What an AWESOME weekend it has been! It has been full of so many good and fun things. As you know, we helped welcome two new family members on Friday night – Ester and Benzo…two of the cutest and sweetest kittens I’ve ever met. Here is a photo of them (Benzo on the left, Ester on the right):
Saturday I was able to sleep in a little bit (after getting up to take the dog out a 4am, then going back to bed), but had plenty of time to squeeze in a quick run before getting ready to head out with the family for the matinee showing of The Book of Mormon and a delicious dinner at Vivere afterward. Both were fabulous! Then it was back to my in-law’s house for more kitten play time (I might just “accidentally” 😉 take one home with me one of these days)! The run was a slow two miler since I wanted to save my legs for today’s race and that nagging leg pain hasn’t really gotten any better. Here are the stats for Saturday’s run:
I woke up at about 4am today with my usual “race stomach”. It’s funny, I have run what feels like a million races in the last two years, but I still get the butterflies the morning of a race. The weather was great when I took the dog out at about 5:30am. The sun was shining and it was relatively warm, probably in the mid 60’s. As I left the house and began my drive to the United Run for the Zoo at Lincoln Park Zoo, I watched the clouds begin to roll in. By the time I parked my car it was completely overcast, but the weather report (and radar map) indicated that no rain was expected. I sat in the car for a few minutes then decided to make my way to gear check, where I was meeting a friend from run club, who so kindly offered to pace me for this race. As soon as I left my car it started to sprinkle and the temperature had dropped by what seemed like 10 degrees. Luckily, gear check was right next to the big cat house so we decided to head inside for a few minutes before the race. Good thing we did…it started to rain harder shortly after we went inside! After a few minutes, we walked over to the start line in a misty drizzle and soon the race set off.
The drizzle kept up the entire race, but it wasn’t too bad. One of the hills was a little slippery going up, but was still manageable. I felt really good the first mile and started to fade a bit in mile two. By mile three the elephant was sitting on my chest (no pun intended) and my legs felt like tree trunks. Thank goodness Erin was with me, I’m sure I would have given up and slowed down more for mile three without her encouragement. It’s amazing what a little encouragement can do – thanks to Erin’s help, I’m proud to report that I have a new 5K PR…28:50!!! Here are my stats for the race:
Thanks again for your help Erin!
Finally, the #RWRUNSTREAK update:
Miles to Date: 15.1
Consecutive Days: 7
Miles to Goal: 114.9
Days Remaining: 32
Run Carrie Run! 