July 4th, 2013 ended up being a HUGE day for me! When I decided in May to use my walking that was helping me to quit smoking, to also use it to lose weight, I set a goal to do the Mohawk Trail Run/Walk that our community hosts every 4th of July. I knew that it was a competitive race and that it also started for walkers at 6:45 and runners at 7. UGH, I don't like to see those hours of the morning. However, I registered with my PIC, Partner in Crime, Jen P. and together we used this goal to help push us with our walking.
PIC and I kept getting stuck in the 18 minute range on our miles. No matter what we did or how hard we felt like we pushed, we couldn't get out of it. I won't forget the first time we hit 17:30, I wanted to cry and my legs hurt SO bad, but WE DID IT! I was SO PROUD!
There is a new Disney movie coming out called Turbo about racing snails and PIC and I took our girls to see another movie and when the preview for Turbo came on we laughed and laughed and said it was us for NUMEROUS reasons! The Rocky Theme Song in it, the fact that I can't eat before walking--at all--because I ALWAYS have to rush home and interrupt our walk to go #2, in it there is a snail that says 17 minutes! A NEW RECORD!!!...LOL! I love it! We even have nicknames for each other based on that preview. I am Skid for skid mark and she is White Shadow! I only call her PIC in my blog because it's so short to type and I really am not a typer and I have so many Jennifer's in my life!
This is the movie preview for Disney's Turbo.
Bayleigh had been asking and asking and she was pretty determined that she too wanted to participate in the walk. It made me nervous because while I knew she could do it and finish, I didn't know at what pace or exactly how "competitive" this race really was. Not gonna lie--reading competitive on the registration form made me nervous. I wouldn't preregister her because of it.
I knew that I was going to be pushing myself. I knew that the competition for me was solely against myself. Ok, against myself and the average 17 min miles I was at. (BTW, when you read numbers like the 17 or 18 mins that you just read, that means my time is in that range. Could be a 17:59 but it's still in the 17's so keep that in mind when reading).
My mom said that if Bayleigh wanted to do it then she would walk too so that she could keep an eye on her for me. YAY! I still didn't preregister her. I thought, oh if it's raining I won't wake her, only because the original forecast said on the 4th we might be 2 inches of rain.
GUESS WHAT! NO RAIN! So, I woke her up at 5:30 and she got out of bed no trouble at all and off we went. We met in front of mom's house at 5:55 to walk up to the school as a warm up. Registration the day of began at 6 and again not knowing much about the race, I thought we should get there early. Not only that, the registration fee went from $15 to $18 so I thought she would have a better shot at getting an $18 t-shirt since they were not guaranteed.
So, another HUGE factor in me being SO excited for this race is that my best friend in the whole world was going to be running it as well. So, not only do I get to do a 5K with my daughter, my mother, my PIC, but also my BFF! HOW COOL?!
Everyone meet my BFF! Guess what her name is--JENNIFER! :) Jen is such an inspiration. She started a weight loss journey herself when she found a picture of herself on her son's camera a couple of years ago. Isn't she beautiful?! She is so beautiful on the inside too and has a heart of gold! (Love you friend)!
This is a picture of my PIC--JENNIFER/Jen P./White Shadow....
PIC's daughter is a year younger than Bay. They played softball on the same team together last year and then again this year too and Jen and I have quickly become really close. Jen is one of THE NICEST people of I have ever met in my life. She too has a heart of gold. She is sweet and funny and I am very lucky to have met her that very hot softball year! AND, she lives right up the road from me so it's kinda fate that she became my PIC! (Love you too friend)!
This is my mom and Bay. My mom too has lost a bunch of weight and is looking good. I love her support that she has showed me throughout the journey I am on. She participated here to help me watch Bay. At the 1-2-3 GO walk in town, she also walked to help keep track of Bay. My mom is such a giver! I feel bad that it makes me too much of a taker. (I LOVE you too momma! THANK YOU for all your help)!
Let me share another really cool thing about this walk. I have become really close to a family here in town over the last couple of years too. Our circumstances for our friendship is one we laugh about often and it's one of those "who would've thought" type deals. But it's also one of those, "I am SO glad it did" type deals. This family, and I am intentionally not giving last names because lets be honest--you are the Internet and Internet is scary! No offense. Anyways, this family is the reason that my daughter and I now have a home church. WHAT A BLESSING THAT IS! (THANK YOU FRIENDS)! Check them out below!
