and then this happened...

i suck at keeping secrets. i need to let the cat out of the bag. im running an ultramarathon.... this summer.

no, you didn't miss anything in sporadic blogging. don't bother going back to check old posts.... i haven't run my first marathon yet. yea, i know...it's all a little backwards.

when i couldn't run mdi marathon this fall i decided i would run a spring marathon as my first. i didnt think i could wait a full year to run my first marathon. i didnt want to wait that long. i had already been eager to run mdi for soooo long that waiting an entire year sounded awful (fun fact: im not patient. at all). literally the day after i finished the mdi relay i decided that i didnt think i wanted to run a spring marathon. i had put a lot of effort in getting back on my feet after surgery and if i wanted to run a full in the spring it would mean i would have 2 months "off" before i jumped into a training cycle. i just felt like i was going to burn myself out. i decided that i would skip the spring marathon season and register for marine corps marathon in october. i wanted to focus on my speed and improving my half marathon time. and then there was that fateful day in december...

i was browsing twitter one morning to see that eissa had registered for the great cranberry island 50k lottery, which is held near to where i grew up. i immediately wrote to her and she asked if i was entering the lottery as well. oh hellllll no! i haven't even run a marathon. i decided that if she got in, i would go and volunteer. then i started thinking about it it's only 5 more miles then a marathon and i can walk/run it and there is a big after party and ive been told its an amazing time. so a few days later and after many texts to several marathoners/ultra runners as well as my friend/ co-race director i was registered for the lottery. now i needed to wait a month and a half for the lottery drawing.

because this race is held on a small island off the coast of maine, there has to be a cap at the number of runners it can accommodate. there's only so much road to run on and only so many volunteers so the race is by lottery only. as i was filling out the lottery application all signs pointed toward me getting in. how many ultramarathons have you run? n/a. what's your current 50k PR? n/a.  how many marathons have you run? n/a. what's your marathon PR? n/a. soooo yea, i was off to a good start.

and then, i got the email.

i originally wanted to keep this under wraps. it's not a goal race and it's not my focus. i mean, yea, im going to train for it and all but my eye is on marine corps marathon in october. i will have an incredible base going into mcm training and im pumped about having a killer first marathon. when i was asking some friends whether they thought running a 50k before my first marathon was a bad idea or not i got the same response several times.they are two different races. it depends what your goal is for mcm. if you want it to be the first time you run 26.2 miles and the distance is important then dont run the 50k. if your priority is having a strong race and the best time possible then run the 50k. sold!

i still wasn't sure i wanted to tell anyone. this is what i wanted and i didn't want everyone elses opinion about it. i didn't want to make a big deal about it. but who knows what next summer will bring. my son will be older and able to enjoy more things and i want to have the time to spend with my family. running is something i enjoy and it's part of my life but its not my entire life. my priority will always be my family and ill run when i can. seriously though, who wouldn't want to run this race....



when the few people i have told ask me why i want to run GCI i tell them "it's pretty much going to be one big party". the race is put on by crow athletics (of which i am a lifetime member) the same crew that puts on the mdi marathon. gary and mary hands down know how to put on a great event. for 95 bucks you get: 50k, course support (food, drinks), medal, shirt,  lobster dinner, beer, bonfire, camping, shower access and breakfast!! best bang for your buck i tell ya! also, the 4 time winner of the little rock marathon and olympic trials runner leah thorvilson will be running again....and seriously who doesn't wanna run with her? major BA right there!

the best/worst part is that the island is only 2 miles long. so after an initial 3 mile loop we run 2 miles down and 2 miles back repeat x7! i like that though. i'll get to see everyone running the race the entire time. none of this being out in the woods all by myself wishing i was dead business. oh no...ill be high fiving everyone as i run by them.

in case you thought i was kidding

so there you have it. if you want to see me on the weekends between now and the end of october, i suggest you put on your running shoes. im very excited to be part of this amazing race. ive certainly come a long way from that soccer goalkeeper in college who cried the last mile and a half of her 3 mile run during preseason.

im currently accepting applications for long run buddies...

