I'm BACK and My Cold Is (Mostly) Gone!

Alright everybody! 

I really need to start by saying THANK YOU!

I've been feeling really down on myself this last week, because I was having trouble running while I was traveling for 5 days, and then I got sick, and then I wounded my toe and it all was so overwhelming to me that I felt like I was being forced to quit before I even got to try and meet my short-term goals. 

But you guys have been SO great to me!

I don't know how I earned such awesome friends, but y'all seriously are rocks tars to me. 

Everybody I talked to about how down I was feeling had encouraging things to say. 

Everybody told me that they were so inspired by me, that they'd been trying to change unhealthy habits, that they believed in me, that they KNEW I could do it. 

So THANK YOU!! 

You are all so amazing and you can do anything you set your mind to, and you need to take the advice that you give me and use it yourself! Don't self-sabotage, don't pig out when you don't get a work-out in, it never should be "all or nothing," and you can do this!! 

So today I ran with this chick:

This is my lovely neighbor, and she totally got me out of my rut. She's been in one for the last week, too, so she totally knew my head space on this run. We left the house and were out for about an hour. We did just under 4 miles and ran a little over half of that distance. 

We can dream about doing amazing when we break our ruts, and think that we'll do amazing because we have no sore muscles or reasons to be tired. But the truth is, that's not practical! 

I'm still a teeny bit sick, so my breathing was very labored. I'm sure it could have been easier if I wasn't still sick a little, because, ya know, not having the easiest breathing while being totally still doesn't mean easy breathing while active. But despite beating myself the entire time, I got home and felt really satisfied!

I broke my rut, and that feels great. I'm ready to kick booty, and I can't wait to be back to my full self. Running has really become something that I look forward to, so being able to do it easier is the goal!

My first 5k is a week from Saturday, and I'm really hoping to be my best by then. I want to get back to how I felt 2 weeks ago, and then break through that after my 5k. I don't want to get my expectations too high, so I'm being practical here in saying that I'm not going to amazing for my first 5k. 

BUT!!

I am going to have fun. 

Again, thank you all sooooooo much for your kind words, you have no idea how much it means. 

Good luck and good health to you and yours!!

My Lazy Week in Review

Hi everybody! Long time, no blog. I know, I'm sorry.

I hope everybody's had a good week. I feel like mine flew by!

I have a really long run tomorrow, so I'll be taking it easy tonight, and hydrating a lot.

This week has been bad for my running, which is evident for you all, in the fact that I didn't post a million times a day saying how proud and happy I am.

This is normal.

I keep having to remind myself of that.

Having a bad week is ok, just don't let it be the end.

So, I have my class tomorrow, where I'll be attempting 4.5 miles, so long as my sore throat goes away.

If it doesn't, I'll still be running, the shorter distance perhaps, but I will be running again.

Alright, that's my motivation for today. It's not the best, but it's something.

Some Runs Are Better Than Others

Today I ran a couple miles, but mostly I walked them. And I didn't really keep track of how far I exactly went and I definitely didn't keep track of my speed. 

I only even went out because I was stressed out. 

Today reminded me that I should always be planning for my next run. 

I should always be hydrating for my next run.

I should always be eating like I'm going for a run later.

I should always be staying warmed up by stretching throughout the day.

I didn't do any of those things today. 

I ate a big dinner. I didn't hydrate well today. I didn't stretch at all today. I didn't start out slowly. 

I made all of the mistakes I know better than to do. 

I paced way too quick at the beginning and burnt out. 

I kept trying to start again but maybe only ran half a mile in any given stretch. 

My calves and shins were super tight, too. 

I had a diet soda at dinner, which totally didn't help hydrate me. 

I know running when I'm stressed is helpful. It's really been nice in the past, and has totally helped me get my best pace and distance. I just have to remember that I'm living my life as a runner now. I need to make decisions based on being a runner! I celebrated my birthday, and with it, I celebrated my health! I am making so many healthy decisions all the time that I can't let unhealthy decisions hold me away from my goals. 

