Tag: baileerunsthroughlife

“You’re just what I needed” aka: Fargo Half Recap

So this past weekend I went to Fargo to run a 5k and a half marathon with some lovely ladies. If you would have told me a year ago that I would willingly drive 7+ hours to Fargo, NoDak to run a race I would have said you were nuts. But Brooke is pretty good at twisting arms and making Fargo sound like a dream race (flat course, fun times with her, Bailee and Johnna? Sign me up!) So I did it.

Long story short, this weekend was fantastic! Bailee and I made the trek in 2 trips on Thursday and Friday. The 5k Friday night was fun, but there were a lot of walkers and strollers. It was hard to run around them. But we managed and had a good time. Then we took jumping photos:

 

After a very delayed dinner at the restaurant next door to our hotel, we finally made it back and collapsed into bed around 11pm. Run a 5k the night before a half marathon AND go to bed late? Clearly, we are doing it right.

Marathon morning dawned with thunderstorms. It was still raining a bit for the first 2 miles of the race. Then it stopped, was warm-ish and humid for much of the race, then about mile 8 or 9 the sun came out and started baking us. I wanted/needed my jacket off STAT! Brooke, Johnna and I ran the race together. I had the BEST time! We laughed, raged, complained, questioned our sanity, and wondered where the FargoDome had gone. I wanted to find race officials and question them about their terrible race route. It was the most fun I’ve ever had in race.

(yes my shirt says “your pace or mine?” Its awesome!

Just before mile 2 there was a band playing The Cars song “Just what I needed.” I proceeded to sing that to Brooke and Johnna for a good portion of the rest of the race…and the rest of the weekend! Those poor girls! But that song was so true; that weekend and time spent with those ladies was just what I needed!

 It was also around that point that I saw a guy with two signs that said “Go Far.” We were running the Go Far challenge-the 5k Friday and the Half Saturday. The man then flipped his signs around to say “Far Go.” It finally dawned on me why they called it the “Go Far” Challenge! I swear I’m not usually that slow! 🙂

Saturday night we met Susie and had a blast with her. She made an excellent case for a trip to the Twin Cities in the fall. We shall see. We stopped and grabbed a yummy dinner first…complete with strawberry daiquiris!

(Johnna is posting more photos from our crazy weekend!)

Sunday morning Bailee and I made the trek back home. 7 hours in a car sucks! I was glad to get home, we met my friend Keith for dinner and then went to see “Star Trek Into Darkness” in 3d after that. Bailee and I got rained in on 4 states on Sunday. I’m so glad that I took the time to shower and dry my hair. This is what happened by the time we got to Brookings, SoDak:

All in all, this was a fantastic but busy weekend! I love those ladies. I can’t wait to see them again! What’s our destination race next year? Somewhere even more awesome than Fargo? Let’s start planning! 🙂

“Back to life, Back to reality”

I only took one extra day off work in conjunction with my weekend. Just one extra day. But somehow, I’m just not into working today. I want to go back to Fargo and I want to hang out with Brooke, Bailee and Johnna. I don’t want to run a race for awhile, but I want to see my friends. 3 days just wasn’t enough. I had the BEST time! Now I just need to renew my passport so I can visit Brooke in Winnepeg. I also need to save some cash to go visit Johnna (and the rest of the tumblrs) in New York City! It was also so amazing to get to meet Susie! It felt like we were all old friends already!

In other news…This is the first time in a loooonnng time that I’m not signed up for any races. Not even a 5k. That’s likely to change soon…there’s a 10k in my hometown that I think I want to do on Father’s day. And a 5k a in a small town a few weeks later. But no halfs, no fulls, no warrior dashes…nothing. It’s an odd feeling. I think I rather like it.

I like to forget that running a half always puts me up a few pounds. So getting on the scale this morning was upsetting. But honestly, since I’m not racing I think the plan is to try something new: HIIT training, cross training and cutting out crap. Let’s face it: I like dessert but my gut and thighs don’t. So I’m going to make a new training schedule that focuses on weight loss. Because, realistically I’d like to lose about 10 pounds. Totally doable. Here’s to keeping myself accountable.

I will post a recap of the races/weekend. Because it was too awesome not to recap. All weekend long I kept thinking of this quote:

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” -C.S. Lewis.

