Taking My Victory Lap

 

Way back in June of this year I started a journey.  At first I was trying to keep up with blogging about it here so that you guys could go on that journey with me but a minor surgery sidelined me and I put the blogging part on hold to focus on the journey alone.  I wanted to do a marathon. 

I really can't say 100% WHAT made me want to do one.  But I knew I wanted to do something that the kids could look back on and think, "Mom is pretty badass."  I wanted to actually show them that anything is possible and if you stick with a plan you CAN accomplish what you set out to do.  Plus I wanted lifetime bragging rights!  I mean, it's a MARATHON.  Only 1% of the population can say they have done one.  And I wanted to be one of those people. 

So for 5 and a half months I put in the work.  Long runs on my Sunday mornings, shorter runs 3 times during the week, cross training on Saturdays, missed chances to attend weekend events, running in the heat of the summer, black toenails, missing a couple dance classes in order to get in a run, one terrible yeast infection (don't ask) and a constant fight with fatigue....sounds great right!  Actually it was.  I had the privilege of running with Pink Nation, a sub-team with Sports Backers in Richmond.  They were nothing short of amazing.  The coaches, the other runners, the volunteers that came out to make sure we had water...AMAZING.  I got to see parts of Richmond up close that I have never seen before.  You know that fit right in with my need to explore every nook and cranny of Virginia.  I loved it!  The long runs were not the easiest thing in the world but the time flew for me.  I literally would have run 18 miles and felt like I had only done 5.  I was so distracted the entire time taking in the city, the comradery among the other runners, the flow of advise from the coaches that I felt like the time slipped away too quickly.  Don't get me wrong, it was still work but I was just trying to soak it all in. 

 

12 mile run on my own in Prince George.  Foggy and alone. 

The first time I ever hit 17 miles!

Found this guy on one of my mid week runs in Henricus Park

Little 10 mile run on the Virginia Capital Trail

More from the Capital trail run.

My first time crossing the Lee Bridge in Richmond on foot and hitting 20 miles!

Along the journey I did have a 4-5 week delay in training as I had some minor surgery that required some down time.  I used the time wisely to just take it easy and work in some travel time and visits to wineries.  After the all clear from the doctor I was back at it and feeling better than ever. 

So after all of that work I was anxious to see it come to fruition.  November 12th loomed before us and as the day got closer I have to admit I got a little stir crazy.  I literally lost my phone (it was in my back pocket), lost my keys (it became a daily thing), and found trying to concentrate nearly impossible!   More than anything I need to do this race to get my sanity back.  Plus Mr. Busy was tired of picking up all of the slack around the house.  Hey!  Laundry was NOT a priority. 

I laid out my clothes and bid the night before, I set two alarms and got to the race venue 2 hours early!  There was no way in hell I was missing this thing.  Once I was dressed and actually at the race I felt 50% of my anxiety disappear.  Sounds like craziness I know to it's true. 

The team met inside the lobby of the Omni and spent a little time there before heading over for a picture on the stairs of the Virginia Capital Building.  Of course we had a few last words from our leader before we parted for the starting coral.  Once in line for the race the only thing to do was keep warm and try take in as much of the atmosphere as possible. 

And then....we were off.  Honestly a big part of the race was a blur.  I just focused on not going to fast at the beginning like we were advised.  That part was easy as one of the coaches jumped in to pace us.  After that my mind just started talking to itself.  I had trained up to 20 miles so I was just waiting to get to that point to see what would happen.  It would be new territory for me.  My family was at the 14 mile marker and then again around 23.  I had heard that after the 20 there was a strong possibility of "hitting the wall" so I asked them to at least be between the 20-25.  I must of got lucky with coaches jumping in just at the right time and with family being there to help me smile because I didn't feel the wall.  I did feel crazy emotional around mile 25. I had a picture of the kids in my pocket.  I took it out and relied on them to carry me through.  It must have worked because the next thing I knew I was crossing the finish line and crying on the shoulder of the woman that gave me the final push I needed to sign up for this journey.  It was an INCREDIBLE feeling.  Pride and gratitude and two of the words that come to mind.  It was my victory lap.

So enough yapping about it...here are some of the pictures from the race.  Yeah I took pictures along the way.  It's what I do people.  If I run the race again next year (I still have to convince Mark it was worth it) I can shave time off just skipping the pictures alone.  Like I would do that!

 

The ladies with the pink hats are coaches.  They can rock the hell out of a Flamingo hat!

