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Saturday we went to Dunedin and found a great place right off the Causeway to put our skis in the water and park our trailer. We saw dolphins in the channel and the beach was full of pretty shells and broken coral. It was a beautiful day!

Sunday we headed to International Plaza in Tampa and ate lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

They secretly went to Tiffany’s (I think a few weeks ago) and got this. The script matches my necklace.

Another weekend of pure joy and laughter. I am so blessed to be their mom and even more blessed to have a wonderful husband/stepdad who loves my boys as much as I do.

I hope all my mom friends had a wonderful weekend!

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My friend Mica and myself standing by the pace car that was provided by my hubby and his dealership.

Although this course is flat, the weather conditions (hot with headwind) and no shade, can really cause havoc for a runner. You see, this course runs the main road along Pensacola Beach, through an area with beach homes, past Portifino Resort, turn around, through a neighborhood on the sound side then back on the main road to finish in the parking lot of Flounder’s Restaurant.

I have to admit, the zigzagging in the neighborhood was not very fun. I was ready to get out on the straight away. So I thought. Once we got out of the neighborhood, the misery began. The heat started to be a big factor, along with the headwind. At mile 6, I was ready to throw up. I have never felt like that on a run, EVER! But I wasn’t the only one, so that made me feel a little bit better. It was shortly after that I saw my sweet hubby coming towards us in the pace car. He took this picture.

So we were on the straight away, headed to the turn around point. We had a serious headwind and I was really looking forward to turning around. Well, so I thought. We did the turn around in a parking lot and there was definitely no wind, just the heat bearing down on us. I think I would have preferred some wind! I did feel a little better until about mile 9. I started to feel like I had to throw up again and honestly, at this point, I was even looking for an out. I was telling myself, it’s ok to just stop, it’s ok. That, my friends, was that “devil” talking to me. I kept hearing his ugly voice but something deeper inside said “No, I’m not gonna quit even if it kills me”! I did decide to walk through two water stops, which I never do. I think with that and my friend Mica running with me, telling me to keep going, I was able to dig deeper than I ever have before and finish with a 3 minute PR from my last half, which was in November 2012.

That was a smile of pain and relief!

We stayed around for the awards because my husband, on behalf of his dealership, donated a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses to both the male and female winner of the largest age group, which ended up being 30-34. My hubby started out being my biggest supporter by showing up to the races and taking pictures of me and my friends. Now he is getting more involved with the running community which I love!

My hubby and female winner, Rebecca, of Costa Del Mar prize pack.

We finally got home around 11ish and I immediately slipped on my 110 Compression Juggler Knickers.

I’m not sure I want to endure that race again, because of the conditions. I would much rather volunteer. Oh, maybe I can ride in the pace car with my hubby next year!

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I drove to Mobile, AL with three other Phat Girlz and ran the Azalea Trail Run 10k. Apparently this is a very popular race because this was the 36th annual, it’s flat and fast and there were almost 6, 000 runners this year for the fun run, 5k and 10k. There were a lot of runners dressed as superheros to support the Superhero Foundation of Mobile and St. Mary’s Home for children.

We were there about an hour early to pick up our packets and plus I had no idea where I was going. It ended up being super easy getting in and parking.

We found the Running Wild Fairhope booth and a Running Wild Cheetah, who ended up winning Masters. Way to go Shannon!

Shannon, Katie, Me, Tina and Kay

Right before we lined up to start we had to show the Newton Running love!

So we took several bathroom trips, which is unusual for me, but I was very nervous for some reason. It was cool outside and I was sweating buckets. I was ready to get it done. We didn’t line up at the very front because we were worried we would get ran over, well guess what, we should have. We were dodging folks for the first half mile. There is a reason corral starts are more efficient and now I see why. Even though it was cool when we started, it didn’t take long, probably 40 minutes and the heat and humidity kicked in. Around 4.5 miles, I was not sure I could keep my pace. I came up behind an older gentleman (probably in his 70′s-80′s) and I thought his pace was close to mine, I would just stay behind him the rest of the way. I think he slowed just a tad and I had to pass. When I did, he looked at me and said “good job”. I told him “thanks, good job to you too”. He said, “this is my 31st time running and so happy I can”. I told him that was awesome! I believe he was my angel and his strength gave me strength and I picked it up a little. I finished with a PR, 50:55 and 8th out of 160 in my age group, 40-44.(which I’ve learned is a pretty competitive group) (My last 10k was May 5, 2012 and my time was 55:19)

I plan to do this race again next year. The course was good, spectators were good and very happy with my PR!

