Who would have thought I’d be the one to say I’ve been so busy running that I haven’t had a lot of time to blog? Yep, it’s true….. well, kind of…
As usual, I’m in a little hurry right now but I wanted to post a little something so everyone remembers who I am and so they know I’m still in the running game!! I’ll start back with the local 5K in February called the Lamarque Run with the Lions. My friend Jan and I both had a fun time, it was a great race and we both placed in our age categories. (Yes, it’s true, it was a very small race so I had a good chance of placing but still…..)
Right about this same time my 8 week boot camp was over. Not only had I lost about 13 pounds, I gained so much strength I felt unbelieveable. I was really looking forward to moving on with this fitness journey again. Back in January, I participated in a bicycle “half marathon” ride that ended up being over 15 miles long, but that is not the point. The point is that I won a one month membership to a local gym and that turned out to be perfect timing since I had just finished boot camp and was a little worried I wouldn’t keep going.
The gift membership included 3 visits with a personal trainer too. It was fun for a bit, but I had to get up SO early just to get there for a half hour with her so that I would be able to run afterwards. Anyone who really knows me knows that I’m really not a morning person, so it was pretty hard to get up extra early just to drive there and meet with her! For a couple of weeks I went to the gym a few times a week and I was supposed to use the machines that the personal trainer had lined up for me. The end of the story is that I’m just not that kind of “gym rat” after all. Left to my own devices, I just go and use the treadmill and run….. and why would I do that when I have a treadmill at home.
Another factor to using the free gym membership for a month was to see if I wanted to sign up since my health insurance was offering reimbursement for gym memberships. For free? Really? So yes, I was in……..and then guess what happened? There was a big announcement at work – health coverage changed and the new insurance wouldn’t reimburse for the membership at the same time I was tired of getting up to go to the gym before work so I just started running a few days a week at home with my pup, which worked out better anyway!
I’ve been pretty consistent with going 3 miles in my neighborhood with Brodie. It’s true, I’m getting slightly faster, but it’s how strong I feel that makes me feel best. I think that as I keep going with this journey, the speed will improve even more, but the in the meantime, I really enjoy feeling so strong.
Guess what I won in a raffle at my next race? A free one month membership at YouFit. I’m not going to dash out to YouFit and redeem it but instead, I’ll wait until it’s August here in Florida when it’s like 100 degrees outside with 100% humidity when it’s NOT raining. Then I’ll rethink the possibility of using a gym membership, especially since it’s only ten bucks a month anyway! LOL!
On March 11, a friend from work and I participated in a local Shamrock 8K. When I signed up for the event, I thought it was a 5K and not an 8k. I didn’t pay much attention, I guess. I hadn’t ran 5 miles yet but knew I should be building up so I figured I’d just show up and make it a practice run and not a race. As it turns out, it was perfect weather – even cold for Florida – about 65 degrees – and I did pretty well. In fact, I ran faster than I ever even expected AND I had fun!
Last week in my Facebook “memories” feed, I saw that a year ago, I ran 2 miles at a 14:56 pace. This year, I’m running 5 miles agt 13:32, so yeah, I’m getting faster.
Next up for me is the First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon RELAY!! Yay!! A relay means 7 miles and I still get the bling, and even better, it’s still unseasonably cold here in Florida, so I’m hopeful I’ll do pretty well or at least I’ll finish strong and have fun which is way better than I went into races last year.
As far as work goes, today is Thursday and I already have 40 hours in, and I still have to go to work tomorrow. I’m hoping I’ll have some time to rest Saturday because the race is Sunday!
The goal for this year is to have a BLAST in Ohio when I go to Cleveland and participate in the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon Race Series – 8K/half marathon challenge on May 20 and 21st! Stay tuned for future posts for a giveaway registration so you can join me in one of the races!
And the running/training does not end when I get back from Cleveland, because I’ll still be running while getting ready for the September 23 Inaugural Weeki Wachee Springs Mermaid Half Marathon!! If you want to join me at the mermaid race, you can use LANTZER15 to get a 15% discount too!
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