Tag Archives: morning run

Happy National Running Day!!

Running, , , ,

Hey there! It’s been a while… But I thought today was the perfect time to pop back in to talk about one of my favorite things: running!

If you haven’t already heard, it’s National Running Day!! And for this avid runner, it’s kinda fun to think of it as a ‘real’ holiday event though it’s not! So in celebration, I got up to do a nice 7-miler before work today.

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It was hot and I was grumpy the whole time. The temps only got down to 74 degrees over night, so I was completely exhausted and drenched in sweat when I arrived home. But I was thankful to have it done!

So my celebration of this holiday left me stinky, sweaty, and miserable… Why do I like running again?? I guess it’s hard to explain unless you’re a runner. But the runners high you get when you cross the finish line is unbelievable. Here’s a quick recap of my 6 big spring races this year.

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First up was the Frostbite half marathon in STL. My first half marathon! Rocked it and finished in 1:56. 🙂

Number 2 was the Little Rock Marathon. Crazy whirlwind of a weekend. But I finished despite all odds in 4:13.

Number 3 is the Go! STL marathon. A much better full marathon experience with a fun weekend at Nick’s parents house. Finished in 4:03. Woot!

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Number 4 was the Go Girl Springfield half marathon. Easy course around my own city with a 1:54 finish.

Number 5 was the Divas Half Marathon in Branson. Woah, those were some crazy hills!! Thought I might die but we made it. 1:59, slowest half marathon time but it was the toughest course by far.

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And last was the Go Girl Columbia half marathon. I haven’t done a recap on this race yet because, well, I have mixed emotions about it. I finished in 1:57. Not my best, not my worst. The course was tough and partially on gravel trails which I was not prepared for! I had a lot of negative thoughts about this race for a couple different reasons so I’ve been hesitant to do a big vent-fest on the blog about it. I think I need one more week to cool down, and then we can chat. :). Haha! Just know that everything really did go OK. Long story short, I think I’ve become a bit of a race diva after my short racing season this spring!

Along with all these big races, I also ran a 10k and a 15k – both local races. Just for fun!! For a girl that could barely do the 1-mile run in PE class in high school, I’m pretty darn proud of myself. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the ginormous race medals laying around my bedroom. 🙂

Now what am I gonna do with my time this summer while I’m not training?! Well I’ll just keep running when I can. And I’ll focus on Jazzercise a bit more – we just got new routines!! Speaking of, one of my fav students hit 100 classes last night for 2014 so far!

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Aren’t we attractive after 2 hours of class?! Haha Lora’s an awesome student and I’m thankful to have her in my classes each evening.

And I’m also just going to relax and enjoy my summer with Nick and Mac. I’ve been a busy racing lady, so I’m ready for a little down time at home with my fav guys.

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Love love love! Side note – Mac went swimming over Memorial Day and didn’t like it much…. Haha!

Allrighty guys. I hope you’re enjoying your day. Get out there and celebrate the day with a run! Let my finisher picture from Colmbia Go Girl inspire you. 🙂

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Cooler Runs & Rain Jackets

Daily Life!, Running, , , , ,

Happy Thursday! I hope you all have had great weeks. I can’t believe it’s already almost the weekend again! Geez! I’ve decided life will never slow down, so this is my new norm. Although, my spring racing season is almost over. So what does that mean?! More sleeping in! More running for fun! More Jazzercise! And then also…more anxiety because I haven’t raced in so long! Haha!

So this week has been wonderful for running because the temps have dropped drastically. Every morning has been around 35-45 degrees! Perfect! So I got in a quick 6 miles yesterday and then 5 miles this morning.

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Each run started out super slow for me. But I’ve read somewhere that you should never judge a run by the first mile. So by mile 2, I tried to add in some speed work to make my legs remember what it feels like to run some 8:30 splits. It’s wasn’t super fun, but it did feel good to go fast and suck some cold air into my lungs. If I want to get a new half marathon PR below 1:54, I’ll have to really push some speed work this weekend and early next week!

Along with the cooler temps came a lot of rain. And by a lot, I mean ALOTTTT. So poor Mac has been cold and wet since Monday. But never fear – mommy pulled his lovely rain coat/poncho out for such a soggy occasion!

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He hates me. Like really, really hates me. But he stayed dry. 🙂

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Soggy doggie no more! He even went pee while wearing the jacket which was a miracle. In the past, he refused to potty with it on, which completely defeats the purpose. But yesterday he was brave and found that it is indeed safe to pee while wearing his yellow poncho!

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Off subject here, but if you have a little male dog, does he pee on literally anything that sticks up out of the ground? Because Mac does. And he totally doesn’t care what it is. If it’s taller than the grass, he is gonna mark it.

As for a recap of the rest of my week, it’s been work and Jazzercise like normal. I’ve also been trying to eat a large salad at lunch everyday and have at least one serving of fresh berries!

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And I must say, the fresh berries have been a welcome change to my eating habits! Plus they are a sure sign that summer is right around the corner!

Well have a great night, folks. It’s jazzercise like normal for me. I’ve got some new songs and I’m excited to teach! Wish me luck!

Pitter Pat 10K

Running, , , ,

Hey there! Hope you’ve had a great weekend! It was a fun one around here.

Saturday morning started out with a split long run and Jazzercise! I woke up around 6 a.m. to get in the first part of my mileage for the day. I ran 9 miles as ‘easy’ as my legs would let me before I headed home to clean up and put on dry running clothes for the Pitter Pat 10K!

The race started at 10am, but I got there early to help Katie set up our Jazzercise booth in the expo area.

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Katie, myself, and Kim were ready to lead the warm up for all the runners! Once we were setup, we headed out to the courtyard to lead the runners in a couple songs pre-race. I have no pics because Katie’s husband was busy with their 1 year old son! But we had a couple runners that were brave and decided to dance with us. 🙂

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Adam (Katie’s hubs) and I were actually running, so we headed to the start line right after we finished the warm up. We took off shortly, and it was a great little race! The sun was shining. The temp was around 40, so I comfy the whole route. And I felt pretty good minus the long hill at mile 4!

I finished in right around 52 minutes (I haven’t checked my official time yet!), and I won’t first place in my age division!!!

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Woohoo!! I was pretty shocked to be honest. My average pace was around 8:18, and usually there’s at least one person in my age group that runs those crazy 6 minute miles. But that person must’ve stayed home on Saturday.

After the run, I headed back to the mini expo to help at our booth and have some snacks. They had quite the spread! Granola, fruit, yogurt, Krispy Kreme donuts, beer, bagels, and lettuce wraps. It was amazing!!

Anywho, the rest of the weekend was spent being lazy and eating after my 15 miles and race win on Saturday! Food was definitely my friend. Haha. Back on track tomorrow!

Have a great night everyone. I hope you have a wonderful week!!>