UCF (U Can Finish) Distance Dare

I met up with my running group for a quick group pic and well wishes and then went on to do the 5 miles with my friend Cristy. Let me just say that this girl is remarkable! Had knee surgery not even 3 months ago and did the 2:1 intervals like a champ! I felt very comfortable and easy running this pace and was so worried about her but she kept saying she felt great! The course through the campus was nice. Not much entertainment or crowds cheering but I had my iPod working properly this time and a good conversation going with Cris. We finished the 5 mile with a 12:23 pace and chip time of 1:01:57. Way better than I thought. We had stopped to say hi to her husband and kids along the course and take a pic. So when I checked my watch I was sure I'd see 1:15 on there lol The 2 mile distance dare we walked a lot of it...part of it with our friend Kristian and Cristy's husband and two kids. We finished the 2 miles in 31:50. Had a blast watching the kids race and afterwards we went to Keke's. I really love my best friends Cristy and Kristian. I don't think I could ever laugh harder or have a better time with anyone else.

Miracle Miles 15k

What amazing race this was! Miracle Miles was so organized and they had great vendors out there, a wonderful course, and fun cheering neighbors! Running through downtown Orlando makes me remember why I love my city so much.  The more involved I get with Central FL Women's Runners, the happier I've become with running and my motivation has gone way up! I'm glad to be able to surround myself with such great women and have become friends with some of them.  I got involved with them at a perfect time in my life.  I was ridding my circle of negativity and I'm still working on myself and building good friendships. 

For this race, I got there super early so we could take group pictures with our new matching shirts, which I love.  They have our logo on the back and our names on the front so I heard someone actually call out and cheer for me from the sidelines!  When we first went out running, I ignored my intervals but then started with 2:1 run/walk intervals.  I felt good but super sweaty already at mile 2 and then my iPhone stopped working.  The arm band was just soaked.  I took it out and messed with it to get it on but every time I put it back in the arm band, no music.  Running the next 7 miles without music wasn't what I had planned and definitely made me reach from within my imagination by mile 6.  I talked to a few people around me and said thank you to as many officers and volunteers as I could.  I was trying to take it slow and not over do myself because I know I increased miles quickly to get to do this 9.3 today.  I just kept checking with myself and for some reason I just didn't feel like pushing myself today. I was happy strolling along.  I have a 10 mile race coming up after my eye surgery in October and really want to push there.  The weather should be cooler and it's in Naples and I LOVE out of town races.  My parents will be there too so I hope to make them proud.

So official 15K time was 1:57:42.  Pace was 12:37 which is about what I stay around for longer distances anyway.  I would have liked to have finished in 1:55 something which was my goal but I can now look back and see where I could have improved and that's what matters....and I had a blast!



Final group picture when we were all sweaty, missing a few girls but I LOVE this bunch!

 Here is when I finished! So nice to have friends waiting at the finish line for me :)

Upcoming races!!!

If I look tired it’s because I’m a full time student, worker, wife, and runner. These are the races on my docket:

9/22/12 Miracle Miles 15k
10/13/12 UCF 7 miler
10/20/12 Rocktoberfest 10 miler
11/18/12 RnR Miami Half Marathon
12/8/12 Florida Holiday Half Marathon
1/12/13 Disney Half Marathon
2/17/13 Breast Cancer Marathon
3/17/13 Sarasota Half Marathon

The cure of laughing and running

I felt under the weather most of this week and a lot going on with changes in my company and school starting. Friday night I went out with my friends to celebrate a best friend's birthday. We went to a Greek place that was fabulous and then the Improv to laugh the night away at Simmore. She was so funny that I laughed so much I know I woke up with more wrinkles. That night was very much needed. This morning I woke up and knew I was running without my girls because they were doing some mud race. My goal was to do 5 miles. I felt so good getting around the lake the first 2.5 miles. I had so much time to reflect on my week and recall the funny moments from Friday evening. Their were so many groups out running and biking. I saw team in training and team challenge groups. I also saw a few of the girls from CFWR and we said hi and cheered each other on in passing. So it wasn't a completely alone run. I kept run/walk intervals 3/1 and only felt a little tired after 4 miles. I know it's mostly anxiety. I took my one minute break to focus on how I felt when I first got to the lake in the morning. How peaceful, non sweaty and excited I felt. I mentally put myself back there and finished pretty strong. I could've gone for 6. I love running so much and how it has opened up my mind and helped me gain a more sense of control and responsibility for my life. I split my runs into quarter miles of thoughts. And my last quarter mile I was looking towards the future. I know I'm on the right path now and am already thinking of a masters program and focusing on doing what I love for a very long time. Laughing and running cleared up my week.

