That moment when you realize you ARE a runner

This weekend my husband and I drove a couple of hours to a nearby town so he could visit a friend who owns a small craft beer brewery. While we were there chatting, another couple at the bar joined our conversation. Eventually the woman and I ended up chatting while the men droned on about beer (I have a healthy appreciation for beer, but let's face it, I can only talk about grain builds and yeast strains for so long). I genuinely don't remember how it came up, but I mentioned running and the woman mentioned she'd been wanting to start running, but just hadn't. I regaled her with stories (or rambled at her) about how amazing it felt to PR, how supportive the community was, and how fulfilling it is to accomplish something that genuinely takes effort.

I kid you not, I had just told her about how I could run a whole mile now (yes, one) when she told me I inspired her. I. Inspired. Her. Sometimes I doubt myself as a runner just because I can't run fast or far. I'm registered for a half marathon, but I still have so much work to do. It's like when you're trying to lose weight and instead of celebrating the 10 pounds you lost, you only see the 50 you still want to lose. I saw only the 12.1 miles I haven't run yet.But when this stranger told me I inspired her, I felt like a real runner for the first time. I also thought about all those who inspire me. I follow the Women's Running Community, Distant Runners, and #Team runDisney on Facebook and the other runners I've encountered through these groups are largely responsible for keeping me going. Their encouragement, support, humor, and passion all give me the courage to run through the bad days and cherish the good ones. I feel like I am slowly learning to become the runner I want to be through their guidance, even if they don't know it.

This was a rather serious example of embracing my inner runner, but there are also some really fun examples out there. Here are a few of my favorites:

You Know You're a Runner When...

• You scoff at paying $10 for a movie ticket, but you'll happily pay $40 for a 5K that you hope lasts less than 30 minutes
• Your home decor includes some form of bib or medal display
• You have more running clothes than regular clothes
• You're proud of your lost toenails
• You get an invitation to a wedding and have to check your race schedule before you RSVP
• Your friends ask about your weekend and you can only respond in miles and time splits
• You get excited when you see a porta potty
• You consider the phrase "it's all downhill from here" to be a good thing
• You have race entry fees built into your budget
• Your Garmin has logged more miles than your car
• You're not ashamed to wear spandex
• You have dreams about showing up late to races or forgetting your shoes
• You spend more time researching running routes than restaurants when traveling.
• Your runs are sometimes longer than your commute to work
• The word bib makes you think about races, not babies
• PR means Personal Record, not Public Relations
• The first question you ask your doctor is "When can I run again?"

AND

• You can say the word Fartlek without giggling

These are some of the best I've seen. Feel free to share yours in the comments!

Warrior Princess

One of the most beautiful aspects of being human is our ability to feel something so deeply that it brings tears to our eyes. Emotions swell and overwhelm us, sweeping us into a breathless current where we drown in a feeling of being so completely and absolutely alive.

Of course, it’s a lot more fun to drown in emotions like love, happiness, contentment. When I did the Warrior Dash in April of 2013, I was enveloped in a very different emotion: fear. Yeah, let’s just say that’s not as much fun.

Overall, I finished the Warrior Dash 5K in just under an hour and a half. And really, that’s not TOO bad when you consider that the obstacles took some time and there was some bottlenecking here and there. But I swear, if I never see a “Giant Cliffhanger” again, it will be too soon. You think runner’s trots are bad? Try being terrified of heights and trying to climb a wall using nothing but a knotted rope that doesn’t even go all the way to the top. Oh, don’t forget about being short and not being able to maneuver yourself over the wall without anything to hold on to (remember, the rope didn’t even want to get to the top of the wall). At this point you’re stuck on a wall that you barely made it to the top of and now you have to figure out the whole getting down thing. Well, there’s another rope. But of course that would require upper body strength that you no longer have since your arms were replaced with spaghetti. Rope burn? Splinters? Well, that would have been something to think about before sliding down the wooden wall while attempting to hold the rope so you can kind of look like you sort of did it right.

The good news is, I survived. The better news is, I made it through the rest of the obstacles and had an absolute blast going through the mud pit at the end. By the time I finished, I was exhausted and had earned quite a few bruises (People at work asked me how things were at home several times the following week. Was it wrong to widen my eyes, wring my hands, and say “fine” before looking down and shuffling away? Okay, I didn’t actually do this. But maybe I should have!).

