Wordless Wednesday: Gulf Coast Half Marathon

I promise I will get around to writing a race recap for the Gulf Coast half marathon really soon. But for now enjoy some pictures of the most scenic and enjoyable half marathon I've ever run! It was awesome!

 

The Voice in Your Head...

I was having a conversation this morning with a male friend and I mentioned some apprehensions I was having about the half marathon this Sunday and he said if I had the drive to sign up for a half then I should be good to go.

 

This got me thinking about how different men and women are.

 

Good thing the founder of Nike was a man. If not their slogan wouldn't be 'Just Do It' it would be;

 

'Should I Do It?'

 

or

 

'Can I Do It?'

 

or

 

'Do I really want to do it?'

 

or

 

'She did it so I can do it too'

 

or

 

'Maybe if I get lucky I can do it'

 

You get my point.

 

Tell me if I am wrong but why does it seem women (or maybe this is just me) are plagued with self-doubt? Couple that with my amazing ability to over-think and over-analyze everything and it is damn near crippling.

 

I want to ‘Just Do It’

 

I don’t want to think about every misstep I could have possibly taken these last 10 weeks. I don’t want to doubt my ability. I don’t want to second guess my training.

 

I just want to wake up Sunday morning and just freaking do it.

 

And I would really like to know what is preventing me from doing just that. I mean I know I will. I will get up and run that half marathon. But I want to know what I need to do/change in order to stop questioning my actions and start believing in myself 100% of the time.

 

What more proof do I need to give myself that I can do it; whatever IT is? How many more goals do I have to pass or successes do I need to achieve before I truly start believing this?

 

And This is What Comes Out...

I really can’t think of one topic I really want to write about in-depth right now. My head has just been filled with random thoughts lately so I guess I will share those.

·         I have another half marathon (my third) coming up next Sunday, 4/7, and I am excited and a bit nervous. My only goal for Sunday is to relax and enjoy a few hours of running along the beach. I didn’t get to dedicate the effort I needed to try to improve on my times so this one is just for fun. Well, I guess they are all for fun (for us non-elite runners) but you know what I mean

·         I added a few new songs to my running playlist in anticipation for the half. This playlist is an ever-evolving entity. I am constantly tweaking it. Currently it has 84 songs on it- far more than needed for a half marathon, even at my pace, but I love that I can just hit shuffle and let the music guide my run. Newest additions:

o   San Francisco- the Mowgli’s

o   Breezeblocks- Alt-J

o   Forever- Haim

·         I went kayaking for the first time ever just the other week and had the most amazing time. I cannot wait to do it again. I am hoping we can get in a kayaking/camping trip in the next few weeks. I am super lucky that the friends I have made in FL enjoy doing outdoorsy things.

·         And I am also super excited that they want to try new things too. Next Saturday, 4/13, four of us will be making the trek out to Blackwater State Park to participate in a 10k obstacle/trail run. None of us have ever done a race like this before and even though my group is made up of far more athletic and faster people than I (Paul and two other Naval Officers from flight school) they have all said that we are doing this together as a team and refuse to leave me behind. Which is awesome.

·         Speaking of trail runs- Paul and I did our first trail race this past Saturday. It was a 5K held on the cross country trails at the university where I work. Paul killed it in 22:25 and came in third in his age group, fifth overall.  Unfortunately they only gave out awards for 1^st and 2^nd place so he didn’t win anything. I think is the third race we’ve done together where he placed in the top three. He’s freaking amazing. 22 minutes for a 5k TRAIL RUN. Ridiculous. I came in just over 11 minutes behind him at 33:58 and was pretty happy with my time. Especially for my first trail race J

·         My friend Blogging Molly is currently fundraising for her Marine Corps Historic Half/Team Fisher House which supports the Fisher House program- supporting military families in their time of need. It is a great charity- one that is desperately needed- and I try to support them whenever I can be it doing volunteer work at the Fisher House at Fort Sam while we lived there or through donations. Molly also has a really awesome giveaway linked to her fundraising so please stop by and check it out if for no other reason to learn more about Fisher House.

·         I had a really nice weekend/Easter Sunday spent with Paul and friends. It is always hard to be away from family, especially on the holidays, but I am thankful that I got to spend this one with others. It was also nice to have friends over that are new to the military. I kind of feel that part of my role as a military spouse is to not only provide a loving and supportive home for my spouse but also to make it warm and welcoming to others in the military so they never feel like they are alone. I know how tough that can be, especially the first holiday away from family.

·         Well, I did it. I finally broke down and ate meat. After a year and a half of being vegan I finally met my match- Easter ham. I used to love ham and pretty much requested it for every holiday meal. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that just having a ham cooking in the house would have been crippling to my vegan defenses. Apparently ham is my kryptonite. I caved. I ate the ham. And it was glorious. So good, in fact, that I am now on an all-the-ham-you-can-eat diet.

 

Ha Ha Ha

April Fools

Still a vegan- I didn’t eat any ham. Although I cannot deny that it didn’t smell really good.

Did you think I was for real with that or did you see right through my little hoax?   

