Because this is who I am

I must confess, I've been feeling the need to justify spending so much money on race registrations, even though I've cut back a lot, (and the grocery bills associated with my increased need for food during training) when I can barely keep up with my bills most months.  The guilt hit me especially hard last week when I made the hefty payment for the American Triple T 2014. Also, endurance training and races can be so painful. I can't tell you how many people have asked me why I do all this training and these races (especially the long distance ones). So I've decided to make a written list to answer the question: "Jamie, why do you do this crazy stuff?"


(1) Because of the physiological benefits of training:

      ~My heart rate is slower at rest than the average person and my heart is pumping more efficiently.  My EKG results in both Human Physiology class and Exercise Physiology show an incredibly strong heart going above and beyond its duty.  This type of thing adds years to your life.  Can't argue with science!   

      ~Staying active will help keep my asthma better under control in the long term.

      ~My skeletal muscles have greater strength and endurance with training (especially with hill training and especially for long distance events).  So I can do more awesome things!

      ~Osteoporosis runs in my family.  My great grandma and grandma both had it and now my mom does too.  Besides taking Calcium supplements everyday, high impact exercises like running and weight bearing exercise (like the strength training I should be doing-totally slacking in that department) increase bone strength and can help prevent me from having the same fate as most of the other women in my family. 


(2) Because of the psychological benefits of training:

     ~Self Confidence!  No explanation needed

     ~After a run (or swim, or bike ride), I can solve problems better and think more creatively.  I can focus better.  As a matter of fact, I can think more clearly in general after a workout or race.

     ~It improves my mood.  Any time I'm in a foul mood, Ray's response is almost always the same: "Sweetheart, why don't you go for a run?"

     ~Stress release: no matter what was wrong before, it doesn't seem quite as disastrous after a workout or race.

    ~That amazing sense of accomplishment after crossing the finish line of a race and the sense of accomplishment I feel working my way through my training schedule

    ~Running has helped me get through a couple of really tough times I've been through. 

(3) Because it builds my character

    ~Making and following a training schedule takes organizational skills and self-discipline.  Lots of self-discipline. Being a marathon runner and triathlete is on my resume (as I was actually advised to include by an interviewer a few years ago).  Guess what the first thing is that interviewers comment and ask about on my resume?  And I haven't always applied to fitness related jobs.

    ~It helps me to be an inspiration to others.

    ~Finishing a race takes determination.  Getting through some training sessions takes even more determination. 

But most of all,
Because training, competing, doing these crazy triathlon and distance running events is a huge part of my identity. Because this is who I am.

 

Happy Halloween! :-D

So, I've been totally slacking on this thing. Sorry about that.  Working 2 jobs has kept me crazy busy!  In honor of today being Halloween, I'm just going to post some pictures from this past weekend of festivities in Athens: Halloween weekend is what Athens/OU is known best for.  I worked a super fun climbing competition on Friday (everyone wore their costumes of course) and did the usual people watching and taking pictures on Saturday.  Unlike most people around here, I don't drink crazy amounts of alcohol on Halloween weekend. 

Finally got a haircut on Friday!  And since I donated to Locks of Love, I didn't even have to pay for it!  Still tipped the awesome hairstylist of course.  :-)  I love my shorter hair! 

 

This is my favorite pic from the weekend: my friend Tyler (dressed as Deadpool) and me (dressed as Black Widow) posing in fighting stance at the climbing competition.

 

I found more Avengers! :-D

 

 

Ray was supposed to be Hawkeye... He kinda' slacked on his costume.  :-p

 

Pac Man! :-D

 

Ray with his little brother Dan (far left, as Indiana Jones) and his brother's friend Vince (middle, as Jesus)

 

posing with a pretty awesome toy soldier

 

 

 

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  :-D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Season is here! :-D

It's FALL!  My favorite season: football, leaves changing into gorgeous colors, not sweating 24/7, apple everything and pumpkin everything... the list could go on and on. What's not to love?!  :-)  This past weekend, we went to visit my fiance's family and picked a ton of apples (probably a couple hundred).  It was so much fun!

