WE WON

Today was a great day!

Woke up at 7:30, and literally laughed at my alarm clock. We stayed out too late having fun last night to be doing a 5K this morning! What were we thinking.?

Anyway, Heather and Lindsay and I did get up and get our butts moving towards LaFayette Square for the 5K race.

Our dear friends Erica (mommy in microfiber and giant t-shirt), Meg (lady in lacy leggings and pink panties), and Liz (racer in rock star leggings and mirrored pimp sunglasses) joined us, with bloody marys in tow. They even stretched and warmed up with us at the starting line. They are such exercise fanatics, it blows my mind!

So the race started, and it was beautiful! About 55 degrees, sunny, wonderful. We took a path all through the French Quarter, which was really a lot of fun.

"Hello tourists, see, native cajuns don't just drink and catch beads."
"Yeah, right, what about those girls in the funny leggings?"
"Oh, right."

Anyway, we all made the mistake of taking water at mile 1. Who needs water during a 5K run? Seriously. We regretted that move around the halfway point when water-induced cramping began. It's so fun to be stabbed in the gut while running. Oh, and watch out for that giant pothole!

Mile 2 we did the much wiser swish and spit, and that was happy. And gross. Moving on...

When we turned the corner and saw the finish line, we decided to kick it in. Because we were in the top 75 women finishers, we got great medals! Thus, I will continue to tell everyone I know that we won. :)

After the race was over I forced myself to eat a banana ("Ew. NO!!! I don't wanna, I don't wanna. Fine, one more bite... ew...") Then our favorite walkers finished and we went to Bluebird Cafe for brunch. I love my ladies, and I love that we can be gross and stinky together. That's what family is for, right?

Now it's shower time.

*P.S. Sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. I've been preoccupied with writing my casenote, which I'm about to work on some more. I promise I'll do better... although finals are coming. I'll try. I know some of you depend on this blog for vicarious exercise. ;-) Smooches!

New York Marathon

Today is a rest day for me, but I did watch the ING New York Marathon on TV this morning.

Last year's female winner won again this year, while a man from Brazil took the men's title. Evidently nobody from Brazil has ever won a NY Marathon, so that was cool.

Lance Armstrong was there, running his first marathon. He finished just under 3 hours.

The commentators, who kept talking about celebrities attempting the marathon, also mentioned that Oprah Winfrey has run a marathon before. She ran her first in Chicago in 4 hours.

If Oprah can do it, so can I. Right?

Anyway, it was fun to watch the elite runners race the marathon. I definitely will not be seeing any of them out on the course. ;)

Falling short

Sorry I forgot to update my running blog the last couple of days. Here's the run down. (Pun intended)

Today was the first long run in my training. I was supposed to run 7 miles at an 11 minute pace. I only ended up running 5 miles. Here's why:

1. I forgot to use my inhaler before I left.
2. Even though the weather is cooler, it is still hot when you are running long and fast (well, fast for me).
3. Because I haven't trained for a race in a while, and have only been running 2-3 miles when I run, my mental self-coaching is rusty. I know the first 1.5 miles is the hardest, and that when I push past that, I could run forever. But, my body isn't listening to my brain. I've got to reprogram myself to remember these things.
4.. Lungs + heat + mental defeat = only 5 miles out of 7.

It's runs like this that make me question my ability to conquer the 26.2. The fear lives in me now and I'll either face and overcome it, or succumb to its pressures and only try the half-marathon. Stay tuned.

Today: 5 miles, a little under an hour
Total to Date: 14.5 miles

Quote: "The long run is what puts the tiger in the cat." -Bill Squires

Third time's the charm

Quote: "I feel the need. The need for speed." - Top Gun

Today was speed training, oy vay. I did 6 quarter-mile laps at 2:10 each, with a warm-up and cool-down jog. I wanted to stop at 4 laps, but I pressed on. I have to admit, my pace slowed to about 2:20 on those last 2 laps, but I'm not beating myself up about it. I'm not used to kicking it, so this will be fun. (That's what I keep telling myself, so as to draw attention away from the pain.)

It was tough today, and I'm feeling the fear... the fear of the 26.2.

It was hot again outside, but when you are only going a quarter mile every time, it's not so bad. I can do anything for 2 minutes right? Whew... need pasta now!

Today: 2 miles