Albany Marathon - How it all went down...

...but best news, I didn't! I stayed vertical for the entire race this weekend. I did not 'really' think I'd fall, but with the track record I was going into the race with, it was a distinct possibility...

It was a fantastic weekend. I arrived into Birmingham, AL on Thursday evening and stayed with a very good friend of mine, Laura Reid (Svihlik). She was nice enough to drive me to Albany, GA on Friday (~4 hrs) where we were put up by the race directors in a great hotel, right by the race start. Even better, my parents made it too! They were en route to Florida on a road trip and happened to be staying only 45 min away in a hotel on Friday night. So, Saturday AM they drove over and we all hung out before the 7am race start.

This event (Snickers Albany Marathon) was so low key, which I LOVE. I jogged down towards the start to warmup at about 6:15 am and I saw them setting up the start. I don't think they even put the timing mat down until at least 6:30. But, they got it done! The weather was bizarre; 45-degrees and 98% humidity. The first 10 miles were literally run in a fog, and I was wet, despite the fact that the sun was not out, it was not hot and it was not raining. They sent us off promptly at 7:00 (or maybe 7:05), and it was me and a bunch of guys. I have never raced for $3000 and not seen one single woman around me. Granted, I was not complaining! I was there to win and to put up a best time, and the only one in control of this was me.I took off in a 6:15 pace for my first mile. My plan was 6:30's, no faster, for at least 15 miles, then see how I felt. I was so disciplined, as my second mile was 6:45 pace! However, I was somehow able to stabilize right around 6:25 to 6:35 on all of the miles. I know I had a few faster ones, but they felt so good and I felt so in control, I did not worry about it. I began to run with the coolest guy, a 50-year old man who was aiming to run a 2:50. We had the best energy going between us, as we both cruised through the 13.1 mile mark at just under 1:25. The fog began to lift and by about 2 hrs into the race, and I even put my sun glasses on. I was taking a PowerGel every 5-6 miles, and by mile 23 I took my 5th and final gel. The nutrition was spot-on, and my stomach was cooperating. Things were looking good!

I am learning despite the fact that this was only my second marathon that this rule "the race starts at mile 20" could not be more true. My interpretation is, *try* to get to mile 20 feeling good. I accomplished this, but between mile 20 and 22, it went from feeling smooth and controlled to feeling a bit labored, as my legs began to cramp up pretty badly. I still checked my paces, and I believe that mile 22 was about 6:45 and mile 23 was about 7:00. I could feel the body starting to fatigue quickly, but I knew that a low 2:50 was still within reach. This is where some self-talk kicked in... "Kelly, relax and keep on going. Do not worry about the mile paces, you have this race won if you don't fall down and collapse...you can do anything for 20 minutes..." It is incredible what this can do for you. I started to see more people cheering by mile 24, and this really helped, as I was into the straight up feeling crappy mode by this point. But it simply felt like my legs wanted to stop; physically, I felt good; I wanted to pick it up but the legs were not having it.

I finally got to mile 25 when I felt I could relax, knowing I was going to win it and also get a PR. They ran us through a train station at the end, which was very cool! We jogged down a side walk, through a tunnel and there was the light! Mile 26 marker! At this point, I saw the finish banner and boy was I a happy girl right about now. I looked at my watch and saw it approaching 2:52. The 'under 2:50 if you feel good today' goal became 'be a 2:52-something'. I was actually able to push the last 100 meters or so and was so happy! It was not the time I thought was within reach earlier on (even up to mile 18), however it was a win, a best time and it was every ounce of what was in me on the day.

