the 5 weeks to nwm recap.

this last week was a big rollercoaster of ups-finishing my 8th class-and downs-wondering if my relationship was going survive. both came out smoothly, but not with a hell of a lot work, emotion, and conversations. through it all it reminded me how much i truly love to run and that it really does keep me sane.

 

sunday~rest.
rest

well i didnt sleep in nearly as late as usual since we were at mandalay bay for my birthday staycation. that bed was seriously so comfortable! there was some definite lounging as long as possible and then i got to go shopping for my birthday present:) good day.

monday~4-5 miles.
5.2 miles = 49:17 minutes/9:28 min/mile

i was all ready to go to my runner group until i went to change after work and realized i forgot both socks and a sports bra:/ that meant i had to go home to get those things so i just ran around home instead. i decided it was time to put all this work ive been doing in pt to the test. so i ran without my watch, just my meternome app on low so i could hear it only when the street got really quiet. it actually went really well! not quite as fast as i have been, but it was completely pain free! ill take that right now any day.

tuesday~spin.
6am body flow
1 hour of pt

the original plan was to do spin and body flow then go to pt. part of all the ups and downs last week meant not much sleep so spin just didnt happen. i was really glad i didnt after getting to pt, it kicked my butt! body flow though is so much different now that different muscles are being used, i love it!

wednesday~4 miles.
 4.22 miles = 39:18 minutes/9:18 min/mile

the temperature is finally starting to come down and i was able to go for the 1st time in a long time without water! that is a big deal to us in the desert people haha. i woke up incredibly sore from body flow and pt the day before. felt better when i started moving around, and even better when i started running. i was pretty sore for the rest of the day but really only in certain running muscles thank goodness. my knee felt great, but now my left hip is really starting to hurt, oh jeez.

were gonna just ignore that 90% and
focus on the big 65 instead.

thursday~body pump.
1 hour of pt

i had all the intentions in the world of going since my therapist told me to man up and go, but i stayed up late again on wednesday night that i slept through body pump. made it to pt in plenty of time and we did the normal strengthening things along with some hip extensions. ron thinks its all muscle. as in now it has to work and hasnt had to in a long time so now its mad that it does! ill take it haha.

friday~rest.
rest

i was lucky enough to come home to a clean house and off work a 1/2 hour earlier then planned! for some reason that 1/2 hour really makes a difference. so lots of couch lounging and a delicous pasta dinner was in order for my very adult friday night:)

saturday-11 miles
9.03 miles = 1:29:35 minutes/9:55 min/mile

my training plan said 11 but my therapists plan said something else. i needed to return to the hills since nike is full of them so we compromised on 9 hilly instead of 11 flat. somehow i conviced one of my runner group friends jenn to come with me at 515a since i had to work at 9a! she is such a trooper:) i was pretty nervous to tackle this hilly route, but it actually went really really well. i tackled those hills like a boss with her by my side! my hip hurt for quite awhile but my knee felt great. the time flew by as we chatted the whole time. i totally realized the value of having someone to run long with! we grabbed some coffee after where jen said told me i looked like i could have added more miles if i wanted to, and i felt great all the way through work. very successful return to the hills!

i felt like this might be true for the 1st time ever.source

totals for the week = 18.45 miles+1 day of cross-training+2 pt sessions

even with all the ups and downs plus not sleeping great pretty much all week, my training was still there. nike is getting so close i can almost feel it! and my return to the hills felt sooo good.

26 days to the nike womens 1/2 marathon!!!

the birthday staycation.

this year my birthday was on a thursday which means i got to stretch out over a few days! i turned 27 for those interested in knowing (hehe) and couldnt believe it was actually here. sometimes it feels like forever for birthdays to come around. i am a big fan of birthdays and think they should always be celebrated in the way the birthday person wants!

the day started off at work when i arrived and had some delicious treats on my desk:) i havent had things like this in quite awhile and couldnt help but have one! dang, they were good. i also got another huge cupcake during the day and lots of birthday presents via email haha. plus the song, i cant lie that i do like it a little:)

homemade whoppie pies!

