Wordless Wednesday

Happy 8th Birthday to L on Monday and Happy 6th Birthday to N today!

Running Heroes

It’s a great day for running! I had 4 miles for breakfast today and it sure felt good. Even with the soupy humidity, horrific cigarette smoke and cobweb dodging, I was able to pull off a negative split! Why does every car that passes me on the road smell like an ashtray on four wheels? The first mile beeped on my garmin, I looked down and saw 11:31. “What the??” I knew I was taking it easy, I didn’t realize I was running that slowly. The second mile beeped, it was even slower (thank you hill)! The third mile beeped and it was faster, I managed to pull out another mile faster than the first two. First attempt at negative splits was a success, as well as my first attempt at four miles this summer!

Running without music has allowed me to process my thoughts. Yesterday, I came across a picture that Nathan Performance Gear had posted:

I posted it on my FB wall. My sister-in-law thanked me for it, saying that she had needed to read that. I reminded her about the fact that speed is not what is important, distance is. (Yes, I realize the contradiction to my negative split this morning!) We continued to have a conversation about speed vs. distance and how hard it is to keep your focus on your successes and not your “failures”. That is when I realized that my sister-in-law is one of my BIGGEST running heroes. My SIL is adopted. When she was born, her birth mom (hopped up on drugs) gave up in the middle of pushing and my SIL got stuck in the birth canal. Thanks to that, her left limbs which are fully formed are not fully functional. She walks with a limp and her left hand does not maneuver as well as her right. She was born this way, and it was obviously not her fault. During our FB conversation, SIL referenced that sometimes during her runs, her left leg does not move like she wants it to. I can’t even imagine how frustrating it is to want your leg to move and cooperate and it doesn’t. I then reminded her of how awesome she is and how proud I am of her. There are TONS of people who lay around with two fully functional legs that could move any way that they want, but they won’t get their lazy butts off of the couch! She still gets out there and moves, regardless of her left leg. She is my running hero and she rocks!

My second running hero is an old coworker. He’s an ultra runner who just typed up a recap from his last race. It was 200 miles. Yes, you read that right, 200 freaking miles!!! He’s a machine, a running machine! The fact that he can pull off that mass amount of miles is impressive and inspiring. I want to run like him when I grow up! The thing is, he’s the most humble person I’ve ever met. He has a passion for running and loves to share it with anyone who’s interested. He encourages me when I post about my “long” runs that are nothing compared to his short runs. His actions and words remind me that it is not about speed, but distance. It’s funny how we all can get caught up in the hustle of life, even in our runs. We get distracted by pace, and forget the real reason why we run. Being injured off and on this year has forced me to step back, enjoy every step that I take when I lace up my Asics and as G would say, savor every single run.

Today’s a great day for running, get out there and enjoy it! 

Three Things Thursday

1. I went for a cautious run last Saturday to see how my arches would react and they felt great. Phew! It was a slow, hard 3.1 miles, but it felt good to be back out there. My plan is to slowly build my base miles and to get up to a total of 8 miles by mid August so I can start my training schedule.
2. I signed up for the Hot Chocolate 15k in Atlanta the other day. I am very excited to run this distance and I’ll be running it with a friend! It is right smack in the middle of my two half marathons and I’m supposed to run 10 miles that day anyway. I can easily run it and tack on .7 to make it an even 10.
3. I am on an every-other-day schedule right now. I ran yesterday and then worked out my legs (hammys and glutes). Today is abs and arms. Tomorrow I run and do my legs again. I am sore, but this schedule is starting to feel good. I am hoping that this will help make me a stronger runner.

Wordless Wednesday

Thank you Runner's World for this inspiring and true picture!

food is NOT the enemy

After reading Run Like A Mother How To Get Moving-and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, I realized that I have the wrong perspective on food. These past few months, I have been viewing food as the enemy and that is WRONG! No wonder why I can’t run farther than 5k without feeling depleted. Food is NOT the enemy. Food is fuel. I am trying to reprogram my mind into viewing food as the fuel that keeps me going. As I have mentioned on here before, I have lost over 75 pounds since I became a mom. I admit that I look at food as the enemy sometimes; it is what made me fat before. I know that is not true, I know that my sedentary lifestyle combined with poor eating habits AND having babies is what led to my weight gain, but I choose to blame food instead. I am afraid to get rid of my “fat clothes” which are sitting in a box in my closet. If I do, I feel that I will immediately gain all of that weight back. Also not true, but it is a fear.

When I was training for my half last fall, I looked at food as fuel. I weighed myself once a week just to make sure I wasn’t fluctuating too much. I wouldn’t drink any alcohol the day before a long run in fear that it might make it hard. While I was abstaining from alcohol, I was sure to eat plenty of carbs. I saw my training as my new full time job and I was going to succeed, come hell or high water. Now that I have crossed that finish line, I am looser with my diet and I don’t have any problem having a drink the night before a long run. I’m also looking at food differently. I’m afraid that if I eat too much, I’ll get fat- completely wrong. Food is fuel. If I eat bad food and not exercise then yes, I will get fat. I don’t see that happening. I need to appreciate my body for what it is and accept that the good food that I eat is fuel to get me moving. It is a daily struggle that some day, I hope to win.

Happy Running Y’all!!!