five things friday

Five Things Friday

November 1, 2013 · By Kristin Smith · 5 Comments

Oh my goodness, talk about a crazy week. I have a huge deadline at work next week and it seems like it’s just one thing after another around here! I have a million things I want to write about and absolutely NO time to do it, blah! This weekend is going to be another crazy one — I have to work, do a million loads of laundry, run 20 miles, watch Florida State crush Miami, spend time with my cousin and her boyfriend (they’re in town for the Florida/Georgia game) and try to get things packed for the kids to spend a long weekend with Grandma and Grandpa while Adam and I head to Disney for the Wine and Dine half. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to arriving in Orlando, heading to Epcot, and relaxing with a nice, big glass of wine and some yummy treats!

1. Exactly one month from today, I’ll be running the Space Coast Marathon. Pardon me while I freak out. AHHH!! I’m excited and so, so scared. The idea of running 26.2 miles still seems completely crazy to me (my longest run so far is 18 miles). I joined a facebook group a few months back with others who are running the race, Run Space Coast, and it’s been really great. There are a lot of locals who are familiar with the course, runners who have run the race in the past, and a ton of super supportive people. If you’re running, come join us! We even have fancy bracelets to identify ourselves the day of the race

2. Speaking of running Space Coast, I have my last long training run this weekend before I taper! It’s a 20-miler and I can’t decide where to run it. I’ve done a few of my long runs with my friends running group and she offered to run with me, but she’s doing 4:1 intervals at a 9:45 overall pace and I just don’t think I can hold that pace for that long and I don’t want to slow her down. Our local running store, 1st Place Sports, does a group long run every Sunday so I’m thinking about doing it there. I’ve heard they have pace groups, course support, and a van to pick you up if you need it (good to know, just in case!). I’m thinking about doing that, but a little intimidated. I need to decide since my friend is running tomorrow morning.

3. My birthday was Sunday and we celebrated ALL weekend long! I had such a wonderful time and it was great getting to see friends that we don’t get to see nearly enough. Saturday night, we were at a friends house celebrating their sons 2nd birthday — our birthdays are all super close. The dads is the 26th, mine is the 27th, then the mom and son share their birthdays on the 28th. Poor dad, he had his sons birthday party on HIS birthday, then they gave me a birthday cupcake and sang to me too. Poor dads always get left out

4. Before I had kids, I had a pretty decent memory. Now, it’s awful. I’m ridiculously forgetful. Does anyone else have this problem? I logged into my personal checking account for the first time in probably close to a year this week and there was money in there and I had no clue where it came from. I went back through the transactions and found it was money my parents transferred over to pay for their half of the hotel from when we went to Disney in February. It’s November (and seriously, I just typed September, wake up brain!!). Same thing happened when I logged in to PayPal to pay for the Run Space Coast bracelets — I had money in there and no clue where it came from either. You’d think I’d remember these things, apparently not.

5. The photo below is my Papa Black. I can’t remember if I posted about it or not, but about a month ago he was admitted to the hospital with a really bad case of food poisoning after eating raw oysters. He had to miss my cousins wedding and was very sick. We were all really worried about him, it was rough on his body. He and his wife have been planning a trip to Hawaii for a while and they were so worried that they weren’t going to be able to go. She posted this picture of him this morning, having the time of his life in Hawaii. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to see him so healthy and happy.

What do you have going on this weekend?

Are you watching the Florida State/Miami game? Have you ever been in Jax for Florida/Georgia weekend?

Have you ever been to Hawaii? Random fact — I lived there when I was little for 3 years!

I hope you have an amazing weekend!

Filed Under: Us · Tagged: birthday, family, five things friday, football, friends, marathon training, papa black, running

Five Things Friday

October 25, 2013 · By Kristin Smith · 6 Comments

This week has absolutely FLOWN by. I feel like it just started and it is already over with. I thought work was going to slow down a bit, but it hasn’t at all — we’re still crazy busy and probably will be at least through mid-November. It’s keeping me from blogging, so I figured a quick Five Things Friday post would kind of get me caught up! Here we go!

1. Adam and I got into the runDisney Meet-Up for Wine & Dine weekend! I am SO excited and cannot wait!! I was able to participate in the Meet-Up back in February for the Princess Half weekend and had a blast, but this one sounds even more amazing! Here’s what we know about it so far:

We’ll kick off the event with a special viewing of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, the nightly laser, light and fireworks show. After that, selected participants will get to taste and learn about some of the extraordinary cuisine and wines that are part of the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival, hear from some Olympic endurance runners and get some expert advice on safely running at night.

Then, selected participants will get to put some of that nighttime running knowledge to work during a starlit fun run “around the world” at Epcot well after the park closes. And of course there will be a few magical surprises throughout the night.

I’ve never seen IllumiNations and we never get to spend time in Epcot since the kids aren’t fans — so we’re REALLY excited about it. I’m super thankful to some amazing friends who are making it a possibility too — we are so, so blessed!!

