Life: Play by Play

Quick Update on Chialastri Things:

• We lost Danny's Grandad a couple weeks ago. He had been battling multiple infections for a few weeks and just couldn't fight any longer. It was a very emotional time for everyone in the family but he is in a better place now and at peace so we are thankful for that.
• Work has been insane. 2 resignations in 2 weeks in important roles equals insanity. It has been very stressful but I have to keep on chugging and hopefully won't allow it to affect my home life much.
• Danny had his 29th birthday party. We had a BLAST! I was the DD and surprisingly I had a ton of fun sober - who would have thunk it! It was great to see everyone. It isn't often that we get everyone together now that we have families and things. Everyone got along, had fun, and got home safely.
• Running has been horrible. I signed up for a 10-miler on Sunday just to force myself to complete the distance. I have no goal other than to finish and from what I've seen I am going to have some hills to contend with.
• School has been good. I'm taking Accounting right now and since this will most likely be my career path I am making sure I know it like the back of my hand. So far so good and I will most likely take my 4.0 into the summer semester. It is taking me a little longer to get through then I had wanted but it is hard juggling everything. 
• Couponing is great but holy too much shit. Ha! I should go take a picture of the cabinets under our bathroom sinks. I think I'm up to 12 bottles of shaving cream, 20 razors, 4 cans of hairspray (I don't style my hair), 15 boxes of hair dye, 7 deodorants....and the list goes on and on. At least this stuff doesn't go bad. I'm more nervous about all the medications I have stocked up on. Not sure why I thought 4 bottles of Children's Advil was necessary. 
• We went go-karting a couple of weeks ago. Danny wants to get back into the sport. Unfortunately the karts we have, while fun, are no longer the new hotness and there isn't a class for them. We could run them but we would only be racing ourselves. That kind of takes the fun out of it. So, I think he is going to sell them and save up so David can race when he gets old enough. 

I guess that wraps it all up - I'll let you know how my run goes on Sunday. Until then here is my little man building me something...

Race: St. Patrick's Day 5k

I ran (no pun intended) across this event about a month ago and decided for the cost and location I couldn't pass it up. I had been planning on running a 10k even closer to my home but $45 entry cost had me looking elsewhere. The Denton St. Patrick's Day 5k was only $15 and we got an event shirt. Not sure how they make any money doing it but hey, I'll run those little events all day long!

The first mile was great! I started toward the front since there were a lot of strollers, dogs, and what I was pretty sure were walkers. I gravitated to two women and kept tight to them for the first mile. I felt light on my feet, the two hills were okay, I was doing pretty well with keeping pace. Looked down 8:02. Awesome!

Second mile was horrific. I slowly lost the two women and was running by myself. No one in front or behind me for at least .1 of a mile. So, lesson learned - I need to learn how to push my pace by myself. At the end of the second mile there was a water stop. I've never stopped before since I've only run 5k's but I was feeling dehydrated and HOT - I think it was 60 degrees at the start. I grabbed a cup, folded it like I had read, and spilled it all over my face, shirt, and feet. I guess between holding my breath trying to drink and the two sips I did get, I felt like I was going to throw up. So, lesson learned - I need to learn water stops, or better yet, don't stop at 5k's and slow down more at my half, or carry my UD Fastdraw Bottle that I know how to use. Garmin beeps - 9:03...completely deflated

Third mile was okay, my legs were feeling heavy and were moving at the 9:00 min mile pace the they had been used to moving. Oh and the course was an out and back, the two hills I felt good on in the beginning had me crawling up them! I must have glanced at my watch 3 times...I still had time to PR - have to keep going. Turned the corner and saw the finish line. I didn't have much left but managed to cross in 26:49! PR'd by almost a full minute. Thank goodness for going out fast.

Overall, it was a good run, I can't complain *much* about a PR and learning some lessons for the future. The atmosphere was great and I will definitely run another Seashore Striders event.

47 out of 188 overall
4 out of 24 in my division (Fem. 20-29)
18 out of 118 in females

I'm Doing It!

I'm freaking out a little bit, I'm not going to lie. In the past few days I had gone back and forth...yes absolutely, now is the time to do it to the extreme opposite no, you are crazy to think you can do it...you will never finish. But, as 3 pm approached I found myself getting excited and with 2 minutes to go until 3 I refreshed the page and found the button to register. So I did!! I am going to run the Marine Corps Marathon. Ahhh! The marathon sold out in under 3 hours so I am very happy I didn't second guess myself.

This is the one marathon that I've always wished that I could do. I was never a runner but for years and years my Uncle Leny would come to my Aunt Alice's house wearing his Marine Corps Marathon shirts and I always thought how cool it must be to say that you ran that race. So, at the end of this year, I will be able to say I too have run the MCM and wear my shirt with pride. Yay!