Run it Out

My favorite trails.

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 14:57:00 -0500

My favorite trails.

I have a beautiful boyfriend with perfect running form :)

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 14:56:00 -0500

I have a beautiful boyfriend with perfect running form :)

Juicin'

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:21:40 -0600

So, perhaps juice detoxes are not for everyone. I made it two days, almost passed out in Zumba, and decided it was time I ate some food again. After thinking about it some more, juice detoxes are definitely not designed for people who work out as much as I do. On an average day I work out twice. Some days, like yesterday, I literally worked out 4 separate times. For an hour or more each time. The body needs fuel to be able to do that. A lot of fuel.

I did learn from the juicing though. When I drink juice twice a day I feel GREAT. I put everything from apples and carrots to kale and strawberries in my juices, and when I don’t juice I don’t consume much of those things. Well, I do eat a ton of spinach because I blend it into my protein smoothies, but that’s a whole other blog. I’ve been consistently juicing twice a day even when I added food back after my fainting episode. I’ve noticed that my skin looks healthier, and I have a lot more energy. So while I don’t think I really need to ‘detox’ I’m definitely going to keep up with making lots of juice. I am making an effort to keep the majority of my diet full of micronutrient foods. Lots of nuts and seeds, fresh fruits and veggies. I’m also still completely turned off by meat and dairy. Also still struggling with keeping sugar out of my mouth, but that is easier to do when I have sweet delicious juice to make at home!!!

Holy Detox Batman!!!

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:08:40 -0600

4 bales of kale. 3. 1 pound bags of carrots. 2 pounds of strawberries. 3, 10 oz bags of fresh spinach. 4 cucumbers. 4 giant crookneck squash. 3 giant zucchinis. 8 gala apples. 1 bag of green grapes, and 1 bag of purple grapes.

I’m starting a 10 day juice fast tomorrow. I figure the above will last me 3, maybe four days. I was inspired by the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Crazy Australian dude goes on a 60 day juice fast and literally resets his body to healthy. While I don’t have health problems (besides this crappy cold/flu thing I picked up) I’ve been wanting to do a sort of ‘reboot’ before the training for my Ironman 70.3 gets too intense. And this sounded like just the thing. Major downfall? NO COFFEE. Ack. Double Ack. I’m counting on feeling a bit lousy the first three days, as this is what everything I’ve read about it says, then getting some really great energy after that. I’ll try to keep updated on here each day as I’m sure I’ll forget exactly what I’m feeling like from day 1 to 10 otherwise. After the 10 days I’m going to try and keep juicing every day, keeping the majority of my food intake to fruits and veggies (but actually eating them too, not just juicing). Obviously with as much as I exert myself physically I’ll have to add back in whole grains, and I’ll be trying to get most of my protein from nuts and seeds. I’ve been eating way too much sugar lately (I blame Pinterest for this). So hopefully this works out! Wish me luck, I’m pretty sure I’ll need it.

Oh My How Time Flies!

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:00:13 -0600

Now that we’ve all reigned in the holidays, the New Year has come and gone (I stayed home and was in bed before midnight for the first time in well over a decade), and we’re all starting on our resolutions.

Right?

Meh. I don’t do resolutions. For those that do, kudos! I just feel like I don’t need a timestamp to begin a change in my life. In fact, most of my changes begin very small and creep up on me until I realize that they are a HUGE part of my life. Running and yoga are both excellent examples. I actually taught my first bona-fide yoga class yesterday, and my second one tonight. It was great! I’m loving it. I have also recently made the switch to a…dare I even say it…vegan diet.

Oh Lord. *rolls eyes*

I know. Why. Why would anyone do that? It’s inconvenient. It’s well, let’s face it, kind of weird. I mean, we are on the top of the food chain, right???

Well first let me clarify. I cannot technically call myself a vegan, because I still eat delicious tasty fish, chocolate, and honey. Yeah, real vegans don’t eat honey. HONEY. I’m also not even considering throwing out my leather boots and coat.

So in reality, I just quit eating meat and dairy. Minus the fish part. And I guess chocolate is dairy? I don’t know if there’s even a word for my diet. And by diet, I don’t mean something that I’m doing to lose weight. I’m referring to what I consume on a daily basis for, well, ever if I’m lucky.

