A List of Rando Things

1. Today is Logan's birthday. She is 24. It sounds really official, and I guess it is since it's her special day. Don't worry Logan. Give me 4 months and I'll be right there with you. Not really sure, but somehow we've aged. But really, on a true life note: I hope you have the best day ever. You deserve it! Heart you.

2. It's October, and I haven't started writing my thesis proposal. I tell myself it's pay back to UALR for the last year of hell, but in reality I'm just making myself a new hell by putting it off. Seriously, it's gotten out of hand. Someone please help me.

3. We got a completely unnecessary Coke machine at work. How is it that we are building programs promoting healthy lifestyle choices for children and youth and yet provide them with a highway to sugary, carbonated beverages? Seriously something is wrong with that. Oh hey kids, drink water. And there is no water in the Coke machine. WTF?

4. I get to see Needtobreathe again tomorrow night. I think you all know how I feel about that.

5. I haven't run in a week. Because it's fall and the trees are shedding their acorns and leaves, there is a much larger chance that I could run and slip on a shiny leaf with an acorn under it and go face first into the pavement. I already have one cracked tooth. I don't need another.

6. On the note of the cracked tooth, my dental anxiety came back in full force last night when I went to bed. The obsessive thought I keep having is the tooth will disintegrate, and I will have to rock a Hillbilly smile because I don't have $4,000 to get a new tooth. Please pray for my insane dental anxiety and the sanity of my mother who has to hear my rants about losing my tooth forever.

7. I woke up with a massive headache this morning. It's gonna be one of those days where no amount of Advil and caffeine can fix.

8. I need a haircut. When it gets caught in the window that was just rolled up, hung up in the seatbelt and/or the bangs become random hanging strands of hair, something needs to be done. My ponytail's been looking like a well taken care of horse tail. And by that I mean I brush and wash it daily. But something's gotta give. Time. For. A. Haircut.

9. I'm out of things to add to this list. So I'm gonna call it day. I hope you guys have an awesome day.

Ponytails and Body Glide: A Celebration of Running

We did something last night. Logan, Lindsay, the roommate and I ran 2.5 miles in 20 minutes.

2.5 miles in 20 minutes. 2.5 MILES IN 20 MINUTES!!!!! Hello, that is a big deal. We deserve a major award. (Too bad it can't be a leg lamp like the major award from A Christmas Story...because I already have one. But that is a different story for another day.)

So let me give you a quick run down of last night: We arrived at Murray Park at 7:30 P.M. We chose to run at Murray Park because we knew how far it was thanks to the Do Life 5K we ran earlier this month. We decided on a 20 minute non-stop run to see how far we could go during that set time.

We ran. And we ran. And we ran. And we ran. At the halfway point, we turned around. And we ran. And we ran. And we ran. All the way to the where we started.

When it was over we felt great. And sort of looked like this, expect my mom wasn't there.

Lindsay mapped our route in the car on the way home. And it was 2.5 miles. HOLLA.

So in celebration of this new running accomplishment (and feelings of Badassness), I have decided to give you a full recap on this whole running journey.

Without further ado...

• Word to Your Mother: My decision to run Susan G. Komen and reasons behind it
• Preparation: Getting ready to run
• It Has Begun: The purchase of the new shoes and the initial run
• Damn the Dam Bridge: The title says it all
• This Is What I Know: Running in pictures
• It's a Revolution: Logan wants to run
• Epic Fail: Logan's first run with me, and I almost pass out. Awesome.
• Watch Your Feet. There's Snakes Everywhere.: Pretty self explanatory...
• A Confession: It's funny that I was once nervous about this.
• Adamson V. Two Rivers Park: Divorcing Two Rivers Park because of a serious problem
• Good Food. Good Run.
• Running With Friends: Why I think everyone should have an "active" buddy.
• Ashten Does Life: The first 5K. HOLLA.
• When Are We Runners?: My favorite post about running.
• Future Running Endeavors: Running Goals. It was scary to say out loud.
• Running Frustration: A bad run after a glorious 20 minute run.
• Too Much Criminal Minds: Morbid running thoughts I have when running alone.

So there it is: Two months of sweating and schmoozing my friends to run with me every other day. Seventeen posts about being terrified of changing the running routine, loving the good runs, hating the bad runs, preaching about new shoes, crying over sore muscles and fellowshipping with three awesome people who can tolerate me yelling encouraging words the entire time our feet hit the pavement.

I love it. I'm so proud. I can't wait to share more of it with you.

