Author: admin

It’s been a while since I have linked up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for the Weekly Wrap. I’ve kind of gotten back into a good schedule with the blog, so hopefully I will stay up to date and make this a weekly thing again!

First of all, it seems silly to blog about running in the wake of the terrorist attack in Orlando this weekend. I know that there is nothing I can write or say that will make this any easier for anyone, so I just want to share a few things because not saying anything definitely seems like the wrong thing to do.

I don’t want to minimize the event itself. It is truly horrific and mind-boggling to me. If we are being completely honest, random acts of violence and attacks like this make me incredibly fearful and scared to live in a world full of such senseless evil. My sense of security and safety are shattered all over again.

The only thing that brings me comfort is to remember that we are living in our temporary home. We weren’t created for this earth, we were created for eternity with Our Lord. We will undoubtedly experience problems and tragedies in this life. However, we are not merely earthly beings, we are eternal beings. Life is precious and life here on earth is short. If you are alive today, be thankful and know that God has a plan and purpose for your time here on this earth. Use it wisely!

I will cling to My Savior, knowing that He alone is my source of comfort, my wisdom in confusing times, my strength and my hope.

So now … let’s talk about the weekend runs!

Saturday morning Rebecca tricked convinced me to run trails with her. I was actually really looking forward to it. I hadn’t run on trails since the 10 mile trail race I did in April and I was eager to do some more off-roading. As it turns out, June is not (I repeat is not) the time to run trails in lower Alabama.

We don’t have a ton of trails to choose from in this area, but we do have a 67 acre historic park with some pretty decent trails. The last major battle of the Civil War was fought on the park grounds at Fort Blakeley. Here are some of the remaining breastworks that protected soldiers from enemy fire.

We wanted to get an early start because … summer in Alabama. Unfortunately this meant that we were blazing the trails so to speak and we ran through just about every spider web known to man. Also, the bugs were out of control! We both had on bug spray, but we still had a constant swarm of horse-flies, mosquitoes, etc. all around us. They were circling our heads and hitching rides on our clothes. The only way I can think to describe it is it using this Pig-Pen Peanuts cartoon, except for all of those little specs are bugs and not dirt.

After about two miles, we were both over it. I did at least thankfully get a really pretty picture from the trail that runs along the Tensaw River.

We tried to push through, but we only lasted a few more miles. We ended up with just over 7 miles, but I’m fairly certain that we worked a lot harder than normal. If nothing else, we got an upper body workout in by flailing our arms about all around us the entire time to swat the flies! Rebecca also yelled “PEACHES!” about once every minute! This is her code word for … well, anything ugly (she has an almost two-year old).

Since we entered the park earlier than it opened, we stopped by the guard gate to pay on our way out. We thought we were trying to do the right thing here, but the guard was clearly not happy with us. He told us it was against the law to enter the park prior to 8 a.m. (clearly he doesn’t understand summer running). Don’t worry, sir. We will absolutely NOT be doing it again!

It’s really funny now, but y’all. We were so. miserable. I’m questioning this whole “trail running” thing that I was so gung-ho about a couple of short months ago.

We stopped at Starbucks after our run. Ironically, the Starbucks closest to us was the store that was closed for about a week because a swarm of termites got in the store and it just recently reopened. Bugs eerywhere! We ran into our friend Jessica, who had run at RW that morning instead of joining us on the trails (clearly she was the smarter one) and we ended up hanging out at Starbucks for several hours. Oops.

Daniel had to do rounds at the hospital this weekend, but thankfully he was home just after lunch both days. He has been working a lot and he was pretty tired when he got home, so we didn’t do anything majorly exciting. Resting was totally fine with me!

Sunday morning I had a 20 mile long run. Daniel ran the first few miles with me before work. When we started our run at 5:15 a.m., the *feels like* temperature was 93. Holy Moses. I knew that it was going to be a long run! Daniel ran 4 miles with me and then I continued on for a couple of miles before meeting up with our usual Sunday morning crew. I ran 8 miles with them and then 6 more miles on my own. It was kind of nice to be able to break the run up into several different segments (even though I did it continuously) and it went by a lot quicker than I was expecting!

The pace was a little slower than I would’ve liked, but given the pretty extreme conditions I’m cool with it! I definitely wish it was actually cool out. During the summer it is important to adjust your pace as needed for the heat and humidity. I wrote a post about that last summer –> here. I went back and looked at my chart and realized that I was right in the adjusted range for my easy pace.