I Think It's Time...

For the last two years I have lived by the motto ‘love what you do.’ I try to apply it to every aspect of my life; especially fitness.

I am of the belief that if you don’t love what you are doing you will only be able to muscle through it for so long. And for me, in the past when I had reached my breaking point it usually meant some kind of over the top reaction which caused me to not only swear of said activity but usually all activity in general.

I remember back on times when I was using workout videos to get in my activity and I would get so pissed/frustrated/discouraged by how little I could do, how much it hurt, how embarrassed they made me feel that I would just stop doing them. And pretty much anything else.

A logical person would just move on to something else.

Eventually I learned that.

I learned that just because others can do it/enjoy doing it/are successful doing it does not mean that I will be too.

I learned that trying to force myself to doing something I did not enjoy made me miserable which is pretty much not what I needed to be successful.

I needed to find something that I loved to do (even if at times it was challenging, there is a difference) because then I would be more likely to do it, happier with how I was choosing to spend my time, and life would be better overall.

And that worked for me.

For the first time I am active AND happy. I live a life that enjoy; all of it. What I eat, the activities I choose, my social life, my relationship. – it’s all good. This- what I’m doing now, and what I’ve been doing for the past 2 years, works for me. It is sustainable. If the rest of my life goes just like this I will die happy.

Not to sound like I’m bragging. I’m not. Really I’m not.

I am writing this as a reminder to myself.

See, some days I still struggle with how my body looks (re:flabby arms, jiggly belly) and wanting to lose more weight and how I should go about changing that. I definitely need to lose another 10-15 pounds.  That point isn't up for debate. However, how I get there is.

I know I could start hitting the gym twice a day, I could start taking some spin classes, adding in weight lifting, run four times a week plus do yoga and boxing. I know I could really focus on getting leaner, put in the work, and I will get the results and probably pretty quickly.

But I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to spend what little free time I have in a gym. Morning and night. I just don’t.  

I like to think I am a fairly active person. I eat pretty good foods. I think I am making good choices for my body. But it’s not all about my body. My mind (spirit) has to come into consideration too when I mak these decisions.  And so it comes down to this question- do I want to muscle through a few (or more) months of doing things I don’t enjoy, missing out on time with my friends, making many personal sacrifices just for the sake of losing 10 pounds.

Or do I want to keep on doing the things I am doing and accept that any progress I make will be slow at best.

I think I have to stick with doing what I love. Not only am I in the best physical shape I have been in for quite some time but damn am I happy. I am probably in the best mental headspace of my entire life. Why would I want to change that?

Why should I change that?

I think it’s time for me to stop chasing skinny and just keep chasing happy. 

Wordless Wednesday- Travelin'

Some pictures from this past weekend's travels.

Training Tunnel Vision

Most days, getting my training run in is my number one priority.

Ok- maybe not most days.

I’ve been in a training rut lately and have probably missed more training runs that I have actually ran since I started this program up 7 weeks ago. If you’ve trained for a half before then you know that sometimes you have to skip runs (injury, illness, time constraints, etc) but most likely you focused on at least getting in your weekly long run. I’ve missed two of those. Eh, it happens.

But…training for this half is still super important and something I think about all the time.

This weekend I am heading home to attend my cousin’s wedding. Just a quick trip though, I’m flying in on Friday and back home Sunday. Of course the first thing that popped into my head when I bought my tickets/RSVPd was how will I get in my long run?

I reached out to some local runners the other day to see if they could recommend some good running spots and came up with a game plan for my 9 miles I was hoping to get in on Saturday morning. I was all set.

Until my Dad emailed me to point out that if I run on Saturday morning I won’t have any time to spend with him. He’s right. He isn’t going to the wedding. Friday night I will be out with friends. Spending the night Saturday where the reception is then driving basically straight from there to the airport. If I spent my time Saturday morning running then I wouldn’t get to spend any time with my Dad-whom I haven’t seen since February of last year.

So even though I know that when you are training for something you really should make it your number one priority this time I really just can’t. I want to hang out with my Dad. Who knows when the next time I will see him.

I’ll try to get in those miles (or at least some of them) at the hotel Sunday morning. Hopefully I can slip out while my family is still sleeping and go for a run around the hotel/vineyard. That would be cool.

Running, especially when following a training plan, is a great metaphor for life. It’s not always possible to stick to your plans no matter how great they are. So I will be flexible, be adaptable, but most of all I won’t beat myself up. It’s just one day, one run. And time with my Dad will always trump running.

Always.

I'm Over Here...

I forgot to share this with you on Friday so I am playing catch up now. My lovely friend Alexis from Diva on a Diet featured me on her blog last week as part of her 'Featured Fit Friends Friday' series. I was so honored that she asked me to do it. Alexis and I 'met' through the interwebs over a year ago (back when I was still a WW member) and she has been such an inspiration to me ever since. She is a weight loss rock star- she is even on a commercial for Weight Watchers. That's pretty damn awesome. So if you haven't yet seen the interview here is the link. While you are there make sure you check out Alexis' blog- hers is one of my favorites!