My First 10k!

I did it. I came in last place. But I did it. :)

My stuff all laid out the night before. I was SUPER nervous!

 I got to the starting line about 7 a.m. Picked up my race packet and then just sat in my car getting everything organized. I headed to the restroom at 7:45. Then we started to line up and stretch. It sucked being alone. I knew one other person that was going to be there but I didn't see her until we lined up. I knew that she was way faster than me so I was on my own. From the chip times I now know that there were 136 people. I lined up in the back with a few other people and we were off.

The first mile felt good. I had decided to run each mile for something. The first mile was for my grandparents because I was going to be running right by my grandfathers house! My watch said 13:30 at the end of the first mile. I was about 3rd from last at this point. The 2nd mile was a slight incline. Not much but I felt it. People passed me and I was last. I kept a few people in my sights the whole race but from then on out I was it. At every station or intersection I got to say "I'm it". But you know what I kind of didn't really care. It felt good just to be doing it.

End of Mile 2 my watch said 27. I was doing great! I only walked through the drinking stations.

End of Mile 3 my watch said 41. Still keeping up a 13-14 min mile. I was having fun. I don't remember my mile times after that because I was just focused on finishing.

Somewhere between Mile 4 and 5 I tried to eat some Sugar Babies that I brought but I just couldn't eat and run at the same time. Something I will need to work on. The last mile was hard but I kept right behind the woman in front of me. I got stopped at an intersection because they had opened the roads back up but it was only for a few seconds. I saw my family at the Finish Line! Then I realized that my friend had waited. I was happy until I found out later that the Finish Line had been packed but everyone left before I got there. haha. Oh well. They cheered for me and it felt good. We grabbed some french toast and hung around for a bit but it was boring so we left.

My Chip Time was 1:26:20. That's a 13:55 min/mile. I am happy with that.

Yup. Very Last. Oh well.

 Mile 1 - Grandparents. My biggest cheerleaders. I only have 1 grandpa still with us.
Mile 2- Law Enforcement Officers such as my hubby
Mile 3- Those that can't run.
Mile 4- My Family
Mile 5- Me!
Mile 6 - Uncle Junior that passed from Brain Cancer but was encouraging during my first running adventure.

My Sugar-Free Mango Slurpee that I got as a treat. :)

 I see more 10k's in my future, but I've got my eye on a Half. ;)

The Technical Shirt. Not too flattering yet, but I'm working on it.

Go Big or Go Home

I did it. I registered for the 10k. I figure that even if I fail, I will have attempted a harder feat and hopefully people won't look down on me too much. I suppose that I could still change my mind but barring sickness or injury I'm sticking with the plan.

I've been dying for a Garmin but I can't justify the expense so I tried out the Runkeeper App last night. It seemed pretty accurate to me so I think that I'll use it on Saturday to help me keep my pace.

Also, I have only been using my inhaler for longer runs so I'm hoping that by using it on Saturday I will be able to breathe better thereby going faster!

My hubby has an ipod holder/strap thing for his arm and I tried it last night with my phone in it and it worked perfectly. However I moved it to my wrist, I didn't like how it felt on my arm. I'm hoping that there is enough room in the little pockets on it for my inhaler. Just in case. I'm not going to carry water. I'm just going to count on the aid stations for that.

Do you guys think that I need to bring some sort of sugary snack? What would you recommend? I thought something to suck on might be nice but I'm worried that I'll choke. haha. Any other advice is appreciated.

My solution to my hair washing dilemna was to cut a bunch off. 6 inches. My hair grows pretty fast. Here is the result. It has made washing and drying a little easier.

The Past Few Days

So Saturday I wanted to attempt 5 miles to determine whether I was going to be able to do the 10k coming this Saturday. For some reason I got it in my head that I needed to do 11 laps around my local pond to make 5 miles. Well I was wrong. That gave me 5.8 miles! I was getting discouraged during the run because it took me an hour and a half. I thought that there was no way that I would make 6.2 in the same about of time, but I'm SO close! I don't know what to do. Do I sign up for the 10k and run the risk of being last and not being to finish, or do I play it safe and just sign up for the 5k? Decisions, decisions. I'm running out of time. (haha. Get it?)

Yesterday I set out to do 3 miles. Cause that is what's on the 10k training schedule and good thing the bathroom was open at the pond. I had to go! I timed myself. It took 3 minutes with handwashing. What if I have to go during the race? I NEED those 3 minutes.

Please, any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)

Also, guess who is turning 1 on Friday??? This guy! I can't believe it. My boss is letting me have our Company Suite at the Salt Lake Bees Baseball. I'm very excited. :)

Weird Running Injury?

Tuesday morning I took off for my usual route. I was pushing the jogging stroller and just found myself struggling most of the time. My boob kept itching and it was driving me crazy! But there are homes around my path and I thought it would be weird if I reached inside my sports bra to take care of the problem. Maybe it's just me but I would laugh at someone that I saw doing that. I jumped in the shower when I got home. When I got out I looked to see if it was a rash or something and I had a perfectly straight line scrape! Huh? I checked my sports bra and found nothing in there, but it was clearly a scrape. Anyone ever had this happen before? I know the bra was clean because I got it out of my drawer. Weird.

