WOMEN'S HALF MARATHON RACE

Saturday morning we drove down to St. Pete's to meet Patty and Jay at the Vinoy. This was her second half marathon to do and we were all excited for her.





We lined up to get our bibs and the goodie bag.





Now we are ready to do some shopping at the Expo.

We stopped at Skirt Sports to look at the Kendall Kollection by Jackie McFee. Proceeds from this collection benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We liked the tanks and decided to get matching ones for the race.

Jackie was there and was nice enough to stop what she was doing for a picture with us. If you're interested you can go to her site http://www.jackiemcfee.com/ to see her products.


Sunday morning we were up early and ready to race. The hotel was near the start line so we didn't have far to walk. We had time for a group picture and then Amy and Jenny went for a warm up run.

The sun is just coming up and we get a picture with our support team.

Jay has Patty do some stretches to warm up.

We found corral 6 and waited for the start, seemed like it took forever.

Soon we were on our way. Jenny started in corral 1 and Amy in corral 2. I was hoping I'd see them on the course.


We are heading for the Pier and spotted our support team. We lost some time at mile 3 when we had an 8 minute wait for the Porto potties.

We made it past the half way mark. Both of us were doing good, no aches or pains.

Seemed like it took forever to get into the stadium. Patty kept asking when we'd get there and I said just take it one step at a time. We even sucked it up and ran part way around.


Once out of the stadium it was all down hill to the finish. We were feeling strong and enjoying the moment.
We did it !!! I was so glad that I was able to do this with my sister for her 70th birthday celebration. That night we went to the Colombian Restaurant on the Pier to celebrate some more.

LET'S GO

It's time to bring out the suitcase, tomorrow we leave with 4 days until the race. Whenever we bring out the suitcases the dogs know something is up. I think Coco would really like to go with but she doesn't get along with her Florida cousin, they both want to be the Alpha dog.

Monday I had boot camp and it was an upper body workout. Heidi and I were both huffing and puffing, man she works us hard. I'll miss the week off but it's nice to have a break.

LAST LONG RUN

This time next Sunday I'll be finished with the half marathon and you will find me sitting on the beach with an ice cold drink in my hand. Sounds heavenly doesn't it?

This morning I had my last long run, 8.88 miles. It was cold when I started but as I've learned I quickly warm up. The run went well, shoes were fine and I used two GU's.

IT'S RAINING IT'S POURING

So the only one happy with today's weather would be a duck. It is just pouring out side and is suppose to rain all afternoon with a drop in the temperature. Luckily we were able to have boot camp out side before the rain started. We did sprints carrying weights, sit ups, lunges and planks. After three sets of these we headed in side for some leg work, box jumps, squats and bike.
Tomorrow is a local 5K that a lot of the girls are doing. I haven't signed up because I wasn't sure what the weather would be like this time of year. If I get up tomorrow and it's not too cold or wet and I feel like running I'll go and race.

ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM

Well we did it, we bought the car. My husband wanted red and I didn't care what color it was. We'll be driving it to Florida next week.
Monday I took in my cake samples( to get another entry into the contest) to boot camp. Felt funny taking cake to a gym. We did a mix of upper and lower body exercises.
Tuesday was car buying, you know how tiring that can be. That evening we went out for dinner to celebrate. Last car we bought was 6 years ago.
Wednesday I had coffee with my friend then took her home and stopped at the running store. I only wanted some GU"s for the race but came home with a new pair of shoes. I got the Brooks Ghost.
This morning I went for a 4 mile run, wore my new running skirt by Race Ready. I wanted to make sure it would be comfortable for the race, and it was.
The sun has just popped out and it is suppose to be another warm day, perfect for giving the dogs a bath.
Can't believe I leave a week from today.

12 MILES, MUSSELS AND TEXAS SHEET CAKE

This morning I had 12 miles to do. I wasn't real excited about it but it helped knowing Amy also had 12 on her schedule. With the time change it was light earlier but the temperature was in the low 40's so I was waiting for it to get a bit warmer. Finally at 9:30 I headed out, ran past the police station to the end of the trail and then back. I was getting warm so went inside to the restrooms and switched my shirt from the keep warm side to the keep cool side. Yes it really works. I followed the trails then headed for the streets and then back on trails. There was some wind which made it harder to run but kept going. When I got near my street I was close to the 12 so ran until the Garmin hit 12. YES, it's done.

My library books are due this week so I thought I'd give you one more food from the book by Janet Wright The Top 100 Health Tips, this one is for my grandson Felix since he loves them, it's mussels. Because they contain both selenium and omega-3 fatty acids they are a super food. They prevent against cancer, heart disease and cell damage and improve brain function. Maybe that's why Felix is so smart. Personally, I don't care for them.

My goal for the week was to take the unhealthy recipe I turned in a few weeks ago and make it healthy and also bring a sample to Shayla. My recipe was the Texas sheet cake, now this I like. I replaced one cup of flour with whole wheat flour, added less butter and used low fat butter milk for the cake and skim milk for the icing. I also cut the icing recipe in half even though it is really so good that you just don't need all that on the cake.

Tomorrow is boot camp and then we go car shopping again.

FALL BACK

Did you remember to set your clocks back? It doesn't really matter, I'm still up early. The only nice thing is it will be lighter earlier, bad thing darker earlier.
Yesterday Allie had a soccer game and my husband was helping out as one of the coaches so we had to get there on time. This left me with about 45 minutes until the game. I wore my running clothes and had decided that if it wasn't too cold and windy I would go out on the trails. The weather cooperated and I found this trail that went around a small lake so I ran around the lake about four times. Finished with 3 miles on my Garmin.
The run seemed to go quite well, my leg was not bothering me and the temperature turned out to be perfect.
Today there are 12 miles on my schedule, hope I can do it.

WHERE'S THE WEEK GONE ?

I don't know about ewe, but the week has really slipped past and I had to stop and think about what I did.
Monday was boot camp
Tuesday, I went for a run but cut it short because it looked like the sky was going to open up and pour down rain. Also was cold and windy.
Wednesday, met my friend for coffee and then took her home. Rushed home to eat lunch and then had a hair appointment, afterwards dinner out.
Thursday had a dentist appointment in Dallas and then home for lunch and then car shopping all afternoon.
We found three we liked so now have to see where the best deal is.
Friday boot camp, upper body workout, my arms are tired. Catching up on laundry and other chores.
My leg is feeling better, I must have needed the rest. Race is getting closer I hope I'm trained enough. I am getting excited about it. Talked with my sister and she also has been training hard. Our youngest sister is not going to do the race because of an injury but she isn't even going to come and cheer us on. I guess we know where we stand with her. LOL Hope everyone has a great weekend.

HELLO NOVEMBER

We were just remarking at boot camp this morning that we can't believe it's November already. Where has the time gone.
Today there were four of us and Shayla had us on the treadmills doing sprints and also some incline runs. This was hard, maybe because I hate the treadmill or maybe because I didn't think I could run that fast, but did. The sweat was dripping and I was tired when finished.
I did 7mph for 1 minute, 5 times with slow walk in between.
Leg is feeling a wee bit better today maybe taking a few days off has helped.