Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Some life updates

I figured I haven't done just a general life update in a while so since I have a few minutes on my hand this morning, I figured why not?!

We're going to do this list style because, well, that requires less thinking and at this point, my brain is absolutely fried.

1. Marathon training is down to the last few weeks and to say I'm nervous would be an understatement. I keep second guessing myself and wondering if I should have done things differently but last night, I had an epiphany while talking to a friend. He was saying how he wanted to run double digit mileage for the first time ever and asked me for some advice. I told him to just go for it. Most of the time, your mind is the only thing holding you back and it's better to go out there and try and fail than never know. And then it hit me--I need to heed my own advice. So what if I go out there and bomb out on mile 20 and finish in an unacceptable (to me) time? As long as I cross the finish line, I'm a officially a marathoner and I can live the rest of my life knowing that I did something bigger than myself. Boom.





2. Peter's mom came in last weekend and we did a little sight seeing around the area and uhh, can we talk about how absolutely beautiful it is here right now? Summer is by FAR my favorite season but for these two weeks in fall, I can get down with some foliage.

A photo posted by Sarah Smith Carlson (@sarahc33) on

A photo posted by Sarah Smith Carlson (@sarahc33) on




3. Some potentially big news on the horizon. I don't want to go into full detail because I'm totally one of those overly superstitious people but as soon as it does (or does not) come to fruition, I'll let the cat out of the bag. ;)

4. I got word last week that I was selected to be a Momentum jewelry ambassador! Anyone who knows me knows just how big of a deal this is because I wear my momentum jewelry EVERY. SINGLE. DAY as a reminder that I'm a girl and I can kick some major booty. I'll be rocking everything I got for my marathon in November! More on this to come!



5. I've got my next certification coming up in December and I couldn't be more excited. In my quest for woman empowerment, I'll be getting certified in Rape Aggression Defense (RAD). I've taken this course several times as a student and am beyond happy that in a couple of months I'll be able to teach it to others. It's wonderful training and something I think EVERY woman should take at some point in their life. It gets you mentally and physically prepared for a potential attack... and although it's something that you HOPE you  never have to use, I know I feel safer having the training in my back pocket in case I need to break it out one day.

So, there you have it! A few updates from my world. Hope to be back on Friday for my favorites from the week before I head off to Roanoke for my next girls weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

Sarah


Thursday, October 15, 2015

Thinking Out Loud

Happy Thursday! It's fall break around here and we have been cleaning and organizing our building non-stop since Monday! Needless to say, that's why there have been ZERO updates. ha.

I have a few minutes to pop in this morning though so let's do a little thinking out loud.

Linking up with Amanda from Running With Spoons!



1. I think I mentioned it on here last week but for as long as I can remember, everyone from around my area in the small, small, SMALL corner of Southwest Virginia have been driving an hour and a half for the nearest Turkey Trot in our area. Ridiculous, right? We've hit an absolute running BOOM around here and instead of complaining about it for another year, I decided that it's finally time I do something about it. So, enter the Dairy Queen Turkey Day 5K. 


I'm so unbelievably excited for this race! I hope we have a good turnout and can keep it up in the future. I'm nervous because this will be the first race I've done without the help of a big college behind me but at the same time, I'm excited for the possibilities that leaves me!  So as if I didn't have ENOUGH going on......... ;)

2. Speaking of running, my long run on Saturday sucked. As in, sucked so bad I only did half. Of 20. Ugh. I knew this was going to happen at some point in my training cycle but man... it's definitely made me feel a little discouraged this week. Top that with a bad race last weekend and I'm a little bummed out. But, that being said, it's only made me want to work even harder this week. I have no idea how Richmond is going to go and I'm going in it with no mindset whatsoever toward racing... simply finishing. That in itself will be an accomplishment and I'm not going to beat myself up over whatever happens on November 14th. So, here's to my final month! AHHHH.

3. Today is my Friday. That in itself deserves it's own point. ;)

4. Peter & I have been on the house hunt and man.. it's both exciting and SUPER frustrating! I feel like there's no middle ground around here. I just want to be able to paint walls when I want to paint walls. ha.

