Rock n Roll Raleigh (now with llamas!)

April 13, 2015 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Hi friends!

We had a fantastic race yesterday where we both PR’d! Which is a slightly bigger deal for me than Steve since this was his first so any finishing time is going to be your best finishing time.

I have always enjoyed reading race recaps from other people so here is my shot at a race recap 😀

We woke up at 4:30am (OMG) because the streets started closing at 5:30am and we needed to get to the parking decks. Yes this early morning wake up is as awful as it sounds. No they don’t get easier with more races.

The race didn’t start until 7:00 am so we had an hour and a half to chill and freeze in the wind. We hopped into a nearby hotel lobby with a bunch of other runners. This was glorious because hotel lobby = toilets that flush! And we were able to wake up a bit before it was time to get corralled!

There were almost 6000 runners doing the Rock n Roll Raleigh Half Marathon this year so they did a wave start to help prevent congestion at the start (thank god!!). I was in corral 4, so I wished Steve good luck and left him to find corral 13.

And then we were off!

Crazy right?!?

I was shooting for 1:50 (8:20 min/mile) so I hung out with the pace group for a while. I also hung out with them because we had the same shoes on and therefore they were cool peeps ya know. The course was mostly downtown Raleigh which has some small rolling hills. Here’s an overview of the course with the elevation profile below it.

The first ~~downhill~~ part was AWESOME. Was nice and relaxed and didn’t have my music on and had a great time! Then around mile 6 we started going uphill. FOR. 3. MILES. It wasn’t all steep. But it was all uphill. This was where I lost the pace group. Which really only happened because I walked through the aid station at 7.2 miles and grabbed a GU (the only fuel I took for the entire race). It was also where I decided that a little extra motivation was needed and I started up the iPod which was a miracle-worker for my morale!

I got my legs back around mile 10 and then promptly lost them on that last steep hill you see at the end of the elevation profile. Ugh. I walked a bit. Not gonna lie.

The finish was right around the corner though! So I picked up the pace for the last 1.5 miles and had some sub-8 min miles there at the end and finished strong at my new PR of 1:50:12!!!

Steve was still on the course so I speed walked through the finisher’s area and grabbed everything that was handed towards me (water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, pretzels, a sandwich, a banana, and a protein bar) and made a beeline for the gear check so I could grab my phone and try to get pictures of Steve.

I think I was a little out of it at this part because I saw a llama chillin on main street! I was like….OMG is that a white llama?!? Why would someone bring a llama to a race?!? Who has a llama in Raleigh?!?….wait…..that’s not a llama….that’s a dog. WTF Amanda…..

Anywho. I was able to catch Steve on his home stretch and ran with him for a bit before I realized that that was stupid cause I just finished a half-marathon and was tired and my feet hurt.

See him in the orange!! Note: we both wore orange for this race. It was embarrassing.

On my way to catch him at the finish line, I ~~hobbled~~ walked past a new patisserie and stopped in to grab some celebratory macarons! (They were incredible and dreamy) If you are ever in the Raleigh area, check out Lucettegrace for some seriously delicious treats.

I’ll let Steve tell you about the race, but we both had a blast!

Race pros:

Plenty of aid stations. I actually skipped 2 (which I rarely ever do).
Awesome spectators!
Great and challenging course
Very organized
Weather was perfect for running (slightly cool and breezy)

Race cons:

So many hills
The finisher area was pretty spread out (I had to walk a while to get to the med tent/gear bag area and to the beer garden)
Streets closed suuuuuper early

See ya later!

Keeping it Cool – Training Week 3

March 16, 2015 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Hi friends! How was your weekend?

It’s a semi-slow start to my Monday, so I’ve taken advantage of it and tried to plan out my week in my bullet journal. But! Since it’s rest day, here’s my recap of all the training I did last week for Raleigh 70.3!

Miles run – a lot
Miles walked – some
Miles biked – like 50? 60?
Yards swum – too little
Goggles broken – F*$@ing pieces of $&^!
Times I have grossed myself out because I am covered in dried sweat, bug carcasses, and grime – Ewwwwwwww
Bugs eaten – none accidentally! or on purpose for that matter
Roadkill seen – squirrels, raccoons, ummmm some unidentifiable creature that could have possibly been an alien
Time spent training – 7:40 ish

Here’s the illegible training summary for my week. There are only 3 red blocks this time!! I didn’t post last weeks’ because yeah…..that was a lot of red. Now let’s break it down!

Monday – As usual rest day! Aka Amanda drinks an extra beer day! Aka Amanda binge watches Game of Thrones or Dr. Who or Downton Abbey day! The best.

Tuesday – Aaaaaand here’s where we started to go downhill (mentally anyways). I got a good 12.7 miles in on the trainer in about 50 min which breaks down to around 15 mph. It’s always hard to wake my legs up and get them moving at a decent pace at the ungodly hour of 6am. I had my 2500 yd swim scheduled for that afternoon, but instead I found that my goggles refused to gogg and instead flooded any time I stuck my head under water. Sooooo the angry Amanda stopped by the store and got 2 pairs of goggles AND a cute running top just because.

