SLC Half Marathon Race Recap.....

I woke up at 4:30AM on race day. After showering and getting ready, the best friend showed up for breakfast. We had oatmeal with banana, protein powder, and vanilla soy milk. Then, Love(he is a trooper!), BestBud and I headed to the trax(which is like the San Fran trolley) station. After boarding, I ran into my brother's ex girlfriend whom I love. She has always been an inspiration to me. We hugged, talked for a few and rode trax to the starting line. Well, we decided that a pre race potty brake was needed(TMI: I took epsom salt 2 days prior to clean me out and it was still pretty active). We waited in the porta potty line until about 20 minutes after the race had started. My official start time was 22m10s after the gun went off.

Mile 1: I felt like Best Bud and I were starting out too fast(9m26s mile pace), but the adrenaline was really apparent. I felt amazing, so happy, proud, and better than I ever have in my life.

Mile 2: This was a touch slower at about 10m13s. I was feeling great though. Everytime I felt blah, the supporters would be right around the corner cheering you on! It rocked my nation!

Mile 3-5: Not much to say about these miles. We kept our pace in the 9m and low 10m mile paces. I took a gu at about mile 4.5. They were out of cups at the second water station and that blew.  Best Bud was still by my side. We were flashing the I love you signs, high fiving, BSing and RUNNING!

Mile 6-7: I don't think I stopped smiling. We hit the half way point and I was feeling great. I felt like I could keep going strong and pushing hard. At mile 7, I was so flipping hot. I took off the race technical tee and shoved it down the back of my pants. My shirt underneath was soaked with sweat. It was awesome!

Mile 8-10: Nothing to write home about. Slowed down a little, but then picked it up again at Mile 9. Lost BestBud at this point. She was kicking ass though for practically no training. I also took a Gu at mile 10.5.

Mile 11 & 12: These were my toughest miles. Mentally, my mind was screaming you are going to do this, you rock! My knees were calling me a B*TCH pretty hard core, but I kept trucking. Mile 11 was all uphill. This was my slowest mile at 11m35s. I had to stop and walk for 2 minutes. Mile 12 was pretty flat and started going downhill for a bit.

Mile 13-13.1: I was on top of the world. I was about to finish my first half marathon and I could not believe the euphoric, amazing feeling that swarmed my body and mind.

I crossed the finish line at 2h16m18s Garmin time. Official time was 2h16m on the nose.

I did it. I had just ran a half marathon. Did I cry? For a second, when I saw BestBud. I saw Brother's Ex, and hugged the crap out of her. Then, I found the love of my life and he gave me the best hug in the world. He is so proud of me for doing this and it means the world to me, because I have NEVER been so proud of MYSELF as I was the day I completed My First Half Marathon!!

 I totally hammed it up for every photog I saw!!

Post Race: My knees were kicking my trash. I took a hot bath and rubbed some icy hot on them. The next day they felt amazing. However, 1 week later and the bottom outside of my left foot is still hard to walk on. I get shooting pains every time I step on it. So, I have rested all week.

Half Marathon!

Well, I did it! I am a half marathoner finisher!!!

Or shall I say, my best friend and I are half marathon finishers! I completed the half marathon in 2 hours and 16 minutes flat!! I have never in my life been so proud of myself!

I didn't get nervous before starting. Maybe in the days leading up to the race, but not on the actual race day. I went into this race knowing that I was going to do great. I was prepared, mentally and physically. I never "hit a wall" or thought 'how am I going to do this?' I always thought, '8 more miles, I got this'. I was positive the whole time, stayed on track and finished 4 minutes faster than my goal. I wanted to do it in 2hours and 20minutes.

It may have been a fluke, but I feel my first half marathon was flawless!!

My knees killed me the rest of the day. My foot on the bottom outside stings everytime I walk. My muscles are slightly sore. All in all, I feel pretty good!

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement during my training and even up to the last 2 comments I read Friday night. You were all in my heart during that race, thinking of the comments and support really kept me going :)

"It's Alive" and 25!

Ahem, I am alive.

It's been a crazy 11 days! I have a few things to catch up on!

My half marathon is just 5 short days away. I have been constantly doing training runs. I had the WORST training run(10 miles) Saturday April 2. I wanted to die the last 5 miles, it sucked. I finished, but was disappointed with the run. Then, this past Saturday, I attempted a 12 mile run. I ran 11.5 and had had enough. There were a lot of reasons why I stopped, most of them excuses. I was discouraged because of the wind, I felt sluggish and slow. I knew I could go faster, but I just wasn't in the groove of it. I usually run by myself, but this one took place with a friend. We ran by her house and did a run, with the route being whatever we came up with. Bad idea because then I am constantly in my own head. Bottom line, I just felt discouraged, I had the thought in my head that I couldn't do it. I have never doubted myself in that way since the beginning of my journey to the half marathon. I finished 11.5 miles and didn't feel much pain or soreness. Woke up with NO pain and NO soreness Sunday morning which rocked.