5. The leaves are on POINT this week in Southwest Virginia. Summer is by FAR my favorite season but I can't lie--I can get down on some fall weather. But winter? Please stay far, far away. I don't know if I'm ready for another one like last year.


A photo posted by Sarah Smith Carlson (@sarahc33) on

A photo posted by Sarah Smith Carlson (@sarahc33) on
6. And let's end with the fact that I basically have a love affair with my Saucony Triumph's. This is my third pair this year (probably should be on my 5th or 6th...) and they do not disappoint. Ever. So glad I let the sales lady talk me into these shoes. I'm pretty sure the best day in any runner's life is when their new pair of shoes comes in. Okay, maybe that's just me. But these feel HEAVENLY.

Have a great Thursday folks! I'll try and be back tomorrow but no promises! The Mother-in-Law is coming in and we've got a "Woodbooger" festival to go to! (Don't ask. ha)

Sarah

Friday, October 9, 2015

Friday Favorites!

I know I say this every week, but TGIF! 

Time for some Friday Favorites!

Linking up with Heather, Jill, and the Virginia Bloggers today!


1. A few weeks ago, I signed up for a chance to become an ambassador for Momentum jewelry because, well, the bracelet I bought while I was in Florida back in April is legitimately the ONLY piece of jewelry I wear (besides my wedding rings, of course ;)). I absolutely LOVE what they stand for. I'm all about empowering women through fitness and this company totally speaks to my soul. Well, long story short, I got accepted! So flipping excited! More to come on this at a later date. :)


2. Okay, okay. I hate jumping on the pumpkin spice bandwagon because to be honest, I'm not a huge fan BUT... the pumpkin pie quest bars? Uhhhh..... go buy one. One of my clients surprised me with one last week and I've been obsessed ever since. 


3. Well, as if I didn't have enough going on right now (grad school, marathon, full time job, teaching class.... the list goes on!), I decided that my little part of the state of Virginia needed a Turkey Trot. And so.. that's what I'm going to do! This has never really been an issue before because I'm usually out of town for Thanksgiving but for the last 2, I've been home and the closest Thanksgiving morning race? An HOUR AND A HALF away! Ain't nobody got time for that. So.. sometimes, if you want to change something, you just have to do it yourself. ;) I'm currently in the process of planning the "Turkey Day 5k" and our tagline? Run like a beast, before you feast. ;) We're a little rushed this year but I hope that we can turn this into something BIG. Thankfully, my mom and dad GRACIOUSLY agreed to sponsor the race through Dairy Queen so all of our proceeds will go to a local homeless shelter in desperate need of supplies! I'm so excited and will post more details soon! 

4. I'm super obsessed with red velvet anything right now. I made Peter red velvet pancakes for our anniversary breakfast and they were the BEST! And so easy! And then last night, I decided to experiment with a red velvet/PB2 mug cake. I added a few white chocolate chips in and it was heavenly. Someone get me away from all the sweets! ha. 


5. Well folks, we're officially less than 40 days away from my first marathon! I'm currently a mixture of nerves and stress with an occasional bout of doubt. I've got my next 20 miler tomorrow and I've been feeling SLIGHTLY under the weather this week so I'm not quite sure how it's going to go. But either way, I think more than anything at this point I'm ready to just get this thing over with! Ughhhh. Come on Richmond!


I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Sarah

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

TOTR: Novelty Races

It's Tuesday, we've had a solid 2 days of no rain, and next week will be the midpoint of the fall semester. No complaints from me.



Today's topic for Tuesday's on the Run is a fun one--novelty races! At this point, I feel like I've done just about all of them--color runs, glow runs, zombie runs...but my favorite? Obstacle course races, specifically Spartan Races.



I've talked Spartan before but until you do one, you have NO idea just how seriously awesome they really are. I went in to my first Spartan race last March thinking that it was just another race. And I was totally wrong.

Spartan is its own community of runner's and it's... the best. There's no other way to put it. Everyone is so encouraging, so helpful, so BADASS--literally everyone has that mindset of "go big or go home", which makes me love it even more.