Well into the Summer

I've changed my blog name, so maybe that will make me post more?  I'm not sure on that.  Things have gone so fantastic for me in 2012.  The more I run and become comfortable as I lose more weight, I feel that I am better at everything else.  Key word: FEEL

Well, let's analyze this.
Today I ran a 5k at a full capacity race in the rain at 33:37.  It's a turtle pace of around 10:49 but works for me! Much better than when I started 2 years ago and finished in 45:something.

Recently I lost about 10 more lbs in a few weeks.  I feel I have the working out every day down with either running, zumba, or spin but have finally stayed consistent with weight training and EATING BETTER.  I finally listened to my husband, which has lost 55 lbs by the way in a year.  So we eat mostly lean protein, veggies or anything that's green and can be chewed that hasn't been brought in by my dog.  Low sugar, no bad carbs, a lot of protein powder, protein bars and nuts.  Like my man says if it doesn't grow or die, don't eat it.  Goodbye processed food and french fries.  The first week I felt like crying, but now, a month later I feel great! I have more energy and my skin is better and who cares about all that! I lost 10 lbs!!! 

Another remarkable thing since I've become so organized with my eating and working out, are my grades!  I ended up getting A's this summer even with all the family visits, working full time and working out part time! Sorry to honk my own horn- but BEEP BEEP!  I have two more semesters to go and I will finally have my B.S. and am already looking towards master's programs.  I would like to say thank you to the Summer Olympics organizers for picking the dates at the end of my summer school semesters or I would have surely failed.  I fell in love with our Olympians this year.  So much so that I am making a collage online of all my favorites but I only have like 5 minutes a day to work on that, so it'll be a while before anyone else can enjoy it.

At work, I'm good, but that's always.  I've been blessed with an amazing supportive boss that does not ask me to leave her office when I decide to go on about my running group or training and weight loss.  She even participated in the 5k with her boyfriend today and I was so happy to see her out there!  Besides my supportive family, I have found great encouragement with a group in Orlando called Central Florida Women's Runners.  I'm so glad I joined this group I found on Meetup.com  We meet up a few days a week and pair up and run together and stay to catch up over coffee after. They also meetup for fun non-running related events but school has kept me from most of those.  Every time I go I am able to meet a new runner and share ideas and hear how they've became the runner they are in it's so nice.  I get to be in a group with common interests, no judging and just great conversation.

coming up for me this fall/winter I have the Latin Music 1/2 in November, the Holiday 1/2 in December near Tampa somewhere, the Disney 1/2 in January.  February-April I have too many I want to do but will wait to announce the certainty of them later.


Okay- I've gone on too long- that's why I need to blog more often to not shove all this at once.

Pic from Track Shacks 35th anniversary Celebration of Running 5k below- Enjoy!

Orange Blossom 1/2 Marathon

My half marathon #3.  The medal is very cool. 
On the way to Tavares for this half Shannon and I were freaking out becuase it was pouring rain.  I almost pulled over but it subsided.  We got there and it was overcast and temperatures had chilled to 50s.  I just put on my gloves and hat and was ready to go. 

I did really good the first 6  miles but the wind was getting stronger towards the end.  The course was weird.  Not that I've done that many but I've previewed a lot.  It was like the 5k loop we did twice and then the remainder miles made up another loop we did twice.  So we saw a lot of houses and the  lake and the same runners passing.  It was nice to meet Kitzy from Daily mile and her awesome blog "See Kitzy Run". 

I didn't like that the street was at a slant.  I was trying to stay in the center to avoid any additional foot pain. 

Around mile 6 a branch came flying down at me, I thought that was hilarious for some reason but the few around me asked if I was okay.  I saw a guy in a wheel chair and I pushed him for a bit and chatted with him and his friend that was running beside him. 

Around mile 10 was when I felt the winds were laughing at us, they were pushy and I felt really alone.  Their was only a few hundred runners and my toes started to cramp.  It was so weird but I tried to not focus on it so that I could keep going.  I drank my water, gaterade, ate my gu and just wanted the course to be over with. 

