Spring

is officially here! Im so happy and embrace it with open arms. So one thing that comes with Spring is Spring cleaning. Over the last week, Grant and I have did some serious Spring cleaning. Im so exhausted from it! It needed to be done. If you could just see all the items we pitched you would be surprised. I would say 40 bags of trash defintely is somewhat of a workout :)

My running has been going okay. My half is in 18 days, so all I do lately is run, eat, sleep, and work. I have been watching the foods I chose to eat, but am not limiting my calories. I need the fuel right now. So not paying so much attention to the weight loss but how Im feeling physically. Im feeling pretty great in that area, and my legs are looking pretty good these days as well :) Im not lifting as much as Id like, but think I can focus more on that once my race is over. It also feels pretty nice to not have to wear layers when I got out for my runs :)

Grant and I leave for vacation on Monday. We are heading to Carefree, AZ. Its a work trip for Grant but his boss has paid for me to go. Sweet eh? Grant is only working a few hours each day so its not like he will be gone 8 hours. We are both looking forward to this time together. And the spa treatment that his boss is paying for us to get. Couples massage, oh I can feel it now :) It will be nice to get some runs with the beautiful scenery there. And it looks like our schedules are jam packed from next week till the end of May. Being busy is good, keeps me on track :)

Meteor 10k

Last Saturday I ran in my first 10k, The Meteor 10k. It had to be the most fun race I ever ran it, and I rocked it :)

First the weather was PERFECT! It was about 39 degrees, and the sun was shining so it felt like it was probably low 50's. I had to pick up my race packet before the race, since that was the only time it was allowed. So when I got there the line was pretty long. But 5 minutes in line, they started a new line for #300 and up, so that was me. :) So only 10 minutes in line for that. I still had a good 30 minutes till race time. So I went back to the car, and dropped my stuff off. And wandered around for a few.

Soon it was time to line up, I lined up probably at the halfway point. I didnt want to get ran over, so tried to stay more towards the back and off to the side. And off we went. As I turned on my ipod I realized I grabbed bad headphones. The ones I normally wear always fall out of my ears, so I grabbed some other ones. One of the ear buds didnt work. Dang it! But one ear bud working is better than none ;)

I felt I started off at a good pace, and tried to find my rhythm. It was weird because we did a 1 mile loop at the beginning so passed the start line again. Than we routed out to a main road. At mile 1 I was on target for a 10 minute mile. Which is what I maintained on my last race. I still felt pretty good. Mile 2 and 3 were still on the main road, so the scenery wasnt that great. Lots of gawkers in cars. lol I was around 10 - 11 minute miles through those 2 miles. Than after mile 3 we started to go downhill into a bike path/park. I gained some speed there, and just went with it. I literally was just gliding at that point. It felt great! I liked running on the bike path, and it felt familiar. This was part of the 3 day route last year! :)

We reached a water station around mile 3.5, so I walked through that. And than started back up and was a little winded at first but found my rhythm. Mile 4 was the turnaround ( it did feel like a far out for a turnaround) and I noticed I was around 40 minutes although I felt I was going much slower. Sweet! After the turnaround I felt a burst of energy in me, and I kicked it up a notch. My legs were just moving and I was feeling pretty fantastic. At mile 5 I started to get excited and kicked it up another notch. I was really making some good strides at this point. Than a steep hill came up. I so remember this on the 3 day to, this is the exact spot where I realized I had walked 55 miles and felt fantastic. I smiled and said, well here I go. I shortened my strides, and jogged right up that hill like it was nothing. I was a bit winded at the top so slowed down a bit to catch my breath. Glanced at my watch, and said holy crap, could I finish in an hour? I sure could, so went back to the speed I was at before the hill. I did start to choke a bit on my spit. I think I was breathing to hard and dry mouth and it caused choking or something. I have heard of people chewing gummies or something?

Anyhoo, there was one more tiny hill, and the downhill felt nice. Now I could see the finish line, about quarter mile, or maybe a half mile left. A safety woman said now is your time to pass your almost there. I said it sure is, and started sprinting. My strides felt great, and I actually felt like a runner! I pushed it to the end and crossed the finish line around 1:00:40

Later that afternoon they posted the times on runmichigan.com, and I did better than I thought. 1:00:05, my pace was 9:41, and I finished 38th out of 84 in my age group. Overrall 361 out of 713.

What an awesome day.

Im glad I was able to run this race. The half Im running in a few weeks is pretty hilly. I havent had a chance to run to many hills since my neighborhood is relatively flat. So getting in some hills defintely was good practice. Ill know how to pace myself on the hills a little bit better, rather than going in blindsided.

I am so proud of myself. I truly can see the difference in my fitness level, and endurance. I am starting to feel comfortable in running, and am really excited for my half.

Wow Im really going to run in this half marathon. Life is good. :)

Seriously....

its back!!!! I wonder if I can publish posts...lets see shall we :)