Ramblings – The Celiathlete

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020

SURPRISE!!

Just over two weeks ago, with the help of her family, I was able to surprise my best friend since third grade for her 40th birthday!

Because, let’s face it…40 is one of the big ones and should be celebrated!

Heather…should be celebrated!

First of all, if you have been reading my blog, you probably have some idea of who Heather is. She is one of my loudest friends. AND…one of my biggest cheerleaders. While she can’t make it to every race, she has been at most of the big ones and the important ones. And when she’s not…she’s tracking me and screaming at me from Minnesota. Because that’s Heather. A ride or die to the end.

So, when the opportunity arose to give her a great 40th birthday…I couldn’t pass it up!

THE PLAN

29673C73-195B-473B-81A0-CFE49772E587 — Running before 1:30 am is CRAZINESS!

It all started with a plan, hatched by her brother and her parents. The plan was to fly up to Minnesota the Friday of her birthday weekend (her birthday fell on a Saturday)…arriving early so that Chad, her brother, could pick me up at the airport prior to coming by the house. He had told her to take the day off of work because they were going to do something together that day. The night before, Chad and I made the last minute plans for airport pickup (basically I told him when my flight would be there and he sent a picture of his truck…complete with snow in the background!!).

Went to bed early. Got up super early to fit in the last training run for that week. I was taking the rest of the weekend off because it should be all about Heather…and running in January in Minnesota sounds awful. HA! BUT…I didn’t post my usual Instagram stories that morning. I acted like it was my usual rest day and I was sleeping in and just gearing up for a regular work day. I even put on clothes that looked like work clothes. The things we do to surprise our friends.

D0FBA203-C838-41CF-B0E7-FB3DA572A76A My roommate got up 2 hours earlier than usual to drive me to the airport. I got there right as security was opening and I could stroll right up because I just had a carry-on with me this time. I killed a lot of time walking the hall (there is only one) connecting the terminals in Louisville…but when my plane was set to board…I was happy to be one of the first groups to get on the plane. I even had an exit row seat so a bit more leg room to boot. And at 6:32 am…the plane pushed back and we took off to Minneapolis!

The flight went fast. We were given drinks (I had water…but coffee was tempting) and Delta has KIND bars (WOOT…GLUTEN FREE!) to snack on. Which was good, because I had eaten breakfast after my run and shower…so around 3:30 am. It turns out, my pilots speed (just kidding…I think we had a tailwind), because we landed in Minneapolis WAY ahead of schedule. Like at least 30 minute early. I got off the plane and called Chad…who was getting his car washed, putting gas in his car, and having to navigate traffic. BUT…I walked the terminal and went down to baggage claim and put on a jacket…and waited for his truck to pull up to pick me up.

He showed up, came around to give me a hug and put my suitcase in the back…and we were off!

THE SURPRISE

Chad came up with the way it would all play out. He would park his truck and while he went inside through the garage (the normal way)…I would wait outside for two minutes…and then ring the doorbell. In his conversation he would then say, “Heather, you better get the door…that’s your birthday present.”

And…that’s what we did.

Lunch from Twin City Grill at the Mall of America

Never in my life have I been hauled into a house and hugged so hard.

She was so surprised. And that was the whole point. We hauled my luggage inside and she offered me very necessary coffee. Caribou Coffee at that. If you know me…you know I love Caribou Coffee…but all the places nearby that had it turned into Peet’s Coffee. And it’s not the same. Minnesota still has Caribou Coffee.

We sat around the house for a bit…drank coffee…and then she went and got herself ready. And we were off. To The Mall of America.

YAY!

We did a lot of walking there. OH…and hit up Caribou Coffee for some non-caffeinated goodness. We shopped. We discovered there was a pop-up Third Love store (yes…the bras that are advertised on all the podcasts) so we went and tried those on. She changed out jeans at Macy’s. We just had a good time. OH…and we grabbed lunch at Twin City Grill at the Mall of America. I had a salad. They were prepared to make me a burger with a gluten-free bun…but they didn’t have a vegetarian/vegan option. No Impossible Burger…no Beyond Burger…but I love salads and got their Garden Salad. I asked for no cheese. They left the cheese on. I took a Lactaid…it was fine. Heather got the Baja Burger with the famous (I wish they had been gluten free) Salt ‘N Vinegar Fries.

While we were at the mall, I had called my 98 year old grandpa and left him a message to let him know I was in town and would LOVE to stop by. He was in water aerobics at the time (you read that right…my grandpa is the BEST!), but he called me back and said he’d be home the rest of the afternoon. Heather totally remembered where he lived, which is typical Heather, and got us there without using a GPS. BONUS…my Aunt Jan was home early from work. We settled down in the living room to chat for a bit…and just had a great time getting caught up. I couldn’t stop smiling. I made sure to snap some photos before we had to hit the road back to Heather’s home.

Grilled Tofu Healthy Bowl from Tavern 4 & 5

Her parents wanted to go out to eat so Heather recalled seeing some gluten-free options at one of their favorite places, Tavern 4 & 5. I got their Grilled Tofu Healthy Bowl (gluten free meant NO plum sauce). So it was a bowl of quinoa, “power” greens salad, fresh steamed chef’s choice of vegetable from the local farmers, and the protein – in my case the Tofu. Heather got one too…which is how we knew the original plate that came out to me came with the plum sauce…so we had to send it back and have it remade…which they did. And the food was delicious.

We returned back to the house…and Heather made this ginger drink with gluten free vodka and we went down to the basement where she started me on some of her favorite Hallmark Christmas movies. This bit of information will come in play later. I had been up since 1:30 that morning…and I was starting to drift off…so I went to my room, posted my Instagram stories I saved until Heather knew I was there…and went to sleep.

The following morning, I woke up to use the bathroom….play on my phone…go back to sleep…and then finally emerge.

BREAKING BIRTHDAY

It was decided, by the birthday girl herself, that we (Heather, me, Chad, Chelsea (her

Birthday Breakfast Omlette (with ALL the avocado)

sister-in-law), and the three kiddliewinks) would all meet up at a local ice skating rink (it’s Minnesota and outside, mind you!) to skate for maybe an hour on the big day. I was a bit nervous about it. First of all, I hadn’t been on the ice for 10 years (the last time I skated was on top of a department store in Dublin, Ireland). Secondly, I would be using rental skates. Third…I’m a marathon runner and while I’m sort of in a down season at the moment…for years I have avoided situations where I might do any sort of damage to myself accidentally.

