dreams as puffy and fluffy as my sleeves

I've actually tried writing this post 3 times. This is the third time, so I'm really hoping third time's the charm. I've been gone from blogging since January so I guess you can say I'm a little rusty. It's been a pretty zigged-zagged rollercoaster on my end. At the very end of January, I was offered a freelance role at a company that later on in July took me on Full Time. It was a long sought full time role for 2 years -  the constant jumping over hurdles and just wanting a hiring manger to believe in me as much as I did in myself and finally catching the wave that was meant for me to ride.

You know in track when hurdler's hit the hurdle instead of jumping over it? Yeah, that is the best way I can describe the two years of searching for a full time role. But the thing is the more you keep trying to jump and keep hitting that hurdle, one day you're going to jump that hurdle, and then the next one that follows, even if while you're hitting that hurdle you're thinking the exact opposite.

About a month into freelancing for the company, Covid-19 entered the chat.

I went remote after about a month into freelancing, and as much as I used to think I was all about that ~office life~ I genuinely don't think I want to go back to the office - the amount of time saved from no commute, not having to wake up extra early to catch the morning bus. I now use that time for my morning runs. Of course, there's the one small tiny thing of not chatting to people, I wouldn't say I'm a complete social butterfly but I do like chatting to people throughout the day. So 50% social butterfly? And the other small thing is not knowing when to turn off from work and actually separate my work self from like my actual life.

And this is where the burning question from your end is: Why did you stop blogging?

I didn't do that intentionally - if there was one thing I was adamant about it was that I didn't want to chip away parts of me until the only thing that had roots in the ground was my profession. But, I guess as I am typing this in September 2020  - a full 8 months since my last post - that is what happened. 

I knew I had to get used to the work environment  - up until this point most of my freelance clients were either 1-3 months or several weeks with no indication of possible full time role. This was the first one where it was freelance and possibility to hire. So I had a lot to learn and catch up on to make sure that I did everything I could from my end to cement that full time role into my future. 

Blogging took a backseat mainly because I wanted to be sure that I was 100% focused - I didn't want to lose an opportunity I sought for so long because I didn't give it my all. So that's what I did - I gave it my all and even stopped running and exercising for a solid couple of months to focus (hi this was singlehandedly the worst decision I could ever make in my entire life) and in July the full time offer came like a Christmas wrapped gift with a sparkly bow in my email inbox.

you can't tell but I'm smiling under my mask

It's September now.

And it's been a hectic couple of months. I ended August pretty much up to the brim with work and deadlines met, and in all honesty I missed me. I missed actual me.

The lifestyle, fitness, and history crash course blogger, the crocheter who gets too excited about projects and ends up having 253498 unfinished projects and wants to start a new one anyway, the avid reader who lives through numerous adventures on a page monthly, the duolingo novice trying to learn Danish when in reality I should be attempting to learn to speak Arabic more fluently or maybe dabble into Spanish, the piano player who's trying to reteach herself the notes, and most importantly - the athlete who loved to move.

I started running after taking 2 months off so although when written ~short time off~ it felt like a millennium.  For reference, I've been training 6 days a week for the 2 years of my funemployment. Currently - I've been running consistently back and forth in front of my house to minimize bumping into anyone while running, so that's my new normal in my running life. I did actually take a week and a half off in August due to not getting a lot of sleep and having a bit of discomfort in my shoulder, but I'm back up and running. Literally.

But still I feel in terms of movement I could be doing more.

I sit down all day and stare at a laptop + monitor for more than 8 hours per day (you honestly don't want to know how many hours a day I spend on my laptop) and worry about eyesight. A week ago, I was sitting in my kitchen after a long working day and my eyes were just in one phrase: tired of focusing. The time on a my stove was blurry to me - it was 5 feet away from me. 

That's also one reason why I stopped blogging - I couldn't stand a computer screen in my ~free time~ because I was spending so many hours staring at a screen for work, my eyes couldn't handle screen on both my work time and free time.

that moment when you don't know if a random small child will interrupt your photo shoot

Getting back to the sitting down all day - In the beginning of remote work everything hurt.

My hips hurt. My thighs hurt. All from sitting for so long without getting up. That continued for at least 2 months, and then my body adapted to my sedentary lifestyle of sitting in one spot for 10 hours. And this worries me. My body adapted to no movement although I am well and able to move throughout the day - in office life there's the walk for lunch or coffee/tea, but at home there is none of that walking. I sometimes don't even take a break for lunch because I prefer to just keep working instead taking a break to recharge my energy. 

When someone says 'tell me about yourself' I do not want the only thing to leave my lips to be my profession.

I've been here before though. The not blogging and slicing my hobbies away part. If you've been here long enough, you'll remember my internship 2 years ago where I tossed everything about myself away and made my work my life. I swore I'd never do that to myself. And I want to keep that promise to myself even if it is late. 8 months too late. 

There's something a coach says on the Nike app during a speed run I do - when doing a mountain workout where I would be doing mile pace, 5K pace, 10K pace, and then make my way back down the mountain with 5k, mile pace: 

You've been here before, you've just got a little more running in your legs.

And that's true. I have been here before. But now, rather than me turning to an advisor to see what I should do I (and also my family pitching in) am making the decision to not allow my work to continue to consume me like it has been. My runs don't run themselves in the same way my blog posts don't write themselves. 

I don't know if it's a ~junior~ thing but the feeling like I need to be working all hours of the day in order to prove that I am worthy of a position that I already have is a mindset I have to break. Is it a junior thing to constantly feel like I have something to prove? I love to learn new things, whether that be a new coding environment, or improving on a coding language I already know.  I love that feeling of learning. But I also don't have to be learning/working all hours of the day as much as one half of my brain likes to try to convince me otherwise. That's the quickest way to burnout and I very much want to veer as far away from the path of burnout. 

I do have a lot to learn but that does not discount what I already know. Even if at times I feel it does. I have courses that I want to do and technologies I want to improve on, but that doesn't mean I spend night and day burying myself in knowledge because I've managed to convince myself that every waking moment must be spent working towards something, and anything not meant to further me in my profession must go.

What I am hoping to ingrain in myself in the next few months is that I don't always have to be attached to my computer whether that be for work or for courses/tutorials to be better at what I do at work.

There will always be more to learn, months from now I'll be telling myself the same thing even if I learned XYZ new technologies, there will always be that feeling of I could do more. I just don't want my life to be consumed of I could be doing more rather than appreciating where I am now. 

I guess, the end of my ramble of a post is to say: Your life is yours, not your employer's. Own it.

How has quarantine been for everyone? Going on runs/exercise or learn a new hobby? Working from home? Let's get chatting!

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About a month ago, I decided to give TopResume a try. I kept getting emails from them after uploading my resume to Glassdoor when I applied to a role on there months ago. For reference, this was prior to my ZipRecruiter Misuse post where I dissected terms and agreements of all popular job board sites. They have some sort of deal with Glassdoor when someone uploads their resume to apply for a role, you can opt to have your resume looked at by them for free. After you let them look at your resume for free, they keep emailing you. Constantly.

At this point, I did get call backs but they never went anywhere, so I gave TopResume a try.

