Off Balance

I'm going to write about something that has been weighing on my mind for quite some time. In fact, I thought I had already written this post months ago, due to the fact that it's been a struggle for me for that long. What is it?, you ask. 

Work/Life Balance.

Source

And the simple fact that I have no balance. I have been in an awful mood lately. I've been letting the stress of work get to me and not leaving it in the office. That makes it hard for me to be myself outside of work when I'm always pissed off at work things. 

I've decided to make a list of all the things that I can do to improve my work/life balance. I'm open to any suggestions you may have as well.

• Exercise --Exercise produces endorphins, endorphins make you happy and happy people don't hate their jobs. 
• One of my coworkers and I decide to go to the body combat class every Monday. So far, it's been great. Mondays are one of the worst days of the week for me (who does like Mondays?!?) so getting to sweat it out at the gym after work totally makes me feel better after a long day of work.
• Also, I recently relocated to the city (yay -- more on that later!) and everyone here is so active. At all times of the day, there are people of every shape, age and size running the streets of Richmond. I put my shoes to the pavement and ran 1.25 very flat (my favorite) miles down the road to see my sister at the gym on Saturday morning. I felt so great after that.
• Relaxation -- This weekend, I decided I was going to really focus on myself and get myself back to me center. I spent time just being alone, listening to music and reading. There really is nothing else like getting lost in a book. 
• Get your zzz's -- Being in a new place was not conducive to my sleep. Trust me, I was much more irritable when I hadn't been getting in sleep, which made the stress of work a lot worse. 
• Friends -- Sometimes you really just need to vent to a good friend who won't judge you. I hadn't talked to my best friend in awhile and talking to her on the phone about how stressed work was making me made me feel a lot or better.
• Leave work at work -- Or on the other hand, don't vent. I have tried to stop talking about work when I'm not there. I had this really bad habit of checking my work email when I was at home. Then I would stress all evening about things I couldn't take care of until the next day. 
• Hobbies -- Work has been draining me; however, sometimes you just need to remember to do the things you love. I'm excited about the warmer weather because I want to take my camera out and get some good photos of my new surroundings!
• And when all else fails -- use those vacations days you've got saved up. 

How do you balance your work life with your personal life?

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.

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?

Twilight Delightfully Different 3.5 Milers

Hey y'all and Happy Monday! I hope y'all had an amazing weekend; if you managed to stay cool, that is. It was a scorcher here, reaching 90 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday, I'm pretty sure. 

I am still exhausted from my weekend. But I am trying to keep in mind that it is the last Monday of the school year! Isn't that crazy? My babies graduate on Thursday (break out the waterproof mascara!). 

Speaking of high school graduations, that's part of how I spent my weekend. On Saturday (the 6 year anniversary of my high school graduation, btw) I attended a graduation party for a family friend, Kaylyn. My mom went to high school with her parents and we used to babysit Kaylyn and her sister when they were little. I've known that girl since she was one and a half. Talk about making me feel old. 

After the graduation party, I headed out to Richard Bland College. Why, you ask. Because I let the cross country kids that I am currently substituting for talk me into running the Twilight Delightfully Different 3.5 Miler, even though it's been a long while since I last ran. 


My sisters and my mom's bf had run this race a couple of years ago when I was living in Harrisonburg. This time it was just me running it. 


The significant thing about this race is that it is at night, which can be both good and bad! I despise getting up early and I'm used to running after work (ahem, when I do run). The downfall is that at night in June, it is HOT. The night before it was pretty cool at night. On Saturday at 7:15 when the race started, Siri so kindly told me that it was 90 degrees! 


So in addition to being myself, I realized that when I got to the race that I had forgotten to pack socks (Keep in mind that I came directly from a graduation party!). Thank goodness the race was close to civilization and in an area I was familiar with so I could run to Walmart and buy some!

Me, pre-race! 

The race wasn't that bad. Thank goodness it was a flat course. However about 75% of the race, the sun was beating down on you as it was setting. After the race, there was tons of pizza, beverages, watermelon and cantaloupe. I even got to see an old friend from high school.

The best part was that they gave out medals for the top 3 in each age group by gender! Guess who got a medal!

Highlight of the race!

What did you do this weekend?

The Year of the Runner (A Monument Avenue 10K Story)

5K, 8K, and now 10K.