I figured, if nothing else, I could stick close to the wall, get a feel for the ice…and maybe make a round or five before heading to the warming house and just hanging until everyone else was done.

After a delicious “build-your-own” omlette breakfast, compliments of Heather’s mom…we started to layer up and get ready to head out to the ice rink we would be skating at that day. We would be meting Chad, Chelsea, and the kids there.

Me rethinking life decisions in rental skates!

We all set out and I very timidly stepped out onto the ice. And my first thought was, “Man…if I get hurt, Daniel is going to kill me!” Daniel, for any new readers, is my running coach. BUT…I slowly minced my way around the patchy ice, slowly being able to find a bit more of a glide and getting a bit more comfortable with it. Heather and I took a few photos after my second or third trip around…and then she took off with my camera to film a lap.

And that’s when things went terribly wrong.

I came skating around a turn and found her laying on the ice gripping her arm. She was hurting. BAD! She told her nephew to go get Chad and soon, Chad was on his way…getting her up off the ice and having her sit down so he could assess everything. Heather has an amazing family to support and love on her. Honestly. Chad helped her skate off the ice. When the medical staff came running and saying they called an ambulance, he had them call that off…there were plenty of us there who could take her to urgent care. He got her settled into the warming building and helped get her out of her hoodie. He had her move her arm. And all of this had to have been super painful for Heather. And she gritted her teeth and did it. A staff medial member came over with a sheet to inquire about the accident, which Chelsea went ahead and took from him and filled out with a little help from Heather.

Chelsea also went up to the snack bar to get a water and a Powerade for Heather to have to drink. I went with her and gave her a little hug. It was just not the birthday celebration any of us were anticipating that morning. We did pack up everything while Chad went to go grab Heather’s car. We carried everything out, got Heather into the passenger seat, and Chad drove Heather and I to Urgent Care. He dropped us off at the front door so he could park the car, and I walked her in, got her insurance card and ID out, filled out the paperwork, and returned it just a moment before she was called back. Chad joined us right then. Good timing.

The nurse had her up on the table to start with…but after sitting there for a long amount of time, and having Chad move to block the mirror so she couldn’t see her elbow, Heather eventually worked her way down to the chair. They did bring in an ice pack and some pain meds for her, which she took and I helped hold the ice pack for her.

The doctor came in to take a look at it and just sort of give a surface inspection of it. He ordered X-Rays, but we needed to wait for the pain meds to kick in. So, we did that. And about 20 minutes later, they came and got her to take her back for the X-Rays. Chad and I chilled in the exam room until they brought her back. She made herself comfortable in the chair again and we awaited the doctor again. He came in shortly after and pulled up the images…starting with the back of her arm. It didn’t look bad at that angle. THEN…he flipped to the side view.

We all winced a little and went…”OOOOOH!” It was a VERY obvious break. Very obvious. But it was a clean break…not a shatter…so that was the good news. The doctor went to see if his surgeon had called back, because this would definitely entail surgery. When he did return with the news…surgery was necessary…but not that day. It could wait until after the weekend and they would split her up and give her a prescription to help with the pain…and she would have a surgical consult on Monday morning.

Heather was very worried about what this would mean for her and her job as far as being able to do it. Chad and I told her not to worry about that right now. He went to pull the car around and I went to help her get out to the car safely, in the process dropping my phone at least 3 times. It made her laugh…a little. We then made our way to Walgreens to pick up the prescription and a cast protector so that she could take a shower. And then…we went home.

THE OTHER SURPRISE

39A79C50-C88A-48FD-9EB2-49C152B80690 As if having a broken elbow on your birthday wasn’t enough of a shock to the system…the next element of Operation Heather Turns 40 was announced…just so that she would know what was coming. All the family and friends who could be there were coming that evening to celebrate. So, Heather went to settle into a bed to chill and get a feel for the splint and the occasional bolt of pain that would hit. We started upstairs, but eventually made our way downstairs, letting her get comfortable on her own bed, stacking up pillows as needed and making sure she was set. I settled in on the other side and we watched a lot of Laura Osnes Videos. And maybe another Hallmark Movie. Perhaps. I don’t remember. If you don’t know who Laura Osnes is…you were like me, but prepare to look into her. She’s amazing. She’s a Broadway star…she was in the musical Cinderella, Bonnie & Clyde, and others. And her voice is AMAZING. She’s very talented. It’s what Heather needed…until we needed to get her ready for the party. 9C5A7E65-596C-4743-B9B5-B7169A3AA26D

I helped her change her shirt. Her mom helped her curl her hair and do her makeup. And when she was ready…we got her upstairs and got her settled on the couch with her arm propped. Everyone arrived. It was a great time. Everyone got to have time with Heather and I got to meet SO many people who told me that they had heard a lot about me or seen my photo on Facebook. I was having a good time. Between Chelsea and I, we were making sure Heather had food, cake, and something to drink. Chelsea was even kind enough to pick up a gluten-free cake for me to have as well so I could be part of the celebration. Told you…her family is amazing. AND…even though I’m a vegetarian, they had PLENTY of options for me to choose from as well. I hadn’t eaten lunch that day (I was going to have a salad once Heather got settled in…but I totally didn’t get around to it and by the time I remembered it was party time anyway), so I feasted on LOTS of veggies, a potato, and some chips with a plant-based dip. It was awesome. And…of course…cake.

IMG_9979a Gifts were opened. Lots of different discussions were happening. And Heather was smiling. And after all she had gone through that day…that’s the best thing ever!

As the party was winding down and everyone started to leave, I got Heather downstairs and settled in and went to go take a shower. We watched a Hallmark Christmas Movie until she started to fade. I set her up with a cowbell to ring if she needed me and made sure she had water, her medicine, and whatever else nearby. She never rang the bell all night.

TIME TO GO

Sunday morning was really laid back. I woke up around 5 and Heather woke up when she heard me moving around. I went to keep her company for a bit. She dozed in and out as we watched a few more Hallmark Movies…until she needed to get up. We went upstairs where I brewed coffee and her mom made us a breakfast out of leftovers. I made sure I had my stuff packed after I changed out of my pajamas.