You'd think my soul left my body when the $149 went out of my bank account. I was just scared - was it going to be worth it? Based on their reviews, they were top tier a blessing for job seekers. But then again, websites that offer a service to job seekers usually make it sound like they are the light at the end of the tunnel. My neighbor talked highly of them - I'm not sure she ever used them, but it just felt like I was going nowhere with what I had so I had no other option but to have a professional resume writer to take a look.

So, what package did I get?

The cheapest one - I paid for the Professional Growth and Resume Writing Package for $149. Except, here's some quality tea: Remember how I said they kept emailing me after that ~free~ viewing of my resume? Yep, so here's the funny part. They sent an email saying with a specific link sent to my email there was a sale on the package with $179 crossed out and $149 as the new price. So, I purchased it and then 3 hours later as my parents were asking about the price, I was going to show my parents the price crossed out and the price I paid only now that I clicked the link the discounted price was $139. The very same link I clicked on 3 hours earlier had a $10 cheaper price after I used it to purchase.

I emailed their customer support about the issue, they were no help on there.

I even sent a video recording of me clicking the link from my email  - the regular price now on the website was $149 rather than $179,  and the discounted price when I clicked my link was $139. Their customer support via email kept saying essentially too bad, not our problem. So I called the next day, explained to the person on the phone what happened, she saw the email thread as well, and agreed that I have to be refunded because the discount came after I purchased via the link a few hours earlier. The opposite of how a discount link should work.

What did the service offer?

A professional resume writer in your field to look at your current resume and basically give it a makeover content wise. You go back and forth with the resume writer for 7 days only - in those 7 days the back and forth edits only stop once you say you are satisfied with the resume.

How was the service, honestly?

In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend them unless you yourself are an english native and personally know a wrong sentence structure when you see one. Also, if you read a lot that's also a plus because sometimes the resume writer used words wrong.

I don't think that it's a professional resume writer in your field, that bit - from my experience - couldn't have been further from the truth.

My first revision - I sent in my one page resume - came back to me in the form of 2 pages with the following:

• Chunks of keywords thrown in with no sentence structure
• Incomplete sentences that didn't read well
• A massive paragraph (if we even want to call it that - it was just a lot of keywords thrown in with no periods) at the start of my resume
• My name and title in my profession were centered awkwardly in a way that didn't visibly make sense
• My technical abilities (the coding languages and frameworks I know) was all the way at the bottom
• She eliminated my Personal Interests section which lists my blog and the fact that I am a USATF Track Athlete; 5000M.

Overall the format didn't make sense, and it was just too much on the eyes - there was no whitespace! I get why she wanted to put as many keywords as possible so that companies that use artificial intelligence to screen through resumes won't put me in the No Pile but just chucking in keywords isn't the answer.

You can kind of think of it when using keywords in your blog post: Google will notice what you're doing if you keep using your keywords to get a better ranking on google, so you have to use them smartly throughout your post.

That's the mindset that you should have with your resume:  You can flurry in all the keywords you want but make it make sense. Don't start getting generous and sprinkle your keywords all over your resume like you're Rupert Grint* handing out free ice cream. If Google's algorithm is smart enough to know what you're doing when you keep using keywords to get a higher ranking on Google, don't you think the algorithm the company uses to screen through the resume is too?

_____

* Actor who plays Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter Series. 

_____

I will be getting back to the importance on the Personal Interests section in a future post, but I will say this: Keep This On Your Resume! Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. I have some stories that I'm going to get into in a future post of 'mentors' degrading my interests and equating listing my blog and being a USATF Track Athlete on my resume to writing 'I like Ketchup'.

I let the resume writer know I was dissatisfied with this edition and essentially wrote a whole 6 paragraph essay picking apart what was wrong with it. I guess you can say I became an english teacher for these 7 days, I had to explain proper sentence structure format, provide alternative words due to words they used weren't used correctly, and also edit a lot of sentences entirely. I didn't want to be rude picking it apart, but I was also paying for this service. $139 to be exact.

It's a two way street between you and the TopResume Writer.

You give the resume writer feedback and they make the changes to get that much closer to the resume that you are going to be satisfied with. You can't say you don't like the revision and not explain what it is that you are dissatisfied with. There were some occasions where the way she edited a section - compared to my resume I sent in - it sounded too simplified technical-wise and I would redirect her to my resume I sent in and the technical language I used.

As we kept revising it, the amount of things I pointed out became less and less; we worked together bouncing back and forth via email on what changes to make. Each resume revision was sent in a Word Document, so you can easily edit it on Google Docs once they send it through!

Tip for Resume Writing: ADD COLOR. Do you know how boring it is to look at a document with no color at all, all resumes just start to look the same (if a person is looking through them not Artificial Intelligence). Change your name, and heading for each section to a neutral color. I chose a dark-ish blue - not sky blue but also not navy, kind of like jeans colored?

In terms of the sentence structure, did that ever get better?

Not really. I had to really dissect each sentence and line to make sure that the structure made sense and it wasn't just random words thrown together to make it look intelligent when in actuality it made no sense. I mentioned this earlier but I read a lot, and obviously as a blogger write a lot, so I was well aware of an incorrectly structured sentence when I saw one. If English is not your first language, or you are not fluent in it, RUN.

How would I rate the service?

⭐⭐☆☆☆ 

2 out of 5 Stars

In the end I did end up with a resume I was satisfied with but the process was a lot of me pointing out my industry's standard as if she wasn't a professional in my field as advertised on the TopResume website. I am rating the process, not the final product.

Everything is now written better than what I had previously, and as for call backs has it changed? Well, in some ways its the same, but in other ways it's not. I attended an interview last week and the person interviewing me said he took one look at my resume and knew he had to see me, so I will say that the changes made were most definitely needed for my resume.

According to their terms and conditions they say that if you don't get an increase in calls in two months or so then you can tell them that and they will go through the whole resume revision process again, free of charge.

This 2 out of 5 star rating is mainly because for the reasons I listed above:

• The resume writer wasn't a professional in my field as advertised.
• Sentence structure was poor until I had to continuously point it out and offer alternatives.
• The format of the resume was all wrong in the beginning.

The only reason we ended up on a resume format that was satisfactory was because I did my own research on resumes in my field to get some inspiration and edited the resume writer's sentences to actually be complete sentences- it was clear I needed to pull more weight in this revision than I originally thought.

Okay so where should you go if your resume is in need of a glow up?

Luckily for you - and unluckily for me - I came across this tweet a few days ago detailing websites that offer free resume revisions - Free Resume Help List + some extra stuff tweet!

Have you recently fixed up your resume? Would you give TopResume a try?

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Something I'm always forgetting about is applying chapstick. I either forget about its existence for months or I remember to put it on every day because my lips get so chapped that my chapstick can't be ignored, there's no in between. I was reading Sophie's 2019 Beauty Favorites the other day and she mentioned a cleansing balm which then translated into my mind to lip balm which then translated to chapstick, and uh here we are. Now, if you've been here long enough, you'll know that I get curious about the history of just about everything - from sidewalks to paperclips. So, let's get this fun innovate history ride of chapstick going!

Who invented Chapstick?

That would be a physician, Charles Browne Fleet who had an interest in pharmacy in the early 1880's.

I know I can't be the only one wondering what he was doing in the chemistry lab to end up with chapstick, and how chapstick as a concept entered his brain. Like was he just chilling on a nice cold day and suddenly his lips were *literally chilling* and then into the lab he went? Well, anyways, one thing you should know is the Charles had that entrepreneurial spirit.

