2,017 in 2017!

2016 was my lax year for running (and for posting on this blog too, am I right?). I did so much in 2015 to get ready for my first full and then after completing both that and princess, I hit a wall. I thought signing up for Goofy would light my fire, and it did, until it was Shanghaied.

I can't blame the lack on miles on Scott's four months in Shanghai. I checked out, plain and simple. Thankfully, I did start running with my local Moms Run This Town (MRTT) and I have been conquering things I never thought possible.

I always knew I could run a little faster, but they made me do it.

I always knew I could up my intervals, but they (they meaning Tracy) made me do it.

I always knew I could conquer the hills and still keep going strong, but they made me do it.

I have some ambitious goals for 2017, but hey, why not? I have a team set to run 2,017 miles in 2017 (our team name is We Thought You Said Rum, because obviously...). I am personally challenging myself to run 1,000 miles this year. Yeah, I know, that's crazy, but I am running two marathons this year plus who knows what other races. The training will get me there, I'm sure of it.

I'm also streaking...

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Okay, not that kind of streaking. I'm doing a running streak. Basically I just need to run 1 mile a day for as long as I can. I was going to officially start today, but I've run every day since Thursday, so happy day 4 for me!

I will try to do a better job posting about my trainings on here. I wish all of you a very happy and healthy new year! 

The Great Chocolate 10 Miler

I am way behind on posting about this race (almost a full month, yikes!). My friend Carrie got me to sign up for the Great Chocolate 10 miler because...chocolate. Yes, they give you a box of Godiva at the finish, so of course I was in.

The course ran through downtown Orlando and I have to say, I love running through the city when it is still quiet and the sun is just rising. There is nothing prettier than running up South Street and seeing the sun peeking over City Hall. Nothing beats it. 

The race itself had a great course, but in all honesty that's where it ends. Water stops were never set up (I think we went almost 5 miles without water, which is why I always carry water). When we finished we were just handed our stuff, that was it. All of the advertised vendors and extras never happened. It was a big let down for sure. However, Carrie did bring me a bagel smothered in cream cheese, so that made up for the lack of vendors. 

I was pretty pleased with my time for this race. The weather was perfect and made for an easy run. I did start to lose some steam at the end and I know it's because my training has been less than stellar lately. With the kiddos activities on hiatus until after the new year (and after that Goofy Challenge I thought was a good idea at the time) I can focus on strengthening for the remaining races. 

More belated race updates coming! 

Running Through the Weekend

Today was the first day I have slept past 6 am in I don't even know how long. 'Twas amazing. That being said, I've been pretty busy lately and have been spending most of my mornings running. 

Last weekend we celebrated my honey getting a promotion by running a 5k lakeside. 

We also went to dinner the night before. It's been a while since we have run together on this trail. I'm pretty pleased with how my time has been improving on this little stretch. 

The next day some of the MRTT ladies and I went to run the UCF U Can Finish 5 Miler Distance Dare. The race starts with a 2 mile run around the football field and then you jump right into a 5 mile run through campus. 

There were baseball, softball and ladies basketball teams cheering us on as well as the Glee Club. Running through the campus brought back so many memories and kind of made me miss spending 5 days a week there. 

The medal was pretty cool. The 5 mile medal was a shield and if you did the 2 mile portion you received the sword. I mean, does it get any better?

Again, I was pretty pleased with my times and love that these ladies push me on the course. The race started out fairly cool and then the humidity hit us, so that was not a fun battle to fight at all. Plus, I've been battling a head cold for the better part of 2 weeks and spent almost every walk break blowing my nose (don't you love my Rudolph look in the photo???).

This weekend was kind of a challenge. There was a huge triathlon going on in town and it was using up the majority of the running paths we run on. Michelle and I just decided to head out and see what the course would bring us. Well, the course brought us 8 miles of hills upon hills. You know the kind of hills that race directors will say are "rolling" in their course description. 

The great part about the run was that it was 55 when we left. Yes, 55, no humidity and did I say 55? It was only in the mid 60's by the time we finished. I ran with my jacket on for the first 2 miles. My jacket was also stuffed with tissues because again....head cold. 

My time was not great but I did get to spend some quality time with my friend in some absolutely gorgeous weather. 

Now it's time to get my head in the game for the half I am running this weekend. I haven't done that distance in a while and am actually pretty nervous. I'm fairly behind on my training and need this to be the kick in the pants that I so desperately need. 

I hope all of you have a fantastic week! 

A Hurricane You Say? Well, Alright, Alright, Alright.

