One Week!

So...one week till the Shamrock Half! Time sure flew by quick.

I'm actually a little bittersweet about the race...I feel ready to take it on comfortably and successfully, and while I will enjoy getting back into a more "normal" exercise routine (strength training!), I am going to miss my scheduled runs. Yes, they took up so much time and energy, but they provided great satisfaction. I am thankful that the Lord has seen us through our training without any major injuries and I pray everyone running next weekend makes good decisions and listens to their bodies.

This week's running was strange. As it was spring break, and I spent 3 glorious days of it in D.C. with two fine ladies (shoutouts to Joanna and Liss!), I plain didn't have time to squeeze in all of my runs, and I missed out on a 4 miler.

Right before we hopped in the car to leave for D.C. after I got off of work on Tuesday, I raced to the gym and raced through 3 miles in 26:23. I'm pretty sure that was a PR, but let's call it a treadmill PR since I doubt I could have gone that fast outside!

I took Wednesday off, as I was busy with this:

Tian Tian--bump on a log.

Uno...

Dos...

Tres!

Thursday morning, I woke up bright and early, saw Joanna was awake too, and we decided to hit the hotel gym (which was insanely nice with TVs on all the treadmills and a refrigerator with cold towels!). I ran 3 miles pretty fast, but boy was it painful. I felt about ready to throw up after the run...I should have known better than to run hard on an empty stomach (your stomach juices slosh around and make you nauseous).

Friday: off. Saturday: 6 miles on the TM next to the love of my life done in 59 minutes. I took it slow and steady; my stomach decided to cramp up every time I tried to increase the speed (I got bored going so slow for so long!), but it ended up being a very enjoyable run.

As you can see, this week was really scaled down. It was more of a "taper" week to prepare us for the mighty distance. This coming week is going to be even easier! I feel like I'm cheating somehow by running so little...I'm almost itching for more, but I know better.

I've pretty much decided to sign up for the Dismal Swamp Stomp half on April 18th. I recruited a friend/fellow runner to do it with me!

I have exciting news: Billy and I have found a perfect apartment to call home after the wedding! We get to start moving in/decorating mid-May. While the complex is a tad on the expensive side for us, we are getting a "promotional deal" that will reduce rent significantly. We will be able to enjoy a new, clean unit with unique lighting (my favorite part), a washer/dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, and a balcony. All those little extras are luxuries that we never believed we'd be able to afford having our first year of marriage. The complex is walking distance to Town Center (which, Lord willing, is where Billy will be getting hired to work), has a parking garage, a gym (!), and a rooftop pool/hot tub area. I am still in shock as this all happened extremely fast (we drove by, walked in the leasing office, toured the place, and came back an hour later with my parents), but I could not ask for a better fit for us. This opportunity is 100% a God-thing! While I am known to make hasty decisions from time to time, Billy usually doesn't. We just both felt a peace about it and decided to take the plunge. Actually, as we were filling the paperwork out, 2 other couples walked in, one after the other, inquiring about one-bedrooms (we got the last one available! Had we waited, it would most likely have been swept out from under our feet).