Were people instantly waiting in line to purchase?

In Charles' dreams, maybe. Ok, but on a serious note, Charles from Virginia really wanted that to be his reality. Who wouldn't want something to save them from chapped lips? Well, apparently everyone. You know that scene from movies where it's a desert and there's just that circle rolling in the distance? Yeah, so that's the equivalent of the amount of people who wanted to purchase it. No one wanted to buy it from him and do you want to know the reason why? It looked like a candle without a wick and was wrapped in tin foil. 

So after not making all the riches he probably thought he would make, he sold the recipe of Chapstick for $5 to his neighbors, Mr & Mrs.Morton 

Now here's the interesting part.

Mrs.Morton believed in the idea of chapstick but knew one thing: the packaging of it needed to change. So, in her kitchen, she added pink coloring to the recipe. Now, instead of white, it was a nice pink color. But that's not all his neighbors did. The whole tin-foil wrap had to go. She used brass tubes to mold the chapstick into sticks; so when they dried they would be in that stick-form. We love innovative women, I'm assuming the husband watched his wife in the corner because in all the articles I've read they mention Mrs. Morton doing everything and some of them mention Mr.Morton helping. 

Once they finished drying, the Morton's cut sticks molded by the brass tubes (so they were y'know normal looking size that someone can have in their bag) and placed them in containers to ship out to what they hoped would be the customers that Charles dreamed he had.

The Morton's were successful and founded a whole company called Morton Manufacturing Corporation based on their sales of the Chapstick.

Same product, different look = hello money. All I'm thinking about right now is how Charles must have been sitting there like he could have had it all, the riches, the fame, the everything but the way his product looked like and was packaged had people walking the opposite direction and purchasing actual candles with wicks for late night reading. Like, he was probably standing out in the rain without an umbrella wondering where his life went wrong.

So literally speaking Charles invented Chapstick but technically speaking Mrs. Morton really invented the chapstick we know and use daily (okay, maybe not daily but when we don't forget) because without her innovative thinking of changing the color/having them in tubes instead of white and in tin foil we probably wouldn't have chapstick right now.

So, as much as Charles invented the recipe of Chapstick, Mrs. Morton invented the look of Chapstick which - as I mentioned above - was all that needed to change to make chapstick a hit.

So, whatever happened to the Morton Manufacturing Corporation? Are they still making chapstick today?

As much as I really wanted this to be a yes, they actually sold the rights to chapstick to A.H.Robbins Company. At the time, the flavor of chapstick was just a regular no-flavor one that looked pink. The A.H.Robbins Company wanted to change that. In 1971, four new flavors were added in! So, now there was variety to flavors which means business was booming because who doesn't like flavored Chapstick! 

In 1981 A.H.Robbins Company had another idea: Chapstick Sunblock 15.

It seemed like the A.H.Robbins Company had it all figured out, they had all the flavors and even had one that protects from the sun, so obviously this meant they weren't going to be selling the rights to Chapstick anytime soon. But the people who owned the A.H.Robbins Company changed in 1985, they were bought by the American Home Product Corporation.

In 1992, the amount of people wanting to buy chapstick was increasing and the people at American Home Product Corporation were like okay! we need something new with it but not changing what we have!

Sticks, squeezable tubes, and jars have entered the chat. So they added options on how people wanted their chapsticks to come in. I can 100% say I've had all three versions, from sticks to jars (okay as shown in the photo it's more like a lil tin? Charles is going to rise from the dead like excuse me is THAT TIN AS IN MY TIN FOIL)

In 1996 American Home Product Corporation were living their best money life because chapstick was bringing in $63 million in revenue.

I'm starting to think Charles was regretting selling his recipe for $5. Can you imagine inventing something and getting none of the money from it's success because you thought the idea was the problem and not the product packaging? 

I don't know about you but I'd be that melodramatic person and just stare out a glass window thinking of the life I could have had if I didn't sell my recipe for $5 and instead changed the look of the product from candle without a wick to in a tube chapstick.

And there we have it! The long history ride of chapstick in which we learn one thing - product presentation is everything because no matter how good a product is, if it's not presented properly you could very much end up like our boy Charles over here who sold his genius idea for $5 to his neighbors and they got all he success he dreamed of because they changed the way it was packaged and sold. Same recipe, different look.

Before anyone points it out: Salve's can be used like a chapstick! 

Now, to close this out, have you used your chapstick today?

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Recovery is just as important as getting in those speed days even if we sometimes feel like we should be doing some sort of workout on our complete rest days. I'm the type of person who sees someone running while I'm on my rest day and wish I were out running like I don't train 6 times a week with only one day off for rest. I'm honestly happiest when I'm running or working out because every week I get stronger and the whole progression of getting stronger is just mind-blowing to me. Consistency is the key, always.

My general schedule used to be 3 days running [ Track workout, tempo run, long run]  and 3 days core strength and leg strength + stability workouts. Now, I run 2 times a week [speed workout + temp run/long run) and do core strength and leg strength + stability workouts 4 times a week. This change is mainly because me being on my job search means I feel like I had to run less to focus more on it. Anyways, so what am I doing when I'm not running or doing a leg strength workout that has me waddling like a penguin after?

ACTIVE RECOVERY!

I try to stretch as much as possible, the worst thing is sore muscles and feeling stiff. Do I sometimes neglect my night time and early morning stretching? Yes! Quite literally as I'm writing this I feel my Hamstrings and IT band calling my attention like excuse me, where is my extra lovin'? So here are a list of stretches I do to aid my recovery - I try to do them daily but as I mentioned sometimes I get a little lazy with my stretching, but! I'm going to try to get better at it one day at a time.

Nighttime Stretching

Now, once it hits nighttime we definitely just want to sleep but hold on a second! Your muscles need some attention, especially if you've just had a hard workout. Even if you've had a light workout, it's really important to take care of your muscles all day every day. If you're coming from my training tips post, you'll most likely remember the name Chari Hawkins. She talks a lot about recovery and shows some of what she does on her Instagram. I personally need to get back in the habit of doing this, I do some stretches daily but I could be doing more!

Here's a nighttime stretching routine I screen recorded from her instagram stories: Night Time Stretch With Chari 

Resistance Band for Warm Up

Who here has been neglecting their resistance band? Same, welcome to the club! Are we going to change that today? Well, I am. I am planning to do all these recovery videos once I finish typing. I personally have one long resistance band and then loop it to make it like a smaller one - it's like a 2 for one deal! Mine is from BN_D in the Khaki/Medium. Now if your glutes are in need of some help, this warm up is for you - all you need is a resistance band and loop it above your ankles - and I'll let Georganne Moline take it from here.

Here is a Monday Pro tip she gave in July (ya girl is very dedicated to screen recording every tip I come across on Instagram to watch back when in need if you haven't noticed): Glute Warm Up with Georganne Moline

Also in July, Chari Hawkins mentioned she always makes sure her Glutes are activated and showed how via Instagram: Activate Your Glutes with Chari Hawkins

~ a brief intermission ~

Okay I don't know if this video can be considered recovery but does strengthening legs with jumping so you have stronger legs as you're running count? It's something I've been meaning to add into my training days so I suppose it's not really recovery but.... enjoy: Jump with Chari (you need no equipment, just yourself and an open space to jump around in!)

