Tuesday, September 23, 2014

And the Winner is.......





  
 


You have WON the Bolder Band Giveaway!! Email me your mailing address and I will get it out to you as soon as possible!!


Here I go again getting behind! I have a work meeting to go to today and was really hoping to post today but not sure I can finish.

Happy First Day of Fall!!
   






Monday, September 15, 2014

Run for Life Half Marathon- Radcliff, KY

I found this Run for Life Half towards the beginning of summer and knew I would (or should) be in full training mode for my busy fall schedule. Then they had a facebook contest and I won a free entry except the entry was for the 5 or 10k, so I sent a message asking if I could just pay the price difference and there you go the first fall (technically end of summer) half marathon!

 Everything I could find about this half told me that it was a pretty small low key race I asked about 3 weeks before how many was registered and there was only around 70! I was fine with a smaller low key race as I was mostly using this as a training run and if you can get a little bling for your training runs then you might as well right?
Amy & I

One of my newer running buddies went along with me in fact we ran together at the 15k the week before. (I should post about that too..!) We had an hour and 40 mins drive to get there and had to meet up around 5 am super early especially when you can't go to sleep the night before! So we talked on the way about how we thought it would be and our "goal" times.  I really didn't expect it to be very hilly as the course map looked like it was in town and I asked about the hills as well the answer I got was "mild hills" didn't sound too bad??!!

Miles 1-4  10:01, 10:13, 9:41, 10:03
Sure enough it was an extremely small crowd I'm still not sure of the exact number but I would guess there was about 100 people in the half. When we arrived they didn't have Amy's shirt and was told there was only enough shirts order to the sizes requested hers must have been put in a wrong bag check back after the race??? Ok there was strike #1! When the race started it was cloudy overcast but it was HUMID! Within the first ½ mile we encountered a hill and was joking saying "ok here is the hill maybe this is it?" an older gentleman beside of us says so you don't know the course? Yep its extremely hilly per the man and my stomach went into I need the bathroom mode. The same gentleman told us there was a church around mile 5 that was open for the bathroom huh sure hope I can wait that long! One thing I will say for this to be such a small race there was tons of police support and volunteers along the course! We was a little over 3 miles in and came to an intersection controlled by police we go straight through it then a man in front of us turns and goes back and turns at the intersection we didn't know if we was supposed to as well or not so we went back and asked. The officer nodded his head yes so down we went then we came across a volunteer and asked if we was on course for the half.....NOPE we should've  kept on going straight LIKE WE WAS!! I got so frustrated and we sped up to try and regain our place. The "gentleman" got ahead of us during the mix up and we caught back up to him. Strike #2 Police made us take wrong turn!!
At least I had an awesome Swirlgear tank!

Miles 5-8  10:58, 9:46, 11:34, 11:16
The hills just kept coming one after another some were long uphills with little to no downhill and some with downhills but it was just hill after hill! We started walking up the hills and running down until we came to the next monster type hill our "gentleman" friend we made said that's probably a great idea! We came upon the church that had the bathrooms but I was ok at that time and knew we would pass it again coming back. We had another girl "catch" up with us and she talked about how hilly it was and it was a little different and better than last year! She also said how we had a good pace going but that didn't last long after she made that statement! All of a sudden it hit me I HAD TO USE THE BATHROOM and RIGHT NOW!! I began looking for trees that I could tuck behind then I saw a convenience store ahead it didn't look open so I asked the race volunteers. Their response "If your looking for the bathroom the church is just over the hill." Ok I can hold on a few minutes longer except as I was making a fast entrance into the parking lot the race volunteer says "I'm really sorry but no one showed up to open the church" WHAT???!! I looked right at that woman and said "I AM very sorry but I am going around back!! I just can NOT wain any longer!" She said "Honey you do what you need to do I understand!" So yes PLEASE Lord forgive me but I pooped in the parking lot of a church!! That was strike #3!! And as you can tell by my times above my pace was dropping and dropping fast! Our "gentleman" friend passed us again during the bathroom incident and we caught him again, this time we found out his name was Charlie :)

