the 4 year runniversary.

in my general nerdiness, i know exactly the day i began running. that would be today! its a day that changed so much in my life and who knows where i would be without it. heres the recaps of the last 2 years in case you havent read them. so in honor i put in some double digit miles this flat, downhill miles that ended at my favorite breakfast place in vegas! it let me think about the last year and the races/places i got to do/see and some of the outside things that changed too. i was also rewarded with this...

helll-o red velvet coffee cake!

#8 the et 1/2 marathon

rachel, nv

august 4th, 2012

2:18:41!

holy omg this one was tough! it started at midnight just outside area 51, and ps i am totally afraid of the dark. a headlight was required and the course was no joke. the 1st 6.5 miles were straight up a 800 foot elevation gain. luckily the last 6.5 were a straight shot down to the little ale-inn. 

#9 the nike womens 1/2 marathon

san francisco, ca

october 14th, 2012

2:08:34!

i finally made it through the lottery and into the race! it was as amazing as i was hoping it would be and a vacay with some of my favorite people to boot. the super hilly course was nothin to laugh at. but the bling, was 1000% worth it:)

#10 saints and sinners 1/2 marathon

boulder city, nv

october 20th, 2012

1:57:15!!!

so i got a little crazy and decided to sign up for back to back halves, just to see if i could do it. for the record...i totally can. and can totally rock it!

#11 the kaiser permanete southern california 1/2 marathon

irvine, ca

january 12th, 2013

1:56:03

this wasnt in the original plan. it actually came right in the middle of training for surf city the next month. while in town for my grandpas 80th birthday i needed a 12 mile training run and found a 1/2 only 3 miles from the hotel. some quick convincing to my friend jen and i had a buddy that paced me all the way to a shiny new pr!

#12 surf city 1/2 marathon

huntington beach, ca

february 5th, 2013 

1:58:03!

a long time in the making, this was a half run half cheer on friends from college to their 1st full marathon event! the weekend turned into a big reunion and i had a blast:) 

i did of course also have a lot of fun this year...

 midnight 5k

st george, ut

may 26th, 2012

27:08!

tarmisha decided she wanted to run a 5k and it doesnt take very much to convince sandy and i to run:) so we headed up north 1 friday after work to st george and ran at midnight! it was so fun.

roadrunner 4th of july 5k blast

las vegas, nv 

july 4th, 2012

27:30!

instead of the traditional morning 5k on 4th of july, sandy found a night one instead. a few light up tiaras later we had ourselves 1 very festive group!

 police and fire 10k

las vegas, nv

august 11th, 2012

57:34!

ive never done 2 races on back to back weekends before, but came home with a win in my age group for a fun experiment! ran into lots of runner group friends and even saw sno-cones at the finish line. only in vegas haha!

ragnar relay series

las vegas, nv

november 9th-10th

 

i had been dying to this 200 mile overnight relay for quite some time. 2012 was finally the year to do it! i joined a team with sandy and had an amazing time being stuck in a van for 30 hours with 5 other girls chasing another van plus getting out a running a total of 21 miles as well. it was a total blast! 

10k turkey trot

dana point, ca

november 22nd, 2012

52:59!!!!

with how much fun my mom and i had at the 4th of july race the turkey trot it didnt take much convincing to get in a few miles before all the turkey family fun! i think this is for sure going to be a new tradition:) plus a shiny new 10k pr is always good.

the ugly sweater run

las vegas, nv

decemeber 15th, 2012

 

who doesnt want to hunt for an ugly sweater then run it? joined by some new ragnar friends (seriously, those girls are lifers) we headed to fremont street dressed up and on the hunt for beer and hot chocolate. soo fun!

the color run 

las vegas, nv

february 16th, 2013

we had such a blast year, there was no way we were missin it this year! next time though, we will not line up in the way way back haha.

the hot chocolate 15k

san diego, ca

march 24th, 2013

1:23:07!

chocolate at the finish line plus a sparkle skirt and wings? wow my mom will let me talk her into just about anything;) but omg was it worth it!

wow i spent a lot of the year running! i had a blast and cant wait to see what this new year brings:) now off to enjoy this...

clearly my mom and i think alike;)

i am runner strong.

monday was a bad day. a bad day for the people of boston. a bad day for runners. a bad day for americans. and a bad day for the running community all over the world. it was supposed to be a good day, a great day actually. it was patriots day, the running of the 117th boston marathon, and opening day for the red sox. but it wasnt, it was a bad day. 

source

i was off that day. i had been sick all weekend and still couldnt muster the energy to go to work. on the couch after eating the 1st decent breakfast id had in 3 days, i got the notification from nbc on my iphone that 2 explosions had happened at the finish line of the boston marathon. i couldnt believe it. it couldnt possibly be real. for the rest of the day i watched the cnn coverage of the attack, took a phone call from my very cute concerned aunt, constantly updated my twitter feed to check on friends, and sat there in utter disbelief like everyone else. i couldnt believe it. why would someone take such a sacred and joyous day to turn it into a horribly, bad day.

