ShufflingSista

Geesh...I still don't get what Threshold & VO2 Max Miles are? So not quite sure where to log the race miles? Need to so some research on that.

OUTER BANKS HALF MARATHON WAS AWESOME!!!!!!

One of my all time favorite races! Our family went down Friday night and spent 2 nights in a hotel 50 yards from the beach.  Saturday (day before the race) we spent the day playing around a beautiful beach near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  We had some good times and good eats! I hope to update the family blog in the next couple days with pics (www.CarpeDiem95.blogspot.com) The weather could not have been more perfect!! 50 degrees, not windy, sunny- gorgeous! The Expo was small (all I have to compare it to is St. George) but they gave out some fun pirate theme bags with our swag.  The shirt was a nice dry release, but unisex cut which never works for my 5' 1" frame- bummer.  Race day worked out great.  Our hotel was 2.5 miles from start so my hubby dropped me off.  Weird to start alone without any friends, but you know us runners are a social bunch.  I ended up chatting with a few nice people at start and never felt lonely.  Luckily all my electronic devices worked well- gosh I'm high maintanence with my Garmin & IPOD, can't race without 'em! I wasn't sure what to expect it had been 9 months since my last half.  I set my goal attainable- just wanted under 1:57 (PR is 1:52 but wasn't shooting for that today). I was stoked to see my Garmin read 1:55:47 at finish.  Not so stoked to see my chip time is a minute slower than that?! Regardless, the miles flew by- what a feeling, that rarely happens to me on race day!! Nice flat, scenic run along interstate, then neighborhoods, by golf course and along coast and marinas.  Lots of change of scenery and a combo of sun, good tunes on the IPOD kept me VERY happy.  I think I was smiling 90% of this race!  Extreme runner's high at end of this race :) Could feel my toes bruising at mile 8, but not too bad.  Took GU every 4 and picked up drinks at most aid stations.  Was very happy that I was staying ahead of my virtual partner.  The finish party was fun- pictures with pirates, great band (with lots of horns), and in addition to our cool pirate medals, they gave nice running visors- love little perks like that! VERY happy with this race, can't wait to post pictures once the Outer Banks website gets them up.  Would do this race again- long drive (5 hrs) but worth it!

Today the self talk got the best of me..."You just ran a half marathon yesterday- you don't have to do anything today".  So yah, R & R day.

Aerobics class

Rain, Rain and more Rain! Went to aerobics today because it was easier than getting myself motivated to get on the dreadmill.  I think its supposed to FINALLY stop raining tomorrow, so I'm planning on a run outside!

another aerobics day.  figured I could get away with aerobics 3x in a row this week in the name of rain and recovery week :)

This was actually my 9 yr. old daughter's first 5k that I ran with her! Fun day! N. Carolina has a great program called "Go Far" that teaches kids healthy habits.  They met for 10 weeks and had little lessons about nutrition, exercise, goal setting & self esteem.  Then they ended the 10 weeks with a 5k. It was a wonderful, big event with many schools in the district participating, hundreds of people.  I ran along with Arielle just to keep her company.  I made an effort not to push her, this was HER race.  I was SO proud of her! She kept a nice consistent pace and run the entire way except when she walked for just a couple seconds to drink her water at the halfway point.  She had a smile on her face and got so excited at the finish.  She sprinted and lifted up her arms in  showy celebration :)  at the finish line.  I'm so glad she had a great first race experience. Hopefully she'll want to run another one!