Fan of the week!

I have some really great news to share with you all (who even reads this blog anymore) I AM OFFICIALLY KATHIE LEE AND HODA'S FAN OF THE WEEK! 

It all started back in February when I decided to apply to be fan of week. I have watched the show for almost 5 years. In fact, it was a book Hoda suggested that inspired me to write 365 thank you cards in 365 days, leading to the creation of this blog. Here is the letter I wrote to them: 

I am a huge Kathie Lee and Hoda fan. I started watching the 4th hour of the Today Show my first year in college. During this time my parents were going through a nasty divorce and  I was adjusting to being in college. Since then, I have watched the 4th hour of the Today Show everyday for the last four years. Kathie Lee and Hoda are the people that I eat lunch with, workout to and laugh with everyday. During my lunch break I can always be found in the break room catching up with them. They are my “friends in my head”. If I could go out to lunch with anybody, it would be these two ladies. It has always been a dream of mine to join them on their Wednesday lunch and Matinee date to the theater to see Hoda’s favorite show,  Beautiful, which is now my favorite show! Thanks to them I have fallen in love with theatre all over again!

My favorite part of the show is their chat segment, which catches me up on everything happening. I live for Kathie Lee’s Friday funnies and iHoda playlist (or better yet, Kathie Lee’s face expressions throughout the songs). I also love Joy Fit Club, recently having lost 20 lbs I am so inspired by the stories of the men and women who have lost large amounts of weight and have transformed their lives.

Hoda has also been a great inspiration to me. Two years ago, she shared the book “A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life” by John Kralik which inspired me to write 365 thank you cards in 365 days, leading to the creation of my blog. She has inspired me to start running and promoting breast cancer awareness through running. I listen to her iHoda playlists songs and audiobooks on almost all of my runs. Sometimes I add Kathie Lee's music into my running playlist. To this date I have run eight half marathons and am currently training for the NYC marathon and continue to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

During a trip to NYC this past year, I was out on a run and ran into Hoda. She was so sweet  and was exactly how she is on TV. You never know what celebrities are going to be like in real life. Hoda was truly the person she is on TV, generous, caring and kind. However that day, I didn't just run into Hoda Kotb, I ran into someone who has truly changed my life. I even got another selfie with her when I ran my 8th half marathon in April!

My day isn't complete if I don't watch the 4th hour with Kathie Lee and Hoda. Thank you ladies for always being there with me, through the thick and the thin. Cheers!

I basically forgot about entering into this competition, and then a few weeks ago I got a phone call letting me know I was being considered for a finalist. I sent in a few more photos and crossed my fingers. This past Friday I got another phone call letting me know I was one of the finalists. If you follow me on Twitter you might had noticed I was tweeting about being anxious and nauseous about something happening on Monday. I told very few people about being a finalist… Didn't want to jinx it!

Today at 9:45am I Skyped in with the Today Show. WHAT A COOL EXPERIENCE! Crossing my fingers and toes, I waited there until 10:20am when the announced fan of the week. When they first announced the city I had forgotten I put down South Hadley back in February. I thought I hadn't won. Then I saw my photo, heard my name and saw myself on air AND FREAKED OUT! WHAT THE WHAT! You can watch it all HERE!

I can't believe this all happened. Immediately after I was done my phone was blowing up with people saying they saw me on TV. How cool is that? After running around the house screaming with excitement I had to run back to work. I was hoping to catch it on TV myself, since it airs at 11am here in Boston. However, due to breaking news it didn't end up playing :( When I got back to work, no one seemed too excited. I was sort of bummed. I was really excited about it and wanted to share it with the people I worked with, but some of them (not all) showed zero interest or care in the world. Thats ok… no raining on my parade! I got to watch it in the break room once it was put online. It was so bizarre seeing myself on a show I watch every single day. I was shocked by all the sweet messages I got from friends via Facebook, text messages and Twitter. I am so blessed to have the friends I have and I want to thank them all from the bottom of my heart. 

In addition to being crowned "Fan of the Week" if you answer a question right, which I did, you win a vacation to somewhere all expenses paid. I won a trip to Miami! Some people would say that this is the most exciting part, and it is a great bonus, but to be on a show and interact with two people I have spent every lunch time and workout with since I was a first year in college, was the best part. I am so grateful to Kathie Lee and Hoda; I have laughed and I have cried with them. They have made me smile in some of the darkest times and are people I would consider "friends in my head". People may think they are silly or goofy, but they let me smile and laugh when it doesn't always seem possible. 

Today is a day I will always remember. I look forward to stopping by the studio when I am in NYC for my marathon and getting away with Janelle to Miami for a fun girls vacation! I am so honored and grateful, and feel like I am floating on a cloud!

