21+1=Unfortunately, 22!

Today's the big day!! I'm 22 and I'm not quite sure how to feel about it! Of course I am excited because, well it's my birthday!! But after 21 there's not too much to look forward to except cheaper car insurance at 25. If you've ever talked to me about something really cool that's happened or something that is crazy, I usually have some life experience in the same area. I really believe that I have lived through almost everything, except these 22 things that I want to accomplish while I'm 22. I'm all about setting goals and making lists, so here it goes:

1. SKYDIVE..this is #1 because it's something I have always wanted to do! I'm a very risky person and live for adrenaline rushes, so I'm going to actually do it this year!

2. Run a FULL marathon. Back in the day when I played basketball, while running the court in the 3rd quarter (after playing the whole game) I remember passing by my coach and quickly saying, "can I please go out for a bit?" The timeout immediately after saying that, he answered my question with, "I thought you could run forever, Abby." Why I remember that? I don't know, but I do--and he is completely right, well at least running for 2 hours! Why run a half marathan and stick with that when I can challenge myself to run a full and complete the next step? Exactly.

3. Travel somewhere outside of the states. I applied for a two-week study abroad trip to the Dominican Republic, so I hope to do that. If I don't get accepted for that, I guess I'll just have to make a trip to Mexico for spring break :) I want to travel outside the states because I am one of those narrow minded people who think other countries still ride donkeys instead of driving, and their subdivisions consist of a group of tents. I know that may not be true, and probably isn't, but I won't know until I see for myself!

4. Graduate!! I've been waiting for senior year of college since the first day of preschool! Okay, maybe not that long--but I cannot wait until I graduate! A lot of people have told me that college is the best time of your life and it may be, but not when you still have to wake up early, get back late, and then stay up until midnight to do homework to wake up the next morning and do it all again. I'm ready to be done and move onto the real world!

5. Go to a Cards/Cubs game. I've seen every national league team play, whether it be at Busch or Wrigley but I have never been to a Cards/Cubs game!! I'm deteremined to go this year, but only if it's at Busch Stadium-Chicago can be a scary town when you are a little blonde girl wearing a Cardinals jersey!

6. Go out...a lot! This is the last year I can be irresponsible as a college student, so I plan to go out and live it up! My two best friends will be leaving a semester before me, so I want to spend the most time with them that I can. I couldn't live life last year because I decided to do something that took up way too much of my time, therefore this year will be double the fun!

7. Cook a meal other than microwave meals. Yeah, never done that. I don't mean a full out meal, but I want to something like a casserole or lasagna...nothing fancy.

8. Hang out with my friends from grade school. So, I'm from a really small town and in grade school was really close to 4 other girls. We were actually called CANKL...haha--yeah, THAT cool! Well, since we left 8th grade each of us split into our own group, but we are still all around the same area and get along...just hang out with different crowds. I want to hang out with these girls sometime, it's crazy how much everyone changes.

9. Shop in Chicago. I've only been to Chicago once for shopping and that was when I was 10 and the other times were just to go to Wrigley. I want to ride the train to Michigan Avenue and go shopping downtown!

10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

21+1=BIRTHDAY!!

I just ran 10 miles, but that doesn't matter because...

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WEEK!! Whoo!! I'll be 21+1, and of course my birthday slogan for the birthday bash is "some mistakes are too funny to only make once!" I'm very excited to spend a day with my friends downtown!! Anyways..I made a list of all the good things that came out of this last year while I was 21..here's the list (in no particular order)-

"21 things that happened while I was 21"
1. My brother safely came home from Afghanistan.
2. I went to MARDI GRAS!
3. I Started school at the University of Illinois.
4. I Moved into 4-H House and met some pretty amazing girls!
5. A LOT of my friends turned 21!! Yayy!! :)
6. I got out of my leg cast, re-learned how to walk, and started running..
7. I ran my first half marathon and signed up for my second!
8. I had 3 internships.
9. I gained the BEST sister-in-law I could ask for, Ms. Jennifer Coers!
10. I went to Wrigley Field for the first time..but twice within one week!
11. I rode my first Amtrak!
12. My car got struck by lightening while going to St. Louis, ask Jenn!
13. I maintained the best GPA I've EVER had!
14. I met the founder of Pampered Chef..Doris Kelly Christopher.
15. I starred in a commercial.
16. I won 7 Radio Questions!
17. I sat in two all-inclusive Cardinals sections, and went to 6 games!
18. I went to Mike Shannons!!!
19. I won $2.00 my first time at the Casino! Beginners Luck? Maybe?
20. I met some of my best friends: Kirsten, Sabra, Sara, Hannah!!
21. I didn't have to altar my ID to get in anywhere! whoo!!

