Tag Archives: run

Iron Girl 2015

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One of the many things I love about running and taking part in races is the camaraderie and togetherness of being a part of something fun and challenging. When you start running and you are surrounded by hundreds or thousands of other runners, you know that you are not alone. You are not the only one facing those many miles ahead of you. And there is power in that.

Even better than just any race or event, is one that focuses on women. And my favorite women’s event is Iron Girl.

 

 

Iron Girl offers a supportive, energetic and empowering                                               environment for females pursuing a healthy and active lifestyle.

I have had the pleasure of running the Iron Girl Half Marathon in Clearwater the last 2 years and will run it again this year. I am also excited to be able to offer you a discount for both the half marathon and 5K distance!

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Another reason I love this event is the course. The course follows the same route I train on over the Memorial Causeway to beautiful Clearwater Beach, south over Sand Key Bridge, through the park, and then back. This route just never gets old to me and I feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area with this amazing view…

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Here is an overview of the courses for 2015.

2014 Clearwater Course Map

Last year I ran this race with my good friend Corinna and we’ll run it together again this year. I can’t wait to see what this year’s medal will look like.

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I hope to see you out there! Don’t forget to use my discount code CRAZYLIFE15 to save 10% on your registration.

Important Links:

Iron Girl Website

Twitter

Facebook

Will I see you at the Clearwater Iron Girl? Which event will you be running? 

**Iron Girl provided me with a complimentary entry for the Clearwater event. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

{Guest Post} Marathon Training

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Today, I am happy to have my friend Angelina do a guest post on marathon training. She has less than 2 weeks to go to her first full marathon and I thought it would be great to share her story! We have run several times together during her training and mine and she has become a good friend.

 

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Angelina and I on a 14 mile run…

 

Hi everyone. I am so excited to guest post today on Nanci’s blog about marathon training. A little back story about me… I am also training for a marathon this year. My marathon is on October 12 in Scranton, PA, the Steamtown Marathon. It will be my first full marathon. I have been marathon training now for almost 5 months and it has changed my life. Some say marathon training is more important than running the marathon itself, while I don’t know that exactly yet, I do have to agree with how much marathon training changes you. I went into this thinking, I am just going to follow a plan and stick with it and that will be it. I will do my runs during the week, cross train, long run on Sunday’s and rest once or twice a week.  And you know what, it does start off that way and then life happens. But the most important things I have learned from marathon training so far - I still have just under 2 weeks left, which include me tapering -  was learn to adjust to fit your needs and wants.

Going into marathon training, I knew I wanted to just have fun with it. That’s my biggest advice and probably one of the smartest form of advice I could give. Enjoy the journey, make memories from it and watch your life change. Embrace the early mornings, or late nights, embrace the god awful heat, I mean really, we are training in the state of Florida in the summer, I knew that wasn’t going to end well. Don’t worry sweat the small stuff, I know that sounds cliché but it really is true. Don’t worry about the scale, because you know what? You are going to gain. Despite the hundreds of miles you are running, the scale might just be your worst enemy, along with that voice inside of your head that says you can’t go one more mile. Believe me  you can and you will. It’s crazy when you see that 20 mile training run on the plan, it looks so scary and it is, but when you get into it and you notice the mileage creep more and more and the pain in your legs and feet start to feel less and less, deep inside you know you are going to finish.

Get used to talking about it all the time. My conversations revolve around 3 stages, BM ( before marathon), for instance, what I will do, how I will sleep, what I will eat, and what life was like BM. TM (training marathon) how training is going, what I am running, what I do after my run, how the miles killed me, how many miles a week, what I ate, what I don’t eat, you get it… And AM (after marathon) basically how will my life go on after the marathon. There are days I feel I should just wear a name tag that says, “Beware Training for A Marathon, proceed with Caution” and then in small letters, “ask me how I am and I will talk your ear off about training”.

Enjoy all the little moments too. Enjoy the small miles that seem so little but make a huge difference. Enjoy the bad runs too because they make for great memories and how to avoid that again. Enjoy the early sunrises or sunsets, which ever time of day you choose the run. Enjoy the views in the mirror, because you are going to see a lot, even if it is subtle, those muscles are growing and you are getting stronger than you ever thought. Inside and out. Stick to your plan, but make adjustments when needed. Like I said, life happens, just don’t cancel a long run, they make the whole process.

Reach out to past marathoners or find those training along with you. Run for just fun one day, off the training plan and REST. Rest when you think you don’t need rest, believe me you do!

But all in all, have fun, enjoy the ride and like one of my FAVORITE quotes…

dare me.

Be sure to visit Angelina’s blog, Run Chew Sparkle, and leave her some love for her upcoming marathon!

Friday Five: Weekend Plans

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I’m linking up again this week with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia for the Friday Five. This week we get to pick our topic, so I’m going to do weekend plans. Is it just me or has this been a long week? I’m definitely ready for a couple days off!

 

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1. I love starting my weekends with my Weight Watchers meeting. Even though it’s very early in the morning, it’s always nice to catch up with everyone. The meeting is like a reset for me, it’s the start of a new week.

 

 

2. Tomorrow afternoon, I get to take my niece to an advance screening of Dolphin Tale 2. I am so excited about this opportunity, thanks to being part of the Dolphin Tale 2 Blogger Crew. We also get to go on a tour of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

 

 

3. Sunday morning run with hubby friends. I am very lucky that hubby runs with me when I am out super early. The past several Sundays. I’ve also been lucky to have a couple friends join us. And this Sunday, we’re going to change up the location for some new scenery and run my 6 planned miles over the new Courtney Campbell Trail which runs along part of the causeway. Hubby, Corinna, Caitlyn and I will be running our little hearts out!

