Saturday: Got up and left Norah with my mom and Denny and headed to Atlanta. I went straight to the expo at the Georgia Dome and picked up my packet. The expo was the largest I have been to but I zoomed in, got my packet and zoomed out. I headed to meet Meredyth and Tony so he could head to lunch. After lunch, Meredyth and Tony gave me a bottle of wine for a belated birthday that has "Fritz" on the label. How sweet is that?! Fritz was my sweet dog that passed away last year. It is so cool as there is a Fritz Winery. Can't wait to have a sip...maybe tonight? :)
Then Meredyth and I left Tony and went shopping. I had to get another book for school, "Speak." It is supposed to be good and I have to read it in the next few days. I think there is even a movie made from it that stars Kristen Stewart in her younger years...
Then we hit up the mall and snagged some good deals. Next up...Lara came in town and we headed to dinner with just the girls (Tony had a family party to attend.) We went to Zucca Pizza in Smyrna and it was great!
Meredyth, Lara and meSo after dinner, we hit up Starbucks and then headed home. We headed to bed as we had a 4:45 am wake up call!
Sunday: Race day. We were up at 4:45 am and left the house at 5:45 am. I ate a half a bagel with a little Justin's Chocolate Almond butter on it and a little coffee. Since Tony works for Coke we parked at his building downtown and it was a perfect spot for the race! Next we hit up what they call the "happy cans" and that is when I spotted Kristy (so fun to recognize someone you read about!) Next up we headed to our corral. Now those of you unfamiliar with this race...it is hilly...really hilly!
Since I had been sick earlier in the week, not worked out since Tuesday, in general a little burned out and not really used to a lot of hills...I knew going in that I would be walk/running it. The weather was perfect! It was overcast and 60s the whole time. I thought the course was great and loved the route we ran...we even passed some bars in the Highlands that I remembered going to when I lived there '99-'01. I took one packet of sports beans during the race (100 cal.) and drank on my water/nuun mix I had in my camelbak...the combo was the perfect fuel. I basically decided early on to walk up the hills and run the down hills and flat parts. I felt great the entire time except the bottom of my feet felt raw (I think from the hills.) I think there are definitely parts of the race I could have pushed harder but I just wanted to feel good at the end and I did...so I was happy with that!! Here are the splits:Mile 1: 11:37
Mile 2: 11:56
Mile 3: 13:02
Mile 4: 13:46
Mile 5: 12:24
Mile 6: 13:35
Mile 7: 13:37
Mile 8: 12:44
Mile 9: 13:31
Mile 10: 15:13
Mile 11: 14:38
Mile 12: 15:56
Mile 13: 15:30
.19 mile: 11:16
Final time 2:59
What is funny is that I walked the most ever of any of the ones I have done and I'm still in that 2:5X range. So the race was a lot of fun...even with the hills! I loved that I found the fuel that worked for me for this race and felt great the whole time! Meredyth and Lara rocked a 2:34 and Tony was a 1:55 finisher! I loved the whole weekend and if we sign up for the race tomorrow...it is just $35 for next year! After the race we showered up and headed to lunch at Muss & Turners in Smyrna...it was yummy! Then I hit the road back to my mom's. I was tired and only had the bottom of my feet being sore. Woke up today and Norah and I headed back to Charlotte! Today is about getting back to normal, laundry, family time, school work and just chillin' out. Also the dogs got their haircut today. I had them cut Darcy really short for the summer...check it out...
Before
After...he is so cute! (It is so hard to take a pic of the dogs) Finn got his usual style!
Before
After...he is so cute! (It is so hard to take a pic of the dogs) Finn got his usual style!So on the running front...I think I will hold off on any more half-marathons until the Fall. Instead I am going to try to work on speed, losing some pounds and concentrating on the school front. I hope to do a 5K at some point as it would be fun to see how fast I could go for just 3 miles and a 10K would be fun too. And now just a short time to get everything done before I leave for the beach on Wednesday!
A big thanks to Meredyth and Tony for the weekend in Atlanta! Thanks for being such great hosts...I can't wait to come back! And come to Charlotte any time! Also it was great to make a new friend, Lara! And thanks to my mom and Denny for watching Norah Saturday and Sunday. And lastly...thanks Jeff for getting some work done around the house while we were gone!
4 comments:
It was great to have you! Can't wait to do it next year, too!
Love the cartoon. Really captures the way I felt the whole second half of the race! Had a great time with you, and I am so proud of all of us!
Great Job! And negative split at the end! $35 is an awesome deal, did you sign up?
Way to go! I had some of Justin's nut butter on race morning, too. :) And the 2nd half was way hilly, but at least the weather was great!
KristyRuns.com
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