And if that's not enough, the races are HARD. I've done several of the other big time OCR races and not one compares to a Spartan. Spartan races challenge you physically, mentally, emotionally--by the time you are done, you're absolutely exhausted in every form and fashion. But the sense of accomplishment is like no other. I'm assuming that's probably how I'll feel after my marathon next month. I hope!



I've been thinking a lot about my next goal after the marathon and as soon as I ran the Virginia Super a couple of months ago, I knew IMMEDIATELY my next goal was the Spartan Trifecta. In order to get the Trifecta, you have to a sprint (shortest), Super (middle), and Beast (longest) in one calendar year. And on top of that, I've decided that I want to do the absolute hardest ones out there. I'm still debating on which Sprint but I've got my eyes on the Virginia Super for a second year in a row and  the Vermont Beast--the best of the best.



So if you get nothing else out of this post, the point is that you should go do a Spartan race... immediately. You won't regret it and I promise, no matter how bruised and banged up you are when you finish, you'll want to do it again.



You'll "know" at the finish line.

Sarah




Friday, October 2, 2015

Friday Favorites: One Year Anniversary Edition

Happy (rainy) Friday ya'll! I feel like this week has absolutely flown by... has it for anyone else?!

Anyway, I'm linking up for Friday Favorites wtih Heather, Jill, and the Virginia Bloggers.


Seeing as Sunday is my one year anniversary (!!!), I'm doing a special edition of my Friday Favorites.

(First of all, how is it even remotely possible that I've been married a year?!)



So, marriage. It's still weird for me to say I'm married. Not because I'm not proud of it (I am!) but because marriage seems like SUCH a grown up thing and I still feel like I'm 18 trying to find my place in this world some days. If you would have told me five years ago I'd be the first of my friends to say I do, I would have laughed uncontrollably in your face. I wasn't really dating, had no intention of settling down, and was enjoying my final year of college (a bit too much!).

But then.... Peter came into the picture. We had been friends before but suddenly, things started taking a different direction. And to be honest, at first, I was kind of annoyed. ha. I had no intentions of getting tied down... like, none. Zilch. Zero. But the more we talked and got to know each other, the more I started falling for him. And finally, one day, we both admitted we had feelings for each other. Unfortunately, that was the day he left for camp in Pennsylvania for the summer. Ha. Go figure, right?

And to be honest, that camp was the best thing that could have ever happened to Peter and I. We spent all summer long talking and getting to know each other. There was no pressure. I can remember looking forward to every night--we talked about any and everything. So when he finally did come home for the summer and we finally went on the first date we'd been talking about for quite some time.. it was... easy. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous and totally downed a shot of tequila to calm my nerves but still--we sat and talked for HOURS that night and everything just clicked.



The rest as they say, is history. 

And almost a year ago, we tied the knot. Our wedding day was one of the absolute best days of my life. Up until that Friday, I was stressed beyond belief but once we got to the rehearsal dinner with all of our friends and family, it was the most fun weekend I've ever had. 



We drank, we laughed, we danced, we drank some more, we laughed some more... all weekend was just.... incredible.

drunken madness!

Any our wedding day? I know a lot of brides have talked about how rushed and stressful it was but man... mine was the most relaxing day I think I've ever had! Everything was planned, all of the details were taken care of.. all I had to do was show up in a white dress. ;)



The first thing I did on my wedding morning? Run, of course. Our wedding date was 10/4 so I figured I'd better not run 10.4 miles and went with 4.10 instead. Close enough, right? I remember thinking very clearly on the treadmill just how much my life was going to change in the next 24 hours and really savored my last little bit of 'me' time for a while.



And after that? It was go time. Hair and makeup, packing, scrambling to make sure we grabbed everything from the hotel to take to the venue and then arriving... and waiting. We arrived about 4 hours early so the photographer could take some pictures and get set up and it was the most fun time ever. My bridesmaids and I had a blast. We played hangman. We took pictures. We danced. We took shots. It was so much fun. I'll never forget it.





All of the sudden, it was 4:45pm and it was time for Peter & I do to our first look--which I'm beyond thankful we did. I loved getting to have some alone time with Peter right before all of the hoopla. I can remember walking down the steps behind him and being so nervous! But as soon as he turned around and saw me, everything was right with the world.




