Category: Miscellaneous

… and I don’t exactly know what that means, but I do know that I miss the creative outlet of blogging and the process of documenting my running adventures here on this little space of the interwebs that I call my own.

To say that a lot has happened in my life since I stopped blogging at the end of the year would be a rather large understatement. I have my old posts archived and I will likely go through the process of adding some of those back to the site (mainly the race recaps I think (and not that anyone cares to go back and read 3 years of race recaps, but I would like to at least have them all in one concise location)), but in the meantime I like the idea of starting fresh!

I stopped blogging when I realized that I was no longer able to be authentic and transparent with the things that were going on in my life. I felt like I was living a lie and in some ways, I probably was. Believe you me, I absolutely hate that. Again, I’m not sure what this looks like going forward, but I plan to at least share the highs and lows of my running journey. There have been some big highs (lots of PRs (YAY!)) and some big lows (hello, DNF) over the last few months. I’ll do my best to do a big update post soon.

I don’t have all of the answers, or any of the answers for that matter, but I know that we are all just doing our best to navigate this crazy journey called life. Hopefully you will enjoy following along with mine!

I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined
I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We’ve been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can’t live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Hello, hello!

It’s been just over a week since First Light. I’ve done a few easy runs, but have mostly been in recovery mode. I figured this would be a great chance to catch up with some over some current things!

Current activity: We played disc golf last weekend and I had a blast! I’ve played disc golf twice now in the last 10 years, but my skills weren’t too rusty. I was pleasantly surprised! Oddly enough, my disc golf skills mirror my regular golf skills perfectly (good long distance game … terrible short distance game). I want to practice and play again soon. My dad and I used to have a little disc golf “course” set up at home (basically we just threw the thing as far as we could and then tried to hit a tree or something as the “hole”) and it would be really fun to do something like that again.

Current book: I am reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham. I’m really into legal books and shows these days.

Current confession: So, I think I might’ve taught my first class in the wrong room. I feel like showing up to the wrong class is such an embarrassing college student thing to do, but I doubt many teachers have done it. Several students came in asking if this was the finance class and I kept telling them that this was the tax class. “Bless their hearts,” I thought to myself. A couple of minutes before class started the dean (the DEAN!) of the business school came over to my room to ask if I was teaching in this room. Honestly, I still didn’t really think anything of it. After class, one of my students told me that our class was location was listed as being in the computer lab and we were definitely not in a computer lab. Facepalm.

Current drink: Strawberry lemonade Nuun (but I don’t know if that’s as much a current thing as much as an always and forever thing).

Current excitement: I have registered for my next race! I’m going to be running the Wine 10K in Birmingham on March 3. It’s a very competitive race … we’re talking top 10 females last year were all under 38 minutes! Whoa. I’m excited to shift my focus away from the marathon and to some short stuff for a while.

Current fail: I got a new iPhone and I’ve dropped it more times in a month than I dropped my old phone in 3 years. Is it just me or are the new iPhones more slippery?

Current game: HQ Trivia. So, I don’t actually play this, but I watch Daniel play it and it’s fun.

Current habit: Adding at least 5 minutes of core work every day. Most days I do more, but if not, 5 minutes is better than nothing.

Current indulgence: Hot chocolate. It just hits the spot when it is super chilly out (or in … we’re having some issues with our heat).

Current juxtaposition: Don’t ignore the wisdom …

Current knowledge: All. the. knowledge.

Current list: I’ve got a decent little list going of potential 5Ks and 10Ks that I want to do this Spring.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. As we close out 2017 and move into 2018, it seems appropriate to do a little bit of reflecting. Regardless of whether or not you like to set New Year’s resolutions (I typically don’t), we likely come into the new year with some sort of “starting fresh” mentality. Looking back and reflecting on the previous year is great way to gauge your goals and plans for the upcoming year.

Looking back …

One of the perks of blogging is that it is fairly easy to look back and see exactly what went on during the year (assuming that you are fairly consistent with your posting). I managed to get at least one post per week most weeks this year. Two things that I consistently post are race recaps and monthly recaps. What can I say … I just enjoy a good recap.