told you it was huge:)

that night i had plans to meet my parents and cousin at the cheesecake factory! it seems thats a standard now since it was the same place we went last year lol. but really, who says no to the cheesecake factory?? this year was a little different since i am seeing my nutritionist and that meant ordering quite differently. did you know they have a skinny menu?! omg, seriously so good and tons of options! mom and both ordered off that one and i totally stole a bite off my cousins plate of alfredo hehe. it was delicious and i couldnt help but miss it just a little. i got another birthday song and 2 pieces of cheesecake! ha, just kidding. i had promised joanie no cheesecake that night so i didnt order a piece of my own but did have a few bites of the other 2 pieces. man they were good. i kept it all to a minimum since i had an appointment to see her in the morning and we were trying to be down a pound. (ps who tries to lose a pound in 2 days with 1 of them being their birthday, sheesh its hard)

saturday though was my big day to celebrate! i have wanted to stay in a room on the strip forever. i never have and decided since it was my birthday thats exactly what i was going to do. so i found a smokin deal at mandalay bay and wanted to keep it low key. it wasnt a huge year so a big party wasnt necessary, but you gotta do something:) so saturday morning i got up, knocked out my 10 miles, took a short nap, treated myself to a sparkly pink pedicure, then richard and i headed to mandalay bay to check in at about noon! our plan was to be at the pool by 1p and it actually worked pretty well. kristle came to join us and we were ready for some fun in the sun! we found 3 chairs and a waitress was by fairly soon to take our drink order. oh heck yes i was drinking haha. dont worry, i had permission lol.

our view for the day!

the afternoon drifted by as lounged, had lunch, took a few spins around the lazy river and the wave pool, and did a hefty amount of people watching. it was totally the way i wanted to spend my birthday! we also had a special treat we had concocted earlier in the week, drunken gummy bears:) since monday these little guys had been swimming around in a pool of vodka soaking up the goodness and they were a delicious treat on a hot day!

yum, gummy bears!

later on tiffany came down to hang out with us and go to dinner at the cantina inside the shops. like i said, very low-key:) we listened to the hilarious marichi band that sang me happy birthday and a johnny cash song along with every other party that had a birthday in the house! i had these lobster tacos that were a-mazing we spent the night chatting away. afterwards we headed up to the foundation room at the top of the hotel. well after the 3rd degree by the guy working the desk about how long we would be there and how much money we were planning to spend. it was the weirdest thing, but we made it past! the view was amazing and the drinks were some of the strongest ones i might have ever had haha. it wasnt as great as i thought it was going to be, but the view made up for it:)

sorry its little a dark:/

we were all pretty tired from the day so as tiffany headed home richard and i went back to our room and spent the night curled up watching friends:) it was totally what i was looking for! getting up the next morning was rough from such a comfortable bed and knowing we had to go home:/ we ate breakfast at the hotel just to stretch it a little longer before heading to the mall for my birthday shopping spree! i have been dying for new clothes for what seems like forever, so that was my present from richard:)

this birthday was great, i did exactly what i wanted and finally got to cross staying on the strip off my list! seriously if you havent you should very soon:)

the 6 weeks to nwm recap.

does that really say 6 weeks!! ahh, im getting so excited:) for those just tuning in this is my absolute dream race and you have to get through a random lottery to even line up at the start line! so to even be training and writing recaps is awesome in my book. this week was a little tough as my training took a little detour. i finished strong, just not with all the pieces i was looking for.

sunday~rest.

rest

did a little outlet shopping for richards new bathing suit (yes he waited till the end of summer to buy one) and a lot of hanging out. it was a 4-day weekend for me and i think i forgot what it was like to have that many days off in a row!

monday~4-5 miles.

5.2 miles = 48:12 minutes/9:18 min/mile

we took the week off from my runner group since it was a holiday so i ran around home early to beat the heat. my new pace and form are seriously kicking my butt which made it a little hard to find the right rythym. my time was awesome even if i didnt feel that great while doing it, ill take it!

tuesday~spin.

5am spin class

6am body flow class

not sure if it was the holiday weekend hangover but class wasnt nearly as packed this week! i scored a good spot and sweat like there was no tomorrow. not quite as good as some of the other playlists in her pocket, but this one did have country on it!

my spin teacher has now taken our body flow class afterward and its a little weird to see such a big switch from one class to the next. i felt totally different this week in body flow with the work weve been doing in therapy! new muscles were used and i felt a lot stronger:)

ohhh! and i got some super fantastic news...i am an official #sweatpink ambassador!!! i could not be more excited about being part of this amazing community promoting a healthy lifestyle and kicking butt:) (lots more in a future post!)

