My Forerunner - I'm an official runner now :)

That's me after three miles with my new awesome forerunner. It is the coolest thing ever. Ok, maybe it is kind of big and dorky looking, but I don't care. It's a must for runners (or that's what I've been told). I have been talking about this thing for months. I told David that if I signed up for Marathon that he had to buy me one. He never really agreed with that proposal, but much to my surprise he bought me one the other day because amazon was having a great sale. I was sooo excited to get it in the mail. I have always heard that a forerunner will change the way you train and I can already tell what people mean. It is so motivating to look down at your pace and try to push yourself. When I am going up a big hill and look at my pace at 11 minutes I'm like, "oh no, come on!" It is so cool. And then GPS is amazing. No more planning out all of my runs. That was so obnoxious. I would always have to plan where I was going to run which meant I would run the same routes A LOT, but not anymore. I can just hit the road and go. I haven't even sat down and read about all of the features yet, but I can't wait to figure it all out. Comments welcome!

And there is my first official forerunner after-run pic. Not the most amazing time, but not too shabby for an after work run. I am obsessed with this thing! :) I can't wait for Marathon training with this new gadget! It's going to make such a difference!

Day Three

Day Three!!! Lets do this! Still so stoked!

Day 2 - loving the cool weather

That's not a peace sign (my usual pic) that's a two for "day two" -wow, I'm creative. Today I was feeling good! I had to get a quick run in before small group tonight. I did my usual 3 mile out and back through Blackburn Park. I say it is three miles, but I've never actually figured the mileage. I usually just run 15 mins out and then turn around. If I am running at 9 mins a mile then that equals at least three miles. Ok, I know it's not the fanciest thing. I am dying to get a forerunner because I know it will change the way I train. It will obviously make me more precise. Now I just have to talk the hubs into it. I thought I could wait till Christmas, but...

I could feel that I was running faster than normal today and my time was definitely under what I usually run. The weather has been so much cooler and it was drizzling slightly tonight. I can feel such a difference in these falls runs compared to this past summer. I was just dying in the heat and could hardly get through my runs without gasping for air and stopping for water. Now with the cooler weather and low humidity I really feel so much better while I am running and I can actually breathe! What a concept! It has been so nice to have the weather cool off. I love fall.

I am still just so psyched about signing up for the marathon and it's showing in these first few runs. I am super motivated and loving running right now. I know as I type this that I will soon enough be at the point where I am so sick of training that I will just want to quit, but I am hoping I can look back to these posts and remember how excited I was feeling. I am looking forward to these next couple of weeks with this renewed feeling of excitement. It is great to be back! :)

Base Training - Day 1

There I am after my first base training run!! Just 3.1 miles, but it felt great. I think I am still so excited about the fact that I am actually signed up for a marathon that I am just feeding off the adrenaline. It's awesome. I woke up this morning and thought, "omg, i actually signed up for a marathon last night." It kinda freaked me out to be honest, but now it has me excited about running. I really needed something to get fired up about. I have been playing tennis almost every week since the summer season and just changed jobs. Between tennis and the new job I just haven't had time for running. It feels so good to be back with a new goal ahead.

The Marathon is April, 30 2011 in Nashville. Believe it or not, Nashville is one of the few cities near Atlanta that has a "big" marathon. I really didn't want to run the ING Marathon (now sponsored by Publix and called the Georgia Marathon?) here in Atlanta. I did the half last year and it was tough with so many hills. I hear the full is even more brutal. Plus, I wanted to travel if I was going to run a marathon! It makes it more exciting, but at the same time I don't want to fly somewhere.

This is my first marathon, so the goals were #1) nearby (drive-able), so that my boo AND my parents would be there to cheer me on #2) a BIG race (gotta have lots of people to make it that much more exciting, and #3) a fun a city. Nashville is definitely drive-able. The Rock n' Roll series is a big race known for its HIGH energy. Also, I know that Nashville is a fun place to visit because I have been there a time or two. By the time I make it to Nashville in April it will have been over 4 years since my last visit. I am hoping to make some new, fun, and life-changing memories this next time :)

Back to the training plan - for the last two half marathons I have followed Hal Higdon, almost religiously. I am again following Hal Higdon's advice for the marathon. I am even going to buy his book and training guide. These next 8 weeks will be my base training. I haven't been running consistently for quite awhile, so I need to build a solid base before training for a marathon. Hal suggests running 4-5 days a week, averaging 20-25 miles a week before beginning any marathon training plan. Definitely do able.

