One Month til Race Day

Well I guess it's actually a little less than one month until race day. Training has been going ok. Just a few nagging injuries that try to keep me down. But all in all, I feel strong.

I am definitely faster than the last time I finished a half marathon, and I'm excited to see how I do on race day.

This past weekend I went to Tennessee to spend some time outside on my grandparents' farm. My mom and I ran 11 miles around the town. And we ran out of the city limits. Seeing a city limit sign and not being at your turn-around point is humbling and mentally challenging.

Here are some scenes from my mini-vacation.

Annie loves spending time outside, and apparently she is "real" dog because she likes to carry and chew on sticks. My mission as a dog mom is complete. My dog loves sticks.

This weekend I will run my last long run before I start my taper. 12 miles. It's going to be a good dress rehearsal. Gotta figure out what clothes to wear since this Arctic Blast is starting to kick it up.
 

Great Expectations: The Beach Edition

About a month ago, I went to my favorite place on earth.

Hello Beach!!!

While I was at the beach, I met a good lookin' country boy. And we hit it off. Spent some time together. Drank some beer. Rocked in a hammock. You know things you do with someone at the beach.

It was perfect. I dare to say too perfect.

I'm a tad bit ashamed at how girly I acted over the whole situation now that some time has passed, which brought some much need perspective.

Every fiber in my being told me I liked him and that I should trust him. But the good ole brain of mine said maybe be careful. Maybe don't trust him or like him too much.

But I was a goner. I liked him instantly. Still do if we're being totally honest.

He was a smooth talker, easy on the eyes, loud, funny, perfect half smile, sculpted shoulders, the whole nine. He'd play with little kids in his family. And he'd showcase his athleticism by diving into the ocean to catch a football. Lord help us all who saw that beautiful sight.

But the level of likeness has gone down a considerable amount. And I'll tell you why. His fault and my fault because it was definitely both of us at fault.

He didn't show up for me.

And I mean show up as in actively pursue.

That's a big deal.

Now granted, he is about 500 miles away from me. But that shouldn't stop anything. Distance does make showing up literally more difficult, but it could still work. (Look at me the eternal optimist. The realist side of me is shaking my head in disgust.)

Here's the other thing. I gave the kid an out while we were at the beach. The whole we-don't-have-to-exchange-phone-numbers-and-pretend-to-really-care out so we could leave it as the most perfect week in the history of beach vacations.

But he didn't take the out.

So that is the first step of showing up. Not to mention that he knocked on all the condo doors one night to find me BEFORE we officially met. Another show up step.

Realistically, I should have known better. I slap my wrists now thinking back to how it all happened. And I give him mad props. Kentucky boy's got game like this Arkansas girl's never seen before. I mean really. Arkansas dudes need to step it up.

To be honest, I don't really blame him. It's just what happens when there's sun and beer and bare shoulders on the beach. Man, did he have great shoulders.

I'll forever think fondly of him. Because it was too good of a time not to.

But I'll be smarter next time. I won't have expectations. They tend to get me in trouble. And by that I mean I get too girly, which is annoying. Makes me cringe to think about it.

I know why guys have a tendency to phase out "those girls." We've all been one of them. Starts out fine. Then, we just start the over-analyzing and too much emotions talk, and it's like BOOM! We become the girls we hate.

When you see other girls doing it, it's like ha ha she's ten shades of crazy. Then you catch yourself doing it, and it's like HOLY SHIT, I'M ONE OF THOSE. You try to play it cool, but the damage is done.

So what happens next?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Call it a learning experience. Don't judge yourself. Promise to never do it again. Grab a bottle of tequila to mourn the fact that you turned into one of "those girls" and a bottle of champagne to toast yourself to being a better person than you were before.

Now somebody go get the limes and salt....

The End of New Orleans

Since yesterday's post was so heinously long, I'm going to try to keep my rambling in check this morning.

So let's talk about Mother's Restaurant.

Let's talk about the grilled Cajun shrimp plate with red beans and rice, turnip greens and a big slice of pecan pie. Hold that thought....I'm having a moment remembering how wonderful that meal was. 

Mother's is a down-home cooking place, where the food is hot and the help is sassy. They are known for the baked ham, which made an appearance in my turnip greens. Oye. I swoon over turnip greens. 

New Orleans folks know how to cook. They know how to use spices. They know just the right amount of everything to use to make the food taste just right. Go. Eat. There. Now. 

After lunch, we made our way down to the French Market District.

This is home of Cafe Du Monde and the French Market farmers' market, as well as other little shops and eateries. 

I could easily see myself living in the French Market District. It has a cool vibe. Big city, but down-to-earth. I love how everything you could ever need is within walking distance. If you ever go to New Orleans, definitely try to find a hotel in the French Market District, or at least venture out that way. 

