It's been far too long!!!

It's been far too long, I never meant to let my blog go a bit. But with finishing up both my majors, I became overwhelmed and it basically just became too much screen time.
What's changed? Not much, but I told myself a few weeks ago that I wanted to get back into blogging if even only on a part-time basis for now. On the plus side, I have a few classes that are super long, I usually finish earlier so I am thinking I might be able to do a little blogging during that time!

Well, I'll give ya a quick, very quick recap on a few worthy of mentions that have gone on since my last post in October (yikes, so long ago.)

26.2 Finally
I finished my 40th marathon last fall. Running my first full marathon in October since my 5 years of building back from that work injury that kept me from being able to get back into them again for so long, it felt amazing and went pretty well. I kinda regret not ever doing a re-cap on it, but oh well.

Half Marathon
I had an opportunity to run the Laughlin Half Marathon in December so I took it, and while it was not anywhere near one of my best half's, it was still fun and a beautiful course. I also had the opportunity to take the trip with a blogger friend over at Enjoying the Course.

Graduation Approaching
I finished fall semester, and I can hardly believe it but this current semester is my last, I will officially be graduating in May with my double major. It's gone by so quickly, but taking 16-18 credits a semester has been paying off, and it's allowed me to move through the programs faster! Not sure if I've ever fully shared what I am majoring in, but I think I will now. Double majoring in both Recreation and Sport Management and Digital Design.
Now, you can see why blogging just has been nearly impossible to keep up!

Yay me!
I have been working hard, I am still pulling off straight A's and getting those 4.0's and making the President's List each semester. Who knew when I started this, I'd actually want to work extra super hard to get great grades. Especially since I still use words like "extra super hard" ha ha ha...

Currently
This semester I am in 5 classes. In order to graduate on time, I was left to take a few classes I wouldn't have normally ever wanted to take. One being Video editing, I literally know nothing about this and it's been a little difficult learning a brand new program along with everything else I am doing, but somehow I'll survive. On a side note, I absolutely hate having to do selfie type videos... just saying ha ha ha.

100 Hike Challenge
Of course, I have been fitting in a lot of hiking, I try very hard to go hiking at least twice a week. It helps that I live literally 5 minutes away from dozens of incredibly scenic trails, and within 40 minutes of National Parks and a few other beautiful areas. I've also taken on the 100 Hike challenge and am going to try to see if I can hit 100 hikes before the end of the year. I'm currently on track as of last week I was at 12 for the year. (Most the images on this post are from this years hiking adventures so far.)

No Winter This Year
Unlike the rest of the country, Mother nature skipped winter here in Utah, it's sad really because we desperately need the water. So we are all hoping for a wet next few months. But with temps in the 50-70 degree range over the past few months, its made it really easy to enjoy the outdoors. I think there were only 2 days this whole winter that was too cold and rainy to want to go out in, and I haven't worn really any of my sweaters. I've even taken up Tennis again and started playing a new sport (new to me) pickleball. It's been fun trying new things!

Lot's more has been going on, but instead of dwelling too much more on the past, I'll look forward to sharing with you the future. I don't know if it will happen, but I'm going to try to blog at least once a week. I also am looking forward to jumping in and seeing what all my previous blogger friends are up to. Sadly, I even let catching up on others blogs slip as well as my own. But sometimes, some things in life are more important than the blog ha ha...

So if you happen to see my post and have a minute leave me a comment and let me know some of the amazing things you've been up to that I have missed and you'd like to share!

Giveaway - FREE Race Entry

It's about time I offer a giveaway for Sea to Shining Sea Virtual Races.  I'm going to skip right to the point and make it easy for you.

Below you will find a Raffelcopter form with several options to enter. Select one or all, or come back daily to earn additional entries, that's it!

NOTE: If you have already registered for this race and you are the winner you will be refunded your original registration price and be given the free race entry.

