Still alive!

It has almost been a month since I last posted.  The past few weeks have been CRAZY!  Between a trip to St. George, family reunion, visits from family, funeral, and a cold that doesn't seem to end I haven't been able to get much running in.  Sad to say I haven't ran in the past two weeks.

I'm hoping to get back into running next week through once I'm all better.  At least I hope to be better by then.  I really do miss my morning runs.

I have put running a half marathon on the back burner though.  I've made a new goal though to improve on my 5K time and I'd love to do a 10K by the time cold weather hits.  I have updated my list of races I'd like to run and ANYONE is welcome to join me.  I love company!

Awesome shirts!

I just wanted to show off the shirts we got from running the Blood Run.  I love the design!  On the back it says "blood run" and all the sponsors.  I love running, but also LOVE getting new tee shirts too!!!!

Blood Run 5K

We woke up at 5am to get ready for this race.  It started at 7am so we had to leave pretty early to make it there to check in and all.  When we left it was raining out and a chilly 48 degrees.  It was still raining when we got there, but we were so lucky because 10 minutes before the race the rain stopped.  That made my day.  Not a fan of running in the rain when it is cold out.

The race was a REALLY good one.  The course was pretty flat which I liked!  They also labeled the course really well.  There would be a sign for every .5 miles.  I had to stop to walk twice, but still was able to get a PR!  35:31 My wonderful husband got some shots of me running.  Our camera isn't the greatest, but I think they came out ok.

Right after I crossed the finish line.  I actually finished at 35:31.  I'm the one in pink!

When I reached the finish line I swore I was going to puke!  I really pushed myself hard to get that PR!  Luckily I didn't get sick.  Yay!  After the race, they did a ton of giveaways.  Nate (my husband) won two gift certificates to jump on it for one hour.  Our son will LOVE that!  Oh and we also got a pretty awesome finisher medal.  Super cool in my book!

Me, with my medal for finishing the race.  I actually came in 8th place in women ages 19 -29.  I'm pretty proud of that!

After our race, we rewarded ourselves with this:

McDonalds Egg Mcmuffin!  YUM!  Don't mind my post-run crazy hair!

National Running Day!

I know it was on Wednesday, June 2nd.  I've been a little slow on my blogging lately.

On Wednesday, my husband worked mainly from home.  While my son was at summer camp, we were able to run together.  I thought it would be fun to run around a lake that is a mile from us.  We ended up doing 2 miles which is what I'm scheduled to do for my 10k/half marathon training plan.  I really enjoyed running with someone else.  I don't get to do that very often.

I hope everyone else was able to go out and get a run in!  I'm excited I have another 5k coming up in a week!!!!

I am in LOVE!

Yes, I found a store bought bread that I absolutely LOVE!  My favorite part is that it is 100% natural.  It has NO high fructose corn syrup which I have been trying to eat as little as possible of that stuff.  I have to be honest this bread is kind of pricey $3.68 a loaf but so worth it for the taste and knowing that it is healthier for you!!!!

I know the best way to go is to make your own bread, but I'm too lazy for that... hahaha!  Seriously, this stuff is delicious!  Go try some and you'll be a believer!!!!  They also have so many other kinds of bread other than honey wheat.

If you read my blog...

please become a "follower"! I like to have an idea who is actually reading my blog. Thanks!!!

Payson Region 5K

(This is a post race picture since we forgot our camera.)

It started out being a not so good morning.

1. I found out that my time of the month had started (sorry TMI for any guys out there).
   
2. Soon after I woke up I saw it was raining pretty hard. I'm not a fan of running in the rain when it is in the 30's outside.
   
3. As I was getting ready, I remembered that my forerunner GPS was dead. I wanted to use it so bad for my race.

All of that made me want to crawl back into bed. I didn't though. I just spent some time with the heating pad & took some Advil with breakfast. We left the house around 7:00 am. The race was at 8am.

Anyways, we got to the race location which was at an LDS church. It was a Stake region 5K. We signed in & got our race stuff. It was SOOO cold out that we went to our van to stay warm. Ten minutes before the race started we got out of the van to warm up. Then about 5 minutes before the race started I had to use the bathrooms. I ran as fast as I could to the bathroom in the Church and luckily had plenty of time to do my business and make it back outside again.

Once I got outside I noticed it had stopped raining. What a blessing that was especially since it was already so cold out. I hung out at the back of the race line since I'm slow I didn't want to get trampled...lol! The horn went off...and off I went.

As I was running I found a woman that was running just my pace. I made it a goal to keep up with her. I ran with her for a good while. As we were running, we saw a sign that said " 1 mile run -- turn around." I knew that sign was for the 1 mile runners, but I also thought it meant I had already gone 1 mile...nope now I know it meant .5 miles. LOL!

Usually when I run at home I do 5 minute run/2 minute walk intervals. This time I decided to TRY and run the whole time. I kept giving myself little goals that I had to pass then I'd say to myself I could run a little bit longer. Soon I had passed that woman that I was running with. Toward the end, I decided to try to walk for a minute. It didn't feel right. My muscles had gotten so use to running that was the only thing that felt comfortable. So I kept on running!!!

My goal was to get around 40 minutes since my last 5K was 45 minutes. When I got close I saw my husband yelling at me, "GO Jen"! I turned the corner and saw the race clock was under 40 minutes. Thats when I sprinted FAST! I finished at 38:02! I beat my last time by 7 minutes. I was also proud that I was able to run the whole time.

Overall the race was pretty good. The morning started out bad, but getting a PR made up for it! I also felt great during my race; no cramps or anything else. I'm excited for my next race in June!!!!