But now that the trip is over, it's back to reality for this ole girl. I'm still a little sickly, even after going to the doctor last Thursday. But I'm settling into my usual routine yet again. 

While at work on Tuesday, I talked one of my co-workers into running a 5K with me in May. So yesterday we took off on a little jog. And she did a great job. 

Distance: 3.00 miles

Time: 41:17

Best Pace: 9:37

Average Pace: 13:46

Calories: 292

It was a combination of walking and running. And I think she kind of felt like a bad ass once the run was over. 

In other news, I'm hitting 10K training pretty hard this weekend. I have to get in a 4 mile run. HAVE TO. I'm hoping everything will just work out like it did with the Duck Race. I'd love to have another run like that, but I don't know how it will be since I've been sick for a month. We shall see. 

What's new with you?

Got big plans this weekend?

New Orleans: Take One

Good Morning Friends! I'm back from the Big Easy. And let me tell you. It was a good time. The city was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

The view from our hotel room was incredible. Staying on the top floor has its perks.

After checking in, we took off exploring. The city was alive and hoppin' as we walked through the downtown area.

We ate dinner at Draco's, a nice little seafood restaurant found at the bottom of the Hilton.

 The shrimp and grits were to die for. I don't think they could have tasted any better. The best flavors ever combined. I will have to try to recreate it, but I don't think it's possible. New Orleans has some of the best food I've ever had.

The group and I made our way out to get a drink on Bourbon Street. New Orleans has an open container law that allows people to carry adult beverages around the entire city. It was really cool, but I felt a little strange carrying my beer around out on the street.

I don't think anyone can ever be properly prepared for Bourbon Street. The smell alone is enough to make you not want to go back. But I had to have the experience.

We got home kind of late that night, and I was really tired from having been in the car for 8 hours. I don't know what it is about riding in a car that can make one so tired. It doesn't make sense.

Day One in New Orleans was a complete success. The food was outrageously good, and the entertainment was definitely exciting.

I have so much more to tell you. I have to break it into two (maybe three) posts, in order to do it justice. (P.S. that big green chair was $3,000 and there was one on every floor. And I tried to figure out a way to get it inside my car when we left...needless to say, it didn't work.)

Get ready for the New Orleans Rock n' Roll Marathon Expo and race recap tomorrow, as well as what we did on Saturday before the race expo. It's gonna be good so stick around.

How was your weekend?


What genre of food are you loving right now?

Mr. & Mrs. Williams

I've officially decided that beach weddings are the way to get married. There is nothing more beautiful and simple. Let me give you the run down of Shannon and Garrett's wedding day.

First, the roommate and I got up and went to The Donut Hole. #YUM

When we got back to the condo, we suited up and went to the beach.

Umm, yes please.

Apparently my sunscreen application technique needs a little work. By 10:30 A.M. the first full day on the beach, my leg looked like this.

It continued to get worse. More red. Achy. Stingy. No relief.

But by the time the wedding rolled around, I was in fully M.O.H. mode. Kicking ass and taking names. There was nothing that would ruin Shannon's special day. And it would have been absolutely perfect had the preacher done exactly what I told her to do when she got there. Sigh. Some things just can't be helped.

The aisle was sandy. The sun was setting. And it was perfect. Shannon looked beautiful, as always.

The roommate did a great job taking pictures, and Shannon's photographer Natalie did an amazing job. I can't wait to see all the photos she took.

After the wedding, Shannon's friend Ashley and I noticed a guy laying on the beach. We thought he looked like a fine man. Back hair and all.

You can tell he thought he was hot stuff. Unfortunately, he was not. And that position is one that he should never lay in again. #yikes

More to come tomorrow. I gots lots of beachy pictures to fill your thoughts. Get. Excited.

A Farewell to the Inland

Listen.

Do you hear that?

I can just make it out over the squealing of car tires and horn honks that permeate the air outside my office.

Do you hear it yet?

It's just barely audible. But I can hear it.

Waves crashing on the white hot sand in Destin. Seagulls cooing over a small child's Cheeto's. Sand crabs snapping their little pinchers at unknowing beach combers. Sand shifting over sand with the push of the gulf breeze. Yellow flags tinking against flag poles.

Did you hear it now?

I can't even tell you how excited I am. I know I said that yesterday, but it's true. I can't believe I have to go sit through my first class tonight before I am free to have nothing but beach thoughts.

How is it that graduate school can almost ruin the best summer outing? If I didn't have to go to class, I would have been able to leave today. Right now I would be somewhere in Louisiana or Mississppi. Sigh.

