My daughter's First 5K

My daughter, Kalynn, joined her school's running club, the Rowdy Runners. She wanted to do the Reindeer Dash 5K so I signed her and me up. And to be honest, I was a little apprehensive because she had run about 2 miles before this. But, it was something she wanted to do so I signed us up. 

The day came and she was so nervous. I told her she would be fine! 

The race starts and we have a good pace going. We ran through neighborhoods so I pointed out the pretty Christmas lights to keep her mind occupied. About 20 min into it, she starts getting tired. I can tell because hear the "clop clop clop" which is indicative of her getting tired.. I told her we can take a minute walk break. We go back to running and I keep encouraging her "You're doing great! Keep it up! You got this!"  Cars were coming and I had her go on the side walk. A few minutes later, I hear her fall. I felt TERRIBLE. But, she got up, and after some whining, she got up and kept going. We got to 3 miles and told her that we were going to run the last .2 miles and we did! I asked her how she felt and I know she was so proud of herself 

She pinned her bib to the wall, just like her mama. I'm so proud of her that she finished!

Here's us after the race!

As for me, I'm hoping to do a 5K on the 22nd. If I do this one, I'll have met my goal of doing a 5K each month even though I didn't run for 3 months. If not, I'll be one short. Not too shabby! 

I also plan on doing a 3rd half marathon, which I'm about 95% sure it's going to be the Big D. Still unsure about doing a full. If I can get a faster pace, I may consider it. Because at my pace, it'd probably take me about 6 hours. That's like almost a full day of work!! 

Summer and the Injured List x 2

Last time I posted was in July. Lots of things has happened since then

I got injured sometime in July. The sad part that it wasn't even a running injury. It was a "I'm such a klutz" injury. I was walking in my room and slipped on a piece of paper. I hurt my knee pretty badly. It was pretty swollen for quite awhile. Unfortunately, I didn't run the entire summer. And unfortunately, I gained the weight back that I lost. So, I'm back at square one with the weight loss. Sigh.

During that time, I got myself a job. I now work in a school district as a Special Ed Educational Assistant. I love it. The awesome part is that they have a running club! More on that in a minute.

I started running again in September and have done a couple of races:

Christelle Moser Memorial 5K Midlothian, TX 

It was a very chilly morning. I had just been running for a few weeks before this race. I walked some of it and my time was 38 something. About 5 minutes slower than I had been doing before my injury. It felt great to be out racing again.

Frost Ya Fanny 5K Alvarado, TX 

My district's running club did this one. It was a tough course. There were no time chips and no bibs, but that's OK. It was still a great run. My pace was MUCH better for this one. There was a guy that I was using as my "pace leader" and he didn't know it. Turned out that he was using me as his pace leader as well!

Back to the running club at my school, one of the ladies who runs it asked me if I'd like to run with them.  I think I will take her up on that!

After this race, my foot started hurting. The bottom of my foot and my heel were very painful and it hurt to walk. I suspect that it's plantar fasciitis. I'm doing some home things (rolling my foot with an ice bottle and taking ibuprofen) and going to see a chiropractor that's in my running club.

I really don't want to give up running. I'd really like to run my 3rd half marathon in March or April. I wonder if this is possible? Will I have to get a different kind of shoes? I am going to get fitted again and see if I do..

If anyone is reading this and has experience with PF, please share your experiences!

It's been awhile!

It's been a couple of months since I've last updated. Summer has kept me pretty busy! I've done a couple of races since my last post.

Firemen's 5K, Midlothian, TX 5/19 


This was a challenging 5k! Fortunately, part of the route was my regular running route. The first part of the race was a bridge that is also a HUGE hill. We had to go up and down it. I felt great after the hill, thanks to doing hill repeats!

And a HUGE prop to my friend and neighbor Michelle. She did her first 5K and ROCKED it. I was so proud of her. She hadn't fully trained for it but she did so awesome.

Michelle and I at the Finish Line!

June 19, Dad Fest Richardson, TX 


I had such a great time at this race. My brother Stephan decided to do this race with us. I felt pretty good. I didn't realize it but my dad was 30 sec behind me! I wish I would've stayed with him so we could've crossed the finish line together. Stephan was about 10 min later.

I wasn't happy with my time, but as my Uncle pointed out, it was really hot and your time slows down.

The summer has been hard on me. It's been very hot. My running group meets in the morning but I'll be honest, I'd rather sleep in than get up at 4:30am to run at 5:15 am in Waxahachie (about a 15 min drive). I try to go run in the evening, but then sometimes, things come up. Excuse excuses I know.

