One.

Typically Late is one year old today!

A year ago today, I was sitting on the couch, and made a decision - I was going to start blogging, and actually stick with it. I was going to find my voice again, and I was going to find the words that used to come so simply. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was determined to start.

I have spent the last year documenting so many things - my recipes, my fitness, my relationships... My cat. (Normal.) I've been working through the writing process, which feels like an old friend. I've been dusting off my creative writing skills (which were carefully honed in high school and college, but packed away once I got to the "real world") and it feels good to really be writing again. Sometimes I babble like an idiot. Sometimes I ramble and lose track of my thought process. But it's always a representation of how my mind works. And it's always from the heart. I think I'll stick with it for a while.

I've decided over the past year that I have a motto, a catch phrase, a slogan (whatever you want to call it): be inspired, be inspiring. I read those words somewhere this year, and they've stuck with me. It's important to motivate and influence you - it leads to creativity and growth. I've been inspired by other bloggers, other runners, and other writers. But it's just as important to do the inspiring - and that is what I hope has happened over the last year. If I've inspired anyone over the last year, if I've encouraged even one person to try a new recipe or go for a run or do something different, then it means I've kept up both ends of that deal. Be inspired, be inspiring. Words to live by.

Happy birthday, little blog. I hope you have a nice long life.

Done! My first half-marathon (Blue & Grey Half)

Merry Christmas! My gift to you (or myself?) - this long-awaited recap of The Race. I figure that almost a month later is plenty of time to have gotten myself situated and found the right words for this one. You be the judge.

-----

I still can't exactly believe that I ran a half-marathon.

New hot pink laces, because, duh, pink makes everything better.

That seems like such a huge deal, yet, at the same time, not a huge deal at all. My brain is thinking “SERIOUSLY?!” but simultaneously, “no big!” 13.1 miles – done.

When Suzann and I first started talking about doing a half before the end of 2012, in June or July-ish, we had a lot of contributing factors to finding the right race: it needed to be close(ish), it needed to be on a Sunday (she teaches on Saturday mornings), it needed to be early enough in December that it wasn’t -36 degrees. It seemed unlikely that we would find just the right race, and that was ok… I don’t think we were too convinced that we could do it yet (speaking for myself for sure, here – I was pretty sure there was no way I could run 13.1 miles in just a few months). Lo and behold, though, I stumbled across a link for the VA Runner Blue & Gray – a half-marathon, in Fredericksburg, VA (just down 95 from us), 2^nd weekend in December, on Sunday. It was meant to be. We started planning on doing it – running longer runs, talking about “our half,” but FYI, we never actually SIGNED UP for the race until… 5 weeks out? It wasn’t real yet, we weren’t committed… until one fateful afternoon as we sat eating lunch at Panera, and we got a burst of dedication and registered on the spot. On my phone. Fees paid, no reimbursement. We were running a half-marathon.

Keep in mind that this was in the midst of my injury saga – I wasn’t running fully yet; in fact, I wasn’t even cleared to resume exercise fully yet. The longest I’d run in weeks was 3 or 4 miles – my longest training (11 miles) had been done in September (and stayed my longest training; the most I did up till race day was 7 ½). Nonetheless, I was in. I knew I could do it.

Suz and I decided to stay in a hotel in Fredericksburg the night before the race – it just seemed easier to give ourselves a relaxing night than try to fight our way down 95 at 4 AM and pray we didn’t hit any traffic or anything. Instead, we spent Saturday evening having dinner, wandering the mall, and eating Sweet Frog (our fave!) before getting into bed early. I couldn’t have asked for a better pre-race experience – we were relaxed, happy, and just 5 minutes from the race start. It was perfect!

We woke up on Sunday and we were both wide-awake, energetic, ready to go. We were completely unsure about the weather. We’d both packed for just about anything: rain, cold, warm, whatever. The forecast was for drizzle all day, 100% chance, but the temperature was supposed to be in the 50s. Granted, at 6:30 AM, it was only in the 30s, but when we got out there, it wasn’t raining, just overcast. Perfect! We dressed in our layers, ate hard boiled eggs and drank coffee, and danced around the hotel room. I’d requested late checkout, so we didn’t have to pack anything up, and we got ourselves to the VA Runner parking lot, where the race was starting, at about 7:20. We had ten minutes till kickoff. That wasn’t exactly the way we planned it (time flew while we were getting ready!) but it turned out for the best – we didn’t leave ourselves much time to get nervous or anxious. We were just heading out for a regular long run. Normal.

Blooper - but I kind of love it.

Pre-race nerves. We can do this!

The gun sounded and off we went – I’d like to give a major shout-out to the “Shuffle” feature on my iPhone for knowing that I needed to start the race with a little Britney Spears. I am unashamed and very vocal about my love of Miss Spears, and no less that 1/3 of my race-day playlist was comprised of her music. I started off my first half marathon listening to some great tunes, and I knew it was going to be a good day.

