*INSERT NEW YEAR MOTIVATIONAL TITLE*

New Year New Me? Uh NO. Try again!

All these new years resolutions... I mean I think it's great that people are at least trying to be healthier and live a more active lifestyle, but no resolutions for this girl. I definitely have new goals for the year, though. I've come a long way in the last couple years, but i'm not done. Perhaps the biggest delay is due to my absolute obsession with delicious food? Clearly, my number one priority is NOT abs, though they would be nice to have. Hmmm maybe haha Honestly, this year I just want to push myself even further and see what I'm really capable of. Looking into the trifecta for the Spartan Race, i have the Nike Half Marathon in April and looking into the Rock and Roll Half as well. Still need to decide on a full marathon for later in the year. That's right... a full *gulp* i'm very nervous about that. Maybe i'll see how the year goes before commiting to one? Also on the list... ROC Race! Have you heard of it? It's like the Wipe Out game show except in the form of a 5k and it's coming to DC this summer. There's no way I'm missing out on that! Might try the Warrior Dash again, but honestly I'm just trying to keep my focus on events I haven't done yet. I also heard about GoRuck Light. It's an event put together by special ops vets. I've seen some videos and checked out the site... def adding that to the list!

But OMG how effin cold was it today?! and to think I signed up for Winter soccer and for an outdoor league at that. I think my team hates me now and is starting to rethink the idea of playing outdoor in the winter. I don't blame them. I've already started getting emails about if we're still playing tomorrow night because of how cold it is. At first it seemed like a legitimate question and I was going to ask the league, but then i thought... hey isn't this what we signed up for? ugh! The good thing is with all these Christmas sales, I loaded up on cold gear. Now I can go about my morning runs in peace with the perfect gear to keep me warm. My hiking buddy would be so proud of me! For once I put my money towards quality gear that benefits me and I dont have to use all his gear when we hit the mountains during the cold months of January and February. You might call us crazy, but we actually LOVE it. I wasn't always keen on hiking during a snowfall or even in the winter at all, but as always he drags me out and well I can never say no. Wasn't long before I fell in love with the winter hikes as well. I love my friends and I love that they're so outdoorsy. They definitely keep me busy... as if i needed help with that lol 

So already there's a lot on the plate for 2014. I'm sure more events will get added as the days come because you can never really plan everything. Doesn't always work out how you imagined in your head. One thing aside from training that i'll be spending a lot of time on is finally breaking out of the professional industry I've been in for the last several years of my life. I've always loved sports and being active <wasn't always in the best shape for it, but eventually my body caught up with my heart> so I've always wanted to do something related to that. Now that im actively involved in more events and have a better understanding of health and fitness, I'd love to finally break into Sports Marketing. How cool would it be to market for Nike or even be a sports broadcaster! *day dreaming* haha well it won't be an easy switch, but it's not impossible either. It'll take time, but I'm already starting on it and with the help of some great colleagues it looks like i'll be ready to go in no time. I think my biggest challenge will be maintaining patience. I can be very impatient once i've decided on something. Hoping for a smooth transition, but im thinking it will be more bumpy than anything. Tends to be the case with me haha Well, wish me luck! Better days in 2014 :)

Here are the links to some of the events I'll be partaking in. Just in case you might wanna check em out too:

• ROC Race - Game Show Inspired 5k: www.rocrace.com
• Spartan Races - Obstacle Races 3mi, 8mi and 13mi options: www.spartanrace.com
• Rock n Roll Half/Full Marathon - 13.1mi or 26.2 miles: www.runrocknroll.competitor.com/usa 
• GoRuck Events - Events designed by Spec Ops Vets: http://www.goruck.com/en/events

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?

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  :)