Get ready 2011

I am so stoked for 2011. I feel like it is a chance to start fresh and take on the world. My favorite number is 11... so I think that is a sign for good things to come this year. I'm really not a huge New Years resolution person, mainly because I always break them. Also I have the list of 25 Things to do before I turn 26 so I don't really need to add another list of things to complete. That would be overkill. This year, I just have a few goals that I want to maintain throughout the year.

Goal One: Stay connected with friends and family.
Over the years, I sadly have lost contact some of my friends. Life takes over and they get busy and I get busy and we just lost touch. After graduating from ECU, I moved back to Virginia while many of my friends stayed in NC or moved else where. I want to make it a goal this year to stay connected to friends and family. The majority of my friends live many miles away, which makes it difficult to stay in touch,but this year is going to be different... it is a priority. Also the friends that are here in Virginia, I want to soak up time with them before I move.

Goal Two: Enjoy good, healthy food again.
I have been a very bad non-meat eater this past year. I have slipped into old habits, which include lots of cheese and carbs, which leaves me feeling icky. Recently, I feel like I just don't love food... some nights I wish I could just get an IV of nutrients, so I wouldn't have to eat (not in an anorexic way, I just don't feel like anything). This year I want start cooking healthy food that I enjoy eating (with the occasional nachos), so I can start feeling fantastic again!

Goal Three: Love the life I'm living!
Sometimes I have the tendency to look at other peoples lives and get jealous or get sad about where I'm at in my life. I look at Facebook and see a lot of my friends getting married, having kids, some on their second kid... and it makes me a little down about where my life is. But no more... I am going to embrace where I am in my life and know that I am on the right path. This year, I am cutting the complaining and upping the positive outlook. I want to enjoy my life and live it to the fullest. Cheesy, kinda... but I feel this is going to be an awesome year.

So those are my goals for the coming year. I think they are better than resolutions... they are more things to keep in mind throughout the year and strive to maintain them. I think this will be an awesome year... Watch out 2011!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder?

Yea, yea, yea... I know... I've been a bad blogger. But in my defense, I was busy finishing up my semester... and honestly I've had nothing good to talk about.

But I have some fun stuff coming up. Christmas recaps, home DIY project, taking parents out to a fancy dinner, and a look forward to 2011. Good stuff I tell you, good stuff! So hang tight... I promise to be a better blogger in 2011.

In the mean time, I leave you with Lexi in the snow...
This dog loves her snow... she won't walk outside if it is raining, but willingly prances through the snow. Crazy dog!

A Letter to Nacho

Dear Nacho,

I am so sorry I have neglected you these past couple months. October was all about preparation for the Wicked 10k and November has been overwhelmed with school work. Now it is so cold and windy, I doubt you even want to go out for a ride now. You give me the evil tire every time I walk through the garage, and yes, I feel very guilty.

I feel like such a bad bike owner for not taking you out, but I promise as soon as it gets less freezing we will go out for many long rides. But don't worry, I am going to pull you out of that cold garage and get you in my room. After the holidays, I swear I will buy a trainer so you can come upstairs in the warm and get moving. We will spend long "rides" in the toasty room while watching the Real Housewives and eating popcorn. So while you are cold and frozen right now, soon, very soon you will move in my room for the rest of winter. I promise not to do this to you again, I hope you will forgive me!

Sincerely,
Stephanie

Last Day of Preschool

I ended my practicum time in the preschool yesterday and I have to admit, those little boogers melted my icy heart. In the beginning, I really hated being there... the kids were snotty, cried at the drop of a hat, and I just found it very difficult to relate to them. Well fast forward a couple weeks and man, I really enjoyed going and hanging out with the little kids. I ended up doing couple centers (one we made turkey headbands and the other cotton snowmen, come on so cute!) with the kids and ended up really enjoying the satisfaction of working with them. Once I got to know them and learned how to deal with the crying and snot... it really became fun.

I had a great interaction with a little boy on my last day, we hung out for the majority of the day playing and reading books. He stayed in my snowman center for like 45 minutes and we talked while he colored (in the lines btw, what a champ). When it was time for me to leave he asked "Why can't you just stay here forever? You can come back tomorrow and then next day." And as I was walking out, he gave me a hugggge bear hug and a big kiss on the cheek. *melt*

So my time there wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. While it probably is not my first choice to teach, I really wouldn't mind if I ended up teaching preschool. Well as long as my immune system builds up against their germs!