If there is anyone out there who is contemplaing a marathon, I highly recommend it. There is something about it, something different from even a half-ironman triathlon. It's just all running, all legs, virtually all the same muscles working for 26 miles. There is so much strategy involved, and I think what I learned from my first to my second one was how important it is to have a PLAN. Last time it was 'run a 2:47ish'. To be entirely honest, that pace was so out of reach for me at that time...I was on a very hard course and I had not trained enough and FAST enough to really do that time. I went out and really just wanted to hold 6:25's or so for as long as I could. What a mistake it was! I crashed and burned by mile 18 and I am shocked I finished. This time, it was to go out steady and at or slower than my goal pace. Every time a mile was too fast, I backed it off to what 'felt' easy. I felt like I was in control for almost the entire thing (until my legs decided otherwise). Anyone 'can' do it, I fully believe, it is just about staying within yourself; know what that is and setting up your game plan ahead of time. This is something that only you know. You know better than your running buddies, your coach or your best friend what you are capable of doing. It's putting the 'what I want to do' next to the 'what I am capable of doing' and finding the happy medium.We always want to be a little bit faster, but I was on cloud 9 after this race. A large part was that there were so many important people there with me for me to enjoy this with. I feel like any success' that I have are 50% hard work and determination, and 50% from the amazing support system that I have. I never feel like I have to live up to anyones expectations except my own, and I am so grateful to my friends and family who help me to believe in doing what sometimes seems unattainable...I think this race was an example of the heart wanting what the brain knew was possible, but the mind was not admitting to. And what I did was put any doubts far to the back of my mind and let my body be in control the entire race, with my head keeping it in check. If this thing is a 'journey' to me, I cannot fathom what a full Ironman would be like. :)

Thanks for reading!

Marathon Goal: Stay Upright.

See picture above...that's me. Notice knee that is forward, see the blood? Look closely, you'll see it. This was back in 2005, during the Golden Leaf 1/2 marathon in Aspen, CO. I had run about 12.5 miles at this point on terribly technical trails (up and down ski slopes, through woods and down very steep descents) and with about a mile to go, ate shit and gauged up my knee. My sole goal of this race was not to fall, as I had 2 rods in my left arm from having broken it 4 months earlier. Luckily, when I fell, the rods stayed put.

I was out running today, a nice easy 45 minutes, just a day before I take off for marathon #2 in Georgia on Saturday. It was broad daylight, and I was cruising along feeling good listening to my orange Ipod. Suddenly some rock jumped off the trail right into my path and decided to get into my way, and yep, Kelly took a spill. Isn't it great? I mean, the knee has finally healed up from the BIG fall about 3 weeks ago. Luckily, I protected the left knee and fell on the outside part of my right ankle. So, sore ankle, but safe knee. I walked in the door and said to Derick, "ONE GUESS what I did!" Needless to say, he guessed it.

SERIOUSLY, what is so hard about staying upright for me? It really is humorous, kind of, until it seems to become a regular thing. I have a theory, though. I grew up swimming, and I was always a GREAT kicker! I think my PR for a 100 yard dolphin kick with a board was something like 1:06. Seriously. So my theory is this:

Swimming Background+Strong Kicker= Weak Ankles+Clumsy runner.
Good Runner+Running Background= Stiff Ankles= Stays vertical when running.

Who's with me here? Where are my fellow swimmers who trip over every little thing when running? I know you are out there. Derick, my husband, 'says' he rolls his ankle when running but I have never seen it. I trip so much that at this point, it is kind of embarrassing. But hey, I am willing to admit it, I am a Klutz. You would think a lot of time running and time spent on trails when living in Colorado may have helped my problem, strengthened my ankles. But now, I seem to just avoid the Greenbelt here in Austin for fear that something on it may jump up and throw me violently to the ground.

OK, enough of my rambling. It is what it is, and I am about to head out to Birmingham, AL tomorrow to then drive to Albany, GA to run 26 miles on smoothly paved roads. No obstacles, I hope. I do hear there are a lot of turns on this course, let's just hope that the curbs I am running around are friendly to me.

Thanks for reading and good luck to you all in staying upright! Especially all you crazies who do the Jack and Adams Leadville 100 training runs on Thursday nights from 7:30-9:00, on the Greenbelt. You are tougher than nails in my book. Dangerous, I tell you....dangerous...

