New Year's Day 2016

Hello! Happy New Year! I hope you met your goals and made all sorts of happy memories in 2015!

I am not going to sugar coat anything. I didn't post for long stretches in 2015. Mentally, I just wasn't in it. I ran three half marathons and a 10 miler in the spring, something I had never done. After the first two half marathons I qualified for the group Half Fanatics. All of which I am proud of.


In July I left the Archives, which I loved, to take a job with the Foundation that supports the historical organization. While I did this of my own free will for very valid reasons {full-time work/better pay/more mentally stimulating} I admit to missing the Archives. The positive is I only work one building over and I go through the Archives every day, so I still see my friends. But it has been an adjustment.

I helped plan my friends wedding in August and had the honor of photographing both the wedding and reception. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so happy that after 20+ years together they finally were able to marry.

I ran a fourth half marathon as part of a marathon relay team. It was a bad day for me. I had the second half of the race and by mile 8 I was done. I felt like crap that day due to mother nature {which had never happened before} and unfortunately I finished after the timing mat was removed. They were kind enough to wait with the finish arch and still give me the finishers medal and blanket. {That blanket rocks by the way.}

But, it's now 2016 and I want to get back to writing here again. So, I'm here. Over the next week I'm going to share what I want to accomplish this year. I'm again going to focus on a word. Which word? Come back soon to find out! ;-)

Thank you for reading this. Stop back soon for more!


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It's been a while

It's been a while. I know I fell off the face of the internet around these parts. It wasn't intentional. I got busy, then I ran a few races, then I had that post-race slump {like most runners}, then I went through a really fast interview process that ended with me starting a new job, I've been helping friends plan their wedding and reception, we've been fighting for Lizzie who was diagnosed with diabetes, we've been running around busy on our weekends {like usual}, and hubby has been traveling more for work, which is a little rough since I'm back to working full time.

All these items probably need a better description, but I'm not going to get into all of them in one post. I'll expand on them over the next few weeks and try to get caught up. My husband mentioned months ago I haven't done race recaps in ages and since this past spring had three half marathons and a 10 miler {first time ever!}, I need to do those too.

I wanted to get back on, say hello, and let you know you'll be hearing from me again. I will try not to disappear again for so long.

Hope all is well with you!

Chat soon!

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21-Day Fix

Hello All! How are you? How's your week been? Mine's been good - still fighting the cold I had since last week. Hoping it completely goes away soon!

Today hubby and I started the 21-Day Fix plan. We have both been a little too casual about our diets lately and I am not happy with how I look. In the last three years I've gained about 50 pounds. Yea...

June 2012 - Baltimore Women's Classic

March 2015 - Shamrock Half Marathon

Odd how both photos have me in orange... Anyway! That's not the point. The point is I weigh way more than I should and I'm trying something to change that.

I have a couple friends who have done it and had good results. Nothing I've tried lately has worked, so why not try something that talks about portion control and more real food than processed. I'm not a packaged food diet or shake kinda person {yes, I know the 21-Day Fix has Shakeology, I chose not to use it}. Give me a diet that talks about eating real food in real portions and I'm all for trying it.

So, today we started and for the next 21 days we will be eating real food in smaller portions. Breakfast was eggs with peppers and onions, 1 slice of toast with peanut butter, and half a banana. Not bad. All real and all good. I have my meals planned out through Easter currently. Over the next few days I will plan out next week as well. The planning is rough, but it does make things easier....knowing what I'm going to eat for each meal.

Let me say here and now that we will not be 100%. Our plan is to eat healthy 6-6.5/7 days. I know we may not see the same results as others with a day off, but in order to make this work as more of a life change than a diet, we have to be true to ourselves. We will want a beer. We will want a burger. We will want a doughnut. It may not be exactly the way it is planned out, but we need it to work for us.

We also start the workout portion tonight. The goal is to do the workouts, plus our training plan for the Wild Half Half Marathon in May. They are only 30 minutes each, which isn't much. We should be able to swing that. ;-) After work, first thing we work out.

Have you done the 21-Day Fix? What do you think? Tips? Suggestions?
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Motivational Monday

Happy Monday friends! How are you this day? How was your weekend? Did you get out there and do fun things?

This past weekend I ran The Love Run in Philadelphia. It was the second half marathon in eight days for me. Kinda crazy, right? The purpose, other than I really like Shamrock Marathon weekend and the Love Run? I wanted to qualify for Half Fanatics.

1. So, I set a goal last summer to run these two races back-to-back weekends to meet the Neptune requirement of two half marathons in 16 days.

2. I made a plan. I decided on the two races I was going to run to qualify. I chose Shamrock Marathon weekend {3/22} and the Love Run {3/29}. Then I planned out my training schedule.

3. The plan started in late December/early January, when I got to work. I started my training runs and some cross-training.

4. I had three+ months to stick to it. I'll be honest, I wasn't 100% dedicated. I lost three weeks of training to a severe lack of motivation. I didn't run, I didn't train, I ate horribly. It was a bad three weeks, but at the end I picked myself up and went back to it. I adjusted my runs, I started eating better, and I did what I could to make up for lost time.

5. This past Sunday I reached my goal. I ran the Shamrock Half Marathon on Sunday, March 22 and then completed the Love Run on Sunday, March 29. I hit my goal of two half marathons in less than 16 days.

