Hate to admitt it....

I hate to admit it, but I was SO FREAKIN' SORE after the half-marathon on Saturday.  I've never been really sore after a half-marathon before.  Just a little tight, but nothing bad....  Am I just not in as good of shape as I was last year?  Or was it all of the hills and battling the horrible head-on winds?  I don't really know...I vote for the later. LOL!  :-)
That afternoon, my knee was so sore I could barely walk.  Then after we finally relaxed that evening, when I got up off of the couch to go to bed, my calves were screaming in pain! What?!?!  This has never happened before!  Then of course on Sunday morning when I got out of bed, I took one step and about fell down.  My calves were on serious protest!  LOL!  After walking around awhile, I was able to work some of the soreness out, but YAOUCH!   
Monday was much better. Not as sore, but still not fully energized.  I spent the day with my sweetie pie, and it was pure bliss!!!  (I love you baby!)
Finally, today, I'm feeling normal again.  Stephen had to work, so I did my college homework and quiz this morning, and just now finished running 5 miles. That felt GREAT!  No knee pain, thank the Lord!..and got a good sweat in. 
Some work just arrived, so I'm gonna shower and get busy on that before I gotta go get the munchkins. 
Later!   

Official Time:

Saturday's Race Results: (the results were posted by a different website than last year, and they didn't report your total place in your gender, or your overall place out of everyone. boo!) So I added the total up for overall and gender myself. :-) 
Gun Time: 1:58:45
Chip Time: 1:58:22
Age Class Position: 7 (out of 23..not bad)
Overall : 98 (out of 189) *I had to count/add up
Gender Place: 27 (out of 89 women) *I had to count/add up...
Pace: 9:02/M 

This same race, Last Year:
Half Marathon F 30-34
Gun Time: 01:59:30
Chip Time: 01:59:19
Class Position: 6
Overall: 65 (out of 149 people)
Gender Place: 19 (out of 70 women)
Pace 9:06/M

I did at least improve a little on my time from the year before.  So I am more than happy with that.  :-)

Next...

My husband asked me last night, which race I'll be running next.  I told him I wasn't sure.  I wasn't real crazy about the other half I ran last year. It was a long drive to get there, and it was mostly through this wooded park setting.  Lots of pollen/flower smells that choked you along the path, and not many people along the path to keep you encouraged...due to the wooded areas.  So I told him I just wasn't sure....
Then he announced that if I do a half during the summer, he'd do it with me!!!!  WHAT?!?!  Did I just hear him right? I'd actually have a running partner?!  I'm about to burst with excitement!!!!  YES!!!!!!  So I told him I'd even be kind enough to let him choose which summer half he wants to run, and we would do it together.  I can't wait!!!!!!! 
Can you tell I'm super-dooper-shmooper excited?! :-D

Half Marathon Photos:

First off, this Half Marathon has got to be the most FUN half I have ever ran.  The course was GREAT, even with the hills.  It started out as cloudy and cold, but it wasn't to far into the run, the SUN started shining! This is the first half I have ever ran, where the sun actually shined!  It was windy, but I'd rather deal with the wind, than with the rain/lightening/hail that we had when I ran this race last year. 

My AMAZING husband and sons met me along the course TWICE! Made my day!  This is the first race that I've ever ran, where I saw them along the course.  It gave me an extra boost of inspiration and energy when I saw them cheering! 

Around mile 6 we made two quick turns in a row, between some landscaping, getting back onto the sidewalk. At this point, I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my right knee.  It felt like it was about to give out under me, but I kept pressing forward. I ran with a limp for about a minute, and then it subsided somewhat, into a dull ache (which stayed with me for the entire race. boo.)  I knew I wouldn't be setting a Personal Record during this race, due to the pain, so I just vowed to finish, running the entire thing. I refused to have to stop and walk.  So I decided to enjoy the scenery and experience of the race, and the beautiful day.

I crossed the finish line at 1:58:something.  I don't have my official chip-time yet, but will post it once they make it available.  It should be a little less than this.  Not a PR, but I'm more than happy with it.  :-)  It was a GREAT day!  

 Gotta tie my shoes and get them all ready with double-knots.

Warming up and Stretching..

Gotta get the ol' tunes strapped on and ready to go.  

waiting for the race to start...

 Bye Y'all!

Between mile 5-6 I saw my handsome husband two beautiful little boys cheering for me!  Talk about good for the soul.  Gave me such an inspirational boost!  

Since the sun had came out, they handed me my sunglasses. Yea!!!

Thanks Guys!!

 Around mile 10.  I was soooo tired and ready to stop...but then I saw my handsome hubby and boys up ahead! Yea!! Just the energy boost I needed.

(Thank you Stephen. It meant the world to me to see y'all along the race path.)