I'm not athletic. Ask anyone who has known me for awhile. While they will rave about my many exemplary characteristics, my athleticism is not one of them. 

I'm the girl who avoided doing anything in gym class like it was the plague. Dodgeball? I hid behind the tall people until I realized that this kept me in the game longer. Then I would just pretend I got hit. "Oh that ball came within a 3 foot radius of me? I think it did hit me...somewhere...I'll just sit down now." 


We had to run the mile at least every year for our athletic tests. My fastest mile was in seventh grade: 9:22. That time was thanks to me running with J. Wray.

This year I've decided to take on athletic accomplishments of monumental (like what I did there?) proportions. First I ran the Sweetheart 8K in February, which marked the longest distance and time I've run in my life to that point. Then I was prompted to run the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K. I mean, it's go big or go home, right?

My Monument Avenue 10K story starts the night before. (Or actually it starts in the weeks after my 8K where I could not bring myself to train regularly. But enough about that.) I sat at home while Lynn and Dani went to Richmond to grab our bib numbers. At first, I was upset that I did not go with them. But afterwards, I was glad I stayed. I got extra rest and got to eat dinner first!

When I got out of the shower that night, my Monument Avenue 10K bag was sitting on the bed. I looked inside and found my bib number.

To be honest, I chose the wave "TB" because those are my initials. It's the 66-70 minute wave.

My souvenir Monument Avenue 10K shirt and another shirt! Turns out that at the expo, there was a company selling cute shirts with running slogans on them. Lynn and Dani picked out this one for me.

We all decided to wear our shirts for the race on Saturday. On Saturday morning, I woke up at 5:45. Got dressed, ate breakfast, and we were headed for Richmond by 6:30! The first wave of runners were set to begin at 8:30. Mine and Dani's wave wasn't set to start until 9:31. Lynn was in an earlier wave but decided she would wait and start with us.

Race outfit!

Pre-race photo

We sat in the car when we got to Richmond for awhile but then decide we should probably head to where everything was going so we wouldn't miss our start time. By this time, it was raining; it rained from that point on until at least my second mile.

I ran the first two and a half miles with Dani and Lynn and then went off on my own. I could definitely feel that my second half of the race was much faster than the first.

The Monument Avenue 10K is probably the most amazing race in the world. There is so much going on around you that you forget you're running. There are bands playing, people lining the streets cheering for you, and people just sitting on their porches watching all the actions. Some people dressed up in costumes for the race and it was exciting to check out their outfits as I ran by them.

While I still felt strong at the end of 6.2 miles, I can't say that I wasn't happy to see the finish line!

Post race photo!

And while my finish time was nothing to write home about if you're a real runner, I was quite pleased! (69:41)

I actually finished in the wave that I signed up for! =] And the rest of Saturday I rested. Because I could literally not walk. At all. At my mom's boyfriend's house I actually crawled up the stairs and slid down them on my bottom because my ankles were in such pain!

All in all, it was an amazing experience! Prior to the Monument Avenue 10K, I decided that it was going to be my last race for awhile since I couldn't find the motivation to train. However, then I remembered how much I love the feeling I get after I run! Now I need another race to train for!

My First 8K

While many of you were still in your warm beds on Sunday morning, I was preparing to take on the most challenging athletic feat of my life. 

You see, I woke up at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday in preparation for the 8K I was running in Midlothian! As expected the temperature was somewhere in the low 20s with a windchill factor of oh about, 9 degrees. No big deal. 

I was already a little anxious but knowing that I would have to be running in such cold temperatures was the icing on the cake! I've only run one race in my life and that was my 5K back in October 2010.

However, the race didn't go as bad as I thought it would. Even though, it turns out that I picked one of the hilliest races that I could have picked. The first hill of the race was a monster! I wish I had a photo to show you. 


Click here for a map.

Anyway, I ran the entire race. I don't know how I did it. My official time was 53:44, which was right about what I thought it would be. 

On Sunday night, there was a pretty awesome award show going on. No, I'm not talking about the Grammy's. I'm talking about The Elby's. Wait, you've never heard of The Elby's? Do you live under a rock?

No worries because I hadn't heard of them until I was invited by a friend to attend them. And this was the inaugural year of The Elby's so there was a good reason I hadn't heard of them. The Elby's are a culinary awards show for restaurants and chefs located in Richmond, Va. 

