two things

Get inspired.


And check out Dr. TriRunner's blog and enter her giveaway!

Transition to an a.m. runner

I recently made the switch from a night time to morning runner. And by night time I mean anywhere from 8-midnight. I was running when it was pitch black outside & I loved it. I loved being the only runner out there, it made me feel unique. (?) Don't ask why, I've got strange reasoning. Even though I enjoyed the quiet & peaceful runs and running underneath the stars, I knew that with winter coming I couldn't keep this up because of safety reasons. I tried running during the afternoon but it was absolutely horrible. After hours of classes, early mornings, and homework I don't have enough energy to get in a quality run. So my roommate Steph convinced me to give running in the morning a try. I'm actually surprised I didn't start it sooner actually. Steph and I are both early birdies, the pot of coffee is usually always brewing by usually 6:30. I absolutely love 6am. I think it's one of the most beautiful times of the day, it's time before your hectic day when you can do whatever you want whether it be read, run, relax, think, or blog :).

After one day of running in the morning, I was hooked. I get the same euphoric feeling as I did running at night and my mind is quiet. I'm not thinking about school, work or stress yet. I'm just running and thinking about life (the exciting things). The other morning I realized how thankful I am to have the gift of running. It's really been a big part of me becoming the person I am today and I'm so grateful for that. Even though I'm not competitively running for my school, it's still had a huge impact on me. Because I'm a runner I care more about logging miles than going out on a Friday night, I spend more money on running shoes than on my current wardrobe, and water is my beverage of choice (synergy being a close second :)) I'll go into more detail in a different post about how running has affected my life, I'll start working on it soon!

Things you should check out this week:
Grooveshark -It's like pandora but a little better (if that's possible).
The new Runners World:

Goodness in a bottle. Synergy:

Made with 100% pure love & good for the bod!
And lastly: Stephan BBG & My twitter pages cause were else can you see quality pictures like this:

Alright, time for my run which I've been anxiously awaiting it since 8 pm last night! Have a great day everyone!
-A

Monster Dash: Race Report

Hi friends! This is my first time writing a race report BUT there will be many more races to come in the near future, so I suppose I better get used to writing these. This was my second half marathon and can I just say I LOVE this distance? 13.1 miles of awesome-ness. Around mile 9 I was thinking about how difficult it would be to run a full marathon. I give all you marathoners out there props, hopefully someday soon I can find enough guts to run one. It's gotta be done, I'm thinking Spring :). But, for now I'm just going to concentrate on training for the half distance cause that's what makes me happy!

Monster Dash was in Minneapolis Minnesota, about a three hour drive from my home in La Crosse. My Aunt lives close to the city so my mom, sis and I stayed over night and got to enjoy the company of my wonderful, hilarious family. This was also my cousins last weekend at home, now he's living it up at marine boot camp (notice sarcasm). He did decide to run the 5k with my sister so that was awesome. I'm slowly turning my family into a bunch of runner nuts :). My Auntie made amazing Spaghetti for the pre-race meal, which was amazing.

The alarm went off at 5:30 am and we were out the door by 6:00. My pre-race fuel was a combo of oatmeal & Granola and a Banana. (Coffee too, of course). My auntie, mom, sister, cousin, and I were packed into the car and were having difficulties finding parking. 6 am + too many females that are lost = quite a bit of tension. We figured it out though, thanks to a very nice guy we found during our excursion. We got there plenty early which meant no lines for the bathroom! Thank the lord!