Miles 9-12  12:58, 12:40, 12:01, 13:43
By this time the sun had came out and was full on so it quickly became HOT & HUMID! I haven't had many long runs and the longest was 9 miles I was starting to feel it. I was getting to the point I just couldn't run any more. I was mad at myself and struggled terrible with the mental factor. I told Amy to go on with out me but she was so nice and stayed with me. That was one good thing even though it was a small race pretty much everyone was feeling the same way hot, tired and miserable! My feet was hurting and all I wanted to do was take my shoes off! We came back through the intersection where the police told us the wrong turn, this time we did have to turn that way so I asked "are you SURE that is the way you told me that last time too!" Don't think Mr. Officer liked it too well but it was the truth! Around 12½ I quietly started walking and let Amy keep on going I was wanting to cry to myself and didn't want to mess up her race any longer!

Miles 13- .30  13:07, 3:00
Oh that last mile I didn't think it would ever come to an end and of course there HAD to be one last hill. I must of had an awful look on my face the volunteer told me "hang on honey you are almost done and I promise this is the last hill!" Since I could see the finish line I knew she was telling the truth and I tried my best to just keep running (even slow) but I had to stop one last time for a walk break. I made myself run the last ¼ mile. With our wrong turn early on we ended up with 13.30 on our distance.
Is it OVER yet??
After the race we went to the bathrooms to change clothes and such so we missed the winners they announce for age groups, I thought for sure Amy would place as it didn't look like many there in her age group but tons in mine. I just finished my slowest half ever(2:31:16) so yeah I'm not expecting anything at all! So I asked the race director if we could look at the result sheets we quickly found Amy's name she was 2nd whoo hoo! Then there is was my name and WHAT????
I was 3rd out of 8 in my age group!! Holy cow I've never (and may never again until I'm 80) placed in a half marathon before!! Go ME!! It just goes to show even when you feel like a failure you should always try your best you never know what the outcome may be!!

I see lots of room for improvement for this race and was really certain that is was going to be a one and done race for me since there was 3 strikes however now I'm hoping I'm up for the challenge of improving my time next year!

Do YOU repeat hard or tough race courses?
Don't forget to enter my Bolder Band Giveaway!!

Run Happy :)

As always pictures are courtesy of The Picture Lady! Check them out but don't steal them :)

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Blood, Sweat & Tears (+a GIVEAWAY!!)

Blood- Well nothing to report there so let's move on....

Sweat- Golly has it been HOT & HUMID in your neck of the woods?? The summer has been nice and half way cooler until the last couple of weeks and its been awful! All day and night! So yeah there's been plenty of sweat going on but not as much as there should be, I have an extremely busy fall schedule lined up starting with a half marathon this past weekend! Yikes I was not prepared for that at all! (Race report soon!)

Tears- Unfortunately I've had some of them too. I'm (trying hard) NOT going to dwell on it though as I am ready to move on and get back to myself. In the last month I just feel like I have lost touch with myself and just not happy about anything different things keep happening around me and  its had my head in a crazy spin of crazy thoughts.

So let's have a GIVEAWAY!!! That makes everyone happy right?? And who doesn't like Headbands?

A while back (I'm talking months and months ago) I contacted Bolder Band about trying out their headbands I was seeing them advertised on Facebook and LOVED all the colors and designs I was seeing! With a very quick response I received a Bolder Band in the mail to try out!


I used my Bolder Band on a cool race morning and unfolded it all the way to cover my ears. I was not happy with the headband that way at all. Mine is made from the "slick" material and those will not stay on my head for nothing!! Unless I have my hair in pig tails and why that is I have no clue??!! So once I re-folded the Bolder Band back like it came I enjoyed wearing it lots better! I also LOVE all the fun & bold styles and patterns offered by Bolder Band!