I’m so lucky to have friends like Brooke, Bailee, and Johnna. What a fantastic weekend! Thanks ladies!

Half Marathon #5 done. Not a PR, but I ran this entire race with some fantastic friends; Brooke and Johnna, and that was awesome. It rained, we got hot when the sun finally came out, Brooke had some rage, and doesn’t trust North Dakotans because they may be lying about the location of the FargoDome, and I questioned their judgment when it comes to race routes…but hey, we got 3 medals this weekend! I consider all of that a win.

Rage running. It’s a thing.

11 Questions-I was tagged by @Becky-Balances

1. Do you have a tattoo? If yes, post a pic. If no, what would you consider getting?

  I do not have a tattoo. I’ve never wanted one. I don’t do pain and I’ve never found something that I would want on my body forever.

2. If you could see any band/artist in concert, who would you choose?

  Justin Timberlake. I love love love him. I saw NSYNC in concert 3 times and Justin once, the last time he went on tour.

3. I’ve got two tickets to paradise. Where are we going?

   Hawaii. Hands down. I was there in 2010 for 10 days and I never wanted to leave. It really is paradise. Blue skies, sandy beaches, crystal clear waters. It’s my definition of paradise. Let’s go!

4. What or who is your spirit animal?

   Hmm. This one is hard. I’d say What would have to be a dog. I love them, all of them. Dogs are the best. Who-maybe my soulmate Bailee. She gets me. I like that about her.

5. What do you love most about your job?

   I love that it is completely inappropriate at my workplace. I’m talking about we say and touch each other inappropriately and it’s fine. It’s always fine. I don’t know if I could work anywhere else. These people are my family. I also like that I can be very creative and nobody is constantly on my back about the news or content. I’m allowed to run my own show(s). For the most part!

6. Where is your happy place?

   I have several: my parent’s pool. Just laying on my floatie, soaking up the sun, lazing away the afternoon. Or at Ft. Kearny State Rec area here in Nebraska. My family would go camping there every summer when I was a kid up through college. It has hundred year old cotton wood trees, gravel pit lakes and its calm, gorgeous and beautiful. I’m relaxing just thinking about it.

7. Book or movie?

  Book. Hands down. I love reading. My library is enormous.

8. Time for some humblebragging…what’s your favorite personal accomplishment thus far?

  That would have to be that I have successfully lost and kept off 150 pounds since October of 2011. It has been a hard journey but I am so happy and glad that I did. Totally worth it and the best thing I’ve ever done–even better than completing a Full marathon.

9. What are you looking forward to in the next month?

  Well, in less than 24 hours I’m going to Fargo with Bailee, Brooke and Johnna. I’m pretty excited about that! Also, next week I start my new PT job at the Corky Canvas! I’m excited for that!

10. Do you have siblings?

   I do, one older brother Chris. He’s 34.

11. What’s one of your favorite college memories?

   It would have to be all the video projects that I made that starred my roommate. She was a good sport, and did things like jump off of dressers, just for the sake of my projects!

If you read this, consider yourself tagged. And since, I’m a little busy at work, I will just use the same questions!

Monday, Monday

  • We got our bib #’s for the Fargo Marathon today. Apparently, I can’t type because I entered my birth date at 1986 instead of 1982. So they think I’m 27 instead of 31. Score one for me! However, that means I’m in the wrong age group. My bad! I think I can fix it at the packet pickup.
  • Bailee and I are driving 7 hours together to Fargo Thursday/Friday. I like to sing along to the radio when I drive/road trip. Poor, poor Bailee. She’s gonna have fun! 🙂
  • Remember I double-booked myself with dates on Thursday? Yeah. Well, date number 2 was a no-show. He texted me, saying that his ex-wife hadn’t show up to pick up their daughter. 45 minutes later she still hadn’t and he texted me again, apologizing all over himself about it. I told him it was fine, in fact, I was in the middle of the Glee finale so I wasn’t that upset about it! We made plans to go out tonight.
  • On a whim, I texted him earlier today to see if we were still on. His reply? He said that he was home, sick in bed and felt so awful about ditching me again. Do I believe him? I’m not sure. He says he still wants to see me, and I told him I could maybe do something Wednesday night. We shall see. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m certainly not holding me breath about this one.
  • My co-worker that is friends with Thursday’s lunch date emailed him today. He said he thought the date went well and that he wanted to go out again. I have yet to hear from him. We shall see on this one too.

