My first 5K

I have been excited for this race for the last month. A 5k is 3.1 miles, definitely not a marathon, but nothing to sneeze at either. I ran sprints in high school, open quarter, mile relay, and 200 meters. My anatomy classes in college taught me that you're muscles are either made to run sprints or long distance, not both. With those two things combined I've been telling myself (more like using the excuse) that it just isn't possible for me to run long distances. Oh sure, off and on over the last 10 years I've given a go at it, but always found some reason to give up - the weather, I'm too busy, I can't do it, etc.

However, shortly after the beginning of the year I just started running. It wasn't a New Years resolution, as I don't believe in making New Years resolutions. I think you should resolve every day to be better than the last in all aspects, so what's the point of making a resolution one time a year on a given date? I started running every other day and probably within a week I had decided that I was going to run the 5k at Cowtown Marathon. So I signed up for it, and for the last 6 weeks I have followed a training schedule without skipping a beat no matter the day, no matter the weather. I think my mom finally realized I was serious when I was up at 8 am in 29 degree weather on a Saturday morning, running 4 miles.

The week before the race I took it easy on my running on Monday and Wednesday, took 2 days rest before the big day, and stayed well hydrated and well nourished. Oh, I forgot to mention that I've almost given up sweets and alcoholic beverages entirely. Not the easiest of things since I love cheesecake, brownies, my whiskey, and craft beers.

The morning of the race I was up at 4:45, after not sleeping a wink or so it felt, and headed to Ft. Worth from my parents at 5:30. My parents, Brandon, and I sat in the car and waited as the cars flooded into the parking lots. Around 7:45 I decided it was time to get out, start stretching, and warming my muscles up. I found Michelle, Brandon's mom, and we lined up together. Below are a few pictures before the race - and yes I look crazy in the most of them, between the cold temperatures, being nervous, and adrenaline I was not focused on trying to be cute.

Michelle and I crossed the start line and finish line together! Definitely a memorable first race. My official time was 34:59. My previous best time when training was 39:02, so I bettered myself. I placed 151 out of 349 females in my age group and 2035 out of 5051 overall. Well in the top half of both categories. The winner in the female division had a winning time of 21 minutes and some change. After only a month of training, I'm definitely happy with my results. I had set my goal at 36-37 minutes and I beat that.

Running is not something I'm setting about doing to win races, I did that in high school. It is something I'm doing solely for me, for self-satisfaction, for accomplishment. Everything else in my life I do to compete or be the best. Most weeks I devote more than 40 hours a week to my work/career. I try to devote as much time to my husband and becoming a better wife (most of the time falling short) as I can. In general, everything in my life is centered around being the best. Running is something I do not have to be the best at; it is something I can do for myself, that no one can take away, and the only person I have to compete with is myself.

I once thought how does someone make the time to have a great career, a successful marriage, and still find time to devote to themselves..the answer as my husband as always told me is..."you make the time" (seems pretty simple, huh)

My closing words of wisdom, I suppose. No matter what you set out to do you can do if you put in the effort. You have to overcome the limitations you set on yourself, you have to overcome what you are told you can and cannot do, and you have to overcome the busy world. If something is important to you, you will make the time.

Future goals: I'm starting to train for a 10k, then a half marathon, and next year I will run the Cowtown Marathon with my mother-in-law.

Thank you for all the support..My husband for taking off work, making me a sign, and believing in me, my parents for always always believing in me and supporting ALL of my crazy ventures, my mother-in-law for pushing me the last quarter of the way, Ann, Jay, Rachel, and Ian for staying after Ian's 10k and cheering us on, and Zollie for always being encouraging and directing us towards the celebration beer...which I did not have.

What a Wonderful Weekend

As promised, here is my Monday blog.

What a wonderful weekend we had. It's an odd sensation to be in your mid 20's and you suddenly get a whole new family that you have never had before. This is much the way my husband felt back in 2010 when he gained a new part of his family. However, when they are as wonderful, caring, warm, and kind as they are, you soon forget that they have only been a part of your life for a couple of years.

I said all that to say this: We had the absolute honor and pleasure to attend Shane and Scarlett's wedding this past weekend, and what an amazing wedding it was. I won't recap all of the details because I feel like they aren't my details to share and I can't possibly begin to do the wedding any justice withe mere words. It was in essence, magical. Two things though: my husband was so excited with the beer-bearing donkeys and at one point in the evening I turned to Brandon and said "this is when every girl is comparing her wedding and it just falls short." Now don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of my wedding and it was everything I could have ever hoped for (except the flowers, but don't get me started on that) - I was saying it more as a WOW moment than anything.

