Pump it!

I've been severely neglecting my blog lately, shame on me.  I unfortunately twisted my knee on the cobblestones during the Rock and Roll Half Marathon and have been having some pretty severe knee pain ever since.  I was only able to run about 3.5 miles before my knee would totally lock up and not allow any more running.  Sigh.  And this is a running blog, right?  So what the heck else am I going to write about?!?

I can assure you that I was a miserable person to be around the past two weeks or so because I haven't ran.  After (finally) listening my sister (who is an ICU nurse, and possibly the smartest person I know), Ben, and several other friends I took some time off running.  I also tried just about everything anyone suggested (that seamed reasonable).

My sister started me with the RICE (rest, ice, compress, elevate).  RICE is something I try to practice normally, so it didn't feel bad.  And my knee didn't really hurt - unless I was running.  Then, since I'm lucky enough to work with an awesome athletic trainer who just so happens to be a good friend of mine (Hi, Mary!), I did an electric stim treatment during my lunch break this week.

The Stim treatment felt kind of strange at first, but was kind of cool after a little bit.  Mary was kind enough to change me every so many minutes from heat to ice and back and forth... Since I've been advised not to run I've had plenty of time to focus on other things and, of course, think about not running.

My week off has been filled with my first bike ride of 2012 (which was awesome), a yoga workout, two 99 workouts (Starts with 99 jumping jacks, crunches, 99 second wall sit, leg lifts, and 9 push ups.  And then you to 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22 and a 11 minute run - thanks Pinterest!), bootcamp, and a few lunch workouts.

Yesterday I decided that I was going to try to go for a run today.  An easy four miles was on the schedule.  I was really nervous but said a little prayer and just started pretty slow.  I can't even describe how amazing it felt to be outside running again. I don't listen to an ipod when I run, so it's really a time for me to de-stress and think.

I'm happy to report that there was no knee pain and I finished with an average pace of 9:30 per mile (which is a little faster than I had intended).  I know this is not ground-breaking, but after not running for a week, I was on Cloud Nine.  Which is why I picked the title "Pump It" for this particular blog.

So now the plan is to slowly work my legs back up to where they were previously.  But I am also going to try to keep up with my cycling, yoga, and workouts and perhaps run a little less than before.  In addition, I would like to keep icing, resting, elevating, stretching, sticking, etc...

Today is official start to my Spring Break.  Woot woot!  Spring Break isn't exactly what it used to be and I will be spending my time catching up on things (like getting glasses, getting my windows tinted, working on the wedding) that I've been putting off since Winter Break!

Tomorrow I get to witness my nephew (pictured below with Uncle Ben discussing why his Gingerbread House doesn't meet code) attend his first "race".

This is the first year Alex is eligible to run, and he will be doing the 30 yard dash.  I'm not sure he is aware of what is actually going on, but 30 yards is totally manageable for this kid!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

First visit to the ONE-derland! Totally not going to the ER!

YESSS!!!

This week has been one amazing whirlwind.  I spent Monday - Thursday in Tallahassee.  Some of the really excited things I got to experience in Florida's capital is meeting sitting Supreme Court Justice, Peggy Quince; sitting in several House and Senate committee meetings; meeting Senator Anitere Flores and House Representative William Proctor; and touring the Governor's mansion.  It was really a busy time with tons of meetings and events so working out everyday wasn't so much of an option.  I did get to hit up the gym twice, but not really ideal for the week before a half marathon.  Oh well.

Coming home Thursday night was the best feeling EVER!  It was so nice to shower in my own bathroom and sleep in my own comfortable bed (with my cute honey).  Friday night Ben and I went on a little easy run in our neighborhood.  He got in a new pair of shoes that day and wanted to break them in, but it was raining a little bit when we walked out the door.  Not wanting to slosh around on the first run, he quickly switched shoes and we did a nice 3.5 miler.  And, of course, it stopped raining by the time we started....

Here he is with his new prized possession!  (Special thank you to Natalie and Tracey at Suncoast Running). The Brooks site at the expo were also selling the Launch in the new color, so there were quite a few other runners with the same ones....womp womp.

