The race I won!

So I was going to be finished racing for a while...at least a month or so...but I decided to try and get my wonderful boyfriend to run a race with me instead. He told me that he didn't want to race and that I should just sign up instead. So of course I did because I am incapable of saying no to a race. Anyway that is how I came to be in the little known town of Blaine, WA. The name of this race was The Birch Bay Road Race. It was a pretty simple race, flat with the exception of a hill the beginning and end of the race. I was feeling pretty good about this race because there weren't too many people there and I started off with a pace group that was just right for me.

This picture was taken as the race started. From here we made a left at the bottom of the hill and then did an out and back that took up the majority of the race.

Travis and Bryce were waiting for me on my way back and were able to get some photos. They also took some good scenery photos as well...

By the time that I had finished getting up the hill and had the finishing line in sight I was EXHAUSTED! I definitely need some practice on hills! I pushed on though and made it to the finish line in 25 minutes, 1 second.

I was very, very tired but I had beaten my personal best so it was definitely worth it!

We had to wait a long time for the race results so we wandered around and wished that there was somewhere more comfortable to wait.

When they finally were ready to announce the winners we were ready and waiting. It took a while for them to get to my age group winners because there was some pretty serious disorganization going on with the paper work! Finally they said that the first place female age 25-29 was ME! I couldn't have been more excited!

What a great day this was!! I'm pretty sure that this race will definitely be on my annual race list!

Shamrock Run

Since I enjoyed my first 5k so much and I missed my wonderful best friend I decided to take a long drive down to Oregon for the Shamrock Run. The drive is long but we are starting to get used to it...although we still get excited when we see the space needle and of have to take pictures of the big buildings as we go through...I think that's just the small town in us.

When we finally got to Ashlyn's she modelled her new vacuum for us...it was pretty fantastic :)

Karaoke was a big hit with Bryce

Unfortunately time went by very quickly and before we knew it it was bright and early race day morning. It was very,very cold. Trav's coffee did an ok job of keeping me a little warmer.

A little stretching and I was ready to go!

A quick picture first...

While I was off running Travis did a wonderful job of taking pictures of the crowd. There were about 21,000 runners that day and many, many spectators! It was an amazing sight!

My little man was watching and waiting for me to make it to the finish line!

I was pretty excited to make it to the finish line!

I missed the start of the 15k but got a picture of Ashlyn finishing it!!

A little silliness...

Picture time after the races were finished...

My Travers and I waiting to hear the race results.

Ashlyn and I had green fingernails since it was the shamrock run and all...

Playing around at the finish line

There was still a long drive back home that day so good-bye for now was inevitable.

La Conner Smelt Run 2010

My first 5k was the Smelt Run in La Conner on February 28, 2010. I was VERY excited to do this race and felt like I was ready for it. My little family was there along with my boyfriend's sister who was nice enough to come and support me on my big race day!

 After a little warming up I was ready to start the race.

I wasn't sure of where I should be at the beginning of the race so unfortunately I started at the very back of the large group of runners...

I was able to make my way through the runners though dodging and weaving, not to mention utilizing a sidewalk or two.

I made it through the first mile without any trouble at all and I was very excited to see my own little cheering section waiting for me. After a quick high five from my little man I began to tackle mile two.

At the end of mile two I got another high five but was much more tired at this point. 

I was VERY tired at the end of the race and there was nothing more inviting than the cones leading to the finish line! I was about to finish my first race!!

I was very happy to finish my first race!

 

After the race I impatiently waited to find out how I had done...Bryce enjoyed the food that was out for the runners :)

After patiently waiting I found out that I had come in 4th in my age group...

I was just happy to finish this race and coming in 4th was not discouraging...there is always next year.

And Then There Was Running

I was a smoker for a long, long, long time. During this time I thought that running was a horrible, painful experience that left you sore and feeling like you caught a cold for days afterward. What I didn't realize was that it was the smoking and lack of stretching and hydration that was causing it to be such a negative experience. If you had told me that one day I would be excited to go out and run I would have told you that you were crazy. You would have been right though. 8 months ago I quit smoking. One month later I went for my very first run as a non-smoker. I was really just toying with the idea and didn't really think that I would enjoy it. I was wrong, I enjoyed it much more than I could have imagined. I ran only one mile that day but it was my most important mile. It was the mile that started a whole new addiction for me. I felt wonderful afterward and couldn't wait to go out and run again. I was reminded what running had felt like when I was a child, how simple and satisfying it was just to run. That mile feels like a long time ago now and there have been many, many more since then but I still think that that first mile was the most important mile I have ever or will ever run.