Tell me about a recent accomplishment you've had. (Feel free to comment on the blog. I've changed some settings to hopefully make it easier for you.)

Future Running Endeavors

Everyone knows my philosophy about good running shoes. It's something I preach. Lindsay got fitted for running shoes today. So that makes Logan the laggard of the group when it comes to getting new shoes. Help me people. The girl needs some new shoes. She's running in Nike Shox from her Sophomore year in college. #yikes

I'm a tad bit jealous of Lindsay's PURPLE shoes. Grass green and UCA purple = my two most favorite colors. And Easy Runner fitted her in a sweet pair of Brooks.

We are Brooks Buddies!! I was too excited about our run tonight for a lot of different reasons. 1. Lindsay was going to have an awesome first run in her shoes. 2. We changed the routine to run 8 minutes, walk 5 minutes, run 8 minutes, cooldown. 3. I look forward to the run all day long.

It's weird how that happens. In the beginning, I was running to complete a goal. Now I'm running because I want to/like it AND because I have a goal.

After the first 8 minute run, we felt good. It didn't seem that different. Or too difficult. The 5 minute walk was more than enough time for us to catch our breath. So we felt the same starting the second run, which has never happened before. Usually we are all sucking air and praying that we are close to the end. Tonight was not the case.

The second 8 minutes conversation still flowed nicely. Our pace was quick, but right on. I say quick because it was quicker than normal. I wish I had a fancy watch to tell you exactly what it was, but nobody has $300 to get one.

The sun was setting at the end of our run. The last minute we really pushed ourselves. We ran hard and fast. The pace was cray cray fast. And who was leading the pact: The Roommate. She was in rare form and kicking all our butts.

We finished the second 8 minutes hot, sweaty, breathing heavy and joyful!!!! It was the best run we have ever had. Hands down.

I've been nervous about admitting this next thing on the blog for about a week now, but it is time that I fill you in on our future running goals.

5K in October, obviously. That is what we are training for now. Then a 10K (6.2 miles). Then a half-marathon (13.1 miles). Then a marathon (26.2 miles).

Don't worry. This will be over the course of a few years, but it will happen.We will make each other do it. Logan will do it. Lindsay will do it. The roommate. And me.

The marathon is the only one that truly terrifies me. The thought of running for 26.2 miles makes me feel sick, but I want to do it at some point. The thought of 13.1 miles gets my blood pumping. I want to do it. And I want the 13.1 sticker to prove it.

So there it is. On the Internet. I admitted it. I set the goals. That means they have to happen. You have to keep me accountable.

Deep breath. And go.

Ashten Does Life

Last night was epic. EPIC.

The roommate, Logan, Lindsay, and I ran our first 5K. The Do Life 5K. My mom ran with us for moral support. She basically yelled encouraging words the entire time. But let's not get too far ahead. Let's start at the beginning.

I was pretty nervous about running with people, which is weird since I run with the above people all the time. I think it was because I knew I would be running with other "runners." Thankfully some people walked. Therefore, it made us feel better about walking.

The little boy in the red was my running buddy in the beginning. He was FAST!!! Too fast for me. But absolutely precious.

Our group did intervals the entire race. We ran 3 minutes and walked 2 minutes the first mile and a half. Then we changed to run 2 minutes walk 3 minutes on the way back.

Lindsay and I crossed the finish line together after a short trot through the grass. Don't ask me...the race track had a part that took you through the grass. I did not make this up. Logan and the roommate crossed the finish line just a few minutes behind us.

IT WAS WONDERFUL. I've never been so happy in my life. We were all so happy and tired. And in love with the run. It was amazing. And it was our first attempt. And we did it. WE. DID. IT. I just keep saying that over and over again.

After the run, the roommate had to show off her sweet tubing bruise that has slowly slid down her arm as the days have passed. It still looks fugly.

Mom had an awesome sweat band round her middle. Sexy...

And I jumped around like an idiot yelling and screaming about how we did it.

Who knew I could jump so high? Must be my sweet shoes mixed with adrenaline and endorphins.

We were tired. We were sweaty. We were happy.

It's an awesome feeling to accomplish something you didn't know you could do. We all just started running a month ago (with the exception of my mom who has been running for 3 years and has completed numerous 5Ks and a half marathon), and it has already changed our lifes and daily routines. I look oh so forward to many more runs with these people.