Saturday morning, we set out to go to the EXPO for Rock and Roll.  Our plan was to get there early before it got too crazy with the parking situation.  The plan worked because we got FREE two hour street parking right next to Tropicana Field.  Holla!  We had to wait a little bit before we could get in, so I snapped his picture of the boys patiently waiting to go inside...

Here we are in "Madrid"

And here are some of the wonderful women who I'm fortunate enough to get to run with:

After the EXPO, we went to Ferg's for lunch and then headed home.  We were meeting up for an early dinner of spaghetti and meatballs provided by Amanda and Chris.  The meal was delicious!  We were home by 7 pm (party animals!) and in bed by 9 pm.  The 4:30 am wake-up call was brutal!  I think it was worse because it was so darn cold outside!

We headed out to meet up at Chris' house and then we were going to carpool down to St. Petersburg.  We did pay $15 to park (such crap) and then we were fortunate enough to have our own photographer who moved our car for us to the finish line. I can not even express how great that was!  

The actual was race nothing shy of excellent!  I have to say that I owe everything to Chris and Ben for pulling me through and encouraging me the entire race.  The downhills, crowds, bands, and the signs were icing on the cake.  Here is the official finish!  Sub 2:00!

Participant Detail

Finished In:

01:56:33

3199

Laura Kelly

Port Richey, FL

Age: 30 | Gender: F

• Overall: 1726 out of 7006
 
• Division: 128 out of 755
 
• Gender: 694 out of 4562

• 5 Km
• 6 Mi
• 10 Mi

• 26:28
• 52:16
• 1:26:08

• Pace
• Chip Time
• Clock Time

• 8:54
• 01:56:33
• 01:59:02

Here is a photo of myself and Ben at the finish.  It was also really cool to see the clock under two hours as well!  My Garmin said the course was 3.21, so I did actually run 1:55 for 13.1 but I'm not complaining!  The whole race was great, can't wait for next year.

Here's a photo of me "punching" Chris in the face.  This is what I say I'm always going to do to him if he ever pushes me too far.  Needless to say, I've never punched anyone in the face.

First Rock and Roll Half Marathon!

Our anniversary is actually today (February 13th).  Three years ago we went on our first date (on a Friday the 13th).  Neither one of us knew what the future held for us, but it's been one amazing ride.  I can't not put in to words how lucky I feel to have someone like Ben who is so smart, funny, patient, and caring all rolled up in to one good-looking package!  The Half Marathon was early anniversary present to us! Happy Anniversary! ;)

I also got my first pair of trail shoes this weekend!  I'm officially signed up for the Trout Creek Trail 5k! Eekkk!  I went with the New Balance 573, can't wait to try them out this weekend.  

Now that I have broken the 2:00 mark (which still feels surreal), it's time to focus on other things.  Breaking 25:00 in the 5k and branching out on the trails are next on the list.  Hope you all have a wonderful week - Happy Valentine's Day!

Daily Mile, Pinterest Obsession, and another busy weekend!

Are y'all on Daily Mile?  The website is pretty nice, I could do without them rounding up/down my miles and times, but hey no one is perfect.  My running goal this year is to run 1200 miles.  I figured that if I kept on top of logging my miles electronically it will be easier to calculate everything at the end of the week/month/year.

So in the month of January I ran 114 miles.  I  have also burned 4 pounds, powered 15.64 TVs, saved 6.94 gallons of gas, and burned 77 donuts(!!).  You guys know know I love my statistics...

I've also been obsessed with Pinterest lately.  There is just SO much interesting, random stuff in one place to look at!  The one thing that I don't like about Pinterest is that if you don't "pin" something right when you see it...good luck finding it again.  I was trying to tell my sister about something for the wedding that I saw on Pinterest, and you know I could never find it again...  Darn.

The other really great thing about Pinterest is that there are a lot of really (and I mean REALLY) good ideas on there.  I actually stumbled across this website for a practical wedding. There are so many great ideas for keeping a wedding "in check".  The simple fact the Ben and I are sponsoring our own wedding has lead me to the realization that our wedding day isn't about whether or not I have a fancy hanger with my name on it, or an open bar, or etc...or etc...