Patience when you most need it....

Since having returned from the honeymoon, I have been a running-fool. I ran 80 minutes the day after we returned, 16 miles the following weekend, 18 miles the next weekend then (you guessed it) 20 miles. I was all set to do 23 miles this past Sunday, but I had to come to a screeching halt. It made for one damn moody Sunday with Kelly, just ask Derick.

I was doing 'The Bomb' run on Friday, Feb 6th. We had planned to do a route that started and ended on trail but was vastly on roads, in a local neighborhood; a great 7-8 mile hilly route. Then at the last minute, Gilbert and Bernard opted for the 10-miler (all on Town Lake Trail)... at 6 am, in the dark. Seeing that it was a small group and all pretty good runners, we followed suite. I felt a bit uncomfortable with it knowing my tendency to land on my face when running on trails in the DAYLIGHT but I figured, suck it up Kelly, it will be good for you.

We were about 5 miles into it, and while it was tough I was feeling good. My friends Desiree and Paul were just ahead of me and suddenly, 'SPLAT' goes Kelly on the pavement. We were in a very dark section and on a spot where pavement and trail met, unfortunately I fell on the pavement. When they looked back, I think I was flat out like a bug. I skinned both knees pretty bad and it shook me up, but I trekked on and finished the run, rather strong. Then, I stopped and EVERYTHING HURT. I went home, felt sorry for myself, and began to clean it all up and after a hot shower, ice my knees. And, life went on as usual for the next week (as I even ran 20 miles 2 days later).

This past Saturday, I tried to do a 40 min recovery run, as I was about to hit my biggest running volume of my LIFE in one week, 60 miles! I had a 23 mile run on tap for Sunday. Unfortunately about every step hurt on my left knee in the easy run and I knew that I had to stop. Good thing to remember: It is NEVER a good idea to run through pain that is not being self inflicted. I hope that makes sense. :)

I took 2 days off and ran 30 min on Tuesday, 42 min today. The pain is dull but still there, luckily I have amazing people here in Austin like Karen Smith (local runner, coach, acupuncturist, and great friend) who was willing to see me today. She needled and electricuted me (well, in a good way) and believes this is simply an inflamed tendon. The knee/kneecap area is still a bit swollen, so I'll heed her advice and take 4 days off running. I am going to get introduced tomorrow to this 'Elliptical' thing in the gym. I hope I don't shoot myself. I'll swim, as even cycling hurts it (making me thing even moreso it is a tendon). Unfortunately I'll have to nix the AT&T half marathon on Sunday, in all sense simply being smart. I really want to do this marathon on March 7th (Albany Marathon in GA) but we'll see how it goes, really sucks to have to take a week off in the midst of strong training...but hey, this is life, and we are not superhuman. I have dealt with worse and I have to listen to my healing body right now.

Anyone running the Austin Marathon on Sunday (or half) best of luck, enjoy a BEAUTIFUL day for running for me! Hopefully, I am just 3 weeks behind ya'll....

Thanks for reading; and send some healing vibes my way.

Honeymoon in Idaho!

The yurt, our 'home base', or... Future Vacation Home.
Do you see me? The small creature on the left...skiing 'the burn' they call it...
Chuck taking in the views... (he was one of our guides)
Me - 'Shredding' at Tamarack on fresh snow!
Sunset over a lake coming out of Lick Creek (McCall, ID)

Derick at Tamarack Resort, ID
Hiking up in the 'backcountry'...seriously hiking!

