Monday Funday and a Winner

OK… I know I sound like a broken record… but I seriously have NO TIME!!! < That just made me think of the Dish commercial! haha! Please tell me you know what I’m talking about?! Click the picture below if you don’t and it’ll take you to youtube to watch it!

Anyways, I have a few fun things to share with you all! (besides the Dish Hopper commercial!) I’m gonna tell you using the cliff notes version ;) Maybe next week you’ll get some actual blog posts from me that are more than just bullet points and cliff notes!  I have a week break from my aide job and will only be working 15 hours at my other job! :) yippee!!! :)

Fun Thing #1:

I got some new clothes! :)  I had so many coupons and a gift card and only paid about 1/3 of the full price! That’s a deal if you ask me! :)

Fun Thing #2:

I joined another yoga challenge on Instagram! It’s called the #fallinlovewithyoga challenge. I enjoy the challenge since I am not running right now! Today is Day 1 and the theme is “beautiful”… Dancer Pose makes me feel beautiful even after a sweaty workout! :) I’m still trying to figure this whole yoga thing out as I’m relatively new to it… so if you’ve been doing yoga please tell me how to improve my form!! Especially speak up if you know the proper hand placement on my foot! ;)  I guess I could just google it, but asking you is so much more fun! ;)

Fun Thing #3:

Yeah… this is happening! lol… (maybe) I’ve been told that it will still be fun even if I just walk it…What do you think? It’s going to be really hard for me to go to a race and be with all those runners and NOT run!  That’s why it’s a maybe… I won a free entry back in May so I’m already registered… I’ll keep you posted on my final decision!  But it looks fun!  Wish I had someone to go with!  Anyone in Columbus this weekend? ;)

And now the reason I know you are all here anyways… the winner of the Reebok Spartan Race Entry giveaway

Congrats Greg!! Please send me an email and I will get you your free entry code!! :)

Remember, even if you didn’t win, you can still get a race registration discount code! Just click here!

Wordless Wednesday: I’ve Been Branded!

 

I wore my Nike capris to run in this evening and then decided to foam roll and this is the result:
(That is not a bruise on my leg… just the shadow of the camera lol)

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes!

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL!!

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!! Ends tomorrow 11:59pm ET!

Today, I said goodbye to the bikini and flip flops (not that I got to swim at all this summer thanks to summer quarter)… I switched out all my summer clothes and shoes for my fall/winter clothes and shoes.  It was kind of depressing since summer is my absolute favorite season… but it’s ok because fall is a close 2nd! :)

 

Fall quarter started yesterday… it went really well, I’m going to really enjoy it, but it’s going to be a lot of hard work and studying… LOVE all my profs… they all smile all the time and crack jokes non-stop… it will be a great quarter :) AND if you read my post yesterday, you would know that after I got out of classes, I was heading to Fleet Feet to get fitted for a pair of shoes… first visit to a running store ever.

Here’s what I ended up with after getting measured a few different ways, running on the treadmill barefoot and running with different shoes on both feet a few time…

Any guesses as to what’s inside? 

Go ahead…

take a guess…

Brooks Ravenna 2! :)  Did you guess right? lol… They feel so good on… I’m pretty sure this “NIKE EVERYTHING!” girl has now been converted to Brooks Shoes!! I like them so much I had to get a few pictures of them on my feet…

             Mirror Shot                                   Hold the camera upside down shot

                           The “Yep, I’m pretty cool cuz I have new kicks” shots

Hello Mrs. Bigfoot! Jeesh! lol… I ended up getting a half size bigger than my “normal” shoes to hopefully get rid of my toe blistering and toenail losing problems…

 

And here is the big, happy, running shoe family:

 

What shoes do you run in?
- Used to be strictly Nike, but I’m converted to Brooks!

 What size shoe do you wear?
- ”normal shoes” I wear size 9US and now my running shoes are 9.5.

Do you swap out your shoes for different seasons? Or is your closet big enough to hold all your shoes all year?
- This is the first year I’ve actually had to swap out my shoes… I think it’s because of my growing running shoe collection… just maybe ;)

A Little Friday Fun

Last Friday was such a fun day!!  My boyfriend and I had plans to go to the country fair Friday night after he got off work so I was so excited!! Something about fair food… yum!

