Hello Awesome: Finding the Courage to Believe

February in Texas is always a little unpredictable. One week you have highs in the 80's and the next week you are hit with Thundersleet and mass school closures. So when you sign up for a February race you just have to be prepared that Mother Nature might not be on her meds that week and you could have basically any extreme.

As many of you know I had been working my tail off training for this year's Cowtown Half Marathon. It was going to be my PR race and if everything went just right I was going to run my first sub 3 hour half.  While that seems so slow compared to many of my running friends, this was a BIG deal for me.

I can honestly say I put more heart and soul into my training than I have ever had, with maybe the exception of my first half marathon. For so long I had just accepted the fact that I was a slow runner I never really tried to get any faster, finishing was all that really mattered. When I finally decided that I wanted to get faster I hired a coach and went all in. In order to really tell my race day story, I have to give you a little back story as well! :)

My sweet (and super fast!!) friend Little Amy would always tell me, "You are faster than you think. You can run faster."  Her encouragement is part of what got me to the point of wanting to get faster but I didn't truly believe those words. Even though I was getting faster and seeing results each workout, in the back of my mind I was still that slow girl I had come to identify with. Then one day that all changed.

AJ, Jen, Kipper and I all signed up to run the Hot Chocolate 15k in Dallas the first weekend of February. It was COLD, but thankfully sunny. In order to avoid standing in the wind any longer we jumped up several corrals so we could just get started.

For the first mile I knew was going too fast. I was keeping up with AJ but I wanted to get through the crowd so I could set into my pace. The course had quite a few more hills than I expected but I was feeling really good. I use Map My Run and each mile a voice come on and tells you your pace for the last mile, as well as your overall average pace. At Mile 7 I started to panic!! I ran 12:45 mile and was averaging right around 13:00. I started to slow up a bit telling myself "I don't run that fast! I better slow down or I won't make it!" Then something clicked. I do run that fast, I had just gone 7 miles that fast and still felt really, really good!! I will never forget that moment. At Mile 7 everything changed.

Fast forward a few weeks to the week of Cowtown. It is expected to be cold and rainy both Saturday for the 5k and Sunday for the Half.  Naturally I started to panic about the rain.  If it was bad on Saturday I wasn't going to risk slipping on wet roads and would just hold off for the Half on Sunday. Little did I know that rain was going to be the least of my concerns.

Come Thursday the sleet and snow from the week before decided to make a reappearance. I was glued to the Cowtown Marathon Facebook, page waiting for updates.

Friday morning came the first announcement: Expo was not opening on Friday and Saturday's races were canceled. At that point I was fine. We were only doing the 5k for fun and to earn the challenge medal. We would have to wait till Saturday to see what would happen so Kipper and I settled in for a fun snow day.

Saturday morning we got word that the Expo would open at 1:00 p.m. so we all planned to meet up there that afternoon. Kipper had a 3 hour ride scheduled on the CompuTrainer at Trident so I packed some snacks and my iPad to tag along so we could go to the Expo afterwards.  The roads were bad and had not melted nearly as much as I had hoped.

By the time we finally made it to the Expo the parking lot was like an ice skating rink and lines were longer than I have ever seen them. Some people waited up to an hour to get their packets! I felt so bad for the volunteers and staff. While most people where very kind some were down right rude, especially on social media. As someone who used to plan outdoor events for 10,000-15,000 people (that typically fell during hurricane season with crazy thunderstorms) I knew exactly what they were going through. I always try to thank volunteers and race workers, but this year I made a point to be overly appreciative to them.

Late that afternoon they canceled the Full and Ultra Marathons, but the Half Marathon was still a go with a later start time. Given that the back half of the Full and Ultra courses were on many less traveled residential streets and the trails, this call made plenty of sense. They could focus on clearing the major roads and those runners were invited to run the Half if they wanted. AJ and I still planned to run, but poor Jen was stuck in her neighborhood due to ice. As the evening went on friends started withdrawing left and right. I was in full blown panic.  They had crews who would be working through the night to make the roads ready and given some photos being posted on the Facebook page, they had a lot of work to do!  At that point I had given up on the idea of my PR race and decided I would make the final call if I would run once I got there in the morning. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night.