Heather went to go take a shower and I helped out by sorting her laundry for laundry day. I moved everything into the laundry room and then went back upstairs to hang out for a little bit. Her mom made an early dinner for me and soon they were packing up the car and taking me to the airport. There were absolutely NO lines at security, so I had some time to walk the terminals, get some chocolate, buy some local treats, and grab my last cup of (decaf) Caribou Coffee.

I boarded the flight and headed home at 8:30 pm. I got into Louisville before midnight and Cathy was there to pick me up and drive us home.

This was definitely not the trip any of us envisioned when we plotted it all out…but Heather sure does know how to keep things interesting, right?

For the record, she had a successful surgery where they inserted a pin. This week, she was put in a removable splint and has started physical therapy. AND…she has finally gotten out of the house to go out to eat. She’s well on her way to a full recovery.

But…I did tell her that we need a do-over for sure!

December 20, 2019

Exciting Stuff Part 2

Again, this will come as no surprise to you if you already follow me on Facebook and Instagram. But, I feel the need to put it down in the blog. This year, I hope to settle in and blog about more things. Getting back into the writing groove when I posted about my training plan leading up to my BQ attempt (which I got) at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon.

And one thing that is going to help with that definitely has everything to do with this announcement.

I was selected to be a BibRave Pro.

What’s BibRave?

BibRave is a running community that was built to connect runners with the best races. You can research races you are considering putting on your race schedule…as well as leave feedback on races that you have completed. It is also a way for races and brands that are geared toward runners to connect with runners through their large ambassador network (which I am now a part of) as well as through #BibChat – which is a Twitter chat that happens once a month (starting in the new year).

I have applied for the opportunity to join this amazing family of people who honestly promote products and races, as well as just be an awesome member of the running community…FOUR times. I finally got it. And I couldn’t be more excited.

I’m learning all the basics right now, but stay tuned because I know there is some exciting stuff coming up this year!

August 25, 2019

Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #9

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicorn Ever feel like a week was out to get you? I felt that way the moment my coach sent through this week’s plan. It was stacked. It was asking a lot on my speed work days. It was challenging me. I knew it would require earlier bedtimes and early wakeup alarms. And I was prepared for it. But…it seemed the universe had other plans for me…

Let’s dive in…

Monday: INSTRUCTIONS: BASE RUN – 6-8 MILES – GOAL 7 MILES – EASY EFFORT – TRY NO WATCH AGAIN

After spending so much time last weekend in the heat and humidity, the last thing I wanted to do on Monday morning was get up and head out into the heat and humidity. I was happy to have the easy, recovery run. I got up and got dressed to head out on my run and…thunder and lightning started. I was NOT happy with that. I was prepared to head to the gym if needed, but it seemed to pass as I started my stretches. Without the sound of thunder or lightning flashes, I headed back out and just took it easy. My watch was covered…and I started to concern myself a little more with a strange white truck that would just pull around and park and sit…and it kept doing this. I ended up looping my mace over my hand just in case, but it ended up driving off and didn’t return as I finished up. Despite the late start, I got in an easy 7 miles. I was soaked because it was SUPER humid outside, so I went inside to shower and finish up my stretches with the additional hip strengtheners. I also met with Corey that afternoon for my personal training session. He had some fresh hell in store for me. Plyometrics. Box jumps. Push ups. LOTS. My knees and, strangely, my ribs felt those box jumps the rest of the week.

Tuesday: INSTRUCTIONS: MARATHON PACE – 1-2 MILES WU; 6-8 MILES MP; 1-2 MILES CD

What can I say? I really, really wanted to push myself on this and test my endurance. It was HUMID and close to 80 degrees at the start of this run…which happened to start prior to 3 am. No joke. I did go inside to get extra water and electrolytes and stopped just a few times to utilize them. But this run went better than I anticipated. Considering my legs were really feeling my personal training session, I was a bit nervous about how this would go. That being said, the longer warmup did help and once I got loosened up, I started to feel better and better. I did use my Aftershokz headphones again…and loved that when it started to get hard, John Parr’s “Man in Motion (St. Elmo’s Fire)” came on, followed immediately by this year’s theme song, Panic At The Disco’s “High Hopes.” It was enough to keep me going and pushing a little more. My iPod keeps dying though on some of these hotter runs, and at first I thought it was the headphones, but now I’m pretty certain it’s the iPod. Probably from the amount of sweat my body is producing. Can’t help that. But I got in just over 12 miles on a Tuesday morning. Went inside to shower and stretch.

Wednesday: INSTRUCTIONS: NO WATCH ALLOWED! FOCUS ON THE GOAL OF THE RUN = RECOVERY! GO AS FAR OR SHORT AS YOU NEED, AS FAST OR SLOW AS YOU NEED, WALK OR RUN AS YOU NEED.

Same run as last week. Same instructions. One month of it now. This time, however, I didn’t opt to go to spin class. I really wanted to go, but I needed to fit in a second round of my hip strengtheners AND…I had a major speed workout on Thursday, so I needed refreshed legs. My personal training session was cancelled because Corey comes over from Kentucky and…Trump was in town and shutting down roads. This is also why I didn’t get a soft pretzel. MEH! So, I put in 4 miles, just like the weeks before, and then showered, did my PT exercises and stretches with the additional hip strengthening stuff and called it a day. I was still sore in my knees (weird for me…my knees never bother me). I hope to get back to spin this coming week.

Thursday: TEMPO RUN – 1 MILE WU; 3X2 MILES AT TEMPO (7:20-7:50); 0.5 MILES RECOVERY; 1 MILE CD

If there was any doubt that this wasn’t my week…try waking up for the second time to thunder, lightning, strong winds, and heavy rain. It was insane. It was loud and violent enough that my friend, Melissa, texted me to make sure I wasn’t outside in the storm and if I was if she needed to come get me and take me home. Do I have amazing friends, or what? I kept hoping that the storms would pass, but they hung around all morning. So, I did my morning stretches and then got my stuff together and…drove through light rain, but the lightning and thunder, to the gym. Where I did my speed work…on the treadmill. This was a huge step for me. Running fast on a treadmill gives me A LOT of anxiety. But, my friend, Jim wasn’t able to swim due to the storms, so he came up and ran on the treadmill next to me and kept me company. I started off with an easy run and when that first mile was done, I pushed the speed up to 7:47. It was all I dared to do on the treadmill. In hindsight, I could have pushed it more, because I did get comfortable with this pace in the 2 mile pushes. When I started the first one, I really, really wanted to stop…but Jim was there…and that would be really stupid to stop so soon into the push. So, thanks to Jim…I actually did the workout as I should have. YAY! I was happy to have it done, and started to get some confidence back about working some speed and distance on the treadmill.

