No More Fooling Around

One aspect I have enjoyed most about racing is I have continued to train without much downtime, until March.  The month started as I was still recovering from a virus and I decided it would be best to take it easy not wanting a relapse. I was also helping organize/run my MOPS group's bi-annual consignment sale from March 3-9; these weeks never seems to leave extra time for exercise. The week following consignment sale week is always a catch-up week for me, so again no runs or workouts. 

I really had no idea what to expect from myself going into the Georgia Publix Half Marathon on March 17th. After only running 2.83mi between The Princess Half and Georgia Publix Half, I still managed to set a new PR for myself. I know this is because I have trained a lot since my first Half Marathon on November 18th, and I was under trained going into that race. It's reassuring to know little slip ups in my training wont be too devastating BUT I wonder what I could have PR'd if I had continued better training.

This idea of better training has had been analyzing other bloggers training plans and researching different training options. I followed the Couch to 5K App training plan, then really just did my own thing beyond that.  I notice that when I get into one type of training, I have a really hard time adding in variety. I think the best plan for me would be to actually have a plan!

Why do I need a plan? Even though I have a 26.2 and 13.1 magnets on my car, I still consider myself a rookie in this sport. I only started the Couch to 5K training in June 2012. I have come a long way, but there is still lots to learn and I want to treat my body right. If I follow the right plan, I will achieve my goals without any overuse injury. 

What are my goals? Currently my 5K PR is 34:17 from the ATC Heart & Sole 5K on February 9th and my 13.1 PR is 02:36:17. I would like to sub-30min on a 5K (and maybe sub 28 for the Vinings Down Hill in August). I would like to sub-02:15 by October for optimal corral placement for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon. I also would like to be able to run an entire half marathon without walking intervals.

I have decided to try Another Mother Runner's Half-Marathon: Finish It Plan. This plan seems to be the best option for MY success. This training plan was written by two mothers, so there is flexibility throughout. On the actual training plan there are two icons, a coffee cup and a water bottle. The coffee cup is a "Bail if Necessary" option saying "If you need your usual running time to fill your empty fridge or take care of some other task, go for it.". Obviously the water bottle is the opposite, it "simply must be done in order to ensure success". I'll be following the first week as listed here below.

     Monday: Easy 3 miles with 4 strides; or XT (Bail if Necessary)

     Tuesday: 4-5 miles

     Wednesday: XT; or Rest

     Thursday: 3-4 miles

     Friday: 3 miles; or XT

     Saturday: Long Run: 6 miles

     Sunday: REST

The more I workout and exercise, the healthier food choices I make. When I slack on exercise, I end up making poor food choices. Since March was so minimal in the training department, I have noticed myself allowing more flavored coffee creamer than the suggested servings and splurging on candy around the house left over from Valentine's and Easter Egg Hunts. Last week I saw a friend ReTweet a Sugar Detox Challenge. I emailed the link to myself so I could read later and I didn't get around to reading it until our drive home from Florida last night. This challenge is being organized by Laura of MommyRunFast.com to help hold herself accountable and is offering prizes for those who participate. Again, this detox will only enhance my training so I'm giving it a go. 

Since I'm starting April out with a bang, I might as well restart my planks. Back in the fall I started planking daily, but like usual, something got me out of my routine and it was difficult restarting. Planking is also not easy when you have sore legs from running! Carissa, from Fit2Flex, tweeted last night a blog post about an "AB APRIL" Challenge to "improve your plank workout". Since the core is very important to running, I'm also going to incorporate this "AB April" Challenge to my training.

So now that all this training is actually "on paper", I hope it will help me with my training and to achieve my goals. I plan to use my scheduled REST on Sunday from training to recap this first week of April.

QUESTIONS:
-How do you decided on a training plan?
-Do you have any current goals you are working towards? This does not have to be fitness related!

How Is It Spring?

It is officially Spring but from the cold weather we've still been having in Atlanta, you would never know it. The weather has been insane these last few month. When I ran the 20th Anniversary WDW Marathon on January 13th, I ended up with a minor sunburn. Now it's the end of March, I'm still sporting my UGG boots and heaviest jacket daily.

