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.

neVer forgeT 4.16.07

Six years ago on April 16, 2007, there were thirty two people who went to campus. Two hours away, I did the exact same thing. Those thirty two people never returned.

I will never forget April 16, 2007. I was a freshman at James Madison University. My freshman year was coming to a close and I was finally getting used to being so far away from home. It was a Monday, which meant I had my Spanish class at 9:05 and my literature class at 10:10. My 11:15 writing class was cancelled because we were having individual conferences with my professor about our final papers.

After my literature class, I went back to my dorm and signed on AIM. I instant messaged my RA upstairs and asked what he was doing. He wrote back, "I'm watching the news. Someone got shot at Tech." I replied back, "I have friends at Tech." He said, "Everyone does."

I tell my roommate Rachael that there was a shooting at Virginia Tech and she asks where that is. She was from Pennsylvania. I tell her that it is just two short hours down the highway. 

I head towards the dining hall to meet my friend Jessica for lunch. I meet her somewhere between the dining halls and I tell her there was a shooting at Tech and that one person has died. We get in line, grab some foods, and sit down to watch the televisions in Top Dog.

Jessica looks at the TV and looks at me and asks me what I said about it just being one person who had passed away because the headline on the television said 10. I told no, it was just 1. She said "No, it says 10 casualties. Doesn't that mean ten people dead?"

I look at the TV and see the increased count. I think, "What in the world is going on here?" I noticed that the dining hall was way too quiet for a Monday lunch hour. Usually people would be shouting to friends and talking about what they had done that past weekend.

I look behind me and notice that almost no one is in line for food. People are just standing around behind those seated at the tables; their eyes were glued to the televisions. This image is burned in my mind.

I called my mother because I talked to her every day of my freshman year and I was surprised she had not called me. Dinwiddie schools were on Spring Break so she had actually just woken up. When she answered the phone, I asked why she had not called me. She was confused. "Mom, there was a shooting at Virginia Tech."

Jessica begins attempting to call our high school friend, Sarah to no avail. I comfort her by telling her that I am sure everyone is trying to get in touch with everyone so phone calls probably were not going through. 

I remember going to work that day at the library and not doing any work at all. I sat on my computer refreshing the news pages of various websites, watching horrified as the number of those who passed away kept rising. I stayed on Facebook, watching as all my Virginia Tech friends changed their profile pictures to the remembrance ribbon. If they changed their profile pictures, I knew they were okay. 

On April 16, 2007, though I was two hours away from the place where that tragedy took place, my way of life was threatened. The world was not a safe place. Those people all went to campus that day, not knowing it would be their last. A handful of the 32 that lost their lives that day were freshman at Virginia Tech. They were just like me, starting out their education, careers and what was supposed to be the best four years of their lives.

Six years ago and I still remember so much from that day. Six years ago and I am still shocked for this tragedy took place. Six years ago today and my heart still hurts for the Hokies.

4.16.07 neVer forgeT 

Hands Up For the Dukes!

I am not a basketball fan. I love me some football and baseball pants. Basketball is just so squeaky.

But I am a JMU fan. A big JMU fan. I learned via my Facebook newsfeed that JMU had won its first two games in the CAA tournament and was advancing to the CAA Championship.

Best of all, the game was taking place in Richmond! So on Sunday night, I got the idea in my head that maybe I should attend the game. After consulting with a couple of fellow JMU fans, I learned that tickets to the Championship were as cheap as $10.

I had to take advantage of that. So Monday, I spent some time coordinating a couple of friends to go to the game with me. I ended up getting in touch with one of my favorite Dinwiddie/JMU girls, Michelle and my cousin, Travis to attend with me. I also found out that Matt and Amanda would be in attendance too.



Hands up for the DUKES!

After work, I headed over to the Coliseum where the game was taking place and bought mine and Travis's tickets. We were playing Northeastern, a team out of Boston, MA, so JMU was obviously well represented in the Coliseum. Also no one was checking tickets at all so we got to sit much closer than the seats our tickets were for.

 

Our team had such great momentum in the first half and our fan had so much energy. Northeastern gained a little momentum in the second half but they couldn't keep up. JMU won the game 70-57 to become win the CAA title and to start their road to the NCAA tournament!

 

 

It was amazing to be there and watch it all happen. I love being a JMU Duke and being a part of JMU Nation.

Virginia Weather

Hey all! I hope you enjoyed the weekend. It was absolutely beautiful here. Which is actually kind of ironic due to the weather that we had earlier in the week.

I've lived in Virginia my whole life, for almost 25 years now and we can have some interesting weather. 

It's March. Almost mid-March. A little more than a month ago, good ole Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

Does this look like an early Spring? This is Wednesday, March 6.

 

I drove 45 minutes to work in this messy weather. It rained the entire way up, until I reached the interstate and then it started a wonderful snow/rain mix. We ended up closing our office at 11 a.m. and I was stranded stayed in Richmond. I'm not sure what the final measurements were but I'd say we got 2 to 3 inches.

 

 

Today, just 4 days later, it was 63 degrees. Tomorrow it's going to be 70 degrees. Gotta love that crazy Virginia weather.

 

 

I can't wait until spring is here to stay.

How's the weather where you are?  

Get Fit or Cry Tryin'

Hello all!

So two weeks ago, I did something a little uncharacteristic of me. Firstly, it involved spending a lot of money (even though it is stretched out over a long period of time). Secondly, it involves me being active. A lot.

I joined a gym. No big deal, right? Except remember when I went to JMU and had free membership to UREC and I hardly ever went except for that one semester I had to go for Personal Wellness class. 

I'm going to go though. Because I spent my hard earned money on this. Also, I just signed up to do the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K again this year. It's in April this year instead of March so hopefully that will do me some good. I am determined to beat my time from last year. 

Except I've been a real wuss when it comes to the cold and running outside. Which brings us back to the gym! 

Do you belong to a gym? Anyone have any good advice to training for a race in the gym?

Homebody

It's no secret that I am outgoing. And I love going places that I've never been before. I was super excited when I received luggage for Christmas (and I got to mark something off my 101 in 1001 days list). 

My new luggage set

I spent the first two weekends of 2013 out of town. The first weekend, I headed up to Lake Caroline to spend some time with the best friend, Patti since I hadn't seen her since the last JMU game.

The second weekend of 2013 I headed down to Southport, NC to a wedding reception to celebrate the wedding of my birthday twin, which involved about 9 hours of driving alone in a two-period. 

So after two very busy weekends, I was perfectly content staying at home. In fact, most of the time I am a homebody. I usually prefer spending my Friday and Saturday nights wearing my yoga pants and watching Grey's Anatomy, which is what I did this weekend. Then I'm usually asleep by 11 p.m. and up the next day before 10 a.m. 

I'm getting kind of boring in my old age. Does anyone else feel this way about themselves?

Hello 2013!!

Hello all! Sorry for being MIA. I hope the holidays treated all of you well. At least this post is being written a lot earlier than it was last year by 4 days. 

I love the beginning of the year. I love new beginnings. It's like anything is possible. I know each day is always a new beginning and anything is possible all the time but they beginning of the year is just magical.

My favorite part about the New Year is tradition. Every year for as long as I can remember, we always eat "good luck" food on New Year's Day for dinner. Black eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, fat back, and cornbread muffins. It's a Southern thing, y'all!

So on to new year's resolutions...this year I decided to not make any. Basically everything I want to accomplish can be found in last year's New Year's post. Womp womp. Not that I didn't make any progress. I just want to keep making progress. 

What are your plans for 2013? Make any resolutions? I want to hear them!