Like I said earlier, it was a gradual thing. Meat has become less and less appealing in the last year or so, and dairy has become a huge turnoff in the last few months. And the less of it I eat, the less appealing it sounds. So three days before Christmas I made the decision to make a conscious effort to avoid meat and dairy. at first I was like holy crap I can never eat at a restaurant again! Mainly because everything in restaurants is covered in butter. And if you ask them to leave the butter off your salmon, they don’t care. It appears smothered in butter anyway. I’ve since learned that you have to lie and say you are severely lactose intolerant. Other than the butter debacle, this whole change has really been fairly easy. I miss Greek yogurt a little bit, mainly because I’ve been hard pressed to find something as low cal that packs as much of a protein punch as Greek yogurt does. I’ve also definitely had to put some effort into making sure I’m replacing meats and cheeses with veggies and beans as opposed to heavy carbs. Some aspects were really easy. I’ve been a non-dairy drinker for years (first soy milk and recently almond mild) and always leaned towards chicken and fish rather than red meat.

I have also discovered a slew of vegan cooking blogs. Did you know you can use coconut milk to replace heavy cream in bisques? Bet your sweet bottom I’m making some tomato bisque this week! I’m really excited to try out all these substitutions in cooking. Mashed turnips in stead of mashed potatoes??? Hmmm.

Aside from all this food stuff…I’ve decided I’m doing a race of some sort every month leading up to the Ironman 70.3 in June. So far I have something for every month except May. Looking to possible do a destination half marathon with a friend, if our budgets allow!

Exciting New Year for me, even with no resolutions and no glass of midnight champagne!!

Dallas White Rock

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:28:38 -0600

I was in Dallas this past weekend for a YogaFit training (2 days of yoga…I love yoga but WOW.). While I was there, a good friend of mine was participating in his first full marathon at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I figured since I was going to hang around and watch him cross the finish line that I’d go ahead and run the half. Worst. Weather. Ever. I don’t mind running in the cold. No biggie. But the rain? Ohhhhhh the RAIN! More or less the entire time I ran. And my legs were super sore to begin with from two days of yoga…so needless to say that 2:11 finish time I walked away with wasn’t exactly setting any new PR’s. But dude, I ran 13.1 miles in the POURING FREAKING RAIN. I kinda feel like that in itself deserves something.

And in reality, this race wasn’t about me. I was there to support my friend. He ran the Do-Wacka-Do 25k trail run with me back in September. He made me feel like I’d done something amazing when I completed my sub 2-hour half. So really, this race was his. And let me tell you, he ran that sucka! His official time was 4:11:23. Seriously, he’s like the Flash! I’ve been re-inspired by him. I was there to see him cross the finish line and he looked like he’d just been out for a little morning jog no big deal. Made it look, well, easy.

All in all, another amazing race experience for the books!!

Sub 2-hour finish!

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:58:52 -0600

Sub 2-hour finish!

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:58:49 -0600

Sub 2-hour finish!

1:58:59

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:57:09 -0600

Yep! I did it! I finished the Tulsa Route 66 Half Marathon in under 2 hours!!! The course wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t exactly easy either. The first 6 or 7 miles wove in and out of the fancy schmancy neighborhoods. It was full of hills until about mile 6 when we came out of a neighborhood and onto a straight, flat, out and back street that we stayed on until mile 12. The out part of this was great because the wind was at our backs, but once we turned around it was reeeeaaaallllyyy chilly. Around mile 6 I thought ‘Man, I hope the rest of the course isn’t so hilly’. Then at mile 10 I thought ‘You know, the hills might have been better than the wind’. Those last three miles really kicked my butt too. I’d crossed the starting line about 20 seconds after they started the clock, and they had a clock running at every mile marker from mile 8 or so on. I knew at mile 10 I was almost a whole minute behind where I wanted to be so I didn’t slow my pace or walk at all for those last 3.1 miles…even when at mile 12 I was back at pace. Once I could see the finish line I hit an all out sprint. Well, what I thought was an all out sprint. I had to laugh later on when I watched the video my brother took of me crossing the finish line. Reality vs. What we envision….not always the same! I knew when I crossed the finish line I’d made it in under 2 hours and I was so excited (and full of endorphins) that I started crying. And again when my mom, son, and brother found me shortly after. This was by far the best birthday I’ve ever had. I spent it doing what I love and with the ones I love. I don’t believe there would have been a better way to enter my thirties!!!