Here is a video of my reaction to today. It is set to Beautiful from Beautiful: The Carole King Musical  because if it wasn't for Hoda I would have never seen the show and fallen so in love with it and Carole King's music!

Cousin Catie

Maybe it was being around so many bloggers last night. Many of them inspired me to start my own blog. Still leaving luna Chix run I had the urge to write something! So here it is (please bear with me if this makes no sense, my brain is all over the place today) 

I started running with Luna Chix Boston last year but due to work I only made a few. This year I have made it a priority and am hoping I won't have to work Wednesday nights. I really love getting together with a group of people and doing something that I love: running.  Last night one of the leaders told me I reminded them of a little cousin, always bursting with energy and with a smile on my face. They gave me the nickname Cousin Catie. Another woman in the conversation said "I just met you and can already tell your smile is contagious and you make people around you feel happy" (Something along these lines)

What a sincere and thoughtful compliment. It meant so much to me because it's something that means a lot to me. I love making people laugh. Maybe it was growing up as an only child. Whenever my parents had dinner parties and I was the only kid there I would perform for the guest. I loved making them laugh and smile. 

Growing up compliments from my dad always seemed to be about how I looked or if I didn't look thinner there was silence. The compliment last night meant so much to me because it's something that means so much to me:  making people laugh and feel happy when they are around me. 

Ragnar Cape Cod 2014: Never Fear Winning

A few months ago my friend Ella, who I met through running and is also a senior at my college, approached me about participating in Ragnar: Cape Cod Relay. I had heard a little bit about these kinds of races before, but really had never thought about actually doing one. The Ragnar race is a relay race which covers about 200 miles and divided up between you and 11 other friends. Ella was creating a team with some other students and thought I would be the perfect addition. Of course I said yes, but lets face it, when she approached me in September it seemed like far far away in the future. Well, like every year May came faster than expected. After three half marathons in 3 months this past winter-spring, I was finally getting some rest in when I should have been training for this race. Here is my recap of 30 hours of no sleep, laughter, drama, running and stinky fun.

On Thursday night we headed to Ella's house since it would be closer to the starting line then if we were to drive from school. We got to Ella's house and carbo-loaded. I also got to meet the other people on our team. I knew a few of them but there were a lot of new faces. They were all Ella's friends from riding. We went over the basic information about the race and then went to bed. I was planning on taking on a total of 19.7 miles spread over 3 runs (or legs). My legs were the following: 6.3 miles, 4 miles and 9.4 miles. I was a little nervous for the 9.4 mile leg since I hadn't run more then 7 miles since the Mores Women's Half. Still I decided to take it slow and easy. We headed to bed, I was in the first van which meant waking up at 4am to get to the starting line at 6:30am. At 4:15am we woke up to Witty the dog with a shoe hanging out of his mouth. I hadn't gotten the best sleep on the floor and in someone else's house, but the adrenaline kicked in. When we woke up we learned that one of the people in our van was really sick and had been throwing up all night. We decided not to panic and just go to the start and see how she felt then. Not good. Half way to the start line we informed Ella what had happened. Who was going to take her legs? Was the whole race over? It was then that I decided stand up and take one for the team. I offered to take her first leg, which came immediately after mine. That leg was 6.2 miles, bringing my total first leg to 12.5 miles and 26 miles all together… Eeek! And I thought the 9.4 miles was daunting. I knew that it was right. I was the only one in our van who had run a half marathon before, or run more then 8 miles. I figured that if I took her first leg it would give us a little more time to figure out what to do with her other 2 legs.

Witty the dog!

We got to the starting line and cheered our first runner on as she started the relay. I decided to pick up some leg compression sleeves since I lost my other ones and knew that with the extra miles my legs would thank me. Our first runner did a great job, and then our second runner went off. At this point I was getting a little nervous, 12.5 miles, yikes. What did I sign myself up for. I knew I would be doing Jeff Galloway's run/walk program, but still 26 miles in less than 30 hours, thats a lot of miles.

 I got myself ready and off I went. The first few miles took some time getting used to. Also every time another runner saw me running/walking they would ask if I was alright. I know they were being nice and checking in on me, but I found myself being grumpy and annoyed. I run/walk. I run for 2 minutes and walk for 30 seconds. Its the way I do it. It has gotten me pretty far in running and left me with no injuries. I have run without walk breaks many times in the past and go slower and get more injuries. This way works for me, but when people call me not a true runner, I am hurt. I guess these people asking "are you alright" just brought up those feelings of not being a true runner, which really hurt. Anyways, I am getting off track. After the first 3 miles, I got the hang of things. This wasn't going to be bad at all. In fact I had negative splits.