I didn’t have to work so I had made plans to run with J in the morning.  I woke up around 7am and it was raining, but a little rain never hurt anyone right?!  Well I got a text from J that said she didn’t want to run in the rain so she would meet me at the Y.  I don’t have a membership to the Y and I have a treadmill here at home.  But I didn’t really want to run on the treadmill… I hate treadmills, they make my knees hurt for some odd reason.  So we cancelled our plans and I crawled back in bed under the covers to relax a little and catch up on some blogs before I got ready for the day.

Then my boyfriend text me and said he was going on lunch around 11 and wanted to know if I wanted to meet him so of course I said yes!  DUH!!  Time spent with the boyfriend is rare now-a-days since he has school and work and I have work and work.  We don’t live together so we get to see each other a day or two on the weekends.  So I drove to his workplace and when he went on lunch we walked over to the grocery store and then walked to Wendy’s.  It was a fun time especially since the rain had subsided.

It had stopped raining around 9:30am and I had decided before I left my house that I was going to run after our lunch date because I could walk from his work to the bike path.  So, after he went back to work I grabbed my SPIbelt with my cell phone and my Fuel Belt handheld and my IPod and my gum and  my chapstick…… wow, so does anybody else feel like they run with a lot of stuff?! lol

I had decided that I wanted to run about 5 miles.  I haven’t run a whole lot of mileage since my half marathon… anywhere from 1-3 miles at a time, so i just wanted to take it easy.  It had turned into a nice brisk fall day… just beautiful!  I had decided to wear my new NIKE running capris that I had bought for $6 at finish line (due to gift cards and rewards from the boyfriend… he’s the best!)  I really really like the capris!  They’re really comfortable and do keep the legs warm.  My route took me around a park and I loved the scenery!  I ended up running 5.49 miles in 56:34 so a 10:18 pace.  I did stop to take some pictures and stretch out a couple times… yowsa!  Getting back into running after my half has not gone so well lol… but maybe I’ll save that discussion for another post!  It was actually a fun run and it was nice to get out and get moving on a beautiful path!

 
Then after getting cleaned up and doing some work around the house, I went back to meet my boyfriend at 6pm to head to the county fair!!  We had so much fun!  We ate a lot lol… but I dont feel guilty!  IT’S THE FAIR PEOPLE!! Gyro’s, Philly Cheese steak, corn dogs, crazy taters, chocolate covered cheesecake on a steak, and cotton candy!  sounds gross now, but at the time it was delicious!!  And of course we had to ride the ferris wheel… its a 4 year tradition now! :)

View from the top

 
A fun board we saw on our way out

It got cold, and we had conquered everything we had set out to do, so we decided it was time to leave. (plus I was a little sore from my run)  yeah I know… I’m a total wimp lol!  BUT, I ran the farthest since my half marathon, so I was happy and I had gotten to spend some quality time with my man… EXTRA HAPPY!!  At the fair… Bonus happy points!! ;)  So in case you didn’t catch that, I was happy! :D

Do any of you have a hard time getting back into the swing of things after races?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!  You have 1 more day!

Three Things Thursday

1.  Jodi over at RunJodiRun has a weekly “Thumbs up Thursday” where she spotlights a runner by interviewing them.  This week she honored me by asking if she could interview me and I said yes!  Jodi, Thank you so much!  It honestly made my week!

SO… go check out her blog post featuring me and say hi to Jodi!

 

2.  I wanted to remind everyone about my Fuel Belt, GU, and chocolate #9 giveaway!  If you haven’t already entered, CLICK HERE!

 

3.  When it comes to blog awards, I am a terrible receiver!  It takes me forever to write about them and pass them along so without further ado…

The most recent award I got was the Versatile Blogger award from One Crazy Penguin!

*Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award
* Share 7 things about yourself
* Pass the award onto other bloggers who you know are fabulous

1. My name is Zaneta
2.  I LOVE ice cream!
3.  I spend too much time blogging
4. I have 3 siblings
5.  I secretly miss school
6.  I wish NIKE would sponser me!
7.  I don’t wear makeup

Another award that I received way back at the beginning of September (whoops!) was the Happy 101 Award from Char over at My Life’s a Marathon!

*Thank the Giver
*State 10 Things you like
*Give this award to 10 other people

1.  My family
2.  My boyfriend
3.  Sunny warm days
4.  Ice cream
5. Running
6. Laughing
7.  Knitting/Crocheting
8.  Fall weather!
9.  Realizing that I am growing as a person
10.  My blogging friends!!