Today was a stepping stones, a learning requirement. 

Mistakes are only mistakes if you never learn from them.

More cliches.

Good luck to you all, don't let a bad day stop you!

How do you get past feeling discouraged?

Some Days I Should be Resting...

But then those days are my birthday and I eat too much and get embarrassed with myself and have to run. 

Luckily, just when I thought I was going to go to bed early for the night, I saw my neighbor walking home and asked if she maybe thought running sounded like a good idea and she was totally down!

It was the hardest workout so far! 

Surprise runs are the best, though. I don't get to spend all day nervous about the weather or my asthma or if I'll find somebody to run with or any of that. The run just happens and I go. 

And it felt SO GOOD!! 

But because I didn't plan on it, I didn't hydrate before... so I got a little light-headed. 

I hate getting dizzy, and I always try to just blame it on my asthma, even when I totally know it's my fault. 

When I get dizzy, I always just focus on my breathing and remind myself that it won't last forever. 

Now don't get it twisted!

I would never keeping running while light-headed if I was out by myself! 

I only keep going if I have a partner that I know will help me if anything serious happens.

I ALSO don't run without my ID band.

It has my full name and birth year, my dad's phone number, my boyfriend's number, my insurance plan and number, and a reminder to "just keep trying."

So it's pretty cool and I like it and it keeps me feeling safe.

I like to think it brings peace of mind to my running partners knowing that all of my vital info is right there and available.

Pictures to come tomorrow!

Night!

PS- I got this picture from my bestie!

Birthdays are for Celebrating!!

...or maybe for naps. Haha.

I haven't been the best so far today... I had a small breakfast, pretty late today, and then a pretty sugary lunch with BR2. She treated me by taking me to an English tea room for lunch and it was sooooo good. 

Just take a look at all of the food they brought out!

That's a ham sandwich, a carrot and cream sandwich on cinnamon raisin bread, a vegetable salad with balsamic on the side, a scone with sweet cream cheese and berry jam, and a carrot cake cupcake!

I ate everything but the cupcake but oh my goodness gracious!!

SO MUCH FOOD!

I'm feeling a little lethargic after all of that, but I think it'd still be great to run 3.1 miles today. I also would love an excuse to eat more. MUAHAHAAAAA!!

I hope all is well for you all today! 

If you like my blog and follow it, please post a comment on any posts that you like, and I'll try to have more content similar to the posts that people like the most! Also, sharing with your friends makes my feel really cool. I might obsess over how many views I get a day... because I'm a little crazy like that. Lol.

The Best Way to Celebrate a Birthday!

I just got back from the best run!

But before I get to that I want to tell you about my first Tuesday running class! 

We got there and went around the circle and introduced ourselves and then we had a light warm-up run around the track. 

After that, we did a TIMED MILE!!! WOOOOOOOO!!!

I was super nervous, but like I said earlier, my goal was to be able to finish in under 12 minutes. 

Not only did I finish in 11:28 (WHAT?!), but I RAN THE ENTIRE TIME!!!

I think it's important to celebrate the things that you're proud of, even if it doesn't sound like much. 

This is especially true when it's a step towards your goal, because you need to be proud that your getting closer instead of unhappy that you haven't gotten there yet.

After my class I got froyo, where I did some much needed venting, and it was delicious, but something about the sugar and the emotions and the cold breeze had my nerves kind of shaken... eep.

Anyways, I was on my way home from getting froyo with a friend of mine, and I realized I still had some weird anxious nerves in me that I hadn't felt in a while... So I knocked on my neighbors door (she reads this blog and is gonna be tickled that I didn't think of a blog name for her, lol) and she happened to be going on a run. So being opportunistic, I totally went for a run with her! 

We did my best distance in a half hour thus far!

I was hoping to do 5k tomorrow just to feel confident in my ability to be ready for a real one in a few weeks, but after doing the math, it turns out that I did about 4 miles cumulatively today. 