Above pictured is the medallion and t-shirt you will earn for participating in the race. For those who know what a Virtual Race is, here is the Rafflecopter to enter. For those who need additional information on this race, scroll down below to find out more.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How does a virtual race work?
You register for a race distance, then train and come event week you run, walk or hike your way to your goal. You pick your own course, and you can complete the distance at ANY pace you prefer fast or slow it is entirely your choice. In return like a street race, you will be provided with a race t-shirt, finishers medallion, and race bib to show off your accomplishments. Need more details? You can learn more HERE.

Also, Virtual Races are not only fun motivation for yourself, but they can also be fun for the whole family. A healthy competition among friends or co-workers or a great way for your kids to have fun being active and earn a finisher's medallion for their accomplishments.

Are you already training for a big road race this fall? Virtual races can be great motivation to stay on track and earn some extra bling for your long training runs!

Want a guaranteed spot in the race? REGISTER HERE and use promo code FUNRUN15 for 15% off the registration price.  Or learn more HERE. If you register now and are the winner of this giveaway as stated above you will be refunded your registration price.

Click to Tweet and Share a Little Twitter Love

Love to run, walk or hike? Come and enter to win a FREE race entry @runwybridlplanr https://goo.gl/3UJRuv

Cliff Jumping, Bucks and a Few Updates

I've been so busy with putting my thesis paper together and all the things I have needed for the thesis project, I've neglected my own blog. Decided I needed to create a quick post today and share some updates.

First, I want to thank so many of you who have been so kind to help me promote the Sea to Shining Sea Virtual Race. I appreciate every little or big thing you've done more than you know. It's meant a lot to me that you were willing to help me! I will always be there for you if you need help some day with things and projects you are working on in life!!!

While I have been kept indoors for the past two weeks (mostly) and I have another week to go, because my thesis paper for the project is due this coming Friday. Well technically it's due next Tuesday, but I have a personal goal to have it all done by Friday because this girl needs some vacations before the fall semester begins in a few weeks!!!

What have I been up to? Took an evening to go cliff jumping with some friends a while back, had a great time and my friend took this awesome photo. You may have seen it on IG, but I love it looks like I'm running through the air, LOL

My parents are in town so they can help me with my thesis paper, we took a break last night and went and check out some wildlife. The images aren't great but we did see a beautiful 6pt buck and two 4 pt bucks.

Tonight we are taking another break to go see a Tuacahn Broadway in the desert play Disney's Newsies, I've been looking forward to this a while. We bought season tickets this year and this is the first time we have been able to get together to use them!

You may have noticed I had to edit the design on the finishers medallion for my virtual race.

Apparently, the vendor told me that my original design while they would do it it may open me up to liability if a child had gotten the piece and broke off one of the small objects??  Who knew parents let their kids suck on finishers medallions?? But then I guess in today's world nothing surprises me, so when I did the re-design had to make sure the same idea and components I loved about the first medal were in place and it is less of a liability?? LOL LOL LOL

Also, the ribbon design and the t-shirt colors were determined. So in the above, image you can see all of it, exactly as they will look as the iron cast is being created right now by the vendor!  I really love how it all turned out!! That says a lot because normally I stare at my work in design so much I'm tired of it before I show anyone. But I created a medal I'd be interested in earning! Yes, I am excited to participate in the Half Marathon in my own Virtual Race.

Today is actually the last day to register before the price increase. FUNRUN is the promo code to save 15% off. If any of you are interested in registering, you can HERE.
But please don't feel like you have too, I am just over sharing this right now because well my life sort of resolves around it right now, LOL Don't worry there is an end in sight, LOL


But I will say you may think a Virtual Race, not much too it LOL They are far more work to put together, organize and promote than you'd think. Seriously, it's been like a part time job on top of the school, LOL
Oh, well it could have been worse. I could have picked a boring project, at least this one has held my interest!

I created one more slide show video for the project, you can see it above. My sister, her kids and her trail running friends helped me with a photoshoot to obtain all the images. You've probably seen some of the other images they helped me as I included them in several blog posts that I created to guest post on other blogs. LOL Yes, that's another reason why you haven't heard from me, I wanted to make sure all the blog posts on other blogs were different or worded differently to avoid google rankings blacklistings or anything with copied posts! (Yup, I would never do that to my friends!!)