Miles 1-6 were relatively uneventful. Suz and I puttered along, chatting and occasionally checking our Garmins. As it turned out, we both felt that we dressed perfectly for the weather – just enough clothing, the right layers, etc. I ate some Sports Beans around mile 3.5 and 6, aiming for every 3 miles as I’d planned, purely because I wanted to maintain my sugar levels, not because I was feeling off or anything. I didn’t want to risk having my sugar drop and blowing the whole thing, so I just went with a few beans every few miles. We walked through the water stations, having a few sips and taking it easy, which I felt was really helpful for me. I felt totally ON – I don’t know how to describe it, but everything about the race just felt right.

Miles 7-8 was where I started thinking “OK, I’m ready to be done.” Too bad we still had 5 miles to go… There wasn’t really anything wrong, I just started to get bored. Is that weird? My mind was wandering and I was thinking about all the things I needed to do to get ready for Christmas and such. I had a little mental battle about how much longer I still had to run, but got it together after a few minutes. I started feeling a little pain in the arch of my right foot – not sure what that was about, but it continued for the rest of the race, then immediately ended and I haven’t felt it since. It was a nagging irritation, though.

Suz decided to slow down just a tad, and I was feeling a fresh burst of energy, so she encouraged me to go on ahead. I picked up the pace by just a bit, and ran the rest of the race alone. Miles 9-10, I tried to really concentrate on my breathing, speed, overall status - I knew I'd push too hard if I wasn't careful. In hindsight, perhaps I should have just stayed at her pace, because I really could have used the company and support during those second-half miles. What’s done is done, though.

Special shout-out now to Mike, the guy that I accidentally paced myself with exactly for Mile 11, who chatted with me for a good ten minutes about a variety of things. He was a savior, because I really needed a friend right about then. He was running his first race in 15+ years, and getting ready for a St. Patrick’s Day marathon. He was awesome! His friendliness could not have come at a better time. (Side note – I ran into him after the race, and thanked him profusely for letting me run with him and chat with him. That felt good!)

Mile 12 was some sort of sick joke: it was uphill. No, really, uphill. And it was hard. The race course info on the website had mentioned this tiny factoid, but I was seriously not ready for the 90-degree vertical incline of this mile (slight exaggeration, perhaps, but trust me) (but really - the description on the race website says, "Mile 12 goes back up from 50 to 250 feet on what is known as hospitalization hill. This is the same hill as part of the USMC Historic Half where the runner in 2009 had the heart attack." Oh, OKAY. Sure.). Anyway. I tried to very, very gently jog it, but it just wasn’t happening. I ended up doing a walk/jog alternate thing, and probably walked ½ a mile. Not my proudest moment, but it had to happen. My knees were starting to ache, and I just had to give myself a few moments of rest. The last mile and a half were pretty torturous – everything hurt, but I was SO CLOSE. iPhone Shuffle to the rescue AGAIN – the last song that I listened to, as I pushed my way through Mile 13, was Britney Spears. Seriously, how did it know?! I started mentally repeating my go-to mantra: “I can do anything for five more minutes. I can do anything for one more mile. I can do anything for half a mile.” And I did.

Crossing the finish line was the most amazing moment. As I came around the final corner and heard people cheering and clapping, I decided that this was it, and I pulled all my energy from I-don’t-know-where and sprinted the last .2 of a mile. I pushed myself so hard in those final few seconds (and pretty much felt like throwing up immediately after) but it felt so good to cross that line. It was over. I’d run my first half marathon. I expected to have lots of *~*EMOTIONS!~*~ but really, I was exhausted, and all I wanted was water (which took me an obnoxiously long amount of time to find). Not so much in the way of feelings – I was just done, and that was that.

Suz was just a few minutes behind me, and we found each other and hugged and laughed and collapsed onto the sidewalk before asking a nice man to take our picture. Necessary.

Finishers! So thrilled.

Best. Beer. Ever.

We did a little shopping at VA Runner (hello new hot pink compression sleeves and Brooks running jacket, happy birthday to me!), and got our 13.1 magnets, which you better believe were immediately applied to our cars.  

The moment where we remembered that we had late check-out at the hotel and could therefore shower before driving home was amazing. Such good planners!

When Suz finally dropped me off at home later that afternoon, I proceeded to inhale a Five Guys burger provided by my sister and take a three-hour nap. Both very, very well deserved.

Nap partner.

Originally, way back when, I set my personal goal to run this race in under two hours. Then I got injured, and couldn't run, and blah blah blah. My goal shifted its way to "just finish the race!" but I held onto a glimmer of hope that I could do it in under 2 hours and 10 minutes, which would be a pace of 10:00 minutes/mile(ish). That seemed doable. Well, ladies and gents, I am pleased to present my official time:

2:09:56.