Like I said, the half marathon is on Saturday and I am ready! I know I am. This week I will be picking out my outfit, downloading new music, finding my iPod arm band case(been looking for it forever!), finding my camera, hydrating, carb loading, putting my house back together(remodel is almost complete), running the last runs, getting a good nights rest and on Saturday I am Coming Out!! As in, the first time you see the face that is "Continuous Changes", I will have a half marathon finishers medal!! That's right, Kids! I am confident that I will finish!

Like I said the remodel is almost complete. Love and I's weekends for the past 3 months have been full of hardware stores, DIY Projects, Training Runs(for me), new fish tank set up(for him), puppy loving(for the puppy kids), yard work, and have I ever mentioned I also have a part time job? Geesh, I feel like I am lazy all the time, but listing that assures me that I am not. I used to take naps every Saturday and Sunday! I can honestly say, I don't remember my last nap period.

Lastly, I turned 25 on Friday! I am a quarter century old. This birthday was kind of tough, but kind of not. As I have blogged before, my parents are in a bitter divorce battle right now. My mom text me happy birthday, my dad kind of forgot. I had to tell him my birthday was Friday(I am closer to my dad than to my mom, as well.) and it really made me sad. They are very consumed in their own lives so I let the hurt go away and refused to let it ruin my birthday! Love took me to "The Melting Pot" and it was delicious! I ate way too much, but it was my birthday :) So, I splurged! I am excited for what 25 will bring!

I have been reading all of your blogs, I am just not full of comments at the moment. Just know I am still routing all of you on and I love reading about your successes and downfalls(because they are making you stronger)!

Best wishes, y'all! :)

3 Days In...

I have tracked everything....EVERYTHING this week. 4 days. That is my record, so tomorrow I am going for 5 days in a row ;) I ate 1200 calories on Monday. I ate 1400 calories on Tuesday(see what happens when you underestimate *tisk tisk*), I ate 1200 calories yesterday(and ran 5 miles in 51 minutes, thank you), and am right on track to eat 1200 today. Maybe Sunday I will post a list of all my meals this week. What do you think? It's been a yummy food week.

I weighed this morning and I am 124.8. Which is a lot better than the 126 I saw Tuesday. I know I can lose 2 pounds before my B-Day(Thanks for all of the Birthday Wishes, I feel special :) !!)

I had a great idea of a post earlier today and forgot it....oh, wait! I remember it, but I really need to catch up on YOU! My reader is 500+ posts to read. So, I am going to get to work and come back later for a post on Determination :-)
For now, here are some cute pictures of my fur babies when they first came home! 
 I didn't know Abigail when she was this little, but gosh, I die from the cuteness that she is!

Lenny on the other hand, I was surprised to find out he was member #4 of our family, but it was love at first sight :)

Wow!

A whole week without a post!? Geesh, who am I?

This past week has been a revealing kind of week. I have had some weak moments. In-N-Out burger, 2 deserts, 2 times the proportion sizes...it was awful. On the one side, I did run 8 miles that day and needed the fuel. On the other, I could have fueled more properly.

I have decided to stick to a 1200 calorie diet on days I do just cardio.
I will eat 1600(plus 200 for powerade) on the days I run long distances.
I will track in a notebook all 7 days of the week.
I will start weighing 1 time a week, Wednesdays are the chosen days.
I will drink 120 oz of water everyday.
I will work on getting lots of fruits and veggies in every day.

My birthday is next Friday and I WILL be 122 if it kills me :)

I have no clue what I weigh right now. I really hope to still be at 124. Or even 123. We shall see in 2 days!

2 A Days....

Sunday afternoon I ran 6 miles in 1h 2m 08s beating my previous 6 miles by 2 minutes and 6 seconds! I am so proud. No knee pain either. I love this running faster thing!

Woke up at 5AM, got dressed, filled my water, and headed my cute ass to the gym. I walked for 5 minutes, and followed that up with a 10 minute stretch session, as I was still a little tight from Sunday's run. Then, hopped on the elliptical for 40 minutes(totally tried to talk myself out of it, but I pushed on). All in all a good day at the gym. I do like doing cardio for an hour though.

Well my best friend, Sadie, text me while I was at work and asked if I was going running(it is supposed to be a running day, but I skipped the gym yesterday). I said "No" and then I had a change of heart and said, "If you wanna run, I am down!" Her response, "Let's do it dude!". So, today I will be doing a 3 mile or so run with her. It'll be nice to have some company!

Do you get active with your friends or are you a "lone ranger"?

Best Thing About This Week....

I ran 3 miles on Tuesday! That's not the best thing, the best thing is I did it in 29m43s my best time yet. The first mile was 9m31s, the second was 10m41s, and the third was also 9m31s! I have never ran under a 10m mile. In fact, I don't think I have ever run a mile in under 10m15s. My knees felt great during, except when I was running slower. So, maybe I am just running too slow!? What do you think? I was soo proud of myself, I actually cried, because I am a dork.

Still at 124.6 this morning, which is nice. Hoping to see the 123 next Wednesday. Just going to keep on working harder and harder.

Hope you are all having an amazing week!