Graduation and a race weekend

This past weekend was a busy one.  My littlest brother graduated from high school.

My lil bro @itsyaboykendal on his way to graduation. He's all growed up! #graduation #congrats
I’m very proud of him. I know he will do great things with his life and will see amazing things. Graduating high school is such an important step in life and I know he will make the decisions that are right for him. I can’t wait to see what he’s going to accomplish in life!

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The weekend was filled with fun times which unfortunately means food. There’s a Mexican fiesta happening for a party but we only had a few rice and beans and decided to eat something else later. Earlier in the day, Willie and I went to the movies to see Chef! This is the ONLY movie Willie was die hard about seeing this year and it only plays in select theaters. I am glad that we got a chance to go. I like seeing him SMILE!

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I also signed up for a race this weekend since we were going to be in the area. It was the Wounded Warrior Half Marathon! So we went to pick up my packet! At the expo, they were giving out free yogurt from Dannon. I thought that was pretty cool because it was super health conscious. There were lots of options which I liked. I thought that was pretty cool.

Yesterday was the race.

Ready to race! #woundedwarrior #halfmarathon hope the race isn't delayed due to rain!
It was supposed to start at 6:45 am but was delayed twice due to weather. The race finally took off at 7:15am and it was just a “TINY” bit humid. There was a serious threat of rain but it was just sprinkling in the beginning of the race. Nothing serious.

This race took the same path as the first half of the Irving Marathon I did in April. This course kind of kicked my butt because the Las Colinas Blvd part of the race basically the first and last 3.5 miles of the race are on a long strip of road. It got me in the marathon, but I wouldn’t let me get defeated this time around.

Hitting the trail is always my favorite part of this course because there are trees and nature things to look at. There were quite a bit of bit of people doing this race so the path was pretty packed with people. That was the only downside because it was an out and back on this course and the path wasn’t very wide. The miles kept on rolling and I wasn’t having any problems.

I wasn’t really pushing my pace because 1. I was just enjoying being out in a race situation, 2. it was a little slick and 3. I’m working on maintaining a steady pace. I’m learning not to go out too fast so I’m not dying in the end. I’m doing that more for the marathon and not the half but these are my opportunities to train for that situation.

It started raining when I hit the street again but it was welcomed. Cooled things off a bit and put the humidity at bay for the last couple of miles. Something went wrong with my ipod and I wasted a lot of time fiddling around with that so I lost some time there, but I finished strong!

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Official time was 2:25:14 which is no where close to my PR. BUT this was the best run I’ve had in a long time. This was a great experience for me. Five minutes after crossing the finish line, the bottom dropped out and the rain was pouring so there aren’t many pictures of the finish. We were booking it to the car!

Wounded Warrior Half Marathon #teamchocolatemilk #finishstrong
And of course, I had to stop for some low fat chocolate milk!

The race was well organized and had great sponsors. We received a tech tee and socks with our registration. More races should give out socks because we all need them, right? I missed out on this race last year and I was bummed about it so I’m glad I was able to do it this year. I’m really glad this race supported troops and Fisher House! Running for a great cause always makes things better.

So what did you do this weekend?

Race Recap: Beach to Bay Marathon Relay

Race Recap: Beach to Bay Marathon Relay

On Saturday, Willie and I ran the Beach To Bay Relay in Corpus Christie, Tx with Tyson‘s family! I was nervous about this relay because it seemed like chaos. I don’t do well with chaos. Thankfully, Missy was there to make sure everyone got to their point. The biggest thing about B2B was the waiting. But at least the view was good. I was running the last leg of the relay so I did a lot of waiting around. But I got in some good chatting time with my bestie and god daughter. I also got hit in the head…

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Failure to finish can’t stop a Mother’…

Failure to finish can’t stop a Mother’s Day

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Race Recap: Great Wall of China Marathon

