Gobbler Grind 1/2 Marathon

Gobbler Grind 1/2 today!

Couldn't have asked for better weather today, 60 degrees! I instantly regretted my clothing choice - I was hot by mile 1.

Ran w/ Russ, Scott & Jaime from Thunder Road Racing today & that was fun. :)

We all ran together for the first few miles, Jaime went on her own to finish up her 5K & the guys & I pressed on. We had a pace plan & a 2:20 goal...but apparently none of us can add b/c @ mile 8 we thought we were 10 minutes behind our goal. I think we should all buy each other Garmins for Christmas or go back to gradeschool for math.

I think my words were "Well, f-ing A, we gotta GO!" LoL So we did. :) We split at this point & Scott went some place outside of body & blew the 2:20 goal away w/ a 2:07!

I was feeling really good at mile 9 & decided to take advantage of the long downhill to catch up on the mystery minutes we were behind - mile 9 for me was an 8:30 pace! Yeah, I've never done that before. Awesome.

But...I would regret that around mile 11 when I felt like I could walk it in. I was tired, & needed to GU at mile 9 - I didn't - so I guess I got what I deserved there. Finished up with a 2:23 w/ Russ right on my tail.

I ran this race last year in 2:14 - so I'm no where near where I was last year. But I'm super proud of today, I gave it all I had. 7 minutes faster than the 1/2 I ran a few weeks ago, so I'll take it!

A sad site today - Around mile 10-11 I came around the corner to see an ambulance & a crowd of people - I looked to see a man on the ground. They were doing chest compressions & he was looking really bad. Really scary. I don't think I will ever forget seeing this happening. I have no idea what happened to that runner, but I'm thinking of him & hoping he went home today. Sure puts the pace I didn't make into perspective huh?

California Run

I went to La Jolla last week for work and lucky me this was my Saturday running route. Sunrise on the beach :) Beautiful! It was quite a trek getting to the beach, but only about 3 miles from our hotel. Getting back was another story....this hill was just one of many.... DANG! This was at about mile 9. Not what you want to see on mile 9!

But I kicked out a 12 miler before most people even had their breakfast muffin. Yeah, I think that's cool.

Oh and we ate some of this.... and some of this.... Race day THIS WEEKEND! 13.1 here I come!

Giveaway Winner!

Sometimes I have no idea where the days go, time just slips away from me! My giveaway ended LAST Friday....I know....BAD BLOGGER! No excuses....except I was in sunny California this past week for work with no time to do much of anything except work....well and some beach....and some good times with old & new friends. So yeah, no time to blog but I guess I had plenty of time to do lots of other things :)

So without further adieu.....the winner was selected by random.org, out of 156 entries.
#21 is the winner and that is Jen!

Jen's 5 favorite things about running are below. I don't know which I like best, they are all awesome. But I think I have to go with #2. Run on my friend!

5. I am starting to see the slightest hint of a waist! I haven't had a waist for 10 years! :)
4. My shoes. I love my shoes.
3. The extra energy I have now that I have started running.
2. The sense of personal accomplishment!

And the number one thing about running:
1. The look in my husband's eyes - I can tell he is super proud of me. :)