Well about 2 weeks ago, I hurt my knee. And the sad part is that it wasn't a running injury. It was a klutz injury. I slipped on a sheet of paper. I went forward while my leg went backward. I landed on my knee. It was SO excruciating!! I wasn't sure if I needed to go to the ER or what. Of course, I implemented good ol' RICE.

I didn't run for a week. The next week, I did a short 2 miles and I felt pretty good. I've run a couple of times since then, and I thought my knee was doing pretty good. So, Tuesday, I decided to try some intervals with a couple of running friends. Too soon. I'll start slowly again.. Hopefully, I'll be ready to race in August.

Wow, it's been awhile!! I got back on my feet after a week of no running. My ankle felt good and no pain. I was able to do my races as planned.

April 21 Ft Worth Zoo Run 
I did the 5K with my Mothers of Multiples Club. It was INSANELY crowded. I could never get a good consistent pace. There were SO many walkers. Nothing wrong with that but it was very frustrating because they'd walk at least 3 together and blocking other runners. Or, they'd stop and take pictures. But, overall, it was fun. I was happy with my time. It was neat to run through the zoo. And, we got to go to the zoo after we were done. I think next year, if I do this race, I'm going to do the 10K. Not as many walkers.

May 6 Heels and Hills Half Marathon 
Wow, that was a tough race. I had really only trained for 2 weeks-running at the most 8 miles. I did this race with my friends (much faster friends). It was very hot, and that slowed me down. I loved the signs that they had:

I was feeling pretty good til about mile 9 or so. My legs started to burn. I did a lot of jog/walk intervals. The last couple of miles seemed like an ETERNITY!!  Especially that last mile. Holy cow, it looked like 20 miles, not 1 mile.

It was mostly women (except the pace leaders who were men in running skirts and/or tutus!) I loved the camaraderie. We'd give each other encouragement.

I crossed the finish at 3:12 and it felt SO good to cross that finish line. 20 min slower than my last half, but I'm happy I finished considering the circumstances.  I was so tired. I could barely walk.With every step, my muscles would cramp up and seize.  My friends were nice to get the car and pick me up. I got home and relaxed as much as I could.

So lessons that I learned:
-I don't think I'll be running another half in the heat again
-I will train better

And huge props to my friends Elisabeth for placing 2nd in her age group in the half, and Griselda for doing the 5K despite her knee! And, for waiting an extra hour for me!

Of course, this means I'll be doing another half marathon, but in the fall.

Next races:
Possibly doing the Victims of Fire 5K in Midlothian 5/19
Possibly doing the DRC Bloomin' 4 miler June 2
Dadfest June 16 with my dad (which I'm really excited about!)

Race Recap and Injured

Race recap:

A few of my running friends did the Lonestar race. I did the 5k. The first few yards I was feeling pretty good. Then, I noticed that my shoe was untied. Dang it! So, I stepped to the side and tied my shoe.

Though, some not so nice things happened. These young girls in purple shirts were making fun of this other girl for the way she was running. I mean really?? Was that necessary?

Then, my friend who was running the 10K said a girl cut her off and then tried to trip her!

Overall, it was a good race. I was happy with my race. My goal was to get a 34min time. I ended up with 35:30. However, my uncle said that the route was actually 3.25 miles instead of the 3.1 miles. I input the time with the actual route and I was very happy with that!

My next race is April 21, the Zoo Run. I'll be doing this with a few of my friends from my Mothers of Multiples club.

However, I've been on the injured list. A week ago, today, I was out for my 4 mile run. I was half of a mile from the house on my way back. And I fell. Fortunately, a few cars had stopped to help. I think they thought I got hit by a car! It so happened that my neighbor across the street saw me and brought me home. I banged up my knee and hurt my ankle. I knew right away that I had to ICE it. I ICE'ed it the best I could, took some Ibuprofen and then my twin boys came home. I did the best I could with active twin boys before my husband got home. My ankle is not as swollen and not as purple.

Now, the dilemma. My half marathon is in May 6. I haven't been able to train as much as I'd l ike to. The farthest I have run is 6.2 miles. April 21 is my 5K, and then April 27, I will be leaving out of town. Right now, I don't think I will be able to. I might see if I can do the 10K instead of the half. Maybe I can do another half, but I just hate that I've already paid for it.

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!