I can't wait to be done with everything on my thesis! Fingers crossed I survive the week!!! Not playing for 3 weeks of the summer at all, is slightly killing me LOL *Keep telling self, it will be worth it LOL*


Tell me something you've done that I've missed while having to be a thesis writing hermit this past month?

I'm Looking For Influencer's Who Want to Earn a Free Race Entry

As many of you probably know I am hosting a Virtual Race for my Senior Thesis project in college. One of the challenges set for it is only utilizing Influencers to help promote the event.

The first phase is using influencers who are interested in earning a FREE entry into the race of their choice, see below if you are interested.

Run Sea to Shining Sea is a Half Marathon, 10k or 5k Virtual Race event.  You can find more information about the race on the website Runseatoshiningsea.com

If you'd like to help me out with this event, by sharing it with your followers I'd love any help I can get! I'm looking for Influencers of ANY kind and you don't need to have a large following.
This could mean any of the following: Bloggers, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram anyone who uses any form of social media with friends family...


While I'd love to be able to give everyone who helps promote it a free entry, I am not that rich because the t-shirt, medallion, and shipping cost more than you'd think. However, I have set up a reasonable way to EARN a FREE ENTRY for those interested in doing so.

It's Simple

If you'd like to see if you can get 6 of your followers, friends or family to sign up under a unique discount code you can use to promote the event (the unique discount code is for tracking purposes) you earn a free entry!

More information and the sign-up can be found at the link below.

INFLUENCERS SIGN UP FORM CLICK HERE

I want you to succeed, in addition to your unique promotional code which will allow your followers to earn 15% off the list price.If the person who uses your unique code is willing to promote the event on their own Facebook page (during registration) they can save an additional amount to make the total discount 25% off the list price.

You will also be provided with marketing materials, tips (which I have learned through the research phase of my thesis on Influencers) to use to help maximize your promotional and influence abilities.


NOTE: Promotion for this event is from now throughout August 1st, I may have other opportunities coming up , this is phase one of the marketing plan in my thesis challenge. While it is not required, anyone who signs up to help promote this phase will have the first word about other promotional or free entry opportunities before I announce them to others.

ALSO,
I'm looking for runners who will let me feature them on my race blog. (You don't need to be a participant. I will be linking to your blog from it. If you are interested in this, fill out this form HERE and I'll be in contact!

Thanks, everyone!!

First Mid-Distance Race in my Comeback, Finishers Medallion Sneak Peak

I received an incredible opportunity thanks to Meranda over at Fairytales and Fitness to run the Utah Valley Half Marathon and I was happy to take it, thanks friend!!

Truth be told, I didn't actually train for this Half Marathon, not like I should have.
I had been training for hiking the Grand Canyon and put most of my focus on that. (Which I did and will talk about soon!) But since I had been running a few shorter runs 3-5 miles 4 days a week and a couple of weeks ago I went out for a 12.5-mile run and it felt pretty good. I figured since I trained to hike 54 miles, I should be able to knock off a half marathon with less than adequate training. In theory, LOL

Due to a few circumstances on my hiking trip, my feet were very blistered, I had 4 blisters half the size of golf balls and 3 the size of quarters and zero skin left on the bottoms of my feet in addition to 3 other smaller blisters.
Thankfully, my dad is a medical genius with patching up blisters to the point you can hardly feel them, it took him over 30 minutes to patch mine up the night before. Then I just hoped for the best the next morning!

I met up with a few blogger friends before the start, it was fun to get to know them from virtual into reality! Leave it to me, to not take a single picture of us.. I am terrible at this I know!

I had two goals for this race: Have fun and not walk LOL (Yeah I wasn't aiming too high!). So I settled into my "I can run nearly forever at this pace, " and went for it. I possibly had my worst ever Half Marathon time, but I didn't train so I was happy with any fun finish! I did complete the goal of having a great time and not walking. But then again my "I can run forever pace" is pretty slow and called that for a reason, because well yeah I can nearly run forever at that pace LOL.

