Tiffany's necklace for 13.1 miles ...CHECK!

Team Nom Noms

You can't run a half marathon and not have it change you in some way. It never gets easier, you just get better. We've heard it all haven't we? It's true, though. Each time you learn something new. Maybe about yourself or maybe about life. What did I learn about myself? I learned that I really love to stuff my face post race LOL bring on all the goodies!! haha OK so race time... I finished later than my last half. I know, how is that possible? Did you even train, bro? So my first half I finished with about a 2:20 time. This time I finished with a 2:30 time. Oddly enough, I felt like I did so much better this time around. I did a lot better with pacing myself and my recovery time was almost non existent. I was ready and able to play at my soccer game that same night. I didn't play, though for fear that I wouldn't be able to function the next day and wanted to give my legs a break. Smart move? who knows! I was walking on sunshine the next morning, though. The last half I did put me out of comission for a solid week! 
The race itself was incredible. Great weather for it and who doesn't love a nice long run around our Nation's Capital through a few monuments? It's always been a bit of a dream for me. To have the monuments be my morning runs. Sadly, I'm not close enough to DC to make that a habit :(
So I hit a nice, lovely, monthly female obstacle that morning and thought for sure I was not going to get through the race. Got my breakfast in with good time and finally made it to my corral before it closed. Just barely, though! Anyway, can I just say this was by far the best race I've done so far?! There were about 15,000 runners and who knows the amount of spectators. The signs were hilarious and I very much enjoyed the shirtless men holding up motivational signs. My favorite being "I like fast girls!" School marching bands, dancers, DJs and I'm assuming local bands posted up at a few stops to keep the energy high. There were plenty of water, Nuun and energy chew stops throughout the race. Even bathrooms! I've heard that is definitely a luxury to have at races. Thankfully, I haven't had to experience a dire need for one during a race, but man those lines were long. Not too many inclines... Just a few. Or maybe I just didn't notice because I was in la-la land seeing all the smiling faces and loved ones cheering on their favorite runners. One thing, I thought was interesting was after about 7 miles, walking was starting to hurt. It got to the point where running was actually alleviating. A lot of it had to do with the shoes of course. I was running in my Nike Free 3.0s and before you elite runners start rolling your eyes... I'm fully aware they're terrible for walking. Running however feels glorious so I don't want to hear how "bad" they are for me. Midfoot striker here who does NOT over pronate. I repeat.. does NOT over pronate lol 
Point is, I finished yet another half marathon and felt on top of the world. So much energy, love and dedication from beginning to end. BFF was with me supporting me the whole way and informed me that one of the runners got proposed to at the finish line. AWW!! how sweet, right? Well yes. It really was. I'm not one for sappiness, but I'm not going to lie. Having someone wake up at the ass crack of dawn to stand for a couple hours holding a sign waiting for you to pass by all because it's something you love and they want to have a part in, supporting you every step of the way with encouraging words and chants... it's pretty fkin awesome. I don't have that. In fact, I never really have. Not that I've had several years of a running lifestyle either, but I never really put much thought into it until this race. I've always been happy with my cheer team, but having a special someone waiting for you at one of the mile markers or the finish line of a race like this would be pretty great I imagine. Maybe one day I'll find a crazy who would love to wake up early to stand for hours hoping to catch me for a second on race day. Someone to meet me at mile 7 with a brand new bottle of water, Nuun and/or energy gel OR maybe even someone crazy enough to just run it with me! Until then, I'll just keep doing what I do best and stay high on some endorphins! :)

"What we find in a soul mate is not something wild to tame, but something wild to run with." - Robert Bault

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's been a while since I've posted. Been doing a lot of running around looking for all the Christmas trees I can find. I'm a pretty big Christmas nerd! I was able to squeeze in a Turkey Trot with my BFF Thanksgiving Day before hoping on the bus to head to NY for more fun. It was the first event i did with some Chivers. They were so fun to meet! I have yet to meet a Chiver I haven't liked and what better than ones who like to run! It was my first time running around the Capitol in DC. I gotta say it was absolutely beautiful! Would love to do more runs out there when it's WARMER though haha. 



