I want to update you guys on some stuff. I know I’ve been really silent lately and I
definitely haven’t been doing much in the way of running. But I did run a few times recently! I know!
Crazy, huh? I’m sure I’ll get
back to running more regularly at some point, but right now my priorities are
very different. Anyway, let me fill you
in.
On November 19th, I ran the Run With The Heroes
5K held on the Camp Mabry campus in Austin, TX.
This was the 4th year that I’ve participated in this
race. 2 years ago I even did it in a
walking boot with a broken ankle! Last
year I placed 3rd in my age group.
This year I knew I wouldn’t be fast because I haven’t been running, let
alone training. I finished in 33 minutes
and some seconds. I was about 1 minute
or so behind the 3rd place female in my age group. WOW!
Didn’t expect that at all. Of
course, there were 2 other females between her and I so I got 6th in
my age group…out of 26 total. NOT BAD AT
ALL! I felt good and didn’t push myself
super hard. Just kept myself moving and
enjoyed the run and the feel of running.
I really do love the way running feels.
I just feel so alive when I run, you know?
The second race was the Inaugural Round Rock Turkey Trot on
Thanksgiving morning. This was the first
year that this particular race was held.
It was completely untimed and strictly just for fun. I didn’t care at all what my time was and
that was fantastic! I told my boyfriend
that I’d be done in 1 hr 15 min or less.
I finished in 1 hr 6 min. It was
a 5 mile run as most turkey trots in my area seem to be. I chose not to run my usual Thundercloud
Turkey Trot for a few reasons…costs more (this one was only $12! Sure I didn’t get a shirt, but I have enough
shirts.), parking sucks, further away, it starts later, etc. I had a packed day planned for thanksgiving
so the earlier start time and the closer proximity to my apartment was a huge
plus.
My third race was a beautiful disaster. Let me tell you. Just wow.
It was the San Antonio Rock’n’Roll Marathon. Yeah, you read that right: MARATHON. While I chose to defer the marathon I was
registered for last month to next year, I didn’t do that with this race. I figured, even untrained, I could complete
it in around 6 hours. First off, I was
wrong. Very wrong. It probably didn’t help that I kept up with
my TRAINED friend for the first 12.5-ish miles.
Therefore, I went out WAY too fast for my serious lack of training and
therefore hit the wall SUPER early. I
told my friend to leave me because I was just holding her back. I then randomly ran into a guy that was on my
team for the Capital to Coast relay last year.
Then around mile 22 I made a new friend, Irene. Her and I pretty much walked the last 4 miles
together and “ran” it in when we go the finish line in our sights. Soooo…the cut off time for this race is 7
hours. Challenge accepted. My official finish time was 6:59:58. BOOM!
I learned 2 things from this race.
1-you can totally complete a marathon without training…and 2-don’t
complete a marathon without training. Yeah. Hey, at least I can see the humor in it,
right? I do have to say that since I knew
this race was going to hurt and suck, it didn’t get me down at all and I actually
had a pretty good time. However, I would
definitely NOT recommend doing this to anyone else. I also got to meet Meb at the expo!
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| #truth |
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| total fangirl moment! |
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| ready, not ready...haha...wearing my ultimate unicorn shirt! |
Other happenings in my life lately include a fantastic
weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival over the weekend following
Thanksgiving. First news about that is
that I chose to get plastered drunk Thanksgiving night and tell my boyfriend
that I love him. Thankfully, that did
not backfire and he said it back and said it felt really good to finally say
it. So, there you have it, best drunk decision
I’ve ever made! Haha! The weekend at TRF was awesome but thoroughly
exhausting. On Friday, we dressed up as
Vikings, on Saturday we were Pirates and on Sunday we were Celts. We were going to camp thru Monday morning,
but by Sunday afternoon we were beyond exhausted and decided to call it. All of our friends had already broken camp
and headed home, so it was going to be a boring night for us. The 2.5 hour drive home almost [figuratively]
killed us. We were so tired. But it was an amazing weekend nonetheless.
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| Celts! |
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| pirates! my favorite picture of us <3 |
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| Vikings! |
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| my favorite purchase, this leather mug wrap! |
My birthday was the 14th and I took 3 days off
for it. The day before my birthday we
took my washer to his roommate’s mom’s house and dismantled it for the drum to
use as a firepit. We also dropped off
TWELVE bags of clothes, linens, shoes and purses that I’d gathered from within
my apartment (that may sound impressive, but let me tell you, I’m MAYBE
two-thirds done going thru all the stuff in my apartment to get rid of things)
and donated it. I seriously thought the
lady at the donation place was going to cry when we unloaded all the stuff and I
said I didn’t need a receipt. I don’t
need a reward for doing something good.
Heck, they were really doing ME the favor by accepting all those things I
no longer needed/wanted. Then we met our
friends Jes & Manny for dinner at a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant
in Buda where the staff ambushed me and made me wear a purple sombrero and sang
to me…and I loved it!
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| it looks so concerned haha |
On my birthday, we went to Fredericksburg for the day and he
bought me everything I said I wanted while we were there, with the exception of
this ridiculously priced sleeveless shirt that I loved. It was on the clearance rack, but the
original price was $131!!! What the
what? No way. Even at 50%, that was a ridiculous price for
a t-shirt. Ugh. So we walked right on passed that and I was
only a little sad. Haha. In the evening we went to 2 places on the
east side of 35 that I had won a gift card and a gift certificate to in a
raffle over the summer and got dinner and drinks…and a shirt…with them. We were planning to go to the trail of
lights, but he was tired and just wanted to be home. I told him he’s not getting out of it next
year…hehe.
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| not a wine drinker, but I LOVE this wine!!! |
The day after my birthday, my friend Bri and I went to the
Blue Genie Art Bazaar and the Revelry Eastside Holiday Market. This is where I completed my Christmas shopping
by getting my presents to myself! At Blue
Genie, I got a shirt, a ring and a whisky glass with cactus etched onto
it. At Revelry, I got homemade soaps and
a small cactus arrangement! Of course,
the cactus arrangement was from an actual shop that just happens to be on the
street where they were holding the holiday market. It’s called Succulent Native and has a
massive selection for such a tiny shop. The
staff is super friendly and helpful and their prices are very good. I got 3 little cacti and a nice copper
colored planter for $23. I’m very happy
with it and will definitely be going back when I have the space for more
plants. YAY!
I cannot wait for Christmas.
I’ve already given 2 friends their Christmas presents but haven’t received
any myself as of yet. I know they’re
coming and am not concerned at all. I seriously
love giving presents. And, while, yes,
getting presents is nice too, I just love giving presents. And this year I had 7 people I bought gifts
for! So exciting! I do know that 5 of those people I bought
gifts for either already or will be buying me gifts as well, but most won’t
arrive until after Christmas, which is perfectly fine with me. I am a stickler for GIVING presents on the
proper day, but am totally flexible when it comes to receiving my gifts. I’m totally understanding.
Oh, and probably the most important thing, my birthday
present to myself was a profession dye job!
I’ve been wanting to be a full on ginger for a looooong time. And, while my natural color is pretty, it’s a
bit boring. Now, my hair is fantastic
and I’m 100% in love with it!
And some randomness to end this post with...
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Corsetdeal.com was having an amazing Cyber Week sale,
so I got this dress I've been drooling over for 50% off! |
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this package is...
seriously, favorite fragile notice ever |
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aaaannd, it snowed in the Austin, TX area...this is the most
snow I've seen in the almost 20 years I've lived here |