Here's a quote from the author about memorable weddings:

I don't remember what the centerpieces looked like.  Frankly, I don't remember if they had centerpieces.  I don't remember what the brides dress looked like, just that it was white, she had a veil, and she was so happy she looked like she was shooting beams of light around the room.  I don't remember if they had programs, or much about what we ate.  All I remember is the emotion, the funny stories, and looks on peoples faces.  

Clearly, we are going to have to do a lot of the preparations and decorations ourselves, but that's what Pinterest is for, right?!? ;)

This weekend has been another busy one.  On Friday night, Ben and I met up with Kelly, Keith, Amanda, and Ryan at the Brick House on Dale Mabry.  This place is rather new and pretty good.  Their big claim to fame is the "beer bong" that they bring to the table and beers with a kick (i.e. BeeSting - Guinness with OJ).

Yesterday was my last long run before (inaugural) Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon.  (I'm race number 3199, in corral 3)  It's been a few weeks since I've gone "long" and I really needed to have a little more confidence going in to next weekend.  Chris and I decided to meet up at his place and do a 10 miler on Bayshore.  I was planning to use my Gu gels for the first time to try out my race nutrition plan.  My friends at Suncoast Running hooked me up with a sample of the Mint Chocolate flavor (which was delicious!).

For the Space Coast Marathon, I used Shot Bloks (which worked really well), but I find it hard to chew and run at that same time.  My plan was to take a shot blok (black cherry, with caffeine) before the run and then the Gu at about 45 minutes in.  I'm happy to report that the plan worked perfectly. Here are the splits:

Laps11

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 1:28:53.6 10.01 8:53 1 8:55.0 1.00 8:55 2 8:33.8 1.00 8:34 3 8:56.8 1.00 8:57 4 8:47.6 1.00 8:48 5 8:59.3 1.00 8:59 6 8:52.4 1.00 8:52 7 8:59.2 1.00 8:59 8 8:51.4 1.00 8:51 9 9:04.2 1.00 9:04 10 8:50.7 1.00 8:51 11 :03.1 0.01 6:52

If I'm able to maintain under 9:00 minute miles I will hit my goal of a sub 2:00 half marathon.  Yesterday was  more of a trial run for next weekend.  I haven't seen the weather report for next weekend, but yesterday was pretty warm.  Ben, Chris, and I have decided to run the race together so I'm really excited about having support and a little bit of a push.

After the run was over, we decided to head to First Watch to refuel.  I'm so in love with this place!  I got the Fresh Fruit Crepes, my favorite:

Afterwards we met up with some family for a picnic at Al Lopez (perfect weather!), hit up Sam's Club (super fun the day before the Super Bowl!), and then went to the Land and Sea Market.  Land and Sea was AMAZING.  I've driven past this place a ton and have been meaning to stop since we moved in to our new place in July.  We landed up getting one of the packages they offer pick 6 for $26:

1 Chili or 1 Seafood Chowder

½ lb Spinach and Artichoke Dip or ½ lb Apple Walnut Chicken Sala

1 lb Deli Turkey or 1 lb Deli Ham

2 Stuffed Chicken Breasts (Over 12 Varieties)

2 Basa Fillets

2 lbs. Boneless Chicken Breasts

2 Bourbon Marinated Steaks

2 Chicken Mignons (Cajun, Lemon Pepper, or Greek) or 2 lbs.Ground Chicken

2 Tilapia Fillets

4 Chicken Burgers (Choose from Feta, Cheddar, Buffalo, Spinach and Feta, or Plain)

8 All Beef Hot Dogs

I can say with all certainty that we will be going back to Land and Sea, for sure!  Ben and I cooked up the stuffed chicken breasts last night, and they were delicious!  This week I'm off to Tallahassee for most of the week (Monday - Thursday), so it will be interesting to run in the hills a little more than normal.  More importantly, I want to make sure that I eat well and drink plenty of water.  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Kumquats, Pirates, and Challenges!

Is it Wednesday already.  Man!  This weekend/week has really flown by.  Friday night, Ben and I decided to hang at home, cook up some pasta, and watch Bad Teacher.  It was really nice just to relax after a crazy week.  Sometimes it seems as if both Ben and I have so much going on during the week that we don't want to leave the house much during the weekend.  A sign of getting old?  Probably.

