sham’rocked it!

After just a bit of debating.. okay, a TON of back and forth and the wild psycho-ness of being way too hard on myself over a five mile race… I decided to run the Shamrock Townebank 8k on Saturday!

Part of my decision to run was created by a late night text Friday from my friend Lexi telling me to set my alarm because she’d be at my house at 6:45 am to scoop me for the race. YESSSSSS. As soon as I committed, I knew there was no turning back!!

Although I really wasn’t feeling my best.. ( I continued to hack up my lungs the entire car ride over) ..the large crowd and the race location (Atlantic Ave. & the boardwalk) had me PUMPED.

lil map from my garmin 😉

The first two miles in were GREAT. Not too much congestion- just some tired legs that haven’t moved enough in the past two weeks, but nothing to hinder my running!

After mile two, the race course had us turning from Atlantic Ave. up on to the boardwalk, and against the wind. I seriously felt as if I was running in slow motion, and suddenly I began to feel all the congestion in my chest. It was TIGHT. I imagined it was the same feeling that people with asthma get, and my breathing felt rattled. Not fun.

It was at mile three that I just wanted the race to be OVER. Maybe I pushed myself too hard after being sick- I probably should have just jogged in the back or walked with the walkers and had more fun, but I wanted the thrill of racing…I am extremely competitive when I run, but only with MYSELF. This time, however, my body wasn’t up for the test. I tried too hard when I wasn’t feelin’ it, and definitely made the race less enjoyable than it could have been.

Meh. I’m still learning. I’m still figuring out this whole racing business, and hopefully I’ll be good ‘n healthy at my next race and this will be a non issue. 😀

Either way, I didn’t do too bad! I have some stats from my garmin: mile 6 with a pace of 4:53 makes me giggle because I definitely pressed start in the car ride home by mistake…

(You can really see where I was strugglin’ during mile 3&4.. that wind was ROUGH.)

And my final Townebank 8k Results: 42:49. I came in 23rd in my division (women 20-24) out of  304 chickadeeees. I am super proud of my time, yet semi-disappointed in myself for not running a tad slower in my congested state. I think I could have been a much happier runner during the race, and instead I wanted to be a fast runner, whether that made me miserable or not.

Like I said, it’s a learning experience! Back to work, rainy Mondays make me happy that I work from home.

P.S. Would you believe me if I said that not only have I not taken even one SIP of diet soda since my decision to quit, but I haven’t even THOUGHT of the stuff? Danny has been teasing me about how long the cases of Diet Coke last, now that I’ve kicked my habit..

cold turkey

My name is Jamie, and I am addicted to diet soda.

the innocence..

 

I eat well. I eat whole grains and veggies, fresh fruit and lean meats. I consider my body a temple and I treat it as such. So WHY, am I guzzling Aspartame? My relationship with diet soda is becoming unhealthy. I’m at three-four (sometimes FIVE) cans a day, and I can’t kick the habit.

It’s not only the possible health dangers associate with high amounts of Aspartame that scare me- it’s the fact that I have actually become addicted to this stuff. I quit once (Courtney remembers this, as I stood in Target “dizzy and shaking with Aspartame withdrawal”- yes, I am that dramatic and yes, Courtney and I are really this obsessed with Target..) but upon moving to VA Beach, I relapsed.

So here goes nothing. I’m quitting the chemicals again, cold turkey I tell ya. I’m posting it here because if I announce it to the world, I HAVE to stick to it. Right? Right. Here goes nothing! It’s a new month (I’m a day late) so what better time to kick a bad habit? 🙂