Last time I blogged, was over a week ago, so not as bad as I had thought. I guess I'm shooting for a 1 or 2 times a week post and will feel better about things.
Way back on Feb. 25, Erin and I made our way to Spokane in a blizzard even with roads being closed. Here is the aftermath of the storm. 3 inches of snow in a matter of hours! But what a pretty sunset!
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| photo courtesy of Erin |
We didn't end up going ice skating because of the weather, but that was only $8 of Groupon lost, so I'm ok with it. We did end up using the Groupon for the Laguna Cafe on the South Hill of Spokane. I had an amazing salad that I didn't finish and Erin had a burger, but we made sure to leave room for dessert!
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| chocolate death cake! |
The next night, after Erin had gone snowboarding for the day, we went to a concert at school that was supposed to be a month ago but was rescheduled. We got to see Rob Schneider!! YOU CAN DO IT!!
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| This is a horrible picture but he really is short in person! |
He was pretty funny and went on longer than I had expected. It snowed again while we were at the concert and was super icy, so Erin's car couldn't make it up my crazy hill and I had to walk up it to get home. Haha.
I worked on using some of my Amazon gift card from Mother and decided on a new dvd rack b/c my old one was filled and the dvds were piling up on the floor. While I was building it, Immy was of course playing in the box.
After Erin went to Jess's abs class, she tried her famous pb protein bars and decided to make some. I had yet to try the magical bars but Erin made some and they were amazing!! So of course, I had to make some too! I had a slight miscalculation of ingredients and ended up making a 1.5 sized batch. Just for reference, 16 oz. of honey is not one cup, it's 2!! Doh! But these bars are amazing and I have been eating them and sharing them like crazy and still have half a pan.
During the week, we had another crazy snow storm that seemed to just circle over Pullman and dumped a good inch or so. I was down working in the organic lab, so I had to run outside and take a picture. It was really coming down!
When I got home, I was so full that I fell asleep on the couch at 8 and woke up at 10:30 to only relocate to my bed b/c the big half was in the morning. I had everything set out and washed, so I was good to go.
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| finished and room to spare! |
After Erin went to Jess's abs class, she tried her famous pb protein bars and decided to make some. I had yet to try the magical bars but Erin made some and they were amazing!! So of course, I had to make some too! I had a slight miscalculation of ingredients and ended up making a 1.5 sized batch. Just for reference, 16 oz. of honey is not one cup, it's 2!! Doh! But these bars are amazing and I have been eating them and sharing them like crazy and still have half a pan.
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| chia goodness |
Since I bought new vanilla flavored protein powder, I had to try it out in my protein oats after the gym on Thursday. This is vanilla protein powder, 1/2 c. oats, spoon on pb and apricot preserves and chia seeds. It was quite yummy. I think I like the vanilla protein powder better than the chocolate. The horror! I know!
Friday was the day before my big HM #3. (Just getting to the post title, I know!) I went and got my nails done. Erin's dad was super sick and in the hospital, so she couldn't go. I was desperate and went by myself. They are now sparkly, girly pink and they look really fake b/c they are grown out a bit and you can see the tips. I'll take a picture. I promise.
After getting my nails done, it was about 7pm and I was hungry. I decided that I was going to hit the chinese buffet to carb load. I ended up having one big plate of food and a second measly plate of fruit and little things. I used to be at least a 3 plate-er at the buffet. I guess my stomach has shrunk b/c I was almost uncomfortably full from what I did eat. I think the inner fat girl in me won on this one.
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| plate #1 with egg drop soup |
When I got home, I was so full that I fell asleep on the couch at 8 and woke up at 10:30 to only relocate to my bed b/c the big half was in the morning. I had everything set out and washed, so I was good to go.
I wore my new running shoes and socks, my new Fila gray capris and orange waterproof jacket with my black and pink 26.2 unicorn shirt and a long sleeve tech shirt from the Akron half. I put on my glove liners too. It was a big chilly but was perfect once I got going. And then the wind started!
The race started right at 10am and was warm for here for this time of year. It was about 50 degrees and felt lovely. The race was a down and back and on the way out there was a head and tail wind. It kept changing as the course went along. It was a beautiful race along the Snake River in the Canyon.
I was feeling strong until about 8.5 miles and hit a big wall. I was using Sport Beans to fuel myself and took 2 beans every 2 miles b/c a whole pack is only 100 cals and I had brought 2 packs with me. I took a few extra at this wall and was good until about mile 10 when the wind hit me! I think I was lucky to still be moving in a forward motion it was blowing that bad. I had significantly slowed down but was running out of gas.
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| starting line... kind of |
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| in a valley |
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| see the Snake River? |
The race started right at 10am and was warm for here for this time of year. It was about 50 degrees and felt lovely. The race was a down and back and on the way out there was a head and tail wind. It kept changing as the course went along. It was a beautiful race along the Snake River in the Canyon.
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| my view |
I was feeling strong until about 8.5 miles and hit a big wall. I was using Sport Beans to fuel myself and took 2 beans every 2 miles b/c a whole pack is only 100 cals and I had brought 2 packs with me. I took a few extra at this wall and was good until about mile 10 when the wind hit me! I think I was lucky to still be moving in a forward motion it was blowing that bad. I had significantly slowed down but was running out of gas.
The aid stations were about every 2 miles which was nice. I picked up my pace and found a new gear about mile 11 and powered through the aid station at 12. I hit another wall about 12.5 but powered through til the end. When I got to about the 13 mile marker, Jessie told me that I had about 2 minutes left to finish before the 3 hour mark, which was my ultimate goal.
I finished with a chip time of 2:59:39 and a Garmin time of 2:59:02. I was under 3 hours and about 3 minutes faster than my previous PR time of 3:02:12 that I did at my first half in Akron,OH.
Here are my splits. They aren't impressive but you can tell where I was feeling good and powering through and where I hated life.
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| The map |
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| The splits |
After the race, Kara drove Jessie and me to my house and I hobbled into the house. I took a shower and promptly put my recovery socks and APS compression shorts on and took a nap. Erin and I went to a boxing thing that night, followed by a giant salad and bread twist at Sella's and some froyo to cap off the day!
Sunday morning, I went to a baseball game because it was beautiful again and got to sit next to Jess and her Wive's Club of the baseball coaches/ staff. I felt like I was sitting with the important people! :)
The rest of the day was spent being a bum and trying to hobble around. By Monday, I was pretty much not sore at all. I think I am officially in love with my compression gear. Does any one make a full body suit of it? :)
I was very happy with this race and knew I would have done better had I been more on top of my longer runs, but life happens and then you power through it!!
Have you done any races lately?
Chocolate or vanilla protein powder?
