Happy Blogiversary Read.Bake.Run.Repeat!

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One year ago today I decided to revive a blog that I had previously used as a tool to raise money for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in 2010.  Over the past year, the blog has grown in popularity and become something I never could have imagined. 

As part of my 1 year blogiversary I decided it was time to finish off my logo/design! When I first had my logo created, I liked it, but it wasn't quite what I had in mind, Amber at Amber Mabe Design created this one for me and she really captured what I was going for.

 

I've been alluding to some big announcements in conjunction with the blogiversary for a while... drumroll please...!

1. My mostly complete 2014 race schedule will be posted on the blog tomorrow! Until, then check out #2 and #3 for some BIG hints.

2. I have been invited to officially rock n' blog for the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Oasis Vancouver Half Marathon and Cunningham Seawall 10K! Keep an eye on the blog for more information to come and a giveaway for an entry into the event!

3. I will also be blogging for the 50th Anniversary of the Calgary Marathon in June which will be part of my quest for Marathon Maniac status THIS year!

4. After a successful experience doing the 13in2013 challenge, I have decided to join 14in2014!

5. Lastly, to celebrate the blogiversary and a very exciting year ahead, I'm holding a ProCompression giveaway for a pair of marathon socks. Here is my previous review of the socks! They are a recovery must-have.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

  Happy Blogiversary Read.Bake.Run.Repeat.!

 

A Year In Review

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What a year it has been! Here are a few of the highlights:

I went to New York City with my sister!

I ran 13 half marathons in 6 months!

We moved to a new house!

I ran my 1st full marathon and survived!

My baby turned 2!

We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary and saw 2 of our best friends who were there on our special day FINALLY get engaged! Congrats Matt & Jenna!

All of those amazing and special things happened this year, but there's something else that will make 2013 extra special for me. About a year ago I wrote this post. 2013 was the year that my blog became something more than I could have ever imagined. It still and always will be a place where I record my successes and failures and share my thoughts on life, but I was and I'm still surprised that so many people read the things I have to say.

I feel incredibly honored and I thank you for all of your support and encouragement throughout this year.

This weekend I will officially celebrate the blogiversary, so for now, all there is left to say is Happy New Year. I don't necessarily believe in "resolutions" per se, but I do believe in goals, so as you make your toast this evening consider a goal big or small, you'd be surprised at what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it and even more so when you WRITE IT DOWN.

13 in 2013 Review

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Having completed my 13th Half Marathon for 2013 just over a week ago I thought I'd review the 13 races I ran in the last 6 months!

1. Running from an Angel Half Marathon - Lake Mead, NV
The one where I ran up a mountain... but then we went to Vegas so it was okay!

In all honesty this was one of the most beautiful courses I've ever run and even though it was painful I don't regret a second of it. Would I ever run the twin race, "Running from the Devil"? Let's see, Nevada in June, hell NO! The race was actually cancelled this year due to an extreme heat warning.

2. Disney's Tinkerbell Half Marathon - Anaheim, CA
The one where I ran in a tutu through Cinderella's castle!

This was my first race with my mother in law and I had a great time!

3. Vancouver First 1/2 Half Marathon - Vancouver, BC
The one where I had to contend with the Sea Wall AGAIN!

Despite my love/hate relationship with the seawall I made new friends here so it will always be remembered for that!

4. Fort Langley Historic Half Marathon - Fort Langley, BC
The one that I ran in my hometown!

This race means much more to me now knowing that we aren't going to be living in Fort Langley for very much longer (more news to come soon!). I love it here and even though this race is known for its hilly course, a friend helped me get through it and made it that much more awesome!

5. The NYC Half Marathon - Manhattan, NY
The one where I ran through Times Square! This may have also been the coldest start to a race that I've ever experienced.

This was a huge moment for me, first getting into the lottery and then actually going to New York City with my sister to run the race!

