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So this recap has taken me…just about a month to get up here. It’s been nearly finished for almost 3 weeks…so here we go!

Happy 10 years in Annapolis, Zooma! I was so jazzed to be chosen again as a Zooma Ambassador – the Zooma community, at its core is such an amazing one and the Annapolis race is, of all the Annapolis races, one that I love the most.

You can read previous race recaps here, here, here and here.

Packet Pickup

I headed down to Annapolis after work to grab my packet, and meet up with other ambassadors. The expo was at the Loew’s on West Street – a beautiful hotel if you’re ever looking for a place to stay in Annapolis. The ballroom has been host to many Junior League events and previous Zooma expos have been held here as well.

Because it was the 10 year anniversary, the expo featured the runners who had run 5+ years, it had stickers to put on there for each year you had run Zooma and special pins. I completely forgot to do this but this year, I’m fairly certain was my 5th year since we moved to the Annapolis area in 2011 and I’ve done it most years since then (i might have skipped a year in 2015???).

The ambassadors met up at 6:30 for a meet and greet with Brae – Zooma Race Director. We got our shirts and Bondi bands as ambassador swag, sipped some Barefoot bubbly (a fantastic race sponsor. If you haven’t run this, or hit up the post-race party, you are MISSING. OUT.)

I didn’t join the other ambassadors for dinner – I like my quiet nights before races with sushi and some bad tv and an early bedtime. All of which i enjoyed with my two favorite boys. Race morning

I met up again with the ambassadors and other Maryland MRTT members for a couple of pre-race pictures. This group of ambassadors is pretty flipping incredible and I’m lucky to know them and follow their running journey’s online. {Photo credit MCM Runs}

The weather on race day was really perfect. It was sunny. Not too hot (I’ve run Zooma in 80+ degree weather before). A nice breeze. Could not have asked for better weather in June in Annapolis. Fairly certain it won’t be that fantastic in August when I run the Annapolis ten miler.

The 10k course in Annapolis is my favorite. I love all you hardcore half marathon runners, but the Annapolis Half Marathon route (for Zooma and the Annapolis Half Marathon) is just…no bueno. But the 10k course? You get the beautiful views of downtown (Miles 1 – 4), the challenge of the naval academy bridge (4-5.5) and then the fantastic downhill finish (well. Except for the Academy parking lot..which is a bitch of an uphill .2 miles). I felt pretty good through most of the race but by mile 4.5 my feet were a little achy, I was hungry and felt myself doing more walking breaks. I made the mistake of buying new sneakers (they were the updated version of my previous sneakers – Pure Cadence 5 by Brooks) which I picked up Thursday night and ran in Friday AM before the race. They felt pretty good but the tongue is a bit different on them so that’s still taking some breaking in. All things told, I felt good as I finished up. I have to remind myself that I’m 15 – 20 lbs heavier than I was when I was racing sub 30 5ks and running regular 9:30 – 10:00/miles and that weight slows a runner down. I’ll get back to my happy weight, and my speedier times –  I’m working hard but I had a goal time for this race and I just didn’t hit it which was, not going to lie, a little disappointing.

Time: 1:15:19
Place: 365/513
A/G: 60/81

**Zooma has other races – you can use code HEIDI17 to get 10% the Zooma Florida, Zooma Cape Cod races that are happening this fall!**

**Disclosure: Because I am  a Zooma Ambassador, I was given a free entry into Zooma Annapolis/other Zooma events. All thoughts here are my own.** 
I’m back to running. After I DNS’ed Dewey Beach in September, I took some time off. I had to. I was heartbroken that my training had gone terribly and that I DNS’ed not one, not two, but three races this fall (Iron Girl, Dewey Beach Tri, and MCM 10k). It was time to reevaluate where running fit into my life. But now it’s time to lace up again. With the new year,  I set a couple of fitness goals:

Not entirely out there and not out there. I hate setting mileage goals but I’m numbers driven when it comes to fitness related goals so there they are.

As for races? Here are some I’m intrigued and the ones I’m actually registered for (3 of 10)

So there – eleven races. I’m not sure if I’ll race all of them – BUT I think my biggest goal is to register for another half marathon.

I’ve wanted to get half number five under my belt for a while now. This spring, since I deferred my Cherry Blossom 10 miler last year and will be running it this year,  would be the perfect time for it.  The Shape Women’s Half was my first half back in 2010 and I’d love to get a do-over. I’m also looking at the Ocean City Half – but I need to look at registrations, race weekends, and Hubs and I’s schedule to see what’s realistic and what’s not.

