Hadassah 8k

Sunday, July 28th was the Hadassah 8k. Tabitha and I had such a good time at this race last year that we signed up for it again. It's a super small race (only 111 people did the 8k). It's the only race I've been to where they have the food out before a race and when I finish an hour later there is still tons of food left. They have Panera bagels and small cups of Rita's plus loads of apples, bananas, Lara bars, and tons of other goodies. BEST unheard of race ever!! The people are super nice - everyone says hi to you and talks to you on the course. There are tons of volunteers and police support who cheer you on. I'm sad that I won't be able to do this race again. I've really enjoyed it the past two years.
Tabitha has been having a lot of issues with her legs; she has an MRI later this week, so hopefully they can figure out what's going on and we can get back to running together again. The plan was to power walk the entire thing; however she got fitted for new shoes and inserts and she was feeling pretty good race morning so we ended up running almost the entire thing. She did fantastic for her first run in quite some time.
We finished 102 and 103 out of 111. I was 14/15 and she was 15/15 for our age groups. My time was 65:21 and she was right behind me at 65:23. We were about 15 minutes slower then last year which isn't bad at all considering everything that's happened to Tabitha since then.

Team RWB

A running friend recently told me about Team RWB (Red, White, Blue). It's an organization that supports veterans through social and physical gatherings. They meet for bootcamps, crossfit, yoga, running, biking, baseball games, BBQ, etc. Last night the Baltimore chapter came to our area for a group run so my little family joined them. It was super hot outside, but they support all levels of fitness so walking wasn't an issue.
We met at Centennial Park and did the 3.2 mile loop around the lake. Most of the path was shaded and very scenic. It was a great little place to run, and it was only 25 minutes from the house.

I was pleasantly surprised with how nice and inviting the group was to my family. I felt bad when we got back to the parking lot and they were all still there waiting on us (I started running with the group and Chris walked with the kids in the opposite direction, when we crossed paths I just walked back with my family), but they didn't seem to mind at all. One of them even brought frozen oranges - YUM!!
I'm looking forward to more outings and involvement with this group. I've even looked into the FL groups and happily discovered that there is one close to Pensacola and they are very active!

Biggest Loser 5k

Here we are! Aren't we all just fabulous in our race shirts?! I ran the Biggest Loser 5k with some of my closest friends on Sunday, July 14th: Tabitha, Patti, and Kelly. A great group of friends!!!
There was a pretty big turnout for this race. Here we all are lined up and ready to start the race. I'd say we were in the middle somewhere.

My little family came out to cheer me on!

Chris got a great shot of me (and part of Tabitha's face) starting the race. Kelly ran it with us too, but she got caught up in the crowd at the start.

Race review: This was the worst organized race I've ever run. If I thought the ZOOMA Annapolis race was bad, then this was horrible. Packet pickup was the day before in downtown DC - in a bar! It was complete chaos with different lines forming all over the place. Adding to the confusion was that they changed the packet pickup location three times! They announced the week before that they were going to go ahead and have people pick up race morning. We decided to pickup on Saturday and just make a day of it in DC, since I wasn't sure how bad it would be race morning.
We took the metro into the race and that worked out just fine for my little family. Tabitha drove in and said she had no problems...in fact, she was expecting delays so she went early and had no problems. On our way up to the start I saw some port-a-potties and a line, figured I'd better join in. Stood in line for a bit, but nothing crazy. Turns out half the port-a-potties were really dirty and the others didn't have any toilet paper - UGH! 
The start was a big mass of confusion. They had the 10k, 5k, runners, and walkers all starting at the exact same time. The entire course was run through a parking lot. You had to follow/stay in the cones that were about as wide as a one way street. Needless to say it was crammed for most of the race. At one point we even had the 10k runners running at us! There was one, and only ONE, water station on the course. It was in the middle of a turn and had access on both sides - by runners staring the 5k, finishing the 5k, and 10ker's circling back around - talk about a mess!! It was full the first time we reached it, but when we circled and started back it was almost empty with hardly any cups (and we were towards the front of the pack - those poor people in the back!) - and if none of this makes sense just imagine being involved in the mess - UGH! There was even a point where runners crossed like an x. It was just awful. The race didn't even start until 9am so it was extremely hot and humid already, and running on the pavement in a parking lot with no trees or shade just made the whole situation worse.
The food at the finish line was: water, green bananas, plums, oranges. That's it, and it was picked over pretty good when we came through. Again, those poor people towards the back.
Good things about the race: the tech shirts were nice and the medals were great. Another bonus: my daughter ran the kids one mile fun run and she LOVED it! There section wasn't too bad - out and back, and I was able to run the whole thing with her. I let her start by herself, then I jumped in and ran it with her.

 At the start. She was about 3 rows back. They were going to let them go one row at a time...

When they let the first group go, Katelynn ran around the two rows in front of her, under the rope, and out onto the course - that's my girl!!! lol

Smiling the whole time!

She ran the entire way! I was so proud of her!! She's never run a mile before, and she did great!!! Friday night we went to the mall and walked around all the shoe stores. She picked a pair of sneakers from Payless. She said those were the most comfortable and prettiest.

Here we are after the turn around. Denver was chasing us on some of the route. Chris would put him down so he could take photos. It was a family event! 

One of the big puddles on the course. Of course she ran right though it! It was all part of the fun (Mommy was not running through it in her new shoes).

Crossing the finish!

The three of us with our medals. They even gave one to Denver even though he didn't run. He loved it too!

 

 Enjoying some water after their run.

 

 A little for the grass...

 and a little for my head...