 

this will always be what i think of when someone brings up
the boston marathon finish line. one bad day doesnt get
to change that. (source)

all day yesterday i read so many people's beautiful, heartfelt posts and just didnt know that i could compete. not that this is in any way a competition! i just didnt know that what i would write could stand up to what they had already said. and so my blog sat, rather quiet for the day, when it should have something very runnery, very inspiring to say.

then i got an email about what i would be doing saturday morning. as part of my new years running resolution i decided i really wanted to volunteer at a few events this year. race volunteers are truly amazing and i thought it was about time i got my butt in gear. so a few weeks ago i signed up for the rage triathlon, the race i did last year, to do just that! fast forward to today and an email bounced in my inbox about what i would be doing. after i got over the shock that iI need to be there at 530a i read on to find out i would be at the swim area to begin working crowd control. after that was over i would head over to the finish line to help for the rest of the day. i was totally stoked! they warned to bring extra sunscreen and comfortable shoes since it would be a long day.

just before the race started last year.

my day continued on and i was totally excited that i would be so involved in the race. and then it hit me, i would be part of the finish line crew, just like so many of the brave volunteers that ran right to where the people that needed the most help where and where the blasts when off. not that this race is anything nearly as big as boston, but it made ya think for about a half a second. and then the true runner/american/spunky girl in me came flying out. no way was i letting some coward make me afraid to run a race, or spectate a race, or volunteer at a race! i LOVE this sport. running turned my whole life upside down and helped me find who i really am. that's the beauty of running, it can be whatever you need it to be.

plus, EVERYONE deserves this feeling.

so this saturday i will arrive at boulder beach at 530am with a very big coffee in hand to be a part of a race. and i will continue to toe the start line of half marathons big or small. and on october 27th i will line up with 30,000 of my closest friends to run the marine corps marathon because it's part of who i am. and no one gets to take that away because i am runner strong.

source

the f-word, runner style.

in the process of all things new on this little blog of mine, i should probably tell you one of the new big things i finally committed too. its something that has terrified me to my very core for a long time as a runner and something i swore up/down/left/right/center i would never ever do. its a scary, scary word that starts with an f. ladies and gentlemen this last week i signed up for a full marathon. thats right, 26.2 miles of pure full craziness!

now i didnt go into this lightly. i had been thinking about it for many months, consulted a few experts that gave great personal encouragement, did research-a lot actually, and even a little bit of a test run with the back to back 1/2 marathons last year in october-sneaky i know. and while signing up was a big decision for me, where i would go was no question. i knew instantly when i wanted to sign up i would be traveling to washington dc to run the marine corps marathon!

first it is known as the peoples marathon and does not have a half attached to it. i knew for my own psychy i would not want to be tempted in going down the half course on race day! it would also allow me to check off another place i have raced in and the marines hold a very special place in my heart:) i never knew how true it was when someone said when one member joins the corp, the whole family does, until i was in that family. plus i figured that of anybody that could coordinate a race, the marines would do a kickass job. 

source

so 2 weeks ago i sat down at the computer on my desk at work and watched the clock countdown to 9a pst, then waited a good 2 minutes before logging onto the active.com website to sign up. last year the race sold out in 2 hours and 46 minutes so i knew i needed to hop on fairly quickly when it opened. and then the site crashed from overload. then kicked me off halfway through registration. and finally after 2 hours and 27 minutes of refreshing the race was sold out. now what was i going to do?

there were many apologies by the marathon of all the people that had countless problems and frustrations, trust me there were tons of us. but that still left me without a bib. so back to my research i went in what to do next. i considered the bib transfer option in which over the summer someone that signed up no longer wants their bib can give it to someone waiting desperately for one. but that meant i would have to find an actual person and with all the people that got shut out, i wasnt sure that was the safest option. see i didnt have a back up plan if i didnt get in. the marine corp marathon is my only choice for my 1st full marathon. that meant i was heading down the road of a charity option.

i hesitated quite i bit, ill be honest. i didnt want to pick one just because it was my only option. i wanted to pick one that i was passionate about. but then i started to really look into the amazing organizations and was phenomenally impressed with what they do! i narrowed it down to two places after chatting with my brother. can you tell i dont make big, big decisions quickly haha.