I'm taking one last undergrad class this semester (exercise physiology) and working a lot of hours with Outdoor Pursuits.  Our challenge course has actually been super busy, which has been awesome!  Not only do I love my job but I really need the hours: I need to keep making a bunch of money to save up for the wedding, race registrations, grad school application fees, and needing to get pretty much all my re-certifications done at once in the early spring of 2014. Yikes!  :-/

I also got a second job!  I'll be starting next Friday (the 27th) as the enrichment coordinator for a program called Kids on Campus at a local middle school.  I'll be planning and doing a variety of hands on activities with 12-15 year-olds in an after-school program.  I was offered the job on the spot at my interview last week!  I am super excited to start!  And I'm also excited to have a way to make a decent amount of money in the winter when Outdoor Pursuits hours are nearly impossible to get.

Now, even though I'm too short on cash to get signed up for any major races this fall, I really need to get back into training!  Maybe I'll use this time to do other things I don't normally get to do as much (because I burn all my energy running, biking and swimming), like climbing, hiking, and martial arts. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know!  :-)

Happy fall y'all!  :-)

Post-Camp Summer Adventures

    I'm starting to feel better adapting back to life outside of camp.  Although it could just be that I'm distracting myself really well by staying busy!
    The day after I left camp, Ray and I headed to Medina for a week with his family.

drying off Pumpkin after he got caught outside in the rain

    On Friday, we went to the Medina County Fair.  There, we met with our wedding photographer (who is also a good friend of Ray's family) and finalized the time/day for our engagement pictures.  I also saw my first demolition derby: that was a....strange experience.  I don't really understand the point of destroying cars that they put so much time and energy into, and it just looked painful.  Ray's mom said "It's a redneck thing": I guess that I will never truly be a redneck.  Haha.
    On Saturday, Ray and I went to the most elegant wedding I have ever been to.  The ceremony was a Catholic mass in a gigantic ornately decorated church and the reception was in a gorgeous restaurant/banquet hall called The Tangier.  And the bride's dad owned the place so the food and drinks were of the highest possible quality.  There was great music and plenty of dancing.  Ray and I were told by one of the photographers that we were the "most interesting couple" there. I guess that's a compliment..

Best wedding dinner ever!  And the martini glass is full of mashed potatoes: there was a mashed potato bar!

      Sunday, I went with Ray and his mom on a road trip to Charlottesville, Virginia to pick up Ray's little brother Daniel from his internship.  We stayed overnight and arrived back in Medina on Monday night.  The mountains we drove through were breathtaking.  I've determined that my new dream is to live by the Blue Ridge Mountains, have a vineyard, and have amazing places nearby to go on plenty of outdoorsy adventures.  It's so beautiful there!  And in the brochures I looked at there are advertisements for marathons, half marathons, triathlons, kayaking competitions, climbing and caving excursions galore!  I would fit right in!  

beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from the road

     On Tuesday, Daniel, Ray and I took a trip to Cedar Point and had a blast!  We rode amazing rides (including my two favorite roller coasters, the Magnum and Millenium Force).    In the line for Millenium Force, there was a DJ.  They played Gangnum Style, and one of the guys in line near us started dancing, so I joined.  Everyone was watching, laughing, and clapping.  I actually had fun waiting in that line!  Other than one small patch of rain (lasting about 20 minutes) the weather was perfect!
      Yesterday, we went to a Cleveland Indians game that Ray's mom won tickets to. The Indians lost (and I don't really follow baseball that much), but we still had a great time!  The guys sitting in front of us were hilarious too!

sitting between Ray and his brother Daniel at the Indian's game

      Tonight, Ray and I are finally getting our engagement pictures done.  On Saturday, we're heading to Cincinnati/Lawrenceburg to see my family (after stopping to visit my good friend Brad who I haven't seen in forever).  