Knee strengthening and stabilization, Glute Help, and ankle strengthening

If you have runners knees, I think this next video will be helpful.  Chari went through her routine and explained 3 stretches, some of which are also great for your hamstrings as well! -  Knee & Ankle Strengthening with Chari

She also went over releasing your glute - we have a lot of tension in there @ my running fam - with the Hyprice hypersphere however! you can also just use a regular tennis ball. Role on the tennis ball on your IT Band/thigh, it won't feel great but trust me, future you will be glad you did that. She also shows a good stretch for your hamstring too - Glute and Hamstring Stretch.

Future me is editing this post - I actually just finished doing this video and wow, my glutes are well loved. They've been sore since an intense leg workout the other day and this was just what I needed to massage my glues and hamstrings!

Hip Help

Who here has gotten hip flexor pain before? I once got really bad hip flexor pain and it wasn't even from running it was because I tried skateboarding and left my pushing leg behind - how does one leave a whole limb behind you ask? I have no the slightest clue. Clearly the only sport I should be doing is one that involves no equipment whatsoever. ANYWAYS - when that happened, I was out of running for literal weeks. All I knew was when I got better - and wasn't in pain - I had to strengthen my hip or do something so it wasn't so weak!

Georganne Moline did a Hip Opener on her Instagram Stories that I should really do again soon: Hip Opener Stretch

Chari Hawkins also did something on her Instagram story for hip flexors, quads, and hamstring stretches: Hip Flexor Stretch

Chari Hawkins also gave some stretching tips on her Instagram for your IT Band: IT Band Help.

Future me editing this post again: I just finished doing all three of these videos and my legs don't feel sore? They feel great? Like this was just what I needed? You can take this as your daily reminder to do at least some of these stretches daily/nightly so your muscles feel well taken cared of and not sore!

Shin Splint Help

And we're back with another Chari Hawkins Tip - do toe taps as you're sitting down relaxing etc. I personally have been doing this and between icing and this I like to think me and shin splints won't be meeting up for tea soon - Toe Taps with Chari.

Lower Back Pain and Stretches That Can Help

And we are closing out this recovery post with another Chari Hawkins Instagram Story - there are some hamstring stretches as well as glutes in this video - Helpful Back Pain Stretches.

And there we have it! Recovery tips from my two favorite Team USA athletes that I follow over on Instagram. I personally know I need to keep doing these stretches more often (I've been slacking a bit!) because I know that when my muscles feel stiff, these are the stretches I need to do to not feel so stiff! As I'm typing this, I just came back from a run and my IT Band is in need of some stretching, which reminds me, we have one more section.

Soreness Section

Right, I like to think we've all been in the sore neck life. I did the below YouTube video for a solid week every morning (2 times) and during the day heat pad, and then did the video 2 times at night. If you have a sore neck - I'd recommend changing your pillow, and also going on your back and resting the back of your neck on your foam roller if you don't have a muscle machine like the Hypervolt or the Theragun (I wish I had one of them, they sound like a blessing for sore muscles but my wallet laughed at the prices).

YOUTUBE VIDEO: Physio Neck Exercises Stretch and Relieve

What stretches do you do for recovery?

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old photo hence old running sneakers!

My training is a lot of me reading, trying, learning, and then going back to the drawing board to see if whatever new thing I've added into my training schedule for the month has been helpful in getting faster in my races. If not, bring something else in to the training schedule and see what happens, and repeat.

If you've been keeping up with my racing life, I recently went from running a 5K on November 2nd @ 8'09 pacing to running an 8K on November 28th @ 6'36 pacing. That is a massive time jump and to be fair I was extremely surprised when I finished racing how well I'd done, but I also thought of the changes I've made since the November 2nd race - as well as things I've been consistent in! - without those changes I wouldn't have jumped from an 8'09 pace to a 6'36 pace.

So I'm sure you've probably skimmed straight through those two paragraphs so let's get onto the changes I've made so if you also run, you can see if perhaps your own training needs some tweaks!

Core Workouts

I've mentioned I did Stacey Irvin Jr's 10 min ab workout every day for 30 days a few months back and did it every other day since doing it for that one month. Since I've grown stronger core-wise the workout started to seem too easy. Even if I did on loop twice, I felt like I needed a change of movement for core workouts.

Enter, Chari Hawkins USA Heptathlete.

She is primarily on Instagram (@_charihawkins) and more recently Youtube. She did a 10 Day Ab Challenge and I decided to tag along - doing her 10 Day ab workout in addition to my running workouts I had planned. The first time I went through the days, I did each video only once - even the videos that seemed a little on the ~easy~ side for where I was ab wise. I didn't know what she planned for the next day(s) so was pacing myself with what she was doing.

The variation was just what I needed. After doing one ab video on loop for so long it, it was nice to have a change.

Want to know the best thing?
Each video is only 10 minutes. Get all the intense ab work in 10 minutes.

What I do now that I've completed the original 10 day Challenge- is: Go in order again but do it ever other day instead and do each workout video twice (depending on how I'm feeling - some were easier than others.)  and then the next time I go through the order again see if I can add an extra repetition of the video based on the previous week.

By having 10 different 10 ab workout videos to rotate between from, I'm constantly doing a different ab movement not just the same movements as I was doing previously.

Speed Workout Mile Increase

This is something that's been the most help: Make sure your speed workouts are either equal to the distance you're racing, longer than, or near it. My speed workouts (which I do with the Nike Run App) used to always come up at around 1.5 Miles, 1.8 Miles, 2.5 Miles. So now, I opt to choose their tempo runs and longer speed workouts. Since doing this, I've noticed I was more confident maintaining my pace for a longer period of time.

The way I run up and down a hill

I learned this tip from one day going to a local running club! I only went once (I know I know, I should probably make more of an effort to attend but it's a bit of a distance away from me) but anyways I was chatting to a runner for 7 miles and she mentioned this tip to me.

When you're going up a hill: keep your arms in that runner-bent way as you normally would.

When you're going down the hill: lower your runner-bent way arms to your torso, KEEP THOSE ARMS BENT!

How does this help?
It's to ensure you're not wasting your energy. You can kind of think of it similar to driving a car up and down a hill. When you're going up a hill you need gas - in running when you're going up a hill, you have your arms bent and level with your chest-area. When you're going down a hill with your car, you're pressing the breaks a bit - in running when you're going down a hill, you should keep your bent arms level/near your torso to conserve your energy.

Running on high elevation for all workouts

So I no longer have specific days for hill sprints in my schedule. Now, I make sure that all of my runs have some sort of incline/hills sprinkled throughout. What I noticed was that by having hills sprinkled throughout my run rather than having specific days for it, I was more prepared come race day when a random hill appeared on a relatively flat race course.

All of my runs - including easy runs - are now run on 150/180 - 200+ elevation.

Taking my training runs easy

This is easier said than done, I KNOW. But here's what I learned by only doing easy runs and tempo runs leading up to the 8K Championship race: run them comfortably and relaxed. All of those runs done leading up to the race were done at 8-9 pacing per mile. My body is relaxed and comfortable at this pace and come race day, I knew I had a lot of energy. I've been saving all that energy, all that speediness, for the race.

