So, awhile ago, a friend of mine and I were talking about Obstacle Course Racing, specifically, Tough Mudder versus Spartan.
At this point in time, I had finished running my first ever Spartan Sprint in Atlanta and had run a Tough Mudder the previous year, so I felt like I could do an honest comparison. My friend had only ever done Tough Mudder, but had done several of them. I told him "You have to do a Spartan. The two aren't even remotely similar." And so it was that I convinced him to meet me halfway between Tennessee and Michigan to run the Indiana Spartan Sprint. So, if you follow my twitter, you probably have seen me use #FranklinTNHalf. And if you haven't, I'm going to tell you now.
I'm running the Franklin Half Marathon. This is my very first half marathon and apparently, I have chosen a difficult one. Typical responses to people who find out I'm running this race are as follows: "Wow... You must like hills." "You know it's going to be warm out then, right?" "You must not like yourself very much." This past Saturday, I did my first race of the new year!
My first race of the 2014 season was the Hot Chocolate 15K/5K. I originally wasn't sure I was going to even run this race. I was supposed to be traveling to Orlando this particular weekend, but those plans got cancelled. Even once they got cancelled, I still hadn't signed up for any events. But I realized that: a) I need races on my schedule to keep me motivated and b) The Hot Chocolate 15K/5K was on my racing bucket list. And with the event being held right in downtown Nashville, it was too easy to go ahead and sign up! Plus, They always have a pretty sweet swag bag. More on that later! See That?!? Right there, on this webpage listed under the heading "AWESOME BLOGS"?!?!
It's ok, I'll still sign autographs. Oh, you wanna take a photo. Yeah, sure, I can make time in my busy schedule... #NBD And I don't mean the weather...
So long and short of it is: I caught a cold. Not surprising, considering what time of year it is, the fact that EVERYONE in my office has been sharign this little delight, or that, due to a set of perforated ear drums as a child, my sinuses are more screwed up than a box of counter-sunk inch and a quarters. (Just a little hardware humor for all of you out there.) But despite, my cold, I've continued to run. Mind you, not very fast, but still running. And a few people have questioned whether or not that was the right thing to do... Which lead me to ask google the age old question... Is it ok to run with a cold? It's been a hellish past week or so.
First, I worked my tail off at work last week. I stayed late three out of five nights, including one 14-Hour work day. My dog hurt herself at the dog park Saturday. Essentially, she did burnouts with her paws. That dog has a serious need for speed, and well, it didn't end well. She's back in the Cone of Shame and on both anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Doctor said I should invest in dog booties for her. All the other dogs are gonna laugh at her... Then to top it all off, I came down with a cold over the weekend and have spent the past two days, not at work, but sleeping it off with some real good cold meds. BLECH. BUT, I have still been running. So that counts for something, right? It's up, it's up, it's finally up!
My Girls Gone Sporty profile, that is! I as so excited to find out I was going to be a part of this awesome group of ladies earlier this year and I'm even more excited now to share that my profile has gone live! Head over to Girls Gone Sporty to check it out and while you're at it, check out some of the other great ambassadors and the rest of the awesome content on the website! DO IT! #runlove, y'all! This morning, while drinking my half-hot chocolate, half coffee plus creamer morning beverage, I read an article on The Huffington Post titled The Biggest Mistakes Women Make When Working Out.
Go ahead. Take a minute or two and read through it. I'll still be here when you get back. I can wait... Are you back now? Good. Let's discuss what we've read. I hope you paid attention, because there's a quiz at the end. Just kidding. Sorry, sometimes old habits from teaching die hard. No quiz. (Unless its a pop quiz!) It was an interesting article and while their mistakes were valid points, it also gave me an idea about what MY most common mistakes when working out are... So here it is! An examination on the things that I know I could do better... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Ok, so on the verge of seeming cliched, I figure the best way to hold myself accountable to my goals for the new year is to broadcast them far and wide for all to read. Then y'all can call me on my B.S. when I fail to uphold my end of the bargain or feel like slackin'. Here's hoping that the collective of the internet can do something positive and keep me on track. :) So here it is; my list of "resolutions" for the new year! |