6. The Jelly Bean Virtual Half Marathon - Anywhere...
The one that I did all by myself!

No spectators, no water stations (does a gas station count?), no course marshals... I just ran a half marathon by myself and it was a great day!

7. The Sunshine Coast April Fools Half Marathon - Gibsons, BC
The one where I didn't think I would even finish and then I PR'd!

This was a fun race and I was so glad to see my hubby standing at the finish line!

8. The BMO Vancouver Half Marathon - Vancouver, BC
The one where I really had to pee!

The bathroom break and the weather killed me on this race but I finished with a new blogger friend and the post-race slurpees made my day!

9. Portland Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - Portland, OR
The one where I fueled up on donuts!

 I loved our trip to Portland and for the most part I loved this race!

10. Run for Water Half Marathon - Abbotsford, BC
The one where I had the stomach flu but still PR'd by 5 minutes!

This race was amazing, I still don't know how I got that PR and I'll be chasing it for a while I think!

11. Whistler Half Marathon - Whistler, BC
The one where I was really, really tired of all this racing...

Though it was a beautiful course and a pretty nice race, I was exhausted and knew that I wouldn't be beating my PR from the previous week.

12. Seattle Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - Seattle, WA
The one where I decided to try something new...

Great run with a friend but probably not the time to try not wearing my fuel belt with water! The time reflected my lack of planning.

13. Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon - Vancouver, BC
The one where I completed my first double race weekend!

I was tired but I don't regret it for a second, I'd love to do this race again, hopefully with some more energy next time!

So that's it, 13 races in 6 months! Will I do it again? Probably not, it was a one time challenge and challenging it was. What now? More focus on the marathon training. Up until now I've just been trying to get myself to the next race day because they were all so close together. Now it's time to focus on quality of training for my first full marathon in September!

The Calm...

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I'm trying to find the words to say what today is because there is such a crazy, exciting, and busy weekend ahead so I feel like it's sort of the "calm before the storm" but only if the storm included tons of fun and running...

There's been so much happening in my life over the last couple of weeks and I look forward to sharing some of that with all of you soon but because of that I almost forgot what was happening starting tomorrow. I'm less than 24 hours away from my DOUBLE race weekend!

That's right we (Nikki from Slow is the New Fast and another running friend, Sarah) are taking on 2 Half Marathons in one weekend!

Nikki, Sarah, and I back in January when I tagged along for a Goofy training run! I look like an alien with my head lamp... Here's hoping for a better picture of the 3 of us this weekend!

Now for Nikki it's definitely not the most challenging weekend as her and Sarah both did the Goofy Challenge back in January at Walt Disney World, but for me this is definitely the biggest challenge yet. As we are starting to ramp up full marathon training in preparation for Surrey I think it will be a good opportunity to see what my body is capable of. The logic in my head seems to be that if I can run a marathon over two days then why couldn't I do it in one day? I pretty much did this already back in April but it wasn't a race just back-to-back training runs.

So what does this weekend entail?

1. Friday: Surrey Marathon Kick Off Event which takes place at 5:00AM in Central City Plaza including a discount on marathon registration and free pancakes (mmm carb loading...)! Then it's off to Seattle for the race Expo and of course a stop at the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious pre-race dinner.

2. Saturday: Rock n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon

3. Sunday: Vancouver Scotiabank Half Marathon

Nikki put this image together for her blog post about our weekend plans!

How am I going to do all this in one weekend? Honestly because things have been so busy I haven't had a chance to think about it much (maybe that's a good thing).... All I can say right now is it will be lots of fun and I'm not hoping for any sort of PR's just that I will still be able to walk come Sunday night!

There's one more thing that makes this weekend really special: Sunday's Half will be my 13th for 2013! That's right I will have completed the 13in2013 challenge 6 months earlier than I originally planned! And that folks, that deserves a celebration... and if you haven't figured it out yet, here at Read.Bake.Run.Repeat. I celebrate by giving something away... what could it be? Check back tomorrow!

