My biggest mistake, trying desperately & messiest spots.

Winter finally showed up around here.

I loved seeing a few snowflakes in Skye’s hair!

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Overall, I don’t think she was thrilled by the snow.

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Let’s get back to the beginning of the day:

Skye is trying desperately each morning to make Andrew a morning person… It’s almost working.  Almost.

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There was quite a bit of snow when I first woke up and I decided that the treadmill was a great idea for my run.

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I have a feeling that these bikes aren’t going to be used for at least a few days.

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Andrew and I got a new gym pass.  We went a few months without one and decided it was time to renew.  I really want to get to some yoga and strength classes and also use their weights so I’m glad we have a pass again.  I did 6 miles @ an 8:22 average pace with some hills thrown in there too with some weights afterwards.  It felt like it was 300 degrees in there but hopefully it is just going to get me ready for summer running.

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Andrew did his treadmill run at home while I was gone (PS I’m coaching him to run a PR at the Ogden 1/2 Marathon.. his current PR is 1:44)

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I did this move the other day and I am STILL sore from it.  Side kicks… I keep the elevated leg up and parallel to the ground and extend my leg straight and then bend it back (repeat 12 times for 3 sets on each leg) and boom… burns those glutes/hips so good.

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Ever had edamame right after your workout?  It’s a good idea if you ask me followed by some eggs and yogurt.

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For lunch I had a tuna fish sandwich with some red bell peppers thrown in there.  This sandwich was eaten while feeding Skye and I didn’t drop a crumb anywhere but on the plate.  I’m proud of this accomplishment.

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I really want one of these snow suits for me.  The girls and I went over to one of my best friend’s house to bring her lunch… she is having her baby boy any day now so we wanted to see her before things get crazy.

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And then it was time for gymnastics.  It’s quite incredible how much happiness a stamp or sticker brings to Brooke.  All of her practicing is already paying off.  While we are there they have a bunch of the older girls there practicing and oh my goodness, they are incredible!  It’s so fun to see people so passionate about their sport.  I also love watching them because it reminds me of how incredible our bodies are… they are amazing tools to do the things we love to do.

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Skye enjoyed watching Brooke too.

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For dinner we made pasta carbonara (with whole grain spiral noodles instead of linguine) and it hit the spot.

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Just happy to be held because heaven forbid we set her down for a few minutes;)

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Monday night = the Bachelor and this popcorn from Candice (she brought it back for us from Disneyland)!

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Random topic of the day (well, I have two random topics to talk about today)…  do you have a junk drawer?  We have one in our kitchen and within 48 hours of cleaning and organizing it, it ends up looking like this.  I cannot blame anybody but myself for this because I am the one that just slides anything in there when I don’t want to find a real place to put it.  My mom is not going to love this picture ha (clutter is her worst enemy).

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Speaking of clutter, Andrew does not like my desktop.  In my brain I NEED everything on that desktop and it is organized in a way that I need it but when Andrew sees it it makes him stressed out ha.

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I saw this quote the other day and I 100000% agree!  I’m kind of stubborn (ask Andrew, he will fully agree;) and instead of learning from somebody telling me something… sometimes I just really have to learn a lesson all on my own (usually the hard way… but I’m working on this ha;).  I was thinking about my biggest mistakes with running/training (the list goes on and on) and I would definitely say that it had to do with not fueling myself properly for my training (about 6-7 years ago).  It resulted in amenorrhea, stress fractures, a lot of time off of running, a lot of frustration, missing Boston and a lot of work to get healthy again.  It DEFINITELY taught me a lot and that I never wanted to do that again!  I’d love to hear about any of the mistakes you have made with your training and how you learned from it!

Other running lessons I learned via my own mistakes:

*ALWAYS double knot my laces before I start a race.

*Peanut butter before a race (that I’m really racing hard) is the worst idea.

*To train in a way that is best for me and avoid trying to mimic other people because we are all so different.

*EASY RUNS and recovery days are necessary!

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Do you have a junk drawer?  Where are some of the messiest places in your house?

What was one of your biggest mistakes with your running that taught you some really great lessons?

