Harbor Town 5K Recap and Good Friends

It's definitely no secret that I ran my first 5K Friday evening. I was excited and nervous. It's been many years since I participated in anything competitive. It took me back to the days of softball. Ha!

Even though I am new to running it became obvious to me very early on that I run better in the morning and this run was at 7 PM. I wasn't sure what the best plan as far as meals go would be for the day so I just winged it. I had a pretty big breakfast that morning. Bacon may or may not have been involved. I can't confirm nor deny. I had a very light lunch and just before I left my house at 4:30 I had a few chips and salsa. About 10 minutes before we walked over to the race my stomach began to growl. So, I inhaled a small cup of applesauce. If I run at night again I'll stick with this. It worked well for me.

Pre-race pic!

Game Plan

More than one time during the day I mentally reviewed my plan for the run. First of all, I wanted to start towards the back! I knew if I started in the front with Laura or Meredith that I'd try to keep up with them and everyone else and possibly die before mile 2. I wanted to run at a comfy pace and enjoy mile 1. Mile 2 would be a bit faster. Finally, mile 3 was supposed to be my fastest. Everything went the opposite direction. Ha!

Mile 1

I was standing to the side when the race started talking to Holly and my MIL and I just kind of jumped in probably right in the middle. Not part of the plan, Linds! 

Sadly, my music was playing so low I couldn't hear it so I had to run to the side and quickly fix it. I can't run without music. No way. No how. 

I jumped right back in and for a second I almost became claustrophobic. I'm used to running alone. Once we made our first turn the crowd thinned out and before I knew it I was zipping in and out of people. I finished my first mile in under 10 minutes. Not. Part. Of. The. Plan. 

Mile 2

As soon as I finished my first mile I started to walk a bit. I ran with a bottle of water and needed a sip. This was when a lady in her 50s running by me smacked my booty and said "come on, girl." I had to spit my water out from laughing. Is this how you race people roll? Someone let me know so I can be sure to spank some booty, literally, on my next race. 

Ok...so, anyways along the way some of the residents of Harbor Town had their water hoses out and were spraying us. I promise I ran from one side of the street to the other more than once to be sure I got wet. They were wonderful. They were cheering us on. It was great. One had a huge table set up with Jell-O shots! I didn't think it was a good idea on my first run. Maybe next year. 

Somewhere during mile 2 I spotted my friends Jaime, Janessa, and Lora. They made signs for us. I thought that was really sweet. 

Aren't they the best?

Loved my sign!

Mile 3

This was the mile that was supposed to be my best but it was not. I'm ok with it though. I'm learning and the best way to learn is to just get out there and do your thing and make changes for the next time. More walking took place on mile 3 than mile 2. I was so hot but I was thankful because normally it's at least 100 degrees here this time of year. It's been mild this Spring.

The scenery on this mile was my favorite. At one point I had an amazing view of The Pyramid and The Memphis Bridge, or the new bridge as us Memphis folks would say.

It was around 2.5 miles that I was like its hot, suck it up and deal with and run! So I did and before I knew it I was crossing the finish line. It was a great feeling. I see how one might become addicted to these things! I finished in 36 minutes. I'm being told that's good for your first 5K. All I know is I want to do better next time.

Woohoo!

Post Race/Party Time

Runners received Nike gym bags and a Nike hat, how cool? There was also a table with a mountain of Sonic food. Lol! At that time all I could think about was diving into a pool of water and drinking wine so I skipped the Sonic. Shame!

Post-race

Our fun group walked back to Laura's and made dinner plans which ended up being 1000 boxes of pizza. Don't order pizza after you run a 5K because you'll order way too much! Lol! 

We walked to Laura's MIL's house and there was a ton of delicious appetizers waiting. I was stuffing my face like it was the only way to get into Heaven, as Holly says. 

We sat poolside and we drank, ate, and talked. I did get in but only for 15 minutes. The water was at least 20 degrees. 

I felt like I've known Chris and Holly my whole life. 

Holly was just what I expected. She's very sweet and genuine. She's got gorgeous skin and I love her Midwestern accent. Such a pretty lady! It's also time she made a new nickname for herself because she does not live up to the name "Big Holly."

Chris. Because I have such a strong southern accent I just knew he was gonna give me a hard time. He only did like 3 times. He's a really nice guy with a great sense of humor. 

I also got to meet Jake. He's a lot of fun too. We are going to have fun this football season. Ha! Go Dawgs!

My first race was great and I finally got to meet Internet friends whom I'm happy to report were not serial killers. Lol. Someone in the group had friends that were worried he may be meeting some people that wanted to steal his kidney and leave him in the bathtub. Lol! 

Last, my SIL is doing a linkup today about wearing neon. See...this is why I'm not a fashion blogger. Well, besides the fact that I mostly wear t-shirts and Nike shorts. Lol! 

My only pic of me wearing neon and a piece of cake is involved. I keep it real! LOL!

 

Happy Tuesday!

