$1000+ raised for the Special Olympics!

Thanks to some amazing friends and family, I've raised over $1000 for the Special Olympics of Connecticut! I am truly just blown away by my friends' support and generosity in achieving this goal. I've never raised money for a charity like this, and would you believe, I set my first goal at $100! I kept increasing it as I saw just how generous people were, and how excited they were to help such an amazing cause.

With just two days left till the half marathon, I'm focused a lot on hydrating, which has always been an area of my life I'm lacking. I hate to say it, but my diet certainly could be better right now (having a lot of sweet tooth cravings!), but my hydration is something that I know I need to work on, especially for this race. I tried following Ericka Anderson's guide on "The Sweet Life with Ericka" of what to eat the week of a marathon (nevermind that I'm only doing the half!), but found it a little too hard with some leftover pizza lying around.

Tonight, Matt and I are off to the runner's expo to pick up our registration packets, and hopefully find some good freebies!

This was one of those mornings getting out the door for a six mile run was the last thing I wanted to do. Though the run is on Saturday, I thought to myself, "I'm already in shape. A six mile run today isn't going to make or break it for me." Luckily, the angel on my other shoulder chimed in, "You have three training days left. Why skip this time?" So I made it out the door.

I felt pretty good on the run, finished with an average of 8:21 min/mi. I'm nervous about my pace for this Saturday. Last year, Philadelphia had hardly any hills to deal with (except a slow slope at the end that killed me!), and I had a friend to run with to keep my pace, so I ended up thrilled with a finish of 1:53:22, or 8:39 mi/mi. I'd like to stay under two hours, and I'll be a happy camper. 

Couldn't help taking a photo of the beautiful sunrise at the halfway point of my run, the outrageous sweat marks on my elbow (I've realized I have unnaturally sweaty elbows... should I start using deodorant there???) and a sweet message I left for my husband on his back window. 

Three days till the ING Half Marathon!

"The hardest step for a runner to take is the first one out the door."

- Ron Clarke

You know those times in your life when you've heard a quote, you like it, but suddenly it just hits you that the quote is speaking to you right now? That's what happened to me today. I always liked Ron Clarke's quote above, and have used it many times to motivate me to get out there for my run! But as I sat here today thinking about creating a blog, I realized that that's all I've been doing - thinking about creating this blog for over two years!

Finally I decided to take the hardest step. Get out the door with this blog. And I guess we'll see where this journey takes me. 

I should start off with a bit of a biography... I grew up outside of Chicago, in Oak Park, with an amazing family. I followed the family route of attending a liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere (Colby College in Waterville, Maine for me). I played field hockey, made some wonderful friends and had great experiences including studying abroad in Botswana, but never really found myself. It wasn't until moving to Washington D.C., and getting involved in the Young Republicans that I really found my passion. 

That was another time this quote rang true for me - in college I was always nervous to get involved in politics. Part of this was driven by my "dirty little secret" - despite growing up outside of Chicago, in a comfortably liberal town that consistently elects Democrats with over 80 percent of the vote, I'd come to realize I was a Republican. I was hesitant to get involved in the GOP, both because of a feeling that I was abandoning family and friends with their liberal views, but also because of a fear of acceptance by the Republican Party, as a former Democrat. Well, I overcame my fear, went to my first YR meeting, loved it, and eventually led the D.C. Young Republicans as chairman of the organization during the 2012 election. Amazing opportunities. Disappointing results. Still, I caught the bug, and am starting to get involved in local politics here in Connecticut.

Running. I've always been fairly active. Ran around the neighborhood with my sisters and friends. Played field hockey, soccer and lacrosse in high school and went on to play a brief stint of field hockey in college. I'd continue to run 3-5 miles, mostly when my jeans were feeling a little tight, but that was really the only exercise I could do, or desired to do. Last year, a friend convinced me to run a the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in Philadelphia and I did it! I have to admit, it was my competitiveness that motivated me more than anything. It really hasn't been until this summer, when I started training on my own for the ING Hartford Half Marathon, that I came to enjoy running on my own. It just provided such a needed outlet for me, especially this summer wedding planning and living with my then soon-to-be in-laws (who I love dearly!), to get away and just have time to myself to think. I'm so much happier now that I'm doing it, and know this is an important component of my physical and mental health.