Come Sunday morning Kipper started to feel really uneasy about me running. The roads going to pick up AJ were still bad. After he dropped us off at the Start Line he drove to look at some of the course. The bridges were still really icy and at this point I could tell he didn't want me to run. I started to call it but AJ and Tim helped talk me into it. For the first time ever I was excited to be in the last corral because there would be at least 45 minutes of people running in front of me, helping clear the roads more. I promised Kipper that I would check in with him every few miles and if I got to a place where I felt unsafe I would call him to come get me.

AJ and I headed out to get in our corral. At this point our goal was to not freeze to death, finish and just have fun. On a side note the new corral system is awesome! I felt much more relaxed getting ready to start, which says a lot given the situation.  One last photo at the start line and we were off.

The first mile was great. While the roads still had quite a bit of slush if you followed the tire tracks they were clear. I suddenly felt much better...until I hit the park. The road in front of the Duck Pond was terrible. Taking my time I made sure to watch every step and didn't try to get out of the tire tracks to pass anyone. I'm pretty sure I held my breath until I got to 7th Street!

I checked in with Kipper after Mile 2 and was making crazy good time. I could tell he was still a little nervous so I decided not to fill him in on the Duck Pond experience. lol. At this point I started to settle into my pace and just ran. I saw several friends along the way and was just enjoying myself. Along the way Kipper texted me that I was tracking to set a PR but I tried not to get my hopes up because it was still early on.

Around Mile 7 I finally got to see Kipper which is always boost. It was also at this point (my lucky number 7 seems to be paying off for me this year) I realized that the race I had planned for was still possible. Instead of playing mind games with myself, at that moment I committed - I was going to do what I had trained for and I was going to get my Half Marathon PR. I put on my favorite Chris Tomlin song (yes, one song on repeat) and dug in.

Over the next few miles I was so focused on the words of my music I don't remember all the little details I normally do. I do remember being happy to see Katy at the top of the Main Street bridge and running into my co-worker Phillip as I came into downtown. And somewhere right after that my left butt check got so cold I thought maybe my pants ripped. Seriously. Then I freaked out that I could have peed on myself and it had frozen. I am happy to announce neither of those things happened...I was just really freaking cold and wet!!

Coming into Mile 12 my left leg started to hurt. I was so worried about re-injuring my right ankle I know I must have over compensated with my left leg because this had never happened before. A few times I had to stop for just a second to shake it out/stretch it a little so I could turn it on when I rounded the corner to the finish.  As I was coming into Will Rogers I knew I had my PR in the bag. When I saw my coach, Monica, I knew I was soooo close to my Sub 3 race I just couldn't let up.

As bad as my leg was hurting a mile before, it all suddenly went away as I ran that last stretch to the finish line. As I got a little closer I was finally able to make out the time on the clock and I knew. At that point I didn't even try to fight back the tears.

By the grace of God I crossed the finish line at 2:58:55. A Sub 3 race and a 22 minute PR!!  And to think just a few hours earlier I nearly gave into my fears and backed out of the whole thing. (to my credit it was mainly the fear of re-injuring myself but still) 

I will never forget crossing that finish line and seeing Kipper just off to the side. Walking over to him I was bawling and I call could say was "I did it! I did it!" And he keep asking "What did you do?" and laughing. He knew I had set a PR but he wasn't sure if I had made it under the 3 hour mark.  He was maybe as giddy as I was. And I will never forgot the look on his face when he showed me the text message with my official time.

Needless to say, I am incredibly blessed with a super supportive husband. I love that we both support each others races and find so much joy in seeing each other succeed. I assumed that Kipper would have been taking photos all day, like I normally do for him. When I asked him to send me photos from today he also sent me a picture of his pancakes from when he was waiting for me so I could have "a full scope of today's events!" So I have no picture with him, my coach or my mom, but I do have this. I think this is an "area of opportunity" for him as a Sherpa. Lol.

Even though I have been running for nearly 4 years it feels new again.  This is my journey. Reaching this milestone is only the beginning. I know there will be moments where it harder than others. I know there will be moments I will doubt myself. Heck it is hard not to sometimes compare myself to our list of friends who are super fast.  I might never be able to get to where they are and that is completely okay.

In closing I want to say thank you to the those who believed in me before I believed in myself. You gently nudged me (or in some cases gave be a big shove) to push past my comfort zone. You are there to hold my hand when I need support to make the next step. You listen when I hit a wall and you are there to celebrate when I break through it. It takes a village and I couldn't have done it without you.  Cheers to more adventures!

