Negative Split and a Big Announcement!

The weather was beautiful out today, cool, mid-60s, overcast, perfect running weather in my opinion. I hate being overheated. As much as I love sunshine and warmth, running in the brutal heat with the scorching sun beating down on you is just not fun. Then again, running in 40 degree freezing downpour rain, a la this March's Germantown Half Marathon wasn't fun either. But, to me, 60s is perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and overcast allows you to not get fried in the sun. I haven't been feeling well lately, and I was thinking about putting off today's run, but I put off yesterday's and I knew I really needed to get out there. So 6 p.m. rolled around, the hubs got home from work, and we headed out to do a quick 2 mile loop around the neighborhood. I don't know if it was the weather or the fact that I was so excited about my big announcement (more on that in a bit), or if I'm just finally getting my running legs back, but I was ready and on. I ran pretty much the whole first mile no problem, took 1 short walk break to fix my stupid hair that was falling down, and another quick stroll up the giant hill that is my nemesis. According to my Garmin we finished that first mile in 10:35.

Second mile started out okay, I decided I need a walk break somewhere around 1.25ish or so, we walked a bit and then picked it back up. I struggled with the other big hill, it's usually about the part where I start to lose it and mentally beat myself up and tell myself I'm just not cut out for this. This time, I told myself to shut up, dug deep and kicked the pace up. When I saw on the Garmin screen we were approaching the 2 mile mark, I went all out, I started sprinting. Finished the second mile in 10:22, making that my first ever recorded negative split!! Woohoo!!

 

The big announcement is, I officially registered today for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Disney World on February 27, 2011!! I am so excited about this race! Being from Florida, I spent quite a bit of time at Disney in my day, and now to get to run a race through Epcot and Magic Kingdom just sounds awesome. The fact that it's mainly a women centric race is very inspiring and encouraging. I put Belle down as my favorite princess, it's really a toss up between Ariel, Belle, and Cinderella, and I know Ariel tends to get quite a few devotees from reading recaps from prior years, so Belle it is. I can't wait to run the race and get my tiara finisher medal to add to my growing collection!