It was also very cool to run my first 5K with the Do Life Movement. The Do Life Movement, a grassroots movement, was started by Ben Davis, a friend of mine from college. He wanted to change his life, and he did. Along the way, he has changed the lives of some many other people, myself included. To be able to share this experience with him is something I will forever cherish.

Keep doing life, my friend, and people will continue to have the will to change their lives. I'm so proud of you.

For more information about the Do Life Movement and the Official Unofficial Do Life 5K Tour, check out Ben Does Life. I got a t-shirt to help support Ben, his brother and his father as the tour the country running 5Ks.

After I completed my first 5K, I think I need a t-shirt to remember it. #runningnostalgia

Busy on the Lake

1. The roommate likes to sing on the way to the lake.

2. Seeing signs that tell us we are getting closer to the lake give us joy.

3. Tiki Man is the best.

4. Flags flew high in honor of America's 235th birthday.

5. We rode on a boat.

6. The roommate and I looked like death after a run on the Diamondhead golf course. Nobody was ready for those hills.

7. The roommate and her cousin took a ride on the tube.

8. The roommate took a tumble with the tube.

9. Logan and Lindsay ran, and I got this text to prove it.

10. After the epic tubing incident, the roommate was back in the water taking it easy.

11. And then it rained on July 4, 2011. So with that we called it quits.

I hope you guys had a safe and happy Independence Day. I was so happy to be busy on the lake. Happy Tuesday that feels like Monday.

Good Food. Good Run.

The roommate had a good run yesterday. I credit it to running with people (more on this later).

She looks so happy and relieved to have finished the hardest run we've set out to complete yet. I'm so proud of her. She did an awesome job, even though her calves still gave her some trouble.

After Monday's too hot run, we decided to tone it down and run at 7:30 P.M. on the trails nears Cook's Landing, the Maumelle side of the Big Dam Bridge. It was shaded and glorious.

After finishing last night's run, we all felt triumphant. Like we could take on the world.

Logan was so happy. She didn't think she could do that last five minutes all at one time. But she did. She didn't think she could lead us during the last minute of running where we "sprint" and push ourselves as much as we can. But she did. She was on point last night. So proud of her. She's becoming quite the little runner.

And then, there's me. I'm just so happy. I feel so blessed to have so many people who support me during this process. I am so excited to have good friends to share this experience with and a mother who is all to eager to guide me. Thank you for partaking in this journey.

The sunset last night was redonkulous. Not even kidding.

Ummm...Hello. Beautiful. Could not have been a more perfect picture to end an awesome run with awesome friends.

On the way home last night, the roommate looked at me and asked if we were going to keep entering races after Susan G. Komen this fall. I didn't even hestitate when answering. Of course we will keep entering races.

And that is when it hit me. We have changed. I even said it out loud to her in the car. It's a lifestyle change. Wow. It's an amazing feeling when you get to the point where you know you affected change.

While this may seem small, it is huge. I want to live a healthy lifestyle in all the ways. Fitness, food, relationships, etc.

I've always been a good eater. I like all types of food. But I've not always made smart decisions on how much "bad stuff" I eat in a day. Since I've started running, I've learned first hand that what you put into your body affects the outcome of your runs. Sugar and salt are not what my body needs for me to have a good run. Simple as that. It makes me feel sluggish and heavy.

So I'm making it a priority, or I should say more of a priority, to take note of what I eat and drink. I've recently discovered Love Grown Foods granola.

I am in LOVE with Raisin Almond Crunch. And I can't wait to try all of the other flavors. It's the bomb.com for realz. Sweet, crunchy and perfectly flavored.

My Kroger didn't carry the Chocolate flavor, but I plan to find it ASAP so I can enjoy every little chocolatey morsel.

After the run, a dinner of amazing chicken tacos and a bath, I sat in my chair and enjoyed this.

The Better Than Sex cake that Logan left at our house two nights ago. And let me just say, I WILL NOT EVER cut out foods and sweets I love from my diet. You need to have indulgent eats as a part of your diet so you don't binge eat on all the things you want but won't let yourself have.

It's called moderation. Binge eating gets us in trouble, and I'm as guilty of it as the next person. But part of a healthy lifestyle means knowing when and how to moderate. One or two adult beverages. A handful of M&M's. The smaller portion of pasta at your favorite spot. It can be done. You can do it. I can do it. We can do it together.

Which do you like more: running/exercising in the morning or at night?
I'd love to run in the morning, but sleep usually prohibits my motivation. Plus I love to run with other people so it's whatever works out best.

