further adieu, here they are:

1- Complete My First Half-Marathon

I am registered for the Rock n' Roll St. Louis Half-Marathon on October 19th and I'm incredibly excited for it. Last year I went and cheered on some of my friends and sister-in-law who were all running and wondered, "When are you going to get there?" At that point I was just running 3 miles a few times a week and had a few 5ks under my belt with no real specific plans for more. After my first runDisney event a few weeks later, the race bug had taken full hold. So now here I sit with a few more 5ks, a 6k, a 5 miler, a marathon relay and a 10k under my belt and I'm feeling good about this goal!

2- Get My Pacing Correct

I run about 10 minute miles. During my leg of the marathon relay, I ran 9:36 or under for the first 3 miles, but that's the most I've ever done at that pace. The thing is whether I'm tracking myself or not, that seems to be my pace and truth be told, I think I can run faster. I feel like I just have too much left over at the end of some of my runs. I know training runs are not supposed to be difficult, but I feel like I'm just kind of hanging in this space where I could be doing more. Last night I ended a 5-miler with a pretty steep hill. While it was awesome to feel so good finishing 5 miles, I know I should probably have left more out there. I'm not going to do anything about this until I meet with my new running coach (yay!) on May 6th. I do not want to assume anything and would rather go with what he prescribes after talking about goals and watching me run, etc.

3- Hold a Steady Plank for 2 Minutes

I know this seems like a small one, but I'm currently participating in the #plankaday challenge on Instagram and increasing my hold time is not going as fast as I'd like. I'm finding it's taking me a few days to hold 5 more seconds. I'd like to get to the place where I'm holding a plank for at least 2 minutes, steadily and with good form...which will hopefully be helped by my next goal-

4- Backin' it Up!

I, like so many others, do not focus nearly enough on my back strength and conditioning. It's so stupid considering it's the thing holding the rest of me together! When focusing on core strength, I tend to focus too much on ab work and throwing a few Supermans (Superman's...Supermen...who knows) in just for good measure, but I know to really achieve a strong core, it's all in the back!

5- Just Breathe

During my awesome runs I don't even notice my breathing too much because I am just in the zone and doing everything I need to be doing without doing a mental checklist. But I'll admit that as a new-ish runner there are times where I know that my breathing is off and that I should be more focused on getting it in line. I know I'll be a more effective runner with proper breathing so it's something I really want to work on as I move towards my half-marathon. This is also something I plan on addressing with my running coach.

Thanks for reading and have a GREAT weekend...hope Spring has sprung wherever you are...unless I randomly have some Southern Hemisphere readers then I hope that the Fall is treating you well!

Marathon Relay Recap

So this weekend was the Go! St. Louis Family Fitness Expo and Races. I participated in the marathon relay event and I just have to say that I absolutely LOVED being a part of a relay team. While my goal is to run 1/2 marathons as they seem like the distance for me, I can see myself doing the relay event at this race each year, even though it's the big spring race in St. Louis and the 1/2 here is a big one.

Being a part of the relay added a whole other level to the race and it was just fun to get to be a part of  team and have accountability to others. I was a team-sport athlete all the way through college so I think being part of a team is just something that is ingrained in me.

First things first, however was the expo! I love race expos, there is a such a great vibe and the most of the vendors there are so chatty and friendly. I had a seminar for work that was close to the expo center so I went during the lunch break to check it out. It was at Chaifetz Arena, which is the arena where St. Louis University plays their basketball games (Go Billikens!). I really liked having it in the arena there, however parking there is a nightmare! No, I don't want to pay an additional $5 to park for the expo after I've already paid my $75 entry fee...thanks very much! I chose street-parking instead, but that meant about a 3/4 mile hike in some pretty brutal wind.

The expo itself was great though, the vendors were, as mentioned above, very friendly and chatty. I got some fuel samples (Sport Beans and Gu) some Zoom Immune Booster supplements, a pacer tattoo to help you keep your pace without having to do math or have an app for it, some awesome lime-green shoe laces and a variety of coupons for local running stores and future race entries.

Of course I couldn't go and only get free stuff though, now could I?! The two big race expos in STL during the year are also the time when some of our local running stores have their best sales. I was on the lookout for a pair of Ghost 6's and wouldn't you know that I found a pair...in my size...for $85!! Score!