Ten miler training kicks off at the end of January – next week to be exact. I’m kicking it off with the Zooma Run Love challenge – which is a fun kick start to the year.* Registration is closed for this, BUT you can sign up for Zooma Annapolis (10k or half marathon) and get 10% off with code HEIDI2017. What fitness or racing goals do YOU have for this year?

{FTC Disclosure: I am an ambassador to Zooma and do receive free race entry to the Zooma race series. All thoughts here are my own and have not been influenced in any way.} June 1, 2016

Happy National Running Day Friends! Every year, this day reminds me why I run. Why I lace up my sneakers on hot afternoons like Sunday when Little Man is napping. Or the evenings that I run after bedtime is over, or the weekends that I lace up early in the morning before the weekend starts when I leave hubs and Little Man snoozing peacefully in bed.

I run because it’s my outlet. When work is stressful, when Little Man tests my patience, when I feel like I just need to get out and be alone for 30 minutes…I go for a run to release all of that.

I run to be healthy. Listen, I know I need some strength training here, but running is how I choose to be active and I want to be an example of being healthy for Little Man.

I run to be competitive. I may not be podium-ing at every race, but we all have this competitive edge inside of us right? I run to be competitive.

I run to be social. I used to be a solo runner. But then I found a fantastic running buddy at work, and joined my local MRTT chapter. And found group runs. And mentored a 10k training group and realized running socially can be a lot of fun.

But mostly, more so than any of these reasons? I run for me. I run because I love the sport. For love of adrenaline, and finishing a tough course, and training, and early mornings and sunset runs. Ice baths, and cute running gear. All of these things. I run for all of these things but mostly just myself.

Why do you run? May 17, 2016 Anyhow! The race. 

Time: 32:41
Pace: 10:38/mi April 11, 2016

I’ve been thinking a lot about races. Races I’ve done, races I’m planning for. You know… all the races. (image via)

I love the idea of doing one race per month, 12 races in a year. But sometimes? That’s just not doable. because…life.

This year, my race calendar is pretty much planned out at this point. I’m not overdoing it by any means and the races I’ve picked aren’t marathons or even half marathons. But, I have 6-7 big(ish, for me) races which I think, given life and schedules, sets me up for success and keeps me motivated. I would LOVE to do 10 10k’s in 2016 but I’m not going to set myself up for failure – I’ve got 5 listed here but I’m not over planning the fall for life reasons (no. Baby Schmidt is NOT getting a sibling) – I’m still working on the whole working mom balance thing and I just don’t want to over commit right now.

Here are my 2016 races

Sole of the City 10k, April 16, 2016

Because I didn’t get to run the Cherry Blossom 10, I still wanted to feel like the running I have been doing (albeit half hearted training) was going towards something. 10ks are my favorite race distance as of late, so this was a nice happy race to sign up for!

Zooma 10k June 4, 2016

This is one of my favorite races – the course is so pretty, and even though it can be really hot, the community of women runners is something that you don’t get from a lot of other races. Prices go up March 12, so if you want to register, register soon – you can use code HEIDI16 for 10% off your registration! Register here!

Maryland Sprint Duathlon, July 16, 2016

I loved this race so much last year – 2 mile run / 13 mile bike / 2 mile run – I’m excited to do it again this year, and I’m excited to train better for it.

Iron Girl Columbia, August 7, 2016

AKA my get in shape for my sisters wedding race. My sister is getting married the weekend following and initially, until they changed the date of Iron Girl, I wasn’t going to be able to do it. But then they moved it. THEN, I found out Hubs would be back from his AT the day before racking. So I couldn’t NOT sign up for it.

Dewey Beach Triathlon, September 17, 2016

I actually deferred this from last year – the race ended up being on the weekend of a good friend of mine’s bachelorette party. I couldn’t not help her celebrate her impending nuptials at the time, so I deferred and I’m all good to go for this year! I’ve heard great things about this race so I’m really excited for it!

Baltimore Running Festival – Marathon Relay, October 15, 2016

I’m trying to be more active in the local MRTT group – it’s tough though as a working mom, especially since I’m much more of an evening runner than a morning runner and the whole…working thing, but there are a few moms who expressed interest in a relay team for this race so I jumped on board. I need to actually set up the team, but I’ll get there 🙂

Annapolis Running Classic 10k OR 10k Across the Bay

I probably won’t do both, but I am scheduled to lead the training of the 10k across the bay group at fleet feet in Severna Park this fall. I didn’t get to run the ARC 10k last year because of the death of my grandmother (devastating) and I never got a chance to defer and since I was an ambassador, I’m not even sure how that would work.

