MIMM: GOTR/STRIDE 5K

Hello Hello! Can you believe Christmas is only 9 days away?! I have ZERO shopping done and I am starting to panic. I like to use the excuse that I fly home for the holidays and therefore can't bring a lot of extra "stuff" with me, but the truth is I could've been picking up little things or buying gifts online. I just cannot come up with anything creative to get anyone besides my Brother-in-Law. Super excited about his present btw! More on that later!

I had another Marvelous weekend and this Monday is extra marvelous because I did not have to go to lab or worry about studying for once! Here is a look at my marvelous weekend...

Friday started with an amazing 5 mile run on the beach!

 

It then continued with a party with some awesome friends to celebrate being done with school. It was also a last get-together before a lot of us head home for the holidays!

I may or may not have stayed out much later than I planned... which made for a very hard time waking up for my 5k on Saturday. I think I might have shed a few tears when my alarm went off. But once I got my butt out of bed and started to wake up I was fine and excited! Saturday was the 5k for Girls on the Run and Stride, the last time for my kiddos to strut their stuff and show what they've been working for the whole season. 

Picture from my Instagram

They all did so well and I could not be more proud of them! I'm not going to do an official recap for this race since it was purely for fun so here is a little mini recap: There were 1200 people total and about 550 of those were the boys and girls participating in GOTR or STRIDE. The course was not the best course I have ran on, but also not the worse. I don't think they expected that many people to run. They only had one lane open for everyone to run in and it was VERY crowded. I spent a lot of the race zig-zagging around other runners/walkers and never really got into a steady pace because of this. They let the boys start first and then the girls started in 2 different waves. I was in the last wave with my GOTR team. Around mile 2 a lot of my boys had already reached the turn around so I got to cheer them on as they headed towards the finish! I also caught up to a couple of them and got to run with them for a bit which was so much fun! I also ran with a lot of my girls. Anytime I saw any of my kids I would run over and stay with them for a bit and cheer them on. I've never ran a race with more than about 5 people I know so it was cool seeing a bunch of familiar faces! When I reached the finish 4 of my speedy boys had already finished so they got to give me high fives and cheer for me as I crossed the finish line- the best way to end a race! My official time was 32:40 a 10:34 pace. I then got to wait with my boys for the rest of my kids! Seeing their faces as they crossed the finish line and received their medals was so rewarding. I've said it once and I'll say it again, being a coach for these AMAZING organizations has been such a blessing in my life and I encourage anyone who has time to volunteer to be a coach at least once! I promise it is life changing!

After the race I went straight to work for 7 hours and then went straight home where I watched Netflix and was in bed by about 8! Such a crazy Saturday night!

Sunday started with another 7 hour shift at work woo-hoo! And ended with this amazingness...

Holy crapper snappers! If you guys haven't tried this you need to! It is also life changing (not as life changing as coaching)

I'm heading back to Ohio this afternoon for a couple of weeks of family time! My mom sent me this picture of my cat today. Apparently he's been driving her nuts ruining the Christmas tree! (hehe) For those of you who know me you know I'm more of a dog person than a cat person but I love all animals. One day I went out to buy a new pair of shoes and came home with a kitten. I'm a sucker for the animals in the pet shops and couldn't bear to leave this little guy. I used to have him at school with me, but due to multiple reasons he unfortunately had to go back to Ohio to live and has since bonded with our dog so I would feel too guilty taking him back. For as much as my mom complains about him (her nickname for him is Meeko Monster) I know she would miss him too! His name is Meeko, the Disney lover in me had to pick a name from a Disney movie of course! Anyone know what movie/character? I call him Meeko Bubba, not sure why but it fits!

 

So excited to see this cutie later today! Once again here's to hoping all of my flights are on time and I make it home! Apparently we have a lot of snow! 

I hope your Monday and the rest of the week is just Marvelous!

Questions of the Day

• Are you a cat or dog person?
• Where is your favorite place to run? (road, park, beach, etc)
• Is anyone else as behind on Christmas shopping as me?!

The Running Bug

I caught the running bug again! Not that I ever actually lost it completely, but it definitely was not as strong as it normally is. Ever since my experience at the Wine and Dine Half Marathon I've been hesitant to run. I was scared to hurt my foot even more, and I honestly just didn't feel like running for a while. I think that was good for me- everyone needs a break every once in a while. Yesterday morning I woke up and I could just tell that today was the day I was going to run and I was going to like it!

 

So after I got home from class I threw on my favorite shirt and headed to the Wrightsville Beach Loop (my favorite running loop). I got in an easy 4 miles at about a 9:45 pace, it felt so good! I did have pain in both of my feet afterwards, but I know that is because I need new shoes soo bad. I caved and ordered these puppies when I got home...

 

They are the Mizuno Wave Rider 16's. I know the 17's just came out, but these were on sale and I'm on a budget. I can't wait to get them and I am hoping this will solve all of the pain I am having in my feet! It's my first pair of Mizuno's, but I have heard great things about them- hoping they treat me well!

 

I then realized that I had an itch to run another race. I wanted to do a 10k this time, but didn't see any good ones close to Wilmington so I decided to register for the Beethoven 15k! I didn't start to feel bad until mile 10 during my half marathon so I figured I'd be safe with this distance :) I convinced my running buddy Jen to run it with me and if anyone else is interested here is the website. Right now it's only $30 and the price increases to $35 on December 16th. You get a t-shirt, medal, and there's a party at the end with free food and beer (why I'm really running). If you live near here you should definitely run it with us! Or if you don't live near but would like to visit NC for a weekend you should do that too!

