I bounced out of bed at 5:00AM! Tony might have been a little whiny about the early wake up call and cold weather, but I think my excitement rubbed off on him.

We were running a little late so I missed the big #runchi photo, but I was able to find a few of the other Cheer Team members to get a small group shot.

I had two main goals for this race; have fun and cross the finish line with Tony. Both goals were accomplished!

We finished the race in 1:23:39 with an average pace of 8:22. Definitely NOT my fasted time, but the most fun I’ve had racing!

At the end of the race you run into Soldier Field and cross the finish line on the 50 yard line. Tony and I ran through holding hands with smiles on our faces. The best part was getting our finisher medals from the active duty Sailors from the Great Lakes Naval Station. It was an honor receiving the medal from them. Fleet Feet Sports sure knows how to put on a great event! I’m extremely impressed by the Solider Field 10 mile race! So well organized, my favorite medal I’ve ever received, the staff and volunteers were so helpful & the extra goodie bag at the end was such a nice surprise! Great job, Fleet Feet! This was my first time running this race, but definitely won’t be my last.

People have asked if what happened in Boston will make me scared to run marathons or if I still want to run the Boston Marathon. Of course, I will. Running marathons is a passion of mine and Boston is my dream! I can’t let this horrific tragedy stop me from doing something I love.

Yes, there are bad people in this world but I’d like to think that for every bad person who planted those bombs there were over 20 + people running toward the explosion to help. We can’t allow these bad people bring more hate and negativity into the world.

Show the world that runners stand together. Wear a race shirt or wear Boston blue/yellow in honor of the runners, the victims, and their families.

And for everyone who ran in the Boston Marathon yesterday – congratulations! That is a huge accomplishment and no amount of hate can ever take that away.

As you can see it’s a stress fracture in the bottom of my pelvis. It is an uncommon injury, but sometimes happens with female distance runners.

It has been a really tough injury to deal with. I thought it would be healed in 6-8 weeks. I thought I would be able to run the Chicago Marathon and I thought I would be able to run Boston. I thought and hoped for a lot of different things.

I didn’t get to participate in any of the races I hoped I would. I even signed up for a 10k in the beginning of February, but couldn’t run it because of what my latest MRI showed.

Instead of going in to the depressing details I’m focusing on the positive. I’ve learned a lot this past year. I learned that sleep is more important than running and being able to jog a 10 minute mile is the most glorious feeling in the world. This injury has changed my perspective on running forever.

I’m a big believer that whatever doesn’t kill us, will only make us stronger. It’s the challenging times that really change us for the better and make us who we are.

Since I have been able to slowly start running again I have signed up for my next race!

I will be running Fleet Feet’s Soldier Field 10 Mile race on Saturday, May 25. It’s the 10th anniversary of this race and I’m really looking forward to running along Chicago’s beautiful lakefront and finishing on the 50-yard line in the center of the field.

This race is going to mean a lot to me. I have survived one of the worst injuries a runner could have and I am coming out on top. Being out of running for a year made me realize how much I appreciate and missed running and how much it means to me. Running isn’t just about running a race, it’s about getting out there and doing what I love and hopefully doing it for many years to come.

I first heard about Pretty Muddy from Meghann’s Blog and after doing some more research I knew this was a race I wanted to participate in.

The Pretty Muddy 5K course is covered with obstacles and lots of mud! Some of the other features are:

5k Course (3.1 miles, run or walk)
Women Only (sorry, guys)
Mud (lots of it)
Architectural Obstacles (much better than shabby hay bales and shaky plywood)
Pretty Epic Finish Line Party (entertainment, music, drinks & celebration galore)

The great people at Pretty Muddy are offering a ONE TIME $20 discount for their Chicago Race on September 7, 2013! The code is GIRLTIME and you’ll get the best price of 2013 if you use it to register by the end of the month! You can check out all of the race info here.

Who wants to get Pretty Muddy with me?

I ran my first half marathon race today! On Saturday I picked up my race packet and bib number. I knew it was going to be a small race by the amount of people waiting in line at the running store.

I was really nervous about this race because my Achilles tendon is injured and I’ve had to take the last two weeks off. Running is my passion, I live for it, it makes my heat beat faster, and I light up when ever I talk about it… so it’s been a rough couple of weeks for me. I’ve been getting through it by positive self talk and reminding myself that I want it to heal so I can qualify for Boston at the Chicago Marathon this year.

The race was an hour away from my house so I woke up at 4:30a.m. and did my usual routine. Ate oatmeal while reading blogs, drank lots of water, double checked I had everything 10 x’s and then my step-dad and I were out the door by 5:30a.m.

Driving to the race made me nervous because the temperature was in the low 40′s, it was raining, and weather.com was reporting 35mph winds. Definitely not the best race conditions! We got there early so we stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and take MySpace type pictures for my blog.

We parked, walked to the starting line and went into an office building where all the runners were hanging out. You can tell from the pictures how crappy the weather was.

I started the race in between the 1:40 and 1:45 pace group, hoping my Achilles would hold up and I’d be able to run a decent time. I surprising felt pretty good in the beginning. My Achilles hurts less when I’m running and more when I’m walking and going up and down stairs…not sure why that is? I made the rookie mistake of starting off too fast and ran with the 1:40 pace group for the first 8 miles or so. I took a gel at mile 6 but by the time I was at mile 8 my Achilles was hurting and I felt like I was running out of steam. I’ve definitely lost endurance since I haven’t been running much.

Here I am running with Mark who was the pace leader for 1:40. He was such a fun guy to run with. He was cheering for people the entire time and kept everyone in good spirits. At mile 10 I started to slow down and fell behind him. The last 3 miles were such a challenge because we were running against the wind. At one point a huge gust of wind came and I actually took a step backwards…It made me laugh. You just never know what the weather might bring on race day. I did a lot of positive self talk during the last 3 miles. I kept repeating to myself “Sara, you’re okay, you’re okay…you can do this, you are strong!”

Here I am about to finish and running my little heart out. I need to work on my stride… in all my pictures I’m taking very large steps and I’ve heard that’s not a good thing. I was so happy to be done and little shocked by how well I did.

My friend Kristen is a rock star and volunteered for the race. She gave me my medal and I was so happy to see her. I can’t imagine standing in the rain all morning. Thank you so much Kristen!! And thank you to my step-dad Michael who came out to cheer me on and take pictures of the race.

My Achilles instantly started hurting and felt really stiff when I finished the race. I tried to walk it off and I’m just hoping I didn’t injure it any more. Right before my step-dad and I were about to leave they put up the official results….

I finished in 1:43:16 and won 3rd place in my age group!! I wasn’t thrilled about my time, I know I can do better when I’m not injured and it’s not so windy…but I was so happy to get 3rd place. When I found out I got 3rd place all of my pain seemed to go away and I couldn’t stop smiling. =) We waited for the awards ceremony so I could get my 3rd place medal.

Overall, it was a great race! I feel proud I finished strong and stayed positive through out my injury and the race. I’m going to take the next 1-2 weeks off and let my Achilles fully heal so I’ll be ready to start marathon training in June. Can’t wait! =)