So for now I am just concentrating on building my base and basically getting back to where I was last fall. This time last fall I had just completed my first half marathon and had many months of running behind me. I have signed up for some 5ks this fall (maybe a 10k in there somewhere) I and will just keep working on building a foundation to prepare.

In mid-March I will run the Georgia Half Marathon which will be great practice. And before you know it, it will be late April and the Marathon will be here! I am pumped (even though it's pretty far away)!

Thanks for all the love and support I've already received! This is going to be quite the journey!!

Running Rut :(

I am in a running rut - I admt it.. After the ING Half Marathon I was exhausted from training. Also, we moved into a house about a week later, so I was busy busy and really ran out of time to run. Now that we are in the house I have been consuming myself with "fixing" it up - painting, working in the yard, decorating, etc. It has been crazy around our house. I have just stopped running all together.

A couple of friends wanted to run the Big Peach 5k a couple weekends ago. Of course, I was excited to do it - especially since I would actually get to run it with friends! I barely ran in the weeks beforehand because I was busy with the house. Also, David's dad had been in a motorcycle accident the weekend before and we'd been in Pensalcola for a few days. Before I knew it the race was only a few days away and I had barely run. The week before I attempted to get some solid 3 milers in with hills just to make sure I was ready. That week I was overwhemed with stuff to do, so I only managed to run a couple days of the week. Then there it was - the day of tha race. I didn't think it was that big of deal that I hadn't run a lot over the last couple weeks. I thought, 3 miles? Pshhh. No problem.

Well, it was a problem. I started off feeling ok, but knew right away that I wasn't in my best shape. My goal was to keep up with my guy friends (which I may have actually been able to do if I'd been training), but there was no way that was happening for this race. Within the first 5 minutes, the guys were off and I couldn't even seem them in the distance. I kept my pace steady, but with every 1/2 mile I felt it slipping. We were not even at mile 1 when I felt a horrible cramp right near my ribs. I'd had cramps before, but never one right there basically in my rib cage. It was miserable. With every breath I took in, my ribs just ached in pain. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?" I thought. "What did I eat this morning?" 3/4 of a Luna Bar and a small glass of water. I couldn't figure why this cramp was here. I just pushed through it, thinking it would go away pretty soon, but no. I had that sucker almost the entire time. I think it finally passed with 3/4 mile to go. Just my luck. I think I knew it was bad when I saw this huge hill near the last mile. It wasn't huge in terms of steepness, but it was a steady incline that just seemed to last forever. In my opinion, they are the worst!!! I'd rather take a steep incline any day. About halfway into the hill I just felt like I was just done - like I just wanted to walk because I couldn't breathe. I thought to myself, "You just ran 13 miles about a month ago - COME ON!!" With pure anger at myself I made it up the hill. I could see the finish line in the distance, but I had no energy to speed up. I knew that my time would be one of my worst.

I saw a girl from college passing me. She probably didn't recognize or even see me, but I saw her as she passed by. I was so mad at myself because I could tell that I was overall in better shape then her, but she was the one passing me! This is usually the point when I feel like I can give 120% and push through it, but I just felt even more defeated as I got passed. I already felt like I was giving 120%, but that I had nothing to show for it. Two blonde, skinny moms, with their DOUBLE wide stroller started to pass me by. Are you kidding me!??!?! I tried my best to just put it all out of my mind and just focused on continuing to run. One foot in front of the other and no stopping!

I saw David right before I crossed the finish line smiling at me. I hardly looked at him bc i was trying to focus on just making it across the finish. I am normally smiling and waiving, but not that day. Finally I finished with a time of 26:53. Sick. That was definitely my worst time ever. I was mad, but I knew that I hadn't trained at all to get a good finishing time, so why was I suprised?

So here I am - with a disappointing race behind me and busy schedule infront of me. I know one thing, without running I felt a little lost and kinda sad to be honest. I definitely don't feel as good about myself. I need the exercise. I WANT the exercise! It makes you feel better all around. So today is THE DAY! I have 7 weeks until Peachtree. This year the Peachtree has qualifying times that determine what start group you will be in. I had a pretty good qualifying time from the US 10k, so I should get a good starting group. I am hoping to simply beat my time from last year, which I think it definitely possible. So here, I go again. I am glad I taking a step in the right direction.

The plan for this week?

Monday: 3 mile run + strength
Tuesday: 3.0 miles
Weds: 35 minute tempo run
Thurs: 3.5 miles + strength
Friday: OFF
Saturday: 4.5 mile Long Run
Sunday: some kind of cross training

ING Half Marathon

Race day weather was cloudy and chilly. My girlfriend, Jenn and I met at the Marta station at 5:45 am, so that we could catch the train downtown and have time to check in before the race. The train ride was packed with runners and you could feel the excitement in the air! Jenn and I were feeling kind of nervous actually, but we knew it was just the pre-race jitters!