I was absolutely drenched by the end, so I decided to hop in the bay for a few minutes to cool off.

This picture popped up on my Timehop yesterday.

We went snapper fishing a few years ago. That was the only time that I’ve been and it was so much fun. I actually caught the fish in the picture, but I couldn’t reel him in. Hopefully after all of my push-up training this summer, I will be able to do things like reel in my own fish! Ha. We’ve been wanting to go back out. Yesterday afternoon, one of the doctors that Daniel works with texted him and told him that he had some extra snapper that he was going to bring us. So nice!

In typical Sunday evening fashion, we lit up the grill. We usually just cook chicken and burgers or something like that, but yesterday it was snapper and salmon burgers. One of the many perks of living on the gulf coast!

I have one last thing to share and then I promise I’ll be done.

I am going to be coaching with my coach! I had no idea when I took the RRCA course and even until a few weeks ago that this would be an option. I even referenced my coach on a blog post that I wrote a few weeks ago and said, “I hope to replicate what he is doing for my athletes!” As it turns out, replicating what he is doing is exactly what I will be doing!

I am so grateful for this opportunity to work alongside someone with so much knowledge and passion for the sport and someone who I respect. I also shared in the same post that I felt like I was being called to help people and for now that meant helping people meet their running goals, helping people to discover and fall in love with running and being an encouragement to them along the way. I feel like another door has been opened with this opportunity and I am so thankful!

If you have ever wanted to work with a one on one coach, check out Maximum Performance Running!

I hope everyone has a great week! What is something that you are looking forward to this week?

Hello there!

In my last post I mentioned that the treadmill and I were on the outs. Well … good news. We made up. I had a really good run on the treadmill today (yes, that really is possible).

It seems that one of the keys to a successful (read: not dreadful) treadmill running experience, for me at least, is to give the run a purpose. Sometimes I can enjoy an easy run on the treadmill by zoning out and catching up on some TV shows, but lately that doesn’t seem to be the working for me. Those miles go by so incredibly slowly that it is almost painful. I don’t enjoy it and that is definitely no bueno. I don’t want to be running junk miles on the treadmill just to meet my mileage goals for the week.

I knew that I needed to take a step back and reevaluate the situation. After Sunday’s run, another run on the treadmill Monday really wasn’t all that ideal, but it was my only option. I don’t run outside alone when I am out of town. Period. So … that meant that I had to suck it up if I wanted to run. Um yeah, I wanted to run. Duh.

I came up with a really good workout. The short version is this:

1. Start running and adjust the pace by .2 mph every 2 minutes for 30 minutes.
2. Once you get to 30 minutes, you will be moving pretty quickly. Good job. Hold that pace for 1 mile.
3. Decrease the pace by .2 mph every mile (and hold that pace for an entire mile) until you are ready to stop.

I made a note on my phone to share and so that I could remember what I did. If the abbreviated version didn’t include specific enough directions for you (rule followers unite!), here is exactly what I did:

You can definitely adjust the workout to be slower or faster, depending on what speed you want to go. You could also make the workout shorter or longer as well, depending on how many miles you are looking to run.

One thing that I really liked about this workout was the variation. By changing the pace every 2 minutes, I stayed engaged mentally and it didn’t feel mundane at all. Another thing that I liked is that you increase the pace relatively quickly for the first 1/3 of the workout and then when you start slowing down and holding those paces for longer durations, the same paces that felt a little fast on the way up suddenly feel really comfortable. That’s a really good feeling! I know I got in a good quality run (i.e., it had a purpose), but the workout wasn’t overly taxing on my body.

It had been quite awhile since I have run at a gym. I enjoyed that more than I was expecting to. For some reason having other people working out around me helps me to have a better run. When I run on the treadmill at home, it can be really lonely. I am probably just needy, but I definitely need a running and/or workout buddy. I had the pleasure of working out next to my mom today. She was on the swearmaster right next to my dreadmill. Ha.

Another really nice thing about the gym was that it was really nice and cool inside. Much cooler than front porch with no central AC where the treadmill is at home. I think that made a huge difference, although I was still drenched by the end.