The Virginia State Capitol at Sunrise

Our fearless leaders

Getting our picture on the stairs of the Virginia State Capital Building

In our starting coral waiting to start

Singing the National Anthem...and that guy carried the flag the entire race

The Carpenter Center as seen from the coral

And we were off!

A shot of the James River from the first of two bridge crossings.  This is from the Hugenot Bridge.

And a shot from the 2nd bridge crossing...Lee Bridge.

I made it!!!!!!!!!

I tried to blow up my fitbit!

Mr. Busy's race sign.  I didn't get any pics of him holding it during the race.  By then I couldn't properly use my hands :-)

 

Following the race I celebrated at my sister's house and then went home for a hot bath and long nap.  I woke up famished and sent Mr. Busy out for Taco Bell AND McDonalds.  I told you I was famished. 

Currently stairs are not my friends and more than likely I will not be running this week.  I do plan to keep up my miles so that I can easily work in a half-marathon here and there during the winter and spring.  I don't want to loose all that I've gained in the last 5 months. 

We also plan to resume our traveling :-)  Next weekend is Bath County and then in December we have a trip scheduled to Claytor Lake.  Happy adventure people!

 

 

 

Corporate 4 Miler and More Training

Yesterday evening, after work, some of my co-workers and friends participated in Sports Backer's Corporate 4 Miler.  It's suppose to be an evening of promoting health in the work place while enjoying time being active with some of Richmond's finest employees.  Banks, law firms, counties, hospitals....people who work....all come together to have a great night of fun.  There is always a band, beer on tap, and food to be had.  And did I mention a 4 mile run? 

Since I'm now in training mode....still weird to say....I didn't hesitate to sign up.  Of course my employer made it even more enticing by offering to pay most of the cost.  I couldn't pass that up, right?  Plus I've run it the two previous years so I knew what a fun time it was. 

The course is on the grounds of Innsbrook Office Park in Richmond.  It just makes since to run a Corporate Race on the grounds of several of Richmond's Corporate Offices.  Thankfully most of the route is shaded by race time and the scenery is really nice. 

 

Before all of the festivities began

 

This makes me chuckle everytime

 

Post race hydration is a must

 

Not bad for being my 3rd day in a row running

Like most races there was a complimentary t-shirt, there were 3 water stops on the course, water/sports drinks at the finish and there was a timer.  No timing chip but a timer so you could record your own time.

So far this week I have over 20 miles logged.  With that being said TGIF because Fridays are REST days! 

This weekend we have a banquet to attend for our oldest daughter, friends coming in town for a visit and some breweries to check out.  Somehow I'm even working an extra 12 hour shift.  Nothing like booking up the entire weekend! 

Happy adventuring!

 

 

Summer Time Fun and MTT Post #1

The unofficial start of summer was just over a week ago and The Busy Bryants have been busy trying to make the most out of every single second!



Mural in Richmond

We've ran a couple races, been through not one but two weeks worth of dance recitals, joined a pool, finished out the Girl Scout year and I even took the plunge and signed up to run a marathon.

Tell me those boots aren't the cutest

Samoa donuts from Buttermilk Bakeshop

Me and Mr. Busy at The James River Run



Hometown Heroes 5K

You did hear right...as if I'm not busy enough I signed up for a marathon!  Well actually right now I'm just signed up for the training but signing up for the marathon is just a technicality.  We started out on this past Sunday with a short run along Richmond's streets.  I trained for the half marathons on my own but I felt like taking that next big step I would need someone to help (push) me along.  The marathon training teams (MTT) are sub-divided into color teams.  I'm on the Pink team.  I'll be giving up my Sunday mornings of leisure for long runs and sweat.  But I'm excited to see it through.  My plan, and don't hold me to it, will be to post the progress here.  



MTT Pink Nation

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and making the most of it.  Happy adventuring.  

The Not So Great Chocolate Race

We had an entire weekend of adventure planned out.  We were heading to Hampton for the night so that I could run in the Great Chocolate Race 10 miler.  We had plans to stay in an awesome hotel, eat our weight in chocolate and then spend the rest of the weekend recovering from that over indulgence.  Mother Nature had other plans.  So the race was postponed.  SIGHHHHHHHHHH.  I cancelled the awesome room, pretended to forget about the chocolate and started working on other plans for the weekend.  I really didn't come up with much but since the next two weekends are going to be busy I figured spending one weekend at home wasn't a bad thing.  I did manage to get a few things done.

We had the youngest daughter's birthday party this weekend.  To prepare for it I worked on a yummy snack to put in her goodie bag. 

Then I found myself with a little extra time on my hands and decided I needed to paint my nails in a sassy red with a little heart to go along with it. 

