2013 Photo Recap

I made a little video of the main 2013 shenanigans. 
Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together!

Need.Bubble Bath.STAT

Team Phoenix

where to begin? This weekend has been nothing short of exhausting! I mean that in a good way. Well, maybe not so much right now, but tomorrow definitely. Tomorrow I will feel great about all of this! *crossing fingers* So as I mentioned before, this weekend I had both the DC Dragon Boat Race and the Warrior Dash. The Dragon Boat race was an all day event. We had 3 races to compete in at 250 meters. The first one we did TERRIBLE! i mean even I noticed how terrible we did. We were totally NOT in sync with each other, The 2nd race was MUCH better. Overall we got the silver medal for the day. Sunday(today) was the final race at 500 meters. I'm so upset I missed it, but I did get the update on the results and Team Phoenix placed GOLD! So exciting! I should be receiving my medals this week from another teammate. I'm so thankful to have been invited to join them. Even if just for a day. There will be another competition at the end of August at the National Harbor. They've already asked if I wanna compete with them... uh DUH! Of course I want to compete! It's only just one of the most fun sports I've done in a very long time. Even with the weather being as dark and gloomy as it was. Not even having to wear wet clothes all day bothered us. Everyone on the team was super friendly and easy to get along with. I can't wait to compete with them again soon! 

Mario and Luigi!

Fast forward a bit and we get to the famous Warrior Dash. Someone told me the Hero Rush was more intense and harder than the Warrior Dash. I beg to differ! Sure it's less miles, but I definitely like this one was more difficult. I also heard this year's Warrior Dash was harder than last year. I've been wanting to do this race for a couple years now. All just to have the viking hat. The hat alone is what sold me on the race once upon a time. Well, I can finally check it off the list! I realized today that I've improved a lot with hills. There were so many hills at the beginning. I'm not saying i ran through every single one in the race. I'm just saying I've improved! Let's not get crazy now! haha Another thing I learned is that I have terrible balance and a small fear of heights. This did not help me at all today. Nope. It definitely slowed me down and if it hadn't been for le BF, I would probably have some kind of broken bone or at least have a sprained ankle. I love that we did it together, though. It was a lot of fun. Very muddy, but about half way through we had some beautiful sunshine! I'm hoping they got some good action shots of us. We only took before and after pics. I wish we had taken some pics while we were covered in mud, but we pretty much just ran straight to the showers to clean off and head back to the little party going on. Our next race together is the Run For Your Lives Zombie Obstacle Race in October. I have a serious fear of chainsaws... should be interesting. I am proud of myself today, though. I wasn't sure how I would do with all the climbing, but I did alright! Now, i'm just ready for a nice bubble bath and a lot of sleep! Good weekend overall though :)

Sometimes It's That Little Extra!

Instagram: Sunshine_Memoirs

It's totally OK  guys. I ran today! So I'm back at this dominating inclines thing. I figure, once you master inclines everything else is just a walk in the park. Tonight's run started on what felt like the worlds longest incline. Got me pretty winded for the rest of the run, but hey... can't breeze through every run. That's just boring! Gotta add some challenges every now and then. That little pic on the left is a little something I made for Instagram today. That song came on my iPod at about the last stretch home and for some reason that one part of the song really just got me pushing more than before and got me home.
Now, I'm very familiar with the saying "your mind gives up way before your body does." It's pretty much the only reason I've kept improving over this past year with my running. I heard it again this past weekend at practice for the Dragon Race. Coach told us to focus on our strokes and breathing. Gave us tips on what to do if we're feeling gassed or too tired to keep going. At the end of his spiel he left us with that very quote. I thought to myself, there it is again. Something I hear all the time and sure it gotten me through the hardest of times when i just started my running journey, but you know how when you hear the same thing over and over it tends to lose its value? Yea that's kinda what happened with me and that quote. I know it first hand to be true, but i guess I had forgotten it's power and significance. There were parts of tonight's run where I just wanted to stop and walk because I was tired. Tired? seriously, who gets tired? I don't know what's wrong with me! haha OK so I got a bit winded sooner than I would have liked. I tried so very hard to stick to my little training for the evening and when I felt like I had reached my limit, I remembered that quote: Your mind gives up way before your body does. So you know what I did... i decided to test it out once more. I figured what's the worst that could happen? I mean it's not like I'm not going to die. What's another quarter-mile if my body can still go, right? RIGHT! I totally surprised myself a few times tonight with how much further I really could go, despite how exhausted I already was. Definitely a successful run tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the weather is getting very warm. Might need to get some shorts soon because ain't nobody got time for pants!! 



So, I know I've mentioned an obstacle race I'm doing with le boyfriend soon. The Warrior Dash. WELL, it's coming up a lot sooner than later. Actually, it's finally here. We'll be heading out on our mini road trip Sunday morning for a midday wave run. We have decided to go as Mario and Luigi. I'm a little upset about the arrangements as I've been Luigi since I was born. This time around, I'm stuck being Mario. I guess it makes sense because he's so tall. He said something about he had to be Luigi because green brings out his eyes (BARF!) hahaha OK so maybe he's right, but only just a little. ANYWAY... we ordered our shirts and I can't wait for them to arrive. I'm trying to decide if suspenders would be too much during the run. Thoughts anyone? I'd love to add more to our outfits, but at the same time i prefer to run with as little added weight as possible. Here's a little preview of whats to come in this weekends post accompanying the Dragon Boat Race. SO EXCITED!!  :)