So yes, after running an 8K in the morning, I got all dolled up and put on heels to attend The Elby's. I had an amazing time! I learned that apparently there are a ton of restaurants I need to try out.

After the awards show and the after party, we went to Can Can, a super classy restaurant in Carytown. The menu was French to me and while I couldn't bring myself to be as adventurous in my food choices as the others I was with, I had an amazing cheeseburger. I did share a pretty adventurous dessert; it was goat cheese something or other. I really should have brought my camera because it looked too pretty to eat!

All in all, it was a perfect day with my athletic accomplishment and the opportunity to attend such a classy event that same night!

Finally Some Winter Weather

Oh hey winter weather. How nice of you to stop by.

NOT!

Remember how I said I'm not a fan of cold weather.  Remember how I was so excited about how warm the weather was the other week when I had a day off.

This is the forecast for Midlothian, Va. (from Weather.com), for the next 10 days.

TodayFeb 10	Sat11	Sun12	Mon13	Tue14	Wed15	Thu16	Fri17	Sat18	Sun19

Partly Cloudy	Mostly Cloudy / Wind	Sunny	Partly Cloudy	Few Showers	Partly Cloudy	Mostly Sunny	Partly Cloudy	Scattered Showers	AM Clouds / PM Sun
58°FHigh	51°	45°	54°	51°	59°	61°	60°	59°	55°
38°Low	24°	25°	34°	35°	38°	41°	36°	36°	35°

See the lowest temperature in the next ten days. It's on Sunday. The high temperature is going to be 45 degrees! See how after this weekend, the temperature significantly gets warmer.

It's just my luck that on Sunday I'll be running my 8K (it was one of my new year's resolutions). At 8:30 in the morning. Just imagine how cold it will be that morning if 45 degrees is the high of the day!

I just hope I finish the race! Without freezing to death! I'll let you know how it goes!

Do you have any tips for running in the cold?

Running and its Rewards

Back to my weekend in Arlington.

When we woke up on Saturday, Mike decided that he wanted to go running and was doing his best to convince me to go. If you know me, I'm not exactly what I'd call an athlete. Sometimes I'll get in athletic moods; just not often.

However, I don't like being told that I can't do something. Mike offered me four options, one of which was staying home to shower while he went running. That was a good option. Did I take it? No, of course not; let's be honest.

So we take option C, I think, which involves driving to Teddy's Roosevelt's island to run the trails there. Mind you, I was wearing what I wore for pajamas and I was starving! But Mike promised me breakfast if I ran for like twenty minutes. That's doable, right?

It was going...well...if that's what you call it; I'm trying to keep breathing and not fall over and Mike is like, look at the plaque about birds. I stopped briefly to get water and I'm pretty sure that everyone is judging my non-athleticism and my outfit.

Then Mike trips over like a stump on our way down to look at the water and I stop. Apparently stopping when your heart is beating that fast is NOT a good idea. Mike decides he's okay to keep going. I, on the other hand, am about to pass out. Which is soon followed by me feeling nauseous. So here I am squatting on the ground praying that I don't throw up on my Sperry's (did I not mention that Mike convinced me to go running in my Sperry's) and in front of a boy! Definitely one of the top five most unattractive moments of my life.

I finally regain my sense of normalcy and we decide to walk back to the car. Turns out I made it to 16 minutes of running! We walked by the Teddy Roosevelt statue on the way out. But I was still feeling to icky to enjoy the monument part (or any part) of the island.

We headed back to the apartment for much needed showers and then we headed to Metro 29 Diner for my running reward breakfast! By the way, if you're really hungry you should go there for breakfast because they give you a ton of food. It's a little too much if you almost died from running earlier that day but I ate as much as I could!

Then we headed to Pentagon City mall because it was on my list and I bought my fantasy football outfit for the following weekend! I think the rest of the afternoon included naps, getting frozen yogurt at Red Mango, going to Barnes and Noble, watching Bones, and getting ready again!

After lots of begging, I convinced Mike that we should go to Thai at Corner for dinner because I've loved their chicken fried rice since I had it back in December when I visited! (I was milking that "Remember that time this morning when you almost killed me.")

After dinner (which was wayyy yummy as expected!), we explored the nightlife of Arlington and met up with Tyler, Thomas, Dianna, Shane, and Bea, all of whom are some of my favorite JMU people!