after waiting a few days for response and confirmation i am incredibly proud to tell you that this year i will be fundraising and running the 38th marine corps marathon with.......

source

you may have heard of them before, if not please check out their website! they are doing truly amazing things with the incredibly brave men and women that have served our country:) i am sooo proud to be able to help raise money for such a fantastic organization!

alright now its time to start the fundraising, today my friends! my firm goal is $500 by october 1st. but i would love, love, love to blow that goal out of the water before then and continue to raise money all the way through race day! you will see these links a lot and i will talk about it tons for the next few months:) it so super easy to donate. you simply enter the donation amount, click on the next button and enter the credit card information. no amount is too big or too small, everything adds up! thank you so, so, so much in advance:)

https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/individual-fundraising/curlyrunnerbugtakesonmcm/

the hot chocolate san diego 15k race recap.

a few months back i heard about the hot chocolate race through the running grapevine and was soooo wishing there was one in vegas. that didn't stop me for long, especially since there was one so close in san diego! there is a 15k or a 5k you can participate in, a really sweet tech race sweatshirt, and when you cross the finish line they give you a bowl of chocolate. sold! i quickly recruited my mom into the 5k. which also didn't take long when i mentioned there was lots of chocolate at the finish line. ps we have major sweet tooths in my family:) thank goodness my mom is so up for anything!

last saturday morning we hopped in the car for the fairly easy 5 hour drive down south. we made it in plenty of time to play around the gaslamp district where the race took out of sunday morning. our hotel was amazingly close to everything and the room service we ordered for dinner that night was super delicious. the 5am alarm sunday morning however was crazy early.

we like to carb up with cupcakes too:)

donned in our outfits we made the half mile walk to the start line to gather in our corrals. after all the crazy things i had heard about traffic in other cities i was sooo glad we decided on a close hotel. we made it plenty of time for my mom to get into her corral since the 5k took off 1st. she was so super excited to be in a higher corral than me:)

after the 5kers were off the 15kers started lining up. we noticed that we were one of the only people dressed up that morning and the people around me in my corral looked awful serious. i was a little nervous to be honest since i hadnt run quite that distance in some time. but i was out there for fun and very much hoping to come in under 1:30:00.

soon we were off and up the 1st hill. apparently i was under very big impression that san diego was flat, ha! for the next 9.3 miles it was up and down, up and down. the problem with the downhill was just as mean as the uphill so i wasn't speeding down those either. the ground was also super uneven so you really had to watch where you were going. i saw a few people fall and it definitely made me keep my eyes on the ground the rest of the way.

usually i tick off the miles excitedly as i pass them and think to myself i only have x number left. for some reason the only way i could think through this race was breaking it down into three 5ks. not sure how that switch happened, but it got me through! sometimes you just cant fight things.

the course was a tough one, but had snaked through tons of neighborhoods so there were lots of spectators along the way. the water stations were stocked full of volunteers and encouragement as well. i took it slow the first 2ish miles to get my footing and figure out the hills a bit. once in a groove i was determined just to keep running up all the hills! the weather was gorgeous, although i really could have used some sunscreen lol.

after the 5k mark i picked up speed a bit and was feeling pretty good. then the really big hills came into play and man were they killers! i noticed that we never saw the 5kers and thought that was kind of odd, it really felt like 2 totally different courses. then we got to the hill just after the 10k mark. oh.my.god. it was literally straight up. luckily there were spectators at the top cheering us on and letting us know there was a downhill soon. we crossed the 7 mile mark in the process and thank goodness there was only 2 miles left afterwards, i was just about spent.

soon we crossed the 8 mile mark and it was one crazy downhill left then all flat through the back roads to the finish line! i picked up speed, ready to get to the chocolate. as we turned the last corner i saw the finish line and heard the amazing voice of my favorite race announcer. i have no idea what his name is, but he does long beach, did surf city, the turkey trot we did in november. i just love him. and he commented on my tinkerbell wings:)

i was scanning the crowd looking for my mom as i furiously drank water. finally i found her with a bit of a sad look on her face. she took off her jacket and showed me the huge scrape on her shoulder plus the crazy swelling on her left hand. turns out a mile 2 she lost her footing and fell right over! luckily the race had these really cool people called race guards that are doctors/nurses that run the race with us offering help to anyone in need. my mom said she was so so nice and was able to get to her so much faster than a volunteer then calling for help! they were able to dig out the rocks in her hand and the race guard finished the race with her just in case. she is ok, just a little sore.

we headed over to the very best part...the chocolate! the race people were so super efficent and we walked right up and grabbed our cups. my mom said she was glad she waited for me since there was a super crazy line after all the 5kers had finished. of course we dug right in and the pretzels were my favorite part. well that and the fun pictures we took:) it also had huge marshmallows, a banana, rice krispie treat, and vanilla waffers.

