I have to be super cheesy for a sec…

A year ago today, a friend of mine invited me to play volleyball on her bar team with her. Little did I know, she intended to set me up with one of her team mates that she had been telling me about for a while, someone she thought I would really like, but I wasn’t into set-ups.

I got there, met the team, and during the first game, I happened to rotate out with one guy, Paul.  We immediately started chatting and just seemed to hit it off.  The next week we were talking about how much we like sushi, and he asked me to sushi that next weekend.

After a fabulous first date, we went on a second date the following week, and I just began to realize that I was dating one of the greatest guys on the planet.  Smart, accomplished, too funny for his own good, caring, and extremely thoughtful.

I don’t know how I got so lucky to meet someone like him, and have someone like him love me, but I thank God every day for him.

My friend told me a few months after all this that she had been planning on trying to get us to talk that night and setting up a few group outings to get us together, but I realized that fate sometimes just needs a push, not a party planner 🙂  Bless her heart.

A year later, we are living together, and I fall more in love with him every single day.

Life moves in surprising directions, and sometimes it is just best to be along for the ride. 

This is the 2 of us out and about all dressed up for Halloween last year.

30 Day Running Challenge: Day 7

Who supports you the most with your running goals and why do you pick them?

My first few years of running were hard because I had very few people supporting me, but now I feel surrounded by supporters!

My biggest supporter, though, is my pheonmenal boyfriend, Paul.  When we were just dating, he drove all the way to Chicago to cheer me on in the Chicago Marathon, spending the entire day chasing around the city with my best friend (my other biggest supporter) whom he had never met.  He then drove me home that night so that I could sleep and relax.

He is always asking me about my runs, and has never hesitated to go where ever and when ever to drive me to a race, cheer me on and hug me at the finish line, and drive me home afterward.  He is a good guy 🙂

My best friend, Julie, needs some recognition too, because she was always understanding of my running schedule in college and whenever we had plans.  She knew that my running was important to me and never criticized it for being a priority.  She, along with our other best friend, Liz, is always there to support me at a race if she can be (she cried all day during the marathon… she’s such a lover), and always sends supportive, motivational texts when she knows I have a race or a long run.

I feel like the list could go on and on, and I am so blessed for that!  My great friend and former roommate Jess, who is an AMAZING runner, ran Chicago with me (or 2 hours a head of me, however you want to look at it), helped me stay on top of my training, was always lending me her cool running gear, and never let me go for a run without knowing where I was going and when I should be back.

Candace, my first college friend and fellow marathoner is always checking in on my running.  A question of “how is your running going” can really go a long way in keeping you motivated and on track.

This got pretty long winded, but I feel like it is hard to pinpoint just one supporter, when everything that my friends do for me means so much!

30 Day Running Challenge: Day 6

To you, what’s the hardest thing about running?

Consistency!  One day I can go out and crush 14 miles without thinking about it and the next day 2 miles feels like the hardest run of my life (or the next week, time matters not in this vortex). 

I believe this has a lot to do with my head space.  I know my body can do it, but some days I just cannot get out of my own head. 

Running is about 25% physical, 75% mental… maybe more of a 10%/90% on most days.

Everyday