Wednesday – Another shit day at work so I left early and went on my long run at home. Usually the hills I tackle on my long run by the NC Art Museum and Meredith College kick my ass. Luckily I was a little out of my head (reminder that running is 80% mental sport) so I did 10.0 miles in 1.5 hrs. A 9:11 min/mile pace. Btw these hills are what tore my IT band back in November so I have a bit of a vendetta against them. Curse you 15% grades!! This really wore my legs out, cause yeah, my head wasn’t actively managing my pace so I went a bit faster than I like to for 9+ mile runs. Oh well. At least it was a good challenge!

Thursday – The weekthatshallnotbenamed continues. I felt pretty good on the swim and even attempted a few flip turns. Although one time I totally missed the wall, I got water up my nose like 5 times, and I thoroughly embarrassed myself in front of the men’s swim team. Yes I know I looked like a fish out of water attempting those flip turns. No need to judge dudes-in-spandex. I did 1800 yds in 38 min (including all my rest breaks) so I’m pretty happy that I did the whole workout and finished 2 min early. It’s the little things ya’ll. The trainer ride ended up being kinda late at night and I watched Game of Thrones for my easy spin. Did 9.9 miles in 50 min. Nice and easy.

Friday – I woke up early to get a morning run in. I regret not taking my phone because those pink clouds/sunrise were gorgeous. Seriously. Vibrant blue sky, pink clouds, and green grass. Love it! Did 4.5 miles in about 42 min and took it pretty easy. I walked a bit during this run since it was supposed to be an easy run. I also walked a bit cause I’m lazy. I also also walked a bit because it was pretty and I like looking at the pretty sky. The work day was pretty rough so I skipped my swim…..sad trombone.

Saturday – Totes did nothing. I drank green beer and grocery shopped like a champ!

Sunday – Brick day! Since it was a lovely day out, I went on my long bike ride outside! The second half of the bike course for Raleigh 70.3 is a LOT of short, steep, rolling hills. Which I knew about, but was completely unprepared for, last year. So, I’ve been riding the course backwards for all my training. I start close to the finish, bike out towards Jordan Lake, and that way, on my way back, I’m a little tired and it kinda simulates race conditions. Brilliant right?!? -looks proud of self- I was gonna take a picture of all my gear that I pack in my car for a brick, but the goldfish memory struck again and I forgot. Anywho, I biked out to a Sonic in Holly Springs where a bunch of teens were hanging out. And OMG I was so uncool. I overheard one girl asking her friends what was wrong with my shoes! 😀 But I hung out for a bit while eating my granola bar and then hopped back on the bike to head home. I kinda regret not getting any fries or tater tots.

All in all, I did about 39 miles in 2.5 hrs. Which is roughly 16 mph. I felt really good the whole time and only started struggling on the last hill up to my car. I then hopped off my bike and put my running shoes on for an easy 20 min run after with some not so awesome jelly legs. It did feel great to finish though!

My main mistake on the whole day was not eating enough before working out for 3 hrs. Oops. I was a little hungry when I got home and may have tried to eat Steve -sorry Steve-.

This is my first ‘rest’ week of the training session so things will be a bit lower intensity this week. Luckily, the weather is supposed to be great so I should be able to get outside for most of it!

See ya tomorrow!

Ice Hurdling

March 2, 2015 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Hi everyone!

As of today, I have completed 1 week of training for Raleigh 70.3 (cheers). Here’s a summary of what I did and how it felt.

Time Training- 7:08
Miles Run – 14.1 mi
Miles Biked – 47.8 mi
Yards Swam(Swum?) – 3312 yds
Trees Hurdled – 3 (6 if you count out and back)
Curse Words Invented – approx. 2
Netflix watched while on the trainer – ummmm like 9 episodes or something idk
Bugs accidentally swallowed – 0!
Times I have had to stop in the middle of swimming a lap because my contacts decided that the back of my eyeball was an ideal location – 10

Now let’s break it down by day! This go around, I’m tracking everything using Training Peaks This training plan is based on workout time rather than workout distance. So rather than saying to bike 10 miles, I need to bike for 40 min. Green blocks are planned workouts I’ve completed. The red blocks are mad at me.

Can you read that?? Neither can I

Lemme break it down for you

Monday – Rest Day!! WooHoo!! Unfortunately this was like the only decent day to actually work out this entire week….boo.

Tuesday – I did 40 min on the trainer and ended up finishing 9 miles. This was a Z2 workout (Zone 2 of heart rate) so it’s not supposed to be fast. Gotta build endurance and stamina first! I was supposed to swim as well, but this was the first day of snow and the pool was closed.

Wednesday – Long run day. I ran on the snow dammit. Not gonna let a little snow stop me after my run in with the Jesus Geese! Was scheduled for 1:10 of running and got 7.5 miles in during that time. For a long run in the snow, it wasn’t a bad pace 🙂

Thursday – snOMG. Power out. Stuck at home. Decided this would be a good test of my mental fortitude on the bike trainer since Netflix was not available. Was slated for a 1:00 recovery ride. Did about 13.4 miles and read a book in the dark for entertainment. Swimming was obviously out. Stupid roads.