I will say this: I have never been more proud of myself for anything. Nothing I’ve accomplished has taken more effort and strength than this, and even though it was terrifying, I was so glad I didn’t skip the Giant Cliffhanger as some other runners had. It was an incredible experience, and I’m already signed up for a similar obstacle run in October called the Gladiator Rock ‘N Run. Although I hear that one has some walls too…

The Neon Run

On Saturday March 23, 2013, I ran my second 5K. I was with my younger sister and her best friend, as well as my stepmother and her boyfriend. The Neon Run promised to be a mind-blowing experience with neon glow paint and blacklights, music and a colorful after party.

My only goal for the night was to PR. Not by much, but I wanted to beat my 57 minute time from my first 5K. Needless to say, I felt a bit crushed when I checked my time after crossing the finish line and saw 59 minutes had gone by since we started the run.

As it turns out, my disappointment was misplaced. I had forgotten to consider that there were several points where we experienced a bottleneck effect and I was unable to move very quickly. Additionally, my sister wanted to walk, so that affected my time. Most importantly, it turns out the course wasn't properly measured, so we actually ran an extra half-mile! Given these circumstances, I certainly felt a bit better about my time.

Besides all that, the Neon Run was meant as a fun run, so time wasn't important anyways (I'm just an over-achiever). I'd like to say it was fun, and in some ways it was. I went through about half the course with my whole group, and I ran most of the last half with my stepmom's boyfriend. The run was poorly organized and had a few issues, so running was the only thing to focus on. I was pretty proud knowing I pushed myself and even though there was a lack of neon, my face was glowing anyways.

I don't want to spend much time talking about the race (the organizers have been beat up enough on their Facebook page). I like to think that they learned from their mistakes and will correct those mistakes for future races.

At the end of the day, I learned two things. The first is that I'm stronger than I think. That was the farthest I've run ( and/or walked), and I lived! The second is that it's not all about a PR at the end of the day. Sometimes a run means more than that, and that's okay.

Happy running!

Until next time...

The first of many...

On Saturday, February 9, 2013, I accomplished something that surprised me: I completed my first 5K. It wasn't pretty; I barely finished in under an hour. But I finished, and for me that was an accomplishment. In fact, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. Now I  know I *SOUND* like I have low standards, but truly, this was something I thought was beyond my realm of possibility. I bake, I scrapbook, I work, and I go to school. And I'm pretty awesome at all of those things. Those skills all came naturally to me, and it didn't take much for me to do well. But running? I sucked at that. I could hardly run for a few minutes less than a month before this. So my only goal for this D-backs Race Against Cancer was to finish, which I did. I wasn't even last! And on top of that, I saw Luis Gonzales - Mr. Diamondback himself and one of the greatest left-fielders there ever was! I'm a huge Arizona Diamondbacks fan, so this was the perfect first race for me, and running into Gonzo (no pun intended) was pretty incredible. But, this is a blog about a wannabe princess with a penchant for bling, so there's one more reason this was a perfect day... 

So, crappy time, but I did finish. Since it's my first race, I have a new P.R. - 57.05.4. Next time, I'm shooting for under 45 minutes. I'll leave you with a personal favorite running quote:

"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run."

Until next time my friends!

And so it begins!

As of right now, I’m overweight. Very much so. Although I wanted to change how I looked, my love of food and loathing of exercise made that desire completely unrealistic. And yes, at this point I admit that my lack of willpower is both embarrassing and concerning.

However, in January of 2013, I became inspired and found a new willingness to change my life. And of course this transformation begins with the place where all dreams come true: Disneyland.
I’ve been a big fan of all things Disney since childhood. Disney symbolizes so much: innocence, fantasy, hope, love, dreams… So it’s no surprise that while visiting Disneyland with my best friend in January, and we stumbled across the Tinker Bell Half Marathon and the related health expo, I had a “lightbulb moment.”

It started with a pair of New Balance runDisney shoes. And a Sparkle Skirt. I wasn’t entirely sure at the time why I bought running shoes and clothes, but they came home with me anyways. Two days later, I went for my first run. After all, I hated running. The difficulty breathing, the pain in my legs, the undying boredom… However, something about that first run was different. I didn’t have trouble breathing; I enjoyed the burning in my lungs. I didn’t feel pain in my legs; I  felt just a little bit more powerful than before. I wasn’t bored; I was amazed.

This was the beginning of a new journey, and it was due to these first steps that I decided to document my successes and failures. Besides, nothing motivates like facing the scrutiny of people on the internet!