Monday, November 28, 2011

Sweet Corn Festival 5k Race Recap

Well, Since I’m a little behind on a couple of my recaps, I decided I’m just going to give the details and post pictures… that way, I can be caught up for the year because my marathon was my last race of the 2011 season!  Enjoy…

 

22nd Annual Sweet Corn Festival 5k
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Start Time:  9:00am

Results:
Official Time:  26:04
Overall Place:  154/509

Notes:

It was already 90 something degrees at the start of this race… it was miserable!!  I ended up running a 7something minute mile for the first mile, which I’d never done before… probably shouldn’t have done then because it drained my energy in that heat!

This was the first race my husband was able to watch me run!  My parents both came as well, and after the race we ate some corn and then left because it was too hot.

 

Pictures: (as always, you can click the image to make it bigger)

 

The Race

DSC02572 DSC02575 DSC02576 DSC02578

 

My Husband Pouring Cold Water On Me After the Race

DSC02582 DSC02581 DSC02584 

My Parents and I

DSC02585 DSC02586

 

Goofing Off After the Race

DSC02598

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Update on the 2011 Christmas Card Swap

2011 Christmas Card Swap Logo

I have caught up on replying to everyone who has signed up, so if you haven’t received an email and your name isn’t on the list either on the Christmas Card Swap tab up top, or on the official page… please please please send me an email and we’ll get it taken care of! :)

There’s still time to join… you have til December 2nd so,
CLICK HERE for the details and how to sign up! :)  The more the merrier!! :)

Monday, November 21, 2011

My First Marathon: The Columbus Marathon Recap

I apologize… Both my blog and I are on school time, which means I do nothing but work, school, and study… just wait for Christmas vacation when I get to stalk you all like a creeper!! ;) Muah ha ha ha!!! Speaking of which… don’t forget to sign up for the 2011 Christmas Card Swap!!
Ok… back to the recap:

________________________________________________

 

I got up around 4:45am… still sicker than sick, but not gonna let it stop me… and hopped in the shower to wake up/warm up, then got dressed and ate 2 pieces of peanut butter toast.  I made sure I had everything ready, made sure I had a map of the route for my spectators and then me, my husband, my mom and dad all piled in the car and started out on the hour long drive.

We got to downtown Columbus around 6:40am and only had to walk a few blocks to get to the start line.  Well, my stomach was giving me all sorts of grief, so I had to stand in line to go to the porta pot… and soon the extra time I had had was dwindling away, but I knew I had to stay in that line!  I was still in line when they sang the national anthem and didn’t get to see the starting line fireworks around 7:30am. :(

DSC02785b

It was finally my turn and then I took off my long sleeve shirt, put on my race bib, rubbed on some body glide, and put on my pace band… hugged and kissed my parents and husband goodbye and went and tried to squeeze in to the corral behind the one i was supposed to be in lol… I took my time walking up to the starting line with the rest of the crowd, not running at all before my toe hit the line so I wouldn’t waste any energy…. and there I was starting out on my first ever 26.2 mile journey!!

The road was covered in discarded sweats, sweatshirts, and plastic bags… I tripped over a couple of them when I tried to take in my surroundings.  I wanted to start out a little slower than my goal pace and then push it on the “downhill” finish.  I was having a blast!!  The atmosphere and vibe of the race were upbeat and positive.  It was a bit chilly and rather windy which made it a little bit not fun but not enough to dampen the spirits of everyone running. 

DSC02794 DSC02795

DSC02797 DSC02799
Yeah… I can’t downplay it… I felt miserable… sicker than a dog… hackin up my lungs…

There were so many spectators along the first part of the course.  My mom text me that they were all standing around the 5 mile mark and I updated her on where I was.  I don’t remember the specific mileage now, but I do know that in the first half (13.1 miles):

- I saw my family 2 times and gave hugs and kisses both times (mile 5 and 9)
- Took 3 gels around miles 3.5, 7, and 11
- Had to stop at a porta pot 3 times due to being sick and it wasn’t pretty
- Felt rather good running-wise and having fun even tho i was not feeling good sick-wise. 
- My goal of coming in sub-5 was still intact despite the pit stops.

