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Hello!

This post started as a simple recap of my weekly workouts, but once I started typing, there was so much more to say. Blogging has a way of keeping me in check with my thoughts and emotions (so it’s basically like free therapy except for the “safe space” is the entire internet). Today I’ve got all. the. feels. to share.

Monday: 8 easy + 3 easy

Monday was a turnaround day for me! After hobbling around for a couple of weeks, my knee finally wasn’t bothering me. All of that RICE-ing I did finally paid off. I knew as soon as I walked down the steps Monday morning that I was healing. The stairs had become my nemesis in the previous two weeks. The sprain that I had in my knee ligament was angered by bending my knee, which is crucial for walking down stairs (and a lot of other things).

I started the week off with an easy run on the treadmill + Netflix watching. It was a good start.

After work Daniel wanted to go for a short run and I was more than happy to join in. You know because “oh em gee, my knee feels amazing!” The time change was a bit of an adjustment this week for sure. If given an option, I think I’d rather just stay on Daylight Saving Time (DST) year-round. I appreciate the additional hour of light in the mornings once DST ends, but the darkness in the evenings is no fun (as far as running is concerned). I think I’d probably feel differently about it if I didn’t run.

When the sun goes down, I feel like I am supposed to go to sleep. I like to rise and set with the sun! I’ve had to remind myself several times this week that 6 or 7 p.m. is a tad early for bedtime (only a tad though :)).

For whatever reason, running in the dark in the morning doesn’t bother me as much as running in the dark in the evenings. It’s probably because in the morning it is always getting lighter as you run and in the evening it’s not. Regardless, running in the dark in the evening feels more ominous. In actuality, I rarely run by myself when it is light out anyway, but I definitely don’t run by myself in the dark. Period. Once DST ends, I feel like I can’t safely go out for a run by myself after work. It’s as if a freedom (even one that I rarely exercise (pun intended)) is replaced with fear.

It is difficult, challenging, frustrating, scary and a host of other negative emotions to lose your sense of safety and security. Around this time each year, my post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms seem to resurface or worsen. Feelings of depression and despair set in and I always have this general feeling that something bad is about to happen. It’s as if I am just waiting for some sort of disaster to take place.

Side note: It was only in writing this post that I realized that PTSD is DST backwards and without the P. Coincidence? I think not.

What I have only somewhat recently (in the last two or three years) been able to recognize, is that these feelings come up at about the same time every year. Like clockwork, when the time changes and fall arrives, I find myself depressed, anxious, sad, and kind of paranoid, but not in a normal seasonal affective disorder sort of way. It happens every November and it is because my body is remembering a traumatic season in my life (even if my mind isn’t specifically acknowledging it).

So this year fall came and I literally fell. Hard. As silly as it seems, that dang fall sent me spiraling into a deep funk. I am not saying that falling down is the same thing as being attacked (i.e., raped (I hate that word)), but regardless of severity, it was a trauma. My body felt trauma and remembered past trauma and I got depressed, anxious, sad, scared, etc. (like I said … all the feels). All I wanted to do was sleep and isolate myself from the rest of the world. I did a pretty good job of this for about 2 weeks. I didn’t go to work. I didn’t want to see my friends. I was in a major funk.

Luckily, I am acknowledging it (very publicly at that … go big or go home, ehh) and am now dealing with the feelings instead of trying to stuff them away. My first inclination when I feel anything negative is to shut it out completely. This is NOT a healthy coping mechanism. Ignoring or avoiding the feelings has been compared to putting a band-aid on a severed limb. It just doesn’t work. Eventually the feelings will bubble up and spill over until they are properly dealt with.

Safety is defined as the state of being safe; free from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss. This definition of safety is relative to the physical sense. It relates to the notion that the absence of risk of physical harm creates safety. However, when dealing with PTSD, the definition of safety takes on a different meaning. When it comes to PTSD, the idea of safety deals with the notion of feeling safe. So for now, I will be focusing on self-care and making sure that I feel safe.

Speaking of safety, let’s segue this post back to running by using this picture of me in my Nathan Streak Vest. This picture quality is terrible. My apologizes. The vest, however, is great quality and keeps me nice and visible during our evening runs. Safety first!

Daniel also carries a flashlight (the Nathan Zephyr Fire 100 Hand Torch) when we run in the evenings. The flashlight also has an alarm on it and charges from a USB port (no batteries). I highly recommend it!

Tuesday: 2 mi. WU, 4 mi. progression tempo (6:30, 6:24, 6:21, 6:16), 2 mi. CD + RW Group Run

I wrote a little bit about this workout already, but this was my first workout in over 3 weeks. I was so thankful to get it in and to feel good afterwards!

I almost passed on the group run Tuesday evening, but Daniel wanted to go and in the spirit of not isolating myself from the world, I decided to be social and join him.

Wednesday: 5 easy

Not too much to say about this one. I was [this|close] to taking the day off, which would’ve totally been fine, but Jessica texted Wednesday afternoon to see if I wanted to run. Duh! Time with friends > time alone.

Thursday: 3 easy

Easy breezy. Loving the extra daylight in the morning and the cooler temperatures!

Friday: 5 easy + 5 easy

Saturday: 9 easy w/ RW Group

After our run Saturday morning, Daniel and I had a quick post-run breakfast date at Warehouse. He ran 16 miles and decided to get the Bayou Breakfast Benedict (it’s a biscuit with eggs, sausage, fried okra and creole tomato sauce). I went with a slightly healthier alternative and got their granola with fruit and almond milk.

We have been reading through Galatians this week. A few verses really jumped out at me today. Galatians 5:13-15 says: For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Can I get an AMEN?! Can’t we all just love our neighbors (regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political views, etc.)? We were all created equally. I know that is a complete oversimplification of things, but really … sometimes there is a very simple solution to very complicated issues. Spread love. Share the Gospel. Share Jesus.

Really guys, it starts with you. Be the change that you wish to see (paraphrased from Gandhi). Focus on what you can do to make the world a little bit better and go do it!

Sunday: Battleship 12K! Race recap to come tomorrow (Lord willing).

Tell me: Do you love or hate the end of daylight saving time (or are you indifferent)?

Hello friends! Long time no see …

Hopefully this will be the last of the “injury update” posts. Overall, I am feeling so much better this week! I feel like myself again, which is nice. I didn’t feel like myself for about 2 weeks and that wasn’t fun at all.