How will moderate yourself to start/maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Running on Vacation

I went to Dallas, or I should say Rockwall on a mini vacay this weekend. So there is a lot to fill you in on. Let's start with this: The Backbend Come Up by Logan

And I got it on video. But Blogger refuses to upload video. (I will work on this.)

Pretty awesome. This was post run fun after Logan, Lindsay and I killed ourselves with this run at 5:30 yesterday afternoon in the 100 degree heat.

We made it, and I'm not sure how. Out of pure will and hatred. But it is done. So I think we are going to stay with this routine for two weeks or so. We plan on breaking down the last five minutes from hell into a run three, walk one, run two, cooldown five. I think that would make us not want to kill ourselves or each other quite as much.

Good news! It's raining here in Little Rock, the first rain since the monsoon of the spring. It's been so hot and so dry that a little rain is gladly welcomed. Maybe some cool air will come in.

But enough about the weather, here are some of the highlights from Dallas.

I ran to views like this. Horses and cows and green grass. The country in the city. It was beautiful. But I looked like this.

It seems like I will never take a picture that will show that I have hair. It was miserably hot outside. One day it was so hot and windy that it seemed like I wasn't going to get up the hills. It was like a Mack truck was pushing against me. But one good thing is that my calves have started to not hate me as much. The power of moving forward.

I tried to make friends with this cat, Rachel. But she doesn't like anyone. She's got the best face ever.

She looks nice, but don't let those golden eyes deceive you. She will hiss and take some swings at you.

I also spent a lot of time poolside.



The water was luke, and the drinks were cold. It was a much needed vacay.

I'm glad to be back in the city. Big things are happening tonight at my house. Logan is coming over. And she, the roommate and I are making dinner and exchanging gifts.

Why are we exchanging gifts you may wonder? Because it's wedding season. We've attended and bought so many gifts for different people that we decided to take a little bit of our hard earned cash and buy each other a little happy. We only get happy gifts once a month, but we eat together every week. It's going to be an awesome tradition.

We've (the roommate and I) have come up with a name for the dinner and gift nights: NOSH NIGHT!!! Nosh is a synonym for eat. And the roommate came up with a little dance in honor of this special tradition.

I got this dance on video, too. But Blogger refuses to upload it as well. So no video of the roommate in all her jolting dance glory.

BTW we sent the video to Logan at 11:30 the other night, and she opened it at 5:30 the next morning and laughed a lot.

I will post pictures of Nosh Night gifts and eats tomorrow. So stay tuned. I got a feeling it will be too good.





Watch Your Feet. There's Snakes Everywhere.

What comes to your mind when you get to a park and there is a sign like this?

A little nervous? Maybe you think you don't want to, but you end up going anyway. I've ran at Two Rivers Park about three or four times, and I have never seen a snake on the trail. Until yesterday.

The roommate, Logan, Lindsay, Logan's sister, and I went for our routine run at Two Rivers Park yesterday. As we were doing our warm-up walk, Lindsay (in the lime green top) and Logan (in the black top) about lost it when we came up on a coiled copper colored snake sitting right in the middle of the paved trail.

Lindsay and Logan about stepped on it. My heart almost stopped, and the roommate had no idea what was going on. It was too much. The snake could have taken our legs off had it wanted to.

I'm pretty sure I jinxed us before we started because Lindsay read the sign, and I had to pipe up and be all I've never seen a snake before. It will be fine. And then minutes later, we all almost have heartaches.

But the run turned out to be a good one. Hot, but good. The roommate was excited well before we got to the trail. Hence, this face:

And once the run was over, we had a let's-have-a-photoshoot-in-the-car-and-try-not-to-wreck moment, which led to this:

Pretty cray cray. But you did get one smiling picture. (Too bad I look as if I have nan hair. That would be a ponytail and excessive sweat.)

All in all, it was a good day. Minus the snake. Our little group is pretty much bad-a when it comes to our running routine, and we work to keep each other motivated. Plus it makes for excellent fellowshiping time.

On Friday, I will be changing up the running routine.

The routine is currently:

• 5 minute warm-up walk
• Run 1 minute; Walk 2 minutes for 25 minutes
• 5 minute cool-down walk

And it will change Friday to:

• 5 minute warm-up walk
• Run 90 seconds, walk 90 seconds; Run 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes (two sets of each) for 25 minutes
• 5 minute cool-down walk

Who's ready for a self-butt-kicking session? This girl. And probably the roommate. And don't worry Logan and Lindsay will be along for the ride as well. Holla Holla.