I know I could've probably done better but I hadn't really ran too much after the St. Pete half 3 weeks ago.  I had some heel pain I was working on getting over.  I didn't want to overdue this race and be too tired for work tomorrow either.  It was just one of those races for me to think about a lot of things.  13.1 miles worth of a lot of things.  I had my grandmother on my mind.  She's been sick in the Dominican Republic and I pray she makes it to her 90th birthday.  I really want to make it out to see her. 

Sometimes we get too caught up in getting our next PR and next destination races, or what we're going to wear and it's always good to remind yourself, there are other things that matter too and are important.  My next race is the Winter Park 10k March 24.  I'm glad it's a 10k.  I really want to hunker down and get some weight off and train more effectively before my next half.  I'm looking forward to starting a new training with my partner Cristy.  We want to get to 2:30 PR. 

We're signed up for the RnR Latin Miami half marathon but that's in November, so before then, I'll have to find a few more.  I was thinking of an out of town one for June and then NY RnR 10k in October with my dad.  That way we can visit our family up there too. 

So my finishing time for today: 2:47:09
St. Pete 3 weeks ago time was: 2:46:28

St. Pete RnR 1/2 Marathon 2/12/12

My best friend Cristy and I followed Jenny Hadfield and John Bingham’s book, “Marathoning for Mortals” training program.  It was 14 weeks and we ran through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.  That already makes us awesome in my book.  What’s more awesome is that Cris just had a baby 5 months ago. That certifies her, a trooper. 

I became a fan of the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon series after my first half in L.A. last October. The St. Petersburg Inaugural half marathon was Sunday, Feb. 12^th and it felt like 30 degrees outside that morning.  No joke.  The wind was pretty piercing and did not care that it was pushing against us trying to ruin our PR goal.  They had about 7,000 runners and maybe because it was cold, not that many spectators.  When we ran past the official spectator party bar area, I saw like 5 people out there.  Fortunately Cris and I have our own inner motivation and moving playlists that got us through the 13.1.  They did have bands every few miles, some were good and some were awful, but they were out there in the cold none the less.   The cheerleaders and other groups out there were very nice to hear as they cheered us on as well. 

The course offered nothing too interesting until about 6 miles.  We went through several beautiful parks and through the downtown area sites like the Dali Museum, and my favorite was running around the St. Petersburg Pier.  The wind was vicious on one side of the pier but calm coming around the other side towards mile 9.  Then it was really beautiful because we could see the water and the sun had finally come out to warm us up.  I really appreciate and love my Garmin watch now.  I was able to keep our pace and make sure that we were on target.  Our goal was to finish in 2:45 doing run/walk intervals, alternating 3 minute run/ 2 minute walk.  I think it was around mile 10 that I got the worse cramp in my right side.  I held on to it, tried to breathe, drank some water and ate the rest of my Gu and it finally went away.  I remember thinking that we were doing so well and I didn’t want to ruin it for us and kept pushing on. 

Around mile 12 we saw our best friend Kristian!  That was really nice and he looked so cold, but proud of us!  Towards the end Cristy’s husband, Fabian took some video of us and my husband Brett snapped a picture of us running towards the finish line.  It was very rewarding for me when John Bingham himself announced our names as we approached the finish.  He said “Here we have Cris Rida and Liz Rida, the backup girls for Flo Rida!”  Our shirts were definitely a hit that day.  I can’t remember the number of runners that told us they loved the back of our shirts as they ran passed us.  But Cristy had ironed on those nick names for us and it made for an interesting topic.  Flo Rida was the headlining act after all, so it made sense. 

Crossing that finish line with my best friend was priceless.  We’ve known each other for over 16 years and all those long runs on Saturdays led us together to this finish line.  That was really just the beginning of so many things for us.  We ran to catch Flo Rida and danced and snapped pictures and he was even carried through the audience right to us.  Kristian, Brett and Fabian kept snapping pictures and our smiles were pretty permanent.  Let’s just say my face hurt more than my legs or any other muscle.  We finished in 2:46:28.  I’m proud.  For my 2^nd half marathon, I’ll take it.  My first one I finished in 2:51:43.  This is better.  We rocked.