Stubborn Warrior: New Years 5K recap

Ok...so January's race is in the bag. I know...Its taken me almost 2 weeks to blog about it. Sorry. I'm a slacker.

This was an interesting race because it was the first race of the new year. It was also my first race completely by myself. I didn't know anyone there...I didn't have anyone to cheer me on...it was all Sprinkles.

Screenshot from my phone as I left the house!

 

 

So I woke up at 5:30am and got ready for the race. As you can see from the pic, it was bitterly cold outside when I left at 6:30am. The race didn't start til 8am but I had to pick up my race packet so I wanted to make sure I had enough time.

 

The race was held out at the Dorthea Dix campus which was really nice. I got there good and early and drove around a bit trying to figure out where to park. Finally I found a small parking lot near the start of the race.

 

That is when I figured out that it was a small race and that I didn't need to get there super early next time.

 

 

Best bib number ever!

 

There was a total of about 130 runners. We started about 10 mins after 8am and we were off!

 

The first mile was bitterly cold. My legs hurt so bad from the cold. Every step I took felt like daggers to my thighs! Finally around mile 2 I warmed up enough to enjoy the run. The sun was warming up and the scenery was beautiful. I was running pretty much by myself with one or two people passing me or me passing them. It was awesome.

 

I was so proud of myself for running the whole thing. I was even more proud when I saw my time! I got a PR! (not that I've run many 5ks...but still!)

 

I ran the 5k in 32:46 which averages about a 10:30mm. Not too shabby!

 

I placed 49th overall and 19th out of the women.

 

Stubborn Warrior is a local series of which there are 5 runs total. This was the first. Each run, they give the top 50 guys and the top 50 women points. 1st place gets 50 points, second place gets 49 points and onward. So coming in 19th of the women...I got 32 points! Not bad!

 

I plan on running all 5 races so hopefully I will better my times and get a lot of points!

 

The best part is that the race is run on the same course each time so I'll really get to see some improvement hopefully!

 

 

 

Donuts never taste as sweet as they do for a post-race treat!





BRRRRR!

Well...it's official. I am SOOO glad that I got a gym membership! Thanks Bliss!

It has been so cold here lately. How cold you ask?

Yesterday it was 9 degrees.

That was not a typo. It was really 9 degrees. With the windchill it felt like it was in the negative degrees! NEGATIVE!!!!

I don't know how people live in states that actually get snow and deal with temperatures like this all winter long!

I very much enjoy running inside where it's warm.

Until it warms up - I have a beard

First Adventure of 2014!

So I have this theory...how you close out and start the new year is sort of how your year will shape up. 2013? Don't ask...let's just say it wasn't the greatest start. :)

So I closed 2013 with my knitting friends. We hung out at my friend M's house with her husband, her fake sister, and another one of my knitting buddies. We had good food and lots of fun just watching random YouTube videos and knitting. It was awesome.

Yesterday, I managed to get myself out of bed and drive out to Durham to Eno River State Park. I met up with the Raleigh Trail Runners and went for my first ever trail run. 30 mins out...30 mins back.

It was hard! I'm not sure Trail Running is for me. There's lots of logs and branches to jump over...rocks to twist your ankle on, and leaves to slip and slide on! It is kinda fun because it's a challenge. You have to step carefully.

At one point...I was leading a small group (it was single track so only enough room on the trail for one person at a time and I ended up in front somehow) and I got us off the trail! Whoops! We had to double back and I was thankfully in the back of the pack after that!

All of the other runners were much faster than me but since I am learning to appreciate my own pace...that was ok by me! I did end up walking with a really nice girl for a bit so that was awesome. Total - I ran about 3 miles.

We all got back and then it was time for the real adventure! We headed to the quarry to do a polar plunge! We hiked another 3/4 of a mile and when we got there...there were other people jumping in too! I've been told that some of them were naked but can't confirm this as I didn't see it. (Thankfully!)

We went to a slightly higher point and started right in on jumping in! I was the 3rd person to jump in...

Am I holding my nose as I jump?

 

SO COLD!!! The shock of the cold literally takes your breath away. As I was underwater waiting to surface I had the brief thought that I might die underwater. But then my muscles unfroze and I surfaced. I managed not to curse (as there was a news guy present) but I think I might have yelled "CRAP it is COLD!"

 

 

Get me out of here!!

 

I managed to swim to the bank and climb my way out of the water. There were a bunch of roots that you had to use as a ladder to get out. My muscles did NOT want to cooperate and so I ended up almost falling back into the water!

 

 

I am not staring at her butt. I am trying my best to get out of the cold-ass water!

 

The funny thing is that it was actually warm when you got out of the water. I managed to change without anyone seeing any naked bits (as did everyone else) and we were on our merry way back to our cars.