June Goals

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My fellow blogger and friend, Runner Leana is great at making monthly goals and she's inspired me to do the same!

1. After the success of DietBet 2.0 I've decided to attempt DietBet 3.0 (You can join the SweatPink DietBet too!)

2. Finish my quilt that I've been working on FOREVER

3. Complete the 13in2013 challenge by running the Rock n' Roll Seattle Half & the Vancouver Scotiabank Half (June 22 & 23)

4. Read/review at least two new books: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed (June Book Club book) & "The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window & Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. I have so many books on my list right now I better get reading!

5. Try 4 new gluten-free recipes!

6. Begin Marathon training, eeek it's almost time...

7. Attend CrossFit at least 3 x a week (I get 14 sessions per month so some weeks I will be going 4).

8. Make most snacks/lunches at home and remember to bring them with me!

9. Go for more walks with Griffin, we used to go everyday and now that the weather is nicer I want to take advantage of it. 

What are your plans for June? Do you have any of the same goals? 

What now?

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17 half marathons later and 3 weeks until my next race I am more than ready for a break from racing! Don't get me wrong I'll still be running and doing CrossFit but I'm going to be more relaxed about it for the next month. In July/August marathon training will really be ramping up and my distances are going to be getting longer and LONGER so there won't be time for a lot of rest.

Lots of times after races I sort of have to pause for a couple of days and consider "what now"? This year has been hard with a race almost every weekend I haven't been specifically training for each race but rather just trying to maintain... after my 13th half for 2013 on June 23rd I'll be completely focused on Marathon training and honestly I feel kind of relieved about the whole thing. As much as I've enjoyed the past 5 months I don't feel like I've been able to give it my everything at each race for fear of injury or not being able to run a race the following weekend. I can't wait to see what I can do putting my everything into training for the Surrey International World Music Marathon on September 29th!

Yesterday was National Running Day so in spirit of running just because it was a nice day to run I joined my local run club for a very toasty 7 kilometers:

Don't forget to enter the LockLaces Giveaway that ends tomorrow!

Do you feel like you should always be training for something specifically or do you enjoy a break now and then?

Race Review: Run for Water Half Marathon

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2:08:50

On my 10th half marathon for 2013 I went sub 2:10! That's a 5 and a half minute PR! 

How did I do it? After 16 half marathons you'd think I'd have the answer to that but I honestly don't know what happened.

I didn't have high hopes for this race after a week with the stomach flu and hardly any running I was sure I'd fall apart on this run. I got up not feeling sure about whether I should even run the race after such a bad week but hesitantly decided what's the worst that could happen?

Because it was a local race and I wasn't feeling super motivated I didn't have any crazy costume picked out so I just picked out some basic gear that I thought would fare well in the pouring rain. I headed out the door about 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to race start. It took me a little longer to get there than I had anticipated because I hadn't accounted for the road closures for the marathon which had started an hour earlier. When I got to the designated parking it was still pouring and I had about a 3km walk to the start line -- you might say I was less than thrilled. 

After a dreary and very wet walk I arrived with about 10 minutes to spare. I probably should have brought a change of clothes for after and checked a bag but I hadn't thought of that the night before, so I stood there at the start line worrying about how cold I was going to be after the race. 

Since I had arrived much later than expected I didn't have to wait very long, it was a good thing too because I would have gotten pretty cold... Even with the poncho I was drenched before I even started.

So as the rain poured down in sheets, the race began and we were off headed towards some nice flat farm roads. To get to those roads we had to go downhill all the well knowing we had to come right back up those hills at the finish. Around kilometer 2 I ran into a friend who was running her first half marathon! It's always funny when you're running a race and all of the sudden you glance to the side and there's someone you know. It happens to me a lot at local races especially now that I've run so many and made friends within the running community. 