I also got the amazing confirmation of being able to run in the Nike Half Marathon next April!! I'll be starting on that training sooner than later. I'm excited to have more time this round. Hopefully I can beat my last time. The point is to keep getting better and always improving right?Well, that's the plan. I'll be running with a bunch of women I've never met, but i'm sure it'll be a good team. They have informed me that we will be wearing team shirts. I'm hoping it's something more on the humorous side rather than badassery. Beggars can't be choosers though, right? Well i can at least dream! I'm also going to have to work on a good playlist for then too. Back to the gel shopping and i'll be breaking in a new pair of free runs for this one. Just haven't picked out which ones yet.Nearly fell out of my chair at the office when i got the news!! I've heard good things about this race... let's be serious here. I'm in this for that Tiffany's jewelry! I bet it will be beautiful OMG i can't wait! I just want to go out running again right now to train for it :)

Other than that it's been the basics... running outside, training at the gym with le BFF when we can and looking for more Christmas trees ...hopelessly chasing after the same high as years before. This year was not at all what i had once thought it would be. That's a part of life though too i imagine. We can never really make plans because anything can happen and not always in the way you'd hoped... Wasn't easy and i'm still pushing through it all, but time waits for no man. So I just gotta keep moving! One day this will all make sense. Until then, i'm just going to laugh through all the pain, hurt and confusion. There is still so much beauty to this life and I don't want to miss out on any of it...

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  :)

Team No Days Off

So this past weekend has been one for the books when it comes to training. Going harder on my weights giving it everything I got. By Sunday i was completely sore. I'm talking legs weak, arms sore, chest heavy and body in P.A.I.N. For some reason, running just seemed like a great idea! So how about seeing how I do on the 5+ mi loop i used to run... oh boy. Well, I have to say i'm really surprised i did it all in under an hour. I really thought it was going to take a lot longer. Not sure what's changed the most. my running or walking speeds! haha either way, i'm glad it was just under an hour. Means i'll be back to my old pace in no time. Hopefully sooner than later because this half marathon is coming up fast! I have a bout a month and some change to train for it. By the time I got back from my 5mi loop i fell to the ground and couldn't move. i think i laid there for about an hour. ok fine... half an hour. Point is, i could not move! Unfortunately for me, that was not an option. We had family over this weekend so i had to be up and about walking around. I also got tagged in this yoga challenge on IG by one of my BFFs. Basically they post a new yoga pose daily and you have to do it too. I gotta say, it took everything in me to get it done last night, but i did it! #soproud #teamnodaysoff hahaha well this week is not going to get any easier. Must keep training! It's also time to learn about these energy gels and the other joys of marathon training. Wish me luck... advice welcome!!  :)

Delicious Training

So i'm getting back into the swing of things after a 3 month break. I was able to get some cardio in during that time, but nothing close to how I used to train. I've always thought about how it would be like to run the trails near my job. Every time i sit outside for lunch I see plenty of people walking or going for a lunch run. It's really neat and I've always wanted to do it except for there are no showers in our building. So i just stuff my face and watch the active worker bees hit the pavement. Don't get me wrong, I still train. I just do it when i'm home or near a shower! It's all about the hygiene... smelling like sweat is frowned upon in my work establishment. I don't understand why they have to be so picky! smh haha anyway so this Delicious Training... i decided to sign up for a half marathon *GULP* i have just over a month to train since it's in mid October. I'm super nervous about it, but I know that I will at least finish...
Well, today I decided to hit the trails near my job after work. Let me tell you I don't think there were ANY straights! Hats off to the daily runners. I mean i have a lot of ups and down on the trails by my house, but these trails were more like hazards! They should come with warning signs for your ankles! ok ok you think i'm exaggerating. it's ok, though. I won't stop trying. I figure it's good to train on all types of trails. My joints might not agree, but hey no pain no gain, right? :) 
I'm loving all the runs and with it comes more shoes!! I am definitely shopping this weekend for some more. Need more free runs in my life. Aside from that... I finally tried the fruit in my water bit. I basically shoved a lot of pineapple in my water all day and let me tell you it was orgasmic! Quite tasty! I might have to keep doing this...