 

A group of us decided to celebrate our plunge with some food so we went and had an early dinner. While at the restaurant...we saw ourselves on the news! NBC 17 had sent a guy out to tape us and we made both the 6pm and the 7pm newscasts! You can't really see me in it except the side of my face for a brief second and my legs/shoes in one shot. LOL.

 

All in all...it was a great start to the new year. Meeting new people, chilling with friends, good food and great adventure. Plus some knitting and running to boot!

 

Here's to 2014 - may it continue to rock my world!

 







Warning: It's a long one!

So it's come down to this....A 2013 review. Let's take a look back at where Sprinkles has been...shall we?

January

 

January started with the birth of a very precious baby girl. (ok...technically she was born Dec 31st) MommaB had her little darling who I just love. I've watched her grow this year and thankfully she seems to love her Auntie Sprinkles.

 

 

I also managed a trip back home to Texas in January! It was really good to get away for a while and to visit my family. I took the Wal-dog with me and got to meet my sister's boyfriend. My sister and I took pictures together to give to my parents.

We both got the Pink Memo!

 

February

 

February brought love into my life. I met RB on a dating website and we had our first date on Feb. 2nd. It went so well that we spent Valentine's day together and he made me a rap video about our first date. It was a good month.

 

March

 

March was a good month in that I took a trip to the beach with RB and I got a job! I had previously been unemployed since July of 2012. I started work in the middle of March as a temp doing surgery scheduling and data entry.

 

 

 

 

This was as close as we got to the beach!

 

April

 

April is a month in which I can't remember a lot happening in. I'm sure something must have happened...but it doesn't stick out in my mind. Sorry.

 



Here's a cute pic of Waldo to make up for April

 

May

 

A lot of shit went down in May...bear with me:

• My divorce from Jazzy was final on May 10th.
• I got my first mammogram on May 10th (yes...the same day I got divorced)
• The mammogram showed that Tina the Tit-Lump was not a cyst like we had hoped.
• I had a biopsy done on my left breast.
• Tina turned out to be a fibroadenoma - in other words...benign!
• The same day my biopsy was done - I got a call from the local police dept. My ex-husband had tried to kill himself and was suspected of trying to make a WMD. The bio hazard crew was brought in.
• The police eventually determined that Jazzy was only trying to harm himself.
• I turned 31!
• I finished Holden:

So pretty! Malabrigo Yarn Sock in Solis

 

June

 

RB dumps me for the first time. No good reason. I spend most of this month in tears.

 

I also start running with my meetup group! I don't like to be told I shouldn't do something or that I can't do something...so I take up running to prove a point. I can and will run a 5k!

 

First day! Before I knew how running would take over my life!

 

Two weeks into the C25K program...I throw out my back.

 

July

 

Three weeks after dumping me in June, RB texts me and says that he misses me. We get back together. He sends out an email to our parents telling them how he was just scared because no one had ever loved him like I did.

 

My back strain heals and I start running the C25K program on my own.

 

My job also turned permanent in July! I got a small raise in pay and even more exciting...benefits! Hooray for health insurance! 

 

I also manage to finish my biggest project to date: Gemini

 

Still don't quite believe I made that!

 

August

 

RB and I take a trip to the beach for his birthday. With his parents.

 

 

The Wal-Dog is less than impressed with the beach

 

Shortly after this trip, RB breaks up with me AGAIN. In the process of breaking my heart he also tears down my self-esteem by saying some very hurtful things about my appearance.

 

September

 

September sticks out in my mind for one and one reason only: the ELECTRIC RUN!

 

 

I electric ran that biotch!

 

I proved to myself that I could and would run 5k! In fact, I kept running, joined back up with a meetup group and continued to run every chance I got.

 

October

 

October brought the birth of this blog, lots more running, and Halloween!

 

Where's Sprinkles at again?

 

November

 

November found RB and me giving it one more go-around. Therapy included. Things were looking up. He couldn't drive on the weekends/evenings so I found myself making the drive to Cary quite a bit.

 

I volunteered for the City of Oaks marathon and had a ton of fun.

 

RB and I weathered our first real holiday together and he came and cheered me on at my Turkey Trot.

 

Love this pic!

 

December

 

Here we are at December. Where did this year go? December had RB breaking up with me one final time. I was the only one who was surprised this time around.

 

Cold and darkness had me joining a gym for the first time in my life.

 

Christmas rolled around and although I had a hard time getting into the spirit of things, I spent Xmas Eve with the people I consider family and Christmas morning with great friends. I skyped with my parents back in TX and talked to my sister on the phone. That evening was really hard for me. I got angry because I wasn't supposed to be alone on this or any other holiday. I was supposed to be with RB. He made me a lot of promises he couldn't keep and that makes me both sad and angry.

