A Break, A Race, and Good News!

Sorry for the break in blogging these last few weeks!
Sorry if this is scattered, there is a lot to catch you all up on.

A few weeks back I had told you about the Hottest Half race that I planned on running.  Due to my back and hip pain I was feeling pretty nervous about it.  Coupled with the fact that my long runs were just not up anywhere near 13 miles.  A good friend (who obviously knows more about racing than I do, because this never even occurred to me) suggested I ask if I could switch to the 10K.  And I am SO glad she had this idea.  I emailed them right away and they replied back that it would be no problem!  It was such a relief!  I knew I could do a 10k easy! (well not easy, but easy and in I wouldn't be passed out on the side of the road somewhere midway)
Jessica and I planned to drive to Dallas, which is about 3.5 hours away the day before the race.  We got a hotel close by and went to a great dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse.  (Probably not the best pre race meal, but hey we like bread!)
I am so glad we planned it this way, because there was no rush race morning. We got there about 6:15 and picked up our packets. (and took some pics)

(yep, I wore a fuel belt for a 10K!  I like to drink water, but avoid the stops, so don't make fun!)

It was humid, but cool with some cloud cover.  LUCKILY it stayed this way almost the entire race!

Jessica still ran the 1/2 so she took off about 15 minutes before me.  Honestly I felt a little envy and wished I was up to running the 1/2 :(

7:45 and we were off......It was a really scenic flat route which I was thankful for.  I tried to really keep an even pace and just not push myself too much.  I would spot someone ahead of me and try to get up to them and look for the next person.
My splits:
7:50/7:41/7:41/7:43/7:35/7:37
Not bad, and definitely within my goal of under 8 minute miles.
48:13 was my chip time
I think most of the fast runners were running the 1/2 because I got first in my age group and 5th female overall.  Hey!  I am not complaining, but this isn't my best 10k time by far!

I had about an hour until Jessica would be coming in, so I ate a breakfast taco and rolled out.  Muscle Milk had a huge tent with mats and rollers, SO NICE!

I got kind of antsy waiting so I decided to jog back out on the course and see if I could pace Jessica for her last miles, I know those last miles in a race can be tough one's!  I ran about 1.5 miles out and found her.  She was struggling with some pain in her leg and barely moving forward, though she was still running!  She didn't walk!  It was nice to be able to encourage her in to the finish line!  She did awesome!

This was a REALLY well put together race!  Super SUPER organized and professional.  If you have a chance to run a Mellew race I would do it....great medals, tech shirts...perfectly put together!

So what else have I been up to, you ask?

Well this weekend is the Dane's Body Shop Brains & Brawn competition at the gym.  We have a team of 4 (maybe 5 if Jessica joins us).  They are going to have awards for the best team theme, costume, etc....my team is great, but mostly made up of people I don't know....and people who really didn't have any great ideas about how we should dress, team name, etc...

I came up with the idea to make shirts, but when I asked what they wanted to say on them the only suggestions was "Burpees make you look good naked"....and....honestly I just couldn't bring myself to use that one.  So, since no one had anything else, I asked Jessica to come up with something.... and she came up with "Burpees, I like it, I love it, I want more of it" I figured that was better than the Naked one and unfortunately I had already started the shirts and they all had burppees on the front, so whatever it was had to start with burpees.

I REALLY wanted to do a theme...like we all dress as zombies, or vampires, or maybe a swat team....but I don't have time to put something together like that...and my team just wasn't in to it.

So here is the finished product...not bad...but not great!  Our names will be on the back.

(remind me not to take on making team shirts by myself next time though, it's kind of a pain!)

I think it will be a fun event, and I will post some pics and a recap next week!

Now on to the good news....hopefully you are still reading :)

I went in to Luke's Locker yesterday here in Austin to get fitted with shoes.  I just recently bought a pair of Wave Inspires and they hurt my heel right away, so I knew I needed to find another shoe.  BUT there are so many options that I needed professional help!

A great guy named Jody had me try on a bunch of shoes, and I finally settled on the Brooks PureCadence.  Interesting for me because it's about as minimalist as I have been!  I get them in a few days, and will let you know what I think.

But that's not the good news.....as he was helping me I mentioned that I saw a few Luke's Locker runners at the Dallas race, and these racers that I saw weren't super fast.  (The last time I had seen some Luke's runners here in Austin they were SUPER fast, and more like elite runners)  He said that they like to have all skill levels on their teams as brand ambassdors, so that everyone could relate.  He asked me if I would be interested in becoming a team ambassador.  And of course I said yes!  He told me about the program and discounts, free races, etc... that are perks of running for Luke's....and said I should email him my blog and a little bit about me.  So, as soon as I got back to work I emailed him....and guess what!??
I am now a Luke's Locker Ambassador!!  How cool is that!
More to come on this later as I find out the details.  I am going to pick up my team pack this weekend.
I am beyond thrilled.

Ok, I hope I held your attention this long :)  Thanks for reading and I hope you all have a great week!