72 Hours of Crazy

Hello Friends! I hope your week is off to a great start and you are well into your first week of couch to 5k training.

This past weekend was exactly as the title of this post says “72 Hours of Crazy,” I was in 3 different cities, got some exciting news, saw snow, spent time with great friends, and ran a half marathon. I’d say it was a pretty great weekend even though it has left me completely exhausted and still recovering.  So lets back it up to Friday where I got the exciting news….

After waiting around all last weekend to see if I would be a finalist…I finally got an email, and you guessed it, I was a finalist! Woohoo! Now that was all fine and dandy but that still meant I had to go through the final practical portion and guess what?! I got the job… on the spot! So excited to announce that I am now a personal trainer at the Harris YMCA. I have missed being in the gym so much over the last 10-11months and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be back at it again. I am so excited because now I get to spend part of my day talking about food and weight loss at Jenny Craig and the other part of my day teaching people how to exercise at the Y. Food and exercise, two of my favorite things are now apart of my everyday life and I get paid for each of them…pretty pumped!!

After receiving the exciting news in Charlotte, I headed up the mountain to Boone. My first stop was to see my baby brother who was now off crutches for the first time in what seems like forever. So great to see him up and walking again. He seems to be doing much better and is well on his way to making a great recovery from his hip surgery this past September.

Also while I was in the mountains, I was able to see one of my fellow marathon runners, Mrs. Jean. She is quite the inspiration to me as she is always happy and smiling no matter the situation. It was great visiting with her and hearing just how positive she is as she kicks cancers booty! I cannot wait to be back out on the asphalt with her running stride for stride in the months to come.

Following my visit with Mrs. Jean, it was time for family dinner. Yep, thats right, all four of us, no extras, around one table, sharing a meal. This doesn’t happen often but it was such a treat to catch up with everyone for a couple hours. Also at this table, I convinced myself that going out with my brother for Halloween was a good idea even though I had no costume and had to be at work in Charlotte at 8AM the next morning. Yikes!

So after dinner, I was off to scramble to put together a costume. I ended up being a minion and Alex was a frat star. The night started off quiet but once we made it to the Halloween party…I realized I was quite a bit to old for a college party! haha I have passed the days of thinking binge drinking and dressing in super skimpy clothes was cool and was way over the party pretty quickly. Nonetheless, it was still nice to get to go out with my brother and meet some of his friends. While we were there though, it started to snow!! Nothing crazy at first but by morning when I was leaving for work the trees were all covered. It was so pretty even if it was super super early in the morning!!

Saturday morning started like all my Saturday mornings as of recently, at work. We had a full morning of clients before I got in my car for my second weekend adventure. This time I was headed to Raleigh. Up till this weekend, I hadn’t been back since I left at the end of June so I made every minute count.

First stop was the City of Oaks Expo. Here I picked up my race packet and met with my friend Kathryn. I coached her for this marathon so we went over all the last minute pre-marathon stuff before heading our separate ways for the evening.

From Expo I headed to one of my closest friend, Bre’s,  new “grown-up” apartment for the night. It was so great catching up with her and learning all about the ins and outs of her new, grown up, life. We talked for hours and hours until I had to get some sleep since I had to run 13.1miles in the morning.

Sunday morning started bright and early with the City of Oaks half marathon. It was a great race and I highly recommend it. Its big enough to have a great atmosphere but small enough to not be overwhelming. I will tell you all about the race in tomorrows post. After the race, I got to see my Raleigh running partner, Kimberly. I hadn’t seen her but maybe once since I was in her wedding this summer. I can certainly attest to the fact that I am missing having her as I train for my upcoming marathon. Long runs just aren’t the same without her.

After a coffee with Kimberly it was time to cheer Kathryn on to the finish of her marathon, and y’all I cannot even tell you how proud of her I am. I ran the majority of the last mile with her and I have to say she is simply amazing. She finished so strong and set a personal best by about 6minutes!!

Once all the race day festivities were over, I was able to spend a little time with a fellow fitness friend, Will. He used to come to the bootcamp class I taught every week when I was at NC State. Hard to believe that the goofball that used to sing and dance to Miley Cyrus during my class will be finished with his PhD come May.

And to finish off the weekend, Bre and I headed to Moes for a quick, reminiscent dinner. While we were both in school it seemed like that was our weekly spot so it was oh so fitting to finish my crazy weekend there with her.

And now, back to reality. My bags are finally unpacked and I am gearing up for my next adventure! Any ideas of where I should go next?