Nashville Half-Marathon

Last weekend I completed my first half-marathon. Rain, thunder, lightning, and the threat of tornadoes could not stop me from finishing those 13.1 miles. Between mile 10 and 11, I was forced to seek shelter in a warehouse along the course. After waiting fifteen minutes, a medical official said the weather was not going to improve and we could finish the race at our own risk. I only had 2.6 miles to go so I high tailed it out of that warehouse.

I steadily increased my pace...pumping my arms to make me go faster. I had the finish line in my mind and nothing was going to stop me now. My mentor, Tish, met me near mile 12 and walked with me until we saw my coach Paul. Paul walked with me for a short distance, explaining the route to the finish line. At this point the finish line was in sight.

Soaking wet, with sore shins, I crossed the finish line in 3 hours 46 minutes and 18 seconds. Had I not been pulled from the course I would have finished in the time I had predicted when I registered for the half marathon, 3:30.0. But I cannot control Mother Nature!

The best part of the race...I HAD ABSOLUTELY NO KNEE PAIN!!!

Here are some of the highlights of my race weekend:

With 3 weeks remaining on my fundraising campaign, I am $700 away from my personal goal of $3900! The deadline is May 17th. If you have not donated yet PLEASE visit my fundraising site and make a donation today! Thank you so much!

Test!

I want to be on your blog!

My eight year old niece, Alexis, wanted to be on my blog after I showed her what I was doing with the Bunny Chase photos. I told her that it was a running blog so I needed to post photos of her running. Well that was no problem for her; she even recruited her younger sister, Gianna, to join the fun.

Easter Weekend

My weekend started bright and early Saturday morning with setting up for the 2nd Annual Bunny Chase 5K and Family Fun Festival. I arrived at Medal of Honor Park at 6:30am and began setting up the face painting booth.

Race participants started arriving not long after we began setting up. The Easter Bunny appeared and really had a great time entertaining the children and racers.



I was not able to complete my long workout with my TEAM this weekend because they ran on Friday, the day of my high school's prom. So I completed my long workout this morning while everyone was just getting up and getting ready for the Easter celebrations. The mileage this weekend was 8 miles and I was able to walk the entire distance in 2.5 hours, with minimal knee pain. I am not sure when I'll be able to run again. I will be starting week 3 of physical therapy tomorrow. It is definitely working because my knee pain is diminishing slowly.

Azalea Trail Run

Today was the Azalea Trail Run in Mobile, Alabama. I have heard about this run since I moved here in 2007. So this year I signed up to be a runner. However, with my knee pain during this month I was just hoping that I could walk the entire 6.2 miles. Well I accomplished my goal and made a new friend in the process. Her name is Melissa and she completed the Nike Women's Marathon last October in San Francisco. I want to participate in that one too. I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO!!!

Anyway, she walked the entire marathon. So there is hope if my knee will not allow me to run...I can walk my marathon. My main objective is finish the entire marathon. I am a runner not a racer, so time is not a factor. When I participated in the 100 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe, my goal was to finish. I finished...12 hours later...but I rode my bike 100 miles and finished strong!

So I am still optimistic about San Diego and I will get to test my strength in a few weeks at the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville.

Azaleas In Bloom

The azaleas are in bloom, just in time for the Azalea Trail Run. Today I helped out in the Team In Training booth at the Expo.



The bunny ears were to help promote the Bunny Chase 5K and Family Fun Fest that will be held next Saturday at Cottage Hill Park.



This year's t-shirt design!