{Semi} Wordless Wednesday- Around Town Part 1

I'm still in a bloggin haze after last week's tragedy at the Boston Marathon. I don't really know what to say. All of my thoughts, the anger and sadness, are just milling around in my head but I don't think I have the ability to express them in the proper manner. At least not yet. Maybe not ever. So, instead I choose to share with you some pictures from around Pensacola so you can see what I've been up to lately. Have I told you how much I love it here? I tell Paul all the time that I never want to leave. I think you'll see why...

Nature walks and trail running

 

I'm always afraid that tree is going to fall on me...

 



 

Hanging out at our favorite bar/brewery

 

 

Getting attacked by out of control sprinklers...

 

 

Getting muddy on our mountain bikes

 

 

 

This picture doesn't do any justice to the mud and cuts and scrapes and bruises.

 

 

Relaxing on the beach

 

 

 Love this pic! Cracks me up everytime!

 



 

 

 

Another trip to the brewery- can you tell how much we love this place?

 

And of course, I spend alot of time dreaming about future races...

Believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as pictures go so there may be a second post coming out today :)







Wordless Wednesday: Gulf Coast Half Marathon

I promise I will get around to writing a race recap for the Gulf Coast half marathon really soon. But for now enjoy some pictures of the most scenic and enjoyable half marathon I've ever run! It was awesome!

 

The Voice in Your Head...

I was having a conversation this morning with a male friend and I mentioned some apprehensions I was having about the half marathon this Sunday and he said if I had the drive to sign up for a half then I should be good to go.

 

This got me thinking about how different men and women are.

 

Good thing the founder of Nike was a man. If not their slogan wouldn't be 'Just Do It' it would be;

 

'Should I Do It?'

 

or

 

'Can I Do It?'

 

or

 

'Do I really want to do it?'

 

or

 

'She did it so I can do it too'

 

or

 

'Maybe if I get lucky I can do it'

 

You get my point.

 

Tell me if I am wrong but why does it seem women (or maybe this is just me) are plagued with self-doubt? Couple that with my amazing ability to over-think and over-analyze everything and it is damn near crippling.

 

I want to ‘Just Do It’

 

I don’t want to think about every misstep I could have possibly taken these last 10 weeks. I don’t want to doubt my ability. I don’t want to second guess my training.

 

I just want to wake up Sunday morning and just freaking do it.

 

And I would really like to know what is preventing me from doing just that. I mean I know I will. I will get up and run that half marathon. But I want to know what I need to do/change in order to stop questioning my actions and start believing in myself 100% of the time.

 

What more proof do I need to give myself that I can do it; whatever IT is? How many more goals do I have to pass or successes do I need to achieve before I truly start believing this?

 

And This is What Comes Out...

I really can’t think of one topic I really want to write about in-depth right now. My head has just been filled with random thoughts lately so I guess I will share those.

·         I have another half marathon (my third) coming up next Sunday, 4/7, and I am excited and a bit nervous. My only goal for Sunday is to relax and enjoy a few hours of running along the beach. I didn’t get to dedicate the effort I needed to try to improve on my times so this one is just for fun. Well, I guess they are all for fun (for us non-elite runners) but you know what I mean

·         I added a few new songs to my running playlist in anticipation for the half. This playlist is an ever-evolving entity. I am constantly tweaking it. Currently it has 84 songs on it- far more than needed for a half marathon, even at my pace, but I love that I can just hit shuffle and let the music guide my run. Newest additions:

o   San Francisco- the Mowgli’s

o   Breezeblocks- Alt-J

o   Forever- Haim

·         I went kayaking for the first time ever just the other week and had the most amazing time. I cannot wait to do it again. I am hoping we can get in a kayaking/camping trip in the next few weeks. I am super lucky that the friends I have made in FL enjoy doing outdoorsy things.

·         And I am also super excited that they want to try new things too. Next Saturday, 4/13, four of us will be making the trek out to Blackwater State Park to participate in a 10k obstacle/trail run. None of us have ever done a race like this before and even though my group is made up of far more athletic and faster people than I (Paul and two other Naval Officers from flight school) they have all said that we are doing this together as a team and refuse to leave me behind. Which is awesome.

·         Speaking of trail runs- Paul and I did our first trail race this past Saturday. It was a 5K held on the cross country trails at the university where I work. Paul killed it in 22:25 and came in third in his age group, fifth overall.  Unfortunately they only gave out awards for 1^st and 2^nd place so he didn’t win anything. I think is the third race we’ve done together where he placed in the top three. He’s freaking amazing. 22 minutes for a 5k TRAIL RUN. Ridiculous. I came in just over 11 minutes behind him at 33:58 and was pretty happy with my time. Especially for my first trail race J

·         My friend Blogging Molly is currently fundraising for her Marine Corps Historic Half/Team Fisher House which supports the Fisher House program- supporting military families in their time of need. It is a great charity- one that is desperately needed- and I try to support them whenever I can be it doing volunteer work at the Fisher House at Fort Sam while we lived there or through donations. Molly also has a really awesome giveaway linked to her fundraising so please stop by and check it out if for no other reason to learn more about Fisher House.

·         I had a really nice weekend/Easter Sunday spent with Paul and friends. It is always hard to be away from family, especially on the holidays, but I am thankful that I got to spend this one with others. It was also nice to have friends over that are new to the military. I kind of feel that part of my role as a military spouse is to not only provide a loving and supportive home for my spouse but also to make it warm and welcoming to others in the military so they never feel like they are alone. I know how tough that can be, especially the first holiday away from family.

·         Well, I did it. I finally broke down and ate meat. After a year and a half of being vegan I finally met my match- Easter ham. I used to love ham and pretty much requested it for every holiday meal. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that just having a ham cooking in the house would have been crippling to my vegan defenses. Apparently ham is my kryptonite. I caved. I ate the ham. And it was glorious. So good, in fact, that I am now on an all-the-ham-you-can-eat diet.

 

Ha Ha Ha

April Fools

Still a vegan- I didn’t eat any ham. Although I cannot deny that it didn’t smell really good.

Did you think I was for real with that or did you see right through my little hoax?