All American Marathon!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. 

I am excited to recap a pretty awesome weekend with you all. On Wednesday, my Dad arrived from Florida. He is pretty rad and drove 10 hours to visit and to also watch E for us while we ran this weekend. We are so thankful for him!

We kicked off the fun with pedicures on Thursday. My Dad loves them and it's always fun to have that time together. 

On Friday, we mostly hung around the house and just relaxed. I had a dentist appointment that afternoon so E got plenty of time with papa. I had to spend some time at the race expo later that evening to get packets. 

The weather was absolutely beautiful all weekend so we spent a lot of time outside. 

Saturday was spent running a few errands for the race (getting cheap jackets we could ditch on the course) and parking a car on post for the end of the race. We ended the night with take out Chinese and it awesome haha.

Sunday morning we were up at 5am for the All American Marathon and Mike to Mike Half Marathon!!!! We were out the door by 5:20am and parked by 5:45am. Thankfully the start line was downtown and really close to our house. We met up with our friends from SLAM we missed a few at the start line though. I'm not a picture taker when it comes to races so I stole a few from friends haha.

We had 6 moms running the half, 1 running the 5k (that started and finished on Fort Bragg), and 2 running the full. We also had 4 SLADS (Dads) running the half. It was such an awesome turnout for us. 

Since Kyle was running the half, I told him to go off ahead of me because I knew I had to keep a slower pace since I had twice the distance to cover. We kissed, said good luck to each other, and off we went. I'm not going to lie it was a little emotional knowing we were doing different distances and wouldn't be at the finish line together. 

We started in downtown and made our way up a very long road to the All American Highway that leads to Fort Bragg. I ran the first 9 miles with my friend Caralee who was running the half. She definitely helped me keep at a moderate pace and it was nice having someone to chat with because it made those miles fly by. Once we entered post, she went right, and I went left. At that moment, my mind instantly went to Kyle because I knew he was close to being finished by that point and I was just knew that he was going to PR his half time. 

I'm not going to lie the next 16.2 miles were hard. I buckled down though and took them one at a time. It helped tremendously having the volunteers be so encouraging and supportive. As well as the other runners. You don't realize how much you rely on that positivity and support. The running community is absolutely phenomenal and it's about lifting each other up for sure. 

I saw a few friends on the course including some of my fellow ambassadors which was nice. I made it to mile 17 and I sent Kyle a quick text. He was done and was headed back to the house to pick up my Dad and Emersyn so they could be at the finish line as well. 

I made it to mile 24 and I hit the proverbial wall. I did not want to move but I knew I was so close and there was a possibility that I could PR this full. That was absolutely not my intention as this simply a training run for my 50k but it really did fuel me.

I slowed down and was very deliberate with my steps and I rounded a corner and finally saw the tents at the parade field. I saw mile marker 26 and knew that in .2 miles I would be done. I could see the finish line! I scanned the crowd and immediately found Kyle, E, my Dad, and some of the my sweet SLAM sisters that stuck around. I was going to do this!

I looked at the clock and I PR'd it! 4:24:08! I rushed to find Kyle and he told me that he PR'd his half with a time of 1:52:18! I was so darn proud of him! This also happened to be our 160th race, it couldn't have been more awesome.

Kyle and I have worked really hard to be consistent with our running and this race really paid off for the both of us. It was amazing sharing that experience together.

As an ambassador for this event I am SO proud! Between all three events we had 3,816 runners which exceeded previous years. It was a stellar event and one that we will continue to participate in as long as we are here. If you ever find yourself here please run (or walk) this event, it's outstanding!

Oh! The medals and finisher gift aren't bad either haha!

We are already looking forward to next year!

Overall, it was an amazing weekend. We are so glad my Dad was able to come up and we enjoyed having that time with him. 

All American Week!!!

I can't believe that we are only 5 days away from the All American Marathon!!!