The one nagging issue that was holding me back was my knee. It was still swollen and I didn’t have much range of motion in it. I was doing everything that I knew to do (i.e., the RICE approach), but that didn’t seem to be getting me anywhere.

• Resting the knee
• Icing the knee for short periods with cold packs
• Compressing the knee gently, such as with an elastic bandage
• Elevating the knee

I saw my sports chiro and ortho doctor last week. I had some tangled fascia around my knee that Dr. Justin was able to release, which immediately helped my range of motion. They also did an X-ray of the knee to make sure that there wasn’t a fracture (and there wasn’t … Praise the Lord!).

What they did determine was that I had a sprained PCL (posterior cruciate ligament). The PCL connects the thigh bone (femur) to your shin bone (tibia). PCL injuries are often due to a blow to the knee while it is bent (which makes sense in my case). The good news is that both doctors gave me the blessing to run, as long as my pain wasn’t more than a 2/10 and as long as the pain didn’t increase when I ran.

I enjoyed stalking tracking friends and bloggers at races over the time that I was out. Last weekend was a jam-packed race weekend. Indianapolis, Savannah, Disney and NYC … oh my! So many awesome races and now so many recaps to read. I love it. I am more than ready to be back out there racing myself. I also seem to have come down with a little bit of marathon fever. I don’t have any immediate intentions to act on it, but my wheels are turning (slowly).

Since I don’t have a lot of current running to discuss (I do have a little bit though so keep reading), let’s take a quick walk down memory lane and talk about two of the races from last weekend that I have done in the past. Savannah (2011) and NYC (2015).

Savannah was the 2nd marathon that I did. I was still in the “winging it” portion of my training (i.e., not following a plan or using a coach) and my goal was 3:10. As it turned out, 3:10 was a little rich. I ran super consistent 7:15 pace until mile 19 or 20. I crossed 20 miles in 2:26 (7:18 average). I finished the race in 3:21, which means that I averaged 8:51 (!!!) for the last 10K. I’m not saying that 8:51 pace is bad by any means, but when your pace per mile slows by 1 minute and 33 seconds per mile for the last 10K of the race … you aren’t doing it right! I’m sure you’ve heard of hitting the wall or bonking in the marathon, well this is a textbook example of what that looks like. You live, you learn.

I ran 3 marathons in between Savannah 2011 and NYC 2015 (Boston 2012 (4:37 (my personal worst (thanks to tax season for the lack of training and mother nature for 90+ degree temps)), First Light 2013 (3:23) & New Orleans Rock N Roll 2015 (3:03)). New York was an amazing, but difficult course. You can read my recap of that –> here. I came away with a little bitty PR (that I am darn proud of).

I think it was more fun watching the coverage on TV this year than it was running the race itself last year! Watching a marathon is one of the best things in the world. It’s amazing to see the determination of a marathoner. Needless to say, I was very inspired and motivated after watching NYC!

I bottled up some of that motivation and did my first workout post-fall Tuesday (insert super excited, very happy dance!). It was a 4 mile LT progression tempo (with each mile getting a little faster than the previous mile). This was a good “comeback” workout because the pace for the first mile wasn’t as intimidating as if it had just been a regular LT tempo workout. I decided to do the workout on the treadmill to minimize the chances of falling. Ha. Seriously though, I am still a tad gun-shy about running outside, especially at a faster pace (i.e., during a workout) on the roads or sidewalks in the dark.

Side note: I had a workout buddy while I was on the treadmill. It was Daniel. He was being a good little runner and doing his P90X yoga DVD. He is so much better at yoga than me! 

P.S. He didn’t know about this picture until it ended up here on the blog. He then requested disclosure.

I did an easy 2 mile warm up and jumped right on in to the quicker miles. I averaged 6:23 for the 4 tempo miles (6:30, 6:24, 6:21, 6:16) and I was thrilled with how that went. My knee didn’t bother me at all (if it had, I wouldn’t have done the workout). Woo hoo! My coach and I had decided that there would be no racing until I was back feeling 100% and after this workout, I have the green light to race!

There is a 12K (not a typo, just an odd distance) nearby this weekend and I am really looking forward to it. It is a point-to-point race that runs across Mobile Bay to the USS Alabama Battleship Park. This is the second year of the race, but will be my first year running it.

My goal is to get back to a quasi-routine with blogging. It can be tough to come up with content for a running blog when you aren’t really able to run. Hopefully that will no longer be the case (fingers crossed)!

Talk to you soon! Gotta run!

Greetings!

Long time no see. Daniel asked me yesterday why I hadn’t blogged this week and I kind of brushed the question off by saying, “I don’t really feel like I have anything to say.” He was not satisfied with my answer excuse. He thought about it for a second and then said, “Isn’t that usually when you really have the most to say?”

Why yes, yes it is. Daniel has gotten so wise in his old age.

Here we are. I don’t even know where this post is going or if I will even hit “publish” once I write it, but let’s just see what happens, shall we? My hesitation is likely due to the vulnerability factor of the things that are on my heart.

I’m sure this crazy election is at the forefront of the minds of most Americans. I am not turning this into a political post, but I just want to acknowledge that all of this talk about sexual assault and the objectifying women is HARD. It’s difficult to hear and to be talked about as a “statistic.” It stirs up feelings that I don’t like and make me say things like “I don’t have anything to say” when in fact it is quite the opposite.

Moving on.

If you’ve been following along for a little bit you know that we somewhat recently started Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We have learned a lot and we are already seeing results and making progress towards our goals. The one thing that I have really noticed about going through this class is how over-arching some of the concepts are. In some ways I feel like Dave Ramsey has permeated our lives (in a good way).

We aren’t just learning how to create a budget for your money. Let’s face it. Budgeting is not rocket science, but sticking to a budget … now that is more difficult. It takes planning, communication, discipline and self-control.

So far I would say that the biggest positive takeaways have been in the areas of planning and communication. The planning relates to more than just money. Dave says that if you don’t tell your money where to go, it leaves on its own. The same thing relates to your time. If you don’t have a time “budget,” your time gets away from you. Seriously! Where does it go?

Communication is not one of my strengths. If you call me on the phone, I’m probably not going to answer (it’s really nothing personal, I promise) and to add to that, I don’t have voicemail. I don’t know what it is about the phone, but I strongly dislike it.

