Just keep running... just keep running running running...

Well, once again it's been a few weeks since I've blogged :( Sorry guys, I've been crazy busy!! So, what have I been busy with you ask? Well, the answer is mainly work... gotta pay the bills somehow! The company I work for is trying to branch into the digital LED field, which means I am spending a lot of time learning the inner-workings of these LED boards. Essentially I stare at this:

and try to understand how it works, and eventually I put my designs on it... It's quite.. ummm... stressful. Not what I signed up for, but in a small company everyone has to pitch in a little extra... So I'm trying to stay positive and look at it like a learning experience :)

Besides that, I've been taking a web design class which I just COMPLETED! I need to take more though... There is SOOOOO much to know. I already purchased a book and will sign up for another course soon. I am determined to master it so I can feel confident promoting it as one of my freelance design services.

Certificate of Completion! Hollllaa!

The San Francisco Nike Women's Half Marathon is less than 3 weeks away! OMG... I can't believe it's almost here! I've been trying to up my miles and finally got to the double digits! Yepp, TEN miles people! Never in a million years did I think I would ever be able to run 10 miles without stopping! I'm not fast by any means.. I usually start at a solid 10 minute pace, but by the end I slow wayyyy down.. I've ran plenty of 4-7 miles runs, but that last 3 miles was SO. HARD. Not endurance wise, but pain wise... my knees/IT bands started hurting bad, but somehow I pushed through and made it to 10 miles in 1 hour and 52 minutes... So, this means if I can just get 3 more miles in at that pace I will finish in my 2 and a half hour goal in San Fran. But this time, instead of finishing at my car with a bottle of water awaiting me, there is will be San Francisco firemen in tuxes handing out Tiffany necklaces!!!!!! If that's not motivating, I'm not sure what is! :) EEEK!

We are currently trying to plan our trip and trying to pack in as much as possible while we are there! I'm so excited to do a wine tour and see Alcatraz, as well as go to the amazing motivational Leukemia Lymphoma dinner I've heard so much about :)

This is what I look like after finishing ten miles... Bogey's at the bottom of the pic and he's about to bite me. He's bipolar. He sucks. He's kind of like his mom, pissed if the attention isn't on him ;) jk.

My mom has taken up running as well. She's been big into biking for a few years now, and decided to do a duathalon with her girlfriends this past weekend in Minneapolis. Turns out IT Band problems run in the family :( .7 miles into the race she basically thought she blew out her knee, she couldn't even put weight on it. It turned out to be really bad IT band syndrome :(  So that sucked for her, she was really disappointed after training for so long :(

Her and her friends pre-race. Brrrrrr!

 What else have I been up to? Well, I've been trying to keep my faith in my beloved hawkeyes... I went to the first game against ISU and had a fabulous time on the ride down and tailgating with friends :) I'll leave it at that... Go Hawks ;)

I'm heading to IC this weekend again to not only cheer on the Hawks, but my brother too! He's on homecoming court at Iowa!!!! He's such a good kid and I'm so proud! What a stud :)

This is him holing out from 175 yards this summer for an eagle when we were playing together:)

OH, and I got a new toy! Yepp, the galaxy s III. (Yes, i want an iphone, and yes I'm still on my parent's plan... so I can't get an iphone cuz they have us cellular..) I will say I've been pretty impressed with it though, and all the reviews sound like it's just as awesome as the iphone5 so I'm not too upset :) It does some pretty cool stuff and has a great camera and huge screen. When I got it the guy was speechless when he looked at my data usage... He couldn't believe I used so much data. I took that as a hint I need to lay off the facebook stalking ;)

 

 

 

Sweet phone huh?

I also got some new kicks for the big race. I've been wearing the same kind, just different color, for all of my training. I can't wait for that awesome feeling of brand new running shoes :) 

A couple Friday's ago my boss hosted the Hawkeye Wrestling Club golf outing. I did a lot of work preparing the LED board to be displayed at the tournament, so in return I got to play! :) Dan Gable spoke and I met some pretty well known Hawkeye wrestling guys. Golf was a blast, it was a gorgeous day and my team was fun :) We shot -11 which wasn't half bad :)

I could hardly sleep last night because I stayed up and watched my Packers play. BIG MISTAKE! Man... In my mind the packers are 2-1 though...
Not a good year thus far for my football teams :(

Oh yeah,
I swear everyone I know is going to the Ryder Cup.. I'm so jealous. My dad is even going and he never goes anywhere lol.

I guess that's it for now :) Off to volleyball tonight :) Happy Tuesday!