Ray and I in front of the rental truck on our way back from Virginia

Culture Shock

    My fourth summer at Camp Otterbein is over.  And it was one heck of a summer!  I went on amazing adventures exploring caves, rappelling, kayaking, seeing new parts of Ohio and Kentucky, off-roading in a 15 passenger van, and so much more.  I touched the lives of children/adolescents/preteens and helped them grow spiritually (especially during the last week with campers when I was a counselor).  I made new friends and rekindled/strengthened existing friendships.  Staff closing (where we clean up camp and then do a fun surprise activity each evening) was magical as usual. 

a night in Columbus with Camp Otterbein staff

    Going back to the outside world gives me a feeling that can best be described as culture shock: it feels similar to when I've come home from my travels to foreign countries.  Except this involves more tears: I already really miss everyone.  I was living in a place where I was fed, given a shelter, and everyone lived with a sense of community and the duty to just do the right thing at all times.  The outside world is full of greed, corruption, judgmental people, and just plain rude people: all the things we avoid at camp.

     There are also wonderful things in the outside world: my fiance, family, the ability to eat more food (I don't get nearly enough at camp to keep up with my freakish metabolism), time to breathe.  I also signed up for every available shift at the challenge course for the months of August and September, so there's that to look forward to.  We're visiting Ray's family and then my family over the next couple of weeks too.  I'll talk about all of the things we're doing in Medina in my next post.  :-) 

   

Summer 2013...the saga continues

    The week of July 7-12 was pretty crazy!  There were terrible storms almost every day (especially at night) and we had lots of trees fall in various places around camp.  Sleeping alone in a tent (since it was all guys that week), I spent the first few nights laying awake filled with anxiety, hoping and praying a tree wouldn't come tumbling down on me.  The waterfront director slept in the tent the last 2 nights to keep me company and because she really wanted the chance to sleep in a tent.

goofing around in a flooded creek at our low ropes course

      Storms and nasty mud EVERYWHERE aside, the week was absolutely amazing!  The 6 campers were really fun and extremely mature for their age.  And the counselors (including an awesome volunteer counselor from Ohio Christian University I didn't even know I'd have) did a great job!

Andrew (the WA counselor for July 7-12) instructing kayaking

      Two of the highlights of the week were our trips offsite: we went kayaking on Lake Logan (the Hocking River was too high/fast/flooded) and rock climbing/repelling/caving!  The sky was beautiful somewhat clear and blue (finally!) for the kayaking trip and we had a good, relaxing time paddling and swimming.  The rock climbing trip was just plain epic!  We started off climbing at an area I've been to a lot.  Then we got lowered into a cave!  I was so excited!  I even got to use some of the knowledge I gained at the caving camp from a few weeks ago.  And of course it was fun doing my cave lizard impression again.  One of the boys also did a really good Gollum impression.  Haha!  After exploring/hanging out in the cool cave for a little while, we went repelling down a 150 foot cliff in an area called Big Springs!  This cliff was beside a gorgeous waterfall by the way.

with Jeremiah, the awesome volunteer counselor, at the bottom of the repelling site

     It was one of those weeks that I felt sadness instead of relief when the kids left.  They were such an amazing group!  

a beautiful heron on Lake Logan

     This past week, there were no storms or rain until Friday (when we were down in the lodge and main camp and the kids would be leaving soon).   It was very hot and humid, but I was very happy to have dry feet and no crazy storms to worry about!

Emmy (one of the counselors) proud of starting a great fire

     The week started off rough on Sunday: a huge tree had fallen over the weekend (suprise surprise), blocking our way up to The Meadow (our living area).  So we had to wait for people to clear it before we could move our luggage, water, and food up.  The kids were also way younger than I thought they would be.  I was told I had high schoolers, but the kids that showed up were 9-12 year-olds. I had to completely change my plans.  I also tend to enjoy older middle/high school kids way more because they are more independent, more mature, and you can do more awesome high adventure activities with them.

Adam (the counselor I had for WA for 2 weeks: July 14-19 & June 30-July 3). He's hilarious!

      In spite of the rough start, the week ended up being great!  The counselors were super fun and we had another awesome volunteer from OCU.  The kids were pretty cool too. 

with Travis, the other awesome volunteer counselor from OCU, at the end of the week

      My favorite part of the week was the rapelling trip (with a 40 foot repel).  At first I was nervous because I've never taken anyone under the age of 14 repelling, but they did great!  I was so proud of them!  The leaders in training (a group of older high schoolers at camp for the past 2 weeks) joined us too.  I was back-up belaying and spent almost half the time waiting/relaxing with the 2 high school girls talking.  After the trip, our camp director (who has been leading the rock climbing/repelling trips) treated us to ice cream! 