Do you travel for races or stay close to home?

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One year ago this month, I was selected to be on the Oiselle Racing Team. It has been the most amazing experience and I am very exciting to see what 2013 will bring! Oiselle Running Apparel is not only the most comfortable, versatile, and stylish running clothes but the women that run the company are beyond amazing!

The team is composed of almost 150 ladies spread throughout the U.S. I am so honored to be part of this amazing group that includes an elite athletes to athletes like myself. Every team member is supportive and caring, no matter what your level. It’s one of the most inspiring and encouraging groups I have ever been a part of.

In honor of my anniversary, I want to share the awesomeness of Oiselle with one of my lucky readers. The gals at HQ in Seattle has offered up a spike bag of goodies, like the one below.

What’s in it will be a surprise, even to me! Doesn’t that sound exciting?! So you know what to do!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Tuesday-Ran 6 miles

Wednesday-8×400 and ran 3.75 miles with training groups

Thursday-REST

Friday-Ran 5 miles (goal was to maintain close to 8 min pace)

Saturday-Ran 6 miles with training groups

Pretty good training week. I did not do a long run because of having a nutrition clinic for my training groups on Saturday. I will pick it back up with 11 miles this week. I will be doing it before Saturday because we will be picking up the boys and bringing them back to Pensacola for Spring Break!

I participated in the National Day of Unplugging from Friday night to Sunday morning. For me it was no social media, and it was a nice break. I think once a week is a great idea to disconnect and reconnect with yourself!

Here’s a little Monday Motivation:

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Yesterday, one of my fellow bloggers, Christine from love, life, surf, posted about National Day of Unplugging. This is a 24 hour period – running from sunset to sunset –  March 1st to March 2nd, to unplug and instead of being connected to your computer or phone, connect with people in your neighborhood or city. Have an uninterrupted conversation or meal. Read a book or go do something outdoors. The project is an outgrowth of an adaption of our ancestors’ ritual of carving out one day per week to unwind, unplug, relax, reflect, get outdoors, and connect with loved ones.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Is that odd or God?”? If you have been in the rooms of AA you have! Well, it’s usually God speaking and I’m always ready to listen. So I jumped to make the pledge to unplug. If I survive the 24 hours, I may start doing it once a week, just to reconnect with myself and my hubby. I’m not gonna lie, I do feel a little anxiety about it though and that’s just not healthy. I’ve done harder things, so I’m pretty sure I can do this! Oh, this is a disconnection from social media not necessarily phone calls or texts. It’s usually only my hubby or my boys that call or text me anyway. (Throwing my friends some hints)

Are you addicted to your phone, laptop, iPad? Could you unplug for 24 hours without having a panic attack?

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Monday-4 miles on trails, 4 miles with training group

Tuesday-5 miles of the 10k Bayou Hills Course (race is March 16th)

Wednesday-40 minute tempo run, about 2.5 miles with training group

Thursday-off

Friday-Kettle bell workout

Saturday-10 miles

Monday’s run on the trails was refreshing. I could tell that my legs really missed it because it’s just not so hard on them like road running. Trails are so invigorating to me! I love it! My training groups will race the Bayou Hills 5k/10k on March 16th and there are plenty of good hills on that course (hince the name, Bayou Hills). I will be running with my 10k group in this one, so this is not my race, it’s for them. I do have a 10k coming up on March 23rd that I have never done before and curious to see what I can do there. Then April 7th is the Gulf Coast Half, which is what I’m training for. I’ve started to incorporate specific speed workouts in my training, which I have never done before. I am excited to see how that benefits me! Saturday’s long run was a little rough the first half. Not sure if it was because I had not run in 2 days or I was going on 5 hours of sleep (I am a full 8 hour sleep chick). But after about 6-7 miles, taking a short water/nutrition stop, I got my second wind. Even the constant rain kept it nice and cool. After we finished, I was very happy that we pushed through it and I felt great. Strange how different each run can feel, huh?

My hubby and I saw Daughtry and 3 Doors Down Friday night. It was such a great concert. It is sometimes hard for hubby and I to do things like that because he works such long hours and sometimes can’t leave early, so sometimes we don’t get to places early, like I like. (I’m a little bit crazy about being places on time and NOT being late) I hope we can start carving out time for more stuff like this!

This is a new week and I look forward to training and studying hard! What is on your schedule for this week?

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