am I really doing a 10k?

holy crap only 2.5 weeks this time...if I keep this up this might become a blog worth reading...

So after my sort of failure at my December 5k, I wanted to step it up a notch to prove to myself that I was capable of even more than I thought. So I decided it was time for a 10k It would be in February so I had 2 months to get of my arse and be ready. It was still hard to get out there most days because of the cold but I was able to get a pretty good amount of runs in and even resorted to the treadmill a few times just so I could do something. My longest distance during training was 5 miles but I knew as long as I stayed steady doing 6.2 wouldn't kill me. That might be the biggest tip I can give to my fellow runners, on race day you still have to run your pace, its hard not to get caught up in the moment and run to hard because you see other people doing it and that can lead to disaster on race day. I'm not an elite runner, I'm probably never going to compete for first place so I might as well focus on myself and just run my race. The race was the Chattahoochee Challenge and it benefited the Chattahoochee Nature Center. So anyway race day came and as it turned out Grandma kidnapped Jack Jack for the weekend so it was just Sam and I, she did the short 1 mile race before my 10k, and then it was my turn. .

Pre-Race Cold but Ready

as the gun went off I felt really good and the course was really nice, mostly flat and right along the river for most of it, I stayed focused on just enjoying the view and trying to keep my pace steady. I was running about a 10 minute mile and was feeling really good energy wise. I kind of zoned out and just got lost in my music and enjoyed myself. The course went past the finish area and then looped back around and that kind of psyched me out a little not to mention there was a pretty good sized hill right towards the end that took me out of my happy place pretty quickly, it took all of me to keep going and I slowed to a near walk near the crest of it, but I kept going and then I kicked it into the finish and managed a pretty decent time for my first effort.... 1:04

Approaching the Finish

and crossing the line

I was really happy with my time but also pretty much spent energy wise, But it was a good kind of spent, I had pushed myself and happily succeeded and even thought I was gassed I was already thinking of how I could step it up again. Sometime along this journey, and I cant say exactly where it was, but I decided I was really enjoying this running thing and wanted to keep doing it and keep stepping it up. Sam was totally supportive to and that made it even better, I started making plans and dreams. Two things I was sure of...I wanted to try and do a Half Marathon and I wanted to run a Disney World race. Disney does a Tower of Terror 10 mile race in October and that is my goal Though I wouldn't get to do it this year (we are already going there in the spring and making two trips down in one year is a little much) 2015 it will happen. So then it was time to find that local half marathon and make it happen (more on that in a later post) so now this blog is going to shift gears a little and Ill be posting more about my training and other running related things hope it is still interesting for my loyal readers (all 5 of you...just guessing there it may be less lol )

The aftermath...yes I'm spent but happy

my time

Hitting The Wall...

Hey this time it only took me a month to write another post that's an improvement right...


So after my great run in October I was feeling pretty good and this running thing was become more routine for me but as the days grew shorter and colder I found it harder to get my runs in. I signed up for my next race though...It was The Reindeer Run to help benefit needy children in Cherokee County. December 7th would be the day and it would be here before I knew it but I still found it hard to get out on regular runs and my training suffered. Even though I have a treadmill at home I am not a big fan of running on it for me it just doesn't have the same effect as getting outside and hitting the pavement it works in a pinch but if I have my choice I will always run outside. So race day quickly approached and overall I wasn't feeling great with how I had led up to it and when it arrived of course it was a very cold morning and that made it even worse. I was determined to try my hardest anyway and as I started off I made the worst mistake a runner can make I went way to hard, and sure enough about halfway through I hit the dreaded wall. I had to stop and walk for a little while and it killed me after a little bit of walking I got going again and finished with an ok time (I don't remember my exact time but it was somewhere between my previous two races). I considered this my first true let down since I had started but rather then let it break me I let it inspire me to try that much harder. So instead of making my next race a 5k I stepped it up and went for a 10k.