Running Away from Adulting

Okay! So I'm going to be starting this Monday Motivation. We can't expect ourselves to feel go-getter-ish all the time; we all experience mental slumps at some point. And sometimes, we let ourselves to just sit in the slump we're in. But if you're like me, you may feel like you can't escape the hole and are begging for something to kick you in the butt and back to your optimistic self.  Well here's your weekly kick!... well, slight nudge. So I signed up for my spring marathon, and I am beyond scared. The thought of developing another stress reaction or fracture lingers. What if I can't hardly walk again after a 20 mile run? What if I suck at keeping prescribed paces during my track runs? Why the heck am I even thinking that I should run 26.2 miles for fun? Should I even try again?  Its like I'm giving up before I'm even starting... Giving up is easy. But what happens if I don't give up?  Why do we give up? One reason is be...

GUYS! If you're in the Pittsburgh area (and run), you have GOT to run this race! It's like the Pittsburgh Marathon of the Fall. There is so much energy and excitement before and during this race; it's electric! Okay, I'll try to contain myself as I write this. But really, can you blame me? Just ruining the ending for ya, but... THIS GIRL GOT A PR! And the reason I'm extra excited about this? Because I literally just got back into running mid-September. I will make a separate blog post about this transition, but for now, lets talk about the race! Expo: The expo was quite small, tucked inside the shops at Station Square. But I did get to finally meet up with my girl Jen and her NEW husband after not seeing her since the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K! I'm so inspired by her and was so excited to finally meet up with her and run. Jen and I first meeting at the Pittsburgh Marathon 5K Race Morning: So my boss texted m...

Okay, so this honestly is more like a rave than a review. If you have brought up running clothes to me in person, then you have definitely heard me say something about Senita Athletics ! A ll opinions posted are my own. I paid for all clothes featured and am not receiving compensation for my review - just sharing the awesome clothes! I'm a broke nursing student, so I NEED a good deal. And it seems like any good athletic clothes are ridiculously expensive. My friend Steff introduced me to Senita from her blog, and I was SOLD. Not only are these clothes within a decent price range, but they're literally the most comfortable and best performing clothes I own. I would say that I love them even more than my Lululemon clothes I own, and its 1/2-1/3 of the price!!! Okay, lets get to it My first order: Breathe Tank in White , Sarah Sports Bra in Bahamas , and Swift Shorts 2 in Bahamas (Bahamas no longer on website). Total Cost: $70 but with ...

Okay, so I signed up for this race just this past week. I was debating if I should run this as part of my EQT 10 Miler training, but not many training plans have distances longer than the goal as part of the weeks building up. But I knew a bunch of great friends of mine were planning on running it, and everyone raved at how fun it was. So here I am, a Tuesday before a Saturday race, signing up for a classic Pittsburgh fall race. I wasn't going to race it - just have fun. Since I wasn't racing it, I didn't really prepare. I didn't eat a bunch of carbs prior, slept horribly, did not hydrate enough, and even ate a Fiber One bar on my way to the race. Talk about long run poops... --- It was a beautiful morning for a fall race! Cool, sunny, and with such pretty landscape to enjoy. The race was downhill and on a trail. I'll be honest, I didn't feel like it was as downhill as my Garmin showed - maybe because of the crushed limestone versus asphal...

Coming back from injury made me both hungry and scared to race again. I didn't even sign up until the weekend before, but I had so many friends running it and thought to myself that I could at least run it as part of my 4 mile recovery run. Plus, the medals and shirts from this year were FREAKING AWESOME looking. The morning of the race was weirdly warm for October in Pittsburgh. I don't know how some of ya'll were able to run with long sleeves during that heat! Maybe I just overheat too quickly, and I hate being hot! I was getting dressed and listen to "suggested songs" from my current Half Marathon Playlist on Spotify. I found some really cool songs! They were my first few in queue for this race. I gotta say, a good song can really get your legs pumping! Fact: distractions can minimize the perception of pain, because as you'll find out, by the end of this race, I was hurting! SPEAKING OF THE RACE... I saw my good friend, who go...

You know how when you get on the bike at the gym, and you can choose that "mountain" option for inclines? So for the first half of the cycle, you'd go uphill, then ride easier downhill for the second half? Marathon training is not like that. And with the humidity we've been having here in PGH, it's as if I'm climbing up the mountain even steeper than before. My legs were definitely hungover from last weekend's half marathon up at Presque Isle. Monday's rest day, aka: the days that I double at work, was incredible; I pretty much stayed seated unless absolutely necessary or to stretch my tired legs. I made sure I was taking in enough protein and electrolytes to help my legs recover as best as possible.  Presque Isle Half Marathon Here's how this last week's running went: Tuesday: 4 Easy/Recovery Miles. 9:10 avg pace. I had a super busy day off of doctors appointments, errands, meetings, and meeting up with fri...