Normally I dread Spring. I'm allergic to 90% of trees which results in a few very miserable weeks for me. Since I was diagnosed in 1987 (when I was in Kindergarten), I have tried just about every medication on the market and none of them work as prescribed for me. But right now, I completely welcome these few miserable weeks if it means I can say "Adios" to the cold temperatures!

I'm ready for our yard to bloom into beautiful colors! I never cared for Azaleas but there a huge bush in our backyard that get covers perfectly white. Last year, the Azaleas bloomed before the last cold snap and all the white turned brown and they sat like that through summer and fall. I'm hoping for a different view this season. I'm hoping this last cold snap won't affect all the buds that have started to appear! (I'm also hoping this is the LAST cold snap!!!)

I'm also ready for our four blueberry bushes to not look like sticks . There are tiny little buds on the edges of all the little limbs. Abigail and I really enjoyed picking blueberries last year. I covered the bushes with a bird net and I couldn't believe how many berries came off our small bushes. I'm anxious to see what grows this year.

Last year I started a bunch of seedlings indoors, then when I moved them outdoors they were all eaten by rolypoly bugs. I ended up purchasing some habanero pepper plants and a small fig tree. The habanero plants did great & we got a few peppers but I never moved them indoors for fall/winter so they died. I did move the fig indoor and it's doing great. It has already come out of winter hibernation, has new stem growth and has sprouted lots of leaves.

Also last year, my aunt & uncle in Florida inspired me to try to grow my own pineapple plants after purchasing from the grocery store. They said to slice the "crown" off the pineapple then plant it directly in soil. It sounded too easy to be true. Then I decided to try it out for myself after finding a new dinner recipe that called for pineapple. I now have two pineapple plants growing in pots, they are also indoor as they would not survive the cold temps.

Hopefully April will be the turning point for this weather, I'm a FLgrl born and raise and cannot handle much more of this cold. Abigail is ready to play more outdoors too!

QUESTIONS:
-What are you most looking forward to about Spring?
-Have you had luck growing your own fruits or vegetables?

Run Hood to Coast with NUUN

A week ago I saw NUUN tweet they are accepting applications from "Lady Running Bloggers" to fill two relay teams to run The 32nd Annual Hood to Coast Relay. I immediately looked up the link to read more about all the details. The gears started turning in my head...

I have heard of The Ragnar Relay Series. Some runDisney enthusiasts I follow on Twitter have formed a team to run in the northeast. While each person runs alone, you are part of a team so there's individual and team success. I really enjoy running with others, you get encouragement and get to encourage. I know this is something I would like to do at some point, but probably in the Florida Keys where it's the most flat location of all the Ragnar events. I'm not sure when a Ragnar Relay might happen for me so when I read the NUUN tweet I was intrigued. 

Immediately I recommended my friend Lena apply, she lives on the west coast. I "met" Lena on Twitter and started following her blog, The Beginners Runner, and so much of her running journey reminded me of my own. She had been training (properly, unlike myself) for her first half marathon. Lena was training for The Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World and I was going to be running that race too. And it turns out, we ended up running the race together too!

According to the Nuun blog post, in order to apply, one must meet these five criteria...

1. Have not run Hood to Coast with Nuun in the past
2. Are female
3. Have an active blog
4. Love Nuun
5. Are really fun!

I have only run in Georgia and Florida, so nope I have not run Hood to Coast, let alone with Nuun in the past. I am female, check. I have a blog, it's almost 5yrs old...I'm not sure about that "active" part as I would like to blog so much more than I do. Other priorities arise but I have been slowly trying to go back and blog about things and details I know I will forget over time. Yes, I love Nuun, check. I actually felt like some sort of Nuun pusher when trying to introduce it to my Auburn friends who came down to run The Princess Half Marathon. And lastly, I think I'm really fun...I hope others think I'm fun too. :)

A few days passed after I recommended Lena apply and I was still thinking about the possibility of NUUN Hood to Coast. I decided to throw caution out the window and apply. I wasn't really sure what to say or how to make myself stand out. Instead, I decided to make a slideshow of sorts reviewing my running journey over the last 9mo and why I'd like to participate. I am very happy with the end result of my application. 

2013 Jill Barnes NUUN Run Hood to Coast Application

Applications will be accepted through midnight of April 5th and teams will be announced on April 17th. I have no idea how many women actually apply or what might chances might be to actually get selected. Either way, I'm proud of myself for even applying and I am happy others are getting see how my running experience started when they view my video. 