Chamberlain March Half Marathon

heeeeey! remember that time i ran a half marathon and set a *spoiler alert* huge PR? probably not. why? oh cause i haven't blogged in forever and never even mentioned i was running a half anytime soon...

ok back up. so ive been running. alot. 106 miles in february. my previous highest mileage month was 78 back in september. ive even been doing speed work twice a week (most often at 4:30am with danielle). after i finished the mdi relay in 2:14 my next goal was a sub 2:10 half this spring and then a sub 2 half late summer. given how well my running has been going over the last 2 months i knew that i would crush a 2:10 half and had my eyes set on a sub 2 half. its a time that i knew was within reach but wouldn't come easily to me. i searched around for a few halfs this spring but nothing was calling my name that wasn't stupid expensive or forever away. a friend of mine posted on facebook that he was running the chamberlain march half marathon as his first half. it was near my parents house on a weekend that i had already planned to be there, was only 35 bucks and not too hilly. win. so i signed up....the night before the race :) i talked to sam for a while the night before. studying the elevation chart and figuring out where to bank some time and where to slow up so that i could potentially go 1:58. i felt good about the paces he wanted me to run and was excited about seeing a 1 in front of my half marathon time.

there were a lot of logistics going on race morning with my family and at one point it looked like i was going to go to the race by myself. everyone had to be in different places at different times and my race was not part of any of those plans. my mom then says "but you need a cheering squad! we'll make this work" thanks mom!

i drove up to the race with my mom and younger brother. we got there early, i got my bib, hung out in the warm car and debated on what i wanted to wear. i went on a half mile jog to warm up the legs and then came back to the car to stretch and get ready to start. it was at that point that my entire race plan went down the drain. my garmin beeped at me "low battery". WHAT!? i charged the damn the thing alllll night! it said 100% this morning!!! this can't be happening. oh well, not much i can do now....just use it until it dies....which was about 1 minute later. i got the black screen of death! ohhhhhh shit. minor freak out moment. i texted sam and danielle in a panic. they both calmed me down (i didnt tell them i was sitting in my moms car crying my eyes out because my stupid watch died...but i was). sam asked if there was a pace group i could join. um no, there were maybe 125 people running this race. no pace groups. sam gave me some final instructions gave me plan b and sent me on my way. ok i can do this. im so pissed but there is nothing i can do. i can do this. 

i headed to the start line and listened for anyone that was planning on running a sub 2. there was the lady who was "hoping to run under 2 but im not worrying about it. ive done it before but i don't know what ill do today"... ok, she doesn't sound too promising. then there were the two girls wearing tank tops (it was 38 at the start). hmmmmm, they look fast. probably too fast for me. i didn't have many more people to stalk before it was time to start. ok sarah. you know what to do. just do it. 

with that, the gun went off and so was i. i knew i needed to go out a bit faster then 9:08s (what i needed to average for a sub 2 finish). it was a downhill start and i wanted to bank a little bit of time so that i could slow up on the hills at mile 1.5. problem is i didn't know what 8:40 felt like. i haven't run it enough consistently to know what that pace is like. my biggest fear is that i was going to be running much slower then i should be just because i didn't have the watch to push me. when we got to mile 1 i asked the lady "whats the time?". she looked at me and said "time? like time of day?". ummmm no, "what's the time? the pace?", "oh. ummm...8:00 miles". oh shit sarah! you're toast! slow the eff down!. I said thanks and let her go on her way. about half a mile later tank top girl came up next to me so i asked her the pace. she told me she is pacing her friend 8:30s the entire way. i told her my garmin died and she said if you see me, i'll be running 8:30s. i backed off some more and knew that if i kept her in my sight for the entire race id be ok. if i gained on her i was going to fast and if i lost her i needed to pick it up. perfect. maybe this race isnt going to suck after all.

i saw my mom at mile 2, tossed her my jacket and kept on going. we took a left turn and ran over the joshua chamberlain bridge. just as we started over the bridge, tank top girl and her friend stopped and were rubbing friend's leg. damn...thats my pacer! i passed them and figured they would catch up to me soon. orrrrrrr not. i never saw them again. crap. i settled into what i thought was a 9ish mile pace and just tried to maintain it. i knew that 9:08s were just a tad over comfortable for me and so if i ever felt like this race was easy i stepped it up.i knew miles 2-4ish were a long uphill so i knew i would probably slow down a bit during this section. the hills weren't as bad as i thought and just like that they were over.

