Run Forrest, Run

This past Saturday I ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon. I have been training for this race with Team Niki G which consists of my boot camp instructor & four fellow boot campers. This was my very first 1/2 marathon. I still can not believe that I was able to run 13.1 miles without stopping, walking, fainting, or dying!

For me, the Marathon weekend really started on Friday night when my Dad & Brother surprised me by showing up in Nashville. Unknown to me, Mike had tried really hard to get family members to come for the weekend to surprise me and show support, but for certain reasons no one was going to be able to make it. I am so thankful my Dad & Brother were able to make the trip!

We all know you can't run a long race without carb loading, so once the guys made it to town we headed to Molinari's Italian Restaurant for dinner. YUMMY!

Saturday morning came early. I was up by 4:00am to prepare for the race and meet the rest of the team. The boys left the house around 6:30am and headed downtown to cheer me on. They picked a place on the course where they could see me twice, once around mile 5 and then a second time when I ran back by around mile 8. After I passed them at mile 8 they got in the car and headed to the finish line and waited for me to make the final turn at mile 13.

The weather was near perfect. It was a little warmer than I would have preferred, but that is where the cups of cold water came in handy. Luckily the storms held off until after all of our group was finished running.

Team Niki G (minus one of our team members) before the race.

MILE 5

MILE 8

MILE 13

Approaching the finish line!

I was VERY pleased with my time. My official chip time was 2 hours 24 minutes, but my actual time was 2 hours 21 minutes. The 3 minute difference is because my running buddy needed to make a pit stop, so I paused my stopwatch and waited for her. I wasn't too off from my goal time of 2 hours 15 minutes.

Post Race Pictures:

Mike had to join in:)

During the race my family saw several people wearing "odd" things while running. There were people wearing tutus, 2 guys running in full business suits, and 2 guys running barefoot...OUCH! The following man wins the award for "The Most Disturbing Outfit". We will just call him "Bunny Boy".

This is what was waiting for me on the kitchen table when I got home from the race. My sweet husband had left me a card and a sticker to put on the back of the 4-Runner to remind me of this accomplishment. Since he didn't know which one I would choose he just bought them all...what a smart man!

Now that the soreness has wore off I am ready to do it again!

Blvd. Bolt 2009

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving Day 2009 has already past! Where does time go? Sorry I have been lacking in the blogging department, but things in the Organ house have been crazy.

Those of you who know me or who follow this blog know that running has become a big part of my life and Thanksgiving morning was no exception. This year Mike & I participated in a 5 mile race called the Blvd. Bolt. Over 8,000 people participate in this race each year and all the proceeds are used to help the Nashville homeless community.

For this race, I was part of a running group put together by my boot camp instructor. Our team theme for the Blvd. Bolt was "The 80's". All 9 ladies wore 80's inspired attire and everyone looked great. My outfit was complete with bright blue eye shadow, Shutter Shades, headband, lace gloves, off-the-shoulder shirt, & leg warmers.

I do have to give a special shout out to the 3 husbands (mine included) who bravely ran with their 80's clad wives. You all deserve a special award! What a great way to start the Thanksgiving Holiday. Now I will leave you with the incriminating evidence!

This last picture is of the two of us after we arrived home from the race. Unfortunately before we made it home we had to stop at Kroger and pick up the turkey. That meant that I had to go into a grocery store looking like I just stepped out of an Olivia Newton John music video!

5K Victory!

This morning Mike and I participated in the South Nash Dash. It is a local 5K race that promotes sense of community in South Nashville or Brentioch (as some may know it). We were desperately hoping that the rain would hold off until after the race and we got lucky. The rain stopped about 30 minutes before the race and it didn't start up again until were were leaving.

We took this picture right before the race started. Poor Mike had been up all night due to food poisoning (not my cooking, he ate meat and a local restaurant:), but like a trooper he ran the race anyway. You can totally see in his eyes how drained he was from the last 12 hours of being sick.

We both did really well. Despite Mike's food born illness, he ran it in a flat 27:00 minutes. I was able to run the 3.1 miles in 26:22. I am very proud of my time because the last 5K that I ran I finished in about 35 minutes.

What a great way to start off the weekend. We are already looking forward to the upcoming 5K races.