Friday: Per the usual…complete rest day. Sleep in. Shower. Stretch. Read. Drink coffee. Head into work. Get magical sushi. Prepare for Saturday long run. This is how I rest day. I take it super seriously. I used to think I could ignore actual rest. Do that “active recovery.” Let’s face it, friends…active recovery is basically not resting. IT. IS. OKAY. TO. TAKE. A. DAY. OR. TWO. OFF. I promise, you’ll actually be fitter for it. So, I kept it lowkey. I got my sushi. I stretched. I did it all…and I went to bed early so that I could get up early and head out for my long run. Alone. Again.

Saturday: INSTRUCTIONS: 17-20 MILE LONG RUN – EASY PACE – DON’T PUSH IT! AND PRACTIVE RACE-DAY FUELING STRATEGY.

Okay, first of all…this run was pretty much done at or under my marathon pace for MOST of the miles. But I honestly wasn’t pushing the pace at all. Not one bit. I wanted to be super careful because my left hip flexor is acting up after pushing some speed work for 9.5 miles on a treadmill during Thursday’s thunderstorms. The important takeaway from today was that I felt good. The temperature was perfect. The sun was out and the sky was clear, and yet it didn’t really wear me out or kill me on the run. I hit hills, because they make you stronger, right…with the hardest hills coming in the final three miles of this particular route. I felt good. I did practice my fueling and really think I have it nailed down. I am really thankful for finding Maurten and having something work SO WELL for me. I seriously have endless energy…even at the end of a run. I never crash. I never feel like I’m dragging. I can’t say enough good things about it. So, my pace might not look like I didn’t push it, but I honestly didn’t. I feel good about this. I am starting to have a phenomenal feeling about Monumental. Then I went and sat out in the sun to watch Louisville City FC win against North Carolina at Slugger Field. WOOT!

Sunday: INSTRUCTIONS: 3-4 MILES EASY, RECOVERY RUN. SLOW!!

I, surprisingly, felt pretty good on Sunday morning. I woke up, did my stretches and got ready to head out to chase my Sunday morning sunrise. I didn’t push any pace. I just took in the beautiful sky and headed up to the park to watch the sun come up over the lake. It’s my favorite Sunday summer tradition. It keeps happening later and later as the summer draws to a close. It makes me sad, because I used to be able to get it in before there was much traffic or people milling about. But not these days. I did get to wave and say good morning to three very attractive firefighters on my way into the park, so I count that as a win! I focused on the purpose of this run: recovery. The hip flexor was still slightly sore…but it felt way better today than yesterday. Will definitely do a couple rounds of rolling again today.

And with that…this week of training draws to a close. I’m proud of the effort I put in this week, and the miles that I managed to log. This was a stacked and really tough week. Again, I think that my coach is getting this out of the way now…so that when I’m on vacation, on a cruise, at Disney World…I can be a bit more relaxed with the training. Crossing my fingers anyway. Because a long run around a cruise ship is doable…but not my idea of a relaxing vacation.

Now I sit here and wait for what fresh hell this week brings. I hope you all are having a good training cycle this time around!

July 29, 2019

Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #5

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicorn This week. *SIGH* This week…was one big roller coaster. It started…going downhill…fast. Forget the climb. There was no climb. There was just this screaming, falling, helpless feeling that just sort of paralyzes you. But by the end of the week, save for having no one to long run with to pass the time, things were starting to turn around.

The highlight of the week…the cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

It was amazing.

And I think that’s why when Monday went off the rails…I couldn’t figure out a good reason for it. So, my coach and I are blazing a new path this coming week…so stay tuned for something completely different.

Until then…let’s take the plunge and then slowly climb out of the pit that was…this past week.

Monday: My Monday run is always a recovery run. Usually between 5-7 miles. And I always run it really well. Relaxed. Easy. Legs feeling good after a weekend of mileage demands. This run started off feeling harder than the pace reflected. I chalked it up to not being fully recovered from two long runs (both with a bit of a workout element to them…the harder one being the 3×4 miles in the middle of 15 miles on Sunday) that were done in Extreme Heat. It was one of the worst and hardest runs I have had in a very long time. Every mile got considerably slower. And, when all was said and done, I cut the run short by a mile and called it a day. I had a hard time accepting it. And it ate at me the rest of that day. I did my additional hip strengtheners with my stretches that morning and had personal training. And still…I couldn’t let it go. It wasn’t that my overall pace was slower than I prefer. Not at all. It was how hard the whole run felt when it was supposed to be easy. I felt like I was pushing pace and the pace wasn’t coming, but instead slowing down…mile after mile. It’s hard for me to let go of bad runs…and this was one of my worst.

Tuesday: Speed Work. The fresh hell that hits every week. I dread it. But I know it’s beneficial and will make me faster in the end. This week was the Flat Pyramid. I was to do a 1 mile warm up, then 400m-800m-1600m-1600m-800m-400m with 400m-800m recovery in between each one. This wasn’t too bad. The temperature that morning was once again…perfect. My left calf felt tight, but I figured it would loosen up. I felt like I was rolling on this one. But when my runs were done, my second 1600 was just CRAP. For real. Everything was actually slower than I felt they should have been. I wasn’t having it. It made me feel even worse coming off of the crash-and-burn run from Monday. I figured I should have been recovered by Tuesday. It was 7.5 messy miles. And I wasn’t happy. I let my coach know.

Wednesday: Easy, recovery miles. 3-4 of them. With the week I was having, I wasn’t holding my breath that this would feel good at all. But, something was different this morning. I managed to have a decent run. The entire thing felt easy. Right at base pace. Two of my miles were faster than I anticipated, but I wrapped up the run and I felt good. I felt like I was turning a corner. No personal training because my trainer had much more important things happening…but I did my additional hip strengtheners again with my daily stretches that morning. My coach wrote me back and said it seemed like I had just come out of a mental block and was back into one. He asked me some questions, and that resulted in a very long, very honest, very vulnerable response from me as to what I feel was going on.