If you are in my life and we see each other on a regular basis, I am pretty good at staying in touch, but if we don’t see each other regularly, I majorly drop the ball on the communication front. In general, I’m not a big talker. I tend to keep my thoughts to myself (which is somewhat ironic as I sit here typing every single thought that pops into my head).

Daniel and I have been communicating well and collaborating on the budget. I even showed him how to use QuickBooks (proud wife moment). This might not seem like a big deal and it’s not like we didn’t communicate with each other before this, but I can tell that there has been a positive shift and for that I am thankful.

Every Sunday afternoon we watch our lesson, then we discuss what we plan to eat for week and then we go to the grocery store and try to not blow our entire budget in one fell swoop. He gave an example in one of the videos about a couple that didn’t have any retirement savings, because they “ate it” (i.e., they spent all of their money eating out). As it turns out, food is hands down the biggest “expense” for us as well (not necessarily eating out, but the combination of groceries and eating out).

There have been some positives and negatives from this so-called meal planning. I don’t really like to use that term for it, but I haven’t come up with anything better thus far.

Patience is not one of my virtues. When I get home from work (or running or whatever extracurricular activity is going on any given evening), I am usually hungry and ready to eat. Like I want to eat 10 minutes ago. I reach that “hanger” phase (hunger + anger) and it is very unpleasant.

We got an Instant Pot (it’s basically the opposite of a crock pot, for impatient folks like myself) and we are actually cooking stuff, so that’s definitely a positive. I like to use our lack of stove as an excuse as to why I don’t cook, but that is just a really big cop-out. We’ve had an oven before and *spoiler alert* I didn’t cook then either. Cooking is not something that I enjoy. I don’t know that it ever really will be, but who knows. I won’t write it off entirely just yet.

The thought of spending hours (or anything over 15 minutes really) on a meal that is going to be eaten in less than 15 minutes and then all that is left are a bunch of dirty dishes, well y’all, that just doesn’t make much sense to me. It’s kind of like ironing. I don’t understand it. It’s a totally foreign concept that I can’t wrap my (ignorant) brain around.

Back to cooking though. It is one of those necessary evils, especially if we have kids one day. Please read carefully: that if was very intentional. If we have kids, of course I want them to have a normal relationship with food and a healthy body image, which means that they will need to eat “normal meals.” I don’t want to “mess them up” and that is a very real fear (#realtalk) and also a little bit off topic, but not entirely off topic.

Let’s talk about meal planning for a minute. At first the thought of it was totally overwhelming to me. In typical all or nothing fashion, I had envisioned going from basically no meal planning whatsoever to creating this beautiful, healthy, nutrient-rich meal plan for us to follow for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Of course that didn’t happen. Daniel (the wise old man that he is) suggested that we take it in smaller chunks. Let’s figure out one day’s worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner and try to have that each day of the week the first week. Then we can add variety gradually.

Small chunks. I liked the idea of that. I could handle that.

Having a meal plan is an important part of recovering from an eating disorder. It is the backbone of your recovery, because without it you aren’t able to do the deeper, emotional healing work that sustained recovery requires. The only time that I have specifically followed a “meal plan” is during recovery, which is why I am not real keen on the phrasing of it now. I just associate it with eating disorders.

Eventually you move away from following the “meal plan” and learn to eat intuitively (p.s., if you have mastered this CONGRATULATIONS and please share your pointers). You don’t want to be so rigid with your meals that you can’t deviate from what the plan says.

Rigidity. Discipline. Self-control. Those are a few things that I typically excel at. For several years now I have shied away from meal planning by convincing myself that following a meal plan was too rigid and I wanted to be more spontaneous with my food choices. While this is good in theory, unfortunately I am quite possibly the least spontaneous person you’ll ever meet. Cereal for dinner? So spontaneous! Oh my.

The first week of our “plan” we spent WAY more at the grocery store than we typically would have. Not gonna lie, that was kind of disheartening. We were trying so hard to be smart about what we were getting! After that first week though, we’ve been doing a lot better. So far our staples have been chicken (or some other type of meat), lots of grains (oatmeal, quinoa, couscous, etc.), beans, potatoes, yogurt, fruits and veggies.

The key for me is to actually prepare some of this stuff ahead of time (due to above-referenced lack of patience when hungry). We’ve been cooking the grains on Sunday and putting them in individualized containers to have during the week and then cooking the meat and vegetables the night of. It’s worked pretty well for us so far.

We are still working on adding the variety in there and I want to make sure to continue to work on that. I am really bad about falling into food ruts and I can feel myself doing that now, so I want to nip that in the bud. Being in a rut with a balanced dinner of protein, carbs and vegetables is definitely better than being in a rut with a dinner of cereal though! Baby steps.

I tend to fall into food ruts when I am avoiding dealing with something. It’s so bizarre to me how that happens, but sure enough it does. It’s almost like disordered eating is so ingrained in me that it is my first coping mechanism to deal with anything life throws my way. I am saying disordered eating instead of eating disorder there on purpose. They are not the same thing.

Someone with an eating disorder has disordered eating, but not everyone with disordered eating meets the criteria for an eating-disorder diagnosis. Eating disorders are psychiatric illnesses. Disordered eating, however, can just involve abnormal thoughts about food and episodes of restriction or binges that do not amount to a psychiatric illness.

I haven’t gone into a lot of detail about my eating disorder and/or disordered eating on the blog, except for acknowledging that is something that I have struggled with and that I will likely struggle with (in a sense that I have to stay cognizant of it) forever. As bleak as that sounds, it is the truth. Everyone has something that they struggle with, whether or not they want to admit it, so we might as well be open about things so that we can help each other out.

I might do a post of “my eating disorder” story at some point. I’ve thought about it a lot, but I can’t decide what, if any, good would come from it. It would probably be very therapeutic to write, but I also think it might come across as hurtful to a few people who I care about. I’ll try to do an abbreviated version …

I’ve mentioned this before, but it is worth repeating … I have all of the intrinsic traits (perfectionist, inflexible, disciplined, cautious, etc.) that set me up perfectly for this struggle. It was really just a matter of what would send me over the edge. It’s no one person’s “fault.”

A few mean comments and I was there. It started in high school. I lost some weight (I honestly don’t know the specifics of amounts, etc. and if I did I likely wouldn’t share that anyway … comparison is not a good game to play, especially in this area) and it got to the point where enough people expressed concern that my parents took me to the doctor.

