Hi there! I'm still kickin' it.

I sort of stopped blogging for a bit. It's been a bit of an adjustment to continue running at the same frequency, and teach 10-12 group exercise classes a week. I'm a very involved instructor, so I find it hard not to do the workout along with my participants. I want to show them proper form and keep energy high, so many times I don't even notice that I've done 50-75% of the workout myself. Doing that 3-4 hours a day means I'm left really wiped out and many times sore, which isn't so conducive to running!

So I stopped writing because I was a bit embarrassed at how little I've run over the last couple weeks.  I also came down with a bad cold last week, and it was all I could do to even drag myself through teaching, so running was just out of the question!

So the Baystate Marathon is two weeks away. Yikes! We got the chance to go to NYC two weeks ago, and we ran 12 miles over the Queensboro Bridge and through Central Park. It was incredible. And I will admit I came home with a bit of a NYC hangover - that place is just magical. Not that Boston isn't amazing too, but it's so much different than NYC.

Empire. Not a view from running. If you know me, you know this was from a bar.

Last week I only ran once. I know. Not exactly sticking with the plan! I just felt awful. I finally ventured out for a 20 miler on Sunday, but ended up slipping on some wet pavement about halfway into my run. I didn't fall, but I definitely overcompensated and my hip flexors ached and got progressively tighter as I went along. I was in so much agony by mile 17 I had to stop and limp home. :( So it put a damper on this week's running as well.

I somehow signed myself up for a 5K and a half marathon this weekend. I know. I really need to keep an updated calendar! I just did a few casual treadmill runs throughout the week between teaching classes.

The 5K was yesterday. The weather was gorgeous - 65-70 degrees and sunny. I told myself I was not going to race it - I was just going to run for fun. Well, that went out the window as soon as the gun went off! My legs felt fresh for the first time in weeks. The pack cleared quickly and I got into a good stride. Mile 1 - 7:13.  I thought to myself, there's no way I can keep this up! But then Mile 2 ticked off on the Garmin - 7:01. At this point there was a girl who was seeming trying to 'race' me, and I fell for it. She kept surging ahead of me, and then falling back. I got tired of it and just took off, ha! Last mile - 6:56!

I'm not sure I've ever run a sub-7 mile. I finished in 21:48 (7:01 pace, PR by 61 seconds!!!), which was good enough for 2nd in my age group! Although for some reason, even though this race had timing chips, they gave awards by gun time (which I didn't know about before and think it's ridiculous). So I was awarded 3rd, even though I ran 10 seconds faster (chip time) than the woman who got 2nd because she took off 11 seconds before I did. I have never won awards for running, so it was really cool! There were 100 women in my age group, so I felt like all this hard work had paid off.

I considered wearing the medal while I taught class

Reward - a croissant the size of my face

I actually got called into work yesterday to teach Bootcamp, so I ended up doing a lot more physical activity than I'd bargained for that day. This definitely played into my half marathon today. I woke up somewhat sore and knew it wasn't going to be a PR effort day. I barely slept - I tossed and turned and finally fell asleep somewhere around midnight, and was wide awake at 3:45 AM (and starving). I gave in around 4:30 and got up to eat and start caffinating myself.

I signed up for the BAA Half over 6 months ago, and it had really fallen off my radar. I honestly basically forgot about it until a week ago. I went in with no plan whatsoever, and even considered it just a training run for my full in two weeks. I met a friend there, and he and I got into the 8:00 pace corral. Of course, LIKE I ALWAYS DO, I got wrapped up in the heat of the moment and took off WAY too fast. Especially for someone with sore legs.

The weather was amazing. 50-55 degrees and sunny. We took off, and I knew I'd effed up by Mile 1. Garmin beeps - 7:23. Um, no. I maintained sub 8 minute miles through mile 6, which was just dumb. By mile 7 I was miserable and I feel the lactic acid building in my quads. I had a few arguments with myself, but in the end decided to be a reasonable adult and pull it back big time. Miles 8-13 where somewhere between 8:20-8:50. The course was tougher than I anticipated for sure. But overall I thought it was an awesome race.

Final time: 1:48:55, 8:19 pace. I'm not upset about it. I do really want that sub 8 pace half, but I know that if I want it, I have to plan for it - and I didn't do that today at all. Half Marathon #10 on the books. It officially ranks as my 3rd best time. It was a drama free race, and overall I think it was best for me to pull back and save my effort for 26.2 in two weeks.

Speaking of that. EEEEK. Two weeks! I am very nervous. VERY nervous. I am publicly admitting (to the 3 of you that read this hot mess) that I think a BQ is out of reach for me. I'm trying to be okay with that. My goal for the next two weeks is to stop doing so many lunges, squats, and jumps with my classes and really take care of my body.

Yes, it did. 

And honestly, after this marathon is over, I need a break from running. I've been consistently training for something since February and I am burned out. I will run casually but I don't plan on anything longer than 10K for a while! We are talking about buying bikes, which could be fun.