S Club Mama

Saturday, July 2, 2011 was my very first 5K. That's right, 3 halves under my belt and no 5K. Anyway, this was our little town's 4th of July run. There were 273 participants (runners & walkers) and I finished 116th with a time of 29:47. The first mile was just kind of tough to get going. There was one hill which I just took at my normal slow & steady pace. That first hill, I passed quite a few people. We looped by our house to a water station at the hospital to get going on mile 2. About mile 2.5 there was another good hill. I was doing ok - I just kept thinking I should be going faster but my pace was normal. Sometimes I think I'm a fast runner - I'm not! Gotta get that through my head! During mile 3 I had a mental breakthrough. I know that I've ran 10 miles more than this, so 3 miles is nothing. I just have to push through! And I did - well. There were two women I was familiar with running ahead of me and I set a mini-goal to beat them. We probably had ...

Is it bad that 2/3 of my races so far are virtual ones? Not for lack of trying to be in real races, but these virtual ones just fit in better. Apparently they give me a little push, too, because today I ran "fast" (quotes because "fast" for me is not FAST at all). Neurosis of the Stay at Home Mom of 3 held her first annual Virtual "Half & Half" Race today. Big A & I partook in the 5K (half of a 10K) as it fit in nicely with our training this week. I dragged my feet getting out of bed and out the door this morning but by 5:40am I was running. I added the .1 mile on at the start so I wouldn't forget at the end. It was overcast and humid this morning but it's going to be HOT today (as it was yesterday) so I'm glad I got out and did it. I listened to a Jillian Michaels podcast - a really old one actually from right before the finale in Season 7 when Helen won. It was dark when I started; I'm beginning to see the need for a reflect...