A breath of fresh air

I ran slow and easy pace the whole time.  It was enjoyable, but the last mile felt very long.

Will and I ran to and through the park today.  We saw seven dogs, four bicycles, and lots of walkers and runners.  My right hip bothered me a bit today, but for most of my runs it's been feeling great.

Will and I took on the hilly Camp Cardinal Route.  We paused to look a couple stakes that were spray painted pink and crossed to look like a "x".  After I pointed it out, Will said "y". So the rest of the run we said, "X, Y, Z!!!"  Will mostly said "x" and "z".  I would slip in the "y".

My hip bothered me a bit again today.

My two mile warm up felt fine, even kind of quick.  But, my tempo run started so slow.  Here are the splits.

8:36--I felt so slow and felt that I couldn't go any faster.  I told myself it was okay.  During recent training, I had some miles under my pace range (8:00 to 8:30).  So I told myself it was probably normal to have some miles over the range.

However, I got slower.

almost 9:00--I wanted to turn off my watch.  But, somehow I talked myself into keeping my feet moving.

I felt tight in my shoulders.  I tried to relax and forget about my watch.  And it worked.

8:10 ish--My quarters were closer to two minutes.

8:06 ish

I don't remember what my last split was and I don't want to figure it out.  (I want to go to bed.)  Total time for the five mile tempo run was 42:12.  I was very pleased that I kept with it and that I was able to relax and run normal.

I ran with my friend, Erin, for the first time.  I ran to her house, we are three miles together, and then I ran home.  Our pace was perfect for me and it seemed perfect for her, too.  We want to run together every Saturday, but next Saturday is my race.  So in two weeks, we'll run again and Erin said she'd like to try 4 miles.

Nice and easy.

Again nice and easy.

Will and I made it without incident to Columbus.  We had help from a lot of friendly people in the airport.  Tonight I ran four miles with my brothers, Greg and Allen.  I loved it.  Greg asked Allen to name his top five chapters in the Book of Mormon to share with investigators.  I enjoyed listening to them discuss which chapters were there favorite to share--3 Nephi 11, 3 Nephi 27, Alma 7, and Jacob 4.  (Allen just returned from his mission in Brazil.  While I was in Columbus, I was also able to attend Allen's homecoming.)  Greg also asked what the top five reasons people gave for not wanting to listen to a gospel message.  Allen said most people would answer the door and when they'd hear that the missionaries wanted to share a message of Jesus Christ, their disposition would change.  The people would then say "I am in the middle of cooking dinner" or "I am giving my baby a bath" or "I was just on my way out"-- they'd be in a bath robe and it would be noon.  I asked him about his top favorite meals.  Number one was rice and beans.

Things I thought I did well...

1) I warmed up.  During the mile and a half, I found a gas station.  I was able to use its restroom and avoid all the port-a-potty lines.

2) I enjoyed the race.  I especially loved being a part of the race with my brother.  I was able to find him and jog the last couple miles with him.  I am so proud of him.  It was his first half.  He blew away his predicted time by 23 minutes and was able to walk the next day.

3)  I ran twelve miles in my target range 8:00 to 8:30.  The first mile was 9:06.  My average pace was 8:12!

The thing I thought I didn't do well...

I didn't warm up early enough before the race.  When I got back from the warm up, the starting line was packed!  I ended up starting with the 13 plus group.  The good part about it was I started with my brother.  They bad part about it was it took almost four minutes to cross the starting line.  The race time I put on my race report was my chip time.  The clock time was 1:51:01.  I don't know what my race/age division place is because I am a twenty-five year old male instead of being a twenty-eight year old female.

Overall, I am very excited about my performance.  I mean--WOW!  A gold star/medal performance and a major PR!

By the way, I don't know what my race/age division place is because I ended up being registered as a twenty-five year old male instead of being a twenty-eight year old female.  I am sure I could figure it out, but I'd rather do other things.  Like update my running blog--only two more entries to go.

Another side note, my hip bothered me starting about mile six, but it wasn't anything I haven't run with before. 

My brother and I before the race.  Do I look nervous?

Check out our picture after the race.  http://www.runphotos.com/  You have to enter my bib number and make sure you select the Capital City Half Marathon.

Nice and easy.  I didn't feel too stiff.  My feet hurt a little.

I ran with my brother, Allen.  His horribly infected toe did bleed, but he went all five with me.  We sprinted at the end.  Okay... so I am more sore than I thought I was.  I didn't sprint very well.  I am sure as I do more strides and more runs I'll get back to normal.

Will and I ran by the river again.  The river is even higher than before we left for Columbus and it's suppose to rain all today and tomorrow.  We were able to see one dog, two ducks, and a dump truck dumping some dirt.  I did six strides.  It was a good work out.

I ran up to Erin's house.  I enjoyed Erin's company.  The four miles we ran together passed very quickly.

Will and I ran the hilly Camp Cardinal route.  We enjoyed the weather!  It was perfect, sunny and 55 degrees.  I felt great and my hip didn't bother me.

Here I am at mile 13!

Today's run was lovely with warm weather and a cool breeze.  The run felt great.

Will and I ran the hospital route.  Will enjoyed seeing all the buses.

It's been raining and raining.  The rain finally stopped by 4 pm.  So, Will and I headed out as quickly as possible.  Will enjoyed looking for worms.  We saw a lot of them, but two were HUGE--the big kind that you dissect in ninth grade biology.

I ran over to Erin's and ran four miles with her.  We talked a lot about books.  I recommended the Pendragon series.  And Erin recommended the Thief series.  I am excited to learn more about that series on goodreads.com.

Will and I bundled up and made it through the wind.  The last two miles was into the wind.  Will had a hard time the last half a mile.   It was a workout for me with the wind, the hills, and the jogging stroller.

It was 28 degrees when I woke up this morning.  I was able to squeeze in four miles after dinner.

Will and I stopped to watch a train go by.  It had seven engines.  Today was another work out with the wind and the jogging stroller.