Rock N Roll Chicago Recap

HERE WE ARE - at the finish line and with medals... and smiles ;)  

This race was more of a mental surprise than a physical one.  Not gonna lie... I was pretty scared at 4:30am on Sunday morning wondering when I might need to force myself to finish.  Happily I am here to report that I thoroughly enjoyed the race and was HAPPY up through mile 8.  After that I have to give some HUGE props to one of the race sponsors - XSport Fitness.  They had teams of 6-8 people at each mile all dressed up in rocker gear and extremely energetic to cheer us on!  Coming into mile 9 I was slowing down and doing some walking and the team was so fired up that it was contagious and got me through another mile.  PURE AWESOME!  Thank you XSport!  I am proud to say I am a happier member of your gym now!  

The wheels came off my bus totally just before mile 12.  We were in the Bears tailgating parking lot and I was dreaming of sitting on a chair and having a beer instead of trying to make my legs keep moving.  Pretty much every part hurt by then.  A total and complete stranger stopped and asked me my name... then proceeded to say her name was Sue and she was going to help me breathe in strength and exhale fatique for the next 10-15 minutes.  WOW.  Truly took my mind off how bad my feet wanted to cramp... my knees felt like they had been hit by a baseball bat... and I was soaking wet as it had started to rain.  Sue - if anyone knows you - YOU ARE MY ANGEL!

So with all that drama I crossed the finish line at 2:30.  I made it out there!  Which is more than Bret Michaels :( who cancelled his appearance last minute.  LOL... And 10 minutes off what I have done in my last two.  I was thrilled that I had that finish and reminded myself once again - when the heck am I going to start take training for these things more seriously!  Rock N Roll Vegas is December 4th... I do have a chance to redeem myself....

But on to the more fun part of the recap is my amazing shopping finds at the Expo!  I show case them here in my vlog and I must say I have not taken off these new Zoot shoes in 4 days - AMAZING!!  I mean a girl has to have a reason to run 13.1 miles... I can't think of a better one that some cute new finds ;)

Big Hairy Goals... one step at a time

What a great way to end the first year of running with my son at the finish line asking if he could see my medal and saying he was proud I ran that long.  I think the biggest thing that I realized after having another 13.1 in the books had nothing to do with my finish time or being in shape.... It had to do with being an example of possibility to him.  He mentioned watching the youngest runner of the half (12) cross the finish line “well before you mom so maybe I can beat you someday”.  :)   

Today I am working on putting myself back together again with a massage and chiro adjustment and plenty of sleep!  I went to bed at 9pm last night and finally feel like I can bend my knees again.  (Note to self:  start taking my fish oils again for joints)  I took the day off activity but am trying to walk quite a bit today because I am getting stiff when I sit in front of the computer too long.

Today also marks a big day - Day 1 of the Paleo Challenge!  My goal is to give a try.  I am nervous, scared and kinda just feeling lazy at the work I think it is going to take to go Paleo for 6 weeks.  FUNNY but that is exactly how I felt a year ago when I tried to run my first mile and realized I was going to need to do 13 in August ;)  Yeah sure I would love to see if I actually have some abs under my beer layer but I think the bigger reason I am doing the challenge is to have focus.  I am the type that loves the competition or end date of an event.  I have been threatening to learn push ups since Raechelle was killing 50 at a time.  Meanwhile, I think I am 7 and stuck there.  You get what you focus on so I am on my way to 100 (even if they are assisted!)  I think push ups are empowering as a woman and they make me feel strong.  In the scheme of things, 6 weeks isn’t long and per my vlog, I will never know if I don’t try if I can do the diet or the push ups.....

So here we go!!  Will post mid week on what I am missing and what I love about the new approach.  So far... I miss SUGAR in my coffee!!! ;)