I sort of lost track of the person I had run into around kilometer 4 and tried to settle into a comfortable pace that I could maintain for the rest of the race. Once I did that it was the weirdest thing -- the race totally flew by. I've never felt like that before during a whole half marathon, I wasn't struggling in the least, I felt great, even in the pouring rain. I've always joked about how I actually enjoy running in the rain so maybe it helped me in some way, I certainly enjoy it more than running in the heat.

As I came up on kilometer 16 I texted my friend, Nikki, who had run the ultra marathon yesterday and was volunteering handing out medals for the half today! I wanted to let her know that I was going to hit the finish line earlier than I thought, I was hoping she could hand me my medal!

Nikki and I at her Ultra Marathon (55km) Finish Line

I wasn't too sure what would happen when I hit that hill to the finish especially after the race going so well up until this point, I think I was waiting to hit the wall... But it just never happened. I powered up that same hill that I had found so horrible in the 10k the year prior like it was nothing. And in a way I suppose that hill was nothing compared to some of the elevations in my runs this year (Nevada, Sunshine Coast, Fort Langley, even Portland last week).

As I came up on the last kilometer it was more difficult to push past the comfortable pace I had found and sprint to the finish but I did it anyway knowing that I was going to come in under 2:10, I had nothing to lose.

Unfortunately in my post-race haze I managed to completely miss Nikki, but of course I got my medal anyway. I was so cold that I didn't hang around long very aware that I still had to walk all the way back to the car before I could put on a sweater.

So there you have it, a new PR after a week with the stomach flu... I guess sometimes the stars align for a perfect run, today was that day for me.

BMO Fools Run Race Review

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Wow I am tired! This morning I got up at 5:00AM and we were out the door headed to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal by about 5:45AM. I was so glad my husband, Cody, decided to come along at the last minute so I didn't have to drive so early in the morning plus it was great to have some company for the journey! I made sure to download "Running the Sahara" to the iPad last night so that we'd have something to watch on the Ferry. We both didn't sleep great last night so I brought a pillow too and even though Cody had been at my soon to be brother-in-law's bachelor party till 12:30AM the night before, we were both too into the documentary to go to sleep. I highly recommend watching this, especially the night before a race, great inspiration! I can't even fathom running 2 Marathons a day for 111 days through the Sahara Desert...

As a side note, my friend Nikki from Slow is the New Fast will actually get the chance to run with Ray Zahab (featured in the documentary) in May at the Run for Water Ultra Marathon, so cool!

Once we arrived in Gibson's it didn't take long to get to the community center where the race start line was, in fact we ended up being over an hour early. I felt really ready for this race despite all the hills I was seeing on the way there.

I headed into the community center to use the washroom, it wasn't too crowded which was nice. The race was very well organized for being so small. Because it was such a small race there was no starting mat, so the time was based on gun time. We started the race up an incline but it was short lived (thank goodness). Immediately after starting I realized something wasn't quite right with my right ankle/lower calf, everything was feeling very tight and became quite a bit more painful as the race continued.

I was starting to worry how I would even finish the race. I struggled through the first 8km of steep hills, it was pretty rough and then we finally leveled out and my ankle pain eased off slightly, enough that I knew I could fight through the pain.

We were now down by the water and I knew at some point we'd have to go back up again so I buckled down and decided I was getting a PR one way or another. Just at that moment I noticed this sign and actually laughed out loud:

NO! I will not slow down! Eventually we had to make our way back up the hills, and I did but I had to slow down quite a bit and by the time I got to the top we had caught up with the walkers that had an earlier start than we did. I have to say this was the most frustrating part of the race, I knew I was only a few km from the finish but I couldn't go anywhere. We were on a highway and they couldn't close the road so we were confined to the narrow shoulder, I tried to pass several walkers but some of them just wouldn't get out of the way. I found this disappointing, I imagine at that point they were probably quite frustrated with people trying to pass them but still... Needless to say I think I could have made up some more time there. In the end, I got a PR anyway, the results show 02:14:14, but remember there was no starting mat and I started at least 30 secs after the gun went off.

It was quite the race to the ferry after the run, we made it there two minutes before they closed the gate. Because of this I have no idea what the post race festivities and food were like, I pretty much went from the finish line to the car because if we had missed the ferry we would have had to wait two hours.

I made sure to put on my compression socks on the ferry, wow did it ever feel good to put on clean clothes!

I also made sure to grab some chocolate milk, mmm!

And of course pose for a few photos:

This is a short race report because I don't have much to say other than I'm thankful it didn't rain, there were a lot of hills, and I'm happy with my shiny new PR! My goal for the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon is now 2:10 or under.

13 Half Marathons Complete (overall)
7/17 Complete (for 2013)

Race Review: Fort Langley Historic Half Marathon

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Before I start let me say, I'd like some cheese with my whine because I'm going to whine a lot... right now.

The day started out well, I woke up, decided not to shower (I normally do to wake myself up). I just got dressed, grabbed a bite and headed out the door. I arrived with plenty of time and it was very chilly, I kept my eye out for the people from the Running Room I go to on Wednesdays/Sundays, but I didn't see anyone. I looked at the mile long bathroom line-up and decided that wasn't going to happen so I headed straight to the fire to stay warm:

I ran into someone here from my Surrey Half Marathon running clinic last summer. It was nice to have someone to chat with and of course to get a picture:

I wore my new "powered by chocolate milk" shirt, lulu swiftly long sleeve, and my 'magic pants' (CWX 3/4 compression tights)

They had 3 different starts for the half marathon (each consisting of 200 people), the girl I was standing with convinced me to start in the second corral, I was planning on the 3rd (just in case there were a bunch of elite runners) but I decided to go for it. It ended up being fine since it was up to each individual, there were people of every level in that starting group. I always get nervous especially when it's up to the individual because people often place themselves in the wrong group. I remember when I did the Sun Run, there were people with strollers in the 1:00 finish corral. I wish that all the race organizers, especially with the larger races, made you prove your finish time with a recent result from a race. 

Anyways, within a couple minutes of lining up we were on our way. I felt good for the first 5 or so kilometres... then we hit 240th, the first of the substantial hills in the race. I knew they were coming but I still wasn't ready. I pushed as much as I could but I ended up walking the last half of it. At this point, I knew I was behind where I needed to be and I sort of lost motivation, I was still running 10/1s but I was feeling pretty down. Just then, a friend from the Running Room tapped my back and ran up beside me! It was great, I totally needed that push. Tracey was on a slightly different 10/1 schedule because she started in the 3rd group, so I got on hers and we ran together. She is a faster runner than me, but that's what I needed to get me back up to a decent time. We powered through the last of the hills and down a really curvy hill (which was really rough on my knee) and then down onto river road, a good flat stretch. I told Tracey to go ahead somewhere around the 15km mark, I knew I needed to slow down just slightly as my knee was starting to give me trouble after all the up/down. I adjusted my pace and decided I needed to get this over with. I'll admit this was probably one of the most difficult races for me, besides Nevada, I can't think of a tougher one. I wanted nothing more than to be done. I chuckled slightly at these signs, there were various different sayings:

Not a great picture but I wasn't really stopping: It says "Chop down  your time!" with a picture of a man chopping wood. 

My laughter was brief, finally we were back on Glover Road, a stretch I drive almost every day. I was so close, 2km left... There was no more stopping. Finally... finally I was done, with a time of 02:20:49, not so bad considering my PR is 02:17:38. After that difficult of a course, I'll take it. Even though I live in Fort Langley and I love it, I didn't love this race. It was beautiful and the organization was all good but it was a personal struggle for me. I've never loved hill training and this pushed my limits, not as bad as Nevada but it was REALLY hard.  Thank you Tracey for helping me get through the majority of the race and thank you to all the organizers/volunteers of Try Events!

