Under 30, Before 30

For the past year and a half or so, I've been running one race a month. My main objective was to simply stay in shape and to challenge myself to improve on both distance and speed. I ran three longer races in the past year - the St. Pete Women's Half Marathon, the Peachtree Road Race (10k), and the Atlanta Marathon 10 Miler. The rest of my races have been 5k's, so about a year ago (after the half marathon), I set some goals for myself to get faster - first to get back to a 10-minute-mile pace, and then to run a 5k in under 30 minutes, before I turn 30 (which is exactly 30 days from today!).

I have a good group of friends here in Atlanta who have been running with me on and off during that time. It has been a great way to hold each other accountable, which is extremely motivating on days when I really don't want to run. It has also made it much more social and enjoyable when we have a delicious brunch planned after each race. We all run at a different pace, so even though we start together, we run by ourselves and meet up at the finish line.

That is, until a few months ago when Adrienne, one of my old college running buddies, moved to Atlanta. She and I started running together regularly again and I was back to my old pace pretty quickly. After our 10 miler where we nailed exactly a 10 minute mile, I knew if I trained a little bit harder I could reach my second goal. Adrienne unfortunately had really bad shin splints so I was back to running by myself. I mainly worked on speed, with interval training. I only found one race in Atlanta that fit my schedule, but it's not until January which was cutting it pretty close to my 30th birthday. So I convinced my mom and Leslie to run a Turkey Trot with me on Thanksgiving Day and I'm proud to say I achieved my goal - under 30, before 30! I officially finished the race in 26:32 which is drastically faster than my usual time. It was a great race and I was so excited!

It was freezing cold that morning, Leslie and I were a weeee bit hungover, and I was pretty sure she and my mom were going to kill me for making them run this race. But in the end it was probably the best race I ever could have picked to meet my goal, and we all really enjoyed it. So much so that we might make it a new tradition whenever we are in town for Thanksgiving.

Now there are a few caveats - I've been training in Atlanta's humidity and hills, so it played in my favor BIG time to run a race in Florida in late November when there was a lovely ocean breeze, no humidity, and definitely no hills ;) After the incredibly hilly 10 miler I ran the month before, it was a nice relief when a spectator warned me about the "hill" up ahead, which was a meager speed bump :)  The other caveat is that it was only a 3 mile race, so it wasn't technically a 5k. But I am totally counting it. So thank you to all of my running buddies for helping me get there!! Looking forward to another year of racing ahead of us!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we decided to switch things up and spend Thanksgiving with my family down in North Palm Beach, Florida. Sadly enough we had planned this entirely around the Gator football schedule, since we played at home the weekends before and after Thanksgiving, which was a (not so) good way to break up the 8 hour drive there and back.

The puppies were such troopers and slept most of the way, which was awesome! Until we finally got to my parents' house, and they were well rested and ready to play....at 11pm. Hank (my sister's cat) was not too pleased with their arrival.

My brother Paul drove down from Charlotte two days later with his girlfriend Sarah and their new puppy, Belle. We had a full house that week and it was the best time ever - eight people, four dogs, and a cat, all under one roof. Insane, I know. Thankfully the dogs all got along really well and I think Hank really appreciates living with only one dog (for now). We all spent far too much time just watching the pups play together. They are so cute and highly entertaining.

Bo and I worked from home most of the week to save up on vacation days. Which wasn't too bad considering the amazing view. If only we could work there every day.

We celebrated Bo's 29th birthday while we were in town! We took a long lunch at the Yacht Club (thanks, Dad!) with Leslie and Liz. That evening, Bo and I went to dinner at Okeechobee Steakhouse, an old favorite and just as good as we remembered. Followed by a few drinks at Bradley's with Liz - so glad she has moved back to West Palm.

surprise carrot cake from Leslie!

We met up with Jesea and her boyfriend Nolan the next night at Rum Bar. Love seeing old friends as if not a single moment has passed :)

Thanksgiving morning I ran the Turkey Trot with my mom and Leslie, and I PR'd! It was freeeeezing that morning and I thought they were going to kill me but in the end we all did better than expected and really enjoyed it. Their slogan was "run the race before your stuff your face" which was amazing. Yes and yes. More to come on this...

And of course...the main event, Thanksgiving! There were over 30 of us at Grandma's house this year and it was so so great seeing everyone. We are lucky to have family who are also friends :)

I have a lot to be grateful for but above all, I am most thankful for these people!! <3

Grandma with only about two-thirds of the grandkids. Love my cousins!

Grandma and 7 of her own children and spouses

And just like that, our trip was over. The next day we packed up the car and headed back to Gainesville. This was Abby's first visit so we took the pups around campus that afternoon...yes, we are crazy dog parents...imagine the day when we have actual human children ;)

That night we went to the UF-FSU basketball game at the O'Dome. It was a great game and we were glad to finally see the Gators win something. If only we could have won the next day in football as well. Dare to dream.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the Christmas season :)