At the exchange (where I would have stopped if I hadn't taken on an extra leg) I waited to see my team just to check in. While waiting there, a volunteer asked me who I was waiting for. I explained I was actually going to run the next leg as well but just wanted to check in with them. In her microphone she told everyone that I was doing a double leg and they all cheered for me. It was pretty cool! I finally checked in with my team and got some water. Then off I went. In this next leg every time someone asked me if I was ok, I explained that this is how I run and this was my second leg and how far I was actually running. Their response was much different. The second leg wasn't too bad until we hit a massive down hill and then constant constant constant up hills. WTF! I would have taken on a hillier leg.. my luck. I allowed myself to walk more then I usually do, since I knew I would have 4 more miles later that night and 9.4 miles early the next morning. But those hills were NASTY! At one downhill I was tweeting and running (not smart) about how brutal this leg was. A van came past me honking their horn, I was startled and rolled my ankle. I then tweeted about the rolled ankle :)

6.3 miles- 1:15:00 (11:54 min/mile)

6.2 miles- 1:16:43 (12:22 min/mile)

Finally I made it to the exchange and off the next runner went. Man I was beat. I iced my legs and ankles and hydrated. The weather was very deceptive. It was very breezy, but the humidity was nasty. Standing around waiting it seemed cold, but once you started running it was HOT! Luckily after the next runner finished our van had time for a break while our other van went off and ran their legs. We went to the big exchange and looked around, but there wasn't too much to see. We decided to go find lunch. We found one of the sketchiest restaurants ever, we just couldn't help but laugh the whole time. Bonding? We then went to the next exchange and slept/rested. I think I got in a good 20 minute nap. It was fun to see all the other vans all decorated up. The team spirit and excitement is pretty incredible at these race. It was also getting dark at this point which meant walking around in reflective vests and head lamps.. talk about looking hard core. GOOD NEWS was that the runner I had cover for was feeling much better and was going to cover the rest of her legs. At this next exchange we greeted our other vans runner and off one of our runners went. We made sure to grab a group photo before we went to the next exchange and they went off to their dinner reservations… pfff.

It started to get dark, and by the time I was off to run my 4 miles it was pitch black. These 4 miles felt like they took forever. I felt like I was running extremely fast, but looking down at my Garmin I was going really slow. Nevertheless I had my music on (a very weird mixture) and enjoyed this leg since it was my shortest. I finally finished and headed to the van. We had two more runners, it was getting late at this point. When our runners finished up we headed to the camp site. Others decided to sleep in tents, I slept in the car. I was so exhausted that I fell right to sleep at midnight. At 3:30am I heard "shit they are ahead of schedule, time to get up". Oh no! We all hustled to get up. Despite being the third one to run, my other runners had shorter legs this AM, meaning my 9.4 miles was coming up fast. Off our runner went, then exchange, then off I went at 5:45am.

4 miles: 50 min (12:30 min/mile)

Since it was still "night" hours (6:30pm-6am) I had to run in my reflective gear. I told my van to try to meet up with me along the course since I had no idea how my body would be doing. The first 2 miles were rough, my legs were in shock. However, everything started to loosen up and it wasn't too bad. I got into a good pace. I saw my teammates and told them I was actually doing great. I saw them 2 miles later and gave them my reflective vest and headlamp. I was still doing great. Then I got a text message from them saying they wouldn't meet up with me anymore because I was about to head onto the bike trail. I thought I would be ok since I had been doing fine. However at mile 7 mile, my body shut down. My legs were cramping, something I had never experienced before.. Ouch! I just took it slowly. Despite the last 2.4 miles being brutal they weren't as bad as the day before (during 12.5 miles). On this run there was no one mile left sign, so I texted my van when I thought I was a half mile away. Whoops, I was only .25 miles away. When I got to the exchange they weren't there. I was upset. I was looking forward to having them cheer me on during my final leg. Finally saw them and off the next runner went. When I noticed that my total for the 2 days was only 25.9 I ran around the parking lot to get it to 26 miles. Best feeling ever was BEING DONE! I couldn't believe it.

9.5 miles- 1:55:00 (12:07 min/mile)

Once our van finished we headed to my house on the Cape to take showers, then went out to brunch and came back and took naps. Man I was exhausted. Finally around 2pm we headed to PTOWN for the finish. We waited for Ella (who was running the final leg) and ran her in. We got our medals and decided to look around the finish and grab some food. The views were pretty awesome, but I was ready to go back home and sleep. We took a photo and then drove back home.

Running Ella into the finish!

Overall the energy and spirit was awesome. Despite being sleep deprived and extremely soar it was AN AMAZING experience, one I would really consider doing again.

Ella even gave me the slap wrist ban that had traveled 192 miles, for completing the most miles .