my mom had given me her old lady analog watch just for some idea of time. i looked at it when we started so i knew the time and again at mile 6 (for whatever reason i like to note my 10k time...in training runs, races, whatever. strange, i know). by my rough estimate i was through the 10k in 54ish. sweeeeet. see sarah, you can do this. don't slow up. i asked another lady who passed me what the pace was, "pace? forward moving!". awesome, thanks for the help lady. not.



miles 4-7 were around the airport and pancake flat. i was in a good rhythm and feeling strong. through this area i said several times something sam had said to me, this is a half marathon. it's not supposed to be easy, don't give into the pain. the song Belle of the Boulevard came on my ipod. danielle had told me that if she listened to this song for an entire marathon and ran to the beat of the song, she would qualify for boston. so i knew that if i was running to the beat of the song, i was running too fast. if i was just a hair behind the beat i was about the pace i needed to be. this was great to keep my mind off of the pain. i actually listened to the song twice.

mile 5. feelin' good

miles 7-10 are always my worst miles in a half. its all mental, knowing that im over half way there...but not quite. these miles followed along the river and were quite pretty however there were no spectators along this section and it was a bit chilly. it was a long 3 miles for me. my legs hurt, the bottoms of my feet were hurting and i was starting to get some weird pain in my ankle. blah. 

mile 10 brought us back into downtown bangor. i saw my mom again and gave her the look of death hey mom, can i jump in the car and have you drive me to the finish? k thanks. i looked at my watch and by rough estimate it looked like i was still on pace for a sub 2 finish but i knew i had no time to slow down. just after mile 10.5 (i think) things got a bit confusing. i was climbing a hill and gaining on the girl in front of me. i saw her go through an intersection ahead and she started putting her hands up as if to say "where do i go?".  i thought i was supposed to take a right but she went straight and i saw some people ahead of her. i yelled out "do i go straight!?" to which they replied "yes". so i did but i kept looking back at the soldier manning the intersection. he came up and told me i needed to take that right hand turn and go over the bridge. crap! ok. i took the turn and the guy at the top of the hill told me to go over the bridge. i tried to clarify but it was all a bit confusing. so i went over the bridge and then took a right basically making a big U turn. at this point i saw 3 people ahead of me all standing in the middle of the road with their hands up yelling to the soldier about where to go. you have got to be kidding me!. they were alot more pissed then i was about getting lost and all in all i probably went .25 miles out of my way. not only did i loose time but i also lost momentum. we finally figured out where to go and moved on.

hiiii mom. can i jump in your car? this sucks

miles 11-13 sucked. alot.  it was a gradual uphill and i had lost all momentum. i slowed wayyyyyy down. i looked at my watch and knew that a sub 2 was now out of reach...but i wasn't sure how out of reach it was so i kept going. since there were no clocks out on the course i really had no idea where i was time wise, aside from my rough estimate from my watch (and if you know me and math and running, the two dont mix well at all!). i turned the corner and saw 2:05 on the clock! i heard my mom and brother cheering for me which was pretty awesome. and of course the first thing my mom says when i crossed the finish line is "hey, did you get lost?" really mom? was i that slow?. she said that several people came across the fininsh complaing about getting lost just after mile 10. apparently my little group weren't the only ones.



coming into the finish. oy

overall i was really pleased with my race. yes, i was bummed i didn't go sub 2. but given that i ran without a watch, completely on feel AND i got lost costing me about 2:30, i was happy. if you're keeping track at home, thats a 9 minute PR. i don't have plans to run another one anytime soon. i know i have a sub 2 in me but i don't feel the need to go right back out and get it. i will in time. im very pleased i ran and didn't quit at the start or jump in my moms car at mile 10. i learned a little more about how to run a race and am proud of my efforts. i've been training hard and i know im getting faster, this race just proved it.

mid winter classic

way back in the fall (ya know, when it was still 60 degrees and sunny out) i signed up for the mid winter classic. a 10 mile race around cape elizabeth, which is a few towns over from me. as soon as i registered i sent a text to the one i blame for getting me into this mess to begin with about how stupid of an idea that was. i mean really, 10 miles in february, in maine? gross! fun fact: im not a fan of winter running.