QUESTIONS:

-Have you ever run a relay race before? Does this type of event even seem appealing to you?

-Have you ever thrown caution out the window to apply for something? What was the result?

The Mini Cooper Clubman

Back in February, I accidentally killed Matt's Montero towards the end of February. Matt got the Montero after graduating from Auburn, he's had it for 10.5yrs and it had over 200,000mi. The Montero served us well and while it's been a great vehicle, the fix was going to be way too expensive. 

Matt started researching vehicles and on March 9th we went to Carmax to see a variety of vehicles in the least amount of time. He was mostly looking at smaller SUVs, thinking he would get the Jetta and I would get the "new to us" vehicle. I wasn't completely sold, we don't really have a need for an SUV. The Jetta is big enough for our little family and there is plenty of trunk space. I also wasn't ready to sacrifice a few MPGs just to have a SUV. An SUV would only make sense if we upgraded to something with a third row, which isn't a current *need* for us right now.

I am not a car person, that is all Matt. I would much rather do lots of other unpleasant things (like clean toilets or get cavities filled) before choosing to look at cars. Abigail and I started to walk aimlessly through the car lot when we stumbled upon a couple Fiats and Minis. I was really surprised to see the low price (compared to the SUVs) and the high MPGs. Abigail kept wanting to climb into every car so we decided to look at The Mini Clubman, the longer/extended Mini. While the backseat isn't super roomy compared to an SUV, it seemed big enough for Abigail's carseat. We decided to take it for a test drive WITH Abigail's Britax. I sat in the back with Abigail and didn't feel cramped next to the Britax. We left Carmax with a completely different mindset than when we arrived. 

What I could not see at Carmax was "internal Matt", he must have been jumping up and down like a little kid on his birthday. As my mother commented on Facebook, "...and the sleeping giant awoke with [my] suggestion." Over the next two weeks, Matt started researching this vehicle in depth. He learned all about the different types of Mini, there's a "justa" and a sport version (maybe more but that's all I remember). Matt "liked" a few Atlanta Mini Clubs on Facebook and was searching for this car through the Carmax website. 

Matt found a 2011 Mini Clubman at a Carmax in Kentucky, it only had 4300mi and it was priced around $19000. If you find a vehicle within a 250mi radius, Carmax would ship it to your location free of charge. Outside of the 250mi, it was $200 which still keeps this car priced right. Matt made the call and the waiting game began. He was very anxious for for the car to arrive.

The next two weeks seemed to drag on forever to me as Matt researched and learned more about the little world of Mini owners. Turns out owners wave at each other and name their Mini's. The local Atlanta club has an annual Easter Scavenger Hunt. Matt found another event near Pigeon Forge, TN called MINIs on the Dragon where people go to drive curvy roads together. Then Matt stumbled up an event he knew I would really approve, Mickey & Mini! I have no idea what this event really is, but anything at Disney is a win in my book!

On Friday night, Matt got the call that his car had arrived. We basically dropped everything to go see the much anticipated vehicle. Carmax was going to be closing soon so we knew there wasn't time for all the paperwork. Matt inspected the vehicle and took it for a test drive; he approved. He snapped this picture and posted it to Facebook saying "Hello there, Mini! Yes, I had you sent down from Kentucky. And yes you're coming home with me tomorrow." 

We returned in the morning and Carmax processed the Montero as a trade in. Like I mentioned before, the Montero had a good run...and had all the dings, dents and scratches to prove it. We didn't get much for the vehicle but we were able to transfer the Auburn tag to the MINI. Two long hours later (again, I'm not a car person), we were driving off the lot in the MINI and my husband could not have been happier.

Matt's post to Facebook, "Brought the new Mini home today. Hugs the road tightly, and that 6-speed is a blast." I'm not sure if he posted this before or after I started to get carsick while riding. My tummy is not used to manual transmission driving, but less time looking at my iPhone helped a lot.

It wasn't until the following morning, when it was finally Abigail's turn to take her first ride. She was thrilled! Next to the full size passenger door, there's a cute Abigail door for easier access to the backseat. She really loves Matt's new car and even suggested a few times that mommy should drive it and daddy take Nano's car (which was on temporary loan from my dad after the Montero died).