As I’m sure you have gathered, running is a stable topic that I always have something to share about, so the majority of the time my posts are about running. While I do wish I had more time to write about other topics, that just wasn’t as doable last year. I am hopeful that I will have some time in the not-so-distant future to write more.

I became a Salty Running contributor in 2017 and so I am also posting over there occasionally as well these days. My favorite piece that I got to be a part of this year was #MeToo – Women Runners’ Experiences of Sexual Violence, Assault and Harassment. Check out their site and that piece if you haven’t.

Somewhat along those same lines (as far as the #MeToo piece), I also became an ambassador for run angel. Run angel is a personal safety wearable that emits a loud (120 decibel), high-pitched audible alarm when activated. It pairs with smart phone devices over Bluetooth to send out alerts in the event of an emergency. I first heard about run angel on Lindsey’s podcast and I knew immediately that it was a product and company that I would love to be part of.

If you listened to my episode of the podcast, I mentioned the deer that appeared in the woods the day of the attack and how the deer was in essence, an angel … my sign that everything was going to be okay and that God was with me (He always is). I love that this product is called run angel and when I wear it I remember the words of one of my favorite verses.

As far as the actual running goes, I ran 3,520 miles this year. I did 24 races (the exact same as 2016 … I didn’t realize that until just now). The races ranged from 1 mile to 50K (31 miles!). The 1 mile and 50K distances are the only two distances that I managed to PR (and to be fair, it was my first 50K, so that one was going to be a PR regardless). I ran one full marathon, five half marathons, one 10 mile race, one 12K, three 10Ks, nine 5Ks, one 2 mile race and two 1 mile races (if you count the milk mile, which apparently I did last year, so just keeping it consistent here).

This time last year I mentioned that my goals for 2017 were to get a 5K and half marathon PR (basically I wanted all.the.PRs) and I also said that I had my eye on the one mile and two mile state records for my age. I came 2 seconds shy of a half marathon PR at First Light and I actually did come away with those age group records, so all in all, not too shabby I guess.

Aside from the actual racing, I also really enjoyed pacing a few races this year. I (informally) paced my friend, Jill, to a shiny half marathon PR in April, I paced two of my precious Girls on the Run gals to 5K PRs in October and I paced some random strangers during an (almost) marathon in December. I enjoyed every step of the way (up until the steps that were missing from the marathon)

Getting involved with Girls on the Run was definitely one of the highlights of the year. I still intend to do a proper post about the things that I learned from this experience.

If you missed out on any part of the year and are really bored, here are my monthly recaps!

January Recap
February Recap
March Recap
April Recap
May Recap
June Recap
July Recap
August Recap
September Recap
October Recap
November Recap
December Recap

There are also a few non-running related highlights from 2017. Arguably, the most notable would be that we bought a house! We found a house that we love in an area that we loved even more.

We took a trip to Colorado, which was ahh-mazing. In fact, I tried several time to convince Daniel that we should sell the above-referenced house (and all of our belongings) and move to Colorado. He supports me in just about every way possible, but he did NOT support me in that decision. Sad.

Daniel completed his first half ironman!

Brooks turned six! He enjoyed lots of fetching, swimming, trotting and even did some “surfing” in 2017. There were also plenty of treats and belly rubs to go around and he most definitely rocked his Halloween costume (in my somewhat biased opinion).

We celebrated our 7th anniversary by getting each other the same card (I would say what are the odds, but puppies were involved, so I think the odds were extremely high).

Looking ahead …

As far as 2018 is concerned, the year will definitely start off with a couple of big events. One being the marathon that I have tirelessly trained for over the last 10?, 20?, 30? weeks. It seriously seems like I’ve been training for this race for about a year, but I know that isn’t really the case. Marathon training definitely requires A LOT of physical, mental and emotional energy. Thankfully, I have shared the training experience with some wonderful friends and training buddies and that has made the entire process much more enjoyable.

As far as running goals, obviously the marathon is on my brain right now. After recovering from the marathon, I think I will likely bring my focus back to some shorter stuff (like halfs) in the Spring and then maybe do a summer of speed again (with a one mile, two mile and 5K focus).

