Cowtown Challenge Done!

This was one awesome weekend! I did finish the Cowtown Challenge by doing a 5K on Saturday and a half marathon on Saturday. In between I rode bikes around with one of my friends. I enjoyed the camaraderie of all the runners and the general atmosphere around the Cowtown is just awesome - Oh - and I met Jeff Galloway himself! He is so kind and encouraging - just like Mark Bravo.

I really felt very under-trained for this particular event. I hadn't run much in the last two weeks and had only done one 9+ miler in the last month. I usually have a few 10 milers in, but not this time. But - it all worked out.

One of the biggest struggles I have is simply not knowing what my body is going to do on any given day. I have to keep my attitude straight and just be "okay" with whatever I have to work with. Doing a race while traveling adds another struggle - trying to eat out without taking in too much salt. Hey- the struggle is real! One night we ate at Chili's and I asked for them to not add any sauce to my steak - it was so salty I couldn't even eat it! I gave up and had peanut butter back at the room - I'd brought it with me. I can opt for most salads (but not the  night before a race!)

The 5K was a double cool day because I decided to run with my daughter. I ran at her pace, walked at her pace and just generally took it easy - it was so cool to cross that finish line with her! That was the highlight I think - because we did it together.

The morning of the half I felt fine - but was nervous about my lack of training. So I didn't play music, wore my heart rate to keep a close eye on it and went out slowly. I have learned how to monitor my heart and interpret what it's telling me. For instance, if it runs higher than my "normal" I know it's working harder than it should be. But it didn't do that yesterday....it stayed in its normal zones perfectly.

By mile 5 I was feeling really good and making decent time. I held back since I still had a ways to go. As I crossed the half way mark - in the Stockyards, I felt really good - but I also knew I had two good sized hills coming and they can be challenging. But my heart was still hanging in the right zones so I kept going forward, but I didn't push it.

Once I got past the huge hill - dreaded mile 9 - I took awhile to catch my breath and by mile 10 it was flat and I was ready to go. I thought, "I only have a 5K left to go!" I turned on my music and took off. I felt great - better than I EVER have at the 10 mile mark. By 11 I was still cooking - still running Galloway's  3:1 intervals. What amazed me was that I was still running! An I wasn't dragging at all..... crossed the finish line and checked my stats and mile 12 was my fastest mile! lol - how did that
happen? Mile 12?? that's cool.



So I have decided staying with a healthy diet is essential....and I think I have a well rounded workout schedule right now. I am going to continue what I'm doing since I feel more fit and had a great race when I didn't expect it at all!

I do have a cardiologist appointment in the morning - but I expect nothing but a good report on the tests I had last week. Maybe he'll take the "CHF" diagnosis back too! lol

Every Step's A Victory

...and I feel it right now!