A Wedding, a Run, and a Dead Bunny

Week 13 of training has come and gone. I'm in the final stretch before the marathon! 

I got in a run earlier in the week. It was good to get back out there after being sick the week before. 

On Friday I spent my day running around. I had to go to the mall to grab a few things for Saturday. From the mall I made my way to the Sea Crest Beach Hotel to get my bib for the Zooma Cape Cod Half Marathon. When I got there I heard "There's a dead bunny over there!" What an impression right? I didn't want to check out a poor dead bunny so I went inside to get my bib. After getting my bib I got a few necklace charms from Scott James Jewelry. 

From the Sea Crest I had to get over to Waverly Oaks Golf Club for my cousin's wedding.  It was a beautiful day for the wedding. After spending time with my family I knew I had to get back to Falmouth. Luckily my boyfriend is from there so we could stay at his parent's house which is right down the street from the Sea Crest.

I got up early on Saturday to make sure I wasn't rushing to make my 7:30 am start time. It was a little chilly in the morning, but not bad at all. I knew it was going to be a perfect day to run.

Perfect day for a run!

I secretly was hoping for a PR during this run. I also knew that over this year my running hasn't been great. I try to not beat myself up about this, but I do sometimes. I also knew that not running for the past week made it hard for me to assess where I truly was. So I was going into the race with the secret hope to PR, but being okay with whatever happened. 

Once the race started I had no idea where the 2:30 pacer was. I accepted early on that I wasn't going to see a 3 in my time. I was taking in the scenery while I ran and didn't worry about my time.

There were great views of the water throughout this run!

Not far from mile 3 there was a woman who had fallen/tripped/something. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but there were police & EMTs helping her. After I turned around at mile 3 she was being loaded into an ambulance. I hope she's okay. As I kept going I saw the 2:30 pacer. I put myself into the mindset that I had in Providence where I PR'd last year. I kept her just close enough that if I pushed myself I could catch up to her. Somehow I ended up in front of her! I stayed in front of her for a lot of the race. I didn't want to get too excited or jinx this. Eventually she did pass me again. I was feeling pretty tired the last 2.5-3 miles. I was so close to the end when I had to walk for a few seconds. Thankfully "Firework" by Katy Perry came on my phone and pushed me to the finish! I finished in 2:30:54. It may not be a PR, but it was so much better than the rest of my year has been. I'm proud of myself for that.

After the race I got a water, a banana, and my medal. I met up with my boyfriend and we walked down to the beach. I spent a little time standing in the ocean to help sooth sore spots and it felt great! After having a "ice bath" I signed up for the race next year! I'll come back in 2015 and maybe I'll great 2:30 again. Who knows but I am excited. 

Nature's "ice bath"

Swag

Right after the race I went back to my boyfriend's house to shower before running off to a fundraiser my sister was putting on for Children's Hospital. She did a wonderful job and we can't wait to do it again next year. With all of the food and over 90 raffles everyone had a great time!

Speaking of Children's Hospital, I'm still fundraising for the NYC Marathon! (Did I mention it's 5 weeks away!) If you want to help a wonderful cause you can do so here!

Week 12 Training Recap

Week 12 involved absolutely no running. I know what do I mean no running!?! I caught the cold that was going around and took the time to get better. I still got in almost 15 miles (probably over because I was still at work moving around without tracking my steps) of walking in during the week. I'm still kind of feeling the cold lingering, but I feel so much better this week. I just got back from a 3 mile run which felt great. (Besides the pain in my right knee, it was great.) I'm behind in my long runs for NY, but I'm going to do whatever I can do to keep myself injury and sickness free. If I do that, I can do a marathon.

This Saturday is the Zooma Run Cape Cod. I feel like I signed up forever ago! (It was actually about 3 months ago.) This run came up fast. I'm looking forward to getting my butt out there and doing my best. (As much as I'd love to PR, doing my best and having fun needs to be #1!)

We also have a great fundraiser happening on Saturday that my sister is putting on in memory of my dad's friend who passed away last year. There will be a poker run and raffles with all donations going to Boston's Children Hospital. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone after I run and raising money for a great hospital.

I'm also giving away a $20 Starbucks gift card for every $5 donation I receive until the end of Friday night!


If you would like to donate, but can not attend the fundraiser you can do so here.

Just A Thought For Tuesday

This was in my email for the Zooma Run Cape Cod. We're a little more than a month out now and this seems fitting.