Fairfield Half Marathon Recap

This weekend I successfully completed the Faxon Law Group Fairfield Half Marathon. Wooo!! After a few injuries — my knees were killing me — and a little sickness that interrupted my training, I’m so glad I finished it.

The night before I stayed at my old babysitter, now best friend’s apartment in downtown Fairfield who was also running the race. It was so sweet of her to take me in, plus it allowed me an extra hour of sleep. She cooked us an amazing, carb-loaded dinner of garlic pasta with arugula that I am definitely going to make again. We took it easy watching a movie and were in bed before 11 and up by 6.

The race started at 8:15, so we we got there around 7 and made sure we took the time to hit the porta-potties a few times before running.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a race. It was cool and cloudy, which was abnormal for the Fairfield Half (normally it’s the hottest race in the area) and I was ecstatic. Although it was a bit chilly before the race, I decided to wear shorts, a tank and the knee brace. I was going to wear a light rain jacket but ditched it last minute, which was smart as I started getting hot and sweaty as soon as I started running.

This was my second half, but my first time running the Fairfield Half and I was warned there would be a few hills — and there were. The toughest ones were in the beginning and end, but otherwise it was flat and there were some great views of the beach and the water.

I tried getting a few pics while bopping around.

I had no goal time or pace for the race, I just wanted to finish (success!), so I took my time and paced with a few runners around me. Since my legs were sore from a bit of overtraining (whoops) I felt like I was dying until mile 5, when an adrenaline rush came over me until mile 9 when I felt like death again, but the cheering on the sidelines (my favorite part of races) kept me going and I even picked up the pace for my last two miles.

At mile 12 there was a station were they called out the runners names into a microphone and some positive encouragement. For me the shouted “Here comes Courtney, she has some sort of knee brace on but she’s still going.” I absolutely loved it and started “wooing” with the cheerers.

A family friend even got an action shot of me crossing the finish line — not looking my best haha.

As soon as I finished I scarfed down three slices of watermelon and a banana, then searched for my family, my sister’s friend who was also running, and waited for my friend to finish.

Half marathon selfie!

I finished in 2:15:57, which is my fastest time so far but I’m still hoping to get under two hours for my next one. There’s something so powerful and satisfying when finishing a half that I’m already googling races in North Carolina for the fall.

The racers also got super bright workout shirts and one of my favorite medals.

Afterwards I celebrated by eating lunch at BarTaco in Westport with a friend from Fairfield and hobbling around the downtown area shopping and treating myself to a banana split latte from David’s Tea. I’m going to take the next few days off from running, but will continue to work out and take more classes at my gym.

Happy Monday!

Half Marathon check in: 3 weeks away!

The Fairfield Half Marathon is approaching quickly!! Luckily for me although I don’t have the time to do these longer runs early in the morning or later in the day, it hasn’t been disguisedly hot and it’s been somewhat cloudy, making the runs very nice.

Yesterday, I started on the treadmill for the 9 mile run, but the gym kicked me out at 3 (so annoying, who closes that early?!) and I did some loops around the campus/closed insane asylum called Fairfield Hills where my gym is located. There’s now some town halls and people play soccer in the fields, but it’s cool — and creepy — to think of all the mistreatment and activities that went on around there.

Also the view is incredible.

You can see one of the old buildings in the background!

I recently learned that one of my sister’s friends also signed up to do the race, which is so excited because now I’ll have a running buddy. Although she’s only doing three weeks of training (I’m a bit worried for her), she’s run the race before so it’ll be nice to have someone to keep a good pace with and encourage each other.

Without further ado, here’s this weeks schedule:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Cross train (elliptical) 

Wednesday: 6 miles

Thursday: 7 miles

Friday: Off (nice walk possibly)

Saturday: 6 miles

Sunday: 12 miles (oh. my. goodness)

Where’s your favorite place to run?

Half marathon check in: 4 weeks away!

There’s less than a month away from the big race. Holy moly! This week went pretty well in terms of following the training schedule. I was able to do my long run on the treadmill — 8 miles — without feeling terribly exhausting and I did hike 11 miles the previous day. I know the treadmill is not as difficult as running outside, but I’m proud of myself and really feel like I can do this race.

Now that I’m back into training, I’ve noticed my leg muscles getting super stiff and it’s been difficult to run or walk. Instead of following the plan completely, I did some cross training instead to give my legs a break from the high impact of running. I also got this bad boy:

A foam roller! I found it at Marshall’s on sale for only $10 and I am super pumped! I spend about 10 minutes or so rolling my legs on it after my workouts or at the end of the day. Foam rollers increase the blood flow to the muscles, promoting muscle repairing and I’ve definitely noticed a difference in my legs after using it.

I’m fully confident this weeks runs won’t be too difficult. Here’s this weeks schedule:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Cross train (elliptical 30 minutes)

Wednesday: 4 miles

Thursday: 7 miles

Friday: Cross train (spinning)

Saturday: 3 miles

Sunday: 9 miles

What do you do to recover faster?

A Weekend Hike

This Saturday, my friend Michelle and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to New York to go hiking. For a while we’ve been talking about doing a day hike and finally got around to spending a day in the wilderness.