Five on Friday

I've only posted once this week and I saw this and thought it looked like fun. Its a linkup with Darci. I'm one of her newest followers. Two posts in one week are better than none! So, I'm going to do this "real quick like" as my Daddy would say before my kids wake up. Yes. I am from the South. Yes. I say things that might not make sense to others. I expect Hubby Jack to get a real kick out of me because I am probably the most "country" out of our group. Ha!

So, here are the 5 things that I am loving most about this week...

1. I will be running my first 5K tonight. I am excited and nervous. Of course I had a dream about it last night! It was good though. I just hope the humidity is kind to us. Lawdy! The most exciting part of this is that a group of blogger friends will be there. I will finally get to meet my friends, Holly and Meredith. My other friends, Janessa, Lora, Laura, and Jaime will be there too. I am sure that we will have a blast!

2. Carter has been taking swimming lessons all week. It is his 3rd year to take them. This year he hasn't used floaties one single time and he jumped off the diving board yesterday.

3. I love that I finally remembered how much I want one of those cute tanks from Ruffles with Love and I ordered one this week. I can't wait for its arrival! 

4. Brian and I became addicted to some salsa I picked up at the store this week. It is delish! So what if I had to go grab another back of tortilla chips because we ate a whole bag in 2 days?!? I don't feel bad about pigging out on this stuff because all profits from the salsa go to charity. Boom!



5. 15 days until our anniversary trip! Who's counting? That would be me! I think my kids are ready for us to go. Carter asked me twice yesterday when our trip to "Was Wegas" is going to be. I think he's planning on spending 5 days straight on his Pop Pop's iPhone!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Tune into IG @linzlee1982 if you're dieing to see all the 5K pics tonight. 

The Travel Bug

I was going to do this whole post tonight about what's been going on around here lately. I am just going to be totally honest with you...it's been a crazy and busy week up in here and I don't feel like uploading pictures. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.

Have I mentioned that Brian and I are going on a trip soon for our anniversary to Las Vegas? I'm pretty sure that I have. It is a much needed get away and well deserved. We rarely spend any time together alone and the way we work is pretty awful. Opposite schedules, you know? It's good for the kids and bank account but it can be tough on a relationship. So, we need to go away for a few days and reconnect.

I am not the hugest fan of traveling. I don't sleep well unless I am in my own bed and hotel beds, well, it bothers me to think of how many different people have slept in those things. Ugh! Last year, I accidentally watched a documentary on bed bugs and how they have become a problem in our country. O.M.G! The next week we were going to Orange Beach for vacation. I was about ready to back out.

So, now when we go to a hotel I strip the sheets and make Brian lift the mattress so I can check thoroughly! There's no telling what I may find one of these days. We absolutely do NOT put our luggage on the bed. One lady took bed bugs home with her in her luggage and it cost her $4000 to rid her home of them. Wth? There is actually a website that you can go to and type in the name of the hotel you are staying at to see if there are reports of bed bugs. We aren't talking little fleas here people! These are disgusting!

The next thing that drives me crazy is the cost of the room. Geez! I have a new home and my master bedroom and bathroom are super nice so when I want to get away and relax I expect at least the equivalent or nicer.  Well, that costs a fortune.

Brian could care less. When he was moving back home we stopped one night in a hotel in Iowa that I am pretty sure was in a scary movie from the 80's. The bathroom had floral wall paper and if you needed extra light there was a bulb in the ceiling with a chain that you could conveniently pull down. There was a small console TV too. I never even took my shoes off. Just needed to rest my eyes and I volunteered to drive the rest of the way to Tennessee.

So, enough of my whining and negativity about a get away. What a cry baby! No really, I am excited! Let me tell you how we can verify that I am excited...

I am a PLANNER! I have my entire life written down in a planner that I review each night before I go to bed and I look over it again in the morning. If I lose that thing my year is shot! If you want me to be involved in any events you'd better tell me in advance because I make out my schedule at work one month ahead of time. It's safe to say I need to know where I am supposed to be on a specific day and time every day of my life.

This trip is totally opposite from any of that. We are going to fly standby to Las Vegas. I don't know which flight we will get on. I don't know where we will connect. I don't know how many times we will connect. I don't know what seat I will be in. I don't know which aircraft I will fly on. Oh, and because we aren't sure if we will even end up in Vegas or if we do we don't know when, we haven't booked a hotel room. We don't even know which one we want to stay at. We'll just figure it out when we are either wheels up and headed there or when we land. Not a bit of this bothers me the slightest! That's how I know we need a break and that's how I know that I am excited. I don't care if we end up in Salt Lake City or Atlanta. We will have a good time and make memories and that's what is really important.

When we do finally arrive at our destination, I do know that it will not be one with the light bulb and chain in the bathroom. Haha! I am all about tripadvisor.com. I take reviews seriously and I share reviews after I have stayed somewhere. It's important to do that.

Ok, thanks for taking the time to let me make your skin crawl with my bed bug phobia and listen to how OCD I am.

What do you love or not really love about traveling? Fears? Ever fly to standby to Vegas? Ha!