Virtual Race Recap....50 Followers, Oh Yeah!

I wanted to welcome all of my new followers!!!  I have reached the 50 mark...Heck Yeah!!!  I am sooo glad you decided to follow me!
To celebrate my 50 followers, I will do what alot of others do....I will list 50 random things about myself...so, here ya go:
1. I have one sister, who is 23 and a nurse in St. Louis.  My parents have been married for 33 years.
2. We both went to SEMO (Southeast Missouri State University...and my husband went to SEMO(this is where we met) and my SIL went to SEMO...and my two best friends went to SEMO...oh yeah, my sister's boyfriend(and most likely future husband) went to SEMO
3. We were all in sororities or faternities: Me- Delta Delta Delta; Sister- Alpha Delta Phi; Hubbie- Phi Delta Theta; SIL- Delta Delta Delta; 2 Best Friends- Alpha Chi Omega; Sis's BF- Pike  (LOTS of legacies there!!!)
4. I wanted to be a police officer growing up...and I even got a degree in Criminal Justice.
5. I am now a physician recruiter for a hospital in Belleville, IL
6. I have broken my arms three times in two years....My right arm riding a bike; My left arm swinging on a rope; My right arm again roller skating
7. For years after that, my New Years resolution was to not break my arm(s)
8. I have naturally curly hair, and HATE IT!!  I have straightened it everyday since sophomore year of college.
9. I played both softball and basketball in grade school and high school. 
10.  I have a passion for softball and wish I was still playing!  I did play intramurals in college.
11. The best thing I have EVER done in my life (prior to getting married and having my baby boy) is having gone White Water rafting.  I went for a college course to the Galley River in West Virginia.  We camped out every night, made our own food, slept in tents for 5 days, went backpacking, mountain climbing and white water rafting.  I came home thinking I could conquer the world!  Such a life changing experience, and I hope to do it with my husband some day!
12. I didn't wear makeup the whole 5 days....THAT IS UNHEARD OF IN MY LIFE!:)
13. I met my husband away at college, but we grew up only 10 minutes from each other.
14. From the moment I met my husband, I knew we would be together forever!
15. We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary April 9th, 2010 (together for 8 years)
16. We leave this Saturday for Riveria Maya, Mexico to celebrate our anniversary.
17. When I had my son on Sunday September 28, 2008, it was THE best day of my life!
18. I had THE best labor and delivery, and wanted to do it again right after.
19. I HATED being pregnant!
20. I breastfeed my son until he was 10 months old, and loved every second of it!
21. I tell my son EVERY day that I will "Love him forever!"
22. I sing "You are my sunshine", "The sun will come out tomorrow", "Twinkle,twinkle little star" and "Rock-a-bye Baby" every night to my son before bed.
23. I am VERY independent, and sometimes this drives my husband CRAZY!
24. I am a daddy's girl, and look up to my daddy in sooo many ways.  I will be lost without my daddy someday!
25. I owned a bearded dragon lizard in college.  I got her when she was only a few days old and I named her Molly. (I was hoping to someday be able to walk her on a leash)  I sold her a few years ago, and the people that bought her found out she was a HE.  Molly is now named Maui.
26. I traveled to Hawaii 5 years ago, and it was the best vacation ever!
27. My favorite color is pink!
28. I scrapbook and make all of my own cards (birthday cards, holiday cards, invitations etc)
29. I obsess way too much when planning a party.  I started planning my son's 2nd birthday 2 months ago, and it isn't until the end of September.
30. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to shop!  If I could shop all day long and had the money to do it, I would!
31. In college I worked part-time at Kay Jewelers, and became the sales manager at the age of 21.  I worked for them for 6 years.
32. The hospital that I work at, I was born at 28 years ago.  My son was also born here!
33. I have ALWAYS struggled with my weight and ALWAYS will!  I know this is a lifetime battle, but after losing the baby weight + a little, I feel that I can and will win this battle.
34. The Southbeach diet is the only thing that I have found that helps me lose weight.
35.  I had NEVER really run in my life until last summer.  I decided to train for a 5K.
36. The day I did my first 5K, I had never ran outside before(trained on a treadmill), and my husband got called into work, so I did it pushing my son in a stroller.  I finished in 36min and some seconds.
37. I feel that no matter what happens in life, it happens for a reason.  Every experience is a learning experience.
38. My favorite baseball team is the St. Louis Cardinals!  I LOVE THEM!
39. I LOVE water!  My drink of choice would be WATER all of the time!  I do drink a cup of coffee in the morning and a cup in the afternoon, and sometimes will splurge on a Sugar Free Red Bull.
40.  I gave up caffinated soda and french fries in college, and haven't had either for 7 years.
41. The only fast food restaurant I will eat at is Taco Bell.  All of the others have french fries, and since I don't eat them anymore, I don't want to be tempted. (I still would LOVE french fries!!!)
42. I do drink alcohol occasionally...I love beer, wine, mixed drinks!  Not a huge fan of shots, but my sister's boyfriend always makes me do one when we got out.
43. I was a big partier in college, but since having my son, have slowed down.  I do LOVE  a party night every once in awhile!
44. In college me and my 2 best friends drank Hooch everytime we went out.  We were known as the "Hoochie Mommas"
45. I hope to have more kids, but I am sooo in love with my little boy, that if I could never have anymore children, my heart would be complete!
46. My husband is ready for another child now...but I told him that this year is MY year (for running) and that we can start trying early next year.
47. I have a feeling I will have all boys!(and I am ok with this)  I just feel like I am a all-boys type of Mommy!
48. Me and my 2 best friends all were pregnant at the same time.  Our kids are only a few weeks apart in age.
49. My husband is my true, true, true best friend!
50. I love the running community and all of the running blogs out there.  They keep me motivated and inspired! Thank you for following me, and I hope you learned something about me...probably WAY more than you ever wanted to know....

