Catch up!

Whew! The last two weeks have been a scurry of doctor appointments, shopping, and other stuff I put off to make time to go to the gym! I am going to be back at it with full force next week with a new plan to boot!

Happy Exercising!

Race Day Pictures!

I tell you, it is hard to start something and complete it on the same day anymore! Here are the pictures from my big race day!

<==Here I am running hard at the end of the race. I really wanted to get to that finish line!







<==Here is MomOf2Boys with me, Princess, and Prince. DadOf3 took the picture while holding my little Knight.





<==My sister and my parents sent me flowers for the big race!








<==My pretty flowers with a picture of those who sent them!

First 5K - Done!

Wow! Race day was all I expected and more!

There were thousands of people wearing numbers and ready to run the race. It was invigorating!! A lot of the racers looked like college kids who have been in shape all their young lives. I was a little intimidated, but I talked myself into feeling like I belonged there too.

I went with my friend, MomOf2Boys, and it was fun to be able to accomplish a goal together. She has been a runner for a long time, and one mistake I made was to keep pace with her at the beginning of the race. It was too fast for me, so I waved her on ahead.

I only walked two times: once after waving MomOf2Boys on and once in the middle of a gigantic hill. I still feel like I have accomplished a giant feat, reached my goal, and feel happy with how the day went!

It was a very early morning; we had to leave the house at 7:15. The race started at 8:00, and it was just a gorgeous day. I think it was in the low 60s which was perfect for running. I started off too fast but after I got into my groove I was OK until the gigantic hill. I tried to just slow my running speed but I ended up stopping to get water about half way up.

I am happy with how this went and I am excited to keep going.

Lessons I learned:

• If the race is outside, train outside. If the race has hills, run hills.
  
• If you are running with a friend who you know is faster than you, let her/him go first.
• Run at your own speed.
• Don't be nervous. It is an amazing experience!
• Having a race on the calendar is a great motivator! I am going to start looking for my next one!

Goals for the Future:

• Run another 5K in the fall.
• Run a 10K next year.
• Work on running faster on the treadmill.
• Run outside at least one day on the weekends.
• Check out the 10K information and make a game plan.
  

This has been an amazing experience. While I am disappointed that I had to walk, I was so proud of myself when I crossed that finish line and found my family waiting for me. My time was 41:05. My original goal was to run it in under 45 minutes. That is the time to beat for the next race. I am not competing with anyone but myself. This was faster than I ran it at the gym.

I will post pictures in a bit. My laptop is dying and I don't trust it with pictures anymore.

Last Workout Before My 1st 5K!

Friday morning the boys and I headed to the gym for my last workout before the big 5K! It was a nice, easy run. I really am still floored that I can do this.

I picked up my runner's packet and the shirts are pretty neat. They are long sleeved, but that is OK. I won't be able to wear it much this year, but next winter, it will be among my favorite wardrobe choices!

I am a little nervous about tomorrow. There are butterflies in my stomach. And I think that is good. We are picking up a friend of mine for the race tomorrow. We don't think we will be able to run together because they start people of different ages at different times. We will still go together and come back together.

DadOf3 and the three kiddos will come too. I saw that they had some jumping things for the kids to play on, so they should have some fun too.

This has been fun, and I am so grateful for Supermom and her suggestion to check out the Couch to 5K program. I had never heard of it before she told me. I was in Iowa when I read it and had posted my New Year's Resolution to run a 5K this year.

Yippee! I am almost there!

Now, hopefully I will be able to sleep tonight! :)

Wednesday Workout!

The boys and I went to the gym on Wednesday. I wish I could have had another run outside but that was not to be. Let's just say that the boys do not sit well together in my jogging stroller! But I ran the whole thing again, and I kept bumping up the speed just to see what I could do. I am about a half mile per hour faster than the first time I ran the 5K without stopping. It was fun! I still cannot believe that I am able to run over 3 miles without stopping. I could not have done that in January.

I will head to the gym this morning with the boys too. It is my last run before my 5K on Sunday morning. We are taking the whole family - so that means DadOf3 is going to have to wrangle a 6 1/2 year old, a 4 1/2 year old, and a 3 year old while I run. I better run fast so I can help him!

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has commented on this blog! It has helped me so much!

Any words of wisdom for my first real race?

Outside Sunday Run - better than Saturday!

I ran outside again yesterday.

Considering it was my second day in a row running and it was outside again, I feel pretty good about it. The whole family went to my 6 1/2 year old daughter's school. DadOf3 watched the kids while I ran around the 1/3 mile track 10 times. I stopped a couple of times, once for mommy duty when my 4 1/2 year old got a skinned knee. I felt much better about it and came to the realization that we live in a very hilly neighborhood. I think that was part of the reason Saturday was so hard - the hills.

6 days until my 5K!

Running On The Street

I am officially in awe of all street runners! I ran my first run outside this afternoon and it officially kicked my butt. I went the distance but I had to walk some.

Things I didn't think about before running that I will think of next week while running outside:

1. I should have taken a decongestant because my cold from last week is still lingering.
2. The amount of allergens in the air is staggering. I came home wheezing and coughing like mad.
3. People smoke outside and that sent me into a coughing fit. This was my first switch to walking. Once I stopped once, it was like I had permission to walk some of it. Mental challenge.
4. I need a watch with me to give myself running challenges.
   

Oh well! I got a weekend run in. I will work out running outside all next week.

Wedneday Workout - Postponed.

I did not go to the gym this morning. I have yet another ear infection. Blah! My ear drum broke and drained all night. Yuck! I am heading to the doctor tomorrow and I will hopefully be OK to run tomorrow and Saturday outside. At least it didn't happen next week right before the big race!

Monday workout!

The boys and I made it to the gym again on Monday morning. I ran the entire 5K again and even bumped my speed up 0.1mph. I am still pretty slow but I finished the whole 5K in 41:37. That includes walking for 5 minutes at the beginning too. I am getting faster!

I am now working on creating a playlist for my ipod for race day! Fun!