Running Roundup Brain Dump

I feel like I've been MIA for a long time.. my last post was at the beginning of June! So here's a little bit of a brain dump/life catch up to get myself back on track here. Enjoy a lot of pictures :)

As you may remember, I'm running Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th. I've been (very seriously) toying with the idea of running the Outer Banks Marathon 2 weeks later. I haven't made the commitment and signed up yet, but I'm about 98% sure I'm going through with it.

Got this long run in while on a weekend getaway in Raleigh 4th of July weekend!

So with 2 marathons on the horizon (current countdown to MCM is 94 days! Eek!) I've been running and training a lot. I've fallen in love with TRX and strength training, and I've been getting some muscle definition! Also, I can now do 3 pull ups on the pull up bar in my kitchen which I consider a huge accomplishment.

About a month ago I demoed the Brooks Adrenaline shoe and fell in love, buying a pair on the spot!

Since I last checked in, I've run the HumanKind 5K...

and Percival's Island 5 Miler. (Which was my fastest race pace EVER!!)

I reorganized my medal rack...

Signed up for a Spartan Super...

Jarvis has been up to his usual crazy antics (okay this has nothing to do with running. I just wanted to put him in here because he's adorable):

"Mom hello I'm more interesting than that book."

Actually, I take that back. He does have something to do with running! Lock Laces (which I have raved about before) held a photo contest on Instagram challenging people to enter pictures using the tag #MyLockLaces to show their laces in interesting places. This was my entry:

And guess what?! We won! The prize was a pair of running shoes (winner's choice) so of course I had to get another pair of the Brooks I fell in love with. They also put laces in the shoes and sent me a tech shirt and 2 new pairs of laces. I love this company!

Finally, the most recent thing I've done of note is a fun run last night that ended in ice cream! (Pardon the super gross sweaty selfie. It was unbearably hot!) We also got free Smartwool socks, which are amazing! I'm pretty sure the foot I tried it out on was the only dry part of me at the end of my run.

The absolute best thing that's happened since my last blog post is that I've finally really gotten plugged in to the running community here. Before graduation, I was never free to meet people or go to social events (it also didn't help that I was working 2 jobs and barely even had time to sleep). I LOVE my running crew. I've only been hanging with them for a few short weeks, but I feel like it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship. 

Running is awesome, but long runs by yourself really suck. I'm so thankful for my long run partner!

Until next time!