We just returned late last night from 11 days north of Boise, Idaho, at Tamarack Resort. This is actually in Tamarack, Idaho, which is just south of McCall, Idaho. This whole area was new to us (I had been in Coeur d'Alene years ago but just briefly) and we were stunned with the beauty. All we had heard about Boise being a cool, outdoorsey town was true; though we spent more time in the McCall area, somewhere both Derick and I could see ourselves living. This town has it all...mountains, lakes, trails, and genuinely friendly people to top it off. We spent our days sleeping in (which was frequently about 8:00 am, as we were always anxious to get outside), drinking coffee and making breakfast, skiing (usually about 10-3ish), immediately getting into our hot tub, and then either cooking dinner or heading out to a pub on the resort. We got in many days of alpine skiing (downhill) but also tried our hands at classic cross country, as there was a 'free lesson' at the resort one day.

Without a doubt, the highlight of our trip was the Wednesday prior to leaving, when we hired 2 guides, Chuck and Marty from PAYETTE POWDER GUIDES to take us up into the backcountry. We took snowmobiles up for about 1 hr and then stopped at their yurt, where we 'saddled up' (ie: stripped clothing) for our hike up. We probably did 5 or 6 hike up/ski down's' and the hikes ranged from 20 minutes to 1 hr. The snow and the views were simply indescribable...though, I will try to offer some insight via the pictures...(see above, they would not cooperate with me and move around through my writing)...

Some things I came upon during our 11-days in snow-covered bliss ('kellys thoughts' if you will)...

~Cross country skiing is something you can do for hours. Granted, we were not hammering ourselves intensity-wise, but to me, doing this for 3-4 hrs is so much more enjoyable than riding a bike for 3-4 hours....

~I finally learned what this whole 'skinning up' things means. Simply attach sticky straps to the bottom of ones skis, unclip the heel (think 'tele' but different, somehow, not entirely sure) and hike on up. My skins were slightly narrow so I found myself slipping a bit, but it is a cool feeling to hike UP a mtn ON skiis!

~Backcountry skiing is simply where it's at. I have skiied my whole life (not necessarily well, but I have been on snow most years, some years more than others) and the groomed runs do not even compare to backcountry. Especially for one who craves endurance activities. To hike up then ski down, it is as if you are 'earning' your run. And it truly feels like you are skiing on cotton; making fresh tracks is a beautiful thing.

~Change of routine is so good for the soul. Granted, I think that this trip reinforced that both Derick and I's hearts are truly in the mountains, but the power of a change of scenery, pace and routine can never be underestimated in ones life. I think that this type of trip (that being 1-2 weeks in duration) should be a regulary part of everyones life, at least once a year...

~People in Idaho are so friendly! Now maybe we just ran into the ski bums who are so happy living their lives, making some cash and getting to enjoy the snow, but I do not believe we encountered one unhappy, rude or conceited person in the entire 11 days of our trip. We bounced between Boise and McCall...

~There is nothing wrong with making it a goal to simply enjoy life. I feel I live by this each day (I try to...I hope I do...) but it is so easy to get caught up in life's stresses. I think this is one huge thing that makes Derick and I so close, is that we can value the simplicity of 'living'. We do not seek to be rich, we do not seek to impress, but we do constantly strive to be challenging ourselves, awakening our souls and stretching our boundaries. We seemed to sense this vibe from those we met on this trip...always be open to talking to new people and learning from them. We all have something to offer in this world. Figure out for yourself what it is you 'have' and go after it.

That is all for now, thank you for reading...

Fit and Beer ... The Colorado Running Company!

This is very cool! Check out the article below, which recently came out of Mens Fitness. I used to work at The Colorado Running Company in Colorado Springs, an excellent running shop, specialty and did a great job of fitting people for the correct shoes... plus, we had fun and drank beers after every Wednesday night run. I really only ran so that I could get free beer post-run!
Thanks John!
Ya'll keep up the good work, and say 'hi' to Pikes Peak for me.

http://www.mensfitness.com/city_rankings/463?page=1

Racing Without Expectations...

Sometimes, we have to get outside of our comfort zone. Even though we may not feel entirely prepared for something, it can be good for us to 'just do it' in the infamous words of Nike (and so profound) and force ourselves to throw expectations out the window.