2. It’s my birthday weekend! We’re going to dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants with my family and some friends and I can’t wait to see everyone and eat LOTS of yummy food! My actual birthday isn’t ’til Sunday, but this weekend is crazy busy with family pictures, a friends sons birthday party, a race, and general weekend craziness so we’re doing it tonight.

3. Adam and I are doing the Pumpkin Run 10-Miler on Sunday and I’m crazy excited about it. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been a bit burnt out on my long runs lately and I love the idea of doing a race for one of them.. I just need to remember to take it nice and slow. The race is at EverGreen Cemetery, the same place we did the St. Patty’s Day 10K in March. It’s gorgeous out there and they line the entire course with pumpkins — I can’t wait!

4. I was recently introduced to a really cool program that I knew nothing about – Beads of Courage. A friend of mine lost her son a few days after he was born and she and her husband have started a charity in his honor. Their first project is to establish a Beads of Courage program at the NICU at our local children’s hospital, Wolfson’s. They held a tasting benefit a few weeks ago and were able raise a good chunk of the money they need to get the program started, so she and a group of our friends have been working like crazy to get the bead bags sewn so they’re ready to go. They’re always in need of bead bags (they are hand made) so if you like to sew and would be interested in donating your time to make them, let me know and I can get you the details!

5. I did my long run last weekend out on Amelia Island (home of ZOOMA Florida!) and it was fantastic! Such a pretty area, tons of shade thanks to the beautiful old trees, we ran on the road right along the beach and saw amazing homes and a wonderful sunrise. I ran 18-miles with my friends running group and the miles FLEW by thanks to the company and the pretty surroundings.

There was a race going on later in the morning, so a lot of the streets were lined with boots and American flags. Each boot had tag clipped to it with a photo and a persons name. I’m not sure if they were local soldiers, those who were hurt or killed in action, or something else.. it was so lovely to see though. Another part of our run took us through their historic downtown area, where there was a car show going on — I loved running through there, saying good morning to the car owners and checking out the cars! We also ran for a bit on this trail just after sunrise. It was seriously so, so pretty.

If you want to run in a gorgeous area too, you should come run ZOOMA with me in January!! Use code FLAAMB5 to join me and save 10% off the race fee!

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend! Are you celebrating anything? Do you have any big plans?

Filed Under: Us · Tagged: disney, five things friday, run zooma, runDisney, running

Five Things Friday

September 6, 2013 · By Kristin Smith · 7 Comments

How is it already Friday?! This week flew by for me — I guess the combination of a short week, plus the fact that work is really busy right now helped. I wish I could say things were going to slow down soon, but there is no end in sight. I can’t complain though, having too much work is better than having none, right?

Anyway, on to my Five Things Friday!

1. I’m doing the Inspired Yoga + Run with the ZOOMA ladies tomorrow morning and I’m super excited about it. I’m an ambassador for their January race in Amelia Island, so I’m looking forward to meeting the girls behind the race. Also, running and yoga are my two favorite ways to blow off steam and burn calories.. throw in the beach and I’m a happy girl. Especially since it’s not a race, just a nice relaxing run, so I can enjoy it instead of stressing like I did over my last beach run!

2. I’m obsessed with Dark Chocolate Almond Milk. Mackenzie asked for chocolate milk a few weeks ago when we were at a friends house and that’s what my friend gives her boys, she said it’s really tasty and Mackenzie loved it so I bought some for us.. we go through it like crazy. I have been trying to find something to replace the sugary creamer I was using in my coffee and this is perfect and so, so good.

3. My husband started a new job last week and so far it’s going REALLY well. It’s more in line with his long-term career goals, and no more traveling to India and Thailand for weeks at a time – YAY! His old job was ridiculous at times – they called him at all hours of the night, he had to work long hours, they jerked him around a lot and made promises they didn’t keep. Super frustrating.. I don’t think I ever wrote about it, but they actually called him the day after Mackenzie was born when we were still in the hospital to tell him they needed him to go to Thailand for three weeks, then India for two.. and he had to leave in two weeks. INSANE! So glad he’s not there anymore!

4. I got a new car and I love it SO much!! My car just went over 125k miles, things were starting to break, and when the air conditioner started having issues we decided it was time to look for a new one instead of throwing money at mine to fix it. I’ve been drooling over Buick Enclave’s for a while, and we managed to hit the dealership at a good time — they were doing a big end of the month/model year-end sale so we got an incredible deal on it.. so good that when they sent us over to the finance guy, he went to double check to make sure they had the price right on the papers he was given! We’ve had it for about two weeks and I still love it so much!!

5. My body has not been cooperating with me at all lately and it’s really starting to bother me. I skipped a long run two weekends ago because I didn’t feel well at all, then spent the next week miserable. I don’t know if it was allergies or what, but I had a constant headache, felt run down, and nauseous. I told Adam that it felt like the first trimester all over again (no worries there though, this is NOT a pregnancy announcement, that ship has sailed!). I was feeling really burned out on running too and not excited for my runs, which is no good since I’m right in the middle of marathon training. I went out and found a bunch of training plans and pieced together my own training plan from what I found. The big thing I changed was the number of weekly runs — I’m alternating every other week. The first, I do two easy runs, one speed/tempo run, one long run, two cross training days, and a rest day. The next week, I do one easy run, one speed/tempo run, one long run, and three cross training days. I hope that incorporating more cross training will get me out of the rut and help me stay injury free. Fingers crossed!

