Cherry Blossom & 210 Days Until NYC Marathon!!

I haven't posted in awhile- correction: I haven't ran in awhile. And it's all Polar Vortex's fault!! Hehe.

This weekend, I ran in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race in DC. It was chilly out and disappointing in the sense that cherry blossom has not bloomed yet, but the weather was manageable (low 40s is OK... nothing below freezing please!). I finished the race with a PR time of 1:39:04 (which was only a few seconds better than last year's). If I had pushed myself on the course, I would have definitely gotten a better time (I think), but given that next Sunday is the Raleigh Half, I did not want accidentally get hurt. I'm happy to report that I truly feel that Cherry Blossom marks the start of my running season and I am ready to buckle down and truly make running my priority for the rest of the year. Only 210 days until the New York City Marathon!!!

Completed Races
Jan 19th: Rock n Roll Arizona Half Marathon
April 6th: Cherry Blossom 10 Miles

Upcoming Races
April 13th: Rock n Roll Raleigh Half Marathon
May 25th: Rock n Roll Liverpool Half Marathon
June 15th: TBD
July 13th: TBD
August 31th: Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
Sept 28th: Rock n Roll Montreal Half Marathon
Oct 5th: Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon
Oct 19th: Rock n Roll Denver Half Marathon
Oct 26th: Rock n Roll Vancouver Half Marathon
Nov 2nd: NYC Marathon!!!

The goal is to run a long distance race at least once every month. My Rock n Roll tour pass is good until year end 2014 and I'm trying to make the most of it. I'm excited to check off so many states this year- :)

2014 is the year that I will run my first marathon and I'm really excited! Who knows? If all goes well, I hope to complete all the major marathons across the globe, including Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, Virgin London Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ING New York City Marathon. Call me crazy, it's always on the back of my mind to maybe one day try to qualify for the Boston marathon!!!

Just out of curiosity, I looked up the qualifying time for women (from this year):

Almost 10 years ago, I set a goal to complete a full marathon before the age of 30. Do I dare to believe that I can possibly qualify for Boston marathon before I turn 40?? 

OK OK, enough day dreaming, first things first. 210 days until NYC Marathon and I need to get it going with the training. I need to be eating healthy every day, increasing my mileage run every week, losing weight and strengthening my core. I will be scouring websites and articles for interesting running advice and sharing my progress regularly. 

I'm so pumped! If anyone is out there and want to join me in my running endeavor, please leave me a message and join me! 

My First PR of the Year!! RnR Arizona Half-Marathon

This past weekend marked my first half-marathon in 2014 and it certainly is an encouraging one! The P.F. Chang Arizona Half was a great race for me-- I PRed at 2:13:55!!! (which is about 8 minutes faster than my last PR). Here are the detailed stats from the race:

The Arizona Half is a race that runs through parts of Phoenix, Tempe and Scottsdale. The course is mostly flat, with a few hills, but nothing painful. It really helped me when the announcer at the start of the race admonished runners to go out slow but, at the same time, be comforted that the last 3-4 miles are all downhill. That's exactly what happened. Here's a general play-by-play:

• Mile 1: Running around a 8:30-9 minute pace. There were some really slow people in my corral. I actually jumped a few people and started in the race in the 7 corral. Even so, many people were so much slower. I had to weave and bob in the start of the race. Very frustrating to the say the very least.
• Mile 2: I really wanted to go to the bathroom, but alas, the lines are too long. I briefly contemplated going behind a bush... but we are in Arizona, no bushes in sight!!
• Mile 3: I saw a bathroom line with 4 people, I stop and stand in line. After 2 minutes, the line does not move. I cannot wait any longer so I jump off the line and keep running.
• Mile 4: I do no want to keep going, but I took some water and a gummy. I feel invigorated!
• Mile 5: I cannot listen to the Shrek theme song any longer and I switch tracks to Baby by Justin Bieber. (Yes, I listen to my iPhone while I run and yes, I generally listen to Spotify radio and I don't know why, but I got no signals at Tempe, so yes, I am forced to listen to one song on repeat. AHHH.)
• Mile 6: My foot starts to go numb and I panick. Too bad I can't access WebMD while on the run. Later, I read that it could be a combination of so many things, check out this article. Maybe it's my tight compression socks? 
• Mile 7: Painful. I walked a little bit and pondered briefly what the hell I'm doing. Will I lose my foot? I can't feel them! My fingers also feel numb (from the cold). I guess most of the blood is going to my heart for blood.
• Mile 8: The numbness goes away and I feel better. I spot a couple in front of me. They are running at a 10 minute pace. It looks like the guy, who seems more athletically inclined, is encouraging the woman. He is wearing an orange jersey--great, just the right kind of brightness for me. I follow them.
• Mile 9: An incline up a hill, pretty steep. I'm running at a 11-12 mins pace. I see the runners returning on the other side. Some runners in front of me cheat and jumped to the other side. I wondered briefly if I should do the same; maybe I can shave off some minutes-- but for what? What's the point? After all, I run for fitness, I run for health, I am running for life. Running with integrity. So I push forward! 
• Mile 10: The great thing about running up a hill is that eventually you'd reach the top and you'd start running downhill. I feel great! Almost done, just 3 more miles, I can do this!
• Mile 11: Chris said he'd meet me at mile 11, but where is he? I looked around for red-shirted runners. I spot him in the distance; he ran right past me! I holler, "Chris!" Good thing he saw me, otherwise, we'd have a hard time finding each other at the finish line. 
• Mile 12: "We are almost there!" Chris said to me. "Just over the bridge, then turn right." Mile 12 is almost always the longest mile ever.
• Mile 13: I see the finish line in the distance and I speed up. I check my watch-- wow, 7:45 pace, so that's my potential. I feel like my heart will give out but I sprint across the finish line before the clock ticks 2:30. Awesome.

My first half-marathon!!!!

I ran my first half-marathon today and wow, I'm ALIVE!!!! Honestly, it really wasn't all that bad. In fact, I feel like I can do more and still be ok with it!

The race was located at Everett, WA (about 40 mins out of Seattle, WA). It was a small race, maybe 500 people at most in attendance, probably less. It was more or less a community event and everyone from around town came.

It was my first race, so I was really going for completion, rather than speed, which is why I was surprised to finish the race at 2:22:39!! (a 10:53 pace...mind you, I was walking a good chunk of it between mile 7-9 when it started pouring!)

My first half-marathon medal & bib

Chris told me that it's possible to do more. "You got it in you," he said. I guess?

In a couple of weeks, I will be running the Brooklyn Half-- almost done with the NYRR 9+1. If I still feel good after running that, then I'll make a decision about whether I will continue.

We'll see.