Thank you so much ladies for the awards!  It really is an honor and makes me happy to know that people read my blog and like it enough to give me an award!

Seriously… I follow and have MANY amazing followers!  If you feel like grabbing one of the awards (or maybe have nothing to blog about or are having writers blog) than feel free to grab the awards!  You all deserve them! :D

What makes you happy?!

Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 3: The Race!

 

Part 1:  Traveling and The Expo

Part 2:  Before the Start

 

Well, I had decided to take only one GU with me because there was going to be a GU station about halfway into the race and I decided to leave my handheld with my dad because there were plenty of water stations.  I headed to the starting area, the national anthem was sung, and *BOOM* we were off!

 

*QUICK NOTE*  I do not remember everything that happened in each mile, nor do I know my splits for each mile so I will try to just vaguely recap the race a few miles at a time.

 

Miles 1-3:

The race started right away with a pretty steep hill and I found it to not be very difficult, which surprised me.  I was going at a pretty good pace and was passing people as much as I could within that first mile or two.  I had been nervous going into the race that my legs would be dead in the first mile because I hadn’t run in 2 weeks.  But I felt strong in the first 3 miles… I may have gone out a little too fast but I was feeling good and just kept going.  There was a live band set up around mile 1.5 and the singer said “seriously gals, you’re the ones with the tough job!” lol… made me smile.  Around mile 2.8 I saw a girl’s headband fall out of her hair and no one was stopping to pick it up so I scooped it up and picked up my pace to give it back to her because I would’ve like someone to do that for me.  Right before the 4 mile marker I remember thinking that I really did start out too fast because I saw the 2 hour pace team run by me lol… whoops!

Miles 4-6:

Honestly, after the first 3 miles I did start having a bit tougher of a time mentally.  I kept questioning myself and why I was running this race and telling myself that I wasn’t a runner, just a wannabe…  Then I took my GU around mile 4 1/2.  A lady came up and started running beside me and we started talking… It was her first half marathon too, but she had a faster time than my 2:30:00 in mind and shortly took off.  I honestly don’t remember a whole lot about these 3 miles except for the ground… I was looking at the ground and trying to overcome my mental lashings.  Around mile 5 or 6 there was a guy that had a tray of orange slices so I grabbed one.  I had never eaten an orange on the run but it did the trick for the time being in taking my mind off of “how many more miles I had left”.  These miles seriously were making the race not fun so I kicked myself in the butt.  Also, after that mile 1 hill, there were many other smaller hills on the course.

Miles 7-9:

Mile 5.5-8.5 was an out and back.  I saw the woman who was in first come by (going the other direction of course) and cheered for her by name… she was really booking it!  I decided to cheer for as many people as I could by name and clap for them as we were passing each other because most of the women would smile and wave or nod.  It took my mind off of my mental breakdown lol…Shortly after the mile 6 marker, I noticed the GU station… I was so excited!  Up til race weekend, my favorite GU was TriBerry (I hadn’t tried the chocolate outrage yet) and an email prior to Saturday had said that they were going to have TriBerry.  Well there were different people with different flavors (remember this is my first half marathon)  and the first flavor I heard was Vanilla, then Espresso… I kept running down the line expecting my flavor to be next and IT NEVER CAME!!  Well, I wasn’t about to turn around to grab a GU… so I just kept running.  This really didn’t help the funk I was in.  There was a water station around mile 7 so I decided to walk through it.  I grabbed a Lemon-Lime Gatorade and a water and walked “fast” while I still took my time drinking the cool liquid.  After walking through the station I decided enough was enough and I was supposed to be having fun!  I decided to forget about my time and just enjoy the run!  I started running again and called my mom around mile 8 to see where her and my dad were standing cuz it would be nice to see my support!  She told me that they were around mile 10 and I told her that I would see her in about 20 minutes.  Then I snapped a photo on the move with my cell before I put it back in my SPIbelt and smiled because it was a little pick up talking to my mom on the run!… only 2 more miles til I would get to see them! I remember mile marker number 9 seeming like it came up really fast!  I even remarked about it to the closest woman to me!

 

Mile 10:

Well, mile 10 came and I was expecting to see my parents and they weren’t there.  This was a hill part and it was getting tough to keep running all the hills!  I kept running and I finally saw them turning the corner around mile 10.5!  I was so excited to see them that I waved… with both hands… and I dont think I remember doing it! haha!  And then yes, another little hill that flattened out before mile 11.

