Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge

Linda at It All Started with Paint is hosting, along with a few other bloggers, an awesome challenge for January and I know exactly what I'm contributing.

"At it’s core  is the concept of starting off the new year by tackling the challenge that challenges you the most …" 

This baby. Maybe it's cheating because I'm probably 1/3 of the way through it, but it's definitely proved to be the most challenging thing I've worked on so far, for a few reasons. 

Right off CraigsList...

I got this sweet little bench for $10 off of CraigsList - it had been posted for well over a month and a half at $15, and every few days, I'd check the link I'd favorited and make sure it was still there. Well, after nearly six weeks I decided it was just time I get it already, but see if this lady would take a few bucks off, just to get rid of it. Win! So one very dark, very rainy, very cold night, my friend Roxy and I headed out to BFE in country Georgia to get this bench. Thankfully it fit in my car, given the weather, and got her home. 

She's not in bad shape overall - just that hole in the arm that needs some new foam and a little batting, but otherwise it's fine! Well, and the fabric was gross. Challenge accepted. This past Saturday, I stripped her down (only took four hours) and realized the task I had at hand. A LOT of work. Mostly because a lot of the edges had piping, and the arms were in three pieces sewn together - have I mentioned I don't have a sewing machine? So this is going to be super fun! I'm actually hoping to get it done this weekend, yay holiday, but for now, here's how she sits:

Four hours later...

 Naked. And with new, white, pretty legs that I distressed at the top of the "toes" a little bit. This is going to be a labor of love, that's for sure, so stay tuned!

Running Dreams 2012

Katy Beth's post inspired me, but I also want to hash out hopes for races this year. I wish I had you know, an extra $1000 (at least) at my disposal so I could just flit to and from and get to every race that I'd really like to do. However, I am of the normal variety and have only so many extra dollars to my name. That being said, there's a few things I'm already signed up for and excited to get to!

First and foremost:

The Callaway Gardens Half Marathon - Pine Mountain, GA - January 29

Yep, the official half marathon I've been (mostly) working my tail off for since October-ish. While it surely won't be as pretty as the photo above, given that it's January, I am excited that the entire race is through a regionally recognized botanical garden!

The Color Run - Atlanta - March 31

I can't even begin to tell you how I excited I am about this! If you would like to guess the level of excitement, check out the video. If you know me at all, you know I'm PUMPED.

I'm also really excited because I'll be running with a few of the girls I met at the Madison Christmas race, who in turn have gotten some people, and Heather's doing it with me, and now my boss and his wife are in too! So pretty much our team, Flair for Theatrics, is going to have the best time ever. Exciiiiiiited. 

So those are the only two I'm currently registered for - however, have lots of plans and dreams in the works. Wanna know how many? Check it out:

February

- Athens Mardi Gras 10K (2/4; Athens, GA)

- Taste of Athens 10K (2/18; Athens, GA)

- Arizona 5K (2/25; Phoenix) - Tina's bachelorette weekend... we might kick it off with a race!

April

- Dirty Girl Mud Run (4/28) (Atlanta, GA) - like Warrior Dash/Muddy Buddy but an all-women's race. A fairly new series, and only in a few cities nationwide. Thankfully Atlanta is one of them!

(summer here sucks, which means slim pickin's for runs!)

 July

- Peachtree Road Race (7/4; Atlanta) - Apparently it's one of THE biggest road races in Atlanta, as it's a 10K with a lottery system. Yeah, whoa. They turn 5,000-10,000 people away. One can dream!

August

- Athens TRI to Beat Cancer Triathlon (8/19; Athens, GA) - Heather and I are all about this (sprint tris are a great way to start out)... minor detail: we need bikes. Currently doing research and maybe we'll get there!

September

- Disney World Tower of Terror 10-Miler (9/29; Orlando) - I am dying to do a Disney race, and what better than an awesome night race for an awesome ride... and then late-night access in the park afterwards? Awesome. Count me in, please.

October 

- Nike Women's Marathon (10/14; San Francisco) - this is a run for a million dreams. There's a crazy lottery and a whole crazy process, but who doesn't want to run for a Tiffany's piece? I can only hope to be able to make it into this thing with Katy Beth, but oh my lord... yes please. 

