Running

On Sunday I finished a 78 mile week! I have never put in this kind of mileage before and I was not as exhausted as I thought I would be. My week looked like this:

M-rest day from Sunday's race
T-3 recovery miles a.m. with Tank, 10 miles with 5 mile threshold (speed) p.m.
W- 3 miles a.m., 14 miles with 4 Mummy Mountain hill sprints.
R- 6 miles recovery a.m.
F- 3 miles a.m., 12 miles p.m.
S- 7 miles with stride-outs
S- 20 miles with hills- Matt rode his bike with me and we had so much fun! It was a beautiful morning! We were able to watch the sunrise out in the desert as we ran/rode.

After our 20 mile adventure, (we were home by 8:30am), we got some coffee, relaxed a bit, then went biking to grab some beer and burgers at Four Peaks Tempe.
(I was really bugging Matt with the camera that day! Can you tell?) ;)









After that, we rode to Old Town to listen to the free band that plays every Sunday outside at the Scottsdale Civic Center Park. The weather was gorgeous. We had so much fun!



We also joined our local running group, Arizona Road Racers. I went to my first track practice last night and met some really nice people. I was nervous about it but it was fantastic. It is nice to have that 'competitive' push every once in awhile. It is hard to do speed sprints with no one chasing you! :)
This week and next I will do around 70 miles, then I have about 68, 70, 63, 68, and then 56, 33, 27 as I taper for Boston. I am getting really excited!

Valentine's Bike Ride!

Hello world!

We had a great slightly belated Valentine's day today.  We weren't able to participate in the usual Valentines hubbub on Saturday like the rest of the world because I had to work most the day, then Sunday we had the race so today was our day!  

We started it off with breakfast in bed, which consisted of chocolate croissants and coffee while we read our books.  (perfect)  The dog was being a bit of a knob... which he always is, but we felt bad so we took him to the dog park and let him run around with the other tightly wound, couped up puppies.  The day was sooo beautiful, slightly overcast, mid 60s.  Tank had a great time uh... making friends as only Tank can do.  After dropping off Sir Dorkus, we went to the bike store and picked up a nice basket and bell for Ariana's new bike.  (well new to us anyway)  Then we went for a ride!!  

.... Story detour (sorry) we bought these bikes last weekend.  (when it was raining of course)  We really wanted vintage bikes.  Ariana's bike is a '75 Schwinn Breeze, 3 speed, light yellow.  She loves it and looks really good on it.  Mine isn't as vintage unfortunately, but it was a great price so I couldn't pass it up.  (must have gotten that from my mom)  My bike is a black Huffy beach cruiser.  

Ariana on her mellow yellow bumble bee

Huffy Hufferton and me in my new hat

Ok back to the regularly scheduled story ....

We rode from our house to Tempe town lake via the green belt.  The green belt is a bike path that runs for about 20 miles through Scottsdale down to Tempe Town Lake.  We live about in the middle of it.  It winds its way through golf courses, parks and around lakes, it is absolutely beautiful.   We made our way over to downtown Tempe and ended up cruising down Mill street.  I bought a hat.  That much riding makes a person hungry so we rode to 4 peaks brewery, ordered a burger and a wee drop of nectar, nectar of the gods that is!  (delicious beer for those who still don't get it)  Then with our bellies full and our spirits quenched we proceeded to ride home.  Over all we rode about 21 miles.  It was a blast!  

Lost Dutchman 1/2 Marathon Update

Hi everyone! Yesterday Matt and I raced our first 1/2 marathon, the Lost Dutchman in Apache Junction, AZ. I was not feeling too great about the race to begin with. I didn't really cut down my miles for the week, which one would normally do, and I just had a really stressful, tiring week. My stomach was in knots the entire week as well. Not fun. Matt was a bit worried as well since he hadn't exactly been running very much.
But as all races go, Matt and I woke up Sunday morning excited to race. We were at the park by 5:15am. The race began at 7:30 and it was 41 degrees outside and windy. Yikes! I was wearing 4 shirts and 2 pairs of pants over my shorts.