My doctor (family practice) told me to gain weight and I did. It really didn’t seem like a very big deal at the time. I didn’t see a nutritionist or go to counseling or anything like that. Looking back I think this would’ve been super helpful. I would highly recommend any young girl that is struggling with weight or body image issues to talk to a professional about it.

Some people have awesome college experiences and remember it very fondly, but that is the absolute opposite of my college experience. I went to a big school, joined a sorority (I am NOT a sorority girl … learned that lesson the hard way) and was a small fish in a big pond. I was used to being a big fish in a small pond. The adjustment was too much for me. I threw myself into my school work (I graduated with a 4.0 and had no social life) and unsurprisingly, I started to lose weight again.

Same song, slightly different verse. I went to the doctor and was told to gain a few pounds. Got it. This time, however, I felt more “out of control” with the weight gain and that was not a good feeling. I was healthier physically, but mentally I was not. It was while I was at this (already) low point that I was raped. Talk about an earth-shattering, life-altering event. Bam. I was left feeling so broken that I didn’t think I would ever be happy or live a normal life again.

I was terrified. Of life. Of death. Of everything. After spending a few weeks at home, I went back to school and I tried to carry on as normal as possible, but I couldn’t. I was too scared to do anything. I had to withdraw from classes (another low point for little miss 4.0) and this is when I spent 45 days at an inpatient recovery center in Arizona. I am so grateful for my time there. I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready or able to process everything that I learned. I still had a rough road ahead of me when I got back home.

I don’t recall ever really having one “aha” moment where things started to click and I was all of a sudden “healed.” Perhaps that is because I am still broken. We all are. While there was no one moment, there have been a series of moments, years, decades even that have allowed me to heal gradually.

Running has been instrumental in the healing process. I know that “exercise” in general is a slippery slope with eating disorders, but I truly do not see running as an issue at this time in my life. Exercise has been an issue, but I don’t run for “exercise.” I’m sure that sounds absolutely crazy. I don’t know if I will ever be able to adequately convey what I am trying to say with that. Running is part of who I am. It makes me a better version of myself. It gives me strength and confidence. It gives me friendships and love.

The ultimate TRUTH is that I am a child of God, created in His image. He is the ultimate HEALER and the one that sets us free from the chains that enslave us. He gives us great worth that nothing and no one (not even Donald Trump) can take away from us. He is the one that deserves all of the glory, honor and praise. Regardless of the results of this election, He is still King of King and Lord of Lords. He will reign forever.

Hello! Coming at ya this evening with a run-down of my runs for the week:

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 9 easy + RW group run

Wednesday: 3 mi. WU, 4 mi. LT tempo (6:44, 6:18, 6:18, 6:31), 1.75 mi. CD

I was tempted to take this workout to the TM or even the track, but ultimately decided that since I race on the roads and I need to do the workout on the roads. I need to get used to pacing myself, running on uneven terrain and battling the elements (wind, weather, etc.). I extended the warm up to avoid a humongous hill during the first mile of my workout again this week.

The workout was a 4 mile tempo at 6:15 to 6:25 pace. I have noticed that I have a hard time settling into the pace on the first mile of my tempo runs in the dark. I seem to be a bit slow on the first mile each week (even after an extended warm up) even though I feel like I am right on pace. There is a bit of a hill in the first mile of the route I have been doing (even though I avoid the humongous one), so I’m sure that has something to do with it.

I settled into a good groove during the second and third miles and was feeling good. I had to stop twice for traffic to cross the street during my fourth mile and it’s kind of difficult to get right back on pace after stopping. My overall average for the tempo miles was 6:27, which was only a few seconds off of my goal range, so I don’t really have anything to complain about.

No Ragrats.

Thursday: 8 easy

Friday: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 1 mile (6:36, 6:27, 6:33), 2 mi. CD

Friday morning was an impromptu track workout. I paced a friend for a few mile repeats and felt good!

Saturday: 9 easy

My legs were definitely feeling the quicker miles from Friday and a few miles into the run Saturday I knew that I needed to hold off and do my long run Sunday. I ran a few miles with the Daniels and headed back to the car. They did 20 miles and both of them ran great! I had some time to kill before they got back, so I headed over to RW for a few minutes and then met back up with the guys for breakfast.

Sunday: 16 mile moderate pace LR (7:46 average)

I am so glad that I waited for my long run because the weather Sunday was AMAZING! It was a perfect cool, crisp fall morning and I got in a great long run with friends. I took it a little bit easier the first half of the run (8:09 average) and then picked it up the second half of the run (7:22 average). I wish this weather would stick around for a while!

That’s it for the week. I’ve got TWO races next weekend. I’m pretty excited!

Have a great week y’all!

Hello! Happy Friday!

I hope it’s been a good week! Today, I’ve got a running survey to share. I love random surveys and especially random running surveys.