So now the only thing left is to give Matt's new MINI a name (yes, I eyeroll every time). Matt originally suggested "CamBo" which was also name thrown out for Brewer, I declined with both. Matt's nickname has been CRASH since college and his new business is CB CREATIVE. He loves Auburn (hence the CamBo creation from Cam Newton & Bo Jackson). The MINI still needs a name!

QUESTIONS:

-Do you name your vehicles? If so, what type of car do you have and what's it's name?

-Can you give us a suggestion or two to throw in to the naming pot for our new nameless Mini?

Puppy Love

For the last 11 months, we have been a family without a dog. Matt and I both agree we are dog lovers and would eventually get another dog. I had a lot of guilt in this department, I felt like I was replacing Toby. I know this wasn't the case but in the end he was really sick and I really questioned the care I gave him and if I had done everything I could do...it was not easy making the call, but it wasn't fair to let him suffer any longer.

Back in September while the Jetta was getting the tires rotated and balanced, Abigail and I walked over to Petland. She absolutely LOVED looking at the different puppies. We got to snuggle with a few different puppies and her favorite of the day was this little Chihuahua. Abigail named him Mickey.

I was not ready for a puppy. Petland seemed like a good "fix" for Abigail, who was ready to welcome a new dog into our family. I did ask how much Mickey cost, $1300. WHAT? A dog can cost more than our mortgage? No thank you. Because these dogs cost so much, I had no problem saying good-bye to them. Abigail wanted to way visit more to often than we ever went. Instead we started praying for the dogs we were visiting and we prayed for a dog 'somewhere out there' that would be the perfect dog for our family. 

Over Christmas I was discussing with Matt's cousins about how Abigail told me she wanted a puppy for Christmas. Her actual description was her version of Lady and the Tramp, when Darling opens the present and Lady jumps out. It turns out Jerome & Chastity's dogs just had a liter of 9 on December 12th. The dad is a Labrador and the mom is a Lab-Weimaraner mix. They planned to only keep one of the nine so Matt and I chatted, and it was the perfect opportunity. (This picture to the right is Matt & Abigail with Jerome & Chastity's boys, Dylan & Dalton. Dylan is ONLY 14yo and is a good few inches taller than Matt, who is 6'1". Although Dylan likes University of Georgia, Matt is no so secretly hoping Dylan will be recruited by Auburn University.) 

On our way back home from our trip to Florida for the WDW Marathon on January 14th I got a text from Chastity. It was a sad text. Turns out the momma dog Ellie got into some bones, one punctured her stomach and  died the weekend before. Chastity was doing her best to feed the nine puppies with a blended mixture of dry milk, water and dog food. It wasn't easy so she said we were welcome to come and select a puppy. We went late on Friday the 18th and the three of us had a difficult time choosing which puppy to welcome into our home.

It took a few days to name this little guy but we settled on Brewer. The name reflects Matt's love for beer and our love for coffee, little did we know that Brewer also likes coffee!

At Brewer's first vet appointment he weighed under 6lbs. He has done well sleeping in his crate at night, not crying much at all. We definitely have a long road ahead of us in regards to potty training...

Brewer also got quite an introduction in Abigail's room, we had to teach him that none of the toys on Abigail's bed are chew toys. And at the exact moment I took the picture, Brewer turned to grab Abigail's Tramp. My favorite quote from Abigail was "He doesn't want to play with a toy. He thinks I am a toy!" #AbsMakesMeLaugh

We definitely have an interesting few months ahead of us. Brewer, welcome to the family!

QUESTIONS:
-Have you ever welcomed a new puppy into your home?
-What would be your best advice for families selecting a new pet?

The Color Run St. Pete

Every other year we rotate Thanksgiving & Christmas between our two families. Since we spent Thanksgiving with my family in Tampa, we'd be spending Christmas in Atlanta with Matt's family. So we returned to Tampa to celebrate Abigail's 4th birthday and drop Christmas presents with my family.

As I had been researching different race sites, I discovered The Color Run was to be held the same weekend! Bonus! I quickly emailed my cousins and some friends to see if anyone else would be interested. My cousin Stephen registered and then Christina & her husband, Eric also joined.

Race morning, I pulled up the course map to check out the color stations and realized a lot of this course was similar to The Women's Half Marathon I ran a month before.

