still here

Yes, I am still alive and running. Sort of.

I ran the Thursday after the race and last night. I've been fighting sickness and fevers all weekend so last night, I just ran to try and get the ick out. And it worked! I felt great this morning. Last night I only did about 3 miles which was fine.

This morning, I got up early for boot camp. Or, Tone Zone as our coach calls it. Trust me, it's BOOT CAMP. Dear God it hurts. And for someone who was so athletic in high school and college, I'm terribly uncoordinated. Who knew? She told me to keep doing it and I will improve (yeah, ok, whatever).

Tomorrow, I'm getting up and meeting the girls at 6am for an easy 3 or 4 miles.

Getting up everyday to work out at 6am? What is the world coming to? :)

My running buddies

So proud of all my running girls and especially proud that I'm a part of some skilled writers.

Click here to read about the different experiences our Janes had!

Finisher!

That's all folks! It's done! I've finished the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. It was wonderful and hard and satisfying.

I don't really know what to talk about, believe it or not. I didn't reach my goal. I'm still kind of bummed about my time of 2:31 since my goal was 2:25 but I'm happy that I finished. I just felt so weak around 9.5 or 10 that I was thinking if I was going to get to the end, I had to take a break. And while I am a very teeny bit bummed still, I'm also just so happy with the way it went and how I got through my mental blocks I was having. I'm mostly proud of the 16 weeks of training and the wonderful friendships we've all made during this journey. The race was just another run that solidified my love of running, even if it wasn't my best run ever. I've had some AMAZING runs the last four months and I can't deny myself of remembering those.

As I was (power)walking, I was really hard on myself. But at the same time, I was totally okay with it because I'd worked hard all summer. There was no denying that and if I had to walk because I felt like I was going to fall on the ground and die- so be it. I decided I didn't want to die on the course and that's what I felt like a few times.

I did beat my time from back in 2005 when I didn't train hardly at all so that was a nice success. And, I looked back at my time from then and I was actually done in 2:37 instead of 2:36 like I thought at the beginning of the summer. Or for the last 4 years.

My biggest debate right now is if I am allowed to wear my shirt that says: "13.1 been there, run that." Because I didn't RUN the entire 13.1. I probably ran 12.5 or maybe even more. I guess I can. I mean, I did run almost 300 miles this summer. Right?

What's also really funny is that all the girls with Garmins all said that our distance was actually 13.22-13.25. What is UP with that?! I mean really. Shouldn't these people know the correct distance? No wonder that damn finish line just would never get there!

I'm sore today but I guess that's to be expected. And, I'm actually really looking forward to running on Thursday or this weekend. Last time I ran this race I said I'd never run again and now I can't wait to lace up the sneeks again. I'd say that's success.

Here are pics from the weekend. It was SO much fun!

Jules and I on our balcony! We'd just gotten our race shirts and had to try them on for size!

Climbing on what we thought was just a sandcastle.

Oops. It was actually art that we weren't supposed to be climbing on.

On Saturday the water was SOOOO cold so we decided to just jump in (something this anal mother NEVER EVER does) so we had Julie's hubby take a pic. So fun.

AH! Race time! Here I am at 11something. KT loves a butt pic, doesn't he?

Me and another Jane at the finish. I was SO glad she came up behind me. I needed her strength at that point.

Waiting for KT after walking through the shoot. I was fighting back major crocodile tears for him to take the pic. When he hugged me, I lost my cool.

Me and my precious (ha!) metal!Love this celebratory pic of the Janes.
Runnin' buddies!

These feet have all worked so hard this summer.

The best cheerleader and hubby ever!
Lying by the pool after the race with yummy drinks and great company! I had been waiting for this moment for 4 months. (dang, do I have cleavage?)


After the yummy drinks, things got a little rowdy. I'll leave it at that.. ;)
Such an awesome weekend! We stayed in the hotel with Jules and hubby and it was so much fun. I had oh-so-many belly laughs.

I feel like I've done NOTHING this week!

6 miles this whole week?! How crazy is that?

We've done in one week what we did in 1/4 of a week just a few short weeks ago!

Today was our last official run before the 1/2 marathon. We did 2 miles. Out GA and back. Susan was SO cute when we got to the end of GA and asked if we needed to go farther. I cracked up because there was no way I was going farther. And, I love that she's SO anal about her mileage. I don't know who else is...

Anyway, we did our 2 miles and it was awesome. I mean, not that you can really gauge a run when it's only 2 miles but it was 57 degrees.. how could it not be awesome.

What I loved the most was the end. See.. me, Susan and Maria SERIOUSLY run the exact.same.pace. and if you've ever run with anyone you know that's HARD to find. Everyone always says, "don't get caught up in chatting, run YOUR pace". Well, my pace is our pace. So at the end of the 2 miles, I said "Let's push it ladies" and we all did and we were STILL all right there together. Never once did any of us go out in front of the other.

Maybe they were just being nice to me but I know I was running FAST and they were right there with me.. so they may not have been running as fast as they could but they were still fast. Gosh, I'm redundant with my words tonight.

I just love the bonding I've done with both my running buddies and ALL the running girls this summer. This has truly been one of the best summers ever.

I can't wait until VaBeach!! I can't wait to see our shirts! And put on my tattoo!!!! YEAH!

So excited!

tapering with 4 miles

we ran 4 miles this morning.

it was 62 degrees!

The run felt good. I think? It was pretty quick compared to all the others.

We pushed it at the end. that was awesome.

No more runs in the mornings until the race! Well, we may do 2 miles at 6:30 on Thursday but 6:30 is SO late! heh.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....