Couch to ATHLETE!

I think I am finally ready to deconstruct my last couple of weeks. They have been a blur but totally worth it.  My buddy enjoying life! Anyway, about a week and a half ago I spent a day floating down a river on an inner tube with a couple of friends, I traveled to Cleveland, ran at Sharon Woods for the first time in months (forgot about the hills), rode my bike 36 miles around Columbus in the middle of the night in support of my friends who were running Relay Around Columbus (you can read one friend's account of the event here ), went fishing, walked around one of Dukie's favorite metro parks, etc. It is interesting. We all have indicators of success. Take the children's book t he Giving Tree  for example; In the book, the tree is happiest when he is giving himself to the boy. The boy swings from the tree's branches, carves his initials in the tree, builds a house with the branches and makes a boat with the tree's trunk. The tree basically gives himself to ...

Yep, I am having writers block. I have plenty of stories that I could share but I simply don't have the ability to put it all into words on a computer screen. All I can say is I spent a lot of hours on my trusty bicycle this past weekend to support my friends who were Relaying Around Columbus. So, yes this is a lame post but I am still recovering from an amazing, entertaining and fun filled weekend full of new experiences, laughter, funny stories and excitement. Here is a picture pre-ride, with one of the many amazing runners:

I have finally embraced the idea that I need new shoes. If you recall, I shed some tears over my shoes some time ago but still had not given in to the idea that I needed to upgrade to a model that is currently being manufactured. Stress fracture = Lesson learned. I went to Fleet Feet last weekend, was fitted by the the shoe technician (I feel like they need a good title, I mean subway staff get to call themselves sandwich artists; let's give a cool title to the shoe guys and gals, after all they are there to make our feet happy, theoretically). He gave me two pairs to try on, the first? A pair of Brooks. I shook my head the minute I saw the Brooks box knowing my feet are too wide for every pair of Brooks I have tried. I know a lot of people love their Brooks, they just aren't right for me. I humored my shoe technician and tried them on anyway. Instantly, everything started poking my feet in all the wrong places. Big fail there. The other pair? Mizuno Endurance 11. I took...

Somehow I missed a week of blogging. My apologies to my faithful readers. All I can say is that it has been an extremely busy week. One that I am happy to say is in the books. Nothing particularly bad, nothing particularly great; just a week. I will be back with my random Sarahisms this weekend. Plan on hearing a lot about my new shoes. There might be ANOTHER new pair in my future. We will see... For now, I just want to update you on a few of my goals: Giant Eagle Multi-Sport Series: I am going to attempt my first Olympic distance triathlon in about 7 weeks. I am totally looking forward to it!!! I think with all the cycling I have been doing, I should be good in that department. I should be up to 10 mile runs again by that point but cross your fingers. I kind of had a panic attack yesterday; not enough swimming lately. I am going to have to do something about that this week. Wish me luck! Not how I planned to train for this event, but my body had different plans for me. Not bad,...

I remember one summer, it was blazing hot on our annual family vacation to Minnesota. It was one of those heat waves that literally took the region by surprise. My dad and I packed up the car for a day trip to the secret lake. This lake was not a lake to be swum in. It was a lake that was overpopulated with Northern Pike and Blue Gill. We had to hike a half mile in to the lake with our shirts tucked into our pants, pants tucked into our socks, hats on our head so as not to get ticks in our belly buttons; all while talking as loudly as possible so as not to scare the bears. This may have been the same trip in which I was reeling in the biggest northern pike EVER when something else hit my line. I was fighting the 'fish' with my pole, the boat was about to tip over from the strength of this fish, my dad and I were getting excited about the prospect of a 50 lb fish at the end of my line. Just as the boat was about to tip, the northern surfaces, attached to the fish was a huge...

I just couldn't wait a week to write and share this post, so I guess you can call it a bonus post, or a random rambling about love? I don't know what prompted this post other than the spirit moved me. Perhaps you will find the point, or you can chalk it up to more strange Sarahisms... A picture of someone I love dearly! I very much admire people who know exactly what they want out of life and then go for it. As you already know I love running. I don't need a reason to run, I just do it because I can. I remember an old friend asked me if I would consider doing planks if it was the only thing that allowed me to continue running. My immediate response was no! My tune has changed, I would do anything to make sure I could continue running even if it was the worst homework assignment ever. Why you ask? Because I love it!!! I was recently talking with one of my friends about relationships and the necessity of not settling. I was telling her that crushes are just crushes u...

In the moment! Every step we take will take us somewhere. We get to choose how to step, but we can't always choose the destination. It is funny how we often try and look back to determine what we could have done differently, what choices we could have made that would have brought us to a different place in life. I like to say, as you may have seen on my blog before, that when I find myself saying 'I should have', I try and follow that up with, 'but I didn't'. I try to remember, when I am bummed out about where I am in life, that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Continuously looking back to wish away your life only inhibits you from living right now. Case in point: This past week, while travelling for work, I found myself 'riding' the elliptical in the hotel at the gym. I was doing this daily, as prescribed, knowing the first run was fast approaching! You see, I am not an elliptical fan at all. As a matter of fact, I dislike the elliptical ...