10 For Texas

I was so excited to be able to do 10 for Texas in The Woodlands. I had my mind set to do it months ago when we learned there would be no marching band contests on the calendar. It was even more special to run it with the girls. Having come to terms with the fact that I am just slower than I was last year, I decided to be conservative with my finish time goal. The combination of record heat and drought, nursing school, increasing stress, and sleep deprivation on top of being a wife, mom, and working is lethal to my pace. It can't be helped. I will have the hot runner body and work on that BQ (haha) after the letters R.N. trail my name.

So it was a great race. I set a time goal of 2:10 and a more important goal of finishing strong and not cramping. I did my best to hydrate and fuel in the days preceding the race and went to the starting line confident. We met at Potbelly's so we could line up and start together. On our way to the starting line we were stopped by a photographer for one of The Woodlands magazines. So exciting!! Unfortunately, we lost Kim in the crowd somehow and she wasn't in the picture. One of the highlights of the day was the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. There were some technical difficulties and the singer had to start over. When the microphone went out again the entire crowd started singing. It was awesome! There were sooo many people lined up I thought it would take five minutes to get over the starting line. It only ended up being about a minute and a half. Kim and Kelly were ahead of us but Teresa, Tara, and I managed to stay together for roughly the first half of the race. At about mile three I realized that I had started out too fast and decided to slow the pace to where it felt sustainable. Maybe one of these days I will actually NOT start out too fast. After mile 4 I decided to stop with the run/walk intervals and just walk at the water stations. I found a groove and was afraid to lose it with the walk breaks. It seemed to work although it was a risky move as I have been doing the 5:1 intervals during training. After about mile five Tara moved ahead of us and I lost Teresa about half way between five and six. By this point I realised there wasn't anywhere for Glenn to park and cheer along the course and I wasn't going to see them until I reached the finish line. There were lots of people cheering, the little kids were the cutest. It was just after the six mile mark that another highlight of the race occurred. I was expecting Teresa to catch up to me and when I caught someone approaching out of the corner of my eye I thought it was her. Nope the shirt was yellow. It was Coach Steve!!! My was I happy to see him. He wasn't able to race with us but that didn't stop him from crashing the course for a quick 30 minute run. Amazingly enough I possess the skill of running and side hugging simultaneously. There we were running sweaty cheek to sweaty cheek. It was just the pick me up I needed to get me through to the end. I guess it could have been the power gel. No. It was Steve. The last mile was really tough. There was an incline and a head wind. But, I fought the urge to walk and thought that Lake Woodlands was the longest road in the world (as I often thought during training). A girl in a red shirt passed me and said we have to be getting close. I checked my garmin we only had about a quarter mile to go. After I turned into Market Street I decided to go ahead and kick it in to finish strong. As I passed her she said "Go get it." Obviously I don't spend enough time in Market Street because there was one more turn than I was expecting and here I was going at puke pace. I made the last turn and red shirt girl is approaching me. That is when the inner competitor in me kicked in and there was no way that chick was going to beat me to the line. Naturally I gave it all I had and made it over first. YES!!!!! My official time was 2:11:30. I was a little slower than my goal but I finished strong, I didn't cramp, and I listened to my body and it was a success. My legs were tired but they carried me to the end. You can't get better than that!!

