Accountability Monday: 8/28/2017

Good morning and welcome to fall semester 2017! 😜

For those of you in college or with a kid in college or who work at a college, the end of August marks the beginning of a new academic year. For me, this means I worked a crazy amount of hours over the last week and weekend as we welcomed in a new class of first-year students. I am thankful the semester officially starts today and I will soon get into a routine with regular work hours.

Training
Friday: 10 miles, 2:07:03, 12:42 overall pace
Saturday: 3.36 miles, 39:31, 11:47 overall pace
Sunday: Runner's World Core Workout

Holy shit, friends. That RW Core Workout is NO JOKE!  I like to think I'm reasonably in shape (I mean, I ran 13 miles this weekend!) but this 20 minute routine had me feeling like I'd never worked out in my life. That means it's working, right?!

Best Run
Friday night's 10 miles were solid. Really, truly, solid. The weather was perfect and the trail was absolutely beautiful. I felt strong and healthy, unlike how I've felt most of this summer. Here's hoping this is a good omen for fall racing season.

Ten date night miles with the hubs. Felt 💯 times better than last weeks' long run. 🌅🌾🏃

A post shared by Sarah (@sparklyrunner) on Aug 25, 2017 at 7:19pm PDT

Bravo Moment
Through all the activities at work this weekend, with lots of access to college campus food (cookies, brownies, and long hours on my feet, I stuck to my food plan and only ended up -5 with weekly Smart Points. Oh yeah, and I ran 10 freaking miles on a Friday night before a 14 hour Saturday at work! 😎

Quote of the Week
Man, this one speaks to me on so many levels. I feel like sometimes I wait too long to take advantage of opportunities and my "ship" leaves without me. So this week, let's just get to swimming. 👊

Also, congratulations to Tammy S. for winning my Runner's World Half & Festival race entry giveaway! Don't forget, you can save 10% on any race registration by using the code "SPARKLYRUNNER" at check out. Hope to see you on the race course in October!


Have a great week, friends!

Accountability Monday: 8/21/17

Good morning, friends! I hope you had a great weekend full of all the things you love!

The end of August always is a very hectic time for me at work- all our students return on Wednesday so this week/weekend is full of planning welcome events and then executing them.

The end of August is also a very celebrative time as Matthew's birthday is tomorrow! And this year's he's celebrating a very special year... he'll be 40 years young in just a few hours :-)

Happy birthday, Matthew!

Training
Tuesday: 30 minutes, 2.42 miles
Friday: Squats, lunges, and dead lifts per this workout from Women's Running- 2 sets of 10 reps each
Saturday: 7 miles on the trail, 1:32:16, 13:10 pace with negative splits

So maybe doing squats and lunges the night before running the longest you've run in three months isn't the greatest idea? Yeah, I've been struggling to sit down/stand up for two days. LOL.

Best Run
Even though my quads were trashed, and sometimes I felt like death, Saturday's long run was still awesome. I've got nine miles on tap for this weekend- but this time I won't do any squats the night before. :-)

Bravo Moment
I ran the last mile of Saturday's long run in my sports bra because it was 80 damn degrees outside and we were running in full sun. I was a little self-conscious as I don't have the typical "runner's body" of someone who might be comfortable running in just a sports bra in public. But like I said, it was so damn hot that I got over my fear and just went for it. And it was much, much cooler without my tank!

Quote of the Week
This really resonated with me this week. Part of being more mindful is accepting where I am, rather than where I "used" to be- and if I'm currently in the midst of the "struggle" then maybe I need to accept it, learn from it, and help it motivate me to be where I want to be.

Don't forget! You can still enter my giveaway to get a FREE race entry to the Runner's World Half & Festival! The giveaway runs until 8/23 and you can tweet every day to get more entries! 

RW Half & Festival: Come Run With Me!

The Runner's World Half & Festival holds a very, very special place in my heart. The beautiful city of Bethlehem, the changing leaves and perfect running weather in October, the super cool expo speakers, the opportunity to meet and run with editors from Runner's World...  it all adds up to one awesome running weekend.

Photo credit: Runner's World

But I've actually never even run any of the races during the RW Half & Festival Weekend! So, how can I love a race so much when I've never crossed the starting line? Let's rewind to October 2014....

