dolphin dashing and step counting

We are back from a mostly cold and rainy but still fun 10 days in Georgia!  I absolutely love going to Georgia, but I think 10 days without the ability to go to the pool and the beach every day was a bit much for us.  But nonetheless it was a relaxing trip and I'm so happy we had the opportunity to go.  But more on the actual trip another time.

The whole reason we scheduled this particular trip to Georgia was so I could run the Super Dolphin Day Race.  My mom had been on the island last year when the race was going on and thought it would be fun for us to be a part of it this year.  The had a 10k, a 5k and a 1 mile race.  If you were bold you could take on all three, as the 10k was at 7am, the 5k at 8:30am and the 1 mile at 9:30am.  If I wasn't pregnant it would have been fun to go for that.  Just over 10 miles would be great if you're training for a spring half!  But I am pregnant, so I opted to play it safe, and remind myself that I hadn't run more than 5 miles since November.

When I walked to the end of my parent's driveway that morning, I could literally see the race start about a football field away.  Talk about the most convienent race start I've ever had.  I was still in bed 45 minutes before the thing started.  And the way the course worked out the 6 mile marker was actually in my parent's yard.  So Papa and Ryann camped out at the end of the driveway to watch me run by!  I loved it.  But back to the start.  I headed over about 10 minutes before the start time, and I was stupidly shocked at how few people were running the race.  And nearly every single person looked like a 'legit' runner, with Garmins and all that.  I wasn't planning on being super slow, but I'd been running anywhere between a 10 and 11 minute mile.  So I texted my mom and told her not to be alarmed if I came in last.  Ha.

Thankfully I didn't finish last.  Well I was the slowest in my age group, but I was 112 out of 142 total runners.  I am proud to say that I finished in 1:01:56, a 9:58 mile pace!  Not speedy by any means, but great for me right now, and certainly not anything to be embarrassed about.  The course is mostly residential (which isn't surprising since the island is small!) and incredibly flat.  There was one stretch close to east beach that was SUPER windy, but it was a very windy day in general so it was to be expected.  Overall I really loved the race.  The convienient start and finish definitely helped.  And it was fun that the girls could watch all the runners from the windows of the house.  The race was in support of the local elementary schools so there was a lot of kids running, something I think is great for my girls to see.  I can't wait until one of them is interested in running with me!

On a different but still health related note, I mentioned that I snagged a fitbit flex that my dad wasn't going to use.  I haven't had it very long, but so far I'm a fan.  It is certainly motivating!  And also has shown me that I need to move my butt even more.  There have been a couple days that I've run 3 miles, and still struggled to hit 10,000 steps by the end of the day.  But my stubborness and hatred of not reaching a goal works well with the dang thing so I've found myself doing laps in the family room at the end of the night to get those last 300-500 steps or whatever.

I can't speak for it's accuracy, but in one random article I read it noted the fitbit products are some of the most accurate for step counting.  I know that I sometimes get extra steps counted because I don't truly have a dominant hand.  I write and eat left handed, but everything else I do with my right hand.  I noticed it counted steps while I was doing my make-up, but sometimes doesn't count steps when I'm carrying Elsie or pushing a stroller or a cart.  So I think in the end it all evens out.  Or something like that.  I look forward to the warm weather when we can be outside all the time getting in more steps! ;o)