Giving my boys high-fives as I ran by!

Coming up to the finish line. YEA!!

CROSSING the Finish Line! Even Better! LOL!

I'm Done! Thank you God!

Me and the most amazing husband a woman could ever dream of.  Thank you Babe!

What a WONDERFUL Day!

Thai Chicken Pita Pizza

My amazing hubby wanted something "different" for dinner.  So he found a healthy recipe for Thai Chicken Pizza, and we decided to try it.  We made a few changes to it; we used Whole Wheat Pita Bread, because we couldn't find Whole Wheat Pizza dough..and we used olive oil to cook the chicken, because that is the only type of cooking oil we keep in the house.  It was YUMMM!!!!  We decided this is definitely a keeper. 
The original recipe said it makes 6 servings and was 350 calories per serving.  We decided it was less calories with the whole wheat pita bread (only 60 calories each), instead of pizza dough, but are not sure of the exact calorie count. 


Thai Chicken Pita Pizza
Ingredients:


whole-wheat pita bread

1/4 cup smooth natural peanut butter

3 tablespoons water

2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon olive oil

8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 scallions, thinly sliced

2/3 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Place Pita Bread on a large baking sheet.

2.  Bake Pita Bread until lightly crisped, 5 to 10 minutes.

3.Meanwhile, whisk peanut butter, water, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger and garlic in a small bowl until well combined.

4.Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring, until cooked through, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add bell pepper, scallions and 1 tablespoon of the peanut sauce to the chicken; toss to combine.

5.Remove the pita bread from the oven; spread evenly with the remaining peanut sauce. Top with the chicken mixture, then sprinkle with cheese. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, 8 to 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Half Marathon in 2 days!

I'm getting excited and nervous.  My next half-marathon is only 2 days away!  The weather is much warmer and nicer now, so that is a plus. The weather man is calling for a 20% chance of rain though, so say a prayer that it will hold off until Sunday.  I ran this exact race last year, in the pouring rain, lightening, and hail.  I just pray for nicer weather this time...of course the bad weather may have made me run a little faster, due to wanting to hurry up and finish so I could get warm and dry. LOL! 
I'm not expecting to set any personal records...I have been training, but with the knee pain that I had been having, it had put a damper on my running schedule there for awhile.  Now that the knee is feeling better, I'm running more, but I haven't ran all of my "long runs".  I think the furthest I have run in training is 10miles.  So hopefully I can survive, and at least make it in under 2 hours.  We'll see. 

Have you all been watching Biggest Loser?  This season is pretty good, but I am not liking the new trainers...they are going to have a very hard time replacing Jillian. 
I do like the blond girl on the pink team, I think her name is Sara?, she had the miscarriages and is there to lose weight so she can have a healthy pregnancy and start a family with her husband.  She just seems to have a big heart, and is there for the right reasons. 
I also like Courtney, the really big girl who lost over a 100pounds before even being on the show.  She just seems to always have positive outlook and upbeat attitude...she is an inspiration! 

Hope you are all getting your exercise and healthy nutrition in.  Spring/Summer (aka: shorts/bikini season) will =be here before we know it! 

Half-Marathon Prep..

My next half-marathon is only a little over 2 weeks away.  Feb 19th!  Can't wait!  Last year when I ran this race, it was my very first half-marathon.  It was drizzling rain when we started.  Then half-way through the race, it started pouring, then hailing and lightening.  I think it actually helped me run faster though, because I was so ready to be done and get warm/dry. LOL!  As long as it's not icy or snowing, I'll be happy!  Fingers crossed, and saying a prayer! 

I ran 8.65 miles last night, with NO knee pain! Yea!!!  I've been taking a supplement called "ElastiJoint" which you mix up in water and drink.  It's not very tasty but I gulp it down, simply because it seems to have cured my knee pain.  Before taking this every day, I couldn't even run a mile without my right knee throbbing in pain.  After starting to take this daily, I can run forever with no pain at all!  It's amazing! 

I'm seriously thinking of joining the new Rec Center in the city where my hubby works.  It is brand new and was supposed to open Feb 1st, which didn't happen due to everything being shut down because of all of this stinkin ice.  But once it does open, it would give me a place to go run/cross train/weight train, and they said in March or April they will start offering classes such as step aerobics, spin, zumba, kickboxing, karate, dance classes, etc.  The only bad part is they said these classes will cost extra.  What?!  Shouldn't that be included in the gym fees?!  I was flabbergasted! (and a bit annoyed to tell the truth).  But I may still join anyway.  You can do month to month pay as you go, or annual.  And it's no contracts...so that's a plus. 

Y'all stay warm, and get a good sweat in, it will make you feel better!  :-)