This is Bayleigh with her BFF Cendall. HOW COOL?! My first 5K with my BFF--Bayleigh's first 5K with her BFF! Cendall and her family are all runners so while we walked they ran. Let me tell you--when Cendall ran passed me--I had to choke back tears because I was SO PROUD of her! Her dad and brother had passed me earlier and I kept thinking her mom and sister were right behind her and they were not as close as I thought. Cendall ROCKED! She really pushed to do well and do well is exactly what she did!
This is Jill, the mom and also who I refer to as my Amazingly Awesome Friend. I joked and said she's my AA Friend--but it has nothing to do with the alcohol AA! LOL!
I love her very much and she too has been such and inspiration and motivator. When I would walk during the day she would walk with me. When would have all of our kids and off we would go. I know I slowed her down, but she never one time complained. She would call and say, you walking today--YIP, let me changed diapers and put on shoes. :)
Listen, God has put some really amazing people in my life and I am FOREVER THANKFUL for that. All of these women I've introduced you to are blessings to me and my family. I AM SO LUCKY!
Here's my PIC Crossing the finish line not long after me! YAY!!! WAY TO GO MY SWEET FRIEND! I am SO, SO, SO proud of you!!!
Bayleigh crossed the finish line first for ALL of the walkers! Here she is with Cendall at the end!
Me and the BFF at the end! Hot, sweaty messes! Jen came back for me as I walked. I was walking most of the race with a lady named Kim that I have met through softball as well and Kim's husband snuck up on us so I encouraged her to go ahead and be sure to beat him. Kim was AWESOME! She pushed me and cheered for me and said, Come on Jen, you can do this! Had it not been for Kim, I wouldn't have finished where I did or with the times I did! (THANK YOU KIM)!
So, anyways, when I saw Jen come around the bend, I knew she was coming back for me to walk with me to the end of my race--here comes the tears as I type--because that's what BFF's do--they come back for you when you are absolutely DYING and I had to chuckle--through the gasping for air, LOL--because the movie the Wizard of Oz came to mind when ToTo, Dorthy's dog escapes the evil witch and comes running to her arms she says, "ToTo, you came back for me! Oh you came back"! That's what I thought when I saw Jen's pretty face! :) (This just through me into complete dork category didn't it?!) LOL!
My PIC and I FINISHED! YAY! Her sister walked with her and I didn't know what kind of pace she kept so I knew that I couldn't jump off the start too fast so I just walked. Come to find out, Jen wasn't far behind me the entire race and even walked alone because she ended up going ahead of her sister. :( I feel horrible for not walking with her. She assured me it's OK and she was perfectly fine because she was able to get into her zone. That's how I was after Kim took off with Andy--in the ZONE--the survival zone! :)
I ended up finishing first in the 30-39 age category for women! WHOOP! WHOOP!
Bayleigh won a trophy for being the top overall finisher for the women! WAY TO GO BAYLEIGH!
My BFF won her age category for runners too! WHOOP! WHOOP!
Here's all of the winners from the race. Kim won her age category too. She is two women to the right of me when looking at the picture. (in the blue shirt, next to the boy in the grey shirt and lady in the black shirt) (The lady in the black is Lisa, Josh's grandma that kept up with Bayleigh).
Trophy Winners!
SO PROUD OF US!
Cendall came over and congratulated her BFF!
Two Sets of BFF's! What a sweet picture!
5:55 am vs 8ish after awards.
It says: CHAMPION, Overall Female Walker Mohawk Trail Run.
In the picture right above this one, is a screen capture of my app I used for my walk. The official time from the race was 56:52 according to the stopwatch there, but my app said 56:56. The break down of the miles is from the picture right above this one. I consistently stayed in the 15's. NEW PERSONAL RECORD!
Overall, I am SO PROUD of myself and my friends and my family for this absolutely amazing day! This race was SO much fun and I am going to keep walking and I am going to try to makes these 15 minute miles easier so that I can move on to my next race and maybe not struggle so much with it. Here's to the next!!
