4 races 1 post!

Ok I feel bad because I was going to update this blog and be good about it. Use it as a motivator. However, as Jon pointed out last night I have a bit of an issue with follow through. In an effort to make good on the promise to myself here is a little on the races of April.

Starting off with the B&A Trail half marathon. Which was not in April but in March, 3/6/11 to be exact. It was supposed to be a rainy and cold run but it actually turned out to just be cloudy and drizzly. I ran this race with Megan and Katie and lets just say we had a good time! We decided that with the weather and the lack of any of us getting ready for the race we were not shooting for a super time. Just out to enjoy the run and the race. We learned that Megan is very bouncy on the walk portions of the run, that zombies can live in lots of holes along the B&A Trail, and that we all watch WAY too much reality TV. However, all of these things make for a super fun 13.1! We finished with a time of 3:15:47 which I think is a great time!

Next up we have the Cherry Pit 10 Miler. This run is an alternative to the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in DC on the same day. For a $5 entry you can’t beat it. However, this is by far the hilliest race I have EVER run, and I ran Baltimore last year. Baltimore has rolling hills; the Cherry Pit 10 miler has BIG hills. As one runner put it “someone’s diabolical idea of hitting as many big hills as possible and seeing who actually makes it through the course in its entirety” I started off strong. I was feeling good, my legs were working with me for once, and everything was great. I wish I had saved some energy, had I known what was coming. I was doing good until mile 7 and then I hit the BIG hill. That was about the time I quit, lol. However, even though I walked the big hill I still couldn’t give up. Katie and the GF were great company but I wanted to finish strong and the GF decided to hang back with Katie. So keeping with my 2:1 intervals I took off. I finished in 2:17:15 which is a 10 miler PR. Well it was my first 10 miler but I think it was a great time!!

Now onto the Women’s 5K by the Bay. This is the first 5K in the MD Women’s Distance Festival. This was my first 5K last year and I was determined to do well. Last year I did it in 36:36:00 and that was a great time for me. This year I was looking forward to a great race. My step-sister Stephanie and my cousin Katie decided to join me for this one. This year I did it in 36:38:00 pretty consistent but I was hoping for a better time. However, getting to run the first part of the race with Steph was great! Maybe next time I can keep up with her!

Last but not least is the surprise 10K last week Clyde’s 10K. Jen called me on Friday and said that Sean couldn’t run the race did I want to do it with her. So after a quit check of the weather I was in! I felt a little bad because Sean is faster than I am so I knew my time wouldn’t be as good but I promised I’d try hard. However, they did tell me it was not a big deal, but secretly I was pushing myself. Sooo with Jen’s amazing help (I’m noticing a trend with Jen’s trying to kill me on hills, lol) I finished that race up in an awesome 1:17:44. That is about 5 minutes off of my previous 10K PR. Follow up a great run with some great food and Clyde’s and it was a truly excellent day.

Ok so races all wrapped up! I’ve been reading some really good running books so I’ll post some reviews on those soon! I figure I should finish the books before posting thoughts. Ok, follow through for today complete time for a cupcake!!

Lots of firsts

So in the last month I got married and ran another half marathon.

Jon and I got married in Walt Disney World at the Wedding Pavilion on Feb 16! It was a truly magical event. All of our friends and family were there, including our running friends, which still surprises me! I say it surprises me because traveling to Fl for a wedding is a big deal and not at all cheap. I mean we had family that refused to come due to distance and price. So it meant a lot to both of us that with only a couple months notice all but 4 of our running friends came to the wedding.

We stayed in Disney for the week with the plan to fly back down the following weekend so that I could run the Princess half marathon and we could stay in the Treehouse. However, there was a crazy amount of drama at the airport and we ended up deciding not to go. I was disappointed to miss my first race but was glad to not deal with all the stress of the quick weekend. Instead we joined in with the Jen's for a 10 mile run on Sunday. Half way through this run I realized why fate didn't let me go down to Fl again. I was coughing and having such a hard time keeping up.

Thankfully, I had the week to rest up for the following weekend for the B&A Trail half marathon. I ran the B&A with Katie and Megan and it was a very enjoyable 13.1 miles. Lots of talks about trashy reality tv, zombie attacks, and a slew of other craziness. We ended up finishing in 3:15:00 which given the rain and everything was a really good time. So we enjoyed some hot pizza and rested up. Took care of Bob after his 4th marathon and then headed off to a yummy brunch.

And this week I have had the opportunity to see exactly why our group is so close. There is no runner left behind! I am proud to call the loopers my friends and now I am off to visit with 3 teenage boys and 4lbs of chili!!