Runspiration

Friday, September 28, 2012

My Gift to You - Happy Friday!

My very dear friend sent this to me the other day. 

Sometimes we aren't very nice to ourselves. When we aren't, we should take the advice of this manatee. 


It's right you know, you are smart and pretty. And you can't argue with a manatee.

If you think this is as funny as I do, you can find more manatees at www.calmingmanatee.com

Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Our outdoor pool is now an indoor pool

The pool is open again! In anticipation of colder weather, the pool was closed for a week so they could put up "the bubble."  The bubble is the seasonal ceiling that they put up to make the community pool an indoor pool. I will really miss swimming outside, but I am grateful that they have a solution so they don't have to close the pool in the off season. 

Since I moved to American Fork, I find myself lucky enough to live only a mile away from the Rec Center. So, tonight I went for a little walk with my mum and then threw on my hattoris, grabbed my cap and goggles, and headed out the door. I wore my tri tank. This is one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing  quite like burning through a quick mile and then jumping in the pool without having to change. There was hardly anyone at the pool. Maybe people just haven't realized that things are open again? Either way, it was lovely to be back in the water. My first swim back after any kind of an absence is usually pretty brutal, and this swim was no exception. But I just took things easy and cut myself some slack. It's not like I'm all that fast anyway, I just like to be in the water. One thing that was really entertaining was that there was an aquatic Zumba class going on. It looked just like regular Zumba class with the teacher up front dancing, but the participants were all in the water. It took  A LOT of bravery for me to try regular Zumba, I don't know if I have the courage for water Zumba...I think I'll just stick to swimming laps.


 When I got home I decided that ice cream and hot fudge are a lot like milk and chocolate syrup. That means an ice cream sundae is like chocolate milk - which makes both of these things great recovery foods, right?  I snuggled up in my bed, clean, but still smelling like chlorine, and enjoyed my delicious treat and a little bit of Robin Hood. I have become quite the TV connoisseur lately. Thank goodness for Netflix. How would I ever survive unemployment without it :)


Well, I will just tell you that tonight was absolutely perfect. Happiness is a good workout and coming home to a cozy bed. I am feeling all warm and fuzzy and every kind of grateful tonight. I guess that all is as it should be.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

From My Phone!

Oh. My. Gosh. This is magical. I am posting  from my phone. I know that this is probably boring news to some of you, but I am totally blown away by how cool this is.
Two years ago, I gave up my smart phone for grad school. After graduation, I started dreaming of unlimited data plans and finally being cool enough to pull out my phone and post pictures to instagram like everyone else. Of course, unemployment struck and my grown-up phone wishes ended up further and further out of my reach.
Then, a miracle happened. I traveled with my dad and over the course other trip he noticed just how ghetto my phone was. He also remembered that he had an extra phone lying around that was on his plan, being paid for, and no one was using it.
Being the selfless and unemployed daughter that I am, I volunteered to help him out with that dilemma. A few days later, my phone came in the mail. My smarty-pants phone.
Now I can take pictures of my food and apply a retro filter and post it to instagram! Woot!
And of course, I can post to my awesome blog. Stay tuned for awesomeness. Pictures of food, my shoes, and artsy things I see in my days are coming your way!

Monday, September 24, 2012

Music Monday

I went running the other day and this song came on my ipod. When it was done, I hit repeat. I felt like I could run for days. When you listen to it, you will too.  You can thank me later.


May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground...

Friday, September 21, 2012

fUNemployed

Funemployed is what we are calling it. I will soon be moving into my 6th month of post-graduation unemployment. This has been an exceedingly strange chapter of my life. I have been working or in school (or both) since I was 15 years old. For the first two months after graduation, I wasn't even looking for a job. It was my vacation time. It was heavenly. The next two months were spent looking for jobs and following leads. The last two months have been spent thinking that as long as I keep sending in applications...my whole life will change any minute now....

any minute now...

Um, yeah. Nobody is calling.

It is strange living in the limbo of unemployment. You don't really want to commit to anything because you may just pick and move to wherever your dream job offers to take you tomorrow. For example, I moved 6 weeks ago and I finally decided to hang a picture on the wall in my bedroom two days ago.

So, here is my plan while my life has no plan:  Live in the moment.

I don't think that there will ever be another time in my life quite like this. This is my opportunity to seize the day and start doing all of the things I always wished I could do when I was too busy with work, school. life, etc. I am going to make a wish list of things that I want to do/accomplish/learn while I have the time and then I am going to do what I can to start making those things happen! We'll see just how far we get :)

Any suggestions?

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

The Happiest Half on Earth!

I did it! Coast to Coast! I ran the Disney World Half in January and just complete the Disneyland Half! And the best part is that my Dad got to be there for this one! He ended up getting into LA late Friday night and was there to pick me up at the airport Saturday morning. That was a miracle folks. He had been stuck in Canada for THREE WEEKS and just happened to make it out the day before I got to California. I was so grateful!

We hit up the expo on Saturday and carb loaded at Naples in Downtown Disney. We hit up Sephora after dinner and we didn't get back to the hotel until midnight.  I set my alarm for 3:30am and tried to fall asleep at quickly as possible. Although I didn't get much sleep, I was wide awake at 3:30. I got my outfit together, set my garmin, strapped on my ipod and my ifitness belt with my phone and camera and headed down to my corral.

I will say there that it is absolute heaven staying on property for a Disney race. Not having to deal with parking and early morning traffic was a dream come true!

At 5:45 the race began and we were off! For the Disneyland race you run through the parks first thing.  There were a lot of great character photo ops, and it was really cool to be able to run through the new Cars Land at dawn when things were still lit up. It is AMAZING and seriously feels just like being in Southern Utah.

My favorite character of the day was Louis the Alligator from The Princess and the Frog. There were separate lines for him and then for Tiana and Naveen. There weren't many people in line for Louis, so I hopped in his line. When I got to the front I ran up to him and I am pretty sure I gave him a hug. He grabbed me and started dancing around, I danced right along.  I think that I said something to the effect of, "I wish I could just take you with me."  At that, he grabbed my hand, left his line, and started to run down Main Street with me!

We ran further than I am sure was appropriate and then Louis turned to head back to his photo line. I said I would come along because I still needed a photo with Tiana and Naveen. Louis grabbed me once again and bypassed the line for Tiana and Naveen and we both got a picture with the Frog Prince and Princess. As I was backing away into the pack of runners Louis pointed at himself, drew a heart in the air, and then pointed at me. I said that I loved him too. It was such a fun moment, exactly what these Disney races are all about.


After the parks, we headed out onto the streets of Anaheim. The sun was high, but the heat wasn't too bad. We ran past lots of classic cars that had been parked along the route, a Mexican dancing group, a Polynesian dancing group, endless cheerleaders and high school marching bands, and several boy and girl scout troops. In fact, the scouting troops lined the entrance and filled the seats in the Angels Stadium.  The stadium was at mile nine and was a much needed boost at the end of the run.

At about mile 11 I pulled my phone out to call my Dad and tell him to expect me soon. I found this on my phone:


My best friend Amy had sent me this picture of her girls cheering for me. I am not telling a lie when I say that it made me cry a little.

I finished the last two miles of the race in high spirits. I high fived Donald Duck at the finish line and claimed my medals. It was an incredible, magical race, and I wouldn't be surprised if I find myself racing with the Mouse again!