Chills and Goosebumps.

In a million years, I would never picture myself placing first in a race. I know this for a fact because I am not built to run. Running is sport you ask yourself.. "Why do I do this to myself?" I know it is not a fun sport and you can do a lot of damage, but there is something about it that makes you feel great after you finish. I think that it is a sense of accomplishment. Maybe it is because I am not built like a runner and I am trying to accomplish something that I feel is a challenge? Whatever the case may be, it is addictive and I love it!

As time goes on, the 5k runs feel like they are shorter in shorter, but in actuality, I am improving my endurance by running faster and faster. At the Norton High School Run, I placed first in my age division (19-29) and had a time of 32:56. I was able to take off two whole minutes off my average 5k time and now my average pace per mile is 10:50. Even though it is a best record for me, hearing my name announced as the first place women's 19-29 age division was very exciting. At the end of the race, I walked over to a teacher who I had in high school and talked with her. We talked about how I improved my time and it was a nice race that was planned to raise money for the high school. I told her how I started running races and would love to run the Providence, Rock and Roll Half Marathon. She said that ever since high school, I always had to "go big or go home." Everything I took part in would have to be big. I had to agree with her. Any production or event I was in charge of, had to be big. I always wanted to leave a taste in peoples mouth about my accomplishments or events.

So now what? Do I continue to run 5ks? Yes and no. I used to only do 5ks, but now I am stepping it up and running 5 miles and 10ks. Last week, I ran the 5 mile Boston Run to Remember for the Boston Police Department. There were over 9,000 runners. Standing in front of the Seaport Hotel and Convention Center, there was a sense of togetherness that was shared with all the runners. Everyone was pumped and excited for this run. As always, I get in the back to I can see what the whole crowd of runners look like. When the horn went off and the front began to take off and the back was slowly jogging, I took a picture of the Boston Skyline with all 9,000 runners. Throughout the run, people were standing and watching and cheering us on. I felt like I was running the Boston Marathon because everyone was so excited! I ran from Boston, through Cambridge and ended up back in Boston. As I turned the corner to the last third of a mile, everyone was cheering me on. It was such a great feeling and my urge to sprint kicked in. I bolted and sprinted to the finish line. I remember some gentleman yelling, "Keep it up! You are almost there!! Run! You got this!!!" Hearing him yell those words of encouragement, made me push harder and harder.

View from back as the Boston Run to Remember. Love seeing the view of Boston

Take the ride of your life...

It has been a great two months training for the American Diabetes Association - Tour de Cure. The past two months I have been riding 20-30 miles a day or every other day. Not only have I been able to build up stamina, endurance and a sense of nature in different areas. The longest ride I have take so far was from Norton to Mansfield, to Easton, to Stoughton to Sharon to Foxboro to Canton and back. It was such a great feeling finishing that day. I was a little sore towards the end of the ride but to be able to see how many miles I have completed, I had a feeling of accomplishment.

The longest ride of training so far!

Riding and fundraising for the American Diabetes Association has been such a great experience so far. I am definitely considering to ride the Tour de Cure every year. My event coordinator has been an awesome asset and has been helping me along the way. I am a team captain and all the ideas she has given me and the guidance has assured me that I can easily achieve my personal goal and team goal. I have had the opportunity to meet with her a couple of times to discuss ideas and how to get more members to join my team. This year I am lucky to have my mother, Anne and my friend, Hilary be apart of the team. I am hoping next year to double the amount of members for the 2013 Tour.

Adding some spice

Since graduating from Hartford, I have found time to focus on me. During my time at Hartford, I dated a guy, (who actually should be considered a boy because of how immature he was) who always the number one focus in my life. I loved him, he loved me. I always put him first and me second. After he broke up with me in New Jersey, I decided that it was me time. Lets make a change and put me first for once. I happen the have the best semester in school when I was single. I went out when I want, I did not have to worry about pleasing him... I just did what I wanted to do.

Getting back to what I was actually talking about...

After moving home, I decided to make some changes in my life to help me physically and emotionally. I decided to bike ride. At first when I was riding, I was doing it for pleasure and to help me loose weight. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to bike twice a day and as time when on, since it was becoming apart of my lifestyle, I decided to find some bike races in the 2012 year. What can I set as a goal now? I ended up doing hours and hours of research and compiling a list of about 15 bike races to do.I definitely want to do bike races in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. I tend to set goals higher than usual and I work three times as hard to accomplish it. I am always looking for people to ride with, and I would be more than happy to train with you!

In addition to the cycling, I have also started to run. I have not been able to run since my junior year of high school. When I was in Virginia Beach for a soccer tournament, I was kicked in the knee cap and had to stop playing soccer. My doctor told me I could not play soccer and needed to find another sport to participate in. I ended up joining the swim team and was captain my junior and senior year. Swimming was the best thing that I could have done to help my knee. It saved me from having surgery or long term knee problems. Well, about a month ago, I started running at the gym and decided to register for a few road races. I have completed two races; a 5 mile and a 5k. I was in NYC last week running a 5k for the Arthritis Foundation. The 5 mile was Thanksgiving morning and I ran that race with my Uncle. I was positive that it would take me more than an hour to run, but I crossed the finish line at 59 minutes. It was such a good feeling to cross that line and know that I completed a goal of mine. The 5k in NYC was something I was excited for! I knew that I would be able to take time off my last race. I knew I would be longer than 40 minutes but no more than 50 minutes. As I got closer to the finish line, I look at the big timer and I see 36 minutes and 45 seconds. I cross the finish line and I see that I was clocked at 37:01. I was so happy after the race was over... another race completed!!

Unsure...

So, I am not sure what to make of this blog. I guess I will be updating this with the following things:
- What is on my mind
- How my day is going
- Any interesting recipe's
- How I made a cake and what I was feeling...

You get the jist of what I am doing. I will call this my live journal.