Annette's running story

Alright, let's get this blog moving with some stories. When you get a chance, share the story of when/how you started running. I'll go first.

I couldn't run at all in high school. Fitness tests were embarrassing. Mr. Fultz made fun of me because I couldn't run around the track four times. Ack!

Inspired by my college roommate, Emily, who was a cross-country runner, I tried running a few times in college. It didn't take.

Finally, right before Rob and I got married, I moved to a new apartment in Atlanta. The complex backed up to Freedom Park, home of a great network of urban running and biking trails. I saw so many people running by every morning and thought, "there must be something to this!" And "how much easier must it be to stay in shape when all I have to do is walk out my front door to start my workout!" Thus began Netto the runner :)

It was hard at first; there was a lot more walking than running. I ran my first race with Toni the week of our wedding. Toni was training for her marathon, so she was a hard-core runner by that time. Me, not so much. But I did meet my goal of not getting passed by any walkers. See? We were 73rd and 74th place, and Toni let me take the 3rd place age group trophy. (As an aside, my mom did not approve of my plan to run a race the week of our wedding. She pictured me biting the dust and coming home with a bloody face or something. Toni joked that she was going to call my mom after the race and tell her that I had sprained my ankle. Bad Toni!)

The awesome thing about being a beginner is that it's pretty easy to make significant improvements. Two months later, I ran in the Four Seasons Run for Research and took more than 2 minutes off my time. (The Run for Research has become one of my favorite yearly races. It raises money for cancer research, there are awesome raffle prizes--it is sponsored by the Four Seasons, after all--and in 2007 it was my first sub-30 min. 5K.)

In 2007, I decided to train for the Peachtree Road Race with my friend Cindee. She is a good runner and a firm taskmaster. There were many times when I said "Cindee, I'm going to walk the rest of the way up the hill" and she said "No." Um, okay. But I made it up the hill every time and was better for it. Without her encouragement, I would have never thought I could run a 10K! We ran the Peachtree Road Race together and finished in 1:04.

I've run two more Peachtrees since then. Michele came down and ran with me last year, which was lots of fun. Of course, I gave up on trying to keep up with her after two miles, but it was fun anyway :)


After seeing that I could run a 10K, I had thought about making the jump to a half marathon. (Never a full marathon...I'm not that crazy! :) But I had never committed to training for a half until Toni suggested it this year as a girls' get-together. I am so psyched that we were able to come up with a race that works for all of us! (Don't ask me how psyched I am at the end of a 10-mile training run, though...)

So, how did y'all become running superstars? :)

Hotel, flights, etc

One more thing that I meant to add earlier....have any of you given thought to hotel, flights, etc? I think we should probably go ahead & reserve a hotel room sometime in the near future. Also, Tessa & Toni...flying into Memphis or somewhere nearby? I know Annette's driving...but we should at least start thinking about travel plans & where we'll stay. Also, will any of you be home the weekend before at Thanksgiving? I haven't booked a flight yet....still considering my options since that would be 2 big trips, 2 weekends in a row.....

You gals are such world travelers!

Annette - glad to hear you had such a nice time on your trip to Colorado....impressive that you squeezed in a run too!

Tessa - how does it feel to be back in DC? Busy semester ahead? I'll talk to you more about my plans for DC next month sometime soon.....phone date!

Toni - I loved your Hawaii pictures....can't wait to go there someday too!

So girls, I'm having trouble with keeping myself motivated to run....plus, our weather hasn't been the greatest lately (lots of rain for summer!). I haven't done much searching on possible running groups around here. I've been trying to run 1-3 times a week....but even still, I haven't done much more than 3 miles at any given time. I'm registered for another 5K on August 13th. Manchester has marathon/half-marathon & if I thought I could do the 1/2 as practice or be ready by then, maybe I'd consider it. But jeez, I feel like I'll be pushing it to be ready for the one we're running!! So what will be the maximum total miles that you'll run on any given day before the race? Right at 13 miles, or much above? I need to check out some schedules & try to stick to something. I've been pretty good about doing other active things...like making it to some of my favorite classes at my gym: zumba, total body, pump it (mostly weights), cardio combo, etc. I haven't done yoga or pilates in years, but my gym offers both. Anyways, I need to get into a routine of running & still being able to do my normal classes at the gym....but maybe less classes, more running!

Well, I hope to catch up with all of you soon.....happy running!!

Running in Denver

I am exhausted after a weekend trip to Denver, but it was a great time! Lindy and Scott's wedding was beautiful and was followed by a fun party :) It was great to see lots of Davidson friends as well!

