My Active Adventures

Well, hello there! It's been about two years since I last posted in this blog, but changes are coming and I wanted to dust the blog off and start using this as a place to share this journey with people again. Change isn't always what you want or what you expect, but if you have the right attitude, it can be good for you. That's what I'm planning for. I'll get more into that later. I want to start by filling you in on what I've been up to over the last couple of years that I've been away from the blog, then I'll get into what is changing, why, and where I want that change to take me. I hope you enjoy following my journey. Over the last two years, I've largely been focused on CrossFit. I LOVE IT! I've been a member at Anthem CrossFit in Pensacola, FL since 11/30/15, and it's been amazing. I've learned a lot, had a lot of fun, and made so many amazing friends there. I've discovered a love of the CrossFit methodology, and I

During the thrusters in 16.5 on 3/25 I've written a lot of race reports. Obviously, those usually involve a race. Well, in keeping with my ventures into new types of activities this year, I took part in the 2016 CrossFit Games Open. So this "race" report doesn't actually involve a race, and a lot of the ones I write this year probably won't be traditional running races. Anyway, this is my report from the Open. I started CrossFit the first week of December 2015, so I'm still pretty new, but I wanted to take part anyway, and I'm glad I did. The Open is the first round of qualifying for the annual CrossFit Games. The highest ranked athletes in each region go on to the Regionals round, and then the highest there go on to the Games. Obviously, I was doing for more personal reasons with no actual shot at qualifying for anything. I wanted to do it for a few different reasons. One was the fun of taking part in the event with my friends at Anthem CrossFit. Also

I don't really know that I want to be called a runner anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love running, and I probably always will. But that tag just feels so limiting now. I've pretty much been a runner first and foremost for quite a few years. Running is what I always wanted to do, and I'd choose running over anything else. I don't feel that way now. I still want to run, but I also want to climb, I want to CrossFit, I want to surf, I want to hike, I want to swim, I want to SUP, I want to do it all. I want to try everything and I want to see every place. I feel like when I say I'm a runner I am limiting the possibilities. How much do you run? How many miles do you run? How many marathons and ultras can you run in a year? These are the questions I get asked, and these are the questions I ask myself when I place myself in the box of being a runner. These are goals I've always pursued, and these are the goals that have consistently left me unfulfilled. These go

My last workout of 2015 Where do I even start with this one? I guess the best place to start is to say that I'm grateful for 2015. It was my worst year for fitness since I started in 2009, but I think it was exactly what I needed. I've known for several years that I need to change the way I god about my fitness and my health goals, but I just never could do it. 2015 proved to be the time that everything came to a head and as I leave this weird year for 2016, I am left with little choice but to make those changes finally. Sometimes you have to give up before you can start over. Running the Miss. Blues Marathon 1/10/15 Things started out quite well. I had completed the Pensacola Marathon in November of 2014 and was finishing up my training for my first back-2-back marathon weekend in January of this year. ( Race report here ) I felt great, I was running pretty strong, I was relatively confident. I was still pretty overweight, and still not strength training or cross-tra

My friend Adam of Hiking The Trail asked me to write a guest post recentlyand it was posted yesterday. I thought I would share it with you all. His site is a great resource for someone like me just getting started in this whole backpacking things, and he personally has been a big help. Even if you don't read my post, take a moment to check out the page and site, and give it a "Like" if you enjoy hiking and/or backpacking. Here is a link to my post: A marathon runner turned trail runner learns to slow down – Guest Post

How many times have I written a post on this blog about needing change or lacking motivation? I'm here in that place again. I'm back here wondering what to change to get back my love of running. Don't get me wrong; I still love running. But do I love training? I love races. I've gotten to the point that I'm not all that interested in the miles between races. I feel like I've been there and done that. I don't feel like I'm accomplishing anything anymore. A run is a run, and some miles are some miles. But what was the point? Let's say I get home on a Saturday morning/afternoon after a long, tough 20 miler. Great. I covered a lot of miles, which many people really can't do, but why did I do it? I keep setting new race goals and signing up for things, but is that really the point of all this? I put in hundreds of miles between races, and most of them by myself. Is the point just to get ready for the next race? I used to love training. Training