1st Day back

Today  I went for a 3 mile run. More like a jog, but still, I got out and stretched my legs. I didn't even take my music, I wanted to "feel" my run. It felt good to stretch my legs, felt good to be running again. I am not sure if the soreness I felt in my IT band was from the running or from the new shoes I wore, but either way, it felt great to stretch it out. I did walk like maybe 6 tenths of a mile, I didn't want to overdo it my first day back. Man, I never thought I would say this, but man, did I miss running. Glad that I rested, maybe after my next half marathon I will be able to get back into the grind sooner, but every day got better after the half. I could barely walk Monday, but made myself go for a walk. Tuesday was even better, less soreness and stiffness, and yesterday I felt almost like new. Today, I felt blessed to have finished my first half, to have experienced it with great friends and an awesome running mentor Sarah, and it makes me eager to see what lies ahead. Now, off to the chiropractor to see if I need an adjustment, and to see if that helps with my IT band issues. Have a great Thursday!

Mondays

So, back to the grind. Well, except for work, that comes tomorrow, which is better since it is a Tuesday. This weather has been amazing. Can I tell you, how excited I am to be out of winter. Anyway, the problem with having off of work is that it leads to baking. Good if you like to bake (I do) bad if you are trying to lose weight (I am). So, I compromised. I made these cookies. Remember, I made these before for my house warming party. Anyway, since I need to get back to the health kick, I also made myself some protein bars. I got the recipe here and since I didn't have enough PB, I made half a recipe. Hopefully it will turn out well. I am always up to trying new things, and they are healthy and supposedly taste like fudge...I will let you know. Other than that, I ran today 2.76 miles, which is my Wednesday work out, but my friend Steph has asked me to help prepare her for her first 5K so when we have a day off together I work my workouts around her schedule. Speaking of running, my long runs are no shorter than 7 miles. Can you believe that in 6 weeks I will be running my first half. Now, I am trying to figure out hydration, if beans, gus or gels work best for me. I have time, I am just going to try a little at a time now, so nothing new on race day. I have also begun to silence the voices in my head, or well not listen to them anyway. I have a lot to be proud of, that I have lost 54# since May, began running in Sept and 7 months later I am running my first half marathon. I am also flattered that people I work with, friends actually, are asking me to help get them running. Who knows, maybe next year I will be running a full marathon. Anyway, since I know you come here to see pics of my daughter, here is a picture from our trip to Fairview Park today. I really miss these things when I go back to work tomorrow. But, without further ado...

Hope you had a great Monday...hopefully I will be able to blog more frequently. The more I blog the more stress that is lifted. Here's to more blogposts!

Struggles

If you are reading this, then we have made it to Friday.  We all have our struggles. Sometimes, more things cause us struggles than we would like to admit. I don't easily talk about these things because I have found that running helps me work them out. But, what do you do when running is the thing that you feel like you are struggling with. Why now? Why when I am almost halfway into your 1/2 marathon training am I now starting to doubt myself more than ever. Why did I let it affect my running. I couldn't have complained about the weather on Thursday. The first thing I did when I woke up was turn off our heat and open the windows. Nothing like fresh air to get you moving. Met up with my dad at Louise Moore Park, so he and Makayla could enjoy the weather as I ran. We did it on Tuesday, and it worked out great! Hopefully as the weather continues to warm up, this will happen every Tuesday and Thursday. But, back to my run. I didn't really know how to dress, up to this day, I was use to running in cold weather, so I did what I thought was correct, pants and a t-shirt with my normal tank top underneath. Started off my run as normal and was really enjoying the weather. I didn't really focus on my time, and just did my 1/2 mile loop as a warm-up before I hit the big loop (which I run 3 times on a normal day, and then my 1/2 mile loop to finish it off). Anyway, as I hit the loop it felt good. My quads felt a little tight, but usually they are the first mile (guess I need to stretch more). Anyway, this is where my struggles began. I did the loop, and then started the second loop. At mile 1.75, I started telling myself "who do you think you are fooling, in 4 weeks you have to be able to run 10 miles without stopping" I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't so I stopped running. It was at that moment that I was going to just quit. But I knew I came to far to just let it all go away. I took 30 seconds to compose myself and then I continued on. I finished the second loop and then started the 3. I knew I only had this loop left, but again I started doubting myself. Not about mileage this time, I had told myself to just enjoy the weather and the run and not to worry about my time. I guess I was telling myself that it was too hot, too uncomfortable,too this or too that. So I called it a day. My Garmin told me that I was officially 1.4 miles away from my goal, and I was more mad at myself for letting my mind get the best of me. I know that it is OK to have bad days, and next weekend I will be in Pittsburgh and running there (I will be trying to make up for the 1.4 miles lost, but I don't think it is possible to get that back)I just don't want the bad days to take the joys out of running. The best thing that came out of this is now I get to go shopping for warm weather gear (Target, Ross, TJ Maxx) just to name a few. If anyone has suggestions for affordable warm weather gear, please let me know. So, as I finish writing this, my sweet babes is napping. I am going to allow myself a little break and try to read The Hunger Games and enjoy some of the nice weather. Here's hoping we have an early spring.