7 Days and Counting

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:11:50 -0600

A week from now I’ll be finished with the Tulsa Route 66 Half Marathon hopefully having completed it in under two hours! I never really get pre-race jitters, but I’m starting to have some this time around. I’m going to chalk it up to the fact that I’ve never run a race with an actual time goal before. I mean, sure I’ve gone into races with an “ish” time goal in mine. But never when I’m actually trying to beat the clock. I am so excited though. Not to mention it is also going to be my 30th birthday, and my mom, brother, and son will all be greeting me at the finish line. This alone makes it a race worth running. I’ve never had anyone greet me at the finish line of a race before, and three of the people I love most in this world cheering me on, well, I can’t really think of a better way to finish a race and to start a new decade of my life.

I have also decided to go ahead and run the White Rock Half Marathon in Dallas on Dec 4. I’ll be down there for a YogaFit certification (which I am SO excited to start teaching!) and a good friend of mine is running the full marathon at White Rock, his first! I wanted to stick around and meet him at the finish line, so I figured why not go ahead and run the half since I’m there anyway! Then come to find out, a friend of mine that was on my team for Tough Mudder is also doing the half at White Rock, so we’re going to run it together. I love it when things work out like this!

"Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach." - George Sheehan

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:19:29 -0600

-George Sheehan, Runner and Author

And ain’t that the truth?? I can be having the most God-awful, terrible, horrible, ridiculously bad day. Then I go running and suddenly it’s in perspective. Nothing is as major as it seemed an hour or so before.

I ran a sweet 10 miles the other day. A friend of mine joined me for the last three, which was super awesome because I never get to see her super awesome face anymore!! Sometimes I’m all about running on my own and pushing myself alone. But lately I’ve been a fan of running with others. I find myself being pushed to keep up with them, or pushing myself because I think they want to go faster. Either way, it’s definitely helped with my speed! The ten mile was at an average of 9:26 per mile, just 16 seconds slower than race pace! My 5 and 6 mile runs have been right around 8:52, which is a whole 18 seconds FASTER than race pace. I’m feeling pretty confidant that I can hit the sub-two hour mark. I’m going to try to get in one last long run this Thursday. A friend of mine from Denver is in town and I’m hoping to con her into running it with me. I’d like to do twelve, but I’d be happy with another ten.

Woo! Life is Good.

8:25 and Counting

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:08:23 -0500

It’s soooo close to race time. I get nervous when I think about it. Really it’s still two and a half weeks. But that means only about a week and a half of real training left, then tapering.

I hate tapering.

I feel like I should still be pushing, trying to get as close as possible to that 9 minute mile. Speaking of which, I ran an 8 miler yesterday. Just 25 seconds per mile slower than race pace. I wasn’t even pushing myself, just running at a comfy pace. I did an easy 4 this afternoon on the trails (oh how I miss the trails since I’ve been training for a road race!!). But yeah, I will cautiously say that I’m gonna be able to hit that sub-two hour mark. This excites me more than you will ever know. Every other race I’ve done, I’ve done just to complete it. Sure, I’ve always had “ish” goals in mind, but never a real, actual, let’s-set-a-new-PR time goal. So this is big for me.

Totally unrelated but I feel that it’s noteworthy, I’ve been putting pumpkin puree in everything from applesauce to oatmeal to pancakes. I don’t know what I’m going to do when the holidays are over and it’s no longer in the grocery store. Perhaps I should stock up now??

So, About That 9 Minute Mile...

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 06:42:18 -0500

Have I mentioned that I officially signed up for the Route 66 half-marathon? Did I also mention that it is on my 30th birthday? Oh yes, and I’m going to complete that bad boy in under two hours.

I’ve wanted to hit this goal for a long time. Unfortunately for me, I have a hard time doing speedwork. I like to run distance, and I like to run it at a pace that is more or less comfortable for me. But turning 30 is a big deal, so I figured I should have some sort of special something that I do that day. Of course, it needed to be a race!

