Puerto Rico: Beautiful training runs!

I mean, how could you not love long runs when you get to see this? Granted not the WHOLE 8 miles looked like this, but still.  Its so beautiful and made the effort so worth it.  These were from the top of a hill so it was a welcome reward!! 

Puerto Rico: Evening run

Evening long run of about 4 miles around the city of San Juan.  Every once in a while theres a break through the hotels and a beautiful view of the ocean.  From this shot it doesn't seem like there are tons of hotels and hopping night life getting started!! I love this time of day, the sun is setting and there is a gorgeous glow of light around everything.  The business day is wrapping up and you have just enough time to sneak in a run before its dinner time and seeing what else the night has in store.  Just make sure you get some miles done first!! :)

Puerto Rico: No breaks on vacation!

As I mentioned in my birthday post while in St. Croix a month ago, I think one of the best ways to explore is on foot.  Preferably running! I took off for a 3.5 miler this evening around the Condado Lagoon near our hotel near San Juan.  What a great experience! Its a very busy tourist section with lots of people and activity, but that is great entertainment too! I only got lost a little bit and it wasn't a big deal since I knew which way the ocean was, I found the street I needed quickly! I had been warned not to run by myself through the streets but I didn't' find it to be bad as there were police EVERYWHERE and I stayed in the safer parts.

Southern Pines: Nike 10k!

I ran around the Aberdeen Lake park and through some local neighborhoods to get my virtual 10k race done this Saturday.  As part of the agreement for registration in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC in April, you have to complete a 10k this weekend.  I am down in North Carolina photographing lots of gorgeous horses at the Southern Pines Horse Trials for a few days.  I found this great park to run around and had a great time. I even set a PR for the 10k!!

Birthday Morning Run!

Best view for a run I think I've ever had!!! 

Happy 30th Birthday to me!! I woke up at around 5:30am the morning of my 30th birthday.  Really? But it was only because D had to go to work that day. I decided to take advantage of being up so early in such a beautiful place to do some sightseeing around the resort.  I laced up my shoes and off I went. I  ran five miles around the resort on trails and golf cart paths.  It was beautiful and surprisingly there were a few pretty steep hills to challenge me!

The start of the trail...it was early!!

I veered off the trail to go down this path to see Whistle Beach

Whistle Beach!

From the top of one of the golf course hills

Mermaid Beach

Savannah Trip: Half Marathon DONE!

I did it! Although I was in a LOT of pain, I finished and was very happy with how I did!
On my training runs leading up to my race I was usually able to get to mile 7 or so before the pain would be really bad. At the start of the race things were going really well but I stayed slow and calm.  The pain in my hip began to get pretty bad around mile 4.  The pain in my knee due to my injuries there kicked in around mile 8.  I tried to pick up the pace, which usually helps my knee, but of course that made my hip pretty sore. I knew at around mile 9 or 10 that I was going to be able to finish so that inspired me a bit more.  I really tried to turn it on at mile 12 to finish strong. Despite the pain, I finished in 2:12 which I think is good considering how painful it was!!! I had originally registered to finish in 2:00 but I knew a few weeks before hand that that was not realistic. I am so happy with how I did and I am SOOOO thankful that D was there to support me.  
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Done! So thankful to have D there to cheer me on and support me! I'm the luckiest girl in the world!!!

After the race we went back, showered, iced my injuries, grabbed a snack and zoomed off to get to the Georgia Southern football game. My alma mater was playing Appalachian State, which is one of our biggest rivals! It was great to go to the game and show D how we do it in Georgia!!! :) We then walked around campus a bit and then headed back to Savannah for dinner on Riverstreet. 

Go Eagles!! 

Enjoying a much deserved drink!

Savannah Trip: Half Marathon Wrap Up

I ran the Rock N' Roll Savannah Half Marathon in November and absolutely loved it. 

D and I went down on Thursday before the race and after traveling for 8ish hours were relieved to get to our hotel. We checked in and were off to Riverstreet/downtown right away. I had reserved a table for us at Lady & Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant!!) for dinner and was SO excited about going there! The food did not disappoint at all!  We ate really great food and I think we did pretty well with healthy-ish options, getting a salad and taking the portion sizes easy.  I did spring for my favorite dessert-peach cobbler! D had Gooey cake which is definitely awesome and well worth the calories!! We then hung out around Riverstreet and got drinks at a small pub that I used to go to while in Grad school at Georgia Southern. 

 The next day we went to Tybee Island, another place I went all the time when I lived here. It was great showing D all of my old stomping grounds! We climbed the lighthouse which I always wanted to do but never did before. D is scared of heights so Im so proud of him for going up there with me.  I was out walking around the catwalk and realized I didn't know where he was. I looked back inside and he was just hanging out waiting for me so he wouldn't get too nervous looking down! It was a beautiful view though!

After hanging out at the beach, which was a little chillier than I had hoped we went to the race expo to pick up all of my stuff. It was really fun but after all of the walking I did on Tybee I was getting a little nervous about being on my feet so much. We also had to figure out where we were going to have dinner and such so we didn't spend as much time there as I would have hoped.

We got dinner at Olive Garden that evening, pasta for me!! I was getting REALLY nervous about how much pain I would be in during the race though, so I didn't eat all that much for dinner.  Then I laid out all of my things for race morning, foam rolled, got D to give me a back massage and went to bed!