Christmas Get Away

  So I've been very blessed this year - the ability to travel as much as I have in the past 3 months is such a gift as well as the fact that I've got a job that allows me that ability and friends who are willing to take care of my apartment while I'm gone.
  This month I met up with my mother for our yearly vacation together.  We decided on Charleston and could not have asked for a better city to visit!  The city was so welcoming and friendly despite the drop in temperature.  We learned so much about the history of the town and the slave trade in Charleston.
  If you are lucky enough to hit up the city, please make sure to go on one of the carriage rides (we had Patrick as our host) and the Pub tour (with John) - both were full of interesting stories and tales of the town.  The Pub tour was nice because we got to try some new bars in town, eat some great snacks and see what the town had to offer.  We also were told tales of the "dark side" of Charleston and its history of speakeasies and brothels.
  Charleston is also a great city to run in - not that I would know.  I was told not to run over my vacation so I, for once, listened.  I didn't pack any of my items because I knew if I did, I would use them.  Let me tell you, watching at least 5 to 10 runners a day go by you is really hard when that's what you want to do more than anything.  But, I was good and will reward myself with a run either the night I return or on Wednesday when I wake up.
  I even had a nightmare last night that I put on all my gear and couldn't run more than a half mile.  I was so upset in the dream and of course it got me nervous.  I know my mind is playing tricks on me but I'm still nervous about the time off.  We'll see how the rest did for my running I guess in a few days.
  Hope everyone had a great christmas as wellC.

Jessica's first 5k!

  I have to say that by far, this was one of my favorite runs ever.  I was very nervous beforehand - for many reasons.  First being when we signed up for the race, the guy at Fleet Feet told us the weather man was saying it was going to be 25 degrees!!  My last race was 36 degrees and sleet but for some reason 25 degrees made me very nervous.
  The second issue was figuring out who was driving who and where to meet and all that. 
  My third fear was that I was going to push Jessica too hard during the run and she was going to get frustrated with me or tell me to go ahead (which I would but I wouldn't have any music).
  These fears played themselves out slightly in the nightmare I had the night before the race.  I woke up at 6.30am and fell back asleep into a dream where Jess and I decided to go shopping before the race.  As we were getting dressed to race we could hear them calling to line up on the starting line from my window (not possible) and I started to get upset because we were going to miss the gun and didn't have our chips yet to mark our time.
  Thankfully only one fear was realized - we didn't get to meet up with Erica and Eryn until after the race but they had one another so it was all good. : )
  I went through my usual ritual of putting everything out the night before so I was ready and prepared when I got up.  Forgive my bra being out on the internet. : /

  Had to have my good luck hoodie - Gettysburg College.  It was the best purchase I made when I was down visiting my friend Michael a few years ago.  I wear that thing just about every run!  I also made sure to wear my blister-free socks - they are like 2 socks sewn together. I love them!
  I told Joey and Jessica I would drive so we all met outside of my apartment at 8.30am.  The race started at 9.30am and I wanted them to fully experience the pre-run festivities.  Jessica also passed out her operation beautiful signs for us then.  I made one for her that said "I am a strong, beautiful woman who is running her f1st 5k. I am so proud of myself and my friends running today."
  I made her sign special because I wanted to let everyone know that she was achieving a goal she had set and doubted at times.  I knew the community well enough to know that some people would come up and congratulate her but what she received was beyond what I had ever expected or imagined!
  When we arrived we were walking around with our signs on our backs. She was already getting smiles and congrats.  One woman came up to her and told her she also read the blog and asked to take a photo of Jessica and Joey's signs.  Then throughout the race - from the line up to the end, people were coming up to her, patting her on the back, telling her "great job!" and saying how awesome it was she was running her first race and wishing her luck.  It made me love the community even more for that support of a new runner!
  Jessica and I planned before the race that I wasn't going to time myself this race - since it was her race, I would run with her and just be there to support her.  Funny thing was, I think I was more nervous about it than she was.  She set a goal of sub-45 and wanted to run a few minutes and then walk as little as possible while not pushing herself too hard. 
  The gun went off and Jessica, her friend Michael, his dog Rosie and I were off!  Joey went ahead of us as she had set a sub-40 goal for herself.  We started with a great pace and managed to make it mostly up the first hill before we needed a serious walking break.
  I didn't realize how many hills we would have on the race but she handled them with grace and didn't complain once!  The worst one was into a park I didn't even know existed even though I drive the road all the time.  We jogged part, walked part and ran part of it.  As we ran down the other side of the hilly park we passed a news camera.  Both Michael and I started screaming "it's her first 5k!!" so I'm sure we didn't get on the news. ha ha ha
  By the time we finished the park I realized we'd already hit past the half way point (made me love lolli-pop races more!!) and Michael asked Jess where she stood on a scale of 1-10 (10 being I could run 20 more miles and 1 being I want to die right now) and she was at a 4.5 - 5.  That made me so proud!!  A few months ago - she would not have been able to say that.  She has come so far!!
  We told her our goal for her was to run from 32nd to 35th and cross the finish line - about a half mile - straight.  We both knew she would be tired but could do it.  And she did - as we entered the last leg and started running through the people Michael and I again started screaming "she's finishing her first 5k!!" and others were screaming back.  It was such a great experience.
  Jessica, Michael and I crossed at sub-40!!  I had to tease her - she beat my first 5k score (41:14, 13:17 pace) by a good couple of minutes and I was older than her and had been running just as long!  As we stood in line to get food and find out how Erica and Eryn had done people once again started coming up and congratulating her about running her first race and teasing her about "catching the running bug" and having to race again.  I hope she does - I told her I'd like her to run either in April or the Full Moon race in May with me!
  These are photos Michael took of us after the race with Erica's camera.  I need to get a camera to take while I run - some of the view were amazing - the droves of people ahead of us running up hills - the outfits - I wish I'd taken photos of all of it!!