Thursday: Speed Work day 2 and my coach was changing up the Tempo Run this week. After struggling time after time to hit the ladder tempos, he had me running the same amount hard, but this time with just 2 miles in each one. So 1 mile warm up, 3×2 miles with 0.5 miles recovery between, 1 mile cool down. I ended up grabbing a wrist band and covering my watch face. I didn’t set the pace intensity into the workout on my watch. I decided that it would be what it was that day. And I ran it well. I had to stop for a lot of traffic that morning. And I needed to stretch out my calf a couple of times ( that, btw, feels much better), but it was an impressive run. One that I was happy with. I hit the usual tempo pace he wants me to aim for and I didn’t obsess over it or consistently check my watch. No pressure. No expectations. I just let this one ride. And it worked. 9.5 miles with 6 of them at the proper tempo pace. YES!

Friday: Rest day. Recovery. Sleep in. Except…I haven’t been sleeping well. Which sucks. I didn’t get to stretch and then chill and read like I would have liked. But I did my best to relax. I checked in with people about long runs, both of which weren’t going to be able to run with me this weekend. It was also a half day at work. The original plan was to grab an easy lunch…maybe get grocery shopping done…My roommate and I did grab lunch and headed home. We ran some easy errands instead of going grocery shopping. But we did turn on Designated Survivor before I was going to cook dinner. Except, with 7 minutes left in the episode…the power randomly went out. I was 7 minutes away from cooking dinner. Power wasn’t back on by 5:30 (over an hour after it went out)…so we ended up having to go out to eat…again. We ended up at Dragon King’s Daughter for sushi. Sushi is one of my favorite pre-race, pre-long run meals. This was fine with me. It was just an unexpected expense that night.

Saturday: LONG RUN! I had a goal of 17-19 on the training plan. With the awful start to my week, I mentioned to my roommate that I was going to head out early and aim for 19…but I’d be fine if I just did 17. I used the Maurten 320 Drink Mix for the first time…and LOVED IT. I never crashed on this run. I felt strong the entire time. And yes…I managed 19 solo miles…and my pace stayed pretty consistent and even throughout. No stomach issues. I didn’t want to quit. I didn’t need to randomly stop just to breathe or berate myself for stopping. It was smooth. It was the run I needed to round out the week. And I felt good the rest of the day…refueling, recovering, and…finally grocery shopping (and shopping for my vacation in September too).

Sunday: Recovery run. 4 miles. Same run I did last week. It felt good. I ran a lot of hills on Saturday in my long run, and my legs were definitely feeling that, especially as I tackled one of my least favorite hills along the way. But, this run was exactly what it was supposed to be…easy, slow, recovery. And I got some great sunrise views (again…not sleeping well…so hopefully that changes this week).

So, yeah…this week started off rough, but it definitely ended on a high note. That being said, my coach is taking a WAY different approach with me this week in hopes of giving me the compete reset I need to get back into a proper mindset as I head into my fall marathon. Wish me luck. And stay tuned. Because, honestly, I think this is going to be fun.

July 21, 2019

Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #4

How can I describe this week? What word can I use that will basically sum everything up? Oh…I know…

HOT!

From mornings in the 80s to real feel temps in the triple digits…this week did everything it could to destroy me. I persevered, but I was wrecked at the end of it. But, let’s hear it for getting it done. Even if it wasn’t pretty. And even if it wasn’t perfect.

(And we all know that I’m a perfectionist because…Virgo…so that’s not easy for me to deal with).

So…how about we dive into the week that wrapped up my first month of training with today (Sunday, July 21, 2019), marking 16 weeks out from the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. So, let’s all settle into ice baths (HA…just kidding…I don’t do ice baths), stay cool, and review the events of this crazy week.

Monday: Every Monday, I pretty much have the same run. 5-7 miles (aiming for 6) and an easy recovery pace. It was 80 degrees at 3:30 am, so I knew that this wasn’t going to be a day where pace was even pushed. Once my legs warmed up and woke up, I fell into a natural stride and the easy pace started to finally feel good. I extended it to the full 7 miles for that reason. I went ahead and did my additional hip strengtheners during my stretches because I had just enough time to fit it in. And later that afternoon, I had my personal training session with Corey. And we had it outside. Which was super fun because it wasn’t overly humid out. Basically…a little bit of everything.

Tuesday: Hello, speed work. One of these days I hope to get to the track and see how I do on a flat track. But this week…it wasn’t going to work. Nope. Not one bit. The speed work this week was my favorite of the workouts that Daniel assigns: Mona Fartleks. These are fun and challenging and definitely keep it interesting. Mona Fartleks work like this: 2 mile warm up; 2×90 seconds, 4×60 seconds, 4×30 seconds, 4×15 seconds (with equal recovery time in between each rep); 2 mile cool down. I felt like I was moving faster than I apparently was. I blame the humidity.

Wednesday: It was a recovery day. A short, easy, deliberate pace for me. I got up at usual time though because I always try to fit in two days of my additional hip strengtheners, and they take some times. The shorter run did allow for this. And I took it easy on the run (somehow did negative splits…I can never do this when I try), and then got in the stretches and additional exercises. This morning, I also had my 6 year check-up with my dermatologist. He cleared me for another year, but did say that he wanted me to start running with a hat or do rag covering the top of my head. MEH. I hate how I look in hats, and my head gets really hot when I cover it with anything. But, my skin is more important, so I got on Amazon and placed an order from Buff, for both a hat and buff to use on my head. I had my second day of personal training with Corey this afternoon too. He had some serious fresh hell exercises ready for me.

Thursday: Welcome to Day #1 of the Extreme Heat Warning that was going to span the entire rest of the week. So, believe me when I say that I was looking forward to taking Friday off. It was HOT that morning. Around 80 degrees before the sun was up. MEH. I had 9 miles on tap. Nothing fast. Nothing hard. Just a base pace run. It wasn’t easy in air you can wear. Not at all. I was so soaked in sweat that morning that my running shorts wanted to fall off my hips. This sort of heat is serious business and people who downplay it are not smart people. Whether you react to it or not…it’s hot. Be safe. I survived, even though I looked like I had gone swimming.