The race: I ended up getting a personal best by 10 minutes which is great. But, I know I was capable of going faster. I ran a 1:50, but for the first 8 miles I was running at 8:00/mile pace and around 9 my whole lower body just cramped up. I ended up slowing down for the last 5 miles making my pace 8:29 for the entire race. I accepted the fact that It just wasn't my day around mile 9 and decided to just have fun. I'm surprised I still PRed by so much actually because I was not pushing the last 5 miles at all so it makes me really excited to race again and see what I can do! Here is my lovely finishing photo: (i'm in the blue).
What's really awesome about this race is that my sister (Kara K-B) ran her first race ever and liked it! We are hopefully going to do a half marathon this summer together which will be awesome. The rest of my fall is packed with races (as many as I can find), one winter half marathon, and then this spring and summer is going to be races almost every weekend! I've already made my training plan for November & December :). Alright. So I decided I don't like writing race reports because I feel like I have nothing to say. Doesn't help that I waited a week to write this. baha.. Enjoy the pictures. I'll update soooon.
-A

pre-race rambles

Four long days until race day. Preparation begins right now! Increase in calories, drinking lots of water, easy runs, rolling out the knots in my legs, making a 13.1 worthy playlist, and of course... studying. Studying because in between now and my 13 mile jaunt around Minneapolis I have 3 midterms. Nevertheless, I will be taking out some frustration on the course come Saturday morning. But my outlook on this race has completely changed. If you would've asked me 2 weeks ago what my goals were I would've told you every split I wanted to run for every mile. I have a new perspective now, I run because I truly enjoy it. It makes me smile, gives me a break from my day, gives me time to think about things. I was training so hard for this race that I kind of forgot why I love running. I'm racing because I love the running community and I feel so accomplished when i'm done. (..and the race shirts, medals, free stuff and food ;)) So, I've put the my GPS watch away for awhile and i'm just going to run. There's much more beauty and enjoyment in that.

Some random updates:
I love my job at the Chiropractic office. Maybe I'll end up going to Chiropractic school after my under-grad? haa.. Seeing as I LOVE school (notice sarcasm) so much why not go another 3 years! Who knows with me, It's something that i'm really passionate about though. If only schooling wasn't necessary..

I'm so excited to spend this weekend with my Auntie. We'll be sending my little cuz off to the Marines, what a stud!

Shout out to my sister, Kara K-B, who is running her first race this weekend! Yeah Girl!!

I finally got a haircut! First snip in 11 months!


K. That's all. Hopefully soon i'll get some inspiration and write some kind of meaningful post but most likely won't be happening this week.
Adios!
-A

sun's gonna rise

"The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship.
Day after day they continue to speak;
night after night they make him known.
They speak without a sound or word;
their voice is never heard.
Yet their message has gone throughout the earth,
and their words to all the world." -Psalm 19:1-4

The sunrise and sunset are gifts from our beautiful creator. God, the master painter, gives us the sunrise/set for our pleasure. He paints the sky to give us joy. We are so undeserving of his love but he continues to cover us with grace and love. He pours blessings on us daily. He loves me. and you. and you. and you. He loved us first and will love us forever. Watch the sunrise and know that his creativity is never ending, we are in the best relationship of all. Watch as he paints a beautiful picture in your life. His creativity is endless... the master painter, creator of the universe is painting something beautiful for you right now.

the truth:

Jesus is love.

running addict.

My will burns stronger than my legs will.
Next race is Monster Dash half marathon on Oct. 31st in Minneapolis! ..and what makes this EXTRA special is my sister is running her first 5k the same day! So, I have six weeks to get myself into PR (personal record) running shape! My weekly mileage is going to peak at 50 then i'll start to taper for the race. Here my training schedule for this week:
Monday: 7 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday:REST
Thursday:5 miles
Friday: 1 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down
Saturday: 8 miles
Sunday: 5 miles, BIKE

My life wouldn't be nearly as awesome as it is without running. I look forward to my run every single day. It's a time that I can think and dream. One of my favorite things to do is run along the Mississippi river at night with the moon guiding my steps and the stars shining bright. Pure euphoria.

It's so amazing to finally be running again (injury free!). You know who I can thank for that?! Three Rivers Chiropractic.. since I started getting adjustments there I have completely changed my view about my body. I believe that our body is completely capable of healing itself, there's no reason for all the drugs and medicines we put into our system. It's all about WELLNESS! Not only did they heal my numb leg and make me overall a lot healthier.. they also offered me a job there! It's so unbelievably awesome. Things are looking up my friends!
Stay tuned.