If you've been a long-time reader of this blog, then you know I suffered a second metatarsal stress fracture in September 2014 and was on a knee scooter/non-weight bearing for seven long, torturous weeks. I missed several races that fall and winter- one of which was the "Hat Trick" at RW Half & Festival. I was supposed to run the 5k and 10k on Saturday and then the half on Sunday. Instead, I found myself cheering on lots of friends, volunteering at the expo, and stalking Bart Yasso all weekend 😊

And I had an AWESOME time! Even though I couldn't run, I still got to chat with Runner's World editors/staff, hang out in between races with friends, and just enjoy the atmosphere of a weekend catered to runners of all levels.

We met Mandy for the first time this weekend!

Then in 2015, I returned to Bethlehem, not to run, but to cheer on several runners/friends that were in town to run the race. The steel stacks are only two hours from my home so I couldn't not make the trip to see Dani (Weight Off My Shoulders), Linzie (Sharp Endurance), Jenna (This Princess Runs For Sparkle) and Kristin (Bama Girl Runs) who had traveled from all over the country/state for the races!

❤❤❤

So, is it any surprise that I am SO EXCITED to head back to Bethlehem this fall and actually get to run the "Grand Slam" as part of the RW Half & Festival Run Crew?! I literally cannot wait!

I'll be running all the races during the weekend (minus the Kids Race and the Dog Run): a 3.8 mile trail race on Friday, 5k and 10k on Saturday, and the half marathon on Sunday.

Want to join me for one of the best race weekends on the east coast??

The awesomely generous folks at Runner's World have given me one FREE RACE ENTRY for any of the weekend's events to giveaway to one lucky blog reader! See details below for your chance to win!

Giveaway Rules: This giveaway will run until 8/23/17 at midnight. At that time, rafflecopter randomly selects a winner from all the entries. The more points you accumulate, the more entries you can get- make sure to tweet about the giveaway every day to get more chances to win!

I will contact the winner on 8/23/17 by email and will give a two day window to respond/claim the prize. If I have not heard from the winner by midnight on 8/25/17, I will draw another name/winner from the rafflecopter list.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


If you don't happen to win the free entry, you can still get a 10% discount on any of the weekend's races by using the code "SPARKLYRUNNER" at checkout. 



Good luck and see you in Bethlehem!

Accountability Monday: 8/14/17

Hola, friends! I am so excited to post this morning because I can finally share some awesome news that I received a few weeks ago- read on to find out how this benefits YOU!

Training
Wednesday: 3.1 miles, 12:41 pace
Saturday: 3.1 miles, 12:10 pace

This week, I finally was able to start running again with no issues from the pneumonia. It has been about seven weeks since I have been able to run consistently without any chest pain or coughing. Since there are only three weeks (!) until the Harrisburg Half Marathon, I'm going to have to really compress my training into the time I have left. I'm planning a seven miler this weekend, a nine miler the following weekend, and then a five miler the following weekend. Luckily, the Harrisburg Half is a walker-friendly race so I'll be able to run some of the race and walk when and as much as I need.

Best Run
Definitely the run on Saturday morning with Matthew. I felt really strong and even managed a sub-12 minute mile in there. Slowly I'll get back to pre-pneumonia shape. :-)

Saturday morning 5k with my love. 4 weeks until #harrisburghalf and 10 weeks until #rwhalf. Time to get to work!

A post shared by Sarah (@sparklyrunner) on Aug 12, 2017 at 8:52am PDT

Bravo Moment
Ok, so here's the news I've been waiting to share- I've been selected to be part of the Runner's World Half Marathon Run Crew!!!

So, what's the big deal? In addition to a whole host of goodies, giveaways, and exclusive opportunities during the Runner's World Half & Festival Weekend, the awesome folks at Runner's World have extended the generosity and are giving you some cool stuff as well!

More details will be coming in a post this week, but in short, I've got a 10% discount code for you to register for the event (use "SPARKLYRUNNER" at checkout), a FREE race registration for one lucky follower, and an extra RW Half & Festival Swag Bag (worth $100+) to give away!

Seriously, how cool is that?! I can't wait to tell you more about the Run Crew program and why I'm so excited to be headed back to Bethlehem this October.

Quote of the Week
Because I'm super pumped to see him again at RW's Half & Festival, here's a good one by the "Mayor of Running" himself, Bart Yasso.

Make it a good week, friends!

Who will I see in Bethlehem this fall for the Runner's World Half & Festival?

[Mostly] Wordless Wednesday

Got my CT scan results back... and I'm back on another round of antibiotics.
Fingers crossed this will cure the pneumonia once and for all. 

Congratulations to Sarah P. winner of the Disney quote medal holder giveaway!

New shoes 💖💖💖

Woo! I made it on the Top 100 Running Blog list again this week!

Drinks with dinner tonight because we have something super cool and running-related to celebrate- details coming soon!