Mansfield Pickle Palooza

Well, Lisa and I decided not to do the Dash Down Greenville. Too much debauchery and too many people. We decided to do the PicklePalooza 10K in Mansfield. We registered the day before so we didn't get a t-shirt :(

The race overall was great. I liked the route. We ran through downtown, and through the trails. It was nice scenery. There were some hills that were challenging. My sister was with me the whole time, which was nice. I needed that encouragement to get to the end! It was a small race, which was nice. Though, a few things I didn't like about it. No cold water and no mile markers. I had to guesstimate where we were. Timing chips were the ones you had to turn in.. I prefer the disposable ones.

Since it was a small race, I placed #4 in my age group! Was very happy about that. That will probably be the only time I will place that high, but I'll take it! And, I also got a PR!

I need to start getting on the ball to train for my half marathon!

Upcoming races:

April 21: Ft Worth Zoo Run, 5K. A few of my Mothers of Multiples group will be running this one.

May 6: Hills and Heels, half marathon. A few ladies from my running group are doing this one as well.

May 28: American Heroes 5K. My Mothers of Multiples group is running this to honor the memory of a fellow member's brother.

June 16: Dadfest 5K. My dad and I are going to run this one!

Runners are the nicest people

I've been running for a few years now, just off and on. Nothing really consistent. I'd do a 5K once in a while but nothing more than that. I wanted to "try" to train for a half but life got in the way-got pregnant with twins, and then having 3 kids at home.

This past year, I started taking it more seriously. My kids are a little older now so I could have more time to run. I decided to seek out a running club or a running friend. I looked, I posted online, and no luck. I finally found a running group in our area. I actually found 2. I started going with Temple but then I couldn't meet when they were meeting because of car issues. But they were all encouraging and welcomed me. I found my current club, Waxahachie Running Club. I started meeting some people Saturday morning and running (Griselda, Becky, Lori, Kelly, Elisabeth, Roger, sorry if I forgot anyone!) We run anywhere from 4 miles to over 5 miles. We start out at Starbucks and then after our run, we hang out and chat. I've also run with Denise a couple of times. I haven't met everyone yet but I'm excited to meet more members. And then there's my Uncle Ray (him and my Aunt got married a couple of years ago) who also runs. All of them are veteran marathoners and/or half marathoners. A few of them have even won races and/or won their age division!

The runners that I have met have been so nice. They are so encouraging! One of the fears that I had was that they might not welcome me because I'm not fast or that I'm a bigger girl. Or that they would act better than me and egotistical (because, really, running 26.2 is bad ass) But this is not the case. They are always offering tips and advice. I feel like I'm part of something. No judgments from them. I appreciate all of them, I've learned so much. It's so nice to talk about running without the glazed look I get from my husband (who says he "paid his dues in the army" and he "doesn't want to drive 13.1 miles" Haha!)

So, if you've started running, I highly encourage you to seek out other runners. Non runners may not get it and not understand why in the world you'd want to run 3.1 miles, 13.1 miles or 26.2. But runners get it.

And as an aside, I have decided to run my 2nd half marathon. Quite a few of us are going to run this one (though not all of them are doing the half). It's the Hills and Heels, and it's geared towards women.

This weekend, my sister and I are running the Dash Down Greenville 5k. This will mark a year that we started back running. April, I'm thinking about doing the Big D 5K (I won a free entry). May is my half marathon and then on Memorial Day, is a 5K that my Moms of Multiples group is doing. June, my dad and I are doing the Dadfest 5K.

Happy running!