Pearly Whites

I started blogging to share my life’s ups and downs with the world. Although I haven’t been the most consistent blogger, I try to make all of my posts meaningful and have something that you guys can take away with you. Plus, I am not the world’s best public speaker (ask my college coach and I bet you he will just laugh) so this is a good way for me to pass along my messages. 

Hornet Alumni

I recently received a phone call from my Alma mature asking me if I would come and speak to the Track and Field team about my experiences as a student-athlete.  At first I thought “what do they want me for? I don’t have anything great to share about my college career.” I don’t. I had a decent career, but nothing that anyone would be excited over. So I started to think about what I DID learn from being a college athlete. The first thing I thought: the 5k was definitely NEVER going to be my forte - and I mean NEVER. Not that I don’t enjoy a good 5K (it’s rare) but I will nine times out of 10 have my ass pummeled into the ground. Thank god for the longer distances, right!? Anyway, I reflected on my experiences and the time I got to spend at what has been the closest to a professional athlete that I have ever been. I thought about the lifelong friends I made, the experiences I had and the memories that can never be taken away. I also thought about the struggles I had. How I almost quit my junior year. How discouraged I got and how unhappy it all made me. I talked about this in an earlier post so I won’t bore you with the details again (you can check it out HERE if you really want to know! ☺ ) but I realized that the one piece of advice I wanted to get across to these younger athletes was to have as much fun as possible.  What I wouldn’t give to have that team atmosphere back in my life. Having been a collegiate athlete and now trying to continue my training as an “adult”, I realize how good I had it. My whole world revolved around running! I resented it a little back then because I felt like I was missing out on something when I would see my non-athlete friends going out and having a good time while I went to bed early for morning practice or eating chicken and broccoli instead of pizza and beer. Now, I would choose bed over doing almost anything and realized just how convenient that plain piece of chicken can be after a 5:00 am run and eight hours of work! 

I believe that every single person should truly enjoy what they are doing and if you aren’t happy, CHANGE SOMETHING. Make yourself happy. I don’t mean that to sound as if I am suggesting they quit the team, I am merely saying that life is too short to be miserable. I know it sounds cliché but if there is one thing my sister’s death taught me, it’s to do what you WANT to do and to do what makes you HAPPY- while you still have time above ground. Of course I mean that within good reason - don’t go murdering your ex’s new girlfriend just because it will make you happy! ;)

If you’re not smiling every day, you’re doing something wrong.

2015: My Journey, My Goals

Last October I ran my final marathon of 2014 in Chicago with a PR of 2:50:56. WOO HOO! A PR, YAY! That's at least how you would think I would have reacted. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to have run a PR - especially after that train wreck of a marathon in Boston. (If you missed that story CLICK HERE.) I should have been walking out of the Athlete Village with a huge smile on my face and my head held high - I wasn't. I wasn't crying or dragging my feet either but I wasn't completely happy, and to be honest I was a little bummed out. I went into the race really feeling that I had a 2:48 in me. I was 100% confident that  a sub-2:50 was what I was going to run. But I didn't; I can't blame it on my training or my race plan or on anything else. It just simply wasn't in the cards that day and the fact that  it is something as simple as that made it so hard to be excited about what I DID accomplish - I still ran a 2:50 for goodness sakes!

I took the rest of October easy, only running every other day or so. At the end of the month when it was time to meet with Coach Dad to plan out 2015, I walked out of there anxious and not excited. I did a lot of thinking and decided that I needed a break. A break from the road and the grind and the endless feeling of fatigue. I needed to do something for me. For two years I sat quietly obsessing over the trail scene. Constantly checking the race feeds and entrant lists to all the big races. I envied anyone I saw running and racing ultras and I longed to be part of it. Any chance I had to do my long run on the trails, I took advantage of it. I was longing for the dirt, the trees, to be on a single track hearing nothing but the sound of my feet and the air in my chest.  After some heavy thinking, I decided it was time that I followed my heart and I run an ultra. The trails are where I feel happy. Where I catch myself smiling while running - not because somebody told a good joke, but because I am exactly where I want to be.

It took me three separate phone calls to Coach Dad to finally get out that I wanted to run an ultra instead of a marathon in the spring. We both have been so single tracked (pun intended!) on me qualifying for the Olympic Trials that I was afraid he was going to see it as me abandoning my goal and be disappointed. But he wasn't, and it didn't take any convincing at all for him to be 100% on board with it. He wants me to feel enjoyment in running just as much as I want to. It  is something that is totally refreshing and I am lucky to have a coach that wants to help me achieve me goals, no matter what they are.

So consider this my announcement that I will be running the Way Too Cool 50K this March! I know I made the right decision because I feel happier, healthier and stronger than I have in the last year. I have already received some amazing support and encouragement from my family and my friends and it makes me even more excited to make all of you proud! I really do have the best support system a runner girl could ask for.

THANK YOU!

I have an amazing 2015 ahead of me. How amazing? In a little over a month I will be spending a week in the Dominican Republic only to come home and race my heart out right in my own backyard and then do some awesome trail running and beach cruising on a trip to Hawaii in May. I haven't given up on my quest to qualify for the OTs and I will be racing my guts out in Berlin this September! Yes, I am aware that it will require me to run a 7 minute PR -but go big or go home right!? But home only after we go to the country and then to Paris! :) I am beyond excited to have the chance to do some traveling this year, but I am more excited about the people I get to travel with.

It truly is a Runderful Life!