Half Marathon Training: Halfway There

Whoaaa we're halfway there! I hope you sang that first sentence like I did when I typed it. Thanks Bon Jovi. Anyway, as many of you know, my twin sister (Danielle) and I are training for a half marathon. It's something I always imagined I would do as a deployment distraction, but there is no time like the present! We just recently passed the halfway point of training, so I thought I would check in and give a little update on how it's been going.

Training has gone surprisingly well! I run three times a week, two "short" runs and one "long" run. For example, last week I did two 3.5 mile runs and one 7 mile run. The shorter runs are not too bad. The hardest part is getting my rear end out the door to actually run. Once I'm outside, I'm good. The weather greatly dictates my motivation, as silly as that sounds. If it's a beautiful day outside, running almost sounds enjoyable, and I am happy to get out there. If it feels like the arctic tundra with a nice cold rain, I stare out the window and contemplate how to spend my last hour of life because I surely know I will die out there if I have to run. Drama drama drama. Thankfully, Danielle and I have each other for extra motivation. Having someone to go on this journey with makes it so much better. Grab your nearest twin and train for a half marathon together. It's a great bonding experience, as if we weren't already bonded enough.

Finishing a long run and conquering a new milestone is the best feeling. I had never run more than about 3.5 miles when I started training, so each week for the past few weeks has been a new record for me. My favorite run to date has been the 5.5 miles. I finished with the biggest smile on my face and was so full of joy. I loved that feeling- it was worth every second of sweat and joint pain.

 Post run selfies- so glamorous!

Oh yeah, joint pain... that has been my biggest obstacle thus far. I was fine until a few weeks ago when I started getting upwards of 5 miles. My knees and ankles just aren't used to such impact, and it's been really tough to keep going sometimes. I've tried to be smart and ice my joints afterwards if I am in pain, but the best thing I can do is to stop running on concrete. We don't have any nice trails in my area, but there is a track. Now, running 30 laps on a track sounds pretty miserable, but it is so much easier on my joints, so it's worth it. The hardest part about the joint pain is it is something I can't control. I can make sure I am eating right, make sure I am stretching, and keep myself motivated when I get tired and want to stop. Those are all factors in my control. Getting injured is outside of my control, so I am trying to be smart and praying that I don't get hurt.

Honestly, I am just ready to run the thing. I told Danielle I wish the race was only a couple weeks away so we could just do it already. We feel ready. We feel prepared. We feel like we can do it. We still have a little less than 2 months to go before the big day, so we have to stay disciplined and keep training. Our biggest motto throughout this entire experience has been "Trust the process". It's worked so far, and I trust we will be very ready come race day in March. I can't wait! 13.1, here we come!

Pinterest & Blogging 101: Getting Verified on Pinterest

I decided to create a little mini-series on how to maximize your blog through Pinterest for all you fellow bloggers out there, particularly new bloggers. I never really realized how great Pinterest could be for my blog until I took a chance and decided to pin some of my recipes. I've been blogging for a year now, and let's look at my top 3 posts of all time, according to pageviews:

1. 3 Ingredient Crockpot Pulled Pork Sliders
2. Crockpot Cocktail Weenies
3. Crescent Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Each one of these posts has over 2000+ pageviews and counting, all because I decided to pin them to Pinterest. That may not be many pageviews for some bloggers, but it's pretty high for me! Pinterest can do a lot for your blog, especially if you like to post recipes, DIY ideas, cleaning and organization tips, etc.

The first thing you need to do is get verified on Pinterest. How in the world do you do that, and why should you? Let's break it down:

So why verify? In a nutshell, verifying your blog on Pinterest will help increase credibility and traffic as well as allow your content to show up in results from search engines. It takes about 5 minutes, and I've created a step by step tutorial below.

Get Verified!

Step 1: Log into your Pinterest accounts and go to "Settings".

2. Click "Edit Profile", scroll down to "Verify Website", and click the button.

Step 3: On the next page, you will have the option to verify with an HTML file or to verify with an HTML meta tag. Click the option to verify with the meta tag, and you will see the following:

Select and copy your meta tag (the code in the gray box).

Step 4: Log into Blogger, go to "Template" and click "Edit HTML"

You may see a warning message. If you do, just click "Proceed".

Step 5: Click CNTRL F (COMMAND F if using a MAC), and search for the word "head". You should find 2, the opening head tag: <head> and the closing head tag: <head>. Your Pinterest generated code that you copied needs to go somewhere in between these 2 tags.

Test your changes to make sure you didn't mess up your blog. To do this, click "Preview" and make sure it loads properly. Then click "Save Template".

Step 6: Head back over to your Pinterest account and click the "Click Here" button for Pinterest to verify your site. That's it! Assuming it worked, you are verified! Head back to your home page on Pinterest to check it out!

I hope this helps! If you have any questions, feel free to let me know in the comments below! I will post parts 2 and 3 of "Pinterest & Blogging 101" in the coming weeks!