The last few days have been a whirlwind with celebrating the wedding of my sister.
Today I welcomed the big THREE-OH! I’m far too exhausted for words. Chad and I spent our weekend eating, drinking, talking, and chasing a sleepless toddler for days on end. A pretty incredible mix of awesome and exhaustion.
Just going to leave you with this gem of a picture from our weekend…
Catch you after about 12 hours of sleep, friends. Good thing I’m off work tomorrow!
I’ve been trying to write this race recap for the better part of several days. And each time, I just can’t seem to finish. And to be honest, during the half marathon, I almost felt like I just couldn’t finish… But I did. I crossed the finish line at Canal Park to finish my first half marathon last Saturday.
After the race I had some time to decompress and come to terms with what I’d just accomplished. I was icing my hips, my legs and my feet while drinking an IPA and watching random TV off the DVR. And I was crying. I was crying because I couldn’t believe I did it.
And even now I still can’t believe it. I’m still crying about it.
Saturday, as I stood in the starting corral as the sun was coming up, my eyes started to tear up. I was about to do it. I was about to embark on 13.1 miles for the first time in my life. With thousands of other runners and thousands more spectators. I was soaking in the moments before the big race; my nerves finally calmed; but my emotions were completely raw at that point.
When we first started out, I was with a 8:58 minutes per mile pace group. And I kept up for the first few miles. After running the Perfect 10-Miler a couple of months ago at a 9-minute per mile pace, I thought “Hey, I might actually be able to do a half in 2 hours!”
But that was before I pulled a muscle about 3 weeks ago. And then for the last several weeks (OK, like 6…) I’ve had a terrible cold that turned into a pretty massive upper respiratory infection/bronchitis/sinus infection. And truthfully, I hadn’t been able to run for about 2 weeks before race day..
Well by mile 7 I was feeling like finishing would be impossible. I was struggling. I was on the verge of tears. But I pushed through. I stopped for water/powerade and I ‘reset’ myself until I could start again. And somehow, by some miracle, I finished.
And at first I just thought “Bummer. I finished at 2 hours and 12 minutes.” But then I realized Dang! I finished in 2 hours and 12 minutes AND that was the must difficult run of my life (and the second most difficult thing I’ve ever endured mentally/physically — the first being labor with Moosh) — that’s an accomplishment! We can really be our own worst enemy in these situations and I wasn’t going to let myself get disappointed over an imaginary goal time; instead I was celebrating a huge victory that is finishing something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.
The best part? Chad and Moosh were there to greet me at the finish! I was so pumped to be done and so excited to see them, that I forgot to take any pictures at the finish. Oops! Oh well. I was a mess after the finish anyways. I’m not sure I needed that documented. 🙂
5 days later, my body is still recovering. But in my post-race delirium I believe I verbally committed to 26.2 next year… oops. Well, I better start running again soon! Ha!
I’m just a few weeks away from my thirtieth birthday. This list has certainly presented a few more challenges than I thought it would. There are certain things that I can confidently say, will not happen. There are others that I can MAKE happen.
01 // Become a mom. Hey! I did this! 
02 // Run a half marathon. Registered for the Akron half — ONE week before my 30th birthday! And just ONE week from now!
03 // Go on a family vacation to the beach. We did this over last summer!
04 // Participate in a yoga workshop. While technically not a ‘workshop,’ I did participate in several Yoga Rocks The Park and Believe in CLE events!
05 // Go to a professional sporting event. Three Indians games during Summer 2013.
06 // Learn something new by taking a class. Another unexpected surprise was surprising myself with going to Wine & Canvas painting events. It feels good to make it a regular practice to be crafty.
07 // Spend an entire day paying it forward. I can do this. I have 2.5 weeks to get this done. Let’s do this! 🙂
08 // Visit Niagara Falls. Loved that we did this as a family in April.
09 // Visit Denver. My plans for this fell through 🙁 The plan was for me to go with Chad & Moosh to Denver; but the tickets to Denver were far too expensive to make this a reality. Frown face. But it’s OK because it will happen again soon (we have family in Denver so we will definitely be there soon!).