December

- Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon (TBD; Las Vegas!) - I got Heather really excited about this last night, and I'd love to be able to do it! I hear it's a lot of chaos (especially with changing it to a night run this past year), but one, it's Vegas, and two, it'd just be awesome!

Again, these are all assuming money is no object. In my dreams. We'll see what I get done this year! Wish me luck! 

Training: 3 Weeks to Go!

This was a rough week overall - flew back to Georgia Sunday night, spent Monday recuperating and trying to get back into a groove. It's funny - for as easy as it was to get up in California and run every day that I was supposed to while I was there, and then coming back here and trying to get in the same pace - it wasn't until halfway through the week that I realized how much the time change was getting to me. So... it made for an interesting week.

Sunday (New Year's Day): 4 miles

Rest

This was my last day in California, so naturally after waking up and getting moving late in the morning (thank you New Year's Eve!), I spent the day running around, packing, finishing laundry, and having lunch with my grandparents in Pasadena. Helped mom and dad pack up some Christmas stuff (I hate taking down Christmas decor! It's so sad) and got my life together to head back to Georgia. Got to play Mexican train dominoes one last time with the fam - new favorite!

Dominoes!

I had a red-eye out of LAX at 11:30 this night, so was doing my best to get everything done without crashing for a nap, hoping I'd sleep most of the way on the plane. Success! Well, I missed both beverage services, so I assume I slept most of the night, though it was in and out. Monday morning, was in Georgia! Weird. Made my way back to Athens, where Roxy graciously took me to go get Molly and then took us home, since I couldn't get my car until Tuesday...

Monday: Rest

Rest

Yes, please! The only reason I was mostly okay with doing the red-eye flight was knowing that I had Monday off to recuperate, and I did just that. Molly apparently needed it too, after being picked up from the boarding center - she slept all day (literally), only getting up to move from couch to her bed to my bed and back again. Rough life. I spent the day watching the Rose Parade, took a fabulous two-hour nap, watched the Rose Bowl, and generally lounging around. I thought I had recuperated, but man! This week was rough. :)

Tuesday: 5 miles

Rest

Yup, like I said, this was was rough. Oh, going back to work - so not fun after a wonderful week and a half off! But back to the grind. I couldn't get with it this day - going back to work was fine, of course. Our conference is in just six weeks, so there's lots to get done and we definitely hit the ground running this week, which made for a busy Tuesday. I came home Tuesday night, after getting my car, and just didn't want to do a darn thing. So I allowed myself one more rest day. Bad idea.

Wednesday: 4 miles

3.07 miles = 27:24 minutes = 8:54" pace

This was the worst run ever. Or at least I thought so. I didn't really want to be out there, didn't want to be running, just couldn't find a groove. While that pace didn't turn out too terribly, I felt like my legs were weights the entire time and that I was hardly moving. I cut the run short because I just couldn't find a groove that encouraged me to be outside and keep moving. Run failure.

Thursday: Cross-Train

5.03 miles = 42:08 minutes = 8:22" pace

So I tried again on Thursday and felt so much better - only proves to show that this running concept is more a mental game than anything else. When your head is in it, you're golden - if you're even a little bit distracted or can't focus or can't find that groove, your run is truly going to be all out of whack and will not be the smoothest ride that it could be. I apparently hauled some butt on this run - I got home and saw my time and realized that I had I not walked those 3 minutes (I usually allow myself a one-song walk), I could have done those 5 miles in under 40 minutes! Oh well, I was glad I finally got out there again, even after as bad as Wednesday was, and made it work finally! Maybe that groove is coming back.

Friday: Rest

Rest

Gladly. Though I finally felt back into the groove after Thursday, with Saturday's run comning up, I knew I needed the rest day. I slept in a little bit, had a busy and uber productive day at work, and came home to unpack and clean up a little bit before my friend Heather came up Saturday for our craft day (!)... given that I had been pulling things out of my suitcases as I needed them, it was high time that I unpack for real. I unpacked, mostly, but crashed super early so I could get up at a decent hour and hit the pavement in the morning!