Friday: Day off. Rest. Slept in. Showered. Stretched. Read some more of “Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered,” by the My Favorite Murder ladies – Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. If you don’t listen to that podcast…YOU NEED TO! If you haven’t read the book…YOU NEED TO! Trust me. Went to work that day. Then went out for some sushi at Dragon King’s Daughter…because it was too hot too cook and…we made it through a busy week…why not treat yourself a little? I love vegan sushi. It made me happy. Plus…it was not just good carb loading for my weekend ahead, but also had some additional sodium to prep for the heat.

Saturday: Long run day. One of them. Because we were back to some back-to-back workout runs that I did a couple of weeks ago. I met up with my friend Ron, on an extremely hot morning. It was real feel 90 degrees and we started at 6:30 am. Cathy got up early on a weekend to actually drop me off at the starting point, because she had a cooler full of cold water bottles and she was going to meet us at the turn-around point so we could cool off with cold water to drink and pour over us as needed. This was also my first time running in the ultra-light Buff hat. I still think it makes my head hot. I will fight you. Ron and I kept the pace easy, but challenging. And he’s really good about telling me to ease back on pace because sometimes I feel good and that helps me to keep out of the “now I feel like crap” zone that likely will come sooner rather than later. We did 10 miles together. His training ended there. I still had 2 more “fast finish” miles to go. MEH. I took another cold water break before I left to go and get those done. I knew in the heat that it would not be super fast, but the effort was there. Both miles were in the low 8s which is in my marathon pace zone…but definitely not the fast finish I can usual produce. Iced coffee, a shower, and some air conditioned shopping later…I started to feel recovered. With heat indexes in the triple digits, and me needing to not be dehydrated going into Sunday, we skipped the Louisville City FC match (we would have baked). I went to bed after watching Chernobyl on HBO (we started it on Wednesday night) and hoped to rest up because I was setting yet another early alarm.

Sunday: I had texted Daniel on Saturday afternoon regarding my Sunday workout. I knew it was going to be impossible. He told me to go off of effort and not pace. But even with effort, this run was pretty much impossible to do without multiple, numerous, sometimes air-conditioned stops. I loaded up a cooler when I headed out to put on the back of my car. It had one bottle of water to drink and one bottle to use to pour over my head. I had frozen two small (5 oz) bottles the night before to allow to melt while I was running so I could snag them from the pockets of my Nathan hydration vest and pour over my head if needed before I could get to a good point near my car. I looped this entire run. I wore the Buff as a do rag, despite being out before the sun was up. I just wanted to see if it made my head overheat. The jury is still out on that. But I died. I died so hard on this run. No mile came without a stop or two. My effort was not as hard as I would normally push. It makes me feel like I just can’t string together hard pushes in runs, even when racing, and it’s bothering me so much. I know that it was 90 degrees at 4 am this day…but it still bothers me on a fundamental level. Want me to feel out of shape…let me fail at a workout. And this one was the one that nearly killed me a couple of weeks ago. 1 mile warm up; 3×4 miles @ marathon pace (with 4 minutes recovery); 1 mile cool down. It was bad. It went completely off the rails for the second time. And I just need to prove to MYSELF that I can do these more challenging workouts. I’m tired of feeling like I failed or having people make me feel like I’m a failure for wilting in this heat. I drank water, finished off Chernobyl, and have been meal prepping ever since.

It was a rough week, friends. I just need things to start clicking. I need to start feeling excited, confident, and prepared. I’m not there right now. I’m not even excited. And that’s definitely not where I want to mentally be with 4 months to go. So, we’ll see what happens in this coming week.

Fingers crossed that the heat never gets this hot again. But it’s only July. So I won’t hold my breath.

July 15, 2019

Project BQ – Marathon Training Week #3

dreams-hopes-poster-rhino-treadmill-unicorn What a roller coaster of a week. It had ups and downs and lots of emotional spirals that had nothing to do with the training itself…but life. And people in my life. Funny how outside stuff can affect you in different ways. I will never learn that some people will always feel the need to try to tell me how to do things or what to feel…and some people will try to tear me down because they are unhappy with they are…and some people are just jackasses.

I’ve dealt with a lot of jackasses. When I’m down, I don’t need to be kicked. And when I’m up, I don’t need to be torn down.

With all that emotional baggage, let’s dive into this week.

Monday: Another Monday morning recovery run. He wanted this to be SLOW so my legs would be fresh for the first of two speed sessions this week on Tuesday. He gives me a range and asks me to aim for the middle of the mileage. My legs were a bit stiff from all the time on the treadmill at the hotel over the weekend, but once I found my stride, I felt good. I kept the pace conversational. This was a good run in and of itself and I ended up with the higher of the mileage range. 7 Miles total. I also wasn’t meeting with my personal trainer this week, so I felt like it would all balance out in the end. It can be a fine line between doing enough and overdoing it. I wanted to be very cognizant of how I felt each day and adjust as needed. I added my extra hip strengtheners into my morning PT exercises as well.

Tuesday: Speed work. God…I hate speed work. I value it and why it is part of a training plan (especially one where I need to be able to hit and maintain a certain pace)…but it doesn’t come easy for me. Ever. And this week, Daniel was hooking me up with some FRESH HELL. My first ever 1600 Flat Pyramid workout. This is what that looks like: 1 Mile WU; 400m-800m-1600m-1600m-800m-400m; 1 Mile CD. I was instructed to do a 400m-800m recovery jog in between each rep. And the effort on the reps should be “controlled hard” and likely faster than tempo pace, but not quite as fast as rep pace where I get a full recovery. It wasn’t fun. I wasn’t a fan. But I got it done. And I felt powerful at the end of it. I squeezed in my second day of the additional hip strengtheners to the morning stretches and PT exercises.

Wednesday: Wednesday turned into a replay of Monday’s run. So, I ran it exactly as I had done on Monday. 7 Miles. Slow. Easy. This one ended up being a bit faster than the run I did on Monday…and I was pretty certain that would come back to bite me the following morning. That being said, I was hoping that my time stretching and foam rolling would help counterbalance that. I wasn’t checking my watch constantly, because that’s a bad habit that I don’t want to have…so I ran by feel. I ran too fast. No personal training this week…so that was it for Wednesday.

