Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon

Crossing the finish line at Historic Half Marathon, Fredericksburg, VA 2012

On Sunday May 20, 2012 I ran my first half marathon.  And I ran it with 6000 other people. 

It was sunny and the temperature was perfect.  The first eight miles went by easy-peasy and then the fatigue (aka "the beast") set in.  Afterwards, my health-nut gym friends would ask me, "How did you push through it?"  I just did.  I cannot explain it.  I was unhealthy for so long and I was finally doing things right and I just knew I could do it.  I guess I just "embraced the beast".  If you've read Born To Run by Christopher McDougall (if you haven't, go get it today), you remember Ann Trason and Scott Jurek talk about "the beast" and how you have to welcome it and embrace it, to overcome it.  Its completely true.  I just said "hi fatigue, kiss my ass".  I did.  I was going to finish this race.

This course had many many many hills and most of them we were running UP, not DOWN.  It was challenging to say the least, but I tackled each hill small, large and extra large and accomplished it.  I finished all 13.1 miles and beat my goal and that is more than I could have asked for.

I would only do two things differently.  First, I would train more.  I don't think I personally, could not have over trained for this race.  Secondly, I would have paid better attention to nutrition, mainly fueling up correctly pre- and post- race.   I was severely dehydrated when I crossed the finish line (although you can't tell by my picture*).  My lower calves were cramped up as well as my fascia, which had my toes curling under as early as mile 11.  But I busted right through it, and would totally do it again. 

Most importantly, I crossed a half marathon off my bucket list/new years resolutions.  My full marathon is next and will be in March 2013.  I am on my way, folks!

Happy Running!

Mallorie

* By God I was going to get a good picture out of this race from MarathonFoto so I HAD to put my game-face on every time I saw one of their photogs!

Vacation Week

I was in Hilton Head Island with my sweet family this past week. We made some great memories with our three wonderful boys.

I did however manage to get some miles in and some serious bootcamp work.  The bootcamp work happened on the beach and it was exhilarating.  I had some workout partners and a very cute little lifeguard as company so it was fabulous.

I did eat my weight in crab legs and imbibe in some tasty libations all week so I will be getting right back to my training (and more) on Monday.  Since I have been following this semi-Vegan diet my body has been running like a fine tuned machine.  One night, I ingested fried chicken, mac and cheese and buttered biscuits for dinner; my body shut down and suffered.  It was really straining itself to digest that meal and I felt awful.  However, I'm back to my healthy lifestyle.

Hope you all had a great week.  I'll resume my weekly posts about my training and body results next weekend.  I didn't find it fair to post anything after that lavish vacation....

Happy Running!

Mallorie

Healthy Dinner: Quinoa

I am trying to eat a certain diet, so that I might improve my running.  This means going Vegan, but that AIN'T NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.  I am making some compromises.  This is what I am having for dinner tonight:

Quinoa
Corn
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Avocado
Onions
Peppers
Salt and Pepper

Wrapping it all up in a Boston premium lettuce leaf!  I think it is better served chilled!

You can also add tofu if you want.

I cannot and WILL NOT give up cheese.  So veganism doesn't work for me, but it is a great diet for long distance runners.

Happy Running!

Mallorie

Turning 35!

I look forward to my birthdays.  Not for reasons you might think.  It isn't what gift I can buy myself with the gift cards I'll get.  I look forward to my birthdays every year so I can reflect on what I've learned, my experiences, my relationships with others and my walk with God.  I like to take some good quality quiet time in the morning on my birthday and really think about the things I could have done differently and the goals I would like to set for myself, personally.

This year alone, I have met some really incredible and inspiring people.  You can read about a couple of them here.  Others include women in my community who inspired me to start a non profit.  You can read more about that here.  I stuck to my New Year's resolution of casting a wider net and forging lasting relationships with meaningful people.  I could not be more excited about the friends I've made in 2012. 

I found a church that is satisfying my spiritual needs in so many ways.  It has been a struggle for me for two reasons.  I have always felt totally disconnected from my home church, which I was a member of until my early twenties.  I couldn't give you any specific reason.  I just never felt a fulfilling relationship with anyone there, not even God.  It is a great church, but it just didn't satisfy me.  Secondly, since my Grandma Edna passed, it was just too hard to attend any church.  If there was one thing I could put my finger on that made her so special to me, its this: she spent my entire life worrying and fussing over my salvation.  It was special to me that she loved me so much.  Most of my memories of her are in the backyard at her home, or in the church.  Any time I would listen to a choir sing, go to Sunday school, or here any sermon, my heart would just hurt so badly, because I missed her so much.  Oh, I still tear up at church, especially at Easter, because it was her favorite.  But it is getting easier.  And the congregation at my new church would just come over and hug me if they saw me crying.  Which is AWESOME!  Most importantly, I feel closer to God than any other time in my life.  I actually want to glorify him.  I want to spread His amazing love to everyone.  I want to serve Him in any capacity.  I want to lead my life with Christ in it, and I want my son to have me as an example of faith, like I did with my Grandmother.

However, within this last year, there have been some mistakes.  I've snuck in a few bad habits I successfully gave up in the past.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, I smoked a few cigarettes.  My husband totally busted me, which was exactly what I needed.  If you truly know me, you KNOW I hate to disappoint people.  Especially those I love and care about.  I am working hard again to overcome that habit, and I am headed for success.