Saturday: 10 miles

10.16 miles = 1:35:18 minutes = 9:36" pace

I was nervous for this run, given the rough week I had with readjusting. My Camelback has beeng giving me some issues, so I had to suck it up and bring a water bottle with me - I hate running with things in my hands. It's so awkward! I survived (more on that later). I also decided to experiment, since this is my longest run to date, and I knew it'd be way longer than an hour, so I brought along a bag of Jelly Belly Sport Beans (they're delicious!) and to see if and how they impacted my ability to complete this run.

Yup... they're delicious.

The first two miles, I actually paid attention and took it easy, instead of powering out of the gate hard like I normally do, and managed just about an 8:20" pace between the two - not super slow, but given my normal runs, it's slower than my normal first two miles! Yep... pacing is a problem. After I hit mile 3, I felt like I finally had found a pace - I allowed myself one-song's worth of walking, and hit it again. I used half the bag of Sport Beans before my run (along with half an English muffin), and I had already pre-planned to finish the bag at mile 5, which I did just after. Mile 6 is where it started to get rough - that's when I started to feel the heavy legs! But, on the route I do, mile 6 and forward is totally flat, so I knew I could make the last few miles work pretty easily.



Not too shabby, eh?

Unfortunately, my Nike+ chip decided to end my workout early, so I had to tack on an extra, separate 1+ mile workout - so sad! But you get the point - these 10 miles weren't terrible! I felt empowered around mile 5 and 7 when I realized I was actually making it and didn't feel nearly as bad as I was afraid I would, given the prior week. Regarding the water bottle, it was just awkward. I was constantly tossing it from hand to hand, just because I didn't know what to do! I hate running with a water bottle, need to get the trusty Camelback functioning again!

After my run, I had a few minutes to recuperate until my friend Heather came up for craft day. Heather's a sorority sister that lives in Atlanta, and I finally convinced her to come up for the day! ;) She's also coming down to Callaway Gardens with me for my half, as she is running her first 5K! Yay! (She has a little hatred toward Athens, being a GT alum and all) We started with breakfast at Mama's Boy, which I wish desperately that I had taken a photo of because it was amazing - bacon, egg, and cheese scramble, complete with big, fluffy biscuit and fruit cup and fresh squeezed orange juice. Win, especially after a 1,000-calorie burnning run? I think so! Yum. We spent nearly three hours running to all the craft stores, grocery stores, and hardware stores we needed to and finally got to work around 3! What a day! I was working on this bench, finally:

and Heather was up for some wreath-making (success!) and painting (experimentation in progress).

Heather hard at work!

Heather's crafty success! Gorgeous, no?

I spent FOUR hours stripping this darned bench - needless to say, my hands are sore. Check out the pile of staples! This bench will be another whole blog post to come.

This was the end of the day - all the staples, falling apart foam, stuffing... whew...

She's going to be pretty in the end, but holy moly! Not the work I was expecting! Stay tuned for the final result. We made ourselves an amazing dinner - BBQ crock pot chicken, broccoli, corn, garlic bread. Win. Back to more crafting, and getting all the stripping done. I finally got to start painting the legs on the bench, so I felt like I finally got somewhere with the entire afternoon! I was exhausted.

Our amazing, amazing dinner!

And that's the week! I think I'm actually caught back up and readjusted (at least mostly) to functioning on EST and getting back in the groove. We'll see what this next week brings - three weeks to go!

Total for the week = 18.26 miles

New Year Goals for 2012

I always set up goals for myself, tend to forget what I've said I want to do, or just kind of... let them fall by the wayside, let's say. I am hoping by blogging them, for one, and for two, regularly checking back to see how I'm doing, I can actually hold myself accountable for the things I'd like to achieve. You can help, too! *hint*

I have a few things I'd like to start working on, a few that are essentially in progress, and some that are life-bucket list things that are things I've always wanted to work on. So, with that... here you have it.

Personal Finances - this is going to be vague to you for obvious reasons, but you'll get my gist!