Who/What are Bolder Band?
Bolder Bands were created by Amy Crouse a cross fitting/running mother of 3 that became fed up with all the "other" elastic headbands!

And you can wear your Bolder Band in 6 different ways!! Check out this video to see how:

So wanna WIN a BOLDER BAND of your own? The wonderful Stacy with Bolder Band not only sent me a band to try out but also one to GIVEAWAY!!

 

Sorry but only open to US residents I'm not too familiar with other shipping rules!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Let's Play Catch Up- Wilderness Trace Serres Races to Date

Holly's House 


I have so many recaps to catch up on its not even funny, so I am grouping all of the Wilderness Trace Serres races together and so short and sweet recaps.

Friday, June 6- Beef Festival Stampede 5k- The race that started it all for me! However this year they changed it up a bit they moved the race to a Friday night at a terrible time of 6:30 pm and moved the course to the local park which is terribly hilly. So I was not too excited for it this year except that Gerard got to run it also. On top of all that it wasn't a great couple of days on the home front either and it was extremely hot & humid. We literally live 10 mins from this race and arrived with 2 mins to the start time??!! I was not happy at all.
Me in the purple on left, Gerard on right in neon yellow!

And who is a part of Team Beef and doesn't even think to wear their Team Beef shirt to the Beef Stampede? Oh yeah that would be me!! Due to my home life at that moment I was not in the mood to run or socialize which makes it nice that my wonderful Mom is always with me I stayed right by her side and talked with her afterwards. The funniest (and maybe best thing that night)  is the little boy in the red shirt shown above I stayed with him for about a half mile or so, we walked & talked together he asked me as I was telling him we should save a little energy for the big upcoming hill "Have you done this before & Have you ever won?" My answer "Yes I've done this a time or two" (I only run about 45 races a year LOL) "And I've never been the first overall winner but I've won my age group:)!" Gotta love kids!! I completely gave up on myself in this race and was never so happy to just finish....28:32 3rd in age group!

Saturday, June 7- Run for the Brass 5k- My local series (Wilderness Trace Serres) also mixed things up this year from about 12 races to 20 and a few are back to back Run for the Brass being one of them. Once again I woke up feeling not wanting to do anything and just in a funk about everything but its a Serres race and I don't miss them no matter what! This race always has a big crowd I wasn't expecting too much out of myself other than just a run. I ran tons better than I thought I'd do but still as great as I'd like.

I think my finish photo tells it all, you can totally see the disappointment I have of myself in it! However I managed to run 30 seconds faster than the night before 28:02 and still placed 3rd in my age group!

Saturday, June 28- Shaker Village 5 mi Trail Run- I am not a trail runner I usually complain about how hard trails are but I keep going back to them especially if they are part of the Serres! So Sherry P and I went into this knowing that we was going to have fun enjoy and make the most of it my only goal/hope was to be under an hour. The first mile was on gravel and road so it was nice but from that point on it was grassy trail with some monster hills! I was so thankful we stuck together at this race and enjoyed it even though its a hard course I had so much fun, Sherry and I had ran a 5k the night before so I was a little wore down. Thankfully we made it under the hour mark and finished in 55:55. Even though I'm not a trail runner Shaker Village is having a trail series and I'm a sucker for series and challenges so I'm planning on doing them all might as well since the first one is already done right?!! The name of the series pretty much says it all (un)Pleasant Hill Trail Runs.
Enjoying the view out on the course!

We have started a usually #pottylinepartypic but this one was after the potty:)

Friday, July 4- Holly's House 5k-

Me & Sherry P think anyone knew we was together?
Another race the hubs was able to do and he did GREAT! It was a cooler morning than what it had been and there was lots of people! Several of them I'd never seen before but I was surprised at how big the crowd was considering there was several different races in our area that same day. Now I'm not trying to speak negatively about people with strollers but at start of this race you go around a slight curve out of the parking lot and I got squeezed over to the edge and my foot was completely run over twice! Grrrr I was aggravated! I took off a little fast in my first mile but I held on until about the last half mile as usual. It wasn't my fastest but one of the fastest ones this year 26:48 and I was 2nd in my age group!

