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Monday, September 9, 2013

Paint-Splattered 5K Finisher

YOU GUYS!!! I ran my first 5K last weekend!! I've been training for this for the past nine weeks of the summer, by running "longer" distances three times a week, and just one mile two times a week, meaning I ran at least five days a week. I got up at 6 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in order to follow Hal Higdon's 5K novice training plan, and ran before work three times a week. It was not always fun, and sometimes I hated it - but obviously I'm so glad I did it, and completed a huge accomplishment for me!!

For my 25th birthday, I created a 30 Before 30 list, and I had included "Complete a 5K." I had every intention of doing that, I just didn't know that it would get done before my next birthday! So now I get to cross that off my list! Oh, and for my summer bucket list, I get to cross off "train for a 5K," now that I completed my training plan and the actual race itself!

I had only run the actual 5K distance about two or maybe three times before the race, but I knew all along that I wanted my goal to be under 40 minutes for the race. My couple of training runs had come in under that time, so I was pretty sure I could do it on race day as well...


My wonderful fiance, amazing parents, and sweet Granddaddy all came to support me in my first race. And then my awesome aunt and uncle surprised me and showed up too! I had such a fantastic cheering section! They were at the starting line, then they walked up to one of the color stations, and then found a new spot at the finish line, so I saw all of them three times on my run. It was such a great feeling running past them, while they screamed and cheered and clapped, and of course took pictures. It was like my own little fan club and paparazzi! 


What I didn't take into consideration in my training though, was that it was going to much hotter from 9-10 a.m. during the race, as opposed to 6-7 a.m. when I usually ran. And it. was. super. hot. So hot in fact, that at one point, I had pretty much given up on thinking I could finish in under 40 minutes. My goal changed to "Just finish, Halez - just finish." 

The other tricky thing was that I didn't have my phone with me, mapping my distance. I was afraid it might get messed up, so I didn't keep it on me like usual. So I had no idea how far I had gone, since there were no mile-markers on the course. (At least none that I saw...) I did however wear my Polar heart rate monitor and watch though, so I could time myself. So I was burning up, and had no idea how much was left, but I kept on trucking. And when I hit that last color station around 35 or 36 minutes, I kicked it up a notch, and ran the rest of the way, just hoping it wasn't too much further.

Once I realized how close I actually was, I picked up my speed just a little bit more, and as I crossed under the finish banner, I stopped the timer on my watch as fast as I could. And to my astonishment, I then looked down, and saw I had made it in 38:45!!!!


I finished the race with a fair amount of color on me. Not really much at all. But then I went over to the stage for one of the celebratory color parties, and that's when things got crazy. We all counted down, then we each threw a color packet up in the air, and danced and jumped around in a colorful powdered haze for a few minutes. And it was so much freaking fun! When I returned back to where my family was waiting for me, my Mama kinda shrieked and laughed a little, and immediately got the camera back out. Because after this awesomeness below, I came back looking like this.....

Check out the sweat-concentrated areas around my lips. That's just lovely, right?!

Then I had Jeff follow me around for a little bit, being my personal race-day-photographer, snapping all kinds of pictures here and there. What a great future husband I have :) He got an awesome one of me jumping up in the air with the color party happening behind me, but some large woman decided to get all up in my way, so she ruined it. Jeff's going to Photoshop her right on outta there though, and then I'll share that awesomeness with y'all. 


This was something that even just a year ago I wouldn't have thought I would even try, nonetheless actually finish. And hello - not only did I finish, but I actually had fun too! I am honestly just so stinking proud of myself. I've always hated running, but crazy something happened in February, and I just gave it a try one day. Now, just a little over six months later, I ran my first 5K, and I would actually call myself a bit of a runner. What kind of craziness is this?!

This was a great first race for me to do, because it's kind of given me a little bit of a taste to try out more now. I think if I do find other races to run, they'll need to be sometime fun or different or unique - not just a boring, serious race. I've heard rumors that The Color Run will be back in Tally in March, and if that's true, I'm signing up faster than you can imagine. It was a blast, and I would love to do it again!

Much Colorful Love,
Halie


Oh, and P.S. - I also painted my nails kinda cool for The Color Run. I tried out a new tutorial for paint-splatter nails, and it turned out pretty decent. It's not my favorite mani I've ever done, but I didn't hate it. And it started growing on me even more as I wore it. I think I might try it again, but just with only two colors, instead of six. But for this super colorful event, six colors was absolutely necessary.


P.P.S. - I'm linking up with Glitter & Gloss for Mani Monday, and Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Shenanigans!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Precious Little Turquoise House!!

If y'all haven't noticed, I've been a bit M.I.A. from the blogosphere the last couple of weeks. And it's been quite refreshing. I mean, planning a wedding and moving into a new house takes a lot of time and energy.... and yes, I did just say moving into a new house!! Jeff and I finally found a perfect little rental house for the first year of our marriage, and so I'm here today very quickly to share that with y'all, at the request of my dear friend, Angie :)

Our house is a cute little 2/1, with a front porch, and a side deck, and a non-working, cute little fireplace. It was built sometime in the early 1900's, although we don't actually know when. The owner claims that it was even a speakeasy at some point during the Prohibition Era! How crazy awesome is that?! And get ready to be shocked, because it's a very bright color. But it's just so ME, and I actually love it! I don't think I would ever choose to paint my house this color if I owned it, but I actually really like it the way it is right now, and can totally handle it for our rental house.

It has two front doors, because it was originally built to be a duplex.

And now for some photos of the inside. Keep in mind we took these the day we first went to go check it out, so it's basically completely empty, with the exception of the tools and supplies of the property manager, who was still doing some touch-up work on it...

Living room, with "other" bedroom behind it. (This will be craft room/office/twins' room when they visit)
Other corner of the living room, with my car through the window :)
Through that doorway is "our" bedroom, and the doorway behind that leads to the closet & bathroom.
Our bedroom, closet/hallway thing, and bathroom in the back.
Other side of our bedroom.
Our closet.
Laundry room/mud room that is next to the bathroom, & behind the "other" bedroom.
View from the laundry room, through the "other" bedroom,  to the living room.
This is (most likely) the original window hardware from the early 1900's!
Cute little (non-working) fireplace - can't wait to decorate this all cute for fall with pumpkins and stuff!
Panoramic of living room and half of kitchen. Oh, and I love those built-in bookcases!!
We got Jeff all moved in this past weekend, well for the most part anyways, and then I'll be moving in after we get married! (Which is now just 31 days away! Holy stinking moly!) Things are still crazy and all over the place, and nowhere near finished, but it's so cute and I love it, and we're having fun so far. Can't wait 'til I get to leave here too! :)

Thanks to my Uncle Keith for letting us borrow his big ole' truck to bring everything in!


(Sorry for the crappy, nighttime iPhone quality of the next few pictures....)
There's no pantry, so Jeff put a back on one of my bookshelves, and we turned it into a pantry!
Hand-me-down table and chairs that we're going to fix up. Probably going to have multi-colored chairs!
Little bookshelf pantry :) We might eventually put curtains on the front to keep it neat.
Panoramic view of the kitchen.
In a few months, I'll of course share another post with updated pictures once we start getting more settled! I can't wait to add cute little touches all over the place, and really make it our own! For now though, we're still working on basics like a couch and getting internet. But at least we finally have our own place! The bright turquoise color is actually pretty awesome, and the inside is super cute as well. I love older houses, and this one has plenty of charm and character.

So glad we found this cute little place of ours!

Much Love,
Halie