A Smidjin at a time

What can I say, 2016 was an adventure that is for sure. Everything from joy to pain, progress to setbacks, 2016 certainly didn't hold back.  I ended 2015 registering to run the Shamrock 15k with some friends. Mind you, at the time I didn't run at all and I had only done one "race" that year, and it was a simple 5k that I walked. While I eventually had to admit that I would only be able to walk the 8k, Shamrock became the starting point of 10 races I would do in 2016, including a half marathon! Can we talk about that Half-Marathon for a minute? I freaking did a Half-Marathon! 13.1 miles, 21km, 69217.5 feet! I did it 21 and half minutes faster than the half-marathon I did on 2010. And while the journey to get there was full of frustration and pain, the sense of accomplishment is amazing. I will forever be proud of that day.  Speaking of frustration, pain really is the most obnoxious teacher there ever is. The 2nd half of 2016 found myself doing 17 weeks of physica...

I really did it!  Months and Months of training and prepping and crying and physical therapy and doubt came down to this morning. It had been six and a half years since my last half marathon and the course was so very different I had no idea what really to expect. When I first signed up for the Holiday Half I had a time goal in my head, one that was big but one that based on recent 5k results I knew would be very doable if I just stayed consistent. Well then the training started, and then the back pain started, and then it started getting cold, and then the shin splints started. And even a week ago, I was in serious doubt of my ability to actually do the half marathon.  Then this morning came. We got to the starting area, and though it was cold and windy and rainy I was feeling good. I was able to get my legs stretched out a bit before starting. I managed to find 3 out of 5 friends who I knew were up there doing the race too. And then, the gun went off and ...

It's finally almost here. Like seriously, in twelve hours I will be huddling with the masses, stretching, breathing, and praying for strength. The clothes are laid out, the bag packed, the carbs loaded, and the nails are being painted.  While the last several months have not physically gone the way I wanted, they have been very beneficial for me. Both of my PT guys being runners themselves was so helpful, they have helped me not just get my core healthy and strong again, but have talked training plans with me, interpreted weather reports and taught me secrets about my car.  So I take all the wisdom that has been shared with me, I will trust my training, I will breathe, and I will laugh and smile and enjoy my time out there. See you all over the finish line. 

Thirteen. It's kinda a big number today. It's thirteen days until I go out there and do Thirteen.One miles with my friend Randi. To say I am nervous is an understatement. My training hasn't gone exactly as planned. I have developed shin splints in the last month or so. My inner scaredy cat is making her presence known. I fought a migraine for a whole week. I backed off on a couple of the planned long runs. I have been Frustrated. I have cursed during a short walk. I have cut routes short because I was hurting. Or because I lost confidence in myself. I have cried on the living room floor. I have doubted myself. I have thought about giving up. But I haven't given up. I have trusted good friends with these frustrations. I have listened to their humor. I have absorbed every word of wisdom and encouragement they have spoken over me or texted me. I have planned the race outfit. I have even sewn my skirt. I have iced. I have stretched. I have foam rolled. I have become bes...

How did I end up here? What got me to this place where I am less than 2 months away, 6 weeks to be precise, from doing my 2nd half marathon? Especially considering I did not have fond memories of the first one and I swore I would never do another one again.  In order to best understand that, we have to go back to where this current journey all started. Mid-October 2015. I was right around my heaviest weight ever, heavier than 6 years ago when I had started my weight loss journey. I was mad at myself. I was mad body. I was even mad at God a little. And then my co-worker started mentioning that she needed more people to sign up on her Shamrock Race team. It was still 5 months away, I figure I had plenty of time to train and survive the 15k event. But the more I trained, the more I doubted, the more my legs objected to all the work, the more the idea of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) seemed very scary and very, very undoable. So, the day of the race, I switched to the 8k. And it still...

It's been a trying couple of months since I last sat and wrote stuff down. But it's also been a couple months of incredible growth. Lets start where I left off. Day One of training for a half-marathon, also known as Day One of Back Pain. Steroids brought relief for a couple of weeks, but when it returned it was muscle relaxers and Physical Therapy time. And man, physical therapy has been the most amazing torture I have ever done. Twice a week I go in and get my butt kicked with what looks like should be simple workout moves (trust me they aren't) and then I usually get to just lay there for 15 minutes on some heavy duty heat while the e-stim is zapping my back. All the while I get to talk running and racing with my PTA Don. Thankfully the PT Nathan and Don are both runners, so when I first mentioned my race in December, they have been fully on board helping me get strong enough to achieve that goal. And while the first couple of weeks I felt like I was getting behind with...

Whole 30 Round 2 starts today! Well, technically it started today. Survived breakfast no problem, cooking lunch and food prepping for the week ahead as we speak. I am excited to tackle a second round because I know what I was able to accomplish the first time and I feel like with that knowledge I can go even stronger the 2nd time around. I know that I really am not a huge fan of sweet potatoes so I'm not gonna use them as the star of something. I'm also not scared of dump ranch anymore. I am also past the "scared of making a mistake so I better stick to the basics" phase and am excited to try out some new recipes. Also, starting tomorrow I start training for my 2nd Half- Marathon! I mean, why not start round 2 of 2 things at the same time. Similarly to Whole 30, I feel much better heading into this 2nd round of training than I did about the first, despite knowing how much it hurt and how much I did not like it at the end. Probably because I do know how much it h...