Pensacola 10K- This weekend!

So my 10K in Pensacola is this weekend. I'm a little nervous because I havent been running much these last two weeks. After my 5K I was really sore and took several days off, and then Traver and I got Boeing (our new puppy) and he has been taking up a lot of our time. Monday this week was the first time since my 5K that went for a run, or worked out at all for that matter, and luckily it went really well. I did a 3 mile run at a moderate pace. Around 10:40 min/mile which was my original 5K pace, I would, ideally, like to run the 10K in that time frame, but I think I will be more around 11 minutes or so. Im also nervous because I havent actually done a practice 10K, I have run up to 4.5 miles, and that was at a 12 min/mile pace, so Im hoping that Im not setting my goals too high with wanting to do the 5K in 11 minute miles. I think that the run itself is going to be really fun though, it starts near the Pensacola airport and weaves down into downtown, and according to their map, there is alot of downhill time, especially toward the end, so that should be really nice!

We are going to head down there tomorrow night with Boeing and the Casida trailer we are renting from MWR for a weekend of fun (hopefully). This will be Boeing's first trip and we are praying it goes well. Luckily the Casida is air conditioned and we are going to stay in a site with hook ups so we can have air on for him while we are at the race... we'll see how he does in that situation. We planned to tent camp, originally, but Boeing hasnt had all his shots and cant be exposed to all the things other dogs could give him by being outside alot, so we figured a hotel was our only option, but the Casida will give us the camping feel while still keeping him inside, somewhere safe, and somewhere cool. I think it will be great, but Ill let you know in my post-race post how it actually goes...

Wish me luck!

Hog Wild 5K

So, yesterday, I ran my second 5K! I did it with my two awesome friends Jen and Vanessa and it was awesome! My main goal going in was to get a better time than my last 5K, which was a 33:05, so my sites werent set too high. We left Meridian around 6am to drive to Philadelphia, MS where the race was, we got there just after 7am to pick up our packets and get our time chips for the race. We got ready to go and headed to the starting line. The 10K runners started first and then 5 minutes later it was our turn. Jen, Vanessa, and I gave each other high fives and wished each other good luck and we were off (Jen much faster than the rest of us, she is a machine), the first mile was awesome, Vanessa and I were staying together at that point and we did the first mile in 9:15, I have never ran a mile so fast in my life (it was nice that the race started with a great downhill). Vanessa and I stayed together for the half or so, but she had to stop to take off a leg brace around 1.5 miles, so we got separated. Anyway, it was a really interesting course, we ran through mostly residential areas, so there were all these people in their front yards waving and watching us, it was nice; however, they had not entirely blocked off the streets, and we took up half the street and there were cars trying to get past us on the other half going in BOTH directions, it was a mess! But luckily no issues with the cars. It was pretty hilly throughout, at least for my standards (I never run on hills, but there were alot of hills) and it was nice that right before the 2 mile mark and water station we had a great downhill to catch up on breathing and time. I grabbed a water cup, not really to hydrate but to get my mouth wet and to splash on myself to cool off and continued on to the last mile. It was pretty awesome until the very end, they put the finish line at the TOP of a HUGE hill! What the heck!?! It was no joke a 45 degree incline and it was long. I would have been pretty discouraged, except that I saw Jen waiting for me at the bottom of the hill (she had already completed her race and came back for me) and she ran the hill with me, yelling and coaching me the whole way, telling me to sprint it, that the finish was right at the top, so I sprinted my butt off up this hill and by the time I crossed the finish I could hardly breath. Jen put her arm around me and took me to the water table to get water and we headed back to wait for Vanessa, well I waited at the finish and Jen took off down the hill again to run up it with Vanessa too! Vanessa came up not long after I did and we got her water and went to check out the results! I knew I had done really well in terms of time compared to the last race, but I didnt know exactly so I was excited to see what they said.



Jen Deluca
-TIME: 23:27, pace: 7:34
-Division Place (20-29 womens): 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!!! out of 25
-Place overall (women:) 2nd!!!!!!!!!!! out 83
-Place overall (men and women): 15 out of 143




ME!!!!
-TIME: 30:52, pace 9:58
-Division Place (20-29 womens): 8 out of 25
-Place overall (women): 25 out of 83
-Place overall (men and women): 71 out of 143

Vanessa Moos
-TIME: 34:00, pace 10:59
-Division Place (20-29 womens): 11 out of 25
-Place overall (women): 44 out of 83
-Place overall (men and women): 95 out of 143

We all rocked this run! I couldn't believe how great we did! Jen got 1st in our age group which was awesome and second overall for the women, which is unbelievable! She is such a rockstar! I couldn't believe how huge of improvement I made over the last 5K I ran, oh and did I mention that this "5K" was actually 3.29 miles as opposed to the 3.1 it usually is, which definitely makes a difference. But I cut 2:13 off my time from my run in Scottsdale, wow! I felt so good!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so proud of our group, this was Vanessa's first 5K and she rocked it, especially seeing as it was a really tough course with all the hills and lots and lots of turns (we never had any idea where we were and when it was going to end)! Overall it was an awesome day! After than I'm pretty pumped for my 10K, even though I know its only 2 weeks away and I have to run twice the distance, I'm excited about it! WOO!