• Increase my savings - always a works in progress, but especially because so much of it was used to move this fall, that for personal safety and sanity, I'd like to buff it up again.
• Talk with my bank to lower my credit card interest rate - I'm actually really excited about this and am going to talk to my bank this week! I worked hard, especially thanks to not paying rent for 3 years while an RD, and dramatically worked to improve my credit score and reduce my debt. Hoping the conversation this week with them works in my favor!
• Lower my debt - enough said. School loans are well under way, but a few years' worth of credit card use has me continuing on working on this one. I'd like to have at least half paid off by the end of the year.

Health & Fitness

• Complete 3 half marathons - My first is in 27 days, eep! But I am so excited and actually feel like I am thoroughly training and preparing for this. If this January one goes well, I am hoping to run one in March also. And then, of course, some lofty goals to run a few in the fall!
• 800 miles - Yep. I said it.  I did 200 this year, and 3/4 of that was October-December, so I think I can make this work. Especially if I make Health Goal #1 (3 half-marathons). Keep rootin' for me! I'm nervous, but I think I can do this one!
• Meatless Mondays - I tried this for awhile, but tended to remember at random. I would like to make this a conscious effort each week. With this, I'd also like to lower my red meat consumption to once a week (not super difficult, given that I currently don't each much red meat, but would again like to make an effort).
• Complete one race a month - this is already definitely under way! And I'm excited about it. I'd like to amp it up and do a few more than 5Ks, especially given that I'll be doing the half at the end of this month, but am open to random exciting 5Ks (like The Color Run). You can check out my Running page for more info... pretty pumped!

Life

• Get my Athens library membership - I've said I was going to do this since I moved here, and have yet to do so. Because... with that, I'd like to read 30 books this year. I need to read more, learn more, and get my mind a little more regularly active!
• Volunteer - It's easy to say I'm going to volunteer, but I'd like to commit 8-10 hours a month to doing something in my community. While my first humane society experience wasn't stellar, there are other animal opportunities in the area that I'd like to do! This can be around my community, randomness in Atlanta, and even taking on opportunities with my sorority some more.
• Travel - I'd like to get to three new states this year. I'm lucky that I haven't been to the majority of the eastern seaboard, and two new states (Tennessee and South Carolina) are both about a two hour drive. So this should be easy, but I'd like to take trips to these places with a purpose, not just to cross them off.

And there you have it! What are your resolutions? How can I help you stay on track? Need a running buddy? Holler! :)

Training: 4 Weeks to Go!

Despite the holidays, this week wasn't challenging, really, which makes me happy. I'm proud of myself with sticking with my schedule - on most trips, I bring my shoes and such, but leave them in the bottom of my suitcase and happily ignore them. I'm pretty proud that even the first morning I was here (and Christmas Eve no less!) I got up at 7 am to get out the door. My mom even commented on my dedication.

 

Sunday (Christmas Day): 4 miles

4.04  miles = 35:37 minutes = 8:48" pace

My 6-miler on Saturday was pretty easy and a good run, so I was hoping Sunday was just the same. It was a beautiful Christmas morning and I had enough time to get in my 4 miles before mass with the family. There was absolutely nothing special about this run, but managed to make it a quick one with some pretty decent timing!

 

Church with the family (which we always do Christmas Eve, so it was kind of strange being there Christmas morning), and then my dad's family always comes over for Christmas fun. It was in the mid-70s all afternoon, so we had a glorious Christmas dinner on the back patio! Only in Southern California, right? It always makes for some fun times! After Christmas at my house, Doug and I headed to his for a second round of dinner (man, good thing I kept up with my running!), presents, and games with some friends. It was a good Christmas.

 

A sunny, Southern California Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Doug's first Christmas cracker crown -- our family dinner tradition!

Monday: Rest

Rest

Happily. Slept in, hit a few random stores with the entire family - I was surprised to see that, for the most part, the stores were quiet and not much was going on around town. It also helped we didn't head out until nearly 10 am, but it was so nice! After our few random errands, came home and chilled. We had family portraits (the whole mom's side of the family) because my grandmother is in from Hungary for the first time in a while - and we haven't had portraits done of this side since 1990! Can you believe it?

 

After portraits, we headed over to my aunt's house. This is only the second year we've done Christmas this way; Christmas Eve is at her house, and with the additional folks we've had over the last few years, we've made Christmas Eve a white elephant gift exchange, complete with theme and other silliness. So on the 26th, we all reconvene and share our gifts with each other over pizza and beer. Yum. Another busy, but fun day on this vacation!