Love the colors and love the shoes!

I also snagged a Handana as I've been on the lookout for something like this for a while. The day before, in spin class, it was so humid that my hands were sleeping off the bike wheel and my towel fell off the bike twice. This worked really well for the race and was great at wicking away the sweat without absorbing it!

                                            image courtesy of Handana

So leaving the expo about $100 poorer, I was ready for the race!

Saturday we took it easy, I did some kettlebell work and took the dogs for a long walk to stretch out, but I didn't do any running. I had been fighting off a sinus infection all week and hadn't really decreased the exercise at all, so I thought it best just to take it easy before the race. We went to see the new Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the afternoon (I'd recommend it, I thought it was really good!) and then did an early birthday dinner for my mom. I had pasta primavera in a light olive oil sauce which was delish.

I hit the hay by about 8:30 to prepare me for the 5 AM wake-up call. I will have to say this was the tricky part about doing the relay when I was up, dressed and out the door before 6 AM, but not actually running until about 10:30. This made breakfast and warming up a bit tricky. I had a Greek yogurt and a cup of coffee before leaving the house then brought a banana that I had about an hour before I ran. I probably could have used a bit more food, maybe some peanut or almond butter on the banana...but overall it seemed fine.

It was pretty cold at race start (about 36) and the wind was kind of nasty. I was happy that I was the jacket Sherpa as it meant that I could wear my teammates jackets over top of my own to stay warm!

All of the relay stations were close to stops on our light-rail system, the MetroLink and travel on the link was free for race participants. So after each leg, we'd hop on over to the other one to watch our teammates in. Since I was the anchor, I was ferrying a lot of bags and the like, which also meant no pic were taking of my teammates (so bummed about that!).

When it got to my anchor leg of the race, I was so pumped that I foolishly took off like a bullet. My goal was to maintain 10 min/miles as this is a pace I'm comfortable with for 6 miles, however I did my first mile in 9:02, second in 9:19 and the third in 9:36. However after that my time began to increase and the course got hillier, my fourth, fifth and sixth miles were all over 10 with the 5th being 11:38 and basically uphill for the entire mile. Overall I ended up with a 9:54 average and I was really happy with that.

Despite the fact that we hadn't really come up with a plan for meeting, Joe managed to get to the finish line a few minutes before I arrived there and snapped some pics. I really like this one.

After the race we walked around the post-race festivities for a bit, although none of the food really appealed to me as it was all "St. Louis themed" and pretty heavy stuff. We decided to head to a local Mexican place to get some lunch and I attacked the chips with gusto and had a celebratory margarita!

I went home and rolled, stretched and iced my left knee (arthritis from an old field hockey injury) and we rented some DVDs from Red Box and got take-out from my fave Crazy Bowls and Wraps after hitting up Lowe's for some stuff we needed for spring landscaping. I made a comment to Joe that it was so funny how you reach a certain age and life is waking up early to run and spending an afternoon at Lowe's. What would our 21 year-old selves think of it?!

I had also taken off work on Monday as it was opening day for our St. Louis Cardinals (big fans over here) and we had tickets to the game in the afternoon. I was glad because my legs were still a bit sore from my too-fast first few miles of the race, so I got some much needed walking, stretching, rolling, etc. in.

The weather was rainy and cold but the festivities were still in full swing downtown and we loved taking part in it. We met some of Joe's friends at a stadium bar for a pre-game drink then headed into the stadium early to watch the Opening Day festivities. One cool thing they had were a bunch of ice sculptures to commemorate the beginning of the season and our great season last year. Kind of cool, huh?!

The Cardinals won the game and we headed home. I hit the hay early as it had been a long day out in the wind and rain but it was great nonetheless!

Have you ever done a relay, and if so did you like it?
How do you fight the urge to head out fast when the racing adrenaline is high?
Are you a sports fan? Who are your teams?

Here we go...the year of the race.

Well, I told my husband I was actually going to do this, so here I am! I've done the "About Me" page to give an overview of myself but I realize that as a result of my blog title, people may assume that my name is Jaynie/Janie. It is actually Jayne and the only person that calls me Jaynie is my grandmother. I'll answer to pretty much anything though (within reason).

