Grace's First 5K

Last weekend we were in Ocean City for the weekend and my good friend Lisa Long was hosting her annual Autism Expect a Miracle 5K in Berlin.  So the plan was for Ryann to watch the little ones while I ran the race.  (Stephen had an all day assignment so he wasn't around.)  The morning of the race, Ryann and Ella wouldn't get out of bed, but Grace did her typical morning routine of waking up being ready to go.  So I made a "game time decision" and took Grace and the stroller to Berlin.

Since I haven't been training, I was really concerned about being able to run this race.  Knowing how competitive I am with myself, I knew that no matter what my time was, I would be disappointed since I'm nowhere near where I was in the beginning of the summer.  So having Grace with me was perfect!  No pressure at all to run a good time when you're pushing a stroller!

I convinced Colleen to run/walk the race with me.  It didn't take much convincing!  :)  We started in the back and enjoyed a nice chat while we completed the course.  We did a brisk walk for about the first mile, then we jogged for the rest of the race.  Since Colleen is in much better shape than I am, she ended up pushing the stroller more than I did. 

Here is Gracie crossing the finish line and completing her first 5K! 

What a great day!  The weather was beautiful, the course was nice and the people were fun.  It was so great to see all my old workout and running buddies!  I had a blast even though it was the slowest time I've ever run.  Sometimes running is not about the amount of time it takes you to finish...it's about the time you have while you're running!  I had a GREAT time!

I Found A Running Group!

At the gym on Thursday, I mentioned to the trainer that I was looking for a running group.  She led me over to the owner of the gym and introduced us.  Turns out he has been thinking about forming a running group based at Snap for awhile now.  I told him that I would be very interested in joining the group and that I would help him get the group together if he needed it.

We talked about the races he had run and the races I had run.  He said that he can finish a half in just under 2 hours.  Yay!  A training buddy who is my pace!  He also said that he runs about a 10 minute mile in training runs.  Yay!  A training buddy who is my pace!

He told me that he would check his calendar and post information on the board about the running group.  I almost skipped out of the gym.  I am so happy!!!

One Reason Why I Love Running

Saturday was the Baltimore Half Marathon.  Last year I ran the race with my friend Teresa and had a great time.  This year I decided not to run because of everything going on with the move and everything else.  So I went to support my friends from OC.  Here they are before the race:

I cheered at the start...here's Michelle and Jen in the bottom left corner of the picture.  I tried to take a picture of Colleen but one of the other runners is blocking her.

Here's Don about .2 miles from the finish line.  These photos were taken pretty far away so you can't see him that well.  He's in a white shirt.  He finished in a personal best time of 1 hour 38 minutes.  Great job Don!

Here is a photo of Colleen...actually she's once again being blocked by another runner.  I have no idea why it was so hard for me to get a picture of her! grr.

I had a blast watching the race, but at the same time it made me sad that I wasn't running it.  So it has re-focused me on my goal.  I will be getting myself back in shape and getting my running back on track.

So this post is called One Reason Why I Love Running...here it is...I am extremely competitive and yet I can cheer on my friends and be proud of their accomplishments.  A woman in my office ran her first half marathon on Saturday.  I asked her on Monday how she did.  She finished in 1 hour and 51 minutes!  That's FAST!  I am jealous because I really want to finish in under 2 hours.  But I am honestly happy for her.  I'm actually thrilled for her.  I love running because I can be competitive with myself...and still be so excited for my friends.  I love nothing more than cheering them on to achieve levels they never expected to achieve.  If it was only about me, running would not be so much fun.  I love the people I have met through my running and I can't wait to see where my running takes me.  Keep reading...the journey has just begun!!! 

A Whole New Mindset...Or Is It an Old One?

I had bootcamp again last night.  It was great!  Actually I did a little bit extra torture.  I got to the gym early and decided that since I haven't run lately, I would run on the treadmill for a little bit.  I ran 1 mile at an easy pace, then ran about a quarter mile at a fast pace, then jogged for another quarter mile.  It was only a mile and a half, but it felt great!  I'm not normally a good treadmill runner but I think my body was so happy to be running again that it didn't matter.

Then we started bootcamp with bear crawls on the treadmill.  It got worse from there...

I really had fun even though the workout was REALLY tough.  I even cheered on the guy training for the Marines.  He has to do everything that Tammy (the smoker) and I do but he has to do it with crazy heavy weights.  I felt good...last week my weights were just about the same as Tammy's.  This week my weights were a lot heavier than what she was doing.  It felt good to be working out and cheering for my fellow workout buddies.

So I am re-energized and re-committed to my workout routine.  I still don't know exactly when I am going to fit running and working out into this crazy schedule that we have right now...but I'm going to figure it out.  I need to stay focused on my workouts...mentally and physically I need it.