MY 500th BLOG POST!!!!!

When I started blogging in 2014 I had already been running for about a year. I still felt like a brand new runner at that point and, even though I wasn't new to writing, I had never done a blog before. At the time I wasn't sure where the blogging journey was going to take me...

I wasn't completely sure where the running journey was going to take me either. But I knew that I wanted to complete a marathon, and I knew that I wanted to write about my experiences along the way to achieving that goal.

Over the course of my 500 blog posts I've told you about my full marathon experiences in New York... 

"Feels Like 8 Degrees"...

I braved the "feels like 8 degrees" weather this morning and made it to my run with Chelsea's group: Pro Bike + Run. Chelsea and I are fellow ZOOMA Ambassadors for their 2017 race series and she lives in Pittsburgh...

She was so sweet and helpful when I asked the ZOOMA group for tips on where to run while I was in the city. And even though I knew a morning run was going to be cold, nothing prepared me for this...

When we got to the meet up spot Chelsea was kind enough to lend me extra layers and warm things for my ears while we waited for the group run to start...

(this is a pic from along the course)

Between Restlessness & Exhaustion...

So I'm a little tired. Ok, I'm A LOT tired, and I've had this nagging headache that doesn't seem to want to go away. I ended up missing my run this morning so that I could get some more rest and hopefully sleep my headache away. But it didn't work. So for right now I'm aiming to linger in a state between restlessness and exhaustion and hopefully get through my daily run tonight.

Between sleeping in and keeping up with this blogging streak I had a busy day at work planning for an upcoming conference that I'm going to attend/present a poster at. The conference is right before my next half marathon which is the Miami Beach half... next weekend!!!

The Miami Beach half was my desired PR race, but after the A1A half last weekend I'm really not sure I'll be able to pull it off. The reality of that is pretty sobering because as the weather gets hotter and more humid in Florida, a PR seems further and further out of reach. I'm still going to put in the work and preparation and aim for it, but I come back from my work trip late on Saturday night and my race is bright and early on Sunday morning 😞. So the combination of being tired and having to run in the heat probably won't be great.

While I'm planning for the upcoming Miami Beach half and work stuff, I'm also planning for future stuff with my ZOOMA Ambassador group. With that in mind, I'm excited to share that the ZOOMA leadership team recently opened additional ambassador spots!!! If you are interested you can apply here. 

You can also check out the entire schedule of ZOOMA races (here) and decide which one(s) you want to register for 😉)...

How was your Wednesday?

Have you ever been a race ambassador?

Do you have any PR goals for this year?

Distance Means Nothing & The New Look...

"Distance means nothing" is not entirely true as it relates to running (and anyone who has ever run a marathon can attest to that); but it's certainly true when your Valentine is miles away...

LDRs are hard but he makes it worth it...

@SitariPoetry

Valentine's Day or not, training never ends so I woke up early this morning and ran with Jani...

The Best Kind of Support

One of the cool things about being a ZOOMA Race Ambassador this year is all of the amazing support that I've gotten. The running community (in general) tends to be pretty supportive, but this year it's been really nice to have an additional support system for training. As a blogger I've been a part of several blogging Facebook groups, and as a Race Ambassador I'm a part of the ZOOMA FB group as well. We do the usual stuff in the group: post pictures of races and runs, get feedback on and ask questions about different running related things, and encourage each other for upcoming events, like the ZOOMA Annapolis Half Marathon coming up in June!!!!

[You can check out the race site HERE]

I also get a 10% discount code on all race registrations and I get to share that with everyone!!!

{REGISTER HERE}

This Is How I Zooma...

So I officially became a ZOOMA Ambassador for the 2016 ZOOMA Women's Race Series!!! 

#ZOOMANation

The ZOOMA Chicago Half Marathon in 2014 was my very first half and it was a really great race (despite the fact that I thought I was going to die all the way from mile 11 to mile 12). I'm excited to be an Ambassador this year because they are doing some fun and exciting things, including a virtual 5K/10K Love Run...

It will be held around Valentine's Day weekend ;)