When we got off the train we walked to Centennial Olympic Park where the race was to start. There were people EVERYWHERE! We checked our bags and started stretching our cold muscles. I couldn't believe how chilly it was and the wind was blowing like it was going to start raining any second. We were all praying that that the rain would at least hold off until we were actually hot and sweaty!

We headed to the start line and found our starting corrals. This is always the most nerve racking time for me. I just want to start running already! Enough with all the build up! Soon it was 7 am and we were headed out.

The race course was one of my favorites because of all the awesome places we got to see. Like I mentioned, it started at Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta and continued through the city to Georgia State University. We then ran past the Atlanta Civic Center and over the Jackson Street bridge with seriously one of the most spectacular skyline views of Atlanta I've ever seen! I had to slow down and just take in the view. It was so cool!

Then it was onto the Martin Luther King Jr Historic District by the house where Dr. King was born. It was an incredible feeling thinking that MLK had walked these very same streets that I was now running. And with that, the skies opened up and showered us with a little rain. It never poured - just drizzled, and drizzled, and drizzled some more. No one seemed to mind though as we were all pretty hot at this point.

The course continued through Atlanta neighborhoods - Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park and Little 5 Points- for miles 4-6. I think it was about there at Mile 6 or so that a girl running in the race next to me answered her cell phone. YES, she was running with her cell phone. Not in a bag or anything, just holding it in her hand for 13 miles. EEKK! Anyhow, she answered the phone (this was funny to see). When she hung up she looked over at me (I had no idea who this girl was) and she said, the first place runner just crossed the finish line. SAY WHAT? We had almost half the race to go and the first guy already finished. WOW!

Anyway, we continued running onto through the Poncey-Highland neighborhood where the Half Marathon course splits from the Marathon course. At this point we had just started mile 7 and I thought to myself, "I am so glad I am not running the MARATHON!" I felt bad for those guys as they turned the corner. They had 19 more miles to go!!! After the split, we ran into Piedmont Park. While in the park I realized that we were about 9.5 miles into the race. I felt like I was almost there!! I was excited, but soon started thinking about how far Piedmont Park was from Centennial Olympic (the finish) and I cringed. We still had awhile to go...

We then ran through Midtown and up some BRUTAL hills! Huge hills on Mile 10? Yikes!!!! I was exhausted. My knees were starting to ache. The course flattened out as we crossed the bridge over I-75/I-85 and ran through the Georgia Tech campus. Now I was at Mile 11 and thinking, "oh please, Lord get me through this!!!"

When we finally turned onto Marietta St I knew the finish line was coming soon! What a relief. My exhaustion turned into adrenaline when I say the 12 Mile Marker! Only one more mile to go! I started looking for my mom and my hubby. I knew they'd be around the last mile somewhere, but I wasn't exactly sure where. I knew I was getting close to the finish line as I could hear the music playing and crowds yelling. My excitement was growing. I saw the photographers on ladders who were taking crowd shots of everyone. I waved and smiled.


I knew this was it, the finish line was coming, but where was the 13 mile marker? I still hadn't seen it.

We turned a big corner and BOOM! There were the crowds, the music, the bells ringing, the homemade signs being waved in the air. 13 Miles and only .1 to go! I could see the finish. "Thank you Lord! I did it" I thought. I lifted my hands in victory and just when I did I heard, "GOOOOOOOO ASHLEY!" I turned to the left and there they were - My mom and David standing in the COLD and drizzle cheering for me. I let out a "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and kept running with a BIG SMILE on my face.

Seeing my family cheering me on is always my favorite part of any race. David got the whole thing on video! It was awesome. I am attaching a link to the video so everyone can check it out.

As I was about to cross the finish line my teammate in her 65 Roses shirt patted me on the back. "Let's go team!" she said. As she crossed the finish line right infront of me I saw the back of her shirt where she'd written, "For my daughter" and I thought, "yeah, this is what running this race was all about...raising money for CF!" What a way to end my journey!

I crossed over that orange and blue mat and I was done. YES! What a sense of accomplishment! It was such a wonderful experience even if it was COLD and a little rainy at times.

I am so grateful for so many people who donated to this awesome cause. Our team, 65 Roses, raised almost $60,000.00 for Cystic Fibrosis! Truly amazing!

watch me cross the finish line here ---> http://vimeo.com/11402036

Gobble Jog - a new thanksgiving tradition!