One of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog was to keep motivated toward my goal of 10 races this year. I've completed two so far and have 4 more that I'm registered for, so I will need to add a few more to get to goal, and I already have some in mind.

The year started off with the Stan Musial Memorial Bridge Run here in St. Louis. It was a run to open a new bridge over the Mississippi River that was awesomely named for Stan "The Man" Musial, a long-time Cardinal great/Hall of Famer and hometown hero. His number was 6, so the race was a 6k in honor of that number. It took place on February 8th, and even though the race time temperature was 14 with crazy wind chills, it was so much fun.

Unlike a lot of annual races, this was a one-time only opportunity. A few hours after the race was over, the bridge was open to traffic and became part of the interstate system...no little feet to ever pound over its lanes again (hopefully...you really shouldn't run on interstate bridges). Plus the race started in Missouri and ran into Illinois...so I basically ran from one state to another (that counts as something, right?).

I am in literally 0 of the pics they have tagged on the race result site (apparently they thought A LOT of different people were me, of varying heights and genders) so I don't have any fun "action shots" to post but Joe (my awesome husband who ran with me) did snap this one on the bridge (oh yeah, it had snowed that morning too!)

I finished the race at 37:37 which is right about a 10 minute mile as a 6k is 3.7. I was pretty happy with that time as I've picked up some speed over the last year or so and being right around 10 feels good for me right now.

Two weeks ago was the St. Patrick's Day Parade Run in downtown St. Louis, which is a 5-mile race that precedes the parade along the route. This one is really awesome as the parade spectators are mostly already out and they are awesome cheerleaders (it might be because of the tendency of the spectators to have an early morning adult beverage or two, but hey...cheering is cheering).

This also randomly happens to be the largest 5-mile race in the country with over 20,000 runners (some of who pull a keg with them). It was a great time and I ran it in 51:13, which is just over 10 minute miles. It was significantly better weather than the February race, but it got pretty warm toward the end, into the 70s by parade time!

Before the start with two of my gal pals, Jessica to the far left (who is running the Boston Marathon in a few weeks) and Shannon

Next up for me will be the Go! St. Louis Marathon weekend on April 6th where I will be participating on a marathon relay team with my friend Courtney and two of her cousins. This will be my first relay and I'm really excited to be part of a team event like this, although I hear logistics getting from one leg to another can be a bit annoying when you want to support your other team members.

Here's a copy of the course Go! sent out to the runners, I can't decide which leg I'd prefer as the shorter legs are the hillier ones...of course.

After that one is the Girls on the Run 5k during which I'll be supporting my niece who is running it for the second time...so proud of her! Here's a pic from last year's race.

Over Memorial Day Weekend Joe and I will be heading to Door County, WI for a long weekend. This is where we were married about 6.5 years ago and we try to get back there for long weekends when possible. Not only do we love it, it's a great place to take the dogs! While there we've decided to run the Jacksonport Maifest 10k, which looks to be a really scenic run in and around Lake Michigan.

The jewel in my race crown this year, however, is the runDisney Tower of Terror 10 Miler on October 4th. This is the race that I knew I wanted to do as soon as the race bug bit me. Joe and I are both signed up and pumped for it. I'm a bit nervous as it's a night race and it will likely be pretty warm (not that STL doesn't get ridiculously hot, just not typically during race seasons) but the excitement far outweighs the nerves. This is NOT a race pic but just to give you a sense of our love for Disney...here's us at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party in 2012. We typically make it to Disney twice per year and LOVE it!

In July, I'll be joining a local running store's 1/2 Marathon training program to prepare myself for the 10 miler and hopefully the Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon that will be taking place in St. Louis in late October. I've cheered on friends there before and it seems like a really great first half-marathon.

I'll fill in with some other races, but that's what's on the books for now! Ok, that's a really long first post, hopefully you made it all the way through, I promise to try and be less wordy in the future.

I'd really appreciate comments and feed back! To get the conversation started:
What races are you looking forward to this year?
Have you ever run a Disney race?
Have you ever run a night race and if so, how did you modify your training?