Gerard finished in 24:39
I'm liking that blue on me, LOL!
Saturday, July 5- Wave of Independence 5k- Another set of back to back races & another one Gerard got to do! The course for this one totally sucks most people will skip this one due to that reason however I'm not too sure what happened if it was poor advertising or what but there was only 33 people total! For me its a Serres race so I'm going to be there for sure and if we back away from challenging courses how will we get stronger? Considering I gave it my all the day before and the crazy hills I was pleased to finish in 28:40 and 1st in my age group which wasn't hard since there was only 33 people total!

Not so sure what he's so happy about maybe its the downhill finish!

We did get published in our local newspaper The Advocate Messenger! Gerard, me and Sherry P all got interviewed about doing the back to back races, why we like to run and such and our photo was on the front page of the Sports section!!


Almost all 33 people!

Run Happy;)

As usual thanks to The Picture Lady for the awesome photos! Don't steal 'em!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Already??

Is it Monday again Already?? 
Is my vacation over Already??
 Its time to start fall training Already??

Well I had HUGE hopes of blogging until my fingers couldn't stand it anymore while I was off on vacation last week.....did that happen obviously NOPE! For whatever reason I am having the hardest managing my time and getting everything I'd really like to do done and getting done a whole lot of nothing! I am defiantly lacking in organization skills!

Vacation was great even though we didn't go anywhere, it was nice to just relax around the house stay up late which I NEVER do and nap all day or whenever I felt like it! One of the joys of having older children is they still had to go to work while we the parents didn't have too YAY!! Only bad part is one of us had to take them so really our vacation was spent taking kids back and forward to work all week! Thank goodness for my Grandfather who helps me out so much, most days I would never make it with everything I need to do if it wasn't for him! Thanks Gramps:) A quick little funny from vacation: the girls and I decided we wanted to go to a water park arranged our schedules so they would be off work I had looked up all the info on the park so I was prepared money wise. Well we arrived  walked in and paid it was lots cheaper than I was expecting then all of us realized about the same time........we went to the wrong water park!!! WHOOPSIE!! It was all good though cheaper and we still had fun! Leave it to me to do something stupid and/or crazy!

While I was off I did look into the upcoming fall schedule and it hit me OMG there is only 3½ months until the Brickhouse Between-a-Thon(19.65mi)!!! I better get to training!!

Happy Monday All!!
Run Happy :)

Friday, June 27, 2014

Finally Friday- Whoo Hoo!

Whoo Hoo its finally FRIDAY!! And its my last day of work for a week Whoo Hoo VACATION WEEK!! Even though we aren't going anywhere for vacation it is still nice to NOT have to go to work for an entire week!! SWEET :)

Whoo Hoo I am finally making a blog post!! Time goes by so fast anymore, anyone that ever said time flies the older you get they are correct! I am hoping to do several posts next week while I'm off and hopefully get caught up and several race recaps!

Now that its officially Summer its time to begin training for fall events and I have several of them! Here are the ones I can think of at this moment:
October 10-11 - Bourbon Chase 200 mi Relay 
October 12- Iron Horse Half Marathon
October 26- Brickhouse Between-a-thon (19.65 mi)
November 15- Renfro Rock'n'Run Half Marathon
December 14- Santa Hustle of the Smokies Half Marathon

There may possible be another Half the first weekend in September but haven't committed to that one yet:)

Holy Moly just looking at that list makes me think "I better get to training!!" The October weekend with the Bourbon Chase and Iron Horse will be the craziest thing I've done since I began running and am anxious/nervous to see how I will do guess time will tell!

Anyone have a training plan they LOVE and would like to share? I'm not worried about time for any of these races I'm just looking to complete them!

