Fall Has Arrived

Holy *&^%, I can't believe summer is officially over and fall has arrived. More importantly, I can't believe college graduation was over 4 months ago! When people said senior year was going to fly by, they didn't mention that post grad time would fly by as well!

This summer is such a blur. Unfortunately, it was a little bit tainted with "What the heck am I doing with my life" as well as the constant nagging I need a job feeling, but overall, that definitely didn't stop me from having a lot of fun. :)

I'm in a great place right now. Love my job. Finally figured out my commute. Joined a gym near work. Have a great routine at home. And most importantly I've done something super fun every single weekend since starting work! I wouldn't say I live for the weekends, but I definitely make sure my weekends are packed with lots of fun planned activities (i.e. concerts, sporting events, races, road trips, camping, going out in DC).

Anywhosiessss I'm so excited it's fall!! It's the best season, except that it seems to go by way too quickly. It always seems to go from super hot, to super cold with just a couple perfect fall days in between. I am planning to take full advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend - I'm either going apple picking or to a pumpkin patch with some friends, and possibly a vineyard afterward. Living in the suburbs of Virginia is possibly the most wonderful place to experience fall.

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I have one funny story that I thought about this weekend, when I visited my alma mater, where my brother is now a freshman. When I was a freshman there, my roommate and I took the "Shopper" bus on a Saturday to Walmart, because we wanted to get some fall decor for our dorm room (cinnamon spice candles anyone?!). We also got a pumpkin (still don't know why). By the time we were purchasing our pumpkin we had minutes to get to the bus - the last bus of the evening to get back to school.

As we leave Walmart, we see the bus closing the doors from across the shopping center. We looked at each other and unanimously decided we needed to run. To sum it up, we were running through the Walmart parking lot holding bags and a pumpkin.  Can you say freshman?? Eventually I held all the stuff and my roommate sprinted to stop the bus, which worked, and then I caught up.

Once we got on the packed bus, we had to stand near the front. It was packed so our feet kept "approaching" the yellow line near the driver and every time she would make an announcement on the speaker system that her bus is being video-taped and crossing the yellow line is forbidden. Hah!

Overall, it was my first experience of "fall" in college, and I'll never forget it! Hopefully I'll never have to run with a pumpkin, towards a packed bus, ever again!

This is the actual picture we snapped on the day... "Don't cross the yellow line"

Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon

Last weekend I did something I never thought I would do. I ran a half marathon! I was super suppper nervous, but it ended up being awesome! It was so much fun, such a great post-race feeling (runners high anyone??), and a great memory I'll have forever!

Before my senior year of college, I had never run more than 4 miles consecutively. And when I heard people talk about wanting to run a marathon at some point in their life, etc, I practically rolled my eyes. It was never something that interested me. Then, senior year in college, I started running at a nearby park more often - after discovering it was a lot more peaceful than our super crowded college gym. I realized that A. running isn't as hard as I remember B. Runners high > post elliptical or gym class workouts and C. Adding on mileage (gradually) really isn't that difficult. My roommate convinced me to sign up for the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon which she had done 2 times already.

I "trained" all summer. I put trained in quotes because I trained in my own sort of way, I didn't follow a training guide or anything. I basically made sure I ran at least 4 times every week and that one run was a "long run." Aka one run each week had to be longer than any past ones. I tried to run 4 - 5 miles each time I ran, and then I ran 6 and 7 a couple times, and finally 8. I never ran more than 8 - which made me super nervous the day of the half. But where I live is pretty hilly, and va beach is flatter than flat, so I was good to go.

The run was a breeze until mile 10. Adrenaline, people cheering along all the sides, and the flat terrain made for a great run....and then... I got the worst side stitch EVER in my right side. I was determined to finish without stopping to walk so I kept running in a really weird position that made it somehow feel better. Then, a lady I didn't know, tapped me on the shoulder and said she had been following me for the past strip (3-4 miles) and that I was doing great. I told her I had a side stitch and she said to run through it. I saw mile 11 ahead, and slowed down to drink water instead of running through it like all the others. The side stitch went away and I ran faster to catch up with the lady and we finished together. The last three miles were definitely rough, but it was overall just an awesome experience.

I definitely have the "itch" to run more races. I might even run one next month, I figured I am all trained-up so I might as well do another soon rather than starting from square 1 again! Here are some pics from the day:

Before the race = before sunrise

Before the race - Gold medalist from the Olympics who is from VA was there =)

More than 10,000 ran the race

After we finished!!!

Race Medal! :)

The lady who kept me going through my side stitch!

The last mile, running on the beach with the finish line in sight, was a little rough. 

 Looking a little rough after the race :P