I highly underestimated the crowd for The Color Run! I'm not sure if it was because the staging area was at Vinoy Park and the start line was much more narrow in comparison to my previous race or if it was truly because there were many more people running. The start line was a mad house! There was not much organization & lots of "line cutting" so be patient because runners were sent out in waves every 5-10mins so it seemed to take forever for it to be our turn.

Finally we were off! Meanwhile, Matt (the best personal photographer ever!) was waiting for us at the first color station. He ended up wrapping a plastic bag around his camera body to protect it!

 

  

The course was very crowded! I still cannot believe we managed to stay together the entire 5K. There were lots of participants walking and others pushing strollers, which we though was crazy (how do you clean the strollers?). 

Matt proceeded on to meet us at the Yellow station. I am really surprised that we weren't more covered in color. As we ran through each station, it was like we were running through a huge cloud of colored dust...with extra burst flying right at you. It's a good thing I had sunglasses to protect my eyes. Chevrolet representatives were passing out handkerchiefs before the race too so you didn't have to breath any of it in.

 

 

All participants were given packets of color to save for after you finished running the 5K course. The DJ was gathering the crowd around every 15mins to countdown to throw your color packet into the air. We decided this was why people were walking to their cars completely covered GREY. To get better pictures, we staged our own countdown!

         

      

What I did not expect... I did not realize how much I might NEED the sunglasses to protect my eyes running through the color stations. The handkerchiefs were so helpful too! If/When I run this event again, I will make sure to wear old shoes; I did not expect my shoes getting so dirty! A dry towel & huge pack of wipes would come in handy if you do not expect to have an on site restroom (and even if you do, you might want to bring some because our closest restroom ran out of paper towels). Overall, I color came off my skin much easier than I expected!

The was such a Fun "race" even though nothing is chip timed. We finished our run/walk 5K in 46:33 (a FIRST PR for Christina might I add!). I hope I'm able to participate in this event again!

The Color Run will be on April 6th at The Atlanta Motor Speedway...and there's also a fall date set for September 28th! Although the The Atlanta Motor Speedway is actually an hour south of Atlanta, it is actually a GREAT venue for dirty events! I ran The Mud Crusade at this location and there are a ton of restrooms & showers so you do not have to drive home dirty. Bring a change of clothes, a bag for your dirty items & shoes and don't forget a wash cloth, soap, shampoo or towel...you'll thank me later. :)

Written: March 21, 2012

QUESTIONS:
-There are more color runs than just The Color Run, have you ever participated in this type of Fun Run?
-What event has been your favorite Fun Run or what Fun Run would you most like to participate?

Turkey Day

In order to gain extra insight and encouragement, during my C25K program I started following runners and runDisney fans on Twitter. It is fun to be able to bounce thoughts or questions out into Twitter-World and actually get responses and feedback. (It's also seemed like a better idea, posting to Twitter, than barraging all my Facebook "friends" with my crazy new obsession.) Lots of these new Twitter friends are from Florida, and surprisingly enough there was good few I was following from the Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers group, which I found out about later. Through Twitter chat, I decided to join Marcia (@TravelEatRun) & Genna (@RisforRunning) and sign up for the Clearwater Turkey Trot Challenge on Thanksgiving morning.

Genna, myself & Marcia (Thanks Marcia for sharing the photo!)

What I failed to realize until about 12hrs before this race was that "The Challenge" consisted of a 5K, a 1mi AND a 10K. I didn't really think about all of this, I was on a running high...I was officially a half marathoner and I could do anything (HA!). We all managed to find each other before the start of the 5K and it was refreshing to meet some Twitter folks in real life...and have faces (and voices) instead of just words.

The Turkey Trot itself was insane. There were SO many people participating. Then there was no rhyme or reason to how everyone lined up for the race. All participants (fast/slow runners, walkers, stroller pushers, children) were grouped together. The 5K began and we got separated VERY easily in the crazy sea of bodies, trying to weave in and out and around slower participants. Marcia introduced me to Rachel (@RunnersTales), another runDisney fan, and we managed to stick together. Conversation was super easy since we both loved Disney and were training for some of the same races.