Tonight is going to be a fun 5k followed by a 5 mile trail run tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Run Happy :)


I will leave you with a cute photo the wonderful The Picture Lady took!


Friday, June 6, 2014

5 on Friday- Rant & Rambles

*2013 I spent most of my life behind in everything I do from running to daily life in general. I said 2014 I WAS going to do better. It started out good but here we are at almost half way point of the year and I am slowly falling behind more and more every day! I'm beginning to get stressed about it and not liking it at ALL but who is its up to me to make things different I know.

**Part of my problem- Last week a man that I know, a man that I saw on Friday eating lunch with his wife then came back to work and waited on him, a man that I knew fairly well committed suicide Saturday night. This man is someone that I would never think could or would do something like this. I am still in shock and just can't really believe it. Of course working in a public office there was lots of chatter going on about what may or may not have happened and things about his life, all that left me wondering about myself. Would people miss me? What would people say/think about me? Would there be good things said? Does it really matter any way? OK TIME TO SNAP OUT OF IT!

***I think Gerard felt sorry for me being all down and out plus he's had a lot of junk going on at his work that is stressing him so he asked me if I could take off and we went away for a quite weekend together! If only I was a millionaire and could afford "Cabin Life" every day.
We went to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, TN its about a 3 hour drive from our house and we have found a couple of cabins we enjoy staying in. For just the hubs and I there is so much "free" stuff we can do but for families this area can be extremely expensive. My most favorite thing to do there is walking the strip in Gatlinburg and bouncing back and forward from the Ole Smoky Moonshine and Davy Crockett's Whiskey place for samples! I am totally not a drinker only a social drinker if everyone else is of course I am:) Now they have another moonshine place Sugarlands Distilling Co.which has a brand made by one of the men from the moonshiners show on TV(darn it I was not thinking and was a bad blogger I didn't take any photos!!) Going to these places are so much fun because they have a presentation that is usually funny and you get to sample anywhere from 4-12+ different kinds of moonshine and whiskeys! Needless to say for someone that never drinks 12 samples at one time will have you feeling pretty "Happy" when you walk out, LOL! This trip we was with some bikers (motorcyclers) from Canada besides their fowl talk they was really fun to be taking shots with and I was out drinking one of them! I think I made Gerard proud LOL!! #Goodtimes

****Back to normal everyday life.....I am not a selfie kind of person I just don't like pictures of myself and I'm horrible at taking decent pics of myself. That's the beauty part of having kids they help you stay up to date on all the "cool kid things" even though they think I'm old
Do you think we look alike??
I had to let the youngest take the selfie I couldn't figure out how to get us all in it. Now they are teaching me "How To" love their hearts:)

*****I have several race recaps to do and a few products to review maybe even a giveaway. I hope to start putting all these out soon. As soon as I can put my head back together and get out of these crazy thoughts! Please stay tuned:)

What are you training for now? Or getting ready to train for? 
Got any Happy thoughts to share? Send them my way PLEASE!

Run Happy:)

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Do You #fuelyourbetter ?


Have you seen (or tried) it yet? #Vegasport 

Being part of the Sweat Pink Ambassadors I was given an opportunity to try out and review

#VegaSport  Pre-Workout Energizer!

As someone that runs at early dark thirty aka 5am there are lots of times when I need a little help in the "Wake up Let's Go" department. Enter #vegasport..... Because I have learned my lesson and never try anything new on race day I decided to first try out the Pre-Workout Energizer one day during my lunch break just to be safe. I usually start getting sleepy after my lunch hour especially on the early morning run days. The very first day I tried the Energizer I could tell a difference, when I returned to work I felt like I was talking 100mph!

Here's a clip of what Vega Sport has to say about the Pre-Workout Energizer:

Featuring two complementary carbohydrates, Pre-Workout Energizer is balanced to provide both instant and slower-burning fuel for your workouts. Organic sprouted brown rice syrup has a high glycemic index (90), entering the bloodstream quickly, while organic palm nectar has a low glycemic index (35), providing slow, steady energy that will not spike or crash. 