This race I never had run before, I traveled up north for it, stayed with my parents about an hour away and drove down for the race last Saturday morning!  Beautiful course, very easy rolling hills, nearly as flat as a Utah race can get really. I have to say, I'd do it again possibly in the future, but I think I'd like to run the full marathon and run the entire canyon next time!

On a side note, a funny fact: this is actually only the second different half marathon I've ever run. Sure I've run the Canyonlands Half Marathon in Utah many times, but none other halfs. I'd been a marathon gal for so many years I only had 26.2 on my mind. So yeah, the half marathon race on different courses is all new to me!

Second side note, at this race, they gave us the cutest and best race jacket I've seen in a race yet, I love mine!!!

LAKE TIME

My trip up north to run the race ended up with me catching a summer cold. I stayed a few days longer just to heal up a little before the long drive back home.
I've kinda laid around not doing much, by Saturday I was bored and I needed to get out even if I didn't have the energy to do much of anything.

I did stop at the library on my way out to the lake and thankfully they had the book I wanted to read checked in! Very relaxing way to spend the tail end of a summer cold!

Additionally, since it was 110 degree's outside Saturday, I took a like a little higher up so it was a bit cooler, only 105 LOL. (In case your wondering, temps like this make a lake bathwater warm. But it's still a good place to cool off!)

If you think 110 is hot, Sunday it was 112 and this week we are supposed to hit 115 nearly every day, possibly even warmer than that. (Heat wave coming) Oddly, I love the heat and my body loves the heat so don't think for a second that means this week I'll be indoors under the air conditioner. In fact, if you follow me on Instagram, you'll be in for some visual eye candy, I've got some great hikes planned. Better yet, some are ones I've never been on.
So I am staying fully hydrated and ready for a week of outdoor summertime hotter than hades fun, LOL

ADDITIONALLY

The Virtual Race that I am putting on for my Thesis Project this summer for college is up and running and accepting entries. You can check it out: Runseatoshiningsea.com

I'm doing my best to keep the prices as low and reasonable as possible and still offer higher quality items as far as the shirt and finishers medallion go.

Above, I've finished the first DRAFT of the finishers medallion, it will look similar to this, though you will have to use your imagination as it will be in Metallic and only a Blue Accent highlight. Feel free to tell me what you think! I worked hard on it because I know the medal is the only reason for someone to enter a virtual race.
However, I can take criticism, so if you think it is horrible let me know.
FYI, it will be a normal size medal, 3.5 inches wide and 3 inches tall. With a satin ribbon (design still in creation.)

I'll be reaching out to some of you soon who expressed interest in helping me spread the word about this race. There is an Influencer factor in this thesis project, one of the main experiments is I can only advertise this recreational event through influencers.

I cannot pay, as I have no funds, but I can comp entries for some or allow influencers to earn free entries by getting at least 5 people to sign up under discount codes I will give them to share the message with. If you haven't already told me and you might be interested let me know and I'll be sure to reach out to you soon! (I'm just waiting until I have the medal design and t-shirt designs finished.)

LAST

Grand Canyon was amazing, but the story has been hard for me to write to do it justice, which is my way of saying I'm still working on it LOL.
I'm almost done with it, and I can't wait to share with you the experience and story behind it all.
My goal is to get it up before an entire month passes, LOL I'm terrible right now. Busy working on my thesis project!


Okay, so what do you think of the finishers medallion I am creating? 

Is it hot where you are? Do you love the heat too, or do you sit under the cool air all summer?

Loving These Feel Like Running on Clouds Shoes

Don't you love putting on a new pair of running shoes? I sure do, where shoes are concerned there is nothing better than putting my feet into a new pair and heading out the door for their first run. Let me tell ya, this new Wave Sky pair of shoes felt incredible for that first new shoe run experience!

Before I go any further I want to mention, I was provided a complementary pair of Mizuno Wave Sky's as well as a small compensation for my honest opinion and review. I was not asked to write a positive review, all thoughts and opinions in this are entirely my own. I was provided this opportunity as a Fitfluential Ambassador.