The other big event is the beginning of the Spring semester and my first official classes as a college professor. I am a tad anxious about that, just because it is a total career change and I basically have zero experience teaching. I am hopeful that it will be a good experience and that I can tap into my pre-existing knowledge of the subject matter and talk for 3 hours consecutively about taxes each week.

A few general goals come to mind. One is that I would like to read more this year, both for fun and for learning purposes. I’m not going to attach a quantifiable goals to this per say (such as one book per month). I just want challenge myself a bit mentally and I want to continue learning.

I would also like to write more this year. Again, no quantifiable goal here (such as 5 posts per month). I actually wrote over 75 posts here in 2017 and I also wrote a few on Salty Running as well. I would’ve thought that it was closer to 50, so that’s kind of surprising. I guess my goal would be to venture outside of my “safe” zone of training recaps and race reports. I will obviously continue to write them, just because I enjoy writing them and having them to look back on. I want to challenge myself to throw in a few posts about non-running related topics.

So far I’ve got reading and writing goals, so I guess I need an arithmetic goal now. Ha. I guess I will have to figure out this grading rubric sooner rather than later, so perhaps that is my current arithmetic goal. There we go, 2018 will be the year of reading, writing and arithmetic (with hopefully some running thrown in here and there :)).

That’s it for today. I hope you all have a safe, happy, wonderful new year! Talk to you soon!

Hey guys!

Hurricane Nate blew through our area last night. It’s early Sunday morning and I am currently without internet access (writing in a word document), sipping some coffee in my PJs. I was really hoping to watch the coverage of the storm and of the Chicago marathon this morning, but our TV is through the internet and so, I can’t do either of those things. Daniel had to go to work this morning (apparently people don’t stop being sick because there is a storm … go figure). I was worried that he would have trouble getting to the hospital, but thankfully he made it there safely. Brooksy and I have been out to play fetch and he’s settled in for his morning nap. I figured this would be a good chance to catch up on life!

Edited to add: if you are reading this, we are back in business! Haha.

Work has been a little bit crazy lately. I haven’t gotten too much into the details of all of that on the blog. I really want to be completely transparent and able to share the things that are going on in my life, but at the same time, these things affect more people than just myself and it’s not always fair to share the details. Honestly this frustrates me, because when I first started the blog, I wanted it to be as much about the ups and downs of real life as possible and now I feel like I can’t really write about some of the things that I want to and so I basically just stick to running. Not that I am complaining about that! I can talk about running A LOT, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.

Where does that leave us? Oh yes … work. Over the last several years, I have been struggling with the idea of my career choice. I’m sure you know, but in case there is anyone new, I am a CPA and I work in public accounting. Basically I prepare business and personal tax returns. I don’t dislike what I do, but at the same time, I’m not passionate about what I do. I’ve never actually met anyone who is passionate about taxes, so I don’t guess I am alone in this feeling. When I started out in this profession, I kind of just assumed that my goal would be to work my way up and make partner. I don’t even think I gave it much thought, that was just the path that most people took and it sounded respectable, so why not?

Ugh. I wish that I could go back and talk some sense into my twenty year old self. I guess that’s the funny thing about life something though. I don’t think my twenty year old self would’ve listened. I’m a completely different person than I was then and there is no way that I could’ve known what I know now. After several years in public accounting, it became very apparent to be that I didn’t want to be a partner at a firm. I saw lots of unhappy people working tons of hours, but not truly enjoying life. I didn’t want to be one of those people and I knew that I could’ve EASILY have become one of those people. My personality is wired to throw myself 100% into something at the expense of … well, basically everything else in my life. I didn’t (and still don’t) want that for my life.

I do think that I have been able to establish a tiny semblance of balance in my professional life at this point. I have learned to set boundaries and to speak up for myself when I am in a situation that isn’t right. I’m not saying that I have this completely dialed in by any means, but I am much more confident in myself in general and in my professional abilities than I used to be. Some of this just came naturally with time. When you’ve been doing something for 9+ years, you have more leverage than someone fresh out of school. I have basically been able to say, I will work X number of hours, but nothing more. This has helped me tremendously. You can’t work 70 hours per week (doing something that you aren’t passionate about) and have a happy life.