Here I Go Again...

Whew the semester is winding down which means I am in the slow process of losing my mind. All viable brain cells goes to school, which means there is nothing left to get me through daily life. There have been a few instances in the past few weeks where my family gave me looks of "Oh God, she's losing it". That's when I nervously laugh it off and hope they don't commit me to the loony bin.

This has been nutty weekend with lots of cleaning, grading and homework, which led me to do something that is probably a product of too much cleaning fumes. I signed up for another race...

Don't worry I haven't lost my mind to the point I signed up for a marathon.. I'm doing the 8k! I had so much fun at the Wicked 10k, I'm going to do it again! While I haven't been running much since the 10k due to my hip hurting and a ton of school work, I wanted to do a race that gave me plenty of time to train and really be ready. The training plan for the 8k starts in mid December which is perfect because I will be done with school by then. I will finally have the time and energy to get back into it. I am super excited! The Sister is running the marathon the next day, so it will be a super fun weekend of running! Yay, can't wait!

Wicked 10k

So the day after I turned 25, I knocked out the first thing on my list of 25 things to do before turning 26. Run a 10k (think I planned that one ahead of time, o yea!). Now I use the term running, very loosely... it is more of a trot/walk... but I did it! From the day I signed up for this race I was nervous, but knew I would have fun... and fun was definitely had!Jen and I first headed down to the expo on Friday night (aka my birthday) to pick up our packets. The expo was pretty cool... lots of vendors and people... the energy was high. After we picked up our stuff, we walked around the expo and then sorted out our corral issue. When I signed up for this race I had to google "how long does it take to run a 10k"... apparently one hour was a bit ambitious for my first race. After working that out we headed back to the house for some dinner and birthday celebration.

The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to get down to the beach and find parking. I made my oatmeal to go because I was so freaking nervous I couldn't even eat and that is never a problem for me! Well we were basically the first people there, so we had out choice of parking spots... so we had some time to relax while I tried to choke down my oatmeal aka Elmer's Glue. Finally we decided to make our way into the convention center to get our costumes judged and hang out. Let me tell you one thing I was nervous about was the freaking porta pottys... I hate using portapottys... so much to my surprise, the bathrooms in the convention center were open. Praise the lord... I was so happy!
We finally made our way to the start line after relaxing inside for a while. The energy was electric and everyone was so stoked to be there. It was so fun to look at the different costumes I almost forgot I was running a 10k. After like 5 corrals ahead of us, we were finally ready to go! My stomach was turning so much I could have lost my Elmer's glue... but thankfully I kept it together.

Once we started we were trotting along and dodging around people like crazy. The first .8 was a straight shot to the beach, so I was determined to keep it up for the first mile. I had come into this race hoping to trot at least half, while walking the rest. So after the first mile we walked and then proceed to trot again. I'd say right under 2 miles, I noticed my fingers and hands were swollen to the point it was tough to make a fist and had to loosen my watch... that's about the time I realized I had no water that day... only coffee. Greatttt, dehydration... I am like the queen of drinking water and totally forgot to drink water. Ugh. But we kept up a walking/trotting pace... I threw my plan of run a mile/walk a mile out the window and just followed what felt right. I wasn't trying to die on my first race... so I just went with the flow.
After running on the boardwalk for a little bit we jumped back on the road... this was the time we saw Mom and Dad, which was quite a pick me up. I was already getting tired and walking, but seeing them put a pep in my step. (Gotta look alive for the parents!) Shortly after seeing them we hit a much needed water station where I grabbed two cups of Gatorade in hopes to combat the dehydration. Then I proceed to down the Gatorade in like 15 seconds.... not a good idea. We started to trot a little and I felt like I was going to vomit... and a mixture of Elmer's glue oatmeal and lemon Gatorade would not have been pretty.

