Good, Good and Great

The ladder part of last week was conspicuously absent of exercise. I can't even remember anymore why we skipped Wednesday's walk - weather maybe? - or why I cheated myself out of Thursday's run - no time, probably. Obviously nothing memorable, just the little excuses that crop up and come between me and a run.

Dailymile really knows how to make '0' days look depressing

Friday was an off day for a whole different reason. Remember back in March when I confided that I have a totally messed up digestive system? Well my super exciting endoscopy was bright and early Friday morning. I'm happy to report that this time was worlds different than last time - great staff, excellent drugs and the doctor was top notch. Turns out my stomach is super lazy and doesn't bother to flex and squeeze when I eat. Jerk! The good news is that it doesn't seem bad enough that I'll have to seriously alter my diet (this is awesome seeing as though the gastroparesis diet usually excludes fiber, whole wheat, raw veggies/fruits, peanut butter, fat and caffeine). Two new medications for six months and I should be good to go!

We got home from the procedure around 8:30 a.m. on Friday and I did just about nothing for the rest of the day. When I woke up Saturday I wasn't really sure whether my planned 20 miler would happen or not. I was actually a little worried about it, to be honest. As I geared up Coach Josh gave me all of the pep I needed to get out the door. I planned it so my route was based on the Derby Festival Marathon Route.

And then, I just did it. I ran 20 miles!

Not only that, but I ran them pretty fast too! Here's Saturday's 20 miler vs. my 17 miler 2 weeks before

I'm pretty excited, to say the least. On top of that, I've managed to stay on track with my healthy - and lazy stomach friendly - eating habits despite easter.

Fresh fruit & pizza w/ veggie cheese & turkey pepperoni - YUM!

Another busy week at hand and only 17 days until the Derby Festival Marathon. Well, 13 days until my Tax final so I guess I should start training for that? Nah, running's more fun so we'll do that instead. 

Happy Running!

Looking Up

What a difference a week makes!

First and foremost, thanks for your kind words and encouragement. When family gives me that kind of pep talk, I manage to ignore most of it. But when a group of (almost) complete strangers says it, voila! Inspiration. The interweb is a mysterious place.

Anyway, this week definitely far better than it began. The weather certainly turned around. After a couple days of gross, cold, raininess it's finally looking like spring in the bluegrass. Despite the insufferable allergies and general schizophrenia of temperatures there is no better time to be in Louisville Kentucky than March, April, and that first week in May. Of course, this is always possible:

Thursday I managed to get in my best week-day run in a long time: a 7 mile tempo run with the tempo @ marathon pace. I was ecstatic! Add in the extra mile I walked (UofL vs. Seton Hall in the BET...can't get off treadmill) and I hit a high for weekday mileage. Not to mention it felt pretty good the whole way through.

Fast forward to Saturday morning and I wasn't quite prepared for my long run. We'd been up late Friday night to watch Louisville beat/crush Notre Dame and stayed in bed a lot longer than I'd anticipated. I was in full-on avoidance mode. 15 miles? Yikes. After having only run 5k the weekend before, I'd forgotten that I was capable of that kinda thing. I told Josh "I haven't run this far since 2009." "Ok," he said, "so you've done it before then. There ya go." and then he kicked me out the door.

I'm a firm believer that mental toughness is almost as important (if not more so) than physical training. You can have the strongest legs out there but if you can't talk yourself through a cramp, or a boring stretch of road, or the dreaded 'wall', then you aren't going to accomplish anything. I try to practice this in every workout, but long runs especially when it's just you and the road for hours at a time. I set up a route that kept me around people and places I liked - capping off with my favorite trek over the bridge and back. Lots of flats but some hills throughout to keep the legs fresh.

The first few miles were rough - my head and chest were not cooperating and I felt totally congested. I had to make an uncharacteristic bathroom stop and needed a lot more positive reinforcement early on. But then I had the magical moment where I just kept going. Every once in awhile the thought of Josh having to come get me crept into my head but I just pushed it out.

Just before mile 11 I was on the bridge over the Ohio river. The concrete was killing my feet and I started to feel the miles. I imagined the Gu I'd taken was seeping into my legs, building them up. I mentally described the feeling of getting stronger from my hips all the way to my toes, joint by joint. It made such a HUGE difference. I physically felt stronger and before I knew it, I was off of the bridge and back onto the nice cushy asphalt.

I got home and felt exhilarated. I also felt exhausted. I curled up in an armchair and passed out the minute I got out of the shower. Josh took a sympathy nap (which lasted 3 hours. geeze!) Ended the night with Sushi and beer while watching Louisville win the Big East Tournament. Perfection? Pretty close!

Is my stomach better? No, not really. But I got the guts up to schedule my procedure and I've found a random combination of foods that seem to be Ok.  Are there going to be hard weeks ahead? Absolutely. But hopefully when I start thinking that they're too much to handle, or feeling overwhelmed, I can come back and look at this and remind myself what I'm capable of.

And then, there's always all of you random "strangers" :)

Happy Running!


Are you a "mental" runner? Any tips or tricks you use to get through tough workouts?
What about schizophrenic weather? How is mother nature treating you this March?

Home Alone & An Unexpected Awesome

I can't remember the last time I had a Saturday that was so quiet. Typically Saturdays are the only days Josh and I have to spend together, what with the ridiculousness of our schedules. Lately we've been spending a lot of that time relaxing, but it's still exhausting going back and forth between our two apartments (a million times), running errands, doing homework, etc. In an effort to preserve some sort of relaxation on Saturdays - and some "together" time for me and Josh - I've been moving my long runs to Sunday lately. Still, it's hectic.