I started a new job this summer and right off the bat, I was hit smack in the face with the number of hours I was willing to do and what my boss expected me to do (which in my defense, was not communicated to me in my interview). We worked through this and for the most part I have held my ground. I feel torn sometimes because I hate feeling like I am not doing what is expected of or needed from me. There are certain situations where I am still willing to work extra, especially if we are up against a deadline (as we are currently).

The point I was originally trying to get to was that I *may* have an opportunity to switch out of public accounting altogether (finally!) and try something new … teaching! This is something that I have (in the back of my mind) thought about for years. I am planning to pursue it on a very part-time basis (i.e., teaching one class) over the next year and then, I guess we’ll see. I’m excited and nervous about it at the same time, but I think that is completely normal. I’ve said this before, but growth occurs outside of our comfort zones. This will definitely be a period of growth and I’m excited to see how it works out.

Let’s talk about Girls on the Run! I am currently coaching a GOTR group at a local elementary school. We meet for an hour and a half Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Not to bring work up again, but my boss was very understanding and totally cool with me leaving to go do this (I have to make the time up, but still) … hopefully he’ll be equally as understanding and cool with me leaving to go teach. Fingers crossed. Maybe he’ll find this blog and it’ll tell him for me. Ha. Each week at GOTR, the girls have a snack, we discuss our lesson for the day, we do a warm up activity and then they set a lap goal for themselves and RUN. They absolutely love it, which makes my runner heart want to explode a little bit. On Tuesday we talked about our emotions, both comfortable and uncomfortable (as opposed to good or bad … because there are no “bad” emotions). I feel like I am learning so much from these lessons. Perhaps that means I am on a fifth grade level emotionally? Things that make you go, “Hmm.” LOL!

On Thursday we talked about how to express our emotions, using the four phrases 1) I feel, 2) when you, 3) because and 4) I would like for you to. It has taken me many years to learn the importance of expressing emotions, rather than keeping them inside. Heck, a lot of the time I still struggle with this! Expressing your emotions clearly helps others to understand how you are feeling and how they can help you. Each of the four phrases has a purpose. “I feel” lets the other person know exactly how you feel, “when you” tells the other person the exact behavior that makes you feel a certain way, “because” gives the other person a better understanding of why you feel that way and “I would like for you to” explains to the other person what you would like for them to continue to do or to do differently.

Just for funsies, I will do a comfortable and uncomfortable workplace example. I might say to a coworker, “I feel hopeful when we discuss our ideas for making our processes more efficient because I can tell that we are on the same page and care about the direction of the firm. I would like for you to always come to me with any ideas that you may have so that we can work together to make everyone’s job easier.” I might say to my boss, “I feel frustrated when you don’t clearly communicate what is expected of me because I don’t work well in an environment without clearly defined expectations and assumptions. I would like for you be upfront with your expectations.” See how it works?! I just think these are such amazing life lessons for these girls to be learning. The GOTR curriculum is amazing!

Despite what it may seem like I was saying earlier, I actually feel way more fulfilled in my career at the moment than I have in a while and I think that GOTR is playing a part in that. I read an article recently called “The Millennial Woman’s Quest for Career Purpose: A Response to the Ambition Collision,” and it was ON POINT. Women enter the workplace filled with ambition and optimism and then, by 30 or so, we start to feel “stuck,” yearning for something “more.” We shouldn’t ditch our professional responsibilities out of indifference, but instead we can’t always look to work as the answer to the big questions that we have about life. We need to establish ourselves in such a way that we do not have only one source of validation. If you put equal emphasis on your life outside of work, you get further ahead and are more satisfied at work as well. Of course it’s all about finding that balance!

When I took my two month career hiatus a few years ago and started this blog, that’s exactly what I was doing. I had let my work become my life and at the time, the only way I saw out was to leave the job altogether (obviously that is exactly what this article advises you not to do). I was searching for purpose. In some ways, the blog has been a part of that journey to discover my purpose. I thought about leaving public accounting altogether at that point, but realized fairly quickly that a girl’s gotta eat. Here I am now, two years later, pondering some of the same thoughts. I guess the difference now is that I can recognize that work isn’t my life and I have found passion in several areas outside of work.

