Alice is a Runner!

And You Thought It Was Hard to Walk and Chew Gum...

I have been SO hungry the past few days.  It was all I could do to shove a piece of gum into my mouth before this run, instead of eating the whole house!

It made for a hard to breath run, but I wanted the adventure.  It was a good run in good weather! 

Sucking Air the Whole Time...

For some reason, I kept huffing and puffing during this run.  I just couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time.  Then it hit me, two days in a row, I have gotten little sleep.  I guess getting a good night's rest makes  a difference on the run.  I better get to bed! 

I am sad that the nice weather will be leaving us for a few days again.  I remember that March and the beginnings of spring is like this, but I sometimes forget when it is really nice. 

 Good run.  I almost had to call the police mid-run because there was a man yelling at a lady below one of the bridges of the trail.  I stopped and listened for a few minutes and made sure he was not going to hit her and then moved on.  I do have to say that I thought about the situation for a few minutes and decided that I am very glad that I will never be in that sort of a situation.  I will choose the man I will be with for my life wisely.  The end.

 I am getting excited for the first 5k of the season that will be on Saturday.  I am hoping to blow my PR out of the water.   

I'm Gonna Wash that PR Right Out of My Hair!

This race was proof again that I can do ANYTHING.  I really didn't want to run as fast as I did the whole time, but I did.  I really didn't want to keep going, but I did.  I really didn't want to run ahead of my running buddy at the end, but I did.  And it all was awesome.  

Marion helped pace me and keep me motivated.  She was with me every step of the way, even if it was a bit uncomfortable for her lungs(her training has been a little bit back and forth thanks to recovering from trying to take on a car!).  She also coaxed me into running ahead of her the last .5 and kept yelling at me from behind.  She is one heck of a cool lady!  We were both kick butt steam engines today!!!

I did hit the PUKE ZONE the last half of the race.  Marion says that is the zone you should be running in during a 5k.  I also liked that she said: "Whether you are running fast, or running slow, you are going to hurt."  I guess it is always better to run faster then, right?  She also kept reminding me that I wasn't going to die!  I think she needs to write some sort of book about running races.  We could call it:  $#*! My Pacer Says.  What a guru!

The best part of this little race every year is the fact that many of my students help make it happen.  The JROTC at our school hosts the event, in a way.  Many of them run in a group, some with army boots on, carrying our school flag and chanting cadences.  Others help along the route to direct the runners and offer words of encouragement.  I really love when they see me out there and get excited.  The will hoot and cheer and tell me that they love me.  Those little moments make the hard moments from work disappear and again remind me of why I do what I do everyday!

Another part that was fun about the race today was running past people who stopped running.  It felt so good to know that I never stopped.  I also enjoyed running past one man in particular, who was very miffed that I passed him(because girls can't beat guys, right?).  He then started to run faster and overtook me again.  I had more steam and got ahead of him again and shortly after, he gave up! That was a good feeling.   

This was a great race on a great day!!!