 

wednesday~4 miles.

rest

well tuesday night i noticed i was losing a toenail. and instead of being paitient and letting it go on its own, i took it upon myself to take of it. bad idea! it hurt to have the blanket touch it, let alone put it inside a shoe for 4 miles. i did go to pt after wrapping it up and it was actually ok. ron decided since i wasnt sore from last weeks sessions it was time to move up in weight! my legs were burnin up after that session.

thursday~body pump.
rest

i was really hoping to run because it was my birthday! but my toe had other throbbing/painful ideas so i decided more sleep instead. i went to physical therapy for round 2 of the week and was feeling really good after, wish i had time for a run after! body pump still makes me cringe a bit so i know im not ready.



birthday dinner with my parents at the cheesecake factory!
i didnt order any, so i got decorations on
both pieces my family ordered:)

friday~rest.

rest

seems to be the theme this week, ha. not funny i know and it was starting to make me a little bit nervous about my long run saturday. i woke up with my toe actually feeling good but with a 10 miler lined up for saturday i didnt want to take the chance! plus i was hoping for really good news at my nutritionist and tried not to eat anything before seeing her on my way to work.

turns out i didnt lose the pound we were hoping for. we think ive hit a plateau. but we still measured as a birthday present to myself and i have lost 13 inches in the last month!! that makes for a total of 40 inches since i began seeing her in july:)

saturday~10 miles.
10.15 miles = 1:33:45 minutes/9:14 min/mile

like i said, i was already a little nervous about this run with a few unexpected days off this week. but i went to bed early friday night after a dinner full of yummy pasta to help settle my worry. i woke up feeling good and tackled the 1st couple miles pretty easily. then mile 6 hit and i was over it. i could have very easily taken a right hand turn instead of the big extra loop to hit my goal, but was determined to finish it all! so i turned up my running playlist, stopped looking at my garmin, and reminded myself its about a feeling not a pace. it wasnt a pretty ending, but i clocked 10 miles and beat my time from last year by almost 10 minutes!
afterwards i treated myself to a nap and a pedicure before our staycation for the weekend at mandalay bay. both were fantastic and this was my view for the rest of the day...

mandalay bay beach!

kristle came to hang with us for the day,
well and to drink:)

totals for the week = 15.35 miles+2 cross-training sessions
+2 pt sessions

a little bit of a tough week for sure, but its what makes us stronger! im convinced this week will be better and i know i can stick to my training plans much better than last week. and no more taking off toenails on my own, i promise!

33 days to the nike womens 1/2 marathon!!!

its my turn to take back the power.

for most of my life ive kept 2 things inside pretty well. the first not totally being comfortable in my own skin and second my knee pain. now let me clear somethings up. this is not a pity party or in no way am i fishing for nice compliments. this is simply my story and how i finally took charge of my own body issues!

i am comfortable with who i am, amazingly grateful for the people in my life and for the things i am able to do on a daily basis. but somehow i have managed to surround myself with beautifully skinny girls (who i wouldnt trade for the world) and just dont feel 100% comfortable all the time. i in no way feel overweight, i just dont want to be the heavy girl at the 5k anymore for example. i want to be able to go to any store and not worry about them having my jeans size. or have people look at me and go youre a runner? i want to look as great as i feel. i have the training part down, i can rattle off my plan, mileage for the week, and all the times of my races at the drop of a hat. i got it dialed and it works wonders for me. so why havent i lost any weight in the last 3 years other than the few in the beginning? it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out why a runner doing 20+/- miles a week with 2 days of cross-training isnt losing weight...its the nutrition.

