Home Run kinda weekend!!

This past Friday Scott, RJ and me took off on a quick trip to visit my brother and parents in S. Florida. It was a whirlwind trip but totally worth it! 

Our little Boston Terrier, Zoe, usually doesn't travel with is but her favorite sitter had surgery last week. We couldn't dare ask Aunt Crystal to take on Zoe for 3 days after the week she had. We quickly concluded Zoe isn't a traving dog!! We arrived at my parents to a yummy Lobster Clam Bake dinner! One thing is for sure New England Fish Market puts together the best cans as they're called. After dinner Riley went for a swim in Grandfathers pool while we visited with my parents. 

Night Swim Fun

The alarm went off on Saturday morning at 4:30am just like it does every day, ha! We had to get RJ up and to go fishing with Uncle Phillip for the day. The two of them had been looking forward to this fishing trip for long time. 

RJ and Phillip

After they left, GiGi took me and Scott to Jensen Beach High School for the Home Run 8K. This was race was my first race in "old stomping grounds". When I was in high school I ran track but was a sprinter. I was never interested in long distance running of any kind. It was exciting to take part in a local race and support the family of a former Florida State Baseball player. The 8K was the 1st race that ME's Team has organized with the help of the folks at Fleet Feet Stuart. ME's Team is run by Scott Proctor a former pitcher at FSU who began the foundation after his daughter suffered a heart defect at birth. Scott and his team of volunteers did a great job from race day registration to really great swag to a well laid out finish area, I was surprised to find out it was their first race as directors. The course was flat and fast. I had a great run & received a lovely reminder that I've not run in the humidity in quite awhile. Clearly, my body needs an adjustment period, ha! I kept my pace around a 9 minute mile and only missed 3rd in my age group by 20 seconds! 20 seconds, urgh!!! (There's always next year right??) The attendance for the run was smaller than they had hoped; however, I have no doubt that it will be bigger each year they host it. I loved seeing my Mom and Husband at the finish line. They were both camera ready, it was pretty cute to see! I could've smiled at the finish line but all I could think about was breathing and getting a cold bottle of water! My official time was 44:49. 

Finish Line via GiGi... I was just focused on breathing! 

This would've been great had I smiled at her, HA! 

Finish Line Photo via the hubs

Scott Proctor and I post race

After the race was complete we ran a few quick errands before we headed back to Moms to enjoy the pool. The remainder of the day we laid around on the deck by the pool. It was quiet and calm, two things that we don't get very often. Unfortunately, I applied too much sunscreen and you can hardly tell my fair skin spent 4 & 1/2 hours in the sun. I'm severely jealous of my husband who has a nice tan started, it's just not fair! Later in the day the two fishermen arrived empty handed! They didn't much care, they had a blast. Uncle Phillip told us about their day. They had a blast hanging out on the water for the day! They're already trying to plan another adventure this summer! 

RJ driving the boat for Uncle Phillip 

Today, we made our way back home but not without an outlet stop! Riley and I racked up at the Under Armour Store. We found tons of sale items to add to our collections while Zoe and Scott explored the outside vendors. It was a fun day with my two fellas! I took advantage of the long ride home to work on my class plans for this upcoming week as well. Just one less thing I need to worry about in all the craziness, whew! 

Lots of fun planned for the week! 

Weekends like this are grand slams for this Momma. We were able to spend quality time with my family while also relaxing. While I wish I had gotten a little more sun I enjoyed sitting beside the still waters of the pool. It allowed me time to relax the body, the mind and the soul. I'm home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the next few weeks!! 

Family 

Goodbye March, Hello April

It was great to me! 

WOW! Where did the month of March go? It seems like yesterday I was preparing for all the craziness and now it's over! 

March brought a special birthday as Riley turned 11! It's so hard to believe he is about to be done with elementary school, eek. I am very proud of the young man he is becoming and I have no doubt he is ready for middle school - even if his Mom isn't. March was the end of basketball season as well as the opening day of little league baseball! From one sport to the next this little guy keeps me busy. 