DSC02796

17 

We headed up a hill around mile 12.something and the wind came rushing at you… it was difficult… and then, before the hill was over, the half marathoners were turning left and finishing while us marathoners had to finish the hill and keep going another 13.1 miles.  It became quite lonely and my mind immediately checked out… I kept kicking myself saying “get back in the groove” but it was so hard!  My hopes of a sub-5 quickly faded away and my goal became survival and finishing!!

The 2nd half was WAY more lonely … I felt alone… there were WAY less bands and definitely NOT as many spectators… at one point we were running through the OSU campus (the horseshoe) and it was so windy and no spectators whatsoever!  My hands were getting numb and tingly cuz I had left my gloves in my bag… with my husband (a lot of good they were doing there)  I started coughing a lot more in the second half and was not having a lot of fun… not to mention my mom had text that they were around mile 16 and nowhere to be found…

11

Around mile 17ish… I started talking to another girl and we both felt disappointed, lonely, sick, and having a hard time running by ourselves, so we decided to run the rest of the race together no matter what!  (porta potty stops and all)  lol ;)  About a mile later I saw my parents finally!!  My husband wasn’t with them, they told me he was waiting for me at the finish line.  I started crying and hugged them tight.  I was so emotional at this point and I have no idea why.  They said they would see me around mile 23 or so and to keep going that they were proud of me.

So Kaitlin and I pushed on… around mile 20 I heard my name behind me and looked to see a girl I had gone to high school with!  I’m not gonna lie, I believe God knew what I needed and had our paths cross!  So, Kaitlin, me, and now Faith all ran the last 6.2 miles together.  It was tough, but it was way less lonely having those 2 girls with me!! 

26

We walked at all the water stations and up the hills and I can’t tell you how happy I was when I saw my parents again around mile 24 and then later still when I saw this sign:

DSC02800

When we came up to the .2 miles left marker… there he was… my husband was cheering for me waving and hollering… at that moment I never felt so blessed to have my best friend there to support me!  He ran along side us taking pictures, cheering like a maniac and making us laugh until we got to the finishing chute and he veered off to the side to go meet us at the finish.

DSC02801 DSC02808

19

All the emotions coming out 

The finish was downhill and Kaitlin had wanted to come in sub-5:30 after realizing her first goal wasn’t gonna make it either so we pushed as hard as we could to that finish line… Some guy looked over at us and thought we were gonna beat him so he took out on an all out sprint with this huge grin on his face… it totally made me laugh!  We crossed that finish line of our 26.2 journey together with a Garmin time of 5:24:05…

OFFICIAL TIME:  5:23:30

My husband met me just after the finish line through the fence… I was crying… I had done it!!  I was happy yet a little disappointed that I hadn’t gotten my sub-5 but SO VERY thankful for God sending me my 2 friends to help me finish!

DSC02811 DSC02812 DSC02813

Of course the 3 of us didn’t get individual finisher photos… we got one together… duh ;)

9

I’m a marathoner!!!!  I did it!!  AND although I was sick and miserable… Columbus Marathon 2011 will not be my last 26.2 mile trek… It’s only the beginning!!  Here’s the Garmin Stats:

image

 image

 

DSC02826
Me and my support crew :)

After the race, we headed (I hobbled) to subway and I RICEd the rest of the day ;)  I also celebrated by putting my magnet on my car! :)

DSC02846

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Wedding Pictures: The Dance

My church board didn’t want us to have our couple dance in the church where we were having our reception, so my pastor came up with the brilliant idea to have it in the little enclosure in the middle of the church that isn’t covered… it’s “outside”.  So our immediate families came and watched us dance while everyone else kept waiting for us at the reception… hey it was our day after all … right? ;)   In my opinion, it made it a more intimate moment rather than having our dance in front of the 200 something people that came to our wedding… it was special :)

Our song:  I Could Not Ask For More   By: Edwin McCain

 

As always, you can click the image to make it bigger

terry27

    110625Brown0508 110625Brown0510 110625Brown0522 
                           110625Brown0525 110625Brown0531
110625Brown0527

 

What was your first dance song?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

2011 Christmas Card Swap

It’s that time of year again… time for the 2nd annual Christmas Card Swap!!!  Aren’t you all excited?!  Last year I wasn’t sure how well it would be received, but we had quite a few people sign up!! This year there are even a few people copying the idea on their blogs… So, here is how it works:

