Ladies First Skirt Chaser 5k

  So this weekend was interesting.  I was on duty so I had a few late night issues to deal with which left my sleeping schedule very messed up.  Not good before a race. :(
  I had to deal with a situation Sat morning from 4.30 - 5.30 am so I didn't fall back to sleep until around 6am (or a little later) and spent most of my day resting on the couch.  Because of this, I didn't properly stretch or hydrate myself.  Not very smart before a 5k in 93 degree weather (with no breeze). Ugh!
  I made the first 1/2 in no problem but as soon as I made the turn, my head started pounding really bad and I got dizzy.  I looked at my HR and it was 188.  I never get that high on a run - usually my peak is around 177 or 180 at most.  I walked more than usual this race but did manage to finish with a semi-decent time - 36.37 (according to their time - mine said 36.15).

  I am proud of myself for making it to the end.  I was like 126 out of around 200 to cross the line so I'm still proud of that.  Here's me in my cute lil skirt after the race.

  One of my wonderful staff members made me an Operation Beautiful sign to wear during my race.  What's funny is no one said anything about it except a guy who passed me out near the finish line.  He ran by and looked back and said "you're pretty hot too" and kept running.  It made me smile and laugh.
  Of course today when I got into the gym to run, I managed to run 2.5 miles straight, which both frustrated me and made me happy.  I know that I can run 3 miles - I've done it numerous times now but on race days I just can't seem to get my stuff together and do it.  I don't know - I'm hoping October goes better when it's cooler weather.
  I've also made the decision to push back my 10k.  I'm not ready for it by any means and this past race showed me that.  I'm going to wait until I have a few more races under my belt before I attempt that mileage.
  I also learned today that I need to trick my mind when I want to run long distances in the gym.  I tend to mentally hit a wall when I get past 2 miles and end up stopping so today I started at 20 laps and counted down.  It really helped and when I was ready to give up with 4 laps left I kept saying to myself "really?  4 laps and you want to give up?" and I kept going.  I was so proud!
  I think that each Monday I'm going to add about 2 laps to my total until I'm working my way up in miles.  It's the only way I'm going to continue to grow as a runner.  And I'm so excited to go back to NC for the weekend and run on my campus!  I want to see how far I can get now as opposed to how far I could get back when I was just running a mile before having to stop and walk. :)
  I'm hoping this week continues on a high note.  Things to look forward to:  Zumba (Tues/Thurs), Running class (I'm going in 30min before Jess to work on my time/distance and then running with her after) and hopefully getting a weekend run by the river in with Joey if she feels better.
  This is going to be a great week!