Chocolate RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you do when someone asks you if you want to run for Chocolate? RUN!!!!!

A couple months ago, I was planning a trip to see a dear friend from high school -- Allece. Here we are with Lisa, getting ready to go to a Halloween dance party.

That's Allece in the middle.

And that's her at the dance. Rock on!

 She's a crazy girl that I love and I hasn't seen her in 4 years, so I was planning a trip down to see her and we decided to plan it around something that our husbands wouldn't do with us... so we would do it together.So that's when she asked if I would want to run her first 5k with her and my answer was... FO' SHO'. Allece chose the Hot Chocolate 5k. Good choice for a newbie. Highly supported. Good swag. I was all in.

Here's Leena, her daughter, modeling the swag - a running jacket.

 I was happy to arrive in Dallas to hear from Allece how she had started running - something she never thought possible since she had asthma that has acted up ever since I have known her. I was so excited to hear how the running had started and evolved and so, so proud of her. We talked a lot about running and I tried to impart any bits of wisdom that I had, which I am sure at times was too much, but friends put up with each other, right?

Fast forward to the night before the race and one of my "race rules" was to get EVERYTHING ready the night before that you possibly could -- lay your clothes out, pin on your number, put your tag on your shoes, everything and anything you could do the night before...do it! There are enough nerves on race day, you don't want to have to "think" about anything that you don't have to.

Getting ready for race day!

 The morning came and we headed out to the race. Good thing we headed early because the traffice was CRAZY... and I got my first lesson in smart phone gps'ing on side streets -- SUCCESS! (Or at least I will say that, I am not sure Allece has the same interpretation...)

But, we got to the race grounds on time and headed to our corrals.

Yay! Here.

In corral. With the sun coming up.

Allece ready to ROCK this race!

The starting picture. Look how fast she is going!!!!

We started off and got rolling and Allece was doing awesome. The route wasn't too scenic, so about mile 1, I was wondering if she would be annoyed if I took out my camera. Instead of asking, I jud took it out... and here's what I got.

Obviously, we were having fun and in good moods about the whole event.

Mile 2 came with its own challenges. Mainly a hill. But, I was proud of Allece for taking it in stride and actually making up more time on the downhill than she lost on the uphill. Good girl.


We plugged and plugged through the third mile.

Our pace slowed and I could tell we were hurting. About a half mile from the finish, I told her where we were (helped that I had a Garmin) and to think of all the times she had run a half mile and that she could do it now. And she knew she could. So we pushed on to the end.

At this point, we could see the finish and had a short time to finish it in.

End in sight -- look how speedy she is

And we crossed! 35:04. Just what she had been hoping for! It was fun to see and hear he interpretations for the race and what she had thought, liked and found challenging. I was so proud of her for running it. There are many times where we will not push out of our comfort zones to get what we want, but she had done so. Not only had she pushed beyond her emotional comfort zone, but also her medical one. For me, I was so happy to share this experience with her 5k with her. I am a big advocate for making your "first" whatever monumental and I was so happy that I got to be a part of her first 5k.

And what could top off better first experience than the post party... or more important the post party food. And being a chocolate run, well, you can't really go wrong.

What we were about to dip in our yummy, yummy chocolate.

Yum! Fondue platter!

Race - check. Post party - check. Onto recovery and relaxation...

Recovery drink. Fyi, not race associated, but HIGHLY recommend the Palamor in Dallas for their blood mary bar.

In front of art museum.

And what better way to top off a race with my old friend than hanging out at an art museum? Totally un-race related, but in my head it is. Something only Allece may get, but that's ok with me.