10 // Pay for the person behind me at Starbucks. I’ve done this — THREE times! And it feels fantastic each and every time.
11 // Go on a wine tour. Check! Girls wine tour, 2013, in the books! It should have been called “Moms Hot-Mess-Express 2013.” Oy.
12 // Try a new [to me] exercise class. I tried a new cycling class. But I feel like this only half counts. I’ve also been doing
13 // Visit an apple orchard as a family. My sweet family of three visited an apple orchard just a few weeks ago!
14 // Participate in the Warrior Dash. I haven’t done this exact race, but I did participate in Pretty Muddy — which was an obstacle course women’s mud run. Sooo basically the same thing. And to be honest, I probably will not do a Warrior Dash. The Pretty Muddy 5k was super rough on my body and I don’t think I’ll do the WD.
I’m also doing Foam Fest in a couple weeks! HOW FUN!! Use code FF5352 when you register!
15 // …and the Color Run! Does Color Me Rad count?? I think so!
16 // Go kayaking — and finally put our kayaks to use! We’ve officially had our kayaks for 5 years. We have YET to use them. Fail. Fail, fail, fail.
17 // Have professional family pictures taken. Thank you, Justine Johnson, for taking our first family photos!
18 // Ride a roller coaster. This probably won’t happen. We aren’t going to Cedar Point anytime soon. And to be honest? If I had a full day to spend away from Moosh with the Mister? I would spend it doing something other than riding roller coasters. True story.
19 // Make bread from scratch. There’s still time! Let’s do this, bread!
20 // Live a more sustainable life. Work in progress!
21 // Eat at Mighty Taco in Buffalo, NY again. My Buffa-LOVE trip completed this in April!
22 // Get a massage. I’ve had FOUR!! Look at this mama go! HA!
23 // Visit the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland. So far, not so good. We’ll see if we can swing it.
24 // Attend a social media gathering. Check! #VitamixCLE AND the Mitchell’s #SweetUp!
25 // Feel comfortable in a bathing suit. This will continue to be a work in progress. I’m not there yet.
26 // Visit the zoo. We visited the Akron Zoo on what seemed to be their busiest day of the summer! But it was fun.
27 // …and a museum. Our Fathers Day weekend 2013 was spent at the Akron Art Museum! And Ari & I have gone again and again ever since!
28 // Take an aerial yoga class. I’m still hoping to fit this in…
29 // Have a successful no-spend month. Done! But I’d like to do this again. Here’s looking at you, July 2014!
30 // Play in the snow. This past winter certainly wasn’t ideal with playing in snow. There’s talk of a freak snow storm over the next couple of weeks, so perhaps this is still a possibility? Perhaps.
I’ve learned something about goals over the last couple of years.
I’ve learned that they are great to keep you on your toes;
but that you have to cut yourself some slack due to circumstance.
Ya know? Have a goal, but keep moving on.
A while back I set what seemed like a lofty goal. Scratch that — while I was running the Akron Marathon Relay last year I made a promise to myself that I would run the Akron Half Marathon this year. That’s right. I decided in the middle of my first major race that I would run the same race the following year — but in doing so I would complete my first ever half marathon.
I knew then and there that the energy and excitement I felt during the relay race would be enough to push me through a half marathon. Plus, seeing the hundreds of other men and women pumped up for 13.1 miles was inspiring. If ALL of these people could commit to finishing 13.1 miles, what could possibly be holding me back from doing the same thing!?
Well now I’m on week SIX of my training plan — I’m halfway there!! And over halfway there in distance!
Here’s how I’ve been working in my training runs:
3 mornings a week I get up early and head to the towpath trail to fit in 3 or 4 miles (usually 4 miles, 3 miles and then 4 miles another day). The other days I do my best to fit in some sort of strength training (which for me has been HIIT workouts via Turbo Fire — they are quick and intense!). Additionally – LOTS of stretching; even on days that I’m not running. And on Sundays I gear up for my ‘long run,’ which I’ve been trying to do with a group or partner (it makes the time pass by much more quickly and the miles not seem as long).