What type of computer do you use… is it pretty organized or a mess like mine?

What are your true feelings about snow?

-When I used to ski a lot I LOVED the snow so much but now… it’s not my favorite.

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52 comments

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Good morning!!! I have to say that I’m LOVING Skye’s little smile :)

No junk drawer per se, but I have my own “candy bag” that is kind of a junk drawer–all kinds of candy and my desserts that are MINE and not shared with anyone. I said to my husband yesterday that I wonder if all adults have their own candy bag. lol

Snow IS pretty when it first falls and is silent and peaceful. But, after that, it can just go away. I’m not a cold weather girl!!!!!

Andrew and I are similar in the 1/2 marathon. My PR is 1:41 and some change. I’m training to break/hit 1:40 in April. Fingers crossed that I stay healthy!!!!!! My big lessons in running are:

1. Eat enough to match training (hello femoral stress fracture 2 years ago)
2. Sleep and recovery are huge
3. DO WARM/HOT YOGA!!!!!! It’s helped my body AND MIND so so much. Last year I struggled with mental toughness, and I feel/hope I’ve made progress here. I really think the focus needed in hot yoga (esp Bikram-=ugh. ha ha) has helped me to toughen up!!!!
4. Strength
5. EASY RUNS I’m proud to say that I’m doing a good job with taking easy runs easy and not feeling embarrassed or guilty. This is my running, if anyone wants to judge me on Strava for running 9:00ish minute miles, well, they just can. ha ha ha

Have the best day, Janae!!!!! :)

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Thank you so much Jen for sharing your lessons… I need to get into warm/hot yoga, that sounds fabulous! I can’t wait to see you break 1:40 in April, you’ve got this Jen!

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Biggest mistake with running that taught me my best lesson: Give your body a BREAK!! Running every single day is not going to make you stronger and faster .. It’s just gonna make you burn out mentally and physically. Switching up your workouts/cross-training really does make you faster and keep you injury free! I had to learn that the hard way so please don’t make the mistake I made!

My feelings on snow: Love it on the grass … Hate it on the roads/sidewalks!

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Your desktop looks exactly like mine ha It’s perfect ;-) An important thing I learned along the years : most generic running programs are too long for me. I used to peak weeks before the race and close to the race, I would get sick or show overtraining symptoms. I have learned to adjust my programs over the years but I guess a personal coach can also be a great option to avoid situations like that. Not a fan of snow but I will take it any day over the ice storms we’ve been having this winter. Ice on the road makes running and driving pretty scary!

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I am like your Mom and Andrew! NO junk drawer and oh my goodness, all those icons make me twitch a bit :) Ha!

Snow that comes in one day and then it turns 60 degrees – that is okay. When it snows and is then 0 degrees for WEEKS and it is pure ice – not okay.

Happy day!

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I think a big reason I developed plantar fasciitis is because I didn’t listen when my body said I needed new shoes and I didn’t wear supportive shoes when I wasn’t working lot. I wore lots of flats! Now I almost ALWAYS wear supportive shoes and it helps manage it so much. I just wish I could have prevented it all together.
I have piles in my room. I really need to find a way to address this haha I sort big piles into smaller piles and then leave them for a while into I get back to sorting and cleaning again.
I’m with Andrew, your desktop stresses me out! Haha
I love the snow, unless I have to drive in icky conditions. Then no so much.

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Oh my goodness, y’all got so much snow!! I’m not a big fan of the snow. I prefer the warmer weather (and the beach) :) And I have a junk drawer, too. I wish I didn’t, but sometimes I just don’t know where to put stuff, so it ends up in there!

I think the biggest running lesson I’ve learned is that we are all different, so we can’t all train the exact same way. A lot of my friends do a lot of high mileage, and when I tried doing that, it wasn’t good for me (hello, fractured hip). Also, I think it’s important not to beat yourself up when a workout or race doesn’t go the way you wanted it to. You can’t PR EVERY race, and that’s OK. Be upset about it for a few minutes, and then move on and work on getting it on the next one.

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Totally understand you there! Especially when life circumstances happened and you do have to mess around, you can’t let it get you down because life Ebbs and flows. It’s a humbling experience and something we all need to go through.

