Goodbye March!

Is March over already?  I just lost a whole month of my life. I have no idea where it went. 

 

 

Is this what happens after running your first half?  Maybe? It might just be the haze of winter finally ending.  I have no clue.  After my run this afternoon, I will be at 33 miles for the closing of the month.  Low miles, but I was sick the first couple weeks and still babying some injuries. I don't even really want to talk about them right now b/c I feel like I'm always talking about injuries.  I'm pretty happy to see March go, even if I don't know where it went.  I'm also pretty happy to see this neverending cold/hacking I've had go away too.

 

Looking through my phone for pictures from this month didn't glean any perspective either, I have horses (petsitting), 5K with Rey, Veronica Mars movie day, and cupcakes (naturally)...

 

 

 

 You thought I meant eating cupcakes, right?  (ahem...I did that too, I admit it) but this is for my PHM 2015 costume.  Yep.  Planning has kept me sane, don't judge! ;) 

I'm still working on a  training plan as well.  I'm not sure what said plan will be, mostly because I'm not sure what my body is willing to do right now. I'm just running 3x a week right now, a couple 3-4 milers and then trying to do a long run.  My attempt at a long run this week ended in just 4 miles. For some reason it was just really  hard and I was worried about pushing it more with the foot issues I'm having. 

 

Confession time as well:  I missed my 1 year Blogiversary.  I knew it was in March, but it slipped my mind and passed me right by on the 12th.  I had wanted to do a giveaway of my very favorite running gear (Sparkleskirts!) but now is not really the time financially to be doing a giveaway, so I'm a bad blogger and I'm just letting March slide away without celebrating it.  Maybe in the summer I will do a "Very-Merry-Un-Blogiversary" post!  

 

What I do know is that April is always sunnier and warmer than March and I'm looking forward to it!  We're getting warmer weather and all of my runs have been outside and that is SO NICE! Bring on spring!! 

Did March fly by for you? Ever find yourself struggling to figure out a training plan in between races? Most importantly...has spring arrived for you yet?!?!?! I hope so!

 

Tutu Friday

Happy Friday!!!! I won't ramble on about Self Magazine and their complete screw up, I think all of us in the running community are in agreement on this one.  I just wanted to post some tutu love today.  I prefer my Sparkleskirts most of the time, but I've had a blast running in tutu's as well.  If I can't have fun while I'm doing something I love, then why am I doing it???

Have a fantastic weekend and #rockthetutu

WAW

Can I be back here right now, pretty please??? *sigh*

I'm all over the place (weekly wrap-up)

I keep wanting to write this big long post about how I've been feeling since the race and what my plans are, and then I don't.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm unsure of how I feel or there are just too many things flying around in my head to make sense of it all!  I've been in a funk, I've been sick, and yet I have been content and happy that spring has arrived, I've been able to run, and to have a new goal (far) in the future to look forward to.  How do I make sense of all that? Happy/Sad, Funk/No Funk...running with no pain but still having heel/shoe issues... 

I feel a little like a teeter-totter.

I'm not sure I have officially announced yet, but I'm planning to run the Glass Slipper Challenge in February 2015.  For those of you that don't know, it's the same Princess Half Marathon I just ran, but it also will include a 10K the day before the half and extra bling for completing that challenge.  Not only did I love running at Disney, but this half marathon is at a perfect time for me.  It's one of the slowest times of the year for petsitting, so I'm able to get away.  Part of my frustration with racing is that I live in a rural area with very few races, most of them 5K's (what's a long distance runner to do?)  and I just do not get a day off with my business to drive to the nearest city to do a race. My job demands nearly 365 days a year and getting away has to be planned months in advance.  I realized that I will have to plan a year in advance to be able to run half marathons, so what better place than Disney World!  

Naturally I have already started planning because if you know me, you know that I live to plan for Disney.  This has kept me partially out of a funk.  I have been able to run, but not as much as I would like because I cannot seem to kick this hacking cough/cold I have had since the race.  Yes, I should see a doctor, spare me.  I hear it nearly daily from Rey.  It really does seem to be better, it's just slow to go away.  

Sooooo...I got rambly there, but I'm thinking no one is surprised by that at this point!  I ran 7 miles this week, a 3 miler and a 4 miler.  My heel feels a little off, but is not in pain and not hurting when I run.  I'm continuing my shoe search, I have sent back two pair already and I'm waiting for my refund so I can send for yet another.  I feel a bit like Cinderella.  Maybe it's more like the evil stepsisters since the shoes don't actually fit right! 