1. Would you rather run along a beach path or on a mountain trail? This is a tough one. I LOVE running on the beach, but I think that a mountain trail would be quite lovely. Unfortunately we don’t have too many (or any) mountains in lower Alabama, so if we are being realistic, I’ll chose beach.
2. If you could choose the flavor of Gatorade at your next race’s aid stations, what would it be? If I had to choose Gatorade specifically, I would go with lemon-lime. For some reason that just seems like the most natural flavor of Gatorade (in my opinion). I think this might be because I remember drinking this flavor when I was younger. I wish more races had Nuun at aid stations! Gatorade has so much sugar and can be really hard on your stomach (especially mid-marathon).
3. If I gave you a $100 gift card to a running store, what would be the first thing that you would purchase with it? I usually spend gift cards on shoes. Specifically, I would get a brand spanking new pair of the Brooks Launch. They make my feet happy. Happy feet –> happy runner!
4. Do you prefer to follow a training plan or wake up and decide then how far and how fast you want to run? If I am training for a specific goal, I prefer to follow a plan. I did my own thing with my running for several years (like from 2005 – 2014) and that resulted in a lot of haphazard training. I did the occasional workout, but just ran easy 95% of the time. I built a pretty good base during this time, but my running has improved drastically over the last two years by using a coach and following his plan.
5. Would you rather start your run with the uphill and end on the downhill or start your run with the downhill and end with the uphill? Let’s start uphill and hopefully that will help us start conservatively and finish stronger.
6. When you can’t run, what type of cross-training do you choose to do? Oh dear. Cross-training is definitely not my forte. Thankfully (knock on wood) I haven’t been forced to cross train too much. I would probably choose the elliptical.
7. Do you prefer out and back, point to point or loop runs? Point to point runs can be really fun, but the logistics of planning them can be a bit cumbersome. I love our Battleship route! I don’t mind out and back or loop routes either though. Daniel can’t stand an out and back route, so we run loop routes primarily.  
8. If you could recommend ANY running related item to a new runner, what would it be? I’ve got two here. First, I think a GPS watch can be extremely helpful. I love my Garmin 235, but any of the other base models would be great for a new runner. While helpful, the watch is definitely not a necessity. However, you NEED to go and get properly fitted for a pair of running shoes that work for your feet and your stride. Just do it (ironically, I do not recommend Nike shoes).
9. Do you ever see any wild animals while out on your runs? Occasionally we see snakes, foxes, armadillos, etc., but nothing too crazy!
10. Ever gotten lost while out on a run? I rarely run in an area that I’m not familiar with, so that definitely minimizes my chances of getting lost. The last time that I remember getting “turned around” on a run was when I was in Arizona for Ragnar Del Sol (that was 2011, so it’s been a little while). A few of the girls wanted to go out before the race started and do a shake-out run and wouldn’t you know it that every single house and every single street in the neighborhood where we stayed looked the exact same! I really didn’t know if we were going to ever find our house again that day.
11. If you could have one meal waiting and ready for you each time you got home from a run for the next 30 days, what would that meal be? I’m typically a morning runner, so if I had to pick one post-run meal for the next month it would consist of a big, hot cup of coffee with some overnight oats, greek yogurt and some sort of fruit. That’s pretty much what I eat after my run every single day anyway …
12. Capris or shorts: what do you run in most often? Shorts! I am not a fan of running in capris. I only switch to tights when it is 40 degrees or less. Usually then it’s time for long tights, not capris. We have a very short window for capris and short-sleeved running clothes here. It seems like it is either 90 degrees (like 11 months of the year) or 30 degrees (the other month). Spring and fall last for 2 seconds. 
13. At what mile (or how many minutes) into your run does your body start to feel like it is warming up and ready to go? It usually takes me 2 or 3 miles to warm up and get into a good rhythm. I like to do a 2 or 3 mile warm up before most races and workouts that I do for this exact reason.
14. What do you do with your key when you run? Hmm. If I have a zip pocket I *might* put it in the pocket, but otherwise it’s “hidden” somewhere on my car. Rethinking this strategy as I type it out for the world wide web to read (just kidding … I trust all 5 of you out there that read this :))
15. If you could relive any race that you have done in the past, which one what it be? Easiest question ever … Rock N Roll New Orleans 2015. I mean how often do you really get to win a marathon?! That was one of the best days ever and was definitely the best race EVER. It’s going to be hard to top those emotions!
16. What type of run is your least favorite type of run? Hill repeats. I don’t like those.
17. What has been your biggest motivation lately to get out the door to get your run on? The weather has started to cool off, so that definitely helps. I’m also chasing some goals that I feel like I am making good progress on and that helps to keep me motivated.
18. When you go for a run, do you leave right from your front door or do you drive somewhere to start? Some of both.
19. When running in daylight are sunglasses a must or an annoyance? I don’t really run in daylight all that much and when I do I rarely wear sunglasses. I have a pair of running sunglasses that I like a lot, but I don’t find myself wearing them often (for running anyway). I am more of a hat or visor kind of girl.
20. When you get tired, what keeps you from quitting? I’m sure you’ve heard the quote “Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever.” I get tired. Sometimes my workouts are hard and I want to quit, but I don’t. If I have to, I adjust my goal for the day: take a break, reassess and push through. I use this strategy for workouts and race day!

If you want to play along … answer any or all of the questions. I’d love to hear your answers!

Have a great weekend! I’ll talk to you soon!

Hey y’all!

This week was fairly uneventful (read: I took zero pictures on my phone). No pictures = uneventful week. It seems like it takes me a little bit of time to adjust back to reality after a weekend away. I am definitely not complaining. We had a great trip and I am thankful that we can get away for a weekend here and there.

I had a few good workouts this week, so that’s what we’ll talk about today. I’m pleased with the quality runs that I got in this week. Quality over quantity is my new thing and I’m enjoying it. I love pushing myself and getting a good workout in before work. I definitely have more endorphins on workout days!

Monday: 5 easy

Tuesday: 3 mi. WU, 4 mi. LT wave tempo, 1.6 mi. CD

The wave tempo is a continuous run of ~ 30 minutes alternating intensities every 2-5 minutes. The purpose of the workout is to improve lactate threshold (LT) and efficiency at dissipating lactate and to improve your ability to run a quick pace for extended periods of time.

I was only supposed to do a two mile warm up, but the route we were running had us running up a pretty big hill on mile 3, so I extended the warm up to avoid starting my workout up a hill. I think I just lost at least 2 hard-core points.

The workout called for a 4 mile tempo, alternating the pace every half mile between 6:35-6:40 and 6:05-6:10. My actual paces for each half mile segment were: 6:55, 6:28, 6:37, 6:16, 6:33, 6:16, 6:36, 6:17, so the mile splits were 6:40, 6:25, 6:24, 6:26. I wasn’t quite as quick as I was supposed to be on the faster parts. It can be difficult to hit specific paces while doing a workout in the dark. I checked my pace a few times throughout the workout, but otherwise I was just trying to run by feel.

Wednesday: 5 easy

Thursday: 2 mi. WU, 8 X 800 w/ 400 rec, 2 mi. CD

I typically like to have more than one day in between stress workouts and actually, I was supposed to do the workouts Monday and Thursday instead of Tuesday and Thursday. However, due to the above-referenced reality adjustment that hit me Monday morning, I knew the better option for me this week was going to be Tuesday and Thursday.

Turns out that the 8 X 800 workout was an even bigger reality check than work Monday morning! My goal pace range was 2:52-2:56 (spoiler alert: I didn’t hit that). It has been a hot minute since I last did 800s (just checked … it was all the way back in May). I knew going in that it was going to be a tough workout, but I also knew that all I could do was give it a shot.