 

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4. Starbucks after our run is the best thing ever. Ironically, there will still be a Starbucks close by to go to afterwards. I earn that treat and always enjoy it.

 

 

5. Nap time. I am looking forward to going home after our run, showering, and napping. I’ll probably curl up with a book for a bit and that will surely put me to sleep even quicker. Napping after a long run on Sunday is so nice.

 

What do you have planned for this weekend?

I Run 4 Daisy

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Every time I go out and run, I know how fortunate I am to be able to do so. Not everyone has that ability. My own father, who was in a car accident at the age of 21 and was then in a wheelchair until he passed away at the age of 77 did not have that ability. Quite often, if not always, I think of my dad when I run and about all that he could have – and would have – done if he was able to walk.

Last year, I came across a community called I Run 4, thanks to social media and several blogs that I follow. I noticed several runners saying how they run for so and so, and I looked into it. After reading more about the group, I decided to add my name to the long waiting list and wait for a match of my own. I wanted someone to run for also, someone to motivate me when I run long miles for training. After a very long wait, I finally got my match back on May 18th. And now, I get to run for Daisy, who lives with her mom and dad in Greater Manchester, England.

 

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Daisy is such a little cutie, she just turned 2 back in April. Daisy was born by emergency caesarean after being starved of oxygen for up to 30 minutes. Her condition at birth was called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). Because of the amount of time she was without oxygen, Daisy suffered severe brain damage. As a result she is unable to suck or swallow so is fed via a tube, she is on 24hr oxygen, requires suction to clear the secretions from her mouth and throat, and she has hearing and visual impairment due to the nerves to the brain being damaged. Daisy has spent long periods of time in hospital – three months in Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital this winter. Most recently her brain damage has led to the diagnosis of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Daisy’s mom says in her eyes, she is a beautiful, happy little girl who loves to be cuddled and played with. She is never happier than when someone is wiggling her arms and legs because she likes the movement. She enjoys being in a hydrotherapy pool or the bath, listening to nursery rhymes and songs, and looking at black and white books. She smiles when she is being cuddled and played with and is starting to use her eyes more. Daisy also goes to school three days a week!

Here are a few pictures of Daisy…

daisy nicu     daisy with mom

 

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I have many miles to run this year and I am happy to run them for adorable little Daisy!

 

Who do you run for?

Choosing a marathon training plan…

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Now, that’s a sentence I never thought I’d say! Ever since I registered for the Space Coast Marathon, I’ve been thinking about the training much more than the actual race. Let’s face it… Running 26.2 miles scares the heck out of me, but I really think I’m more worried about the training part than anything. In 18 weeks time leading up to the actual marathon, I will run approximately 460 miles for training. My longest run will be 20 miles. I have never run a mile over 13.1 before.

To help with the enormity of all of this, I knew I wanted some advice on which training plan I should follow. And I knew exactly who I wanted to ask… My rock star runner friend Beth who blogs over at Discombobulated Running. She is also one of the first people I told when I finally decided it was time to do a marathon. Somehow she already knew I was going to do one and was just waiting for me to say something. This is why I knew Beth was the one to ask about training.

 

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Beth and I  at Best Damn Race Orlando 2014

 

First and foremost, my goal for my very first – and possibly only – full marathon is to finish. I have 7 hours to finish and it just might take me all of that. I am not setting any time goals going into this because this is unchartered territory for me. I know that no matter how much training I do, there will still be walking.

Secondly, I am going to do everything I can to not get injured while training. I know the long runs are the most important aspect, so if I need to miss a shorter run during the week to be safe, I am not going to beat myself up over it.

Thankfully, Beth met me one morning for coffee to go over a couple training plans and she let me ask questions and she shared her advice with me. I know she’s not a coach or a professional, but she has been a big cheerleader in my running this last year, not to mention she has run a bunch of marathons herself and I trust her. Oh, and she’s also training for a full Ironman. Told you, she’s a rock star.

When I trained for the Women’s Half Marathon last fall, I modified and used one of the Hal Higdon plans. It worked well for me, I felt great going into that race, and I PR’d by over 20 minutes. So, I decided to look over his plans again and I printed out two of them to go over with Beth, Marathon Novice 1 and Marathon Novice 2.

She suggested, and I agreed, that I go with the Novice 2 plan because it has pace runs. She also suggested that instead of taking Mondays as a rest day, I switch Tuesday and Monday around and use it as a shakeout run, then rest Tuesday.

I will make a few tweaks to this plan, much like I did the half marathon training. All my long runs will be on Sunday instead of Saturday because that is my weigh-in day at Weight Watchers. I also need to get creative with the cross training, which I will do on Saturdays. Since I don’t swim or bike, this will be challenging, but I also know that T25 will help with this.

I also need to find a half marathon to do roughly half way through. Depending on what races are going on, I may have to adjust that accordingly.

Here is the Novice 2 plan as found on Hal Higdon’s site. I will do a separate post on my plan as I make it my own.

 

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Another piece of advice Beth gave me is to make sure by the time I start Week 1 of training, I have built back up to that mileage. This will be important in NOT getting injured along the way.

Training officially starts the end of July. Between now and then, it is my goal to build back up to running 3 miles a few times a week and 4-5 miles on the weekend to build up to the Sunday long runs. I have not been running nearly enough because I’ve been so busy, but I want to make it a priority again. I miss it.

I am thankful for the running friends I’ve made over the last year and a half. I am not sure I could even think about taking on such a challenge if it weren’t for the inspiration I get from them. I am also thankful for hubby because he is there with me on his bike when I do long runs. I’ll definitely need that for this!

 

What training plan did you use for your first marathon? Tell me one piece of advice you wish you had known when you trained for your first marathon.

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