Category Archives: Let the Sunshine In

1:56:41

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I still can’t believe I did it!  Not only did I meet my goal of doing a 1/2 marathon in under two hours, I improved my personal best by over 6 minutes!!  My official time was 1:56:41 and I placed 8th in my age group.  Not bad for a girl who used to run a half marathon in 2:30:00!

When I first started the race, my Gamin decided it was going to choose that specific moment to not work appropriately.  Rather than panic, I kept running at what I thought was a decent pace and turned it off then back on about 3 times.  Finally, just as I approached the first mile marker, it started giving me a reading that looked like it could be accurate, 9:30 pace, so I left it alone and hoped for the best.

The weather could not have been better.  It was in the 50’s in South Florida which was a rare treat.  I attribute a lot of my success to how cool it was and how little fatigue I felt as I ran.  Another bonus was that the majority of the race went through areas that I frequent when I’m training.  Being familiar with the route gave me the edge to really push when I knew I was close to the finish.

All in all it was a great morning and I couldn’t be prouder.  What’s next?!  What should my new goal be?!  I’m shooting to break 1:50:00 by the end of this season.  Lets see if I can do it!

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Don’t Go Bacon My Heart… I Couldn’t if I Fried

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wpid-img_8536.jpgOn Saturday, I ran my first official race of the season… the Great American Bacon 5K!

While I didn’t plan on taking the race too seriously, I do take my bacon eating pretty seriously so I had to BRING IT with our team name and jerseys!  And despite the gimmicky theme, the course was not easy.  The park in which it was held is a converted trash mound and had some serious elevation changes.  (For all you non-Floridians, trash mounds are the highest points of elevation when you live at sea level, lol.) What’s more, the race didn’t start until 8:20 which made for an uncomfortably hot run.

Team “Don’t Go Bacon My Heart” was comprised of some pretty kick ass runners of all different levels!  The newbies got Personal Records, the sprinters had a blast and a new mommy got her first post-baby 5K under her belt!  And the best part?… Good conversation and some nice cold beers to celebrate at our impromptu tailgating after-party at my car.  Let the race season begin!

 

 

Wings for Life

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wingsforlife

Dear friends & followers,

Like all runners, I have had a love/hate relationship with this sport since I began 7 years ago. There have been many runs during which I have deeply questioned my sanity and ultimately conceded to a level of masochism not shared by most. Despite these feelings, however, I have always, ALWAYS given thanks to God for giving me a sound body that is capable of such a primal and liberating act. How beautiful it is to exercise my privilege to run!

Wings for Life Foundation’s aim is to find a cure for spinal cord injury. Promoting advancement in spinal cord research is important to me. This year, I have decided to not only run for my own sense of happiness and freedom, but to dedicate myself to a greater cause. I want to run for those who can’t and would greatly appreciate your help in achieving my fundraising goal of $1500.

I will be logging my weekly mileage and posting it on my blog this season. You can either pledge to donate a certain amount of money based on my mileage logged during race season from October 1, 2014 to March 1, 2015 (i.e. 10 cents per mile logged during this time @ 250 miles = $25) or simply make a general, and hopefully generous, donation now.

100% of your donation goes directly to spinal cord research since the foundation’s administrative costs are completely covered by Red Bull!

Please join me in supporting this great organization by making a donation today.

Thanks,

Cristy

Just click on the link below!  Also, check out the Wings for Life page on this blog!!!

www.wingsforlife.com/walkruninspired

 

Do… Epic… Shit

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doepicshitI consider October 1st to be the official start of running season here in South Florida and I’m so excited I can barely contain myself… This is evident to all of my friends and co-workers who are just about at their wits end listening to me squeal with excitement each time I register for another race or realize how few days are left until my first 1/2!!!!

I have been training HARD this summer and its payed off because I’ve gotten FAST. Well, faster than I have ever been personally at least.  I’m both scared and excited to begin the season and often wonder… Will I achieve my goal?  Last year, my goal was simply to improve my time by a minimum of 2 minutes each race and I achieved this. Actually, I not only achieved it, I surpassed my goal by decreasing my time by 3+ minutes a race, ending my season with a 2:03 half marathon at the Orlando “Best Damn Race” 2014.  This, ironically, WAS the best damn race I had ever done.

