One Race Down!

The first race I wanted to complete on my journey to Vegas is all done! I finished the Guts and Glory 5K down in Ocean City, NJ. I also didn't think I'd get all competitive and hung up on my pace times or anything, but I was happy to see I finished with my best pace time since starting.

It was a fun event, my husband came down and everything; and even brought the dogs. In fact, he stopped at a spot on the route and took pictures and then met me at the finish line. So I stopped and got Cricket for the last 3/4 mile and he finished with me. My buddy. But we also had to stop for him to poop along the way. Don't worry, I picked it up and carried it with me until I found a trash barrel!

Of course once we finished, people were fawning all over both Charlie and Cricket. They are, in fact, the most adorable dogs in the entire world.

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

I started the race about 10 minutes late-- I had to wait in line for the bathroom (a long bathroom line at a CCFA event? Go figure!) and then run back to the car to take my outer clothes off and get my headphones. So I started the race and got stuck behind a ton of walkers for a while.But for the most part, I felt really good until about the 2 mile mark, that's when I took a long walk break. But once I saw my husband again, I stopped and picked up my Cricket and then we were off at a good pace... until he had to poop. So that was another stop. I estimate my time would have been about 5 minutes better without the stops.

One thing I learned for this race is that I definitely need to get a water bottle to carry with me. One that attaches to my hand or arm or something.

The second thing I learned from both runs this weekend (I did 2.5 miles with Team Challenge Philly on Saturday), is that I need to strengthen my abs. I'm just really nervous because I still feel twinges and am worried about incisions from my surgeries. I haven't started yoga back up, maybe that will help. I feel like I need something more, I'm just afraid.

Since my last post on Thursday, I've run another 7.5 miles.

Total mileage: 18.5 miles
Fundraising: 71% to my goal (still! I need to pick up my game here!)