Thursday: Speed Work Session #2. And it was a damn Ladder Tempo that I have yet to master. This is the third time that Daniel has given me this particular workout, and it always seems to fall on the warmest morning of the week. This was the same. It was almost 90 degrees before the sun came up that day. The Ladder Tempo works like this: 1 Mile WU; 3 Miles @ Tempo; 0.5 Miles Recovery; 2 Miles @ Tempo; 0.5 Miles Recovery; 1 Mile @ Tempo; 1 Mile CD. The tempo part he wanted me to aim for a pace between 7:20-7:50, but to adjust as needed to run by feel in the heat/humidity. I’m not good at altering things when paces are assigned. And after the 2nd Mile of the first tempo…I paused and went inside to grab 2 bottles ice cold water…one to drink in addition to the water with Nuun in my hydration pack, and one to pour over my head. I made plenty of stops to pull these out of the cooler and attempt to keep cool when I was dying. I don’t mean to complain about the heat…and normally I wouldn’t…but the heat is KILLING me this year. And it’s mentally draining when I’m struggling to hit paces that never used to be this hard.

Friday: Rest Day. I stretched. I hydrated. I had my friend Michelle over for dinner, wine (I didn’t drink much because of a long run the next morning). I stayed up late. I laughed a lot. I needed every moment of that. Even if it meant I went into my long run a bit sleep deprived.

Saturday: Long Run. I had 16-17 on tap this week. My friend Christine had 14…so we arranged it so that we could do some of the run together. The humidity lifted that morning, so it didn’t feel as dreadful out. It was also the Bra Top Squad meet-up at Seneca Park. So, Christine and I were going to run about 11 miles and then finish up at Seneca with the rest of the ladies that showed up. The sun came out. It did warm up, but it wasn’t the killer heat that had been mentally and physically tearing me down. Christine and I tackled some hills together (which should make our basically flat marathon seem easy) and worked through our run to the meetup. After the picture, we parted and I went on to run 6 more miles and ended with 17 for the day. It was the lift I needed, to be honest. I needed to feel good. I was happy with it, even with the laps around the park for the final solo miles. Cathy was on hand blaring inspirational music from her phone each time I passed.

Sunday: Recovery run day. I had 4 miles to do, and I headed out early to fit them in. I made sure to include one big hill…but I also had a nice downhill in the last mile. I felt pretty good the entire time. And I paused to take a couple pictures in the early morning light. Then, I made breakfast and headed out to see Spider-Man: Far From Home at the theater. After that…I had to finish up some grocery shopping, run some errands, meal prep, and finish up the second season of Westworld. All of which I accomplished.

As of 8:15 pm tonight, my new schedule hasn’t posted. But Monday usually is 6 easy miles…so I’m going with the theory that it will remain that way this week. The rest…well, we’ll see. But I need to get some rest. So…stay tuned for (hopefully) some additional blogs this week. And I’ll catch you all up on what happens this coming week after I work through it.

January 12, 2019

High Hopes for the New Year

Happy New Year, friends!!

Life has been…chaotic and busy, to say the least, these last few weeks. The holidays always throw my routine out of whack, but it just seems like it’s taking me a little longer to bounce back into my day-to-day life.

But…a few things have changed heading into the new year.

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First of all, I hired a new running coach. Yep. After my former coach and I decided it was best to go our separate ways in July last year, I pulled out old training plans and did my best to get myself into shape to hit a BQ at the Chicago Marathon. The training was hard, but I did my best to get myself prepared within the weeks I had left to get myself to that start line. We all know, if you read my race review, that my Chicago Marathon went all kinds of hella wrong. I was really down on myself and disappointed with my performance, because I was told, by so many people, that there was no way (even with the new qualifying times released JUST before the Chicago marathon) that there was no way I wouldn’t qualify. Guess what…I didn’t. I tried two out of my three marathons…and it didn’t happen. I didn’t let on much, but it bothered me and I felt like I was just going backwards and not forwards, and doing it on my own wasn’t getting me the results I really wanted. SO…I remembered that a former physical therapist of mine was a running coach…so I got in touch with him…and filled out some paperwork, had a one-on-one with him on the phone…and I started officially training with him on December 31st. Even more frightening, January 6th marked 16 weeks out from my spring marathon.

panic

Just kidding. I’m not panicking.

Yet.

Something else has changed in the workout realm. I hired a personal trainer. Yep. I sure did. And you know what? I really trust him to help me get my body back in shape and ready to race to get my Boston Qualifying time. It’s a process, but I trust him. I met Corey in 2017, and he opened up his own personal training businesses a while back. I never thought about getting a personal trainer until last summer, but with my fall marathon looming, I didn’t want to start anything too rigorous so close. So, I started with him on…you guessed it…December 31st and meet with him twice a week. He plans my workout around the training my running coach sets up and so far it’s all been jiving really well. I love how Corey explains to me why we are working certain muscles and how it will benefit me when I am running. I am trusting him and the process of getting me back in racing shape.

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And…I’m currently 39 days away from my first official race of 2019. And I can’t wait. Except I do have to get a few things figured out when it comes to what I’ll be wearing. Stay tuned.

I hope your 2019 is off to a good start. What have you changed, started or hoping to do this year? Tell me in the comments!

November 16, 2018

Winter is coming…

-what-a-lovely-winter-were-having-this-fall-33f15 This year…we went from winter to summer in the blink of an eye. Seriously. I ran a 10 miler in the snow, and then hit up a half marathon 20 days later and it was warm enough that people were having issues with the heat because no one had run in it.

I’m not kidding.

And now…I feel like we went from summer heat to winter temperatures in the same way. One day it was 85 degrees and suddenly we’re having ice storms.

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. HELL?

We all know I’m not a fan of winter weather. In fact, winter and I don’t get along at all. The cold temperatures wreak havoc on my body. I don’t like bundling up in layers. And I just want to hibernate. And I also suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and, honestly, the days being shorter so that it’s dark when I get up and dark when I get home from work just…sucks. Yeah…I’m already over winter, and technically, it shouldn’t have even started yet.

Anyone else feel this way or are you a winter lover?

November 9, 2018

We Are The Champions…Again!

If you know anything about me…you’ll know that I am a HUGE soccer fan.

HUGE!

While I never played soccer myself, my love of the game goes back to 1994, when my parents took my sister, brother and I to a World Cup Match at Giant’s Stadium. I was hooked ever since then.

Four years ago…Louisville, Kentucky got a USL soccer team, and my roomie, my friend Patrick, and I went in for season tickets…and we splurged. Midfield.

Patrick moved away, and our friend Natalie took over his tickets. And for the past four years…we have been dedicated to our Boys in Purple!