 

afterward we headed back to the hotel slowly eating our chocolate the whole way, best post-race snack ever! which was well deserved because that course kicked my butt. between the hills and the distance man i was beat up. respect the distance for sure!

we showered up, took a quick nap-thank you for a 12pm check out time-then headed up the coast a bit to carlsbad for super delicious lunch at a beachside cafe. which of course meant this...

 

my mom and i had a blast with this race! i am so so grateful that she is willing to join me in these crazy things:) at least this time i included chocolate!

the march 2013 running recap.

total run mileage: 65.67 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 29.68 miles
# runs: 11
# rest days: 17

# xtraining workouts: 3

favorite run: the hot chocolate 15k in san diego. the course was pretty rough, i had no idea there were so many hills in san diego! but got to do it with my mom and we had a blast:)

most hardcore run: the 10 miler i did last friday. i skipped the morning run and decided i would do it in the afternoon because i got off work at a decent time. forgot to factor in that it would be 85* at 330p with no clouds, oops. but i got through it and felt very accomplished!

current reads: nothing serious, crud.

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: travel sites! i have some seriously cool things happening the rest of this year and i have been looking things up like a crazy person. tours, places to eat, those cant miss touristy attractions. oh i so have the travel bug!

source

current obsession: getting ready for spring! well, the few very short weeks we get here in vegas haha. my flipflops and super cute dresses are all set to come out of the closet!

current drink: water and more water.

current song: such the hopeless romantic:)

current wish-list:

·         a magical shopping spree that i could update all the accessories in my closet

·         another magical shopping spree so i could reinvigorate my closet with things that fit and with the so cute new things on the spring shelves.

·         hey, its a “wishlist”:)

current need: to get back to regular blogging. i think i was trying to “reinvent” the wheel a little bit in what i want this little blog to be. instead im just going to go with the flow and see where it takes me.

current triumph: a successful return to the indoor soccer field! i know that sounds silly, but i havent played in years, literally. crazy how it all comes back so quickly and naturally. and im having a blast!

current bane of my existence: taxes. they are just mean. enough said.

current goal: to remember this…

source

current indulgence: easter candy…well these specifically…

current excitement: two pretty fun plans finally fell into place in the last week. funny how those things happen on their own, when they are supposed too. and they both involve traveling to fun new places! more details on both soon:) i told ya, my travel bug is getting out of control!

the single life.

i know i have disappeared a bit over the last month or so. oops! while ive been tryin to figure out where to take this little blog of mine, ive also been working on myself. when one gets out of a 3+ year relationship in which they lived with the person for 2 years it takes a little time to get the new swing of things. and oh, ive been gettin my swing back:)

i forgot how much being single can be! not that i want to do forever, trust me, but ive been havin a blast! to get off work and decide to go for a run then do some errands just because you feel like it and not have to tell anyone where youre going, amazing. i dont have to feel bad about going out after work with friends while others go to work at night anymore. if i want to pick up and go to a soccer game with my parents on a friday night, i can, and there is no one to make me feel bad about going when they cant. i can meet a friend for coffee at the drop of a hat and talk about running for hours with her:) if i want to get out of the house for awhile and walk around town square by myself, i totally can. ive even reconnected with old friends i never should have really lost touch with. and sleep. oh beautiful sleep. i can leave the tv on as i fall asleep, or sleep until 1pm on sundays and not have anyone say a word. oh and i have flannel sheets on my bed again. they.are.glorious! i love them. 

heres a few of the things ive been enjoying, to say the least hehehe, the last few months...

you can get tattoos without explaining why.

welcome new little ones!
taya breyon rivers 02.10.2013

start playing indoor soccer again
with some of your old teammates!

go to a preseason mls game with your parents:)

have tequilla shots on a tuesday during the rebel game!

run with people who love it as much as you do

pedicures with your mom on a sunday,
just beacuse you want too

you can run away to flagstaff!

because your best friend needs you,
and you want to play in the snow:)

celebrate st pattys day on fremont street.

and get to party with new friends!



run away to san diego for a race.

and go to the beach even if it was chilly:)

single kb (as a friend coined for me) has definitley been having a good time. its been awesome to find myself again and do the things that truly make me happy! who knows where this will all take me...but i cant wait to see what new adventure i get to go on next:)

the graduate.