This past weekend I planned on using my long run day (Sunday) to run 7-miles. I started with a group of women from Cleveland MRTT. They were planning on running 9 miles at a 10-minute mile pace. But instead of turning around at 3.5 miles, I kept on.
… but I ended up running 8-miles instead. I just felt so awesome that I didn’t even need to stop!
The best part? I finished with a 9 minute, 13 second per mile pace!! It was incredibly consistent for my longest run to date! And I set a couple of PR’s! Woo hoo!
And yes, I’ve been taking post-run selfies every time I run. No, not because I’m super vain, but because I want to document my progress and how I’m feeling via pictures while I go through this process.
Sidenote: I am growing my hair back out and I am HATING the length. So right now I do what I can with it. Which isn’t much. Ugh. Oh well.
Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be fitting in a couple more long training runs, including the Perfect 10 Miler! I hadn’t planned on running a 10-mile race before the half marathon; but after talking to some of the MRTT ladies, my plan is to run it as a training run versus a race. That way I get some race-day jitters out of the way, plus knock out 10 miles I’ll need to do anyways!
Hopefully over the course of the next couple of months, the half marathon race course will start to look a bit less intimidating…
And I’ve yet to set a timed goal for the race. Right now my only goal is to finish. Any suggestions for goal times??
Technically it’s less than four months out until my 30th birthday (but who’s counting??). Honestly I’m not dreading this birthday whatsoever (the perks of being the youngest of my friends + younger than my husband — love you all! 😉 ). But I am excited to be knocking some items off my list!
01 // Become a mom. Hey! I did this!
02 // Run a half marathon. Registered for the Akron half — ONE week before my 30th birthday!
03 // Go on a family vacation to the beach. We did this over the summer!
04 // Participate in a yoga workshop.
05 // Go to a professional sporting event. Three Indians games during Summer 2013.
06 // Learn something new by taking a class. Another unexpected surprise was surprising myself with going to Wine & Canvas painting events. It feels good to make it a regular practice to be crafty.
07 // Spend an entire day paying it forward.
08 // Visit Niagara Falls. Loved that we did this as a family in April.
09 // Visit Denver.
10 // Pay for the person behind me at Starbucks. I’ve done this — THREE times! And it feels fantastic each and every time.
11 // Go on a wine tour. Check! Girls wine tour, 2013, in the books! It should have been called “Moms Hot-Mess-Express 2013.” Oy.
12 // Try a new [to me] exercise class. I tried a new cycling class. But I feel like this only half counts. I’ve also been doing
13 // Visit an apple orchard as a family. My sweet family of three visited an apple orchard just a few weeks ago!
14 // Participate in the Warrior Dash. I haven’t done this exact race, but I did participate in Pretty Muddy — which was an obstacle course women’s mud run. Sooo basically the same thing. And to be honest, I probably will not do a Warrior Dash. The Pretty Muddy 5k was super rough on my body and I don’t think I’ll do the WD.
I’m also doing Foam Fest in a couple weeks! HOW FUN!! Use code FF5352 when you register!
15 // …and the Color Run! Does Color Me Rad count?? I think so!
16 // Go kayaking — and finally put our kayaks to use!
17 // Have professional family pictures taken. Thank you, Justine Johnson, for taking our first family photos!
18 // Ride a roller coaster.
19 // Make bread from scratch.
20 // Live a more sustainable life. Work in progress!
21 // Eat at Mighty Taco in Buffalo, NY again. My Buffa-LOVE trip completed this in April!
22 // Get a massage. I’ve had FOUR!! Look at this mama go! HA!
23 // Visit the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland.
24 // Attend a social media gathering. Check! #VitamixCLE AND the Mitchell’s #SweetUp!
25 // Feel comfortable in a bathing suit.
