Blessing Ready!

Here we are, Friday, the day of The Blessing.

On Monday, I had a nice three mile run.  It was a little later in the day but only 79 degrees.  I had very limited time and ran at a nice clip in the last mile.  I actually had negative splits!  I finished in 34 minutes and felt pretty good after.

From there we headed to the Narragansett Youth Track Series.  We love this event every year and the night was perfect for it.  My kids did all but the last race and smiled the whole time.  This week they got medals instead of ribbons and Gracie wore hers all day on Tuesday.  Love it!

Such a ham!

100 meter.  George came in second.

Go, Gracie!

Gracie and her medal.  Why they are growling at me, I will never know.

Wednesday was my gym day.  Five miles on the hamster wheel.  Usually this would be difficult for me.  Long and boring.  However, it really was a good run.  In fact, I didn't stop at 5.  I kept going until the machine read 60 minutes and turned off.

I left the gym that day, knowing that I was ready for the Blessing.  I have trained hard, at night, and in the heat and I am confident that I did it all right.

Now as far as goals go, I don't really have one.  I want to run smart and finish.  I want to enjoy the crowds and my friends.

In April, if you remember, I ran the Newport 10 Miler.  Fantastic race, and I had a 13 minute PR.  I think it would be difficult for me to top that in just a couple months, so just run it and have a good time it is!

The really fun part is Mary, who is running with us, lives on the course. We are all meeting at her house and the husbands and kids are going to have a Blessing Party. She is at the beginning of mile 9 and I can't wait to see them as I run by!  This will be the perfect motivation to get me to the finish.  Well, that and the beer tent!

I have a little PF that has been under control for quite some time.  On Wednesday, however, I spent most of the day bare foot on the beach.  That aggravated it.  I have been rolling, stretching, and icing and feel pretty good today. I think I will run without any problems.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Great waves!

One of my favorite pictures!

Two cool things happened this week.

First, Running Bloggers posted the top 100 running blogs of 2013.  Guess who was number 35?  I had a few people nominate me and I thank all of you, especially Connie, who they quoted in the list.  You all rock!

And second, 30 Something Mother Runner is doing a Friday post on favorite races. Today, mine is up.  I really had to think about my favorite because we have so many great races here in RI, but when it really came down to it, The Ocean's Run is what I went with.

I would love to hear about your favorite race!

Will I see you at the Blessing?

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole