Month: October 2016

I had an amazing and exhausting whirlwind weekend. I mentioned previously that I was homesick, so I rearranged some things on my calendar and made an impromptu overnight trip home to see my parents and best friend, which was totally worth the little bit of chaos and exhaustion going into this next week.

Saturday morning started with my last long run before EQT. I met up with a friend I haven’t run with in a long time and we crushed 10 miles. Crushed them. It was my best time for a 10-miler to date. I may not beat this time next weekend (though I’m certainly going to try) but I’m positive I’m going to PR.  A longer post about this run is yet to come–I’m still processing everything that came up for me during it–but it was a very important run for me and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. I wish I’d gotten some pictures, it was an absolutely beautiful day, but quite frankly I was too focused and running too hard. So I’m still working on that.

After that I got cleaned up and packed up and headed out of town to my parent’s house. Traffic was with me and the drive in was pleasant and uneventful. I had homemade pizza dinner with my parents and one of my nieces, and went shopping with my mom and my sister. It was a great evening.

The next morning I got up and got ready to run again. My best friend was going to be at a 5k race for her work (not running, just has to make an appearance) so I decided I was going to show up and surprise her. I coordinated with her husband to make sure she would be there and that there weren’t immediate plans for after, then got myself there and registered and waited. She was so surprised. I was nervous about running given that I’d crushed 10 miles the day before, but figured fortune favors the bold and I could take it easy, I was just doing this for fun. So I ran. I took it easy. I walked a couple of times. 34:51 (official time). Not bad considering I wasn’t trying, and my current race PR is 34:12. (I have run a faster 5k–significantly faster–but in my head if it isn’t a race it’s not really a PR, so until I beat that time in a race, this stands). I almost PR’d and I wasn’t even trying. Bestie ran part of it with me near the end. Afterwards we went back to her house, hung out with her husband and pups for a bit, got changed and then we went to lunch before I set off to come back to PA.

On my way back, I got my first gingerbread latte of the season–sooo excited. I wait for gingerbread the way the rest of the world waits for pumpkin spice. It definitely made the rainy drive back to reality better. Did some grocery shopping, laundry and food prep when I got back. And here we are. Lots to catch up on, but I have a half day at work on Tuesday–we made plans but had to change them last minute, and I figured I’d keep the half day so I could get some stuff done around the house. Look for a longer post on Wednesday about that 10-mile training run.

Happy Monday, friends.

No scale report this week–was a rough week and so I cut myself a little slack and just decided to not. It is what it is, and I know my body, I’m not concerned. Hoping for one last solid 10-miler this weekend before the race next week. REALLY EXCITED about some upcoming races. I’ve got most of the rest of the year booked and paid for already. One more race to sign up for to end the year, and our new year’s race also.

Life is good. Work is good. Getting a little homesick and ready for the Thanksgiving break, but it will be here before I know it. Running is good, though it has been a rough week, I’ll admit. I need to start packing my head lamp or suck it up and head to the gym to use the treadmill more.

I’m in love with running again, and it feels amazing. I want to do all of the races. I’ve always shied away from group runs, but I can’t wait to get out there for the first time with my running group. I’m feeling the itch for another full marathon. I need to set some definitive goals and work out an actual training plan for next year. I need to learn to take more pictures and document it more. It’s hard to share the love the way I want to when I don’t have the tangible reminders and memories. The more running comes back to me, the more writing comes back to me. The more I run the more I want to share it. So big things are coming, little blog.

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend.

This is going to be a true brain dump and probably not much of substance, but you’ll have that sometimes…

I love my job. I do. I love my co-workers, I’m pretty decent at it, it appeals to my workaholic nature while also being something that I can leave at the office when I walk out at the end of the day. And after working at a job that sucked out my soul little by little and was slowly killing me, it’s a welcome relief to be here. That said, mentally it wears me out. By the end of the day I’m so ready for my workout, and by the end of the week I’m so thankful for the weekend. And just halfway through the week (technically not even as I haven’t gone to work yet today) I’m already looking forward to this weekend.

I’m so pumped for races. Usually my ‘season’ is over after the 10-miler. But I’ve got the bug bad this year, and I’m just getting started. There is no off season anymore, not even a month. Hubby and I are looking at a 5k on New Year’s Eve now, as well as a race on New Year’s Day. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate. So excited for some of the stuff we have planned. Need to start working on a training plan for next year in earnest, though, but will be much easier with a solid 10-mile base to work from. I’m even starting to toy with the idea of another full marathon next fall–I keep thinking that I can beat my time from Columbus (which was my best to date). I know I don’t want to do a spring or summer race though–I’ve got too many other goals I want to accomplish first, but a fall race? Maybe.

Lots to do as always. Happy hump day!

So that restorative weekend I thought I was going to have, the one where I would get caught up on things and go into the week feeling a little more prepared? Kinda went out the window. You make plans, God laughs. I did get a lot done, just not all that I’d hoped for. Oh well, such is life.

My run wasn’t spectacular yesterday. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but also not what I’d hoped for. I wanted another 10-miler, but I was feeling it in my hips by mile 5, so I stopped short. It was pain I could’ve worked through, but why? I’m two weeks out from a big race, I know that I can cover the distance, I was also having some anxiety about things that needed to get done. There was no reason to push myself through another lap at the park. A couple of pics from the run…

North Park is beautiful this time of year. This pic doesn’t do it proper justice, but lovely nonetheless.

Artsy Garmin and shoe shot. Need to work on my skills, but fun to play around with some of the stuff I see all the time on IG.

No pics from the last race, which is a little disappointing. I don’t think their photographers were out in force–I didn’t see a lot of cameras to cheese for. Also the problem with being slightly faster–I’m more likely to be in a crowd when I pass the cameras so they’re less likely to get a clear shot of me. But that’s fine, usually race photos aren’t that great anyway.

Another busy week ahead of me, guess it’s time to get started. Have a great week!

Scale was the same, which I’m remarkably cool with. I wasn’t as diligent about food this week–and the mental break from that was nice. I’m exactly where I was last Friday so it just serves as more ‘proof’ that I can handle life and treats without losing my mind and bingeing or backsliding, which is something I need to be reminded of at times. I also know my body and that I’m around my ‘set point’–this is the point my body maintains with relative ease and little thought or effort, and that it gets harder for me to reduce once I’m here. I needed a week like this before I buckle back down and press on.

Weekends have been somewhat hectic around here lately, lots of races and back and forth and errands out the wazoo taking me out of my normal routine. I need a solid weekend to sort some stuff out and make plans. I was looking through some training plans online and realized I just need to create my own. Which I’ve done before successfully, but I’ve never had the same kind of goals before, so this is an exciting new challenge.

But I still have one more day at work before that…so happy weekend!

I struggle when it comes to sharing my dark side, but I’ve learned in my life that the things I struggle with are often (1) more universal than I think, and (2) easier to bear and work through when I lay it all out there. So here’s what I’ve been processing for the last few days…

I took this picture last Friday morning. I was awake waaay too early, had the house to myself, and was feeling amazing about my body. So I put on one of my favorite tanks and the Dona Jo FitWear leggings I splurged on (on sale) at the last race expo and took this pic (okay, I took several, but this was the best, and I only filtered for contrast purposes–no edits, Scouts honor).  I was immediately of two minds about it.

The nag at the back of my head, the disordered voice, the critic, the one who sees my eyes and recognizes it’s me and immediately attacks with things I wouldn’t say (or really even think) about another human being: UGH! Your thighs are SO BIG! Your ass is HUGE! You’re still FAT! No matter what you do you will always be FAT.

But I know by now that is the disorder talking.  I know it is NOT actually TRUE. So I take a step back and my rational side takes over. I treat it as though it’s a random chick on Instagram, and the words that come to mind are completely different: FIT. SOLID. STRONG. ATHLETIC. That is CLEARLY a body she has worked for–it may be a work in progress (maybe, maybe not), but those curves did not happen by accident. WORK was involved.

And then I remind myself that it IS me. I AM that woman. I have worked for and earned that body, and it is serving me well. It has been and is well worth every bit of dietary discipline and drop of sweat. Class after class. Run after run. Miles upon miles. Race after race. Broken PR after broken PR. THAT IS MY BODY. And I am proud of it. I am stronger and fitter than I was when I was 20 pounds lighter. My legs and glutes are better developed and it shows in my running–I’m exceeding my own expectations, to the point I don’t even know where to set the bar anymore, I just know I want to see what I’m capable of.

That said, I’m not quite where I want to be physically. There is some science behind the theory of ‘Racing Weight‘ and I’m still trying to find mine. That’s part of seeing what I’m capable of. And I’m a red-blooded American woman so of course I want to look good. But the end goal has shifted. The numbers attached are very loose in my mind at this point, more guidelines than hard and fast. I still have an idea of where my ‘racing weight’ is, but if I feel good about what I look like and I’m performing well, scale be damned. And I have an idea where I want to be in clothing sizes, but again, if I’m solid and fit and that size just doesn’t work anymore–clothing sizes be damned. Much like my running–I don’t know where to set the bar anymore, and I’m not sure that it matters. I just want to see what is possible.

For the moment I’m focused on breaking my PR in my next race in a few weeks, and from there working on setting a first round of goals for next year, figuring out what races I want to do, and setting up a training plan. Relentless forward motion.

