Catching up and the TULSA RUN!

It's been several weeks since I've updated here - leading up to the Tulsa Run I was getting a little burned out with the training schedule.  Working out six days a week began to feel like a part-time job, and Kristin and I discussed making the cross-training days optional so as to make it easier schedule-wise.
The big workouts - the long runs.  I did the 7 miler with Kristin two weeks ago and the 8 miler last week by myself at Hunter Park.  The latter was tremendously successful.  I continue to improve my pace with each and every run.

When I decided to start running this past January, I wrote down specific goals to keep me working throughout the year and I put them on the fridge so I'd see them every time I opened it.  The first goal was to complete a 5k - and I've completed three of those now.  The second goal was to complete the Tulsa Run.  Saturday I got to mark that one off my list as well.

I ran almost all of the entire 9.3 miles through hilly downtown Tulsa.  It was a beautiful day despite a chilly start.  I was at the end of the pack, but I still managed to increase my speed by one minute per mile!  I was shocked to find this out!  This was the longest run I've ever done, and with the hills, I would have been pleased to have just matched my previous best pace.                            

Unfortunately, almost immediately after I crossed the finish line, I started having horrible stomach pains & nausea.  Come to find out, I had a stomach bug that was holding itself off during the race because my body had to devote its energy to the running until I stopped.  So, I spent the rest of the weekend sick as a dog!  There were many times that I said I was never going to run again, because I thought it was the run that had made me sick.  I am feeling a lot better today, and I can tell you that I am NOT going to stop running.

I've been able to mark the items off my 2010 list, and next week Kristin and I officially begin the training program for the Half Marathon in Miami.  We'll be running 13.1 miles at sunrise on January 30, 2011!