After I tried it to make sure it wasn't going to mess with my belly I decided to try it before a run. I didn't feel like I was floating on air however I don't think I became as tired/worn as quickly as I usually do. I have also been drinking the Energizer before going to do the Jillian Michaels DVD with Sherry P! I am so very thankful to been given this opportunity from Sweat Pink otherwise I may have never discovered how wonderful and energizing  #vegasport is!

How do you #fuelyourbetter??


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

McDowell Wellness 10k- Who Can't do What??!!!





 Once again this week I've had a pretty lazy week. The weather was a little crazy and turned cool very cool and it put me in instant lazy mode. Tuesday was the last warm day and the only day I ran and I went over to Sherry P's house we did a Jillian Michaels workout! Gerard has decided to rejoin us in the mornings for running in fact our little group of us 4 girls has grown into about 6 -8 depending on who all shows up. Well Tuesday morning we ran 5 miles after we got home I was telling Gerard based on that run even if it took me 10 mins to run another mile I should be able to finish the 10k in 57 something, his reply "No you won't you'll never do it you all stop too much". Talk about hurting my feelings and I dwelled on it all week long. Yes we make stops in the morning mostly just to make sure no one ever gets left behind and make sure everyone is still ok- hello SAFETY FIRST!!

Saturday, May 17 was a beautiful cool morning for a 10k. I was hopeful to wear my new Swirlgear but since it was cool I decided to wait for another day to show it off:) I woke up feeling nervous I had a goal to beat and today was the day! There is a YMCA group that comes for this, its great seeing the younger kids out there, and it usually brings out all of the fast people that you've never seen before!



Miles 1 - 3
I have been trying hard to start out slower and build up to whatever speed I can, this day I did better with that but I was still a little too quick at the take off.  But I quickly regained myself and tried to regulate my pace thankfully someone I know got beside me and we stayed together for miles 2-4 that helped me a LOT! I told her I have not been doing my best recently and how I am trying to start doing better and quit taking these petty walk breaks and that I would probably have to walk around mile 3. NOT I decided to just keep on trucking! I was fine and there was NO REASON I needed to walk:)



Miles 4 - 6.13
All of my "faster" friends was so close and within around 45 second lead in front of me in the first 3 ½ miles but on the 4th mile is when I started loosing steam. Also in that 4th mile is the hardest part with the hills so I'll blame that fact on me loosing steam and unfortunately I did have to walk a little. I checked my time to see where I was at and how close to "goal" time I was, I had 20 mins to run 2 miles I can do that. Mile 5 was my slowest and when I saw what pace I ran it I told myself "You better get to moving if your making goal time!" and that is what I did!

Mile 1- 8:43                        Mile 4- 9:04
Mile 2- 9:10                        Mile 5- 9:57
Mile 3- 8:53                        Mile 6- 9:11         Mile .13- 7:39

Finish time- 56:01 overall pace 9:09 1st place in my age group!

Now who said I couldn't run this 10k in 57 minutes? LOL!


Sheri(Did amazing), Me & Sherry P

Sherry didn't have the race she wanted but she will!

Running Friends are the GREATEST!



As always Thanks to The Picture Lady for some awesome photos!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

3tt- Brrr its cold & Back to Back 5k's

1. Global Warming? Global Cooling!! Maybe that's what is going on today who really knows but it is cold today! I survived the early winter months with running but the longer and longer it went on I was ready to quit! Today has me feeling the same way :( its just a mental game and I have got to over come it. I just don't get how the temperature goes up and down so drastically?!?!!! And why does it effect my mood? Crazy just plain crazy? (Maybe I'm the crazy one LOL!:)

