Last race before my wedding.

42 days until I'm hitched to the love of my life. Wow. We started dating when we were 13. He's by far, my best friend ever (other than my twin sister). In the past 10 years he's made it to almost every dance recital, completion, softball game, soccer game, football game when I was a majorette, and race. He's so supportive and loving. I honestly don't know how I got so lucky. It takes love to stand alone in the middle of 100,000 people to try to watch someone run 13.1 miles when it took me over 2 hours to do. True love. Enough of that. 

Wednesday I ran my last race before our wedding. I was supposed to run the Rock 'n' Roll half in Pittsburgh, but due to certain circumstances it was canceled and we got our money back. I decided I was going to run this race on the 4th of July. All of my CrossFit friends were doing it so I was peer pressured into it. Lots of hills and beer at the end. Totally worth $20 if you ask me. I went to packet pick up on Tuesday to register. Got my shirt, got my beer mug, ready to go. 

Since I've been so busy with CrossFit and work, I haven't been running like I should. Tuesday was a terrible day and night for my lungs. I woke up in the middle of the night having and asthma/eczema attack. It was so humid and hard to breathe.  I was totally scratching my skin like a crack head. It was terrible. Once I got back to sleep, there wasn't much time before I had to be up for work and then the race. 

After work I changed and tried to find my way. I was told that this race had a lot of hills so I was already nervous since I had to do breathing treatments all week. There was also a big storm warning before hand but they went along with the race anyways. Since the sky was already black when it started I didn't wear my Garmin or take my phone. I wanted to see how I did without everything since the last time I PRed I didn't have anything either. 

The race

They weren't joking when they said that the first mile and a half was a hill. 3 or 4 hills actually. Completely up hill. I'm not going to lie, I did have to walk a lot of it. You know what though? I'm okay with that. I learned from this race that not every race is going to be wonderful. I usually finish under 30 minutes and this race was over 34. I'll take it. It doesn't matter how fast you run, runners don't care how fast other runners run. Just as long as they run. At about two and half miles it started storming. Thunder, lightening, everything. Just so it's clear for future reference, one of my biggest fears are thunder storms. Another fear is getting stuck in thunder storms.  The spectators were awesome though. Everyone yelled and cheered us on from their porches. I love running because everyone is so supportive. 

Once the race was over I met my mom, (this was my first race that she ever made it too) and my fiancé at the local bar for my beer and wings. I changed out of my soaking wet clothes, of course.  The bar was packed with all the runners so we ate our food and headed home. 

Fitness tip of the day: Don't stress yourself over numbers or how you do. Work on having fun and feeling better about yourself. Honestly, no one cares how you do. If they care that much, then they are focusing on the wrong aspects. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fourth of July festivities.

This past weekend was my first 4 day weekend ever! It was so nice. I made sure that I kept my weekend full and tried to eat as healthy as I could. I still ate a little more sweets than usual but it was a wonderful weekend. It was so nice to have a break and relax for once. Here was my weekend start:

Wednesday night

CrossFit class was brutal! I think any workout including bear crawls are my least favorite. 

Thursday

I ran 3 miles with one of my childhood friends on the bike trail. Afterwards I went to my family's house for a picnic to swim and relax. 

Friday

Adam and I went and walked around the local arts festival for about three hours. It's wrapped around two lakes so when we go we always make sure to walk around at least once. I've never timed it but I've been told if you go around it the "right" way, it's 3 miles. Later on in the evening we had friends over for a cookout. 

Saturday

Adam and I met some of our friends and went to my first farmer's market! It was great! I bought fresh green beans, 2 loaves of bread, almond butter, and Adam bought a cupcake for himself. Afterwards, we pick up our dryer (it was a gift from our wedding shower. We just never got around to getting it) Later, we went swimming at our family's house again. 

Sunday

Sunday wasn't a great day. My asthma was acting up and I needed to do two breathing treatments. (Not fun!) I met my sister for coffee and finished my thank you cards from my wedding shower. After spending close to 4 hours with my sister, I went home and Adam and I wrote out our wedding invitations. 

I had a wonderful weekend, minus the lung issues. I was defiantly ready to go back to work Monday morning though. I ate a little more than I probably should have and some extra sweets but guess what?! I didn't get fat or lose my muscle. It doesn't hurt to take a break and eat what you want. It was a nice break but I'm glad to be back into my normal swing of things and routine. 

Fun fact:

My favorite "festival food" are gyros. I could eat them every day and not get sick of them.

What's your favorite holiday or festival food?