Lazy Weekend + Jack's Mannequin at the Orange Peel

This weekend has been just what the doctor ordered(Minus the fact that B-rad worked).

I had big plans to get up and run then catch the 930am spin class at the Rush then have the rest of the day free... Well I woke up at 932. Dangit. I knew how hot it would be outside, so what's a few more minutes to make a pre-run smoothie?

Because call me crazy but I don't think this is what Runner's World had in mind when they said to have a slushee type drink before your run:

And I may or may not have had these Friday night.

I trudged through my 5 miler. Literally. It felt like I was thigh high in mud or quicksand or something. I wasn't sure if I needed to do five since I did the 10K on Monday, but I get all finicky if I don't do my long runs (OCD much?).

Then I came home and did a whole lot of nothing. And it was AMAZING. I read US Weekly (I know it's trash but I love it) and some of my book. Then I started getting ready to go see Jack's Mannequin!!

Asheville has this great music club downtown called The Orange Peel and long story short, I always hoped that JM would make a stop there. Unfortunately it was super hot in there and the acoustics weren't that great either. But I had fun nonetheless. They played all my favorites plus a couple of new songs.

Sorry for the craptastic photos. You'd never know by my blog pics that I actually enjoy photography as a hobby! It's just so much easier to use my iPhone that lugging around my "real" camera. I'll try to do better, I promise.

This morning B-rad took me to get my car that I left downtown, ahem, then I came home and the bear and I had a movie day (are you noticing a trend?). We watched the third Twilight movie and Temple Grandin (so good and made me disgusted to think about eating cow anytime soon).

Best cuddle buddy ever. And yes that is half a Fathead on our wall. This is Brad's 'mancave' and that used to be Bengals QB Carson Palmer... well he used to be their QB anyways. His torso fell off the wall a few months ago and we have never gotten around to putting it back :)

Do you ever have lazy days weekends? As often as I can!

What are your go-to movies that you can watch over and over? Juno, the Notebook, Wedding Crashers, Van Wilder

Be very jealous of my stationary...

Hubs left me this on my computer this am...

Shopping list on a Runner's World insert anyone? Resourceful or redneck?

I Like Quotes

"I often hear people say, 'I'm not a real runner.' We are all runners, some just run faster than others, that's all. I have never met a fake runner." - Bart Yasso

Ain't that the truth? I'm so guilty of having said this. But you know what?

Fake runners don't get up at 7am on their day off to get their run in.
Fake runners don't not drink on Friday nights so they hydrate for a race.
Fake runners don't hit the pavement/trails when they'd rather be sitting on the couch.
Fake runners don't give up sleeping on Saturdays because they'd rather race.
Fake runners don't stalk Active.com for races anytime they're going out of town.

Yeah, fake runner my big booty.

love my riley bear

This sweet guy has followed me around all morning and pouted at me when I left because he knew I was trail running without him. I'm going to take him this afternoon to make it  up to him.

Isn't it funny how they know so much more than we give them credit for?

July Goals

1. LOG 60 miles. Run them. And log them.
2. Do yoga once a week. At least.
3. Spin once a week.
4. Lose 5 lbs.
5. Go through my closet and donate the stuff I don't use anymore.

Boom, they're out there.


Do you have any goals for the month?

Firecracker 5K/10K Brevard, NC

Yesterday I ran the 16th annual Firecracker 10K in Brevard, North Carolina. Brevard is about 45 minutes south of Asheville. The race was scheduled to start at 8am, with check in beginning at 630am.

I arrived downtown around 7 and found a place to park. The streets were blocked off for the 39th Annual Fine Arts and Crafts Showcase. I ended up parking completely across town from the start line. Whoops. It was a great warm up at least.

I got to wear my brand new American Flag Active Band!

Pardon that horrible picture! But let me just tell you, this is the first band I've ever worn that I did not have to adjust or even think about during the whole race. It was AMAZING. I didn't have to worry about my silly frizz ball hair, leaving me plenty of time to concentrate on not being last running. If you haven't ordered a band from them, you should go check them out now! They always have great deals and coupons on their blog too! I got this 4th of July band for free when I ordered my other band last week.

Aren't they cute? I may or may not have copied http://painprideperseverance.blogspot.com/ Sorry Julia, you have good taste!

The race check in was simple enough. They had booths set up and the volunteers were very helpful.

I picked up my packet and my chip.

I've never used the type of chip that they used. You had to wear it around your ankle, more on that later, but here's a pic.

You should be very jealous of my tan.

The 5K and 10K used the same start and finish lines, but the 10K runners started first. Which made sense in theory, but it also kinda sucked. Sucked in the sense that I don't like being passed, and all these people were passing me and I had no idea if they were 5K or 10K. My first mile was in 9:09. What the... I have no sense of pace whatsoever. I need to start paying more attention. I get so excited when I'm racing that I run too fast and wear myself out.

When the 5K split from the 10K I definitely considered taking the 5K route. I was on track for a PR. But I kept telling myself that I've never ran a 10K so I was gonna get a PR either way :) I was super bummed after we split when I realized not many people were following me. I was way in the back... And there were mountains... And that darn chip was rubbing my ankle like crazy.

But I sucked it up... And I finished my first 10K!!! 

My chip time was 1:09:33, which was weird because my Garmin was at 1:09 when I realized I hadn't turned it off (and I had drank two cups of water and a handful of grapes by then). But who knows.

What's important is that I did it!

I didn't get to check out the festival, I had to get home and get ready for work. But I had a little time to try out my new 2XU compression calf guards.

They make my legs feel amazing. Seriously, like a hug for your calves.Now I just need a full body suit. Or these. My thighs could use hugs as well!

Did you run a 4th of July race?
Have any new gear that you're loving?

God Bless our troops and God Bless America!!!

Why I moved to Asheville

A question that I get constantly is, "Why did you move to Asheville?"

It makes sense. I was born (well not really, my parents lived in KY but my momma actually worked at a hospital in VA so that's where I was born) and raised in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. Very, very close to the Cumberland Gap area, where Daniel Boone explored the Wilderness Trail. If you know me in real life, I talk about my love for KY constantly (it's pretty annoying, I'm sure). When it came time for me to go to college, I chose the University of Kentucky in Lexington (well that and they gave me a free ride).

North Carolina was always this place of intrigue for me. To be honest (revealing my complete ridiculousness), I had this fairy tale idea of life in a small NC beach town thanks to Nicholas Sparks. (You know, because if it's in a fiction book it's true...) I expected to move and have this guy knocking on my door asking if I needed help remodeling my dilapidated house that I bought for next to nothing.

What, don't tell me you never thought that. Damn you Nicholas Sparks and your books that are kind of all the same but I can't not read (and cry) every time. I digress. 

I met my Noah Calhoun during my second year of pharmacy school and as we started to get more serious we began talking about where we'd like to live eventually. I shared my dream of living in NC, and amazingly enough, B-rad had always been interested in it as well! As we began researching, I realized that the costal area of NC is 8-9+ hours from my parents home in KY. That just wasn't going to cut it.

So we started looking at other areas and Asheville just kept coming up. We visited the area in December 2008 and LOVED it. We made plans to move right after graduation. We visited one more time (another long weekend) to find a place to live, then we moved down in June 2009. We lived in an apartment for a while, then bought our first home in October 2009.

My family and friends are what I miss most about KY. If they were here I'd never consider leaving. My family is about 2 hours away and Brad's is about 6-7.

Where do you live?

Do you miss where you grew up/family?