I LOVE new discoveries. A Phoenix excerpt

I absolutely love that I lived in Phoenix for over 6 years and just discovered Postino!  For those who don't know anything about this place, it is an incredibly cute wine cafe in Phoenix.  A friend and I went on Tuesday night for Bellinis and Bruschetta.  If you haven't been there you need to check out their website and go Monday or Tuesday nights after 8pm.  They have a special for $20 you get a bottle of wine and plate of bruschetta (typically could serve 2-3 people).  When was the last time you tried something different?  Whether it is trying a new wine bar, changing to a lipgloss color, or visiting your local farmer's market there is an overwhelming feeling of excitement that surrounds someone with little changes like these.  Have you all found anything new and exciting that made your day lately?

Courtesy of Postino Winecafe

I am an official MARATHON runner

I COMPLETED MY FIRST MARATHON!!!

Lets do the play by play shall we!  As a reminder, the weather in Denver on Saturday was rainy, chilly, and windy (as I like to call the triple threat of running a race).  The news informed me that it was the first day in around 5 months since snow had capped the mountains, so needless to say I was a bit anxious on what the race day weather conditions might look like.  To my pleasure we avoided two conditions Sunday, rain and wind!  I managed to prepare myself that morning wearing my warm Lululemon gear and beginning to fuel my water belt.  To start off the fuel session, I had a toasted english muffin with 2 Tbsp of Peanut Butter (just about the only thing my stomach will handle in the early mornings).  My water belt complete with chapstick, Gu Gel, Gu Chomps, and 4 water bottles weighed a good couple pounds.  The 2 girls and I set out for our early morning in the dark.  Denver drew nearly 16000 runners for both races, a little over 2000 being marathon runners.  We found the bag check, got back to the corral area, and I managed to say goodbye to my dad.  My whole body rang with adrenaline as the race began with a large roar.  The girls and I moved up in our corral, and I luckily was able to get my dad's attention before I started my race.  Off we went!! The one item I left at home unfortunately was my running watch that tracks all of my pacing and whatnot.  I had to trust that after the first mile my brain could calculate my pace and try timing myself that way.  I would say around the 10K(6.4 mile) mark you are in this zone where you really get in a groove and can enjoy your surroundings.  From the beginning I separated from the other 2 girls and was on my own pace.  I managed to chat with others and people watch with funny signs.  That kept me really sidetracked for a good part of the first half of the race.  The course splits the half from the full participants around mile 11.  At that point your brain recognizes a "no bailing now" mentality.  Luckily for me, that was the first point I saw my dad, cousin, and cousin-in-law!  At this point I'm in a great mood, feeling and looking good.  I hand over my heavier pullover to them and head off again.  Around mile 18 I hit the infamous "Runner Wall".  I thought it was all mental, but this is the actual point that your body gives signs of fatigue and pain.  I think psychologically this is a warning sign and you get to thinking "you have a ways to go, you need to figure this out now".  I mentally overcame it with, make it 2 more miles and you get to see your family again.  Mile 19 comes around, my knees and lower back are giving me extreme grief.  I continue to motivate and will myself to the 20 mile marker where I can see my dad in the near future.  I finally reach him and have a breakdown.  I'm talking I can't move, my knees are locking, and back spasms are occurring in full force.  With a little family support, motivation, and will power I have made my way up to mile 21.  I won't lie, the next couple of miles were pretty much torture.  Around 24.5 miles into the run I have hit the big mama mountain of a hill.  I feel at this point, it is par for the course.  It was a reality check for pain.  If I thought I knew pain, look again!  I make it to mile 26 to find my friend coming up to me to finish the last 0.2 miles with me.  I can't even explain to you what that meant to me.  To see a person running to me meant in my head the end was really near!  Seeing that finish line and running through it really triggered every emotion I could think of.  I cried immediately tears of happiness, pain, disbelief, and much more.  I still today can't believe that I accomplished 26.2 miles in under 6 hours.  It will forever be an experience I never forget.  My only piece of advice to myself next race is to run in flat areas.  I was a little over ambitious in thinking Denver being the same altitude would somehow be easier for me to race in.  I am proud of myself and hope that my story of the training and success that has been occurring over the last 6 months will be encouragement to others that you really can do whatever you put your mind to.  I know it sounds cheesy but sometimes it takes someone you know doing something you or they didn't think they could do to give you new perspective!  Until the next tale!

A new first has come....1ST MARATHON HAS ARRIVED!