After some time walking, I managed to get my stomach under control, but then got a cramp. Awesome. It just kept getting better. I was really trying not to complain, but come on! Once we made the turn back onto the Boardwalk it added a pep in my step since I knew the finish was coming. They also had some funny, stupid Halloween joke signs that helped to distract me. It was about this time I started noticing my right hip feeling funky... this is something that never hurt before so I was a bit confused. When I told just my hip hurt even though I've never had problems, she reminded me I have never run 6 miles before... good point. Well that nagging hip didn't help the final stretch to the finish line, but once I saw the finish I was pumped. I could hear the music and smell Blue Moon in the air. I wanted to sprint out the final stretch, but was really tired... and faster paced trot would have to do.
I tell ya, crossing that finish line was quite a rush. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment to finish... no I didn't win the race, set any records, or even run the entire thing, but I did it! As soon as I finished I almost forgot about all the struggle it took to get there and just enjoyed the moment. I had a goal of finishing the race in under 1:30... and I did it! My official time was 1:22:17... woot woot! That's about a 13 minute mile... not horrible. I'm actually pretty proud of that... I mean I gotta start somewhere!

Soon after the finish, we walked (well Jen walked, I wobbled) our way right to the beer tent. Us James girls get right to the point! Eventually met up with the parents and got some food. They had chili with no vegetarian option which was a bummer... but at least the bread bowl was good. We waited around for the announcement of the costume contest winners... much to our disappointment we did not win. Boo, I want a recount! But our costumes were for sure a hit! We are already planning our costumes for next year... they are definitely going to be fly ;)

All in all, this race was an awesome first race! I had so much fun. As always my personal cheerleader, Jen, was a huge part in this race. Her constant encouragement was totally necessary and helped push me to the finish. The race was awesomely organized and had some great goodies... tech shirt, winter hat, metal water bottle, grocery bag... score! Jen said don't get too excited, not all races are like this... for every nice tech shirt there is a crappy cotton shirt... bummer!

After hobbling my butt an extra mile back to the car, we went home and I took an EPIC nap. Oooo, it felt so good... I hardly got my costume off before I hit the bed and passed out. It was the best sleep ever. Once I woke up from my nap, I had a moment of... uh oh, I can't move my legs... I managed to get things moving. We celebrated later at Big Sam's and then called it an early night.

I definitely dealt with a lot of soreness right after the race and then for the next couple days. There was no moving fast for this girl. I know it will take more time and training to improve and not be so sore, but I'm ready for it. I am officially HOOKED! I cannot wait to do it again. :)

The Hard Knock Life of Preschoolers

I started my practicum in the preschool last week and let me tell you it is quite eye opening. I intended to teach 4th or 5th grade, so it is a bit tough for my to relate to these 4 year olds. Don't get me wrong, they are all cute as a button... but this is not my thing. Here's a scenario from last week...

The scene: Playing on the play ground when all of a sudden I hear a little girl crying... I look around to see little Lucy* hovering next to a tree crying her eyes out. I go over...
Me: Lucy, what's wrong?
Lucy: I, I, I, I tripped on the ground and and and fell down and hurt my leg *cries harder for extra emphasis*
Me: Ohhhhh, nooooo are you okay?
Lucy: Noooooooo
Me: Do you think it's broken?
Lucy: I don't think so *more tears*
Me: Well let's stand up to see if it works.
Lucy stands up
Me: Well wiggle around to make sure.
Lucy wiggles around... leg is not broken... crisis averted.
Me: So do you feel better?
Lucy: Yes.... but do you want to know the real reason I'm crying? *wipes tears from big blue eyes, sniffle, sniffle*
Me: Sure.
Lucy: This playground is too big... my last playground was smaller and I like it better... this is too big.
Me: Oh... uhhh.... okay.
Point her in the direct of the swing and slowly walk away. End Scene.

Oooo to be 4 again where my biggest worry is the size of the playground. Tough life. Also a kid came in dressed as a pirate on my first day (it was not Halloween)... I wish it was socially acceptable for me to come to work dressed as a pirate.

I think every teacher is meant to teach a certain grade... preschool is not my grade. I like the age where kids do not have the instinct to stick a marble up their nose, can verbalize their concerns without screaming/crying, know how to use a tissue, and don't suck their thumb. God bless all of the preschool teachers out there... I have major respect for them! This is not my thing, but am sticking it out and chalking it up as experience. I'm sure there are more stories to come since I have four more weeks of this. Oy vey, I need a glass of wine!

