Celebrating and Looking Forward

I won't lie..... I am still so very pumped and excited about the Sunday race! I know that 38:20 may not seem all that fast to many runners, but for me it is still hard to believe I could have pulled that out of the hat. Comparing where I was a year ago in terms of my overall health, weight, and physical conditioning to where I am now is like night and day. I still have about 75lbs left to lose before I can call 'victory' but I am so pleased with the progress that has led me to this stage in the game. And it was so awesome to have two of my three kids there to share the experience with me. That was priceless.

So instead of resting on Monday morning, I was back in the club doing my TEAM Weight Loss cardio program with Meghan. Of course, all we could talk about was the race, my execution plan, and how satisfied it felt to be able to finish (and the surprise at the AG Medal). Meghan worked me pretty good during the workout -- the only slack she gave me was that I didn't have to run at all, just walk on the treadmill. Of course she had me walking up 10-15% inclines! But hey, that's her job. And based upon Sunday, I have to say that she is doing it well.

But recovery is important, so I will not do anything on Tuesday or Thursday of this week to give my body a chance to rest. But I will do my cardio workouts on Wednesday and Friday mornings. And Saturday will be my regular long run (hopefully with my friend Mark who is an elite runner and will certainly challenge me). Wednesday night I will join in a Walk Club at LifeTime after work. It will be my first time meeting the run club folks and I am hoping it will turn out to be a great way to meet fellow runners, learn some things, and meet some new friends who share the enthusiasm about running. If it looks good, maybe I will officially join.

Starting June 1st, I will start a CARA Training Program to prepare for my 10K race in mid-August. This will be a weekly 90-minute commitment for the next 10 weeks and should help me focus, increase my endurance, improve my running, and get me in the right mental frame of mind to move up to the 10K level. I will lose one week at the end of July because of a mission trip in Mississippi (but I hope I will be able to get in a few runs while I am out there).

My next race is on June 19th -- another 5K in Chicago. I am setting my sights on that race. I will try to have fun, run a good race, and maybe set a new PR for the 5K. But mostly, I just want to be able to run the race and enjoy the experience. And if I am lucky, I will get to run it with some friends from church and the Christian Youth Theater. Running with friends makes it so much more fun!