Recently it’s been Christmas post after Christmas post and there’s been so much going on behind the scenes that I thought I’d give you some updates on life lately. There will be no beautifully styled photos or Christmas decor in this post. Read at your own risk.
Let’s start with instagram, OH instagram! As you may have noticed, I didn’t participate in this week’s Thrift Score Thursday. I wouldn’t ditch my cohosts without a valid reason because I love hosting each week and checking out other people’s hunted goods. But because it’s based off of instagram photos and we share everything on instagram, I decided this week I needed to bow out. If you follow me there, you may have noticed that I am currently blocked from using it at full capacity, as you can see in the photo above that I posted last Saturday. I can post photos, but can do nothing else. I can’t comment, I can’t add captions to my own photos…. nada. Why was I blocked, you ask? Well, last Friday I was in a car for 10 hours and I had nothing better to do than scroll instagram and leave comments for people and be a friendly instagrammer. Because I was so active, they marked me a spammer and blocked me for AN ENTIRE WEEK. For being friendly. What?!?! I’ve filled out an online form with them, reported it, tweeted them, had people tag them in photos for me… and no response. As one follower said yesterday when I posted a caption-less photo, “I feel like you have laryngitis and can’t talk.” Yes, I feel like that, too!!!! I truly hope the curse is lifted soon and I can reply to the kind comments you’ve all left over there this week!
So why was I in the car for 10 hours? Well first of all I wasn’t driving- you should know I wasn’t instagramming and driving. 😉 I was passengering. We head to South Carolina each summer to my in-laws beach house, and last year we headed there in December so that I could run my first half marathon, the Kiawah half marathon, and celebrate an early Christmas with Chris’ side of the family. I somehow talked Chris into joining me for the race this year, and we all piled into the car and drove down on Friday. Now a little background on this race…
Last year I trained alone, and didn’t really know what I was doing. I don’t think I trained properly or enough, and during the actual race I hit a wall around mile 8, started to feel better at mile 9, then miles 10-13 just dragged by. I ended up finishing with a time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, and I placed 140th out of 291 in my age bracket (female 35-39). I was still really happy with myself because I did it and I finished! This photo was taken last year at the finish:
Do you see how sweaty I was? And it was colder last year than this year.
But this year was completely different. I hired a coach (Jessica, who is amazing and can coach via email and text, which is what she did for me), and had a goal of cutting my pace down to a 9-9:30. I was really hoping to come in under 2 hours, but I didn’t know if it was possible. Well, with Jessica’s help (as well as the help of friends who run with me and are not afraid to do speed work!), I worked my tail off the last several months, minus some time off for an ankle sprain due to tripping on a walnut on the road. True story. The last few weeks I was doubting myself, feeling like the colder air was slowing me down, and I wasn’t really sure how this race was going to go. Meanwhile, I should tell you that Chris “trained” by running 3-4 miles a couple times a week for about a month, did one 10k, and ran one 8 mile run. So even though had my self doubts, I knew I was at least not going to hurt like he was! 😉
Race day arrived and I woke with a headache in my temple. I took some ibuprofen and Chris and I headed for the race venue where we waited for an hour and a half until the race started. In the meantime, Jess texted me to wish me luck, and I told her about my headache. She replied that she had run her best race ever with a headache, and I crossed my fingers that I would be as lucky.
At 7:59 AM, the national anthem was sung, and at 8:00 AM, the gun went off and the race started. We had placed ourselves around the 9:30 pacer, and after warming up with them the first mile, I was ready to go. I started picking up speed and eventually caught up to the 8:58 pacer around mile 3 or 4. I was feeling great and was excited to be going at a great pace. Around mile 7 or 8 I started to question whether I had it in me to maintain that pace, but I thought of Jess, who knew I could do it, and I thought of the months of work I had put into it, and I thought of how great it would feel to break 2 hours, and I kept going. I stayed with the pacer until mile 10, where I grabbed water and a banana and went on my way, staying just behind him. At mile 11 the full marathon runners veer off, so the pacer headed off in that direction, and I kept going. I continued on the last few miles, tired but happy, and crossed the finish line. Just after crossing, I received a text from the race notifying me that I had finished in 1 hour and 58.5 minutes! I had come in under 2 hours and was stoked! And to put things into perspective, as I mentioned last time I placed 140th out of 291 in my category, and this time I placed 62nd out of 299! To me, that practically feels like winning! And I am sure you are wondering if Chris survived. I am happy to report that he came in just a few minutes after me, and lived to tell! And how is it that he can barely train and still get a decent time? (Oh, and yeah, that really is his bib number.)
My point in sharing my half marathon story is not to say “hey hey, look at me and look what I did!” but to show you that with hard work, dedication, and a belief in yourself, you can achieve goals you may have thought were out of your reach. And sometimes you need help reaching those goals (I needed Jess!), and that is totally OK. Never be afraid to ask for help… but never ask someone to do something for you. Make sure you are saying, “Show me how.”
Before we headed to South Carolina for the race, I had the privilege of attending Shannon’s #likeaboss party. Let me tell you, this girl knows how to throw a party, along with her fab cohosts, Mariella, Teri, & Kerra, and I was so excited to attend this event and finally meet Shannon of Burlap & Lace. I have been a long time fan of her blog, and love her style. I already knew I would love her, but she was even so much more awesome in person than I could have expected! This photo of us together sums it up well, I think. (Photo shamelessly stolen from Shannon, by the way).
The #likeaboss party is an event meant to gather DC local creative entrepreneurs for a night of fun and networking. My partner at Sweet Clover, Sarah, and I headed down to DC with Angelique & Saulé, the ladies of Silk & Burlap (whose fashions I shared on Monday).
We had a blast meeting so many beautiful and talented people, and we also offered up a little raffle prize to help draw some of the DC-ers up to our little treasure trove, Frederick, Maryland. We collaborated with Silk & Burlap to create a swanky little package including a vintage bamboo brass tray, copper and black vintage ice bucket, and a gift certificate all from Sweet Clover, and tickle & kiss glasses, a gorgeous clutch, matches, and a gift certificate all from Silk & Burlap. I was so grateful to Shannon for allowing our businesses to be part of the raffle.
Like I said, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes here, but it’s all been wonderful (aside from instagram being the devil). There’s still so much more to fill you in on, but I am afraid I’ve chewed your ear off enough for one day. Just know that life is good- I am savoring every moment.