We had fun and I broke out of my treadmill running rut. Mission accomplished! Try the workout and report back! Let me know if you love it or hate it 🙂

Happy Monday folks! Did you have a good weekend? Here’s what I’ve been up to …

Started off Friday morning with a run that felt really good! Some days you feel good, so days you feel okay and some days you just feel bad. Friday was one of the good ones and I welcomed it with open arms. Daniel and I ended up doing an unintentional progression run (steadily dropping the pace) for the first few miles and then I was supposed to pick the pace up during miles 11 and 12. Done and done.

I had some errands to run. One of which was getting my driver’s license renewed. It expired a few weeks ago. Oops! I didn’t have to wait in line at all at the DMV. I couldn’t believe it. In all of my 14 driving years, I don’t think that has ever happened!

Next errand (not quite as important priority wise) was to purchase a swan. Our Ragnar family is planning a swan fleet reunion and we are all going to float on our swans.

Then I picked up lunch for Daniel and his co-workers Friday and took it to them at work. Five Guys for them and some froyo as a treat for the delivery girl.

I came home to find a snake in the yard. By “find” it, I mean that it was less than a foot away from my foot while I was throwing the ball for Brooks. Ick. I took Brooks inside and then all I could think about was that dang snake. Sometimes when we are gone during the day, we leave our porch door cracked so that Brooks can go sit on the balcony. He loves to sit out there. Unfortunately that also means that it is possible for critters to come inside. I like to think that Brooks would bark and/or scare them away if they tried to come in, but I’m not entirely sure how logical that line of thinking really is.

Needless to say, I was a little bit skittish after we came back inside the house. Everything that brushed against my leg made me jump out of my skin. I knew what I had to do … I had to go find and kill that snake. I went outside, found a shovel and sure enough the snake was laying right in the middle of the yard waiting for me. I was so torn. I wanted him dead, but I didn’t really want to kill him. I know that makes no sense.

I found this awesome picture, which sums up my sentiments perfectly (and coincidentally looks almost exactly like the snake) …

To make a long story longer, I swung at him with the shovel, but only hit his tail. He scrambled back off and burried himself under our kayak in the bushes right beside the house again. Lovely. Daniel actually “found a dead snake in the yard” the next day, so I’m going to just pretend that was the same one and that he died of natural causes. I didn’t ask any questions.

Moving on …

The Grandman Triathlon (a sprint tri) was Saturday morning. One of our Ragnar teammates, Becca, did the race and several of us met early to run and watch the race afterwards. We made several signs. My two favorites were Ride the Swan and GrandWOMAN!

Becca did great! She finished in 1:32:17, which gave her 2nd in her age group and 10th place overall female! Beast mode!

After the race I came home and looked over some of my coaching stuff. Training plans and excel formulas … oh my! I am pretty sure that I have found the perfect job that combines my love of all things Excel and RUNNING. Someone pinch me please.

Side note: I knew this computer was going to come in handy at some point. I hardly ever use it for accounting anymore (not that I’m complaining).

My brain and body needed a rest Saturday afternoon. The weather was a little bit iffy and it made for perfect napping conditions. Now that I think about it, I don’t know what imperfect napping conditions would even be.

I finally wised up and got my stuff laid out ahead of time for my long run. The 4 a.m. alarm Sunday morning is never fun, but if I have everything organized and ready to go, I can get out of the door a heck of a lot quicker and without distributing Daniel. You’re welcome honey.

The 4 a.m. alarm went off and unfortunately there was 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. Rebecca and I decided to play it safe and not run. There’s always next weekend. I ended up doing 7 miles (that felt like 20, so maybe we can count that) on the treadmill. The treadmill and I are having some issues lately. Basically this …

After my run, I packed up and headed to see my mom and dad for a quick 24 hour trip. They are in the process of cleaning out (in hopes of moving one day soon-ish) and they needed my help to sort through the mess in my old room. I lived in the same house my entire childhood (where they still live now) and there was what felt like approximately 20 years of accumulation. Lots of memories!

It took about 6 hours to sort through, but we made some good progress. Seeing all of the old pictures and cards, etc. that I kept over the years was fun. It was a flood of memories and now I am feeling super nostalgic. A little piece of my heart will always live here on the Alabama River.

Meanwhile, the rest of my heart (i.e., Daniel and Brooks) are still at home on the bay. Daniel sent me a picture of the beautiful sunset sky while I was gone.

He also sent me a picture of my little booger.

As we sorted through the closets, we found some gems. Please note: 1) my eighth grade cheerleading uniform, 2) some size 6 rain boots that I got at some point in college even though they are about two sizes too small, just because they were cute and 3) a crown (I have no recollection of why in the world I have this).

