I missed you! (Oh, and I did a race while I was gone!)

Hello!!  I missed you! 

I’m so sorry for the 6 day absence.  It all started with an email late Thursday afternoon from boyfriend:

“Ummm… your computer had a blue screen so I turned it off and now it won’t turn back on…”

wamp wamp.  Bye bye Dell!

So…. I did my due diligence and shopped around for the best price and value and I ended up with a shiny new Toshiba laptop.  Say hi!

 Anyway, I most certainly did not intend on taking such a long break from my favorite hobby, but at least I was able to enjoy some of my other favorite hobbies in the meantime.  Running and eating!

My friends and I got together on Saturday morning for a local 10K.   And as you may have read somewhere else on this blog, I’ve never actually raced a 10K before.  So it was a perfect opportunity to knock out another race and do something fun with friends all the same.

So, I got up early on Saturday,

Put my hair into a cute little braid…

Practiced my lefts and rights

And ran as fast as I could for 6.2 miles!

I managed to PR the race (well, in the effort of full disclosure, I would have PRed anything because I haven’t raced a 10K before but…) at  53:50.  Yay!  My goal was under 55 minutes so I’m glad I finished it under my goal.  The course was awesome and flat but unfortunately, the back half of the race got hot with very little shade, and it started to remind me of the Survivor Harbor 7 from back in June… ugghghghhghg… So, I had to finish quickly because I had a mimosa waiting for me!

But in all seriousness, I was so glad to do this with a bunch of friends  because it just makes it so much more fun!  These ladies are some of my favorite running and gym buddies.  The one on the right has made a cameo before…. she’s the one who talked me into running a marathon next March!   She led the pack with a sub-50 10K.  So impressive!!

Boyfriend didn’t want any part of my sweaty grossness though. He really didn’t want to be touching me in this picture.  But he’s a great spectator… taking pictures at all the right times and holding our stuff… I don’t know where I’d be without him! 

  Anywhoo, off to brunch we went!  I got a crabmeat, sausage frittata!  It was delicious!  [They had me at crabmeat.]

And that mimosa I was talking about…!

Super fun Saturday morning on a cool hot early fall day.  Can’t go wrong.  =)

But there is something I want to talk about that’s more than mimosas and crabmeat [ed note: yes, there is more to life than mimosas and crabmeat.]   This race is one of the first races where I felt really good.  I mean really good.  I never prayed for death (all though I did pray for some agua between mile 3 and 4!)  I felt strong, I felt fast and I felt very confident in the race.  I could see some of my fellow athletes who were truly struggling and I had this A-Ha moment where the [CFL] lightbulb just went off! 

When you fuel your body well, and practice your sport, it gets easier. 

DUH!  #IamCaptainObvious

I guess I just always took nutrition for granted. I figured I could always just “out train” a poor diet.  I used to believe that if I just worked out more, I could eat more junk because I’ll just burn it off.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that’s not how it works!  Good fuel gets you going and proper hydration and nutrition sustains your energy.  Yup.  I’m learning. 

So it is something I’ll keep in my back pocket because now I know.  And knowing is half the battle. [G.I. Joe, 1985]

And the other half is using what you know.  [G.I. Chase, 2010]

HAPPY MONDAY!