Depending on how many people sign up, I will divide you all into groups of 5 or more people.  You will send a Christmas card to all the people in your group, and will be receiving cards from the people in your group.  Let’s say you are put in a group with X,Y,Z…  You will send cards to X, Y, and Z and will receive a card from X, Y, and Z.  Make sense?! Good! :)

Your cards can be store bought or handmade and you can feel free to add a little something to the card like your favorite running quote, running advice, candy, a little ornament, a sticker, a note of encouragement or a funny note, or you can just send the card… Whatever you want to do is PERFECT!  Just don’t be sending pairs of running shoes, an Ipod, or a free entry to Boston (unless you’re sending it to me)  We want to keep this cheap so everyone can join and doesn’t feel bad for just sending a card!   :)

After everyone is put into their groups I will be sending out an email including your group members ONLY with their blog links (so you can get to know them if you don’t already) and addresses so that there’s still a bit of privacy and everyone’s addresses aren’t out there floating around on the internet somewhere!  Safety people!!  :D   The groups will be picked by Random.org so we keep things mixed up!  I will say that if you participated last year, I will try my best to pair you with different people this year so that you meet even more interesting people. :)

I will be adding people to a list at the bottom of this page as they sign up…  So, if you sign up and for some reason, do not see your name on the list after a couple days… just shoot me an email and we’ll get it taken care of!

If you can think of anything that I may have left out, let me know!  Let’s get this PARTY STARTED!!!  You are welcome to invite your friends!  All are welcome! :)  Feel free to put the logo on your blog and link it back to this page as an invite to other bloggers! AND YES, international bloggers are welcome to join as well as those without blogs… Dailymilers or Twitterers can join too!!!  ;)

2011 Christmas Card Swap Logo

How to sign up:

Send an email to runners.luck@hotmail.com with the subject “2011 Christmas Card Swap” and include the following:

Name:
Blog Title and URL: (or link to your twitter, dailymile, or facebook if you dont have a blog)
Mailing Address:
Introduce yourself in a couple sentences:  (so that others in your group can get to know you)
Additional Information:  (if you feel you can only send to 1, 2, or 3 people instead of 5 or more, its totally cool!! OR if you are willing to send a card internationally or not!  Just let me know!)

Come back to this page and just post a quick comment stating that you’re in so that I can cross reference and double check entrants. That’s it…  So easy a caveman could do it!   ;)

SIGN UPS WILL CLOSE ON DECEMBER 2ND @ 11:59PM
(Basically if you sign up before I wake up December 3rd , you’re golden!

 

Sign ups OPEN November 16 – December 2
Sign ups Close December 2nd @ 11:59 pm

Partners Emailed December 3-5th
Cards need to be sent by December 15th

 

People who are IN LIKE FLYNN!

Zaneta from Runner’s Luck
Darlene from My First 5k and More
Suzanne from Cows and Lazers and Everything in Between
Alanna from Running 42km
Kyria from Travel Spot
Caroline from Canadian Runner in Exile
Jenna from The "Almost" Attorney
Courtney from Run, Courtney, Run
Erica from Life as a Running Mom
Natalie from Running, and What Not
Hannah from HannahViolin
Christina from Lace it up and Run
Fiona from Scallywag Sprints
Megan from Twitter @megpwuebker
Danielle from Dani Runs
Christina from Lazy Bones Running
Melissa from The Melissa Chronicles
Jenn from Twitter @JARunner2011
Bobbie from Journey in Running
Cathy from CathysRunning
EMZ from You’ve. Freakin. Got. This.
Kim from (Just) Trying is for Little Girls
Danni from Facebook Here
Amy Lauren from Amy Lauren’s Blog
Christy from My Dirt Road Anthem
Ashley from Redonk Runner
Nicole from Twitter @RunNicole
Jed from Twitter @mrdearybury1
Christine from Twitter @streetglidergrl
Sharon from Facebook Here
Erica from I Run Because…I Can
Monique from Confessions of a Lazy Athlete
Erin from Twitter @SchorrThing
Gene from Twitter @boutdrz
Daphne from Racing for the Rainbow
Trish from Begin Again and Again
Melanie from Marathon Mel
Kadie from There She Runs
Keeley from Wanderer in a Strange Land
April from Mommy’s Fit for the King
Theresa from The Health Trek
Michelle from AnMiSu’s Journey
Julie from ROJ Running
Tiina from One Crazy Penguin
BDD from Big Daddy Diesel
Leonor Carey and Family (No Blog)

Monday, November 14, 2011

LAST DAY TO….

