Gobbler for Cobbler

Before I do a race recap I wanted to share that I just found out yesterday that my application to be a Sweat Ambassador was accepted! WooHoo. I'm not entirely sure what that exactly means but I am working to figure it out, and I have learned that there isn't really anything established here in Chapel Hill or at UNC so that could bode some opportunity (in all my free time) to get something started. Stay tuned for updates, I know that Fit Approach recommends I friend people, haven't quite figured that one out but if you see me, friend me.

Yesterday, while attending a conference in Boone, NC I had the opportunity to participate in a 5k. The motto, "Run the Gobbler, Eat the Cobbler"

In terms of weather, I was pleasantly surprised that my two layers kept me warm and I didn't even end up running with my gloves on. This was quite a shock to me as App State and Boone are one of the highest elevations in North Carolina (aka cold weather/snow is frequent). 

I had to take a shuttle from the hotel for the conference to the race start so I was there far earlier than would be my preference. There was probably about 200 people by the time the race actually started so I definitely didn't need to be there about an hour before the race. Since I had pre-registered the coveted shirt in a small was waiting for me and they had a "bag" check happening where they let you write your name on a plastic bag with sharpie and lay it on a tarp. This is Boone we are talking about so I really wasn't too worried. 

Once 8am rolled around they rounded up everyone with no sense of urgency, and we were off by 8:10. I think my "gun time" says 8:09. The race rolls through campus and was definitely rolling hills with a fairly decent size hill to the finish line. I found a few girls who were moving about the pace that felt comfortable and I tried to stick with them. I wish more people had been wearing neons, as this is what I look for to motivate me to keep going. Cue, my outfit:

Terrible selfie I know, but hopefully you can tell that I'm wearing a neon top with crazy neon pink and black pants from Target. At one point a student told me I looked "fierce". I took it as a compliment.

I was very surprised by my time at the end. I made the rookie mistake of forgetting to turn on my .25 updates on my Nike app, so I didn't get any updates throughout the race. While that is enjoyable on some of the longer runs, I was kicking myself the first mile because it felt eternal and I had no idea what pace I was at. If I would have heard it, I would have possibly been able to beat a PR which I missed by about 5 seconds. Oh well, this was suppose to be a fun run and the fact that I finished in 28:20 had me thrilled! With an average 9:09, I was tickled particularly because the elevation and hills. 

Hopefully this means all good things for the upcoming Turkey Trot in Charlotte on Thanksgiving. My tutu is already created and now I just have to figure out what bottoms I will be wearing under said tutu. The brown shirt I just got for running the cobbler may be a nice accent for the top (although it's not nearly as bright as I prefer to be when running). 

And now I'm recovering back at home from the strange 3.5 days I just spend with some people who I barley knew. And my husband is out of town to see the Patriots play beat the Panthers.  The next post is likely to be about how scared I am in this townhouse alone. 

Running, Reflect, and a rare 20 minutes

This post brought to you from Boone, North Carolina in the rare 20 minutes that I have in this crazy two week period. by Sunday I will have accumulated 45 hours of comp. time. Needless to say I haven't had time to blog, or think, or really do much beside work and try and stick to my Nike 10k plan.

I am in Boone this week for a conference for work, and today was the day of my presentation. The conference is for student and professional staff who work in College Unions. It's an eclectic group of people. My opinions are still being formed, stay tuned to see if I do a piece. Although it has the potential to not be the most appropriate post so I may choose to keep my opinions to myself. Needless to say I gave my presentation on an intiative I work closely with at work around student employment and engagement and the hard parts over.

Running...ahh yes. This week has a been a bit of a challenge. Here was what was slated for my week, I did it all but these past two weeks I've felt a bit like a slug. It doesn't help that I've had to add quite a few layers to the wardrobe to keep warm. See the photo below highlighting all the pieces I have to don before going outside. Yes I acknowledge that I'm a wuss.


Monday- 4 miles
Tuesday- Nike 45 minute work out
Wednesday- 5 mile tempo run
Thursday- Nike 45 minute work out
Friday- Yoga

Tomorrow I'm running a 5k that is being co-sponsored by the conference I'm at. It's the Gobbler Cobbler, I'm at a really high elevation and it's very hilly so my only goal for this one is try to stay warm and eat some pie at the end. I forgot my waterbottle so this is already looking like a great race...

I'm hoping I will be more motivated for the 8k on Thanksgiving. Who am I kidding? I am just hoping I'll be motivated to run tomorrow. It's been a rough few weeks folks.

                            (I made this Disney collage for my awesome Aunt...but now I want one)

In other news, I'm having a mini career crisis as I sit at this conference and recognize that I have no idea what I want to do next. I'm now acting as an Interim Assistant Director in my office. Amazing that at 23 I'm now supervising 2 full time staff and a whole bunch of students. And process 21,000 events annual. But what am I doing with my life? More to come on this later, I'm probably just delerious from the air quality up here, there's a fire in a gorge so it's smoke central currently.


Sorry this has been such a mixture of things. Tomorrow or Sunday I promise to report back on the race and one of these days I'm going to find myself a web designer who can make my page have the cool tabs across the top that highlight races I want to run and 101 in 1001... I promise I'll do better ya'll.

This blog about running is not for you if...

• You want to read about someone who is really fast
• You want to see photos of someone who's pretty while running
• You want to hear about the latest fad diets, paleo options, cleanse, tox screens ect. 