Around this time last year…Louisville City FC…our USL soccer team…won the USL Championship Cup. It was years in the making, as we had made it to the USL Eastern Conference Finals the previous 2 years and to FINALLY get the win and put them into the Championship…was a thrill.

We took our friends Melissa and Paul. And…with 90 minutes gone, Cameron Lancaster buried one in the net, keeping us from extra time, and…dreaded penalty kicks. We won.

Paul, Me, Cathy, & Melissa after Louisville City FC won the 2017 USL Cup Finals!

This year, our beloved team had it’s share of ups and downs. For one thing, we lost our coaching staff about halfway through the season. We had three players step up to be player coaches until the positions could be filled. We had a bunch of injuries. And on a small roster, that has an impact. We had to get used to a new coach and his way of playing. We lost games we should have won. We won games we expected to lose. The team knew what it needed to do to get back to the playoffs again, and they did it without egos. And that, is one of the many reasons I love this team.

Last weekend, while I was in Indianapolis preparing to run the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon…Louisville City beat the New York Red Bulls II and became the Eastern Conference Champions…for the second year in a row. On to the finals. The Western Conference Champions this year…Phoenix Rising. Headed by none other than Didier Drogba! HOLY CRAP.

BUT…our usual battleground, Slugger Field, has an event happening the day ESPN chose for the match. So…the game had to be moved…to a smaller venue. Tickets sold out in 20 minutes. Thankfully, as a season ticket holder, I was able to snag two tickets ahead of general sale.

They added temporary bleachers to the stadium for this match to allow for a bigger turnout. But it was SOLD OUT and the seats were packed. Despite the cold night.

I arrived, ready to see our team take on Phoenix Rising…and Drogba himself.

It was an honor to be able to watch him play.

The entire match was intense. I normally take videos on my phone, but not last night. I didn’t touch my phone. And that’s not just because I was wearing two pairs of gloves on my hands, two pairs of socks on my feet, and four layers on my upper body. No joke. I was NOT going to freeze out there. The first half came to an end…with no goals scored.

But then…at about the 62nd minute…

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Luke Spencer scores an incredible goal putting us ahead. Now…we just had to hang onto it.

The stadium was pure electricity. Lots of stomping, cheering, clapping, screaming, it was magical. And stressful. Because every time Drogba was given the ball (it seems Phoenix’s entire game plan was…get the ball to Drogba), and he took a shot, I think we all collectively held our breaths.

Yellow cards were issued. Substitutions were made. Stoppage time was played. And the final whistle blew.

And Louisville City FC made HISTORY last night by being the first USL team to win back-to-back championships.

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Damn…that was fun. It also meant that my roomie and I stayed to watch the award ceremony, waited to see if the players made the rounds…and then called it a night. We walked back to the car, just buzzing with sheer adrenaline from the win. It was amazing. God, I love this team. Proud to be a founding member.

It was a late night (which included a Burger King drive-thru stop for my roomie as she was STARVING)…but we got home and I went into my room and called it a night. I had a spin class to get to the following morning. I was glad I went, but damn, it was very hard to get myself out of bed when my alarm went off this morning.

Any of my local peeps attend Louisville City FC matches? Are you season ticket holders? For those of you who don’t live in or near Louisville, what sports are you into? Did you play that sport as a kid? What teams do you support? I want to know!!

For now…just riding the celebration wave into the weekend.

Much love for another fantastic season, Louisville City FC!

45681250_10100474662356731_78716923650506752_o — Cathy & Me at the USL Cup Championship Finals at Lynn Stadium in Louisville, KY.

October 19, 2018

Real Talk About Disappointment

I heard it so many times…

“You’ve got this in the bag.”

“There is no way you’re not going to Boston Qualify.”

“The only way you won’t BQ is if you get hit by a car.”

“Look at what you did at Dopey…this one will be easy!”

ALL. THE. WORDS.

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And while I appreciate that people have confidence and faith in me…there were a few things I was contending with…

I didn’t have a coach or…technically…a plan starting in August, when marathon training was really getting heavy. I figured it out by turning back to an old training plan from 2013 and making adjustments.

I didn’t feel like I was in shape, personally, for my goal. After all, my longest run in my training plan didn’t go well at all. It ended with me walking my last 1.3 miles of it to hit the mileage and almost passing out thanks to the heat. Let me tell you, that really did little to boost my confidence at all going into the taper and the race itself.

I still feel out of shape.

And…disappointed.

With myself. With letting those who believed in me down. For not doing what others did that day. For feeling like an absolute failure every time I hear the success stories of those who ran the same race at me…but achieved their goals. For letting myself down.

Maybe I didn’t want it enough. Maybe running without my watch telling me pace and distance was a mistake. Maybe I didn’t spend enough time off my feet the day before. Maybe I didn’t fuel right that day or at dinner the night before. Maybe I didn’t wear the right thing for the weather. Maybe I didn’t fuel enough during. Maybe…maybe…maybe.

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Excuses? Reasons? Justifications?

It doesn’t undo how much it hurt to know that I didn’t achieve a goal that I was told was going to be so easy for me to get this time. It doesn’t undo the fact that I ran a marathon in January an entire minute faster after running a 5K, 10K, and half marathon in the 3 days leading up to it. It stings. It hurts.

I am very proud of my finish, please don’t get me wrong. But it feels like such a let down because, while I wasn’t actively proclaiming my goals from the rooftops…I carried all these high hopes with me. They drove me. They pushed me. And in the end…I still came up short. By a bigger margin than it should have been.

And that’s a hard pill to swallow at times.

Still.

Even today.

I am okay with how my race turned out…but I’m not satisfied. And I’m not happy. I know, just like everyone who told me, that I have at least one more BQ in me. It just wasn’t this race. It wasn’t my time. And it’s okay for me to not be okay with it. But it’s not okay for me to dwell on it. Or to let disappointment hold me back.

After all…I still have goals to meet.

I am proud of every finish line because, ultimately, my goal is always to finish. Sometimes it feels easy…and sometimes it’s a struggle. I still believe every struggle and every shortcoming is a learning experience and something to grow from and improve on. So, while it didn’t happen this time…and perhaps might not happen next time, I’m driven and striving to get there and make it happen. I know it will. I’ll chip away until I reach that goal.

For everyone who believed in me then…believe in me now. I’m not done yet.

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