*Names of kids changed :)

On the Eve of Mid Twenties

Well I am approaching the end of my early 20’s… I’ll be turning 25 tomorrow… it is all downhill from here. I am going to spend about 5 minutes sulking about being old before I move on and look forward to an awesome year. I’m not going to lie, 24 was a tough year, so my outlook is very bright that my 25^th year of life will ROCK! To continue with this feeling, I have decided to make a list of 25 things to do during my 25^th year of life. Now I am making this list mostly realistic (no climbing Mt. Everest here!) with a some major goals for good measure! On a side note, I think my parents will be excited about a couple on the list. Of course, I will blogging when I finish a task, complete with commentary and lots of photos! So, without further ado… 25 things I’m going to do before I turn 26…

1. Run a 10k

2. Go to a musical/play

3. Visit the west coast

4. Read 5 books for enjoyment

5. Go kayaking

6. Visit the Smithsonian

7. Volunteer somewhere cool

8. Go to a professional sport event

9. Take my parents out to a nice dinner

10. Learn a song on the piano

11. Run a half marathon (wait, what?!)

12. Take a class for enjoyment

13. Go to a concert

14. Organize my teaching stuff

15. Learn and perfect a new recipe

16. Teach my mom how to watch football

17. Learn a dance

18. Go hiking

19. Participate in a 60 mile bike ride

20. Make my bed every day for a month

21. Stop biting my nails

22. Do a triathlon

23. Get my teaching portfolio together

24. Lose those last 10 pounds

25. Move out of my parent’s house!

Le Tour de Femme

Finally, the post you have been waiting for… le Tour de Femme recap! I have been having so much fun biking that I was dying to go on another organized ride. So I made a little trip to Raleigh earlier this month to take part in this awesome women only ride.

Before I get started with the actual ride, let me tell you a little something about topography. I live at the beach and constantly ride on flat land, like really flat land. The only “hill” I have ever been on while riding is a highway overpass during the Elizabeth City ride. I think I have used two gears since I have owned my road bike… literally the highest point in Virginia Beach is a grassy mountain (hill) made out of trash (Mount Trashmore, google it!). So I’ve made quite a few trips to Raleigh, and I know it is soooo hilly there (remember this is coming from the girl who thinks a mountain is a grassy bump made of trash). Let’s just say I was a tad nervous to learn how to actually use my gears on the open roads of Cary.
Anyways back to the ride. The night before we all went out to the ladies night at the bike shop to pick up our packets. That was a fun time, cupcakes hello! Enough about the bike stuff… let’s talk about the cupcakes… chai vanilla and some kind of Guinness chocolate… yes please! Alright focus, the ladies night was fun, but we didn’t stay too long. They had some contortionist girls that were kinda freaking me out! We also had to stop by Target so I could get some extra layers because all I brought was a sleeveless jersey… I guess I forgot that it is fall and it is cold in the morning. Opps!

So the next morning we get out to Cary, grab some coffee and get ready. After an almost deadly safety pin incident, (I will never let my sister pin my number on again!) we made our way to the start. This was very exciting; you could feel the positive energy flowing as we waited to start. The ride was for an awesome cause that is close to my heart, so it was great to see all the ladies that support cancer research.

After the hard-core 60 milers take off, we were on! Let me tell you, the start of the ride included police escorts that allowed us to go through stoplights. Awesomeness! I felt so cool. I could see the pissed look on the car drivers that had to wait for us…. Haha! Love it! Well once we get out of town, I was feeling good, riding a nice pace and all in all feeling awesome. And then. We arrive at our first mountain.

Holy moly, my thighs have never burned so much and I have never seen my speedometer hit single digits while putting forth so much effort. I felt like I was moving in slow motion, women were grunting, and some even stopped to walk. Oy vey, it was ugly! Then to make things even better… the photographer drives by and takes pictures of us. Greatttt, I’m sure those photos looked awesome! Well after what felt like an eternity, I made it to the top. Woohoo! But then there is something that I didn’t even think about when it came to these hills.

Yes it was difficult to go up the hill, but there is another side to that hill... that is a decline. Well for most that sounds great, go down a hill really fast and give your legs a break. Yea that’s fine unless you have never hurled yourself down a hill on a little bike going a million miles per hour! Oh my goodness that was terrifying!! I felt like such a baby, but the whole time I kept thinking “OMG I’M GOING TO DIE, I’M GOING TO HIT A BUMP AND GO FLYING! AHHHHHH!” Well obviously, I did not die going down the hill, but it was definitely scary! It’s going to take me a while to get used to that.

