Mother, Run, Hike

So, at the beginning of the year, Roger and I started with big plans to hike tons of parks and explore more places, then in June we started half marathon training and our hiking was decreased. However, before that, we got to hike some pretty awesome spots! Colonel Denning State Park We hiked The Flat Rock Trail at Colonel Denning state Park after my Hershey 10K, what was at that time the longest distance I had run. My legs were not very tired, and I was determined to keep moving through the day, but I did hurt my toe nail during the race, likely because my shoes were too small. My toe was throbbing and I started to think it was broken, but that didn't stop me from going hiking. And the 2.5 mile climb to Flat Rock was completely worth the pain. The view from up there was amazing! Most parts of the hike were going uphill, so we had to stop to catch our breath a few times. The view was so amazing, that we would definitely go back, hopefully this time with no painful and thr...

I have desperately wanted to go see the falls at Ricketts Glenn  all summer, but the Half marathon training was taking a lot of our time and energy. Back in September, I declared to Roger that we were going to see the falls at Ricketts Glenn and that was that, we would adjust our training for the long run after hiking the 7 miles, but that we will make it out to the falls. Then as we were driving up, I said “you know, we haven’t made it out to the PA Grand Canyon yet, we really need to check it out”. And he responded “Can we go now?” We were on the road already, had packed for a 7 mile hike and schedule the entire day for traveling and hiking, so after a little research on the iPhone, we decided change of plans, we are going to PA Grand Canyon. Only, we were off to the wrong place.   Hiking Road Trip I can’t read and drive, it makes me very dizzy. We were on route 15 driving along Susquehanna River, going about 70 mph, with no place to stop and study the i...

Date of the Race: October 18 th , 2015 at 7:30 am Weather: 39° light wind, partly cloudy. Price: $75, Registered in June. Shirt: Dark navy blue, tech long sleeve. Goodies: 2 tickets to Hershey Park on the Dark, a coupon for $2 off a child’s admission or $8 adult admission for up to 8 tickets, drawstring Hershey Half Marathon bag, 13.1 car magnet, a small Twizzlers candy, a small bag of Brookside chocolate covered blueberries and a couple other coupons I don’t remember. Overall Course- Hilly, but fun. Bathrooms- There was plenty of bathrooms, inside the stadium and portable toilets. Both had long lines before the start, but that’s expected, and bathrooms along with aid stations. Race Website   Yess!! I have now completed a Half Marathon! After the entire summer and part of the spring of training, we completed the Hershey Half Marathon yesterday. I had an amazing experience, and although my knees hurt right now, I can’t wait to do another half marathon! ...

  The road has been long, the runs has been long, the work outs have been difficult, the injuries have been there, and now after 4.5 months of training, the Hershey Half Marathon is 3 days away. I need to do a quick mental review for myself, just to remind myself that I have done all the work I needed to do well. My Map My run said that I have done 300 miles of running, interval training, walking and hiking. 300 miles seems like such a huge number! Injuries (All self-diagnosed) Shin Splints, left posterior- I had not known pain such as that of shin splints! It came about after I increased my mileage too fast.   I went from comfortably running 3 miles to 5, almost overnight. Icing, streching and compression sleeves fixed me up. The icing helped so much more than I could imagine. Bruised rib- As I was learning how to breathe and my lungs were learning to expand while running long distances and hills I bruised my ribs. It hurt to take a deep breath for about 3 we...

So, Roger told me that I was crazy for trying a 5K one week before the Hershey Half Marathon… but telling me I’m crazy is more of an incentive for me to do things. Race date: October 10, 2015. Race started at 9:00am. Location: Oxford PA Cost: $30 (registered the day of the race) Weather : Sunny, high 50s, low wind. ** There was an injured runner at mile 1, according to the organizers, she fell, but was reported to be ok** Last year I did a 5K in my USA hometown, Oxford PA. I had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep, and was very tired from the Pitbull concert the night before, but I had a lot of fun at the run. My family has lived in Oxford PA for over 15 years. Oxford is a small and quaint town in Chester County Pa. Close to Philadelphia, to Washington DC and Baltimore. The town is in a corner of the state, in which it would take about 10-20 minutes to get to Delaware or Maryland.   Oxford has been doing a 5K organized by the Oxford Main Street for 11 years, ...

It is two weeks before the half marathon, last night I did 13 miles of running, and only took a few walking breaks. It’s hard to believe my body is capable of running 13 miles, and that I will be running the half in two weeks. I looked at the miles I did last week and felt a little disappointed in myself, only completed 17 miles…. Then I looked back and realized it wasn’t that I was lazy… I was busy! Sunday- The Ana and Roger “We are Rungry 15K”. We wanted to do a 15K before the half marathon, but the only 15K race we could find was in Eerie PA, which is a 5 hour drive. We couldn’t afford the hotel, so we made our own 15K. Roger got us shirts and medals; we did our usual Hershey Route, but only 15 Kilometers, instead of the 12 miles we were scheduled for. It was fun! We are even talking about doing it next year. Monday – My son was with me, rest day. My boy is awesome, but school nights are hectic and busy. I had to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things, so we end...