Run for Chick-Fil-A

Greetings from Murfreesboro! I've been traveling a lot for work again and I drove to TN this week. I got a run in the other morning, but I know from experience that there's no ideal running route near this hotel. No worries. I just started running through the shopping centers with the goal to run at least 2.5 miles before I stopped at the Chick-Fil-A across the street from my hotel. I made it 2.8 miles and ordered a chicken biscuit with American cheese and pickles. Best decision.

As we know, the Doubletree in Murfreesboro has the most flattering mirrors. They never disappoint.

February 2016 Goals

I didn't realize how accomplished my friend Trevor was until I attended his funeral. I knew he was brilliant because it was nearly impossible to speak with him and not notice his intelligence, wit, and kindness. I knew he had a job he was passionate about and that he was also attending school. I knew he was a good student because I had friends attend high school with him. I knew he was a great friend because he put up with my shenanigans and checked in on me regularly. I had no idea what he was really up to. He excelled at his job and changed people's lives as a mental health professional. He was a straight A student (honestly not surprised but very proud.) He made the internet laugh and mentored a bunch of people and made time for the literally hundreds of people who considered him a best friend. He also had an awesome girlfriend who lives in LA, which meant time zones and travel. As I sat at the service and I listened to family and friends describe Trevor, I was struck by the impact he had on so many people in such a short time. I would do anything to have more time with him, but he lived his life in a way that somehow quadrupled time. His "free time" activities included beautiful art and creating hysterical videos. My free time activities include panicking on the couch about something I have to do in 3 weeks. Trevor is my motivation for 2016 and all of my goals. I want to make him proud. His life was cut tragically short and I feel compelled to step up my own to honor him. So here's my February check in.

Life and Wellness goals: I had my first Veritas Prep GMAT class last night. Oh my goodness am I behind in math. Like sooooo far behind in math. I have a lot of studying to do and I am going to take it seriously. I have three hours of arithmetic review tonight. If you are any good at algebra, please send words of encouragement!

I've been trying to sleep more but I am experiencing something that feels a lot like exhaustion. The past month has been really rough. It's no secret that I have problems with insomnia. Lately I've been falling asleep immediately and pretty much anywhere. I've passed out on my boyfriend within the first 5 minutes of about 8 movies. I find myself falling asleep on phone calls. I'm going to start taking a multi-vitamin more regularly and avoiding early AM workouts whenever possible. I'll go to a doctor if I don't see an improvement soon.

Last week I skipped Pure Barre to have brunch with my new friend Myra. Most people shouldn't skip workouts. I was proud of myself for putting life into perspective and spending some quality time with someone I really like. I consider this living in the moment.

Pure Barre goal: I took class 5 times in February. I decided to adjust my goal from 10 classes a month to 120 classes in 2016 because some months are challenge months. I'm at 21/120. March's challenge is 20 classes in 31 days. I think I'm going to aim for this challenge because I already ripped my hands in the Open and need to heal this mits up. More Pure Barre means less stress on the hands for the foreseeable future.

CrossFit goal: 22/200 WODs. I went to CrossFit 14 times in February. I dropped in at CrossFit and Fearless in Austin, Texas and loved it. Talk about a welcoming community!

Mileage: The Garmin's official count is 4.9 miles. The boyfriend and I decided to run to brunch on Saturday and I lost satellite reception. The round trip was about 2 miles but we walked some of it, so I'm okay with the official total.

Half Marathon Training and Strava

Yesterday I started my half marathon training plan. I have attempted to train for a few races, but if I am being entirely honest, I haven't actually followed a plan since the 2011 NYC Marathon. So I pulled up the Runner's World Smart Coach app, filled in my race information and my time from the 2014 Area 13.1, and now I have a sweet little plan with minimal mileage that should prepare me for my 1/2 in June.

For the next few weeks, I am supposed to run 2 miles at 10 minute mile pace three times a week. Usually I would look at that and scoff at the lack of a workout and then I wouldn't even bother. But this time I am committed to actually training. Clearly I'm not going to be satisfied with a 2 mile run so I have decided to do these as warm-ups before CrossFit. We have a nice little loop around CrossFit Identity and I ran that three times before the WOD. I ran it a little faster than 10 minute mile pace because I just wanted to get my legs moving.

I recently signed myself up for Strava because I want something new to track my data. I used to use Running Ahead but that website isn't keeping up with Garmin connect changes. Annoying, but it's a new year so I'm okay with switching to a new platform. My only complaint so far is that I can't add existing mileage to my sneakers, which I can do on Running Ahead. Those red Brooks Adrenalines have like 2 plus 280 more miles on them.



Strava seems pretty easy to use. I connected my Garmin Forerunner 305 to Garmin Connect and synced my Garmin Connect to Strava. The Forerunner 305 is a pretty old model so it doesn't sync wirelessly, meaning that I have to connect it to my laptop to add any new runs to Garmin Connect/Strava.

The coolest thing I've noticed about Strava so far are these segments. Apparently there's something called the Floataway Quarter Mile (there's an office community called Floatway right near my box) and Strava automatically gave me some stats on my performance.