With 3.1mi completed, we circled back around for the 1M run. Marcia was gracious and ran a bit slower so I could keep up with her. The road was just as crazy with participants, us weaving in and out and around. We thought it would have been better if the race organizers could have suggested that the slower participants & those pushing strollers or pulling wagons.

After 4.1mi done only the 4th day after 13.1, I realized I had made a mistake in registering for the entire challenge. There was no way I was going to be able to run another 6.2mi. I wished Marcia good luck and headed home. It would have been so great to socialize more with Marcia, we were both training for the 20th Anniversary Walt Disney World Marathon in January, but it was still early on Thanksgiving morning and a full day was ahead.

My mom's side of the family all gathered for Thanksgiving Dinner. This was the first time since Christmas 2007 where none of us were missing. Since neither my cousin John nor I live in the Tampa Bay Area, it's been difficult for us to coordinate our Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays since Matt & I rotate those holidays between both of our families. Since 2007, my grandmother has been blessed with 4 GREAT-grandchildren!

 November, or Movember as we now call it, is an extra fun month is our house because Matt grows a mustache to help fund-raise for prostate cancer and bring awareness to men's health. Matt formed "Saved by the MO", a team of six, and together they raised $621 throughout the month. With 22 days of mustache growth, it's amusing how you can barely see much growing on three of these four guys below!

Written: March 14, 2013

QUESTIONS:
-Do you participate in Thanksgiving Day events? Do you participate solo or is it a family affair?
-Does your family get together for Thanksgiving? Is it a big affair like my crazy family, do you keep it smaller or does your family do something entirely different?

Hi! I'm Jill & I'm a RUNNER!

Back in June I started the Couch to 5K program. I had attempted it before and got too eager, and failed. This time around, I wanted to succeed so I followed the program nice and slowly like it suggests. On a few rest days, I did take a spin class until about halfway into the program where I had to run more. I didn't want to get so sore to where I'd lose momentum. Along the way I signed up for my first 5K, because I knew I'd be more likely to quit if I didn't have something I was working towards.  Around the Week 4 marker, I treated myself to a real pair of running shoes. The Brooks Ghost 4s were a huge improvement from the old, cheap shoes I had AND I was wearing the wrong size! Who knew? At the end of C25K I logged a total of 56 miles and completed my first 5K on August 18th. It was a downhill race, so you're time is actually faster than a normal 5K (accept this one had TWO hills I walked up) but my time was 00:35:41 and a great starting personal record.

Again, knowing races would help me continue running then I registered. I ran The Mud Crusade in September with two mommy friends in Atlanta. It was definitely an experience!! We took this one slow, as Julie was injured, and we had to wait a few minutes at each obstacle. A bunch of husbands and wives are signed up for the Warrior Dash in May 2013 so I'm looking forward to that race!

In the search for Fun Runs, I stumbled upon The Firefly Run to be held in Atlanta in early October. This race has lots of energy, and with it being a night run lots of glow in the dark and flashing lights. There were music stations set-up throughout the race and some runners dressed up in costume which kept my amusement on high alert. I guess I should have started blogging about my journey into running months ago, because now I cannot find my final time for this race.

All this time, I had been dreaming about running Disney. Come on, all the Disney Magic into a race, where do I sign up!?! Well, somewhere along the line, I learned the WDWMarathon was going to be celebrating it's 20th Anniversary. This sounded like the ultimate Fun Run! On Labor Day, I decided on The Princess Half Marathon in February, which is also the 5th Anniversary celebration of this race. By this time I was already following lots of runDisney fans on Twitter and read through lots of race recaps of the Disneyland Half Marathon held Labor Day Wknd. I just couldn't help myself, and as the registration filled up for the WDWMarathon, I got more and more anxious (and impulsive) and jumped right on in!

The excitement of registering for the WDWMarathon set in immediately...slowly the nerves and anxiety started to emerge. What did I get myself into? Would I be prepared? I don't want to be picked up by the sweepers! The more I read through training guides and runner blogs, I decided it might be best to look into a longer (not 5K fun run) to help better prepare myself to runDisney. I found the Lady Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon which coincided with our Thanksgiving travels to Tampa.

I truly felt unprepared going into my first Half Marathon. I knew I could & would finish, but had no idea what to expect from this race. In October I only logged 43.67mi, but according to my training schedule I should have been over 100. I visited an orthopedic after having some weird feelings in both my knees. Luckily it's nothing serious, I was given a few stretches to do daily, a prescription anti-inflammatory and doc recommended trying to ice my knees multiple times a day. I wanted to be sure I wasn't going to injure myself during the race. 

