13 miles ... and it wasn't a half!

T and I set out for 13 miles today and managed to do it all. It was a bit warm ~80. This would be the longest I've pushed a jogging stroller. Those arms ought to start looking like real muscles soon. It's quite a workout pushing him uphill against the wind.

Strawberry Stampede

In February, J and I ran the Strawberry Stampede 5k.

It was brutally cold this day. My hands never did thaw throughout the entire race. J & I ran the first two miles together - I was really proud of him, as we pulled 9:15 miles. Then, J took off. I thought - "I sure hope he realizes there is 1.1 miles left." I didn't say anything and just kept my pace. At 2.5 miles, I kicked it in gear - passed a couple of people (including J) and managed to finish in 28:40. Not my best, but better than I've been doing since I started training for a half.

I did manage to earn my first age group award - 1st place!

J rocked a 28:50 time - 4th in his age group.

I haven't forgotten about you!

The last time I posted was February 6th.  So much has happened since then.
1.  I competed in the Gasparilla Half Marathon on February 27th with a time of 2:15:50.  It was awesome!  As my first half, I couldn't have imagined a better experience.  I enjoyed all 13.1 miles, was totally prepared for it, and honestly was sad it was over once I crossed the finish line. 

2.  J competed in the insanely hot 5k this same weekend.  He rocked the heat and humidity in 29:30. 

3. I interviewed for a full-time position and learned today that I was chosen for the position!  This is something I wanted very badly.  It seems the last four years have paid off. 

4. J has interviewed for a position a heck of a lot closer to home.  We are keeping fingers, toes, eyes, everything crossed for this position.  It's an awesome opportunity. 

5.  I took a week off after the half, ran 6.5 miles last weekend, and rocked 10 windy, uphill miles today.  I'm back and it feels great!

6.  I signed up for another half!  This course has some hills, so I've been training the "death march" that is always uphill and against gusting winds - pushing a jogging stroller the whole way.

11 miles - DONE!

I managed to crank out 11 miles this morning and it felt great!  Last week I was quite unsure as to how I was going to accomplish a half marathon in a month.  Now, I feel a heck of a lot better.  Last week was just a really rough long run.  It started out with very heavy legs and little desire to go.  After stopping a couple of times in the first mile, I managed to pull it together.  The last mile was horrible - a 12:xx mile. It seriously took all I had to get to 10.  My music died at mile 3, I ran out of gu and something to drink, I was zapped.
But, today was great.  The first couple of miles were smooth (they're usually the rough ones).  I was even able to pick up the pace for the last mile. 
On top of a great run, I managed to complete nearly all of my weekend tasks that I planned on Friday. 

22 days and counting!

It was certainly a busy and tiring week.  I wasn't able to run at all this week, so it looks like we'll be putting in the miles this weekend.  My 10 miler on Sunday really zapped me. 
On a positive note, I do not have any work-related work that has to be done over the weekend.  Plan for the weekend:
Friday: run 5 miles with T on the trail; take car to dealership; eat a nice meal for dinner (at home)
Saturday: BBQ and rest; clean the house;
Sunday: 11 miler on the trail; rest the remainder of the day
Monday: 4-5 miles
My Dad is coming in on Thursday, so I need to try to get everything ready for his visit.

A month away!

A month from now, I will have completed a half marathon.  I'm still shocked that I've been able to adjust to a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and become a runner in one year!  It was another busy week, as usual.  Ran a long run on Sunday of 9 miles.  J managed to run 2.5 miles with me, rested on Monday and Tuesday, ran 2.78 hard miles in the DARK on Wednesday, rested on Thursday, ran 5.1 moderate miles on Friday, and ran 2 easy miles on Saturday.  This rounded out as a 22 mile week - not too bad.  Tomorrow's another day of long run - first double digit run. 

It's Friday!

Short work weeks have never seemed short, but this time it did.  I suppose it was a combination of the beginning of the semester and family visiting for the week.  We have this weekend to get ourselves back into a routine, after a month of visiting, vacations, and visitors.  I'm on the hunt for a bed for T.  I think it's time to move him out of his toddler bed.  I'm running another 5k tomorrow -- hopefully I can do better than last week.  If so, this will be my last 5k until my half marathon next month.  I also need to put in a 9 mile run on Sunday.  There is a Tot Trot at the race tomorrow, so T is going to run.  He's pretty excited to race by himself.  His races usually involve cruising in a stroller and telling his Daddy to go faster.