I want to stay committed to a healthy lifestyle and stay active.  I want to continue my walk in complete faith in Jesus Christ.  I want to continue to serve my community in any way I am able.  I have set some goals for my 36th year and they include (but are not limited to) registering for and running more races: 1/2 marathon, marathon and the Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim run.  I've started my non profit and will diligently work to get a charitable status through the government.  I am joining more than one group at my church to also serve.  I am also committing myself to instill in my son a want to serve his community humbly, when he is old enough.  And to serve his God.

Hope you all are having a happy Spring!  And a belated Happy Easter to you all!

Happy Running!

Mallorie

Who is Virginia Belle Running?

I am a thirty-something female who was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.  I was transplanted to the beautiful state of Virginia in 2002 when my dear husband accepted a job here.  I love Virginia.  Its beautiful.  The only state with mountains, beaches, wineries, and farmland!  Virginia has some amazing horse farms and I love horses.  I secretly hope we get to stay here for a long long time.  I love my community and feel really at home here.  And let me not fail to mention, Washington DC is just north and it has some fine running clubs!  Oh, and did you know Virginia is for Lovers?

First off, I am a mom.  I adore my son.  I brought him home from the hospital just over three years ago.  The first year was rough.  Really rough.  Everything from my marriage to my sanity was tested by this sweet little guy.  But it was all worth it.  Every mom knows how trying it is, but how worth it, it is.  But I am also a wife, a friend, a runner, a writer, a humorist and one generally happy lady.

After my son turned one, I was pushing 200 pounds, pre-diabetic, smoking almost a pack of cigarettes a day and depressed.  Why was I so depressed?  I had everything in the world I had longed for, for so many years.  I had the husband I had dreamed of since I was a teenager.  I finally, after years of fertility treatments, the baby I had longed for.  Simple answer: I was unhealthy.  And fat.  And unhealthy.  I could not walk up a flight of stairs without becoming winded.  How sad is that?

I started out at the gym three to four times a week with another mom-buddy of mine.  It was my chance to be somewhere completely for myself.  I got to talk to adults and exert some serious energy.  After a few months, it really became a habit.  A good habit.  I felt great.  So my next goal was to quit smoking.  I stopped smoking on May 17, 2010.  I have had some slip ups due to stress because I conditioned myself to deal with stress by lighting up.  I have to find another way to deal with stress, although its very little these days.  I continued going to the gym but increased my workouts to six days a week.  It works for me.  I am not a health nut.  I don't eat grains regularly and I don't brush my teeth with twigs.  I'm not a tree-huggin, grain eating yogi, but I'm healthier.  And I am learning how to eat better and treat my body better.  There is always new and ever changing information.  I am finding what is right for me.  I am happy and confident and healthy in a size 8.  I threw my scale out the window.  When I started working out at the gym I was  a size 16.  As far as I'm concerned, I am half my size.  In September 2010, I ran my first 5k and absolutely fell in love with running.  Especially running races.  Its competitive enough for me.  I like to compete with myself, not others.  I found it was a perfect fit.  And I had a very close friend by my side who also fell in love with running.  We have the most fun finding unique and fun races in the metro area.  I will be running my tenth race very soon.  I guess it is sort of a milestone for me.  I have done 8 5k races and one 10k race.  I start training for my first half marathon in January.

I am not only a runner as I am not only a mother.  I am a wife to a good man.  I grew up without a strong example of a marriage and as a result I was very picky when dating.  I did not take marriage lightly.  I certainly went through many jackasses (my twenties were my donkey years) before I found my perfect match.  My husband and I enjoy good wine, good food, and good friends.  He likes to play golf and sail.  We are very mellow people, until it comes to the University of Georgia and the University of Kentucky facing off in any sport.  That gets ugly between us.

I hope you found some good information here as to who I am.  I love to write and they say write what you know.  I know my life.  I know me.  And I would love to get to know you, too.  Feel free to leave your comments.

Happy Running!

Mal

Virginia Belle Running

This is my first blog post, as a test really. I have another blog that started out completely related to my son and doing fun things with him but I went on to include some topics that were just mom related, or wife related, or life related. So I wanted to start another blog for those other things here.

Thank you for stopping by. And I hope you enjoy the topics I have rumbling around in this head of mine. I'll cover everything, I'm pretty sure, from running to motherhood, to wife hood and beyond. I love to write and I seriously need the outlet.

Washington DC Hot Chocolate 15/5K

My awesome and fun
running buddy and BFF, Jennifer

We all know what a fiasco this was. I do not have to re-iterate all of the complaints being posted to facebook, yelp, active, and even the Better Business Bureau.

I would like to write about some positives for this race. But believe me, there is no credit due the race organizers for these pros.

First off. I got to spend some nice quality time with my best girlfriend and some of her friends. Which in turn, will probably become my friends in the future once we get to know each other better. You cant have too many friends, in my opinion. We're facebook friends already, so that means we are well on our way.

Me, post race.

Secondly, that quality time was spent without my trying three year old pulling on my clothes, running around screaming, knocking shit over, etc. It was nice and quiet adult conversation. With a few "motherfuckers" thrown in because my kid was no where close to repeat it. And I love that word.

Third, I got to go to a restaurant after the race. A grown up restaurant. Okay, it was a bar, but even better. I had two bloody marys and a beer. I can't do that with my kid around. Okay, I could but someone would surely call child services on me.

Did I mention we had mimosas in the parking deck after the race? That was fun. We toasted to ourselves for surviving our worst race ever.

Happy Running!

Mal