Tara, Teresa, Kelly, Me, Kim

Team in Training!!!!! Heels and Hills and Him Half Marathon

I have been back into running for nearly two years now. Until this past May I trained and raced alone. Now I can't imagine it without my new 'running family'! A young boy at church was diagnosed with Leukemia this past spring. In my desire to make some type of fundraising effort, I found the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training and signed up to train with The Woodlands team. I will never forget our first practice heading out from the library and running down The Woodlands waterway. It wasn't a particularly spectacular or memorable run (although it was beautiful!) but it was cool enough to wear a jacket and kicked off a season of training through the HOTTEST summer on record!!! We slowly built up our mileage on our early morning Saturday runs and alternated Wednesday evening practices between the track and hills. I don't know which was more torturous but I loved every minute of it.
I had originally signed up to train for the Nike Women's marathon in San Francisco but roughly mid season had to change events due to a scheduling conflict. Two weeks ago was the Hills and Heels and Him Half Marathon in Irving, Texas. It was my third half marathon. It was a lovely weekend kicked off with an Inspiration dinner with all of the Team in Training participants from both the Dallas and Texas gulf coast teams.
We trained through the heat and had to race through it too. It was terribly hot during the race and there wasn't much shade. I tried to start out slow and hold my pace to 13 minute miles or slower and it was tough because my legs wanted to go faster. After two miles I tried to follow my legs and ran a little faster at roughly 12 minute miles. Boy was that a mistake!!! After mile 5 I knew I wasn't going to get a personal record and was regretting not running with my team mates and just enjoying the event we had trained for together. Around mile six, I caught up to Lexie and a couple of girls from the Dallas area and hung with them until around mile 7. That is when it really started going down hill for me. My pace slowed and I was slowing down into the 14 minute mile range at times. I had been doing run/walk intervals of 5:1 and that five minutes kept getting longer and longer. I was ready to walk around three minutes and I was on my own again. Around mile ten I started cramping. My calves were tying up in knots and it felt like my feet were curling up into balls in my shoes. It was pretty miserable. I stopped to stretch, ran on my tip toes, and walked on my heels- anything that would give me some relief. There were many times when there was no choice but to walk. I tried to eat the pretzels I had in my fuel belt but I couldn't swallow them. I was really regretting not carrying my own water belt. I will never make that mistake again!! It was shortly after all this started that my team mate Teresa caught up to me. I was so happy to see her. She gave me some gatorade to help with the cramping and some much needed moral support. That last mile was the worst. I walked most of it and had to stop to stretch several times. It was when I made the final turn into the finishing area that I realized how it is possible for people to not finish a race. Ordinarily when the finish line is in sight all fatigue and pain are surmountable and I am able to kick it into gear and get myself over that line. As I tried to do that the pain in my legs wouldn't allow me to run. Thank goodness for the Team in Training coach at the finish line area who was able to rub out the cramp in my calf and I was able to run. It was pretty heart breaking to have the finish line in view and not be able to run to it. It was nice to have my team mates there to cheer me into the finish. It really helped me through those last few steps.
I am so glad that I joined this team and made these wonderful friends. We had two great coaches: Steve and Kelly, two awesome mentors: Doug and Crystal and some really neat ladies and running buddies: Kittie, Kim, Lexie, Marta, Tara, and Teresa. Thanks to you all for sharing with me this summer of fun and fatigue.

Thank you to my friends and family who supported me through this journey.

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Sizzling Summer Half Marathon

There are lots of reasons to run. Some are selfish and some aren’t. On my selfish list are reasons such as: I don’t want to get any fatter, I need to get rid of some stress, and I need to have some ‘me’ time. This year some of my non selfish reasons are to run in honor of others. It is Pioneer Day weekend. I really wanted to do something physical in honor of the pioneers who sacrificed so much for their faith. It is truly inspirational to me. I don’t have the time to take a four day trek across Oklahoma like the youth of our church did earlier this month so I found the Sizzling Summer Half Marathon on the day before pioneer day-PERFECT!!! One evening I was on the race website looking up some information and noticed that the race would be benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). This happened to be about the same time that we learned one of the kids in our congregation has Leukemia. He is a nine year old boy nicknamed Bear. I saw his pictures on facebook and was so impressed with his high spirits. He is all smiles while being connected to hundreds of probes and even made chemo therapy fun by ‘IV surfing’. I wanted to make this race a double devotional in honor of Bear’s fight and in gratitude for the Pioneers. In my search to make a difference for Bear I found the Team in Training group and started training with them and raising money for LLS. One of my fundraising campaigns was the “Build –A-Racer” workshop. It was sort of a two in one. The first part was a haircut. An extreme haircut and the second part was opening up my race ‘outfit’ for a vote. Unfortunately, the race outfit segment was a bit of a flop. I am thinking it was probably a blessing in disguise. I have been having visions of a sweaty electric blue hair color spray cocktail dripping in my eyes and bloody chafing wounds from angel wing straps under my arms. In honor of all ten voters in my campaign, I really wanted to do something. I started to make a tutu to race in when some advice from the wise running mama’s helped me to see the light. I saw the words chafe and arms in the same sentence and reconsidered. 13 miles is a long way to have my arms scraping against sand paper- I mean tulle. So, I decided to go back to the original reasons I registered for the race and ironed FIGHT LIKE A BEAR on the back of my shirt.
It was a hot day for a race. When we left the house in Weatherford at 5:30 am it was already 82 degrees. When we got to River Legacy Park in Arlington, the packet pick up line was long and moving slow. The start/finish line wasn’t set up yet and apparently the water stations weren’t either. Unfortunately, this lack of preparation/organization caused the race to start thirty minutes late and we didn’t start until 8am. The issues didn’t stop there. There were no mile or course markers. Most of the 10k participants ran extra miles because there was no sign or course marshal to direct them to turn around. There was a lot of confusion on the course in general. In fact, the word is that the half marathon was about one mile short. As disappointing as it is, I believe it may be true. I finished in 2:44:57 and while this is nearly seven minutes slower than my first half marathon, the heat was an energy drain and about half way through the race I was projecting a three hour finish.
Blunders aside, it was a good experience. The course was beautiful and mostly shady. There were some hills but they honestly didn’t phase me. I didn’t feel any more tired on a hill than on any other part of the course. I guess all those hill night workouts are paying off! It was the heat that was my ultimate nemesis. Of course, I started out too quickly. Classic blunder! I knew it was going to be rough in the heat so my plan all along was to do the race in run/walk intervals. I started out with intervals of 5:1 minutes. About halfway through I dropped it down to 4:1 and by the end I was down to 3:1 and an occasional liberal walk break! It was really difficult without the mile markers so I had to just keep going from one walk break to the next. Toward the end it was getting more and more difficult to pick up and run after the walk breaks. When I found myself really wanting to quit I thought of Bear with all the testing and chemo he has to endure and I thought of the trek kids pushing and pulling their handcarts in the heat of the day and of the pioneers who left their homes in the East and walked across the plains burying husbands and children and love ones along the way. Certainly if they can endure all of that, I can run for three minutes! Even if I was aiming for a PR, nothing could have stopped me from greeting the cutest water hander-outer of all time. He was so devoted to his responsibilities that he handed me the cup and ran back to the table to restock. Excuse me! Mommy needs a hug and a kiss!!! Apparently he was very frustrated when runners wouldn’t take his water. I think the racing bug has set in with him. I was never so happy to see the finish line and just as I picked up the pace to get over the line, my left calf muscle cramped up. Ouch!! I had to run the last few steps with my foot flexed. I visited the massage tent in the post race area. I thought he was trying to kill me it hurt so badly. But, it did the trick and it didn’t bother me for the rest of the day or on my recovery run this morning. He suggested I look into magnesium supplements and advised that I do plenty of moving the rest of the day and take in plenty of fluids. I am glad that I took on the challenge of this race with all its imperfections. It is what ultimately led me to my involvement with Team in Training. The fundraising is stressful but, being part of something charitable is very fulfilling. I am really enjoying being part of the running community in The Woodlands. I have made some great friends and I know my fall race times will reflect the improvements I have made and will continue to make from the help of my new friends and coaches. I will just stay away from inaugural events for a while (and late start summer races)!