The birthday boy

March also brought the completion of two goals for 2014. I received my Tabata certification and began teaching at the Badass Fitness studio. This was a great experience and I love being on the instructor end of the spectrum! Sharing my passion for fitness is just an awesome experience all around. 

Shannon and I at Tabata Training 

I also had a little running success during the month of March. I defeated the "Green Monster" by completing the Gate River Run. I also pushed myself to a new 5K and 10K PR.  It was an awesome month! 

Gate Rive Run = Success 

These were all great races and I am blessed to have celebrated both of those accomplishments with friends and family after the races. Spring running around N. Florida is just so exciting as there is a race every single weekend. I wish I could run them all but that's not always possible!

Now it's April and it has arrived with a bang! I am "fresh" off a whirlwind trip to Atlanta for the completion of BOSU certification. It might have been the quickest trip ever but it was awesome! I learned so much in the 8 hour class and I can't wait to share this knowledge with our friends at Badass Fitness. It's amazing what you can do on a BOSU to work your entire body. 

BOSU Certified 

April will provide me a lot of time to enjoy the outdoors as we spent two nights a week at the ball field! I can't wait to watch my boy play ball with his buddies! I also plan to get back to my running. Even though I experienced a few great races last month I did miss my goal of running 100 miles in March. I just am not motivated to run right now so I will focus on that motivation for a few weeks. 

April most importantly will provide me the opportunity for much needed family time. We will go this weekend for one last birthday celebration for Riley. He gets to go fishing with Uncle Phillip then have a fancy dinner out with GiGi and Grandfather. At the end of the month we will celebrate Easter, the time of celebration focused around our Risen Savior. Have a mentioned I love this time of year?! 

Reason for the Season 

It is 4 months into 2014, how are your goals coming along?! Have you set a goal or two that you are not reaching? If you said yes then I encourage you to get focused toward reaching it! Let's all keep each other accountable! 

#truth #believe 

Run for Mercy 5K … how you can be apart of the story, too!

Whew, where has the week gone?! Heck, where has the month of March gone?! I have been on the go lately and time seems to be slipping further away. For some reason mother nature can't figure out that March is supposed to be warm in Florida! So far it's been a cooler month than I feel is normal and I am over it! HA! 

March has been full of fun with the family as we celebrated Riley's 11th birthday. It's been full of success in the fitness world. Certification is complete, classes are filling up and it's full speed ahead around the halls of Badass Fitness! The family has enjoyed some unexpected time together recently and my heart is full of happiness! 

Not only is Shannon adding more classes to the schedule at Badass Fitness (more to come on that) but she and I are co-directing an upcoming 5K for Mercy Ministries. We had the pleasure of participating in the Run for Mercy 5K last year. It was a great event and we looked for ways to become more involved. 

What is Mercy Ministries? Mercy is a free of charge program that serves young women facing life-controlling issues (i.e., eating disorders, self-harm, drug addiction, pregnancy, depression). Mercy has helped thousands of young women restore their life all while sharing the unconditional love of Christ with them. You can read more about Mercy and their mission to help these women on their website : http://www.mercyministries.org. 

You may be wondering why I sought a way to become involved with this particular event. Yes, I could continue to just run this local 5K every year; however, after I met Nancy Alcorn last year I knew I needed to do more for her organization. Nancy is amazing lady, the ultimate encourager! What she may not know is while I listened to her speak about the homes they have built and the lives they touched she touched mine as well. I will not go into great detail but while listening to her share stories, I felt like in one instance she was talking about an older version of me. A much younger version that didn't much care what people thought of me. A much younger version that did some things I would never think of doing now and deeply regret. I knew that day I needed to help her because I was blessed to have avoided the deep horror that many of these women experience. I had a family that supported me and friends that stood by me all those years ago. I had friends who drug me back to church and many of the women Nancy was speaking of didn't have that! 

So fast forward a year later and here I am co-directing this event that is exactly one month away - April 26th! Shannon, myself and a few other ladies have been busy planning a race route, getting permits and trying to secure sponsors for this amazing event. 

Here is where you come into the story! We can all play a part in helping these women and changing their stories. You can be a blessing in these ladies lives forever! 