 

so it all came to pass about a month and a half ago at a work happy hour as i sat there with my iced tea drooling over the alcohol and and cheeseburgers with fries everyone was eating and not having to worry about working those off. i was never blessed with that type of metabolism, i mean a lot of it is in the genes people. now some of these beautiful ladies work rockin hard to not have to worry about that friday night happy hour, i just wondered why working just as much as they did didnt seem to be making a difference. it was also a day where my hair sucked, i wasnt loving anything in my closet, and couldnt eat a french fry without feeling bad. it wasnt a good day to say the least. the next morning i got up to complete my 12 miles (which felt great) knowing they were all loving their beds as my alarm went off at 4am to beat at least a little bit of the heat. i knew something had to change and i was the only one who could really and truly make that happen.

monday morning i went into my boss, the pain still a little raw (it was written all over my face) and asked for her nutritionists phone number. she had raved about joanie forever. telling all of us how great she was and that she worked with anyone. she changed your food yes, but not to a crazy calorie counting diet plan or something we send to your house or you can only eat these 3 foods. she was real. finally realizing it was the nutrition meant i needed help, someone that could work with me and my likes/dislikes and being a runner. you see its often frowned upon for runners to go on diets because we cant totally cut out any one food. but there had to be an answer somewhere.

source

so i called the next morning and by wednesday afternoon i was sitting in her office going over bloodwork and talking all about me and my body. she listened to everything and gave me quite a few faces when i told her about the things i was eating. we worked out a plan and she made a "highly recommended" suggestion that i go to the grocery store to stock up on my new things that night! its made up of lots and lots of fruits and veggies, whole grain foods, lean meats/proteins, and things with the lowest sugar/fat possible plus how many of each i should be eating per day. she had lots of great suggestions about particular brands and broke everything down for me. i literally took home a book of information comparing darn near every brand of cereal for example with all its nutritional value. i got on the scale and didnt love what i saw at 170.5 pounds. we did measurements of literally every part of my body and she gave me an "approved joanie" list of things to buy. i headed back to work that day actually feeling great about the step i had taken and was ready to make the change. now i wasnt looking to be a size 2 (or 4 or 6 for that matter), that was never in the cards for me. but i wanted to feel good about myself, and that the work i was doing on the pavement showed!

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friday afternoon i went to see her again and we talked all about how my couple days had been and what i had been eating. she was seriously impressed with my willingness to try new food (except spinach, kale, beans, or oatmeal to name a few) and could tell i was committed. she made me get back on that scale and i was terrified to say the least. turns out i had lost 3 pounds just changing my diet in 3 days!!! i was ecstatic to already have some changes. now yes i know most of it was water weight and flushing out the bad stuff from my body, but i took it!

things fell into place with joanie quickly, not that it wasnt and still is a struggle some days. the pizza on fridays, donuts/pastries on saturday mornings, lunch dates with friends, and the offers of lets go get fast food after the et race were abundant. i have never been to so many birthday parties with delicious looking cake in such a short time. i have had days (quite a few actually) when all i really wanted to do was eat like i used too. the problem was i didnt used to eat awful, especially during half marathon training. but now comparing i didnt eat great either.

i can make my own healthier version of things
like mac & cheese! you dont have to
give up everything to be healthy!

i can now say from july 18th to september 5th i am down 14.5 pounds and 27 inches!!! i have a few weeks left with joanie and am hoping to have a big update friday when i get down to 155 pounds because then we can measure again. keep your fingers crossed:) i feel wayyy better about myself and things are fitting so much better than they used to. my body feels happier when i run having these healthy things and a better balance inside it. i know for a fact i made the right choice going to her!

now that i had the nutrition part under control something else had now reflared up, knee pain. i havent had the best luck over the years. it started when i was 12 and developed osgood schlatters disease in both knees, its common in young athletes actually. basically your body is growing and the impact of sports is putting too much pressure on the tendons in your legs which is causing pain in the knees. most grow out of it, which i did. until freshmen year of high school when i got patellar tendonist in my left knee along with knee cap falling on top of it and to the outside of my leg. the arches in both my feet also fell at the same time. i had to quit everything cold turkey and went to 6 weeks of physical therapy. it helped a lot but i was told i would always probably have some knee pain when exercising, i just had to decide what i could really deal with.

so i took that for a long while and usually icing a few times helped until about 3 weeks ago when i got a bad tightness in the backs of both my knees and the front hurt a lot and quite often. with my past track record of knee pain i decided i should go to a sports doc asap. my mom luckily had a great one that worked on her foot last summer that was also a runner so i knew he would get it. luckily again i got a same week appointment and was into see dr hanson quickly. we took xrays and did ligament tests which i passed all of them. we talked about my changing to minimalist shoes and everything was fine till he had me hop on one knee at a time and it hurt real bad in my right knee. he told me i needed to get into see his friend ron, a physical therapist quickly. there was 8 weeks till my race and he knew ron could fix me in plenty of time.