       This upcoming week was originally supposed to be Extreme Wilderness Adventures, where we were going to be traveling to West Virginia for rafting, repelling, climbing, hiking, camping out, and other exciting things.  Sadly, not enough people signed up so it got cancelled.  Now I will be counseling 8th graders.  I haven't been a counselor (without also having a bunch of other responsibilities) since 2011, so I'm both excited and nervous.  It will be our last week with campers, so I'm going to make it a great week!

beautiful Big Springs

Awesome summer so far!

  So far this summer has been amazing!  I'm spending my fourth summer working at Camp Otterbein in Logan, Ohio.  Although I actually spent 2 of the weeks at other places/with another camp.

goofing around with a projector screen I found at Camp Otterbein

    The first week, we had what's called a user group at Camp Otterbein.  A church brought in their own counselors, planned their own programming, etc. and we were all just there to help out. It was a fun week with an awesome group!  The best part was helping to lead high ropes.  One of the high school girls was having a really hard due to her fear of heights.  While sitting on the platform, she asked me to pray with her, so I did.  Then she did one of the elements and later on went down the zipline.  It was awesome seeing this sweet girl overcome her fears!  I also really enjoyed having the opportunity to have an extra week getting to know my fellow Camp Otterbein staff members even better. 

with one of my fellow Camp Otterbein staff members,Grace, when we were both at Camp Wesley

   The second week was especially awesome.  I was assigned to help with a caving camp as the female counselor.  We met at a church in the Dayton area and then drove down to southern Kentucky for a week of camping and exploring caves in the area.  I can definitely say I've conquered claustrophobia!  Lol.  I had been in touristy caves before, but this was an entirely new experience: crawling, climbing (my favorite part), rolling through some passages, and even a bit of wading through water/swimming.  There was one cave with an "art room" where people make sculptures out of the clay/mud.  The people were amazing and I made some really cool new friends. I was invited to return and plan on joining every year I can (even as a volunteer when the day comes that I no longer work for camp).  I can't wait until next year!  P.S.  Did I mention I drove a 15 passenger van down a creek to get to one of the caves?  Now THAT'S off-roading!  Ha!  I also managed to get even better bruises than I've ever gotten from Taekwondo or MMA. 

in front of the Great Saltpetre Cave, right by our campsite

   On the third week, I worked as a lifeguard at Camp Wesley in Bellefontaine (another camp in the West Ohio Conference).  It was a little stressful since I'd planned on being at Camp Otterbein to make preparations for my program starting the following week and since being a lifeguard at Camp Wesley involves a lot of kitchen work, but I still managed to have a great time.  The staff there is super friendly, I enjoyed getting to know the other lifeguards, and some of the kids there that week were really fun to hang out with.  There's also the fact that I really enjoy lifeguarding: observing people, soaking up sun while sitting right beside or in the water, breathing fresh air, having the satisfaction of knowing I could potentially save a life, and just feeling important. 

beautiful view of the lake at Camp Wesley

   The following weekend, I went to Cincinnati/Lawrenceburg, Indiana to visit my mom and attend a good friend's wedding.  It was a beautiful and really fun wedding!  I could write a whole post just about the weekend.  My mom recently moved to a condo in a beautiful part of southeastern Indiana (very close to the Ohio border) also and this was my first time finally seeing it.  I just wish the weekend would've been longer!

the beautiful bride Kayla and me: I can't believe my little is married!

This past week, I was finally back at Camp Otterbein for the first week of Wilderness Adventures (the program I'm in charge of).  It ended up being a pretty good week, but I'm really glad it was only a partial week.  I was an emotional mess on Sunday (partly from feeling less than prepared after being unexpectedly at a different camp, partly from my TBS little and good friend getting married, partly from some health issues my mom is having).  The week was successful: the kids seemed to have a great time and I had 3 wonderful and helpful counselors up there!  The kids were the youngest age group I'll have all summer so it was a huge test of patience, but they were a really fun group.  The best part was a trip to Old Man's Cave for some hiking!

at Old Man's Cave with 2 of the counselors Nathanael and Adam.  Sadly, Grace, the other counselor had to leave for a real world job interview.