Last First Day of Classes

Well today was my last first day of classes of my undergraduate career. WHAT THE WHAT?! Last night I had a dream that seemed pretty appropriate considering the circumstances. In the dream I was back in first grade and it was the first day of classes. All the students who were in my class then were there. Except we were all 21 year olds, but being treated like first graders. It was bizarre. But it kind of all makes sense? Right?

Here we are. Can you find me? Hint: I was a fairy.

So how did my first day go? Not well. It started off great! I went to the daycare and worked with my little ones who always make me smile. Then I went to my only class, and forgot a pen. YUP! Even after 3 1/2 years, I seem to lack being prepared (which is weird since I usually am). During that class I was fading in and out thinking about today and thinking about the future. I have a lot of emotions about this being the beginning of the end (ok that might sound a little dramatic) and what I am going to be doing after college. I am just feeling very blah and sad about all of this. I went back to my room and had a rough conversation with my father which put me in an even more horrible and down on myself kind of mood.  Hopefully a busy tomorrow will take my mind off of it. Then Thursday I get to work with the kiddos again. And then Friday I'm off to NYC! OH YEAH BABY! .I will of course give you all a recap and a little bit more about this "spontaneous" getaway. In the meantime, I am off to bed (but first packing a pen for tomorrow).

How do you deal with endings? I have a hard time. How do you cope with them?

Old School Blogging

Just discovered a new great blog: The Thinks I Can Think. Looking through her old posts I came upon this challenge. I have always wanted to do something like this so here it goes.

A. Attached or Single?
Presently single. Just me, myself and I (and my running shoes).

B. Best Friend?
Oof! This isn't easy to answer. I grew up being told to never just have ONE friend. I also learned through experience that having only one BEST friend can sometime lead to major disappointment sometimes. I have some very close friends. For now I will just list the friends that show up under my favorites on my phone, since those are the people I would call at 3 in the morning crying.

Alysa

Evelyn and Marianna

Rebecca

Ellen

Deanna

I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL MY FRIENDS. I believe friends/best friends change over time…. UGH… this is stressing me out!

C. Cake or pie?
I LOVE Frosting! However, I am going to go with pie this time. mmmmm…. KEY LIME PIE :)

D. Day of Choice?
Saturday.

E. Essential Item?
Chocolate, my iPhone, wine, running shoes and great big old smile :)

F. Favorite Color?
Pink and most recently orange.

G. Gummy Bears or Worms?
Gummy bears.

H. Home Town?
Boston BABY!

I. Favorite Indulgence?
Anything CHOCOLATE!

J. January or July?
January. I don't love the cold, however I prefer it over 90 plus degree days!

K. Kids?
Nope. Well actually, do I count?

L. Life Isn't Complete Without?
Exercise, belly aching laughs, random dance sessions and CHOCOLATE!

M. Marriage Date?
Not set yet. Trying to find the guy first. See first question.

N. Number of Brothers/Sisters?
Zero. Only child. Loved being spoiled as a child, but always (and still do) wanted siblings. Funny story, when I was younger (I want to say 6 years old) I went into my parents room and said "I want twin siblings by tomorrow please" and slammed the door behind me. When asked why my parents never had more, they always respond "Catie was enough".

Yup. Enough!

O. Oranges or Apples?
Apples.

P. Phobias?
Pigeons. I know bizarre, but they freak the hell out of me. I can't walk near them. I have accepted the fact I may never be able to travel to Italy…

Q. Quotes
I have many.

R. Reasons to Smile?
The simple things in life. #simplethings Don't agree with me? Go check this out!

S. Season of Choice?
Fall. Perfect temperature, perfect running weather and gorgeous light.

T. Tag 5 People:
Katie (a little nudge to start your own blog)
Dani (Weight Off My Shoulders)
Dori (Dori's Shiny Blog)--- first blog I started reading :)
J (Kissing Frogs) 
Ashley (Getting Stronger, Burning Fat) 

U. Unknown Fact About Me?
Hmm… I'm pretty open about everything… but I guess this is a fun fact: In 2007, my dad and I were on stage at the Tony Awards during the performance of Spring Awakening. We got to go to the Tony Awards rehearsal and then to an after party. Pretty incredible experience.
Dare you to try to find us!

Not so easy to find.. Here is some help :)

V. Vegetable?
Broccoli.

W. Worst Habit?
I have many bad habits that drive my friends nuts. My current worse habit is highlighting everything with my computer mouse over and over again while reading anything on my computer…. just did it...

X. Xray or Ultrasound?
Ultrasound, but I am talking the kind you get at PT.

Y. Your favorite food?
Chocolate (by now you should know that I am ADDICTED to anything and everything CHOCOLATE)

 Z. Zodiac Sign
Pisces.

Now you give it a try. Answer one of the following in the comment section below, or do the whole challenge on your own blog :)