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! :)

fire on the mountain, run boys, run.

tuesday. triple tangent tuesday, that is.

1. On my lunch break today, I was listening to b95. I don't usually listen to country stations unless I am in a "country" mood but for some reason it was the station that my radio was last left on. As I am heading back to work... a very redneck woman.. whom announced she was from Sanford, MS... came on the radio station and requested Charlie Daniel's "The Devil went down to Georgia." Ohhhhh yess.... she did. Of course I did laugh a little to myself.. it was just really funny at the time. I wasn't making fun of her. It was just such an appropriate song for her to request! ANYWAYS... yes I did turn up the radio... and yes I do know all the words. Ahhh... good times. Now I don't know why the chicken is in the bread pan, or why their pickin' out dough... but I do know that granny's dog doesn't bite, no child no. :)

2. I've never found a four leaf clover before. There I said it. Not until... this past Sunday. Actually I don't know if I can actually say that I "found" it.... because Ginny first found a 4 leaf clover in the same spot this past Thursday while we were running.... so Sunday on my run I stopped in the area that she had found it in, and there were 2. Yep, 2 four leaf clovers... just growing there, side by side. Then today, Ginny looked again and there was another one. How random! Like I said I had never found one before... and we found a spot where there was four of them. Very weird.. but I'm still proud. And have felt lucky ever since! :)

me at my first 5k last October. :)

3. For the month of July I ran 95.72 miles. (my poor shoes & feet, ha) I couldn't believe it! Thats definitely the most miles I have ever ran in one month.. I feel completely gratified. I hope to increase my total by 10 this month! So we will see how that works out!

Run For It

It has begun. Tuesday Ginny and I got up and ran at 6am. We only ran 2 miles. But it felt great. Wednesday we got up again at 6 and ran 4 miles! EVEN BETTER! It was a little chilly Wednesday morning, but the cool air was perfect for our 4 mile trek. Again this morning we woke up at 6 and got in another 4 miles. (10 total for the week) It wasn't cold nor hot this morning, just foggy. Running through fog, makes everything wet. I had a mist of water all over me,.. in my hair.. clothes,.. my arms.. oh yeah -- and on my phone. :/ We use my phone to track our distance and time. Both days we ran the 4 miles, we finished in about 48 minutes. Not my quickest time for 4 miles, but speed isn't what I am working on here. It's endurance. Over the next 27 weeks (yep just 27 weeks until our first half marathon) we are going to slowly add mileage to our runs... and I'm so ready.

To be quite honest.. I can't believe I will be doing my first half marathon in November. I'm not going to lie.. 13.1 miles is a long way. I for one, am not going to try to down play its immensity. But strangely.. at this point I am not as intimidated as I thought I would be. Yes it is a long distance, but I feel know that I can do it. Even today.. yes I ran 4 miles... but I felt like I could have done more. It's nice to just break into your own stride and pace.. that place where you're just moving. Not really having to think about what you are doing, or how you are doing it... your body just moves... without much force behind it. And I love it when that happens. I'm not going to push it though. I'm going to gradually build my miles and then I will be completely ready.

It's funny to think that just last April I couldn't even run a quarter mile without having to stop and catch my breath - many times feeling like my lungs were going to collapse. Now I can run 4 miles in 48 minutes and not even be out of breath. None. I've definitely come a long way, but still have lots more training to be able to finish the MS Gulf Coast Marathon without wilting away. I'm not sure what sort of time to expect for 13.1 miles. Maybe 2 and 1/2 hours? I dunno. We will wait til closer to time to start speculating.

I do want to take a little time to brag on some people.

• Ginny - This girl has come a long way. She keeps beating her best time, and she's getting faster. She is planning on running the half marathon with me.. and she is working very hard and diligently to make it happen.
• Hank - I've been begging him for months now to run with me. As of Monday.. he has started running. He has ran 8 miles this week.. and has increased his speed by several minutes already. :)
• Adriane - She did her first 5k on my birthday this year (February 26th) just because it was my birthday and I asked her to! (what a great friend, right?) She has since ran 2 more 5k's and she is increasingly getting better & faster. 
• Jordan - She text me a week or two ago and told me she was going to start running. Just in that short time she has ran 3.1 miles (twice) with great finish times and is ready for her first 5k.

"We've got a motto here-you're tougher than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can." -Christopher McDougall

born to run

ad·dict·ed/əˈdiktid/ - Enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity. 

I love running. I do. I think it would be safe to say that I'm somewhat addicted. Not only in races, but just in general. Every time I finish a run,.. I just feel so refreshed and feel good about myself. When I go a few days without running,.. I miss it. It just seems like something natural that I should do daily.

It's also quite fascinating to see how running will change your body. Running pretty much works your whole body... your arms, legs, back, abs.. everything. I guess swinging your arms back and forth works your upper back.. cause one day I woke up.. and was like "whoa... I don't have back fat rolls anymore,... sweet!!!"

Yesterday I ran my seventh 5k.. which has to be the hardest one I have done so far. Many hills, brick roads, uneven pavement, rocks & dirt,.. you name it. I'm not sure how many people were in the race, but I'd have to say over 200.... I finished in 27:25 (not exactly sure on seconds but i think it was around 25 seconds), the 55th person to finish overall, and I ranked 1st in my age division. Not a bad day.. for such a hard course. I didn't PR this time, but that's okay. My personal record is 26:04 and I am hoping to beat that this coming Saturday at the Long Leaf Trace. So we will see!

I really enjoyed this 5k.. and hope to do it again next year! -- This was it's 39th year in a row.. so I'm sure they will still continue to do it.  Yes this one was quite a challenge, but I think that its good to do some harder ones.. just to mix it up a bit.. and hills help to strengthen the legs.. that's for sure. I've done two other 5k's in Laurel that ran through downtown and historic Laurel,.. but neither of them were this hard.. or included this many hills. 

There were several people that I knew that did this race.. and everyone did so good!.. Just to finish at all is such a huge accomplishment! So CONGRATS to everyone who participated yesterday! :)

me, ginny, chad & terri.

adriane & me. This was her third 5k.. and she rocked it!

my running partner, ginny. :)

Also a big thank you to my husband, Hank, for waking up early to come and support me. I realize that getting up at 7 o'clock on a Saturday morning isn't the most ideal time to wake up, and I thank you for doing so anyways! You really don't understand how much it means to me! Also thanks to my mom & dad for coming out to see me run and in return, making my day! :)