On Friday, we drove over to Boulder, where Colin is working for the summer. We decided to go hiking, which was problematic because some people didn't have good shoes. (I had my running shoes, which were fine.) We walked uphill for 30 min. or so before a group of us decided to head back down into Boulder. I felt like this trek had been a serious workout, especially at 6000 ft. A few of the guys hiked up to Royal Arch, which would have been fun if we were better prepared (it was also 90 degrees outside, but thankfully not humid!)

I did go running on Saturday morning. Our hotel was on the outskirts of the city, so I didn't get to run downtown. Luckily, there was a nice trail that ran along a creek that connected right by our hotel. That was a nice run. I had slept late, so it was warm outside, but again, not humid. It was glorious! I ran a little over 3 miles at the same pace I typically run in Atlanta, so I guess the altitude in Denver didn't affect me.

I was really surprised at how flat Denver is. As my plane descended, I looked out the window and thought, "Wait a second, this looks like Kansas!" Turns out that Denver is actually on a mile-high plateau, with mountains nearby to the west. We drove into Golden (home of Coors Brewing Company) on Thursday night, and one second we were in the plains and another second we were in the mountains!

It was a beautiful, fun weekend! What have y'all been up to?

Yoga in the park

I've done yoga a few times, but not recently, so I'm pretty much a beginner. After some suggestions from y'all that I give it another chance, I did yin yoga last night. This is the beginner class offered by the Atlanta Yoga Club in Piedmont Park. It's pretty cool to do yoga outside (except for the homeless man who tried to steal the attendance money!) The instructor was great, but I found the class to be pretty difficult. Some of the poses were really uncomfortable.

I think my trouble with yoga is twofold: (a) I am inflexible and (b) my core is weak. I was so confused last night, because we were in some complicated poses, and the instructor kept saying "notice if you have any tension in your shoulders, and let go of it." Same for abs, thighs, etc. I thought, if I let go of the tension in all my muscles, I'll fall on the ground! I was befuddled! And my shoulders do get very tight in some of the poses. (For example, downward dog. There are others that I can't remember.) I have a feeling that my abs and back muscles should be supporting me more, but they're not so thus the shoulder tension. Any input/advice?

The class was definitely good for stretching, which is good after a week of running and a little tiny bit of weight training. I think I'm going to try yoga again next week. Hopefully I'll get better at it after a few classes! For now, I'm off to Denver this afternoon for my good friend Lindy's wedding. Hope y'all are having a good week!

Time to Shape Up!

Hello Ladies!

Well, I'm back from Hawaii and feeling the need to get my butt into gear for this race. Unfortunately, I did not do any running along the beautiful beaches of Kauai--such a slacker!

However, I wanted to post and make a commitment to y'all and myself that I will run at least 3 times this week! Eekk! I can't promise how long I will run, but I will do my best in hopes that this will get me started and ready for August to start serious training!

Also, regarding the strength training...I think it is a good idea. I've enjoyed yoga and do think it's a good form of strength training--especially "the core" as well as pilates! I've been thinking about getting back into the pool, so I may look into the local YMCA.

Adios for now. I'll keep you posted about the 3 runs this week!

Happy Birthday Toni!

Hope you and Ian had a great time in Hawaii!

Strength training

Ladies (or anyone else reading this!), I need help. I haven't been to the gym in months--it's terrible. I've been doing pretty well with running, but I really need to get back into a strength training routine. What do you do? Classes, free weights, weight machines? Do you do it on the same days you run or on off days? What keeps you motivated? I always get so bored when lifting weights! But I know that weight training is important to overall fitness. Please help!

Back in the US

Hey ladies! I guess it's about time for me to post!!! I am finally back from my 2 month stay in Europe and am looking forward to getting back into a running routine. I had an amazing time--Berlin was a blast. Even though I didn't do any running while I was there, I walked all over the entire city for 5 straight days--wish I had had a pedometer to track my miles. I am thinking that has to count for something, right?! I was also doing some short runs and spinning classes in Trier before I left, so I hope that helps me in starting back up with training. I think the heat in DC will be the hardest hurdle--Annette, I am sure you can sympathize!
Congrats, Annette, on the Peachtree Race! :) The pics look great!
Jen, have you heard anything else about Valerie? And Toni, are you running along the beach in Hawaii??!
Miss you girls and can't wait to see you! Oh, I mean to ask, has anyone found an actual training schedule? Also, have you seen this website? I used it to track my miles in training for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler.
http://www.mapmyfitness.com/
hugs from DC!
t.

I look silly when I run.

I got an e-mail yesterday with pictures of me running the Peachtree. The photographers were about 400 yards before the finish line. I was trying to look triumphant (hence the raised arms), but I mostly just look like I'm ready to pass out. I don't think I'll be buying any of these pictures!