I had a dark day yesterday. Ever since I've had my baby I've been super sensitive and things hurt my feelings very easily. I think that my hormones may be out of whack or something. I don't think that it's post-partum because I'm not depressed. I just get upset that people don't care about me or that they say rude things behind my back. I never really cared what others thought before. My sons 1st birthday party is next week and no one really wants to come. Ugh. My dad, step-mom and sister are leaving for Europe on my sons birthday! In fact they left last year when he was in the NICU and I'm still upset about it. Anyways, off subject. I ended up eating quite a bit. Frustrating how the two go hand-in-hand. I wish I was one of those people that can't eat when they're upset.

Anyone else noticed changes in themselves after having children?

This is the actual scrape. Just really, really close up so you can't tell what it is. :)

Well, I'm getting back into the swing of things.

I remember reading in one of my weight loss books the author saying that the people at his kids soccer practice were complaining that they just didn't have the time to workout but they just sat there during that hour. I decided to take this to heart and while my daughter was at her Thursday evening dance class I loaded my son in the jogging stroller and took off. It was an industrial area so it was kind of strange. Also the wind was crazy and I felt like I was hardly moving at some points. Ugh.

Saturday morning I wanted to see how long it would take me to do 4 miles because I'm still considering doing a 10k on the 26th. I managed to get in done in about an hour which was my goal. I was very excited! My normal running path was filled with people because apparently they are going to have a soccer season there. haha. So I must have been motivated. I would need to do the 10k in an hour and a half because that is as long as they are closing the roads for. I am extremely afraid of being kicked off the course so I'm not sure that I'm going to do it.

I've been thinking alot lately. There is a Half-Marathon the day after my 31st birthday. It's in August so I should just have enough time to train. I would have to go this one alone because I have no one that would be interested in training with me. The race sounds fun because it's women only and very girly. They even have a 1-mile Princess run. Man, I'm scared to commit myself to it though.

I have a question. How do you deal with washing your hair every day? I get so tired of it. I used to go every other day, but now that's out of the question.

I'm back :)

I did my first run back on Tuesday. I was SLOW. I only did 2.2 miles and it took me 40 minutes. Later that night I went to Yoga then Wednesday I did a short workout video.

I'm trying to get together my motivation to run today but so far it hasn't worked. I wanted to do a 10k on the 26th but I just don't think that I can do it. You have to do at least a 15 minute mile because they are only closing the roads for an hour and a half. I'm gonna do a 5 mile next Saturday and see how it goes. Maybe I'll do a fake race see how long it takes me. I'm pretty passionate about this race because all the proceeds go to the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Fund and my husband is a Corrections Officer. Also, if I do the 10k then I can run past my grandfathers house. If all else fails then I'll at least do the 5k.

My friend took me shopping yesterday and I was able to score some workout capris and pants for less than 10 bucks a piece! It was at Rue 21. They are just yoga pants but they'll work for now.

I ordered Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack yesterday. I just cannot take this baby belly anymore!

I make him wear this hat when it's windy out. No ear infections for us.

My First Ever 5k!!!

I was running this with my mom and my uncle. The morning of I called my mom to make sure she was up and she said that my uncled bailed. Boo. My mom had to work later in the day so I'm grateful that she didn't bail. Thanks mom. The morning ended up being very cold compared to the weather that we have been having. We found the start but there was hardly anyone there. We got our shirts and went back to the car to keep warm.

Right at 9 we made our way back to the start but they said that they were still waiting on people to arrive. at about 9:15 we took off. I would say about 30 of us. haha. I left my mom walking and took off. I started off trying to run 4 min and walk 1, but couldn't quite keep up that pace so in the end I was doing 3.5 min to 1.5 min of walking. There were a few hills which were very new to me because where I tend to run is very flat. When I saw the 1 mile marker my HRM said 13 min! No way! After being out for a few weeks with this kidney situation I was beaming.

I only got a little choked up at one point. I was just thinking about my family that has passed that would love to cheer me on.

There was a short out-and-back after that I saw my family drive by looking for me! It was a great boost. I wasn't sure that they were going to come.

I headed down the hill and was told to do 2 laps around the pond and I would be done. Ummm. Awkward. I had to run through the finish line and then back around again. I saw my family on my first pass and then on my final pass they hadn't even made it to the finish line. In fact there was nothing at the finish. No clock, no people cheering. No one handing out water. Nothing. What a let down. I checked my HRM and it was 41:45!! I was so proud! I thought for sure that I would break down at the finish but it was just pretty lame.

A few minutes after I finished my mom came up behind me. I said "you didn't go around the pond twice did you?" She said "Nope, not even once, I cut back this way". haha. She truly just did this just for me. It meant a lot. We hung around for a bit and my mom won a 5 lb jug of protein powder that she gave to me.

The rest of the day I felt just great! Sunday I was a little sore but totally expected after my hiatus.

 How do other people look so good after? I'm a mess.

 All these were taken by my daughter.

Mom with her winnings.

All in all, it was SO much fun and I can't wait to do it again every weekend. :)

So tired

I'm tired of being sick. They ended up doing an Ultrasound of my kidney of Saturday. I'm still in a little bit of pain. I did Level 2 of 30 day Shred Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Last night the pain got really bad and I was doubled over but I seem to have turned a corner today because it only hurts a little. I went ahead and went to my usual Yoga class and there were only a few things that hurt, mostly when I laid on my back.

I don't know how to feel about the 5k on Saturday. It looks like I'm going to end up walking it. On one hand it upsets me because this was supposed to be my big day. But on the other hand I really can't be upset with myself. I didn't do anything wrong. My kidney just hates me!

If anyone reads this I promise that I was becoming a runner. My plans have just been derailed for a few weeks. I cried last night because I just want to get out there. I'm ready!

Not my kidney but my ultrasound was normal. That's good, right?