I really enjoyed my first race expo, although it was smaller than I was expecting.  I got to check out a few different brands of race apparel and found myself a cute shirt to commemorate this race. From this point, I put all negative thoughts aside and pushed forward because I was going to finish a half marathon!

My 1st Half Marathon!

My alarm went off way too early, I rolled out of bed eager to get dressed and head from Odessa to St. Petersburg. Matt was a trooper, he decided to escort me to the race. Since this was my first big race, Matt suggested I get a photo in front of the start/finish line.

 

One of my Alpha Xi Delta sisters from Auburn was also running this race and it was fun to find her before the race. It has been MANY years since we've seen each other but try our best to keep up with each other on Facebook & Twitter. Cindy was also in town for Thanksgiving & ran the 5K with a family member.

  

I headed to my corral where I stayed near the side so I could wear my jacket until the last possible second. The wind coming off the water was crazy! Since I'm a rookie, I didn't know anything about throwaway clothes or wearing a garbage bag to fend against wind chill. Soon enough, it was time for the race to actually begin so I handed over my jacket and kissed my hubby goodbye (for good luck).

I knew I could run an entire 5K without intervals so I decided I would run straight through for the fist 3.1 because I had read it always takes a couple miles for the crowds to spread out. As all the corrals moved forward at the start I saw a sign that said "Run like there is wine at the finish!". At 7:16am, I was slightly over a mile in and two of the cutest grandmas PASSED ME! I could not believe it. 

Now when you look at my split times, you'll see where this wasn't the best idea. I mostly train on a treadmill, so when I get out on the open road I do not know how to pace myself! I do not average an 10-11 minute mile pace, more towards a 12 (or closer to 13 when running intervals). I obviously was not pacing myself properly!

Miles 4, 5 and 6 were a much better pace for me, at this point in my training. I even found a nice interval pace around some other interval runners. One woman had "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13" on the back of her shirt and I just kept reciting it over and over to myself.

Around Mile 6 I noticed my iPhone battery was in the "red zone". I was using my iPhone to supply tunes, run Nike GPS, tweet mile markers & thoughts and text Matt my whereabouts so I knew when to look out for him. I decided to turn off the music at this point, it was smart but I really missed the distraction.

 

Mile 7 & 8 were rough, the course took me down the St.Pete Pier, all the way around the building and back up the pier. The wind was CRAZY! I felt like I was running super fast but I was barely moving. It took a lot out of me. I was worn out and I still had to run all the way to Tropicana Field. Somewhere in this stretch I spotted Meghan, she looked great! I was very envious; I had been reading her blog and following her training. This was not her first Half Marathon (she was also training for WDWMarathon) so I reminded myself I only started running 5mo prior and pushed on.

Cindy planned to meet up with me around Mile 10 or 11 and she spotted me after my loop around Mirror Lake, I think I was walking as much as I was running at this point. It was right before Mile 10 when my iPhone completely died. I wasn't prepared for this, at all. Cindy & I walked a bit together, it was a nice break & she had some wonderful encouragement to share with me. We parted ways and I proceeded on towards Tropicana Field.

I finally made it to Tropicana Field and while it was cool to be running ON the field, the air in the building was stagnant. I couldn't breathe and decided to soak it in and walk it. Between 1st and 2nd base, the Sweaty Band crew started to pass me (they were running intervals too) so I decided I should try to use their timing since I had no way to pace myself. We eventually parted, I was exhausted and there were fewer racers on the course, though I could see I was still ahead of plenty of them (which made me happy that I wouldn't be finishing last).

It took all that I had to run the last half mile straight. As I got closer to the turn from 1st Avenue to Bayshore Drive, I could make out a recognizable voice. This voice was my mother, she was screaming at me...I ran faster to get away from her. I could see the finish line, then I spotted my dad, Matt, Abigail & my nephew Will, so I waved and sprinted to the finish. That's me in the teal shirt, saturated with back sweat. Gross.

My split times were a lot different than what the Nike GPS App on my phone had me at. Overall, I was proud of my average pace, it was what I was hoping to achieve but really had no idea after those last miserable three miles.