 I'm super excited for what the rest of the summer has to offer!  :-)

Mom and me in front of her new condo

Ray and me on the back deck.  I love the view of Lawrenceburg from Mom's condo!

Memorial Day

    I meant to post this yesterday, but didn't get a chance.....

    First of all, I'd like to thank the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.  Without them, things would be much different for us Americans, and not in a good way.
 
    Memorial Day this year was great!  Ray and I went to Medina to spend the weekend with his family.  For the holiday yesterday, we started the day going to a pancake breakfast for the boy scout troop Ray and his brother Dan grew up in.  There was a setback when Ray's mom hit her head during a fall on the way into the church and it wasn't very clear how the day would go.  If you're going to get hurt, though, the best place to do it is at a boy scout gathering.  Everyone around was First Aid/CPR trained.  For once I wasn't the first responder and actually felt quite unhelpful.  Luckily she was okay, with no signs of anything serious (just a nice sized bump).  An off-duty paramedic was there and evaluated her, we kept an eye on her all day, and she's still ok today.  She did call off of work (she had a noon shift) just to be safe: on the bright side, we now got to spend the whole day with her! 
    
     After finishing of lots of delicious pancakes and making sure Ray's mom would be okay, we headed outside to watch Medina's Memorial Day parade.  What we were able to see was pretty cool: scouts, marching bands, antique cars and fire trucks, the current (and very impressive) fire trucks.  Medina has YELLOW fire trucks by the way: pretty awesome looking. 

    Later on, we went to a cookout with the boy scout families.  There was delicious food: burgers of course, several tasty side dishes to choose from and festive desserts.  After eating, I braved the 55 degree weather and jumped in the lake with a couple of the crazy kids also braving the cold.  Meh, I've swam in colder during triathlons.  Wearing my wetsuit would've been smart though and I could've stayed in the water for longer.  Haha.  Not swimming on Memorial Day was not an option.  :-)

    All in all, Memorial Day 2013 was a success.  Thank you again servicemen and women.

    'MURICA!      

Almost summer!

It's always a strange feeling when race season is over.  On the bright side, there are no distances to track, no anxiety to feel when I can't complete a workout, and I can just run for the sake of running.  However, I tend to feel lost and a little down when I don't have a goal race to keep me pumped up.   

Fortunately, prepping for summer has kept me busy enough to keep my mind off of this.  I've been helping with challenge course maintenance at OU and getting a head start on my summer job.

I'll be working at a camp nestled in the hills of Logan, Ohio (called Camp Otterbein) for the 4th summer.  I've been helping out with some of the cleaning up and preparation for camp over the past couple weeks.  I'll be in charge of a program called Wilderness Adventures again (I had the honor of being the first to run this program last year).  Basically I'll be cooking lots of meals over fire and in the Dutch oven, going on lots of kayaking and rock climbing trips, planning activities for a program with a more laid back schedule, and lifeguarding. 

One necessary part of preparing for summer and lots of firebuilding is making firestarters. I made 2 different types and here's how I made them: they are both easy to make...

   For the egg carton ones (which I've used a lot and they work great), you just need an egg carton, dryer lint and candle wax. Fill the holes with dryer lint and then melt a generous amount of candle wax over them.

   For the ones on the left (which are new to me), you need toilet paper rolls, brown paper, dryer lint, and string.  You wrap the toilet paper roll in the brown paper, tie up one end, and fill with lint (and newspaper too if you want).  I also added candle wax.  Then you tie up the other end.


Also, I got this wonderful water bottle at CVS a couple weeks ago: I will never be thirsty this summer...   :-) 

Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone 50k Ultra

   DWD Gnaw Bone was an awesome and extremely challenging trail race!  It was in Nashville, Indiana, a lovely small town in Southeastern Indiana that my mom and I have visited once or twice a year for as long as I can remember.  I knew basically what I was in for because I did the marathon distance of this race a couple years ago.  I also was pretty well prepared for the new-to-me distance of 50 kilometers, thanks to a very helpful book I've been reading called 'Relentless Forward Progress.'  I recommend it to any novice ultrarunners out there.

