accidentally awesome

Today's training run was awesome. It was tough, but overall it was great. The weather was cooler than it has been, and the route was great. I saw parts of the city I've never seen before.

We ran past the Children's Hospital on Brook Road, and it reminded me of my students. So many of them go there for therapies or even just to go to the dentist. I've always wondered where it was. It reminded me of them, and the fact that they can't run. It reminded me partly of why I run, for those who can't.

We ran past Kuba Kuba on Park Avenue, and it reminded me of where this whole marathon journey started. That's the restaurant we went to after the Monument Avenue 10k, where we sat, ate and got so excited from such a high on that race, talking about running the marathon.

We ran past The Cathedral, it was beautiful. We ran up Floyd, actually a little too far on Floyd. Somehow we missed our turn onto Sheppard, I don't know how this happened. By the time we realized we were off the route we knew we had added at least a mile onto the run, and since this was a 12 mile run, I figured that at the end I had run my first half marathon, accidentally.

I wanted to walk so bad at the end, but I had to run into the Sports Backers Stadium. Some of my coaches were there with the best watermelon I've ever had in my entire life, as well as cold wet towels that felt like heaven. And I felt awesome. My legs hurt and I was tired, but I felt so awesome.

When I got home I went to www.mapmyrun.com, and confirmed that I had in fact ran a half marathon. 13.43 miles to be exact. I am so ready for the Patrick Henry Half in 2 weeks!!!!

On a side note I also discovered that gu is not my friend. I had tried some gel on an earlier run and it was okay, so I decided to try some gu on this run. I gagged on it. Had to spit it out, yuck. Next week I will be trying a different fuel source.

Family Reunion

So my mom told me about this family reunion a couple weeks before it actually happened. At first I wasn't going to go so last minute, but then I thought about it and decided I should go.

My grandpa (in the bright blue shirt) had 7 brothers and 1 sister growing up. Two have passed on, but here he is with all his siblings. They grew up on a farm, in a 3 bedroom house, can you imagine being the only girl with 8 brothers?!

I'm so glad I got to go and meet all my grandpa's siblings. They were some of the cutest old men I have ever met!

The Pennsylvania countryside was so beautiful, and the weather was great too. It was in the mid 70s, which felt so cool compared to these hot summer days we've been having here in Richmond. It was such a quick little trip, but overall a great one.

Simply Amazing

This past weekend I was in Western Pennsylvania for a family reunion. I knew I had to stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Falling Water.

It was amazing. Just amazing. It was full of little details like this......

and this........

And to think that he designed this 75 years ago in 1936! My pictures don't do it justice.

Ahhh.....I just loved it. If you are ever near Mill Run, PA you should go!

Guest Blogger

So this past weekend I was out of town (more about that in a post soon). When I finally got around to checking my email I had received one from Ginny, a fellow Marathon Training Team runner who is on the yellow team, asking me to write a guest post on their team's blog. I was so excited! Especially since the girls who write on this blog are amazing runners. Ginny just ran 2 half-marathons, one in San Francisco and one in Providence, RI. She also writes for Richmond Road Runners Magazine.

So head on over to Koolaid for 26.2  to see my guest post about running and fear. Enjoy!

DIY Yarn Wreath and Felt Flowers

I have recently found so many beautiful wreaths on pinterest. Well, I finally got the chance to make one. I'm so pleased with how it turned out and how cheap and easy it was to make.

I went to Hobby Lobby and got some yarn ($3), felt ($1) and a straw wreath ($3.50). So this project cost me $7.50 total! Can't beat that. (I had the white ribbon already, and used a hot glue gun which I already had as well.)

CLICK HERE!! For instructions on how to make your own. I promise, it was so easy!

I love how it looks on the front door! Just what it needed!

Words for Wednesday



double digits, falling water and fall

This past weekend I ran my first double digit distance! I'm not gonna lie, it was a tough run, but I made it. I am really close to the half marathon, which is such a huge milestone!! I know I will be ready for the Patrick Henry Half Marathon on August 27th!

So the other day my mom told me about a family reunion, on her dad's side. It's about 6 hrs away in Western Pennsylvania. I really don't want to miss it, especially since my grandpa is my last living grandparent. When I mapquested directions I realized that one of my favorite buildings is on the way, Falling Water.

Source: wright-house.com via helen on pinterest.

This is arguably Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous building. It's been on my list of must see buildings for some time now. I remember one semester in college we talked about this building in every single class I was in. It's simply amazing and I can't wait to see it!!

I am always ready for the next season before it comes. Well, I am really ready for fall. I am so over this heat, and ready to run in the cooler temperatures. I am ready for the pumpkins, the beautiful leaves changing colors, camping and hopefully a visit to the mountains. I am so ready to see my students again. I was looking through a photo album a co-worker had given me with pictures of me and my kids, and it just makes me miss them. Although I won't be teaching art in the fall I am still really excited to go back to school.