I did it!

 

Thanks to all your well wishes and a little magical muscle potion I was able to run in Saturday’s St. Patty’s 5 Mile Race.

 

Believe it or not, I had pretty much called it off by friday night. I solely based this on how my legs and knees felt and how restricted my mobility was. I did however continue to slam the Xtend, ibprofen, water and apply the miracle muscle lotion until happy hour (where I kind of figured I would not be running the next day). At which point I was convinced to have a gin & tonic. Between all the resting, the one and a half g & t’s and the remedies, something worked.

Because I woke up on Saturday with almost no pain at all. But I did however see that the weather reported it to be 34 degrees and there was snow outside on the ground. The running gods weren’t going to let me off so easily. LOL!

Pre-race jitters shivers

  

I knew my friend and fellow Will Run For Wine-r Nicole was going to be running the race too, which motivated me A LOT more to go out into the cold.

 

Nicole and I decided that we were just going to run this race for fun and not worry about time. The goal was to finish.

 

Now, once I heard the gun fire something sparked inside of me. I just started running. I had a bit of pain in my legs, but thought I will take a walking break if I need to. I didn’t want to injure myself, but I was feeling good. Apparently I started way fast, because I lost Nicole in the first few minutes. (I always start too fast).

 

I just kept running and running and was amazed at the under 10:00 minute pace I was keeping for the first mile. I had to stop around mile 1.5 for a little walking break. A girl past me and said “Hey good job, I was using you to pace myself”. That made me feel like I was doing good and motivated me to keep on trudging.

 

Once I past the 3 mile marker I knew I was over half-way. I told myself to take it easy until I saw the 4 mile marker. Once I saw that I picked it up and whizzed by the girl who had been pacing me earlier. I kept chanting this mantra to myself “You can do it, You can do it!”

 

 

Then I hit the bend where there was .25 to go. I gave it my all and felt the pressure of the wind pushing me back. I was literally fighting my way through the wind. I crossed the finish line at 51:12.  That was such a great time for me especially because I wasn’t sure how my legs and knees would hold up. The human body is an amazing thing.

 

My running Splits:

Mile 1: 9:56/mi

Mile 2: 10:42/mi

Mile 3: 10:35/mi

Mile 4: 10:09/mi

Mile 5: 9:59/mi

Total: 5 miles in 51:12

  

Both Nicole and I were stoked to finish this 5 miler and in such good time!   First race of the year… done & done. 🙂

 

 

 

I have to give mad props to the the magical muscle potion. I think this little guy helped a lot in diminishing the pain in the my muscles around my knees. I will give the credit to Bio relief. And it didn’t come cheap I tell you. (I picked this up at the running store on friday afternoon when I was picking up my race packet).

 

SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!!!

I also wanted to share with you this morning’s BOMB Breakfast! Yum! I keep hearing about the Chocolate Cherry Bomb Shake that Kristen’s Raw first introduced and had to make my own version.

  

 

This bomb shake included the following:

 

2 large handfuls of spinach

1 banana

1 cup of frozen cherries

1 scoop of protein powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 cup almond milk

 

 

Boot Camp day #6: (Note I took friday as my rest day). Today’s workout was completely done with that 20 lb tire above my head. We did lunges, duck walks, squats, side squats, butt kickers, high knees – all around the track. This was a ton harder with the weight of the tire above your head. Then we finished off the day with calve raises off of a parking lot divider. 50 on each leg, then 50 on both legs together. I will feel that one tomorrow!  

 

Happy Monday!! Be sure to stop on over at Aneta’s Confessions of a Rambunctious Runner. She has her first give-away. A book all runner’s will want to read. Check it out!