When I got home I was eager to put my CEP compression socks on, have some chocolate milk, and relax... well relax with Griffin, so I think I sat down for a minute or two...

I can't believe I've done 10 half marathons... 4/16 done for the year, I'm well on my way to completing the 13in2013 challenge! By the end of the year I'm definitely going to be out of room on my medal rack, I'll have to look for something different, perhaps when I go to the Disney Wine & Dine Expo (I remember they had some neat ones at Tinkerbell).

So now it's on to a couple of shorter distance Sunday's and then the Golden Ears Half Marathon followed by NYC!

Maybe I'd like some wine with my whine fest, yes, yes that sounds much better than cheese...

I've been Powered Up for Work it Out Wednesday!

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So last week my good friend, Nikki from Slow is the New Fast nominated be to get powered up in the Powered Up By Chocolate Milk contest! I'm so honored she nominated me and SO excited that I was chosen as one of the winners!

I'm so impressed with this contest and what a great way to pay it forward to those who've helped me in reaching my running goals. I nominated 3 more people and guess what? They were all powered up too!

Today I received my powered up package just in time for Work it Out Wednesday!

In the package: water bottle, a mini cooler to transport my milk to races, a tshirt, a $50 gift card to the running room, and best of all two cartons of chocolate milk, mmm!

I love chocolate milk post-run, I always feel great after, you could say I've been powered up! I'm going to have some tonight after run club and training at Equilibria and I'll save the other one for after the Fort Langley Historic Half on Sunday! 

Chocolate milk and running are two of my favorite things so I'll definitely be keeping track of Powered by Chocolate Milk in the future. Who knows maybe they're looking for a new ambassador?!? Could chocolate milk get me through 16 marathons in one year (thought it was 13in2013, read this post)? I guess you'll have to wait and see!

Race Review: Vancouver First 1/2 Half Marathon

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This morning I woke up bright an early after a so-so kind of night, not the greatest sleep of my life. I showered to wake myself up and put on my race gear then headed to the kitchen for some peanut butter on toast. I felt pretty good and ready for the run, so I headed out to meet Nikki so we could ride in together to meet her friend Solana. When we arrived it was very clear to me that this was going to be a race of mainly elite or faster runners, I then started to get a little bit more nervous but we stopped to take some pre-race pictures anyway...

I was more than happy to get started because it was pretty chilly out there this morning. 

Within the 1st kilometer I realized that my left sock was going to be a problem, I had already adjusted it twice from slipping down into my shoe before the race... grrr! I made a quick stop and yanked it up and off I went again around BC place and back down Pacific towards the sea wall. As we approached the seawall I was very apprehensive -- the seawall and I have a love/hate relationship especially since Lululemon. At the SeaWheeze Half Marathon last August I got my worst time EVER, I blame the heat and the seawall, it just went on and on. However, at the Vancouver Historic Half last November I PR'd and that was a double loop of the seawall. I plugged along at a relatively good place, got a good picture on one of my water breaks:

At this point I knew we were about to round onto second beach, I looked at my watch and we were only at 13km so I knew there would be another little loop before heading back on the seawall towards Pacific avenue. To my surprise/horror we still had to run around the lagoon, it's not that far but I was annoyed because I could see the way back and then we basically turned and went in the other direction. At this point I got nervous about getting a PR, I knew if I wanted to try for one I really had to book it so that's what I did. I didn't stop again until the very last hill which was less than a mile from the finish, I very quickly walked up the hill and started sprinting. If I didn't sprint full out for that last little bit I never would have PR'd, it was close. So my new PR is 02:17:38.

I'm glad I PR'd but I honestly thought that it would be better after my experience at Running from an Angel & Disney. Anyways, it's time to look past this race and prepare for the Fort Langley Historic Half next Sunday. I can confidently say that will not be a PR, I know the course, and more importantly I KNOW THE HILLS but it's my town and I gotta do it.

So just like that, 3 races of the year are behind me, 13 to go. Here we go 13in2013!