Technically, to run a half marathon in 1:59:59, you’ve gotta keep a 9:10 pace throughout. I’m shooting for a 9:00 pace average throughout, just to give myself that 10 second bit of leeway. So I started actually paying attention to my pace recently. When I first started and I was averaging a 9:40 mile I thought perhaps I had set a goal that was a bit too lofty. I know 40 secs per mile doesn’t sound like a lot, but you try carving 40 seconds off your mile and keep that up for 13.1 miles. That’s 8 minutes and 45 seconds that I had to delete from my time! Thankfully, the weather cooled off. Fall. Prime running season. Perfect running temps throughout the whole day. Cooler weather seems to make it easier to run fast. Yesterday I averaged an 8:52 mile for 5 miles. Slowest mile was 9:09, fastest was 8:24. Not too shabby, riiiiight?

So now I have to figure out how I keep that pace for another 8.1 miles. I have 4 weeks and 4 days to figure it out…so I’m guessing I’d better get to figurin’. Thursday I’m going to run 7 or 8 and see how I keep the pace up, and I think that will be pretty telling.

What else am I doing other than running to help me…well, run? Eating light. It’s always easier to run faster when you’re lighter, so I’m hoping to drop a few more pounds before race day. This means that beer I had on the patio at lunch yesterday will be my last for a month (sad face). I also started hitting up spin class again, which I LOVE but have been completely blowing off for the past couple of months. Getting used to that tiny little seat on my booty is never fun, but it only took about one class for my body to go ohhhhhh yeah, I remember this. I’ve also started running the 2 ish miles to the gym I teach Zumba at a couple times a week. 2 miles is great for a half mile warm up, a 1 mile ridiculously-fast-pushing-it to-the-limits-how-fast-can-I-go-without-dropping speedwork mile, and a half mile at my normal pace. After practicing Zumba choreography for an hour and lifting for 20 or 30 minutes, the 2 miles back home usually ends being more like a slow jog.

The weather also got REALLY cold this week, so it looks like I need to make a trip to Academy Outdoor to pick up some cold weather running clothes. Yesssssss, an excuse to shop!!!

It's Not Just About Running

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:39:00 -0500

I know, I know. The blog is called Run It Out. What else would it be about? Well, it’s my blog, so I guess it’s about me. Which me mainly = running. I’ll talk to you all day about running. How to run fast. How to pace. What to eat before a run. After a run. How to hydrate properly. What shoes to wear. What sports bras to wear. What energy gel to eat. Trail runs. Road races. Mud runs. Runrunrunrunrun….STOP. Every once in a while, even I need a break. Not necessarily a break from running, but a break from what my body is used to. Something different (and somehow, the same). This is where I turn to Yoga.

Don’t hate me. Don’t abandon me, fellow runners! Give it a shot. Or, at least keep reading.

I used to despise Yoga. I am the type of person that likes to go go go until I drop. A classic Type A personality I suppose. In most everything I do (the good and the not-so-good), I do it with gusto and passion. But in Yoga, you must forget your notions of competition, not just with those around you, but with yourself. You must accept what it is your body is willing to do for you that day. You must go with the flow.

WHAT?! This goes against everything a runner believes in, right? We must push ourselves, we must be the best, the fastest, run the farthest. This is why I never gave Yoga a shot. Not until I had hips so tight from running and cycling class that I could hardly squat down. A friend suggested I try a Yoga class. I confessed my loathing for “those mamby-pambies in Yoga class”. My friend laughed, and told me to give YogaFit a shot and get back to her. A dare? Alright, you’re on.

That was 6 months ago. I went from a very ill-conceived notion of what I thought Yoga was to a Yogavangelist (clever, but not my cleverness) in six short months. My hips are now loose. Well, loose for a runner. I can stand on my head. I can push myself up into Wheel (this is a classic backbend on hands and feet- have any of you tried doing this since the 4th grade? It’s not easy.) I accomplish a new pose and I simply radiate awesomeness. Oh yeah, and I have muscles. Arm muscles. Pretty arm muscles.