If you have a business and can help with sponsoring the 5K, please contact me. All the money goes directly to Mercy Ministries to help build a home right here in Florida, in our own backyard actually! 

If you are a runner, please register for the 5K by clicking on this link : http://mmoa.convio.net/site/PageNavigator/RFM2013Florida. We look forward to seeing you all out in Southwood next month!! 

Please join us in prayer as we head into the final stages of the event. Help us keep our focus on the reason for the event and get bogged down with the potential stress of planning. 

My thoughts on this 1st day of SPRING!

This is quote is appropriate for today…

Today is March 20th. 

More importantly is marks the 1st day of Spring!! 

I live in Florida so we are blessed with beautiful weather but nothing is more gorgeous than North Florida during springtime. Crystal clear blue skies and everything in sight is blooming! It truly is my favorite time of year. 

Spring is great because it gives us a chance to celebrate a Risen Savior. Easter is arriving a little late this year but I am still focused on the reason for the season and I am happy to shout my Redeemer Lives! 

Spring shows us a new season of growth through all those beautiful plants and trees blooming around us. It provides us a chance to get outside and enjoy all of God's beautiful creations from beach days to floating in the pool. Wait, I mentioned I live in Florida why am I so excited about this weather? It does get cold here and I am done with the cold! Give me my bathing suit, warm temps and cold water then I will be a happy girl! 

Spring this year brings a new beginning for me as I taught my first Tabata Bootcamp class today. It has been a time of growth for me. I am excited to share my experience plus help our friends reach new goals over the next 8weeks! 

Spring also means it's time to celebrate Riley's birthday. He will turn 11 next Tuesday! Oh boy 11 I know will bring new challenges. I have no doubt we have many highs and a few lows as we close out his elementary school chapter and begin his middle school chapter. I can't wait to celebrate him next week! 

Spring brings on the racing season in our area. There's a local race every weekend through the month of May. You can have you pick of 5 K's and 10K's over the next few weeks. I won't participate in all of those but I'm excited to run several of them!  I'm extremely excited to be putting the finishing touches on our Run for Mercy 5K on April 26th. (N. Florida friends, click here to sign up if you haven't already : http://mmoa.convio.net/site/PageServer?p…)

So on this beautiful first of spring I say bring on the Spring Round of Tabata Bootcamp, the sun, the sand, the bathing suits, the Lilly patterns, the white clothes below the waist and most of all the celebration of Easter and our Savior!! 

Happy Spring My Friends! 

We did it!!

Last Friday evening the Badass Babes took off on another racing road trip!  After a super crazy week for all of us, it was all we could do to get on highway the Friday evening! We arrived in Jacksonville a little later than planned but that didn't stop us from kicking off the trip with a yummy meal at River City Brewing Company. Who cares that the service wasn't all that great, we still managed to make people stare at us with all our loud laughter!!

Friday evening ended with a little surprise trick pulled on me. I am usually the one surprising people but this time I was the one being spoiled! Stephanie, Tammie and Ashley gave me a new medal holder for all my race bling and a workout journal for recoding all my Tabata workouts for my upcoming classes. Yep, I cried..see below! These little gifts mean the world to me, thanks girls! 

I love this! 

Trying to hide my tears! 

Since the race didn't start til 8:30am and we were staying across the river from the start line we didn't have to get up extremely early. We woke up refreshed and ready to run the Gate River Run 15K. I don't know if was the excitement of only running 9 miles or knowing that at the end of the day I would get to relax after accomplishing a bucket list item but I was very calm that morning. This is not my usual pre-race behavior but I was ready to run! 
We made our way to Everbank Field, snapped a few photos then it was time to get in our corrals. 

The Badass Babes at the Start Line!! 

The Grey Corral Babes

 (or the cargo cars as Crystal called us, ha!)

