Running the Ramblin' Rose!

I haven't written in a while... and it all goes back to the same excuse as always: I am BUSY. It doesn't help that I got sick for a week and was unable to run, go to the gym, move... I worked from home, which consisted of several naps in between various doses of antibiotics/mucinex/tylenol/sore throat syrup and cough drops. Oh, and in that time, I still had to manage a golf tournament and go to class. I did have to skip out on a 5k last weekend though. It would have been my 9th for the year, but I woke up on Saturday and knew there was no way I was capable of running.

I had signed up for a 5-miler this weekend with a classmate, but my illness kept me from preparing. I haven't run 5-miles in who knows how long, I've done some 3-milers, and a couple 4, but not 5 in a long, long time. So today was a bit of a struggle, but I made it. Crossed the line in 48:03. Sprinting the last little bit and beating my friend (she was actually ahead of me for most of the race).

Usually after races longer than a 5k, I'm set on "never running anything that long again," but today, I came home looking for more races. I don't feel bad, even though it wasn't my best time, or effort, I am excited to run.

Today was my 9th race of the year, so I'm still on track for 12 races in 12 months. Signed up for #10 in November (the Color Run). Just have to find 2 more to do between now and December 31st and I'm all set. I've completed my first 8k this year, my first 4-miler and my first 5-miler. I'd like to do a 15k but it looks like most of those are in the midwest right now for some reason.

I'm motivated right now to be active. I joined 2 yoga studios... one because it's close to my house and one because they have really awesome classes. The one closest to my house doesn't offer "hot yoga" only warm, but it's still a good class. I've gotta get back in the swing of spinning and weights too. Worked out once this week and have had upper body pain for the rest of the week. Maybe I'm just getting old?

Running... Georgia

We just spent a week in gorgeous Jekyll Island, Georgia. If you haven't been, you should go... it's so serene and peaceful there. It's tucked away from traffic and tourists, live oak covered roads and sand dollar covered beaches, wild horses roaming at Cumberland Island which is just 45 minutes away, I mean, seriously, it's THE perfect getaway. Here are a gazillion pictures to prove it's beauty just in case you don't believe me..

My view on my morning runs

Every morning I went running and walking on the spectacular beaches. Now, I did have to wait until 8:30 or so because of high tide  (it was REALLY high) but when it receded, the beach was a treasure trove. We found dozens of sand dollars (only keeping the dead ones) and conch shells, and jelly fish and horseshoe crabs and fiddler crabs and rainbow colored seashells. It was such a gorgeous site.

On Wednesday, we went to Cumberland Island, which you have to take a ferry to, and it's basically an all day walking adventure. We took a picnic basket with us and enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching dolphins play. We saw dolphins EVERY DAY of our trip! Cumberland has wild horses, crabs that scamper right in front of your feet and majestic maritime forests.

If you can't tell, I'm head-over-heels in love with this place. It was vacation and I was up at 6 am ready to go every day. We spent one day riding bikes on the paved trails that go all the way around the island. We took a dolphin seeing boat ride one day (or attempted to, we had to turn back because of a storm), we saw deer and a bobcat one evening and on our last day, we watched a sea turtle being released back into the wild.

So, also on our last day, we did the Turtle Crawl 5k. The funds went to support the Sea Turtle Center (which is who released the rehabilitated turtle back into the ocean). It was an amazing, fast, flat course. Some of the turns were a little tight, especially when we had to turn around and come back, passing runners on a sidewalk was tough, but the entire time you could see the beach, which made it alright. AND, best of all, I PLACED in the race! 3rd.... probably would have been 2nd if I hadn't stopped to go to the bathroom 3 minutes in, but I literally did not think I could hold it for 3.1 miles. It was the perfect end to the perfect vacation. I highly recommend any and every active person make this trip at least once in your life. There are a million things to do while getting away from the rest of the world. 

*side note: I have now completed my 5th & 6th races of the year. I did the Run Wild 5k on 5/12 (placed 5th in my age group, 95th overall) and of course, the Turtle Crawl 5k on 5/19 and placed 3rd in my age group with a time of 26:19.