I came across this on twitter a couple of days ago - Joanna did easy running and zero speed work for 5 months, come race day for her half marathon and she was flying! Take a look at her tweet to see her times! Almost all were in the 5 minute per mile range, and her last one was a 4:55.

Building my leg strength without a gym

Now on my blog I've mentioned there were times when I was able to go to the gym, when I'm not able to and right now we're back to not having a gym membership (I'm pretty chill with this, actually). So, how does one build leg strength without a gym?

Well, here's one way.

Chari Hawkins recently did a few takeovers of her sponsor On Running where each week she'd give new tips/workout! Now, me being me, I screen recorded all of them so I could do the workouts continuously.

Sadly her takeovers aren't available as a highlight, however, here is the screen recording which I saved to a google drive because we're all in this together: Chari Hawkins Leg Workout.

The great thing about this workout is that it's buildable. The first time you do it, you'll feel you've gotten a great workout done, two weeks later your body will be strong enough to do the entire workout twice! Trust me! You'll love doing it and feel your legs getting stronger!

Be sure to give Chari Hawkins a follow over on Instagram, she's always giving tips on recovery/stretching etc.!

Foam rolling pre workout

I don't think I even run without foam rolling anymore, it such a game changer to roll before running to get your muscles ready for the workout. I think of it as a massage for your muscles. There is a specific warm up routine I do which I screen-recorded from Chari Hawkins one day - Warm Up With Chari Hawkins.

It's reallllly sped up, so you just have to keep pausing it. I tend to do 12-15 reps/hold a stretch for 15 seconds.

Letting the distance come to me rather than chasing the time

So I learned this tip after watching Chari Hawkins Instagram story (if you haven't taken the hint yet, I really think you should follow her, she's amazing!) Someone sent in a question saying they're trying to run a distance in 12 minutes - so she gave this tip: At the end of every week, set your phone/watch to run for 12 minutes (no more, no less), let the distance come to you in that time frame, don't chase the distance instead let it find you.

So for me, I'd like to run a sub-20 5K in the very near future - so every week, I should (ya girl is slacking okay!) set my phone to 18 minutes and run to see how much distance I can cover. You can kind of think of this as a speedy tempo run!

Icing every day

Recovering is the queen in this household, without recovery you may as well be a walking injury. I always ice my calves because shin splits are very much almost always 3 seconds away from entering my life on loop. I opt to use ice cups, and ice blocks for my calves. If I'm doing an evening workout, I ice my calves the morning for 20+ minutes and then after the workout I ice again. If I'm doing a morning run, I ice after.

Ice Cups: Fill a paper cup with water and put it in the freezer. When frozen, you rub it on your calf and keep pealing away at the paper cup until you've finished the ice.

However, there are also a few other alternatives to ice cups/ice bags:

Recoup Fitness - CRYOSLEEVE  | $89.99

I saw this on Georganne Moline - you can get this for your calves as well as your arms too. Here's how it works: You place it in the freezer for 2 Hours and it's guaranteed to stay cold for 1 hour. As is in the name, it's a bit like a sleeve you put your arm/calf through, think of it as compression and ice heaven.

Here's their full description on their website:

The Recoup Cryosleeve combines ice + compression for up to 1 hour of cold relief. Use on multiple body parts with sizing for leg and arm. The Cryosleeve + Boa® Fit System provides micro-adjustable compression while forming to the area. Great for reducing inflammation, speeding up recovery, and general pain relief for injuries such as carpal tunnel, shin splints, golfer's elbow, knee injury, etc. If you are in between sizes, size UP as the BOA Fit System can compress your sleeve down to size.  

I don't personally have one but wanted to share it with you all if you're looking for an alternative to ice bags/ice cups.

If you're looking for a more budget friendly one, I saw Chari Hawkins talking about this one:

Freeze Sleeve - Freeze Sleeve Black | $49 - $75

Depending on your size, the price changes. So if you're a small it's $49! I wasn't able to find out how long it stays cold for, but Chari mentioned they are great for shin splints!

Doing specific sprint mechanic drills to make sure my foot is hitting the ground the way it's supposed to

I mentioned earlier that Chari Hawkins did a takeover on On Running for a few weeks, one of those takeovers was this track warm up drill. There's A-Skips, B-Skips and something else I don't really know the name of but was actually the most beneficial one.

Here is the screen recording to that on my Google Drive: Sprint Mechanics With Chari Hawkins

It really solidified - well for me it did! - how your foot should be hitting the ground as you run.

Strengthening my arms with planks

So let's bring you back to the 10 Day Ab Challenge I did With Chari Hawkins. Throughout those days there were also a lot of planking involved which let me know that my spaghetti arms are in need of some help. Planking - the standard one as well as some different variations like side plank and back plank - really helped my arms get stronger.

You may or may not be wondering: Why do I need strong arms if I'm a runner?

Your arms guide your run, trust me when I say moving your arms front and back does a lot more than you think. Strengthening your arms with your own body weight will make your running be that much faster, trust me!

Jumprope

And drum roll please, the last section! Let's talk jump rope and box jumps without actual boxes. As you probably already guessed, during Chari Hawkins takeover she did a jump rope week which I myself do 2 times in one day and should really up it to 3. The thing jump rope teaches you is coordination and thing jump rope gives you is strong calves, hamstrings, and Glutes and! it's great cardio!

Here is the screen recording of jump roping with Chari: Jumprope with Chari Hawkins

In terms of box jumping without an actual box - this is a lot of fun and challenging. Just find something high off the ground and jump up with your two feet off the ground at the same time. It's harder than it looks but! great way to strengthen your legs!

And there we have it my top training tips at the moment that helped me move from an 8'09 pace to 6'36/mile!

There's also something else I've been doing a lot of: recovery and stretches. Next up will be my top recovery tips / stretches paired with of course the videos I use whether that be from Instagram or Youtube! From night time stretching, Glute warm up, IT band help to ankle strengthening, I've got you covered!

How's everyone else's training going?

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I mentioned over in my last race recap that I was racing towards the end of November - so for the first time racing 2 times in one month! - and was racing in the 8K (5 Miles) distance rather than my usual 5K's (3.1 Miles). This wasn't just any race though, it was a USATF 8K Championship race. I've never raced a championship race before. They had a pamphlet for this 8K race at the 5K race I raced earlier in the month and I just happened to look down at the stack of pamphlets near the bagels and picked one up. Smart of them to place the pamphlets by bagels.

I originally was thinking of not racing it about a week before the day of the race - or as I like to mention this as: the day before the price hike happened to the race price. I usually go to my races with my mom or sister and as this race was happening on Thanksgiving (Nov. 28th!) I didn't want it to be an inconvenience for my sister to come along on her day off. But my dad encouraged me to sign up for the race anyways, and that everything would fall into place as the day got closer.

So, let's get started on this recap!

What was the day before the race like?

Now, I am only including this section because my neck felt like acting up really randomly. I should really get some sort of special pillow. In the evening my neck/shoulder area started to feel stiff? And I was like oh no no no no no THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS. I ended up icing the area for a couple of hours (didn't want to waste a heating pad that lasts for 8+ hours when I was going to sleep soon!).