VOTE FOR ME!!!

The Refuel with Chocolate Milk Grant voting period ends tomorrow (then I’ll stop begging I promise) and I would really appreciate it if you could vote for me today and tomorrow!! It means the world to me that a lot of you have been voting (or trying to vote) for me everyday!!

Just click the picture below and click on “Zaneta” then “vote for this athlete”  :)

1306942342_211752325_1-Refuel-with-Chocolate-Milk-Tour-at-the-Carmel-Marathon-Carmel

Thanks so much everyone!! You all are the best!! :)

Saturday, November 12, 2011

First Four Words You See Are What Describe You…

Saw this on Blue Eyed Runner’s blog and thought it was fun and wanted to share…

Go on…

Give it a try!! :)

image

 

WHAT ARE YOUR 4 WORDS??

Tommie Copper Review

Last month, I was in the thick of training for my first marathon and my knees had been bothering me something fierce!  I had been sitting in my recliner icing my knees and surfing the internet and blogworld after a 20 mile long run when I came across Tommie Copper.

Tommie Copper Horizontal Logo_cmyk 275

Tommie Copper was founded by Tom Kallish who suffered a traumatic accident requiring multiple surgeries on his back, knees, and hips leaving him with chronic debilitating arthritic pain.  He created Tommie Copper compression wear, with multi-directional support and copper-infused yarn, because he could only find uncomfortable, restrictive, and bulky medical compression.

Copper has been used as medicine for thousands of years to treat inflammation, stimulate the immune system to fight infections, repair injured tissues, and to promote healing.  To read more about it CLICK HERE.

Here is a list of all their products and their retail prices:

image

Tommie Copper sent me two knee compression sleeves and a women’s compression shirt to try out.  As soon as I got them, I tried them on and couldn’t believe how comfortable and non-restricting they were!!  They don’t feel as tight as some compression wear, but believe me… they work!!

Fast forward a couple weeks and I had just finished running my first marathon… believe me, my knees were killing me!!  I put on my recovery compression socks along with my Tommie Copper Compression Knee Sleeves and in no time at all, the pain I was experiencing dulled to a mere ache.  I wore them the rest of the day then to bed, and the next morning when I took them off, I was pleasantly surprised that I was WAY LESS sore than I had expected!

DSC02891

Tommie Copper can reduce pain associated with:

Back Pain ~ Sore Shoulders ~ Arthritis ~ Tennis Elbow ~ Tendonitis ~ Carpal Tunnel ~ Ankle Sprains ~ Runner’s Knee ~ Pulled Calf ~ AND most muscle circulatory, and inflammatory conditions…

I LOVE my Tommie Copper apparel!!  All their products are reasonably priced, come in an assortment of colors, and are comfortable enough to wear 24 hours a day!  If you are experiencing pain of any sort, especially from those listed above, please head over to Tommie Copper’s Website HERE and see how wonderfully their products work for yourself!! :)

If you’ve tried Tommy Copper, what do you think about their products?

NOTE: DO NOT use dryer sheets with your Tommie Copper wear because the silicone in them will adhere to the copper and the product won’t work to it’s full potential!

Thank you Tommie Copper for allowing me to review your products!!

***Also… there are only 3 days left to vote for me for a Refuel with Chocolate Milk Grant!! (and then I will stop harrassing you all!)  ;)  Click the link, or the picture in the upper right hand corner of my blog and vote for Zaneta! Thanks guys!!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Wedding Pics “The Ceremony”

Here are the “Getting Ready” pictures in case you missed it.

Now on to the ceremony pictures… as always, you can click the picture to make it larger :)

PS – This was the best day of my life!! :)  (6/25/11)

110625Brown0241

               110625Brown0243 110625Brown0246

110625Brown0251 My daddy and I

110625Brown0264 110625Brown0307

               110625Brown0315 110625Brown0331


“The Kiss Sequence”

110625Brown0335

110625Brown0338

110625Brown0341


“Mr. and Mrs.”

110625Brown0352 

110625Brown0413110625Brown0416

110625Brown0428 110625Brown0441

110625Brown0448

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...