MS Blues Half Marathon, I love thee

What a race!!!!

After finishing the MS Gulf Coast Half Marathon in November... Ginny & I were both a little discouraged. The race was poorly put together and the weather just wasn't agreeable that day. So.. since we didnt have that great of a FIRST half marathon... we decided to go for another!!!!

We signed up for the Blues Half in the beginning of December. We didn't get to run very much in the month of December,.. with the holidays and such... but once the first Saturday in January rolled around, we were ready!!!

We traveled to Jackson late Friday afternoon to give us a chance to look around the Race Expo. (Fancy, shmancy) This half was already looking better than the last! They had several booths set up with shoes, racing belts, etc. We went ahead and picked up our t-shirt, bib number, and our goodie bag... which was complete with a commemorative harmonica and blues cd. Sweeeeeet!

Of course we were early to bed... because we knew 7am was going to come early!!! And it did!!!

readdyyy.

Our hotel was within walking distance of the finish line. (bigggg plus- because it seemed like I didn't have time to get nervous.) There were runners EVERYWHERE. Every street we turned on,.. there were people heading that way to warm up/take pictures/etc before the start. Ginny and I warmed up and stretched, and snuck in a few pictures while we waited!

Before we knew it, it was time. We penguin-stepped our way into the main crowd and waited for our turn. Luckily this race had timing chips, so even though we didn't get to actually start when the clock did, our times were still accurate! Ginny & I stayed together for the first 3 miles,.. and then we were separated.

I can't remember if they had blues bands playing at every single mile marker, but for most of the miles they did. People stood along the roadside throughout the race cheering and waving home made signs for their loved ones in the race. Everyone was so encouraging! Strangers clapped for us as we passed by and yelled words of encouragement.. "looking good," keep going," "almost there." All things that probably most of us in the race needed to hear. The people working the race and those among the roadside were probably my most favorite part of the whole day. As I passed mile after mile, the spectators did not waiver, they were everywhere. There to offer a smiling face or a fist pump to all of these people that they surely did not know.

I felt great throughout the whole race. Who would think they could feel that good while running 13.1 miles. Thirteen.point.one.miles. But I did. And I loved every minute of it.

Coming up to the finish line I could barely see the clock timer. It was obviously 2 hrs and something.. but I couldn't read the minutes. I wanted so bad to be in the 2:15 section... but my garmin watch (my awesome Christmas present from the hubby) had already informed me that I was well past making that goal. As I approached closer, I could finally make out the numbers. 2:31 and counting. By my account and Hank's photography, it looked like I crossed the finish line around the 2:31:38 mark. I did find out later though, that my actual time was 2:30:13, which is a little over a minute faster than the Gulf Coast Half. I'll take it though, it wasn't bad for this course being quite hilly versus the other course being tremendously flat.

All in all, it was a great day. And I've found a new race that I'll try my best to do year after year! For all you runners out there.. its definitely worth the $35 (i think that's all that I paid.) Just be prepared for a BIG turn out. The race completely sold out with over 2,500 runners from 45 states and 10 countries. Yep. Among those countries, was Kenya. I don't know about all of the other runners, but I felt kinda honored to be running a race with a Kenyan. :)

look who finished! :)

Christie & me!

Me & Clint!!! (he finished in under 2 hours!)

MEDALS! :)

Tuesday, NEW day!

Well! So far so good. I realize that it hasn't even been 24 hours since my pledge of doing better. But 16 hours isn't bad. Ya gotta start somewhere, right? Right.

 

This morning... as stated before, I got up at 6am and ran 4 miles with Ginny. Now... I haven't ran in 2 weeks... (slaps hand) but my legs felt great, completely refreshed. It was a little dark when we started... but by mile 1, we had plenty of light to guide our way. So thats 4 miles. 

 

Its always tough for me to get up in the mornings to go to work, much less to run. I love me some sleep, that is for sure. But there's nothing like exercising/running in the morning... showering... and then starting the day. I actually think I am in a better mood and have a better day on the days that I get up early... as opposed to sleeping to the VERY last minute, and being rushed to get ready and be at work on time. So hopefully... I can continue with the morning runs.. and in return have better days.

So. There we have it.. I'm doing better at 2 of the 3 things that I said I would do better at. Now if I just keep myself away from any fun-yuns or rice crispy treats lurking around here.. then I will have completed day one successfully.

I think that once we "spring forward" it will be a lot easier for me to stay active. Something about my body, it interprets darkness as sleepy/lazy time. If I could just get a few more hours of sunshine then I'll be good to go. When the sun goes down at 5:30.. I'm like "ehhhhh, time to sit on the couch." I'm ready for the days when we still have daylight at 7:30!! Bring it on. I just found one more reason to look forward to March 11th this year. Not only will it be my 6th year anniversary with my love, soul mate, best friend,... but it will also mean an extra hour of that sweet, sunny, sun. 

I've fallen off the bandwagon.

We all know.. that it takes several weeks/attempts/times to make something into a habit. And there have been several things in my life that I have made into habits... that were good habits. But it seems like once you break the cycle, stop for even a moment, its so easy to slip back into your previous ways. This applies to a few things in my life currently. I blame most of it on just being extremely busy and having my plate full with non stop to-do lists. It seems like every time I finish something, or take care of something that I was supposed to do, then 2 more things pop up for me to handle. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Alas. 

The first thing that I have let slip to the wayside... is eating right. Gosh.dang.it. Now I'm not saying that I eat horribly at every meal. But fruits and veggies which used to consume most of my plate... have become foreign to me. I've succumbed to the "easy meal" or the "quick meal," which 90% of the time isn't healthy in any way.  Because of this... yep, you guessed it. That scale has climbed. Which completely disgusts me. I have worked so hard to become a healthy weight, I hate to see the numbers increase. Now,.. I'm up about 8 lbs more than I would like to be. So starting now.... NOW!!!... I'm going to start back eating healthy... I'll just feel better overall if I do, and I know that I SHOULD!

The second thing that I have let go of... is running and exercising. Yes, I ran a half marathon two weeks ago... but previous to that race, and since that race.. I have not been active much at all. Which this is directly related to the weight gain... and its something else that I am going to start back doing... IN THE MORNING! 4 miles at 6am, no "buts" about it! I love running so much, I just haven't been able to make it a priority here lately, or I've been sick, or busy doing house errands. 

The third things I have let slowly slip away. Is... blogging. It's something that I enjoy doing... and I have several avid readers... (which makes me smile, thank yall so much) and I have had PLENTY of things to blog about... just haven't taken time to sit down and get it all typed out!!! 

So this is my pledge. From here on out... I, Kayla Shaw, promise to eat better, exercise, and blog regularly. I know it'd make me happier to get back into all 3 of these things... and I shall do just that!!!!

Half Marathon Blog update... COMING SOON! :)

IN THE MEANTIME

NO TO THIS:

And a BIG YESSSSS to this: