5K Results and softball!

Yesterday was the Free to Breathe 5K! I wanted to find out my offical results before I posted anything! I DID PR but I didn't necessarily get the time I wanted! I finished in 28:09! That's just TEN SECONDS off the time I wanted! Oh well...like I said before...there's always the next race! I came in 7th in my age group out of 43 people! I also came in overall #115 out of 402 people! I don't think that's too shabby!! lol I've made a new goal...I want to get 27:59 in at least one 5K this season! We'll see! For this race, I started kind of close to the front but I was still stuck for a few seconds behind a slow moving group so maybe next time, I can get a little closer to the front...that may help with shaving off a few seconds!! lol We'll see! Kayla (My Sister in Law) also ran with me and she did awesome! She PR'd too at 31:06! Great job, Kayla!

I felt good running yesterday. There were times I had to cough and one time I had to walk cause I couldn't catch my breath. I did stop like 2 or 3 times for like 2 seconds to take a deep breath but I continued running after that. Only once did I walk a little (like maybe 10 seconds or so) to try and get a good deep breath but other than that, it was great! It was hard and I really pushed myself. At least at the end of this race, I was able to kick it up and sprint on in! (I couldn't do that last time cause I was sick!) I'll post pictures tomorrow!! :0)

So I think I started something with this running skirt thing. Last season, NO ONE in my area wore a running skirt at all! I always got odd looks! Sooo, this year, I've noticed TWO girls already in my running group that are hooked! One was wearing black/purple plaid on Saturday! I was so excited!!! lol

In my thinking about running skirts, I had to laugh at myself today! We had softball practice for our co-ed church team and I was thinking how funny it would be if I were to wear a running skirt there! Hahahah



I'd feel like THESE girls! How cool would it have been to play for a league like this?! I know those were tough times (during the war) but I would have loved it! My all time FAVORITE movie is A League of Their Own!!! I wish I were better at softball...I would have loved to play for college. I also went into Nursing too and that's kinda impossible so oh well. At least I can do it for fun at times like this! Games start in April as does my next 5K!

Free 2 Breathe

Well, the race is in the morning! I'm so nervous but I don't know why! I've been nervous all week! lol I'll get over my jitters tomorrow morning probably just as the race starts!

We have team shirts for our hospital team! They have green and purple in the shirts so I figured it would be hard to match them with skirts but guess what?! I have TWO skirts (one for Kayla and one for me) that will match! YAY!

I decided after seeing a picture of me on a friend's facebook that I need sun in my legs before running in a skirt tomorrow.....so this afternoon after work, I laid out for a little while. I had my alarm on my phone set so I would turn over every so often. Well, I fell alseep and laid there double time on my back so front side is just a little burnt! lol It's not bad but it's still red! Haha oh well!

Ok so here's to tomorrow and good weather and making good time!! :0) I'm excited to see my brother and sister in law!

A track workout and an idiot moment!

Monday night was our track workout. It turned out to be 4 miles and it was really tough! We had to sprint 200's this time. We had gorgeous weather so it wasn't too hot outside so that was nice. My legs felt like jelly afterward and that was good! I really enjoy our track workouts..I hope to see some improvement! We'll see! We also worked out our core afterwords REALLY well and I liked that too!

Idiot moment of the day:
So last week, I had my car worked on cause the check engine light was on. After a rather expensive bill, I took my car home and all was well...the light was off, car was driving fine, etc. Well, on Monday night, I got in my car to go to the track workout and the service engine light was on AGAIN! UGH! So I brought it back this morning to the same place...I was very polite, told them my light was on again, etc. My husband drove me to work and we were almost there when my phone rang. It was them calling to tell me my car was fixed. I asked how they got it fixed so fast and they told me that MY GAS CAP WAS OFF! Aaaaaaaaaaah I felt like such a moron!!!!! LOL And the problem is that I know the owner and I know these people well...they know me by name! Our secretary's family works there too so we all know each other. UGH IDIOT!!!!! Hahah oh well!