26 // Visit the zoo. We visited the Akron Zoo on what seemed to be their busiest day of the summer! But it was fun.
27 // …and a museum. Our Fathers Day weekend 2013 was spent at the Akron Art Museum! And Ari & I have gone again and again ever since!
28 // Take an aerial yoga class.
29 // Have a successful no-spend month. Done! But I’d like to do this again. Here’s looking at you, July 2014!
30 // Play in the snow. Ari and I haven’t really made it out in the snow. This past winter wasn’t… ideal. In fact, it was well-below freezing for much of the season. Bummer. This may be the only one that I don’t get to. Oh well!
We’re over three-months in to my 29th year. I figured this would be a good ‘check-in’ point for my 30 Before 30 challenge!
01 // Become a mom. Hey! I did this!
02 // Run a half marathon.
03 // Go on a family vacation to the beach. We did this over the summer!
04 // Participate in a yoga workshop.
05 // Go to a professional sporting event. I wasn’t anticipating going to three Indians games this year, but we did. Plus we’re going to a Cavs game this week!
06 // Learn something new by taking a class. Another unexpected surprise was surprising myself with going to Wine & Canvas painting events. It feels good to make it a regular practice to be crafty.
07 // Spend an entire day paying it forward.
08 // Visit Niagara Falls.
09 // Visit Denver.
10 // Pay for the person behind me at Starbucks. I’ve done this — THREE times! And it feels fantastic each and every time.
11 // Go on a wine tour. Check! Girls wine tour, 2013, in the books!
12 // Try a new [to me] exercise class. I tried a new cycling class. But I feel like this only half counts.
13 // Visit an apple orchard as a family. My sweet family of three visited an apple orchard just a few weeks ago!
14 // Participate in the Warrior Dash. I haven’t done this exact race, but I did participate in Pretty Muddy — which was an obstacle course women’s mud run. Sooo basically the same thing. And to be honest, I probably will not do a Warrior Dash. The Pretty Muddy 5k was super rough on my body and I don’t think I’ll do the WD.
15 // …and the Color Run! Does Color Me Rad count?? I think so!
16 // Go kayaking — and finally put our kayaks to use!
17 // Have professional family pictures taken. Thank you, Justine Johnson, for taking our first family photos!
18 // Ride a roller coaster.
19 // Make bread from scratch.
20 // Live a more sustainable life. Complete work in progress!
21 // Eat at Mighty Taco in Buffalo, NY again.
22 // Get a massage. I’ve had FOUR!! Look at this mama go! HA!
23 // Visit the Horseshoe Casino in Cleveland.
24 // Attend a social media gathering. Check! #VitamixCLE, #BelieveInCLE, Ohio various Blogging Association events, Sweeney Todd at the Hanna Theater, girls dates at Charles Scott Salon, Yoga Rocks the Park with Alicia from Poise In Parma, and the Arthritis Foundation events, etc. So much social media! SO much fun! I’ve made great friends!
25 // Feel comfortable in a bathing suit.
26 // Visit the zoo. We visited the Akron Zoo on what seemed to be their busiest day of the summer! But it was fun. And then we visited the zoo again on what was (nearly) the coldest day of the year!
27 // …and a museum. Our Fathers Day weekend was spent at the Akron Art Museum! Plus the second #BelieveInCLE event was at the Cleveland Museum of Art! TWO museums down already! And I’ve got a while to go.
28 // Take an aerial yoga class.
29 // Have a successful no-spend month. January 2014 in the books! But I’m kind of having a no-spend year, so I want to see how many consecutive months it can be!
30 // Play in the snow.
Notes //
On # 28: I’ve been in talks with Alicia from Poise In Parma to set a date to take an aerial yoga class with her.
On # 2: I’m not planning on doing this until the Akron Marathon Half in September. So it’s definitely on my radar. The only reason I haven’t registered yet is because I’m awaiting free registration with work! 🙂
On # 19: I really really want to do this, but that whole ‘gluten-free’ lifestyle we’ve recently adopted is putting a serious damper on those plans 😉