The Anti-Running Runner

Recently, I was offered an entry into a Spartan Race. Wait...you're giving it to me?? Clearly, this person doesn't know me. Back in 2011, my hubby, my dear cousin Alyssa, and a bunch of hubby's buddies all did the Tough Mudder. I had the opportunity to join them, which I declined vehemently. I know the Spartan Race is not the same as the Tough Mudder, but I do know it's the same idea. Defeat obstacles and dive into the mud when there's no good reason to do either. Granted, this must be fun for people, because tons and tons of participants do Spartan Races and Tough Mudder every year. And they talk about how much they LOVE it. Here are a couple of photos that I took at Tough Mudder in Dade City, 2011. I was happy to be behind the camera and NOT a mud diver. Dunking under spinny tire things Getting electrocuted. Yeah. No thanks. A happy post-race crew. Guess what? I was happy, too! To Mud or Not To Mud Is it weird that I'd rat...

Another fun Jingle Bell Run 5K! I enjoy this race every year. It starts in the dark on the pier, and they seem to have added more stuff this year. More live music, more sights and lights along the way. Good times. It wasn't cold or warm, but pleasant. Hea and I ran a moderate pace together. Normally, we try to PR at this race, but both of us were not up to it this year. She is dealing with knee pain and I had some bad chili the night before (too much info, I know), so we were all about keeping a comfortable pace. And we both ended up feeling great and had fun catching up. My favorite part about running is probably the time spent in good company. We both had our men and dogs their to cheer us on. Afterward, we got gelato with my college roommate, Tavanya, and her family. They all did the 1 mile walk. Downtown St. Pete is festive and decorated for Christmas, which I love. It was so fun to visit with friends and have hubby there. He had been gone all week, I missed him! ...

So today was my 8-miler. Thanks to MapMyRun, I know I did the full distance. However, it didn't go so great. I should start out by saying, Praise Jesus, I made my goal this week and ran three times. Today was extremely rough, though. It was supposedly only 81 degrees, but it felt like 100 with the humidity. I had to walk about four times, which isn't bad, I know, but I wasn't expecting it. I was actually expecting, and hoping for rain because of this: Granted, it does say Saturday, but there was a 40% chance of rain today. I planned to run in it anyway and had dreams of cooler temps. Apparently it rained nearby, but not along my running route. So here I am walking on the vlog...okay, it's not like it's shameful, but I really wanted to run the whole time today. I'm just bummed that I didn't. I even stopped to sign a petition for 4 minutes because a lady bribed me with a cold water bottle. Sorry it's a little hard to hear. There we...

First of all, I must thank Jesus for getting me across that finish line. There was a man who collapsed and was obviously hurt, and I pray that he's okay. But it reminds me how careful I need to be in the heat. And this was a HOT race. I threw water over my head at almost every water station, and usually more than one cup at a time. Still, I was sweating a ton (not like me) and my face felt like it was on fire. My husband and his coworkers and his coworker's wife all ran, and they all did awesome. I guess I did pretty well, too, but I felt awful the last half of the race because of the heat. True, 79 degrees is not so bad for Florida, but I just ran in 40 degrees at the Rock N Roll Half a few weeks earlier. It hasn't been very hot while I've been training, and honestly, I haven't been training very consistently in the midst of all these races. My biggest problem, however, was starting too fast. I went out with the group, and I immediately felt the pac...