It's Official!

I'm registered for the Prairie Fire Half Marathon on October 14, 2012! There is no turning back now!

So the resumed Half training is going well! I ran 2 miles on the treadmill last Tuesday, early morning. Then Wednesday Kim and I did 4 miles at SCP. We did the 4 miles with intentional walking intervals. One of us would pick a landmark to run to, then we would walk for 60 seconds, and the other one of us would pick the next landmark, followed by 60 seconds of walking and so on and so forth. We had never done timed walking breaks before and it ended up working out really well! It was a VERY consistent run! Our first two miles were the exact same pace!

After my 7 miles!

I'd had 7 miles scheduled for my long run on Saturday. Kim had 10 miles and we were planning on running them together at SCP, and then I was going to bike the last 3 with her. She ended up going to Great Bend with her boyfriend on Friday night, so I was going to be doing it alone. Eek! I was very sad and felt like I wasn't going to be able to do it. I decided to go to the group run out East for my 7 miles. I started out with the 60 second walking intervals. I would run for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute. I did this for probably the first 2 miles. Then I was able to go for much longer between walking breaks. GoRun had mapped out 6.5 miles, and I was just going to do that. They had water set out at 3 miles, so I stopped and filled up my water bottle and had a Gu (I also had one before I started. This was my first experience with Gu, and I think it helped... Hard to tell...) Then I decided that instead of doing the 6.5 mile loop, I was going to run another half mile, and then turn around for an out and back of 7 miles. The second half of the run was so much better than the first. When I passed the water again, I topped off my water bottle and continued on.

At about 5 miles in, I saw a bunch of kids running and two guys on bikes. One of the guys on the bike was in the middle of the path and I was thinking "Why is this dude biking in the middle" and was kind of annoyed. Then he saw me and did a fist pump in the air and started riding toward me with his hand out to give me a high five. When I gave him the high five, I realized that it was Randy, one of the co-owners of GoRun and one of our coaches! It made me feel really good that he acknowledged me and I felt so inspired and glad that I didn't quit my training!  I finished strong and was happy with my longest run yet!

I think these longer runs are good! I've gotten to the point where I can lose a couple of miles by just thinking about stuff, and I was never able to do that before!

 I also signed up for a 15k on September 9th. My long runs are supposed to be 5 miles next week, followed by 7 miles, and 8 miles, but I think I'm going to do 6 next week, followed by 8 and then the 15k... We will see how this goes!

Right now I'm on a workout streak! It started with the Glow Run last Saturday. It's looked like this:
Aug 11: Glow Run 5k
Aug 12: 35 minutes on the Precor Elliptical and Muscle Pump class
Aug 13: 4 mile run
Aug 14: Hip Hop Hustle
Aug 15: 2 mile run and 2 mile bike ride
Aug 16: 2 mile bike ride and 4 mile run
Aug 17: 5.5 mile bike ride
Aug 18: 7 mile run
Aug 19: 6 mile bike ride

Biking this morning with Elliott

I've been riding my bike a lot since I got it back and fixed! I got a baby seat for it last week and Elliott has loved going on the bike with me! Paul even rode with us a few times!

This week I have scheduled:
Mon: 2 mile run and Zumba?
Tue: 2 mile run and Hip Hop Hustle
Wed: 3 mile run
Thur: Biking
Fri: Biking
Sat: 5-6 mile run
Sun: Muscle Pump and Turbokick

I'll probably do some more biking in there as well, because I'm really enjoying it! I think it is helping with my running also!

Today is Paul's little brothers birthday. He is turning 24! I've known him since he was about 12! We went to eat with other family and a bunch of his friends to a Mexican restaurant that he works at. I had some chips and salsa. I ordered the fish tacos and ate half of it, plus my rice and pinto beans. Afterward, we went with Paul's other younger brother, Mark, and his wife (my BSILF (best sister in law forever)) Jennifer and their daughter Sarah to Orange Leaf. It's a frozen yogurt place. I got a little portion of peanut butter, brownie batter, and banana topped with blueberries and kiwi. I also tasted the watermelon and pineapple! They were all very good!

I also got my Foodie Penpal package in the mail yesterday from Alexandra and can't wait to write about it!!!

GOTR

Jennifer, Sarah, and Me Pre Race

Girls on the Run 5k race was today! My 10-year-old niece is in the GOTR program, so she and my SIL, Jennifer, were doing the race! I was so excited to run this with them. Jennifer doesn't run, so I had decided before hand that I wasn't going to try to PR, and I would run with her and walk when she needed to walk.

Before we started it was raining a little bit, but it stopped pretty much, as soon as the race started. Jennifer was asking when there would be water and I told her that there is usually water around Mile 1. We passed the 1 Mile marker and there was no water. She said "You said there would be water!" I told her "There will be! It probably right up here!" It wasn't much further up. We got water and started running again.

The Keeper of the Plains with Exploration Place (pointy building) the background Source

I REALLY liked the course! It ran right by the river and past one of our museums, Exploration Place, that has some really pretty water and bridges. Then it crossed the river at the Keeper of the Plains.

We crossed the bridge at Keep of the Plains and it had the 2 Mile marker on the bridge! There was another water station at about 2.5 miles and there were some people with some inspirational signs! One of my favorites was the one about courage. "The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start." I think of that quote often. I feel like it describes me perfectly! I pointed it out to Jennifer!

After we passed the signs, I looked at my phone and saw that, even with the walking we were doing, I was on time to PR. So I started pushing Jen more! The last time she stopped to walk was at about 2.9 miles in, so I didn't stop, I continued running.

I've said it before, but there is really nothing like the finish line! There are lots of people cheering you on, telling you "You're almost there! You're doing great!" Then to see the finish and just to push so hard and give it everything you have, and then you cross the finish and you feel so proud!

Me, Jen, and Sarah Post Race

When I saw the finish line, I saw that the clock said 42 something and I just started gunning it! I crossed the finish and there are boy scouts and firemen there giving out pins and carnations. Then they had water and bananas and apples and the best freaking salted caramel biscotti that I've ever had!

Jennifer 2 and I

After the race I saw a girl I know from running and Facebook. Her name is Jennifer too and we chatted a bit. She told me that she did this race last year as her very first race and she took 10 minutes off her time! That is awesome! We got a post race photo, also!

I was so bummed about not being able to wear the race shirt. Oh well, I'll wear it next year!

All in all, this was a great race! I'm glad I got to run with my family and I'm glad I PR'd!