I became an Ambassador for this at the end of July and it has been one of the coolest experiences I have had. Being able to represent this event and hold promo events has been so much fun. I have been able to meet a lot of nice people all while providing information as well as discounts for this race. We have 15 ambassadors for this event (coming from NC, SC, VA, and GA) and we have absolutely exceeded expectations for registrations this year. Between the 5k, half, and full we have over 3,100 individuals registered! I am so proud of how hard all of the ambassadors have worked to make this a successful year. 

Kyle will be running the half while I am running the full. Since there are no strollers allowed my Dad  will be coming up to watch E for us while we run. I am definitely thankful that he is willing to do that. E is excited to get to spend a few days with her papa. 

One of the best things about this event is that it is actually a training run for me. I get to enjoy the 26.2 miles instead of stressing about a PR or anything like that. The course takes us from downtown Fayetteville through the historic district and we end the race on Fort Bragg. There is a pretty amazing site from mile 8-9, it is called The Blue Mile. It is dedicated to our fallen heroes and I am so excited to see it in person. 

I will be working the expo on Friday for a few hours with my fellow local ambassador. We are excited to get the runners pumped for the event. Then Saturday morning I will be getting together with my fellow ambassadors for a 2 mile shakeout run. It will be fun to meet some of them in person for the first time. The weather is looking amazing for Sunday and I can't wait to share this experience not only with my husband but with several of my SLAM sisters. 

Bring it on marathon #3!

Some Honest Thoughts

Happy Friday, everyone!!! 

It's been a while since I've shared my honest thoughts and I figured it was time to do so. What a better way to end the week than with some honesty. 

*The "blackout" from Facebook and IG on Wednesday was actually pretty awesome. It made me realize just how dependent we all can be on social media and it was nice not having that distraction. It's amazing how much time as a society we spend on those platforms. I'm going to do my best to not let those rule my days. 

*I am tired of kids putting their hands on mine! I about lost my shit yesterday at E's dance class. The parents are not allowed in the classroom, which is fine by me. However, we get to watch through the window. There is always one girl in class that acts like a complete nutcase, her own mother calls her the crypt keeper. I watched as this kid was relentlessly poking E in the arm. I could see E telling her to stop but she wouldn't. Her Mom leaned over to me and said "oh how cute, the girls are playing" to which I responded, "No, they aren't playing. Your daughter doesn't know how to keep her hands to herself". Thankfully, one of the class helpers moved the little girl away from E. So to all the parents out there, teach your kids to keep their hands to themselves, it's not cute when they are bothering and touching other kids for no reason. 

*We have been back from Disneyworld for a few weeks now and I have finally gathered my final thoughts about it. I'm not a fan. Now, I am a Disney fanatic. I grew up going to Disneyland and that is where my allegiance lies. It's the original and just magical. I felt beyond overwhelmed at Disneyworld. It felt like we spent more time on buses getting to the different parks than we actually did in the parks. I like being able to walk back and forth in between parks. We decided that if we ever go back to the Orlando area it will be to go to Universal Studios again. 

*Daylight Savings! Why!? I honestly have NO idea why we need it anymore. All it does is mess up everyone's sleep patterns and makes people unnecessarily cranky. If we could just leave it where it stays light out longer that would be fabulous. I mean we already have states that don't follow it, here's looking at you Arizona and Hawaii! Y'all have it right!

Maybe eventually DST will cease to exist haha!

I'll try to do these posts monthly because they are pretty cathartic. 

Have a great weekend!!!

Another Weekend Gone!

Happy Monday!!!!

I am finally feeling human again, thank you modern medicine for that haha!

I was happy to be feeling better so I could attend Kyle's work social on Thursday night. It was a lot of fun getting to finally meet his boss as well as his team. They are all pretty awesome people and it made for a fun few hours. Plus, being able to get dressed up is always nice.