We decided to check out Minnewaska State Park Preserve. The drive there was about one and a half hours, not too bad. It was absolutely breathtaking and there were gorgeous lakes, views and trails.

Our main goal of the hike was to find a waterfall — I love looking at them, they remind me of Tuck Everlasting — so we spent the day following a black and white, unmarked map, wandering long trails and asking our fellow hikers for help.

Around noon we made it to Lake Awosting — still no waterfall — and decided to stop for lunch with a view. We decided to do it picnic style, so I packed a salad filled with a ton of veggies and beans and munched on some cherries with it!

Selfie!! We ended off going of the cleared pathways and explored some of the wooded trails and walked along a small stream. To cool off, we dipped our toes in the water. Michelle ended up diving in where the water was deep enough! At the end of the hike we finally reached Awosting Falls, which was actually in the other direction than where we were originally headed! This was by far the greatest site on park — it sort of looks like the Tuck Everlasting falls too, just a little smaller.

We spent about five hours there and hiked 11 miles! Even though I got a little sunburned, it was such a happy day and my body really needed the nature. I really want to take a few more day trips like this during the rest of the summer. Hopefully,  I can find a few hikes that are closer to Connecticut!

How did you spend your weekend? Where’s your favorite place to hike?

Half Marathon check in: 5 weeks away!

There’s five weeks until I run the Faxon Law Fairfield Half Marathon, which doesn’t seem like too much time to prepare considering I took a few weeks off for my injuring. I am trying to stick to my training schedule, but I find it difficult to keep running without stopping for the longer runs.

For me running is a complete state of mind. I know my body can keep pushing itself and go longer throughout the run, I just need to convince myself that. On my seven mile run today, I stopped WAY too many times when I knew I could keep going. This run was especially hard because its finally getting hot again in Connecticut, which made my normal route more difficult. I really just need to fight through it!

To get into the right mental state it know I’m going to have to cheer myself on in my head (“You got this Courtney!”) and by telling myself that I’ll take a break when I reach a certain point but actually go beyond it when I reach it. I know it sounds silly, but after I reach a milage with these tricks I’ll be able to do it later more naturally.

Next weeks training plan looks like this:

Monday: Off

Tuesday: 4 miles

Wednesday: 5 miles

Thursday: 6 miles

Friday: Cycle class

Saturday: 5 miles

Sunday: 8-10 miles??

I’m really tentative about my longer runs because I’m getting back into the training, so I’ll see what I’m up for the week before.

What do you do to get into the mental state for running?

Full speed ahead into training

My appointment with the pediatrist went really well. I found out I have tendinitis in my right foot, which is not happy, but the pain should go away in four weeks if I continue to ice it and not overwork it. I barely feel any pain and I’m super excited to get back into training — nine miles on Sunday!!

I also learned that I have high arches and need a more neutral shoe for support — meaning NEW SHOES! After my appointment I went to the Woodbridge Running Company to find the perfect pair. The guys who helped me has ran marathons before, so he knew his stuff, and recommended I get the GEL-Nimbus by Asics — my favorite brand. I found out my shoes have been too small and I needed to go a full size up, since our feet swell when we run.

I used the shoes on my run this morning and it made such a difference! My feet could breath and the run was much more stable, I just need to break them in a bit before they’re completely comfortable.

I only ran five miles instead of the six miles listed on the plan. Once again it was a little difficult and I don’t want to push myself too hard. I usually just roll out of bed and run, but with these longer runs I’m going to try and eat something an hour before so I have more energy to last me the entire time.

I refueled my run with another smoothie and Irish breakfast tea. Later today I was supposed to only go into work so I could figure out shift, instead I’ll be serving tonight as well. It’s been awhile, so I think they’ll give me a refresher, but I’m excited to start making bank again.

What do you eat to fuel and refuel for your workouts?

Easy-ish Mornings

When I rolled out of bed at 8 o’clock this morning, I decided it was time to get back into my half marathon training plan. Recently, I’ve been experiencing pain and swelling in my right heel (time to go to the doctor, I know), but it’s been feeling better since I switched to bigger shoes so I thought I’d give it a shot. Boy, it was rough.

I set out to do four miles — which is usually easy for me — and found myself struggling without as much energy or willpower I normally have and had to stop once to catch my breath. Although I have been exercising on the elliptical, there’s really nothing that compares to the hills and the pavement and it’s MUCH harder. I use the Nike Running app, so it was nice to hear one of the athletes give me some motivational words at the end of my run.

Later today, I’m going to the pediatrist to check out my foot (I’m also bowlegged and have duck feet, so I need that checked out too). If all goes well, I’m going to try and run again a tomorrow, which is supposed to be a six mile run.

After a hot shower with some T-Swift music blasting, I made myself a smoothie for breakfast with kale, frozen berries, pomegranate seeds, Juice Plus protein powder and almond milk with a side of Irish breakfast tea (I know it’s not winter, but I just love this candy can cup — it changes colors!).

As I type this post, I’m icing my foot just to assure that some of the swelling goes down to before I meet with the pediatrist. Wish me luck with my appointment!