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Andrews PR is mine too! So I guess I need to follow the plan you give him too! Are you doing coaching? I know you got your certificate back before you got pregnant.
And we just don’t use a computer anymore. Our phone and iPad mostly. But our laptop is old and slow so not easy to use.

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Oh I love it!! I’ll include his workouts on the blog too! So right now I’m coaching a friend, my bro and Andrew and with working, church responsibilities, running and family I’m at my max but I’m hoping that at some point I’ll find more time because I LOVE COACHING! I hope you are having a wonderful morning Mary!

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I would love the snow if I didn’t have anywhere to be, adulting is hard sometimes and kinda sucked the joy out of snow for me. Unless it snows on the weekend, which I’m all for a snuggling up before the fire. My biggest mistake that I have ever made running is that I set the bar for myself too low. Even when my coach gives me a goal I mentally drop the bar below what he believes I’m capable of. Let’s just say it is a work in progress. Have a great Tuesday!

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Definitely have learned my share of running lessons. 1. If you are injured or something feels off, take the necessary days off immediately and you’ll save yourself a lot of pain and frusteration later on (i.e- me spraining my ankle, thinking I could run after taking 1 day off, my ankle getting a ton worse over the next month and me ultimately having to take many months off from running. 2. Eat enough food- you are hungry for a reason and your body needs fuel to work its best. 3. Do NOT go out to fast in races (probably the hardest lesson to remember- but I’m finally catching on to this one)

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What Ogden half marathon? And no pb for me before any run I’ve also learned that the hard way.

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Hey Trish!! This one: https://www.ogdenmarathon.com/p/about/ogdenmarathon/events/254

Come do it, it’s amazing! Good to know I’m not alone with the no pb before a run. Have a beautiful day!

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Skye is just SO precious. I love her sassy little smile while Andrew is trying to sleep. ADORABLE.

I literally just wrote about this on my blog today, but I am coming back from an injury caused from my own stubbornness! I have a down week this week and I’m struggling with it. I have NEVER been good at taking things easy/shortening my miles. And because of that, I ended up with a pretty serious hamstring injury. I am trying to be SO careful right now, but that still doesn’t mean that it isn’t hard. Lots of pep talks going on over here lately! Easy is good. Our bodies need time to recover!

Have a great day, Janae!!

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Yes, yes, yes… I totally know what you mean. Keep being super careful and take it easy this week, we only get one body so let it recover:) You are doing amazing Chelsea! Enjoy your Tuesday!

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Running lesson: Now that I am getting older I HAVE to do the strength and the stretching or I aggravate something. Which is then making me learn the real lesson, patience. I just want to lace shoes and go……….cannot do that anymore.

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YES YES YES… I am right there with you Erica on that. Remember in our early 20s when we could just run out the door for a run and then skip all of the preventative stuff? Have a beautiful day with Hope!

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Our weather is wild up here in the northeast too! we had snow yesterday and today it’s 67 degrees. I don’t mind the snow too much, but big blizzards are a lot of work to clean up so I don’t love those.
I have a junk bin on my desk and it drives me crazy. I try to go through it every 3 months or so, but I feel like it’s ALWAYS crazy. Under fueling/overtraining was definitely my worst mistake; I also ended up with totally dysregulated hormones and a stress fracture:(

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Clutter gets on my nerves too! If I have too much stuff accumulating on my kitchen table I can’t think!

I find snow to be very peaceful. We got so much next door in Colorado too! I’m new to the area and trying to figure out which roads are plowed and salted most often. I’ve run a few miles in snow but I think it might be too deep today. I think I’ll go to hot yoga instead.

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My biggest food mistake was drinking a huge Greek yogurt smoothie about 30 minutes before a run. I have no idea what I was thinking!
Overall my biggest running mistake for so many years was being motivated to run only to lose weight. It made me miserable and stressed if I missed a run or a work-out. Once I changed my thinking, I have been motivated to run for so many other reasons: getting faster, going further, managing my stress, having fun!

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OUCH… yeah, that smoothie before a run doesn’t sound super great haha! I LOVE how you changed your thinking, I did the same thing and it makes running/life so much more fun. You are amazing Elizabeth, thanks for sharing!

