The Marathon.

'Hey barefoot guy, need some shoes?'

If you ever want a pick me up, some motivation...or to just completely restore your faith in humanity, go to a marathon, a triathlon, an ultra. You meet the most incredible people.

Sunday, May 5th meant it was time for the Pittsburgh marathon. This meant getting up at 4am so we could get downtown before the sun made an appearance, and me taking a nap in a parking garage for two hours because Ashley doesn't particularly care to be awake at that time of day.

Last year my Darling ran the race in about three and a half hours. That was when he was hoping to run it in four hours and he took a break half way through to drink a beer. This year he decided he'd run it hard and PR (personal record). He hoped for 3:20, maybe even 3:18 if he got lucky. Now as incredible and impressive as all of that is, it's not the point I'm trying to make with this post. When I was still waiting at the finish line and 3:30 went by, then 4:00 and he still wasn't there, I was wondering what the heck happened.

His friends and I tried tracking him, but all we found was that his timing dropped off halfway through the race. Then my phone rang from a number I didn't recognize. I answered to find my Darling on the other end, saying he had some problems but only had five miles left. About thirty minutes later (and five hours into the race), we see him practically sprint across the finish line, looking completely unscathed, in a brand new pair of running shoes.

For some reason, that neither myself or his cross country friends can comprehend, my Darling decided running the marathon in his cross country shoes would be a good idea, and maybe it was...until mile thirteen. By then his feet were so messed up he had blisters on his toes. He realized he couldn't finish in those shoes, took them off and trekked on for another two miles. That's when another guy running the marathon said, 'Hey barefoot guy, need some shoes?' The kid lived close by, pulled out his cell phone and made a call. Moments later his mom met my Darling on the street with three brand new pairs of running shoes, asked "What's your size?" and handed him a pair so my Darling could finish the marathon.

These days all you have to do is turn on the news and it's pretty easy to become bitter or always expect the worst. My grandmother doesn't turn it on anymore except to watch the weather, and I don't blame her. Don't get me wrong it's good to know what's going on in the world. We shouldn't bury our heads in the sand, but it sure would be nice if there was more promotion of positivity.

What happened with the kid, the mom and the shoes? We have no idea of their phone number or where they actually live. We have no clue how to give them their shoes back. So if you know a kid named Sam who lives around mile 15 of the Pittsburgh marathon route, we owe him a pair of running shoes...

30 by 30: My 27th Birthday Update

Earlier this year I made a post listing 30 things I wanted to do by the time I turned 30. With the recent passing of my 27th birthday, I thought it'd be a good idea to update the list, seeing what I've accomplished in the last few months...

1. Participate in 6 craft fairs with my crochet stuff
   I've done one craft fair. It wasn't very successful, but I did manage to come out in the green.
2. Don't let others get me down and remember this every day, "You is kind, You is smart, You is important"
   This one is still hard, but I'm working on it every day.
3. Read 30 new books (yes Sabrina I stole this)
   I've read 4 new books so far, and I've got 2 others started. (Damn you Harry Potter for trapping me in and making me want to reread you. You don't count!)
4. Remember the little things and don't fight over money
   Another continuous effort, but significantly easier than #2.
5. Learn Italian or Spanish
6. Get 10,000 fans on my Facebook model page
   I haven't worked on this much, seeing as my modeling is at a hiatus, but I am up to a little over 1200 fans.
7. Run a marathon
   I was halfway through training last spring and had to quit. A later blog post will reveal those details.
8. Remember to send out birthday/anniversary cards to my family/closest friends without them being late
   I've actually done a pretty good job of this one. I've sent out more than I ever have, and only one or two have actually been late.
9. Join a crochet/scrapbook/women's group (or 2) here in PA
10. Continue learning how to fix my '71 Camaro by myself
    I learned how to fix the secondary fan attached to my radiator and I will soon be learning how to touch up small paint chips and surface rust.
11. Reach 300 blog followers
    So far I have increased my followers from 3 to a whopping 8, but with so little blog activity, that's not surprising.
12. Have an official date night at least twice a month
    We have an official date night once a week!
13. Fill the 4 journals I have sitting on my bookcase
    I'm half way through the first one; my journaling took a vacation around the same time my blogging did.
14. Crochet 4 afghans
    I've finished two afghans, and am over halfway through with my third. I've also done a 3x3 baby blanket.
15. Be old fashioned "pen pals" with my Grandma and Sabrina
    I continue to do this.
16. Build a clientel for my hair styling work
    Still working on this one, but as long as I'm a stylist, there's always room for my book to grow. I'm off to a good start.
17. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or nursing home
18. Take enough pictures to fill my two Christmas/Winter scrapbooks
19. Finish Grandma Molly's memorial scrapbook album
20. Remember to take photos with Nate, friends and family year round so I can scrapbook our memories
    Got my camera charger back from Oklahoma, and have been doing better for vacations, but not smaller events. Of course this means I need to pull my scrapbook stuff out of the closet...
21. Start my own racing scrapbook
22. Reread Writing Down the Bones and follow her suggestions for writing topics in my journals
    I've got my own copy, and started...
23. Remember to share good news, not just the bad news
    This I've gotten much, much better at doing.
24. Get some legitimate, paid modeling work
    I've had a several offers for around Christmas!
25. Sign up for 30 modeling contests
    I signed up for three. I didn't win them, but on a different note,  I have been published in a magazine! That is definitely better than a contest :)
26. Attend pilates or yoga classes
27. Run the NYC marathon
    Maybe in 2014?
28. Take a cake decorating class
    Honestly not sure if I still want to do this one. I might need to come up with something new.
29. Take up ballroom dance lessons again
30. Visit the top 10 places to go in Pennsylvania as listed here: http://midatlantic.choicehotels.com/pennsylvania-hotels/top10attractions
    I've only hit one place on this list: Falling Water, but I've also been to Kentuck Knob (Frank Lloyd Wright's second house in the same area). While I didn't get to Kennywood, I was able to make a trip over to Sandcastle, the water couterpart.