Bear's swollen lymph node

Testing Testing

IV surfing

Cameron's (far end) trek family with their hand cart

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked....and walked.



Getting ready to head to the starting line

Roman the cute boy handing out water

Water anyone?

Little Mr. Prepared

Big thumbs up still early on the course

Post race tribute

Tribute before the race

Beautiful mostly shady course at River Legacy park

Finished!!!

Memory Lane

As I was eating my crazy bread with lunch today, it brought me back to my high school cross country days. It was only the one time. I don't know why I still remember it but the coach bought us some crazy bread for a post workout snack. I am not even 100% sure of the workout we did but I sure do remember the snack!! I imagine we ran some switchbacks in the canyons but I couldn't be certain. Speaking of old cross country days, my old team mate ran her first marathon this very morning!!! Way to go, Sheri. If I were home right now, I would probably be digging through my cupboard looking through old pictures and looking to see if I kept some type of record of my old high school finishing times. I am not home, so I thought I would do my digging on daily mile and look back on some of my better race/run reports from before I started recording them on this blog. Here is what I have found:

Most spiritual. This wasn't an actual race but it was the longest I had gone at that point in my return to running. Funny, this year for Pioneer day I will be running a half marathon!
http://www.dailymile.com/people/EmilyBJohnson/entries/2611826

Biggest disaster. This actually was a race. I still have a faint scar from this, too. http://www.dailymile.com/people/EmilyBJohnson/entries/3071849

Biggest Adventure. The first of (hopefully) many 'racations'!http://www.dailymile.com/people/EmilyBJohnson/entries/3824006

http://www.dailymile.com/people/EmilyBJohnson/entries/3842467

I am so glad to have found running again. It has been a rough couple of months for us and I really don't know how I would have handled it all without this sport. I truly hope that I never stop participating. I need it and I love it. Happy Trails.

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Texas Region 9 Band December 2010. Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song. This is the song that pulled me up the hill. I couldn't be happier to be a band mom!