Goodbye Comfort Zone: 1 Month Later

When I wrote New Year, New Me?!?! and laid it all out there, I was terrified. Yet the fact that I did put everything out there has sort of helped motivate and ground me a bit. It has been just over a month since since I started facing my fears, forcing myself out of my comfort zone and making some big changes in my life. And man have there been some changes. 

1. Tracking my food. This was, I think, one of the biggest fears I have had to face. To date I have tracked every bite that has entered by mouth for the last 32 days in My Fitness Pal. This is a record for me. Even when I did Weight Watchers several years ago I always took a day (sometimes more) off each week where I didn't track. And you know what? It hasn't been that bad. I tend to eat a lot of the same things during the week so that makes it easy. Eating out still stresses me a little bit so I try to look at the menu ahead of time and pre-plan. This helps me from panicking and it makes sure I don't 30 minutes trying to figure out what I want to eat. Still working on my anxiety there.  Now when I say it hasn't been that bad, I would be lying if I didn't admit that there have been a few low moments. Thankfully most of them have just been panic over what to order at a non-chain restaurant where I can find no nutrition info online. The lowest moment - and it was LOW -  I hurled a half eaten sandwich across the kitchen.  Then cried because I didn't know how many calories I should enter for the little bit I had eaten. (I'm claiming PMS. Just go with it.) Thankfully after the fact both Kipper and I were able to laugh at how ridiculous it was because at the moment neither of us were laughing. 

2. Eating enough. I mentioned before that Kipper thought I wasn't eating enough. Through tracking my calories it became clear that on days I worked out I wasn't getting close to enough calories in. One week I had a 5,000 calorie deficit. Two weeks ago I finally went and had a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test done.  The test gives you some fascinating results and information. The biggest for me was that for my age, weight and sex I actually have a very fast metabolism. And shocker, I wasn't eating enough! To lose weight I should be eating between 2000-2400 calories a day!! Panic set in when I started to apply this information, but I have stuck with it. Some days I feel like I have had to force myself to eat a snack to get to the right calorie point by mid-day. With that said my body is adjusting and now reminds me when I miss my mid-morning snack. If you are trying to lose weight and feel stuck, I highly suggest you have a RMR test done.  

3. Hiring a coach. When Kipper started training for his Ironman 70.3 he hired a coach. He has been dropping hints for sometime that we should look into a coach for me. And while I agreed I would do that if I ever did another full marathon, I wasn't interested in taking on an additional monthly cost that comes with hiring a coach until then. After a little coaxing I agreed to meet with Monica, one of the coaches at Trident. A week later I was an official member of Trident and was getting planned workouts. When I got my first week's schedule I panicked a bit. I sent Kipper a text, simply saying  "Shit just got real!!" His response? "Welcome to Trident!" Fast forward three weeks and I am thankful I took the plunge. I can already tell a difference in my running. Plus the accountability to my coach (and my checkbook) has been huge. Kipper played his cards really well in getting me here. He knows I am cheap and a people pleaser. Therefore he knew if I did this it would be a potential game changer for me. Well played Mr. Martin, well played.

4. Seeing results.  To make things more exciting I am seeing results. I can already tell a difference in so many ways: my running times/recovery, the way my clothes (and shoes!) fit, the way I feel and even on the scale. While I am trying to not focus on the scale, learning be healthy about the number it shows is a huge part of this journey. The first two weeks I lost a few pounds but nothing significant, but in the two weeks following my RMR test I have lost nearly 9 pounds! (see why I said you need to do it!!!) I am down a total of 13 pounds in the last month but most of all I feel great. Including my bum ankle, which is awesome! I have my first race of 2015 this weekend - Hot Chocolate 15k. While I am not pumped about driving to Dallas early on a Saturday morning, I am super excited to see how it goes. Good or bad there will be chocolate and that is enough for me. 

4. The downfall.  If you know me, you know I am NOT a domestic goddess when it comes to laundry and dishes. Mr. Martin on the other hand is a tad OCD about them. The amount of water bottles and work out clothes that I washed leading up to Kipper's first Ironman 70.3 nearly drove me to the nut house. Well he is training for another 70.3 and add in my workout gear, water bottles and containers from meal prep you can only imagine. I have officially come to terms with the fact we will never be caught up and he will always OCD over the unwashed/unfolded/un put away workout clothes and water bottles. If that is the biggest downfall I can totally live with that! 

Moving forward I know that there will plateaus and rough patches, maybe even setbacks. You don't overcome years of unhealthy thinking and habits in a single month. But I am going to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone and digging deep to prove to myself just how crazy that old me really was. 