The elevation chart online looked pretty good, and the race was described as "gentle, rolling hills". Ummm...yeah. I would say that this race was as hilly as the San Diego marathon. I was pretty shocked! That combined with the wind had me a bit worried. We started off pretty fast, 6:30 pace. There were 4 girls in front of me at this time. It was an out and back course and for the first 1/2 of the race I was shoulder to shoulder with a guy running way to fast for himself and groaning and grunting for the world to hear. Every time I would get ahead of him, he would run harder to pass me right away. Men. I was so annoyed and mentally, it was taking a toll on me. I finally got enough pick-up to really pass him at mile 7. I then reeled in the #4 girl who started out WAY ahead of me. I finished strong at 1:34:15. I am pretty proud of that time considering all that was against me! I ended up placing second in my age group and fourth overall woman. Here is the results page.
My pace was an avg. of 7:10 per mile, I really wanted a 1:30:00 1/2, but next time! :)
Matt found our friend Alissa towards the end and they ran in together! Alissa ended up being 6th in our age group and setting a new PR for herself! Woohoo! Check out her blog via the link to the right, she has a great race report and pics!

Oh, So True!

Matt and I have our first racing 1/2 marathon tomorrow, and it is COLD! High today is only 60 degrees. ;) I will top out at 60.1 miles this week and for some reason, just had a really stressful week. But, we still run! I am up at the latest 4:05am to get my run in before work, when I tell people this, they think I am absolutely nuts! (Matt is finally getting used to it!)To add some humor and some explanation for the craziness, I found this article. I think it is super cute and very true of runners!
Zombie Runners

More pictures from the marathon

Hello world,  

We received some more marathon pictures from Ariana's parents today and thought we should share them.  It is soo neat to see everyone running in the marathon.  The experience is truly surreal.  I am personally so proud of Ariana's dad and sister for continuing to train on their own and putting up great times!  (I don't know how you do it)  I'm also very proud of our best friends Mike and Shannon.  You did amazing!  Huge thank you to Rita who was so very supportive of everyone, we love you Rita!

Ariana and her dad, Andy, after his finish.

eM', me, Ariana, Andy 

(my wife is so cute...)

Mike, Shannon, Ariana, me, Andy, eM'

That's all for now, so until next time... keep runnin' down a dream!

Hi MOM!

Marathon and Beyond

I got through my 21 miles, 7:55 average pace. I am really starting to see a big improvement in my running. I felt really good!

Anyways, more importantly..... PF CHANGS MARATHON!!!!
Matt did SO well in the race. He did the first 21 miles at a 7 minute mile pace. That is so blazin' fast. That is my tempo run for 4 miles, that's all I can do! He was doing awesome but began to run out of steam at about mile 22. Nevertheless, he ran a 3 hour 22 minute marathon. Matt ran such a good race and set a new PR for himself- and a bar for me to reach- a little competition is good for a marriage! LOL!!!!

My Dad ran his first EVER 1/2 marathon. He finished in 2 hours 30 minutes. He did not walk once! I am so proud of him. He picked up running a year ago after seeing Matt and I run PF Changs. Now he is looking forward to beating his time in the next 1/2 marathon and then trying a FULL!!!! My dad so rocks. Seattle in June Dad???

My sister also ran her first 1/2 marathon with a pretty severe leg injury. The Doc gave her the ok to run this time but now she needs to recuperate. I paced her through it and I think she got a bit annoyed at me and my cheerfulness! But she made it across the finish line in under 2 hours!!! There is no WAY I could have done that on my first race. I swear she has natural talent and a really good "screw it, run though it" attitude. We crossed the finish line holding hands- I in tears (Cheeseball)- I was just so proud of my sis for doing this. Still am! She is also looking forward to her next 1/2 and then a full.

Our best friends Shannon and Mike also ran their first ever 1/2 marathon, and I KNOW Shannon is hooked too! She is already looking for our next race! They did so awesome. They trained so hard and ran so well!

It was a great weekend with family and friends and so many 'firsts'! I can't wait until we all do it again!

Matt and I are running our next race on February 15th. We are running in the Lost Dutchman Half Marathon. I am really excited to compete in the half and enjoy the beautiful course. Who celebrates Valentine's Day by running? Apparently we do! :)


I only have 2 pics from the weekend, Dad and Matt getting ready for the race. With all the excitement, we forgot to take lots of pictures!

Luckiest Girl In The World

It is 4:00am right now and I am getting ready to venture out on my 21 mile run. I did 20 last Saturday at an average 8:08 pace, and then I have 20 again next Saturday. After that I have 2 Saturdays of bliss at only 15 miles each, yay!
That doesn't sound very fun, why am I lucky?
Well, I have the best husband in the world. Last Saturday, he woke up right when I left the house (4:40am!) to surprise me and meet me at 4 different spots on the run to cheer me on. He does things like that all of the time. I feel like I truly am the luckiest girl in the world. :)
I will be back to post some new pictures later!
On to 21 miles of pure fun! (right......)