We Got 99 Problems, But Commitment Ain't One
Holy moly, what a weekend! Saturday was a big day of firsts for the Ginger and the Blonde. We ran our first 10k and then got our first tattoos. Technically, the Ginger already had one tattoo, but remembers nothing (it was YEARS ago), so we’ve decided it counts as a “firsts” kind of experience for her too. We have been talking about wanting tattoos for years of our friendship, but always came up with reasons we couldn’t: it was summer and we wouldn’t be able to be in the sun, it will hurt, what if we hate them, etc. etc. BUT this year is a year of owning our fears and facing them HEAD on- we started this blog after MONTHS of talking about it, we ran our first 10k, and we got tattoos. Safe to say #WEARECOMMITTED
““Most people fail, not because of lack of desire, but because of lack of commitment””
For starters, if you’ve been following our 10k journey, you’d know that we have been training & complaining (mostly the Ginger) for the past few months. It was just an idea back in July. We paid our entry fee early because we knew that would help keep us committed, since we are cheap AF. We definitely would have classified ourselves as non-runners prior to this race. HOWEVER, we fully leaned into our training- we ran together once a week, we ran separately, we ran, we ran, we ran! It really paid off! Not only did we learn how strong our bodies were, but we learned we didn’t hate running as much as we did in the beginning. The coolest thing was during the race we stayed side by side, our pace was perfectly matched after months of training together. We finished our race with solid time and a pretty great pace! We can truly say we are SO FREAKIN’ PROUD OF OURSELVES! We understand people run 10ks all the time- maybe it’s not a big deal for you. But everyone is different, so, for us, this is AWESOME. There is something about setting a goal and seeing it all the way through. See pictures and vids below from our big day!
That being said... drumroll please… we have decided (possibly still high from Saturday’s race) that we are signing up for a half marathon! The training, running, & complaining isn’t over yet. Stay tuned for more updates to come! (PSA: Wine may or may have not been a factor in this decision)
P.S. Any running advice from a 10k to a half? Specifically, how not to die. PLEASE HELP US!
OFFICIALLY REGISTERED! 2019 MYRTLE BEACH HALF, HERE WE COME!
On to the next adventure of this weekend, TATTOOS! Like we said, we’ve been wanting to get tattoos for a LONG time. We booked our appointments at Blu Gorilla for the same day as our 10k, because we figured we might as well have a day full of pain, fun, & adventure (PLUS hello FANTASTIC blog content). It is safe to say our pain tolerance isn’t super high, so we weren’t entirely sure how this was going to go. For your viewing pleasure, we have included a few videos and photos of the process. While Jesse was a serious trooper, she made some hilarious faces and squeezed the sh*t out of Ashley’s hand. Ashley, on the other hand remained fairly stoic in her facial features, but said some pretty terrible things that we cannot include in this post (sorry, Mom). She also refused to hold hands with anyone as her hands were freezing, but also LITERALLY covered and glistening with sweat. Not our finest moments, but nevertheless we survived AND captured it on video. The buzzing of a needle may forever haunt our dreams, but hopefully it brings a little laughter your way.
We both decided to get two tattoos. Both of us had one we wanted on our own for awhile: Jesse the phrase “you are enough” and Ashley the word, “beloved”.
For me (Jesse), there has been a whole life journey of ups and downs revolving around loving myself and the person God made me to be. “You are enough” is God’s daily reminder to me that I am everything he intentionally created. No matter how I feel about myself on any given day, I am enough in His eyes.
For me (Ashley), the word beloved has always been one of my favorite words in the Bible. Beloved means to be worthy of love- it is my daily reminder that the God of the universe has chosen ME- not because of who I am, but because of who HE is.
We also knew we wanted some sort of matching tattoo. We are in this friendship/wolfpack for the long haul- we may as well solidify this friendship with some matching tats. While getting some wolves tatted on our bodies would have been DOPE, we went for something a touch more graceful and dainty. We decided on four birds: one for each of us in this crazy Framily. Afterall, birds of a feather, flock together.
So this weekend signified facing fears, but also dreaming and following through. 2018 has been a year we’ve really tried to push ourselves and this weekend was part of that big picture. We want to encourage all of you to do something that scares you. Something you’ve dreamed about doing, but maybe you thought didn’t fit into the “mold” of your life where it is now. Commit! We support you and we’ve got your back. You certainly don’t want to look back and wish there was something you had done, but had been too scared to try. Just remember everyone’s journey looks different. As the saying goes , “don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle”. You do you; and be proud! It will be totally scary and totally rewarding. What are you going to do?