   

I am so glad I ran this race. This Half Marathon was intended to be a learning experience for me and it truly was! I was under trained for this race and I know I can do better, but I finished. In my book, finishing IS winning!

Written: March 12, 2013


QUESTIONS:
-Have you ever raced purely for it to be a learning experience? If so, what did you learn?
-If you are not a runner, have you done something to help you learn and grow so you can plan how to move forward?

Menu Planning & FPU

Last week I tried menu planning for the week. A friend actually has an entire blog for her menu planning, and she always has the best meals planned for her family. I've pondered: I'm I just too picky, I'm I not that great a cook, might good meals bust our budget? I've decided to work backwards from a budget.

Rewind. Five years ago Matt and I attended Financial Peace University, the Dave Ramsey class. We were still newly weds with two incomes, trying to figure out how to have one joint account and live within our means. The class was great, it has some very useful information for everyone regardless of your specific financial situation. In some areas we were very stubborn but we were successful. Then in a blink of an eye, Matt was handed his pink slip from the company he was working for in Birmingham. We got wrapped up in all aspects of life and stopped using our FPU tools. And before we revisited anything FPU related while living in Nashville we up and moved to Marietta. Moving is not cheap - and selling two houses in a crappy housing market is not recommended! It's been over 3yrs we've been living off one income, but still never revisited.

In January our church started teaching the FPU curriculum and Matt thought we should jump back in. I was reluctant (kinda still am) but am going to the weekly classes...because Matt's "too busy" to attend once every other week (we planned on switching out since there's no childcare).

I painstakingly reviewed our December & January expenses to best plan a budget for February (this was FPU homework from 2wks ago). We only use our Debit Cards for purchases, and with Christmas and traveling there was A LOT of expenses to review! I decided I was going to devise TWO budgets each month since Matt gets paid twice a month and the bills to be paid per paycheck aren't consistent. I think this will also allow me to re-examine and tweak as I'm figuring out everything.

In order to be more accurate with a grocery budget, I thought it'd be smart to plan our weekly menus. There are a lot of positives for menu planning. 1. Ingredients can be checked for all recipes and then I only make ONE Publix trip a week. 2. If I plan ahead, I can prep ahead. I hate doing lots of dishes nightly so if I'm able to use/re-use cutting boards and pans, etc all in one night then there's less clean up later. The downside is I'm not always sure of our weekly plans. What if a meal allows for more leftovers or we decide to eat out last minute instead? It'll be a work in progress, so I'm allowing wiggle room. I've also wrote in plenty of lunch ideas for Matt since he works from home.

Here's our dinner menu for this week...

• Sunday - Interstate Meal (Fazoli's)
• Monday - Aussie Chicken with Baked Potato
• Tuesday - St. Angelo's Pizza (dinner with Matt's parents)
  
• Wednesday - Carrabba's Spiced Chicken served with Pasta
• Thursday - Left-Over Aussie Chicken
• Friday - Tacos/Fajita's
• Saturday - OPEN

I went to Publix yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find chicken breasts on sale for $2.99/lb. I fileted four breasts for the Aussie Chicken - two for Monday and two for Thursday. Two breasts went into the chicken noodle soup I took to a sick friend. Another two were diced and marinated for the Carrabba's Spiced Chicken for Wednesday. Then the last two were prepped for Fajita Friday. I also found ground beef on sale so I browned the mean and pre-seasoned it for Matt's Friday tacos.

Hotdogs were also on sale so Matt has an extra lunch option. I even cooked an entire package of bacon yesterday: most for the Aussie Chicken and then Matt can put slices on turkey sandwiches (since turkey was also on sale!). The hotdog and turkey sandwich options will sure to be on next week's menu too since there's no way he'll go through 10 dogs and a pound of turkey in a week.

As I also mentioned in a January post, I'm loving Pinterest for new ideas and recipes. The Aussie Chicken turned out very tasty, a good second place substitute. I am addicted to the Carrabba's Bread Dipping Spices and tested them out last week on chicken and it was so good! I made the recipe x3 yesterday, threw it all in my food processor and it made about 1/2c. If I make it in bulk then I only have to clean the food processor once.

Maybe the menu planning and budget will work hand in hand to make me more efficient...time will tell!