Illinois Runners..

67% humidity will keep most people inside, except runners on a strict training schedule! Once again, I decided to sleep in (that's my lazy side coming out ;)) so I had to run tonight. Since I am using the Runners World training schedule, I make myself run according to what is planned. Today, it was 4 miles...not bad, right? Wrong--there are warnings out to check on friends, not to drink caffiene, and keep your animals inside when the heat is horrible like today. However, I knew if I didn't go out I would regret it. I finished 4 miles in about the usual time, it was hard, but I kept thinking that it will not be humid in Virginia.

I've decided that Illinois weather is crazy, crazy, crazy! Yes, you hear this a lot but it's so true! It's either cold or hot, sometimes in the middle but not too often. For a girl with natural wavy hair, I notice the humidity probably a lot more than anything else. Late May, I was freezing at Wrigley Field in a winter coat, Late July I'm burning up in a tank top and running shorts.

Well, that's my rant on the weather. I will just think of running in the humidity like this is really equal to double the distance. :)

Sunday I am running 10 miles, so I plan on waking up at the buttcrack of dawn to do that.

Have a great weekend!

St. Louis Cardinals!!

This week was very out of the ordinary. I started waking up early to run last week, however this week was about half and half. On Sunday I ran in the evening because I was busy during the morning. On Tuesday I was suppose to run 4 miles, and this is when running becomes interesting. I was exactly 2 miles away from my apartment at 6:15am when my stomach decides to go crazy on me and hurt! TWO MILES! I couldn't run and there were NO businesses on the side of town I was on, and to top it off none of my friends were awake for them to pick me up. So, I walked the remaining 2 miles back home in hopes I would get to the apartment before my stomach hurt worse. I made it, but the rest of the day I felt miserable. :(

Then there was my day off on Wednesday, and I was asked to go to a Cardinals game with a friend! I was very excited because she had box tickets and I LOVE the Cardinals!! So, I went to the game. It was amazing, of course! One bummer is that we were in traffice for two and a half hours because of flooding!! We didn't get to the game until the 6th inning--so it wasn't as much fun as it should have been--but I just love Busch! Our seats were amazing though, they were all-inclusive indoor/outdoor. It was really nice in there, thank you Curry Ice & Coal & Sabra! :)

Just to add a bonus of being a Cardinals fan: They won 7 games straight - that means BOGO dinner at Lumiere! Whooooo!!! Why wouldn't anyone be a fan?? haha..

I didn't get back until 2:30am this morning--so there was no way I was going to wake up 3 hours later to run. Therefore, I went on a run at 7pm. I was suppose to do mile repeats tonight and I did one mile at a 8:20 pace--so 2 miles total and about died. The humidity was horrible, and there was no way I was going to hurt my lungs. It's times like this I think "this is how I will give up in a race if I give up now." There was no way I could do the repeats with the humidity, so instead of running a 3 fast miles, I ran 5 slow. It balances out--I'm just sayin'. :)

Tomorrow I plan to run in the evening again (after I try to get some dinner out of my brother!) :)

I'm thinking about getting another pair of Vibram FiveFingers..but I dunno...

Mile Repeats..

I made it through the first week of waking up at 5:30 five days of the week to run. It wasn't too bad, in fact I was wide awake for the rest of the day! That is until about 8:00pm came around and I was ready for bed!

This week will be the first time I do mile repeats. I have to run 3 miles at an 8:30 pace..I don't think it will be too bad, since I will do an easy run for 1/2 a mile between them--but I'm sure there will be a challenge to them. Overall, the 3 mile day will turn into 5 miles overall with the extra easy runs in there.

Today is my day off from running and I feel pretty lazy, however, tomorrow morning I'll be ready to get those 4 miles in & Sunday is 11 miles. I am looking for more half marathons to do during the fall/winter, but there aren't too many around the midwest, at least around Illinois.

