Happy New Year!

Little Miss Sunshine and I started the year out with a race. When I was in high school my family participated in a 'Resolution Run' every year on New Year's Eve. The race started at a quarter to midnight and afterwards we sat around in the gym and won door prizes and such. It was a lot of fun. We haven't found a race like that here unfortunately. However, I did find a race that starts at 10 am on New Year's Day. An added bonus: they have kids' races of various lengths (25 yds, 200 yds, 1 mile) beforehand. So LMS ran the 25 yard race and had a great time. She was very excited to be running a race and she thought the finisher's ribbon was pretty cool. This is a blurry picture; my mom's camera has some better ones, I need to get them from her.Notice how she's already working on her form: arms bent and swinging, knees high, big smile. My mom came along to watch her while I ran. Luckily there was a good playground right there at the finish line, so LMS was able to have fun while waiting.

I had the option of running a 5K or a 10K, and you could actually change your mind a mile into it, when the 10K-ers went one way and the 5K-ers went another. I knew from the beginning I was only going to do the 5K though, since I really don't have my mileage up higher than that.
While running, I realized several things:
1. I really need to do some hill work. The first half of this race was all uphill, and it was tough! (It was an out-and-back course, so that also meant that the second half was downhill, but still...)
2. I am not ready to run a half marathon in two weeks. I had planned on doing so, but realized I really do not have enough mileage to be properly prepared. I could do it anyway, but I want to be able to run the whole thing, not have to stop and gasp for breath/rest my tired legs every little bit/have problems with my shins.
3. While increasing my mileage, I also need to strengthen my calves and shins more. I didn't wear my compression sleeves during the race and only had a small twinge in one shin, but it was also only a three mile race.
4. Luckily I have options. There's a half marathon the first weekend of February I can do, but it's rather hilly, so we'll see how my hill workouts go before I make a decision on that one. There's several 5K/10K and 5M/10M races this month and next, so I'll be able to prepare for the half marathon that I will be doing the first weekend of March. I can definitely be ready for that one.