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!

The New Year so far!

I've been tracking my food intake and staying within my calorie range. So far so good. I've lost 2 lbs so far!

Last Thursday, my sister Lisa calls and asks me if I want to do a 10K put on by the Dallas Running Club with her. Mind you, I haven't been running on a consistent basis. So, of course, I said "Sure!" I went ahead and signed up with the Dallas Running club because for a small fee, you can do 8 races free per year!

The 10K that we did was the Frigid Run. It was a mess. There were about 900 runners and 4 computers. Race was supposed to start at 8am. They kept saying "20 more minutes!" "20 more minutes" About 9:45am, they said again "20 more minutes!" and by this point, we just wanted to go. They warned us that it wouldn't be timed but no one cared. They said "Go" and off we went.

Since they weren't timing us, my sister ran with me. I'm much slower than her and it was good running with her. The first couple of miles were tough but soon after, I got into a groove. I did stop to get water. Then we crossed that weird concrete bridge that I crossed during my half marathon. When I crossed it during the half, I thought something was wrong because it was moving!! My sister said to run on my tippy toes and that helped. Plus, I knew what to expect. About the half way point, we met these 2 ladies and chatted with them. Neat to meet new friends during a run!

We crossed the finish line at 1:17 but my sister's watch said 1:16. I'll take it! This will be my starting point.

My goal for this year is to try to do a race a month.

Feb:

DRC 5 miler 2/1 ?? (not sure yet)

March:

Dash Down Greenville 3/17

April:

Not sure yet

May:

Heels and Hills Half marathon 5/8

American Heroes 5/28 (this is with my Moms of Multiples Group)

That's all I have for right now!

I found out through my new running group that if you sign up for the Mellew Incentive program, you can win free entries or other free stuff! You have to watch their web page and they'll tell you to email them and the first 10 gets a free entry (or whatever).

And, I won a free entry to a race (lower than a half)!!

http://www.mellew.com/index.php

I'm thinking that it would be fun to do the Dadfest and maybe get my dad to do it. We'll see!

2011, The Year I Transformed

I posted my goals for 2012, but I'd like to look back at the past year. Partly because I hear all the time how people start out running but don't like it. Or, that they couldn't possibly do a 5K or a half marathon.

I've been running for a few years but nothing really serious. I'd do a 5K here and there. But, that was the extent of it.

I started running as part of my exercise routine; to lose weight. I found that setting a goal, helps me to be motivated. So, my sister Lisa and I decided to do the Dash Down Greenville. That was a fun race and it was HUGE!!

Here is me almost to the finish line

I really enjoyed racing and having my sister there (even though she is MUCH faster than me). Just something inside me ignited, that I LOVED doing races. It wasn't more of being competitive with others, but being competitive with myself. Could I beat my time? What can I do better? Plus, I loved the swag and t-shirts that we got for signing up. So, we decided that we would try to do a race every month, and we'd switch cities. One month, we'd do a race in the Dallas area and then another month, we'd do another one close to me.

So, since we did the Dash Down Greenville in Dallas, we'd do one close to me. We did the Mad Dash in Cedar Hill. This was a smaller race, just for women.

The next race we did was a night time race. We did the Firefly Run in Plano. Also a crowded race. I didn't have a good race that day. I fell at the beginning of the race. At first, thought I sprained my ankle. I was about to be transported back to the front but I decided I'd continue on. I couldn't bear the thought of quitting. My time sucked but I was happy that I finished.

Here's my unexpected souvenir from that race

I think about this time, Lisa and I were talking about doing a half. The thought was overwhelming, but I thought about it. I decided to go and and go for it and see what happens!

I also found a running group to take part of. Met some amazing runners and people. Unfortunately, when the kids started school, and my husband not getting home til late. I couldn't go anymore. Then our car situation happened, and we're down to one car.

August, we did the Historic Reach in Waxahachie. A pretty good race, not too big.

I didn't do anymore races and focused on training for the half in November.

And finally, my last race was the Reindeer Dash here in Midlothian, which was another night race.

I feel that this year was the year that I turned into a "serious" runner. I run because I *LIKE* to run. And it took me a few years to really get to this point. I've also met new running friends that I know will keep me motivated. I can't wait to get to know them better throughout this year.

I'm looking forward to 2012! Now I just have to figure out my race schedule! I'd like to do a race every month but that depends on finances.

I hope that those of you who want to run, find it enjoyable and rewarding as I do. It may not be right away but give it time.

New Years Goals

While in the shower, I came up with a list of goals that I'd like to accomplish this year.

-I'd like to lose 50 lbs.
Not only for my health but I know this will help my pace. I'm not naive to know that my weight is slowing me down. Even though I run quite a bit, I haven't lost any weight and I know it's because of my diet. My diet needs a huge revamp. I'm hoping to rejoin Weight Watchers again. My moms of multiples group is starting a support group as well as doing "Biggest Loser" (which I won last year!). I have all these motivators on my side, I know I can do it.

-I'd like to get back down to a below 10 min pace.
I lost 60 lbs about 5 years ago and that's when I started running. I was training for a half. I had run a few 5K's. My first one was around 30 min. A few weeks later, my sister and I did one and I finished at 29 min. Then, I became pregnant with my twins and struggled with getting the weight off since then. I've been consistently running again, and right now, I'm about 11-12 min pace.

-I'd like to run a half marathon at 2:45 or faster.
I did my first half at 2:51, which I'm happy with. I wanted to keep it under 3 hours. Now, my next goal is to run a faster half!

-I'd like to run a full marathon

So, I think I've made up my mind to do a full. I met some wonderful ladies today. One of them is a veteran marathoner, and one of them just did her first full a few weeks ago. I THINK the other lady has done a marathon and a half. If I stick with them, I know I can accomplish that goal.

So, that's my list!