The race started a tiny bit due to a terrible accident on the interstate. We heard the sound of a cannon and knew it was time to go. Us and 17,000 other runners weaved our way through downtown Jacksonville and over the Main Street Bridge. That bridge has grates on it so we had to watch our footing and by that I mean I held my pace buddy's, Becky, hand and didn't look down. Seriously, you could see the water below us - NO THANK YOU! From there we ran through the San Marco area out by the water through various other beautiful neighborhoods. At mile 7.5 we ran up the ramp to the Hart Bridge aka The Green Monster. This is where things could've gone bad. After a walk break, I repeated Hebrews 12:1 in my head while Karah and Becky yelled some encouraging words at me and off we went! Up the bridge we ran (we walked a little, too) then I looked over to my left and wow what a view! We made our way down the bridge to the finish line! We each commented at the top of the Green Monster on how blessed we were with a beautiful day to run. I wish we had gotten a picture of the view but we were just focused on getting to the finish. 

I DID IT! 

Becky, Karah and I crossed the finish line at 1:36 - give or take a second. Running those 9 miles without these two women would have been rough. We had so much fun! The time on the clock was not a PR for me but it was an accomplishment in other ways. I conquered my fear of running over a bridge of that size. I took on a new appreciation for my ability to be able to run. I had one of the most enjoyable races to date! When I say this was fun, I mean it! The supporters in Jacksonville know how to be the best cheerleaders, course encouragers. I decided I would be back to run this race before I ever received my medal in the finish line area! Congrats to the organizers of the GRR for an awesome race! 

Becky and I EARNED that medal! 

Check out this awesome medal! 

At the post race party I was able to celebrate all my friends and their PR's. I was able to celebrate Shannon's pain free top 10% finish. I teared up a little listening to my girl Crystal talk about how awesome her race was and celebrate her PR. It was a beautiful day not just because the sun was shining brightly but because everyone was smiling and happy! That means more to me than the time on any race clock, that's a special kind of PR! 

So proud of Crystal! 

Celebrating our conquering that bridge! 

Take that Green Monster, see ya in 2015 for another shot at you. 

The remainder of Saturday was spent enjoying the glorious day. We grabbed a quick bite then spent the afternoon shopping. That could be a blog post all in itself. We had so much fun. Later that night we had an official celebration at Fionn MacCool's while enjoying a great Irish meal in honor of St. Patty's Day. Again, we shared our laughter with everyone around us! They loved us! 

St. John's, Starbucks, Sunshine - Happy Babes 

Badass Babes 

We all hated to see Sunday arrive with the exception that it meant really sleeping in and getting to eat at our favorite diner in Jacksonville. Yes, that's right this crazy group of girls enjoyed lots of carbs at the Metro Diner! Their Cinnamon Pecan French Toast is worth calorie on the plate. Just thinking about makes me ready to return, haha. 

I love this photo! 

While the rest of the crew headed home to Tallahassee or Gainesville, Crystal and I spent the day in St. Augustine. We did a little birthday shopping for RJ then went to St. George Street to enjoy a little dinner.  The two of us always get into a little trouble together but it was so great to hang out for the day in one of our favorite spots! We even checked out a few of the hotels in hopes of  planning a joint family vacation this summer. 

Blue Bell Ice Cream - YUMMY! 

Beautiful day by the bay

I did it, now I want to do it again! I didn't push myself as hard I could have for this race because I wasn't sure I could get over that bridge. Funny, how it was the smaller of the two bridges that bothered me the most. I had been an emotional wreck on the bridge at the Donna and I was fearful that I would give up this time. I am blessed with an amazing group of encouragers who didn't let me quit or really even let me think about being on that bridge! I knew at the end I would be able to call my hubby and hear his excitement that I had done it. I knew I would be able to text my best running buddy and tell her I did it! What I didn't expect was a text from my son as I crossed the finish line asking how my race had gone. I was so excited to let him know the day had gone great and I was done! As I said before I was able to celebrate the ability to run and add a check next to a race on my bucket list. We have all agreed that the GRR needs to become an annual getaway! We never know what to expect at races that are new to us, this one is high on the list of the best. All the information we received leading up to the race was helpful. Race day was organized and thoughtfully planned. We will be back for GRR 2015 and beyond! 