First, let's get to the color, can I just say FUN for summer!! I love the bright colors on this shoe, they not only scream fun but say you look, good girl, LOL

Now many of you may remember I am coming off of a 5-year tendon damage work injury, which has made it so I can only wear a Neutral show that has a higher mm drop.
These are perfect, they have the 10mm drop which to keep from any re-occurring tendonitis injuries was my doctor's original recommendation for the drop I should be looking for. When I received the shoes and saw the technical aspects on the drop, I was thrilled because these shoes are ones I can definitely enjoy and put some higher mileage in!

Features of Wave Sky

The cushion, you can tell the cushion immediately as you put them on, they are quite possibly the most cushion and softest and most plush ride my feet have taken on a run! Seriously, the sole cushion heel to toe is amazing!  If you like a soft landing on your feet with each stride, this is definitely a show you will want to try on at your next running store! Trust me, you'll be loving the cushion!!!

I also loved how even the inside of the shoe felt more cushioned, there was no slipping around, my foot felt perfectly snug and taken care of.
While breaking them in, I haven't tied the laces super tight because of this, but as my foot makes it's place in the cushion I'll adjust the laces as needed. This is something I do with nearly every new shoe, I just noticed a little more with this pair.

Want to learn more about the specs and details? Visit their site HERE.

You can keep up with Mizuno on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for information on new model's and even questions and answers you might be looking for. Or just tag them in your run and let them know what you like about running in their shoes!

My Final Thoughts

I've been a Mizuno shoe wearer for years, technically more than a decade and I can't even count how many pairs and marathons have been run in the Mizuno brand. I have been a huge fan of the Mizuno Wave Rider, in fact, I've owned the Wave Rider 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20. The only reason I missed a few years was that of the work injury.

I love the new Wave Sky's, and I have already put them in rotation with my Wave Rider 20's, so far I have only run up to 8 miles in them. But I do see them being a higher mileage shoe.
In fact, I plan on doing a lot of marathon training in these shoes this summer to help me make my comeback into marathons this fall!

If you're looking for a higher drop neutral shoe (10mm) with maximum cushion abilities, I highly suggest stopping off at your local running store and trying a pair of these on. Even if you don't need a pair, stop in for some run chat (I do it all the time) and try a pair on for fun. Guarantee you'll be amazed at the cushion and support of this shoe, not to mention even with all of that cushion they still feel light on the feet!

Do you run in Mizuno's? 
Have you tried on the new Wave Sky's?

Getting My Secret Out

Hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Weekend, no matter what you did! Even though part of me hopes your weekend included getting outdoors and enjoying nature.

HIKING

I did get out, went on a few hikes this week. Didn't take my camera on one of them (I know shocker) I felt nearly naked without it. Bummer too because it was sunset and fabulously beautiful. But my friend had her GoPro and I may have to borrow a few shots from her later on.

Got eaten alive by bugs this week. The biting horseflies are out, got me nearly every day out running LOL always came back with trickles of blood down my legs.
Then Sunday the mosquito's took a liking to me, I am seriously going crazy with bites all over my arms and face (lovely I know, LOL)

A friend and I did a little let's just call it a little rock climbing, we had a rope some of the way left by another but forgot to bring our own to get us up one obstacle. So we took a detour up a dried waterfall area, oh my gosh the views up on top were stunning. (All the outdoor pics on today's post are from this climb.)

But leave it to me to not wear my hiking pants, and if you saw my legs you'd cringe. I got pretty scraped up and even got stabbed by something sharp in my calf filling my shoe up with blood. Nasty, and the funny thing is I don't even remember it happening LOL
So now my legs just look like someone kicked the heck out of me, oh well, LOL (I'll spare you the images, LOL)

RUNNING

Saturday morning I went out to just see how close to 10 miles I could get. After all, I've been training to hike long distances not run them, LOL. I'd only run up to 5 miles before this. But my legs despite all their cuts, scrapes and major bruises wanted to run. I stopped myself at 12.5 miles because I've got something coming up that I need fresh legs for and felt I had pushed it enough.
I was even more surprised I wasn't even sore from it, just my lungs a little tired. Guess this means, I can pull off that half marathon in less than 2 weeks now!