In the coming months I want to challenge you. Pick something in your life that you want to work on or try. Pick something that scares the crap out of you. Maybe something you have dreamed about but have put off more times that you can recall. Then make a promise to yourself to start facing your fears and see what happens. Find a friend or a mentor who can support you and hold you accountable. Be open with others about your goals. And take it one step at a time. I am not saying it won't be scary. It will be hard and at times uncomfortable. After the last 3 years what I can say without a doubt is if you commit to yourself, it will be is amazing and life changing. 

New Year, New Me?!?!

*Disclaimer: This has been the hardest post of my life to put out there. I have sat on it for over a week trying to decide if I really want to go through with this. It is really long, a little rambling and should have been split out into 2 parts. Yet I was afraid I would chicken out and never post the second half. So grab cup coffee and get settled in. I will be the girl over in the corner hyperventilating in a paper bag because I finally had the courage to share something I have been trying to do for almost 2 years. Cheers!

Happy New Year!!  2014 was an epic year for the Martin family. Both Kipper and I set out to accomplish goals that just a year before we could have never dreamed of.  Along the way to achieving those goals we made new friends, grew closer to old friends, celebrated 10 years of wedded bliss, did more laundry and dishes than I care to recall (damn water bottles) and learned more about ourselves than we ever imagined.  As we welcome the start of another year it is time to set new goals and put forth a plan to achieve them.  A new year, a new me…right?!?!

Sort of, but not exactly.

At one time I was REALLY big on New Year’s resolutions. I would spend so much time coming up with big goals and ideas of things I wanted to accomplish for the entire year.  And while a few bits and pieces would happen, the majority always fell to the wayside and made me feel like a failure.  My New Year’s resolutions were just another example of me trying to map my life out 365 days in advance and never planning how I would adjust when life threw me a curveball.  And life always throws you a curveball (or five!)

Over the last two years I have done away with what I traditionally called New Year’s resolutions and focused more on attainable long term goals, reevaluating things every few months.  I think Kipper said it best – there is nothing magical about January 1st!  (Other than getting to use a new calendar; which is kind of magical if you are dorky like me!)  If you have a goal or a dream you can start on a random Tuesday in March or a Friday in September.  And if you get off track, all you need to do is wake up and start again. Every day is a chance to start anew.

Life is about growth.  I truly believe you must continue to grow and develop all areas of your life in order to fully live life the way God intended us to.  Sometimes that means pushing past your comfort zones.  Breaking down walls and allowing yourself to be more vulnerable in the eyes of others.  It is an ongoing journey and it can be so scary, yet so incredibly freeing. 

When I started my blog, my goal was to focus on craft and dyi projects, with the occasional post about my personal life.  I didn’t realize it then, but looking back I realize my blog was away for me to escape from issues I didn’t want to deal with at that time.  I quickly found that I was writing more personal posts than anything, although the majority of them remained up published.  I slowly started posting more of them, but was still extremely guarded. 

In 2013 I made a promise to myself that I would be more transparent in my blogging and I began to open up about my struggle with depression, ADHD and infertility.  In 2014 while my blogging was limited, I shared some of my rawest, most honest posts ever.  Sometimes I still can’t believe I ever hit publish on them, but in the end I am so thankful I did. 

Every time I took a leap of faith and put my heart out there, I was blown away by the response.  The amount of love and support I have received, from places I would have never imagined, has been amazing! I was always so concerned about how others would judge me and I am sure there are some who have. Yet through this experience I have found a support system that I would have never had.  I have connected with others in a way that would have never happened in our casual friendship and have been blessed to have been a very small part of helping a few other women start their journey breaking down their own walls.  

Because of the promise I made to myself in 2013 and the small chance this might help someone else, I have finally decided to open up about the issue that scares me the most and plays a huge part of my battle with depression – my weight and self-image issues. I have written countless posts on this topic, but I have never been brave enough to share.  Today - in the spirit of the New Year - that changes.  

Long story short, I have had a long, extremely unhealthy relationship with food and my weight.  For years my thoughts were consumed with calories, dress sizes and weight. I measured my worth in numbers and even at a size 2/4 and 120 pounds I wasn't truly happy.   