Blink

Blink
Revive

"Teach me to number my days
And count every moment before it slips away
Taking all the colors before they fade to gray
I don't want to miss even just a second more of this

It happens in a blink
It happens in a flash
It happens in the time it takes to look back
I try to hold on tight, but there's no stopping time
What is it I've done with my life
It happens in a blink

When it's all said and done
No one remembers how far we have run
The only thing that matters is how we have loved
I don't want to miss even just a second more of this

It happens in a blink
it happens in a flash
it happens in the time it takes to look back
I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time
What is it I've done with my life
It happens in a blink

Slow down, slow down
Before today becomes our yesterday
Slow down, slow down
Before you turn around and it's too late

It happens in a blink
it happens in a flash
it happens in the time it takes to look back
I try to hold on tight but there's no stopping time
What is it I've done with my life
It happens in a blink."

I heard this song on Air 1 the other day on my way to work. I LOVE this song and I love to hear it now when it comes on the radio. It really makes you think! Life goes by SO fast! I want to enjoy every moment that God has given me! This is another reason why I love running...it gives me so much time to think and reflect on my day/week, etc. Life is so short...we never know when our time is near. We just need to slow down and enjoy the wonderful life God has blessed us with! :0)

Let's see where I left off last...oh yeah, last Saturday. Well, Sunday we had softball practice. We have a church co-ed team and last Sunday was our first practice. It was fun..I haven't played in a few years so I was worried how it would be. I can still hit though!!! I was very excited about that! lol I played for my high school back in the day. It was fun and I always loved playing softball! I played slow pitch growing up and I got to where I could get base hit off about anything that was thrown at me. When I had to switch to fastpitch, I was DEVASTATED and SCARED so my strategy until I got used to hitting the ball was to crowd the plate so I would get hit by the pitch and get to first! lol Bad strategy I know but it worked! Then, once I got used to hitting the ball, I got to where I could hit almost anything in fast pitch. Now since High School, I've had to revert back to slow pitch. I played a few years for co-ed teams and like I said, it's been a while so I was worried but it's all good cause I didn't have any trouble switching back! lol

Anyway, Monday night, we had our track/interval workout with my running group. We jog the curves and sprint as hard as we can the straightaways for 5 minutes. Then a break and do it again 3 more times. That mess is HARD. I much rather the hill workouts we did during marathon season! lol We also worked our core afterwards which was good for me!

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off because I was hurting from the weekend! lol

Saturday, I ran 12 miles with my running group. It was a good run...we had good weather that morning. I knew it was going to rain but not till the afternoon so I'm glad it held off! I'm so glad I've made friends in my running group cause otherwise, I don't know that I would have gotten up out of bed at 4 a.m. on my own to go run 12 miles at 5 a.m.! lol We have a good time, though! After the run, I came home and SLEPT! Haha! Jason and I had Izzos for lunch then we watched the Princess and the Frog before he left for work! I love having time to spend with him! :0)

To update on the nail biting thing...I've done SO good! This weekend will make an entire month! I hope I can keep this up!! lol

Today was supposed to be softball practice again but the weather is so gross and nasty outside (freezing/wet) so it was cancelled for today! Instead, I came home and cleaned my ENTIRE house! Feels great to have a clean house now! It was totally driving me nuts!

Anyway, I hope to run a few nights this week, then next 5K is on Saturday! My sister in law is running it with me! Woohoo! Our hospital has a team so I joined it! Hopefully I'll do better in this race than I did in the last one since I'm not sick this time! lol I don't plan on placing though because this is one of the biggest 5K's in the area! I think last year had almost a thousand people in it! Crazy!! This is the 5K: Free to Breathe

Sunrises, Trains, and WalMart

This morning, I woke up at 4:45 a.m. to meet up with my running group for an 8 mile run! Today's run took us around a lake and we got to see the sunrise! SO gorgeous! Along the way, we were stopped by a train. We stood around talking and used that as a break. Well, the train decided to STOP. So, what did we do, we went under the train. Oh my gosh that was SO scary I will NEVER to that EVER again! It felt like that short distance took forever to get across! The smart ones in our group ran around the train! lol The weather was perfect today....sunny, clear skies, chilly...perfect running weather!

I was worried about today's run because I have only run twice since NOLA and both times, I only ran 2 miles. I guess I needed that cause today went fine. I'm so glad I got up and ran. I feel so much better!

I had a chocolate milk and yogurt for breakfast afterwards! Yum yum!

