Milestones and Medals

I didn’t run yesterday, since I’m doing a 5k tonight after work.  I felt a little sense of melancholy when I heard the garbage truck come by at 5:30am and I wasn’t out on the road running with it.  But then I just rolled over and went back to sleep, and I didn’t feel so bad. 😉  I did work out later on, and I had quite an accomplishment (for me).  I finally managed to bench press 30 pounds!

That’s actually 30 pounds plus the bar, which my husband says weighs 15 pounds, so, according to him, I could now work with an Olympic barbell instead of the regular one. 😉 (I guess Olympic barbells weigh 45 pounds.)  I know 30 pounds doesn’t sound like much when you talk about serious weight-lifting (*cough* Kelly *cough*), but when you consider when I started back to weight-lifting last year after an eight-year hiatus, Iwas only doing 7.5 pounds plus the bar, I think that’s pretty awesome—I’m now pressing four times the weight I started with!!  I was so stinkin’ proud of myself when I was done. 😀

Besides my weight training, I also picked up my race packet after work yesterday, and I was rather excited about the stuff I got.  The shirt is really cute, and, because the run is themed around beer (sponsored by Atwater Brewery in Detroit), they were giving out pint glasses as well as shirts!

Pretty sweet stuff, I think.  🙂  I don’t actually drink beer, but the glass is neat, and my husband was excited about it. He’ll get my free beer after the race, too. 😉

Pick-up was at a local running store, and the Detroit Metalworks company was there with a display as well.  I’ve been meaning to get a hanger for my medals, and the temptation of having it all right there did me in. 😉  I bought one that had the word “marathon” on it, along with the numbers 13.1 and 26.2.  I couldn’t resist!  I didn’t take a picture yet, but I will when I get it hung up (getting it on the wall will be my husband’s Mother’s Day present to me).

While I was there, I saw another hanger that interested me.  I’ve mentioned before that my son Jamie, who not only plays hockey but also runs with me, loves medals.  Loves medals.  😉  (See the post about his Triple Crown medal for proof.)  He’s talked for a while about getting a hanger for all his medals.  I saw one that would work for both hockey and running, so of course I am a sucker and bought it.  Jamie was at baseball practice when I got home, and by the time he got back, I was upstairs.  I had planned to surprise him with the hanger, but I forgot and left it on the counter.  He came bounding up the stairs with it when I was doing my ab workout—he was so excited!  He held it up and asked, “Is this for me??” How could I say no to that kind of enthusiasm? 😉

A few minutes later, when I was done working out and had gone down to talk to my husband, he came back downstairs…with this:

LOL!  Can you tell he’s excited?  He’s still deciding where in his room to put it, but wherever it ends up, it needs to be attached very securely—all those medals are really heavy! 😀

Lest you think my youngest, JJ, is being neglected on my blog, let me assure you that he’s working hard, too!  We went for his last run (a mile) before Saturday’s 5k after I finished my workout, and he did great!

He ran really hard, especially at the end, and he ended up with a great overall pace.

That’s pretty darn good, especially considering the winds!

I was really proud of him!  He was quite proud of himself, too.

He’s so tired but so happy there!

As for me, I ran another half mile after that, and I felt pretty good about it.

Okay, so it was only half a mile, but that was after running a mile, right? 😉  Tonight’s 5k is the first one I’ve done by myself since I did my very first one two years ago this month—I’m anxious to see how I do when I’m running at my own pace, lol!  I don’t expect sub-9s, but a sub-10 or even sub 9:50 would be nice. 🙂

That’s it for now…I’ll have a few race reports next time I post.  Have a great weekend, and thanks for reading!