Anytime something didn't work out, in my mind, it was always because I was fat. Seriously.  Broke up with my boyfriend – I was too fat. Didn't get the part in a play I wanted – too fat. Didn't make the grade I expected on a test – you guessed it, too fat!  It never crossed my mind that things don’t always go your way or that maybe if I wasn't so preoccupied with what size my new jeans were and spent more time studying I MIGHT have done better on that test.  

In my 20’s I found some relief from this thanks to antidepressants but at the cost of gaining weight.  I came to a point that I just stopped caring about my nutrition or working out, literally doing everything I could not to think about it. Yet I hadn't actually fixed anything, only band aided it and I still thought about it often. It took me several years to realize that. 

A little over 3 years ago, after the hardest year of my life, I had gained a considerable amount of weight – 40 pounds to be exact.  I was miserable.  By the grace of God I decided to start running with Kipper. My original motivation was weight loss. Only I had no idea how this decision to run would change my life so many other ways.  At the heaviest I had ever been, I signed up and completed a Warrior Dash mud run.

Over the next year I kept running and worked extremely hard to get myself off Prozac and Adderall. It took almost a year but I was able to get off all my meds and was feeling better than I had in ages. I lost a little weight, just not as much as I had hoped. Yet I kept running and setting new goals. Somewhere along the way the goals stopped being only weight related and became endurance and health related.

Fast-forward to 2014. Training for and running a full marathon and watching Kipper complete an Ironman 70.3 changed everything.  For the first time it all clicked. My imperfect body had carried me through the hardest and most epic challenge I could imagine.  I had wasted so much of my life consumed with my weight and being smaller.  When I was 120 pounds, I couldn't run more than maybe a mile. Yet there I was at 240 pounds and I had run a marathon.  It actually makes me more proud of myself knowing that I had the courage at this weight to start and finish something that only 1% of population attempts.  (Now excuse me while a freak out that I just shared my weight with the entire world…something up until now only my husband and doctors have known!)

As I move forward in my journey I know that while I am completely healthy now, my weight can’t stay here because there will come a day it will affect me. I also know that dropping some weight will make a huge difference in my running.  Kipper has long thought that part of my issue is on most days I don’t eat enough or I have a major splurges and am way over. I don't have a happy medium. My body is all out of whack and confused.  And while I have agreed with him for some time I have no evidence to support that theory because tracking my food terrifies me.  It gives me great anxiety and takes me back to a former version of myself that I never want to be again.  I will track here and there but as soon as I start to panic, I stop.

I am finally in a place that I am ready to tackle that fear and anxiety once and for all.  I know it is going to be tough. It is going to force me to face demons I have tried to bury for far too long. But I’m not the girl I once was. Food isn't my enemy or a substitute for a therapist. Even though I struggle some days, a number on a scale doesn't define me.  Somehow surviving the first week of tracking my food without any freak outs has reconfirmed all of this.  

Moving forward I have promised myself I will continue to share this part of my journey. It terrifies me. It is the wall that I have never let many past, but it is time. I am so thankful that I have an incredibly supportive husband and that God has placed a handful of people in my life over the last few years that have given me new perspective and helped get me to this point. 

Merry Christmas from the Martin Family!

Yellow Shoe Diaries: The Great Ankle Spraining of 2014

Taking in all the Christmas lights on what might have been one of the most incredible runs I have ever had. Everything felt so effortless. It was like I was flying up and down the hills. I even texted Kipper to let him know I was going to run longer than planned. 

Then I  fell off a curb and rolled my ankle! (and before you ask it wasn't while I was texting!!) It took a second for me to realize what happened but when it clicked I just started bawling. I sat down on the curb for a moment thinking it would just stop hurting after a moment. It didn't really stop but I guess I sort of got used to the pain and realized I couldn't just sit on the curb all night. 

Nearly a mile away, I hobbled home. My ankle is so swollen and already bruising. Pretty sure my Holiday Run Challenge has come to an early end this year. :( 

The Triathlete's Wife

Ever since we ran our first 5K and Kipper got his first road bike, he had talked about wanting to do a triathlon. So after losing just over 100 pounds that dream became a reality and he did his first triathlon. It was just a short sprint called Try the Tri but you would have thought it was the Olympics by how proud I was of him. Seriously.

After that race I assumed there would be more but then the word "Ironman" started coming up more and more. (and he wasn't talking about the movie either!)  At that time I couldn't wrap my head around him taking on something like that. But as time went on, the pieces started to fall in place and I finally could see it.