I did have to go to Wal Mart this morning on my way home and I'm glad I only needed a few items because there were only TWO cashiers open and BOTH were 20 items or less! CRAZY! People were TICKED! There was no where for those with buggies full of stuff could check out!

Anyway, I forgot to say, I also ran 2 miles with Madalynn yesterday. She wore herself out I think cause she started off WAY too fast!! lol Oh well I'm glad she's getting exercise!!!

Have a WONDERFUL Saturday!

Jillian...ouch!!!

Yesterday at lunch, a coworker of mine and I did this video. OH MY GOSH she worked us SO HARD! I was like dead by the time we were done! I'm sore today too in areas that I don't use as much when I run. THe only thing I didn't like about the workout is she did a LOT of squats and lunges and I can't do either because of my knees. Oh well though...I still got a decent workout. I loved the arms workout with the weights. She did quite a few different moves I hadn't done in the past!

Anyway, this week I have been doing really good! I ran Monday (but I think I already blogged about that one) and every morning this week, I've woken up and done my Boot Camp workout with toning areas. It's so great cause I feel like (I hope at least) I'm making a difference. My goal is to gain more upper body strenght since I have NONE!!!

On top of running Monday and doing the Boot Camp workout every morning, I also did the Jillian workout yesterday so I'm feeling great! I'm going to run this afternoon if it isn't raining! Then Saturday will be a 6 mile run with my group! YAY!

Other good news: I won $100 at work on Tuesday from the Patient Satisfaction drawings. Each time they pull your name, you win $50 and my name got pulled twice! I've only won like twice in the past before so this was awesome!!! It's now in my "secret cash stash" with my other $50 that I won! Haha

We have the assosciate forums today at work and I'm scared to go...lol...we taped a video last week promoting some upcoming events at work and I'm in the video! It should be fun though! We changed the words from "YMCA" to "It's fun to work at the CSPH"! Hhahaha

Running for Erin

Yesterday in the Post Office, I stood behind a man who was wearing a Tech shirt that said "Running for Erin" White Rock Marathon. So, in casual conversation, I asked him what the run for Erin was. He told me that it's for a girl who passed away in 2008 at the Dallas Marathon. She was only 29 years old and was only 3 miles from the finish line. He said that she had a massive heart attack and was dead instantly. My heart broke. How awful for a family to endure! They had seen her not too long before she passed away. They were there to cheer her on and then they went to the finish line and she never crossed it. She was running the Dallas Marathon to qualify for Boston. They calculated her pace and had she finished at the pace she was running, she would have qualified. In turn, Boston made her a finisher's plaque and medal and sent it to her family to display at her funeral. He told me that she also ran triathalons and she had run other marathons in the past. They had a moment of silence at the Dallas marathon for her this year as well as a video tribute. If you have a chance, check out her website. It really is sad. So young, so much life to live, such dreams and ambitions...gone. I think it's awesome what people have done for her memory. May her legacy live on!

Running for Erin

It ain't over till the lean man sings!

So says the fitness trainer of a bootcamp workout I've been doing lately! He's so right! It's been a whole week since the Half Marathon and I've been SUCH a slacker! I did NOTHING...seriously NOTHING...at all last week! Not even weights, nothing. By Friday, I felt like the HUGEST blob on the block! lol Not to mention that our Doctor bought us CHOCOLATE last week and I ate WAY TOO MUCH of it! After feeling guilty about it that entire night and the next day, I'm excited to say that I RESISTED CHOCOLATE...whoa...did I just say that out loud? for the rest of the week! Woohoo!

Friday afternoon, my whole goal for myself was to take a very loooooong nap. I did just that! After getting home around 1 p.m. from work, I slept from 2-5 p.m. THREE HOURS! Woohoo! Of course I didn't feel like doing anything when I woke up and I had plans to get up and run Saturday morning so I did a bunch of nothing until 9 p.m. and I went to sleep! Well, Saturday morning rolled around and my alarm went off at 5 a.m. and what did I do? I got up, brushed my teeth, groaned at how early it was, and I WENT BACK TO BED! Do you know how long it's been since I've slept in on a Saturday morning in my own bed?! AGES! So that of course felt amazing. I slept until 9 a.m. (for a grand total of TWELVE hours of sleep!)! I must have been TIRED! lol

