Quite the Trail Run

Yes I had quite the trail run on Saturday.

I had about three hours of running ahead of me, so I started my day off with a bagel and some water at Panera. It was yummy! I went straight to the trails after that. Within the first half mile, I had to pee something fierce. Let's just say I marked my territory. Hey, don't judge...at least not yet.

So I was plodding along, just watching my footsteps when all of sudden a dog was just a couple of yards in front of me barking at me!

Source

 



This is definitely what the dog looked like.

 

Okay maybe it looked more like this....

The owner came around the bend and the dog was obviously very friendly after it got over the surprise of seeing me. I was just glad I had already stopped to pee or I may have went right there in my pants. The owner apologized profusely, saying that there usually weren't people on the trail that early. I told him it wasn't a big deal and went on my way.

I should start this next part by saying the night before I went out to dinner with my family to a Mexican restaurant. I was starving by the time we went so I ate way too many chips with salsa and then had three tacos! Yes, three.

So, of course, on my second loop, out in the middle of nowhere, came the stomach pains. And then the sounds. And then the feeling of oh my goodness, I'm gonna poop my pants. I again, had to find a tree. I'm so sorry tree, I know you will never be the same. All I have to say is thank God I had a baby wipe thing in my pack. (You can now judge me). Does this mean I'm a real runner now?

But that's not all. On my third loop, my legs must have started getting heavy because I fell flat on my face! I had tripped over the tiniest root you've ever seen. But at least it was soft dirt and not wet mud or hard concrete! I spent the rest of the third loop continuing to get tripped up on root after root.

Despite all that though, I feel a little better about my run two weekends from now. It will take me forever, but with walking up steep climbs, I'm hoping I make it.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying the spring-like 55 degree day with my family. We enjoyed a nice farmer's market, a trip to a local state park, and then to a fabulous restaurant that makes everything from scratch! If you're ever in southern West Virginia, I recommend the Secret Sandwich Society. I ate soo much including the best burger I've had at a restaurant, but we won't talk about that!

 

My sisters and family at the park.

 

 

Hopefully it will be as nice as it was this past weekend for my race!! 



 



My Week of "Vacation"

I had to take my vacation for work before a certain time, so I chose this week at random to take it. With absolutely no plans, I decided to head to my hometown for the week.

Due to me being here and my mother not owning a scale, there probably won't be a weigh in this week or I'll try to post something on Saturday. But here is my week in a nutshell. Note, it does not involve much exercise! :s Also combining my boyfriend's birthday this week, does not add up to excellent eating either. Just what I need the week leading to a race! Uuugh, haha.

Not the actual cupcakes I got my boyfriend, he got a variety. Still haven't had one of these though! Instant Karma Cupcakes.

 

 

 

A bad day equals a venti chai latte at Starbucks

'Vacation' also includes a meeting for work. Yay taxes! haha

Good thing about my week: lots of family time! Painting pumpkins! At The Pottery Place

Photo session as my mom figures out the camera on my phone. Oh goodness!

 It's been very rainy here, which has putting a bit of a damper on my week and my mood. I haven't even felt like running or biking! And needless to say that my stomach has been upset by the different foods, tmi? haha.

But family and friend time is awesome and it's been nice just to sit back and relax. My ankle is also liking the rest, so perhaps on my race on Sunday I won't have any stiffness or pain! That would be great!

AmazinGrace 5K and a PR

Shew what a long weekend! Just got back to my hometown today (Monday) from Kingsport, Tennessee and I won't be back home until tomorrow. It was a great weekend though. Lots of great family time! Lots of Scrabble was played and junk food eaten with a little running thrown in.

Last year, after my first 5K, my great-aunt invited me to her house to run in the AmazinGrace 5K that her church created. It's benefits the local hospital. This year was the 5th year they have put on this race. To commemorate it, they invited Biggest Loser Season 8 contestant and inspirational speaker, Abby Rike.

My grandmother, Abby Rike, and I

She was a very good speaker. Her story is completely devestating and yet so full of hope. She had to overcome physical weight to help her overcome the emotional weight of losing her whole family in a car accident. If you are interested in her story, here is a link to her book Working It Out.

After getting back to the hotel and letting my niece and cousin swim, it was time to get ready for the race. I made a race day no-no and wore new pants. They ended up being fine, though they did slip a little at first. That's pretty usual with my pants, lol.

Even though it was about to rain, again, my whole family came out to watch me run. I really do have the best and most supportive family a girl could ask for.

 My time last year for this race was 33:58. My goal for this race was to run in 30 or under.This is a small local race and the attendance was down this year, no doubt due to the rain. It's a very flat course, but last year it was blazing hot! I was sweating before the race even began. This year was very different. It was cloudy and rainy the whole day. So I was worried that it was going to be a huge downpour and windy and I wouldn't be able to run the way I wanted. Thankully, it turned out to be great! It drizzled just slightly during the run but the rest of the time the sun was out and it was in the 60's.

The girl in the purple shirt passed me right at the end, dang it! I tried to keep up with her to pass her, but no luck! haha



With such a flat course, I got a PR! It wasn't the under 30 minutes I was hoping for, but I made it in 30 minutes and 4 seconds! Doh, so close! I was still happy with my overall pace of 9:40. I stopped at the two water stations for a sip, though I didn't really need them, and now wish I hadn't or I might have made it under the 30 mark. But I'm totally happy with how I ran and will have something to work on for the next race. I even got 6th in my age group, of 25-29, out of 17. I came in 165 out of 402. It's pretty cool to see my improvement over time on the same course.

(Which, by the way, less than four weeks until my first half-marathon!! EEEEEP!)

One cool thing about this race is that a big group of people from Fleet Feet, who train together in a couch to 5K program all run together and wear the same shirts. They encourage one another on the course and you can see the pride in their eyes for themselves and everyone else who ran with them. That feeling of pride doesn't come with ease, but with hours put in to training and doing something for the first time. I really wish we had something like that in West Virginia. If anyone wants to sponsor me, I'll run the shop for you! ;)

After the race we all went out to Texas Roadhouse where I enjoyed a steak, salad, and a sweet potato and rolls and sweet tea. My family loves me enough to even put up with my smellyness while we ate. Then more Scrabble happened. Did I mention that my family is made up of a lot of teachers and therefore a lot of Scrabble happens when we all get together? Love it!

Today was all traveling back and some of this:

With some of this added in:

More travel tomorrow and lots of sleep tonight! Hope you had a good weekend!