    I wore my American Triple T tri jersey, which ended up being a great idea because it sparked some great conversations with people I met along the way.  One woman, named Stacey, I met and ran with from around mile 4-11 was especially awesome and we had a lot in common.  She graduated from Ohio University in 2005 and now lives in Cincinnati.  She does triathlons too and has done an ironman (Louisville: which I hope to do next year).  She's getting married on September 20 this year (Ray and I are getting married September 20 of next year). 

    Due to a sizable amount of rain on the days leading up to the race, the course was extremely muddy in several areas (including within the first mile).  The horse trails were especially bad: it was like quicksand!  Luckily there were also several creek crossings to wash our feet off with.  I was glad to be wearing normal, meshy running shoes instead of getting trail running shoes like I would have if I'd had the money.  This helped the water and mud drain right out as I ran.

     There were several lovely uphill crazy parts, including one section (around mile 24) that I had to crawl up and grab onto tree limbs to avoid sliding backwards face first into the mud. There were some fairly smooth sections of trail, but some extremely tricky parts as well.  I managed to take only one tumble, around mile 8.  It didn't cause any injuries, other than cuts and a big ole' bruise (pictured on the right).  I've grown to kind of like bruises though: they make me feel hardcore. 


      Some of the views were amazing!  The best was at around mile 29: a former ski slope we ran down that overlooked some of the park.  I wish that Ray's GoPro I was borrowing had some battery power left at that point!  Videos I took on that will hopefully be uploaded at a later date, by the way. 

     I finished in about 8 and a half hours, not bad considering I had no time goal and considering the crazy challenging terrain.   I felt surprisingly good afterwards, no worse than with some of the marathons I've run.  The only new issue I had was actually a minor case of overhydration (the opposite problem of what I usually have).  I didn't sweat enough because of the pleasantly cool temperature to need all the water I drank and my hands were a bit swollen.  I have yet to master water and electrolyte balance while racing.

      My first ultramarathon will certainly not be my last.  I've now gone from marathon runner to ultrarunner.  And it feels amazing! 

   

Race for a Reason/Athletes in Action Sprint Triathlon Race Recap

First of all, yesterday morning was a beautiful day for a race!  The sun was shining bright, the sky was clear, and many of the budding trees in Athens still have their beautiful pink and white flowers.
 
The swim was in the OU Aquatic Center pool.  I started towards the back like usual: I'm not the fastest swimmer and I hate getting passed.  There was a small group of us from a group I've been training with and we enjoyed chatting and cheering on our faster friends as they hopped out of the pool and ran to transition.  The start of the swim was just jumping in, one at a time  The swim was 500 meters and I felt pretty good, especially considering the fact that I haven't been to the pool nearly enough lately.  And I'm not going to lie: I really appreciate races with a pool swim sometimes.  It's so much less intimidating than open water swimming. 

The bike was a very hilly 15 miles.  I felt ok with it: didn't feel like my best or my worst.  The scenery was gorgeous and there were some very friendly spectators on the way. The only problem was having to stop for a car by an intersection (at a point when I was cruising along at a great speed-go figure).  This jerk passed me and then stopped right in my way waiting to get unto her street.  She was over to the right far enough that I couldn't get by.  Grr.  I remember yelling, "Are you kidding me?!"  Luckily it wasn't too long, but still enough to throw me off for a little bit and halt my forward progress for a minute (every second counts during a race).  Other than that incident and a little twinge of hip pain, the bike split was not bad.  The section with the gently rolling hills past a bunch of freshly blooming trees was my favorite part of the whole race.

When I got to the run, I was booking it!  I zipped passed person after person, weaving through the groups of walkers and other runners.  That was my only real issue with the race by the way: the 5k for the triathlon was the same course as the regular 5k.  Many of us were still doing the triathlon and had to deal with all the people in the way.  I felt really good about my time on the run (I think it took me about 22 minutes, but I could have done even better without having to go around so many people).

The finish was pretty cool.  We ran off the bike path accross a grassy field, where the 'fitness fest' was, greeted by the excited crowd.  As I crossed, I heard a couple people yelling my name really loud.  That's the beauty of smaller races like those in Athens: it's super easy to find people you know.

