My Virtual Run for Boston

Ever since high school, I have had this dream to run the Boston marathon. I'm not sure who gave me the idea, but I remember wanting to run THE Boston Marathon. I don't even think that I knew exactly how many miles were in a marathon! All I knew is that I wanted to run it.

Yesterday, a friend asked me if I was sure that I wanted to run it after the awful events that took place. My answer was simple.

YES!

When I woke up this morning, my Facebook feed was full of posts from running blogs about wearing a race shirt in honor of the victims in Boston. I put on my Color Run t-shirt. There was also an event for a virtual run called Runners United to Remember. I joined the event and knew that I would be running my scheduled four miles for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings.

I ran the four miles today in silence.

I prayed the entire time for the victims and their familes, for the FBI and police officers investigating the bombings, and for all the runners who were affected by this.

My heart is still saddened by all of this, but I know one thing for sure:

It won't stop me from reaching my goal of running the Boston Marathon someday.

I will get there.

After my run, I noticed that my "elbow pits" were especially sweaty today... so I had my husband take a quick picture! I always sweat from my elbow pits when I run! I guess I never realized how bad!

My Third Virtual 5K

I ran my third virtual 5K today! It was the second run in the 13 in 2013 Virtual Race Series, the St. Patrick's Day Virtual 5K. I started training for a half marathon a little over a week ago and my first long run was this past Saturday. 4 miles. I was planning on using that run towards this race, but that was a slower run. And it was very cold and windy that day. 

My friend Desiree and I weren't able to run this morning like we have been, so I decided this afternoon to run a 5K on my own to count for the St. Patrick's Day race! (Even though it's not St. Patties... oh well! I wore my GREEN Bay Packers hoodie to be festive!) The weather was a little chilly but GORGEOUS and I had enough time before my circuit training class! My goal was to finish in under 30 minutes. This was my first virtual run on the pavement and NOT on a treadmill!

I finished with a time of 28:10! I started off fast and I knew it right away! I was excited to be using my new Garmin! It is wonderful know my pace! I slowed down enough to get a nice pace going during mile 2. I kept it there! I had some pretty tough hills during my run, but I powered through them and finished strong! 

I hope that I can finish some of the 5K's that I've signed up for with a time this good! I don't think it's fast enough to place high, but it's fast enough for me! I was very tired by the end of this run, so hopefully with some more training, I can get a little faster!

Registration for the Dam to Dam opens tomorrow! I will be registering as soon as I possibly can to ensure that I get in in time (there are only 8,000 spots and they fill up fast!)! Considering it's the reason that I've been training! It will be held on my one year anniversary for my lifestyle change! What an awesome way to celebrate! I'm going to be running a 20K! Woo hoo!