How am I supposed to say no to this handsome guy?

So when I dropped Josh off at the airport on Friday morning I was left with a wide-open weekend (of crying and counting the time until he returned, Josh would want me to say). I started off by heading to the local market and picking up some new food. In an effort to be adventurous, I picked up some things I'd never tried before. For instance, Naan. And boy oh boy oh boy is it good!

This morning I slept until I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. I fixed a big breakfast, adding blueberries to my oatmeal as a special treat (yum!) and hunkered down on the couch to be as lazy as I damn well pleased. Suffice it to say, it was glorious. The plan was to head to the gym for the UofL game at Noon and get in 2 hours of cardio. I was pretty specific on the time because 2 hours is what it takes me to run 10 miles. Since I hadn't run much this week I wasn't really anticipating stepping foot on a treadmill at all.

And then I accidentally ran all 10 miles straight on the treadmill. Whoops? It sounds odd, but it just sort of happened. On the way over I thought "I need 120 minutes. Why don't I try to get 40 minutes - a third - of that on the treadmill and then I can switch to the elliptical." So I started on the elliptical and, well, I just never switched. It felt really good to be running and having the game on was a great distraction. There were some iffy moments, and I've been babying my knee ever since, but all in all a pretty great run!

So now I'm rewarding myself with more naan, beer, and season 2 of The Wire.

After a 2 week hiatus I'm returning to my Sunday Yoga class tomorrow and I can't wait! I've also carved out some time to hit up my local running store before I go...good thing I have money left over from Christmas!

Do you get to relax on Saturdays or do you find you're usually really busy?
What do you do when you want to relax or get away from all the stress?

Boring Post Alert

Well....hi there!!

It has been a whirwind kind of week(s), and realizing that it has been almost 2 weeks since I last blogged about anything has only made it seem longer. Shopping, baking, celebrating and traveling have made up the bulk of the last few weeks leaving little room for anything fitness related. Thus, I have almost nothing to report.

Things from the Past

• Last week I managed to get some activity in almost every single day - I was quite pleased!
• Wednesday (21st) I celebrated my 25th Birthday and it was glorious. One of my birthday "traditions" is to go for a run - sort of my present to myself - and this year instead of a run alone, J went for a long walk with me. Best birthday present ever.
• I managed to make some smart food choices over Christmas weekend, including lots of veggies, some veggie smoothies, and no true dessert craziness. I'm pretty proud of myself
• The day after Christmas we left for Tennessee to visit J's family. All good food decisions and exercise regimens disappeared when we crossed into Tennessee. As much as I love being with J's family (they are truly wonderful people) I'm ready to get back into my own groove and my own routine

Things for the Future

• Tomorrow we leave to head back to Kentucky. My ToDo list is insane, and as much as I'm looking forward to getting on a schedule, that schedule is going to be brutal
• I heard from the DerbyFest people saying "you can switch to the full marathon" (for a huge fee, obviously) "can we proceed?" and after my response, I've heard nothing. The email address she contacted me from is invalid to actually send emails to, which makes it difficult. We shall see - either way I'm still running 13.1 in April so that's great
• Trying to nail down my training plan for the spring - I can't wait to share! I think blogging through training will be a great tool to keep me honest and push me through training

I'm still catching up on all of YOUR holiday fun, so keep the posts coming. So excited to start a new year!

Sunday Fun-Day

Since giving up the real world (i.e. work world) and re-entering academics the biggest frustration has come in the absence of true "weekends". In law school world, weekends are meant for catching up and getting ahead. They're the few, precious, uninterrupted hours that allow you to work unfettered on the 50,000 things that filling up the To Do list. They are insufferably boring, absent of friends and family and generally only slightly better than work-weeks. They are not, in fact, weekends.

This weekend was different.

In the fall my Fiance and I give ourselves one 'out' from the law school universe: college football.  Our second date was a University of Louisville Football game and we've had season tickets since then. While it often adds extra stress and cuts up our much-needed work time, it's a great escape from Law school. For me, having gone to a very small Division 3 college, I'm making up for those four years of tailgating and prime-time TV games that I missed.

Defining moment of my life: me and the Cardinal Bird

This week was an extra treat because we made a trip up to Cincinnati to see UofL take on the Bearcats and meet up with some of the Fiance's family. My Soon-To-Be-Mother-In-Law came up Friday night from Tennessee and we ate our faces off, as per usual. Since I'd come straight from work I had no opportunity to work out. Having already felt pretty much like a giant stick of butter all day, I was not thrilled, but what can you do? I did, however, manage to get home and in bed fairly early and get a much needed great night's sleep. Put that in the Plus Column for the day.

Saturday was filled with soon-to-be-family, some decent football, some terrible football, and a long depressing ride back to louisville. We managed to have some fun though, and I was reminded how awesome my soon-to-be-family is.

Picture taken when we were winning (Read: the smiles went away)

After a day of ugly football, stadium food, no workouts, and BW3's, I was at a pretty decent 'low' as far as body-feelings go. I don't know what it is about missing one workout (er...2) that makes me feel so horrible. My body has been doing strange things lately (including gaining weight) and I don't think that helped.

This morning I jumped back on the horse. I got a great night's sleep, checked a lot of school-related things off the to do list and got my workout in with some smart meal choices. Sundays are also Sand Volleyball days which, in my book, ensures that they retain at least one redeeming quality.

Tomorrow starts a new week and I'm pretty excited. I bought FOUR new ActiveBands and just got done putting together my first homemade batch of oatmeal. Can't wait to eat some!