A little bit is better than nothing!

I attempted to run this morning... I made it 4.25 miles. I had to stop just after 2 miles because I was certain that I was going to barf, surprisingly I didn't! It seems like these days I get a little run in when I can but haven't been sticking to the schedule. I think part of my problem this morning was not fueling beforehand. I got up, dressed, drank a glass of OJ, got Tyson and took off running. (p.s. It was the OJ that was coming up during the run!) I was up and running by 7am and didn't even use an alarm! Perhaps I still haven't recovered from the weekend. I know that I can't keep using the blood giving as an excuse but I have plenty of others... On a more positive note, Tyson has became the perfect running buddy. OK, maybe not perfect but he does good. I feel so bad leaving Jack behind but every time I bring him he ends up not running and I either drag him or carry him.

I got a new running outfit from my momma and daddy today!!  I love getting that kind of mail, makes my day! It is super cute. It is a black and white Adidas top and bottom. I think I might break them in tomorrow... (maybe).

Also I would just like to point out that my cousin Jamie and I made the best Easter eggs EVER this year! We would have won some sort of contest if we entered them, I am sure of it! We had a blast this weekend. We sat at the pool (had a little encounter with a thinks she is all that and a bag of chips mexican chick...), saw Mumford & Sons in concert (bitchin'), shot guns in the desert (found a wild cactus!), made super cool Easter eggs (pictured below!), went to an Easter brunch with some local friends (played board games and hung out), hiked hole in the rock (Jamie found a huge snake) and got a tan in the mean time!! WHOOP WHOOP

Are these not the coolest Easter eggs you have ever seen???  

Well the school semester is almost over... and summer is here! I am so ready for this break from school! OH SHNAPS.... I have to finish Jessica's quilt! :) Hope you have a good week! I will be out camping at the lake this weekend, hopefully I can get a good run in!

-Happy Running

PAT'S RUN RECAP!

What an emotional run! From the playing of the national anthem to the 42 yard line finish. I loved being around so many military supporters. I am glad I got the chance to run this at least once before I left AZ.

THE RACE (GOOD, BAD, UGLY, & THE SO-SO)

THE GOOD: My exit plan to beat traffic and jet home (I had plans to go to the zoo later)! It worked perfectly and I was outta there quick! Actually I finished the race before some people even started... 

THE BAD: It was already hot by 7am... What the heck! To top it off, I was wearing the "HONOR 42" black t-shirt. I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished. Some of the streets got super narrow for the amount of people passing through, it kinda sucked! 

THE UGLY: I was about to go all "RED-HEAD" on the people that started in the fast waves but couldn't even run a mile.  They set up the waves by expected finish time... I was in wave 4 out of 28 (I was supposed to be in 3 but it was too packed).  As people were dropping out they were just walking in the middle of the road, all in my way! 

THE SO-SO: I guess my time was good considering the crowds and my lack of good runs in the past couple of weeks but I still wish it was a little bit faster. My official time for the 4.2 mile run was 31:47.

Total Finishers: 22,440

My Overall Place: 1,191

Total Female Finishers: 11,528

My Female Place: 154

I finished, raced back back to the house and got ready for the Phoenix ZOO!!  By the time we got to the zoo it was really hot, I put on sunblock 3 times yesterday (only got a little sunburned). 

GIVEAWAY

Want the inside scoop of awesome blog giveaways??? Ok, I will tell you! So here is the deal... check out 5 Miles Past Empty's blog (HERE) for a chance to win a free Allied Medal Display! They are bomb! If you don't know what they are you can check them out on Facebook (HERE) or their website (HERE). 

Now I better get back to quilting... I have been slacking and Jessica graduates in like 2 1/2 weeks!! YIKES I better kick it up a gear!

Happy Running!!

   -Kristal

The Oyster Race Recap!

Saturday April 9th, the Phoenix Oyster Urban Adventure! The Oyster race was 20-30 miles of running and biking with a twist! It was more or less a scavenger hunt, you are given clues to find your next destination! It was super fun minus the rain... and a few other things... (Interested in doing an Osyter Race? Check it out HERE! They have a bunch of other locations!)