Friday – Run and Swim! Although in hindsight, maybe it’s best to do the swim first. Not that I’d know from personal experience or anything 😉 For my 40 min run, I was able to squeeze in 4.5 miles and then I made a mad dash to the pool and did 2000 yds in 1 hr. Most exciting part of this was NEW RUNNING SHOES!

Here’s a super blurry pic. Yes they are pink/yellow tie-die. Total love. ❤

Saturday – Brick day. Basically long bike immediately followed by a run. I did 25.3 mi on the trainer in 1:40 and then walked out to the melty ice/snow to go for a run in the balmy 25 degree (Farenheit) weather. Considering the terrifying conditions (i.e. icy greenway and 3 trees that had fallen in my way) I managed to hurdle all the trees without falling on either the tree or the ice and did 2.1 miles in 19 min. It’s the little successes.

Sunday – ‘k well I was supposed to run, but I also had a swim lesson so I decided to skip the run and just swim. Same thing right? I did 1200 meters in about 40 min with a lot of coaching breaks.

Well that’s about it for training this week! I’ll be sure to update the Gear page with my swimming and biking things.

Off With a Fizzle

February 25, 2015 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Ironman Raleigh 70.3 training started this week! So did winter! These two things do not go together! So instead of starting training off with a bang, it’s been more of a fizzle. Oh well.

Mondays are off days. So I took full advantage of that and lazed.

Tuesday….I woke up and went down to the trainer to get a 40 min ride in

It was supposed to be in Zone 2 (heart rate) so I kept it pretty slow and did about 9 miles. When I finished, I walked up to take a shower and saw this!

Surprise snow! A quick check of the weather app said that the snow would stop by 9am so I decided to head in to school with stuff packed for an afternoon swim. This was a mistake. The roads were worse than when it iced!

This time, I wasn’t the only crazy grad student who showed up to work, Shake and David did too 🙂

Grad school is waaaay more fun with friends, btw.

Since it didn’t stop snowing…

and the roads were a mess, the afternoon swim was canceled and I went home to spend the rest of the day with Lisa, Steve and Indy.

Wednesday…aka today…is long run day. Luckily the GIANT SNOWSTORM OF RALEIGH isn’t supposed to start until later tonight, so I did 7.5 miles in 1:07 (the schedule said to run for 1:10)

The swim tomorrow will likely be canceled and I plan to spend the day in warm and pleasant ways. We shall see what happens!

Jesus Geese

February 21, 2015 / Amanda / Leave a comment

Hey friends! How’s it goin?

It was forcasted to reach above 30 degrees today! So obviously that means all the ice has melted and I can go for a run right?!

Well….ok. First ‘mistake’ was deciding to run while it was still only 25 with a helluva wind chill. Second ‘mistake’…..forgetting that the greenway is super shady and probably won’t thaw for another week or so.

ANYWHO. So I went anyways dammit and it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting! Only fell once! (looks very proud of self)

About 50% of the greenway looked like this

Please note, this is not nice, crunchy, non-slippery snow. This. Is. Ice. While it may look like the optimal choice of path is in the middle where the tire tracks are….DO NOT BE FOOLED, it is way more slick there since the ice has melted and refrozen a couple times.

Also. This is Raleigh, North Carolina we are talking about. To us, cold is 40 degrees and frigid is anything below that. So to run up to Shelley Lake and see it like this…

was a total surprise!! Those are GEESE on the water. THEY ARE WALKING ON THE WATER. THEY ARE JESUS GEESE. ALL HAIL THE JESUS GEESE!!! You should take careful note of the geese’s newfound ability to walk on water. These creatures are pure evil. ANY new skill they acquire is bad news for us mere humans. You have been warned.

Back to the run!

Like I was saying, seeing ice on the ground in Raleigh that has been there since Tuesday is kinda weird. And extremely slippery.

Note the ice.

Note how I feel about the ice.

The greenway was like that (a solid sheet of ice) for the next solid 3/4 miles or so. In fact….take a look at this portion

This is where I fell. The only time I fell. Imagine a cartoon character literally slipping and falling in the most hilarious way and that’s probably what I looked like. This was the most treacherous part of the run. Because this was solid ice. No footprints to break it up. No tire tracks. A solid sheet of continuous ice. Like at an ice rink. Only you don’t have skates. You have running shoes. Without spikes. And you’re trying to run like a penguin only to fall head over heels and almost end up in the frozen lake.

Luckily, my rear was so cold, I didn’t feel it and kept on running 🙂

This was the last, long stretch of evil on the run.

Me finishing said stretch of evil without falling!

The remainder of the run wasn’t bad. All in all, I did 4.3 miles in about 46 min. This includes stopping for pictures and falling and waddling on scary ice. When I wasn’t on ice I had about an 8:00 pace. On the ice…whilst running like a penguin, I slowed to about a 10:30 pace.

Let’s hope it finishes melting soon!

PhDeviants

Misadventures in grad school, running, and life

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