Oh, Marathon Training Weekends!
December 3, 2012 by · 6 Comments
We had a good weekend full of lots of time together which included some fun, some productivity and some running! A little bit of everything and maybe a rare weekend of finding balance with it all?
Friday:
We drove to Ft. Worth to hang out with our friend Mandy! For anyone who doesn’t live in the DFW area you might not know that these two places are not exactly as close and one would think. We left Brent & Beth’s house around 6 and after dealing with traffic the ENTIRE time, we finally made it to dinner around 7:30, but it was totally worth the wait.
We ate at Winslow’s Wine Café, which was an old gas station converted to a nursery, then later this awesome wine bar! If you ever go we recommend the pita bread and hummus. There is something secretly amazing about their pita! Just trust us and get it.
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We headed to Gingerman afterwards to hang out some more! Duh, plus why would we waste a trip to Ft. Worth to only staying like 2 hours?
![IMG_8684[1]](http://lifeisarun.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_86841.jpg)
We closed that place down, well sorta, our oldness and the fact that we were up early, and just the fact that we were at the end of a long week, we left….around 1 a.m.! We did last awhile considering we did have to make the trek back to the Dallas side of the metroplex upon leaving.
We decided to make a short stop by the Ft. Worth Museum of Modern art because this cool guy, Companion, is still displayed outside. What he is we aren’t really sure, Teal & Michael even went to the artist’s lecture about him and, yea not sure. Giant under 21 crazy Mickey Mouse? Perhaps we need Michael’s input on this one?
See Beth mimicking him!
![IMG_8692[1]](http://lifeisarun.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_86921.jpg)
Saturday: Rest? Recover, Errands!
Teal headed to Luke’s Locker to solve her shoe crisis. The poor guy there had to suffer as she tried on like every shoe in the store. She ended up with these bad boys. Please God make them work better!
Saucony Ride 5
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Beth finally got her birthday present! What’d she get? You guessed it! A bathroom cabinet, duh! Who doesn’t get one for these for their birthday?! We don’t have a picture of it,but it’s a lovely white cabinet that Brent and maybe his dad can put up over the master bathroom toilet. Hooray more storage space!
Sunday: Long Run
We headed to White Rock earlier than we have been lately. Last marathon training we got up early every Saturday and ran early. This time we have spoiled ourselves with later runs. Beth grabbed Teal at 7 and we headed to the lake. It was a nice day, overcast mostly, but still warm for Texas. We actually hit a record warm Sunday if that tells you anything. This is a nice place to break up an 18 mile run since each lap is right at 9 miles.
![IMG_8696[1]](http://lifeisarun.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_86961.jpg)
We actually saw a bunch of people we know to keep it entertaining. Katie (you might remember her from this blog or even from here), Catherine from North Texas Runners and The Kennemers a.k.a. #TeamK!!
We also have a PSA to all the bikers out there. We highly HIGHLY recommend that you steer clear of the white race kits. We got to experience the not so pretty butt crack of a rather larger biker. Trust us on this on bikers, stick to the darker colors.
The birds were seriously crazy! It was right at this part of the lake that Mr. K ran up behind Teal and was like “looks like a harbor” it was awesome. Huge white birds everywhere. This pictures doesn’t really do it justice but it was awesome.
Teal decided to call it over at 15 and Beth made it the full 18! Then we headed for brunch at Campisi’s where we got to enjoy a couple of these!
![IMG_8697[1]](http://lifeisarun.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/img_86971.jpg)
Mimosa reward!
How was YOUR weekend??
The Hottest Half
August 15, 2012 by · 10 Comments
Well, we survived The Hottest Half, but it was not pretty. That idea of “you race like you trained” definitely comes to mind here. As you might have read, we have been in a lull for a while. Our last half was in April and we have been fairly inconsistent since then and very inconsistent the past month or so. With that said, this race was in fact our slowest EVER. On top of that we both did pre-race things we normally don’t do like enjoy an adult beverage or two, and oh you know, hang out on the lake all day water tubing. Water tubing also caused a very stiff, cramped like right calf for Teal. That was fun for 13 miles. Neither make for a rested body, and it definitely does not aid in a body that is already NOT in half marathon shape. Then we really started to wonder if we are supposed to run because Beth’s car keys were left in her sister’s car in Austin on Saturday, and our race bibs were locked in her car in Plano. We had to get replacements bibs, which has never happened before. Whoops! Luckily with such as small race it was super easy. Also for some odd reason we both ran this entire race sans music. Beth’s headphones were in the locked car and Teal just forgot to get them out of the car. Notice our trend of excuses? Ugh! Must fix!
