ASK 5 K

Yesterday I participated in the ASK 5K for one of my students. She is in first grade and this is her second battle with Leukemia. Unfortunately she was not there because she had to go into the hospital for chemo but she did face time with us right after we started the run. Although it is terrible and every single one of us wishes this was not happening and no child should ever have to go through what she has and is going through, she has an amazing and supportive family on her side. She made it through this once, she will beat it again. I pray that after that it never comes back.

Teachers are not supposed to play favorites, but E is one of my favorites. Her aunt and I have been friends since third grade so I've known E before there was an E. She's a bright and happy little girl who makes my day better every time I see her at school. We joke around a lot. She loves art. I miss seeing her happy face and can't wait to give her a big hug when she comes back to school. 

I had to push B in the stroller and since there were no starting waves, I spent most of the time walking with the group. Initially I had wanted to run but it was such a huge cluster of people and since I started with the walkers, there was no way I was going to be running unless I knocked people out of my way. When we hit the start of mile 3, the crowd did clear enough for me to get through and run a bit, so I ran most of the last mile. From this experience I learned that I will not be running with the jogger in a race if I can avoid it. It's tough to dodge people and the stroller is pretty heavy and takes that much more effort. But I had fun and I am glad I did it. It was for E.

B man got his own medal at the end! It's that yellow ribbon in his hand. He put it around his neck all by himself! He promptly wanted to take it off five minutes later though.

I don't know what race I will do next yet, but I do know that I need to keep up with the running. The pollen has been horrible this past week and has kept me indoors and I can tell that my legs are losing all I gained while training for the 10K. A few gym trips and dates with the treadmill may be in my future this week.

New Look

My blog has a new look! It is fresh and ready for Spring! As am I, LOVE this weather.

I went for a run yesterday and it was awesome getting so sweaty. B tagged along in the jogger and he had a great time too. Although I now know I need to adjust my route when I have him with me. He spotted the playground through the trees and pointed at it and started whining. Ugh. Luckily he calmed down quickly and enjoyed watching the cars whiz by. We then spent the rest of the evening playing in the backyard. I just love watching him run with that pinwheel!

Spring Break and the Color Vibe 5K

Well it is Sunday and that means my spring break is almost over :-(

It has been great. I kept my little B man in daycare 4 of the days and took some time for me-I really needed it this year. I finished painting the kitchen, cleaned up the house, got the dog groomed and relaxed. It was a much needed break from everything. I feel refreshed and ready to finish out this school year.

The before picture...

So Saturday my friend Jess and I ran the Color Vibe 5K. We had a great time. It was fun and relaxing to do a race that didn't involve stressing about my finish time. We just jogged, walked when we needed to, danced through the color stations and acted goofy.

The after picture!

At the end you get a color packet and they have a big dance party which is when you are supposed to throw the color. We did not join in the dance party but did our own little dance party instead. Our other friend Emily came to cheer us on so she took pictures with the burst mode on my phone...

I love this picture :-)

Color runs are pretty fun if you are down for getting dirty. I don't think I will be doing this one again though...for your entry fee all you got was your entry...if you wanted a shirt or sunglasses you had to pay extra for them. I got the sunglasses because they were cheap and I wasn't sure what the color stuff was going to be like or what it would do to my Oakleys, but I did not buy a shirt. I have plenty of race shirts hanging around. I was happy to see that part of my fee went to Habitat for Humanity. I think next time I will try Color Me Rad.

In 2 weeks I have another 5K for a very special little girl.

Keep running friends!

Monument Avenue 10K 2015

I am just now getting a chance to sit down and write about this! Last Saturday was a great race!! True, it was the coldest on record, but once you got running it wasn't so bad.

Friday night I dropped B off at my parent's house and met Rachel from LouLou Belle for dinner. We went to this new place called BJ's Brewhouse and the food was SO GOOD! I got this chicken sandwich that was just ridiculously delicious. The wall of taps was pretty crazy too. The hubby eventually got off of work and joined us. We had a great time.

After dinner Rachel and I stopped at the mall so she could get some better clothes for running in the cold since it was only going to be in the 20's or 30's the next morning. I mentioned my fleece lined pants that felt amazing and she hopped on that bandwagon pretty quick. She picked up a pair at LuLuLemon that she couldn't stop raving about. ;-) Got to love those fleece lined pants!

Saturday morning we got an early start, picked up Rachel and found a parking spot that was an easy walk from the start and finish of the race. C took a backpack and stuffed our coats in there when it was finally go time.

Rachel dropped back and started in my corral. We actually run about the same pace and stayed together until the last 2 miles or so. It was nice to have someone to run with and it was also nice because we were both listening to music and didn't feel the need to talk at all. I like talking, but talking and running is rather tough. We finished about 2 minutes apart.

The first mile took about 11:30. My hopes of a PR were dashed when I heard this through my ear buds...but then the next mile seemed a little easier...and was under 10 minutes. I made myself slow down a bit then, even thought I have been training, I am still not in the best of shape as far as my knee goes, and I did not want to hurt anything. Long story short, I finished that race ONE MINUTE SLOWER THAN MY PR!!!!!!!!! Even though I did not PR, I was so freaking happy and proud of myself. My goal for a long time has been to run a 10K in an hour or less. It's so close I can taste it...

I have 2 small complaints about the race this year...1-it was way more crowded than I ever remember it being. People walked in the middle of the road and I actually yelled at someone to move to the side. 2-There seem to be quite a few people that think it is a social affair. I was running down the street by 9:30AM and there were these chicks running across the race cutting off the runners with Solo cups in hand. And let's be honest, we all know what was in those Solo cups...If you are going to come out and cheer people on, great, but be respectful and stay off the course or wait until there is a good break before you run across the road. Not all of us can run like Kenyans, but that doesn't mean we aren't trying to set a PR.

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to be racing again. It feels so incredible. I am happy the warmer weather is moving back in as well and I won't have to wear so many layers to run.

Happy Spring Ya'll!!