Needless to say, I didn't run...instead, I went to Texas with my parents to a flea market and to see my brother/sister in law. I knew come Sunday, I HAD to do something, so I pulled out my fitness videos I got for Christmas and I worked out! That's when I heard the phrase "It ain't over till the lean man sings". He also talked about how WE are the ones who control our bodies...what goes in and how hard we work them and he's right. I decided from then on that I kind of like the idea of being in control of my own body..of my eating habits..of how much/often I work out! I had already decided I was going to stop biting my nails a few weeks ago and I'm doing fabulous with that one...I'm working on week 3! lol I'm also trying to be careful of what I eat/drink. I LOVE me some sweet tea but the sugar content is so bad for you! From now on, I think I'll get unsweet tea and just use Spelnda in it instead. I know it doesn't taste the same but it's better for me at least! I'm trying to get that way with chocolate. I did good today. Hoping I can keep that up!

So anyway, this morning, I got up EARLY (woohoo!) and I did my fitness video again. Then tonight, I ran 2 miles with Madalynn! First run since the half! Felt great! That girl keeps me GOING! She's so fast!!! We were running between a 7.4-8.5 pace the entire time! We walked a few times because she was wearing me out! lol One particular time is when she saw this HUGE black dog coming towards us and I had to pick her up and walk a ways. I really love running with her! She's so much fun!!! :0) I felt like I got an interval workout tonight! lol

Rock and Roll New Orleans Half Marathon!!!

The weekend started with Jason and I travelling the roads to New Orleans, LA on Friday night! We got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic right outside of Baton Rouge for an HOUR AND A HALF! Of course that set our trip back so it took us 4.5 hours to get there instead of just 3. Oh well! We finally arrived at Heather's parents house and we settled in for the night. We enjoyed a nice relaxing evening and we even got to sleep in on Saturday morning (I can't tell you the last time I got to sleep in on a Saturday morning!)!!

We woke up Saturday morning to gorgeous weather and made our way to downtown New Orleans. We stayed at the Wyndham Riverfront so we were RIGHT by the Convention Center which was GREAT! It was so nice being able to walk everywhere we needed to go! We checked into our hotel, then walked down the street to the Expo.

Health and Fitness Expo



YAY It's here!!!



I was SO excited for this Expo since I didn't get to really enjoy Disney's Expo. (It was way overcrowded with people and I was really overwhelmed with it all cause I didn't know what to expect!)



That's US! Me, Heather, and Bobby!!



We walked through and got our goodie bags/shirts, then headed to the merchandise. I had to laugh at the changing rooms!!! lol Jason was given a goodie bag, too! lol This cheery/peppy girl asked him if he wanted one and he was like, "OK!" Hahahha



The first place we went was to the Running Skirts booth but the twins weren't there! :0( Sad times!



One of the next things we saw was the Disney Booth with the Disney Endurance Series Medals! Yay!!!



And this is where we spotted a bunch of Running of the Ears people!! (It's an online community for those who love running and Disney!)





As we were on the way out...this was the Expo hall!



YAY we are HERE and we were going to kick butt tomorrow!!!!

RACE MORNING

We woke up about 5:00 a.m.....that is SO much more do-able over THREE a.m. like Disney!! lol We got dressed and as we were getting ready, we could hear a commotion going on outside. First a Mardi Gras float passed with a bunch of cops leading the way, then we heard a band and saw a ton of people walking behind. They were going to the race start. That was WAY too early for us!!!! lol



Here I am dressed and ready! My fabulous friend, Crystal let me borrow her running skirt to match my outfit!!



Heather and I!



Bobby is a promise kid. He didn't listen when Heather told him not to rip his race number and he ripped it anyway! lol Poor Bobby!!



All dressed and ready to go!




Jason wasn't happy to be up so early!!! lol

We decided to start walking down about 5:50 a.m. The race didn't start until 7 a.m. so we had plenty of time because they didn't let us in our corrals until 6:30 a.m.



One of the MANY bands performing at the race! These guys were at the start!



Heather and I at the race start!!



Pre race goodies!