I run so that I don’t completely lose my mind. While I started practicing Yoga for a completely different reason, I have found that this, too, keeps me from the brink of mental disaster. I only discovered this a few weeks ago.

I was in a practice with my very super favorite Yogi. We’ll call her Bad Mommy Yogi. For some reason I simply could not get some things (or a person, whatever) off my mind that day. I was upset, I’d been running, I was still upset. At some point during practice Bad Mommy Yogi mentioned that if we had come into class with anything particular that needed to be let go, now would be a good time to let it go. I don’t know what exactly happened but a moment later I found myself in Child’s Pose and on the verge of tears. As far as I know, no one around me even noticed. But the rush of negative emotion that flooded out of my body in that moment was like nothing I had ever experienced.

Since that day, when we begin our practice, I no longer try to force thoughts (positive or otherwise) from my mind. I simply close my eyes. I see myself sitting in a room, or a field, or wherever my brain puts me that day. I look around and see everything that is part of my daily life. I stand, pick up the corners of the map of life around me, and fold it into a little box. Sometimes I set the box down gently on the edge of the dark space I’m now standing in. Sometimes I feel that I must tape the lid of the box down. And still other times I must tape the lid of the box and then punt it to the far corners of the universe. During practice, I know that I have not pushed anything too far away (the far corners of my universe aren’t too far). I can open my box in a little while and go about my daily life. But for 60 minutes, I do not have to worry about anything besides me. During the last few moments of Shavasana (final relaxation-ahhhhh) I pick up the box I set aside earlier, open it up, and let it unfold around me.

When I run, I run through my world quickly enough to not have to pay attention to it. To “run it out”. When practicing Yoga, I set it aside and then welcome it back. I do not love one more than the other. However, I do love one less if I do not have the other. Running and Yoga are my Yin and my Yang. My balance.

One Tough Mudder

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:44:36 -0500

I am obviously one of the most remiss bloggers on the face of the earth. I either write every day or barely once a week. So my apologies in advance for the fact that this particular entry may be a bit…rambly.

Most importantly, I successfully completed the Tough Mudder Central Texas event on the 8!!! I was on a team with 8 people who I had never met before, and it was one of the greatest race experiences I’ve had to date. Let me backtrack…I was supposed to be joining this team with a friend of mine from college. He currently lives in Houston, and joined (and coerced me into joining) the team for Tough Mudder. He then got called to work over the weekend and couldn’t participate. Lucky for me, he has awesome friends! The event consisited of 11 miles of trails broken up by a total of 29 “military style” obstacles. If you’d like to see exactly what those events were check them out here. My least favorite by far was the Creek Crusade. The picture on the map is not at all what it looked like- it was more like waist deep quicksand. I almost lost a shoe and the guy behind me had to help me haul my legs out of it with each step. Which I’m sure he loved. The Berlin Walls gave me an enormous bruise from armpit to elbow on my right arm and my legs look like I was bombarded by slingshots. I’m pretty sure some of us are going to attend the one in Dallas in March 2012. All in all, Tough Mudder kicked (my) ass!

What else have I been up to? Beginning speed training. I ran a 9:01 pace for 4 miles today. My question is, how do I get to where I can maintain that for 13.1 miles?! This is what I’ve got to figure out in order to hit that sub-two hour mark at the Route 66 half marathon November 20. I know I can do it, but I think it’s going to take some serious training that I haven’t really dedicated myself to recently.

I’ve also been baking again. I blame the fall weather. This time of year always makes me want to bake muffins and breads. The upside is I’ve found an amazing website to help make sure I don’t gorge myself on sugar and white flour. Healthy Food for Living is a food blog by some chick in Boston, and all of her recipes (even the carrot cake pancakes) use whole wheat flour and healthy ingredients, with minimal sugar. I love it. So I’ve been baking and feeding my son and brother pancakes of various sorts 3 ish mornings a week.

What have I not been doing? Sleeping. I’m going to make a very valiant attempt at that right now.

