Either we stand or we fall

Triple bonus points to anyone who reads this who can name the movie that lyric is from.  Mostly because if you can, then we need to be BFFs immediately.
Enough about my terrible taste in movies though. Today is Sunday Runday.  Some may even say Funday.  Some, may not.  Depending on the week, I fall in either category.  Today was a FUN Runday for so many reasons.  1) I got to run with my favorite partners and see the adorable Madilyn.  2) Flat courses. 3) 50 degree weather.  Bonus 4) Got to yell at my mom and aunt to get out of the way when we ran up behind them and got priceless dirty looks from the both of them before they realized who we were.  Not related to running so it doesn't get a number, I also got a giant sundae from Friendly's after lunch.  Sure, the amount of time spent at Friendly's was a bit ridiculous, and the waitress was obviously in over her head, but the sundae was pretty good.
The run today was 9 miles, in case you're wondering, since I didn't mention that above.  I got in a few short runs during the week too, so I guess Boston training is right on track.  I've also decided that I'm bringing back the 26 selfies for Boston.  After all, why not?  This might be my one shot at running it, so I intend to have fun and enjoy every second of it.  No point in speeding through and missing out on the experience, right?
Speaking of Boston, my team shirt arrived yesterday.  I've also got plans to go visit the respite center someday over February vacation, so that should be fun.  I'd love to meet the people who helped Morty when he was a little guy.  I think you can guess where this is going, but since we're on the subject of the respite center, don't forget to donate.  You can just  click right here to get to my donation page and help bring me up to the next level.  Right now I'm at 57%, but we could easily make that 60%.  Or get real wild and shoot for 65%.
Anyways, tomorrow is supposed to be another mid-50s type day, so since it's very rare that February 1 is 50 degrees, I'll definitely be hitting the outdoor running circuit.  And in a week or so, I'll probably remember to update about that too.  But I haven't had much else going on, so here's the map of the Louisiana Marathon, which I finally got around to uploading from my Garmin. Check out that amazingly steady pace!

I know, I know,I slacked off!

Alright, so I haven't been the best blogger this month. It's been a pretty busy month with the tutoring after school, checking out venues, and preparing for my first half.  But, now that everything is winding down, I'm free to update again! Rejoice, rejoice.
Today was the Boston Run to Remember.  There were 10,000 runners, which was crazy.  Some people were only doing the 5 miler, but that's still a ton of people.  Last weekend I went for a 13 mile run alone, just to make sure I could do it this weekend.  A week ago, my time was 2:05.  The goal of today was really to break 2:00.  This is how close I came to that goal: 3136 707/1603 F1929 2:01:03 9:14 2:02:18 Allison Runyan 28 F 6528 Lynn MA. The official time was 2:02:18, my time, as you can see bolded and underlined, was 2:01:03.  I missed making the 2 hour mark by seconds.  Seriously.  I'm a little bummed about that, even though I know I shouldn't be.  2:01 for my first half is a fantastic time.  But, when I want to reach a goal, it's always slightly sad when I don't.
The weather for the run was actually pretty bad.  I originally signed up for this race because it was at the end of May so I figured the weather might be hot, but not overbearing.  Turns out, it was the exact opposite. Start time was 7:00 a.m. and the weather at that time was 41 degrees with a wind chill that made it feel like 33.  (I got that direct from the weather channel, I didn't make it up!)  Seriously, at the end of May.  Plus, it was rainy off and on.  Weather aside, the run was actually pretty good.  I felt great basically the entire time.  I went through a lot of sport beans, especially in the last four miles, but it was worth it.  My legs are a little sore, but nothing too crazy.  Overall, a wonderful experience for my first half.  Plus, Ryan came out to watch, so double bonus.
Earlier in the week, I volunteered to stuff packets for the race, which turned out to be more fun than I expected, even though I didn't win any prizes from the raffles.  What I did get was free pizza, and really, that's the best prize there is.  Yesterday I went to the race expo to pick up my number and get some free swag, of which I got none, but whatever.  Then I went over to Boyleston with Cynthia, Murdock, and some of her family.  We stopped by the marathon memorial and had lunch at the Pru, in the middle of an anime convention.  I told you I've been busy!
Other than that, not much happening.  Ryan's mom and sister came to visit, I checked out a couple of venues, and Ryan's dad is coming in two weeks.  Next weekend I also have the last race in the Will Run for Beer series.  I'll finally get my jacket and be done with that, which is really a long time, considering it started back in January.  Cynthia is trying to get me a bib for the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C. this October as well.  I'm not really sure how I feel about that.  In the meantime, I think I have to find another half to run, just to get that time down.  With the end of the school year SLOWLY creeping up, I might be able to get more time in for everything, running included.  We'll see.

New Year, new blog

So technically, I'm a bit early.  It's not quite the new year yet, but I wanted to get a head start.  I've had this blog for a little over a year and a half and it has been updated sporadically at best.  The problem, I find, is that I've never quite decided on a topic for the blog.  Lots of people have reasons for blogging; DIY ideas, family updates, baking, sharing teaching ideas, the list goes on and on.  Realistically, I could use this for all of the above.  However, I don't think I would ever be able to find the time to blog on one subject repeatedly enough to have it become meaningful.  I'd love to share my DIY projects, my delicious baking experiments, and my teacher ideas, but I know I'd start strong and taper off into nothingness as my life became busier.
At this point you may be asking yourself, why is she even keeping a blog? It would seem that I've copped out of everything that most people would be interested in reading about.  Not to worry though, I do have a plan.  It may not be well put together, but it's a plan all the same.  Instead of blogging about all the exciting things I do in my days, I've decided to go a different route.  After all, if I wanted to write about my days, I'd keep a diary.
Without further ado, I present to you, my travelling and fitness blog.  If I've just lost you, take a second and keep going, it's not quite what it sounds like, I just don't have a better description at the moment.  You see, ever since I can remember, there have been hundreds of places I'd like to visit. Some I've made it to, others are still just spots on a map to me.  So I've decided to record these places, the places I've gone and what I enjoyed, the places I want to go, and why.  But that's not all.  At the same time, I've decided to go on a 5K kick.  It started out simple, just doing the Color Run, but as time went on, I thought it would be nice to do another.  Recently I've found myself signing up for not just one, but 7 more 5ks.  So I thought I might as well record the experiences I have while training.  I use that term loosely, because I'm not sure how much of my workouts can be considered training, but more on that later.  How do travel and fitness tie together then?  Well, here's my final outcome.  I really, really, desperately, want to run the Disney World Marathon.  I'm thinking 2014.  Right now, I can run 3 miles in 30 minutes.  That means I still have 23.2 miles left to train for.  And so, I've decided to train and travel.  Perhaps combining the two will encourage me to go further.  We'll see.  But what better time to start thinking this through than in the brand new year? If you ask me, there isn't one.