Recovery Day. Race Swag.

I really like our race shirt. It's bright and cheerful.

 Race Bib. Joy for my family members via initials. Yes, I run for me, but gosh, I run for my family and for my charity and for those I love. That's a lot of foot steps to pray with! 

The medal this year was a heavy duty piece of hardware. It totally rocks.

Recovery day.  My blue compression sleeves are amazing! (I purchased them at the expo). I highly recommend compression socks and sleeves for anyone who spends a lot of time on their feet, for runners, for atheletes, etc. They rocked for recovery after the race. 

Oh! 7.42. What a number!

Oh, so I ran 7.42 miles yesterday.  Dude.  :) You can't see my face right now, but I'm grinning widely and quite excited thinking about this.


This is what my smile looks like, both surprised and excited all at once.  I don't look nearly as sweet or cute  :)                              -------->


I dropped all the littles off at my parents so that they could visit and I took off down the hill and into downtown Pittsburgh.  It was a beautiful day for a run!!!!!

I ran through the Strip District and over two bridges and along the North Shore near the stadiums, and down to Point State Park, through PPG Place (where people were ice skating!), and all over the place and finished in Market Square.  As usual, the first 2 miles were tricky -- I don't think my body is fully warmed up until around the 2 mile mark.  That's what it seems like, anyway.  Once I hit 2 miles it seems like I can just run and run and run.  The last mile was rough, and I was certainly ready to quit and was glad that I did when I did.  I didn't realize that I had tacked on that extra .42 of a mile until after the run, and if I had known, I probably wouldn't have run it ;)  I didn't have my google tracks app set up properly so it didn't announce when I reached each mile.  Oh well.

All in all, it was amazing.   I am amazed at what my body is strong enough to do right now.  I ran well over HALF of my half marathon yesterday.  YES!  I am a little sore today, but nothing that some good yoga and stretching can't take care of later...after I clean this house a bit a lot :)

Blessings! and Joy!
Nicole mArie


Also, I'd like to say that I am still raising money for my charity, Women's Choice Network.  I've got $780 more to raise to reach my final goal.  Please consider helping me out today!  You will be blessed abundantly for your generosity and kindness! Visit my fundraising page for details!