So, now that we have gotten through that, I wanted to recap my virtual race that Atena put on last week.  We were suppose to run 7.64 miles and could do this anyway we wanted. (We were also suppose to wear PJ's, but I didn't do that) 
I got my first 3 miles down last Thursday on the treadmill at the gym, after my body pump class.  This was my first run since the half, and I felt Fan-freaking-tastic!!!  I ran it in 29min 32sec!
Then Saturday morning I got myself up at 6am to beautiful sunshine, and headed out for the remaining 4.64 miles.  I did a .25 warm up walk, and then started jogging.  I know now that I totally started out the half way too fast, and was one of the reasons I struggled so much.  On Saturday I started at about a 12min pace, and by the end of it was in the 9:30's.  I just have to remember that this is the best thing for me, and the way my body works!
The run was sooo amazing!  It was a really nice sunny, crisp morning, and I set off with my garmin watch and just decided to run.  No set path.  I ran, and ran, and ran, and felt sooo good!  I did carry my Golite handheld, and sipped it when I needed it, but overall felt great!  Such a relief that after such a "hard"half the weekend before, that I could still come back out here and do such a good run!
I finished the 4.64 in 46min and some change.  (I actually ran a total of 5.25 miles that day, so not sure on the exact)  Here is a pic of me after the run:

I actually wore my new Nike "Run" shirt that I got at the Go St. Louis Expo.  It is super cute, and of course pink!!!

Then last night I got home late from work, so I wasn't going to be able to make my work out class, so I laced up and went for a run around 7:30ish last night.  It was a great evening!  I was also feeling great again.  I had originally set out to do at least 3 miles, and since I was enjoying it sooo much, I ended up doing this:

I walked the first .25 miles again, but ran 5 miles.  LOVED IT!

I would like to get in a few more workouts this week before we leave for Mexico on Saturday.  I have tons to do this week...Hope I can get it all done!

Also, don't forget my 1st giveaway going on right now.  It goes until Friday at noon.  I swear, MyBella's jewelry is just sooo freakin cute!  You have to check it out HERE.
And don't forget, you can get Free Shipping between now and Sunday May 1st by using the code 'RBFS2010' in the comment section to the seller when you place your order. (she will then refund your shipping via paypal)
I hope to have some more fun giveaways coming soon!

Have a great week, and again...thanks for checking in with me!
Steph

Current Giveaways:
My: MyBella Jewelry Giveaway 4/23
Lil Runner: CEP Compression Socks 4/23

Jog for Joubert Syndrome: Running Skirt 4/29
Running Diva Mom: Whooha Giveaway 4/26
Njoy Life: Lush Giveaway
Tall Mom on the Run: Gone for a Run Giveaway 4/30
nhershoes: Aurorae Mat Giveaway