I am still here and running away one day at a time!

June 17, 2013

I know it has been a long time since I have last posted race reviews and updates on my blog.  It has been a busy past few weeks!

Since I last blogged, I first did the inaugural Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC (absolute BLAST and I will do a blog post on that coming up).  I am now up to 28 races towards my goal of 52 races in the 52 weeks of 2013.  Since I want to get everyone caught up, I am just going to do a few picture highlights of each of the races that I have done since my last post in late April.

A lot of you already know, I am running the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge at Disneyland over Labor Day weekend (10K Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday).  Well, I am now registered for the Inaugural Glass Slipper Challenge during Princess Half Marathon Weekend at Disney World. 

In addition to my running training and races, I have also started cross-training better.  I tried 2 spin classes and loved it, however my gym canceled the class that I can get to after work for the summer so I will have to resume those in the fall.  I have also started TRX training class on Monday evenings with is a resistance total body work out.  TRX has kicked my but that is for sure, but the results seem promising.  Now on for my newest love....YOGA! I started doing yoga twice a week at the beginning of May and I. AM. IN. LOVE!  The classes that I do are BodyFlow which is a blend of yoga, Pilates, and Ti Chi.  Not only is it a great workout for the physical benefits, it is all impacting my stress level. 


In order to update everyone on my races quickly, I decided to give you all a quick summary of my May-mid June races.

Race 21 - 5/4/13 - Big Peach 5K - Atlanta, GA
What a WET race!  The race was ran in COLD RAIN!  It was about 42 that mroning and pouring down rain the ENTIRE race.  The only good part of this race for me was knowing that my running buddies Jill, Jen, and Ramona were coming down to Atlanta to watch me race and have a girls breakfast after my race at the Flying Biscuit.  The race was well organized and the shirts were great.  I cannot comment much on the post race events because I just wanted to get somewhere warm and dry.

Race 22 - 5/11/13 - Komen 5K - Atlanta, GA
For the past several years it has been a family tradition for us to take part in the Komen 5K at Atlantic Station.  Due to the impact that breast cancer has had on our family, this is a very special event for us to do.  My had been going through knee injections, so she was limited to the 1-mile walk.  Mom, Dad and I did the 1-mile then about 30 minutes after the 1-mile ended I did the 5K run.

Race 23 - 5/18/13 - Chick-fil-A 5K - Cartersville, GA
I could NOT wait for this event.  Not only is it local (which meant I could sleep in) but there was a costume contest which meant I got to dress like a cow.  Yes, a cow.  The winner of the costume contest won a year's supply of Chick-fil-A coupons!  I felt pretty confident in my costume design until a group of 6 teachers arrived with their costumes being painted shirts with paper ears stapled to visors.  This sounds pretty non-threatening to the costume that I worked on for weeks right?  WRONG!  The "judges" were their students! 

The race was a pretty good course.  My #1 complaint....NO CHICK-FIL-A at the finish - or coupons!  Really!?!? A Chick-fil-A event and there is no Chick-fil-A there?

Race 24 - 5/19/13 - Freight Train 5K - Kennesaw, GA
As with any time I am supposed to meet with running friends at races, it POURED!  About 10 minutes before the race started, the sky opened up (with some lightning).  The curse of Brandi had struck!  My friend Jill and I found ourselves huddled under a tent waiting for the storm to pass so we could run.  The rain really put a damper on my run, but Jill has a smashing PR!

Race 25 - 5/25/13 - Running Colors 5K - Cumming, GA
I love a good messy run - especially when they have a AWESOME cause like the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!  This race was a much smaller version of The Color Run and took place in a field at a park.  Just because it was small did not mean it had any less fun!  My only complaint was not knowing that it was going to be a trail run. 

Race 26 - 5/27/13 - Memorial Day 10K - Marietta, GA
The Memorial Day 10K was a new race for me.  There was a 5K and 10K option, and I opted to go ahead and go the extra distance.  The race was held in Marietta and it was a good course - rolling hills but doable.  The race had some great post-race vendors and I was surprised with a 10K finishers medal!

Race 27 - 6/1/13 - Possum Trot 10K - Roswell, GA
This was a tough race for me.  The race is a beautiful course along the Chattahoochee and several of my friends were there running it was well.  I was due up for new shoes and ran 6.2 miles in pain.  Come mile 5 I kept counting down the number of strides that I will be doing in these shoes and desperately wanting to through my shoes into the river!  What kept me going was knowing my friends were waiting for me at the finish and that we would soon be going to brunch!

Just about 50 more strides...

Ramona, myself, the creepy possum, Jen, and Jill

This is how I felt about the race!

Race 28 - 6/8/13 - Superhero Sprint 5K - Atlanta, GA
If you have been reading my posts this year or following me on Facebook/Twitter, you know how much I LOVE racing in costumes!  When the Superhero Sprint came up, I knew this was just calling my name.  Now, I can't just be your typical Wonder Woman, Batman, etc.   After pondering for different "superheroes" it came to me!  My mom and I would be running as....

MARIO AND LUIGI!  This was a great 5K supporting the Children's Hospital of Atlanta.

Race 29 - 6/15/13 - Dream Dash 5K - Kennesaw, GA 
My dad from time to time will do races with my mom and I.  He goes to a lot, but not all of them.  We got him to sign up to do the Dream Dash with us this past weekend.  Since it was Father's Day weekend, I loved getting to race with my dad.  He did a great job and ran quite a bit (more than he has in a few years) - I was very proud!  What made me more proud was that he placed 2nd in his age group!

I have back to back races on Saturday - one of which involves possibly my favorite costume to date!  

Question of the Week:
What have you all been up to the past few weeks?  Any PR's?  Any races coming up?


Time to Run,
Brandi