Friday was a pretty low key day. It rained most of the day so it was a lot of indoor activities for me and E. Kyle was home early which was nice. We enjoyed chinese takeout and a relaxed evening. E is happiest when she gets put into jimmies early and gets to run around like a crazy person all evening haha. It's the best. However, this is how she gets to her room to get said pajamas put on. Bear crawling for the win.

Saturday was a busier day. E had a make up dance class at 9:30am which was a lot of fun. She typically goes on Thursday so it was fun to see her with a different group. We opted for lunch out after running a few other errands. We got home and it was nap time for E. I headed out for a run and Kyle did a workout in the garage. I tried to push my pace a bit and I'm so glad I did. 

I got home and had to immediately get ready for my Mom's Night Out with my SLAM ladies. We headed to an aerial fitness place and it was SO much fun! Being able to work with a trapeze as well as silks was pretty amazing. We had the best time.

This definitely forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and it was amazing to do it with such a great group of ladies! So thankful for my SLAMfam. Afterwards we headed out for dinner and it was nice to just sit and talk for a few hours.

Sunday we ran a few more errands and spent some time outside. It was 70 degrees outside and it was amazing! E was happy playing with chalk and bubbles.

She wanted to go to the park and I needed to get a run done so Kyle took her while I got it done. It was definitely appreciated. They rarely get that time together so it was a win/win.

Overall, it was a great weekend! It was a mix of everything we enjoy. Here's to a short work week for Kyle and a long weekend coming up! 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 

Life Lately

It's Wednesday....but seriously feels like a Monday. This week has already been dragging and I'm ready for it to end. Ha! I blame this lingering ridiculous sickness. 

But I digress. Things aren't terribly exciting in our neck of the woods but honestly I'm perfectly okay with that. 

*Kyle has had relatively normal workdays (I'm sure I just jinxed that) now that their big exercise is over. Since he moved over to his new job at the beginning of January, he has been MUCH happier. It makes all the difference. I finally will get to meet his boss and coworkers tomorrow. There is a social at the brigade commanders house so that should fun. They all know me for my baked goods haha it will be good for them to put a face to the food. 

*E is officially registered for preschool next year! We were able to get her a spot at her school for 4 days a week. She loves her school and it will be great that she can stay where she's at with her friends and such a phenomenal staff. She loves school and I love getting photos like this:

* I am still studying for my ACE Fitness Instructor certification. There is so much to get through both within a textbook and online. I am confident that I will be ready come April 4th. Well, at least I hope I will be ready. Fingers crossed! I am ready to check this off my list and begin instructing at SLAM. 

*We have made the decision to go to Florida to see my family for E's spring break next month. Coincidentally, Kyle will be doing a course close to where my family lives that same week so we will still get to see each other. It's a win/win situation for sure. Hopefully the weather is warm enough and we can get out on the water.

*Kyle's parents are coming to visit us in about a month. It will be nice to see them. It has been almost a year since we last saw them. We usually Skype with them every Sunday so it will be fun for E to see them in person. They are only here for a few days so we will make the most of it.

Other than these few happenings all is quiet in the Smith house! :) 

Hope y'all have a great day!

Weekend Wrap-Up!

Happy March everyone!!!

I feel like I have been really MIA from my blog lately and for that I apologize. I came down with an unexpected sickness that really had me feeling terrible. I woke up on Thursday morning with body aches and just overall feeling gross. I dropped E off at school and headed to the dealership for my appointment. I spent the entire time folded over in my chair trying to stretch my back out. I honestly thought I was just sore from working out. I went to bed that night with a 102 fever and hoped that it would be gone by morning. Nope!

Friday was no better! Thankfully, E doesn't go to school on Fridays so we took advantage and made it a lazy day. She is a pretty independent kid so that helps tremendously. She was content with her iPad, food, and just being in her pajamas. She made life so much easier. 

By the time I went to bed I was feeling much better and was up bright and eyed and bushy tailed for our race on Saturday morning (granted this was too good to be true haha).