It was quite a walk down memory lane! I’ve still got soooo many pictures and old notes to still go through. That’ll be a job for next trip though. I’m headed back south today.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Hello friends! Happy Global Running Day! I hope that you all celebrated in some form today. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than with the traditional #WorkoutWednesday and a bonus celebratory easy run with some of my favorite running friends!

Check out some of these fun Run Happy facts from Brooks (the running company, not our dog) …

97% of runners believe that running makes their day better?! That’s pretty awesome.

I learned in the RRCA coaching course that a hill workout can replace a speed workout, but a speed workout can’t replace a hill workout. Hill workouts are great multi-purpose workouts. They can help improve strength, stride power and running economy. My coach wrote a very informative blog post last week about hill repeats. You can read it –> here. I had a sneaking suspicion that I might see this workout pop up on my training plan sometime soon and I was right.

Another thing that I learned in the RRCA class was that you should ask your runner was his or her least favorite workout is … and then make them do that. Sounds kind of cruel I know. If I ask myself that question though, the answer would most definitely be hills. I’m really not a big fan of hills. We have never really gotten along very well. I guess it is time to change that.

The workout today was 12 X 400 meter (quarter mile) hill repeats. You run fast up the hill (my target pace was 6:30 (so 1:35-1:40 per 400)) and then recover (jog slowly) down the hill. I knew that the workout would go better if I ran by feel than by a specific target pace, so I decided not to look at the pace at all during the workout.

I knew from coach’s post (and instructions on my training plan) that I could do this workout on the treadmill or I could find an actual hill outside and just run up and down it a bunch of times like a crazy person. The idea of doing this workout on the treadmill was really not appealing and we actually have several very good hills that would be perfect for this workout close by. Luckily Rebecca had a hill workout scheduled this week as well, so we decided to join forces and do our workouts together. Daniel joined us too! Misery does indeed love company.

My splits were 1:50, 1:48, 1:56, 1:58, 1:54, 1:54, 1:50, 1:49, 1:48, 1:52, 1:56, 1:55. This was slower than my target pace, but I am still super happy with how the workout went and how I felt during the run. I haven’t done hill repeats since I trained for Boston in 2012. I think I did them once during that training cycle and that did me in. I never wanted to see another hill repeat and yet here I am today, feeling happy after my hill repeat workout! I guess I’ve matured as a runner? Or perhaps I’ve gotten crazier? Let’s go with option A.

As a further continuation of the global running day celebration, Lizzie and Jill planned an evening run from Running Wild. We printed out our Brooks bibs and headed out for a nice, easy evening run.

Lots of fun running went down today! It was the perfect global running day celebration!

See ya later!

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful, fun and relaxing weekend! I know we sure have. I started the weekend off with a brisk pace run Saturday morning.

What is a brisk pace run you ask? Good question. The “Brisk Pace Run” is a run that my coach likes to use to increase energy usage efficiency. The run is 60 to 90 minutes at close to marathon pace (you should stay within a range of 80 to 85% of your maximum heart rate). You use the first two miles to warm up and slowly ease into the brisk pace range and then you stay in that range for the remainder of the run. The focus is to stay as relaxed and smooth as possible in this pace range, which will help you to become more efficient using energy within that range.

With all of this in mind, I tried to prepare myself mentally that the run wasn’t going to be *that* difficult. Daniel and I met Kenny and Bowie at Warehouse Saturday morning and I was fully prepared to tackle this run by myself. I knew that the guys would keep me in sight, but I didn’t think that any of them would want to join me for the workout. Thankfully Bowie decided that he would run with me and I was so thankful! It helps to have a buddy when you are doing a workout.

We started off with a 2 mile warm up and then we started the brisk pace portion. The target pace for the workout was 6:45 to 7:00 pace, but we ended up averaging 7:15. I think that 7:15 is probably pretty representative of my marathon pace based on my current fitness. 6:45 is closer to where I *want* to be, but I’m going to have to put in some work to get there. We are also getting into the summer heat and humidity, which means that it is somewhat inevitable that the paces will be a little bit slower than normal.

My average heart rate for the run was 174. I think this is fairly close to 80 to 85% of my maximum heart rate, so effort wise I was right where I needed to be.

After our run, Daniel and I took the paddle boards out for a little bit and let Brooks get his favorite exercise in. He loves to swim! His workout basically consists of 100m repeats fetching his toy and occasionally a rest interval on the paddle board with us.