The first half really felt great, I was getting used to the hills and having a lot of fun. We had a rest stop at 15 miles which included Gatorade, Luna Bars, PB sandwiches, and a porta potty with hand sanitizer station next to it (can you tell this is a ladies only ride?) Then we set off for the rest of the ride.

The second half was just as fun… the weather was awesome and I was feeling good. Then all of a sudden, I just notice I was going really slow… like slow motion again. I was so confused, I felt like I was working hard, but not going anywhere and I wasn't going up a mountain. I also notice that my sister is not going much faster than I am, so I’m like what is going on? This is when I was introduced to the gradual hill. Probably worse than a mountain because the pain lasts a really long time! I mean really, come on… gradual hills go one forevvver and are now my archnemesis. Again, once we got over that I was feeling good again.

After a short trip through Apex (got a little scared that we took a wrong turn when I saw we were in Apex, but I trusted my leader Jen) and headed back through Cary to the finish. Coming around the corner to finish was awesome… cowbells ringing, people cheering… it was awesome! Far cry from the Elizabeth City ride where there was no one but my parents and grandparents at the finish, and the actual finish was a spray painted circle on the ground, bummer!

After we finished, I managed to get myself a nice little massage (my shoulders were a bit tense after hanging on for dear life going down those hills) while the sister got some acupuncture. We then proceeded to eat our weight in Greek food (mmmmm hummus and pita) and enjoy a beer. O don’t forget the cake.

All in all the ride was AMAZING! I learned how to use more than two gears and ride up hills (and go down them), it was awesomely organized and the people were amazing. I had so much fun and cannot wait to do it again next year!

Run Like a Girl 5k

This past weekend I experienced my first 5k! A co-worker of mine is trying to take up walking, so she mentioned doing a 5k. I immediately told her I would do one with her, so we signed up for the Run Like a Girl 5k.

The day before, I picked up the packet at a triathlon store by the beach, nothing too crazy… just a table in the store to pick them up. A little different than my previous packet pick up at Le Tour de Femme (promise a recap on that coming soon) but still the ladies were very nice. They handed over the goods and told me how to put my chip on. I was only half listening to the chip instructions, so later I had to Google “how to put a timing chip on your shoe”. Thankfully, there is a YouTube video for that!

So the night before I laid out my cute outfit for the race so I could just wake up and go. (Yes, I bought new running shorts for the occasion!)

However, that changed when I woke up and stepped outside… it was cooooold! So I had to completely switch my outfit plan, but I made it work. After a quick stop for some Dunkin Donuts coffee, I headed down to First Landing State Park to meet up with Shelley. Now I always go down to First Landing to walk Lexi or ride my mountain bike, so I was super excited to race there.

The atmosphere was fun and very relaxed. It was the first year they were doing this race in Virginia Beach, so it was very low key. Just a few tents and everyone was mingling around. Finally, it was time to line up. There were only about 60 women doing the 5k, so everyone was cheering each other on. Finally, we were off and started with a nice walking pace. I’m not going to lie… as soon as we started my competitive juices kicked in and I wanted to take off! But I was there to be a cheerleader for Shelley, so I resisted. There was a pack of about 15 walkers, and we all kept together for the first mile and a half.

The scenery was great, one reason I love this park so much, and Shelley and I talked the whole way. It was nice to catch up with her since we work opposite schedules most of the time. (We needed to catch up on the office gossip!)

Finally, we were getting close to the finish and could hear the cheers! At this point, I could tell Shelley was getting tired but with the finish near we picked up the pace. We were both excited to see the finish! As we crossed the finish line, they announced our name, which was a fun touch!

We officially finished in 54:17… which is awesome! Shelley was so amazed because she didn’t think she would finish under an hour. She was fantastic!

After we finished we walked over to the tent to grab some water and a banana. Again, nothing too fancy just water and bananas. The post party was at a local bar, and we agreed we didn’t feel like going to a bar at 10 in the morning. (We both had homework to do, boo!) Therefore, after chatting some more we parted ways. Overall, we had a great time and agreed we would do it again soon!

