LGI Fitness Runs: The Nashville Mayor's 5K Challenge

Watch me Work!! FLEX FLEX FLEX FLEX!!

Heyyyy Brickhouses!!

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend! My weekend started Friday. I am the room mother at Mia's school so I was there until around 11am. Those three year old's are something else! I always make sure after I volunteer in Mia's classroom that I thank her teachers for their dedication. There is NO WAY that you could continue to be a teacher each year with out having the love of the job! It is SO hard!! I am exhausted just thinking about out it so moving on...

I headed over to Public Square Park to meet Holly  [#operationByeByeBelly]so we could pick up our "swag bags" and race bib for the Mayor's 5K Challenge!!!

Photo op!! Waiting for Holly in the wind!!

Holly showed up during my photo shoot so excited!! We were both extra hype! Number one, the impending 5K and number two, the end of the R30 Challenge and our celebration dinner at Spaghetti Factory!!

Holly!!!

Registration and Bib pick up

 We tried so hard to get the perfect picture! lol *shrugs*

We headed over to Spaghetti Factory for girl talk, mocktails (which is basically any non-alcoholic beverage garnished w/ a lemon or lime), and reflection of R30 and the brutality of the last 30 days!

Spaghetti Factory

I LOVE the Spaghetti Factory!! The ambiance is amazing! It was like Old Southern meets Victorian-era and my goodness was it affordable!! With drinks and an entree, salad, and bread we paid $11. That is with bottomless refills plus if you get Isaac, he will throw in free spumoni ice cream! *SCREAMS*

Holly and I were so famished we didn't get any pictures of our food. It definitely helps to have an accountability partner because instead of Bleu Cheese dressing I got Balsamic Vinaigrette on my salad which made a difference of at least 300 calories on my salad. Pasta can be very fattening when all the cheeses and sauces are added so I looked at my handy MyFitnessPal mobile app to see the best option for lunch. We ended up getting the Spinach and Cheese Ravioli for 280 calories for the lunch portion. Everything else was 500+ JUST for the lunch portion! Scary!!

Saturday I went to church and chilled and was so excited in anticipation of the 5K on Sunday! Once I got there with Kat, Holly came and we looked around at everything. They had moon bounces, games, a rock climbing wall, live music, water stands, snack stands, and so much more that we didn't look at! The atmosphere was AWESOME!! All different shapes, sizes, races, ages, and sexes were there with the same goal of FITNESS!! It was so amazing to see!!

Chillin in Public Square Park

United Healthcare Doctor Dog

The News 4 Snowbird!!! A legend!! LOL

Holly and I were extra intimidated by the stretching skills of the 'Meharry Marathoners' lol

Intimidated until we saw Metro Police training academy! HARDCORE!!

There was a rock climbing wall too!! We had so much time to spare I gave it a whirl!

Getting saddled up!

Climbing..

Ok so here I think I was getting scared!

Pretty high!!

I ended up not getting to the very top because one of my hands slipped and I began to fear for my life! If you looked at the top of the wall the clouds were moving so it looked like the wall was tilted! Just overall scary and challenging experience!

After the wall it was time to get started with the lines for the 5K. We took a couple of pictures with Metro Public Health who Kat works for and took a picture with Karl Dean, the Mayor of Nashville! His assistant was rushing us so we will have to wait until the official pictures come out! 

Kat! [ #operationGFRestoration]

They had markers based on the pace you would be jog/run/walking at. We stood with Metro Public Health at the 11 min mile mark which was kind of in the middle of the crowd of 5,000 people! It was packed! When the start gun went off it took us three minutes to even start jogging because of the congestion!! Me and Holly took the time to dance it up!! 

Look towards the tall building in the very back. All those dots were people!!!

We started jogging up A HILL at a pretty good pace. Holly and I planned to jog for two songs and then power walk in between to keep a steady pace. Metro Public Health soon passed us and we were on our own! My playlist was DOPE until my phone died! lol Me and Holly ended up sharing earbuds and rocked it out to Phontegallo until the end of the race.

Our pace was great and we stopped maybe four times along the route. The last corner we turned onto 2nd avenue and saw the finish line! Holly and I were praising GOD!! We jogged up the hill and the adrenaline hit! I wanted to scream and guess what came to my mind? "GET SOME!!!" If you did the R30 challenge you will know that Jillian said that phrase incessantly during Ripped in 30! It was so ingrained in me and really did push Holly and I to the finish!!

It was an overall amazing experience and I am so proud of Holly for doing her FIRST 5K in under an hour (39:54 to be exact) with absolutely NO prior training besides R30!! Whohooo!!! LET'S GET IT!!!

Have a fit-abulous week!!

-KEF

xoxo

#operationbrickhouse

#5Kchallenge

#GETSOME