What’s going on with you this weekend? Any big plans?

Filed Under: Us · Tagged: five things friday, jacksonville, marathon training, run zooma, running, yoga

Five Things Friday

August 23, 2013 · By Kristin Smith · 3 Comments

Geez Louise, I am one tired girl. Work is insane right now and I feel like my head is constantly spinning with so much going on in it. I’m late, but it’s still Friday, at least for another two hours.. so here are my five things for this Friday!

1. We joined a gym! I’m excited about it — they offer yoga a few times a week at times that actually work with my schedule! It’ll be nice to have the option to run inside and try out some new stuff for cross training too. I went for the first time last night and.. well.. I need some treadmill lessons. I had no clue how fast I was running (it was supposed to be a tempo run) because I couldn’t figure out how to get it to display my pace. Then when I looked up what my pace was online later, it seemed a lot slower than what it felt like I was running. Any insight? I thought treadmill running was supposed to be easier!

Braden really loves it — they have a kids club where he can hang out while I workout and it’s really great. He was in there for an hour last night and didn’t want to leave. On the way home, he told me that I need to let him know every time I go there because he wants to go with me.

2. I thought today was Thursday all day. I switched up my work schedule since Braden started Kindergarten and it has me so confused. I used to go in all day on Wednesdays, but now I’m going in two days a week and leaving at 1:30 so I can get home in time to pick Braden up from school and get back to finish out my work day at home. Throw in the endless conference calls and design meetings and fixing stuff from our last release.. ahhh! I’m thankful to have a great job that I love though, so I try not to complain too much.

3. I was listening to a podcast from the ladies at Another Mother Runner a few weeks ago and they were talking to Greg McMillan, the guy behind the McMillan pace calculator.

Dimity and Sarah talk to the pace guru Greg McMillan, the coach whose online calculator is like a Magic 8-Ball for runners: It not only predicts the time of your next race finish, but also tells you what speed to muster on your long runs, tempo runs, and track workouts. In this podcast, Greg gives great injury-prevention advice for newbie runners, including to run less mileage than you think you can (love that!), as well as offers sane words on how to accept age-related slower paces. (Sigh.) And he answers the head-scratcher of race versus tempo pace. – Another Mother Runner

I learned a ton from it, I actually want to go back and listen again. I haven’t really been paying much attention to my paces in my training runs. I have just been running by what feels easy or what I think a tempo run should feel like. I went and plugged in some of my previous race times and what I think my marathon goal might be and this is what it came up with for me. I thought it would be a lot more scary than this. I can totally do this. Remind me I said that when I’m griping about maintaining the paces for my tempo run next week

Recovery: 11:02 – 11:51
Long: 10:04 – 11:19
Easy: 10:00 – 10:53
Tempo: 9:01 – 9:16
Intervals: 8:51 – 9:11
400m: 1:55 – 2:02
800m: 3:59 – 4:09
1000m: 5:06 – 5:21
1200m: 6:07 – 6:34
1600m: 8:34 – 8:49

4. The vet’s office called earlier this afternoon to let me know that they had Sammy’s ashes. I picked them up and we had every intention of spreading them out in his favorite spot to lay in the yard. I can’t bring myself to open the box though. I want the whole process to be over so we can move on and try not to be so sad about it. It’s hard though, I miss him. It’s so surreal. This whole life, this wonderful pup that we loved for so long, it’s all in this bag.

5. I was so worried about Braden starting Kindergarten. I shouldn’t have worried. He’s doing wonderfully. His teacher is wonderful and he really seems to be enjoying it. A week and a half in, he’s already reading some simple sentences and he’s SO proud of himself! I love seeing how excited he is to learn and I hope he learns to love reading as much as I do.

I feel like we got really lucky with his teacher too. The third day of school, she stopped me as I was leaving at drop-off and asked if we could have a conference. I said sure and asked if things were going okay with Braden and she said yes, he’s doing really well, she just wants to refer him for speech therapy. I wanted to hug her. We’ve gone back and forth for the last three years with his pediatrician and ENT, trying to get them to refer him for speech therapy. They kept telling us that his speech was okay, he’d outgrow the issues, not to worry. It’s hard not to worry when you can understand your child, but others can’t. It is frustrating for Braden because even people who are close to him have to ask him to repeat himself multiple times. I’m so glad that he’ll be getting help and so thankful that he has a teacher that is so pro-active!

What are you guys up to this weekend? Any fun plans??

I wanted to do the Summer Beach Run, but I bailed on my long run already once this month to do Tour de Pain, so I need to get that done. It’s supposed to rain off and on all weekend though — I can’t decide which is worse — 13 miles in the rain or 13 miles on the treadmill?