We all enjoyed getting some bay time in. It’s our favorite.

Saturday afternoon we went to a crawfish boil for Keith’s birthday (Rebecca’s husband). Rebecca got Daniel to build a crawfish table for Keith for his birthday present. Daniel really enjoys making things, so he was happy to have a project to work on.

Here is what it looks like pre-crawfish. It has drink holders, paper towel holders and a bucket in the center (that you place on a trash can).

It was definitely put to good use. Those little guys were super duper spicy!

Rebecca and I had a long run to tend to Sunday morning. We met at 5 a.m. in hopes of getting most of the run knocked out before it got too hot. We ended up doing a little less than we planned to do, but we still got a solid 16 miles in.

Post-run we headed to coffee loft to drink all the drinks. Proper rehydration starts with coffee and includes lots of water and Nuun, with an occasional Diet Coke or smoothie thrown in there. Speaking of hydration and nutrition, I’m almost done with the Food Guide for Marathoners book that I’ve been reading. It has been super easy to read and has lots of helpful tips. I’m planning to do a review of that soon.

Rebecca and I were actually supposed to do 22 miles Sunday, but we were both riding the struggle bus (well … mainly I was). Hello summer heat and humidity! Long runs in the summer can get pretty tough around here. We made a negotiation with ourselves that instead of doing 22 Sunday and 10 Monday (which is what her schedule called for), we would do 16 both days and end up with the same result. She is training for a 50 mile race and so the back-to-back long runs are a big part of the training.

We had a pretty big group (10) that met today to run, since most of us are off work for the holiday. Rebecca and I got started before the group and knocked out 10 of our miles and then met the group at 6 to finish up our last 6. We rode the struggle bus again today (mainly her this time), but we got it in! Boom. We have been running together for a while now and goodness knows we have had some really good runs and some really bad runs. We stick together through it all and that’s all you can really ask for!

Daniel has randomly started training for the Army Physical Fitness Test (PFT). By randomly I mean that one of his buddies is in the Army and posted his score on social media, and Daniel decided to see if he could beat it. Competitive much? You bet.

Long story short, we are now both training for it. Again … competitive much? We aren’t competing with each other specifically though, we are just supporting each other by participating in the same activities. It’s a delicate balance that we’ve established. It works for us.

The test is designed to test muscular strength, endurance and cardiovascular fitness. You are scored based on three events: push-ups, sit-ups and a two mile run. You do two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups and follow that with a two mile run. The scoring is based on gender, age, number of repetitions performed of the push-up and sit-up, and run time. The score for each event ranges from 0 to 100 points and you can earn over 300 only if you “max out” all three events.

In order to max out the push-ups, I have to do 50 and Daniel has to do 77 (based on our age and gender). In order to max out the sit-ups, we both have to do 82. In order to max out the run, I have to do two miles in under 15:48 and Daniel has to go under 13:18. We are both good to go on the run portion, but the push-ups and sit-ups are going to take some work. We both did a time trial this week to see where we are now and we are going to train specifically for the push-ups and sit-ups over the next 6 to 8 weeks and we will take the test again and see how much we are able to improve.

We both actually did better than we were expecting up front. I thought that the push-ups were going to be my weakest area by far, but as it turns out, the sit-ups were what got me. You have to be really fast with those bad boys. I did 57 and I need 82.

I didn’t do the two mile run part. We just put in an estimate for that. I know that I can do it faster than 15 minutes, so I would get 100 points for that regardless. The only time it would make a difference is if I am able to max out each thing and then I could maybe get additional points.

Daniel did really good with the push-ups, but the sit-ups got him as well. He did actually do the two mile run as part of his time trial. He said that his arms felt like lead during the run.

After our run this morning, we started our first day of training.

We are going to start this week doing alternating 30 seconds of push-ups and 30 seconds of sit-ups with a 30 second rest in between each set. We will do 4 sets of each and we are going to do this three times per week. I think that the core strength will be pretty beneficial to our running and if not, oh well. It’ll be fun to do something different!

Side note: my arms are currently more sore than they have been in a really long time (possibly ever). Those push-ups are no joke!

We finished up our day with some grilling. We grilled salmon burgers and kabobs to have tonight and also grilled some chicken and steak to have for dinner the rest of the week. That’s some quality adulting right there. We do a much better job of eating quality meals (read: not cereal) for dinner if we prepare it ahead of time.