I decided a few days ago to do the Jingle Bell 5k this morning. I did this 2 years ago and won it, getting this kick-ass gift basket packed with fun things like fancy sauces, olive oil and a gift certificate for Run Tex to be outfitted head-to-toe! I think I pulled off a 17:30 or something. I am not sure where it came from, as I was far from it today...but, back to my story. I knew it was 'just 3-miles' so I could get through it, and I have been running semi-consistently lately. I am about to go to Indiana for 2 weeks to spend time hanging out at my parents cabin, enjoying the cold, seeing family and doing some nice mellow runs. So, why not go out and hurt myself for 3-miles today? And for a good cause nonetheless, MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) sponsors the event.

I headed out there early this morning, solo, as Derick had to go to Houston for work. I ran into a few 'running friends' I had not seen in awhile, which was fun, and saw more dogs in a race than ever before! All dressed up as reindeers and such. I felt mediocre warming up, and just figured if I did something 'slow' like 18-flat, so be it. Oh boy was I in for a surprise!

I saw a good friend Chris Kimbrough right at the start line, who is just flat out speedy. I laughed to myself, thinking "I hope she does not school me too much..." We took off and my first mile was about 5:51. Not bad, but it felt more like a 5:40...meaning, it kind of hurt. So be it! Damn the goals, Kelly! I continued on, a small ways behind the 2nd place woman (Cassie Heinkel, also a pretty speedy Austin-ite) and came through mile 2 at 11:52ish... 6-min for second mile. Wow, this is my 1/2 marathon pace! Awesome! (insert sarcasm here).... We had a slight downhill towards mile 3 and heading back towards the finish, but holy shit did it hurt! It was a particularly humid December morning which made it even tougher, but I pushed on to a painful 18:30, which if I were feeling motivated could have been an 18:25 but I just kind of strolled those last 100 yards... OUCH! What was I thinking, "18-min would be acceptable"? After this, I think I'd change that to 'impossible'!

So...bottom line is I went out there and did it. I enjoyed myself, and I think that it is so good to occassionally go out to compete knowing we may not 'all be there' today. It is like putting your pride right on the line. And walking away saying "Well, if that's the best you've got today, it's the best you've got. So be it."

Big Picture? I am fully aware that an 18:30-5k is a very respectable time. But I seemed to rip of these mid-17's a year ago...from where?! I do not know...but I am glad I went out and participated. It hurt and today, it was the best in me! It was also so great to see a few runner-friends that I had not seen in quite some time. I met Cassie, whom I have heard a lot about in Austin but had yet to meet...a very cool girl. I also saw many kids, parents and dogs all out there running 3.1! Way to go everyone, and especially to Tim, Peggy, Colleen and Kristin Pletcher...the whole family was out there running, even Comet the dog! It was great to see all of the smiling people, along with the spirit of Christmas (despite the 70-degree humid conditions) out there having fun and being active. Yet another reason, Austin is one very cool town.

Thank you for reading, and take-home lesson is, just get out there and compete...let the results fall where they may! It is healthy on occassion... for all of us!

Small Mention in Statesman "Fit City Blog"

I just wanted to mention a nice article (blog) that Pam Leblanc, who writes for the Austin American Statesman, posted this morning on her "Fit City Blog". I met with Pam last Friday at Austin Java, one my my favorite little hangouts, as Derick had mentioned that we should 'meet'. He spoke with her a few weeks back and he learned that Pam is a swimmer. I think that in Derick's eyes, anyone who swims by choice more than 3x/week and has done so all of their life has something bizarre in common and therefore are 'linked' in some way. Well, come to find out Pam and I had more in common than just swimming (mountains, skiing, inability to sit still...) and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her a bit. I felt as though we could have sat there and talked for hours.
Thanks Pam for the little write up. And imagine this, she was so 'accurate' in what she wrote! Not always the case, so it is much appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Muhnday!