The last thing I did was work on this cute craft to add to the girl scout Valentine boxes I am working on.  By the time they will get the boxes Valentine's day will be gone.  But I'm betting the girls still love getting them. 

So no grand adventures this weekend.  But still we found a way to be productive.  I'll keep you posted on that Chocolate Race just how much chocolate I'll be eating :-)

Not Just Blue....Blue Velvet

 

I was looking for something to lend itself to my recent need for blue.  What I found was something that not only added to the blue phase but something to also satisfy my sweet tooth.   Blue velvet cupcakes :-) 

My inspiration for these cakes came from One Particular Kitchen.  The recipe can be found here.  I did get some questions as to what makes a cake "velvet" versus just straight up cake...and I still can't really put my finger on the difference.  There is cocoa, vinegar and buttermilk in the recipe.  I don't usually add those ingredients to my cakes so I imagine the combination of them has something to do with the final product.  Most of the time the velvet cake is associated with the color red.  But since I was working with a blue theme I used blue food color to get the final look. 

 

 

They turned out very moist and just the right amount of sweetness.  The icing is cream cheese.  I do think I would try these again with a butter cream frosting instead.  The cream cheese was good but just a tad rich for me. 

 

I other winter news....since I've been held up inside I decided to finally put a couple recycled jars to good use.  I used a paint pen to draw snow flakes on an old sauce jar.  Then filled it with Epson salt and a votive candle.  It makes a nice addition to our dining table.

 

 

And I can check off the Richmond Frostbite 15K.  When I singed up for the race I had no idea it would actually snow the day of the race.  I'll just call that a bonus. 

 

I'm trying to convince myself that I love winter.  It's.  NOT.  Working.  Come on Spring.

 

Finally! I Did It!

I mentioned in a few posts that I have been training for a half marathon.  7 weeks worth of training actually and I finally got to see it pay off.  The Petersburg Halloween Half Marathon was on this past Saturday in Petersburg VA.  Being only 10 minutes away from where I live, registering was a no brainer. 

Back in April of this year, the hubby and I, did our first half marathon down at the beach in Outer Banks NC.  We didn't train for it and walked most of it.  We've done countless 5ks, several 10ks but never had done a half marathon.  When we finished the race in OBX I set a goal for myself that if we did the race again next year I wouldn't walk it.  Then in July I signed up for a 17.76k (about 11 miles) race.  I trained for it and did well....and by did well I mean I didn't walk.  Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with walking a race, but I challenge myself to do something I don't usually do.  And I can walk ALL DAY.  And when I say I didn't walk I must clarify and say that me running is as slow as some people walking.  Either way I set a goal then and met it.  Then I found out about the Halloween Half in Petersburg....I couldn't resist and signed up. 

Now the running part didn't turn out to be my problem.  Time to run on the other hand WAS.  We are The Busy Bryant's after all.  I didn't sign up to train on a team because I felt comfortable with how well I had trained for the race in July.  I would just be adding a couple miles in order to do the half.  I did do some online research and read lots of articles on increasing distance safely and how/when to refuel.  I planned long runs on weekends, shorter runs during the week and cardio (non-running) also during the week at the gym.  I did say I planned to do long runs on weekends.  The problem was mother nature sent us monsoon season and I had to get creative.  Some long runs had to be done during the week.  Some had to be skipped all together and figure out how to make up the time and then there was a weird day that I went for a run and went a lot further than I planned and felt like I still could keep going.  So if you do ever want to run a race, of any size, keep training time in mind. 

 

 

  I must admit I was a little nervous about doing the race.  Whenever I run a new distance for the first time I feel those butterflies.  I had only trained up to 12.20 miles so the race would actually be the first time I attempted to run 13.1.  The week right before the race I did a short 8 mile run and it felt like I was cheating.  The night before the race I set out all of my things and went to bed early.  Before I knew it race day was HERE. 

 

 

The race started and finished in Old Town Petersburg.  The route was scenic for the most part.  I did find out the hard way that Petersburg is hilly!  The miles went by pretty fast and I kept a more consistent pace than I usually do with training.  Before I knew it I was at mile 13 and crossing the finish line.  My family wasn't there to see it, which made me a little sad, but I did this race for me and I met the goal I set out to meet. 

 



Goal met!

As I was training for the race I told Mark, on more than one occasion, to not let me ever sign up for another half marathon!  The time to train was hard to find.  But now after doing the race I think it was nerves talking.  I have already looked at a few to do next year.  I would like to keep up with doing the long runs once a month and see what happens...maybe a full marathon eventually???