happenings

Summer is ending sadly but my fun is just beginning! I'm headed to Florida tomorrow to visit my amazing friend Mandy with two other amazing friends! I am also turning 26 tomorrow (but let's ignore that part). Here are some lovely photos from the last couple weeks!

Spent time with these cuties ^

Walks with Max = constant exploring and sniffing

New glasses!

Ran the Livestrong 5k with my friend Laura and my dad! My dad finished less than a minute after me!

More baby time

Much needed time by the beach!

And cuddles with our baby.

not a worry in the world with my sneakers in the sand

This summer has not been kind to me. I've spent a total of maybe 6 or 7 hours actually ON the beach in my bathing suit. Everytime we get the opportunity to go, the clouds roll in. It's been pretty discouraging for me, considering I spent my life at the beach.

This past weekend we went to Brigantine and once again, did not get to sit on the beach. Sunday morning I woke up early to run and since the sun was out (it was at this point I thought I'd have a beach day! but lo and behold the clouds rolled in about an hour after I came back after my run!) I decided to try something new and run on the beach.

It was probably the best thing I have done all summer for myself.

My mind was clear, my feet were happy, and I had a couple epiphanies. I am looking forward and hoping to get a couple more beach runs in during August and September.

I started thinking about a week ago or so to run another half marathon but I was still on the fence about it. During this run I decided it was meant to be. September 29, 2013 - Ocean City Half Marathon! I know I can do it and I know training will be hard (again) but it's worth it. Plus, the medal you get afterwards is pretty cool :)

My First Prediction Race (or the weirdest 5K of my life)

Normally I wouldn't share my 5Ks on here because this is not a running blog (unless I do a cool one like the Zombie run!) but I believe this story needs to be shared.

I made plans to run a 5K with my two friends, Laura and Jillian. I was very excited. I love to do 5Ks but its much better when you have a friend or two running it as well.

*** By the way, the organization that put this 5K together is one of the most amazing organizations I have ever heard of. MANNA provides nutritional meals for people with very serious illnesses and their meals are prepared just for them - they meet with a nutritionist and are given their meals based on what they need depending on their illness. The guy who was in charge of the event, Rob, was amazing as well. ***

The weather has been weird all week. Sunny then downpours and tornado watches... and of course, as we drive to the running store the 5K is at, the skies opened up and the rain came down. Hard. It let up though and we managed to get out and get to the inside of the store.

We find out it is a prediction run.

Have you ever heard of a prediction run? I have but had never done one. It's when you predict your time and see if you can come close to that. Sounded interesting.

But get this. Predict your time then learn you're not supposed to have your phone or any watches or anything. Plus you have to take into account safety, traffic, etc etc. We put our phones in the car (mainly because of the rain anyway) and Jill and I surrendered our heart rate monitors (our watches that keep track of time/calorie count/heart rate).

The owner of the store (I think) talked about the course. I soon realized there would be no mile markers and you would have to make sure you knew where you were going or pay attention to the running store employees who would be running the course back and forth to keep everyone on the course.

SO YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS OR HOW FAR YOU HAVE RUN OR HOW LONG YOU'VE BEEN RUNNING FOR.

Quite the experience.

I am so glad I did this 5K with friends because we GOT LOST.

In fact, we got so lost the people in charge went to go look for us.

At some point, the runners in front of us went missing, we didn't see any employees of the running store, and we had no iphones (see how much we depend on technology these days!) so we couldn't even bring up a map.

So we ran and walked and ran and walked and tried to find our way back. Luckily, the place we had to go was not TOO far and we were sort of familiar with the area.

Then, Jill trips and I just about had a stroke.

My only thoughts were (after asking Jill if she was okay of course and trying to grab her shirt before she face planted) was "WHAT IF SHE HAD REALLY FALLEN AND NEEDED AN AMBULANCE WE HAVE NO PHONES AND WHAT TIME IS IT ANYWAY AND HOW LONG HAVE WE RUN FOR AND WHERE THE HECK ARE WE".

We finally made it back to the store.

Although we did not do very well time-wise, this is something I am going to remember forever. The situation was not ideal but when you have friends next to you dealing with the same thing, it makes it fun. We didn't give up and we worked together to find our way through the Main Line.

Then we decided to get fro-yo, which is always a plus.

I am so sad I didn't have my phone because I am sure any pictures I could have taken while we were lost would have been fun to share. Maybe I will do another prediction run in the future - the concept is cool but I will need to make sure there are some mile markers next time!


Thank you Laura & Jill for an unforgettable running experience!  When is our next 5K? ;)

Zombies!

I have a fear of zombies.


Or rather, a fear that one day the zombie apocalypse WILL happen. Why do you think I started running? (Just kidding. Sort of).

While Dan spent the entire weekend in North Jersey at Wrestlemania I faced my fears and ran from some zombies in Philadelphia.

This was not your normal 5K.

You literally run from zombies in the zombie apocalypse.

You get a belt, 3 balloons (your "organs"), and the whole point is to run as fast as you can so the zombies (well, humans dressed zombies) can't catch and pop your balloons. If all your organs (balloons) are taken, you're dead.

But you can still finish the course, which is pretty cool.

My friend Laura and I decided to take our chances and run the course as humans.

 
We did not survive. The zombies stole all our balloons.

But we still had fun! We ran and walked the course while dodging some zombies. I almost fell down a hill but that's not important.

And the best part? My other friend Marissa volunteered as a zombie.

She looked pretty awesome and her makeup was really realistic.


I think finding these themed 5Ks is one of my new favorite things to do... just to say I did it. I mean, how many people can say they did a zombie run? There is also an undie run. But I can't seem to find anyone to do that one with me...

Abominable Slowman 5K

I ran my first official 5K since October. I took a break, mostly because the last couple months running sounded torturous and I didn't want to run in the cold but ever since I started running again I knew I was going to have to bite the bullet and start signing up for some 5Ks again if I wanted to eventually start running 10Ks and then my half marathon (less than 6 months away!).

It took place at a park in this cute area near us called Chesterbrook. I didn't think it would be that big of a race but there was about 300 runners overall.

RIP blue headband. At some point during the race, I lost it.

It was cold. REALLY COLD. And windy. My legs felt frozen the second we got out of the apartment and into the car. Luckily the sun was out.

 they had a dinosaur!

I was nervous because it was cold, my legs felt heavy, and I could see a lot of serious runners. I never place in 5Ks (I'm too slow compared to these super fast runners) but I tend to do okay for myself.

Dan came to watch (like he always does! he took all these pictures, by the way) but even he was cold.

 It's hard to see but that's me under the arrow!

 

Blurry but he got me again!

This was a rough race. The cold and wind slowed me down and my legs tingled and felt like lead the whole time. I am not super thrilled with my time (finished under 33 minutes) but I know just finishing is an accomplishment.  

nobody looks good in a race photo

The best part about running in 5Ks is the free stuff. You usually get water and bananas and at this race they had soft pretzels, tomato pie, kind bars, and cool long sleeve tech t-shirts. We stuck around for the awards, though I didn't place (maybe one day).

And then because I was still so cold, we went to Michael's, the diner near us, and I devoured french toast and coffee. 

First official 5K in the books for 2013! I am going to try and do a few more up until my half training begins in March! You should do one with me - running a race is much more fun with a friend.

And now I rest some more, eat some more, and wait for the fabulous Marissa to come. Tonight we are venturing out in the cold for some girl time and drinks with Laura. Happy Saturday!