 

Merry Christmas ... again!

Tuesday: 5 miles

5.12 miles = 45:35 minutes = 8:52" pace

I convinced my uncle to come out on this run with me; he's more the biker and gym type, but said he'd come along. It was colder than my other two morning runs so far, but was a lot like Athens so maybe it wasn't as terrible as I thought! We made a nice, large loop through the city and caught up on things, since I haven't seen him since last Christmas (he's been in China working). It was strange having a running partner; I'm so used to running by myself now that I got a little winded faster than I normally do just because we were talking so much. It's quite a change! I discovered I think I'm best when it's just me and my headphones, zoning out and focusing on where I'm going (no offense Lou!).

 

Wednesday: 3 miles

3.2 miles= 24:31 minutes = 7:53" pace

I agreed to meet Lou (again!) but at the gym this morning; it's a few miles down there, and since I only had to get in an easy three, I figured I'd just run down there. I was actually feeling not so great about this run, but kept chugging ahead - if only I had known I was only 5 seconds off of PRing! I felt sluggish, but apparently was charging ahead without even thinking about it! Good to know I can still do that every now and again!

 

Wednsday night Doug and I went to the pirate show! It's a lot like Medival Times, only well... pirates! His mom got it for us for Christmas just so we could get out and do something just the two of us. Super fun! Fabulous evening.

 

Thursday: Cross-train

Rest

I apparently hurt my back doing something at the gym on Wednesday; after running around with my mom, cousin, aunt, and grandma all morning, all I wanted was to lay down and lie still. I got home, laid down at 3 with a muscle relaxer, read until 4 or so. I eventually ate dinner, watched a little TV, and passed out around 6  pm... and woke up the next morning at 8. Yup, apparently I needed that. I actually sat up, wide awake, at 3:45 am, really confused as to what was going on beacuse it was dark all around me! Talk about confusion. Then happily passed back out until 8 the next morning - I think it was more than just the muscle relaxer talking.

 

Friday: Rest

Cross-train; 11-mile bicycle ride

My mom decided she wanted to go bike riding at the beach (a favorite of hers lately; I went once this summer). Since my dad and I couldn't find a place to go snowshoeing, as we wanted, we went along. My back was overall feeling a lot better this morning. It was supposed to be in the low 70s (perfect!), but of course was still foggy when we got down to Santa Monica in the morning. It turned out to be nice though, but a little on the chilly side with the fog still lingering. We rode all the way down from Santa Monica to Marina del Rey and back up, about 11 miles round trip. Nice day!

 

After the long, painful, traffic-ridden drive home and a nap, Doug and I went out to a local dueling piano bar up the street in Claremont, called Piano Piano. Some of my family has been before, but we never had so we figured we'd check it out! What a great time - I love dueling pianos! I only had two drinks, but was afraid I'd regret them with my run the next morning, but was quite okay. Anyway, Piano Piano is awesome and I am excited to go back sometime!

 

Saturday: 7 miles

7.08 miles = 1:05:55 minutes = 9:18" pace

The last thing I wanted to do this morning was get up and run. While it's not quite the last day of my vacation, it's sure starting to feel like it! All I wanted to do was stay under my pile of blankets and sleep. Well, I allowed myself to until 8:15 anyway. After a quick piece of toast and starting some laundry (it's free! Need to take advantage while I'm at the parents' house!), I headed out. The sun was already shining and it's set to be almost 80 degrees here today, so I'm actually glad I waited a little later this morning. My legs were a little heavy, but after getting in the groove around 3.5, I felt like I was finally moving at a good pace. I extended my long loop from Tuesday, but added in an extra two blocks, down near the other high school and back up near my alma mater towards the end. I appreciate this city for being flat. :) Unlike Athens! It was a good (not great) last run for 2011.

 

I officially broke 200 miles for 2011 (202.59 ran!); while this never was a goal, and considering I didn't get my butt really moving until October, I'm pretty excited about this! I will set a goal for 2012, just not totally sure what that'll be (guess I should figure that out).

 

Total miles for the week = 19.44. Longest to date!

 

Happy New Year!