First 5K for my girls!

Well it's been awhile since I've posted but I've been working like a fiend on my first great American novel, so blogging has taken a back seat. Besides, with the marathon over, though I'm still running I've shifted my focus more to my teaching. I've taken on almost 10 classes a week, teaching yoga and pilates, and I'm happy finding my with that. When I decided to do the marathon, a big part of it was because I felt so empty and unmotivated in my work, and I needed something to get me excited again. Now, every day I get to teach is exciting.

Anyhoo... I did have running news that I wanted to blog about. The Gasparilla distance classic is this weekend (!) and I'm signed up to run the half marathon with Adam on Sunday and the 5K with three of my former students from Baby Boot Camp on Saturday. I'm super excited for the 5K because this is the first race ever for two of them, and the other one has only run a small community 5K and has never been a part of a big road race before. I feel like a proud mama because it was me that motivated and encouraged them to do it, though they had never run before. I've watched these women evolve from new moms frustrated with their baby weight to healthy, active moms who are trained to run a 5K race. They're all so excited to run on Saturday, and we're even making plans to go to the fitness expo together on Friday. I remember the my first 5K-- this very same race 4 years ago-- and little did I know then how it would become so addicting to me and pave the way for the marathon I just completed. I love knowing that I've helped others get excited about running the same way I did. They're even bringing their families to watch them cross the finish line of their very first race! I'm so proud to be sharing in that moment with them.

As for me and Adam, we're still shooting to finish the half marathon in 2 hours or less on Sunday. I don't know if it'll happen for me or not. My training has been spotty on the time goals, I've run 6-7 at the needed race pace or faster, but I've struggled to keep it up for longer. My best training run has been a 9 miler at a 9:15 pace and a 12 miler at a 9:20 pace. Neither is good enough to make a 2 hour or less half marathon, but I'm hoping race day excitement and motivation will help propel me along. I decided NOT to wear the GPS watch... I've found obsessing about the time is putting a damper on my running and I really just want to enjoy this race, especially since it will likely be my last half marathon until the fall (or later, if we decide to get pregnant again over the summer!) I want to focus only on running a good race and if it happens in 2 hours or less, that's all the better.