I still struggle with the idea of spending any of my time doing a job that I am not truly passionate about, but at the same time, I know that it’s okay, normal even, to feel this way. My job allows me to have a decent amount of flexibility, which is very nice and it allows me to make enough to pay the bills and enjoy my hobbies. I am still planning to pursue the teaching thing, I’m just not sure exactly to what extent. I am going to be teaching an undergraduate corporate tax class this spring … I mean, talk about passion! Ha. In all seriousness though, if I can continue to do some work in accounting, some teaching and have time to volunteer at things like GOTR, I will be living the dream.

Sorry for the long ramble of a post. It’s been a while since I have gotten a chance to do that. I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on this topic. How do you find balance and passion in your life?

Hey-o! What’s up?! Happy Monday!

I wanted to stop by and share a quick update on what my 50K recovery weeks looked like and what “the plan” will be going forward.

Basically I’ve had two weeks of short easy runs only (with optional rest days at any point (I took two :)). My recovery weeks coincided with the second half of our Colorado vacation and also a quick trip to the beach with my mom, which I must say was great timing! I definitely enjoyed the break from workouts and early morning alarms. I slept-in more in the last two weeks than possibly in the last two years combined and it was glorious!

I got a full body sports massage the Wednesday after the race, which was much-needed and quite amazing. I’m planning to do that once a month going forward. I’m looking at it as an investment in my health (hashtag worth it). I also tried two new to me fitness classes that I really enjoyed as well. One was an Orange Theory Fitness (OTF) class and the other was HOT YOGA (oh my).

After one workout, I must say that I am a huge fan of OTF. I would love to make it part of my weekly routine. I started out on the treadmill, which was great because I felt super comfortable there. We alternated between a base pace, a push pace and an all out pace. I equated those to easy run pace, half marathon pace and 5K pace. We ran for 15 minutes, did 750 meters on the row machine and then did 15 minutes of strength work (with free weights and TRX bands (which I had never used before)). You did that whole thing (run, row, weights) twice. I really felt like I got a great workout in. The running was lots of intervals and I ended up with close to 4 miles. Combining running and strength training is a really good incentive for me to actually get the strength training done.

The massage therapist that I saw strongly suggested that I incorporate yoga into my weekly routine. I promised her that I would at least try to give it a shot. It has been a hot minute since I have been to yoga and I have never done hot yoga before, so that was an experience. I got started off on the wrong foot because I arrived right at 4:30 for a 4:30 class (but of course, on time is late) and they had to rearrange the entire room to make a space for me. Let’s just say that I picked up some negative energy from the other yogis. Ha. I couldn’t for the life of me remember what a chaturanga was (or half of the other poses for that matter) and the instructor didn’t have room to demonstrate the poses.

I couldn’t get Rebecca’s favorite “honest meditation” video out of my mind the entire class. I almost laughed out loud a few times when the instructor told us to set an intention for our practice and then to breathe in … and breathe out … I don’t know if yoga is going to be a regular thing or not. We were packed in there like sardines, but I definitely got a good sweat in! Success … I think.

Now that I am all rested up, I am really looking forward to the next chapter, which will be a SUMMER OF SPEED! I’m going back to my original plan (from last summer) of focusing on shorter distances for a while. I enjoy trying to be a well-rounded runner that runs lots of distances. The 50K was a nice break (I realize that this sounds a little crazy) and I am so glad that I did it. Variety is definitely the spice of life (and training in my opinion). Now it is time to get back to the track and focus on some speed work.

I’m going to try to find a one mile race at some point this summer, I’m doing a two mile race in August and other than that, you’ll probably see lots of 5K recaps. Oh … and half marathon recaps … I’m still working on the one half per month thing!

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.”
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

What are your running goals this summer? Other than not to melt in the heat and humidity (obviously that is a solid goal for everyone).

Well … hello!

I just got home from a quick girls’ trip to Birmingham. My mom had an appointment to get her hair done and I decided to tag along for some shopping, laughter and mother-daughter bonding. She didn’t even have to ask me twice!

ROAD TRIP!

The trip up was a tad eventful, seeing as how it rained in the first time in fifty forevers. Apparently my mom strongly dislikes traveling in rain. She checked the weather app every 10 minutes and was super unhappy if I drove over 50 mph while it rained (it was a pretty bad storm). Thankfully we made it safely!

