Inspiring Weekend

This weekend was great in soo many ways!

Saturday my sister and I set out to run 6 miles! I was nervous but at the same time excited about it. We plotted out a course that was a mile and a half out over an inter coastal bridge and then back, so 3 miles total that we would do twice. We did this so we could leave water at start, 3 mil, and finish line. This gave us the opportunity to rehydrate a bit in the middle of the run. The funny part was it was right in front of this mini-park place called Adventure Landing (one of those places that has mini-golf, go-carts, a small water park, etc) and we both had to pee at 3 miles so we ducked behind a bush, well when I did it as I am finishing and pulling my pants up a car turns in and I definitely mooned them! haha! Oh well, everyone has a butt :) It was soo windy that day and when we ran West it was the worst, and that 3 leg over the bridge was brutal but I just gritted through, pumped the arms, put my head down just a tad and told myself one foot in front of the other and I made it up. Coming back I actually felt really good and coming down the last bridge I decided to just take it and go and caught back up with my sister! She goes up the bridges much much faster than I am able to, so I was happy when I caught her.The best part is that when we finished I probably could have just kept on going. I wasn't hurting too bad, I wasn't all that tired (yes tired but not zonked yet), and I still had some energy to go. I was soo pleased with myself for running 7 miles. When we were done we went to Engine 15, one our favorite bars for a beer and lunch. That beer was AMAZING! Plus it was a great morning/afternoon with my sister!

Sunday morning in Jacksonville was marathon to benefit beast cancer. It has become a really large event, bringing people in from all over and also used a a Boston Marathon qualifier. My boyfriend's mom runs it and his dad is the champion for the 14/15 mile water station. It is at the same location since they loop back around and hit it again but from the other side of the street (we are on he grass island running in between the streets). I had a fun time handing out water for all these amazing people working to complete 26.2 miles. Talk about inspirational!!! The worst part about it and what made it even more inspiring is that it was something like 31 degrees in the morning when they started at 6:30am and felt like 23 degrees! I had on 3-4 layers on my whole body and was still freezing so I can only imagine running. I know your body temperature goes up when running, but still it had to be soo cold, especially waiting at the starting line to start. I wanted to go inside and warm-up but I just refused because if these people were out here doing this in the cold, I sure as hell could stand there and give them the water and gatorade they wanted. We finished up and was back inside by about 11:45am or so and it was definitely a great way to start a day! We found out later that my boyfriend's mom completed it in 5 hours and 17 minutes! That is amazing and definitely so proud of her! Looking at the results what I was just blown away with was the woman who won it did it in 2 hour s and 40 minutes, but the real kicker is that she is 42 years old! You typically think the late 20s to mid 30s is where the winner would be age wise, which is where the male winner was at 2 hours and 20 minutes, but she was 42! That is just fantastic and I was so happy for her. It was also great to see all the pink in the crowd of runners. Both women and men were sporting it proudly in this effort to help cure and stop breast cancer. I am not really a huge fan of pink but that was just awesome.

Sunday made me look at my schedule this week and rethink how I was going to tackle it. I am supposed to run 7 miles on Saturday to continue in my training, However, this weekend I finally get to see John and am traveling to Charlotte! It will be 5 weeks that we have gone apart by the time I finally get to see him. I know I have to stick to my training schedule and will run the 7 miles but won't want to because I want to spend all the time I can with him. Therefore I looked at my schedule and decided that on Thurday which is 3 miles and strength I would switch the 2 days. That means I miss a social function, however, it is better for me this way and a sacrifice that I need to make. This way too I know I will get all my running in and will stay on track. It does mean that I do 5 miles tomorrow and then 7 2 days later but I know I can do it so that is all that matters!!!

Here is to an interesting week and that it flies by!!!!