Happy Birthday Holly (And a 10 Mile Run)!

Birthday Wishes
Happy Birthday to my blogging partner, Holly! 

Holly is an amazing friend and inspires me to be a better person every day.  She is such an inspiration the way she balances her demanding job, her family life, her workouts, and her healthy eating.    

I hope you have a great day Holly! 

10 Mile Training Run
I woke up this morning excited for my 10 mile run, especially after missing my 9 mile run last weekend due to not feeling well.  Today's run was great!!!    I often have problems with negative thoughts during my long runs, and I will try to talk myself into doing a shorter distance, or taking more walking breaks than I really need, but I managed to keep all those things out of my head today and I enjoyed my run. 

I kept telling myself that I was so lucky that I am able to go out and run 10 miles with little to no pain, and I know how great it will feel to complete my second half marathon this weekend.

My stats for today's run:

Distance: 10 miles
Total Time: 1:56:27

Mile 1: 11:41
Mile 2: 11:38
Mile 3: 11:47
Mile 4: 11:37
Mile 5: 11:35
Mile 6: 11:49
Mile 7: 11:43
Mile 8: 11:56
Mile 9: 11:25
Mile 10: 11:09

I would still like to take advantage of the 11:30/mile pace group during the race next weekend, so my goal for today was to stay as close to 11:30/mile as I could.  I also kept my watch running each time I stopped for water, which was about 6 times.

Today was my "dress rehearsal" for the race next weekend, so I decided to try out my SPI belt (which stands for Small Personal Items belt)  to hold my Luna Moons.  It's been so cold during my training runs that I always have a jacket with pockets, but there is a chance it may be warmer next weekend which means I can't rely on having the jacket. 

I am happy to announce that the belt stayed in place the entire 10 miles and I barely even knew it was there.  I wish I would have tried this earlier as it would be a nice place to carry my cell phone and keys while running. 

I plan to also use this to hold my race number next weekend so I don't have to keep moving it as I shed layers of clothing.  The race starts at 6am so I know I am going to dress in layers.  I will be hitting up the Goodwill this week to buy some "throwaway clothes" to keep my warm before the race starts.  Any clothing left on the side of the race course is picked up, laundered, and given to charity.   It's nice to know that I don't have to spend the whole race with jackets tied around my waist.

Superheros
Tonight my husband and I are participating in a Superhero bar crawl.  I am very excited, and I love any excuse to dress up.  I have to finish my costume this afternoon and I will post some pictures tomorrow!