i ran 10 miles with danielle just before christmas and it was quite possibly one of my worst runs ever. i was all "hey im making so much progress with my speed, come join me for 10 miles i promise i wont hold you back too much" to her. um, yeah, fail. i chalked it up to a bad run and moved on. christmas came and went and i logged minimal miles. plus i was dealing with a freakish sore hip...a little yoga took care of that but its set me back a bit. by the middle of january i had pretty much decided i wasn't going to run the mid winter classic. i hadn't run any thing over 5 miles in a long time and i honestly wasn't sure i could cover 10 miles at that point. last thing i wanted was to get to mile 8 and have to walk the rest of the way in the freezing cold.

however, planet fitness must have heard me trying to bail on the race and offered a membership i couldn't turn down. so i hit the gym. and hard. if you follow me on dailymile, you know that I have been busting out speed work and miles like its my job (really...i wish it was. anyone looking to hire a kinda slow runner who has lots of determination to get speedy?). ive pushed myself harder then i thought possible and in turn speed work has started to get easier. huh, who woulda thought that hard work would pay off. i've been feeling good about the work that im doing in the gym. while i wish it was outside on the track or on the roads, ill settle for the treadmill. its not as bad as i remember it being. i even managed to get in an 8 mile run a week before mid winter classic. ok fiiiiiiiiine. ill run the damn race. not becuase i want to and i think it will be fun but because its gonna make me better.

so i ran. i really wish i had stayed home and slept in....kinda. i know i would have regretted not running but still, it wasn't a pretty day. this wasn't a goal race and so my "coach" aka slave driver (read: my friend who knows a shit ton about marathons/running whos been pushing me to my limits and has a lot of faith in me that offered to help me out via text, free of charge) decided he'd see what my limits are. he wanted me to go out hard and see how long i could maintain an 8:30 pace. HA! it's no surprise that that i blew up. big time. its a hilly course and i was able to maintain an ok pace through mile 5 but after that i lost it. physically and mentally. my heart really wasn't in the race from the beginning but once i couldn't maintain a pace that should ,on any other day, have been easy for me i checked out mentally. i stopped and walked for a little bit and from that point on it was all over. (also to note. slave driver told me after the race that "i intentionally kicked your ass. i just wanted to turn it into a super hard workout that would beat you up and see what your current limits are") mission accomplished.

i was beyond frustrated. i know that this wasn't a goal race and i know that going out hard was going to impact my ability to hold a good pace but i haven't seen 10s on my garmin in a loooooong time. not being able to hold a sub 10 pace was hard on me mentally. i just feel like i had been kicking butt in the gym and doing so well that 9:20s should have been a walk in the park.

im chasing a sub 2 half and i was hoping to go for that at the begining of march but now im not so sure i have that in me quite yet... ugh. we'll see. monday after the race i got right back at it and did 5 recovery miles. tuesday my son was home sick and so i hit the gym at 4:30am with danielle for a good sweat fest. i missed my wednesday & thursday runs and now it's friday and i need to get back at it. i can't let one bad race knock me down.

i know that sundays race is in no way an indicator of where i am with my running right now. we tested my limits. learned a few things and i vote to never do that again. all i could think of for the last 5 miles was my husband and son waiting for me at the finish. when i finally saw them i heard ruddley say "it's mommy! gooo mommy!". i threw my handheld water bottle to him and grabbed ty from his arms and ran with him through the finish line. ty had the biggest grin on his face and that my friends made my day.

the finish line with ty!

18 months

I can't believe Ty is 18 months old. I wish I had thought of this idea sooner but oh well. I'm going to recap his growth every few months. I think it will be fun to go back and look at and see how he changes over the months/years.