Our replacement bibs
Our original bibs and shirts
We honestly can’t really blame it on the heat, it honestly was hot but not that hot. We had discussed during the week somewhat of a strategy to get the race over with. We had to make it to the finish line. Run-walk came to mind… ugh…but with Teal’s cramped calf and how our running had been we had to play it by ear out on the course. We both knew 13.1 straight was not going to happen. We started out the race and we are pretty sure neither wanted to say it was time for a break first. We made it to the 4 mile mark, ha, impressive right? Then ran what felt like 2-2.5 at a time, until we were down to resting every water station. (Wow- typing this is not fun!) As we got towards the end we really just wanted to get home without stopping and to pass up a women that was clearly twice our age. We both ended up beating her, thank god, but did not finish together.
The race was not all bad, we had a few highlights. We got to see our friend Jesus from our running group (North Texas Runners), he was well ahead of us and he passed us coming back from the turnaround. Our friend Lesley was at the turn around waiting for her Racing It Off ladies so we got to say hi to her, and again towards the end of the race! Always love to have smiley, happy runners around when you are ready to get the heck off of a course.
Teal about to finish the last .1 of the race
Beth about to finish the last .1 of the race
(Thanks to Jesus for the pictures of us running!!)
A couple things worth noting from the race. We did in fact run the entire hill that put us at the 5 mile mark on the course! A hill we come in contact with a lot since the Hottest Half had us running around White Rock Lake and so many Dallas races like to include at least a portion of the lake in them. On the way back to that hill where we’d be running the decline Beth noticed a girl squatting off to the side close to the lake. I wonder if she’s ok? Beth was so close to checking on her, did a double take, ooohhhhh, she just has her shorts pulled down going the bathroom. HA! Sometimes when you want to help someone on the course be sure to look twice before it becomes an awkward situation!
So there you have it. Our Hottest Half race…Gross. We have Disneyland Half in a few weeks and we plan on having very different results. We are totally getting back into the swing of things and have a long list of races ahead of us. The inconsistency of our running must get better or these crappy race recap blogs are going to become very difficult to write and we are sure you won’t want to read them. At least we are in this together right?
New Year’s Double
December 30, 2011 by · 3 Comments
We are beyond excited for this weekend because it is officially time for the New Year’s Double! This race is seriously unique and amazing and comes to us via Libby Jones, who we absolutely love! For those of you who don’t know her she is also the director of North Texas Runners, a full time race director and mommy! She runs like a wild women and is truly amazing! We admire her for her work, organization and passion about running. You can read all about the growth of this race since last year at here. It’s really incredible to see how this has taken shape.
This race is so amazing because it is a true double race. Runners could choose from a range of distances to run over a two day time from, either a 5K, ½ relay, ½ marathon or a full marathon and you could mix and match any way you choose to run one on New Year’s Eve Day and one on New Year’s Day. Brilliant huh?? What better way to start and end a year RIGHT! We decided that we would run two half marathons. So starting tomorrow morning we will head out and run our NYE half, marking the official end to what has been an awesome year. We felt that this was just so fitting to do and can not be more excited to end the Year of Running like this. After the race we will then go home, rest up, and get to watch a free screening for The Spirit of the Marathon courtesy of Cinemark Allen! Our boys will even go with us to this! 🙂
Then NYE we will spend with our significant others, eat and wake up NYD and do it all again! Seems nuts but this really is the best way to start out the year being active!
The race is located in Allen, Texas not far from us and is a a looped course. We will complete 2 6.55 mile loops. It’s a very nice course and will all be on paved sidewalk!
