Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Poo on the Holy Half

I'll just get right to the point on this post. This past Sunday I did my second half marathon. Matt and I had been training since January. We both were doing great on our training schedule and our pace continued to increase as we progressed in our training. Although, we were not prepared at all for what hit us on Sunday! Sunday was an abnormally warm spring day, especially for this region of the country. The temperatures reached 85* by the time I finished my race. Until this point the highest it had gotten was in the low 70s, and we hadn't done any long runs above 60*. Needless to say we both bonked!!! So discouraging!!!!!
These are all the runners (left to right: Josh, Matt, Me, Taryn, and Carolyn)


Right before the race began I started to get butterflies in my tummy. Nothing unusual. I've done other races and the same thing happened. Only these butterflies continued for quite a while. This was a smaller race than our last half, but this time it felt so much more crowded (at least at the beginning). The race was on all sorts of terrain. We started out in an asphalt parking lot, then concrete sidewalks, then a gravel/dirt trail around two lakes, and then more sidewalks. All of our training runs were on asphalt roads. It's unbelievable what a difference just the terrain can make. Also this race was seriously lacking in water stations. They were only about every two miles. Pretty rough for such a hot, sunny day. When I got to the first water station, there was a line. So frustrating! I didn't want to "waste" the time while the clock was ticking. Big mistake!. So overall I believe it was the heat along with the lack of hydration, electrolytes and energy that killed it for me.
This is at about mile 5. At this point I was really wishing I was only doing the 10k.

Carolyn and Taryn were very excited about finishing their 10k.

Matt also had a rough race. You can read about it in his post.

My fans found a sign for me to cheer me on to the finish line!

Finally finished! Looking pretty rough and feeling like I'm going to throw up!

We all survived!!

So I've got to learn from the "failures". First thing I learned was never depend on the race to provide the water and electrolytes that you need. Second I'm going to be using some energy gels or goo chomps to refuel during warm, dehydrating workouts and races. 

On to the next event. I've already been bummed for 4 days about this race because I didn't reach my goal, and it went so much worse than I could have imagined. I've got an Olympic Triathlon coming up in June, a century bike ride in September, and probably another half in the fall. I can't let this one race bring me down!!!

So lets get riding. Today was in the 60s and Matt and I took a chill 16 mile ride. Nothing better to brighten the day!!


Hebrews 6:12 NET 
so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.



Saturday, April 2, 2011

Spring is not quite springing!

I'll admit it... March was a rough blogging month for me. I was doing so well in January and February. But now we are in April, I've got a fresh start.

Matt's parents were here two weeks ago for the tail end of Matt's spring break. They arrived late Thursday night and left early Monday morning. The Thursday that they were driving here was the most beautiful weather we have had in months. It was sunny and in the 70s!!! It was awesome! Friday the temperatures were dropping and have continued to do so since then. For the past two weeks we have had highs in the upper 40s and in the 20s at night. Needless to say, it hasn't really felt much like spring in Michigan, except that there is no snow on the ground.



While Matt's parents were here we went to St. Joseph and walk out to the light house.

This was the classic hangout... We played quite a few games while they were here: Ticket to Ride, Mexican Train, Skip-Bo, and Blockus.

While they were here we also did some exploring around Andrew's University campus by following the Arbor Trail. Who knew there was such a variety of trees on campus. The day before they left it was pouring down rain. Before the raining really started coming down Matt and I got a ten mile run in for our half marathon training. Then we chowed down at a fantastic mexican restaurant, El Rodeo. Then we ventured up to Fennville and at some delicious pie at Crane's Pie Pantry. We all tried something different raspberry rhubarb, peach, apple, and blueberry.
This is a picture of the pie. Excellent food! We can't wait to go back and check out the rest of the menu. Check it out! www.cranespiepantry.com


Nothing too much has been going on in the Smith house recently. We've just been working and doing school. The next big thing is the Holy Half marathon coming up on April 10. I will admit that I am very nervous. The week before we started training I slipped on some ice and rolled my right ankle. It just hasn't been the same since. A couple weeks ago I got a brace and that seems to help a little bit. Also last week we skipped our 11 mile run, because Matt had class all day. We did run three miles later that evening and six miles on Monday. I rode the bike trainer on Tuesday, and the rest of the week just went down hill. Tomorrow we are scheduled to do our last long run 12 miles. The weather looks terrible 70% chance of rain all day. We'll see if we can find a two hour period of light or no rain. Good news is next Sunday, as of right now, it will be a high of 55* and sunny. Perfect running weather!! So keep us in your prayers as we finish up our training and the race next week.


Exciting news for today... Our 1963 Volkswagon Bug is out of winter storage. Matt just a has few things to tinker with before you see it out on the road!
Leaving Berrien County Youth Fair Grounds

Now she's tucked in in our garage

Can't wait for things to get warmer and really enjoy the springtime!!

2 Corinthians 5:17 The Message
Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!