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Chasing Unicorns LLC

Setting Goals and Entering the Realm of Possible

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July 2019
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How to make a 5 hour car ride seem shorter? Get out and run partway through! On my way back home to Chicagoland and after some intense thunderstorms this morning in the Des Moines area, I couldn’t safely get my run in before leaving. Drove a couple hours towards home and pulled off to run in Iowa City near the University of Iowa’s campus. So many students moving in to start a new year at school; I couldn’t help but be nostalgic thinking about the first time I moved down to the University of Illinois 8 years ago. Time seriously flies so fast and if there’s any advice I could give to college students looking back on my own experience, it would be to savor every moment and not sweat the small stuff (I stressed way too much in college and it was silly). Things have a way of working out in the end and when else are you going to have 4 years to live on whatever kind of schedule you want (and nap every day!)?! 3 hours to go on this drive...but first, some lunch! . . . #iowacity #iowarunning #roadtrip #run #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #summerrunning #humid

We woke up early, we ran 🏃🏽‍♀️ on a nice trail, we ate donuts 🍩 and coffee ☕️ , we went shopping 🛍 , got our nails done 💅 , and now we’re about to take a nap 😴 before burrito 🌯 bowls and a brewery 🍻 night. My best friend gets me and I’m so glad I get to visit with her for the weekend in her new digs (even though I wish said digs were back home in Chicago...but Akeney has a nice running trail so I guess I’ll give it a pass...for now.) MOH duties call for planning a bachelorette party too so there’s lots of fun to come in the next several months 🎉 Happy Saturday, all! . . . #run #iowarunning #bestfriend #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #weekendvibes

Going to let you all in on a little secret. I’m scared of the 26.2 distance. At the beginning of every single cycle I start (this is number 8!), I question how I’ll ever be able to run 26.2 miles when I’m starting at 10, and that’s after having completed 7 marathons. But that’s part of the magic of marathon training. Most of us never run a full 26.2 during training but somehow your body knows how to get you across that finish line. So 10 becomes 12, 12 becomes 14...and soon enough you’ll be at that 20 mile mark looking back and thinking that those 10-14 mile days weren’t so hard after all. Funny how that works! I’ll be 100% honest, I’m really nervous going into this cycle. But I’m going to approach it one day at a time and one workout at a time and recognize that it’s all I can ask of myself. I choose to do this. I want to do this. And I recognize that if I want to get to the next level in running, it’s going to be hard. If I get to where I want to be, at a certain point, just taking a few minutes off a PR will be tough and require me to work harder than I ever have. But I’m still totally obsessed with this sport and how it pushes me. I chase big goals because they excite me, and sometimes scare me. The road ahead won’t be easy, but it’s the road I want to be on. . 📸 @dualr . . . #runchat #keepingitreal #road2cim #marathontraining #marathon #CIM #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #run #teamsugarruns

I don’t know about you but I’m having a bit of the case of the Mondays so how about some free stuff?! @windetergent reached out to me a month ago to see if I’d be interested in trying their sports laundry detergent. I go through A LOT of athletic clothes laundry, more recently 2 outfits a day between running and strength training, and they’re especially gross in the summer from getting super sweaty on those hot and humid summer days. So of course I said yes to trying something new to get the stink out of my clothes (it’s real bad...just ask my husband 😂). I love that with WIN I can use substantially less detergent because it’s so much more highly concentrated unlike other sports detergents I’ve used. They’re letting me give away 2 bottles for free so let’s keep it simple! To win: 1. Follow myself, @katherun26.2 and @windetergent 2. Let’s spread some joy with one another: Tag your favorite running buddy, let me know what makes that buddy so great, and if chosen, you AND your friend will win a free bottle of WIN (both must live in the lower 48 states in the U.S.) Giveaway open through Tuesday night at 5 p.m. CST. I’ll pick a winner shortly after!

I’ve had the words “Run Happy” on my watch screen for the last couple of months and it’s really helped ground me and remember why I’m doing this in the first place. It brings me joy, it brings me happiness. I didn’t set out with too many goals or expectations for this summer other than to push my body hard and see what I could do. Although today wasn’t my day, I feel satisfied with my 19:53 5K earlier in July, breaking 20 for the first time, and it was freeing to run without time goals. I started the summer thinking it might be nice to break 20, but honestly, if it hadn’t have happened, I think I would’ve still been ok because I know I gave it everything I had this summer. This season was never about time for me. It was about becoming more comfortable with things that make me uncomfortable like short intervals, and naturally a time came along with the training. I’m ending the summer having run 4 5Ks and 1 10K which is more shorter distance races than I’ve done in probably the last 5-7 years combined. I might be done with 5Ks for the rest of 2019, but the things I have learned will stick with me for the rest of the year. I even worked on a stronger finishing kick, a weakness of mine for many years, and consistently closed in the 5:30-5:45 range. My goal at every race that I lined up for was to run hard and give it everything I had that day - that’s a lesson for me in my future workouts and races because I can never be upset with myself no matter what the outcome is if I know I have given it everything I had to offer. It’s good to have goals, and as a goal-oriented person, I can’t imagine it any other way. But above all else it’s important to be running happy because at the end of the day, that’s what this sport is all about. Onward to 26.2 training! But first, donuts. . . . #stansdonut5K #5K #raceday #racing #race #summerofspeed #run #runnersofinstagram #runnergirl #chicago #chicagorunner #willrunfordonuts

Well I was certainly seen on my run but I think I may have scared some of the drivers off the road 😂 lots of swerving the other direction like they had seen a ghost...tbd if this outfit makes me more or less safe running in the dark 🤷🏻‍♀️ Last 5K of the summer of speed tomorrow. I’m tired, I’m sore, but if this summer has taught me anything I’m gritty AF and so I’m going for broke tomorrow (and donuts, always for the donuts 🍩). . . . #summerofspeed #5K #speedwork #goingforbroke #willrunfordonuts #runnergirl #run #runnersofinstagram #chicagorunner #ilvolee #oisellevolee

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