Motivation Monday

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson 


Run at your own pace, learn in your own way, bloom in your own time, and don't worry about what others "seem" to be doing or accomplishing. You are not someone else - you are you. Live YOUR life. Embrace who YOU are. Your life is the only one that you can live, so stop worrying about everyone else's and live your own adventure! 


"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are."


-Joseph Campbell


And what a privilege it is to be you!

Jennica vs the Morning

I woke up at about 4:30 this morning. No sane person gets up at 4:30 so I went back to sleep until 5:45. Still too early! I went back to sleep again, slept through my 6:00 alarm and woke up at 6:57.

I have spin at 7:00.

When I went back to sleep at 5:45 I started dreaming crazy dreams.  The one that I remember most vividly involved me trying to find my seat at a movie theater after I had walked out to get a snack.  The movie?  A 3D zombie flick starring Tom Hanks. I know, finding my seat in a theater isn't a very crazy dream, but the whole zombie movie that my mind made up was pretty crazy.  (By the way, my dreams lately have consisted of sitting and chatting with people, going out to eat, and going to the movies. Apparently my real life is too exciting and my subconscious is trying to chill out)

Anyway,  luckily I had my spin stuff close and my 8:00am MBA class had been canceled, so there was no need to bring a change of clothes. I was on my bike by 7:12.  We virtually climbed Squaw Peak again today. It totally kicked my trash. No breaks on this one. It is one big, lovely, nasty climb!

In real life, it looks like this:
(When it gets warmer, I would really like to get a grown-up girl road bike and take this peak on like Donkey Kong!)

Class was great, but because I was late and because my 1 school class was canceled, I hit the gym for a quick little run on my way home. It was a great way to start the day.  However, I am still a little disappointed that I couldn't get my butt out of bed at 6:00am. I had some serious plans for some pre-spin productivity.

How do you convince yourself to listen to the smart, productive you that set the alarm for 6:00am, instead of the lazy, sleepy you who just wants to watch zombie movies in her sleep?

The Grand Canyon!

This is where I spent my weekend:

 Yes. Please. It was a last minute trip and I am so glad that I went! I really (and by that I mean I REALLY) needed to get away this weekend.  Sometimes I just need to be away from all of the busy and the crazy and hit the reset button on life. I can't think of a better way to do that than by going somewhere like this:

The trip was great, a little chilly, but overall it was everything that I needed it to be.  I got to meet some new incredible people, hike the Grand Canyon, stay on a house boat on Lake Powell, and explore Zion National Park. Not bad for a last minute outing if I do say so myself.

So now I am feeling fabulous and things just got better when I got back. I found out that universe has been working in my favor big time. When I left, I was really excited to shut down my computer for 4 days.  I wrapped up all of my online business on Friday and I shut this bad boy down! Then I remembered that I hadn't signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon. I have been going back and forth trying to decide whether or not I was going to try to attempt the Coast to Coast (running in a RunDisney event on both coasts within a calendar year), and as I was deciding, I watched the race numbers climb closer and closer to capacity.  At the last minute I decided to reboot my computer and sign up. When I came home Monday night I found that the race had sold out on Sunday.

HA! I am so glad that I didn't wait to sign up! I am in! I am going to run the Disneyland Half Marathon in September!

Where did the time go?

Wow. It has been one month since I posted.  Oops. Life got kinda freakin crazy a little crazy.

I just read a friend's blog about how her life has been a little crazy lately and I just adore the sounds words shared with her by a friend:

You're not a wreck... you're just on a rollercoaster, and I get to stand on the ground and watch you scream and pee your pants... but the ride will come to an end eventually.

Well, for me, the ride came to an end! I am a real person again! I AM BACK! Yay! Can we just pretend like this never happened? Yes? Oh, please and thank you! Done and done. Forgotten. 

So, instead of telling you about the dra-izzity drama in my life, I will tell you that Valentine's Day was this week and it was incredible.  

First amazing thing? 

I had 10 Valentine's dates.  You don't believe me?  Well, that is what photographic proof is for!

This happened because we had an awesome party at our house.  We called it "To The Lovers and The Loveless."  And I will tell you that both the lovers and the loveless came out in droves. We had a marvelous. time. Again - there is photographic proof!

The point of the party was to make sure that everyone had a place to go. The last thing any of us need is to sit at home on Valentine's Day feeling like we aren't loved - especially because I would venture to say that almost all of us are loved by a great many people. It is sad to think that a day that was created to celebrate love could actually make us feel more lonely than ever because there isn't ONE special person to love us.


I know that it is incredibly easy to hate Valentine's Day, and that lonely feeling really does suck, but I say that if you don't like something, you should do something about it! My something was to throw a big party, and I don't think that I have had such a good time in a very long time.


