2nd on the 3rd

Well, well, well. Another weekend has flown by, and holy moly was it an active one.

(Note to self - never use the phrase holy moly again.)

But before we get into details, can I take a moment and brag about my favorite new creation?

Friday night a few of my coworkers and I had a 'craft night' and painted quotes that we like on boards. I picked the above quote based off of something that caught my eye on Pinterest... although the quote below was a close second.

Both pretty much sum one of my life mottos of 'Live Hard'.

Back to the weekend. Probably my favorite part of the past two days was the 5k that Andrew and I randomly signed up for a few weeks ago. I went into Saturday morning with pretty low expectations - I haven't been running much, certainly haven't been running for speed, and told Andrew that my hope was just to enjoy the race.

Yet when the gun went off I immediately slipped into my competitive mindset, and we were off. I was surprised how semi-easy it was to fall back into a sub-seven minute pace, and we stayed side by side as we ran through Harbor East to the edge of Fells Point, and circled back.

I was happy with the finish. I was surprised today when I found out I was 38th overall and 2nd in my age group? Not too shabby for zero training.

Needless to say, we immediately signed up for another 5k at the beginning of June. Yes.

This morning we tried out a new church, and then headed west to try out some new hiking. The trail was more challenging than some others we've done so far in the area - it was located in Cactoctin Mountain Park. I did a horrible job and only took one picture; better than nothing I suppose.

I write to guys you from the balcony of the beautiful Barnes and Nobles in downtown Baltimore. It's two stories, right on the inner harbor, and a must-visit if you are ever in town. To be honest, being up here on a Sunday evening kind of feels like the calm before the storm of a busy couple weeks. I committed to substitute assistant coaching for a club volleyball team in the area a couple nights per week through the month of May. On top of a busy work week and a long to-do list, it should be a real doozy.

I'm unsure I ever want to use that word again either. Doozy. No. Never again.

Reminder: link up starting this Tuesday for a sweaty May challenge, and find yourself some new workout moves to try out! Grab the button below.

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That's all I've got. Sun's going down and it's getting cold. Until Tuesday my friends -

Cheers

K8

For the girls

It isn't too often that the competitor inside of me is able to take a step back before a race and say, "Hey Kait, chill out."

Saturday morning, that happened at the Central Maryland Girls on the Run 5k. Because, although it was hard to wrap my athlete-crazed mind around, those 3.1 miles weren't about the times, or the places everyone finished in. It was about just accomplishing something awesome, and proving that it could be done.

About two months ago I wrote about how I became involved with Girls on the Run as an assistant coach. It's been a crazy, fun and challenging two months with our 3rd- 5th grade girls. They are awesome, full of energy and completely unfiltered.

It was so awesome to see them compete against themselves yesterday. In particular, I ran with Ana, a feisty ball of fire who immediately let me know that she "didn't like when people passed us." Our pacing shot back and forth from a dead on sprint to a shuffle of a jog, but that didn't matter. She did an awesome job, only walked twice, and came in right over the 27 minute mark.

"Hey Ana, run ahead of me and I'll take your picture!"

After the race called for breakfast at Eggspectations, which blew my mind as always...

Rain speckled the area yesterday, with some occasional sun making an appearance. Andrew and I went to the evening service for church, and met up with some friends for dinner afterwards. It was a solid Saturday.

In other news, apparently it's National Runner's Month? Sounds good to me, I'll celebrate that with 6 miles today. It's borderline inappropriate how excited I am to put on some good music and pound some pavement after I publish this bad boy.

Thanks for the heads up Dicks Sporting Goods.

And of course, this post wouldn't be complete without a shout out to my wonderful mother. She's amazing in so many ways, and I can't wait to see her again when I head home in June. Miss you mom!

Cheers to all the awesome moms out there!

Ramping Back Up

It's been a bit since we've talked running on here eh? Kind of weird. Have you been worried? Don't be. I think it's because things have been so iffy.

I've been feeling a little less iffy.

