BWC 5K

My most recent race was the BWC 5k in Baltimore on Sunday, June 23rd. My family came along to support me! Chris and the kids particpated in the opening warm up while I stood in line to use the port-a-potty.

Patti and her daughter did this race as well. Since Patti is still having issues with her stress fracture they walked it. My friend Holly who is doing the DIVA half with me in September also ran this one - we did it together! Here we all are before the race.

Can you see me?! HA! Getting ready to get this thing started!!

Holly and I after the race with our bling!

 Patti and Stephanie finishing it up!

One of my favorite parts about the course is finishing along the water.

 Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with some coffee!!

I LOVE this race! I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It's great for first timers (probably not so great for those extremely serious about racing because there are a LOT of first timers). My biggest disappoint me this year?! The powder blue shirts - wish they would've been hot pink or some other bold color like last years neon green. Best part: they gave out medals this year - check them out...

So pretty!!! I'm so pleased they still gave roses and cold towels at the finish too. They also provided excellent after race treats - watermelon, bagels, cheese, water, apples, bananas. Just an all around great race with tons of support and fans along the course.

ZOOMA Annapolis 10K

The ZOOMA Annapolis 10k was on June 1st. I ran/walked it with my friends Patti and Tabitha.

The course itself wasn't too bad. Some hills, but definitely beautiful scenery as we got to run through Annapolis and by the Naval Academy. This was probably the least supported race I've done. Very few aid stations and spectators. I only completed the 10k, but heard that the half had some confusing points and even had people directing them the wrong way.
Here are some pics from along the course. Heading up the hill to the turn around.

 Tabitha turning around...

 Patti turning around...

 A shot o the three of us on the course that Patti sent me...

and a shot of Tabitha and I on the downtown part of the course (we are running backwards for the photo - HA!)...

Crossing the finish line (another one snagged by Patti)...

Tabitha and I with our goodies. If it's your first 10k or if you PR'd you got a medal. It wasn't either for me, but it was for Patti and Tabitha. I was only slightly jealous of their race bling!

It was a great race because of my friends. Personally the race series was too much money for what it was. I would not run this one again or recommend it. We got a yoga mat and metal sports bottle. They also provided necklaces (mine is hanging on my wall with my medals). The after race snacks were a snack box and muscle milk. The snack boxes were different - a box with hummus, carrots, an apple, and I think something else. They offered chicken salad or hummus. Tabitha was daring and had the chicken salad - she said it wasn't bad. I love hummus, so I went with that.
Our time was 1:35:40. 30 minutes faster then my first 10k, but really not bad considering we walked 90% of it. My good friend Patti has a stress fracture which flared up when we started and wasn't actually diagnosed until after the race which apparently messed it up even more. :(
HOWEVER the very BEST PART of today's race?!? The surprise when we got home. Chris came home from deployment and didn't tell us he was coming!!! We weren't expecting him for a few more weeks, it was such a wonderful surprise!!

Base Patriot Pride 5K

On May 18th I was supposed to be running the Warrior Dash however it also turned out to be the day of my daughter's dance recital, so I transferred the Warrior Dash to the PA location (Poconos) on August 24th. Some days there just aren't enough hours in a day! I ended up running the base 5k that morning, and set myself up with a new PR! I ran it with my running friend Elsie who helped push me to a 27.08 finish!!!!
My friend Ivana (pictured with me below) was top female finisher, so proud of her!!

It was a great race for all of us. The nice thing about the base runs are they are on post so you can leave the house 20 minutes before start time, still park, and have time to warm up. The courses are usually familiar since I run on post all the time, and this one was no exception. I still can't believe I finished in 27 minutes. Looks like my next 5k goal will be 25 minutes. Sprint training starts tonight!!
Bonus photo: Me and my little girl after her ballet/tap recital!

Frederick Running Festival

The problem with being so far behind on my blog is not being able to remember all the race details. I will get better at this!!
The Frederick Running Festival was May 4-5. Packet pickup was awesome! They were at a location only 10 minutes from post, so I took advantage of it and got my stuff early. They also posted to wear blue/yellow shoelaces in support of Boston (that's why the different colored laces). Frederick is not far from my house, maybe an hour, hour and half max drive; however race start was 7am, so I would've had to leave the house around 430 to make it on time and I read posts about how bad traffic was in years prior, so I booked a hotel. My hotel was within walking distance of the start line, so I got really lucky. My sister and kids came with me.
My husband was still deployed at the time of this race and my daughter (she's 4) really was not handling my leaving for races very well, so I thought if they came along and I woke her up before leaving for the race that she would do better with it (she did not, she still had accidents the following two nights and cried out for me in the middle of the night). Deployments effect the little ones in so many different ways.
Anyway, back to the race. My sister snapped a photo of me before I left the hotel. It's the first big race I've run without wearing the race shirt. The one they gave us was long sleeve, and super nice, but way too hot to try and wear for a half marathon, so I wore my Baltimore Running Festival 5k shirt from last year. My biggest problem with my outfit was my belt. I love my belt - it holds my phone, GU, tissues - everything I need! However, this was the first time I've worn it with a shirt with this type of material. My belt drove me nuts for most of my run it kept riding up on me AND I lost TWO GU!!! I wanted to cry. I had two for me and two for Heather on my belt. Thankfully one of the stops actually had GU so we got two more. I take a GU around mile 7 and again around mile 10. I like them and they help with my energy (or at least I tell myself they do).