To reply to a few replies to my canceling my Match subscription:

robbsrunning said: Perhaps joining a running group, may get you a nice running guy? 😉

This is a great idea Robb! Someone with similar interests would be great. I will look into it!

trivialbob said: Just don’t go get a dozen cats as a substitute.

No worries Bob, I’m quite allergic to cats! 😉

baileerunsthroughlife said: But I’m going to miss all your stories! 😉

Sorry Bailee, I will try to find other dates to give you great stories. Plus, there are some stories that I haven’t shared with you all! Those are some gems! I will post about those later.

baileerunsthroughlife replied to your post: How I’m spending my afternoon

Can I come over for dinner then? Cause all of that looks super yummy

anytime my friend, anytime. I promise when you’re here for the Lincoln Marathon or when you come back 2 weeks later for the trip to the Fargo Marathon, I will make you a lovely meal! I made Spaghetti and garlic bread. I felt so domestic! 🙂 And now I have leftovers for days!

11 Things

Thanks Melissa for sending this my way!

What is your favorite book or, if you prefer, who is your favorite writer?

My favorite book. Thats a hard one. I love to read, and have pretty eclectic taste. So I can’t name just one. But I do love romance novels and I love Nora Roberts and the Bride Quartet.

2. If money were no object, where would you take your next vacation?

I would go back to Hawaii. I went there in 2010 for 10 days and LOVED it there. Seriously. I would live there if it weren’t so far away and wasn’t so expensive.



I stayed in the hotel with the blue umbrellas and chairs in front of it! It was amazing!!

3. Whom do you most admire?

That’s a hard one too. I would have to say my mom. She has taught me to stand up and be my own person, and she is one of the strongest people I know. She doesn’t take crap from anyone and has made me and everyone in my family a better person because we know her.

4. Do you consider yourself a cat person or a dog person? Or both?

Total Dog person. Dogs rule! I’m super allegeric to cats! I also think that dogs think of you as part of the family or pack, whereas cats view you as the staff.

5. What is one of the best gifts you’ve ever received?

Mmm. I would have to say my Garmin that I got for my birthday in 2011. I didn’t think I wanted one, and didn’t think I would keep running after I ran my first half marathon. Good think my mom didn’t listen and bought it anyway! 🙂

6. If you could wake up tomorrow with one talent or ability, what would it be?

I would like to be able to read minds. I think we all waste so much time wondering what others are thinking, and I wish I could just know instead of worrying about it. I’ve always said that I wished my life were like a movie-then I could see the backstory and know what was happening in the other “scenes.” I know, I’m weird.

7. Are you still friends with any of your childhood friends?

Yes! I have been Best Friends with my friend Virginia since we were 5, and then when we were 8 we added Candace to the group. We are still BFF’s today—despite not living in the same cities or state. We don’t even talk everyday or week, but that kind of friendship you don’t have to, its just there, waiting to be picked up again when you need each other.

8. What non-physical quality do you like most about yourself?

I like to think that I’m a good listener. People tell me their problems all the time, and I like to try to help and listen.

9. Are you a vivid dreamer? Do you frequently remember your dreams?

Absolutely! I dream everynight and can remember most of my dreams. My mom is a nurse and she once told me that women tend to dream more and remember more of their dreams than men do. I certainly fall into this category.

10. What/who makes you laugh the hardest?

That would be my dad or BFF Virginia. They are always ‘On’ and can crack jokes whenever. I love that.

11. Why tumblr? How did you come to start blogging here?

To be honest, it all started because Dannon Greek yogurt changed their flavoring and I was trying to figure out why. I googled it, and discovered a blog called “The Librarian On The Run” I obsessively read it all, and read other’s posts that she reblogged. I decided to move my Blogger to tumblr so that I could stay more up to date. I started following people and gained some followers and the rest is history!

To be honest, I also started a blog because I wanted a safe place to talk about my running. My facebook friends didn’t care about it, and got annoyed when I talked about it. So this was a great outlet to channel my need into.

I’m going to tag some people with the exact same questions that Melissa asked me! (sorry, I’m lazy!)

You are tagged below!