Summer has come...or has it?

I am officially on summer break, but it doesn't feel like life has slowed down a bit. This week has been especially crazy. I ran the BolderBoulder on Monday, babysat on Tuesday, worked on Wednesday, and hosted my book club here today. Starting tomorrow I am watching the office staff kids from work. That lasts for the next 8 days, then I get a break for a couple of weeks. Then in July I start nannying for a family from the school. I'm not complaining, it is great money, but I didn't realize how much of my summer that I have given away. It just makes me a little sad. What I really want to do is sleep in, run, watch movies, read books, sit at the pool, go to bed, then wake up the next morning and do it again. ***SIGH*** I just have to keep reminding myself that after this summer of working I'll be able to pay off my car and by some new bedroom furniture. So, that is what I have to keep focused on. Plus, I wouldn't sign up for these babysitting gigs unless the kids and families were great. So, that is helpful too. Hopefully you are all having a great start to your summer. I'll keep you posted on my many crazy days to come.

Finished Another Race

This past weekend I ran a 10K race in Boulder. It is called the BolderBoulder, in case any of you out there have heard of it. There were about 52,000 people running this race, so it was super crazy to see so many people coming out for this race. There were people dressed in costumes from Jamba Juice bananas to gorillas to people running with tutus on. It was quite entertaining watching all the different people that were there. It definitely kept me distracted while I was running. The weather was also only 57 degrees and drizzling. I could have done without the rain, but I was just glad it wasn't 100 degrees while I was running.

I ran with my friend that I ran with in my last race and her son. I kept with them for the first 2 miles and then I was ready to go faster, so I left them. I had to do 4 miles by myself, but it was so great to just concentrate and think about what I was doing. That is one of the things I love about running. When I started running I just told myself that I would run the 3 miles I'm used to running and then I could walk the last part. I felt really good after 3 miles, so I just kept going. I ended up running the whole thing except for power walking up the steep hills. I felt so great! I finished in 1 hour and 20 minutes. I feel good about the time. It is a slower pace than I am used to, but I was just proud that I finished and ran more than I've ever run before. I'm going to actually train for a 10K, so I can have a better time next time. Hopefully I'll do it this summer. Who knew that I'd get so addicted to running? I love it!

My First 5K Race

I ran my first 5K race today. I was a little nervous just because I've been an inside runner so this was one of my first runs outside. I ran with a friend from work who runs a lot and has given me a lot of advice and encouragement along this journey. At the beginning it is a little intimidating because you see all of these "professional runners" running first to warm up and my thought is that if I run now I definitely won't run during the race. When you get in line at the start line everyone is all packed in together. There were these ladies behind us that were so encouraging to me. They said how great it was that I was doing my 1st race. It was a great sense of camaraderie between all of these women who are just trying to lead healthy lives. Finally it was time to start and there really wasn't any more time to be nervous because I was running and I just started thinking "This is just a normal workout. I do this 3 times a week already." That really helped me mentally. I felt like my pace was slower than usual, but I decided that I wanted to go slow and steady and finish at a time that I was proud of. Well...drum roll please....I finished in 34.55 minutes. That is about an 11 minute mile. I am so excited about that time! My goal was to finish in under 40 minutes, so I definitely met that goal. Thank you to all of you who have listened and encouraged me as I'm learning to be a runner. Your support means the world to me.