A Birthday Means Giveaway Time!!

Today I have a 2 year old.

2

2

I still can’t believe how time just flies by. It’s funny because before kids, when I’d hear parents say how fast the years go I’d always give an eye roll, “Yeah, okay…” But, I’m one of those parents now. Time seriously speeds up when you have kids.

Speaking of flying, in honor of my beautiful little girl turning two, I’ll be giving away a pretty sweet pair of Shwings!!! (Does anyone else think 90’s Wayne and Garth? LOL)

My shiny silver Shwings :)

My shiny silver Shwings 🙂

You’ll be able to choose your own style and color from their website: shwingsonline.com

I wore my wings during my rainy 5k this past weekend and within an hour of hanging out I had tons of compliments. Plus, I think they helped me run faster 😉

My Shwings and my AG award :)

My Shwings and my AG award 🙂

 

To enter the giveaway,

Visit shwingsonline.com and tell me in the comments which wings you’d want. Make sure to click the Rafflecopter link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more entries:
1. Like Shwings on Facebook
2. Like Helly On The Run on Facebook
3. Follow Shwings on Twitter
4. Follow Helly On The Run on Twitter
5. Tweet about the giveaway
6. Follow Helly On The Run on Instagram

Fine Print:
Giveaway ends Monday, April 7th and the winner will be announced that morning.
I did receive my Shwings free of charge but that doesn’t have any affect on how cool I think they are 🙂

Hope you all have a great day!

–How did you spend your most recent birthday?

–What’s on your birthday wish list?

 

A Family 5k Affair {Recap}

I’m back and boy does it feel good to be home.

I don’t get to visit my mom, sister or brother often. Most of the time, they trek out here to Arizona–I mean, who goes to the cold when you can come to the warm beautiful weather here in Arizona?? Ja! Anyway, it was nice to go there for a change and see them in their element.

The morning after we got there, my sister (who we stayed with) took me to her gym for one of her regular group classes she takes. I’m not much of a class taker but more of a solo workout gal. I don’t mind them and like them when I do do them but it’s not something I would choose over going for a run by myself.

Anyway, this class was a strength and stability class which I though was perfect. If you remember a way earlier post where I shared my sister’s story, she doesn’t have full feeling in the left side of her body. She likes this class because it helps her balance and helps build strength using her own body. Let me tell you, this was not an easy class. It was 60 minutes of non-stop work and I was winded a third of they way through. I loved seeing my sister in action though and would often just look at her go through the movements. I don’t think she’ll ever fully know how much I admire her strength and how much I look up to her. She’s so amazing.

We had our 5k on Saturday and one thing my sister told me was that Ohio weather is schizophrenic. Thursday when we went to her gym, it was cloudy and sprinkling. Friday was absolutely beautiful. Cold but sunny. Saturday was a full out pouring rain and cold festival. I felt so bad having coerced my brother and sister (and my husband) to sign up for the race. They were all-in though, and we bundled up in my sister’s car and headed over.

The race was an out and back inside a mall parking lot. We were worried about slipping on the asphalt with all the rain but decided we’d go ahead and just take it easy making sure we were careful.

Everyone waited inside the mall’s food court until go-time as to avoid getting drenched–it was inevitable. With about a two minutes til the start, a volunteer began ushering us outside. My husband and I are got as close to the front as possible to hopefully avoid the crowds that typically gather at the beginning. My brother and sister were in the middle.

We all had mini goals with the 5k but nothing we’d be upset not reaching–my husband and I always hope to PR (but we weren’t expecting to with the inclement weather), my brother hoped to finish in around the 45 minute mark and my sister’s goal is always to finish strong.

The announcer let out the go signal and we were off!

It was raining right from the get-go and I was so glad I had decided last minute to wear a hat. I could feel the water start to seep inside my shoes as I ran. I tried to avoid the puddles that gather in parking lots but it’s pretty unavoidable. My shoes eventually filled with water but I just ran anyway.

My watch never picked up signal; I figured the weather had something to do with it. I was kind of glad in a way. I wouldn’t be concerned with my time and could just run at what felt like a good pace to me naturally.

When I reached the mile mark, I saw my husband already heading back and yelled out a “Great job!” but he was in focused mode. I kept going and finally it was my turn to head back. On my way, I saw my sister and we waved. She was doing awesome. Not too far behind her, I saw my brother! He was running! He saw me and we high-fived–I seriously got teary eyed with pride. I was so happy seeing him do something challenging and rocking at it. And with a smile on his face!! (As if he’d do anything differently–he’s such a good natured guy.)

