2009 MVP Healthcare Rochester Half/Full Marathon & Relay

What an absolutely perfect day for Running in Rochester, NY!! I simply could not have asked for a better day to run a half marathon. It started off and stayed nice and cool throughout the entire race, there was a good amount of crowd support throughout the course (compared to the past 2 years), and plenty of water/gatorade/gel on the course. I felt fantastic for the entire run and actually ran the ENTIRE way!! That is absolutely a first for me. I may have been able to keep going.....but that will be for another day! It does give me hope that I will reach the goal of running a full marathon within the next year.

I also had a PR at the Rochester half, finishing 10 minutes faster than my fastest half marathon! I was going for a time of 2:40, which would be 7 min faster, and actually finished in 2:37! Whoo Hoo!! I was so absolutely excited when I turned the corner, could see the finish line, and the clock indicating that I would most certainly come in under 2:40. What an amazing feeling!! My legs did begin to cramp up as soon as I stopped running, but after some wonderful stretching from my friend Neil, I was feeling alright. The picture above is my friend Derek and I at the finish line with our medals. He also had a fantastic finish with a time of 2:05 for his first ever half marathon! Congrats! Our friend Nancy also ran and also had an amazing finish! A great run was had by all!

It's Marathon Weekend!!

Yay!! The 2009 MVP Healthcare Rochester Marathon and Half Marathon is tomorrow morning and I'm so excited!! A group of us are heading to the expo today and then partaking in a carbo loading feast late afternoon/early evening. The weather looks like it will be perfect for running tomorrow, mid 60's and some sun. It's raining today, so hopefully that will eliminate any humidity that may have crept into the area this week. As long as we don't have the same conditions as last year (insanely hot weather), I'm golden tomorrow! Good luck to everyone who is running tomorrow!!

Less than a week!

Our event is coming up in 6 days!! We are all ready at this point! This weekend we did a 12K in Mendon Ponds Park called Summerfest. It was hosted by Fleet Feet and was part of our package when we signed up for the Distance Training program. It was crazy crazy hilly, but we all made it to the end and I was personally quite happy with my time and how I felt. The only hitch with the run was the finish. We sprinted for the finish line downhill on gravel......after running 7.5 miles, tired legs don't work super well on loose gravel. One of the coaches ran with another runner and I around 7 miles and was cheering us on with wonderful motivational words.....and then warned us to be careful on the gravel. I was so focused and using all my leg/butt muscles to keep my legs/ankles safe that I ended up rolling my ankle anyway!! Isn't that always how it goes. Immediately upon crossing the finish, I asked for ice b/c I wanted to stop any damage from getting worse. I felt o.k. but still wanted to play it safe, especially with the half marathon only a week away. After icing and eating, I headed home (still feeing ok) and went to a pool party where the water served as great post race rehab!

Here I am 2 days after Summerfest and I am now icing my ankle a few times a day. I woke up yesterday morning with a bit of a stiff ankle which I stretched and worked on throughout the day and then iced. Today, I woke up with an even stiffer ankle that was a bit sore as well. So, I will continue icing and doing ankle exercises throughout the week in the hopes it will be fine for sunday. Worst case I wear an ankle support on sunday to make sure I don't do anymore damage.

Happy Running to all!! My week is filled with easy 3 miles runs and rest days before the Rochester Half Marathon on sunday! Whoo Hoo!!