P.S. If you can see the orange things on our shoes, those are ChronoTrack "D" Race Timing Tags. It's fairly new technology that is really lightweight and cheap enough for one-time use. It was cool because this was the first year that every Peachtree runner got an official time. You can imagine that collecting chips from 55,000 runners at the finish line would be a logistical nightmare!

saw Valerie Kelley yesterday....

As you girls may have seen on Facebook, I made last minute plans to go to Knoxville for the 4th of July weekend. I flew in/out of Nashville (b/c I had a Southwest credit), and I was able to meet up with Valerie yesterday for lunch, icecream, & I met her fiance. She ran the Nashville 1/2 marathon a couple years ago, so I told her that she could still join us for the race in Memphis if she wants...since she's not that far away! So I'll keep you posted....we might have a 5th Fairmont gal running the race with us.

I just signed up for a 5K in August, I still need to find a 10K, and I'm considering using the Manchester 1/2 marathon as my practice run one month before our race.

Time to get serious about this running thing..... :-)

I survived the Peachtree Road Race!

At one point, I wasn't sure we would even make it to the start, much less the finish! My friend Cara picked me up at 7:30 am yesterday, which should have allowed us plenty of time to get to the starting line by 8:56 am. Then our MARTA train got stuck behind a broken train...in a tunnel. I watched the minutes tick by on my watch: 8:00, 8:05, 8:10. We got back up and running, but a few stops later we all (and by this I mean hundreds of runners trying to get to the start) realized that we needed to transfer trains because the one we were on was going north, not northeast like we needed. We finally got to our stop at about 8:40 am and hauled our butts up the hill to the start line. We made it with just five minutes to spare. I had never been so annoyed at MARTA, but we made it!

I started off the race a little teary-eyed as the announcer recognized the participants who had served in the military. A few minutes into the race, a DJ was blasting "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5. There was lots more music along the way, both live bands and DJs. There were also plenty of interesting costumes to keep me amused (see below)! I also chatted with a group of WVU alumni from Martinsburg for a few minutes.

The weather was surprisingly nice for July 4th in Atlanta. It was a little warmer than optimal for running (around 75 by the time I got out there), but the humidity was pretty low. I never felt like I was going to have heatstroke, and I was hydrated enough that I didn't need to stop at the water stations during the race.

After a first mile split of 11:23, I realized that I wasn't getting anywhere particularly fast. The crowd was amazingly thick, especially in the back where I was running. So I figured that if I could average 11-minute miles for the race (about 1:08), I would be satisfied. The hills were a little tough, but I finished in 1:08:04. It was a few minutes slower than last year's time, but a decent showing overall. Every runner got a timing chip this year, so you can look up my time on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website! I got 21,366th place...hey, that's in the top half! (EDIT: Turns out I got 21,365th place because the 4th place finisher was disqualified!)


So, I survived the Peachtree Road Race and added a third Peachtree t-shirt to my collection. See you next summer, Peachtree!

And hey...five months until the Memphis Half Marathon! Yipee!

Photos are courtesy of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (www.ajc.com).

Welcome!

Hi everyone, and welcome to our running blog! (Though Toni beat me to the first post :) ) A couple of months ago, Toni had the great idea of the four of us running a half marathon together. I wasn't very hopeful that it would come together, because all of our schedules are pretty busy. But after a few rounds of suggestions, we picked a half marathon: the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon on December 5th! I get the song "Walking in Memphis" in my head whenever I think about the race. But hopefully we'll be doing more running than walking in Memphis!

I was thinking about doing the Hal Higdon intermediate half marathon training program (or dropping back to novice if intermediate was too tough). It's a 12-week plan, so I would start the official training plan in mid-September. I have heard lots of good things about Hal Higdon's training programs, and the basic information is available online for free. But then I discovered a training group for the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving. I think I'm going to join that group, since our race is only nine days after the Atlanta Half Marathon. The first group run is on August 29, and we'll run together for 13 Saturdays. I don't know what kind of training plan they will provide, but I'm looking forward to having a group to run with!

In the meantime, I'm running the Peachtree Road Race on Saturday, the 4th of July. The Peachtree is a 10K and with 55,000 runners is one of the largest road races in the world. This will be my third time running the Peachtree, and it is always a lot of fun. Of course, the vast crowds make the roads tough to navigate, but once I get over that, it's like a moving party! There are live bands and DJs, as well as tons of spectators, all along the route. Last year my sister and I ran together, and we were doing the "YMCA" dance around mile 2! This year, I was randomly placed into the very last starting group, so I will be starting around 9 am. Ugh, it will be hot at that hour! But other than the heat, I am looking forward to the race! I will update after the Peachtree!

Training

Hey Ladies! When do you all predict we'll begin our training? I want to make sure that I can at least run a 5K before our training "officially" starts. Also, I think we should make cute t-shirts for our race day. :)
--Not sure this post was worthy of a "first post" :P