I'm not sure what my finishing time was and am looking forward to seeing the results.  This race was an overall good one, with a lot of the registration fee going towards charity as well, and I hope it fits in my race schedule next year.

**Edit: The results have been posted (only 2 days later: not bad at all).  I finished in 1:49:06, meeting my goal of under 2 hours, and came in 4th place (out of 8) in my division, collegiate women.

Trying to Process the Tradgedy

This entry is a day late because I was too shocked to come up with the right words yesterday. 

Words cannot fully express the tradgedy of the bombings at the Boston Marathon. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the victims. 

The Boston Marathon is more than just a race: it is the biggest of accomplishments, a lifelong goal, for runners all across the nation and even from other parts of the world.  It is the ultimate symbol of dedication and achievement.  Any finish line really is supposed to be (and usually is) the most joyful and triumphant place on Earth.  And some sick **bad word** took that away from thousands of people.  It just doesn't make sense.  And I really don't think it ever will.

One thing that may come to mind is hatred towards whatever monster is responsible for this.  But let's take this opportunity to instead be even more unified.  Fight hateful acts like this with love.  In spite of the terrible scenes in the news yesterday, as well as the shock, disgust, and terror that came with those images, it was heartwarming to see so many responders comforting and caring for both the physically and emotionally wounded.

Finishing races will not be the same.  There will be anxiety, of course, especially for those who had to endure the tradgedy of April 15, 2013.   But, we will all be stronger and more unified than ever.  We will be even more grateful every time we cross that finish line and never take it for granted.  We will hug our friends and family so much tighter upon finishing.  We will have even more mutual respect for our fellow runners. 

My message to whoever is responsible for what happened yesterday: we will never understand why you did this terrible thing, but you will not bring us down.  You have only made us even stronger.  Good always overcomes evil and always will.

Athens Marathon 2013 Race Recap

      I've done this race before (the half in 2007 and the full in 2008) and have a love/hate relationship with it. I love that I know most of the volunteers, spectators, and a fair amount of the other racers.  OU/Athens has a pretty tight-knit community and it's reflected in the race day atmosphere of the Athens Marathon.  I also love the much more laid back feel of it and the fact that my fellow runners are generally much friendlier than many of those in my experience with city races.  I've also always really enjoyed the finish: a lap and a half around OU's track with a bunch of spectators cheering you on.  However, I hate that the race is almost entirely on the bike path: flat (in case you don't know, I really prefer hill running) and boring, with repetitive scenery and very few spectators for most of the way.  And it's an out-and-back.  Overall, though, it's a great, well-organized race with wonderful people.

       I figured this race would be perfect timing this year in preparation for my ultra on May 11 (though a trail marathon would have been better preparation).  It was also wonderful getting to sleep in my own bed, only having to walk right up the road from my apartment to the start line (no traffic or parking hassles), and not having to find the money for putting gas in my car or someplace to stay. 
       There couldn't have been much better weather!  It was a cool temperature, but felt good once I started moving.  The sun was shining bright all day.  I actually managed to not even get much of a sunburn even though I totally forgot sunscreen: I'm terrible at remembering that.  
       I kept a slow, easy pace since this was preparation for another race rather than being my goal race.  Unfortunately, I also had some hip pain and a really tight IT band.  A physical therapist in the message area said it was a little swollen and I'll have to be careful over the next couple weeks and do extra icing and stretching over the next couple days.

       Overall, the Athens Marathon was a pretty good experience: perfect weather, beautiful (even if repetitive) scenery, and some great people to talk to during the course.

       Yay for finishing marathon #7!  :-)

A Barrier to Overcome

One major update I neglected to post...

When the weather started getting cold in November, I was having issues with breathing during and after my runs.  I'd cough and wheeze like crazy.  These issues have happened in years past with cold temperatures and stress during running, cycling, and swimming but it seemed to be getting even worse.  Between this and my constant sinus infections over the past several years, I decided to see an allergist.

Dr. Clark was incredibly knowledgeable and approachable (one of those doctors who truly cares and goes above and beyond his duty).  After a couple hours of tests, including allergy testing, he gave me some alarming news.  I have severe allergies to just about every indoor allergen there is (dust, a couple types of mold, even cats and dogs), I have chronic sinusitis (not much of a surprise there), and I have asthma. 

