While I've Been Gone...

It's been a few weeks since I written a blog post cause life has been pretty busy. It's been non-stop travel and activities since I ran Wings for Life and completed Swim Miami (I know, I know... I still have to post that recap). And I just came back from my last (planned) racecation until Berlin in September. This past weekend I did the Ragnar Niagara Falls relay (that recap will be forthcoming as well) and had yet another amazing Ragnar experience...

I'll have more details in the official race recap when I post it but **spoiler alert** I finished it with an incredible team and felt great about my runs. I was even able to enjoy the Falls for a bit after we were done...

The End Of The Streak...

I ended my blogging streak on Friday. It was intentional so I'm only partially sad when I think about it. Friday was my 500th blog post and Day 90 of my blogging (and running) streak. It seemed like a good ending point... blogging every day isn't easy. I know a lot of bloggers that have new posts with fresh content everyday. But most of them work from home, or don't work, or work part time, or have more than 24 hours in their day. I made it a point to set aside time for each blog post but some days I just didn't have much to say. And rather than continue with quantity over quality I decided to just focus on my running streak, getting enough rest, and increasing the cross training aspects of my current training plan...

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There were other changes this weekend... I went home (to Jamaica). It's a very long story but I needed to be home and made the decision to travel on Thursday and came down on the first flight on Friday. Which meant I missed the triathlon relay that I was supposed to do today (the team found a replacement though and they did really well). 

While I was home on a #FamilyFirst mission, I was able to continue my running streak. I've done a mile each day that I've been here (some a lot slower than others). Friday's run...

Saturday's run...

Today's run...

Saturday's run was after spending most of the morning at the beach so I definitely felt extra tired on that run. And even though today's run was mid-morning on a very sunny day, I was able to push myself to a sub-10 min pace. I'm always excited when I can do that 😊.

In between runs and family time I've tried to catch up on sleep. Last week was a busy work week and this upcoming week will be as well, so things are going to be non-stop for a while. I've also been applying to some online teaching jobs and the next sessions should be starting some time this month or next month (please keep your fingers crossed that I get one of them) so my days will be even more hectic. These upcoming changes also contributed to my decision to end the blogging streak.

Instead of blogging every day, I'm going to try and blog at least 3-4 times a week. Some weeks will be more, but hopefully no future weeks will have less than three blog posts. Especially since training will start to get a bit more structured so I'll have much more to post about from now on 😉. 

(If you blog) How often do you blog each week?

What's the longest blogging streak you've done? 

How was your running/training this weekend?

Exhausted Beyond Words...

Yesterday Kai decided to search for my gray hairs. While combing through my hair she found three (the very three that she gave me). I'm sure there are more but I stopped her at three because really, no one needs to know exactly how many gray hairs they have right?

The past few days have been busy with waking up early(-ish) to run, staying up late for the events, and trying to stay awake for the long commute back home. We have two more full days in Rio and a long day of travel coming up, but right now I am exhausted beyond words. Between that and my three gray hairs I realize I've reached my "no longer a spring chicken" phase in life. 

On Tuesday I ran...

Then we went to see Christ the Redeemer...

Sanya (twin sis) and Me...

Kai being a teen...

Nine point Eight One seconds (& five seconds of fame)...

Last night at the stadium was incredible! The energy was positive and palpable. It was amazing to be present in that moment when Usain Bolt dominated the Men's 100m finals for yet another gold medal in that event...

To witness World Records being broken in the Men's 400m by Wayde van Niekerk from South Africa...

To just be there. It was truly amazing!

The Rio Report: A Once-In-A-Lifetime trip...

It's been a busy trip and my schedule has been completely off, but I'm finally getting a chance to do a quick blog post so let me begin with...

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro!!!

Half of my family is here for the 2016 Olympics and it has been quite a trip so far! It's hard to put all the emotions into words to be honest. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime vacations so I'm trying to take in all the experience has to offer. What I can say is trips like these require a lot of flexibility and a lot of patience (we are all learning that lesson). Today is going to be another busy day but here is a brief recap of the trip so far:

Day one (-ish):
This was the start of a long day of travel, during which, Kai's phone was trauma alerted (thanks to TSA)...

Our flights took us from Ft Lauderdale to Campinas then on to Rio...

A Very Busy Week Ahead...

This week will be pretty busy with travel...

And of course all the stuff that I need to do before I travel will be keeping me pretty busy as well. Thankfully the most important things have been taken care of: I have proper attire :)

Do you think I have enough shirts?

Miami Half Marathon Weekend {Race Recap Part 1}

When I woke up on Friday morning I wondered if the 2016 Miami Half Marathon weekend was going to be able to compete with last year's event. I mean, how many times can you "redefine amazing" right? It's probably not even fair to compare events from one year to another because so much can happen over the course of 12 months. But (fair or not) I did the comparison anyway and I can safely say that history repeated itself in amazing and incredible ways.

As promised, I tried to post regular updates to my Instagram account but I know I didn't capture all the great things that happened during the race weekend. So I decided to do a two-part race recap: one dedicated to all the pre-race activities and another post dedicated to race day. 

After spending Friday morning contemplating what the weekend was going to be like, I took care of some stuff around the house and later did some cardio. I hadn't worked out all of last week so the cardio on Friday felt great and my legs (especially my quads) felt really strong. I didn't want to overdo it though so I resisted the temptation for a lot more cross training and spent the rest of the day carb loading and resting. 

On Saturday morning, in my attempt to avoid issues with parking, I decided to go to the expo early. I actually got there before the expo opened so I enjoyed the wall art while I waited...

I'm such a hopeless romantic cause I really love this painting

Updates, Reminders & Favorite Things...

Ok guys, if you signed up for the ZOOMA Run Love Virtual Challenge here are the training plans:

5K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

10K plan starting on Jan 4th 2016...

If you haven't signed up (but want to) you can register HERE.

**~**~**~**~**

The Capital of Casual: Reggae Half Marathon {Race Recap}...

Friday (Reggae Eve):

Drive to Ft. Lauderdale >> Fly to Montego Bay >> Drive to Negril

My brother-in-law, Gavin, picked me up from the airport in Montego Bay and we took the 1.5 hour drive to Negril (there was a lot of traffic, it doesn't usually take that long). Once we got to Negril the first stop was the race expo for our packet pick-up...