Where's the Beach?

Saturday morning I did something I swore I'd never do. I ran a marathon. On a complete whim, I had signed up for the Jacob Wells 3 Bridges Marathon . I won't lie, I may have had some wine that particular evening. Then I saw a Facebook update that there were only 5 spots left. I said something to Jason and he handed me my credit card. The rest? History (as they say). I feel like I should apologize for the rambling, jumble of a recap in advance. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole experience. Preface I think I should do a preface about this race, about the emotions surrounding it. Jacob Wells was the race director. He started this race last year. Sadly, he passed away unexpectedly in November during a marathon. The Arkansas running community is a very tight community. So his death was a huge loss. I never knew Jacob personally. I had seen him at races. He was known for giving high fives and shouting out kudos. Let's just say that his spir

Who's happy it's Friday? Silly question right? I almost went with a more serious tone today. Lisa over at RunWiki did a post yesterday that really spoke to me "The Truth Is." I think it resonated with me so much right now because I have a lot of truths that I'm not confessing. Oh, nothing crazy serious, mostly around my mental state about the upcoming marathon. I thought I'd save that post for next week though and stick with something more light-hearted today. I mean, it is Fun for Friday after all. Marcia does these fun Runfession posts that I always enjoy reading and have borrowed the idea several times. Once again, I'm taking a cue from Marcia and doing my last Runfessions for 2014 . Final Runfessions of 2014 1. I'm not ready to back down on my miles and taper for my marathon next Saturday. I thought I would whole-heartedly embrace taper time, but I have actually enjoyed the training and the miles. 2. I'm afraid that after my maratho

Half Marathon number 10 is in the books with a shiny new PR! Saturday I ran the CASA Half Marathon . This was the 2nd time running this particular race. It's a smaller race, but for a great cause as it supports the CASA Women's Shelter. It's still a new race, and is continuing to grow, and for good reason. It's truly a flat and fast course. I earned a PR last year at the race actually. Because of my marathon training, I initially wasn't sure if I would go into this as a race or as a training run. The day of, I knew I was racing 100%. It was in the mid- to upper-40s at the start with overcast skies, but very little wind. My plan was to just go with how I was feeling, find a pace and try to sustain it for as long as possible. I know many runners start out slower and increase their pace. I tend to be pretty consistent with my splits throughout. I did a super easy 1 mile run to warm up before heading to the start. I wanted up closer to the front, but not the very

I am super excited to announce an up-coming challenge that I'm running through my personal training site - Where's the Beach Fitness . My 12 Days Of Fit Christmas Challenge will begin on Sunday, December 14 and run for, you guessed it, 12 days. With this challenge, you have the chance to win 1 month of free online training*, or you can just do the challenge for fun! How the Challenge Works I'm sure you've likely seen some Christmas or Holiday workouts, even 12 Days of Christmas workouts. What's so different about this  12 Days Of Fit Christmas Challenge ? You don't get the workout in its entirety in advance. You will need to register so that you receive the daily workouts via email. I will also post the workouts at 12 Days of Fit Challenge Page and on my Facebook Page . Each day leave a comment on the 12 Days of Fit Challenge Page letting me know that you completed the exercises. Comment is required . For fun, you can also Instagram or Tweet us

Well, I did it!  As I mentioned on Friday , I had my last 20-mile run planned for Saturday. Amy has been helping me get through a large chunk of the miles for my long run, but this weekend she needed to get her miles done pretty early. I almost had a panic attack thinking I was going to be solo for 20 miles. Thankfully, I have found two more running friends over the course of this training. Let's just say that during the last two solo miles I was thinking, "It takes a village." I was also thinking, how many people does it take to help one runner train for a marathon? You know, kind of a joke but I couldn't come up with a punch line, because it's really true. You need far more support than you think you're going to need and it comes from a variety of sources. Saturday morning ended up being another randomly warm day, and super windy. How was I wearing double layers in November yet tank and shorts in December? I knew this could affect my run negatively. I s

Happy Friday! So, a bit of rambling today. I have to admit that it feels weird not blogging as much or as consistently. I know this means fewer interactions with my blogging friends. That's probably what I'm missing the most with blogging less. And while I don't feel the pull to blog as frequently as I once did, I still want a place to share thoughts, share recipes or workouts and to converge with others over similar life happenings whether it be weight lifting or marathon training or just enjoying the heck out of time with family and friends. I never thought I would run a full marathon. So, of course, I never thought I'd be blogging about my training. Blathering away about long runs, hitting the wall, feeling great or feeling pukey. I never thought I would feel so much gratitude towards someone helping me make it through all of this either. Tomorrow marks my last truly long run - 20 miles (more only if I am feeling up to it). Then I begin my taper period. I'm

Happy Hump Day. Since it's already Wednesday, guess it'd be a good time to do a quick weekend recap, that included an accidental 19-mile run and a 3rd Thanksgiving meal. Long Run Saturday morning Amy agreed to run with me for what was a planned 18-mile run. I was going to head out and get in some miles before she arrived then run 10 together, then finish out solo. I got in 5 miles exactly, then we set out on a meandering route around the neighborhood. The temperatures were suddenly back into the 60s with high humidity and even higher winds. Thankfully it was cloudy. The positives were that we were most certainly not freezing and the wind did help dry us off. Amy had said 10 miles, but then decided she could do another mile with me. We made another loop before getting back to my house. Her watch said 11 miles on the dot, mine was behind showing 15.85 miles. For some reason, I got it stuck in my head that I was at mile 15 and needed 3 more - even said that out loud a

It's Cyber Monday and I'm offering up to 15% off personal training plans. If you've ever wanted to hire a trainer but thought you couldn't afford it, now is the time to sign up! Visit Where's the Beach Fitness to learn more. But don't put it off, Cyber Monday deals end at midnight tonight! UPDATED - Cyber Monday is being extended for Cyber WEEK! Visit Where's the Beach Fitness , pick the plan that's ideal for you, then choose how you want to save. Contact us by 11:59 pm, CST, December 7 and mention Cyber Week!