I hit 3:02, 2:56, 2:57, 2:58, 3:00, 3:00, 3:04 and 3:12. Not really happy with those last two, but otherwise I’ll take it. I just kind of felt like I ran out of steam. Also, my workout buddy did 6 X 800 and I was trying to encourage her throughout the workout (saying, “you’re over half way there” and “only two to go,” etc.) and I totally psyched myself out. By the time she I was done I was SO READY to be done too. Haha. My mind felt betrayed by my legs when I still tried to do those last two repeats, but I think my mind got the last say.

Friday: 5 easy

Saturday: 14 miles @ 7:26 pace

I don’t know exactly what happened for the long run this week, but I felt SO GOOD! Most of my long runs are supposed to be done at “moderate pace” right now (7:20-7:40). I was a little bit nervous going into it (mainly because I only had one day to recover from the 800 workout) and I even debated skipping the LR altogether and/or running it at an easy pace.

Daniel encouraged me to come run with him and to at least try the moderate pace. We got to the group run about 20 minutes early (Daniel is one of “those” on time is late people). I don’t really like sitting around waiting for the run to start (Hi my name is Sam and I need to be busy … like always). Thankfully Jim got there 20 minutes early (to run two miles before the group started) and so I decided to go ahead and get two of my miles knocked out too.

Apparently we were both ready to G-O, because we averaged 7:20 for those first two miles. At that point I figured I might as well try to hold that pace and see if I could keep the entire run somewhere in the goal pace range. We met back with the group for the 6 am start. Most of the guys were doing 18 to 20, so I ran 8 more miles with them and then I did my own thing for the last 4 miles.

Daniel ended up with 18 miles at a 7:21 average, so that was a really solid run for him too. He’s still planning to run the marathon in December.  

Sunday: 7 easy

That’s it for the week. I’ve got a mile repeat workout next week and a 5K next weekend. The temperatures are supposed to be in the mid-60s! Fingers crossed.

Hello! We spent our anniversary weekend in Birmingham. 6 years is the candy/iron anniversary. You are probably supposed to choose one or the other, but we kind of went with both.

It just made sense to get candy for the drive. Road trip!

We worked on our Dave Ramsey homework on the way up. It was a thrilling car ride. Ha. It also just makes sense to work on Dave Ramsey homework and eat a payday. Am I right?

We stayed at the Ross Bridge. We got there around 7 p.m. Friday evening, just in time to catch the bagpipe man playing right outside of our balcony.

Saturday morning we met up with one of our Ragnar teammates, Elena, that lives in Birmingham. We did a long run with her training group. I was blown away by how many runners were out that morning. Hundreds! I guess I forget how much bigger Birmingham is than where we live, but it was just crazy to me. Crazy good! I loved seeing so many people out training.

According to my schedule, I needed 14 miles between 7:25 and 7:45 pace. I got exactly what I needed. The route was a little hilly (not as hilly as it could’ve been though … they took it easy on us) and the weather was a little iffy (very humid with some rain sprinkled in every now and then), but otherwise I felt great!

Daniel ran 16 miles and then we did the usual post-run coffee hangs. We met some really nice people. I felt oddly comforted by the fact that post-run coffee is a universal running ritual.

The rest of our Saturday was pretty typical, we just weren’t in our typical setting. We did a little bit of shopping, I took a nap and Daniel watched plenty of football. After the Alabama game, we wandered out to find some dinner. There was a restaurant less than half a mile from the hotel called The Front Porch, so we decided to walk over there to check it out.

It was a good choice! We aren’t fancy restaurant people and this was the right up our alley. We Daniel was able to watch football and we got a really good meal. Win-win.

In the spirit of eating more fish and iron-rich food (hey that goes along with the anniversary theme too!), I ordered the Power Salad with Ahi Tuna. It had a little bit of everything on it (kale, cabbage, red onion, edamame, grape tomatoes, blueberries, dried cranberries, cashews and sunflower seeds) and it was delicious!

We ordered key lime pie for dessert and were surprised to see it served in a mason jar. I think it was a bigger serving than if it had just been a slice. Mason jars are so trendy these days.

I got a really pretty picture of the hotel all lit up at night on our way back.

Sunday morning we went on a short run to explore the area around the hotel, since we hadn’t run there Saturday morning. We found some neat trails and hills. We found lots of hills!

We had a 10:30 tee time (that sounds so fancy). Neither one of us had played golf in years. Daniel played in middle school and I played every now and then growing up. I was hoping that we might get some beginners luck working in our favor. Golf can be a super frustrating sport (especially if you aren’t any good at it). We hit a few shots from the driving range before deciding that “this is as good as it’s gonna get” and heading out to tackle the actual course.

Speaking of the course, it was tough. Lots of hills, water and sand traps (basically a beginner/non-experienced golfer’s nightmare). When we rented the clubs, the guy in the pro shop made sure to let us know that we would need to buy an extra 12 pack of balls because we were definitely going to need them. Ha.

After our first drive, we made the executive decision to play best ball. There were big groups playing in front of and behind us and we really didn’t want to hold anyone up with our lack of skillz. I am so glad that we played this way! We would both hit a shot and then we would just use whichever shot was the best, pick up the other ball and go from there.

We actually made a pretty good team. We used 90% of my drives (I have one club that I can hit well and the rest of my game is no good) and 90% of Daniel’s approach shots and putts. Every now and then one of us would hit a good shot outside of our usual strength and so we’d use that one, but for the most part it was pretty predictable.

The course was beautiful! We actually scored fairly well (in my opinion). We shot 45 on a par 36. It’s not great, but it is certainly not horrible either. We actually returned the entire pack of extra balls because we didn’t use any of them. Hashtag winning.

We decided that playing best ball helped us to avoid the IRONY of splitting up on our iron anniversary trip. Not that it was a competition by any means, but when you put two highly competitive people in a competitive environment, things happen. We avoided those things!

Thanks for reading. I’m sure that wasn’t the most interesting post ever, but I know that one day (when I am old and gray and have probably lost my marbles), I’ll want to look back and see how we spent our time together. Anyone have a good anniversary story to share?

Hey guys!

A couple of posts back, I mentioned that I had some blood work done for InsideTracker (ICYMI: I got my blood drawn the Friday before Labor Day).

What is InsideTracker?

InsideTracker is a blood biomarker analysis service. I have read several reviews about InsideTracker and I have been wanting to try it for quite a while. There are several different plans to choose from, based on how in-depth you want to get with it.

