My best run (of this year)…

 

 

In my alternate Facebook life we were challenged to do a virtual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. I laced up, went out, and ran my 5K in a decent amount of time. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to get out of my over-crowded with family and food house. It felt good to not be winded after one mile.

 

 On Saturday I was running a 5K for real, my first race since April and I actually had a time goal in mind. I had done this course before, so I knew that it was hilly and going to be a tough run. It was very, very cold (27 degrees) at the start of the race. On the first turn I rolled my ankle and was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to go on, but I did. I can honestly say that I never once thought about stopping or slowing down (except for the drink station, I always walk through those. Hal Higdon says it’s okay). When I saw the sign for 2 miles I knew I had it. I didn’t look at my watch because I was afraid that I might be going too slow to hit my goal of under 35:00. When I got to the 3 mile mark and had to run uphill for the last part of the race, I didn’t care, I felt AWESOME! I haven’t felt awesome on a run since January of 2011. I crossed the finish line in 34:53, under my time goal!

 

The other great thing about Saturday was it was the first race my husband, my son and I had all ran since March of 2011. We didn’t bring the baby because of the cold and I didn’t want to push that damn jogging stroller up those hills.

 

Yesterday on my first week of half marathon training I was running and I finally had a happy moment to hold onto, that wasn’t from 2 or 3 years ago. I cherish my good run memories and they really motivate me to keep going or go faster. I want to get back to the point of where running doesn’t feel like a chore, and I think I might be on my way!

Ah-Ha!!!! Lightbulb moment!

I tend to do a lot of self-reflecting this time of year. The month of November has so many events that are special/require. My birthday is the 3^rd, I had my first date with my husband on the 14^th, my cousin’s death was the 15^th, my wedding anniversary is the 18^th and my first divorce was final on the 27^th.  Also, there is a little holiday in there called Thanksgiving. So I tend to do a lot of “remember when” and “I can’t believe it’s been…that long”.

 While recuperating from this icky illness I have been fighting something very important dawned on me. I have been losing weight for over a year, not very much at a time but I have made decent/good food decisions for quiet sometime now. I went back and looked at my online food diaries and I have been tracking my eating habits since August of 2011. Now, not everyday and there was a span of two weeks where I didn’t write anything down. I just wish that I would have tried harder and worked out more and maybe I would have been thinner sooner, but I wasn’t ready. I really feel like I am on the verge of making this my lifestyle and not just a means to an end.

 

I am finally feeling some sort of success with my running. Yesterday I went out to do a 30 minute run, with a 5 minute warm-up walk and a 5-minute cool down. I felt so good that I started running 2 minutes into the warm-up and I didn’t stop until I saw 3.1 miles on my Garmin. I ran for 36 minutes without stopping!

 

When I get home from work and working out I have enough energy to clean up the kitchen, do some laundry, and get everything ready for the next day without feeling like I am dying from exhaustion.

 

I really feel like I have reached a positive turning point on this journey!

Another Year Older, Another Year Better (IMHO)

 

Saturday was my 37^th birthday. I am actually at a time in my life where I am not stressing about my age. My big focus is that number on the scale J. When I turned 25, I freaked out and then again at 30. Birthday #35 was fun, because I was pregnant. Last year was a mess and so this year had to better, right? The week started off badly because my mother-in-law was unable to come down for a visit, so I had to cancel my party since we had no sitter. I love my little guy, but going out to dinner with him is NOT fun. I was in a funk the majority of the week because of it. Then, some drama at work got me all upset. Finally, to finish it off-the hubby and I got into a HUGE argument on my actual birthday. Really put a damper on my party spirit. However, I put on my big girl panties and a big smile on my face and moved on. My friends decided that I still needed to have party, we would just take turns wresting the baby. We got together and had some sushi. My stepdad and little brother were able to come down as well, hubby bought me some Sperry’s and new sunglasses-so it was all good.

 

Through all of this stress, drama, and fighting I NEVER once reached for chocolate or alcohol to soothe myself. Even on my birthday I didn’t eat cake or brownies or cupcakes. I got a child’s serving of gelato and called it done. I seriously had to pat myself on the back for that one.

We partyed really hard on Saturday :)

 

On Sunday (hubby and I made up BTW) we decided to go run one of our favorite trails. I haven’t run on that path since April, so I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I am using the 10K Runner App to train for a race later this month, and I decided that I would just use that as workout. I had the baby (28 pounds) in the jogging stroller (25 pounds) and it was windy, I was not looking forward to this run at all. I started with my five minute warm-up walk and then it was time to run for 10 minutes. This neighborhood has all sorts of hills and inclines. Pushing the stroller up and down was NOT fun or easy. I got to the 3 minute walk break and slowed down. The second segment was also a 10 minute run and I headed off. I got to 10 minutes and felt fine so I went ahead and jogged through the 5 minute cool down as well. I looked at my GPS and realized that I was only a half mile from a 5K, so I just kept running. When it was all over I had complete a hilly 5K with a jogging stroller, walking for eight minutes in 41:30. I almost cried. This was the first time that I actually felt like I was getting my jogging “groove” back after almost 2 years.

 

Yesterday was my weekly Weight Watchers meeting and I went for another run. This time I had to run 20 minutes with stopping and I did it! I was doing a happy dance at the end of the run because I felt so good.

 

Today I am going to go out and run again-it’s okay to get a year older!