Just like that, an hour later or so later, we were pronounced husband and wife and danced the night away with the people we love most. It was the most magical day and everything I hoped for and more.




A year later and I still feel the same way about Peter and our relationship as I did that first Saturday in October. But you know what? I'm not here to say that marriage is all rainbows and butterflies and ours certainly is no exception.



I think when it comes right down to it, marriage is a lot like running. In the beginning, you can do no wrong. It's all you want to do when you wake up and all you think about when you go to sleep. Your legs are fresh, it's something new everyday, and the runner's high is out of this world. But then, once you become a seasoned runner, you realize that not every run is going to be a good one. There will be mornings you wake up and the last thing you want to do is get out of bed, put on running shoes, and log 10 miles. But even on those runs, in the end, it's so worth it. I never quit running after a bad run.. I always come back to running because it's one of my biggest passions. Good times and bad.



Just like our marriage.

Of course there are days we want to kill each other but nothing in life is perfect and if our marriage was perfect, it would be FREAKING boring. You know? :)

And plus, all of the good times FAR outweigh the bad. Just like running.

I don't remember the bad runs, I remember the magical ones. I remember the 1:36 half marathon, I remember the first time I ran a sub 22 minute 5k, heck, I even remember the first mile I ever ran!

I'm so grateful for my relationship with Peter and everything we've done so far and everything we still have yet to come. It's a beautiful thing and I'm so blessed for the man I've been calling my "dawg" since day one.

Here's to many more years and many more miles.



Happy Anniversary, dawg.

Sarah

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

TOTR: My First 20-miler.

I feel like every time I start a post on Tuesday's on the Run lately, it starts out with, "I just set a new PDR!"

ha. 

Well, here it is again folks--I JUST  A NEW PDR!!

Linking up for Tuesday's on the Run!




So, I alluded to how my marathon training was going last week and although it's kicking my butt week in and week out, I'm constantly learning that you know what? I might just be able to do this whole 26.2 mile run thing. And Sunday was a HUGE confidence booster toward that. 

I normally do my long runs on Saturday but due to some conflicts (i.e., I had to help out with a race), I made the switch to Sunday this week. Not exactly ideal since I don't like taking Mondays off from running but I'm realizing more and more that the big thing with training for marathon is learning to be flexible. So, Sunday it was.

I lucked out this weekend and found a friend willing to bust out 10 with me so I got up early, knocked out 10 on my own and then as soon as I was done, drove a few minutes to the next town over to meet up with her for the final 10.

The first 10 was pretty uneventful because well, I did them on the treadmill. I know some people are totally against the treadmill but it's really been a big help for my running this last year. And hello, I was watching the Food Network the entire time. ;) 

Once I finished up, I rushed to meet my friend who is slightly quicker than me (a good thing!) and we set off. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather. Not very hot, kind of cloudy, and we even got rained on a bit which cooled it down even more. The route was one I hadn't ran before so that helped the 10 miles go by fairly quickly.

One thing I'm still struggling with is fueling. And hydrating. As I've said before, I've never had to fuel for a run before and I didn't do a great job on Sunday either. As we got toward the end of the run, I could tell my body needed an extra boost, which I'm pretty sure I could have avoided had I fueled properly. You live and learn though, right? I have two more 20 milers so I still have some time to tweak my plan. Any suggestions?

Anyway, back to the run. We stopped once for a water break but other than that, we kept up a pretty decent clip for the entirety of the run. Minus the fueling issue, the run was a HUGE confidence booster for me. I think I intimidated myself from the get-go thinking about the fact that it was TWENTY MILES. I mean, who does that?! Well, me now apparently. Before the run, I was still having major doubts about this marathon and the possibility of me completing it. After the run, I KNOW I can finish it. I may not run the entire time and I may not hit sub-4 (my dream) but I have no doubt that I'll at least cross the finish line... and let's be honest, that's what really matters. 

And my mental game was strong too on Sunday. I took the run 1 mile at a time and that seemed to help. When I think about the bigger picture, I get overwhelmed but taking it in small increments definitely made it easier. And not to mention I had someone to talk to. Maybe I need to convince someone to run Richmond with me solely to keep me entertained. ha. Any takers?!