Now onto the good stuff… the freebies! At first I was a bit bummed because the website said nothing about a t-shirt… come on, why do you think I do these races? Ooo I mean for personal fulfillment, not the stuff you get, duh. Well when I picked up my packet I was immediately looking at the stuff they gave us (probably why I didn’t hear the chip instructions) we got a sling bag, water bottle, and another bag. Saweeeet! Good stuff!

This great low-key race definitely got me in the mood for my big 10k this weekend. I’ll definitely be doing it again next year.

I'm Alive!

Hello avid readers! I know, I know you are probably thinking… did you fall off the edge of the earth? Why yes, I kinda did. This semester has been crazy, but it’s really my own fault… I took on too many things this semester and I am feeling the pain. Let me break it down for you:

3 grad. classes at ODU (which includes a 75 hour practicum)

1 gifted ed. grad. class at JMU

1 math class at a local community college

20 hour G.A. position (actually two 10 hour positions)

20+ hours per week at the Garden (which involves wrapping up a nutty wedding season while my co-worker is on maternity leave)

To say I am busy is an understatement… I’m tired! It’s definitely tough trying to find that balance of school, work, and working out. When I go for nice bike rides, I always feel like I should be doing schoolwork. When I’m sitting on my butt all day working or doing schoolwork all I want to do is work out, but when I get around to it… I’m exhausted! Ugh! This has definitely been one of my most tiring semesters. But enough with the complaining… it’s midterm time which means I am half way done with the semester. Woohoo! Less than 60 days til freedom!

In the mean time, I do have some great posts coming up. Including my recap of Le Tour de Femme and updates on my running adventure. Let’s just say I am happy to finally figure out that a 10k is not 8 miles… whew! (Don’t ask, I’m losing my mind)

Weekend Recap

Hello there blog world… long time no talk! I have actually had a very busy week. Last weekend I had an awesome trip to Raleigh (more on that is a minute) and have had a busy week in the office. My co-worker went on maternity leave last week, so running the wedding office minus one is busy! So like I said, I visited my sister and her posse in Raleigh over the weekend. As usual, it was an awesome weekend filled with food, wine, exercise and fun! First night had great pizza and vino while catching up. The next day was spent with running errands, and dilly-dallying around until we went to a restaurant that we had been anticipating all week… a Noodle and Dumpling Bar! Holy moly! I had been thinking about this meal all week… I looked over the menu determined what I would get and was so excited. Then we arrive to find the noodles weren’t handmade and they didn’t have vegetarian dumplings! WHAT! Talk about a letdown! In the end, I got some great Italian style dumplings (yes, my taste buds were so confused) and some lo mien. The place was decent, but nothing amazing. Then after a few more drinks with their Raleigh peeps, we called it a night because Jen and I had a run/ride in the morning.

So, the sister is training for like a million different races and triathlons, so Sunday was going to be her running day. Perfect, I brought my mountain bike so I could ride while she ran… and then after her run I would get my little 20 minutes jog in. Well about half way into the run/ride, my tummy started to growl… that little English muffin was long gone! So my tactic was to begin to try and make my sister forget that I was supposed to do a run too. The plan was to start taking about the food we were going to eat and what we were going to do after the run, in attempts to make her forgot. If we happened to forget about my run, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. So I tried to fill her head with Bojangles, Whole Foods, Skinny Dip, Trader Joes, oh my! Well darn if she didn’t forget my run… after she just ran for 2 hours! Damn. So I buck it up and we set out for my little walk/run. I am hesitant to call it a run because I am sure if the sister stopped running with me she would be walking as fast I as I “run”.

Well the first couple sets of running were fine and then my body started to revolt… the stomach was growling and rejecting the popcorn I just ate to hold me over, my legs were pissed because they just pedaled my ass for 2 hours, and the rest of my body was just angry at me. So needless to say, I was struggling! The tomato face was in full effect and the lungs were gasping for air. But I could not stop or complain because the sister just ran for freak 2 hours with no problem! A main reason I wanted to run with her was so she could help me with my running form. Well she gave me one look and said looked like I was running fine which I snapped back Well why do my shins still hurt!?!?!?! Opps, running doesn’t put me in a good mood, yet, sorry. So after a few pointers, my shins don’t hurt and I am actually moving faster (More on the running improvements later) Bless her heart she tried to distract me by talking about our costumes for the 10k… but I just wasn’t having it. Had to conserve the air for my lungs… no talking! Oy vey, how am I going to run a 10k in two months! Well, I ended up finishing the run in once piece and after owning a Bojangles biscuit and Gatorade, I was feeling much better. I know I have a long way to go… but gotta start somewhere right?

