Do the Monster Dash!

2nd 5 k COMPLETE.

Time: Bad. but who cares? I was wearing a cape (added drag), purple wig (itchy and hot) and a flannel skirt (what was I thinking?) But, boy, we had a blast.

Me and the girls went all out. And we looked AWESOME. U-S Husband came to cheer us on and hold our stuff.

He was super-sweet to wait around and give up his whole sunday to watch us clown around. He's pretty much the best.

Anywhoo, we had a total blast. Even though it was hot, and I was slow. (Wow I totally didn't find the light in the below picture - Tyra would not be pleased.)

On a side note, there weren't many zombies to run from, but I did give a hearty fright to some old people enjoying their sunday dinner at K&W Cafeteria... I'm not sure what they thought about a grown woman in a purple wig. Actually I do know - they were shocked.

A run down on the costumes from L - R:

Mandy - TMNT - Raphael

Shruthi - Storm

Suzanne - Wonder Woman

Danielle M. - Fairy

Me - Hit Girl

Danielle A. - Rainbow Bright

Cindy - Fairy

Debbie - Lady Bug

Beth and Diana - Batman

Amy - Martha Stewart! (She won the costume contest! You'll notice that she is wearing the free Martha Schwag from when we did that bit for the new show a while back!)

Good times with good friends. Life is good.

Hit Girl aka Sarah

Hmm. I might have to wear that purple wig to work tomorrow...

Milestone

Yesterday was a great running day. Regan and I set off on an ambitious run - 5 miles on the Crabtree Creek trail. Considering that until yesterday my longest run was about 3.8m, I was a little bit nervous heading out. But, we had a plan. 5 miles at 3:30 and 1. We weren't worried about our time, just our distance.

It was a little chilly to start out, but by about the 3rd interval in, we had lost the long sleeves and were comfortably trucking along. We killed the first mile. In hindsight, a bit of a mistake. It made our second mile quite slow.

Live and learn.

Somewhere in mile 3, we ran into a few of our volunteers from the program! And, bonus, we weren't going that much slower than them! (Ok, it's not about time, but let's face it, it was encouraging.) Lots of folks were out on the greenway - such a friendly place.

We went from behind crabtree, down a little path we thought went further, back on the crabtree trail, across the road over to shelley lake. We went almost right up to the lake, and then headed back. We guessed the mileage almost perfectly. We finished up mile 5 with plenty of time for a cool down walk.

Amazing! We are so awesome I can hardly stand it.

We finished in 73 minutes, which made our pace right at 14.3 min/mile. Penguin style, but hey, we did 5 miles!!

Today I was pretty sore, and all day yesterday, my legs were just restless. But, I was encouraged because sometimes after long, tough runs, I end up exhausted the whole rest of the day. I actually felt pretty dern good. Slept like a baby though.

This was one of those times when I was so happy to be running with someone else. We chatted the whole time, and encouraged each other up the hills. We swapped stories and advice about running, work, family, etc. The time flew by - even if we weren't exactly flying through our miles.

5 miles felt really good, and you know what? We totally could have done more. Makes a 10k much less scary, in fact, quite a reasonable goal.

Next weekend is the Monster Dash. My friggin costume better get here soon.

Sarah

Happy 28th birthday to me!

I turned 28 yesterday. And it was awesome.

First, the hubby got me a snazzy new Kindle, and the inlaws sent an Amazon gift certificate. I downloaded The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and promptly devoured it. (great character development, intense, and well written. Warning: some parts are a little dark) I love getting through a book in only a day or two. I'll be through the next 2 in the series ASAP.

Second, we spent the weekend with dear friends Brendan and Lauren (and some other awesome ILM people) and hit up beer fest (we behaved quite well, thank you) and had a cookout at their place.

Third, we started Sunday - day of actual birthday - at Jesters (peach turnovers and quiche... YUM). Then we came home and had Gravy for dinner. Then off to Vampire Weekend, which was a stellar show.

So, all that said, I did a lot of laying around, drinking beer, and eating this weekend. Not exactly condusive to running faster and further.

I did manage to pound a couple of miles this afternoon out at Shelley Lake. It is a gorgeous day. I had completely talked myself out of running, but then, sort of out of habbit, I went up, got dressed, and laced up my trusty sneakers. It felt great!

That said, there are a couple of things that are bothering me about running.
1. I am frustratingly slow. I know, I know, it doesn't matter, but it kind of does.
2. I am not really losing any weight. Ok, my shape has changed - I am definitely thinner around the middle, and I have definition in my legs I never thought possible. But I'm still the same size and the same weight. So, boo to that. I'm realizing that I have to focus more on what I'm eating.

That's going to have to wait until after the State Fair tonight though. Haha.

Sarah

Sicky.

I'm sick. And feeling really whiny about it. I've got a wicked sore throat and a horribly congested chest and resulting nasty sounding (and feeling) cough.

Needless to say I have not run this week. I'm starting to feel like a total slug. However, the thought of trying to breathe with all this crap in my lungs is even less appealing than feeling like a slug.

That said, I already feel way behind on my half training, and wonder if it's even possible. No good to have a setback one week in! I need to remind myself that one week is not going to make or break your fitness goals. I've just got to ride this cold out and then get right back into the swing of things. Hopefully, I'll be well enough by tuesday morning to get my early run in. Might even go for an easy walk this afternoon to evaluate the situation.

*wheeze*

Time to go fine an inhaler and some excellent drugs.

Sarah

The week after.

So. This has been an INSANE couple of weeks for us. First, we had our major Statewide Conference at work. It was a huge success, but we are still a little wiped out from it.

This weekend we went to Charleston to see James play in the marching band at Wando, and got to see some other family and rad friends while we were there. The weather was fabulous, which led to a fantastic run through Snee Farm for about 3.4 miles. Flat is good. I like running in flat.

My iPod crapped out on me about 2 minutes in, leading to a quite, reflective run. I actually really enjoyed it.

The other major stressor is that we are under a contract for a house and trying to sell ours. Ugh. So. Much. Work. But we LOVE the new house. It has a basement. It has almost a full acre of land. It's right across from Lynn Road Elementary. Down the streat from one of my favorite running spots, Lake Lynn.

With all that's going on, I'm so happy that I have found a physical outlet to work through stuff. Not to mention new friends to talk it through with. I ran with Vanessa and Regan at 6am Tuesday (side note - it was COLD. and DARK) but I instantly felt better.

So, life is good, but it is a little crazy right now. Makes me even more determined to continue to run.

Oh. And we've decided to train for a half marathon.

It's in March. So, stay tuned.

Sarah