If you don't know, that's about an entire MILE over a 5k!

What up!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Peanut Butter for Dayzzzz

I got another package in the mail today!

It contained a bag of PB2 chocolate, which is DELICIOUS.

It's a dehydrated peanut butter powder, and the one I got was chocolaty as well. 

I think it's especially cool because it doesn't have all of the oil in it, so it's much lower in calories. So I can eat tons of peanut butter now! 

To make it into a spread, you just combine it with water. So simple!

Because it's a powder, I can use it in my oatmeal, in smoothies and shakes, and in pancakes!

I can't wait to try it in everything!

Right now I'm drinking it in one of my protein shakes and it tastes like a Reese's milkshake! Yum!

Tonight, BR2 and I have our first weekday running class, and it sounds like a bunch of fun!

They'll be timing how long it takes for us to do a mile and I'm aiming for a sub-12 minutes time... I'm setting the bar pretty low for myself so that I might be able to surprise myself. Haha!

I'll definitely let you all know my time, because if you know how pathetic it is, I HAVE to make it better. Lol. You guys help hold me accountable, so tell your friends about me! 

I signed up for another run today. I think I have a problem.

I was already signed up for 6 and I just had to sign up for a 7th one... 

I'm doing it! A friend of mine invited me to join her, so I simply must! 

It's an evening run, which should be a special treat for me because I always enjoy my after dark runs so much more (: 

It's June 8th in San Francisco! Who wants to join us?!

Happy Mother's Day! Time to be mushy!

Yeah, I know. It seems like I'm a day late in saying that. 

But like any good daughter, I spent the day celebrating with my mother and grandmother in real life, so I was too busy to blog about it! Haha.

 Yesterday's workout: 

2-hour walk with BR2 at 11am 

2-hour walk with my AMAZING mother at 6pm

Not really high-intensity, but lots of fun! I LOVE spending time with those 2 ladies, they're awesome.

Anyways, Mother's day was great! 

My dad grilled some veggies and some chicken breasts and my mom made a salad with the greens and onions from her garden, as well as some flowers! She send me home with a bunch to eat this week, too!

Oh my goodness. SO YUMMY

My health tip of the day?

EAT COLORS! 

Not so that you puke rainbows (HAHA) but because it's a great way to insure that you're eating a wide range of naturally occurring vitamins and minerals! SO COOL! 

Also, when you want to spend time getting to know somebody better, or just enjoy having private conversations, go on a walk with them. I got to catch up with my mom about a lot of things going on in her life that had fallen off of my radar, and we probably wouldn't have caught up if we stayed home.

I also got to listen to my grandma tell me stories about being an Airforce Wife and about living in a bunch of different places.

My mom also promised me that if she wasn't able to do the the Tink 1/2 marathon come January, she still really wanted to be able to run one with me next year sometime. I was so happy I started to tear up! I never really believed before yesterday that she really believed in her ability to make it! 

I'm SO proud. I love my mom SO much. 

Hope you all had a wonderful day!

How do you celebrate the ones you love?

Tinkerbell-Brained and Good Intentions

I'll admit it, I'm obsessed with Tinkerbell.

Pretty sure she's my spirit animal.

I mean, look at the similarities! 

She slouches... I slouch...

She's so pale you can see through her... I'm so pale I don't need to wear reflective gear at night...

(just kidding on that, be safe, folks!)

Uhm, she makes creepy faces... I definitely accidentally do that!

Ok, not the best examples. But I also like to see her as somebody who was a character in the stories of other peoples lives until recently (she has a 4 movies about her now).

And that's kind of how I used to feel. Like I wasn't important enough to have my own stories. Like I needed to be in the company of others to have anything worth saying. Like my voice was merely a bell that others couldn't understand.

With running, I choose my story on my own. I get to spend a good amount of time secluded while outdoors, and I get to think about things that are important to me. It's not like I make a list of things to think about before I leave (although that would be interesting to try sometime), I just think about what needs thinking about, spontaneously. Oh goodness, I hope that that makes sense. Haha.