Mario Lemieux Foundation Penguins 6.6k Run–this race is one of my Pittsburgh trifecta: Marathon or Half, Pens 6.6k, EQT Pittsburgh 10-miler. I’ve done both the 6.6 and the 10-miler since their first year (2013) and I love them dearly. I plan to be one of the people still doing the race in 10-15-20 years, one of the people who can say they’ve done them all.

But I digress–I thoroughly enjoy this race, and this year I broke another long standing PR. Met up with a buddy before the race, got in on the Steel City Road Runners group pic (though sadly, did not get a pic of my own because I just wasn’t thinking–I gotta get better about that). I LOVE running through the city of Pittsburgh. Bridges and tunnels are two of my favorite things and this race has both, and it’s a big event–massive participation–and I love a big crowd at a race. Plus it’s a unique distance (4.1 miles) and you get a medal–I’m all about the bling.

Started off really strong, first mile was great. I knew I needed to keep ahead of the 11:30 pacer in order to beat my record. I started off between the 10:30 pacer and the 11. And I held that through miles 2 and 3. Mile 4 was awful. I wouldn’t say I fell apart, but I definitely struggled. I fell in line just behind the 11 minute pacers (literally I was right behind them). The air in the tunnel was stuffy as what. It was a little hard to breathe. But I kept pushing, I stayed right with the pacers through the tunnel and then had to walk a bit shortly thereafter. I was in the last half mile by that point so I wasn’t as concerned about making my goal, but man I hate to fizzle. I pushed as much as I could and managed to go from a 48:06 finish to a new PR of 46:39. The 11:30 pacer never caught me, I’m pleased to say.

Three short weeks until my next race, the one that I had initially set as my goal. I’m hoping to exceed my initial goal and actually PR again. But until then, I train.

Make it a great week.

Sixteen weeks? Really? Wow…

Basics out of the way. Bad scale week. Up a little, but that’s my pattern–good week, bad week–so I’ll ride it out.

More importantly, the running is awesome. It’s going well. I’m loving it, I’m loving pushing myself, and I wish I could be out there more and more. I’m already starting to plan out next year’s race schedule and thinking about building my training plans. Going to change it up some and try some different things in the spirit of ‘if you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.’ Big goals are suddenly seeming more and more possible and I’m beside myself with the excitement of it.

LOVING the new shoes, and so are my joints. I ran minimal for YEARS. And I still love minimal shoes–the main reason I switched is that my old shoes–the New Balance Minimus–are no longer in production. I also thought that with my IT band/hip/knee issues a little bit of cushion might benefit me. Turns out it has. I’m definitely recovering faster and feeling better immediately after long runs with some shock absorption. I’ll definitely be ordering another pair to start working into the rotation since I’ll be running a lot. Also in the market for a new pair of trail shoes for winter–I’ll be on the dreadmill more, but when I do go out I like something with a *little* more tread than road shoes.

Running *can* be an inexpensive sport/hobby–but what fun is that?

Lemieux Foundation Pens 6.6k this weekend. Planning another PR. One of my favorite races of the year. Can’t wait. More about that on Monday. Have a good weekend folks.

One of my goals when I started running again was to get my running back to a point that I could finish one of my favorite races–the EQT Pittsburgh 10-miler–in under two hours. It seemed like a stretch, but doable if I worked hard enough. Last weekend I went out for a 10-mile training run to see where I was at. I forgot to use KT Tape on my legs and had to walk a significant stretch, but still managed to come in around 2:15. So I tried again this weekend, I remembered to tape my legs, shook up my intervals a little bit (5 on/2 off) and came in at 1:57:21. Mind. Blown. My PR for that race is 1:55:29, and I’ve got about a month…I have to go for it.

If you had told me in January, in June, hell even in August, that by the end of September I would be breaking my long held PRs I would’ve told you that you were crazy. But here I am, doing just that. And it just makes me wonder what else is possible, and what else I’m capable of. I’m exceeding my own expectations. Which means it’s time to raise the bar.

Time to finish this year strong and come up with some new goals and a plan to achieve them. Time to dream big and push myself.

Make it a great week.

So there’s something to be said for trusting myself. Haven’t gone crazy food wise, but definitely let myself have more carbs and some things I would’ve turned down before. Worked out hard. Down 2 pounds, which puts me at the 25 lbs lost mark and leaves me with about 15 (give or take a few) to go.

Gearing up for another long run on Saturday. Long as I use KT Tape I should be fine, interested to see how close to 2 hours I can come in. The running is so good. So. Good right now. I love it. I love my new shoes. I wish I could be running all the time. I used to have an ‘off season’–I’d take the month or so between the 10-miler in November and the first of the new year off and only run if and when I felt like it before launching into a new training cycle. But not now. I have other races in mind. I have big goals. There is no ‘off season’.

It feels so good to have goals and a plan and passion again. Loving my life.

Happy Weekend, folks.