I’d love to throw in a December race in there too, but there’s not really any around here that I’m pumped up about so I’m going to leave that open.

What 2016 races are YOU excited about? Any I should check out? 
So I didn’t run the Cherry Blossom Ten miler. I was okay with this. Hubs’s drill schedule changed about a week and a half out from the race and his drill was moved up a week. For those of you who haven’t run the cherry blossom 10 miler, it’s a fantastic race and I highly recommend it, but it’s an early race. I would have had to leave the house by 5:30 – latest. Before Hubs left mind you – to get to the race. I probably wouldn’t have gotten home much before 11a so even if we got a sitter for when hubs left around 6:30a, it would have been 5 hours so between $50-75 for a sitter – roughly the cost of the race.

I’m not about doubling race fees for baby sitters. I don’t roll that way.

So, knowing the transfer period ended, I took a shot in the dark and emailed the race director explaining the situation – no family, no babysitters (seriously, the likelihood of me finding a sitter on short notice for 6am on a sunday?! LOLOLOL) and a husband with National Guard duty that changed last minute.

Bless them, they made an exception. Relief!

Had I trained better, and actually gotten my long runs in,  I might have been more disappointed/pissed at the situation. But there was a lot of life over the past three months (we moved! bought a house! I changed jobs! we hosted family for Easter! And had Ethan’s 3rd birthday party at the house! ) so my training didn’t go as I had hoped and I was very much okay with this outcome (even more so when I saw the weather forecast – bravo to ALL the runners who ran on Sunday – especially in those conditions!)


Registered for another race, duh.

I’ll be running the Sole of the City 10k in Baltimore next weekend. I’ve been solidly running 3.5 – 5 miles the past couple of months so I feel okay with this despite…a kind of…m’eh training for the 10 miler

It sets me up quite well for Zooma training though! And that race, I’m itching so hard for a PR – sub 1:00? I’ve got this. Next weekend will set a good baseline since I haven’t run 6.2 miles since the bridge run in November.

So how am I preparing?

Well, to date my longest run was just short of 5 miles so I’m not in awful shape as far as distance goes.

This past week I fit in ~10 miles. This upcoming week:

Monday: Run 3.3 (for my 33rd birthday which is technically on Tuesday but I have a busy day Tuesday so I know it won’t happen)
Tuesday: rest (or another 3.3 if i feel like it)
Wednesday: 3-4 (hills?!)
Thursday: rest
Friday: yoga? maybe?
Saturday: 10k!

Speaking of Zooma…

They added a 5k for Annapolis! How flipping awesome is that?! There’s less than 60 days until the race now, so register early before the fees go up! Keep in mind for Zooma Annapolis or ANY of the Zooma series races in Florida or Cape Code, you can use code HEIDI16 to get 10% off your registration fee. Come run/train with me!

How do you handle race set backs? Did you run the Cherry Blossom 10 miler? How did it go for you? 
So last week was an okay week workout wise. As much as I want to get back to doing these “weekly workout” style posts once per week, it’s still aspirational. Also, there hasn’t been as much working out as I would like – we’re still getting settled and the weather has just…not been on my side. Last week’s workout run down…

The good: Three runs! Two treadmill, one outside! Huzzah! I also went to 1 yoga class.

The bad: Didn’t get my distance in on Saturday, but was still really excited just to be outside running with the family. Didn’t fit in ANY strength workouts. The yoga class I went to? Restorative which usually I love but for some reason left me feeling nauseous and unsettled – it was not as enjoyable or relaxing as I would have liked.

The ugly: There’s like 6 weeks to the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and I haven’t run more than 3 miles since June. Hmmm….I should probably step it up this weekend with a 5-er…or maybe 6?

This week’s plan

Monday: Run 3(ish) – since it’s nice-ish out today, I’m going to try to run with the Fleet Feet crowd over in Severna Park since it’s only a matter of weeks until I’ll be coaching them!
Tuesday: Strength workout. I have plans in the evening so I NEED to get up in the morning to work out.
Wednesday: Run – speed workout. It’s supposed to rain so this will probably be a treadmill run. Blergh.
Thursday: Strength. Hubs has class, so it needs to be a morning workout or an evening video.
Friday: We have a weekend in Baltimore for this family seminar thing we’re going to – so Friday will definitely be a rest day for me unless I can fit in a quickie workout in the morning on Friday.
Saturday/Sunday – I need to find time to fit in 5-6 miles somehow/at some point in time. Fingers crossed it’s not on a flipping treadmill.