Anyway, my average pace for the 20 ended up being between 8:30-8:35 so I'll take that. If I can manage to keep it under 9 for 26.2 miles, I"ll be a happy camper. 

Physically after we finished, I felt okay. Not great but not nearly as bad as I felt after my very first half marathon. ha. I felt a little light headed (again, FUELING!) but my legs didn't feel SUPER tired. I think what saved me was the fact that I kept moving for the rest of the day.

My stats for the day.
So there you have it. My first 20 miler. A pretty boring recap but it's kind of hard to make 20 miles seem interesting. ha. Basically all you need to know is.... I SURVIVED!!

Also, Sunday I took a look at my mileage for the year to see where I'm at toward my goal of 2015 miles in 2015.

And you know what?! I'm less than 140 away! Meaning, I should hit it in the next month and a half or so! CRAZY! I knew I'd run a lot this year but man. As of this morning, I've ran 1882 miles--basically the distance from my small town in the Southwest corner of Virginia to Salt Lake City, UT. Not too shabby, right?!

Here's to my last 140 miles!

Happy Tuesday Ya'll!

Sarah

Friday, September 25, 2015

Friday Favorites

I have to be honest--I love sunshine but man, sometimes it's pretty great to have just a classic, old school, rainy day. I seem to be the most productive when it rains so hopefully that holds true today--I've got a LOT of work to do!

Before I get to work though, I'm linking up with Heather, Jill, and the Virginia Bloggers for my Friday Favorites!


1. Okay, okay... I'm like a broken record on this one but my job is almost ALWAYS one of my favorites because each week it brings something new and exciting! I feel so blessed to come into work each day and do what I love and this week was no exception. Yesterday I had the opportunity to go workout with 60+ kids and it was AMAZING. I always feel like I'm terrible with kids but man... they were so much fun! I had a blast, they had a blast... I think we may be asked back. ;) And on Wednesday, I took my Power Hour class outside and did some OCR type exercises (walls, tire flips, stadiums, etc) and they absolutely KILLED it. These ladies are all a little older than me but man, I felt like a proud parent. They've been with me since the beginning of summer and I've grown to absolutely love this class and my core group in it. They inspire me each and every week.

2. This one is along the same lines of my first favorite but I just HAD to single it out because it basically made my entire week. After our workout with the kids yesterday, a boy around the age of 7 came up and started talking to me and as he was leaving he told me "I'm pretty sure you're stronger than my dad." hahahaha. BEST. COMPLIMENT. EVER.



3. I mentioned them last week but the sweet potato brownies I've been making are FREAKING DELICIOUS! Seriously! And fyi--they are ESPECIALLY good when you heat them up and add artic zero ice cream.. and chickpea cookie dough dip... just sayin'. I got the recipe from here but made a few changes based on the ingredients I have in my kitchen. I subbed honey for the maple syrup, used PB2 instead of cashew butter, added a few chocolate chips (duh), and added a tad bit of splenda. If you have some extra sweet potatoes laying around (and let's be honest, if you're a runner/healthy living blogger/smart person) you have some in your kitchen. ;)

4. I posted the picture below on my instagram feed the other day but had to share here too. Three years ago this week I ran my first half marathon... and legitimately hated every minute of it. I got to mile 10 and was basically cursing any and everything in sight. And not to mention my body was not happy. I finished in 2:28 minutes. Three years and 4 half marathons later, I made #5 that very same race. This year I finished in 1:42 and have a half marathon PR of 1:36. I love this sport even on the days I hate it. It's taught me so much about myself and given me the confidence to achieve things in all areas of my life.



5. Speaking of throwbacks, this time last year I was just about a week out from my wedding! Next Sunday is my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Can we talk about time flying?! I so wish I could go back to this day over and over and over again. :) The picture below is one of my favorites--we decided to go for the "first look" and I'm so glad we did. I remember how much it calmed my nerves seeing Peter before all of the craziness. It was such a special moment and one I'll never forget. I vividly remember thinking, "Wow, so I guess this means we're officially grown-ups now." ha. I don't know why that thought came to me but it did. I love this man.



Have a wonderful weekend! I've got 20 miles on the schedule per my marathon training plan. YIKES!

Sarah