My sister was sitting next to me like so does this mean you're not racing? (Translation: Does this mean I don't have to wake up early on my off day?) And my response no no, I'm racing, I'll be fine. And she was essentially like how can you say that, you don't know that? And to that I responded Inshallah (As God Wills) I'll be fine for the race tomorrow when I wake up.

What did I eat the day before the race

When I woke up - I felt A-OKAY! THANK U GOD. Last time I was racing, I decided to not have pasta to carb-load, this time around pasta was the queen in this household™. I ended up making whole wheat pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, and garlic. If you're like me and always mess up the order to actually put all of that in a sauce pan so everything turns out okay:

Before we start the recipe - As you put your pasta in a pot of boiling water, put olive oil in a pan and make sure said pan is a bit of a deep one to fit everything!

What you'll need:

1 Small Onion
15 Cherry Tomatoes (a handful/however much you'd like!)
5 Pieces of Garlic (or however much you'd like!)
1 Large Mushroom

Directions:

1. Chop the onion - this goes in first. Wait until soft-ish.
2. Slice handful of cherry tomatoes in half  - this goes in second. Wait 1 minute.
3. Cut the Broccoli in however chunks you'd like - this goes in third. Mix everything together and wait a couple of minutes. (or more specifically, 2-3 minutes)
4. Dice your garlic - about 5 pieces- this goes in fourth. Mix everything together. (no waiting time between this and next step after mixing!)
5. Chop up your mushroom in large chunks - I used just one massive one - put this in last. Wait 2 minutes.
6. Don't forget your seasonings! Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion powder - all that good stuff, sprinkle a good amount in!
7. Once your pasta is done boiling (I had mine in for 9 minutes because that's what the box said and who am I to argue) strain your pasta and put said pasta in the deep pan with all those vegetables.

Mix around the pasta for a good 2-3 minutes.

And there we have it, a nice bright plate of pasta! It's honestly so tasty, like how I made this off the top of my head is a miracle.

If you're in need of some food bloggers - I'm going to direct you to Sophie from GlowSteady and Romina from Romina's Little Corner because they both are masters in the cooking domain while I am like.... the definition of inadequate at best.

this arm band thankfully didn't slip too much on my arm!

What did I eat | drink the morning of the race

Similar to my previous race, sunny side up eggs was on the menu for race day! I drank a small cup of water not 16oz though because I didn't want to have to keep running to the bathroom. But in the end did I end up running to the porta potty about 3 minutes before the race began, yes yes I did.

How was the race location - was it easy for parking?

HAHAHAHA no. So my sister and I were trying to find parking - several roads were closed for the race, so we had to ask some volunteers where parking was etc. as it wasn't really marked. They sent an email for where to park but once I got to the town, and started typing the places they mentioned in the email in my Maps app nothing showed up - as if the location they sent was not what I was supposed to be copying and pasting into my Maps App. In the end my sister had to drop me off near the starting area so I could grab my bib and get to the race itself on time while she searched for side parking.

How was getting ready for the race?

* Before leaving the house I did a 10 minute stretch with my foam roller because warming up is important! *

There were 2,933 people racing this 8K Championship race. By the time I got my bib, I had 7 minutes until the race actually started so I was sprinting to get to the starting area before my bladder alerted me of its existence. Even though I drank the smallest amount of water to feel hydrated, I'm just going to assume bathroom dashes before a race are going to be the norm with me.

love this wind - the leaves kept flying on us runners

So, I made a dash towards the porta potty's that were near the starting area and there was a line. A LINE. I looked at my phone, 7 minutes until the race started. Based on the website, they'd be starting right on the dot. So after I managed to go to the porta potty, I had 3 minutes left before the race started. The issue? I was given one of those free long sleeve tops, and my sister had only just found parking so was only starting to walk to the race area. I was on the phone with her, and I had two options:

1. Put the long-sleeve on top of the long-sleeve I was already wearing. (not ideal)
2. Leave said long-sleeve by a 'Do Not Enter' sign and hope that my sister found this specific sign to grab it.

I ended up choosing to leave it at the sign, leaving it on a ledge of greenery there and let my sister know where it was. (granted I was 90% sure she wouldn't find it).

The race started at 9 on the dot and let me bring you back to the amount of runners: 2,933. So we were all lined to start and there were so many runners that by the time I actually got to the starting point (where the chip would begin to track me) I actually ran nearly a mile. I was a mile away from the starting point because of how many people there were and when we all started running once it was 9 on the dot, I had to run to the literal start line that was 0.91 miles away from where I was.

How was the race mile by mile?

I'd have to say this is the first race where I was visibly surprised every time my Aftershokz headphones told me my pace per mile.

I didn't realize my mileage (due to that additional mile I mentioned above) was off until I was about mid-way through.

Mile 1: THERE ARE TOO MANY RUNNERS I CAN'T EVEN RUN. This the first race I've ever done where there were so many racers - to the point where it was congested - that even running for this first mile was a challenge. It was a lot of maneuvering through openings of people. The roads were all closed for us, but since there was practically no room for runners to actually run because there were too many runners some of us ended up jumping onto sidewalks from time to time to freely pass groups of people without having to maneuver through said large groups of people.

I clocked in my first mile @ 7:30. Granted I had to keep finding openings to pass through to get to my actual racing speed, I was happy to see a 7 in there.

Mile 2: About mid-way into mile 2 runners started to spread out so it wasn't too much of maneuvering now, more or less the only maneuvering I was doing was if I was on a sidewalk on the left hand side to pass people, and I noticed that we had to turn right I'd hop off the sidewalk and start making my way through groups of people to turn over to the right.

I clocked in my second mile @ 6:40. Now, when I tell you I was shook at even hearing such a time I'm not joking. I did a double take AT AIR while I was running like I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I've never run a 6'40 mile ever, in speed workouts sure but in my casual,  tempo run, race, and easy running days? Never.

Mile 3: At this point, after hearing my pace was 6:40 I was giving myself all the pep talk you can maintain this pace, keep this pace, you can do this - I spoke before on the Aerobic + Anaerobic running styles on here before, and with Anaerobic it's like you have to train your mind to be comfortable with being uncomfortable at the high speed you're running at because your body can maintain this pace, it's the mind that wants to push the brakes a little.

I call this mile the pep talk mile - I clocked in @ 6:41. Did I do a double take AT AIR while I was running again? YOU BET!

Mile 4: This mile I was focusing on my breathing - I felt like I was losing my control over it. In out. In Out. The way I think of it is if you have control of your breathing, you have control of the run. If you don't have control of your breathing, you don't have control of the run. I was gaining my control back on my breathing for this mile.

I clocked in this mile @ 7:27. I was okay with this because I used the time to get my breathing back under my control and could now push off faster for my next mile in control of my run. Sometimes you need to slow down to speed up, and that's okay.

Mile 5: At around mile 4 & mile 5 I was able to notice that whenever my Aftershokz let me know I completed a mile, it was a bit off with the mile markers they had in place. I didn't realize the reason until after I completed this 5th mile. There wasn't a lot of inclines for this mile, it was in one phrase: Fun & Speedy.

I clocked in this mile @ 6'38. I got my speed back, now to bring it home. At this time, the 8K distance itself was complete and my app let me know I completed it in 35:01 with a 6'36 pace!!!!! Speedy me was ready to conquer on this Mile 5 like Napoleon Bonaparte.