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Tyler Azalea 10k

Race Stats: Race name: Tyler Azalea 10k

Distance: 10k

PR 1:15:01 set 8/28/10 at the Lake Houston 10k in Kingwood, Texas

Goal #1: Finish-----Met

Goal #2: Finish with 11 minute mile pace or better-----Not met

Gun time: 1:13:11 Chip time: 1:12:37 Place: 513/657 overall; 40/58 age division

Splits (somehow missed the first mile marker!) hit mile 2 at: 22:55, mile 3: 11:05, mile 4: 11:57, mile 5: 12:32, last 1.2 miles: 14:11 Average pace: 11:38

Now don't go being too disappointed for me. After hovering around the 10 minute pace mark on my last two tempo runs of three and four miles, I figured I could easily manage a 10k at an 11 minute pace or better. Easy breasy right? Well, that was before I realized I would be going for a hike. Somehow, I missed the tiny little detail that there were hills on this course. I thought maybe I had just forgotten about it since I registered for this race two or three months ago. Oh no! There was a map but no elevation profile and the only description offered on the event website is that it is a beautiful course full of azalea blooms, dog wood trees, blooms, blooms, yada yada yada. The course was beautiful. That is true. I wish I would have enjoyed more of it but I caught myself watching the ground quite a bit. We are in Tyler frequently because we spend time with family there but, as fate would have it, we hadn't been since Christmas. This didn't provide any opportunity to drive the course or take a sneak peak and train on it. Surprise! Surprise! Hills!! For the first four miles or so they weren't too bad. In fact I would describe them as rolling. Shortly after mile marker 4 there was a doozy. This sucker was steep! I had to walk most of it. Now, I grew up in Utah and am no stranger to hills but I have been living in Texas for oh fourteen years or so and in my neck of the woods hills are few and far between. In fact, before yesterday I had seen nary a hill since my Ragnar relay in Vegas last October. To say I was unprepared is an understatement to say the least. I am used to my Texas race courses being flat and fast. Well flat anyway I haven't reached the fast part. I am not complaining, mind you, the experience has just reminded me to expect the unexpected.

Like many runners I run with music. As for music selection, I am pretty random. On my iPod my selections range from gospel hymns to Queen. I don't really use the music to pace off of just mainly for entertainment and strength when I need it. Sometimes I forget it is even there. In preparation for this race I decided it was time to add some new tunes and asked my son to load some for me. I was really excited for him to load 'Eye of the Tiger'. It really pumped me up and motivated me for this race. My son plays the saxophone so I asked him to load some of his concert pieces as well. The last two miles of this 10k were very difficult. There was that big hill at the dawn of mile 5 that really wore me out. So every little hill after that felt twice as steep as it actually was. I passed the 5 mile mark and was really feeling tired. I skipped through my iPod to find a song that would give me some strength and motivation. Music is a strangely powerful force. I found my strength in a song called "Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song" performed by the Region 9 band last December. It doesn't have a terribly quick tempo but it is beautiful and I find it quite powerful. I can't get enough of it! I interpret it as a triumph over adversity and am touched more and more each and every time I listen to it. Region band is a collection of the best of the best of high school musicians. It was so exciting for Cameron to be a part of it. Now, I am not expert enough to be able to pick out each individual instrument so I couldn't pick out the subtle contribution of my Bari sax playing boy but just knowing that he was part of something so special and so beautiful was really inspiring and I was able to draw strength from his accomplishment. Somehow or another it helped me up another hill. Just as the song was fading I could hear the announcer at the finish line. Oh! Thank goodness I am almost there. I turned the corner and saw the finish line. I looked at my watch it said 1:07. Maybe I can make it there by 1:10 I thought. So, I picked up the pace and then I saw it. Another hill. Blast!! By this time "The Climb" had come up on my iPod. How appropriate as I run up yet another hill. I did it. I ran up the thing. By the time I made it to the top I was so tired it was all I could do to keep up my little trot I had going there. I kept telling myself go faster, finish strong. I saw a lady running the wrong way to run in with another lady (maybe her mom). It reminded me of how my Dad used to do that for me when I was a kid. I was able to muster up a little more strength and passed them. I saw my step son with my sweet boy sitting on his shoulders waving 'Yay Mommy' and that was all it took. The last 50-75 yard the kick finally kicked in and I was able to pass another runner or two and cross that finish line with 1:12 on my watch. Hallelujah!! I was spent. I had to lean on a stop sign for support until my husband and kids made it to me and then we headed over to the recovery table. After some water, a piece of bagel, some chocolate milk, and a banana I was feeling much better. It's hard to be disappointed when you finish feeling like you left it all out on the road and it's satisfying to know that I finished on a course that is much more difficult than I am used to!

Not sure why I am making such a wierd face! And we are off..... Giving it my all! Finished It is usually a good idea to clip your toenails BEFORE the race! The big boys don't like their picture taken. Can you tell?Little man! To my surprise he wasn't interested in running the kids 50 yard dash. He always wants to run!? Who can resist the bouncy house? (Or that smile?)

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