Broke!

Races can be expensive! But so worth it. Here are some dream races that are on my bucket list; sure to cost more than your average race!

The Big Five Marathon - South Africa
The Great Wall Marathon - China
The Solar Eclipse Marathon - Australia
The Petra Marathon - Jordan
The Polar Circle Marathon - Greenland

I better start saving my pennies!

A Better Person

I did it! I am officially signed up for the Chicago Marathon in October. It will be my second marathon in 2012 (after the Flying Pig in May). For the Chicago Marathon, I have joined Team World Vision; an organization that raises money to provide clean water for communities in Africa. I also support a young child named Chancy through this organization. Like I have said before, I am a race junkie! I have a hard time NOT signing up for races that are close to where I live ... and even some that are not so close. But I get even more excited to be part of races that are for a good cause. In May I will be taking part in my fourth Race for the Cure, this time in support of a running friend's wife who just found out she has breast cancer. There is something about knowing that you aren't just running for yourself that makes the race so much more meaningful. I am so grateful that running can bring so many people together and allow us to help others that are going through tough times. Please check out my "Charities" tab to get the links to my two fundraising pages. They are both amazing causes to donate to!

A Hot Mess!

Yesterday's run marked day 84 of my year long running challenge. I was planning on going to the gym and hitting the treadmill, but I ended up having a "running date" with my friend Megan who lives in Chicago. We both go out for a run at the same time and then talk about our run after. Since Megan was running outside, I decided I could tough out the weather, too. So I headed out, sans Yak Trax, which was a mistake I would soon be paying for. I was having a nice run, about 2 miles in, when I took a turn. My arms were flapping, I let out a yell, and ... I caught myself. Whew. After a quick look around I confirmed that no one had seen my amateur ballet moves. I was safe.

Boy was I wrong!

I had only taken a few more steps when I hit an ice patch and hit the ground, my left knee taking the brunt of the fall. I got back up, looked around for a second time to make sure no one had seen me wipe out, brushed the snow off of my pants, and decided to head for home. I felt fine for the rest of the night. My knee was a little red and I could see a bruise starting to form, but no pain. Until this morning. When I woke up my knee felt so stiff - I thought I had slept wrong until I remembered my embarassing skid across the ice. It's not terrible, but I have definitely decided that today is a treadmill day!

Have you ever had any embarassing running moments?

Adventurous

I braved the snow and (crazy!) wind today to participate in my third virtual run this month: Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K. I bundled up, put on my printable race bib, and headed out into the elements.

It was a beautiful day; it had just snowed earlier that morning so I headed out feeling great. Then, the wind hit. My nose was running faster than I was, my eyes were watering, and I couldn't catch my breath! But it came in spurts, so I was able to keep going and brace for the next gust of wind. When the wind wasn't blowing, the conditions were perfect! I was able to use my YakTrax that I got for Christmas, and I enjoyed the run. Here is what my race course looked like:

I crossed the finish line (in other words, my driveway) with a time of 26:40. Just about a minute over my 5K PR time - not bad for a snowy (windy!) winter run! I love the idea of a virtual run, and the race bib made it even more fun. Earlier this month I ran the Nike+ Women's Half Marathon (2:09:20) and the #TwitterRoadRace 5K (24:25 - but on a treadmill ... a little easier than an outside run!).

I am multi-tasking with this run today. Last week I took place in a football bet on the Giants vs. 49ers game (check out the rules here). I lost the bet, and had to run the difference in points of the final score of the game in miles, which was conveniently 3. I am not usually a football fan, but this sounded like fun and I was on the edge of my seat during the game. This bet is continuing into the Superbowl, and I am trying my luck again. I can't lose twice, can I?

I started a challenge with my two running buddies: to run every day for a year. Easier said than done! It was exciting at first, then it turned to annoying. But I think I have officially made it a habit, and it is becoming less of a pain than it was. Today's run marked day 83. That's almost 12 weeks straight! There are days when I go out grumbling, and days that don't make it over 1 mile, but no matter what, it gets done!

I am going to use this blog to share about my day to day running experiences, talk about any great (or not so great) races that I run, and to find out about other runners and races! Each day I will add something different that running helps me to do or become. Today, it was adventurous ... who knows what else running will do for me!