Saturday morning, we headed out to Dade City for the 5th Annual Kumquat Festival 5K.  This is the third year that I ran the course and I just love, love, love this little race.  First of all, it's a challenging, hilly course.  Secondly, it's a pretty small race.  And finally, if you win - you get a picture with Lil Miss Kumquat.  (Gotta love Dade City charm).

So when I started out, I was feeling really good.  The uphills also bring the DOWNhills!  When the first mile clicked, I looked down at my watch and it said 7:50 pace! WHAT?  Lemme just state (for the record) that I have never ran under 8:00. In. My. Life.  So I almost stopped to look at the beauty of a 7:50 mile.  (Yes, I'm a nerd)

Anyway, the next mile was a steady uphill.  Yay!  I passed a few people and got passed by a few people.  The course was a little different this year, so I wasn't sure exactly where we were going, but by the time I got my bearings I realized that it was going to be SHORT.  Aww shucks.

Obviously, this is a "PR", but you can't really count it because it wasn't 3.1 miles.  But, I did get first place in my age group and had a great time. Here are the splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	23:58.5	2.92	8:12
1	7:51.0	1.00	7:51
2	8:36.7	1.00	8:37
3	7:30.8	0.92	8:09

Oh, you don't know what a kumquat is? They sort of look like oblong organges, but you eat the skin.  I'm not a fan, but Ben loves 'em.  The other cool thing about the Kumquat Festival is that all the downtown businesses have baskets of kumquats outside their doors so you can try one.  They look like this:

After we ran, Ben and I met up with his parents for breakfast at Olga's.  If you EVER go to Dade City and want a really good donut, breakfast sandwich, cup of coffee or Cuban - you MUST visit Olga's.  Don't worry about where they are located, you will be able to smell the scent of their delicious donuts.

After breakfast, we rushed home to get ready for the Gasparilla Pirate Fest!  This event is normally pretty insane, but it's the spot that Ben and I first met, so there is a soft spot in my heart for this parade. (And who doesn't love a good parade?!?).  This year, we went with some of the amazing folks from my office, in a LIMO!

Here we are getting picked up:

We even met up with Rhonda and her friend Annette who was visiting from Chicago.  She was a real hoot!  The best part was watching the Rhonda/Annette competition for beads!

Here we are with our pirate's booty!

Normally we watch the parade on Bayshore, but this year we were downtown on Gasparilla Plaza. (In front of the Children's museum) I must say, it was nicer.  Parking and crowds were lighter.  

After a full day, I was glad to be home, showered, and relaxing pretty early.  Ben was running Florida Challenge Sunday morning.  Tampa Races puts on quite a few trail/offroad runs each year.  Ben did the Wildhorse run and we've both done the Picnic Island Runs.  The Florida Challenge was at the beautiful Alafia River State Park.  I didn't really embark on the trails, but Ben said it was the most beautiful trail run that he's ever been on.

The morning started off a little rough.  Google Maps took us down a road that has been shut down. It was a pretty skinny, back country road.  Luckily another runner waved us down and told us that it was not the way to get in to the park.  As we turned around, Ben's left tire was quickly losing air as indicated on his truck computer.  Awww snap.

Once we got in to the park, Ben (my HERO!) was able to but together the jack in his truck and put the spare tire on and even managed to get to the start line EARLY.  He's so dreamy sometimes!  We actually thought the half marathon started at 7:30, when it reality it started at 8:00 - so that worked out to our advantage.

Tampa Races also has a program that if you get someone to volunteer for you, you can run for free.  This is the second time that I have volunteered so that Ben can run, and it's actually pretty cool. I mean, what else am I going to do?  At the Wildhorse, I worked the finish table and clicked in the finishing runners.  Since I had "experience" I was able to do the same job at the Florida Challenge.  

I had a chance to talk to Ric Dorrie from Florida Road Race Management.  You all probably know who he is, if you saw him.  He does the majority of the event timing in the area.  He also has this timing business down to a science.  It was a real pleasure to talk to him and ask him questions about racing and he may have even convinced me to do my first TRAIL RUN!  WHAT!!??  Yes, you heard correctly.

The Trout Creek races are in the end of March (March 25th to be exact!).  I am planning on dipping my toe in the 5K first.  Stay tuned!