Weightloss - I'm at officially 32.5 pounds lost! Not easy, but I'm doing it!
On a side note, I rarely post pictures of me, (or so everyone says, LOL) but I had to do a few Maybelline selfies for a campaign on Instagram.

But on the plus side, the weight loss is definitely showing up on my face, even if not much elsewhere! (Ignore my hair, I literally woke up, put the makeup on and didn't realize until after I hadn't even combed my hair that morning, LOL LOL. I have long straight hair, it doesn't tangle much LOL)

Now for the details on my secret, I am getting out.

I was going to write a whole post about this, but I've decided to just condense it down. In short, I am working on my thesis project to go with the paper for my degree.

I selected a project that brings my Digital Design, Recreation Management and my research study on Influencers together into one idea.

(The catch, I can only use influencers to promote this race as part of my research study.)

I'm hosting a virtual race this September, I'm in the beginning planning phases. The name:

Run Sea to Shining Sea Virtual Races - Half Marathon, 10k and 5k

Although I do have the website up, even though it's not fully finished.
You're more than welcome to check it out and give me your honest opinion!

www.Runseatoshiningsea.com

Actually, I'd welcome some opinions!!
(But don't share the info of the race yet, I need another two weeks to finish the website and details)

If you want to register and you are an influencer, wait! Because I'm going to have some fun opportunities for discounts or free entries for those who would like to help me out and earn them.
I'll be rolling those out in a few weeks. But if you are interested, let me know and I'll make sure to reach out to you when the time comes!

T-shirt design, I am working on that now and designing it entirely myself. I've got a cute idea I am playing with, as well as a few others so I'll share the design with you in a few weeks when it's ready.

Medallion design, this is one I am having fun with. I am using a medal creator vendor who does a very nice higher quality job. I came up with the medal design before I even knew the exact name of the event, LOL
But I may tweak it a little after I get it done, after all right now the idea is only in my head, LOL

Logo, Still working on this!. It's not done, but this is the image I've put up so far on the social media pages I created quickly for them. But the official design will be similar but hopefully much better. I only had a few minutes in Illustrator with this one.

So I do have one more question for you:
I'm trying to set my Virtual Race apart from others and I'm kinda tempted to go after a more fun or unique t-shirt color(s).
What are your thoughts on that? If you could pick a race t-shirt color what would it be?

20-Miler Carrying 27 Pounds... Done!

UPDATES
I returned back from my trip just before the weekend, I had a great time seeing my friends and hanging out with my family. I do miss them all living so far away right now. But I'm looking forward to lots of visits this summer when I have time!

WEIGHTLOSS
As for my weight loss journey, I'm now down 28.5 pounds, I was actually surprised I didn't gain a ton on my trip because I ate out nearly every day and didn't even try to order low calorie, LOL. But I'm thinking maybe all the hard work and muscle I am building helped burn off some of those restaurant calories I took in since I still lost weight.

HIKING
I've done a lot of hiking to get reading for Grand Canyon R2R2R. I have put my body through a tremendous amount of pain from lots of huge climbs. I don't even remember what it's like to not be sore, but this is the good kind of workout sore so it's all good! I actually love it!

Last weekend was no exception, I went out and hiked a 20-miler. I selected specific trails ahead of time that would force me to hike the highest in elevation climbs and losses. Overall it was over 12,000 feet in gain and loss, and those are just the numbers I could pull off the trail guides and not counting some of the trails I didn't look into.

I carried 27 pounds to start on that hike and ended with around 15 pounds because most of it was water drank. It was 90 degree's out and I purposely chose places with very little shade. I did it in about 9 hours. It was a little slow, but I didn't push it on the last 2,000-foot climb of the day because it was at 17 miles and to be honest I was tired!!

I don't tell ya all that to say I'm turning into wonder woman, LOL But those are the types of things needed to be done so I can have an enjoyable R2R2R hike and not have my legs screaming in pain for the return trip, LOL

FYI: These pictures in this post today are the few I took while on the trip. And a first for me, I'm sharing here before I've even shared them on Instagram! If you love hiking and travel pictures and don't already definitely follow me on INSTAGRAM HERE. I try not to disappoint and only upload my best pics from any trip!