For example, the other day I realized that I might be very upset if my mom doesn't run the Tink 1/2 marathon in January. But I think the hurt feelings will come from a place of sadness that she wasn't able to do it. I mean, able to do it physically and mentally, not due to a scheduling conflict (which, if you're reading this mom, you better have that weekend wide open! My heart will be seriously broken if you aren't at least there with me, running or not). I just really want my mom to be able to do this. One of the many reasons I push myself, is because I want to believe that she's thinking of how hard I'm working when she does her workouts. I want to inspire. 

I want to inspire. 

No really, I draw my strength from inspiring others to find their strength.

So like Tinkerbell, I might still need people to believe in me for me to be strong. 

But more importantly, I'm like Tink because I'm determined to keep trying. Really, really determined to keep trying. I might make some misguided choices (i.e. everything Tink does in her newer movies), but they will always come from the best intentions. 

Do you think good intentions are enough when committing to a new path?

Getting Inspired In Unexpected Places! (seriously a post worth reading)

Today I had my first group training session! It's set up to help people prepare to run the MOOnlight rac in July. I probably won't actually do the race, but I wanted a training group.
Here's a cute picture of the mascot:

 Anyways, the training group was really fun and BR2 showed up only a couple minutes after me so we started out together. 

I was really trying to push myself to go fast and have short walking intervals, but about halfway through, I realized that this was an opportunity to run with some new people!

Don't get me wrong, I love BR2 a ton, but I run with her all the time. 

So as I was turning to go back, I noticed somebody who had been going pretty slow, but was clearly pushing herself. Something in me said, "Don't make this run about you!" and so as I as going to pass her going the other way, I turned around and asked if I could jog with her the rest of the way. 

She said yes! And I had an awesome time!

It was her first time running in a looooong time, she said. But she ran most of it!

She was slow, but it was good for me to actually jog at a pace that didn't tire me out, so I could learn that pace for longer runs. And I really enjoyed talking to her! She was probably in her 40's, and she said she had a couple of kids, I think. I don't know, she just reminded a lot of my own mother. 

When I told her of my plans to run the Tinkerbell Half in January 14, she got really excited and said that that sounded like a goal she wants to add to her life! How cool?!

She kept telling me that she wouldn't mind if I went ahead and went faster to finish sooner. But it wasn't about that for me! I can go run faster later, but I really was inspired by her! It was like holding up a mirror to me a month ago during my first run and it made me realize that I've progressed so far in only a month! I'm even thinking about stepping on the scale again soon.

By the end she even said how nice it was to have somebody to keep up with. Haha.

Anyways, I had a seriously realization yesterday when I was trying to do my furthest distance so far.

I realized that I'm not running to lose weight anymore. I realized that it may have been the reason I started, but now, I run to be better. Like, I don't care anymore about how quickly the number on the scale drops. 

All I care about now, is getting to the end of a workout. 

Did I blow your mind? I hope I did. Haha.

What inspires you to keep going?
Have any of your goals changed lately?

Needing Some Inspiration

Sunset is in an hour!

For every comment I get by 7:30, I'll do a mile. 

So who's gonna help me out?

Comment! Comment! Comment!

Update: I did 2.8 miles, but it took a really long time! I got 2 miles in and had tummy problems...
...but it meant I got to watch Brave with BR2! Woo!

My Event Schedule

So it's Salad Thurday! 

I was so excited to eat that I forgot to take pictures! But here's a fun picture for you:

That's my running spreadsheet of all the events I had an interest in. The purple ones are the ones I have a STRONG interest in, and the yellow ones I AM GOING TO!!! OR ELSE!!

I also ran a PR today! 2 miles down in 23 minutes. Today's motto was, "One more step. One more step. One more step closer to health." 

I like cheesey mottos.

But I also did a total of 3 miles today. Which is also awesome. So sore now, and I'm going to take a nice soak after my BR counterpart and I watch a movie!