 I thoroughly enjoyed running with Kelly and Tabitha and then being able to cheer Patti on as she crossed (she is still having shin issues and walked the race). I also loved that my little girl not only wanted to run, but ran the whole thing and enjoyed it!!!
The only minor issue we had was Katelynn disappeared on us for a little while. Thankfully Tabitha found her and the crisis was over. Worst 10 minutes of my life, and she had no idea she was even missing. In fact, she wondered why Mommy was so upset and wouldn't stop hugging and kissing her.

 

So very thankful for wonderful friends and family!!!

New Gear

I LOVE running gear!! I've got the Diva half marathon on September 14th, so that means the majority of my long runs are going to be during the heat and humidity of August. I couldn't decide if I wanted to order a water belt or a camelback. The deciding factor was my duathlon and my new adventure into riding my bike on a regular basis. I found this one on Amazon (love Amazon!). It's got two huge sections on the back to store things...although how I'll reach them while running or bike riding I just don't know!
Another issue I've been having is my toe. I called the doctor and put in for a referral, so hopefully I can make an appointment with a foot doctor soon. In the meantime I went back to the running store and had them reanalyze my run. It took about 15 minutes, and they took me from a stability shoe to a neutral shoe. The guy said that my toe injury could be from too much stability. Well, I'm not sure about all that, but I'm willing to try a new type of shoe - after all, I'm on my third stability shoe and my toe is getting worse. Switching to neutral can't hurt any worse then those darn Asics have been.
I tried a few wide neutral shoes - Nike, Saucony, and New Balance. They all felt really lose on my foot. Saucony was probably the most comfortable. The next two shoes were Brooks and something...I can't even remember what the last shoe I tried on was because I was sold on the Brooks. I pulled them out of the box and just loved the color, then when I put them on and took a little run around the store - love!! They were so comfortable. Aren't they pretty?!?!

They make custom inserts at the running store too, but they cost $80. That's a lot of money even if they're good for an entire year. I tried the shoes with the inserts and without. They were a little more cushion-y with the inserts, but other then that I couldn't feel much of a difference, so I opted out. I'll see what the foot doctor says and how running in neutral shoes feel. I'm looking forward to breaking both my new running toys in on my long run tomorrow!!

Sprints

On Tuesday's some running friends and I meet at the track to do sprints. We jog a slow mile to warm up our legs then we'll sprint the straightaways and walk the corners and follow it up with another slow mile jog.
Yesterday it was hot and humid! We go at 7pm to beat the heat, but it still can be pretty miserable. The sprints felt more like a fast run, but either way it should still help make us stronger and faster runners.
This week Chris and the kids came along, so I was able to get some photos to share. My kids LOVE the track! They talk about going there to run all the time.

My daughter is signed up for her first kids fun mile run this Sunday at the Biggest Loser race. She is super excited about it!!

Here we all are! Tabitha, myself, and Elsie.

Elsie is super fast! Do you see her face?! She is so thinking, "oh you wanna race?!" HA! Every time I got even close to her she turned it up and left me in her dust. My whole goal is to catch her by the end of summer.

Sprinting it out...

This is pretty much how we looked - each trying to catch up with the other (and my kids trying to catch us).

So close!!

ha, ha...Hubby definitely was taking the photos. There were a ton of back shots of me.

We were just slow jogging here.

I really enjoy the time at the track with my running friends. They make it so much more fun and challenging. I hurt this morning though. The sides of my knees on both knees are extremely sore this morning, and the bottom of my foot is sore. I called the doctors office to get a referral. I'm not sure what is up with my foot. It's the pad behind my big toe, and sometimes when I'm done running the top of my foot (directly above the sore spot) is swollen. It never really was anything more then annoying, but with my new shoes it hurts all the time. I might have to change up my shoes again too. I was thinking while running last night that my foot was sliding in the toe box which might be why it hurts more in these shoes. I saw an article one time on different ways to tie your shoes to help with foot issues...I might spend some time on Google today to find it and see if that helps any.

On the Lighter Side

Almost 4 years ago, I met with a nutritionist who completely changed my life. I was excited to try the things she taught me, and was so hopeful when many of the changes started to provide results. I haven't been perfect over these past few years, I've slipped and slid, but through it all I've kept my head high and kept trying to stay positive.

The below photo is me now. I had to laugh when trying to find a current photo because I was either wearing running gear or workout clothes in all of them. The reason I was looking for a photo is because I went for my physical in early June. The last time I had a complete physical was when Katelynn was about 9 months old (September 2009); she turns 5 in November. The doctor told me I was at an obese weight and that I had borderline high cholesterol (I believe it was 209). His referral to the base nutritionist saved me, and I will be forever grateful!

Now, here are some photos from right before I got pregnant with Katelynn. This would've been November 2007.

 

and a photo from September 2009 when I met with the doctor and base nutritionist:

I'm not sure what made me want to go to the doctor for a physical in 2009, other then I was frustrated with my weight and thought it had been a long time since I'd had my blood work done. So, I scheduled it. Best decision ever!

This time around I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was hoping it would all be positive. I had to laugh during the exam because I just kept saying no - do you drink? no. do you smoke? no. do you have any current concerns? no. She said I was doing wonderful! My weight was considered normal!!!!! Not obese. Not overweight. Normal!!! I've never been told my weight was classified as normal before. It was the most amazing feeling!!! A week later I received my blood work results. My cholesterol?! 99 - well within normal levels. In fact, everything was normal. What a great feeling!!!!

If I ever had any doubts about the changes I've made in my life over the past 4 years they are now gone. I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it. I have no idea what the future holds, but I do know that I'm not done yet!!