Today's thought for Motivational Monday is we can reach our goals. It may not be pretty, but if we set a goal, figure out how to accomplish it, work the plan, stick to it to the best of our ability, we can reach our goal. Don't let a set back get you down. Decide what you need to get back at it and go! It's still possible!

What goal are going to set? What goal are you working towards today?


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2015 Kelly St. Patrick's Day 5k

from Charm City Run

This past Sunday, hubby and I drove to Baltimore, MD to run the 2015 Kelly St. Patrick's Day Shamrock 5k. This was our 5th year running it. It is one of my favorite races of the  year and I look forward to it each year.

Why? Mostly because you start the first half mile on a downhill and because I'm a back 'o the packer, you just see a sea of green laid out before you on Charles St. It's such an incredible sight to see. The downhill doesn't hurt either. ;-)

from Baltimore Magazine

This year hubby ran with me as he hasn't gotten out as much as he wanted this winter. We ran a pretty good race...well at least I ran a pretty good race for where I am training wise. LOL! We did the half mile run/1 minute walk and it went well.

We hit the 3 mile marker at 39:17 and I was so close to a sub-40, but I knew I couldn't swing .1 miles in less than a minute. We hit the finish line and my Garmin said 40:37. Darn it! Sooooo close! LOL! I should be happy though. Last year I ran this same race in 41:20, though it's a far cry from my best time of 36:43 in 2012.

Afterwards we tried to get into the post-race party at Power Point Live! Sadly, it is way too crowded for us back 'o the pack runners and we decided it wasn't worth the effort. That is the one thing I would say sucks about this race. The area for the post-race party is so small and with 4,300+ runners it's impossible to get anything. I wish they would change the party location so it was more open. Usually we would go to the James Joyce, but our friend Ada wasn't running this year. :-(

Did you run a St. Patrick's Day themed race this year? Will you? Did you run this one? What did you think?

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Motivational Monday

It is Shamrock Marathon {Half Marathon for me} week! Shamrock Virginia Beach is one of my favorite races. They do such a fantastic job and give out some sweet swag. How can you not love a race that's:

• Flat
• Fast
• Gives a medal for every race
• Gives a shirt for every race
• Does a challenge and gives a medal for completing it
• Gives a hat for finishing the half and full marathon
• Gives a finisher's gift for the half and full marathon
• Awesome tent party post-race on the beach
• Free beer
• Great expo

In 2012 I PRed this race and the 8k. Maybe that has something to do with why I love this race so much. LOL! I had high hopes about PRing this race in 2015. This race is practically designed for PR's because of how flat it is.

But for some reason in January I stopped training for three weeks. I ran twice in three weeks skipping my long runs. I lost focus. I lost motivation. Sure, I could blame it on the cold and snow. It would be easier than admitting I didn't do what I needed to do to meet my goals.

Sadly, I know it all comes down to me. But, I found this quote by Arthur Ashe and thought how appropriate for this week. While I can't go back and change what I didn't do, I can go forward this week and do all I can to prepare myself. I can do a last training run, I can eat lots of protein and make sure I'm hydrated, I can get in enough sleep each night.

That is where we all are. Maybe we have been great about our goals and following through on what we planned. But, I'll bet there's something you said you would do and haven't. Well, today...now is the time to get back to it. It's not too late. It may not be perfect or how we thought it would be, but if you do something today it will do better than if you hadn't.

That's where I am. I can concentrate on all the things I can control this week and hope for the best. What can you do this week?
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Went for a run

Sunday I decided to go for a run. It had been a week since I ran. A week that included a lovely stomach/intestinal bug that made me so sick. But, it was now two weeks until Shamrock race weekend and three until The Love Run weekend. The training schedule stated 9-10 miles, but I knew that wasn't happening.

I left the house telling the hubby I didn't know how far I was going or how long, but probably not long. I parked the car and realized I forgot Garmin. Yea... I had my Nano, but I can't get it calibrated so I didn't bother with it other than for music. I did put it on the run setting, but other than that hit go and off I went.

The neighborhood I run in has three streets that are about half a mile long one way. I ran in and just went. No idea how far I was going to go, just see how the body felt. I was going pretty well. I decided to run each street up and back. I figured that would get me about four miles.

When I got that far, I felt pretty well so decided to run two streets more. Why not? I felt good and could stop anytime I wanted. At four miles I ran further than I thought I would. After those two streets, I ran the main street then back to the car.

I had no idea how far I went but I knew I ran for 1:56:45. Way longer than the 20-30 minutes I figured I'd run. The run felt stress-free. No distance requirements. No time requirements. I could stop whenever I wanted. I could run as long as I felt good. It was liberating!

I can home and plugged the run into Map My Run. Why not? Let's see how far 1:56:45 got me. Shockingly, I ran 8.15 miles. Wha????

Here's why I'm shocked by this. Last Saturday I ran 7.5 miles in 2:02:--. Ummm... I ran a half mile faster this week after being sick for a week. I'm under 15 minute miles for the first time in ages on a longer run {I run faster for 1-2 miles, but slow up as I go along.}.

Apparently, the lack of direction for this run worked. I won't PR my races this month. I won't come close, but I feel much closer better about running them. This run did a lot for my mental state than any run I've had to date. I may just enjoy my four races this month.

How has your training gone? Are you prepping for races this spring? Which races are you running?

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