Incubus of Viral Plague

Clearly, running in the cold while sick is the best way to get better. My body is a basket full of lies and deceit! Let me tell you! By Sunday evening i was feeling pretty good. Maybe it was the work i put in at the gym or maybe i was just actually better?! Sure i was still a little congested, but nothing major. I was fine. Practically good as new. So what do i do? I wake up bright and early to start on my morning runs outside again. What better way than in 39 degree weather? At least i had on long sleeves. I am slowly making progress, i promise.Went ahead and ran a few miles then headed home to get ready for work. Oh man it felt AMAZING!! i missed my morning runs. I had taken up afternoon/evening runs(depending on the time i got home) for the last several months. I've always preferred morning runs, but waking up early was suddenly not as easy as i remembered it to be. This past Monday i was determined to start again and no one gets in my way when i make a decision to do something. So there i was feeling amazing and accomplished. Showered and headed to work. 

After work i met a friend out at Redskins Park for a Ladies Night event to include dinner and DRILLS!! That's right, we got to run some drills like the guys do at practice. Except we did it indoors. Even got to kick a few field goals. SUPER FUN. Met some players and alumni while we were at it too. So there went workout #2 of the day, but it was too much fun I could hardly consider that a workout. Same with running. I love it so much, it doesn't feel like a workout sometimes. sometimes! lol so after training at Redskins park, I decided swimming would be exactly what i needed to do. Went to the gym with one of the besties and did about 30 laps. Not bad. I was definitely pleased and pretty exhausted. I was mainly excited that i wouldn't be up until 2am from endorphins. This happens a lot with evening workouts. Instead i was practically falling asleep when relaxing in the hot tub. We decided to head out and call it a night. Which

brings me to Tuesday morning. Bright and early outside for another run. This time just under 5 miles. Now, temperature wise it was warmer than the day before, but if you were actually out there you would know it was MUCH colder and way windier! But hey, no pain no gain right? So there i go finishing my morning run. Got home to get ready for work when it all hit me. I do mean ALL... after just a couple hours of being at the office my throat was scratchy, eyes burning, couldn't stop sneezing and coughing. I could barely keep my head up because of the throbbing. I could feel the fever coming and my body was just shutting down. Hour by hour... i was coming to an end. Wasn't long before i was told to work from home the next day. I wasn't allowed back in the office. You know it's bad when your coworkers don't even want you there!

I come home to a very angry cousin. He's been staying with us for a while. Go figure ...he spent quite a few years as a nurse and let's just say i got chewed out pretty bad that evening. Something about I shouldn't have been working out when I wasn't fully recovered from whatever I had over the weekend and on top of that overdoing it. So he's had me on strict orders. Absolutely no working out until I'm better along with a few home remedies. I haven't been allowed out of the house, but I do feel sooo much better now. He said by Friday I should be ok to workout again and go back to my routine. Well, here I am all excited to go running tomorrow morning when he hits me with "nope. you're not ready. I'm glad you're 90% better, but i can tell you still have a sore throat so absolutely no running outside." I feel completely useless right now. That's prob why i'm able to post in the blog... because i haven't been able to do anything else!! :(

The pics are of the past shenanigans this week. I wouldn't recommend anyone put their bodies through this torture when they're sick. Definitely be smarter than me and give your body time to recover properly. Don't be stupid and stubborn like i am. I just feel so lost if i can't run! Well, until my next shenanigans... *sigh*

What Next?

Instagram : @Sunshine_Memoirs

 So What Are You Training for Now?

I was at a family birthday dinner about a week and some change ago. One of my cousins heard that i had recently completed my first half marathon. So of course he had a million questions for me. I was actually pretty surprised at the interest, but was more excited that anyone even cared to hear about it and my training. So I'm telling him all about it and showing him pictures when he hits me with "so what are you training for now?" It seriously caught me off guard. What am i training for? I mean i just finished a half marathon... wasn't that exciting enough? Apparently not. My family is not easy to please... but it did get me thinking. All this training for the last several weeks/months for the half and now it's done. So what's next? Well, I hadn't really thought about any immediate challenges for post half. Actually, I just wanted to get back into the other activities I enjoy doing like weight training with the BFF more regularly, supporting the other BFFs in their fitness hobbies, boxing, soccer, hiking, etc. Of course I have other halves i want to do and next year a full marathon, but until then I think I'm just going to enjoy this wonderful little life of mine. 

I actually have a cute little 5k coming up this weekend. You like how i said cute and little? haha i remember when that seemed nearly impossible. OK sorry, i digress. So this 5k, it's in DC. Perhaps you've heard of it? Quite popular! Well, 2 of the BFFs will be joining in on this run. Not everyday I get the BFFs together for a run together. It's pretty amazing when your BFFs love being as active as you are if not more. It really makes life so much easier and happier(high on endorphins). You know what else is great? Being with someone who supports and encourages all your hopes and dreams, but not only that... is willing to lace up and do it with you. I gotta say... I'm walking on sunshine these days :)

So now that the leaves are falling and the days are getting cooler, it's time to find ways to keep moving OUTSIDE and stay warm. I decided to get the team together for our first Winter Season(we usually only play fall and spring seasons). The Winter season doesn't start until January, though. In the meantime, I got asked to join a team for the remainder of the Fall season since they're short on girls. It's actually turning out to be a win-win situation. I haven't played since May, so this will be good practice to get me ready for the upcoming season. I'm pretty excited about my off season and all the promising activities it holds, but no worries! I'm not giving up my distance running. It is an addiction and I'm no quitter lol 

Heritage Half Marathon - Done!

