Packing for NWHM!

In twelve hours Ali and I will be on our way to the Nation's Capital to begin our fun filled weekend of Nike Women's Half Marathon! And since my procrastination skills lately have been top notch, here I am! Packing. Oh wait... maybe I 'm just typing a packing list and then blogging. I still actually have to pack. Crap. (Note to self: pack!) 

NWHM was honestly a pipe dream for me. I'm not one of the college students who automatically got entrance into the race, I was one of the common folk who put their name in the hat and was lucky enough to have it picked. 

Quick story about all that.. when I first started wondering if I should enter the lottery for NWHM this year I was extremely hesitant. I'm the girl that gets her hopes up for EVERYTHING. A friend casually mentioned that we should get together soon? I interpret that as "They want to see me right now!" and then get my hopes shattered when "Soon" turns into two months. So, the idea of entering lottery for a race that I really wanted and potentially not getting picked had me a bit nervous. Finally, one of the women at work told me I just needed to register, then try to forget about it. Put it out of my mind, and if it happens it happens. But it can't happen if I don't at least make the effort. And so I did. November 5th I went ahead and put all the information in that was necessary and tried my hardest to forget about it. December 2nd while I was at work, I got a text saying that my Visa had been charged by Nike Women's Half Marathon.. andddd I started crying. Legitimate sobs of happiness. 

But anyway, back to the point. Nike Women's Half Marathon Weekend is upon us! And with a weekend get away, one must pack all the things! Here's my pseudo "packing list".  I know tonight as I finally get all my things together I will realize that I forgot to list something or that I don't need something (I'm only going to be gone for one night, let's be real). But, it was a start. And it kept me from doing actual things like, you know, packing. And homework. And cleaning my house. 

There are some exciting things going on while I'm in DC aside from the half, but that will be a post for POSSIBLY tomorrow night! Tomorrow brings a day of driving, Expotique, brunch, exploring the city, and finally settling down for the night to rest. 

I'm getting so excited for the weekend! What are some of your "must haves" on race weekend? 

A Sunday Morning Run and Selfies With My Dog

That face though, can we focus on that face? Let me explain that I don't always keep pictures where I look that awkward, just ones with my dog. She doesn't like to take pictures, so I have to make whistling noises to make her look at the camera and I loved her face in this one. So I kept it, despite my positively dreadful expression. My mother's reaction to this picture was "It looks like she ate the Easter Bunny!" I see her point, and it is something that the little terrier terror would do. She's a bit of an om nom nomivore. Anyway, onto the good stuff. A Sunday morning run was on the books since Nike Women's Half Marathon is just one week away from today! 

I opted for 7 miles today, a 3.5 out and back along State Street in Dover. By doing this route I was well aware that I wasn't working on time, given the amount of cross streets that I have on this route. But, the view is one that is pretty great, considering the area. And as luck may have it, some of the flowers are starting to bloom, even though we just had snow this week. Between stop lights and crosswalks my simple 7 mile run took me 1:34. I'm starting to get better working on my breathing technique, slowly but surely. But, it's happening! I have started working more with yoga that is supposed to help increase lung capacity. I've also started playing my clarinet more regularly to help with lung capacity and breathing as well.

Now to relax with the little dog, a bottle of wine, and some homework for the rest of our Easter Sunday.

Finding My Stride, and Slowly Learning To Deal

As you may recall, last week I posted about how I have sports induced asthma and I did a number on my ankle. This week I took it slow and took to the streets, and I ended up hitting a peak of 9 miles this week on a run, slow, but 9 miles is 9 miles. And given my lung problems as of late, I was happy to take it. I'm still a bit nervous about NWHM two weeks from now, but at the same time, I need to remember that it is what it is and things don't always work out how we would like. If Nike doesn't go as well as I want it to, there is always Zooma Annapolis in May. The ultimate goal is to be doing sub 2:30 by October when I have Monster Mash. 

Other than that, it's been a slow week! Working, running, homework. Next week the plan is to meet with Ali sometime to start figuring the game plan for DC. Yep, we are taking on yet another race together, and another Expo! This time though, I'll be toting a camera to come back and show you all the lovely details of Nike! 

It's supposed to be a nice week here in Delaware, so I'm excited to get some miles in this week in anticipation of Nike at the end of the month.