We headed up to Durham and ran a 10k up there. It was a beautiful course and there were almost 1000 between the 5k and 10k. Much bigger than we thought it would be.

Despite her face, E was in a good mood haha! She was singing all morning and having a great time. 

Despite not feeling 100%, I was pretty proud of my pace.

We stopped for our traditional Starbucks and made our way home. We ran a few errands later in the day and I pick up a few dresses from Target, this is my favorite.

I think it will make the perfect Easter dress.

Later in the day I started to not feel so great again. I went to bed at 9pm and woke up Sunday morning feeling worse. My throat was extremely sore and I just felt yuck. Off to urgent care I went. I have tonsillitis! Boo! Haha! I'm on antibiotics for 10 days and hopefully I will be back to normal. Definitely not the right time to be sick but what can ya do. Hopefully this isn't how all of March is going to be haha.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible weekend but definitely not how I wanted it to be. Thankfully, Kyle and E are easygoing. 

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Run Disney Vacation!

We arrived back on home Monday from a wonderful trip to Disneyworld! 

We left early on Thursday morning and we arrived at our resort right around 3pm. My sister, niece, nephew, and my Dad had arrived about an hour before us. We were lucky enough to have rooms right next to each other so it made linking up so much easier. Our views were amazing too.

The kiddos picked up right where they left off and were so happy to see each other.

We cleaned up a bit and headed off to the RunDisney expo to get our bibs and shirts for the weekend. It was at the ESPN Wide World of Sports so it was a quick bus ride. Afterwards we decided to head to Epcot to walk around and take in the sites. 

We were all exhausted so we headed back to our hotel after grabbing dinner. 

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning to make our way to Magic Kingdom. 

We had a breakfast reservation for a character dining at Crystal Palace and it was so much fun. We all loved it. The kids got to meet: Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet.

We rode a few rides and enjoyed experiencing Magic Kingdom. E got to see the parade which she absolutely loved!

We headed back to the hotel and it wasn't long before we were all in bed. My sister and I had to be up at 3am to get to the bus for our 10k by 3:30am.

3am came pretty quickly but we were ready to get the race weekend started!

As with the last Disney races we did our goal was just to finish in the time requirement and not do anything crazy. We had the best time and enjoyed running through Epcot.

It didn't take us long to get back to the hotel (thank you to the rad bus drivers!!!) and were showered and ready to head to Animal Kingdom. We didn't have much of a plan for this park but our goal was to just go on the Kilimanjaro Safari. It DID NOT disappoint. Seeing animals like White Rhinos and Giraffes up close was amazing.

The kids were just happy to all be together and this picture just melts my heart. I can't believe how big E looks in this photo. 

We didn't last more than a few hours at the park until we decided to head back to the hotel. The kids played in the pool for a while (well E didn't, she was not feeling good). I think Lisa and I were asleep by 8pm because we had to be up early again. 

Our alarms went off at 2:30am and it was time to get on the bus for the half marathon! We arrived at the race site at around 3:45 and we saw a few friends of mine which was awesome. 

From what the announcers said there were over 17,000 people running this race which was amazing to me! We finally started around 6:30am and it was so nice to run some while the sun was still down. We had a blast! We just talked, laughed, and took in the sites. We were able to run through the Castle but the majority of the race was highway which can get boring especially if you are alone.

It was amazing completely another RunDisney challenge with my sister! 19.3 miles of running and it was incredible!!! I'm so thankful that she is always up for these fun adventures.

We got back to our hotel and after consulting with everyone we decided to make it a resort day and skip Hollywood Studios. We stayed at the Caribbean Beach resort and it was amazing! The pool areas, restaurants, and bar were wonderful. The kids played in the pools of hours while the adults lounged around. After we had dinner we hung out outside just relaxing and playing corn hole.

I am SO glad that we were able to take this trip and enjoy quality time with family while running these races. We were bummed that our brother in law couldn't make it but there is always next time.

It was definitely a trip we won't soon forget!