Have an exceptional Thursday peeps. Watch out for snakes and other creepy crawlies. And lace up those tenny pumps. See you on the trails.

Two Good Ones

After last week's fiasco during the running routine, I needed some redemption. Friday night, my mom, Logan and I went for a run.

My mom has been running for three years, and I have been running for three weeks. So you can see how this could get interesting.

She introduced Logan and I to chewy gumdrops and honey-flavored waffers to give us energy while we run. Since I almost passed out last week during a routine run, my mom has been pretty worried about me and running in the heat.

Our 30-minute routine took us on a two-mile loop around Stuttgart. On the last minute of running my mom gave Logan and I a challenge. She said, "It's the last minute. So y'all have to get in a line behind me and keep up."

I'm thinking ok, everything is going to be fine. We've been running at a 10-minute mile pace this whole time. How bad can it be?

My mom, the slow and steady wins the race runner, took off like lightening. I could immediately tell that this one minute was going to be extremely tough.

As we round the corner, Logan yells I'm gonna have to stop this is too much (she was thinking we were going to keep the pace for the rest of the way home.) My mom yells back at her Don't you dare quit. We have 8 seconds left and then it's over. Need I say that the woman wasn't breathing hard at all. 

We finally got to stop, and Logan and I were both cussing and breathing like we'd just ran 6 miles, instead of one minute. Mom said we ran that final minute at a 6-minute mile pace. Sa-weet.

I was suppose to run again on Sunday, but we have to take a brief break because baby girl was born. But yesterday, the running resumed on the Big Dam Bridge.

My mom had given me some Sports Beans to help keep my energy up so I don't fall out on the trails in the heat.

Sports Beans - basically energy jelly beans with Jelly Belly flavors. Yum. They tasted pretty good, and they helped me make it through a run at the Big Dam Bridge.

Logan and her sister Lindsay came along. And we ended up with a faster pace than usual. They walk faster than I do, and I run faster than they do (thanks to the uberlong legs God blessed me with). So it was the perfect combination.

We will go again Wednesday, and Friday I am going with my mom. So it is back to the running routine. And don't worry. I will do better about taking pictures so you can see sweaty faces. Ha.

Epic Fail

Yesterday was Logan's first day of running since our Senior year high school cheerleading try-outs. (We both attempted a 9-minute mile and didn't quite make the cut...Therefore we didn't make the squad our Senior year.)

I was greeted by sweet Lulah Bell, Logan's beautiful puppy dog.

Isn't she the sweetest little thing you've ever seen? She is still very puppy-ish, but her paws are like that of a bear.

After we said goodbye to Lulah, we headed over to Two Rivers Park (can you tell I love that place?) to kick our butts.

We stretched and warmed up with a nice, fast-paced walk. There was a bit of a breeze, but it was still pretty dang hot. By the time we turned into the sun, we were both sweating pretty heavily. We would talk during our walking breaks and huff and puff during our running streaks.

At minute 21, I started to feel a little bit dizzy. And at minute 23, the last running minute, I felt even more dizzy. Once we started walking back to the car, it got even worse. I could feel the blood beating in my veins and hear a huge thud thud thud of my heart.

Now I'm prone to passing out, and Logan jokingly said to me don't pass out. My thoughts were well I think I might. Jesus, please don't let me fall out. It's Logan's first run with me. I don't want her to freak out. It's so freakin' hot.

I had to sit down twice on the way to the car. Once the second sit down session, I told Logan to go get my car because I knew I needed water. While my dear friend jogged to the car, I had a bit of a pity party due to the bad run.

First I was sad and upset that I pushed myself too hard, but it didn't seem harder than any other day. It had to be the heat mixed with my water and food intake.

Then, it hit me. It's just my luck. I would almost pass out due to heat exhaustion. But in my defense, it was really hot.

So Logan drove me to her house (cause I had picked her up.)



And we laughed about how I almost fell out. And she laughed nervously while I tortured her with picture time. (She thought I'd forget to get photos of her...Not quite.)

Then she cooked me dinner, which was delicious. I forgot to take a picture of dinner because my stomach was screaming at me to fill it with something yummy.

What started out as being my let's-help-Logan-run motivation session turned into a run with a not-so-good-ending for me.

Lesson learned: Hydrate more than you think you need to, and eat a little something about an hour before you run.

Too bad I had to learn it the hard way. Yikes. Tomorrow is a new day. Thankfully. Now on to the next.