 Achievement Unlocked

Well well well... guess who successfully completed her very first half marathon?!  :)
That's right! All that training on ridiculous inclines and adding those extra miles paid off! Whether it was in NY or in VA, there was always plenty of work to do! I may have only had 6 weeks to train, but i tried to make the most of it. I was really worried about how i'd do since the weather was looking rainy and i had just been informed of the several miles of straight inclines through the course. 8 miles was the most i had done at one time a week prior to the race, but i wasn't gassed out after them so I figured I would be ok. Just get some gels and stay hydrated, right? So there i was... 7am waiting to go. It was dark and it was raining. I thought for sure i'd be done in close to 3 hours. Well, i'm so super proud of myself for not taking 3 hours. I finished in 2:20. Sure it's not the fastest, but it was sure as hell a lot faster than i thought i would take on my first half! I can't really put into words how I feel about it all though. Besides the obvious, feeling incredible and triumphant. I guess you'd have to know what running really means to me to even try to understand. It's so much more than just being healthy.
I started my running journey over a year ago and it was more for therapy than anything. Through rain, snow, heat and fog i found my strength and learned to push through all the pain, sweat and tears. That's right... tears. Each mile showed me just how much i was really capable of both physically and mentally. I was never any good at running and trust me when i say i HATED it at first!! Now i just can't get enough of it. I grew so much more as a person the more I ran and can honestly say I have never felt healthier than i do today. Never thought I'd see the day I would willingly sign up for a half marathon and yet here I am today... taking Advil to recover from my biggest accomplishment. I've been through hell and back in the last year and I couldn't be more proud of myself for sticking through it all and pushing myself to be better each day with each mile chasing after a dream i thought would never come as soon as it did. 
I was so worried about the weather. Afraid to have to run my first half in rain, but when i really think about it, I don't think it would've been the same had it been sunshine and rainbows the whole way through. I think everything about it was perfect. The downpours for all 13 miles is pretty much how i felt this past year and conquering each mile was just a reflection of how far I've come in all this time. 
I was so blessed to have my cheer team with me. 2 of my best friends surprised me with shirts they made to support my craziness. Each shirt said "Team Sunshine_Memoirs" ... i almost cried! Best shirts ever!! Those closest to me who have first hand witnessed my struggle were there showing their love and support yet again like they always do. Waking up at the crack of dawn to stand in the rain waiting for me to finally come through that finish line. Never doubting me, but always believing in me. I don't know what I would do without them. It feels pretty amazing to have that kind of support and I know how blessed I am to have them in my life. God is good and He gets more gold stars for getting me through my first half, but we're not done here... no sir. We're only just getting started. Where are all those fun music ones? Country music and Rock and Roll HERE I COME!! :)

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and protector of our faith" - Hebrews 12:1

11 More Days!!

OK i'm so sorry I have been so MIA. I got so consumed with work, that by the time i was done training I just wanted my bed. Don't you worry though, I have been keeping up with my training for this half marathon and with only 11 days left I'm even more excited to get er done! So much progress over the weeks with tonight being one of the best. I do my longer runs on the weekends and during the week it's less mileage. Tonight's mini run was one of the most successful of all the runs so far. I did it without stopping once! Do you get what i'm saying? ZERO stoppage! That's a HUGE feat for me. It was taking me a while to get back to where i was. I was having trouble with pacing myself again, but I feel so much better now. They say home is where you heart is and i gotta say nothing has ever felt more like home than tonight's run :)
So this past weekend we paid a visit to NY for my Uncle's surprise 77th bday party. Well, my brother is a runner as well and has come down a few times to train with me. This time I met him out in the city(he lives in Brooklyn) and we ran miles after miles through Central Park. I brought my BFF with me on this trip and while she may not be a runner(she prefers to be labeled as a body builder/gym rat) she did an amazing job keeping up with us. Nothing quite as amazing as BEAUTIFUL weather and scenery, running for miles upon miles with my brother and BFF. Did you notice our Power Ranger shirts? I forgot my brothers shirt back at my aunts house, but he was supposed to be the Black Ranger. Maybe next time he comes down we can go for another run together in our shirts. I tried to get my tracker to work that day, but it was an epic fail. I would say we did about an hour and a half of running. We even threw in push ups  box jumps, squat jumps and headstands. Yea we're a little obsessed lol All in all... amazing workout and even better half marathon training. 
The weekend before was my longest distance at one time. I reached 7.35 miles and let me tell you, I was feeling GREAT! gotta love that runners high. There is nothing like it. So peaceful too! I'm not saying this half marathon is going to be a breeze, but i'm just ready to enjoy every mile of it. I've been trying to find a shirt to wear that day and I found one that says "Trample the weak. Hurdle the dead." I feel like that might be a winner! yea?