 

All in all..it was an interesting year.

 

I can't say I regret time time I spent with RB. He taught me some important lessons on how I want to be treated and deserve to be treated. Plus...I met Bliss and gained an amazing new friend out of the deal. I am blessed to know her and am thankful for her friendship everyday.

 

I also started running because of RB. I keep running for myself...but I definitely started to prove him wrong. So thanks to that...I've lost 25 or so pounds...gone down 4 clothing sizes and feel amazing. I feel like my body is stronger than it's ever been and it continues to amaze me.

 

So thanks for the memories 2013. It's been real.

 

 

















Merry Christmas!

Most people know that I'm kind of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas.

However, now that the day is upon us and the "holiday season" is almost over; I can take the time to enjoy this day.

I hope that you're spending the holiday with those who love you, care about you and make you happy.

I hope that you aren't stressed.

I hope you have good food to eat and great friends to share it with.

As for me? I spent yesterday with my bestie and her family. I am blessed to have a family of choice that loves me and always has a place for me. Today I'll be spending alone with Waldo. I'll skype with my family for a bit back home and open some presents under the tree. Maybe go see a movie, take a nap. Enjoy the day off.

Merry Christmas!

Racing

So I have decided to try to at least run one race every month next year. So that means by the end of the year, I will have run in 12 races.

I was already signed up for the Krispy Kreme Challenge (5 miles, 12 donuts, 1 hour!) in February and while I can NOT wait for that to happen...I needed something in Jan. Luckily for me, there were a couple of options.

I thought about a hot chocolate/doggie run in Cary, NC. But unfortunately, that city holds a lot of bad feelings for me. And while someday I hope that it won't...I didn't want to kick off my year of running with a bad feeling about where I was running.

So I went ahead and registered for the Stubborn Warrior: New Year 5k. It's part of the Stubborn Warrior running series. They award points to the top finishers and the more races you run in the series (I think there are 5) the more points you have the opportunity to receive.

I'm not the fastest runner out there so I'm thinking I probably won't get any points. But I'll get the t-shirt and have a fun run and that's what counts! :D

In other news:

I worked out with my trainer this past Sat. It was my first session so he took my weight and measurements. He also calculated my body fat. I have all these worksheets to fill out...about what I eat and my goals and such. Then we worked out and DANG are my legs sore!!! Supposedly, he's going to come up with a workout plan for me to be able to utilize even when I'm not working out with him. So that's pretty awesome.

Plus I ran 2 miles after working out with him. I felt like such a hoss. lol.

In knitting news:

I hung out with my stitchy bitches last night and we had a blast cutting out snowflakes and hanging them from the ceiling. Plus eating pizza and knitting. It was lovely to get out of the house and hang out with people this weekend.

What sucked was that my awesome Friggin princess hat had to be frogged! When I carried the yarn around for the tiara...I carried it too tightly and it wouldn't fit my fat head. So I had to frog it. I guess I'll be doing the tiara in duplicate stitch like the pattern calls for instead of trying to be smart about it. LOL.

Get yo ass to the gym!

I blame Bliss.

It's got to be her fault! I mean...she joined a gym at the same time I did! She obviously planted the idea in my head!

So I joined a gym.

It's funny to me....because I'm not a gym person. I'm not the type. I've never really even been to one...except in college to take the occasional dance class or to walk around the indoor track with my roommate.

I went to one gym close to my work. Free 7 day pass. Cool...I'll check it out.

I got the hard sell. I actually almost signed with them. The facility was clean and they had fancy lockers but it was very intimidating. I couldn't imagine myself going there and enjoying it. Plus it was in the opposite direction from home.

For this to work...I need to be close to home or on the way home.

Side note: Going to the gym for the first time as a newb is very scary. There are so many questions I have:

• Do you undress in the locker room area? (I ran and hid in the toilet stall to change)
• Are you allowed to bring your own water bottles or Gatorade?
• Do you have to use a towel?
• What if you don't sweat that much?
• What's the correct distance be from someone else on a machine near you?
• How in the heck do you get the tv to work?
• Why is there no sign that says start the tv first and then the treadmill?!
• What do you wear in the sauna/steam room?

Hit me up in the comments if you have more good questions or even better...answers to my burning questions!

/end side note

So after the big box gym got me to almost sign my life away at 46 bucks a month...I decided to visit a smaller, locally owned gym. I had heard they had an indoor running track!

I took a tour and liked the vibe. The walls were painted bright, happy colors. The staff was very friendly. The other workout people seemed nice and normal. Plus the price was right and it's on my way home from work! Score!

I also signed up for a personal trainer. Just once a month. I'mma get lean and mean and ready for this half marathon!!! Wooo!

The year of Sprinkles may commence!