2. Friday evening May 9 Gerard (hubs), Sherry and I headed to Frankfort the the 2nd leg of the Trifecta series. This is the race that I threw up at for the first time ever last year, what a great memory, all I could think is 'Don't push yourself to that limit tonight' and I really wanted to do better the next day. It was HOT & HUMID and I told Sherry I wasn't going all crazy fast she was planning on running/walking the Saturday race with her daughter so she was planning on giving it her all at this one! Frankfort races are known to have lots of kids and adults start up front that really have no business up there but now that I know that I know its going to take lots of weaving in the first half mile. First mile was crazy fast due to getting around the crowd 8:08, the second mile goes up and around our beautiful State Capital just don't like that it is uphill for about a half mile I was still holding on but losing my steam 9:07, third mile I was reminding myself that I was suppose to be saving my energy for the next day and fatigue was setting in (the main reason I don't like evening races when you have to work all day) I started walking 3/4 steps here and there a really nice lady came around me saying "Come on you got this" thanks for encouragement but I slowed way down 9:23, the last .05 is uphill then levels out I gave it all I had left 7:42. My finish chip time was 26:57 and I was 6th out of about 35 in my age group~not too shabby but I can do better! Gerard ended up running with Sherry and she said she wanted to run hard so that's what he made her do, LOL! They finished in 28:38 (chip time) and that is a new PR for her~ YAY!!
GO SHERRY GO! Gerard said he yelled at her, LOL!

3. Saturday May 10 was the Jennie Carol Memorial 5k which is part of the Wilderness Trace Serries that I do every year. The weather was HORRIBLE when I woke up it was thunder and pouring rain! Oh boy this is about to be so much fun but maybe some of the competition will stay home LOL! Sometimes I do better when it rains and the route is our daily morning route that we run I was really hopeful for a 26:30 and even told everyone that was what I was going for the rain stopped before the race. I started out good in the first mile but like ALWAYS it was too fast for me 8:03, in the 2nd mile was a couple of uphills the second I was concerned with as we usually go down it but I baby stepped it and chugged right along I was feeling the race from the night before and was starting to take walk breaks towards the end of it 8:54, third mile I just sucked all together several in my age group had already passed me and to be honest I did the unthinkable I gave up inside and no longer cared about that 26:30 I was disappointed in myself 9:30, the last .09 you finish taking about a ½ lap around the track I reminded myself "YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP" and finished best I could 8:14

See the look of frustration!

I almost ran (walk) the exact same time as the night before 27:11 and I think I was 6th again! So I didn't finish where I wanted to and I felt like a failure it sucks I have been am stressed/bummed about where I'm at for 5k's. It is hard to believe 2 short years ago I ran that same race in 24:01!??!! What has happened to me? I have lost my umph my drive my want to some days I think that's ok but then other days I feel like such a loser. I need to fully make a commitment and get my butt in gear! I just want to be able to comfortably and completely RUN a 26-26:30 minute 5k. I CAN DO THAT!!!!

So give me your best speed tips or just how to run a better faster 5k? Do YOU think its possible or maybe should you keep a long run and still get faster for 5k's?? 


RUN HAPPY;)


Aww so sweet:)

That's why I'm slow look at my gut:((



Friday, May 9, 2014

Haggin Hospital Sunrise 5k-My First Serries Race

Such a GREAT group of Friends & Runners!

Saturday, May 3 2014 I began what I consider the "Beginning of 5k Season!" Normally this is the first race in the Wilderness Trace Serries where I made my start in running, however this year (and I'm TOTALLY NOT HAPPY about) the director decided to schedule an earlier race and I missed it due to the Derby miniMarathon. But anyway...........

This year made my 5th year running the Haggin Hospital Sunrise 5k, this race is usually always an adventure of some sorts and is usually always guaranteed to rain! Early in the week the forecast was calling for rain but by the end of the week it was gone THANKFULLY!! I really didn't know what to think without the rain.

The crowd seemed a little different there was lots of new faces as well as the same ole' regulars but I was glad and concerned to see the newbies. Not gonna lie I'm pretty competitive and get nervous when there's lots of new ones I don't know how well they run, LOL!! The layout of this race is a little tricky you get some awesome downhills in the first two miles which can fool you and make you thrilled on your first or second mile pace, now that I'm a little experienced on this course I try to do better with that. Except I didn't listen to my own advice and I followed all of the fast people out on that first mile! Geesh will I ever learn?!?!?!??!