Boo-ya.

Obviously, I have my goal for the next half - I'm determined to shave at least a few minutes off of that. I'm pretty sure that, had Mile 12 not been so ridiculously hard, I would have done a lot better. But I'm still pretty proud of that! 

I’m giving myself some time off from running – just until after the holidays, because I think that I need a mental break. This is a bit odd, given that I wasn’t running very much before the race due to my injury, but it just felt like I needed to take some time and say “enough for now.” I’ve literally run two miles since the race, and they were on the treadmill at Gold’s one day when I got there too late for the class I wanted to take. Come January, though, I’m raring to go – after all, have to put all the running-related gifts that I got for Christmas to good use!

Stronger than yesterday.

Yes, that is a Britney reference, and I don’t hate it.

Last night, I went to yoga for the first time in a month. The last time I tried, it just hurt too badly – the muscles in my back weren’t ready for it, and I spent most of the class in Child’s Pose (which was nice! But not really what I was there for).  I decided last night to give it another shot, as my back has been feeling pretty good lately. I took it easy, and modified the poses as I felt necessary. I didn’t push myself at all; I just enjoyed each pose and the peace that comes with being in a dark, quiet room. I felt good afterwards.  I’m sore today, but it’s the sore that comes from stretching muscles that have been dormant for a while. It’s not an injury.

I think that I’m really, truly back.

I’ve been to BodyPump a couple of times in the last few weeks, and it doesn’t hurt. Granted, I’m using baby weights (and it’s so frustrating – just a few months ago I was lifting 3x what I’m lifting now), but it feels good to be back in the class and not have any pain and be able to trust my body.  It feels good to be moving back into my routine.

This weekend, I’m running a half marathon. If you had told me when I ran that first 8k in March, that 9 months later I’d be gearing up to do 13.1 miles, I probably just would have laughed at you. That was always a thing that I said “I could never do.” And I wouldn’t even consider it! But here I am. A few months ago, I was in so much pain that putting on pants or getting out of bed was enough to take my breath away. I thought for sure that I was going to have to abandon my goal. But here I am, a few months later, having worked my way back, and ready to go after it. It may not be as great as I’d originally intended, but I’m going to do it. And then next time, I’m going to do better.

Every day, I’m a little healthier. I’m back to square one: my endurance is lower, my muscles are weaker, everything is a little bit harder. But every day I’m a little stronger, and what else could I really want?

 

That, my friends, is the face of a girl who's
really, really happy to be back at the gym.

 

PS. Currently working on my half-marathon playlist, and you can bet your booty I’ll be jamming to a little B.Spears while I run! Love.

One year down, forever to go!

A year ago today...

With my best girls,

and his best guys,

and our families by our sides,

we tied the knot

and changed our lives forever.

Happy anniversary, my love! 

You are the best decision I've ever made.

Here's to many, many more.

That Pie in the Sky (Or at the Lake)

You may have noticed, here and there, references to the current Big Thing going on around here – it’s been a bit behind-the-scenes, but as of this past weekend, I’m officially ready to share. Drum roll please……..

My parents have made something amazing happen. They have fulfilled a major dream of theirs. They bought a LAKE HOUSE!!

For as long as I can remember, my family has always talked about The Lake House (capital letters required). It’s been the “someday,” “when dreams come true,” “when we win the lottery,” "pie-in-the-sky," pipe-dream thing for my parents – they love to be at the lake, and the idea of owning their own special place was always in the backs of their heads. Visiting The Lake House, fixing it up, retiring there, the whole nine yards, has been regular conversation in our house. In fact, it sort of became a running joke – “Dad’s on the computer again! Searching for The Lake House!” “Dad picked up another real estate brochure – maybe it has The Lake House!” In the last few years, as my sister and I finished up with college and such, my dad has started talking to realtors and actually going to look at houses. A weekend here, a weekend there, house after house. It was such a big dream, he and my mom wanted to find the perfect house. And the perfect house just never really presented itself. They weren’t willing to settle when it came to The Lake House. So it remained a lofty goal, a “someday when we’re older…”

And then one day, earlier this summer, they found it. The Lake House. The one they’ve always looked for. It had everything they’ve always put on the “want” list – the screen porch. The garage. The dock. The fireplace. The big driveway. The house was kind of old, but it was in great condition. The appliances worked. The paint was fresh. The price was right. And suddenly, The Lake House wasn’t such a faraway dream anymore. It was right in front of my mom and dad. And so, they took the cross-the-Grand-Canyon leap, and they bought that house. They made their dream come true.

House-warming gift from the realtor!

Keys to the house!