This was the last racing road trip that we have planned until July. It feels good to know we have some time train and get ready for our favorite local races. Plus who knows, we may find another one to run before July. I mean July is a few months off! LOL! 

Off to another race…

It looks like 2014 is moving full speed ahead to be the year of checking things off the bucket list! Back in January I made a list of goals and when looking back at that post it seems as though I am on track to accomplish those goals plus a few extra ones, too. 

This weekend will be another bucket list weekend! I have always been interested in participating in the Gate River Run 15K and Saturday I will be running that very race! I mean really, I run the Peachtree Road Race every year and it's dubbed the largest 10K in the USA so why wouldn't I run the Gate River Run which is dubbed the largest 15K in the world?! 

I decided in December that I wanted to run the Gate in 2014 but waited until January to actually register for it. If you have followed this blog then you realize I have a small fear of bridges, not driving over them walking/running over them. Registering for this race brought on anxiety as soon as I hit the confirm button. I quickly fired off an email to Scott and the BadassBabes to alert them of the purchase. They were all a little shocked but assured me this was going to happen and I could do it! In the past few weeks we have convinced quite a few other girls to join us as well. 

Why did I have anxiety when I clicked on the confirmation button? Look at the course map… 

Do you see what I see? Two bridges over water - EEK! Yep, I will be running over both of those bridges. I'm familiar with the Main Street Bridge as it is near our preferred hotel and we have walked over it before. The Hart Bridge also known as the Green Monster is worrisome. 

The Green Monster 

It's a little over a mile long, maybe longer I don't really want to know and it's tall! It happens to be at the end of the race so that's a plus. While I have anxiety I also have a sense of excitement. It may be the largest 15K in the USA but it won't stop our crew from making our mark on that course! I have no doubt that we have a great race recap after this one!!

We're off to Jacksonville later today and appreciate prayers for safe travels and happy running feet! 

Bring on the miles with smiles, giggles and bridges! 

Tabata Certification - Accomplished!

Last week I shared with our experience with jumping out of our current boxes and how awesome this time has been for me and RJ. Well, Sunday it was my turn! I attended my first fitness certification and it was amazing!! 

Master Trainer (and friend) Shannon and I left Tallahassee before sunrise on Sunday to drive over to Dothan, AL for the day long certification. We keep a similar schedule during the week so getting up early wasn't that hard for us! LOL! I'm fortunate to have participated in 3 rounds of Tabata Bootcamp with her as my trainer so the actual movements were all very familiar to me. We managed to get in 3 full Tabata workouts and 1 set of partner drills throughout the day. WHEW, these legs were tired that evening, ha! 

The most interesting part of the training for me was learning how to establish a class plan and learning the history of Tabata Bootcamp.  Thank goodness for a science experiment that showed the world what High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) could do for your body.  I enjoyed hearing Shannon share stories of her time at the Master Trainer Summit where she spent a few days working with Mindy Mylrea and other Master Trainers around the country to make the program even stronger. I can't wait to meet Mindy myself as she is an inspiration to many of us. Her positive energy is infectious! I have participated in several bootcamp like programs and I can say there's nothing like this one. If you put in 8 weeks of good work and you see amazing results! 

At the end of the long day, I received an official certificate and hug from my trainer - I am an instructor! Being a student then taking the instructor training has been an interesting experience. I'm glad that I was able to really learn the movements and have an idea of what the entire program feels like as a student before taking on the instructor training. I feel like I will be able to assist in the classes with more confidence and definitely more knowledge, after all I have the best Master Trainer in the business as my leader! For now I will work on putting together a few class plans and hopefully you will see me teaching Tabata Bootcamp in the spring! 

The certificate and backpack makes it official! 

Enjoyed meeting Kelly and hanging out for the day! 

Shannon and I after an awesome day of Tabata! 

Again, as I did last week I challenge you to try something new. Whether you try a new fitness class or take on a new project just look within yourself and your surroundings, see if there is an area that could use an extra push. Once you figure it out, go for it! 

Up next: I will share my plan to conquer the "Green Monster" - The Hart Bridge as a part of the Gate River Run 15K with The BadassBabes!