What a week. I already had a crazy schedule for the week with work events, baseball games, basketball playoffs (say what?), and trying to find a way to squeeze training in there somehow. Then this happened...

Matthew, in fact, was not alright, alright, alright. One by one events began to cancel, then school, then work, then I basically kissed my husband goodbye and hunkered down with the kids. We went to bed on Thursday evening believing that we were going to wake up to a pretty serious storm. Thankfully, he shifted East and we would not feel the effects we originally thought. However, not knowing this, I woke up at 5 am because I'll be damned if I don't have a cup or five of coffee before this crap hits.

So I wake up (trying not to wake my bed bugs), get the dogs and let them out before the storm hits. Our one dog being the smart old girl that she is ran and peed at the same time. She is not about to get wet outside, I mean come on.  The other one...she ran to the back of the yard, ran from end to end and then power posed in the wind like this:

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She lost her footing at some point and decided it was best to come inside.

The storm as a whole was thankfully uneventful. We had a few strong gusts and pretty consistent rain, but nothing major. The kiddos did an awesome job riding it out, but after two days of being in the house, it was time to go. Thankfully, the local ice cream place had a BOGO deal to help all of us escape cabin fever.

Training obviously took a hit during the storm. I did manage to get a quick run in on Thursday, but Friday was mainly spent on my bum watching the storm progress. I made up for it this weekend though.

Saturday, Michelle and I went for 6 miles on the trail and boy were there some down branches.

I would like to point out how hard the run was with the branches down and how creepy it was with practically zero light. What do you think Michelle brought up in the middle of the woods?

Killer clowns.

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So that was fun. Thankfully our return trip through the woodlands was well lit and I was not as concerned about a clown jumping out at us. To add some spice to our run however, there were two dogs that probably got out from the storm. We definitely walked at that point.

Since I already knew I was behind on my training miles I met up with my MRTT ladies this morning and we went for 7 miles on one of the other trails. It again was at o-dark-thirty. Thank God for cell phone flashlights, am I right?

So all in all I got my miles in, survived a hurricane/tropical storm, and ate a ton of junk food. I am incredibly thankful the storm was not as bad as predicted for our side of town, but completely devastated by the damage it did in Haiti and the East coast of Florida. Praying relief gets to all effected soon. 

A Fever Runs Through It

Training took a hit this week, for the first time in I don't even know how long I got sick. Fevers, chills, it sucked. Everyone except Scott got hit with this virus and it was awful. 

I missed all of my workouts at the gym and was really unsure about running over the weekend. I was supposed to run 15 miles this weekend and yeah...that didn't happen. I eased back in with a 5k at the lake with my running buddy.

Considering I had just been sick I was pretty pleased with my time. It was a really nice morning, a cool breeze, minimal humidity. It feels like fall is really coming.

Now to ease back in to all of the training....

The Weekend of Two Races

I had a very ambitious weekend. I had the final race of the Lace it Up Series on Saturday and thankfully the clouds stayed and my MRTT friends kept me going. This race was a 10k in pretty much zero shade with a ton of hills (according to my FitBit, I climbed 29 flights of stairs).

The sun stayed away until right before the 6 mile mark. I'll be honest, if the sun was out the entire time we would not have finished as quickly as we did (1:19). The best part of this race series? Ice cold sponges! Yes! They hand out sponges at the turnaround and right before we hit mile 5. They are like gifts from the running gods. 

Another favorite from this race? I saw a police office run across the finish line with a fellow racer. We saw him several times on the course and he was a huge encourager along the route. To see him run in full gear to encourage a runner was awesome. 

Speaking of the finish line, I hardly ever have a photo unless it is from the race photographer, so I was beyond excited to see a fellow MRTTer standing at the finish line with her phone out.

How great is that?!

So after the race (and maybe a buttered biscuit from Chick Fil A... I mean, they were at the finish line), I had to take my little miss to switch out her running shoes, caught the second half of my dudes basketball game and then we were off to the races again, literally.

Yes. I ran two races in one day. The second race was a fundraiser for our police chief who is running for sheriff. 

My miss backed out the race at the last minute (it was realllllly hot) and decided to volunteer instead, so the dude and I ran. It was really nice, I've had a ton of one on one time with my little lady and hardly any one on one time with him. Considering he had two basketball games that day, he did amazing. We finished in 40:19.

It should also be mentioned that he asked me to stop running and then sprinted ahead of me. Yeah.

I didn't stop there. Today was all about strength and the official start of Goofy training. This was the first weekend with an additional walk added to the run.

Sh*t just got real y'all.