National Running Day!

Happy National Running Day! I normally don't post on Wednesday's but, hello! It's one of my favorite holidays!

I've talked about it before but I haven't always been a runner. Actually, for most of my life I haven't been a runner and didn't start until about 10 years ago, when I was 18, 200+ pounds, and not happy with how my life was going at the time. I wasn't motivated, I didn't have goals, I was just cruising along hoping that I'd figure out my life when I got to college.

Flash forward to today and my life is completely, TOTALLY different. Running completely changed my life. And I mean that with 100% honesty. Running has never been easy for me and it's something I've always had to work my butt off for.

So, in honor of National Running Day, I'm sharing why I run.

I run because...

...who needs coffee when you can get in a good 9 miler before work?

...the feeling of accomplishment is like no other feeling in the entire world.. seriously.

...runner's high. Enough said.

...it makes me feel like an athlete again.

...I really, really like chocolate.

...I was running low on t-shirts. ;)

...hitting a major PR means all of that hard work paid off.

...even on days when 3 miles feels like 13, I feel better once I'm done.

...my mind has never been stronger.

...I love the reaction from others when you tell them you're training to run 26.2 miles.... for FUN.

...I like winning. A lot.

...you can never have too many medals.

...I like having that time to myself.

...at one point I couldn't run.

...going from a 2 hour+ half marathon to running it in 1:36 and some change feels damn good.

...being in the top 100 (#52!) of the female division in a race with over 6,500 women feels even better.

but mostly, I run because running has been my outlet for the last 10 years of my life. I've run on good days, bad days, my wedding day, days when life seemingly wasn't going in the direction I'd planned... I've ran through it all. It's taught me the value of hard work and perseverance. It's made me realize that my body is capable of some impressive stuff. I've learned that the old adage "you can do anything you set your mind to" is 100% true. It's given me confidence. It's given me a community of awesome people who enjoy hearing about the crazy blister on my foot or the fact that I have 2 toenails missing. It's made me a goal digger. It's made dreams come true. It helped me land the love of my life.

It's made me the best version of myself.

If you run, why?

Monday, Funday

Happy Monday everyone!
Brain dump today!

Not much news to report on my end. I had a pretty low-key weekend, which I'm totally okay with. About the most I did was go for a couple of nice long-ish runs Saturday and Sunday morning. Otherwise, I relaxed a WHOLE lot--something I normally don't get to do during the week.

On Friday, I made this cookie dough dip and it was so, so SO good! I highly recommend it and will most definitely be making it again. I also made roasted red pepper hummus yesterday and I'm pretty proud of how that turned out too. I've been trying to do more around the kitchen in 2015 and so far, so good. I can now cook a mean chicken breast, let me tell you. (That's how helpless I usually am--luckily I have an amazing husband who loves to be in the kitchen!)

Saturday I watched the Louisville-Carolina game--it was AWESOME! My boys came back from being 18 down to win in OT! Love exciting games like that! I'm hoping the birthday fairy will produce tickets to this Saturday's game at UVA. If I have to ring in the year 28, might as well do it watching my Cards play, right? Riiiiiiight.

Speaking of my birthday, I'm hoping to get the new Fitbit Surge tracker. I'm kind of obsessed. I've had my Nike Fuelband for about 2 years now and although I love it, I'm ready to join the rest of the world. The surge looks like a good fit for me--it has a GPS tracker in addition to the new HR monitor feature and of course, step tracker. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

And finally, the Super Bowl. Although I'm not really a football fan (unless Louisville is playing), I have to admit, I watched the game in it's entirety. If a football game can keep my attention, then you know it's a good one. I can't say I was really pulling for one team or the other but I've always liked Tom Brady so I guess I'm glad New England won. And my favorite commercials of the night? Of course the #LikeaGirl campaign from Always--I've seen this one before but I loved that they played it during the middle of the Super Bowl. And then I was STOKED to see this one from Reebok--it made me want to go out and run 8 more miles in addition to the 8 I ran yesterday morning. It's my mentality down to a T.



#BeMoreHuman today.

Have a great Monday!

Sarah

If I could...

Stole this from one of my favorite blogs, Love, Fun, & Football!

If I could... spend all day working out, I probably would.

If I could.... go anywhere right now, I'd probably go back on another cruise. :)

If I could.... move closer to my two best friends, I would in a heartbeat. 

If I could... meet one famous person right now, it'd be Shaun T.

If I could... eat one food for the rest of my life, it'd totally be pretzel M&M's.

If could.... relive one time in my life, it would definitely be my wedding weekend.

If I could.... drop my current job and do anything...... I wouldn't. I love working in the health & wellness field!

If I could...figure out the rhythm of kipping pullups, I'd be pumped.

If I could move anywhere, I'd move somewhere warm... or Charlottesville, VA.

Happy Tuesday!

Sarah

Monday Morning Thoughts

Happy Monday!

It's a pretty dreary one here but luckily we're not getting quite as slammed here as they are in the Northeast. But seriously--why haven't we had ANY snow this winter?!

Monday mornings are always one of my favorites. Weird, right? Most people dread waking up but for me, it's the start of a new week and start of the new possibilities. I'm not going to lie to you and say waking up at 5:30am is my favorite but once I get to work, hop on the treadmill, catch up with the news.. I'm ready to tackle whatever the day/week has in store.

This week should be a pretty low key one for me. Everyday is hectic when working at a gym (especially a brand new one) but now that systems are starting to be put into place, it's getting much easier (in a relative sense). I'm looking forward to some great workouts (already got a 8.5 miler in this morning!), some good eats, a great Insanity class on Thursday, and hopefully some down time if I'm lucky. I just started back for the semester on my online classes for a second degree to become a Dietitian and I can't say that I'm really enjoying biochem (YUCK) all that much but trying to realize that if I'm going to make my dreams come true, there are going to be a few not-so-fun obstacles along the way. This just happens to be one of them.

And now I suppose it's time to get to work. I'll leave you with a little Monday Morning motivation. Get out there and move! You won't regret it!

Sarah

Friday Favorites

To get back into the blogging world, why not start out with a linkup?

My favorites this week!

1. Advocare. I cannot say enough about the 24 day challenge. After a horrendous holiday eating plan, I'm back on track and feeling AWESOME. This is my second time doing the challenge and I can't even begin to tell you how focused I am on my goals. I have more energy, feel great, and getting back to my pre-holiday self. I continue to be impressed by this company and can't say enough about it. If you're interested in learning more, check it out. And uhh, yeah, pretty stoked with the progress I've been making on my arms.

                                       Taken after my 8.5 mile run. Best way to start a Friday!

2. Work! I'm so obsessed with my job right now. It's a madhouse opening up a wellness facility on a college campus.. especially one that's open to the public. And I'll be honest, there have been some trying moments in the last few months but getting comments about how awesome our facility is (it totally rocks for the record), makes it all worth while. And my Insanity class last night had 18 people! It was AWESOME!

3. Quest bars. Duh.

4. My new iPhone 6. I mean, it's not MUCH different from my 5S but.. I'm pretty much in love with it. I'm still trying to figure out the health app but I love having more storage!!!

5. My workouts this week! I've had some absolutely killer workouts. My runs have been amazing, energy level is good, I've been getting back to heavy lifting.. overall, I just feel like myself again. I'm to the point right now where I wish I was running a spring marathon... that's how good I feel! Guess I just need to save these legs of mine for November. :)

Have a great weekend!

Sarah