What this year, then?

This year, I’ve decided that I want to achieve what one of the strongest and most knowledgable lady athletes I have ever met, Nicole, taught be about this summer as I took a class with her at a triathlon training center.  Its a little something she calls “Epic Shit.”  Yeah, that’s right… I want to achieve some Epic Shit this season, people, and I have decided that I will be doing this by breaking a 2 hour half marathon.  I want to run with the big girls and I only have to shave 3 minutes off my best time to do it.  But what a long, tedious and frightening 3 minutes it is!    

Just as I fear injury, I fear failure.  But, my excitement and belief in myself are stronger than any fear that I may have.  Let the season begin!!!!

P.S. I have also decided not to just run for myself this year.  I’ve put together a page with a great organization that I’ll tell you all more about on October 1st!!

 

 

Hamster on a Wheel

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3 worst things about running on a treadmill at the gym:

1. Feeling like a caged hamster running on a wheel.

2. Having to smell gross old-man cologne for the entire length of your workout because you can’t run past the guy next to you… because you’re a hamster on a wheel.

3. Not being able to escape getting hit on by weird guys because they know you can’t move away from them…. because you’re a hamster on a wheel.

1 redeeming aspect of running on a treadmill at the gym:

1. Decreased swamp-ass/ lowered risk of heat stroke. 

That is all…

A Sign of Peace

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Sorry I have left you for so long,  my friends.  I have had so many amazing changes occur in my life and I’m excited to fill you in! I have a new career,  new amazing friends to share my life with and new goals to achieve.

I’ve continued to run and feel that I’ve gotten stronger.  This summer,  I have kept my schedule pretty regular.  I have treated myself to several recovery walks along the ocean afterwards and these pictures are from my greatest of discoveries while on one of these walks… a baby sea turtle making its way back to the ocean.

It’s brothers and sisters had left it much earlier in the day and it was stumbling around trying to figure out which way to go.  So precious and tiny!

When I posted this on Facebook,  a friend of mine informed me that turtles traditionally represent peace in one’s life.  How fitting that I should see this now.  I am happy and at peace… there are so many adventures to look forward to in the upcoming months.  I can’t wait to find my way to the ocean and experience the successes of all my efforts!

 

 

 

#LikeaGirl

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Many of you have probably seen this Always commercial already but, for the few who haven’t, I must share.  This very powerfully shows the power of words and how even to this day, describing something as being done “like a girl” is meant to be insulting.

I’ll be tagging all of my EPIC and not-so-epic accomplishments this season with #likeagirl.  Saying that I run “like a girl” is probably the best compliment you can give me… second only to “You’re crazy!”  Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Active.com’s Tips to Run through the Heat

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The heat is getting fierce and my long runs have gotten slower and more taxing as a result.  There are a few things you can do to stay safe during the hottest months of the year and the following article from Active.com lists most of the tricks that I commit to during the summer.  On my last long-run, for example, I left at 7am only to realize that this was already too late in the day.  The earlier in the morning (or later in the evening) the better.  Check out the link for other useful info:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/6-Tips-to-Run-Through-the-Heat.htm

Buzzfeed’s 21 Things Runners Won’t Tell You

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Hope you get as much of a kick out of this as I did! (Numbers 1 & 2 are especially embarrassing but true, lol!)

http://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/things-runners-wont-tell-you

Finished Just in Time…

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9 miles

Well, I only set the clock back 15 minutes ONCE this morning but, I managed to get up and get my mileage in as planned.

It wasn’t my happiest run… I usually feel better and better as the miles pass but, today I got a stitch on the left side of my rib cage at mile 7.  I tried to exhale through it and keep going but I wasn’t a happy camper and it slowed me down about 30 sec per mile.

Another thing I wasn’t too crazy about during this run was that the bridge I run over had to be raised to let a boat go by on my way back. Although this gave me a well needed break, I question whether or not my average pace really counts, considering I had rest time that I wouldn’t truly have during a race.

Either way, I’m happy.  The minute I finished it began to thunder pretty loudly… As I drove home, the heavens opened up to one of our lovely Florida torrential downpours, lol.  I like running in the rain but, that thunder and lightning would have really been awful to run through.

One long run completed for the week… Next one will probably be this weekend 🙂