I Ran The Highlands!

Hello from Dallas! I arrived last night (Friday) around 10 and went to sleep as soon as I unpacked and my head hit the pillow. I was exhausted!

At least it was a nice day!

This morning, Saturday, I knew that the Run The Highlands 5K was going to start at 8:45am- a pretty early start (that's 6:45am Seattle time!) for not a lot of sleep the night before. But, I also knew that I needed to run at least 3 miles this week, so if I wasn't going to do it at 8:45, I knew had to do it at some point in the day. With my second bridal shower later that afternoon, it might as well be when I'm half asleep!

This was a hard sight to leave!

The other benefit of running this race was that it was only about a mile away from my house. So, I figured I would make it a little tempo run - 1 mile warm-up, 3.1 miles tempo, and 1 mile cool down. Even though I haven't really been running a lot, I figured it was too perfect an opportunity to pass up.

Run The Highlands, hosted by the Lake Highlands Junior Women's League, is a certified 5K Race, 1 Mile Family Walk, and Carnival to benefit the Lake Highlands community. I grew up and went to school in Lake Highlands, and couldn't believe I had never heard of this event, so I was really excited to learn that I would be in town to participate, and make this race my first official race of 2014!

I started running away from my house at 8:25- enough time to get me to the race, and registered, in time for the 8:45am start.

I had to literally slow to a walk when I ran into a narrow sidewalk behind two ladies that were on their way to the event. Ah, well. I was averaging about 9 minutes/mile before I had to start walking.

I got there with just enough time to register and get in line before I heard the countdown begin!

A good crowd! The final number was 335 registered participants- the smallest race I've ever participated in!

Tired, but ready to run!

So many puppies!!

The race started promptly at 8:45am, and I realized I was at the back with the strollers too late - so it took a little bit to get going. Had I been in the front where I probably should have been, I would have gotten a better start. However, considering I had just run a mile, I was faring pretty well.

There were two aid stations - one at the 1.6ish mile mark, and another at the 2.6ish mile mark. Kind of random, but I didn't need any water since I had my handheld with me. I think from now on, I'm never running a race without it!

Picture is from December - but I use this during almost every run!

They also had a decent amount of spectators. Since the race went through neighborhoods, a lot of families were on their front lawns cheering us on (one family had a little water station!), and at almost every curve, there were even people with signs! I'm sure they were really there to protect the cones marking the curve, but still! I felt really supported throughout the race.

Despite that emoticon, I felt really, really tired throughout. There were a surprising amount of steep hills that I wasn't anticipating. I also hadn't been running a lot, and when I was, it certainly wasn't at race paces. But, I did feel the itch to start racing again. I'm excited - I have a 5K on my calendar for when I get back to Seattle, which is the beginning of a whole lot of races for the summer and fall in Seattle. I hope I get to go to as many as I can! I can feel the racing bug has bit :)

By the time the race was over, the sun was shining!

After crossing the finish line, I walked around for about 30 seconds, found a water bottle, and guzzled it down. I felt really nauseous after the race - I had really pushed it and gave it my all at the home stretch. My Nike+ shows my speed at the end as 7 min/miles. Wow! So speedy. Glad I still have that in me.

I noticed the people at the finish line giving out medals, and I can never resist some sparkle.. so I swallowed my embarrassment and went ahead and asked if the medals were for everyone. The lady looked at me and said, "Well, technically they're for the kids - but if you want one, we have plenty extra!" and honestly in a situation like that, what can you do but take it??

The cutest medal I have ever received- and the cutest I have ever looked.

After a minute or two of rest, I ran home.

Altogether, 1+3.17+0.83= 5 Miles for the morning! I felt really, really accomplished and so glad I got up to run. Run The Highlands is a fun run, with a challenging course, and not too tightly packed that you never feel like you actually got a chance to race. I really enjoyed it!

I ended up getting 2nd place in my division! I thought that was super, SUPER cool. This 5K is technically my slowest, if you look on my sidebar under "Races", you can see that it's one second slower than my very first 5K. But you know what? That's fine. I didn't train at all and I had no expectations. I ran because I wanted to, and that is enough!

Have you ever registered for a race on a whim?

An Actual Strength Training Workout

I dropped the ball on Admission Wednesdays, y'all - but I'm sure your Wednesday chugged right along without any problems.

I've been running more lately! Being in Texas always motivates me to get moving since my food consumption always seems to increase while I'm here. I just can't stay away from the Mexican food, y'all....

YUM.

On Thursday, I ran 2 miles with the puppy dog, and then completed a Peanut Butter Fingers workout on a whim.

The weather was AWESOME even if it was a little cloudy. I loved it!

Cycle through each block non-stop for 3 minutes, then rest 30 seconds before moving on

The squats killed me (I'm still sore!), and I did most of the blocks (except "run") in order except for the last few. I saved the minute shuffles, bear crawl, and backwards run for upstairs to partly play around with my dog as well. He had a blast. :P

I didn't have any equipment except for a stability ball - I used two water bottles as my "weights", which worked okay. So, this would be a great workout to do when you didn't have a lot of equipment. You could probably just do hip raises (to bridge pose) if you didn't have a stability ball, or skip that workout altogether. The workout took less than 40 minutes! I would definitely recommend it. It went by really fast!

Today, on Saturday, I went for another short run with the dog before my flight tonight to Austin.

Just a little slower than the previous run. Perfect weather again!! 62 degrees and sunny!