February Miles: 15.65
2016 miles: 18/500
2016 workouts:  15/216

How are your workouts going? Do you set mini goals for yourself? 
So heres the problem with life sometimes. You make plans. You have ambitious goals. You plan everything out and then huge snow storms happen. And you buy a house. And you move. And you have to deal with closing out an old apartment 30 minutes away. (not all necessarily in that order, we moved right before the snow storm hit – lucky us!). Amidst all of this, I was signed up for the Zooma Run Love Challenge.

Unfortunately, all of that life, took a toll on all of my running goals.

Theres still a lot of life going on, but we’re mostly into a new routine. We’re still getting settled and there’s still not nearly enough hours in the day. But that’s just a factor of being busy working parents with an energetic 3 year old.

But. I finally finished the Zooma Run Love Challenge. Initially I had goals for a 10k but given that I haven’t yet been running outside this year, it was a treadmill run. So a 5k it was because ain’t nobody got time to run 6.2 miles on a treadmill. Time OR desire mind you. This is the first week I think I’ll hit my scheduled runs for my Cherry blossom 10 miler training with one outside run and 2 treadmill runs. The good thing about the treadmill, and I hate to say this because I hate the treadmill as much as the next person, is that I can push my speed on it. I use intervals to get through my runs because i can’t just set a speed and run. I don’t have that kind of attention span.

How my training looked this week?

Monday – rest
Tuesday – treadmill run (2.5 miles) check
Wednesday – treadmill run (3.25) check
Thursday – unintentional rest (should have been strength but Junior League night and I did NOT get my butt out of bed this AM).
Friday – strength workout hopefully
Saturday – Run 4 miles
Sunday – strength

Run Love Challenge recap

Would I do it again? Maybe. January is a shitty time of year for me to be motivated. There was a perfect storm of a lot of BIG deal life events going on, but it did keep me focused and when I did find the time to work out, I was working towards something which is always key for me.

Now that that’s done with the Run Love Challenge,  i’m moving into Cherry Blossom 10 miler training then into Zooma 10k training!

Want to run Zooma in June in Annapolis with me? Use code HEIDI16 for 10% off your registration. Fees increase on March 12 so register early to save $$ (who doesn’t like saving money on registration fees??) – register HERE.

Have you ever done a virtual race? Would you do one again?

FTC disclosure, I am a Zooma Ambassador, I did get a complimentary entry to the run love challenge but all thoughts here are my own. 
Last year, I feel like I had a good year. Mostly.

I set my 2015 intentions and set off on my merry way for the year. Then I kind of forgot about them. My intentions this year are similar. Ish. I don’t necessarily think intentions should change drastically year to year because these are still the intentions I want to live my life by: take care of myself. be a good mom. be a good wife. be present in life. challenge myself. work hard. be passionate about my work and be an expert. It’s a lot but these are the intentions that I want to focus on every day. Last year, I just set those intentions.

I did not complete ANY of my 2015 goals….I think I need a better plan to you know follow through.

…I am not registered for a 2016 Half Ironman
…I did not bike a century ride. I would still like to do that but I’m not sure this is the year.
…No sub 2:15 half marathon…no half marathons actually.
…I did NINE races…so close to 12 but yet so far.

However, I also accomplished a number of OTHER things. This year, my goals/intentions are

What are your 2016 intentions or goals? Any big scary goals? December 15, 2015

So you guys, BIG news.

I was recently accepted as a Zooma Ambassador (AGAIN!!!) for 2016! I’m beyond stoked to be included in an amazing group of women for what is by far, one of my favorite race series.

I’ll be running the Zooma Annapolis 10k (where I PR’ed in 2012 and hope to PR again!) in June and also, participating in their first ever Zooma virtual challenge this winter! I’ve ceded my December goals- or at least my initial get fit during the holidays self-challenge. Coming down with a stomach bug didn’t help, nor did being in the midst of a couple of super stressful weeks at work. But, I can’t get myself down – just pick myself back up and start over right?

Anyhow, the Zooma Run Love Challenge starts in January and is a virtual race ending around Valentine’s Day with a 5k or 10k (your choice!). The challenge itself has pretty sweet swag (feetures socks – my favorites!, a swanky sweater, and a medal!)  Participants also get access to a private facebook group to connect with fellow participants, an a weekly newsletter, bonus podcast episodes AND a training plan – that’s a lot of perks for not a lot of cost! Want to join me? Sign up here!

What are your winter racing plans? How do you (if you’re a cold weather running weenie like me) keep yourself accountable during the cooler winter months (not that it’s been REMOTELY cold lately)? Subscribe to Only One Heidi Updates