They measure biomarkers for overall health and well-being and for athletic performance. You fill out a general profile and a specific lifestyle, nutrition and fitness profile. After your blood work is analyzed, you receive personalized recommendations based on your lifestyle and your needs. An athlete’s blood work results can be very different from the general population and InsideTracker helps athletes establish personal metrics for optimal health.

Just as an example: I had blood work done by my primary care physician a few years ago and my iron level was 15.8. A “normal” range for females can be anywhere from 15 to 150 ng/mL. My doctor told me that everything was perfectly fine, when in actuality the normal range for a female endurance athlete is between 60 and 150 ng/mL and I was pretty far under that. No bueno.

Your results that are labeled as at-risk, needs work or optimal based on the following categories. The biomarkers used to measure each category are in parenthesis.

• Bone & Muscle Health (Vitamin D)
• Cognition (Vitamin B12)
• Inflammation (White Blood Cells & High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)
• Strength & Endurance (Creatine Kinase, Cortisol & Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin)
• Oxygen Transfer & Blood Function (Ferritin & Hemoglobin)
• Liver Function & Toxicity (Alanine Aminotransferase)

Side note: For accuracy sake, I just wrote out the complete names of the biomarkers that were tested straight from my results. I don’t want you to think I was some sort of medical genius or something. If you need confirmation about my lack of medical knowledge, please consult with my husband. He will fill you in (and the good news is that it will only take 2 seconds, because there isn’t much knowledge there to talk about). In fact, if you are reading this, it means that I already had him proofread the post to make sure I didn’t say something silly.

This knowledge (or lack thereof) is actually one of the reasons that I was really excited about trying InsideTracker. The presentation that they put together with your results explains why each biomarker is important for athletic performance (in an easily understandable fashion) and they give you clearly defined action steps for how to make improvements based on the goals that you want to focus on.

The results come back within 5 to 7 business days and I got them in 6. Right on time! I was pretty excited to see what they said. As per usual … #nerdalert.

What did my results show?

Let’s start with the good news! None of my biomarkers were categorized as at-risk. Yay (insert happy dance)!

I was so relieved to hear this. I consider myself to be a healthy person in general, but I still sometimes worry about the potential negative effects that endurance training can have on your body. The results were a welcome form of reassurance and confirmation that physically I am doing just fine.

Disclaimer: InsideTracker did not, however, test the amount of crazy in my head. It is possible that I am walking around with a full-blown case of crazy-head (it runs in my family). We’ll save that test and those results for another day though!

So even though I didn’t have any at-risk biomarkers, I did have 3 that were classified as needing work: Vitamin D, Iron & Liver Enzymes. After seeing the categories that need work, I was able to select two goals to work on. I chose 1) prevent injury/speed recovery and 2) boost energy (sayonara nap-time).

I’m going to go through each category that needs work below.

Vitamin D is an important nutrient that helps the body absorb calcium to maintain bone strength and health. Only a few foods naturally contain vitamin D. Our bodies produce vitamin D when our skin is exposed to the sun. Inadequate calcium and vitamin D increase the risk of low bone mineral density and stress fractures (um hello, biggest fear and thing we want to avoid at all costs).

My vitamin D level was 39 ng/mL and the optimal level is 40 to 48 ng/mL, so I am not very far away from the optimal range on this one. The recommendation is to begin supplementing with 2000IU of vitamin D3 daily and to eat fatty fish at least twice per week to increase levels.

Ferritin is a protein that stores iron, and therefore it is a good marker for the amount of iron in the body. Iron is required for the formation of the oxygen-carrying proteins hemoglobin and myoglobin, and for enzymes involved in energy production. Low iron is a common nutritional issue for anyone who regularly participates in intense exercise, such as running, and cycling. Regular, high-volume, strenuous training may impair iron absorption and transport and cause iron deficiency.

I already knew that low iron was fairly common among endurance athletes (and my iron has been low in the past), so I was already taking an iron supplement. I have been taking 130 mg of iron a day regularly for 6 months (if not longer). I was really surprised that even though I am taking iron supplements every day, my iron level was still low.

My iron level was 34 ng/mL and the optimal level is 60 to 150 ng/mL. The recommendation is to increase the intake of red meat to twice per week, to avoid drinking coffee with meals (I really only do this at breakfast, but still … bummer!) and to avoid eating legumes (beans, peas, peanuts, etc.) or whole grain cereals at the same time as iron-rich foods, because this impedes the iron absorption.

I knew that certain minerals (calcium, zinc, magnesium, copper, etc.) blocked the absorption of iron, but I didn’t know that legumes did. After learning this, I think that I am likely getting enough iron (mainly from my supplements), but I am just not absorbing it properly.

ALT is an enzyme primarily found in the liver that helps chemical reactions occur. It plays a role in changing stored glucose into usable energy. When there is liver damage or disease, then ALT enters the blood stream. Damage to your liver can result in fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and weight loss. Your liver has some ability to regrow after injury and damage so it’s important to take action that will help your liver repair itself.

My ALT level was 20 U/L the optimal level is 10 to 16 U/L.  The recommendation is to consume regular or decaffeinated coffee (3 cups/day), take a probiotic supplement daily, and to reduce intake of soda, juice and other sweetened beverages.

Where do I go from here?

I plan to take the following action-steps (based on the recommendations above):

1. Add a vitamin D3 and probiotic supplement daily.
2. Add more peanut butter, spinach and black beans to my diet.
3. Eat fish and red meat twice per week.
4. Drink fewer sugar-sweetened beverages and try to not drink coffee with meals.

After a couple of months of incorporating these changes, I will have my blood work redone to check my progress. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Question: When was the last time you had blood work done? Did you learn anything interesting or helpful from it?

Hello! I hope you had a good Labor Day and are adjusting back to the swing of things today.

The blog lived up to its name this weekend, as we spent most of the long weekend playing on Mobile Bay and running!

Brooks and I spent some quality time on the paddle board. He is usually more interested in swimming than staying with me on the board, but he did good this weekend. I think the secret was 1) we played fetch for quite a while before we even went down to the bay to begin with, so he was already a little bit tired and 2) we didn’t take his water toy down with us, so he didn’t have to concern himself with retrieving anything.