Mile 11:

  ANOTHER hill!!  This hill seemed like a really steep hill and there was a water station a little ways up it…  At this point, I was having fun, but I was definitely getting tired and the hills were not helping!  So I ran to the water station and walked with my water and Lemon-Lime Gatorade up the hill…  I actually saw a couple photographers in this mile.  One at the water station that I didn’t see til it was too late and one that I saw early and threw my cups away and started running as I got to him.  He said “haha, got you running!” lol phew! ;)

And NO I don’t feel bad for posting all the proof pictures because yes, it being my first half marathon EVER… I ordered a CD with all my pictures on it ;) I just haven’t gotten it yet.  I also saw this sign somewhere around the last 3 miles I think… I dont know, it was all a blur really, but it made me smile!

 

Mile 12 – 12.5:

I felt pretty good actually!  It was like I got a burst of energy during this half mile… there were also a few spectators and one guy said “it’s all downhill from here!”  I was so excited!!  All the hills were behind me and I could focus on the last couple of miles!!

 

Mile 12.5 – 13.1:

The first thought i had was “THAT GUY LIED TO ME!” Seriously… I had one HUGE MONSTER of a hill to go known as the Shelby St Bridge!! This picture just doesn’t even do it justice!

Gee whiz!  it was like once you used up all your momentum trying to go a little ways up the hill, you hit a wall… seriously EVERYONE was walking as far as I could tell… it seemed like a brutal trick they were playing on us and everyone was encouraging each other to run/walk the hill and saying “we’re almost there”  I walked most of that hill… and I’m not ashamed to say so… but once i got mostly up it, I started running again … up and over the top hump and then I just let gravity do its thing and I was FLYING down that hill!  I could see the last turn I had to make and I could hear the spectators cheering for everyone… I made the turn and could see the finish!!  I almost started crying I was so happy!  Had I seriously just ran 13 miles?!  Wait… what did that time say?!  2:10?!  HOLY CRAP!!  Forget the goal time of 2:30 and GO GO GO!!!!  I pushed as hard as I could and seriously dug down deep… I’m sure I looked like I was moving at a snails pace to everyone else but I was in pain as you can see in the finishing photos) and going as fast as I could! 

                 

I crossed that finish line and had an instant PR of 2:13:06!!! 

They weren’t taking pictures of crossing the finish line, just in the home stretch.  A uniformed army man put my medal around my neck and I was trying not to puke all over his shiny shoes.  It was the best I could do to shake his hand and say thank you!

My parents found me… they had been able to walk back from mile 10.5 to stand at the finish line to see me finish!  They hugged me and I started crying… I was seriously an emotional mess!  Happy, crying, heaving, gasping…  What had I just done?!  I HAD RUN MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!  13.1 MILES IN 2:13:06!!  I was elated!  I’m still kind of on a high from last weekend! lol

Well, after catching my breath and wiping my tears I walked through the food line and got as much food and water and Gatorade as I could hold.  Then we went and sat down to watch the awards ceremony.  The lady who had come in first finished in a time of 1:24:46!  How fast is that?!  I chowed down on all my food and didn’t stretch… mistake!  But I had fun talking to my parents about the race and just being around all the other finishers!

Me with my parents:

 

After I decided to get up, I went and had my official finisher photo taken and then got my medal made into a necklace so I could wear it everyday!!  It might have been weird to wear the medal everyday!

This is the medal front and back:

 

This was seriously one of the best days of my life!  Was I in pain? YES!  Was I tired?! YES!  Was I on top of the world? YES!!!  We left the race and I took my tennis shoes off in the car because I left my flip flops out there on accident and this is what I saw:

Yes, It’s gotten a lot better but I think I will lose a total of two nails from running last week!

Lessons Learned:

1) Don’t wear new shoes to race in!
2) Grab the first flavor of GU available just in case they don’t have the flavor you’re waiting for!
3) Take flip flops with you in your after race bag
4) Don’t start out to fast so you have energy at the end and can take pretty finishing photos
5)  Register with just a “Z” as my name if it’s going on the bib so that people can cheer for me by name too!  (only one person tried, and she did get my name right!)
6)  Take a handheld or belt next time because I got a little thirsty in between stations and it would’ve been nice to be able to drink whenever I wanted

Things I disliked:

1)HILLS! (mainly the one at 12.5)

Things I liked:

1) hills
2) the mile markers had a running time on them
3) The live music
4) The GU and water stations
5) The crowd!
6) The medal and charm
7) the servicemen handing out the medals
8) the food!