The weekend ended with some great grilling and relaxing and I left in the morning. I can't wait til I go back because Raleigh is way cooler than this place with way cooler people in it. So planning a little trip in October for an organized bike ride… so the countdown begins!

Oh how far I've come...

This past weekend my butt was glued to the seat of my new bike! Saturday I went on a short 16 miler at the Dismal Swamp, just to get the feeling of the road bike and try to get used to the new position on the bike. The next day I set out to do another short ride, but ended up doing 30 miles! And I have to say I felt amazing after the ride! It is so amazing to think about how far I have come this year as far as my fitness goes. Back in April, I did my first organized bike ride in Elizabeth City of 33 miles. While I managed to finish it… I was definitely struggling towards the end (like the last 10 miles!) and took a big ole nap after I finished the race.

During the Elizabeth City Race... don't let the smile fool you... I was tired!

Fast forward to this weekend, I finished 30 miles no sweat! (Well a lot of sweat, but you know what I mean)

Feeling good after my 30 miles this weekend!

Now I am sure the new road bike helps, but I also have to think about how far I’ve come in these past 5 months. I have managed to lose 20+ pounds, which surely helps to lighten the load! I can now ride for 30 miles at a steady speed without wanting to die after. I never could imagine I’d be where I am today earlier this year. Back in January/February, I was at a pretty low point personally, emotional, and physically I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I knew there could be only one way to go… and that was up. It is amazing how sometimes it takes getting to the bottom in order to work your way back up. I have found new inspiration through my family and have managed to turn my life around to the positive. I am now having so much fun riding and running… something I would have never imagined months ago. All I know is I have come a long way in these past 8 months and I can only imagine how things will be a year from now.

Diversifying my posts...

Well my mom told me the other day I need to diversify my blog posts in order to appeal to all of my readers. All two of my readers. So this one is for you mom!

I wrapped up the semester this weekend and I do have to say I ended up having a very good summer session. I was taking a pretty hard class this semester...Child Theory... it was so hard I actually almost cried during the first week of this class, eck! So I told myself if I could just pull out a B in Child Theory I would consider it a success. Well I didn't get a B...

I ended up getting straight A's again. Woot woot! It was a tough semester with hard subjects and hard professors, but I still worked it out. I am very happy the semester is over with and I have all of one week off before I start my fall semester.

Fall should be interesting, mainly because of the amount of classes I will be taking. I have three grad classes at ODU, one undergrad math class online at a local community college, and one online class at JMU for my gifted ed endorsement..... whew, I am tired just thinking of the amount of work coming up. But they are all interesting classes (yes even the math class... it is math for liberal arts, very cool) so I am actually looking forward to it. Weird. I know.

Three Part Running Post

Part One

I picked up some new running shoes. My old ones were at least two years old… so replacements were long overdue. They were so bad they were causing blisters on my heel pad, they would cut my Achilles heel, and would cause me shins to hurt… yep time for new shoes. Well after three weeks of researching and trying out road bikes, the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time picking out running shoes. So I walked into Running Etc. showed the lady my old shoes, did a little jog for her, she brought out a new pair of the same brand shoe, I tried them on, did a little jog again, and SOLD. Less than five minutes in and out. That was easy!

Now I am ready to get my running training moving now that I have proper shoes. Great investment and I know now not to wait two years before I by my next pair.

Part Two

I have fired my running training partner, Lexi. Well maybe I didn’t fire her, but after a long walk/jog this was her…

I promise she's not dead... just very tired

I took this as her resignation as my training partner. Lexi and I are very much alike… we love to sleep and lay around… so running is not really her thing. She loves to jog at Seashore where it’s shaded and cool, but 3-4 times a week, just isn’t her style. Plus it is just too hot for a little black dog, so she will now be my rest day walking partner with the occasional Seashore run.