Brandon and I stayed in this adorable little Inn called "Wimberley Inn." This cute little bag filled with wine, beer, water, altoids, hand sanitizer, yummy goodies, and kleenex greeted us upon or arrival. In the file it is upright, but for some reason when I stick it on here it is sideways - just tilt your head to the side and imagine.

It was up to date yet had a vintage flair to it. This was my favorite part of the room. How many times did I actually get to lounge in it...once, for 2 minutes..bummer.

And some views from the front porch and out the back window.

Sunday morning we slept in till 8:30 (yes that is sleeping in to us). We met Zollie and Michelle in downtown Wimberley to have breakfast. We made a short stop in Fredericksburg so I could satisfy my sweet tooth with a Sweet German Pretzel. Look how excited Brandon was...again..imagine that he is straight..

We went to Enchanted Rock with Zollie and Michelle since Michelle is considering a Biathlon where you run, bike, and then climb Enchanted Rock. Sounds fun terrible right? Lunch at the brewery and then we headed home.

So that was our wonderful weekend!

To top things off I FINALLY recieved this in my e-mail this morning..So it is officially official even if it is sideways..

**agenda for the week - find out why pics look straight in their file and then turn out sideways on the blog**

Long time..No blog

Hello blog world, it has been awhile. I find our day to day life is so time consuming that it's hard to make any extra time to sit down and write about our wonderful life. Here's a recap of our lives since 11/26/2011 starting with the oldest to current.

1) Christmas - well lets just say our Christmas didn't go exactly as planned in 2011 (not that anything in our life goes exactly as planned as you will find out the more you read - which doesn't play into my ocd planned life). We spent Christmas eve with Zollie, Michelle, Kristen, and Fuji - ate yummy Mexican food prepared by my mother-in-law. Zollie and Michelle got me an entire flock of antique blue glass birds. Probably because I'm always eying their's every time I visit and they don't want me sneaking them into my bag one by one. HA! I gave Brandon a pair of Texas Rangers limited edition Oakleys and I got a sewing machine. Excited doesn't even begin to describe my feelings! We were supposed to spend Christmas Day with the Birds, but that didn't happen - and we have yet to have Christmas with the Birds
2) New Years Eve - lets just say it was an epic night spent with the future Mr. & Mrs. Jared Monday
3) Christmas - I know..again! This time with my family, the weekend after New Years. It was a weekend full of fun, laughs, great food, great gifts, and a lot of love. So blessed to have a wonderful family, brother, sister in law, and the sweetest nephew you will ever meet. I think the highlight of Christmas with my family was giving my mom a new bible with her name on it.

4) Day after "Christmas" - January 8 - I flew to Indiana for a week for work. I packed like I was going to Alaska and it was "unseasonably" warm there and snowing in San Angelo. How unlucky was that! However, I do love my job and enjoy getting to travel every now an then. Ohhh, and breakfast in Indiana is terrible..no bacon.

5) Nothing else interesting happened in the month of January..
6) February 4th - we went snake hunting, climbed a hill that was at least 5 miles high - well not really, but it seemed that way. We only caught 3 snakes..end of story.

7) February 11th - I enjoyed another girls weekend with my mom
8) Valentines day - another one of those days that didn't go as planned. I had taken the day off assuming that since it was our Valentines day we could spend the entire day eating bon bons and making googly eyes at each other...well Brandon worked from 7 am - 6 pm..I spent most of the day shopping/sulking/running/more sulking. Took him till 8 that night to convince me to go to eat somewhere with him (looking back I realize how terrible that was). My valentines day outfit was perfect...camo capris, houseshoe looking shoes, and a miss me hoodie, no makeup and wet hair. We ended up at BWW..how romantic. Hoping for a better 2013 Valentines. At the end of the day all that matters is that you have someone that loves you...I should not have been so pouty.

That brings us to current. The rest of our February is filled with Scarlett and Shane's wedding this weekend in Wimberley and a 5k next weekend in Ft. Worth. I've gotten back into running and have been at a routine for a month now. I'm a little proud of myself, and even though a 5k is nothing big, it is a start. I will be running with Brandon's mom..however, I will not be joining her on Sunday for the full marathon.

Thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy blog. Now, I can successfully start blogging more and not feel like I have left a huge chunk of time out. I never felt right about starting a random blog when I hadn't blogged for months - so now I can rest at night!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend..I vow to write a blog on Monday recapping our weekend events.