While this was shocking and unpleasant news, I've come to view finding out as a blessing.  I'm getting treated for all of these things now, and the improvement in my training and overall quality of life are amazing!

There are still bad days, though, and today has been one of them.  I've been trying to clean up my apartment yesterday and earlier today, plus we were visiting my fiance's family for Easter.  His dad smokes.  A lot.  So, the combination of these things probably has caused my respiratory system to go into freakout mode.  I had to cut my run short because I was hacking to the point of almost gagging at the top of a couple of the hills.  Later, I was planning on going to both Mixed Martial Arts and Taekwondo club, but my sinuses started acting up and my airways started feeling a bit tight.

As the type of person who always wants to be invincible and strong, and to do everything, this is extremely frustrating.  I hate being slowed down.

Hopefully I'm not developing another sinus infection (which almost always happens during a change of seasons).  And hopefully tomorrow will be better.

A super crazy training run

On Tuesday I set out to run about 22-23 miles, including the Lakeview trail around Dow Lake in Athens, Ohio.

It started off as the perfect day to run: some sunshine, but a little bit of cloud cover and a pleasant temperature.  The first hour went by with wonderful conditions. When I got about a mile into the trail, though, everything changed.  The wind began to blow pretty hard and ice pellets (not just snow, but ice pellets) tumbled from the sky.

The trail itself was extremely muddy.  It was like running through a creek at times.  And the actual creek crossings were so large that I had to crawl across a log in 2 spots.

As soon as I got off of the trail, the ice pellets came down even harder, and giant snowflakes mixed in.  The wind was going crazy.  A couple groups of people packed up their stuff and zipped out of there as quick as possible.  I was now officially the only crazy one in that park.

As I began the trek home, the precipitation died down a tad, but the wind was still relentless.  As I started to make my way up a large hill, a rather large dog came barreling out of nowhere barking angrily.   I picked up the pace a bit, thinking, 'Make it go away, make it go away.'  I really need to start carrying that dog repellent stuff.  Luckily, it lost interest.

A cyclist showed up when I was about halfway up the hill, also making his way up.  "Great day to be outside huh?"  "Sure is!"  It's always comforting to know there are other insane people out there.

About an hour(ish) later, I finally arrived back home to my wonderful fiance, my favorite flavor of Greek yogurt, and a wonderful hot shower! 

Yay distance running!  :-)

Running: you're doing it right!  :-p  

2013 Goals and Updates

Like last year, I've decided to make a list of goals/things to accomplish during the year instead of having a New Year's Resolution.

1)  Read my Bible daily (following a plan in my Nook)
2) Complete my first ultramarathon.
3) Manage my finances better.
    ~Write down monthly budget/expenses.
    ~Find a way/ways to make more income.
4) Finish most of my wedding planning.


I also have a few updates since I haven't blogged in a while.  I'm a slacker, I know.  :-p  I won't be anymore though, for real!

      First, I've officially registered for my ultramarathon!  It's a 50k in Nashville, Indiana called Dances with Dirt Gnaw Bone.  It's part of a race series (Dances with Dirt).  I'm super excited to take this next step in running and join the community of some of the most badass people ever: the ultrarunning community!

     I didn't have luck with the process of getting into physical therapy school for next year, so I'll be taking a year off of school altogether.  I'm actually kind of relieved: a year without the daily grind of studying, doing homework assignment after homework assignment may be exactly what I needed anyway.   I am ridiculously burnt out on school and in need of time to regroup.

     In August, I got another job within OU Outdoor Pursuits as the Rental Center Manager.  Basically, I'm in charge of daily operations of the OUOP rental center where we rent out camping gear, I help training new employees, and attend weekly OUOP manager meetings.  I'm still looking for a job as a personal trainer and currently working on a First Aid/CPR/AED instructor certifications.  Yay for another certification!

     I know it's already March, but I'm looking forward to the exciting opportunities that 2013 has yet to bring and hope that I can finally figure out what exactly I'm supposed to be doing with my life.

with my adorable kitty Twilight (NOT named after the movies or books)