We went about 2 miles Saturday morning. He jumped in 3 times (which means that I fell in 3 times), but that was a lot less than usual!

Brooks and I also went “surfing” behind the boat on the paddle board. This is so much fun and he *seems* to enjoy it too. He hasn’t told me otherwise.

Step 1: Get up using the ski rope.

Step 2: Catch the wave.

Step 3: Hold on for dear life!

Step 4: BYE mom!

We also rode out to get a better look at the shrimp boats. In case you haven’t noticed, we are a tad bit obsessed. There were lots of porpoise feeding around the boats, so that was cool to see too!

I bet those boats have some awesome stories to tell.

It seemed pretty fitting to have some boiled shrimp to celebrate the holiday.

In other news, rest week was quite a success! I was able to step back and get some clarity and a new focus on my training.

This week kicks off my new “shorter distance” (I realize that this is relative terminology) training cycle. It stated with a bang! My training schedule called for 12 X 400 with a goal range of 82 to 84 seconds per lap (5:28 to 5:36 pace). I was a little intimidated by those paces, but I told myself just to get out there and see how it felt. If I couldn’t hit it, I couldn’t hit it. No big deal.

Daniel ran several of the repeats with me, which definitely helped me (mentally and physically). He is a good pacer!

I stayed really close to the goal range. My splits were 83, 83, 83, 82, 83, 83, 85, 82, 84, 84, 84, 84. I was worn out at the end, but I’m pretty sure that means I did it right. Haha. I am pleased with the consistency and happy to have my first track workout of this new phase under my belt.

I’m running a 5K this weekend and I’ll definitely be remembering that workout during the last mile (or maybe just during the whole race)!

I hope you all have a great (short) week!

Happy Friday friends!

I have almost survived #restweek2016! I have run less than 20 miles this week (which is not much compared to what I have been doing the last few months). It has been a really nice week and I am feeling good!

I think the burnout that I was experiencing was 90% (or more) mental and 10% (or less) physical. I decided to go ahead and take it one step further (just in case my evaluation of the situation isn’t exactly accurate) and this morning I got some blood work done with InsideTracker.

InsideTracker is a blood biomarker analysis service. I have read several reviews about InsideTracker and I have been wanting to try it for quite a while. This seemed like as good a time as any to go ahead and follow through with that. There are several different plans to choose from.

They measure the most important biomarkers for overall well-being and athletic performance. You learn how each biomarker is affecting your health and are able to pinpoint previously undetected areas for improvement. You are then provided with a personalized plan to track your progress and measure the effectiveness of your actions.

The process has been seamless so far. I signed up yesterday, scheduled my lab appointment at a local Quest Diagnostics location and got my blood drawn at 7:45 this morning. By 7:55 I was done and headed home. I should have the results in a few days and I can’t wait to see what is says. I’ll keep you posted!

Now that we have the physical well-being part covered, let’s talk about the mental burnout for a minute. After a little bit of self-evaluation, I came to a pretty big conclusion.

I don’t love the marathon.

Mind = Blown.

Last year I signed up for NYC only because Daniel and a few other guys that we run with were going to do it. Well, the same thing happened this year with Baton Rouge (I haven’t signed up yet, thankfully). Daniel and a few of his buddies are training for it and so I was just like “ehh, why not.” My heart was not in it (at all) and I started putting off and dreading my workouts. At this point, I’m just thankful that I realized it when I did and not a month or two from now.

Somewhere along the way, the marathon just ended up being one more thing that I thought I was “supposed to do,” and not in a this is my calling sort of way, but in a people expect me to do this sort of way. I think I started feeling this way after Rock N Roll New Orleans. I am realizing now that this was just my perception of other people’s expectations, because let’s face it … no one really cares whether I run a marathon or not.

Side note: I think I need to write an entire post dedicated to all of the “supposed to do” traps that I have fallen into over the years. You’d think I would learn eventually … I feel like I am at least making progress at this point. Baby steps guys.

I love running. Running does not have to mean running marathons.

I’m not saying that I will never run a marathon again, but for right now it’s not what I want to focus on. For now I am going to train for shorter distances, basically from the mile to the half marathon. 1 mile, 2 mile, 5K, 4 mile, 8K, 10K, 15K, 10 mile, half marathon … you name it, I’m game!

Even though the half marathon is only half of the distance of the marathon (hello captain obvious), I feel 10X better after a half than after a marathon. They are so much easier on your body. My favorite part of training for marathons was just that, the training, not the race itself. Even with this new focus, I still plan to get in a few long (ish) runs with friends. I LOVE camaraderie of long training runs with friends and I’m not willing to give that up completely. I just might have to join them for part of their run or something like that.

I’m going to be focusing on QUALITY > QUANTITY. I’m pretty excited about it too! Focusing on the shorter distances (up through the half marathon) over the next year or two will give me an opportunity to (hopefully) improve my times in those races.

I know that some people just like to run for fun (hey, I like doing that too!), but I also think that having goals is important. Goals give you short-term motivation and long-term vision.

Here are some concrete goals that I want to focus on:

Short-Term (current) – General: Focus on speed and shorter distances. Specific: sub 18 5k, sub 37:30 10k, sub 62 10 mile, sub 1:23 half.

Mid-Term (1 to 2 years) – General: Continue focusing on speed and shorter distances. Specific: work down to 17:30 5k, sub 37 10k, sub 60 10 mile, sub 1:20 half.

Long-Term (2+ years) – Consider running a couple of marathons and continue working on half marathon time.

Bigger picture: I want to be able to run healthily and happily my whole life. That’s really the most important goal of all!

While we are on the topic of goals … I am currently working on some non-running goals as well. As a celebration of our first “official” year at the new firm, Nathan and Sharee gave all of the staff members the DVD home study edition of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University!

We will be watching the videos with our spouses and working on household budgets, etc. and we will also discuss some of the principles during our weekly staff meeting at work.

Financial Peace University (FPU) is a plan for your money. It teaches God’s ways of handling money. Through video teaching, class discussions and interactive small group activities, FPU presents biblical, practical steps to get from where you are to where you’ve dreamed you could be. This plan will show you how to get rid of debt, manage your money, spend and save wisely, and much more!

I’ve never been through the classes before, so I am really excited to get started. I know that it is going to be a challenging, yet rewarding undertaking.

Whew. Lots of good stuff today! I hope you all have a nice long weekend ahead of you!