But it will all come soon enough. And then it will be nothing but this.

I fear this day will be the slowest of all the days. School will take too long to let me out in the the freedom of a sweet vacay.

I can feel it now. The hot sand burning the soles of my bare feet. The sun beaming down from its place in the sky. Ok. I'll stop. Promise.

I know I haven't been doing too hot with the blogging this week. Don't fret. There will be so much glorious beach pictures and posts mixed with the new stresses of grad school to come. The last few weeks have just been a little dead.

I promise to:

• Take too many pictures
• Spend all the daylight hours on the beach
• Eat copious amounts of seafood
• Drink my fair share of beachy beveys
• Be the Maid of Honor in my best friend's dream wedding
• Wake up with the sun
• Run twice while I'm there
• Not do anything school or work related
• Not get stressed out driving through Mobile, AL
• Make the most of an amazing opportunity

But I can't promise I won't cry when I'm forced to come home.

So if you want a direct link to me while I'm beaching, follow me on Twitter @ashtenbrook.

On this Thursday, I leave you with an image of Taylor Lautner.

(Via)

Surely his shirtless, rain soaked body will suffice my being gone and not posting for a few days. (I think I'd be satisfied if you provided me with this kind of eye candy.)

I hope you guys have an awesome rest of the week and weekend. See you on the beach. HOLLA!!!

Beach: T-minus 1 Day, 2 Sleeps

Work has been a crazy place the past few days. So let's keep this short and sweet, and I will give a long, heartfelt goodbye til next week post tomorrow.

Beach Bound: T-minus 1 day, 2 sleeps. #imsoexcitedicanbarelycontainmyself

I don't think you understand how effing excited I am. BUT before I get carried away with the excitement, I must tell you that something terrible happens tomorrow.

SCHOOL STARTS AGAIN!! akjdfjalkjfalsjdslasndflkla

As of tomorrow night at 6 P.M. I will be holed up in a classroom with my peers listening to the opening rambles of the semester. The only good thing is that I'm leaving for the beach right after that.

What have you been up to this week?

A White Sand Wedding

The last time I went to the beach it was the week before I started my Senior year in college. The roommate, our friend Abby, and I (plus a group of other people) went to the Gulf Shores for a pre-school year vacay.

And we haven't been back to the beach since then.

All that is about to change. Thanks to my best friend from high school Shannon and her soon-to-be hubby Garrett. The love birds are getting married at the beach. Destin, FL to be exact. The roommate's favorite beach.

Photo by: Natalie Gray Photography



After a long road to the alter, Shannon and Garrett will be getting married at a causal ceremony on the white sands of Destin's beach. And I could not be more thrilled. It is the wedding she's always wanted. A small, causal beach wedding with close family and friends.

And the roommate and I will be in attendance. I'm actually the Maid of Honor (MOH). So my presence is greatly needed at this wedding.

So in August, the roommate and I will be roadtripping to white sandy beaches. Hopefully Logan will get to come with us. I have a feeling this will be an epic beach trip and wedding filled with awesome stories to tell later.

In celebration of Shan and Garrett's upcoming nuptials, I decided to share the highlights from the last beach trip to get you all in the spirit for what is to come.

We met a seagull with a bum leg. We called him Gerald.

We made a sand castle adorned with seashells.

There is nothing like a good book and a cold beer on the beach. I took advantage of this fact, and I plan to do so in August as well.

Salty sea air does something amazing to my hair. And the sound of waves crashing on the shore is one of the best sounds in the world. And I love the fact that white sand has the ability to burn the soles of your feet in the matter of seconds. It's something of joy.

The roommate and I act like fools when we go to the beach. Neither of us can sleep the night before the trip. We scream at the first sight of water, even if it's not the ocean. She hangs her head out the window as soon as we cross the Florida state line claiming that she can "feel the beach upon us."

We get up with the sun. Beach it all day. Pack lunches to take to the beach. Bring enough booze to last an entire month. Make 982457 playlists and cds to enjoy when beaching. And get a twinge of sadness when the sun starts to go down for the day, but excitement builds for the next day when we will do it all over again.

Congratulations to my dear friends Shannon and Garrett. Getting married on the beach is the best thing you could have ever done for your beach bunny friends. When I say we can barely contain our excitement, it would be a total understatement. I'm basically busting at the seams to pack my bags and head to the surf. Oh, and to see you guys get married.

Photo by: Natalie Gray Photography

And you my dear blog readers will not be left behind. There will be play-by-play posts of all beach and wedding activities. So you will get a front row seat to the roadtrip/beach party/wedding of a lifetime. It's going to be awesome! Get that umbrella ready to slide into a nice icy beverage because the party starts in 36 days. Ow ow!!