So until my new shoes arrive I will be taking short, easy runs. Today I will just be running 3.1 miles during our mock 5k at Stride. Basically a practice round for the boys before the real thing, I'm excited to see how they do! The real 5k for both my boys and girls is next Saturday- it's going to be so much fun!

 

This is completely random but I was browsing Pinterest this morning and found this shirt. I could not stop laughing! I sent this picture to 2 of my best friends who are also as single as I am because I knew they would appreciate it. Who needs boyfriends when there's Christmas cookies?!

Questions of the Day

Opinions on the Wave Rider 16s?!? (please please please tell me you like them) I'm kidding be honest :)

Do you have any big races coming up?

 

 

GOTR 5k

I've been interning for the GOTR of Coastal Carolina all semester. Part of my internship is coaching GOTR and Stride and the other part is helping out in their offices. GOTR of Coastal Carolina is based in Wilmington (New Hanover County), but they are in charge of a ton of different counties around New Hanover. In the past years there has only been one 5k for all of them, but GOTR has gotten so popular and expanded so much that they now have 3 different 5ks! So amazing!! I got the pleasure of going with them to help out at the Brunswick County race. Yesterday we drove to Ocean Isle to work packet pick-up and to start setting up some things for the race.

 

I don't think my car has ever had so much stuff in it! We had 2 cars and a HUGE van all packed with stuff- I never realized how much goes into setting up a race! 

The race was this morning and about 370 people showed up which was a great turn out. More than they had last year! I was in charge of "sales"

 

This was just some of the stuff I was selling. There were t-shirts, cowbells, water bottles, coffee mugs, bracelets, hand clappers, etc... 

Butttt my absolute favorite thing we sold was...

 

These sweet capes! Aren't these so fun?! A bunch of kids bought them and ran in them. I said it would give them super powers and make them run even faster!

 

We also had a "happy hair" table where the kids could get their hair spray painted in fun colors. I being the intern offered to get my hair sprayed first to make sure it worked and to convince other people to get theirs done. Not gonna lie I'm kinda diggin this look. I might just have to make it permanent when I get my hair done next week... Just kidding! I've actually never been a fan of the "colored hair" thing even if it's just a little stripe, idk why I just don't like it. Praying this comes out when I shower!

The past 24 hours was crazy but so much fun! Helping out at this 5k got me even more excited to run the 5k with the boys and girls I coach! Only 3 more weeks!

Who else is a GOTR or Stride coach, or who wants to be?

Colored hair: yay or nay?

 

GOTR and STRIDE Swag

The new t-shirts and water bottles are here!!!!

Yesterday I helped sort out the t-shirts and water bottles for all of the different GOTR and STRIDE teams that the Wilmington area YMCA serves. It was a very long tedious task, but these girls help make it fun! I love interning at the Y! Everyone should go like Girls on the Run on Facebook, and if you live in the Coastal North Carolina area you should definitely like GOTR of Coastal Carolina!

 

Here's a look at the STRIDE shirt

 The GOTR Shirt

And the new water bottles!

 

What do you think about the colors/new designs? I know I'm excited to hear what my boys and girls say about them. Can't wait to hand them out at our next practice!

 

STRIDE

I am loving coaching! I look forward to it every day. I coach Girls on the Run Mondays/Wednesdays and I coach STRIDE Tuesdays/Thursdays. These kids brighten my day no matter what, they are so full of light and energy.

Here are some pictures of my boys from today's STRIDE practice.

I love how I get to make running fun for them so that they will hopefully be just as passionate about running as me. I can't wait to run the 5k with them at the end of the season!

Is anyone else out there a coach for STRIDE or GOTR?

Surprise Visit and Big Decisions

Earlier in the week my dad called and said that he would be in North Carolina for work and that he might come see me while he's here. He never gave me a straight answer so I just figured he was too busy with work and didn't have time to see me, because the city that he was in was about 2 hours away from where I live. Well much to my surprise I get a TEXT from dad Thursday morning saying he would be at my apartment in a half hour. (I capitalized text because my dad never texts, ever!) I immediately jumped out of bed and scrambled to pick up the apartment. Luckily my roommate and I are pretty clean so there wasn't much to do. Before I knew it my dad was here! It was the first time I had seen him since July 4th. I love living where I do, but it's always good to be close to family. He of course took me grocery shopping which is every college kids favorite thing about their parents visiting! We went out for lunch at the yummiest Mexican restaurant called Tower 7 which is right on the beach.

I'm supposed to be graduating this May, with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Biology. Everyone has been asking me what I want to do after school and I honestly do not know. It actually really freaks me out a lot. My dad and I got to talking while he was here and he asked me if I would ever want to teach. The truth is ever since the end of my Sophomore year I've been kicking myself for not going into education because I am so passionate about working with kids. I just didn't want to waste my time and money and completely change my major half way through college so I figured I would just stick it out and everything would fall into place. Well nothing fell into place and I was starting to panic. My dad said he thinks getting my teaching license would be the smartest thing to do. Having his support is the most important thing to me so I am very excited to say that I will be getting my teaching license, and will be teaching elementary school! Unfortunately I will have to go to school for an extra year, but it will all be worth it! My mom is also very happy with this decision because she always wanted me to be a teacher. She texted me after talking to my dad and said "I told you so". I guess I should've listened to her from the start- moms always know best!

Working with the Girls on the Run and STRIDE organizations has made me even more passionate about working with kids and has made my decision to become a teacher even easier. I am positive this is what I want to do.

-Court