HALF MARATHON TRAINING or NOT
In Feb/Mar when I got sick for nearly a month (no joke) I lost all of my training. So if any of you read my previous R2R2R training plan, yeah very little of that actually happened as far as the running was concerned.
Since I was starting from near scratch in Mid March I realized I had no time to actually work on running, I needed to get my body ready for the hike. Oddly, you do utilize different muscle groups more than you'd think hiking vs. running. After all, I'm backpacking across the Grand Canyon not running, LOL

So yeah, although I have consistently gone out for 3-6 miles runs 3-4 days a week it's really not been much in regards to training for a half marathon to really get ready for it as I normally would for a race. I would prefer a little more than double that but...

So am I still going to do it?

I think so. I'm not too concerned with time on this one and although I haven't been running much I'm in pretty good shape otherwise. So I'll see what happens. I still have a little time, so maybe I can knock out a longer run if my legs can recover from the 20-mile hike soon!

Plus it's a great excuse to drive up north and visit my family and friends, LOL.

I am about 99% of the time an after the fact blogger. 

This next part is my 1% exception.

It seems there is an increasingly high amount of my blogger friends coming to Utah to run in June, which is pretty awesome!  It's funny because of all the races to come to Utah for, I never would have thought this particular one to be so popular with out-of-staters. But it's a pretty canyon run and it's one of the least steep canyon runs, so maybe that is why?
I won a free entry into it, so maybe others did too??

So that is why I wanted to talk about where I will be in advance so I don't miss an opportunity to meet some of you. So if you're doing Utah Valley Marathon or Half, hit me up. I'd love to meet you in person because as of right now I should be there doing the half.

And if you see this, and are coming I would love to find out why so many are coming for this race, I will probably ask ya when I see ya in June. But I'm super curious for sure what drew so many to this one instead of one of the more popular ones in Utah.

THESIS PROJECT

I'll share more with you on this hopefully later this week if I can find time to write the post. But I thought I'd quickly share what I received approval on and have decided to do for the project portion before I write the final paper.

And this will make more sense another day when I explain more.
But it's going to be a
Virtual Race - Half Marathon, 10k or 5k option.

I'm working hard right now to get things set up and get the business portion of it set up right. But I will say I am doing things a little unique on all fronts so it won't be like every other virtual race out there. (Well as different as it can be!)

So for those of you who are interested in racing for medals or want to help support me in this huge project this summer, keep an eye on my blog for both registration and (hint) Influencer opportunities around it soon!

Linking up with the lovely gals from the Weekly Wrap! Misssippiddlin and HoHoRuns this week!

If you don't already, check out their blogs and this fun weekly link up to meet new bloggers each week.

New Year New Goals, or Not

I know what you're thinking, I am posting this nearly a month late, LOL
You are right!
Truth is, I wrote this in December, and just realized yesterday that I hadn't posted it.... So better late than never since I took the time to write it originally, right!

So if you've read my blog through the years you already know I don't set New Years Resolutions because only 8% of people actually keep a resolution and I figured why put myself into the possible 92% failure rate.

Instead, I always have ongoing goals, most I don't bring up on the blog much. However, with a new year beginning it's always nice to reflect on those and share a few you may not know about.

LISTENING

Last year, I had a goal to work on becoming a better listener. I made a conscious effort to do this, can't say I have mastered it. But I am significantly better than I was. This is something I am going to continue to work on. It's a good personal growth thing that can only better myself by improving upon, so why not!

READING

This year I am going to set a goal to read 30 novels. I know for myself this is a small number. But with college it might actually be a tough number to hit, as most my reading time is done while I am doing my laundry, LOL

RUNNING

I won't get into specifics, but now that I am finally healed from the work injury, the past few months I've been working on convincing my parents to travel with me and possibly begin knocking off a few more states on my 50-state and D.C. marathon goal. I've got 19 left. They are up for it, so it may just happen.
Why do the parents need to come? To be honest, I'm on a tight budget so if they come it will cost me only the race entry, LOL I am terrible I know! But on the plus side, my parents love to travel lots so this is a win-win for all of us!

