Frosty 5K, March 7/10

So this weekend started out great. My family went down on Friday night and stayed at Marys. Then Saturday, Mary and I went to Burlington to get our race kits. We're there, and lo and behold, SO IS JACQUI!!! WHAT?! She and Pam planned to surprise me at the race, and to go even farther than that, they arranged to run it with me. THEY WERE THERE PICKING UP THEIR RACE KITS! So after I hugged out Jacqui, I turn, and there walking in was Pam and Kevin and Becca! I look at them IN SHOCK! And of course, the hugging started all over again. That was the Single nicest surprise I've had in a while. Thanks Ladies. That meant the world to me! It was so nice to meet Pam and Kevin and Becca. What lovely people. :o) And so much fun! Pam is a laugher, she loves to laugh, and so do Jacqui and I. We definitely make the perfect 3 Amigo team. Team Pitz, Spitfire and Spunky! xoxo

Waiting for the ladies to get here...how can I NOT goof around?! LOL

The 3 Amigos.................plus my Mary(she is an honorary Amigo)...waiting to run

Yay Pitz!!!..........And Yay Mary....SO proud of you two! XO!

Pitbull and Mary hung around with us until between 1-2K , but they're much faster so happily they went on ahead. GO GIRLS!

Here we are, Pammy and I...her long lets propelled her ahead. Hey Pam, next time you're going to turn on the gas, give me some warning, LOL. That way my little short legs will be prepared. Haha! We ran it together, beginning to end. LOVED IT! We made goals. Run to that point over there, walk from here to there, run again, and so on until we gave it all we had at the finish line. One thing I LOVED, coming up to the finish line, we had people saying, "finish strong" and "only 100 m left, give it all you have" and all the cheers. It doesn't matter what level you are, whether you ran the whole thing, or walked or jog/walk intervals, the support, the air of commradery was phenomenal. It felt like this little community of people who are conscious of health and fitness, regardless of their level of fitness.

We felt a real sense of pride, of accomplishment. All of us!

Pammy came in at 46:40, I came in at clock time of 46:42. (chip time is 46:20) For me, that was 8 minutes faster than my last 5k which was last year. EIGHT MINUTES FASTER is AWESOME!

Jacqui and Mary came in at 42:22/24ish...way to go ladies. They ran most of it. How awesome is that?! That will be us in JUNE, right Pam?!

The weather was phenomenal. Last year when Mary and I did this race, it was -21 C! That's not including wind chill. Let's just say, IT WAS COLD...aptly titled, eh. Frosty it was! This year, it was +10 C. We started out with jackets on and gloves. About 2 K, our jackets came off, and I actually ditched Marys hat and my gloves (sorry babe!) WE RAN IN OUR T-SHIRTS! It was awesome

There were 3,300- half marathoners, 300- 5K's, and some walking half marathoners. That's A LOT of people. There was this never ending sea of marathoners, it was so amazing to see. My husband and I will see what that feels like in October along with Mary and my friend Jan...can't wait...and terrified at the same time!

I forgot my heart rate monitor at home. That was a bummer. I was counting on using it to push myself. See, when people get tired out, or out of breath, the tendancy is to slow down. But when you use the heart rate monitor, it pushes you. It tells you, 'you know what, you can go longer' so I do. It worked out well tho. Pam had hers. We did great.

I was happy that I did my warming up and stretching before the run because last year, we didn't have time and we paid for it. Mary and I were so sore. This time, we were fine. I do have foot issues tho. The left foot that I tweaked during Plyo a few weeks ago held out until about 4K, and then I pushed through. By the time we were done, I was in agony. We got our water, piece of fruit and headed to get our bowl of chili, and by the time I got there, I had to sit and take my shoe off. The pain! WOW. My foot felt crushed. The pain lasted for about 6 hours. This morning, the only side effect I have is my feet are both tender, and I'm a little tight. I was going to do P90X Chest & Back today, but decided to do X Stretch instead...and I'm telling you, I am SO looking forward to doing it.

It was such a great event. It has us all stoked up for our next 5K in June. Pam, Jacqui and I are doing it. And then, we might do the Island Girl's 10K in August with Mary. This is the beginning of a wonderful things. Bring it on! I am so on my way to becoming 'fabulously fit by 40'!