Hurts so Good...

The weekend has been quite entertaining. I was supposed to run 8 miles Saturday morning... that definitely did NOT happen. After about 5 miles and some change, i thought my legs were going to fall off. I guess leg day at the gym before a big run isn't the best idea! haha oh, but it was soooo much fun! I even got some play time on the bag. Good times :)
I'm not going to lie, though. I was very upset i didn't finish my 8 miles. Yes, i know it's a process. Yes, i know it takes time, but dammit maybe i'm a little impatient. I want it so bad that i'm afraid i'm going to mess it up somehow. This week will be a little different. I've gotten some good advice from people over the last few days so I'm feeling better now having some more direction for this half. I've also gotten a lot of support from friends and family. A lot who have asked to come out and cheer me on. I love that they all believe in me. I tell them how nervous and excited I am about 13.1 miles and all i hear is "oh you're fine! you got this! you'll be fine!" i'm here like are you kidding me? i mean sure i'll finish, but i'm not trying to finish in 5 hours either! i guess it's a good thing that i actually want this. Training is painful, but i love it. I love pushing myself and seeing how much more I can push myself. They key is to be better than yesterday. Always progressing and never falling back. Having new free runs has been very fun as well. Keeps me energized! Must be the bright colors! Actually, I think it's because they're 5s whereas before I was running in 7s. I feel closer to the ground and it's a cleaner free-er run. I would love to share running pics, but it's hard to always have someone on your route snapping pics. If only i had my own personal photographer. Usually my pics are taken before or after the run ... beautiful shots of course! you know all sweaty and gross. Oh yea... brings all the boys to the yard! hahaha 

I have been keeping up with the MoveYoAsana challenge and I have to say I'm quite impressed with myself. I didn't know I could do some of these poses and it's been fun to discover these little treats. Keeps me motivated to keep doing what I'm doing and push harder. Sure i'm sore just about every day, but at least i'm working! It'll pay off in the end for sure. Right now I'm just loving life. Every minute of it. I also had a cheat session with the BFFs on Saturday. We pretty much devoured large amounts of sushi. So much sushi that the chef/sushi roller (i don't know what they're called) made us something special on the house. It was one of the best meals I've had in a while and to top this all off... FOOTBALL HAS STARTED!! HAIL YEAH!! I don't know if i'll get any sleep tonight from the excitement of tomorrow's game. Season opener. Wish i could be at the stadium to cheer on my guys, but i'll go see them in a few weeks. Until the next post... happy training week, guys!! :)

I'm only half crazy! 13.1

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been a few days since my last post  :(

haha it's not that serious. So what's been going on? Well A LOT. For me at least. I'm working real hard to up my mileage for the half coming up in 6 weeks. I added a mile today which was awesome! This now makes 6 miles at a time. Made it in great time too!! yea except for i'm still walking part of it. I can't keep my focus and I'm finding my biggest challenge to be pacing myself. Sure it sounds so easy... just slow down, but as soon as my feet hit pavement I just want to take off like a cheetah. Weird... me? a cheetah? ha OK bad analogy, but you get what I mean. I get out there and I get so excited about the half that i basically go into a sprint and then what happens? I get gassed out. ugh but then 30 seconds later i'm back to running. I know, I'm a hot mess. The good thing is, this used to happen to me a lot when i first started running and I was able to fix it. So, just gotta make a few minor tweaks and get back in the game. Another thing that's killing me... i can't run everyday. At least not the usual mileage. Something about a rest day? ughhhh so I have to switch up my cardio throughout the week for the days I'm not running. Which reminds me!

IG: sunshine_memoirs

OK story time! So yesterday I was at the gym doing a mini weight session before my cardio. I decided to use the stair master. Those who know me, know i have the worst luck on this machine. Not because it tires me out, but because I never can figure out the settings leaving me to battle death. No I'm serious. It happened again yesterday. Here's this machine that asks for all my stats. Asked me for my target heart rate, so I put 180. Then it asked for resting heart rate and so on and so forth... WELL! when the machine started, those little stairs were FLYING! Apparently it wasn't my heart rate the machine was asking for... it was my step rate. Let's just say i'm not at 180 and God bless those who are! So here I am about to completely mutilate my face when i take a giant leap of faith, jumped up and slammed the stop button. Yes, it was quite a show. It's OK you can laugh. I was laughing at myself too. Finally settled on the manual setting and went about my workout. I gotta say, I feel pretty useless on the days I'm not supposed to run... #hotmess

So aside from my running, I've also been doing this yoga challenge on Instagram. I'm not great at yoga and if you check out my Instagram you can see the proof of that lol but I am enjoying the stretches and adding something else into the daily routine. Keeps things interesting. I'll share a few pics of what i've been up to and if you have ANY advice or tips for my half marathon training... PLEASE!! I'M ALL EARS  :)