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Haha your desktop stresses me out too! I need to have my files in folders and organized so that I can find them quickly when I need them. I hate having to look for things.

I’m so over winter. We’ve had a ton of snow and cold weather since before Christmas and I’m just ready for spring.

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I have several “junk drawers” sadly. Some I never ever open (which probably means all of that stuff should just be thrown away) and 2-3 that are my go-to to get clutter off the counters but that I know I’ll need the stuff within a few days.

Overtraining was my biggest teacher/mistake. After my 3rd or 4th stress fracture, I leavened that running through the pain (real pain, not average running discomfort) does not make me “tough” or “hardcore.” It makes me foolish and ultimately frustrated.

I like to look at the snow. But I’m not a fan of having to be in it—especially driving.

Have a great day! And honestly, how do you not snuggle your 3 kiddos ALL day? Such cutie pies!

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YES YES YES… I love what you said about running through pain. I learned that lesson too (too bad stress fractures had to be our teachers;)! Yes, driving in the snow is so scary… especially because of other drivers out there not paying attention. I hope you have a great day Michelle and thanks for sharing!

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I was just looking at my junk drawer last night and thinking I really need to organize it … but really what’s the point? It’s there to serve as a junk drawer! :D

The biggest lesson I learned is not listening to my body. I pushed through exertional compartment syndrome for way too long before seeing a doctor about it. If I had gone when I first started having the symptoms I would have had the surgery much earlier and would be back to distance running now. Instead I pushed through the pain until I couldn’t stand it anymore, and now I’m just getting back to running after a long time off and can barely run a mile! Eek! I hope my endurance comes back fast, but I am just grateful to be running any distance right now. I will always listen to my body going forward and see a doctor if something feels wrong!

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I love your little (ok not so little anymore but sounds nice) family and the pics you share so much! No junk drawer over here although my husband’s nightstand always needs to be re-organized. I turned into this neat freak after the kids started preschool and I had some free time. Reorganized the whole house. My husband has joined the movement (ha!), too now that he sees how nice the house is. He used to have rooms filled with stuff, but now he just has to clean up areas here and there. I try and be respectful and not clear his stuff. ;) I hate snow. I lived in WA state for college and although it’s the most beautiful thing coming down, months and months of trekking and driving in it were not fun. I always fell hard at least once every year. My freshman year, I slipped walking to class and it was one of those cartoon moments where your feet is in the air, etc. I ended up breaking my walkman that was in my backpack which was so sad since I was already dirt poor at the time. Haha. My husband teases me because walkman makes me sound so old. lol. Have a great one, Janae! Sorry for the novel!

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Skye’s smile is so cute!
Winter showed up here too and I’m not a fan. It was 70 degrees on Sunday and -6 degrees now. How does that even happen?!
My hubby and I are both messy people. Our entire house is like a junk drawer haha. There’s stuff on pretty much every surface; your desk looks super clean and organized compared to ours! It always feel so good when we clean but a couple days later it’s back to messy.

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WOW!!! That is a huge change in temperature… how does that happen?! I hope you are having a beautiful morning and stay warm!! Thanks Kaci!

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That picture of Skye smiling with Andrew is priceless! I believe she can make him a morning person eventually.
I have a 2 “junk” drawers, but both are very organized. And my desk and computer are the same way. I have very few icons on my desktop because they’re all stored inside one folder. My husband’s “counter” and desk are very unorganized so we are definitely different in that respect. He thinks I am too organized to actually get anything done. HaHa!

I have learned that consistency with running is key. I have not been running at all for the last few weeks and I am feeling stressed out about it. I know that when I run several times a week, every week, that I feel really good and accomplished. I need to work on that.

I love snow for one week a year when we go to Colorado or Lake Tahoe to ski and THAT. IS.IT. Although Houston had some snow earlier this winter, it’s never much and lasts about 10 minutes. And everyone thought it was cool for about 10 minutes. Then we all start complaining like little kids. It’s actually pretty funny how Houstonians start whining about the cold when it gets below 50 degrees. Have a great week!