Erica and Eryn.  Eryn is my summer running buddy.

 Me and my girls holding our operation beautiful signs

 Jessica and Michael

 Me, Joey and Jessica - their first 5k in Tulsa!!

 All the ladies together! We kicked butt!

Jessica, Michael and Rosie.  They were a big help/support while we ran!

  All in all it was a great race.  I am so proud of everyone - they all did a great job with their times and pace!  I can't wait now for my New Years race!!  I am not shooting for sub-28 but I would like to hit my usual mark around 30mins and not walk.  We'll see. : )

  Thank you again Jessica, Joey, Erica and Eryn for running with me this race!  It made it even more special.  My only regret is that we didn't get a photo of Jess crossing the finish line - we'll have to do that next race! ; )

 

Lucky 105

  So this is my 105th post since I started blogging.  For some odd reason, 105 is one of my "lucky numbers" - probably because it's the only locker I remember having in high school and I have a slight (ha ha) obsession with the number 5.
  Anyway, this post is going to be filled with many photos and lots of exciting updates/news so prepare yourself. : )
  First, I have to say that this week is only half done and I have already ran 8.75 miles!  I am so excited/proud about this fact.  I haven't been so good about my 10mile a week goal and when this week is finished, I will hit 12 miles (thanks to the race).  I'm so excited about that prospect!
  I ran 3.5 with Eryn on Monday, 2 with Phoebe last night and 2.25 with my instructor today.  Then we met up with Jess and ran another mile with her.  I am taking tomorrow and Friday off so I will be ready for my race on Saturday.
  I'm super excited about the race this weekend - I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it.  Last week I pushed myself really hard and almost ended up getting hurt.  I arrived back in town on Monday, ran 3 miles straight on Tuesday night and then did 2 miles for class.  I went to do another mile with Jess and the insides of both of my calves got charlie horses while we were running.  I tried to run them out, figuring they'd stretch out, but instead they started rolling around and cramping horribly.  Horrible pain - to the point I had to stop and walk a little bit (which I never do anymore).  I tried running another lap but couldn't do it and ended up giving up for the day.  I put IcyHot on them (couldn't find my Mineral Ice) and the next day they were still bad.
  I had a formal that night so rather than be a smart person and wear flats (which hurt my feet horribly), I wore very high heels.  But, thanks to my running and Zumba, you can see my legs are looking very nice! ha ha

  The walk across campus was long but I made it. : )  And the shoes were removed after a little over an hour - mostly because they were giving me blisters and I can't run with blisters.  It was a huge change from formal last year - by close to 20lbs.  I appreciated all the sweet comments from everyone that night.

  Tonights excitement was registering for my next 5k.  This one is even more exciting than all the others because I am running with one of my RA's and one of my former residents.  Jess, my RA, has been running with me every Wednesday since August.  She has lost weight, gone from a half lap on the track to five straight laps and has come a long way in a short time.  I am so proud of her!

  We decided that the Jingle Bell 5k would be a good testing point for her.  She has set her goal for sub 45 which is going to be good for her.  Possibly a little challenging, depending on how much she walks, but I know she'll do wonderfully.  I told her when I ran my first 5k I was right around mid-44 so that's a good time.  I did mine with a ton of hills too so we'll see.  It will be her first PR and a good starting point.  Her next goal will be running an entire 5k.  Took me a year so we'll see if it takes her less.

  This is my first long-sleeve t-shirt race.  I may actually wear it on race day - a first for me.  We'll see how cold it is.  I'm figuring I'll wear the same outfit I did for my last race - tank, t-shirt and hoodie combo.  Seems to work good during cold months - keeps me warm but not overheating.

  We got some fun goodies in our bag too.  Jess hasn't seen them yet, but here's the shirt:

  Sorry - I will have to go in later and arrange it so it's right side up.  My cell doesn't do that. : (

  My lucky number for this race...

  Jess will be 1086 so if you are in or at the race, cheer for us!!

  The best surprise in the bag...

  Oh yeah! We got a cowbell! ha ha I love Oklahoma!!  We found this along with our little jingle bells for our shoes.  I am going to return a favor to Jess for this race and make her an Operation Beautiful sign for her back when we race.  In return, she is making me a new one (my last one is laminated and hanging in the center of all my race bibs on the wall in my office) as well as making one for Eryn and her roommate Erica to wear if they would like to do so.
  My last bit of news... a big congrats to my friend Sarah (the beautiful blonde to my right in the photo - I'm center).

  Sarah has officially started a couch to a 5k program (similar to mine) and is on her way to becoming healthier, happier and a stronger runner! I am so happy for her and we're already making plans to run in the mornings when we travel together this summer.  May sound silly to some, but I've learned from others that there's nothing like getting to see a city by running a few miles each morning.  You really get a different outlook on life in that area.  I can't wait!  I know Sarah and she will give it her all and be up to my mileage in no time!  Maybe I can even get her to blog about her thoughts/struggles/achievements. ; )  We'll see.