Race Recap: Great Wall of China Marathon

Willie and I made two rules for this race: 1. No one gets left behind. 2. Enjoy the amazing experience. Leading up to this race, I was worried about finishing in the time limit. When we went to the course meeting and found out only 20 people out of the 110 people signed up last year finished the marathon, I was really worried about finishing the race. That wasn’t going to stop me from doing it though. Race morning was a bit hard on us. I woke up at 11:30 pm to make sure we had all our stuff together.…

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Race Recap: The Green 6.2

Race Recap: The Green 6.2

I’m not really going to pretend this was a serious race for me, because it wasn’t. Most people run this race to qualify for the Houston Marathon! Well I’m not running the Houston Marathon so this was just another race for me. It’s probably not my most favorite race in history but it was my first 10K two years ago and last year I ran it after my grandma passed. This year I wasn’t going to run it but something in me told me to run it. It wasn’t a big tadoo but some of my running group friends were…

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Race Recap: Austin 10/20

Race Recap: Austin 10/20

Sunday I ran the Austin 10/20 with my running friends.  I didn’t realize so many of us were running! There was a huge group which always makes for a great picture. I won’t lie, this race isn’t my most favorite race in the world. But I like the atmosphere and the people which essentially end up making it a great race. The course is uber boring. The Austin 10/20 is 10 miles with 20 bands. There are a lot of people who run this race and the bands are pretty good. I stopped to take pictures of my favorite bands.…

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Race Recap: Zooma Texas Half Marathon

Race Recap: Zooma Texas Half Marathon

This weekend was full of races.  On Saturday, I ran the Zooma Women’s Texas Half Marathon in Bastrop, TX! We’re all crazy. Half marathon on Saturday, 10 miler on Sunday. We had to get up super early to make it to the race but when the sun came up we were all optimistic. Missy was running her first 10K. I think she’s going in the wrong order though. 10K first and then the half marathon, but she missed the memo in New Orleans. So we got a selfie before the race started. At the starting line I had no business…

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Race Recap: Irving Marathon

Race Recap: Irving Marathon

On Saturday, I ran my 5th marathon of the year!  On Friday, I didn’t want to run the marathon.  Saturday morning, I was a feeling a little better around running the marathon, but I still didn’t want to do it.  To be honest, I didn’t want to run another marathon until China. A half marathon would be fine, but no fulls.  Physically I’m capable of doing it, but there is a huge mental toll the marathon puts on you and I’ve just been too busy which left me mentally tired.  I sucked it up though because the race directors were…

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Race Recap: The Texas Independence Relay

Race Recap: The Texas Independence Relay

I’m sorry I disappeared off the face of the earth because I was too tired to function.  I think we all greatly underestimate our need to sleep.  Running + friends + no sleeping + no real food = Texas Independence Relay! I will admit my happy emotions cup runneth over and there’s no way I will ever be able to put into words how I felt this weekend.  I can’t express to you the greatness in the relationships I formed this weekend, the respect built for my team mates and the joy and misery in my heart! I’m not even…

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Race Recap: RnR Dallas

Race Recap: RnR Dallas

It’s been a super busy day!  I really wanted to post this morning, but it just wasn’t happening.  I should be sleep right now because I have to teach at 5AM but I’m sitting here writing the blog because I don’t want it to get pushed back any further.  I have other blogs I want to post this week so it’s important it comes out today! This past weekend, I spent the time running with my friends at Rock n Roll Dallas!  I’m not going to completely bash my hotel, but staying at this particular hotel was the low light…

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Race Recap: The Gusher Marathon

Race Recap: The Gusher Marathon

The Gusher is a really big deal around here!  It’s my favorite race of the year because everyone runs it!  It’s running with friends and it’s just a great running community around here!  It’s just a good time! I was ready to tackle the second of my two marathons in six days! On Friday night, I was really pumped about the race I felt like I was going to PR!  I wanted to PR because it’s the Gusher!  Saturday morning didn’t feel the same way.  I couldn’t sleep Friday night so when I woke up earlier on Saturday morning things…

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