Check out my pace in my third mile this morning!! 8:06! Great way to start what turned out to be an amazing day. I was productive at work and at school, I had a wonderful lunch with lovely friends and I had a yummy dinner with my mom. Can’t beat that!
I’m so happy that I’m getting faster!! 😀 Next Step: Adding mileage!!!!
OK, folks. I was about ready to go to bed when realized that I haven’t written in a couple of days. I’m very proud to say that I have achieved my goal of keeping up with my fitness despite my crazy work/ school schedule. I am now on a lax summer time schedule at work and don’t have to start my days until 9am and get to leave by 2pm. I ran this morning, I’m going for a bike ride tomorrow, I’m almost finished with my classes, and I’ll be done with work for the summer by next Monday.
Life is good…. If I can just get through the craziness of this next week, It will all be worth it! Today I Ran, worked, did some errands, went to class, cooked myself some dinner, studied for test, blogged and will now pass out. In the words of Ryan Seacrest “Cristy, OUT!”
Compared to what life brings us, running a few miles is nothing. We can accomplish any goal, suffer any disappointment, survive any turn in the road… ‘Cause running reminds you, “this totally sucks, but, you got this!” 😉
Check out my average pace per mile this morning! I was not feeling well and woke up still feeling pretty exhausted but, I forced myself out the door and struggled through the first 3 1/2 miles. After the turn around, though, I felt a little lighter and less disinclined to be out there.
It was another gorgeous morning and I was just glad to be out there and enjoying it. Plus, I was passing people who looked pretty legit so, that motivated me even more, lol. My average pace of the entire run was 8:59. I was tired and don’t think I could have kept going. I’m not going to get disappointed, though because my average pace and time for the Wings of Life run were pretty consistent with this and that was only a couple of weeks ago:
I am so happy to be making progress on my goal to become faster. If I keep this up, I’ll be able to achieve my sub-two-hour half marathon for SURE!!
Well, I’m swamped with reading 4 chapters, and I already have a couple of papers I need to be working on… and its only the second day of classes. I spent 14 hours either in my car or at a desk at work or at school today. My knees hurt from being bent all day, and my butt and lower back hurt from being sedentary. When 7:55pm rolled around and the professor began to make sidebar conversation with my peers, I quietly escaped the classroom and ran to my car. I wanted to take advantage of the last bits of day light. I needed to see the sun for my own sanity after being in a window-less office then a window-less classroom all day. Plus I didn’t want to run in total darkness.
I got to the house, greeted the pups, changed and headed out the door. I did 3 miles at an 8:50 pace under the light of a full moon. Not the best run I’ve had but most definitely not the worst. I’ll proudly accept my performance, especially considering the crazy long day I had. Feels so good to keep it up! Now…. lets get some of that reading done… :-\
Thank you God for giving me the health and ability to run, to be outside, to see the beautiful things I’d never see or feel while sitting indoors.
We are given one body. Why not use it to experience and accomplish great things?!
Sunday I got to participate in an amazing event! The Wings for Life World Run in Sunrise, Florida. The event took place in over 30 locations and had over 35,000 participants throughout the world running at the SAME TIME. The race started in different time zones (obviously) so race start times differed per country but we all started at the same time and ran in honor of those who couldn’t. The event raises awareness and funds for those with spinal cord injuries and 100% of the proceeds from the registration fee goes to this amazing cause. Here’s more info on the event:
http://live.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/en
The concept of the race is unique. Rather than run towards the finish line… the finish line catches up to you! You must run at a certain pace to hit certain mile markers because once the “finisher car” passes you with its censors (like the timing strip you run over at the finish but just mounted to the car), your time is stopped. My goal was to run at least 9 miles before getting passed. Considering the hypochondriacal, neurotic fit I was having Saturday, I arrived at the start not knowing if I would even complete my original goal. Once I met up with my co-worker who invited me to join her in the race, I was began to feel a little better but was still hesitant.
Once we started, I hit my stride pretty quickly. I was calm, well paced and feeling energized. By mile 5 I was beginning to think “I got this… I only have 4 more to meet my goal and I’m feeling pretty good.”
By mile 6 a short gentleman about my age, wearing crazy metallic shorts and neon compression socks started to run along side me me. My thoughts at this point were… “what the hell, guy?!”
By mile 7, me and the short guy were running the exact same pace, never saying a word to each other. We were approaching a water station and all of a sudden a highlighter-yellow-colored piece of paper seemed to flutter out of no where from the sky and landed in front of us on the pavement. We both looked at it and realized it wasn’t a piece of paper at all… it was someone’s escaped pet parakeet! I’d never seen one so neon colored in my life. Me and little dude just turned to each other and exclaimed simultaneously “What the hell?!” and laughed. That was pretty cool so, I decided it was a good omen that this was going to be a kick ass race and that little dude was pretty cool.
By mile 8 I didn’t even feel myself running anymore and was now on auto-pilot. The world was just passing by.
By 9.5 I passed Casey who was waiting with the camera. I was having the run of my life… I was averaging 9:02 and feeling great. I wasn’t even thinking about the finisher car that was creeping up slowly behind us all. My random running buddy and I were pumping each other up… “yeah! We’ll be able to finish a half for sure! We’re killing it.”
Before I knew it, it was mile 11… and that’s when it happened. A guy on a bike rolled by and warned us. “Its coming guys. I see it about a quarter mile away.” We decided to push a little harder. “Lets give it all we got!”
Suddenly, my running buddy shouts, “Ok, lets book it!” I turned to him and told him I was at max capacity and couldn’t go any faster… “Turn around!” He told me as he bolted off. And there it was… the car! I squealed as though this were the zombie apocalypse (yeah, I’m obsesses with Walking Dead, whatever!) and I was getting chased by a walker. I booked it! But not for long… I proudly finished 11.43 miles before my race was over.
But here’s what I’m so excited about… I calculated that if I had continued at my pace of 9:02 for 13.1, I would have finished a half marathon at 1:58! Safely under 2 hours which is my goal for next season. I got it in me baby!! woooohoooo!!! I’m STILL beaming with excitement and pride.
Today I did a 10K with my friend Caitlin. It was an overcast, extremely windy morning and I had one too many beers at my bbq last night but, I managed to try my best and finished without falling over, LOL.
I ran at an average pace of just under 9 minute miles and really enjoyed myself. It was a beautiful morning and I got to spend some time with friends…. can’t beat that. This photo was taken by Casey just as the sun was rising over the ocean.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday morning, even if you ARE running while hung-over. 
More photos from the race:
So, not only did I get back in my groove and go for a run today, I ran a 5K at an average pace of 8:40 which for me is pretty good!! As I mentioned in my previous article:
http://walkruninspired.com/2014/03/31/goals-im-committed-to/
I want to start running regularly at an average pace of under 9 minute miles… Today’s run means that I’m well on my way!
Now, if I can only extend the length of my runs at this pace…. 😉
Today was hectic both during and after work… by the time it was 5pm I was so hungry and tired, all I could think to do was eat dinner. I had nothing prepared so when my mom asked me to join her for some lentil soup at her place, I agreed. After a bowl of that fiber- protein-iron-rich-goodness, I felt like a sluggish bump on a log.
As I sat with mom on the patio after dinner, though, all I could think of was going for a run. I was so restless that my mind was going 100 miles an hour thinking about lacing up and hitting the pavement…. I wouldn’t feel right until I did it.
I gave myself a couple hours to digest and headed out just before it got dark. Fastest run in a few months and well under 9 minute miles which is one of the goals I shared being committed to achieving! I’m well on my way 🙂
Little Miss Sunshine State 