Spring is when.....

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.”-Doug Larson, 1924 Olympic Gold Medalist

That's exactly how I've felt the past week or so. Spring didn't officially arrive till this past Saturday but the weather here in Blacksburg has been great all week! Everytime I walk out the door, I find myself smiling no matter what the day ahead holds. People in general just seem to be in a nicer mood when it's gorgeous outside. Mabel also enjoys the nicer weather and can be found hanging out here most of the time (she especially seems to like the fact that the squirrels know it's Spring too).



To celebrate Spring I'm running my first race (of any kind) this upcoming Saturday in Richmond! The Monument Avenue 10K will kick off for me at 9:27 am Saturday morning and I couldn't be more excited (and terrified). Training has been both difficult and mind boggling all at the same time. I've been amazed at how far my endurance and overall body condition has progressed in just a few short weeks. When I first started out back in January I could barely run a quarter of a mile and now I'm capable of running 5 (note I said capable here and not AM GOOD AT because running those 5 hurts like heck). The frustrating side of that is one day I'll have a really good run and be feeling like a trained athlete and the next day I'll barely be able to get through the first mile. But luckily I've been reading on running blogs that this is totally normal and you just have to push through it.

This is another thing that's amazed me through this whole running process. I never really bought into the whole "No Pain, No Gain" slogan, remember those No Fear shirts? Yea, I never bought one of those. If something hurts, my philosophy is you stop doing it! But lately I've been learning that maybe pain isn't the worst thing in the world and if you keep going it eventually stops hurting. So who knows what other life lessons I'll learn from this but for now my sights are set on Saturday. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it turns out!