This week has been jam-packed and I am finding my brain all over the place (this is normal for me, but whatever). A bulleted list of what’s on my mind is all I can muster at the moment so here we go!
- One week ago today was the last day of school and summer has officially begun around here – in FULL force (temperatures shot up to close to 100 degrees!). In an effort to balance it all and keep everyone happy (including myself), I’ve gotten up by 5am and done all of my running as early as possible in the mornings before my husband has to head to work. It’s left the rest of our days totally free to do whatever we feel like, which mostly means lots of time cooling off in the water, or the air conditioning. We’ve gone to the pool, played in the outdoor fountain and went to the mall so Miss Abby could redeem a birthday gift card to one of her favorite stores for her 7th birthday.
- Earlier this week I received truly awesome and much anticipated news – my runner assignment for the Hood to Coast Relay!!! A couple of months ago when I was chosen to run with Nuun, I could not have been more excited or amazed about it. It is a dream come true for me. We are all part of the team AfterNuun Delight, but are divided into three teams of 12 runners (10 bloggers plus 2 Nuun employees each): Team Morning, Team Noon and Team Night. I am Runner #11 for Team Noon. Noon for Nuun! This will be my very first ever relay and I cannot believe I am running Hood to Coast – with Nuun! It all became very REAL when they announced our actual runs and van mates. They had asked us for our preferences of legs and I really didn’t have any to be honest – I wanted to be flexible and just soak it all in so I told them I will run WHATEVER. I am in Van #2 with some really awesome women. Here is a list of my team mates and you can also find the full announcement by clicking HERE.
Van 1
Kelly – According to Kelly: Legs 1, 13, 25
Laura – Nuun Employee: Legs 2, 14, 26
Laura– Camping Out In America: Legs 3, 15, 27
Jocelyn – Enthusiastic Runner: Legs 4, 16, 28
Sarah – Once Upon a (L)ime: Legs 5, 17, 29
Molly – Mollyberries’ Hodge Podge: Legs 6, 18, 30
Van 2
Tonia – Racing With Babes: Legs 7, 19, 31
Kim – Nuun Employee: Legs 8, 20, 32
Tiffany – Heavy Medal: Legs 9, 21, 33
Zoe – Nuun Employee: Legs 10, 22, 34
Jessica – Pace of Me: Legs 11, 23, 35
Lindsay – Lindsay On The Go: Legs 12, 24, 36
- On a totally unrelated note, we are leaving for the beach in a week and I CANNOT WAIT. Every summer we go visit my in laws in Virginia Beach around in early July. It is without a doubt one of our very favorite times of the year. I cannot wait to feel my toes in the sand, to cuddle with my baby in the hammock by the garden, to play with my kids in the waves, to eat fresh juicy peaches, to go for runs along the ocean …. the list goes on and on and on. Heaven, here we come!
- Tomorrow I am running a local 5k! I am going to give it my all and try to break 21 minutes for the first time. I KNOW I can do this. Last year I ran this race in 23:08 and it was a huge accomplishment for me. I won my age group for the first time ever in my life that day! It is a special race to me and I can’t wait to be there again tomorrow. Robert is going to bring the kids too – this always makes a race extra wonderful. My plan is to go out no faster than 6:35 and hang onto that pace until the last mile. At that point all engines will go full throttle and I am going to lay it all out on the line til I get to the finish. I have a tendency to lose control at the start of these shorter races and always positive split. Tomorrow I am going to pay extra attention to this and really reign myself in at the get-go and save any extra energy for the second half of the race. It is going to be a CHALLENGE. But I’m up for it.
- This weekend also marks the beginning of two new coaching adventures for me! I am one of the assistant coaches for the =PR= Distance Training Program in Ashburn, VA this summer! I cannot wait to work with head coach Meghan Ridgley and the other two assistant coaches (my sister Jodi is one of them!!!!). The runners we are coaching are incredibly inspiring and I know I have as much to learn from them as they do from me. I am so very honored to be a part of this program from the coaching perspective too. My other coaching adventure is of a totally different nature – I am coaching 5-6 year old kids for the Reston Runners Youth In Motion program! Both of my big kids are taking part in this amazing program this year also. I cannot wait.
I have a little baby waking from a nap now and a 7 year old sweet girl who has been terribly under the weather (breaks my heart) who I will be taking to the doctor in about an hour – nothing like taking a kid to the doctor after 5pm on a Friday, just in time!! I just need her to be seen before the weekend in case this is an ear or sinus infection. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend filled with lots of summer fun and sweaty runs!!