I met my running friends at the start line. They had a hotel as well, but theirs was further out so they drove. Pictured below: Me, Ivana, Jennifer, and Heather.

I thoroughly enjoyed this race! The course was great and had lots of support along the way. The worst part of the course was the end where you faced a large hill then ran around the track which was made up of sand. It was hard running that last mile. One of the best parts was I ran it with Jennifer and Heather. Jennifer was our pacer and kept us on track for a 2:20 finish. I shaved 6 minutes off my time from my first half!!!!
Side note: I got a little half crazy this year and signed up for 5 of them! My next one is in September (the DIVA half in Wine Country - which has SOLD OUT already!!!). It will be my first half without Jennifer and Heather. My friend Holly signed up for it too, and it will be her first half. I'm so excited. We've started training together already.
Back to the race: Here is our after photo. The girl on my right was a friend of Jennifer and Heather's. She had 3 medals! She ran the Iron Girl half the week before earning her the Titanium medal for doing two half's back to back. She also completed the 5k on Saturday evening (along with Jennifer) which earned her the Nut Job medal!

This was a great race with excellent support and course. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to do a half. Part one of two is complete towards earning my MD Double medal!! Baltimore Running Festival half is October 12th.

P90X, Round 2

My friend Tabitha and I started P90X (Round 2) on May 13th. Above is my before photo. My stats:
Weight: 157
Chest: 36"
Waist: 32.5"
Hips: 38.5"
Thighs: 26"
Arms: 12"
My husband was given a PT Tower so we're able to do the workouts in my home vs the gym like the first round. The PT Tower is nice, but I prefer the pull-up assist machine. We can't quite get our heads above the bar, so I'm not sure how effective the pull-ups we're doing are going to be. You can't see it in the photo but my foot is on a chair.

Yesterday we started week 7 with what I lovingly call death by pushup day! Slow, plange, pike, speed, side-to-side, one arm, one arm balance, and of course my favorite clap pushups are just a taste of what that workout contains! This morning the sides of my rib cage are sore to touch. Guess something is working!

 

My 30 day results are as follows:
weight: no change
chest: down 1"
waist: down .5"
hips: down 2.5"
thighs: same
arms: down .5"
I wasn't too surprised by the numbers. My body seems to be very happy in the upper 150's. I've been fluctuating between 155-159 since the beginning of the year. I do a weekly weigh-in on Wednesday with some friends. It's not about dropping weight for me anymore, it's more about consistency and making sure I'm not going overboard. I still log my food and use my scale to measure out portions.
A positive non-scale victory for me recently - I fit into a size 8 pant!!! I've NEVER worn size 8 pants! I thought I was happy to fit into 10's, but man, oh man, you should've seen my face when I put on 8's and they fit. They weren't tight, they fit perfectly; exactly how pants should fit. Every time I put them on I smile. What an amazing feeling!!

Catching up!

 It's been so long since I've actually taken the time to write a blog. I've honestly missed it. I've thought about sitting down and doing a quick blog many times but then I think of how long it's been and all the catch up I'd have to do, so anyway, today I'm catching up! Many, MANY things have happened since my last post. Not sure where to begin so I'll just start with today.

I'm still running! In fact I've got sprints on the calendar for today. I haven't done speed work in ages, so today is as good as any to get started with it again. I have two running friends joining me which is awesome because it's much easier to keep sprinting and pushing yourself when others are chasing you or your chasing them!
I'm a little upset with my Garmin right now. It's been my training buddy for a year now, but I haven't been able to get it to turn on this week - it's missed three runs with me. Today, I try it one more time and it turns on and says low battery. Last week, I took it off after a run and charged it then I wasn't able to get it to turn back on. What's up with that Garmin?!? Happy it turned on now though...maybe it'll work tonight!! I think this is a good sign to start looking into other training buddies. Maybe a Polar or a free app for my phone like RunKeeper. The free app would definitely be the more affordable option and a great back up when needed. I just need to invest in an arm band and ear buds...maybe I could try running to music again. If you have any suggestions on arm bands/ear buds/running apps let me know!!