Looking back and ahead

I finally organized my  "Upcoming races" and "Race results" pages. My upcoming races make me excited. I really love running half marathons, and I can't wait to start in October (in a costume)! But, it really made me sad because it doesn't have the St. Pete Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on it. I received the news on Wednesday that one of my favorite races is cancelled. I'm still sad about it, but it's time to find another February half marathon.

Some options:

• Best Damn Race, Feb. 1, 2014: I'm already signed up for the 10K (because I love this race), but I'm thinking about upgrading to the half. For anyone interested in this race (and you all should be), there is currently a discount code, ROCKROLL, for $5 off. It is active until Sept. 17.

One of the best damn races from 2013

• Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans, Feb. 2, 2014: I love Rock 'n' Roll, and I adore New Orleans. This seems like the perfect combination. Well, except for the fact that I live in Florida. And the fact that it's the day after the Best Damn Race that I'm already registered to run. But, if I could swing one of my favorite race series in one of my favorite cities, it would be pretty sweet! 
• Gasparilla Distance Classic, Feb. 23, 2014: I've never run this race, and I hear good things ... but something keeps me from really wanting to do it. I'm not sure what it is. Maybe because I work a few blocks from the start line, and I want to keep my weekends away from work? I don't know. 

I'm not ready to make a decision yet (or say goodbye to Rock 'n' Roll St. Petersburg), but I do have some quality options when I am ready to move on.

While the "Upcoming races" page made me excited, the "Race results" page made me kind of sad/mad/determined. I was kind of upset looking at my half marathon times for the past year. I don't want to sound whiny or overlook accomplishments (because I did get a personal best, and I did run eight half marathons). But, I really think I could of and should of done better. So, that's what my goal is for this half marathon training cycle: become a faster half marathon-running turtle. 

How am I going to do that? Good question. I'm still working on that. But, I am going to start posting about my training weeks again. I need to see how I'm doing and for accountability. And, I'm going to get serious about some cross training. And, I'm going to work on silencing that pesky voice in my head that says, "I can't." I think that will do it. 

Have you ever run any of these races? What do you recommend? Have any other races for me to consider? Any tips for getting faster?

A week of fabulousness

The past week was full of complete awesomeness.

It started off with the Bruno Mars concert. He was A-MAZ-ING. (Yes, it deserves all caps, and yes, it deserves hyphenation.) I can’t remember having as much fun at a concert before. We drank, danced, sang and screamed through the entire show. He is so worth seeing in concert, and I’ll go again the next time he’s back in town (I may have looked at his remaining tour dates and thought about the feasibility of following him the rest of the way, ahem.) 

We were excited (OK, I was super-duper excited)
about Bruno (and sangria). 

My favorite fedora-wearing guy: Bruno. (Both photos are courtesy
of Caroline because I was too excited and all of my photos
are blurry.)

After this glorious event, I hopped on a plane to Kansas (with my voice returning somewhat) and attended another glorious event, a Kansas State football game. Well, it really wasn't that glorious because they lost and it was over 100 degrees that day, but it was still good to have my favorite purple school playing football again and hanging with some of my favorite purple peeps.

Spending the long, holiday weekend in Kansas allowed for time with friends and family, sand volleyball … and no running. Oops. I wish I was a morning person who could knock it out before everyone woke up, but I’m just not. I keep trying to be, and I keep failing.

But, in other running news, I did sign up for a 5K this month. It is appropriately titled the "HOT Run.” At this point, every 5K I run I have the goal to do it in under 30 minutes (fastest official time: 30:09). I really don’t have a lot of running confidence at all right now (especially with the ridiculous heat and humidity), but I’ll give it a shot.

I almost cried when I read this news: the 2014 St. Pete Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon is cancelled. This is one of my favorite events. I was registered for the third year in a row, and it makes me incredibly sad that this fun race is not coming to our area. So I have some work to do to rearrange my race schedule and find another half marathon that is just as fun.

How was your Labor Day weekend? What is your favorite concert? Ever have a race you were excited about cancelled?