So, let me just close my post with this: I hope that you had a rockin' Valentine's Day. I hope that you know that you are loved. And if you didn't and if you don't, then I suggest that you go out and have a crazy-good weekend and do something that will remind you that you are freaking amazing. Cause you are.

Post Race Blues

It  has been an interesting week since I got back from Florida.  My left calf muscle often gets all tight after a long run and this half marathon was no exception, so I have been trying to give it some extra time to heal before I start back into training. This means less exercise, and I will that you that Jennica + less exercise = not my happiest self.

These blues may also have something to do with the fact that I got home at 12:30am Sunday and was in class at 7:00am Monday morning to start my last semester of grad school. There was no time to recoup! (Thank goodness for Civil Rights Day today!) It really was rough starting back full force into my last semester EVER of school without even a moment to breathe. That led to a whirlwind week of  catching up on classes, less than optimal eating, last minute class schedule changes, and trying to figure out how to function at 6:00am on a daily basis when I may have spent my entire Christmas break sleeping in :) (You see, the end of school is exciting, but also slightly immensely overwhelming, as I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life).

Anyway, I did go to spin class 4 times (and I LOVE IT) and had a good swim on Saturday, but I am really looking forward to getting out and hitting the pavement again and settling back into a good training schedule. My next half is in April and I am pretty stoked!

Until then, I will settle into this heavenly box of Godiva truffles. My dad's boyfriend sent me this glorious treat as a post-race glycogen replacement. I thought it was so thoughtful! I have the greatest fans ever. For now, I can rest assured knowing that I am well taken care of.

Have you ever faced post-race blues?

What do you do to beat them?

Or are you just one of those amazing people who can embrace the break and then come back with a vengeance?

Im still trying to work that one out...

I DID IT!

Jennica! You just finished your first half marathon! What are you going to do now?! 

I am going to Disney World!

I did it folks! I ran my first half marathon last Saturday! I got up at 2:00am to get ready for the day. As I was spraying half a can of hairspray on my hair to make sure my pixie hair stayed in place, I couldn't believe that the day had finally come. I was here to run 13.1 and today was the day! And it would be in Florida! At Disney World! In a Tinkerbell costume! I stopped and thought about who I was - and how very different this person is from who I was just a couple of years ago.  I don't know if I really understand who this new girl is, but I will tell you that I like her!

I was up so early because I had to the drive to Epcot and pick up Ashley and her mom on the way there.  I was worried about traffic and Disney did a great job of freaking us out about long delays.  The timing ended up being perfect. We did run into some delays, but it wasn't too bad. Seriously, we got to the race just as they were shutting the early morning party down and moving everyone over to the corrals, and there was nothing to worry about. 

We were in the last corral, as I never submitted an official placement time. There were 27,000 runners in the half marathon. The energy and excitement was incredible! Because we were in the back, that meant we got to hear the race start 8 times! More cheering! More fireworks! More excitement! It took almost 45 minutes after the official race start for us to cross the finish line. About 2 miles into the race we saw people from the first wave who were on their way back. Wow. Props to them! About 2 miles in we also had our first character photo stop! 

I will tell you what, Disney knows what they are doing. There were bands, and characters, and cheering people along the entire course.  At one point they even had a screen playing classic Disney cartoons.  Seriously?! It was great. If you want to get the most out of the experience you really cannot worry about your time. That was nice. I ran with Ashley for the first half of the race and she has two herniated disks in her back so we took it nice and slow. It was so great to have someone to chat with, joke with, cheer with, and take advantage of photo ops with. There is just no way to feel guilty about resting when you are in line to get a picture with a character in the Magic Kingdom in freaking Disney World! 

Ashley and I stayed together through the Magic Kingdom and then we split off. I had trained for a faster pace and I really wanted to see if I could finish fast and strong. I kept a fairly steady pace for the last 6 or 7 miles of the race and felt really good about my time overall. The last 2 miles took me past Jim and Val! They are the couple that I stayed with for the week and I will tell you that I LOVE them. They are such dear friends and were so awesome to get up early and to come cheer for me!  The very end of the race took us through Epcot and on to the finish line! Before the finish line there was an AWESOME gospel choir that sang us to the finish.  I ran hard and finished strong! I felt so great! 

It is funny because I was tired and sore and happy to stop, but I never felt like I wasn't going to finish. EPIC. WIN. After the race we spent the rest of the day in the parks.  I think that over the course of the day I probably covered 19 or 20 miles on foot. Whoa. 

Overall, the entire day, early morning, race, and Disney World, were absolutely perfect and magical. I could not have asked for more.  In fact, I am thinking about signing up for the Disneyland half in September...

Who's with me!? 

TOMORROW

Tomorrow is the day. My first half marathon.

Is it possible to feel excited and scared and calm and nervous and at peace and TOTALLY READY TO RUN all at the same time?

Yes.

See you at the finish line!