I don't have an actual training plan right now that that feels ok to me but a little strange...I told you I was waffling!  So that's where I'm at.  Didn't make much sense, right?  I told you I had been putting it off because it was all over the place. Yep.

Do you ever feel all over the place? It almost feels a little manic.  One minute I'm good and the next I'm wondering what I'm doing.  I'm sure it will work itself out, I may need a PLAN.  I seem to function best when I have a plan...but I'm kind of enjoying the freedom of no plan?!?! 

I told you.  I'm all over the place. LOL

Happy Spring!!!!!!!

Ah, I love love love the arrival of warmer weather.  I hope Spring is arriving for you, wherever you may be! 

 “She turned to the sunlight
    And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
    "Winter is dead.” 

~A.A. Milne

I had to edit just to add:  Don't be too jealous, this photo is one that I took LAST YEAR.  Wishful thinking on my part today, not many things blooming, but at least we'll be in the 60's! 

WAW

The weeks just seem to be flying by, but that is ok with me because it seems like spring has arrived here!  Of course that means warmish days followed by snow and then more warmish days, but I'll take it!  On to Wide-angle Wednesday...

I bet you can guess where in Disney World this was taken. 

Best Ever St. Pat's 5K & Weekly Wrap-up!

It's been a while since I've done a weekly wrap-up! Things are starting (and I stress starting) to feel more like normal around here finally.  Only took 3 weeks from the half to get back to normalcy? In any case, my mileage is lower than it has been, but I ran 3 miles 3 times this week and feel pretty good!  No knee pain at all and my heel/achilles issue isn't getting worse, so that's good.  

I finished up the week running the Best Ever St. Pat's 5k (that's the name of it,  not a personal opinion) here locally and Rey (my husband) ran with me!  It was his first 5K and not only that, but he's only ran a few times ever, before.  I even convinced him to wear a St. Pat's shirt, I think he was too nervous to object.

It was a small race (they are all small around here) in the town over from mine, Rolla, MO.

The trash can is there because they had the street closed and blocked for the St. Pat's parade later that day.  St. Patrick's Day is a huge deal around here.  Rolla, MO. is a college town, and S&T is an engineering college...so they go mad over St. Pat being the patron Saint of Engineering.  I was actually surprised there were not more people running, I think they all waited for the parade, which brought out the biggest crowd I have ever seen in this town of 20,000. 

I ran 1/1 intervals with Rey.  There were a few times it was hard, I really didn't want to walk, but this was just a fun run for me and he wanted me with him.  I know I pushed him a bit, but in the end I told him that he had to tell me to slow down or I would just keep pushing him.  I'm hardcore! I've been sick, so I probably couldn't have gone too much faster anyway.  My lungs were on fire there for a bit.  We had a lot of fun, it was so amazing to have him experience a race with me.

 I was really pleased with the photo that one of the race officials snapped of us crossing the finish line.  I feel bad that I bolted ahead of him to the finish, but I was looking back occasionally to make sure he was keeping up!  I just cannot help myself at a finish line.

After the race we stayed for the awards, I was a little miffed that they didn't have a costume award.  The sign-up made it sound like they would...and I totally would have won.  ;) 

This was an Inaugural race and I thought it was well organized for it's size.  The Chamber of Rolla organized the race to raise funds for the local Veteran Park they are building.  The route was marked well, there were a few cute signs, and lots of volunteers at every turn to make sure no one got lost.  That can come in handy in a small race when you can't always follow a large group of people!
  
 There was one water station at 1.5 miles, which was ample for a 5K and there was only water at the finish, no food, but it was a small race for charity, so I really didn't mind.  No bling or green beer for this race either, but that is the norm around here. None of the races give out medals and most do not have anything special at the finish.  The trade-off is parking literally 20 feet from the start/finish, arriving 15 minutes before the start, no crowds, and no having to weave around people. 
 
We headed to breakfast and then dropped Rey at home and Savannah & I headed back to the parade.  The sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day.  It was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon! One of Savannah's friends met up with us during the parade and they had some green kettlekorn while watching the two hour parade.  Yep.  Two hours!  I told you these people take their St. Pat's seriously! 

Did you run a race this weekend? Do you normally run large or small races?  Do you care if races have medals and all the extras?