Really Phoenix.... REALLY! I live in the "Valley Of The Sun", the place you can almost always count on a nice sunny day! Oh but not yesterday! The day went a little something like this...

3:30am: Wake-up because the rain is soooo loud...

5:30am: Wake-up to get ready for the race. (Still raining!)

6:00am: Friends arrive at the house, we pack up, load up, and head downtown. (Still raining!)

6:45am: Arrive downtown to set up our transition area. (Still raining!)

6:45-8:00am: Wait in the pouring rain for the race to start! 

8:00am: The race begins, I am separated from my group on a bus. 

8:15-9:00am: Meet back up with my team and run around crazy trying to find two sculptures, we had no idea where they were! (Still raining!)

9:00-10:45am: Ride our bikes 14 miles to the Phoenix Zoo and back. While at the zoo we had to find animals and do a math problem. (Still raining) This leg of the trip was a fiasco to say the least. We were all soaking wet and miserable already. To make things worse, one of our bikes broke and Tim had to take it back to the transition ares to fix it. On our way back from the zoo, some gangster in a Hyundai reaches under his seat and threatens to shoot us because we were riding our bikes in the road. (I was scared for my life... in the rain!)

10:45-11:15am: We had a two part challenge. First we had to run to the Civic Space Park and do the slip and slide challenge in the rain... as if we weren't wet enough! Next we had to run and find the farmers market to collect vegetables that spelled out CHIPOLTE. 

11:15-12:00pm: Challenge 4 was to find a local news paper with the Oyster add in it to find our next destination which was The Duce. Only a few hang ups on this one... First was a flat tire! When we did finally find the local paper, someone had ripped all the Oyster adds out of them and hid the rest in another bin.... RUDE! After we figured out it was The Duce, we headed that way. Once there Amber and I had to identify 10 of the 15 movie clips playing while Neil did a boxing challenge and Tim made fun of him.  The only good thing was that it had finally stopped raining! 

12:00-12:45pm: Another two-part challenge. Using dead presidents birthdays we had to found out our next two locations. On foot we had to trek a few city bocks to find a bowling alley were we had to bowl a strike. Then we ran to the next location (Golds Gym) where I had to "spin" while my teammates identified 10 song clips playing. 

12:45-1:10pm: Finally we got our last Challenge of the day. Using the clues from all the challenge cards we found we had to make our way to Coach & Willies Bar on bike to play beer pong. (I made it on my second throw!) Finally we were done and we headed to the finish line!

I am not sure exactly what time we finished but it was close to that.... We ate our free Chipolte burrito and headed home. We were all cold, wet and tired! 

It was a good race minus the rain, gangsters, broken bikes, and flat tires! Will I do an adventure race again?? Absolutely!!! 

Happy Running!!

   -Kristal

Smile... LIFE IS GRAND!

Big changes are in my future... as some of you already know; I didn't get accepted into ASU's nursing program. I thought I would be more upset by this than I am. It sucks to "fail" at anything but life goes on! I might not have gotten into the program at ASU but I certainly have not counted myself out. ASU’s program is really tough to get into; a lot of smart young people get turned down every semester. So what now? Tim and I are planning on moving up “north” and I will find a new school. A new adventure is on the rise! I am excited!

On an even brighter note, I finally had a run I can smile about! This morning I knocked out a 6 mile run. It wasn’t super speedy but it was good. I started struggling between mile 3-4 but I forged on! I ran the whole 6 miles, no stopping, it was amazing! It was the first time since I gave blood that I really felt like I was being productive with my run! I am looking forward to a strong April running month!   

4.2.11 Run Route and Stats

Total Miles- 6:13

Total Time- 51:17

Average Mile- 8:22

Mile1- 8:27

Mile 2- 8:14

Mile 3- 8:16

Mile 4- 8:14

Mile 5- 8:18

Mile 6- 8:22

Cool Down- 0.13 (10:42 pace)

My run was followed by an amazing recovery drink! It's bomb diggity bomb!

Now for some serious quilting so Jessica has a graduation gift to open! I am so jealous proud of Jessica for finishing school and becoming a real adult! Maybe I will be a real adult someday too, with a degree and everything!!!   

Happy Running

   -Kristal