This past weekend, I ran 3 miles on both Saturday and Sunday. That's nothing, I know, but for me where I stand right now, it's something. My foot didn't yell, it felt good, and this is on top of being on my feet most of the day on Saturday while bar-crawling through Annapolis.

That's a whole different story.

Saturday morning Andrew and I ran in a local 5k put on through his cousin's school. It was small - small enough that we both finished right under 24 minutes with his younger cousin and each placed first in our age group. Hey I'll take it.

Especially seeing that my breakfast prior to the race consisted of this:

Tots. Sorry I'm not sorry.

Long story short, I feel good about my foot. Finally. For awhile I was back and forth, and super nervous to ramp up the mileage too quickly.

I will stay between 3-4 miles tomorrow and Thursday, and possibly try for 5 miles one day this weekend if things go well.

My goal is to 'comfortably' get back up to my normal 7-8 mile jaunts by June 1. In my mind, marathon training starts in June. 

Until then, I'll continue to stick with all my swimming/yoga/spinning distractions on the side. And of course, so many planks.

Spring = planks outside!

Andrew's out of town this week so I am getting back to neutral in many areas of life, as well as making plans for the month of May. Can you believe that May is on Wednesday? That blows my mind and makes me so happy.

On the music front, Mr. Kenny Chesney himself has a new album out tomorrow if you're a country fanatic like me. Just thought you may need something to brighten up your Tuesday!

Cheers to ramping back up!

The 5k that Kicked Me in the Face

Of all the distances I’ve now run, 5k to Marathon, I never thought it would be a 5k that I would have to publicly admit dominated my sh*t, excuse the term.

Let me rewind really quickly however, and wish you all a Happy July! It’s kind of throwing me that the 4^th is mid-week… and it seems that most of my office chose this week as a vacation week. It’s going to be a lonnellllyyy week on my yoga ball.

My ball. Maybe I should name him/her?

Big storms rolled through here on Friday night and really f’ed up about half of Maryland. Power is still out in a lot of places today… and our phone lines at work were on and off all day. It really threw off plans to see the movie “Ted” on Saturday night when we rolled up to the theater and the power was out there.Supposedly it's pretty difficult to show movies when there isn't any power. Who woulda thought?

So naturally, we went to the nearest bar and played a few rounds of Buckhunter before calling it an early night. We had a 5k to dominate on Sunday morning.

real men play Buckhunter.

I'm sorry, did I say dominate? I meant get bitchslapped by it. Because that’s exactly what the weather/race course did. To me more than Andrew, as he ran it with his younger cousin and took a couple walking breaks with him.

It was honestly the first race that I have ever run where I finished and felt like I was going to simultaneously throw up/pass out/crap myself. TMI? Sorry I’m not sorry. It ended up being worth it, as I was the first girl to cross the finish and walked away with a free pair of shoes, massage and a pretty little glass trophy.

Awkward much?

All of my winnings. Minus the lamp.

My final time was 21:07, about 30 seconds off of my PR. I’m happy with that time, as it was (once again) a very hilly course, the first mile being completely downhill (6:00 mile) and the last mile and a half being completely uphill. Humidity was probably around 400%, and temps were unheard of for an 8 AM race. However, I’m not complaining because I told everyone to stop doing that in my last post.

Post-race hydration. Have I ever told you about my deep love for the stuff?

After the race we headed down to Bethesda, MD to watch the last round of the AT&T National. We had snagged some cheap tix on LivingSocial, and since neither of us had ever been to a PGA Tour Tournament, we figured why not. It ended up being pretty neat event, as Tiger Woods won the whole tournament, and we braved the heat and stayed until the end to see it happen.

18th Hole. Where the Magic Happens. 

I really want to insert some kind of sexual reference in this caption, but will refrain myself.

I’ve now got my golf clap down to a tee (excuse the pun) and am prepared use it in any necessary situation. I’m actually about to use it right now, as I commend the fact that we are currently in a two day work week.

Relaxing on the course.

How was everyone’s weekend? Anyone else get plans thrown off by the weather?

Cheers to a mid-week day off!