Oktoberfest beer run 5k-Sept 26th.

Sounds fun, huh? Not so much.

I want to start off by saying that I have the most wonderful husband, who decided to stay with me for encouragment instead of leaving my ass in the dust ;P

This race was down near Dunedin Brewery on the Pinellas Trail. That's right a race on the PInellas Trail. Seriously who does that? It sounded really good when we signed up. Free beer, free mug, free dry fit shirt & food. But there were many things that were not mentioned. BUt, I am getting off track. There was four of us running: myself, Josh, my bro-Ryan, & sis-in-law-Jillian. Jill & Ryan stayed out front & JOsh & I hung out back. The race itself was rather unorganized & a little confusing. There was nothing indicating when you were starting, you just started to see the stampede coming towards you. SO, we took off at a faster pace than normal, and to be honest with ya I think that set the tone for the race. I know what I am capable of & it is not a fast pace. This was an out & back course on the tiny trail. So it was a little chaotic, but that's ok. We got about a mile in & I didn't feel terrible but just blech. If you know me you know what my blech feels like. It seemed like it took forever for the turnaround/water station to come upon us!!!!!!! When we did get there it was almost a standstill because we were giving shot glass sized cups of some nasty water, but everyone was hogging the table. Oh well, so we started running again. I started to notice that it was REALLY dark out, & I mean DARK! I did not care for this it all, it was kind of creepy & there was nothing to focus on. I guess I just like the scenic runs. We're kinda spoiled living in Florida. Oh & did I mention that every 40 or so feet we had to cross over a crosswalk where we met with obnoxious flashing lights from cop cars. Not good is all i can say. You are gonna love this, Josh knows that when I get discouraged I just need someone to whoop my ass into shape, so he says to me you have 2 more short walks & you're done, running the rest of the way. I <3 him. I think this whole race just threw me off my game, but I am so HAPPY that I had him there with me. Another thing not to love about the race was because it was so dark you couldn't even see where the heck the finish line was. WHO DOES THAT!!!!!!! So, he kept saying we're almost there about 30 times when we weren't. FINALLY....I could see the numbers on the clock so I hauled my ass to the finish line to be met with nothing. THAT"S RIGHT~NO WATER!!!! You had to walk down to the street to go get your water, & I mean literally down the street.

So, all in all, not my favorite race, not my best race, but it is another race under my belt. This has taught me a few things about myself & about Josh. It taight me that I need to not give up on myself because had I not given up I could've finished in the time I wanted to & proved myself. I guess it didn't really teach me anything about Josh, more or less reminded me of why I married him. He showed me he is in this 100% WITH me. He is encouraging & I just love him.

So, final race time...you ready for this.....35:36........1 minute slower than IRONGIRL!
Oh well, I gotta work out my schedule for training.

busy 2 weeks

So, I haven't blogged much lately. I swore that blogging would make me more accountable.
Anyways, I went to the Y to run with Melissa today. It was pretty uneventful. Ran 2 miles & did a little bit of weight training. My knee started acting up again, but it wasn't too bad. I ran the 1st mile straight & the 2nd mile I did sprint sets. I think that I like the sprints better. Is that weird???

So, now it is 630am & Josh just left for his run & my house is very peaceful. The kids are still sleeping & the cat has not started meowing yet.

Oh yeah, I have a big 2 weeks ahead. I just signed Josh & I up for the Oktoberfest 5k in Dunedin. I am sooo excited about this. I have run a few races, but josh has never officially ran one, & we get to run it together. I'm pretty sure he's gonna smoke my ass, but that's ok. Then, the next week is Race 4 the Cure. I AM VERY EXCITED FOR THIS RACE FOR A FEW REASONS. (Sorry must've hit caps lock). My friends Kelly & Melissa are running this race & it's their 1st race. I know they are gonna do great! This is such an empowering & emotional race. I makes you proud to be a woman!!!!!!!

Anyways, I hope to get atleast 1 more run in this week, probably Wednesday. (Only because of the knee.) I am gonna have to baby this knee for the next 2 weeks.

So the rest of the week goes like this:

Monday: teach bodyflex a.m. & step p.m.
Tuesday: teach step am & pm
Wedmesday: teach step am
Thursday: teach bodyflex am & step pm.

love ya

I did it!!!!!

What a great way to start of a Monday morning!! I had 2 awesome girls to run with who pushed me to the limit. Christy, Teresa, & I ran with the Suncoast Striders today & I thought I would go 4 maybe 5miles, but i went a little over 6. What an accomplishment for me.

We started out in the very cute quaint community of Longleaf & ran up the starkey trail & back to Longleaf. It was a very pretty, nice, & quiet. For the first 2 miles I was ok, after that I just kept asking myself where was the water stop? SOOOOOO grateful for the water stop. I am not even gonna fake it, but the 3 miles back were hell. Not because I was tired, but because my knee was hurting. But I was determined, no matter how often I had to run/walk, I was finishing this 6 miles. WAIT A MINUTE, let me back it up.......I had my 1st running meltdown today. Thank god Teresa & Christy were a little ahead if me;o) On the way back, I'm gonna say maybe mile 3.5 or so we had come off the little bridge & I had to walk for a minute. All kinds of thoughts were going through my head at this moment & I felt like I was gonna cry. I know I'm a big ole baby. I thought to myself I wonder if they can just come back & pick me up in the car, & then something made me snap out of it & I was over myself & picked it back up again as if nothing ever happened. It's moments like this that make me wonder how I can find it so easy to motivate other people, but I have a hard time motivating myself. I dunno! Whatever!
Finally Christy double backed her way back to me & said,"Jen, we're almost there, you've got 5.5 miles in." I was like, "WOOHOO!!!!!! I am so finishing this!" So, I did it in 1 hour 8 minutes & 11 seconds. Not the best time but not the worst either. Not to bad for my 1st 6 mile run. Now, hopefully my knee feels better & I can get through my classes this week. Ice & elevate baby!

ALL I CAN SAY IS, "IF YOU CAN'T BRING IT, GO HOME!"

not much

Not much to even write about. I have been teaching so much lately that I haven't had much time to run. So i ran a whole whopping mile yesterday before I had to teach inline step. That's right 1 stinking mile. But I did improve, hauled but and ran that mile in 10:02. Very excited.