Age: 18 months
Weight: 29.4 pounds
Height: 31 1/2 inches
Food: veggies ( its pretty normal for ty to eat 2 huge bowls of peas and carrots in one sitting), fruit of any kind, grilled cheese. at daycare he will eat meat (turkey, chicken, pastrami) ...at home, he feeds it to the dog. go figure
Words: everyday his constant babble sounds more and more like actual words. so far he has mastered mama, dada, stop (in a very whining and raised voice, awesome), up, and please (which sounds more like peeeezzz). There's a lot more that he is trying hard to say but hasn't quite mastered, like banana.
Toys: hes still a big fan of balls (soccer, baseball, football, tennis) he will even roll up the washcloth in the bath tub to the shape of a ball and then throw it (ruddley is still has high hopes of him becoming a left handed pitcher) apparently at daycare he spends hours on the rocking horse and gets annoyed when any other kids stand next to him so they can have a turn.
Teeth: 12 with 4 more coming in
Sleep: YES! knock on wood but he sleeps a solid 12 hours a night. he normally goes to bed between 7-7:30 and if we don't have to get up or anything in the morning he will sleep until 8.
Favorite Song: he enjoys listening to his suzuki cello cds as well as the little mermaid cd i play for him now and then (hes going to kill me when he finds out i made him listen to the little mermaid!) . he really loves any kind of music.
Favorite Book: he likes his First 100 Words book along with his First Colors book. he likes to hold his own  book now while we read a different one to him.
Favorite Game: soccer
Bad Habbits: hitting....mom and dad....and then laughing about it.
Potty Trained: HA! i could only wish
Friends: just the ones i make him play with and the kids at daycare
Favorite memory of the last month: just watching him start to learn and discover new things. he has become so independent over the last month and even though it's a pain sometimes, i love watching him do things for himself. of course having him come running to me and give me a hug when i walk in the door after being gone for a run is pretty cool.

she gave me crap for not giving her credit for these photos

a slice of heaven!

i've never blogged about my kitchen creations. there is one reason for that. i cant cook...or bake. well, scratch that, i make a killer mac and cheese and one specific chicken dish (which i have lost the recipe for. humph). other then that, i avoid cooking. my husband is an amazing cook and so i don't mind leaving most of it to him. he can whip up an kick butt meal pretty quickly with the most random ingredients. i on the other hand need hours to prep my dinners. today however, i am blogging about my amazing kitchen goodness.

back story:
my husband rides to work (35 minutes) with one of his co workers that lives down the road. it saves on gas, time, yadda yadda... the last few weeks he has been starting my car before ty and i leave so that its nice and toasty when we head out in the morning (insert collective "awww how sweet"). well this morning he had to get a few things out of my car before he left so i gave him the keys. when he came in we started talking about something and next thing he knew his ride was here. so off he went.

ty and i continued to get ready and 15 minutes or so later we left. only, not really. i went out and saw that my car hadn't been started so i looked around for the keys inside. nope. no keys to be found. i called ruddley and asked where he put them to which i heard "ohhhhhh f*&k" come from the other end of the phone. yup, he left for work with my keys in his pocket. it wouldn't have been such a big deal except they were on the interstate and the next exit wasn't for another 10 miles which puts them about 30 minutes from our house. his ride kindly turned around and drove back so i could get to work.

i sent ruddley an email later on in the day and said i was thinking about making some stuffed strawberries i had seen on pinterest a few weeks ago. an hour or so later i had an email exchange with his co worker/ ride to work...

J: "Let's go with those cream cheese filled strawberries!!!!"

Me: "I owe you big time too. I'll make some tonight"

J: "Your husband owes me big time!!"

Me: "Which means tonight will go something like this. 'Hey sarah, can you make some of those strawberry things tonight so i can pay back Jeff for driving me home since I screwed up this morning' "

J: "That's too funny Sarah"

oh crap...now im committed to making those damn things. sigh. 

they seriously were the easiest thing to make ever and oh so good! i got the idea from natalie's  blog.

i'm waiting to add the graham cracker topping until the morning. figured it would get soggy. so here's the deal on how to make these gems. the only thing i would do next time is drizzle chocolate over them...or maybe dip them in chocolate if i was really brave.

Ingredients:
-1 lb large strawberries
-8 oz. cream cheese, softened (can use 1/3 less fat)
-3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, if necessary (some may already be hollow inside). Prep all strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill strawberries with cheesecake mixture. Once strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, refrigerate until serving.


ENJOY!

more then just a runner

The idea for this blog started a few years ago as I was knocking out some miles on the treadmill at the gym. We all know how painfully boring that can be and how we think of all kinds of crazy ideas. This blog was one of them. I was training, and say that loosely, more like running x miles when the schedule told me to, for my very first half marathon. There was no tempo, no track, no LSD runs... I just ran miles. I wanted a place to record my training and my running and my thoughts on said training and running. I had no idea how big the blogging world was at that point. I mean, yea I had read a few running blogs but really had no idea. 