Now to watch Because I Said So with my salad buddy! 

I definitely have a crush on Mandy Moore. Somebody PLEASE tell me she's a runner. And that she's cool enough to read this. 

Soreness, Cats, and Family Commitment

Good morning everyone!!

Today I woke up to a cat pawing me in the face. She's a pretty big, kind of lumbering, type of cat, so she doesn't move quickly at all. So when she manages to get up on my bed, she plants herself in one spot and only starts to move when she realizes that I'm asleep. When she was first getting to know me, she only tapped my arm, or back. Apparently she feels closer to me now, and will paw at my face instead. Such a sweetheart. 

Gahh, today I am very very sore. Yesterday I had a great day of working out! 

I did some cross training in the morning using my mystery box! I'll talk about that more another time, but it's amazing and makes getting a workout for my arms, abs, and legs more fun and easy. What could be better than that!?!

I also ran my personal best for distance in a half hour! 

I'm on week 4 of couch to 5k. I tried 4 times to do the week 4 workout, and I finally got it done yesterday! It's such a great feeling! 

...Except for how sore I am today. My bum is not so happy with me... Or it's really happy with me and has a very funny way of showing it.

My soreness solution: 

1 NO ALCOHOL: alcohol is dehydrating and you need to stay hydrated to be able to work out anyways, but things like "drinking the pain away" only make the hurt worse the next time you work that muscle group. 

2 ICE ICE BABY: and heat. I like to switch between ice packs, then stretches, then a warm bath. If it's extra sore, I use Epsom salts. I'm pretty sure that they're lit bits of magic. 

3 SUPPORT: If it seems like more than a sore muscle, and I might need support in the area the next time I run, I use KT tape. Like epsom salt, it's made of magic. Various websites that try to explain how it works say things like, "it adds an exterior support to interior weaknesses" or "it brings extra blood flow to a recovery muscle group" but really, I think it's just magic. 

4 MASSAGE: it's least painful to do this either immediately after icing or in warm water. Usually soreness is caused by lactic acid, so digging into the sore area can help break it up and relieve the pain. It kind of hurts to do it effectively, but it will lead to a faster recovery. There are also a TON of tools out there to help you reach all the potentially painful areas on your body. I prefer to use the boyfriend method of, "if you help my soreness go away I'll make dinner!" Haha.

5 GET MOVING: Many times, going out and being active again will help you get through minor soreness. My knees get sore if I do lunges or squats in the morning, but the ouch goes away after a little warm up to my jog, or even during a brisk walk. Just getting blood flow in the area can help break up the lactic acid that is a typical cause for soreness.

That all being said, I'm not a doctor. I just know what works for me. If you're experiencing pain that doesn't resolve itself, you should go see a doctor. Your primary care physician can recommend a sports medicine doctor if that seems like something you'll need. 

Have I mentioned that I'm horribly slow? I'm horribly slow. Like, embarrassingly slow. My mile pace, if I ran a mile straight, would be like, a 12 minute mile. No joke. But I keep going, hoping that one day I'll be a little bit faster, and sometimes I am!

My personal motto when running is:

"I may not be fast, I may even be as slow as a heard of snails through molasses, but I'm running."

And that's more than most people can say!

But family commitment:

I told my mom that for mother's day, I'd like to do a 5k with her.

This evolved into deciding to do the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in January 2014, and it's so motivating! I open the page every day to see the countdown. Right now, I haven't even done a full 5k, but I will run a half marathon. And in a year, hopefully a whole marathon.

It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

I talk to my mom a few times a week, using the excuse of wanting to stay motivated with her. In actuality, I just love my mother, and I love talking to her! She sees a personal trainer at the gym she was once really active at, and now (after a few years off) she's back working out with him!! I'm so proud of her!! She's my inspiration some days and others I'm her mentor, but I just can't believe that at 54 years ols, she's going to train for a half marathon. How freaking cool is that?!

I'm sure I'll have more to say later. Have a good day every body!