Additionally, I'm going to register for at least one more marathon this year. It's not much, but like I said, I'm on a budget so it may be all I can afford!  I hate living on a budget, but the less debt if any I can go into while I finish school the better and smarter of me!

HIKING

I have a bucket list of items in the Southern Utah and Northern Arizona as well as a few in the Nevada and Southern California area's that I'd like to do while I am living here. So I will keep on doing them while I am getting in shape and working on incline hiking to get reading for R2R2R at the Grand Canyon in late spring!

COLLEGE

Okay, I won't beat myself up about it if I don't. But I'm going to work hard and see if I can't pull off more straight A's and who knows maybe attempt another 4.0 Spring Semester too?
That might be a little too presumptuous, especially now that I am actually into the classes but hey why not shoot high, right!

BLOGGING

1 I've been thinking and working on some plans the past few months. Blogging 3-4 times a week is no longer an option for me. I could do it if I stopped visiting my favorite bloggers, but that isn't going to happen I'd miss them too much. I already miss a lot only going onto blogs 1-2 days a week.

2 Back in October, I set a goal to work on getting my Twitter following over 10K and I also determined I wanted to get my Instagram following up around 5K. I have no set date, but I'm hoping I can get the Twitter goal by March since I am much closer to that one.
These are the two forms of social media I use for my blog the most and the ones I am the most active on, so logically they are the most beneficial to grow.

3 I really want to pick up my Travel Tuesday series again, I have so many saved up to showcase, I just need time to finish putting them all together.  Plus this one seems to be the favorite of most of my readers, I always get 10X's the page views on them versus my other posts.

I'm likely switching my Me Monday's to the In the Life of a Returned College student on a more permanent basis.

I'm also going to start sharing some of my thesis research with you, at least the parts that may apply to those of you interested in the influencer jobs within blogging.

Additionally, I have so many fitness and recreation posts I half created with my class assignments last semester, I hope to get them finished and start putting them out, I think many of my readers will enjoy them and find them beneficial.

4 I'm still working on my schedule to see if I will have time to host some Giveaway Hops and Grow Your Blog Hops later this year.

5 Link-ups, I have a hard time with this as I absolutely love to participate in them and I have some amazing blogger friends who host some great ones. But I am not one who just links up to link up, link-ups have a purpose and that is to grow or get to know others and share the views and comments. If I don't have time to visit at least 3 blogs and the hosts in the hop I don't link up, mostly just on my own principles, LOL

I hope to link up with some throughout the year, but mostly I will probably stick to my own posts and things until Summer when I will have a bit more time on my hands to link up! So if any of you are wondering why I haven't or don't link up much anymore, trust me it's not because I don't want to, I just haven't had the time to fully participate!

DIGITAL DESIGN

If you don't know one of the (let's call it a double near triple major) I am working on right now is one in Digital Design. I'm still in the learning process, but I am starting to get the hang of it and I am taking another two advanced classes right now and my skills are improving!

When my skill level and confidence has moved up a level, I plan on selling my new design talent. That may sound funny, but I will be needing to begin my portfolio and plan on selling my skills to design logo's, blog headers and digital ads at a much cheaper price than most do just so I can get use them to build me up so by the time I graduate I've got a lot of work to show for it as well.

So later this year if you have things you'd like for your blog or business, definitely consider me! I'll have to showcase my work and stuff more often so you can watch my skill level and design personality grow.

In fact, I'll show you one right now. This is the design project I did for one of my class finals last semester.
We were required to create an effective magazine full page spread ad and I was given the Environmental theme. I got 200/200 and not to toot my horn but it was one of the better ones in class and I am probably the most behind on learning how to use Photoshop, Illustrator and In Design. Hopefully, it's a good sign of things to come, LOL

So that's it, I have many more but if you've actually read this whole post then you are probably already thinking enough is enough, LOL.