Crazy lines for the portapotties! Bobby and I went and left Heather and Jason waiting. It was funny cause a lady asked Jason to take a picture of her and her husband and she commented about how Jason wasn't running and how supportive of a husband he was. Heather was like, "Yep! He's pretty supportive!" Hahahah




Jason and I before the race!





There were people everywhere! I read that over 13,000 finished this race!



On the way to our corrals, we saw this! I thought it was cute! :0)



This was right outside our corral.



Heather and I in corral 13 waiting to go...



We made the way...FINALLY...up to the race start. It took us 30 minutes to get there but I LOVED the timed starts. Each corral started at 3 minute or 90 second intervals! It was great!



They had random Mardi Gras floats all over the course. This one is what carried the "elite" runners to the start line (you know, the Olympians, the Kenyans, etc)



At the start! This race started with the Half and Full runners together. Then they split us up around mile 4 or so.

Our corral started about 7:30 a.m. We got going and were excited to be running this race! They had a band at the first half mile and about every mile after that. We saw Mardi Gras floats, people with funny posters cheering us on, fancy costumes, etc..



We made it to mile 3!!



We were making REALLY good time and were excited about how we were doing!!!



I was worried that I would go the wrong way and would end up running the full! lol However, the paths were CLEARLY marked! We stayed separate the rest of the race.



About the 4th mile, we stopped for GU and water. This guy behind us was like "I'm not a stalker...I'm just keeping pace with you guys cause y'all are doing great!" lol!!

At mile 5, I had to stop to make my heart beat right again and the "follower" kept on going.



It was about this point I noticed my right knee and my left foot KILLING ME! I realized it was because of the VERY uneven and broken roads! It was bad!! I pushed through the pain and it was all good!



You could see Mardi Gras beads in the trees/power lines, etc..lol!



We had to stop somewhere around here because Heather's side was going crazy. I didn't mind the break one minute!!!! lol



Halfway there!!!



There was a contest for the best dressed/most spirited cheerleaders. I think these girls were pretty high up on the list! They were SO peppy!!! lol



Running towards the French Quarter. On one of the street corners, we saw a guy with a platter of cut up donuts and cups of beer! He was handing them out during the race! CRAZY!!!! lol



St. Louis Cathedral



Around mile 10, Heather said, "Hey look! It's stalker guy!" I picked up the pace to catch back up to him and I was like, "We're baaaaack!" lol I think he wanted a 2:30 time too but I'm not sure if he made it or not!



Making GREAT time!!!



It was about this point that I started to really feel the pain. I had run 12 miles in trainig and it was a GREAT run but I didn't run it near as hard as I was running this race. We had a goal set 2hours 30minutes and we were SO close so I knew we had to keep pushing through the pain.



I seriously wanted to curl up in here and die. I felt close to that point at least!!! lol



Aaaaaaah almost there! They had us run around a lake and then to the finish! Around the lake, there were people sitting out front of their houses watching the runners go by. This one lady was making mimosas for the runners!!! lol She told one guy "you may hate me later!" lol!!!



Steppers close to the end!



Here we are running it in!



Last mile!



Run to Disney...lol I saw this at the Museum of Art at City Park and it made me happy!!! lol



Woohoo we are almost there and we were really excited cause we knew we got our goal time!!!



We saw the finish line so we started hauling BUTT!!! We were going like a 9:20 pace! lol We pretty much kept an 11:30 pace or so the whole race!



Jason saw us coming...I had no idea where he was at!



Running FAST to the finish!!! After Heather and I crossed the finish line at TWO HOURS AND TWENTY EIGHT MINUTES, I turned and screamed and hugged Heather!!!! lol I was so excited we go our goal time!!!!



LOTS and lots of medals!



We took the official race pictures, got our bananas, water, gatorade, chips, granola bars, etc., then went to find Jason!



He spotted us before we spotted him!! lol



Yay I'm so excited we did it!!!



Bobby was tired, too! He finished in 2:14! Good job, Bobby!



At the after party!



SO EXCITED!



My time on my Garmin! lol





Concert stage. We didn't stay long after.



Lots of people at the after party!



These are the girls in my running group that I've been running with on Saturdays! They did great in their first half marathon!!!



A little cold on the way back to the room! lol



Showered and ready to go back home! We made it home in GREAT time! This morning, I woke up sore and stiff and I hobbled around work all day!! lol