Dad with the very first carload of "stuff" for the house

Left at the fork in the road...

Proud home owner!!

My parents, obviously, inspire me in a lot of ways. I think they’re great. I think they’re wonderful people, and parents, and have set an amazing example of how a marriage should be for my sister and I. I know that the two of us were never the easiest kids to raise, and there were times when we all made each other crazy, but looking back, with a more mature eye, I see how truly great my sister and I had it. This purchase, though, this is something entirely different. My parents have taught me how to have dreams, how to have goals, and then how to make those things happen. They set their mind to something, and they took all the steps to make sure it happened. They worked hard for years, and they saved their money for years, and they took baby steps far in advance so that, years later, they'd be able to do what they wanted to do. It was a long process, but they were patient – so patient – and waited for exactly the right house to come around. And they got exactly what they deserved, exactly what they’d worked and waited for for so many years. They got The Lake House. And the minute I stepped foot through the front door this past weekend, it felt like home – it felt like it had always been ours. I cannot wait for the years to come and the memories that we will make at that house. I can’t wait to have Thanksgiving there this year, and to bring my babies there someday. I can’t wait to play on the dock every summer, and chase the dog that I’m pretty sure my parents will have someday. There is so much that awaits us with this house. It’s already a dream come true, but it’s going to get better with every visit.

I am so proud of my parents, and so excited about what’s in store for them. I know that they are going to make this house their own, and it’s going to be absolutely perfect. They have earned it. They deserve it. And I get to reap the benefits of having amazing parents.

The Lake House. Finally!

View from the dock

Foodie PenPal FAIL.

Here's a picture of all the amazing goodies that my Foodie PenPal sent me this month!!:













Wait, there's no picture.

That's correct.

That's because this month's Foodie PenPal exchange was a great big FAIL. I did not receive a package. Whomp whomp.

I got paired up with Rachael from Around, Wondering as the person I was sending a package to, and another girl (She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named [SWSNBN]), who doesn't have a blog or any internet presence that I can find (so I'm starting to wonder if she's even real), as the person who was going to send me my package. Great, I thought! Let's do this! (LERROOYYYY JENKINS! Five points if you get that reference.)

I sent out my email to establish contact with Rachael, and got an email from SWSNBN. I told SWSNBN all about myself, my food preferences, my hobbies, my eating habits, blah blah blah. She emailed me back and told me about herself, including that she's a student in Maryland, and I thought that was great, because we'd have some local food things in common. All was well.

Packages are supposed to be mailed out by the 15th of the month. I got Rachael's package together, had a great time searching for fun things in Occoquan, wrapped it all in pretty tissue paper, and got it in the mail a day or two early, even. Then I get an email from SWSNBN saying that she won't be able to have my package in the mail by the 15th, but should have it by the 18th at the latest. OK - no big deal. It's just coming from Maryland, shouldn't take long to arrive, all is still well.

So....... then nothing. No email. No package. No carrier pigeon. I'm checking the mail daily, figuring that at some point this package will arrive. Nope. Nadda. I email SWSNBN asking what's going on. No response. I email Lindsay to tell her that things do not appear to be going well. She emails me back saying that she emailed SWSNBN - as far as I know, no response.

And that is all folks. SWSNBN has disappeared, I received no fun Foodie PenPals package this month, and August is over. I repeat... whomp whomp. Sads all around - even C is disappointed, because he liked the last box, and he helped me shop for this month's box, and we were looking forward to seeing what we'd get. So now there are TWO sad, fun-food-less people in our house. Two and half, if you count Mac, who's sad on our behalf.

So sad he's falling over.

I don't know what's going on here,
but this picture cracks me up.
Camera fail. Kitty pirate.

All funnies aside, I have to admit that I'm pretty disappointed/a little mad. I know that I take a chance when I sign up for an exchange like this that something will go wrong. I know that shit happens, and sometimes you just can't get your act together like you'd like, and maybe that's what happened this time. I'd like to give SWSNBN the benefit of the doubt. My issue with the whole thing is, though, that she didn't own up to it. At least answer my email. At least tell me that no box is coming. Don't just disappear off the face of the planet and leave me wondering WTF happened. Not cool, SWSNBN. Not cool. Blerg.

So there ya have it. This month's Foodie PenPals was a bust. I hope everyone else got awesome boxes, and I can't wait to read Rachael's post later and see if she liked what I sent her. I'm not doing FPP next month, because there's just too much going on, but I think I will take the chance again after that. After all, my first time around was pretty awesome. I couldn't possibly get screwed twice, right?? **knocks on wood**

~~~~~

If you want to know more about the Foodie PenPals Program, here is the basic info:

Foodie PenPals

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
• Foodie Penpals is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

~~~~~

Unrelated - this is my 100th post! Hooray!