And that makes me the winner

So officially I've been out of the game for 5 weeks before I could finally start running again. Tuesday I ran 3 miles and Thursday I ran around 5. I was invited by my husband's old neighbor to go run with her and a group called, "Girls on the Run". I decided to try it out. She told me that they were intending on running 13 miles on Sunday and that there was no pressure to run that far, just to do what I could. So at 5:30 on Sunday, I woke up and got ready to go the distance!

It was a little intimidating to meet the women, they all looked so fit! And here I am, probably the heaviest of the bunch trying to keep up. We started at the White Rock Dog Park and ran off the trail/lake for 3 miles and then headed to the trails. I have to admit I couldn't believe how fast they were! I felt so slow compared to them. They were all talking and carrying on conversations pretty much the whole run and I'm just trying to remind myself to breathe! :0) I already felt pretty tired after 3 miles and tried to remind myself there wasn't any pressure to continue my run with them, but for some reason my mind just wouldn't let me give up on myself. I was pretty determined to just try to hang with them. Plus, once I got to a spot on the trail I was like, "Well, it would be pointless to turn back around and then I wouldn't know where to tell Steve to meet me so I guess I'm stuck". :) So of course I had to walk a little bit. I would say a grand total of a mile (it would be nice if it was less than that) and luckily the ladies stopped every so often at water fountains to recoup and stretch or take their gel shots or shot blocks.

At 10 and a half miles in they were like, "hey let's run up a hill" and not just any hill...but a hill that was crazy. Absolutely nuts and I just couldn't run up it. It was just too hard. Especially that late in the run. One of these days I'm going to conquer it though. I think that's a new goal I'm going to add to my run.

All in all, I completed 13 miles on the run. I was really proud of myself, but probably more exhausted than anything. I probably didn't feel recovered until about 6:00 that night. Hopefully, the recovery time will get better. And after running that far, I determined that the Turkey Trot on Thursday will be a piece of cake and that it will just be a pre-cursor to my half marathon in 3 weeks.

Today my legs are sore, but not as sore as I thought they'd be. I was pretty surprised when I could get out of bed this morning and not feel like my legs were going to give out on me. Today's my day off from running, but I plan on doing crunches and pushups tonight. Tuesday I want to run about 3-5 miles. Probably the same route Steve and I ran last Thursday. Then another day off...maybe take the dog for a walk..and then the 8 mile Turkey Trot. :) I'm pretty excied about the race.

I'm also really excited because Thursday I finally get to see my parents. They've been away for a month and I can't wait to see them.

20 Days until my first half marathon!!