If you can tell, I still have some makeup on from the previous day - I had my Bridal Portraits done on Friday! It was so much fun. I had my makeup and hair done (it was the trial for my wedding day) in the morning, and then we drove over to my mom's friends gorgeous house to take the portraits. I can't wait to post some on the blog after the wedding!!

We're getting down to the wire - just about 5 weeks left until the wedding! EEK.

Chilly: Weather and Dog

I admit I've fallen off the grid as well as out of the blogging world - apologies all around! I just got back from my bachelorette party weekend in San Diego, and am playing catch up. Anyways, we left off in Dallas...

The snow and ice in Dallas rendered running pointless until the ice unfroze on the sidewalks. I still can't believe it actually snowed and iced over while I was there in late February. Crazy!! So, I couldn't run until Tuesday afternoon (March 4th), but I welcomed it with open arms!

A little pit stop back at the house about halfway through - A slightly new route that's not an out-and-back (shocker!)

I was spot-checking a route that my Dad uses to walk Chilly (our poodle), so he wanted to know if I was getting the same distance as his MapMyRun app was giving him.  It was! After I came back to report my findings, I went out for just under 2 more miles. I was just about done at 3.5 miles, but I found the energy to push on.

:/ yep, hip is acting up yet again

Pretty good time, considering!

After I came home I immediately grabbed a water bottle and laid down on the floor. I tried sprinting that last bit of the mile and I was wiped out. Chilly thought I was playing with him :)

It's my favorite thing. Of course I obliged!

Being silly.

Teasing :)

I was happy I got to take some time out of my crazy go-go-go schedule in Dallas to run, and to play with my dog. I got enough rest so I felt really good on Thursday morning when I took my flight out to San Diego!

Next up: Bachelorette!!

Admission Wednesday: Dallas Showers (Bridal and Snow)

I admit... Wedding stuff is stressing me out. Currently I'm typing this post from Dallas. I'm here for a few wedding chores before I go off to my Bachelorette shindig in San Diego on Thursday (can't wait!!), but mainly I'm here for Shower #1, Dress Fitting #2, and meeting with the reception venue coordinator, as I've never seen it in person. Though those are three very small obligations, that doesn't include the shopping we did for the veil, garter, earrings (still haven't found those yet), bridesmaid accessories, and mother of the bride dress & shoes. Seriously, ALL of Saturday and Sunday was devoted to shopping for accessories and clothes. I'm exhausted!!

I admit... I am actually kind of really upset that I didn't get any pictures of my Bridal Shower, of my table with presents on it, or of me with any of my guests (except two quick ones at the end: 1 with my mom and sister, 1 with me and my bridesmaids). I think a few people took some with their iPhones of me opening presents but I can't help but assume they're all blurry. :(

One of the only pictures I took :(

me and 3 of my bridesmaids :)

My mom and my sister!

Despite the lack of pictures, I had a lovely time. I got a lot of great stuff that was listed on my registry, but I also got something that wasn't on my registry: an apron from my grandmother who hosted the shower. It was so thoughtful!! And cute, too!

I also received really nice letters and well wishes, but I think my favorite was this old picture of me and my maid of honor, who wasn't able to make it:

Aren't we precious??

I admit... I've gotten used to the familiarity of always knowing what temperature it is outside. In Seattle, it's always 45-50 degrees, and either cloudy or beautiful. If it rains, it's not that bad. We've been having some bad wind recently but that's only really been at night. In any case, I haven't had to check my phone constantly to see what I needed to wear.

Welp, that's definitely not the case in Dallas. I got in Friday night and it was about 80, on Saturday we were shopping all day in about 75 degree weather, and had dinner out on the patio that in the nice 70 degree weather.

Eating on the patio at Blue Goose Cantina Saturday night- YUM

But, by Sunday it was 25 degrees.

And icing. And snowing.

....What?!? It was 80 degrees less than 36 hours before this picture was taken!

I admit... I still get really excited about snow, and don't mind so much when I have to borrow my mom's hat, coat, and gloves to be able to go outside and not freeze to death. I think cold weather makes everyone pretty stylish if you know what accessories to wear.

Next up: Running!

Previous Admission Wednesdays:
February 26: Falling on My Face Twice
February 19: Valentine's Day, and Tread Lightly
February 12: Control
February 5: Diets and Side-view Mirrors
January 29: Weights On and Off My Shoulders
January 22: Yoga and A Bunch of Wedding Feelings
January 15: Yoga and Pain

Hello from Dallas!

Helloooo blogging world! Why does it feel like, when I take just a smidgen of time off, it feels like it's been forever since I've been on here??

Oh well. I'm writing from Dallas. It's cold here.

 A lot has happened since I arrived, both positive and negative:

• We got here without a hitch (winter weather in Dallas, but no delays! Yay!)
• We met with our officiant
• My grandmother broke her hip :(
• I think I found my wedding dress??
• I've seen most of my family and had lottsssss of mexican food. Yesss.

It's been glorious, but I realized that I never posted about my run the other day- the last one before we left for Dallas.

It was hard but not too bad. I was supposed to run 8 miles on Sunday the morning that we left, but that just didn't happen. (What's new???) I feel sooo unprepared for the half on Sunday - and especially unprepared for the 5K on Thursday. Eek. I want to be fast but I know I haven't been training for it - I feel like I'm gonna go way too fast way too soon on both races and end up screwing them both.

I guess we'll just see what happens?

Some nice scenery pictures before I go - 

Taken from the plane

And finally, me and my dog, reunited again!!

<3

Tomorrow morning we're taking our engagement pictures, I'm getting my hair cut, and hopefully running 2 miles so I have some rest time before the Turkey Trot on Thursday.