Tiny Thunder Running

Ok, I know what you’re thinking.. “Who cares? You run long all the time and a mile is no big deal.” And I guess to an extent, you’d be right. Except when it is. When you run all out and give it your all. When you think yours legs are going to fall off, your lungs are on fire, and you can’t stop coughing when you are done. source Last night was the 35 th  annual Harrisburg Mile and my first time participating. Last year I watched and was blown away by the incredible speed of elite and every day runners alike. Absolutely incredible.  I decided to do it this year for two reasons. The first was to challenge myself since I have never really “raced” a mile. I mean, I know we all had to do the dreaded mile in school and I always suffered so hard through that since I couldn’t run to save my life. The second reason, of course, involves swag. I think I have mentioned before that our local Fleet Feet Store threw out a challenge to do so many of 7 local races- this was one...

Holy cow, my friends!! Can you believe July is over halfway finished already? ( source ) It has been a busy summer already and considering I have another race coming up tonight, I thought maybe I should write about the last two. The first was all the way back on July 2 and it was a FREE 10k. This is the third or fourth time I have done this race and I always enjoy it. I completely appreciate that it is free and especially enjoy it because it is in my hometown. I spend the night prior at my parents and this year that meant extra time with my sister and her crew.  My mom has also walked the 5k option the past few years as well so she waits for me at the finish line. I love being able to share an event with my mom who also enjoys being active and does all kinds of amazing things to do so!!  part of the River Runners crew pre- race large, more complete group post-race This year was a little different though since I actually placed in my age group for ...

See what I did there? But seriously, today I want to share with you what is easily my new favorite water bottle. If you ask my husband, he would probably tell you I have said that a LOT over the years.. like A LOT A LOT. In our house, we have a major water bottle issue. I can't help it. This girl loves to drink water on the go.. or even tea and occasionally an iced coffee. the quest for the PERFECT water bottle is not one to be taken lightly. Is it light enough? Is it portable? Does it seal well enough so that it won't leak or spill? So many questions.. see? Up until now, I never thought that questioning whether it would really stay cold for HOURS in my hot car while I run my miles was actually legit. Enter  Hydro Flask . A friend that I run with frequently always had this bottle to re-hydrate afterwards and bragged of its amazing abilities to stay cold for HOURS. It can even stay cold for up to 24 hours!  Seriously you guys.  I had to find out for my...

Directly following my double header 5k weekend, I hit the trails and ran a half marathon!! The race is put on by  Friends of Pine Grove  and is called Iron Run Half Marathon. This is the second year I have run it and this year was a huge improvement for me on so many levels. Like last year, I spend the night at a friend's cabin so we got to kind of mosey awake and get ready, eat breakfast and travel the 5 minutes from her cabin to the race. We met all of our river runner friends there for a nice photo opp before the race. It was a really cool mix of abilities this year and I really didn't feel like I got held up as much with larger groups of people. The trail was wide enough for two people for most of the race, but last I definitely felt "stuck" more than this year. I started the race with Michelle and Katie, both of whom have been awesome running buddies this year. Katie was gone by mile 1 and Michelle and I stuck together for the first 2-3 miles somewhere....

I am so terribly at blogging lately, it is a shame. I think I am at the computer typing so much for work, that I often have no steam left for much else. Maybe I just start talking to the computer and it can type for me.. that's a thing, right? Anyway... A few weeks ago, I did my third year in a row of doing  The Color Run Hershey  in the morning and  Rock N Glow 5k  in the evening. It never fails to be a fun (but tiring) day. This year, my ENTIRE family got to join us + a friend of my mom's who joined us last year too. To say I was thrilled that we got to do this is easily the understatement of the year. From my dad down to my not-quite 1 year old nephew, I think I can say we all had a nice time. We were supposed to do this last year.. however, the not-quite 1 year old, was not quite.. well. born yet!!! TCR Hershey  had some sweet props this year.. including this HUGE pineapple.. you know I had to get my picture Yea.. Needless to say.. fu...

Today I am joining a link up over at  Jonesin' for a Run  for Global Running day. For some reason, this year I am so much more excited for it.. maybe that's because I am off work and get to enjoy local events!!  So here's how this is going to go.. I am going to answer some questions and then I challenge you to do the same :) Why do you run? Initially I ran for the challenge. How far could I make it? Could I really complete a 5k? But now? It is SO much more. I have met some of the most incredible friends as part of the running community and this makes me feel so much more whole. It was like this part of my life wasn't complete until I entered the running world. It is stress relief, social, and a way to get out of the house and have major me time. How do you plan to celebrate National Running Day? Since I am posting this ON the day.. here is what I have done so far. I actually already ran 4 miles earlier in downtown Harrisburg with a super awesome group of ...

If you follow me on instagram , you have seen the blow by blow of my workouts over the past few months and how excited I was for this race hopeful for a super sweet PR and sub 2 hour time. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened for me. Let start from the beginning.  Friday, we arrived in OCMD around 7pm and I got my packet. I promptly had to get my feet in the sand and get a nice picture too. It was chilly and windy for sure, but I didn't care. Next stop was Grotto's Pizza, but I was so hungry/hangry that I failed to take a picture. From there, we checked in to  Days Inn oceanfront  which if I ever visit again, it would be too soon. The floors were dirty, there was mold in our bathroom, among other things. There was this huge group that arrived around 10 pm Friday night which kept us up all night. We decided quickly that we would NOT be staying there another night. The group was possibly college age and were completely disrespectful to anyone ...