Of course some of these things will never be finished. They are continuous works in progress, but everyone should have a few guidelines in their life. What are some of your goals? Are they bucket lists or things to do before a certain milestone?

One Training Day at a Time

I walked 5.25 miles today. I'm not mad, I don't want to scream, I'm not going to cry, but I'm pretty disappointed.

I've always wanted to be a runner. There's no real rhyme or reason. I just thought it would help clear my head, keep me in shape since I've always considered myself athletically challenged, bring more peace into my life. Maybe that's my rhyme and my reason.

Not only did I want to run I wanted to do a marathon. Not a 5K, not a half marathon, a full one. So at 3am one day last September I started running. I really wanted to do the OKC Memorial marathon. I've always wanted to do that run. Then I moved to Pittsburgh, so I decided their marathon would be ok. It'd give me more time to train anyway.

I rejoined a gym at the beginning of the new year and for someone who's entire athletic training could previously be summed up in one semester of Pilates during college, I think I've done a pretty good job so far. I even got up to 12 miles in less than 2.5 hours. That was the middle of February and the height of my training. It was hard, but going great. I had previously set a very achievable goal of doing the marathon in five hours. After that 12 miler I knew I could do it in 4.5 if I really wanted. Except when I tried to run 13.1 miles two weeks later my ankle was really bothering me. Not normal training aches and pains, but an actual 'I've got to take a break from running for a while this hurts so bad' sort of pain.

At first I was really upset, but then realized I could do the eliptical and bike in the meantime; work on muscles that would benefit my running. But when I was still in pain two weeks later while doing short runs I really hit a wall and I've had a terrible time trying to climb over it since.

The last two weeks have been a little bit better. It was too late to continue with the Hal Higdon's plan I was previously using because it would put too much strain on things that are still trying to heal. So instead of 3 medium runs during the week and a long run on the weekend per the previous plan, I decided to do the 1.75 mile loop around the neighborhood once a day six days a week to keep things loose and really focus on just getting through the long run on the weekend. Supposedly you can do a marathon even if you only do one long run a week. Your time won't be stellar, but you can get through it.

I'm not giving up. I don't want to throw in the towel. I'm still going to show up at the race. I'm still going to run or jog or walk when that gun fires off to signal the start. I don't know if I'll be able to finish, but what I do know is that I can't go any farther than my legs, or knees, of ankles will let me. I know that it'll still be an attempt at something most of my friends haven't even tried.

So I'm not mad, and I won't be mad if I don't finish. I will be disappointed, but disappointment after a valiant effort is a lot better than the anger I'd feel from not trying.

Blog Titles and Updates

I had previously mentioned having trouble thinking of how to focus my blog. At one point I thought it'd be neat to talk about the struggles and benefits of being a military (Navy) girlfriend, but seeing as how my darling Nate is taking a little break from that to go to school, there's not much to write at the moment. I'd love to have a modeling blog like one of my favorites, Ulorin Vex, but work seems to be few and far between right now. I have been trying to be a successful hairstylist for a while....and I'm training for my first big race, a marathon...so the notion behind my blog title is that you have to do everything one at a time, like the sayings one step at a time or one day at a time. Only for me it's taking everything one photo, one mile, and one haircut at a time when the big picture seems daunting and success seems far away.

I finally got a job in a salon. Apparently getting a job up here is like winning the lottery: it's really hard to do, hardly happens, and a lot of it is luck. The girls are nice and it's just down the street from Nate's parents' house. I'm only an assistent at the moment, which feels like a huge step backwards, but I think it'll be worth it in the end.

My marathon training has been put on hold for the moment. After my 12 mile run the other day my ankle started hurting. I only did about half my scheduled training last week and it hurt worse this week, so nothing there. I'm bummed about it, but I think I'll probably hit the gym tomorrow and try the elliptical or bike so there isn't as much strain or stress on my joints, but I'm still working my muscles. It's a weird feeling training 3 or 4 times a week and then having a week off. Anyone that knows me or has seen my modeling photos knows I'm anything besides overweight, but I feel icky not going to get some physical activity. Besides the PA marathon is May 6th and I'm running out of training time. It's hard to believe I only started seriously running in October and I just did 12 miles two weeks ago...