Focused, I picked up my pace knowing I was getting close to the end. We turned a corner and started up the last up hill towards the finish. I could see the time ticking on the big clock and saw the first two numbers: 24. What?? Yes!!! I was going to get my sub 25!!! I hustled the last bit and saw 24:20 over my head as I crossed (my official time ended up being 24:18). I was so happy and in complete shock because it was definitely an uncomfortable run. Nonetheless, I was ecstatic and felt like having continued to run and train and be committed has helped me prepare for times like this when things aren’t always working in your favor. You can still succeed 🙂

As soon as I crossed, I went inside the mall to dry off. I was 100% soaked. I met my husband and asked how he did–a new PR for him too–21:49!

After doing as much as we could, we went back out and I went to the finish to wait for my sister. I could see her coming up hill and cheered her on to the finish. We immediately turned around and headed back to look for our brother. We were about to jump over a divider when we saw him turn the corner towards the finish! Holy smokes, he was killing it! We ran back and yelled the entire last point one. He had the biggest grin when he saw us and he pushed it to the very end finishing in 35:10. Ten minutes better than what he had expected! He. Did. Awesome.

My brother on the run

My brother on the run

As soon as it was over, he gave us a big hug and told us that he’d had fun 🙂 It was hard but that he felt like he pushed himself. Oh my goodness, I was just so, so happy.

A few minutes later, my happiness increased when I realized BOTH my husband and I had placed! He placed third in his age group and I placed second in mine–our first double placement 😀

It was such a fun race despite the horrible weather. On the way home, my brother was even talking to my sister about potential 5Ks in the future! Looks like the bug bit!

Our after pic :)

Our after pic 🙂

–Have you ran with soaked shoes before?

–Would you rather run in snow or rain? (We were told we were lucky it wasn’t snowing lol!)

 

 

Haboob.

Tuesdays I’ve dubbed 10k Tuesdays since that’s the longest distance my running group goes on that day. I’ve been practicing my 10k pace with this and it’s been fun seeing my time improve. I’m actually pretty pleased as I’ve been seeing mid 8s pretty consistently; I’d love to see that in some of my longer runs.

Anyway, yesterday was just like any other. I was home all day with my two little ones and we waited (im)patiently for dad to get home. My phone jingled an alert and I went to check only to see that it wasn’t a regular text message but a weather advisory–a wind storm was approaching.

We get these haboobs, or massive wind storms, right around monsoon season which typically starts around June so to see this in late March was a bit of a surprise. But there it was as I opened the curtains and looked out.

A haboob view from my backyard last summer

A haboob view from my backyard last summer

I was almost caught in this one driving home last year

I was almost caught in this one driving home last year

I decided I’d still go for my run. If no one from my group was there then I’d take it indoors on the treadmill. I was getting in my 6.2 someway, somehow.

It was a small group but we were there and we were ready.

I warmed up the first mile and was hoping for negative splits miles 2-5 with a cool down the last 1.2. Miles 2 and 3 were going great and then it was the turn around. Helloooo wind. Mile 4 was slower than I would’ve liked but still in a range that pleased me. I decided I’d make mile 5 a good one and picked up the pace.

Now I’ve ran this route a billion times to the point where I can pretty much tell when I reach each mile. In my head, I knew mile 5 was getting closer so I was just waiting for the beep.

Any beep now. Beep? Beep, where are you?

The beep never came and when I knew for certain I had passed the 5 mile mark I looked down at my watch to see what the heck was going on. 4.99 miles. I kept running and looking at my watch waiting for it to beep.

No beep.

I finally clicked to the next screen and then the next and I could see the time passing but no beep and no mile 5.

After clicking away a few times, my watch finally got it together and mile 5 sounded off. 14:10. Ummm…..I hadn’t stopped, slowed down, or paused my watch. 14:10??

I figured the haboob must’ve screwed GPS and I finished my run frustrated at not having an accurate time. Oh technology.

When I got home, I saw on the news that the haboob had actually been pretty intense. I missed it when it was full throttle (luckily) so I hadn’t seen it during my run but on picture it looked pretty cool.

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–Have you heard of or seen a haboob? (I seriously can’t say haboob w/o giggling.)

–Has your watch (or technology) ever gone wonky during a run?

I’m leaving my 87 degree haboob weather today for the polar vortex that is happening in Ohio. Gotta see what the hype is all about. You can find me (if you’re looking) on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook 🙂