0.91 that shouldn't exist but did because it took me 0.91 miles to get to the start line itself:  I was like oh really I'm not done GREAT. The fun part about this mile is that there were two lanes. On my right side was the finish line and on the left was all all of us runners who had to loop around way ahead to find ourselves on that right side. I was able to see the place we started and happened to notice my long-sleeve top I left by the Do Not Enter sign - glad to see no one took it!

This mile ended with a very small incline - but at this point my legs were like excuse me we have been running AT THIS SPEED for a while - but I pushed through and managed to finish just about 6 miles in 41:28. I clocked in this last 0.91 in 7'07.

What was my ending time

If we're talking 8K distance itself, that was done in 35:01. I was aiming to finish in the 35 in a bit of a wishy-type-of-way, I didn't expect myself to actually finish the race in 35:01 - those miles in 6 pacing were truly insane, I still can't believe I raced as well as I had. It's absolutely mind boggling. (Thank You God)

3 Mile Mark (the 5K distance that I usually run is 3.1!): 20:55! A WHOLE 5 MINUTES FASTER THAN MY 5K I DID 3 WEEKS AGO! So I technically have a new 5K PR at around 21:30? Does this count as a PR? I think it does?

8K Distance: 35:01

5.91 Miles based on my Phone: 41.28

5.91 Miles Official Time: 41:43.

I'm honestly still in such shock at how well I raced, I didn't win anything medal wise (maybe if I came earlier and actually started way in the front and didn't end up running a whole extra mile to get to the start line due to there being 3K runners this may have had a different outcome!) but overall I've honestly never been prouder of myself. My long time 5K (3.1 miles) PR time is 21 minutes, I was close to breaking into 19 minutes for 3 miles by 56 seconds. Still can't get over that!

What I Learned

The race in the beginning of the month where I was upset with my timing had to happen for me to make the changes I needed to end up running a 35:01 8K with a 6'36 pacing! I've made a lot of changes throughout my training and this really showed to me that they were the right ones - and with the path I'm going, I may actually see myself at my end goal.

I do plan to write a massive post with all the training changes and tips next week so if you're also a runner you can progress too if you're in need of some tips - keep an eye out for it!

The main thing I learned during this race is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. (In relation to running ok thank u!) On November 2nd I raced a 5K @ 8'09 average pace. On November 28th (this race) I raced an 8K with 6'36 average pace. That is a massive jump I did not think I'd be seeing at this race at all (perhaps in my dreams yes yes that jump was there but in real life?! I was shook).

The thing about the 8K distance is that leading up to this race, I actually only ran a 5 mile run once in those 3 weeks leading up to it. And I ran it as an easy run @ 9'13 pacing. The other two weeks - on one week I had to take it easy and not run my 3 times a week / do a lot of strength and conditioning because I got a cold. On the other week, I was still transitioning my speed work to road so wasn't running high mileage in my speed workouts so I could settle in to running on road compared to speed days on the track.

The main thing that was different going into this race is that I've never raced this distance before so my expectations - although they very much existed - weren't as solid as say they would be if it were a 5K if that makes sense. I was just like if I make it in 35 minutes that's cool if not, that's also fine because I've never raced this distance so no need to stress on what'll happen - my mindset was very much: as God Wills, strap in for the ride of 5 miles in whatever time you're blessed with.

And I think this is the mindset I need to bring back to my 5K races: Push the expectations aside, and run to enjoy the distance. Usually, what I've realized, I allow my expectations to stress me out and in the end underperform. What this race taught me is sometimes the best way to meet your expectation(s) is to forget that you're supposed to have one.

At the moment I don't have a race planned for December - hi my legs are currently in ice heaven because they are sore - but one thing I did want to ask you all is if you also run - what are your favorite post run snacks to make? Ones that'll give some y'know, energy? Anything filled with protein to energize me back to life? I'm usually STARVING and want to eat anything and everything so if you have any tips on snacks to make and bring let me know!

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Similar to my How Do I Get My Create-React-App Portfolio on Github Working, the documentation on how to edit it on the Github Platform and on my local machine and get the changes/edits to show up on the live version didn't exist. Brian Mock (@wavebeem on twitter) took the time to work with me to figure out how to get my edits to show up.

It took a lot of time to figure out the right commands - it was a joint effort trying to figure them out as we both read through git documentation and create-react-app documentation to try and piece together this puzzle and I wanted to write it out because I don't want anyone to struggle like I did and contemplate chucking their laptop out a window.

There are two sections - jump to which one you need!

Making Your Changes/Edits on the Github Platform
Making Your Changes/Edits on Your Local Machine

_____

Making Your Changes/Edits on the Github Platform

*after making your edits*

Step 1: Open up your project folder that's on Github on your local machine in terminal

The path to my folder: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io

The commands to get to my directory:

cd documents
cd Github
cd my-repository-folder-name-here.

Now you should be in your project folder

Step 2: Check you are in the right branch

Automatically, you should be on the branch that includes package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder.

How do you check what branch you are in?

On mac - click your finder icon on your dock, and go through the path to get to your project folder. As I mentioned above, the path to my project folder is: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io.

In your project folder, if you do not see package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder then you are on the wrong branch. [You may see asset-manifest.json, favicon.ico, index.html, logo192.png, logo512, manifest.json, robots.txt, static folder instead)

How to change the branch you're on:

In terminal the command you type is:

git checkout latest*

*latest: the name of my branch that includes package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder. To learn more of why that is: How Do I Get My Create-React-App Portfolio on Github Working

After you run that command, click back to your folder you got to via finder - it should now show package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder signifying that is the branch you are currently on.

Step 3: We need to pull our edits we made on GitHub to our local machine

In terminal the command is:

git pull

After you run this command, you will see a mini summary of what file you edited.

You may see an Untracked file warning with .DS_Store however that's okay! It is there! Git is playing games (on a real note - check your .gitignore file and you should see .DS_Store under #misc in the event Git is in fact not playing games).

Step 4:  We need to install gh-pages packages.

We only need to do this once - this installs the gh-pages packages.

In terminal, the command is:

npm install -D gh-pages

Step 5: We need to run npm install

In terminal, the command is:

npm install

You may remember doing this over on your local machine to view your project on localhost.

After this you may notice a few new additions in your folder via finder, what should be in there now: build folder, node_modules folder, package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder.

Step 6: Run a command to check the status of the branch

As I mentioned above, your folder got some new additions! Now we have to commit all of that stuff to our actual GitHub folder online

In terminal the commands you type is:

git status
git add -A
git commit -m "some message"

git status
Shows you the status of your branch - if you've made any changes this is where git will show that you have some edits/file changes.

git add -A
Adds all new and updated files to the staging area

If I bring my analogy from my previous post - How Do I Get My Create-React-App Portfolio on Github Working-  to explain this:

You have a dozen packages you're delivering to this one house, and when you get to the house, you take the packages out of the truck and add all of them to the patio area i.e. the staging area

git commit -m "some message"
Commits the change with a short message on the change you made

Keeping up with the story above, you ring the door bell and someone answers the door. They need to sign their name on a device before you can hand them their packages they ordered.

the -m means message and in quotations is the message relating to what you're planning to push onto GitHub.