We will update you on the cool perks and loot from this race in our recap, we don’t want to give that away now 😉 Let’s just say if we really have ever been excited about race bling its for this race!
We usually set goals for our races as you have seen from the past, but we are not going to set time goals for this race. Coming off of the White Rock Marathon and the training for that we have definitely needed some recuperation. As many of you know Teal has had a nagging foot problem since the race and has been working hard to heal that foot (read about her foot problems here). She is still having some pain and has literally only run 8 mile total since White Rock. Beth has been keeping busy with yoga, Johnny’s, spin and has run very little as well and just healing her body.
Our goals are to run smart, safe, and to not be stubborn. We have never run a double before and while we know we can make 26.2 WAHOO! We do not know how our bodies will feel this weekend given the amount of running compared to the lack of running this month. The goal is to come out of this race enjoying the experience of a small, local, well put together race! It really is, as cheesy as this might be, a good time to reflect on the past year and to think about the year to come! Wish us luck! We’ll tell you all about it next week 🙂
September Race No. 2
September 19, 2011 by · 4 Comments
As we were thinking back over the Tour des Fleurs race this weekend we realized that this was literally the race that kicked off our first half marathon training last year. We only ran the 10k last year and actually ended up running the longest distance of our life only 1 short year later. We were up early as usual and rode out to the Arboretum together and met our friend Steven (a.k.a. Bitner) for the race. I am not sure either of us was really worried about the race itself, but rather the extra 3.6 miles at the end to make the 16 mile run. Before the race we ran into our friend Katie and then as we lined up for the race we saw fellow North Texas Runner, Michelle!
We decided to stay together for this race as well because we both really knew that we were going to need each other at the end. We decided to not dodge anyone and stay at a constant pace for the entire race, get the miles in and don’t die! We started out pretty strong, running faster than we had recently trained and really maintained that for most of the race. The last section was seriously crazy. It seemed like every time we turned a corner we had a huge up hill leg to run. Around us you could seriously hear the collective sighs of people as we approached the hills. At one point a college friend of Beth’s was next to us and was like ‘it is way to close to the end of the race for this.” It seriously seemed like they lasted for about 3 miles, and really as annoying as it is to admit we wanted to stop—they were nuts. We didn’t, we just kept talking to each other, giving reminders of distance and just saying keep going. Here are the hills from our runkeeper:
We powered through really not dealing with much else and just concentrated on maintaining our pace and not stopping. As we approached the finish line we started to look for Steven to catch him to run the lat 3.6. We weren’t 100% sure what we would do at the finish because this was the first time we actually had to keep running past the finish line. We saw him and literally neither of us stopped. We jumped down to the actual trail part of White Rock Lake and just kept going. We finished the 16 miles right around the same time. 2:47 min. The longest run of our life! With that said- 16 was hard but better than we thought, we both ended tired, sore, and with random cuts from god knows what article of clothing but we finished and are able to walk today!
First chaffing from the ol' camelbak
Results:
Teal: 2:05:04
Beth: 2:05:04
And that’s all the result information you get – maybe there is something wrong with us but we do not totally get the break down and what all the different numbers mean on the result page for this race! 🙂
After the race we headed up and grabbed a beer and frozen yogurt from the vendors and actually got to meet another runner we have talked to on twitter, Heidi and her husband. We hope to meet up with them sometime and run the hills around our usual area in Plano! Hopefully that will help make those crazy hills we ran today seem like nothing.
Since the Tour des Fleurs is always at the Dallas Arboretum we had to take advantage of our surroundings and take some cheesy pictures! 🙂 Enjoy!
pumpkin house
Cinderella's carriage
And in true Beth and Teal fashion we didn’t rest and kept up the day, Beth attended a 1 year old’s birthday party, Teal to work, and then we both went to Steven’s for drinks and dinner to celebrate his 29th birthday!
Mustaches & margs at 1 year old's Birthday party
- Happy Birthday, Bitner!
Overall another great Tour des Fleurs race for us, but we would be lying if we didn’t say we were definitely disappointed we didn’t get hats at the end of the race like in the last 3 years at least! They’ve always been great hats to run in, oh, well!