4 on the 4th and Festivities!

Over the years, a "staple" race for me has been our hometown 4th of July race. I've missed a year or two here and there due to injury or being out of town but for the most part, I've run this race every year. Despite my new hamstring injury this year, I still decided to do this race with a plan of "taking it slow". Besides, I had a Triple Crown medal at stake here and after having run the Athletes Corner 3 miler back in March and the Contraband Days 5 miler in May, I knew I HAD to do it, even if that meant walking the entire thing.

Somehow, a race recap from the Contraband Days 5 miler (from May) never made its way here, but during that race, I ran/walked the entire thing with a few friends due to our Relay for Life event the night before. Going into the 4 miler, I knew if I could just get to mile 3 by run/walking with my friends again, I would make it...and make it I did!

 

It was a hot one (as always) for the race, but the sun was hiding behind a cloud most of the time which made it bearable.

My dad was so generous to come out and watch Brayden while we ran. He used to come out to cheer me on by himself but now, he has a buddy to visit with!

Jason was working nights, so he sadly missed the entire day. Whomp whomp. 

This course took us down the lake, out and back. They also had PLENTY of water stops and gatorade, too!

The miles seemed to fly by for me as we chatted and before I knew it, we were almost finished. About .2 miles from the finish line, we passed Brayden and my dad. Brayden started crying because he wanted me, so we ran the remainder of the race together. He LOVES going for a run with mom! Sweet boy!

(Side note, I wouldn't have minded running this race with him but I'm super glad I didn't. After taking his stroller, I could really feel my hamstring pulling for just those last 0.2 miles.)

Triple Crown!

They've offered this option for the past several years and I've only done the full set twice so far. I'm glad they change the medal from year to year, too!

Kona Ice was out there for a frozen treat after the race. I wasn't going to get one, but when I saw "Lavender Lemonade" on the list, I knew I had to try it! The flavor of this one was amazing and reminded me of a Violet Lemonade from the Flower and Garden Festival at EPCOT. I love having little tastes of Disney at home!

After breakfast and showers, we headed over to my friend Kim's house for a lunch time BBQ! All of the food was delicious!

That evening, my community hosted its first ever "Red, White, & Boom" event, complete with fireworks. We had SO much fun! My parents came with us to enjoy the evening and we had a great time!

There were food trucks from vendors in our community which was fun as well as jump houses for the kids.

Side note, when I saw these matching shirts at Kohls in the spring, I knew I had to have them!

Brayden LOVED "driving" the firetruck and playing on the slide. He also really enjoyed the fireworks!

At last count, I heard over 4400 people were in attendance which is huge for my small-ish community. We usually go to the larger event located in the nearby town for the 4th, but wanted to support our community on its first year and I'm so glad we did! We were also home by 9:30 since we didn't have near as much traffic to fight. Score!

My friend Kim was there too and we had fun hanging out with them! In all, it was a great day!! Happy birthday, America!

What did you do for the 4th?

Fitness Friday - 7/27

Hello Friday! I'm so very glad the weekend is here again. Jason is off from work this weekend which means we get to spend it together as a family! I love weekends when he's home! :)

Here's a glimpse of how my week went, workout wise!

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Contraband Days 5 Miler 
• 4 on the 4th
• Rock n Roll San Antonino Half 

Saturday - 4 mile run
Sunday - Rest day
Monday - Orangetheory strength day
Tuesday - 3 mile walk
Wednesday - Rest day
Thursday - 3 mile run
Friday - Rest Day

You'll notice I only made it to Orangetheory one day this week. Well, that's because my parent's are on vacation and Jason's work schedule this week didn't allow any extra time for me to get in a workout. Instead, I'm going for my second Orangetheory day of this week tomorrow morning!

 Knowing how my week was going to pan out, I convinced myself that I needed to get out of bed on Saturday morning and go for a run. It was too hot to run very far with Brayden and although my head told me that it wasn't really a "Saturday long run" if I didn't make at least five or six miles (yeah right), I didn't listen and just ran.

We started out super early (like not long after the sun rose) and it was my goal to be finished with the run before the heat index began to rise.

In total, we made 4 miles and I was happy with that. It was a very slow 4 miles from my usual because I just wasn't feeling it that day, but it was done and that's all that matters!

Afterwards, we had a few errands to run so we treated ourselves to Starbucks!

He loved his muffin!

On Monday morning, I got out of the door early for my one OTF opportunity for the week. It was an endurance day and I definitely left the workout feeling accomplished.

That evening, a local frozen yogurt shop offered a "pay your age" event, so we had to go! Basically, you had the opportunity to fill up your cup and pay pennies to the dollar of your age. Brayden' s was twenty cents and mine was three dollars and fifty cents! Score!

A crazy mad heat wave spread over the south earlier this week and we saw temps with a heat index well into the hundreds. Combine that with the humidity and it was so...UGH. Hot.

On Tuesday afternoon, my friend Melissa and I took Brayden on a three mile walk around our usual route. Have you ever seen a house all wrapped up like the circus is coming to town? Me either. We were like HUH? After a little investigation, I'm pretty sure they were treating termites.

Signs were even up all over the house, warning anyone who got too close of the "deadly poison" inside! Scary!

Last night, we waited until the sun was setting before heading out for a 3 mile run. It was still hot but not as bad as it's been this week.

This run started out with me thinking it was going to be another awful run like Saturday, and then it turned into an awesome run! I even had negative splits with pushing the stroller! The first mile was a 9:40, the second a 9:04, and the final mile an 8:25.

I'm serious when I say that cross training has made a world of difference. Why on earth I never stuck with something like this before, I have no idea!

I also can't wait for Saturday's Orangetheory workout! There's only one coach I haven't taken a class from yet and she will be the instructor on Saturday. I've heard she's awesome so I'm really looking forward to it!

Have a great weekend, everyone!