Monthly Archives: January 2016

Friday Five: 5 Running Dreams That Probably Won’t Come True

Posted by hellyontherun in Running and tagged with , ,

I think it’s normal to dream about races you’d like to run someday–the really crazy, far, expensive, ones that make it unlikely you’ll ever participate in them. I’m not the only one that does this, am I? 😀

It’s “Free Friday” in the DC Trifecta world of Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney and today I’m sharing 5 Running Dreams That Probably Won’t Come True, lol!!

25897-I-Dream-Big

1. ) The World Majors

These marathons include Berlin, Tokyo, Boston, London, Chicago, and New York City. I’ve got one down (Chicago!) but the others are an expensive stretch. I love that running also allows me to travel and maybe throughout my entire lifetime, I might make these happen. I think it’s kinda funny though, that the toughest one is in the states–I’d have to qualify for Boston, jaja!!

2.) New York City Marathon

Speaking of the majors, one that’s in the states is NYC and while it’s not impossible that I would do this one, the impossible part is how I would want it to happen. My brother wants to do one marathon and the one marathon is this one. I’d love to do it with him. I’d love for my sister to do it too. And it’d be even awesomer if my husband could too. Yeah, there’s the impossible part. The likeliness of ALL of us making the lottery in the same year….not very good. But one can dream! 😀

3.) Disney Dopey Challenge

I’ve never been a crazy Disney person and with recent price increases, it’s even less likely that I’d do a Disney race, BUT, if I was to it would be the Dopey Challenge in Walt Disney World. The reason this is a unlikely dream is because this is the costliest of all the Disney races. You’re basically paying for 4 races– a 5k on Thursday, a 10k on Friday, a 1/2 marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday. Final price: right around the $600-700 range!! That is NOT including price of park admission (which is insanity), NOT including air fare or hotel accommodations. Yeah, this race-cation could easily get you to the several thousand dollar range when all is said and done and for that amount, wouldn’t you want to do a World Major Marathon somewhere in Europe?? LOL

Bling from the Dopey Challenge--Source: RunDisney Mom

Bling from the Dopey Challenge–Source: RunDisney Mom

4.) Western States 100

I never say never, but it’s very unlikely that I’ll ever run a 100 miler but if the crazy in me was to ever come out the one I’d want to do is this one. Of course it’s not one you can simply sign up for, no, that would be too easy. You have to run a qualifying race and then enter the lottery. Double whammy. What makes the Western States 100 race so special is this prestige that comes with having qualified and been selected. It’s also the oldest 100 mile trail race and gives you life-time bragging rights if you complete it. Why does this sound so cool to me?

5.) Boston Marathon

If I was to devote my life to any of the races on the list, it would be this one. I think it’s easy to say that many runners dream of running this big race. At over an hour away from my qualifying time though, I’ve got a ways to go BUT I know that this one isn’t entirely an improbability. Recently, I’ve come across quite a few Instagrammers and bloggers who have shared their transformation stories of how they’ve become the runners they are now. Many started at or near what my current marathon PR and have bettered their times to comfortably below their BQ requirement.

This one’s possible ❤

–Do you have any running related dreams?

Thanks for hosting Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney!!

DC-Trifecta-Friday-Five-linkup

 

 

Mid-Week Musings: Don’t Read The Comments

Posted by hellyontherun in Musings and tagged with

Maybe you have or maybe you haven’t heard people say, “Don’t read the comments!” when it comes to online articles, forums, etc. But like most “bad” things, even though you know you shouldn’t, you almost always do.

The comments section online can sometimes make me giggle, make me think about whatever opinion I first thought on the topic, or make me angry. Unfortunately, it’s mostly always the latter.

Last week, Arizona was put on the national spotlight again for not a very good reason (again). Six high school students decided it would be funny to position themselves forming a pejorative word that should never be thought of as funny. Their letters were from a larger phrase (with more students) used for their senior yearbook picture.

When I first read about this, I thought to myself, How in the brains of these six girls, did they think it was okay–funny–to do this? (In a picture where the girls’ faces are not blurred, they can all be seen laughing.)

Then I went to the comments.

I expected the girls to get lashed at. In many ways, I felt they deserved it. But what I read was quite horrifying. Most of the comments were targeted at the punishment the girls received, a 5 day suspension, that most felt wasn’t “hard” enough but there were quite a few people who didn’t think it was a big deal.

The story went viral and wherever I turned, I was reading about this story. And I couldn’t help but read the comments. I was disturbed by those excusing the girls, but I was also disturbed at the threats the girls were receiving–It was as if I felt the girls should be punished, but I wanted to step in when people began posting their home addresses.

Similarly, I read/saw Cassey Ho’s (YouTube fitness Guru) vlog on her personal struggle with anorexia. She posted a picture on her Instagram and Facebook of a time in her life when she participated in a bikini/figure competition. She shared how despite how she may have looked on the outside, she was incredibly unhappy (and unhealthy) in the inside.

Sometimes I look back at this photo and think, wow, why couldn't I have held on to this low fat bikini body? It's such…

Posted by Blogilates on Monday, January 25, 2016

“>Cassey Ho

I ventured to the comments and it was overwhelmed with people who had similar experiences with eating disorders. Comment after comment was a personal story of a struggle with weight and body image and it made me so sad to see how so many people live with this.

And it made me think of how there are so many things (Social Media, T.V., Magazines, Advertisements, etc.) that contribute to it. There was even one commenter who said she looked better in the bikini pic than she does now. 😦

The comments section in many places can be a sad and scary place.

–Do you read the comments section or do you avoid them?