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I would love snow for one week a year too… I love that you guys do a ski trip each year! HAHA I saw that when I lived in California too, it dropped below 50 and everyone was in full winter gear;) Teach me to keep my junk drawer and desktop organized please. I hope you have a beautiful day and you’ll get right back to that consistency! You’ve got this Kate!

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I have done the over training thing and paid the price through injury. That experience taught me to back off on the hard workouts, take it easy more often than not, and get really into the “little things” (strength training, foam rolling, stretching)! ?

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I love the pic of Skye in the snow! Too funny.
One of my biggest running mistakes is not eating before a race…and eating too much before a race. I always make sure my shoes are double knotted too!
I love to ski! But for some reason we haven’t skied once this year!

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My deskto is pretty messy right now. I need to do some organizing. I do have a junk drawer but it’s way more organized than my desktop.

My biggest mistake has always been not taking time off when my body tells me to. I’m learning though

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Oh my gosh! Your desktop makes me want to cry!! Hahah I like NOTHING on mine, just the background picture! We do have a junk drawer but it is pretty organized for a junk drawer :-) I’m not a fan of chaos and anything I can do to prevent it I will!

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Peanut Butter or Almond Butter before my races was one of my biggest mistakes too!! I actually didn’t learn this until first I was diagnosed with a tree nut allergy (bye bye almond butter) but then you actually helped me with the peanut butter issue. I had a coach who put it on my breakfast list so I always did it for good fuel but I always had stomach issues on runs. When you wrote something about it one time I decided to try it. Now I just do toast or bagels with some jam/apple butter and I have no issues!

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OH NO… no more almond butter?! I am so glad that you have found what works for me! I should try apple butter, that sounds delicious. I normally do toast/bagel/jam too! I hope you have a great day Emily!

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OMG your desktop! I can’t….I mean….. wow. Andrew I feel for you. But I do have a junk drawer like yours. My biggest mistake in running was probably listening to everybody else rather than my body. Everybody seemed to have an opinion about what shoes I should wear and my form when I started running and I had so many issues with my hips and shins. I just had to learn to listen to my body better and find what worked for me. Now I rarely have issues unless I am in need of new shoes. As for snow. I like to look at it but I am over it for this year. It always seems to be accompanied with sub zero temps and 25 mph winds.

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Skye is so cute in the morning person picture! :)
I loved your asking about a junk drawer. We have a junk drawer that is actually relatively organized. I got an organizer tray (I think it is an old silverware tray actually) that helps it stay away from complete disaster. We also have a ledge on one counter that is the junk ledge (more so than the drawer). Every once in a while I clear it off (mostly to decorate for christmas) but as long as the counter below it is clear I just leave it alone.
My desktop is the opposite of yours – I don’t like icons on my desktop (it drives me nuts that my work won’t let me delete shortcuts, ha!)
I love all your snow! I am jealous, we had some snow here in IL on Saturday but then it has been raining since Sunday now and will become sleet tonight. I grew up in Minnesota so the snow is my first love. <3
One of my biggest running mistakes (that I am still learning) is to just find a consistent routine to keep me running. Sometimes I go in the am (those are the best days) and sometimes I don't run for a few days and most times I skip my weekend long run (and really shouldn't). Thinking about this I should probably set a March goal to get a consistent schedule down.

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I am missing Boston this year due to a stress fracture as well. Not sure why or how I got it since I’m definitely not underweight. I haven’t ran since November and it’s depressing for sure. I wish I could say what mistake I made to get this….but nobody seems to know. Now im afraid to even try running again. :-(

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OH LAURA. My heart is absolutely breaking for you. I totally get it and I hate that you are going through this. When will you be able to start running again? Keep me updated with how you are doing. You will come back stronger after this, I sure did!

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Thank you, Janae. This was my first and only time I have BQd so it stung pretty bad at first. I’m not a fast runner, it’s not easy for me to BQ, so I’m not sure I’ll ever get there again. But I guess in the grand scheme of things I shouldn’t complain, huh, could be worse?

Sorry to be depressing.

Have a great day with your adorable girls.