Part Three

I am restarting my 10k training plan. I began my running plan a few weeks ago and things were going really well and my endurance was building. Then finals week hit and school just got a bit too busy and my running plan went on the back burner. Plus when I was on the running plan, I didn’t abide by it as strictly as I should. When you are running with a dog like mine, you stop every so often for sniffing and laying down (the dog does that, not me)… that really interrupts the idea of running for 60 or 90 seconds straight. Now that I will be training solo, I will be much more disciplined with my running. I want to do really well for my first race and really want to do more after… so I need to be sure I am as prepared as I can be. So I spent the evening writing out a new plan (on the computer incase a certain dog tries to eat it during my visit to NC this weekend) that starts this week and builds up to the 10k… it combines the couch to 10k plan with a 10k plan and is now the “Get Stephanie Off Her Ass and Running Plan”. We will see how it goes!

New Addition to the Family!

So there is a new addition to the James family...


That's right! I made a decision and brought home the Trek 2.1 wsd today! I am so excited and super happy with my choice. I could hardly sit through work today because I knew I was going to get it as soon as I got off. So I arrive and my main man, Aaron, pulls down the bike to give it a once over before I go home. Then he asks if I want to get water bottle cages and he will install them for me. Well of course! So I start to look at the the cages and was trying to decide between two... one was $7 and the other $10... I was sitting there staring at them, kinda stressing about which one to get. Then I realize I was stressing out over a 3 dollar difference when I about to drop a grand on this bike! Come on! So I got the nice ones, in black since they didn't have purple :)

So my new bike is safely home and in my room for me to stare at all night. Now I just need to decide on a name for it... hmmm. I will take it for its first spin tomorrow at the Dismal Swamp... so excited! Although Lexi looks very curious and a little bit jealous of the new addition to the family...

Road Bike Shopping Part II

The road bike shopping continues! Yes, I am supposed to be studying and grading right now... but shhhh, I'll get to it. The next stop on my shopping journey...


Since Saturday, I have visited Bike Beat three times and they have been super helpful each time. The first time I stopped by it was really on a whim, just to see what they had to offer. One of the guys, Aaron, gave me a great overview of what they had to offer within my price range and sent me home with a Trek catalog to begin my research. Initially my price point was at the very lowest of the entry level bikes, but after some more research... it increased. I definitely learned you get what you pay for. So a few days later, I dropped in just to see what they had in my new price range... and went back home to research more. I have quickly learned bike shopping involves a lot of research! More research than my previously posted Vygotsky essay! So I finally narrowed it down to these two Trek bikes...

The 2.1 wsd and the 1.5 wsd.

And that brings me to today. I went by to see Aaron to give these bikes a whirl. So I went in and he started to fit and measure me. Very scientific and precise! While he inputted my info into the computer, I was almost soothed to sleep with their calming classical music... don't worry I woke up and was ready to ride! Once he adjusted the 2.1 and I gets on the trainer, I start riding (is it sad I worked up a sweat?) Then he makes some more adjustments... mainly on the seat which was super uncomfortable at first! Finally everything was in its place... except my posture... I am a hunchback rider. Maybe that explains why I am always sore in the shoulders after rides. He said that my body posture will change once I start riding on it... so hopefully that will work itself out.

So then I took the bike out on the open road... or around the building. At first I was a bit wobbly and almost ran into my car. Opps! I'm sure he was thinking.. does this girl know how to ride a bike? Get her off that thousand dollar bike! Well, riding a road bike feels quite a bite different than a mountain bike. Once I got myself together I took off around the building. The bike felt really nice and smooth. Tested shifting gears and the brakes... well I tried the brakes out right away when I almost ran into my car. But I really liked it... okay kinda loved it... just one loop around the building and I'm in love... uh oh, I'm in love... that was too easy. I had to get off before I started riding home.

So we went in to talk details and figure out what they have in stock. Well turns out Trek just released their 2011 bikes... which means they won't be able to order anymore 2010 bikes, which is what I have been researching this whole time! Then I find out the one I was test riding was the last one in my size in the 2.1 and the 1.5 isn't even available! Eck!

Well I know I really love this bike and after a lot of research it seems like a solid choice for my first road bike. But I wanted to sleep on it to make sure I am not rushing into anything or buying just because it is the last one available. So Aaron nicely put a hold on the bike for me until tomorrow... so I am going to sleep on this one and think about it all day at work tomorrow and we will see what happens!