Two weeks ago, I turned 40. And that is just fine with me. 40 is the new 30 right? Jennifer Aniston is now in her mid-40s and no one is mad at her or calling her old. That's what I'm telling myself. So far, it's been a good year!
The good things of 2013 - and it's only February...
.JPG) |
| AK is going to help me blow out the candles! |
- Twelve days before my birthday, my braces came off - three months early!
- Two days after my birthday, my son's braces came off - six months early!
- Had a great birthday celebration for my mother with our family and close family friends. That was a fun time. Happy 59th, Mom!
- I had a sleep over with my 6 week old niece the night before my birthday and woke up to her right beside me on my birthday. Wonderful birthday snuggles with Ansley Kay.
- Had a fantastic birthday brunch with my family & had Miss AK in my arms the whole time. (Josh's. Yum!)
- Started a dinner club and had our first dinner (Bistro La Bon. Yum!)
- And finally, I've had some great runs this year and have been doing a good job of building my base and staying consistent.
As I mentioned, my long runs have been good and my mid-week runs have been consistent for the most part - sometimes 7th grade can get in the way but Little Mister's education will win that battle every time. Because I run after work and because it's currently dark when I leave work thanks to standard time, I've been running on the treadmill. I use treadmill runs to push my speed and endurance. So I run longer intervals and play with the speed to get my legs use to going a little faster. I think - I'm not 100% sure yet - but I think I'm seeing slight increases in speed in my long runs. Because I'm running longer intervals on the treadmill - sometimes three and four times longer - I'm slowly increasing my intervals during my long runs. I'm certainly excited to see how it all plays out and am having to remind myself to take the increases slowly so I don't end up hurt.
So here's how #Yearof40 Week 6 looked:
 |
| Little Mister is a happy kid on Super Bowl Sunday!!! |
- Superbowl Sunday!!! Ravens played the 49ers. Little Mister loves the Ravens - much to the chagrin of his mother. Panther Stadium is a mere few blocks from my office! But that aside, the Ravens won and I had a really happy kid!!!
- Monday - No exercise on Monday. Boo.
- Tuesday - Nice treadmill run. Worked on running longer intervals at an increasing speed. Ran 3 miles at an 11:35 pace, followed by sit ups, push ups and core work
- Wednesday - No exercise on Wednesday. Boo.
- Thursday - Another nice treadmill run (they do exist!!!). Same thing, working on endurance, etc. Ran 3.5 miles at a 11:48. I was a little disappointed but got it done.
- Friday - Night out to dinner with the boys and even got them to take me to Zoe's Kitchen. Such good, like, fresh food. I think it helped my long run on Saturday.
- Saturday - probably my best long run in a good while. I ran 10.11 miles in 1:55:36 at an 11:26 pace. I'm pretty sure that's a new low for me. I have to thank my friends Mari and Ashley. They run faster than I run and I chased those girls for 10+ miles determined not to let them out of my sight. Sometimes I even caught up (thanks to waterstops) and we ran together. It was a GREAT run.
 |
| Little AK Angel |
- Sunday - after an evening with the lovely Ansley Kay, I headed back to Charlotte from Hickory and managed to get in a run with Little Mister and Trooper. That is just heaven to me. We ran about 3.5 miles and because Little Mister runs faster than I run, I found myself once again chasing. But we rocked out 3.43 miles at an 11:10 pace. Felt great but I'm tired!
 |
| Aunt Julie's Prettiest Girl |
 |
| My Sunday running buddies... |
Hope you all have a great week. As my friend and coach Jackie says, Run Happy.
More to come.
Running TALL,
Julia