So I landed in Denver yesterday in the final stages of prep for my first marathon.  Cant believe it.  Somewhat surreal. To commemorate this lovely occasion, I proceeded to buy just about everything at the Health & Fitness Expo.  I now have pretty much every funky/fun headband and arm sleeves one would want!  Believe the pictures after this baby will be one for the books!  This time tomorrow I will be running the streets of Downtown Denver and if you care to follow my steps as they happen go to http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/denver and at the bottom right corner there is a "Sign-up for Runner Tracking" button.  Sign up and you will get my progress at the 10K, Half-Marathon, and Finishing points! I ask for thoughts and prayers around the weather and keeping me healthy as the temperatures and conditions are not looking ideal.  Thank you to everyone who has given me unlimited amounts of support thus far, and I can't wait to let everyone know how this went!  :-)

I've lived in ABQ how long? Im running a WHAT?!!

Wow, I look at my last post and must say a lot of things have changed!  I can't believe that I've been in Albuquerque for a little over 10 months now and things are moving at a faster pace than before!  So where to I start?

Well after I achieved the major accomplishment of running a half marathon, I decided to get involved in a running group called Albuquerque Fit.  I figured I didn't know very many people, so trying to meet others with a similar interest would be a great start, right?  In the early springtime the new session had started and there were 3 groups you could sign up for: 10K, Half Marathon, and Marathon.  Looking at the 26 week schedule, I decided joining the marathon group would be best.  I actually joined it with intentions of running another half marathon in the middle of July, approximately halfway through the program.  I grabbed two ladies that I had been running with and we all thought great idea.

Well to make a long story shorter, we ended up not running a half marathon in July and actually have been training for a FULL MARATHON!  That's right, Chelsea- never wants to run at lacrosse practice- Snyder has managed to get her butt in gear and run enough to prepare for a full marathon.  With that being said, two weeks ago was pretty monumental in that I ran 20 miles for the very first time in just over four hours.  I could not believe all of that in my head and kept repeating for a while, "You just ran four hours and 20 miles. How did you get here?!"

I will say this, I've heard from tons of skinny little marathon runners "Really everything in running is mental," and I thought to myself, "You're mental for thinking running a marathon is JUST mental."  I would say I am a true believer that my body can do way more than my mind physically thinks is possible.  There is just this feeling and idea of moving and doing more than my mind thinks my body can do that gives you a sense of empowerment.  Not only has my mental outlook developed through an experience like this, but my physical outlook and ability has changed so much.  For instance, I travelled to Vancouver, Canada last weekend to visit a great friend and knew I had to put in some mileage.  I found out that Stanley Park is this large park that you can run along most of the English Bay following this path and has the significance of New York's Central Park in the US.  Typically if I'm on vacation, the idea of running is nowhere close to making the cut on my itinerary.  However, I was mystified by the incredible beauty of Stanley Park, the city, and the Bay.  I wouldn't have seen it in the way I would've on this trip a year ago.  I'd say the idea of hiking to me in general would not even make the cut and we actually decided to see those beautiful mountains you see in the media when spanning pictures of Vancouver!  My time spent there was more valuable than other places I've visited in a long time just by being more active in general.  I guess I would like to challenge you if you are not an active outdoorsy person like I would have classified myself as a year ago to ask yourself "Why not?"  I asked myself why I didn't try some of these things and realized I was truly missing out on a great experience.

I am flying to Denver this weekend to run the Rock n' Roll Denver Marathon so wish me luck!! I will need all of the positive vibes I can get coming my way!  I will update with the results and other changes going on as soon as possible!

A Quick/Long Update

Wow....last post was late December with no update that I actually COMPLETED A HALF MARATHON!!! K and myself rocked it in fact!  All of the training was definitely worth the payout and reward of finishing my first and now I have the running bug.  I haven't ran lately due to a couple of health things going on, but I am hoping that I pick it up again big time in these next coming weeks for a 10K Run for the Zoo in May and then the possibility of another half in San Diego in June.  Who knows though!  I am trying to not stress about these things and relax as much as possible.  Jake and I actually just celebrated 6 months together and time has really flown I feel like.  We both have talked about never considering long distance and it has been a really good thing for the both of us I feel like.  I managed to just also finish my first quarter results at work.  I have been pretty curious to see what this first quarter would look like: coaching a team of people, hitting volume target goals, and trying to figure out a new city.  All in all, I've managed to do a fair job I think.  I have loved traveling around seeing other areas of the state too!  This next week we are headed to Ruidoso for a leadership retreat which is about 4 hours from Albuquerque.  I'll also be working in Phoenix the last week of April I found out for some training with work.  Jake is pretty excited about that I must say and so am I!!! I truly miss the weather of PHX, so it will be good to get back for a little bit!  In May I am going to my first Steeplechase event with my dad which will be an experience to say the least.  Looking at his pictures from last year, I am hoping to have as much fun!  I will also finally get a chance to see my sister Sloane who will be just getting back from her travels in Switzerland and all over Europe!  There are a lot of things going on but I'm loving the underlining theme of traveling to see loved ones and doing things I haven't done before.  Hopefully it continues!  Well I'm off to bed but I will hopefully be updating more frequently, because I have truly missed this!

Settling in and reflecting on vacation

So as I mentioned before, the last month and a half has been pure chaos in my life I would say. I have been juggling a lot of different areas (only one or two well) and seeing where I land.  I believe that in the last two weeks of transitioning I have re-evaluated some thoughts I had about myself.  First, I think that I am internally reflecting on more than I ever have in the past.  I would have considered myself someone that processes feelings and thoughts by talking to others and thinking out loud.  I have actually done the complete opposite in a lot of areas of my life when I moved to Albuquerque.  I don't think it is bad, but I have given myself time to think of what kind of life I want to set up in this new place.  Secondly,  I believe my opinions on how to experience life are continually evolving.  I am lucky enough to be introduced and exposed to more things that one day I hope to conquer like becoming a rock climber or bigger adventure sport person.  For example of what I am experiencing different compared to Phoenix: I actually jumped at an outing where a bunch of people were going to a bar to watch a local reggae band play on a weekend night.  Phoenix = never happen  Albuquerque= BRING IT ON!!! We get to this bar and there was a pretty good following of the band and people would sing their original music at the top of their lungs and dancing in the middle of the hardwood floors.  I looked around and realized I was nowhere close to doing things my friends and I did back in Phoenix, but I actually had a total blast with these newly met friends!  I am also hoping that I may get to learn how to snowboard this season.  I cant remember the last time I went skiing and the opportunity to get involved with people that do some different things like going out on the slopes has been a great blessing.  Overall, I'd say I am still settling in and trying to understand the atmosphere.  I am a bit homesick having a boyfriend, sister, and huge group of friends back where I used to be, but I think with time everything will become normal.  I was able to complete an 8.5 mile run in the mountains the other day, so I am hoping that helps the training I am doing to get ready for the half.  My half marathon is less than a month away!!!  My first one ever too! I am starting to get nervous with the amount of time I will have in Phoenix that weekend but hopefully I will get to see most everyone when I am back.  I almost booked 10 tickets from ABQ to PHX just to make sure I see everyone pretty often and it was really cheap on Southwest.  If anyone is looking to hang in NM hurry and look at those deals!  I have an apartment waiting for visitors!  Well I have rambled enough I believe so I will be headed to bed.  Until next time kids!  

I'm a New Mexican! :)

Woahhhh!  Can it be?  I see that it has been OVER two months since I last wrote anything and that is just downright lame!  It is funny for me to look at the last post I wrote which touch upon a new assignment I had been given working on key accounts.  Oddly enough, this one is somewhat of the same announcement...I was promoted! :)  I am now working as a Territory Sales Manger over grocery stores all over the West Albuquerque area.  I am/was totally surprised/honored/flattered/nervous/excited in the matter of a 5 minute span when my boss offered me the position for lots of different reasons.  You know I believe I was itching to move in a way and God answered my prayers in a funny way I would say.  I think time and again I am reminded that God's plans for my life sometimes do not come close to the ones I have in mind.  Example A, I dont know anybody in the state of New Mexico (and I feel like I know a lot of people from a lot of different states).  I don't know that I have ever prayed for God to move me to NM, but I am totally surprised how different my predicition of what ABQ would be like was from the truth that I know thus far.  So far I have discovered that NM is way more like CO than AZ.  Did you know that Albuquerque is actually at a HIGHER elevation than Denver? Weird, right?!  So what does that mean or why do I care?  Well the last month of my half marathon training will involve RUNNING in that!  I think I was a little apprehensive about that idea earlier on, but to be honest, I think K and I are ready for the race!  I am actually really excited about it now!  I figure if I can train in the mountains, flat Phoenix should be cake right?  Hopefully so...I guess the biggest obstacle right off the bat here has been the realization I have no friends in this state yet.  I feel like it is completely different moving to a new city for a job than for school, because I remember not knowing a soul at ASU.  It was a bit different because I knew I would find friends through all of the clubs I could be involved in. I am still in the process of finding what ABQ has to offer, so if anyone is aware of anything to do LET ME KNOW! :)  I am in the process of unpacking still as I was moved into my nice 1 bedroom apartment a few days ago, so I am off!  I will update on the job, place, and area in the near future, so stay tuned!