Hmmm that look- the look of "Maybe I took off too fast?!?!??"

Since I didn't follow my own advice I was a little winded in the second mile and tried to regain myself before I hit the dreaded third mile in the gravel. During our practice runs Sherry P and I both decided that we should probably give it all we had in the first 2 miles as that gravel was going to kill us. And sure enough it did just that! In my mind I thought I would be able to run that gravel a little better but I just really sucked! Thankfully there was another girl feeling the same as me and we walked/jogged/talked ourselves through to the end!

First half decent finish pic I've had in a long time!
Now I stated earlier this is my 5th year running this so I thought I'd show a comparison  of over the years:
2013- The year I lapsed in everything but I still managed 1st in age group 29:03- Oops I never posted on this race!

Now 2014-
Mile 1- 7:27  Holy Cow that is smoking fast for me and shows the great downhill
Mile 2- 8:57 That even included a little walking to regain myself
Mile 3- 11:35 LOL that dang gravel hill gets me every time
Mile .07- 7:05 Kicking it in for the end

Finish Time 28:29 with an overall pace of 9:18 and I was 2nd in my age group! 


Sherry P- Always a great finish pic. This girl went from 34 mins in 2013 to 29 mins in 2014!!




Thanks to The Picture Lady for the awesome photos!!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

3 Things Thursday- Rain, Race Recap & Practice Run

*This week has been nothing but RAIN, RAIN & more RAIN! Ugghh!! Tuesday and Wednesday morning it was pouring rain at the time we run in the morning (5am!!) and if I don't have to then I AM NOT running in the rain. Yes I am a WIMP!! This morning it wasn't raining but I couldn't drag myself out of bed. Sorry to my morning running buddies I AM A WIMP TODAY!!

**Last Saturday, April 26 I ran another race in the Rockcastle Regional Series, the Fairview Baptist Run for Russia 5k. I was unable to run this last year so it has been since 2012, I thought I remembered the course being fairly flat and easy and by judging my time in 2012 I thought I was right. Well that's what I get for thinking..... I took off way too fast for me and the first entire half was nothing but up and down hills. Where did they come from and how did I do so well in 2012?? I survived the first mile and most of the second but the third which was the easiest was terrible it was all I could do to run in fact I pretty much would run a couple of minutes and walk a minute or so. In my opinion I really sucked! And my mile times showed it. Mile 1- 8:32, Mile 2- 9:06 and Mile 3- 9:46. But somehow I did manage to pull off 2nd in my age group with a finish time of 27:56! One thing I didn't like about they allowed the top 3 overall Males/Females to receive both overall awards and age group awards?? I didn't think that was too fair! The best thing about that day was my oldest daughter decided to tag along:)

Yep I'm the shortest in the family!

***This coming Saturday will be the start of my local series that got me started in running! Every single year it usually rains and it is not an easy course at all. The forecast has been calling for rain but now it is changing and it may not rain! Sunday and Tuesday Sherry P and I went out and did practice runs on the course, both of these runs we did in the evening it was hard on us since we aren't used to running in the evenings. But the second run was much better than the first day and I shaved a minute off of the time! Now if I can shave off another minute on race day!!

Any BIG races coming up this weekend for You?? Do Share!

Run Happy :)

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday- A Little Derby Expo Fun

Here is just a little look into the fun Sherry P and I had at the Ky Derby miniMarathon Expo!

That looks like serious business!

Getting measured for some compression sleeves

Ahh the mountain of Bondi Bands:)

Spank that horse, LOL!


And NOT sure what I'm doing???

Awww aren't we sweet, GO TEAM BEEF!!

My biggest, best and most supportive fan, my MOM aka The Picture Lady!!