Stats

Finish Time:  2:13:06
Pace:  10:10
Overall Place:  936/3883
Overall Gender Place:  921
Age Group Place:  71/230

 
This is the elevation chart… although it lies… It definitely wasn’t all down hill halfway through!  Those hills at mile 11 and 12.5 were ridiculous!  A lot of people and “veteran marathoners” were complaining about it online.  And here are my nike+ stats:

Fastest Pace:  6:20/mile
Slowest Pace:  26:28/mile (walking)

We went back to the hotel where it took my mom and I a total of 6 tr1ips to get enough ice to make the “cold” water cold and proceeded to take an ice bath and put on my recovery socks.  After a little lounging around my parents and I headed over to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum!

Next:  Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 4:  Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum!  (Last post I promise!!  It will also be mostly pictures!)

Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 2: Before the Start

 

 

PREVIOUSLY:  Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 1: Traveling and The Expo

 

Ok, so I know I said in the last post that this would be “Part 2: The Race” BUT, I changed my mind 1) because I’ve picked up a few extra hours at work, 2) I chose to watch my evening of Thursday night TV instead of write up my race report, and 3) now I’m tired!

BUT I did promise you that I would take a picture of the “Ultimate Goodie Bag” so here it is:

The bag came with the pink shirt and a few samples… I bought the jacket and sweaty band.

So, I got up around 4:30am on Saturday Morning (September 25th) and stayed up… shut off my alarm since it wasn’t supposed to go off til 4:50am, and got ready.  I ate 1/4 of a bagel with peanut butter and drank lots and LOTS of water!  I made sure I had everything and we were out the door by 5:30… except I didn’t have everything! We had to go back up to our floor of the hotel because I completely forgot my Nike+ sensor that was in my old pair of shoes (since i was wearing my new pair).  I had no idea if they’d have every mile marked or not… remember its my first half!  Then we were out the door and on our way!

I can’t really remember if I was quiet or talkative on the way there because I was really nervous… maybe I was both… but I was never so grateful to have my parents there with me because I had no clue what I was getting myself into!

We found a parking spot but they had “special event parking” for $15 instead of the $7 the website had told us but we paid the fee and walked around the corner to the start area… we got there pretty early and there weren’t any crowds so I took the opportunity to use the porta pot even though I knew I would have to go again before the start of the race.

The start/finish line was right in front of the Country Music Hall of fame and I thought it was cool how the windows were like the keys of a piano!

I decided to take a video to kind of introduce myself to you all a bit…  a couple of you have asked me how to pronounce my name this week…

it’s Zuh-net(like a basketball net)-uh … I say it in the video:

Ok then… can you tell I’m really REALLY really nervous?! (and tired) lol  Also, I lied in the video!  I didn’t mean to…I was so emotional and excited and happy and not even thinking about you guys at the finish… sorry, but its the truth… so I didn’t get another video!  Hope you can forgive me! ;)

Right after taking the video I overheard the group behind me say they wanted to pray before they headed to their corrals so I asked if they would mind if I joined them… It was awesome!  Then I took another potty break, but had to wait in line this time for about 5 minutes.  I also decided that I didn’t want to carry my new fuel belt handheld because it had looked like they had plenty of water stations and I didn’t want to carry something like that after only carrying it for about 2 miles before Saturday.  So, I strapped on my SPIbelt with my cell phone and one tri berry GU since they had a GU station as well around mile 6 or so and handed my bag and handheld to my dad.

After getting loosened up a bit and doing some breathing exercises to calm myself (and giving hugs and kisses to my parents) i headed to Corral #2 since my bib was #2203 and I had an estimated finishing time of 2:30:00  … yeah, i totally guessed when I registered cuz I had NO clue what I was doing or if I could even finish 13.1 miles and how long it would even take me!  Spoiler alert… I did finish! Just not in the time I thought…

After talking to a few people and getting really excited (I think it helped that it was an all women event for my first half marathon) the guy from the magazine did a few announcements and then Jo Dee Messina sang the national anthem…

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger

 

In front of me:

Behind me (and yes, that girl is wearing the same shirt as me):

 
AND THEN… after a reminder that the 5k would start after all the Half Marathoners were on their way…

BOOM! We were off!!

 

NEXT:  Women’s Running Magazine Half Marathon Race Recap Part 3: The Race (for real this time)