Runnin' of the Green (Island) race report.

Saturday was my first race on the spring season, and my first since New Year's Day: The Runnin' of the Green (Island) 4 miles.

Last year, this race was terrific. The weather was perfect (I ran in a skirt and a tank top), a bunch of my friends ran it, and I ran a distance PR of 29:05.

This year, the race was still great but a few things were different. For starters, it was freezing and windy on Saturday. And I did not run a PR, which is totally OK since I wasn't going for one.

I was, however, going for a solid race. I wanted to run as steady as possible and not blow up in the last mile. Ideally, I wanted to finish in 30 minutes or faster.

For all of those loose goals, the race was a success!

I went to the race with Bridget, who was running it for the first time. We got there in plenty of time, picked up our packets and then raced back to the warmth of her car to figure out how many layers to wear. After re-layering, we made our way to the start and we were off.

With Bridget, before the start of the race. We were sporting our green!

I started in the middle, to make sure I didn't go out too fast and it ended up being a good plan. I pretty much passed people the whole race -- what a boost! I felt really good the whole way, with the exception of my breathing. Because it was so cold, my breath was more labored than is normal for a race and I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. Fortunately, it wasn't much of a problem.

At the end of the race, the route turns and you run a long straight-away where you can see the finish line from fairly far off. It is deceiving. On one hand, you're sooooooo close to the finish line so you want to run hard and be done. On the other hand, you're still far enough away that if you run too hard, you risk burning up before the finish line.

So, I pushed it a little when I saw the end and just tried to hold it. Once I was truly close, I pushed harder and finished strong.

As I said, not a PR, but well under my ideal of 30:00! A good race!

Here are my stats:

Official time: 29:37

Overall pace: 7:24
Mile 1: 7:23
Mile 2: 7:16
Mile 3: 7:19
Mile 4: 7:29
extra distance on Garmin: :10

Overall place: 159 out of 664
Gender place: 43 out of 353
Age group place (female, 40-49): 14 out of . . . hmm . . . not sure.

I'll take it.

Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by.

Lucky winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my Lucky Runner giveaway! The lucky winner (selected using random.org) is . . .





erindegroff





Congratulations! Send me an email at felicehalf [at] yahoo [dot] com with your mailing address and I will get your goodies right out to you!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Let's Pretend This Never Happened.

You know how people are always saying they have crazy families? And then they go on to tell you something that sounds exactly like your family?

Yeah, that's not at all how it goes in Jenny Lawson's new book, Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir). Lawson really does have a crazy family. And tons of crazy stuff happened during her childhood in rural Texas.

Crazy, laugh-out-loud funny stuff.

It's nuts.

And Lawson's telling of it -- from the whack-o stories about her taxidermist father's antics to cow fertility lessons -- is really, truly funny. And often a little gross.

(Mind you, I can be a tad squeamish so even the funniest stories about animal insides might gross me out. A little.)

Lawson has a great writing voice and is, obviously, a born story-teller. I hadn't read her blog before reading her book (she blogs at super-popular site, The Bloggess) but I must try to do so now that I know how funny she is.

Because, like most people, I could always use a little more funny in my life.

Check out the book. It's a bestseller for a reason. And, believe me, after reading the book you'll probably think your family is a little less crazy than you originally thought.

Have you read Let's Pretend This Never Happened? 

What did you think? Are you a regular reader of The Bloggess?

Have a great day!

This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own

Lucky runner giveaway!

Here's how I'm going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year:

First, a 4-mile race, the Runnin' of the Green, on Saturday.

Second, a giveaway on this here blog.

Looks like I run, you (get a chance to) win!

So, who wants to win a BIG BOX OF RUNNING GOODIES?!?!?

Check it out:

A pair of Yurbuds (earphones for women)

12 Builder's Bars (chocolate mint)

A Brooks travel toiletries bag

Pair of Clif running socks 

Yurbuds branded headband

Pair of white Lock Laces

And a super-cool bumper sticker :-)

Enter to win!

If you want to win, leave me a comment. That's it. Easy-peasy.

Additional entries:

As always, you can gain extra entries. Remember, though, you must complete the required entry first! And, yes, I'll check. (Leave one comment per entry for the additional ones to count) So, here's what to do:

• Follow this blog, or let me know that you already do (leave a comment) 
• Follow me on Pinterest, or let me know that you already do (leave a comment)  
• Pin the image from this post to share the giveaway on Pinterest (leave a comment)   
• Follow me on Twitter, or let me know that you already do (leave a comment) 

• Share this post on Twitter using this tweet:

I just entered to win a box of runner goodies from @TheHappyRunner http://tinyurl.com/ca82xy6 #giveaway

• Follow me on Instagram, or let me know that you already do (leave a comment) 
• Link to this giveaway from your blog  (leave a comment)  

This giveaway will run through Thursday, March 14th at 11:59pm EST and the winner will be announced on Friday.

Good luck!