It's official ...

That's right. I have officially been committed to the AsyLum (and no, my kids didn't send me there).

As of yesterday, I am HALF FANATIC #450!!

After finishing the MAC Half Marathon on May 8th and the Marine Corps Historic Half on May 16th, I qualified under the Neptune Moon Level (the lowest Fanatic level), which is either two half marathons in 16 days or three half marathons in three months. But let's be honest, I'm not content with the lowest level. I'm too competitive for that. Think I might just have to find two half marathons on the same weekend ...

And since I know you are all dying to join as well, you can learn more about the qualifying standards HERE.

J, the half marathoner ...

As you know, J became a half marathoner yesterday. It was amazing and I am so very proud of him. His official finishing time was 2:57:10. And like I said, I was by his side every step of the way (we even held hands across the finish line). Here's how it went down ...

J and I woke up at 4:30. We got out of bed, gathered our things and got dressed in our coordinated lime, white and black outfits. This is us right before walking out the door (I did get a shot of J smiling, but I think this is funnier) ...

We hopped in the car and drove the hour to Fredericksburg. Well, kind of. We had to stop. Mother Nature was not J's friend yesterday. In fact, she would torture him for the first four miles of the race. NOT.FUN. Anyway, once we arrived, we met up with JBR (our friend and another first time half marathoner). After yet another bathroom break, we rushed over to the start corral.

And before we knew it, we were off. The first four miles of the race were good (other than that whole Mother Nature thing). We were holding a comfortable pace for J and JBR. Every once in a while, I would speed up and act as race photographer. Here they are at mile 3.

And here I am. I took this while running. And JBR snuck in the shot too.

At mile 4, J had to stop and end the fight with Mother Nature. He ran into a church and JBR continued on without us. (JBR finished in 2:39:25.) After six minutes, J returned and we ventured on. Despite the added time, we were still holding a decent pace. But somewhere around 6 or 7 miles, J's hip and knee started acting up. His hip kept him from running at all in the last two weeks. We hoped the time off would help it, but the constant downhills of the first 10 miles of the course took a pounding on it. And he was in pain (even though he smiled every time I busted out the camera).

At mile 10, the uphill climb began. And the next two miles were basically straight up. We gained over 300 feet of elevation in those two miles. J started to feel it. And we took some walk breaks. I did my best to "push" him on. I knew that he really wanted to break three hours and if we could hold our pace we could. We alternated walk/run for the remainder of the course. As we entered the finish chute, we knew we were going to go sub-three. J asked to hold my hand as we finished. And we crossed the line together. It was awesome.

J was tired and sore. And I was convinced that he would never want to do another half again. But you know what? I was wrong. He's caught the bug. He's talking to JBR about doing it again. He even told me this morning that he might just do Richmond in November. How sweet is that?

As for me, the race was awesome. Here's why:

1. It was really nice to run without pressure.
2. I got to take it easy (my average heart rate was 130 compared to last week's half where it was 180).
3. I was able to support J 100%, which I loved.
4. The race helped me set a new weekly mileage PR. I finished the week with 41.89 miles.
5. I also broke 500 miles for the year during the race. I am currently at 511.16 miles.
6. And I became eligible for Half Fanatic status. Sweet!

Three Things Thursday ...

Can I just say that I am psyched it's already Thursday? J has been out of town all week (he'll finally be home tonight), which means I have been dealing with the drama-fest that is my life, singlehandedly. And let's just say that the girls have been a handful this week. Especially a little blonde cherub who will remain nameless. But enough of my complaining, onto Three Things Thursday ...

1. On Tuesday, MCM Mama tagged me to share the view from my kitchen window. Now, I will warn you it's not much of a view. I live in a subdivision. Nothing exciting. But here it is, the view out my kitchen window ...

And since I am in a sharing mood, here's the view from my front door. I heart my neighborhood.

2. Dilly has found a new favorite snack. Chocolate Outrage Gu. Here she is enjoying it after our eight miler on Tuesday.

Don't you think she should be the new spokesmodel? I mean, really, who wouldn't want to purchase a product she endorses?

3. I am going to qualify for Half Fanatic status this weekend. On Sunday, I will be pacing J in his first half, the Marine Corps Half Marathon (My second half in eight days). I'm so excited for him and totally scared for me. If you haven't realized yet, I am slightly competitive. And I have no problem pushing my competitiveness on others (just ask G and Katye). I really want to help him do his best and for him to enjoy the experience, but sometimes I can "push" to hard. And I don't want that to happen.

But regardless of my performance as a pacer, I promise you one thing. We are going to look good. I promise coordinated outfits (and no he's not wearing a skirt, I tried, but he wasn't having it). Anyway, it will be fantastic. Nothing like this clash fest from one of our training runs ...

am I crazy?

In case you haven't noticed, I am kind of competitive. Not only with myself, but with those around me. Even if they are not competitive in return. (Seriously, why don't some people get that EVERYTHING is a competition? So frustrating.) Anyway, I am constantly trying to one-up myself. Which is good. And bad. Sometimes I just take on too much. But worse than that, sometimes I don't know if it's too much until it's too late.

Here's my dilemma. I really want to earn Half Fanatic status. Thanks to G, I have become aware of a half in Williamsburg (about a 45 minute drive) that is on February 28. Exactly one week before Disney. This race would give me 3 half marathons in a 90 day window AND 2 half marathons in a 16 day window. So basically, I'd be set. The only problem (other than convincing J) is that I really think Disney is the race that could give me that 2 hour half I am looking for. And I'm not sure I want to risk that. My thought is to run Williamsburg at a controlled pace of 9:30-9:45 (which would still be a PR) as sort of a practice run for Disney. Am I totally nuts? Should I just find another half to run after Disney that falls in the same 90 day window? Should I just wait until next year for the Fanatic thing?

On a lighter note, I ran an awesome 12 miler this morning. Here I am looking super cute.

I started out on the treadmill, which I quite like. It's really nice being all toasty when you step outside. After about 6.5 miles I joined the Stroller Strides 10K training team, which I am helping out, for their long run. Once we got back, I picked up the pace and finished my run. It was one of those runs that you don't want to end (although I wouldn't have minded it being a tad warmer). I finished in 2:02 and considering we were running 12 minute miles with the training group, I was quite happy with the overall pace. I was really pushing it in the last two miles.

So, how was your long run?