Running: An addiction, An Infatuation, An Inexplicable Desire

I am completely obsessed with running! It's an addiction, an infatuation, an inexplicable desire to lace up my running shoes and put one foot in front of the other every chance I get.  This past weekend I ran the Distance Dare at the Winter Park Road Race, which was a two miler followed by a 10K for a total of 8.2 miles. It was great fun racing with my running friends! Afterwards we not only had our beer tickets for free beer, we also happened upon others giving away their beer tickets. By 9:00AM I had ran two races for a total of 8.2 miles and had two beers. We ran into a bunch of people from my Ragnar team, so we chatted for a bit. When we left the beer area, we walked around the different vendor tents and stopped to enjoy free breakfast and coffee! The races were awesome and the after party was even better!

On Sunday, I met up with some of my running friends that didn't do the race on Saturday. We ran 8 miles and were lucky enough to see two bald eagles during our run! My running friend, Badass Doreen, made an excellent breakfast for us to enjoy after our run. Her husband crafted homemade cappuccinos to go with the heart shaped waffles that were absolutely perfect.

The people I run with are a fantastic group of individuals that support and challenge one another. Some people in our group are going through a shitty period of time in their lives, and it's encouraging to see us stand together in friendship and understanding. We are not alone. Sure we are running friends, but I think we might be regular friends, too. We went to see Beauty and Beast together. Next week, we are going to Paint with a Twist and the week after that a bunch of us are going to surprise the lady in our group that's in a play by showing up to see her show after we have a potluck dinner. 

Well, I said I was obsessed with running.  I ran a total of 16 miles this past weekend and I'm not training for anything specific. It was just for fun! At the moment, there is no place I'd rather be than out on the road pounding the pavement with each step I take. It's liberating for it to be as easy as it should be without any unnecessary struggle. I feel strong. I feel awake. I feel alive. I don't typically buy race photos, but when I saw the picture below I couldn't help myself.  I want to remember how great I felt in that moment, and even now. It captures the pure joy I find in running.

I jumped over the finish line of the two miler before the start of the 10K. Is it just me, or does it look like I still have hops from my basketball playing days? I think it looks like I'm flying!

Where Have I Been?

Where have I been and what have I been doing? Don't mind me, I've just been in my own little world working hard and enjoying life. I'm still working like crazy and I'm loving it!

In the Spring Fever "It's for the Kids" 10K on March 4th, I was the first female finisher!!! It's the first race I've ever won!!! I won a $50 Track Shack gift certificate!  Dang, I should get faster and win more races! ;)

I met my Team Challenge friends for breakfast one Saturday. It was nice to catch up with everyone! Since I met them back in 2013, they have truly inspired and supported me.  Their understanding is different from my other friends' and family's because they know first hand some of the shit I've been through and vice versa. When they hug me for a half second longer to squeeze a little tighter before letting go, I feel their empathy on another level!

I was fortunate enough to be one of the four people selected to be on a four person bowling team my company sponsored to benefit Leadership Seminole.  It was a one day event and I bowled a 135 in my highest scoring game! It was fun to network with co-workers I don't get to work with often.

I took my Dad to the second session of the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in Orlando. We saw Xavier vs. Maryland and FSU vs. FGCU.  It was great spending time with him! I should make more of an effort to do more things with him.

I missed placing 3rd in my age group in the Chase the Leprechaun 5K on Friday by 6 seconds.  I can't be mad with 4th in my age group though. I had a side stich in the middle of the race, so I walked for a bit only to realize it was really gas cramps. Once I let out some gas, I felt better and started running again. I hate that gas cramps slowed me down, but I still finished in 29:14, which is a sub 30 minute 5k averaging 9:26 per mile and that is no easy feat!

My First Time Volunteering at a Disney Race

When my alarm went off at 1:30 AM, I thought why did this sound like a good idea? I never want to volunteer at a Disney Race again. Two of my sisters, Kim and Kelly, were up and just as ready to go as I was. We mumbled how early it was, but headed out to Disney anyway. We met my ugly step sister at the Volunteer check-in tent, and then found the right bus taking us to our volunteer assignment, the powerade station at mile 11.2 of the Disney Princess Half Marathon. We waited on the bus for about 45 minutes in the parking lot of Typhoon Lagoon before we started heading to our assignment. It turns out the bus driver went the wrong way and we got stuck in race morning traffic, which made us really late to our assignment.

Once we got to mile 11.2, the volunteers had to rush to set up the powerade station because the race was starting soon.  When we got to work, I loved every aspect of it! We set up tables, mixed powerade in countless 10 gallon coolers, set up cups, and then filled the cups with powerade. It took teamwork to find a groove in the process, but we did it! 

My favorite part was handing the cups of powerade to the runners and cheering them on. The first cup I handed off was to Track Shack star Heather Shultz. She ended up placing second!  It was great fun to see everyone's costumes and screaming for them by the name of the character they were dressed as! Over 30,000 people ran the race. Each person has their own story, a different reason they run. We even saw a few of our friends that were running the race!

By the time the last racer past us, our powerade station was cleaned up within 15 minutes. Disney has a great process with dump trucks and cleaning crews that follow behind the last racer to make cleanup a piece of cake. The group leader we volunteered with is with MarathonFest (that's how we got the opportunity), and he valued our hard work so much that he offered us spots to volunteer with his group at the 8.2 powerade station for the Star Wars Half Marathon in April. Surprisingly, since I woke up that morning, I had a change of heart. It was a rewarding experience, so I decided to sign up to volunteer at the Star Wars Half.