those just dont look right!

about 5 minutes later i called ron and made an appointment for that next tuesday. i was still cleared to run by both guys as long as it didnt hurt. the 8 miler that weekend wasnt my best run ever, but i couldnt back down now. tuesday came quickly and it seemed like ron had all the answers. he listened to all my stories, did some general tests, had me run on the treadmill and knew immediately what was wrong. he didnt even need xrays to tell him what he already knew. basically it was everything but my knees haha! it all came down to my hips which oddly didnt surprise me. i had hip/knee issues as a kid too. when i was 6 months old i wore a brace to pull my knees apart because they were a bit bowed in and couldnt even go around my moms hip when she would hold me. luckily the brace worked and i never had to have surgery. but now its allll coming full circle lol.

we worked mostly on my form that day and i found out that my glutes had terrible strength. i needed to build them up quickly so i could stop using my hips so much to propel me forward but the rest of my body. we worked on shortening my stride and upping the tempo. i was totally out of breath and my entire lower body was sore, except my knee. ron told me this was his favorite thing to treat and i might even get faster. i didnt really believe that until my next 2 runs!

boom!!

ive been back once after the initial and dang do my muscles need work. i am at a 1 pound weight on each leg when the average is 7-8 pounds. ron says he can fix me in 9 sessions like i said and i might even be really mad at him when this is all done. he told me ive had knee pain for so long and people have always told me it wasnt fixable, he tells me it is and were gonna do it together.

gotta do my own work!

for the first time in a long time i feel really in control of my own body. i feel skinnier in my clothes and people around me are starting to seriously notice. the support i have received from friends, family, and richard has been amazing! my knees are feeling better and i improved my 9 mile route time by 10 minutes from year ago! i know these things are working together and i couldnt be happier with both results:)


ps if you live in the las vegas area and would like information for either one of them, please let me know! i would be more than happy to pass it along and let them hep you on your journey:) also if you have any questions, i would love to help in anyway i can!!

the 7 weeks to nwm recap.

just when i thought i was being so on the ball with things i let the days slip away! i took an extra day with the holiday weekend and have honestly been totally forgetting what day it is. ps dont even ask me the date, ha! this week was a bit of a tough training week but glad i powered through it. made some big changes which i am still working on catching up with!

sunday~rest.
rest

did my usual sleep in and not a whole lot else. i love these sundays!

monday~4-5 miles.
4.67 miles = 45:28 minutes/9:44 min/mile

i had to work late and make up a few hours so i didnt make it to my runner group. tried a path around work that sincerely kicked my butt last time i did it. this time however i conquered that sucker! i felt solid and strong and it was about 10 degrees cooler plus i had a bit more shade this time.

tuesday~spin
5am spin class
6am body flow class
1 mile at physical therapy

holy crap school must be back in session! there were 44 people in class and it was packed. the worst was people that took front or primo spots and didnt even stay all of class. i mean seriously people, hang out in the back!
i really liked body flow last week so i decided to do it again. it was much different with fatigued muscles this time around, but glad i stayed.

it was my 1st meeting with my physical therapist and i was a bit nervous. (im going to write a full report in the next few days, so this is the short version) luckily he told me he could fix me in 9 sessions and as long as i stayed on top of things i wouldnt have to have knee pain for the rest of my life! YAY:) hes also a runner and gets it, thank goodness. we worked on my form and it turns out i sucked. once we fixed it my knee didnt hurt anymore, just the rest of my entire lower body. gotta work on some new muscles!

nothing like a little support from
your dad to keep you going:)

wednesday~4 miles.
4.22 miles = 38:49 minutes/9:11 min/mile

OMG look at that pace!! so im not broken forever, yippee! however this pace was wayyy faster than im used to and i was super sore all day long.

thursday~body pump.
rest/physical therapy

i switched a few things up this week to work around other fun things and the thought of body pump on a knee thats not totally healed sounded like an absolutely terrible idea. headed to physical therapy on my lunch and we worked on my glutes, which is apparently the problem. ron strapped on weights on my ankles and i did lots of leg lifts. it was tough i wont lie. then he informed me they were 1 pound weights and the norm is 7-8 pounds. crap.