As I got into it, I started following and reading more blogs, all running related. My focus on this blog up until now has been running with a few random posts thrown in here and there. I've learned alot about running over the last few years. I've learned a lot of "unspoken rules" in the running world, followed people's training plans that have led to an amazing PR. I've read about how every runner has their bad runs and how to recover from that. However, the name of my blog is not "Tales of a Runner". Yea, there's more to me then just a runner. This blog is supposed to be about one mom's adventure in running. So, I've got the running part down around here but I'm missing out on the mom part. While I love running, I'm really quite ok with skipping my run on any given day to spend more time with my family (unless I'm training for something big....like, oh, say my first marathon! yikes!). 

From awesome blog #1 

When I had Ty I started a separate blog for him. I wasn't sure I wanted to connect my two worlds. I've been a bad mommy blogger and I haven't posted anything on his blog in a long time. I know I'm going to regret this down the road when I wonder at what age he started walking, or when he reached other various milestones. It's just that maintaining two different blogs takes a lot of time. I'm hoping it will be different when I combine them all onto one. I've been thinking about this for some time now but the real push came when browsing around on my new love, pinterest. I came across all kinds of crazy mommy DIY blogs. Seriously, how can you not fall in love with blogs that teach you how to make this... 

I'm already planning these for Ty's July birthday! I'm also thinking I'm gonna tell ask Ruddley oh so nicely to paint this for T when he grows out of his current infant decorated room...

Stolen from here

Ohhh and of course I want to make these for the kids at daycare next month...

Amazing DIY mommy blog

Ohhhhh pinterest you are sooo amazing! Now that Ty is getting older we can do more fun things for/with him. It may sound weird but I'm really starting to feel like a mom now. I mean, I know I have been one for the last 18 months but now he's at the age where we can do things with other kids and he actually runs off and plays. In fact, he has his first real play date this afternoon. I'm in no way a crafty person, but for my kid? I think I'll try. So if you read this because you like reading about my running (which I highly doubt cause it's nothing special) then you're gonna have to get used to a few "isn't my kid so cute" posts in the near future. I promise you'll love them :) 

Streak 100

When I got my tattoo, I became a lifetime member of Crow Athletics (getting a crow inked on your body gets you far in the running world!). At the end of December I got an email from them about Streak-100. Crow was offering members of the club a chance to participate in a friendly competition. Here are the rules...

STREAK-100 Decree: 
1. There is no entry fee to take on the STREAK-100 challenge.
2. The STREAK-100 will start at midnight on January 1st and conclude at 11:59PM on April 9th.
3. Official participants must be members of Crow Athletics in good standing during the entire 100 days of the challenge. (Thru April 9th.) 

STEAK-100 Scoring: 
"Honesty is the best policy." Please be honest about your daily running.
1. Official participants must run or walk one mile every day starting on January 1st and finishing on April 9th.
2. Participants may join the STREAK-100 after January 1, 2012 ONLY if they have run every day since January 1st.
3. All participants who complete the STREAK-100 will receive an award. Additional awards will go to the top male and female competitors with the highest mileage.
4. After the completion of the STREAK-100, competitors will be contacted by email. Please be honest. Competitors are encouraged to keep track of their mileage, but are not required to. (Note: Only participants who track their mileage will be eligible for mileage awards.)


I'm not a big sucker for running streaks as I'm a huge fan and believer in rest days. I'm not saying that running streaks are bad or people that do them are not smart runners but my body NEEDS time off and I like to respect that. However, when I saw that you can run OR walk I decided that I could probably do that and it's only for 100 days. So even on my rest days, I could get out and at least walk a mile. Then when I saw there were awards for everyone that completed the challenge I was totally in. I love free things :) I'm not going to attempt to have the highest mileage because I know some of the people running are big time runners and there is no way I could keep up with them and not get injured. This will be a nice way to keep me going for the rest of the winter though.

So I'm 2 days in. On the first day I ran.... one whole mile! Hey, it counts. Today I ran 5 miles which turned into the biggest pacing fail EVER! 9:06, 8:23, 8:44, 10:30 and 9:53. oooooops! I should add that I hit some serious wind on my way home.... but yea, that's no excuse. Sigh, lesson learned. I'd rather learn it now and not in the middle of a race.  I felt pretty good during those first 3 miles and I kept thinking what if I had a sub 8 average for 5 miles! I will be so happy!. I should know by now that every time I think something crazy like that I always end up crashing.

We'll see if I can make it until April 9.

Do you have a running streak?