9 and counting....4 more to go!

I RAN 9 MILES THIS PAST WEEKEND! OMG...I seriously can't even believe it myself. And here's my running lesson from this week, I can do it by myself.

The hubs & I have been fighting for awhile now b/c he and some family/friends were the ones that talked me into this craziness, but I run slower than everyone else (and I'm d... proud of my achievement of taking my 13min mile to an 11)! And it's been really frustrating to see everyone else running ahead of me and thinking that I'm gonna end up running this stupid race by myself. And the few times Keith would slow down to run with me, it was really hard for him, hurt his knees, and he'd have to even stop and wait, etc.

But what has happened, that I did not expect, is that I have come into my own with this running stuff. It's no big thing for me to go out and run 5 miles by myself and love it. And this weekend, when it was time for the big 9-miler, I knew I had to do it alone, and I did, and I didn't doubt myself. And I know I can do it again, and I will be able to do it on race day (only 1.5 weeks away). By myself, along with the other 20,000 runners that will be out there that day, haha. But I know if my friends and Keith are ahead of me, they'll be cheering me on at the finish line when I ACCOMPLISH THIS BY MYSELF.

Now, all that said, tomorrow I'll write my lesson on how the accountability of our team has been a crucial part of me sticking with this, and I'll end that post with.....YOU CAN'T DO THIS ALONE!!!! Hahaha.

Other little running lessons this week:

• All those gels & goos that runners use are just straight shots of carbohydrates, and I tried them, but I read an article from a doctor who runs marathons and took this little tidbit. Try a candy bar, it has the same shot of carbs. Seriously, so during my 9-miler, I ate a mini Snickers instead of the goo, and LOVED IT! Will definitely use that trick again.
• Running pants are the best! No more distraction of constantly pulling down the shorts.
• Cheering and encouragement is the BEST! Keith drove to meet me on the last mile of my 9-miler this past weekend, and the kids were cheering in the car "Go Mommy" and "Mommy's awesome", and they even got out and ran with me in their PJ's for like 2 minutes. And it was the best motivation EVER. I booked it home the last mile b/c of that.

I'll let you know if I survive 11 this weekend.