Fifteen Twenty Five...Women's Distance Festival

Last weekend was the Women's Distance Festival and I decided to sign-up last minute. Luckily I turned my registration in one day before they maxed the number of registrants! Lucky? Just a tad! Well, I'm glad I ran for several reasons:

1. I got to experience a race with BOTH my aunts!

2. I got 4th place in my age group! I ran the race in 15:25...very excited!

3. It was neat to see all the ladies running, whether they were athletes or simply running as a cancer survivor.

4. I won a Road ID! I've wanted one of these since I started running!

5. It was the first race I wore my VFF in.

6. Lastly, well...it was just a lot of fun!

Awesome, that's how the race went! I really enjoyed the race, although my calves were hurting from the pavement in my shoes and running 3 minutes/mile faster than my normal time.

So what's next? I mean I've always got SOME news, my life is just like that! So here it is: I started running in the mornings, and by mornings I mean 5:30am. Yeah, I know--crazy? A little! I've never been a morning person, in fact if my alarm isn't set I usually sleep in until 2 or 3pm...just because I love sleeping and that's how I roll. So, waking up early really isn't bad..my runs are better and it's a lot cooler outside! Running is a different sport in the morning, and I know now why they say listening to an iPod takes away from the beauty of being outside running!

Sunday I got up at 6:30am and ran 9 miles before church and let me tell you, I was exhausted. Monday was off, Tuesday I ran 5 at 5:45am and today I ran 3 at 6:10am. Tomorrow I am going to run 4 easy miles and 2 at a pace of 9:09..because that is my pace goal for my next half marathon in September at Virginia Beach!! Rock 'n' Roll? Uhh..I think so!!

I finally have a training plan, since I got hurt from the Nike plus training last spring, I've always just made my own plans. However, I started following the Runners World training to break 2 hours in a half marathon. So far, so good. However, I am only a week into this training! The average miles are 26-30 a week, which isn't bad considering a long run is usually around 10 miles.

Well, that's it--I've gotta hit the hay because, yes it's summer and I am living up the college life still, but I'm also a runner trying to make a goal of 1:59:59. :)

Peace.Love.Rock'n'Roll goals.

Saturday=RACEday*

"Believe deep down in your heart that you are destined to do great things." -Joe Paterno, Penn State Football Coach

I haven't blogged in a while, but don't you worry--I've been running! In fact since I last blogged, I ran 40+ miles AND signed up for a race! As you can see by my STL Cardinals drawing is my running goal for last week. I have been setting a goal of 20 miles a week and pretty much sticking to it! I ran at home two weekends ago and it was absolutely boring!! I literally stared at cornfields for 6 miles of running. I can say that I do appreciate running in the city now! There are much more attractions to look at let's just say stoplights can be a perk to a quick catch-your-breath. This isn't anything surprising to me, unlike a lot of my friends, I have always enjoyed running in town. I think that the blocks of a city make the run seem shorter and there is always someone around in case you do have an emergency.

So I ran, I ran, I ran some more and ouch! my knee is a killer! Well, often times I forget to stretch before I run and that's obviously not a good thing! To avoid this in the future, I wrote the word STRETCH on my Asics as you can see in the picture. It's really small, but it is on the toes of the foot toward the right (when you look at the pic!). This has reminded me to stretch before I run and definitly has decreased my pain. Unfortunately, I have started running in my VFF. Yeah, I made some socks to wear so I don't get blisters..how clever! I should have been an engineer!! Well, the socks are pretty janky but they do the job! haha...

What's my next gig in these FiveFingers? Well...I spontaneously signed up for a race that is this Saturday in Springfield. It is the Women's Distance Festival in Springfield. Both my aunts are running this race but I was just going to go and support them. But then on Monday I was on a 6 mile run and decided to finish the last .4 miles up by running my hardest, so I did. It was then that I was out of breath and exhausted that I thought, "do I want to do this to myself on Saturday?"..haha, of course NOT! A few hours later, after watching YouTube video's and scoping out the race details, I thought "Yeah...I do!" So, there I am registering.

Since I run long distance, it's way easy for me to run 10 miles no problem. However, 2 miles at a fast pace is hard! Tonight I ran 2 miles to figure out a general time that I will come in at and I clocked in at 16:35. 16 minutes and 35 seconds--not too shabby for a long distance runner! I'm going to run 2 miles again on Thursday to try to bring it down to at least 16 minutes and maybe at the race I will be in the 15's...who knows! I'm happy with 16 minutes though! :) If I would have gotten that time last year, I would have scored 5th place in my age group! (20-24 years old)

Saturday it is. I'll wake up at 5a.m. to run a race at 8a.m.

It is my aunts first race and her friends are running with her. My other aunt who ran the 1/2 with me will be running too! I'm very excited--people are catching the running fever!