Race Day!

Woo!!! I am glad to have this behind me. I am super glad I accomplished this, and it was bundles of fun training and the morning before the running started. I was able to meet my goal, which was actually my only goal, to stay running the whole time. I clocked in at 2 hours and 10 minutes for my 13.1 miles.

The hills were endless, the cars coming from the blind curves were life-threatening, the beaten worn out pavement stayed constant, and the 11:00am bystanders at the local bars were out and apparent. Oh, and lets not forgot to mention the ever so slight sideways mist that stayed with us the whole way through.

All joking aside, it was painful. My body took a hard beating. The pain came in at about 1 and 1/2 miles and subsided oh maybe tomorrow. Sunday, I felt a bit like a potato plopped on the couch unable to move all evening. Today, there is still a lot, a little bit of stiffness, but were hoping tomorrow for a better day!

It really was a wonderful experience, one that I plan to do again. My personal photographer was so supportive with me and my friends nervous chatter, 24 bathroom trips, and "hold this and that" or "GATORADE!" on the fly. He was following the whole group of us (48 in total) with the other husbands and family members, stopping every so miles to capture pictures and hand or hold off things.

2 Weeks To Go.

May 1st will be here before we know it. The big race day! The group of us training for the 1/2 marathon are burnt out but pushing through. We have back, knee, foot and any other part of the body pain that has slowly been developing as the day draws nearer.

For me personally, my left knee and right ankle have been feeling severe stress every time I run. A day or two later I am back to normal, but for a week or so I have not been able to shake this every time I go running. It could be because of all the rough terrain running: uneven surfaces, cobblestone, dodging cow poop that has been giving such a painful impact or possibly the gaging hole in my super worn out tennis shoes. See Exhibit A below.

I finally gave into the pain and said no more and ordered new running shoes that should arrive promptly in 2-4 weeks. Even if by some off chance they do arrive before May 1st, I am not sure if that will allot enough time to break them in a prepare them for a 13.1 trot. Either way with shoes tied, ipods in sync, and water bottles in hand we will be running ready or not.

1/2 marathon training

The 11 week countdown begins today to my first ever half marathon (13.1 miles). Since being on the island, I have run several 5ks that the base puts on, and during Thanksgiving I ran the Turkey Trot 10k. I ran the whole way but it definitely kicked my bootie.

On May 1st the island actually hosts a half marathon race, starting in one of the small villages and goes through 11 other villages along the coastline. It should be a beautiful run.

One of the spouses put together a training group starting today. What that entails who knows? It will probably turn out to be half training on my own, half training with the group due to conflicting schedules. Either way we are getting t-shirts and May 1st should be an exciting, eventful day that I am looking forward to.

Oh yes, Happy Valentines Day!!

Gobble. Gobble.

Whew! Just finished a 10k this morning. My first one ever. One of the squadrons put together a "Turkey Trot" for this morning to put everyone in the turkey spirit. We had the choice to run a 5k (3.1 miles) or a 10k (6.2 miles). There are rarely opportunities here to run "marathons/races" so I choose the 10k to prove to myself I could do it, and I did, in 49 minutes and 10 seconds. That is a long time to be running, my body kind of aches right now. B is on call this week so he couldn't run with me, he had to be in to work very early today.

Now on to start the cooking after work today!! Wondering what is on our Thanksgiving menu?

for appetizers...

spinach dip

meatballs

my little vegetable turkey

the main course...

2 turkeys

mashed potatoes

green bean casserole (with no cream of whatever being used!)

broccoli slaw

waldorf salad

creamed corn

mac n' cheese

carrot rice

sweet potato

stuffing

cranberry sauce

buttered rolls & Portuguese bread

for dessert...

homemade pumpkin pie

homemade chocolate pecan pie

my fabulous chocolate peanut butter cookies

If anything turns out super duper, out of this world delicious, I will be sure to share the recipe!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!