Running- Cheaper Than Therapy

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:04:07 -0500

I’m convinced. Absolutely, positively, 100% without a doubt sure that running is what keeps me from having to take some sort of (anti)crazy pills. If I’m mad and I run far enough, I forget why I’m even mad. Or sad- if I’m sad I want to run fast. It’s hard to be sad when all you can really concentrate on is making sure you’re getting enough air into your lungs to keep yourself going. I like to run when I’m happy too though. I’m still happy after a run that started out that way. Maybe happier. I guess what I’m trying to say is, running makes me feel good when I’m not feeling so good, and it makes me feel better even when I’m doing allright.

It doesn’t just make me feel better about my emotional, mental state. It makes me feel accomplished. It makes me feel healthy. It makes me feel like even if I didn’t do a single damn thing that day besides go for a run, I did SOMETHING.

Running makes me appreciate the fact that I’m able to run. That I have a healthy body, two legs that propel me forward, eyes that can see where I’m going, a heart and lungs that work well enough to get enough oxygen to all my tiny cells working so hard together to keep me moving.

Is running my religion? Maybe.

Photo

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:21:07 -0500

Gu

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 14:15:22 -0500

Yep, it’s my favorite. Not the fruity flavors. Espresso Love and Chocolate Outrage beat all. Mmmmm a delicious coffee or chocolate treat mid run? Why yes please.

That’s right folks I’m talking about energy gels. There’s only about a billion of them out there. I’ve tried quite a few…CarbBoom made me run faster but only to get to the next port-a-potty. The PowerBar brand was in such liquid form that more of it ran out of the package and all over my hand than got into my mouth. Accel is intended more for cyclists (although I don’t see what the diff would be there) and it had the consistency of cream cheese…lemon flavored cream cheese. Blech. But Gu, well, Gu makes me a happy girl. They have a good 20 or so flavors to choose from, and they aren’t all berry blast of some sort (I can’t stand berry flavored food unless it’s actually berries, which I love).

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not a huge proponent of energy gels in general. If you’re going on a 3 mile run and you’re consuming an energy gel, well, you need to get real. They’re usually around 100 calories per gel, so right there you’ve consumed back 1/3 of the calories you’re burning on a 3 miler. Silly. But if I’m running 10 or more miles, I’m definitely taking one or two of these babies with me. On a 10 mile run I’ll usually down one around mile 7 so I can keep my pace up for the last few miles. In a half marathon I like to eat one around mile 7 and one at mile 10. As a distance runner, I simply can’t fathom the idea of eating enough actual food before a long run to sustain me for that amount of time. This is especially true for early morning runners like myself. But a quick glucose and fructose boost mid run without loading down my tummy with weight is perfect.

Granted I still like to wash Gu down with some water. I mean it is pure sugar, so it’s going to leave your mouth feeling a little sticky and dry. Plus, they’re easily stashable in a sports bra if you don’t have a mini-pocket in your running shorts or pants.

2:54:39

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:17:26 -0500

That was my official finish time for the Do-Wacka-Do 25k trail run!!! Running this race was such a great experience. The vibe and atmosphere at a trail run is just so different than a road race. The signage for which trails to take was totally confusing so we had to for an out and back of 4 miles at the end because we took a wrong turn and cut off about 4 miles. I met a woman who runs trails with some other women around Norman so now I can get back out to the lake trails!!! I was also lucky enough to have someone run the entire 25k by my side, supporting me the whole way! All in all I had a blast. This trail run was my first, but it certainly won’t be my last. I’m even considering the Palo Duro 50k next year (31 miles!!! ). I’d officially be an UltraRunner if I completed that…wow!!! Big dreams, big goals. For now my sights are set on Tough Mudder on October 8, and I’m shooting for that sub-two-hour half marathon on my thirtieth birthday at the end if November. I’ll be running the Route 66 Half Marathon in Tulsa, OK. What a great way to welcome a new decade!!!

Holy Race Day Batman!

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 05:28:14 -0500

In exactly 90 minutes I’ll be starting my 25 kilometer run across the trails at the Sandy Sandmen Wildlife Preserve outside of Erick, OK. Getting up at 5am is never easy but between a wake up call from the hotel, alarms on both our phones, hot showers and a pot of coffee I’m at least awake enough to compose this. Woo! I’m excited and a (tee tiny bit) nervous. Wish us luck!!!