That’s all I’ve got for today. See you soon!

Hello! Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

I’ve got some good news to share today! I passed the RRCA exam and got CPR & First Aid certified this week, so I am officially a certified coach. I’m pretty stoked about that!

I had to attend an in-person, hands-on CPR class, which was interesting. I definitely learned a lot, and I am glad that I was basically forced to do this. I was never a lifeguard or anything like that and Daniel can tell you, I tend to stay as far away as possible from anything remotely related to the medical field. Let’s just say that I was very unaware and uneducated prior to the class. Now I at least feel like I could do chest compressions reasonably well and hopefully keep someone alive until the paramedics arrive.

Side note: I’ve heard that they typically teach you to do compressions (100 – 120 per minute) to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive,” but in our class the song that was used was “Another One Bites the Dust.” Isn’t that just wrong?! Haha.

More really good news is that Dr. Justin “released” me from the plantar fasciitis treatment that I have been getting once a week for what feels like several months. I have nothing to gauge the severity of mine verses someone else’s, but I’m fairly sure I had a pretty bad case of it.

I was able to continue to train throughout the treatment and it still got better! It took a little while, but that’s to be expected when you are dealing with an issue as stubborn as plantar fasciitis (and even more expected when you are dealing with a runner as stubborn as me). I am so thankful to be able to run and walk without pain!

Speaking of running without pain, here is what my running has looked like this week:

Monday: Off
Tuesday: Easy 8 + Easy 6
Wednesday: 10 miles with 10 X 30 second pickups + Easy 5 w/ Rebecca and Lizzie that evening
Thursday: Easy 5
Friday: Easy 6

I’m so excited to have an extra long weekend without any major plans to speak of. I am off work today and Monday. Today I have been reading, blogging, hanging out with Brookser and I got to have lunch with Daniel. I was going to apologize for the lack of makeup and the unfixed hair in the picture below, but that is pretty much what I look like 99% of the time … so no apologies. It is what it is.

What are your Memorial Day weekend plans?

I’ve got a brisk paced run and a long run on tap this weekend and we are going to a crawfish boil tomorrow, but other than that we don’t have much going on and I’m not sad about it.

Hey guys! It’s been a hot minute since my last post. I was kind of joking about the after effects of our race last week, but as it turns out, there was more to that than I realized.

I ended up getting sick last week. Nothing major (just a cold and/or sinus issues), but I just didn’t feel like myself. I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t like feeling off. It’s almost like I feel guilty for even saying that I was sick, because it really wasn’t that bad. I know that other people are dealing with major issues and that my “sickness” pales in comparison.

I think that I jumped back into some workouts a little bit too quickly. I tried to do a 5 mile tempo run towards the end of the week last week and that pretty much did me in (when it really shouldn’t have). As I thought more about it, I realized that I basically ran a marathon (and a very hilly one at that) during the relay, so it is pretty understandable that my legs and body would still be a little fatigued. I think the workout just postponed my recovery. Stubbornness can get the best of me sometimes.

What I wasn’t really expecting after the relay was the mental fatigue. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I definitely think that there is something psychologically challenging about the post-race time period and it’s almost as if the higher your emotions soar during the race, the lower you tend to feel afterward.

Jack Lesyk, Ph.D., a clinical and sports psychologist, says it this way, “We have been taught that the attainment of the goal is the reward. Now the goal is attained and you are puzzled by your unanticipated unhappiness. The goal has turned out to be an illusion. The joy was in the dream and the process of moving towards your goal, in mobilizing your physical and mental potentials to their fullest. Once the goal was accomplished, the dream died. The joy ended. And now it’s time to regroup and start over again.”

I didn’t do a lot of training specifically for the relay, but there was definitely a lot of planning and hype surrounding the relay and the relay itself was basically the conclusion of a very busy (and fun) spring racing season. I ran a lot of races this spring and I absolutely loved it! I love races and pushing myself to be the best me that I can be. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately (depending on how you want to look at it)), there aren’t very many races during the summer in lower Alabama.

There will probably be a few 5Ks here and there, but nothing major. My training this summer will be mainly focused on 50K. I’d also like to do a late fall or early winter marathon, but we’ll see about that. I don’t have anything planned yet. I’m going to try to consistently document my training for the 50K over the course of the next few months. It’s already starting to ramp up!

