An unexpected surprise.

To my surprise, I placed! WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER (well close enough).

Mark and I didn't wait around after my race ( being my first race, we assumed that I would have never placed) haha I did see on the screen my name and the "category" under it saying 3, but Mark said it was probably the category I'm in. Next time we know when we see a number under it, we know that is where I stand.

This just totally made me day, week YEAR! Haha This is going down in the books.

TODAY IS THE DAY!!! Here's to my 1st 5k.

Did awesome for not realizing what a "Trail 5K was" or what that entailed.

1 min before the race Mark, my husband, yells at me while I'm standing at the starting line "Ummm, be prepared for this,  I don't think you realized these were trails." and I yell back, "What??!!" and then I hear the horn go off.... And off I went lol

My heart was beating so fast. I wasn't nervous up until he said that, and all kinds of thoughts were running through my head. Will, I even be able to finish this? What happens if I can't? Wait, a trail? 

We first ran on pavement, then got on our trail which was grass. As I first hit that 1/4 mile, I see the hill up ahead, I thought "Oh MY GOSH, what did I get myself into??!!" I didn't realize, there were hills we had to climb and go down, grass, pavement, and dirt.

Below are screenshots of the trail and my stats

I was making good time for awhile and kept a really good pace. I had 2miles in 20mins. Then that last mile and the few hills I had to climb killed me. Did everything in 35:10

RESULTS

I think I did pretty well and somewhat kept a decent pace for my first race. Had I known it was a "trail" and hills, I would have trained for it!! Ugh... Oh well. Lol I'm proud of myself and Katie. When's the next race??? ; )

2 days until....

So today is the last day to prep for my race Saturday. The weather was incredible at 79degrees and the breeze felt wonderful as it ran through my hair during my run. I couldn't have asked for better weather. I decided to take photos of the park. It's 1 whole mile around. It has mile markers for when you hit 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and your mile. It makes for an easy run. It's just me, my ipod and this beautiful track.

YIPPEE!! I DID IT! I was shooting for 30mins or under. I knew if I went slower my first lap and hit 10 mins each mile, that I would meet my goal. Stats are above. Also shown, are how many minutes I ran each mile. 3.02miles in 30:47.

Midweek

As I've mentioned in previous posts, the app I use to train with is called Runtastic. I have been using this for over a year now, but recently used it more frequently during my training for this upcoming race. I have the app downloaded on my iphone. Initially, I downloaded the lite version, but it only allows you to do so much up to a certain point and then some of the features are taken away and aren't available for use until you purchase the "pro" version. I loved how my results had improved with just the lite version and knew that I had to upgrade. After my upgrade, I was seeing impressive results quickly as more features such as voice feedback during my workout, live tracking, ipod intergration, and interval training etc was enabled with the pro version.

"Runtastic focus' on gathering and managing sports data in order to motivate people to do sports and to link like-minded people. No matter if you run, cycle, walk, ski or do any other sport – runtastic makes these activities more exciting for you – because after all, sports are supposed to be fun" http://www.runtastic.com/en

On my early blogs, I have shown you my results that were screenshot from the app itself. The picture below is a screenshot my stats from the ipad on the Runtastic's website of my run today.

3.02 miles in 32:43. Not too bad today. Making progress.

I am just 2mins shy from reaching my goal of 3 miles at 30 mins. In order to do that, I bought this watch to help me. 

Snacktime

I have completely changed my entire diet this past month. I eat more sensible meals now, but the meals aren't the problem, it's the snacks that always get me! I have a weakness for chips and dip, sneaking in some cookies here and there and basically anything sweet, I have a hard time turning down. With the nice warm weather we've been having here in Texas, I crave fresh fruit and vegetables. Around this time I tend to eat more seafood, sandwiches, grilled veggies, and fruit salad etc. During my main meals, I always have a healthy snack. Here is a list of goodies that get me through my day:

1) ALMOND BUTTER- I just discovered almond butter! Where have you been all my life?!!!! I had always wanted to try it, but didn't want to buy a whole entire jar until I knew what it tasted like. Walmart had these sample packets and I instantly threw one in my cart. We bought a jar the next week and my dear husband says, "$8.00?? This better have some gold in it or something??!" FYI: It's not your average $4.00 peanut butter. LOL

2) CINNAMON APPLE CHIPS- As these say on the package they are bake-dried. It has the crispness of a chip, but just as fresh as an apple. I'm not a big apple fan, so if I'm going to eat them, this is an easy and tasty alternative.

3) MANGOS-I eat several fruits throughout the week. I eat grapes, strawberries, oranges, pineapples and one of my absolute favorites: mangos. Being from the Philippines, I have ate these my whole life. There are several types of mangos, but pictured below are Ataulfo Mangos. They are in my opinion the best. They have a very sweet, delicious and fragrantly citrus taste. Packed with lots of vitamin C and other nutrients.

4) TRAIL MIX- Of course there are several trail mixes out there and occassionally I like to make my own, but I picked this particular one up at our local natural grocery store. Gourmet Nut makes a variety to your liking: http://www.gourmetnut.com/. They have fiber, boosting antioxidant, high energy, but I prefer the Health Mix.

This trail mix is packed with a combination of soybeans (my fave), raisins, cranberries, shelled pumpkin seeds, and almonds. It provides protein, iron, fiber and essential vitamins. ALL NATURAL, no preservatives and cholesterol/trans fat free.

It's time to get down to business !!!!!

Here we are are.... Just a few days until my VERY FIRST race and I've gotta get crackin'!

Today I ran 2.03miles today in 21m 22s.

Avg. Speed 5.69mph

Max Speed 9.60 mph

Happy Easter Sunday!

"Having a place to go - is a home. Having someone to love - is a family. Having both - is a blessing"-Donna Hedges

Family is the most precious gift. Living a an Army life, you don't always get to choose where you live. Home is wherever the Army sends you. In the past 5 years of being married my husband and I have lived in Maryland, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. While we my husband was at his advancement/leadership course in Virginia, he was able to create a "wishlist" on places he wanted his next duty station to be. Our top 3 choices were 1) Hawaii 2) Texas and 3) Germany. We are now currently living in Texas. Over the past few years of being away from family, it was definitely a blessing that we got stationed close to home. We had been home sick for several years and now we are able to spend holidays together more than ever. The last time we had went home was back in January and we couldn't wait for this Easter weekend. We had a blast with the family. We colored eggs with the kids, went Easter Sunday service and then after came home and did our annual family easter egg hunt.

I decided to sacrifice my run and spend time with the family. My family means everything to me and they always come first.