so its been just over a month since i finished school and for some reason i havent been able to write about it all yet. i have tried a few times, mostly ending with me staring at a blank page. its almost a little unreal to be done. and to say that i have a masters degree. plus i will have no more homework ever again! it was kind of awesome getiing ready for surf city and not having to worry about what was due or finishing up things before i left. the other free days during the week are friggin sweet as well:)

the crazy thing is it was right about 2 years ago, almost exactly that i made the decision to go back to school. (read all about it here!) there were definitely some naysayers, actually quite a few that told me there would a lot of things i would have to give up. for example, i probably wouldnt run as much. i most likely wouldnt travel very often. i really wouldnt have much of a life at all with working full time. even with all those scary thoughts i embarked anyway!

the life of a runner and a grad student.

it was hard, i cant even lie. and there were many a days i thought it wasnt ever going to end or that i could just stop. but then as the classes started to tick off and the months started flying by i realized how fast this was really going to go. so i bucked up, figured out a schedule that finally worked, and became determined to finish! i pushed out the people that told me it was too much work or that it was a silly thing to even be doing. i focused and relied on the people that were crazy supportive instead, luckily there were a lot more of those than the other:)

as my last class finally came to a close it all started getting real, really real. and after staying up until 2am on a saturday night to finish my nightmareishly long 30 page paper because i just couldnt look at it anymore, i was done. all i had to do was read over it and turn it in. i had really finished! i told my mom that once the paper was done all i wanted was a cupcake from the cupcakery to celebrate. so as i came bouncing downstairs that sunday-at about 2 in the afternoon-i was finally able to tell her it was time for cupcakes! it was the first of many celebrations:)

that monday i turned in my monster paper-that wasnt actually due till wednesday, yay me-and waited for my final grade. i had about 30 points to play with and still keep my a in the class. and i waited. and waited. and waited some more. and waited. then, on friday morning that week when i was off and we were leaving that afternoon for my grandpas birthday i got my official grade on the paper...and 88%!! which added up meant i got a 95% in the class! which really meant i had completed my masters program with a 4.0!!

to continue the celebration i did when any normal runner does, i ran a 1/2 marathon with my favorite running buddy jen:) i know, totally normal! the original plan was to have a graduation party in vegas that weekend but when your grandpa turns 80 and has a party, he pretty much wins haha. so i decided on having the next weekend instead!

after some serious searching for the right place i found bjs cocktail lounge. it had a great atmosphere, friendly, and had a pool table so people had some things to do. the people there were great and let me bring in all kinds of decorations. jessica flew out from denver to join in the festivities, and i had family come from all over! there was cake of course-whats a party without cake-that was delicious. we had a blast and had soo many different people came to have a drink or 2!

jessica stayed for a few extra days and in true style we decided to make the most of our time. which in our case meant a trip to some place special...

it only took 1 quick question from jessica for us to end up here!

i LOVE her:)

i had been saying for months that when i graduated i wanted to go buy something from tiffanys for myself as a reward for finishing. well after some looking i realized that may not be the most feasible thing ever and there wasnt anything that super caught my attention. so instead i set out to buy myself a watch! i havent had one since i worked at old navy almost 3 years ago because i was everyones time keeper for everything. soon it just became associated with work and i took it off the moment i was off. but i began thinking how much i really wanted now. so after some hunting i picked out a perfect one from fossil that i love! it was the perfect gift:)

i couldnt get a good picture, so i had to borrow!source

now that ive been done for that month ive been doing some adjusting. its weird to not have worry about homework on wednesday nights. or wonder when was the last time i logged into post something for attendance. when i went out of town the last 2 times i didnt have to even think about homework. i did think i would have so much more time then i actually do. kind of makes me wonder how i even made it all fit for that long! i did start to think about the naysayers the other day and all the things they told me i couldnt do. when i actually thought about it, i realized how many things i really did do, and there were quite a few!

*trained for and completed 6 1/2 marathons-cut back on running my ass

*traveled to england for one of my best friends weddings

*held my full time job successfully

*trained for and completed an olympic triathlon

*became single and even more independent

*finally got to participate in ragnar

*lost 25 pounds

oh and yes, i will participate in a graduation ceremony in the early summer. where and when is still being worked out with my advisor. who knows where this will take me next. i have some big picture ideas im working on now. i was finally able to sit down and write this when it all became very real upon coming home one night to a package on my front doorstep. my diploma was inside:) its really real now! 

master of arts in education
higher & postsecondary education