Now that the disclaimers are out of the way, this blog may be for you if :

• You enjoy reading witty remarks about running and sometimes eating
• You live in North Carolina and want to hear about different races in this state
• Are looking for a plain jane runner who isn't going to breaking any records or placing in any races in the near (or far) future

I have been searching blogs high and low over the past few weeks and everything I come across is amazing. But that's just it, sometimes I just want to read about someone who runs races around my own pace. Someone who has a real job and can't spend all day training and blogging about their training. This is by no means of bash of those amazing running blogs that have made a huge name for themselves, this is just a place where I hope someone will find and say hmm that race sounds fun I'd like to do that too.  I don't  have the funds to travel all over the country and run in the really well known (read expensive) races! I just want someone to talk about the races in North Carolina. The closest I've found is Old Runner and let me tell you is SOOO fast! And that often makes me feel bad about myself. That's not what I'm looking for when I do find myself with five minutes to read blogs.

  Bloggin' advice simply says to be yourself, so here I am: A newlywed, new to racing, new professional, eating what feels right and tastes good, and hoping that I remember to document it somewhere along the way. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

In the year I've been gone...

Taking a note from my good friend Alex, over at Pool of My Drool I'm going to do a quick re-cap of what' happened since I was last into this whole bloggin' thing.

*A side note being that what has brought my back to the blog world is that I can't find any good running blogs that aren't amazing women who run really really fast and look very very good while doing it. So I decided to create my own. Stay tuned for a transformation. Or realistically just  more babbling from me with the exact same design because I don't want to pay someone to design something.

I graduated from the University of Tennessee and happily moved (ran as fast as possible) back to North Carolina and to Chapel Hill.

I started my first big kid job at UNC Chapel Hill. I basically work with students, organizations, and departments on campus to ensure that they are prepared for the events they are planning. They usually aren't prepared which typically ends in them being in crisis mode and myself having to put out alot of proverbial fires. I like my job, I do. I also just got a whole bunch more additional duties. I am saying it aloud so that I really believe it, I like my job.


I got married. I am now the proud owner of what some have deemed the longest facebook name. I hypened my maiden name with my middle name and added my husband's last name to top it off. I also have an awesome custom puzzle piece ring. To sum it all up in a few words:

• There was a giant tropical storm, but the weather broke right before the wedding and the ocean looked amazing
• I am so lucky to have a mom, dad, and two brothers who made my day truly the happily ever after that not even Disney Princesses could dream of 
• I have amazing friends who I'll never be able thank enough
• The photographer was creepy, but my photos are not!

   

I am a runner. Nah, I'm just now someone who isn't scared to sign up for races. I still eat bread and chocolate. And most days I think I run for all the swag. You should see my Christmas list. It's all about the swag. I completed my very first half marathon in October along with my Dad, and I'm hooked. I discovered sparkleatletics.com which is only furthering my obsession. I am not fast. I am not pretty while running. And did I mention that I eat carbs and don't have some healthy clean diet I'm trying to stick to. 

  

Honestly I think those are the biggest three things I can think of, but just in case you want somore' here is a quick bullet point list of a few additional things

• The baby brothers turned 18. Woah, where has the time gone?!
• The Denver Bronco's are gloriously great, I am living it up as a fan these days.
• I am the proud owner of two cats, Hoody Rat and Milky. They are best friends. Well, they are acquaintances that like to rough and tumble and Milky is probably going to be the reason Hoody is bald in a few years.  
  
  
      
•  My aunt and her 2 year old relocated to Pittsburgh. He's adorable, and far. I hate that combination.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for listening. 

2013 Christmas Wish List

"Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat!" We are lucky enough to have a family that likes lists as much as we do. We are not in need of ANYTHING, but if we had the world at our fingertips here is a list of what we came up with that we would adore to have. 

In case you aren't sure, I had some help from the Mr. for this post. We tried to link as many things as possible. The theme this year is fairly obviously: we both really enjoy working out (running for me, Crossfit for him)!

• Underarmor long sleeve workout shirts, Size: Small, (I already have white and neon pink) 
• Entry to the Run Tobacco Half Marathon (March 16th, 2014 ) 
• Entry to the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon (February 15th, 2014)
• Entry to the Hot Chocolate 10k (January 25th, 2014) 
• Shirts from "Run Pretty Far" esp. "Miles for Breakfast" or "Cupcakes
• Sports Bras (Target has great ones! Small/Medium) 
• Fleece lined tights (for really cold runs!) like these
• Any high running socks ( see the Denver Bronco's high running socks) 
• New York and Company gift cards
• Toms- lacey and black, size 7.5
• Small pig whisk
• Under Armour woven head bands
• Monogram car sticker (white, RSK)
• Denver Bronco's hoody/sweatshirt 
• Women's Bonehead Columbia Shirt

• Workout shirts that don't smell,  like this one, or this one, or this one, or maybe shorts like these....
• Some new wrist wraps couldn't hurt either!
• The weightlifting shoes from last year have been worn almost 300 days by now. Maybe its time for new ones. Some options are  these and these and these...
• GNC Gift Cards
• Dick's Sporting Goods Gift Cards
• 2013 World Series hat, 7 & 1/4
• Hair Buzzers
• Moccasins with fur               

 (a.k.a Mrs. 2.0)

• George Forman 
• Ikea Giftcards (we are in the market for a coffee table for the living room) 
• Fancy bed topper (Marshals and TJ Max have them- Queen Size) 
• Down pillows, the type that stay down when you push on them (Brandon wrote that) 
• Queen white bed skirt 
• Grey queen shirts
• Tea Pitcher (I've been making iced tea in a pan) 
• Engraved Cat Collars (Milky, Becki's phone number, Bran's number; Hoody, Becki's #, Bran's #) 
• A two seater kitty condo (shhh, Bran doesn't know I added this when he walked away)