Becoming a Richmonder

I think I am slowly becoming a city girl. If you know me in real life, this can be surprising. Traffic stresses me out. One way streets freak me out. 

I've been working in Richmond since July so this is bound to happen. And pretty soon, it'll be a lot more official.

Since the weather has gotten warmer, I've been spending a lot of time in Richmond. A couple of months ago, my middle school/high school/college friend, Tori and I did the canal walk. It was amazing! I learned so much about the history of Richmond and the James River. Best of all, I got some amazing photos.

A couple of weeks later, I spent a Sunday with my sister at the Virginia Fine Arts Museum in Richmond. I had been to the VMFA many times but my sister is an Art History major so she has class there all of the time. She has so much knowledge about the place so I learned a ton.

Have you gone exploring in your hometown or city lately? What have you seen or learned?

Monument Avenue 10K: A Two Time Finisher

I have been so MIA. I apologize profusely. But let's get to the real point of this post.

As you know earlier this year, I joined the gym. What you may not know is that I fail miserably at the gym. At least at the part that was supposed to help me train for the Monument Avenue 10K. I can't stand running on a treadmill. Everytime I ran outside, my calf cramped up, my knee would hurt and my foot would go numb. Not a good recipe for beating my time from last year.

My sister, Dani, was also training for a half marathon. So she was out running 10 miles at a time and I was struggling to run 10 minutes. On the morning of April 13, 2013, my goal was simply to finish the race. I gave up on my sub-65, beat-my-time-from-last-year. I just wanted to finish the race which seemed impossible.

Pre race faces!

The weather was much nicer this year for the race. A lot sunnier and even too hot at times. I attempted to start my RunKeeper app when I crossed the starting line so I could track my progress. Unfortunately it did not start. So I just ran. I started looking at the clock on my phone and after 1 mile, I realized I was running at a 10 minute mile pace. I had to pee but I decided I could ignore that for awhile. After 2 miles, I was still running at a 10 minute miles pace. Stopping to pee was out of the question. And my calf? It felt great.

Are you ready to know how it ended? Are you sure you're ready?

I RAN 6 MINUTES AND 20 SECONDS FASTER THAN LAST YEAR! (63:21)

Post race smiles!

I still don't know how I did it but I am happy. I was 2 minutes slower than Dani down to the second!

I'm still ecstatic I'm looking at sub-60 for next year; if I can get off my lazy butt! :)

Tell me about a time that you accomplished a goal that you thought was impossible.