After 2 years of new athletic adventures we both had big dreams for 2014. I was going to do my first marathon in February and Kipper would do his first half Ironman in October. We both agreed we would do what we needed to in order to support each other through achieving this fitness dreams. Which basically meant while the other was training we would step up and be domestic. (which I am not!)  Let me tell you Mr. Martin got the better end of the deal because his training is WAY longer than mine was. lol.

First up...find a tri coach! This was a long process that he actually started in December 2013. If you know Kipper, you know his OCD.  Agonizing over who was the best fit for our lifestyle and his personality, plus their training philosophy was a beat down. In my heart I knew who was best for him, but I only offered up advice when asked and tried to let him figure it out for himself. In the end Trident was his pick. As well as mine since the day we met with Tim nearly a month before.

I'm not going to lie, after meeting with the coaches I was nervous. Ironman anything was a big time commitment and time wasn't something we always have a lot of. Between working 2 jobs, school and family this was going to be a major life change for not only Kipper, but me too.

And then there was my "investagoogle" of how Ironman training affects marriages. Much of what I found didn't ease my mind. Story after story of damaged relationships but then there were a few that talked about how it made their marriage stronger. We are very blessed with a strong marriage and I made a promise to myself that in the end we would be better for this experience.

For the last 8 months our lives have sort of revolved around triathlon. While it hasn't always been easy and there have been times if I had to wash another water bottle I might have gone mental, it has been incredibly rewarding. I have watched my husband grow in ways that just 4 years ago I would have never imagined. We found a new normal in our relationship and made it work.   And with less than a week till race day I am happy to say with a lot of work, we both made good on the promise of our marriage being better for this experience.

I feel like we are more in tune to each others needs more than every before (which is kind of crazy since we have always been pretty good about that!) I will be the first to tell you I got lonely with Kipper training so much. Many days he would work a 12 hour shift and then go workout for 2+ hours. By the time he got home he would shower, eat and pass out on the coach. Then back up at 4:30-5:00 am to do it all again the next day. He has been so good about picking up on when I just need time and somehow making it happen. Lunch dates on his days off during the week have been a true blessing.

For my part (other than the extra domestic stuff) I tried to play it by ear each week to see how I could best help Kipper through that week. Sometimes it was helping get his stuff for the next day together, picking up dinner because he was too tired to cook (and didn't want what I would cook! lol) or staying up with the fur babies when they were extra playful so he could sleep. Other times it was as simple as reminding him that I truly believe he can do this or keeping him company on a run when his head is telling him to quit.

The one thing I did every week that never changed was prayer. Lots and lots of prayers. For us our athletic adventures have been very spiritual. As much as we have enjoyed the challenges, it isn't about us. The grace of God and His strength have carried both of us over each finish line. It is the same grace and strength that have helped Kipper push through workouts when he didn't think he could give an ounce more.  And even though the participant handbook says you can receive no outside help, come Sunday, October 26, 2014 I know Kipper won't have to do this alone. And that gives me an incredible amount of peace.

I know I speak for both Kipper and I, we are so grateful for supportive friends and family who have been there through this journey. It takes a village and we are very blessed to have a HUGE village praying and supporting this weekend.

For those of you who would like to follow along from home there are a few ways you can:

1. Follow my Instagram/Facebook posts #halfironkipper 
2. Follow the athlete tracker on the Ironman website. He is bib 2655
3. Watch the live feed from the finish line 

Many friends have asked what they can do to support Kipper this weekend. His wave is slated to hit the water at 8:10 a.m. Sunday morning. If you don't mind, please stop and say a prayer at 8:10. Pray for a safe, injury free race. Pray for peace of mind. Pray for endurance. And most of all pray that God is glorified every step of the way.

I can't believe the day is almost here. A day that has been in the making for 4 years.  This proud wife can't think of a better way to spend her 33rd Birthday than cheering on her best friend as he achieves this dream!

Yellow Shoe Diaries: You Are Enough!

To whoever chalk bombed the trail this weekend with various sayings - Thank You!!! 

My training has been off and I was slightly dreading today's long run. 4 miles in I was miserable and I was just going to quit because I was so disappointed in myself.  Right before made the turn to go back to my car, I talked myself into pushing through a little longer.  

Even though I struggled and fought with myself the entire time - I made it. Kipper met me at the food truck park to eat afterwards and just stared at me as I sobbed post run. (girls are weird, haven't we covered that by now?) Today was an excellent reminder that running 10 less than stellar miles always trumps giving up on yourself!