I also had several fun trips right after tax season this year (AL –> FL –> AL –> SC –> AL –> TN –> AL). It’s been go, go, go. While I kind of prefer it that way (sometimes at least), I do at least recognize that I am ready for some downtime. We don’t have any major plans for the rest of the summer and thankfully my summer schedule at work is pretty flexible, so there is definitely some downtime in my future.

Something else that has been wearing on me a little bit is that I’ve been letting other people’s struggles bring me down. I have tried to be a good friend and be helpful in a situation where I thought I was being called to help. I think I probably just need to continue to pray for guidance and wisdom regarding that.

Enter –> The Serenity Prayer. Although the prayer itself has become somewhat culturalized at this point (hence the Seinfeld reference in the title … did you catch that), it is still so refreshingly simple and profound that it is just plain powerful. It is commonly used as part of 12 step programs and I think I was first introduced to during college when I spent some time at an inpatient eating disorder treatment center. I learned some invaluable life lessons during that time and every now and then things that I learned there will pop into my brain (and thus onto the blog).

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His Will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen.

I found an awesome Huffington Post article about the timeless truths of the Serenity Prayer and I am going to share them below.

When we devote inordinate attention to the things we cannot change, we expend physical, emotional and mental energy that could be directed elsewhere. Accepting that there are some things we cannot change does not make us complacent. It constitutes a leap of faith — an ability to trust, as the prayer goes on to say, “that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will.” We thus make the choice to let go and have faith in the outcome.

One of life’s greatest challenges is imagining how our lives could be different than they are now. Often, our deeply-ingrained habits are our own worst enemies, and simply identifying them is half the battle. Since habits gain power through repetition, it takes real focus and perspective to take a look at ourselves and our habits and ask, “Is this how I really want to live?”

We must accept “hardships as the pathway to peace.” Every person confronts obstacles in the course of his or her life. When we view these obstacles not just as frustrations or failures, but as opportunities for growth and learning, we can transcend our circumstances.

The word “surrender” has mostly negative connotations; we associate it with resignation, failure and weakness. But the Serenity Prayer reframes the notion of surrender as an act of faith and trust.

The prayer’s ending has something very profound to say about happiness: if we follow the prayer’s advice, we may be “reasonably happy in this life.” Just reasonably? At a time when our culture measures happiness and success mostly in terms of money and power, that word “reasonably” stands out as an appealingly modest definition of a successful life. Rather than wondering why we aren’t happier, or picking through every minute aspect of our lives, the prayer asks us to focus on the present, “Living one day at a time” and “enjoying one moment at a time.”

That’s all I’ve got for today. No fun stories or pictures, etc. Just wanted to share a few things that have been on my heart and mind.

I hope y’all are having a good week!

 

 

Hello friends!

I’ve been trying to settle back into some sort of normal schedule post-Ragnar and it’s been a little tough. I haven’t been able to drag myself out of bed in the morning to run and all I want to do is sleep! I was a little bit worried that I was getting sick.

Brooks wanted to participate, so I told him to demonstrate my current state of existence.

Thankfully Google was able to diagnose me. It appears that I might be suffering from ragnover.

My symptoms include:

• Sleepiness. The struggle. Is real.
• Confusion. I keep waking up in a panic, feeling very discombobulated and thinking that I am supposed to be somewhere running.
• Catawampus pains. My entire lower left side (think quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, etc.) is so sore, but the right side is totally fine. I’m thinking this has something to do with running on the slanted shoulder of the road for 23 miles.
• Overwhelming desire to pass other runners and/or break out into a little dance while running when you do in fact drag yourself out there to get a run in. There is a little glimmer of hope with every passing car that your van is coming to support you!
• Misconception as to when baby wipes are actually an acceptable replacement for a shower.

Here are some things that are going to help me recover:

• Sleep (duh).

• Hydrate and refuel.
• I went to see Dr. Justin (my sports chiro) and he got me back in line (at least physically). I’ll have to see someone else for my mental alignment.

• Take it easy. Take a few days and just run nice and easy, or even take a day off if needed! I enjoyed a nice little run/walk with Rebecca and Savannah yesterday evening.
• Sign up for another race! Hood to Coast 2017?! Who’s with me? I’m just joking (kind of). I’m ready for the next one for realz though.

That’s about it for my recovery I do believe. I have successfully procrastinated the tempo run that I was supposed to do yesterday, which means that I will be doing that this evening (not super likely) or tomorrow morning (more likely).

Does anyone have exciting plans for the weekend?