When you run the last command, you should see something along the lines appear in terminal:

1 file changed, 1 insertion (+), 1 deletion (-)

Now let's push our edits (i.e our additions via running npm install)  to our actual GitHub folder online

The terminal command is:

git push

Keeping up with the story above: The person signs their name and finally you can give them their packages to take in their home.

The "message" that you're typing shows up like this on Github:

Step 7: Run the commands to run build + send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'

As I mentioned before, the branch latest for me is the one that has build folder, node_modules folder, package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder.

In terminal, the command you type is:

npm run build
npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build

AND TADA - you should be met with one single word in terminal: Published. You may need to go into chrome incognitio to see your changes immediately - takes a bit to show up on just regular!

Also, when you run npm run build it may take a while!!! The same goes for npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build it'll take a good few seconds!

Let's talk about that second command if you're wondering where it came from:

npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build sends all your changes from 'latest' into 'master'.

Now let's break it down further:

npx gh-pages - If you remember earlier, we ran the npm install -D gh-pages to install gh-pages packages. So that's us using gh-pages package.

branch master - The branch we are sending all our changes to is master.

-d build - directory, build folder. Remember earlier when we ran npm install we had a new addition of a build folder.

A mini tangent if you're curious by the phrasing "send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'":

As Brian was mentioning to me when I asked about sending all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master' - you can imagine "master" branch as having everything from "latest" branch public folder but on this top tier special level. The way I kept thinking of it was that if the public folder in latest should also be included in the master branch that would mean that there will be duplicates of index.html and logos as well but that is not the case! It is in it's own special league!

After this first-time-editing on your Github Platform, the next time you make an edit on the GitHub Platform and would like for it to show up live you just need to go through the following commands after you've made your edits:

Step 1: Open up your project folder that's on Github on your local machine in terminal

The path to my folder: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io

The commands to get to my directory:

cd documents
cd Github
cd my-repository-folder-name-here

Now you should be in your project folder

Step 2: Pull your edits you made on GitHub onto your local machine

git pull

Step 3: Run the commands to run build + send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'

npm run build
npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build

AND TADA - you should be met with one single word in terminal: Published.
____________________________________

Making Your Changes/Edits on Your Local Machine

Step 1: Open up your project folder that's on Github on your local machine in terminal

The path to my folder: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io

The commands to get to my directory:

cd documents
cd Github
cd my-repository-folder-name-here

Now you should be in your project folder

Step 2: Check you are in the right branch

Automatically, you should be on the branch that includes package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder.

How do you check what branch you are in?

On mac - click your finder icon on your dock, and go through the path to get to your project folder. As I mentioned above, the path to my project folder is: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io.

In your project folder, if you do not see package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder then you are on the wrong branch. [You may see asset-manifest.json, favicon.ico, index.html, logo192.png, logo512, manifest.json, robots.txt, static folder instead)

How to change the branch you're on:

In terminal the command you type is:

git checkout latest*

latest*: the name of my branch that includes package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder. To learn more of why that is: How Do I Get My Create-React-App Portfolio on Github Working

After you run that command, click back to your folder you got to via finder - it should now show package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder signifying that is the branch you are currently on.

Step 3: We need to install gh-pages packages.

We only need to do this once - this installs the gh-pages packages.

In terminal, the command is:

npm install -D gh-pages

Step 4: We need to run npm install

In terminal, the command is:

npm install

You may remember doing this over on your local machine to view your project on localhost.

After this you may notice a few new additions in your folder via finder, what should be in there now: build folder, node_modules folder, package-lock.json, package.json, public folder, README.md, src folder.

Step 5: Minimize your terminal window and Open your editor up (Atom, VSCode, whatever you coded in!) and open up your project folder that is currently in your Github folder

When you open your editor, click File -> Open and go through the path to get to your project folder. The path to my project folder is: documents -> Github -> my-project-folder

open my-project-folder in your editor and make your edits AND SAVE YOUR EDITS.

On mac:  CMD + S

If you are trying to locate your react components + Main.js file: click the src folder and you'll see a list of all your react components and your Main.js file.

Step 6: Bring back your terminal window your minimized and check the status of your branch to see if git saw a change has been made

Once I saved my changes, in terminal I first ran the command:

git status

I use this as a double-check: This command shows you the status of your branch. If you've made any changes this is where git will show that you have some edits/file changes. I wanted to see if git saw an edit has been made; it did! 🎉

Step 7: Add all new and updated files to the staging area

The terminal command is:

git add -A

If I bring my analogy from my previous post - How Do I Get My Create-React-App Portfolio on Github Working-  to explain this:

You have a dozen packages you're delivering to this one house, and when you get to the house, you take the packages out of the truck and add all of them to the patio area i.e. the staging area

Step 7: Commit the change with a short message on the change you made

The terminal command is:

git commit -m "some message"

Keeping up with the story above, you ring the door bell and someone answers the door. They need to sign their name on a device before you can hand them their packages they ordered.

the -m means message and in quotations is the message relating to what you're planning to push onto GitHub.

Step 8: Push all of our edits with the commit message onto Github

The terminal command is:

git push

Keeping up with the story above: The person signs their name and finally you can give them their packages to take in their home.

The "message" that you're typing shows up like this on Github:

Step 9: Run the commands to run build + send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'

In terminal, the command you type is:

npm run build
npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build

AND TADA - you should be met with one single word in terminal: Published. You may need to go into chrome incognitio to see your changes immediately - takes a bit to show up on just regular!

Also, when you run npm run build it may take a while!!! The same goes for npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build it'll take a good few seconds!

Let's talk about that second command if you're wondering where it came from:

npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build sends all your changes from 'latest' into 'master'.

npx gh-pages - If you remember earlier, we ran the npm install -D gh-pages to install gh-pages packages. So that's us using gh-pages package.

branch master - The branch we are sending all our changes to is master.

-d build - directory, build folder. Remember earlier when we ran npm install we had a new addition of a build folder.

A mini tangent if you're curious by the phrasing "send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'":

As Brian was mentioning to me when I asked about sending all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master' - you can imagine "master" branch as having everything from "latest" branch public folder but on this top tier special level. The way I kept thinking of it was that if the public folder in latest should also be included in the master branch that would mean that there will be duplicates of index.html and logos as well but that is not the case! It is in it's own special league!

After this first-time-editing on your local machine, the next time you make an edit on your local machine and would like for it to show up live you just need to go through the following commands after you've made your edits:

Step 1: Open up your project folder that's on Github on your local machine in terminal

The path to my folder: documents -> Github -> saharafathelbab.github.io

The commands to get to my directory:

cd documents
cd Github
cd my-repository-folder-name-here

Now you should be in your project folder.

Step 2: Check the status of your branch to see if git saw a change has been made

git status

Step 3: Add all new and updated files to the staging area

git add -A

Step 4: Commit the change with a short message on the change you made

git commit -m "some message"

Step 5: Push all of our edits with the commit message onto Github

git push

Step 6: Run the commands to run build + send all changes from 'latest' branch into 'master'

npm run build
npx gh-pages -- branch master -d build

AND TADA - you should be met with one single word in terminal: Published.

I hope this documentation was helpful to anyone who is out there googling how to make edits to your react.js portfolio - this is only my second documentation post so I hope I explained everything well!

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