friday~rest.
9.15 miles = 1:24:44 minutes/9:15 min/mile

knee pain my ass!!  i am still cleared to run and got the ok to go on my flat route instead of the mean hills in green valley. like im going to beg for hills, ha! the change in form lead to change in rhythm lead to change in stride lead to change in steps. so basically i need to take smaller steps faster to avoid the pain. which apparently works and makes me faster:) i felt good, exhausted by the end and very sore because this is wayy faster then im used to. so i partook in my very 1st ice bath! it was a little bit of a sad attempt, haha. but it really helped and i know what to do for next time!

boom!

i needed a lot more ice to say the least, ha!
but richard really did enjoy pouring it in lol.

i moved my long run to friday since i was off because my best friend tiffany bought rockin good seats to the gloriana concert that night and we had decided to go out after. i didnt want to have to worry about getting up the next morning after line dancing all night hehe. totally the right decision! we had a blast:)



4th row baby!!







saturday~9 miles.
rest

with a late night friday, i am sooo glad i didnt have to get up and run. the extra day to sleep in was awesome and i was headed to another concert that night! i had only really heard of 311, but it is one of richards favorites and at the mandalay bay beach, i was in. it was a good show! not my type of music, but fun to people watch:)

ive never stood on the beach side before!

total for the week = 18.04 miles + 1 day of cross-training + 2 days of pt

this week kicked my butt a bit, i wont lie. the major change in my form is helping, now if i could just get the rest of my body to catch up! its majorly sore and my cardio isnt quite there yet. well i just jumped in the deep end and i gotta figure out how to swim ;)

40 days to the nike womens half marathon!!!

     

the august 2012 running recap.

total run mileage:75.27 miles
highest weekly run mileage: 18.41 miles
# runs: 12
# rest days: 15

# xtraining workouts: 6

favorite run: the police and fire 10k! it was my very 1^strace 3 years ago and i returned so much stronger this year. plus i took 1^stplace in my age group for the 1^st time:)

three peeps from my runner group
and we all took 1st in our age groups!

 most hardcore run: the et 1/2marathon! those 1^st 6.5 miles straight uphill with an 800 feet gain was no joke. i had a great time at the race and am super glad i did it, but dang some warning about that hill would have been nice!

1/2 marathon #8 complete!

current reads: omg i am bad about this again! this month seemed to just slip away and i was wayy to crazy to even think about reading. i dont even think i read my runners world magazine this month, yikes!

current shame-inducing guilty pleasure: all of the drooling ive been doing over all things pumpkin! now pretty much everywhere else in the country its not crazy to start buying these things, but here in vegas were still in triple digits folks. its hard to justify busting out my favorite fall candles when its 101*.

current obsession: bean chips. yes, i really said that, and meant it. who am i? and by that i mean one specific kind at trader joes (another new obsession!). i never ever thought i would eat something like this, but i love them!

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current drink: water, water, and more water!

current song: wanted by hunter hayes. something every girl should feel :)

current wish-list: dang i wish i could take part in all the back to school sales! there are some good ones out there and i would love some new clothes to add to my wardrobe. maybe one day soon...

current need: a little bit more courage to try out some of the great recipes i have found on some food blogs. i am always so afraid i am going to put all this effort into making this really delicious sounding food with some new ingredients to me and it will taste gross. now the few things ive made have come out pretty great actually, but ive played it a little safe.

the zesty lime shrimp and avocado
salad i made from skinnytaste!
it came outdelicious:)

current triumph: sticking hard core to my food plan. i will be writing a whole thing about this in the next few days, but just now that you can take charge and your own decisions dont always have to be the same for the rest of your life!

current bane of my existence: that my money did not stay where it was supposed to after asking it so nicely last month. things came up, surprise, surprise, and im not as wild about the reallocation as i was the original plan. oh being an adult:)

current goal: stay on track! it may sound silly, but sometimes that’s a really hard thing. and not just with my training plan but also school, work, and my new way of eating!

current indulgence: well i had to give up ice cream at the end of august so i definitely tried to fit as much of that in as possible. i also discovered quite a few options that are a little healthier and still taste great!

current excitement: with all the tweets/pics/facebook updates happening over the weekend about the disneyland half and my bit of jealousy for not being there…it made me super excited for nike next month!! i cant believe i can finally say its next month. get ready san francisco, im coming!! 

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