Oh, it’s been awhile…but all for good reason!

Let’s see if we can get organized here…

I last updated you in August, right before I headed off to Ragnar Relay.

Running Updates:

I completed Ragnar Relay – CO, you can check out Part I and Part II. After Ragnar, I have run a few races. I did the Skirt Chaser in Westminster. That was a BLAST, but I haven’t recapped that race yet. I will for sure!

At the end of August, I was the warm-up trainer for the Runapooloza, but didn’t get to run the actual race because I had to zip off to the Mutt Strut, the 5k that benefited the Arvada Cross country Team, whom I coach for.

That puts us into September, and as you saw, I did the Area 13.1.

Following that, I volunteered at the Patriot Day 5k and 10K for 3W Races. And finally, last weekend, I actually ran the Fall Priairie Dog Half with 3W and lets just say, it wasn’t a good race for me. The event was GREAT. My race was not. I will recap that soon.

Running – Training Updates:

I’m not sure if a lot of you know, but I WAS training for a marathon; pretty much for the whole year it feels like. It was a prolonged training plan for a few reasons. I was aiming for the Bismark Marathon which would have been last weekend but I had that crazy knee pain/injury stuff a few months ago. That combined with the fact that the friend I was also going to visit was having her family visit that same time – that just sounded too hectic to me. I then picked the Route 66 marathon, giving me some extra months to build up mileage again, but after running last weekend, I decided I am over it. I haven’t had a chance to collect all of my thoughts on this yet. But basically, I am NOT going to run the Route 66. This means I probably wont get any new states under my belt for 2014 nor marathon #2. I’m not really ok with this fact, but A) Finances have been extremely tight this year and B) my body is just too stressed from life that running wasn’t going well. Running was losing its fun. So, since I had won that Key West Half in January, I am going to shoot for a serious training plan and aim for getting a respectable time at that race! I like the idea of a short distance race right now. Training for that is much more manageable.

Career Updates:

A few new things to report here! I am still coaching Cross Country over at Arvada, and well, we wont get into that too much. Let’s just say the sports culture at that school is not what I would like it to be. But I do have a few kids that I’m rooting for – those that keep me coming back!

I am still doing a lot of promotional work. I did indeed work as Mr. Peanut at a Walmart convention…and it was a BLAST! I’m still waiting to receive those pictures. I picked up some regular gigs with Two Mom’s in the Raw (a local organic/granola company) as well as a ZumXR (an endurance athlete’s energy drink! You HAVE to try this stuff! You’ll understand where I get all my energy from). I want to tell you more about these companies in a future post!

The big thing to report: I have been hired as Personal Trainer and Running Coach at a new gym in Golden, CO called Novera Fitness. It literally just opened and is not a traditional gym. I can’t wait to actually start working there!

AND I have been working as a group exercise instructor at the City of Golden Rec center and have been officially hired as a personal trainer there as well!!! I’m really excited about this one – I really like working there! I already have a couple clients waiting for me!

In addition (yes, there’s MORE and yes, I am very busy but I like it and need the money), I started substitute teaching – as in at high schools! I have thought about using my Zoology degree to be a biology high school teacher, and I thought subbing would be a good way to see if I like it (plus, I make decent money doing it).

I think that’s all the jobs I have to report…It’s hard to keep track because I have so many! I would never survive without my planner. (oh yeah, I was also house/pet sitting a couple of weeks ago too)…

THE BEST UPDATE:

But the main reason I have been slacking a little in the blogging world is because….drum roll please…

I MOVED!!! I MOVED!!! I MOVED!

Depending how long you have been following this lovely blog, it has been a goal of mine to move out for a few years now and I have made a new year’s resolution to do so for a while. However, this last weekend, I finally made it happen! I was living at my family’s house in Denver since, well, pretty much college graduation (I’m 27 – don’t judge me!). The original goal was to save some money and get my own place. Due to some unfortunate bad luck with jobs and then a career change and more bad luck with jobs, I wasn’t able to do that.

There’s many reason why I wanted to get out of the house, none of which I would like to recap here, but the gist is that I just knew I would be less stressed and more comfortable on my own!

So, I moved out and to Golden, CO! I’ve only been here a week and I LOVE it. I mean, I’ve been working here since the beginning of the year and I have a few friends that lived in the area already, so I was pretty much hanging out in downtown Golden every weekend. PLUS, it cuts about a half hour of my drive to the mountains…Hello snowboarding season made easier!  But seriously, Golden is so awesome. The town is adorable and the people are so nice!

I have two very nice new roommates that I get along with very well. The idea of non-family roommates scared me at first. Through college I had a series of different roommates. Most of which did not work out what-so-ever. My last year in college I roomed with four crazy boys and it was the best situation and super fun, but I had no idea what to expect with trying to do the roommate thing again! I’ll keep you updated! But I’m sure it’ll be fantastic. We’re all pretty similar – at least very active and on the same page socially.

And that’s about it!

Whew. Pretty exhausting listing it all out!

LAST NOTE! 

A very good friend of mine is running the Chicago Marathon in a few weeks. She is raising money for Girls on the Run. Here is here story:

“Girls On the Run is a non-profit that empowers every girl to embrace who she is, to define who she wants to be, to rise to any challenge, and to change the world.