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YOU ARE NOT BEING DEPRESSING. Missing out on a dream race is SO hard. I believe in YOU and that you will get that BQ again. You are going to come back from this injury strong and ready to work hard again and I hope you’ll keep me updated on it all. Thinking about you Laura!

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I love how Skye’s little personality is shining through!

I have 3 junk drawers in our kitchen (what!?) they are fairly well organized, but I probably reorganize them at least twice a month.

I have learned that I have to change my pace, meaning I can’t always run hard and I can’t always run easy; otherwise, I get hurt or I can’t push it when I really want to. Also, a run streak is a bad idea for me and I learned that through my ankle swelling like mad right before my marathon.

I don’t live in the snow, so I love it!

P.S. Black Panther was good, definitely not for kids. It was a lot of background/story and there was a lot of fighting, not super hero type fighting, but more like real street fighting. I enjoyed it though and it would be a good date night movie :)

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I don’t like snow and I could do without it ever again. :) . It is pretty to look at, but I am more of a beach/summer girl.
We have a junk drawer in our kitchen and I swear I reorganize it weekly and it is still always a mess!! Have a great day!!

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Oh yes, double knotting my shoe laces is a total must for my runs! I’ve learned that the hard way for sure!

We definitely had a junk drawer before we listed our house for sale. It was a disaster before we organized it though but somehow I always found everything I needed when I went to it. Organized chaos….;)

I LOVE the snow and wish Arkansas could get more of it. I’m pretty sure we just skipped Winter and went straight to Spring because we have rain and upper 60’s and 70’s for the next 2 weeks in the forecast….WEIRD! But, I guess I’ll take it!

Have a great Tuesday Janae!!

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Hmmm… yes, I don’t think Skye is a fan of the snow by the look on her face in the pic of you guys at the top of the stairs… that is hilarious! My son LOVES the snow because it means snowboarding!

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I totally had a junk drawer but then my partner couldn’t take it and he reorganized everything so everything has a place.

Biggest lesson with running = learning that running is something I do because I love it and it doesn’t define who I am. Sometimes it gets hard to separate

I do love snow – we don’t usually get a lot on the ground at sea level but our local moutains get a good dose each year. I am however ready to be done with snow. Some of my friends are currently in Hawaii and I am kicking myself that we didn’t join them:p.

I have a lenovo lap top – 4 years old and I am pretty sure it is not organized internally haha.

Have a great day!

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I have been a victim of not eating enough before a race and then at mile 4 of a half being desperate for a cheeseburger! Strange, right?

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Right now my dining room table and my spare room are cluttered. It’s driving me nuts and I’m slowly organizing them.

My computer is fairly organized. I learned the hard way not to save things to my desktop so everything is on cloud or I back my computer up to an external hard drive.

I have learned: not to eat peanut butter before any run, I need to stretch and foam roll pretty much daily, and orange flavored energy chews, gels, and the like do not sit well with me.

I like the snow from a distance. It’s pretty but shoveling it is a pain in the neck (and arms and back).

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We have a kitchen junk drawer that is a disaster also! It doesn’t matter if I try and organize it….it goes right back. My can also make any hidden area a junk area for himself if I’m not careful. He has a cabinet of the entertainment center that he said he was putting boxes of wires and other guy stuff in….but it’s not contained in boxes at all! It has loose wires, 100 different computer mouse items, empty CD cases, etc. Why do we have all this stuff?!

I also cannot eat peanut butter before running. I end up burping it for hours. Nothing worse than peanut butter burps. Gag.

I use a Mac laptop, and I keep my screen just like yours! My husband hates it and always wants me to condense everything into folders. But I can’t work that way.

I think fresh snow is beautiful and fun. But that’s because I live in Florida and don’t have to live in it or raise a family under those conditions ;)

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True feelings about snow – I hate it more and more….and more. I definitely learned the hard way on double knotting my shoes before a race. Actually, if I’m being honest, it took several times for me to learn that one. As for you desktop, ugh Lord, I have to side with Andrew on that one. At first, I looked at your desk, and thought, it’s not bad at all !! Then I see your desktop and gasped !!! I think my breathe caught. lol

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