When in doubt, bling it out!

Ok, so I will admit that ever since my fiance, Matt, and I moved in together, I have been telling him repeatedly that this is not a college dorm room. He of course doesn't see the need to decorate or any of that jazz, but I have broken my own decorating rule. I taped some things up on my closet door, and he doesn't know it yet, but I taped something up on his closet door too. I know that he will say something about the college dorm feel when he sees it, but I needed some motivation because I have signed up for my next race!

For those of you who don't already know, my last race was a disaster to say the least. You can read about that gem of an experience here if you haven't already. My sister wisely suggested that I take some time off from running, and I agreed that I should most definitely not run a fall half this year. I recently had a debate with Matt about whether or not I could run a 10k within a few months, and he thought it was crazy that I wasn't sure if I could do it. That got the wheels a-turning in my head. Then I got the final push when that same crazy, Anything for 10 and take a break sister, called and asked if there were any 5k's in the area during the weekend she is planning to come visit me in October. Well, I did her one better, and now she, Matt, and I are running the Runner's World Festival 10k. I am pretty pumped because I have never done a 10k in terms of an organized race, but I am also nervous since I have taken so much time off from regular running.

The nervousness is what spurred the college-like decorating spree in my room today. I had actually just written out a training schedule and inspiring quote I saw today before I talked to her about the race, and then once we made solid plans, I went super motivational on my closet so that I will hopefully be on top of my running to ensure a much better experience at my 10k than I had at my last Half. Here's what my closet doors look like right now.

I am one of those people who needs constant reminders and motivational tools to keep working toward a goal that I might not always feel like working toward or that I might have times when I doubt by ability to reach the goal. So right where I will see it every single day, I have hung my two half marathon bibs (top), a training schedule that I made myself and a quote that I need to commit to memory (top middle), three bibs from 5ks that were important to me (bottom middle), and my two half marathon finisher's medals (bottom). The quote just happens to be from one of the best experts at Runner's World. Bart Yasso, RW Chief Running Officer, once said said in an interview, "Don't ever doubt that you are a runner just because you are slow. I hear people all the time say, 'I'm not a real runner.' We are all real runners, some are just slower than others. I've never met a fake runner." I super love this quote because I am super slow! I have never been fast, and I most likely never will be, but I have made it to the finish every time, and that's what counts. And in  two months from today, I hope to be making it across the finish line of my first 10k, thanks to my motivation and determination.