We jammed out to Meghan Trainor for the majority of the trip. My mom has two of her CDs (so hip!) and let me just tell you, we are all about that bass. My favorite song by far is Bang Dem Sticks though. We may or may not have listened to that one about 20 times (but we most definitely did). I also spent some time trying to make a catchy story out of all of the Meghan Trainor song titles. I made some headway, but it’s not blog-worthy quite yet. Spoiler: It involves a talking bass (the fish). Hopefully I can finish that up for you guys soon. Ha.

I got my nails done while Mom got her hair done. I went to Foxy Nails III (the foxiest of them all, I’m fairly certain) and had a wonderful experience. I have been there one other time and had a great experience then as well, but you never know. The guy that did my nails was perhaps the most OCD nail person ever and he made my little heart so happy. Gotta love and appreciate a fellow OCD person’s thoroughness and craftsmanship. I decided to embrace the holiday spirit head on! So festive …

We got some Christmas shopping done and then spent the remainder of the evening watching Gilmore Girls at our hotel. We stayed at the Grand Bohemian, which was awesome. It is in a great location and it is a very new and funky hotel (hence the Bohemian name).

I earned major daughter points for waiting to watch the new episodes with my mom. Not gonna lie … it took a lot of restraint. We watched the show together every Tuesday night when I was in high-school. We even watched the show together occasionally when I was in college. Mom would come to visit on a Tuesday just so that we could watch Gilmore Girls. We were hard core (it should be noted that I am also an only child, but that isn’t the point … the point is that Gilmore Girls was always our show and we went above and beyond to watch them together (then and now)). Of course I wanted to wait to watch with her!

Room service + GG = perfection!

We only watched 1 of the 4 episodes. I already know that 4 episodes is not going to be nearly enough.

We went exploring around the hotel Thursday morning. The weather cooled down by about 40 degrees overnight and the fall colors were out in full force. We don’t get to see a lot of fall color in south AL, so it was really nice to get a glimpse while we were “up north.” There is a beautiful little trail that runs right through Mountain Brook.

After we walked, I went for a short (relative terminology of course) 6 mile run around the same area. I did manage to get myself slightly turned around, but thankfully I found my way back to the hotel. Holy hills. I definitely need to work on my hill running.

That’s all I’ve got for today. We had so much fun on our less than 24 hour trip! I laughed more than I have in a while. I even laughed so hard that I spewed diet Dr. Pepper all over the car. There was an incident with a hard boiled egg. It’s probably one of those things where you had to be there, but regardless … oops.

Daniel and I will be headed to Baton Rouge this weekend for his marathon! I’m running the half and then will be there for moral support for the Daniels (young Daniel and my Daniel) and for Lizzie. They are all running the full. It should be fun!

Have you ever gotten so tickled at something that your drink came out of your nose or mouth? Tell me a funny story!

A little injury update for your reading pleasure …

If you are struggling with a common running injury (such as plantar fasciitis or iliotibial band syndrome), it’s nice to read posts of someone who has been through the same thing and how they overcame it. I would venture to say that a busted knee and face, fractured teeth and mild concussions are not super common running injuries (at least not all combined).

Who knew that running was such a contact sport?! [Insert face plant palm here]

It can also be helpful is to read about how avid running enthusiasts deal with the dreaded time off. When you’re recovering from a running injury, you become very aware that running is indeed a big part of your life (but it is not your entire life). Dealing with the physical pain of the injury is not as difficult as dealing with the frustration of not being able to run (in my opinion).

To make matters worse (or perhaps better), we are currently a non-running household. Daniel is also benched for a little while (he’s got plantar fasciitis w/ some micro-tears in the fascia). I would almost venture to say that it has actually been good that neither of us are able to run. Misery does indeed love company.

So far, so good. I haven’t run in 6 days (but who is counting) and I am surviving! I honestly thought that I would be back running after 2 or 3 days, but it seems that was overly optimistic. I took it totally easy for 2 days. Walking was a challenge because my knee was ginormous.

Not normal …

My lip was also huge, but I’ll spare you from any more pictures of that. The lip wasn’t affecting my running (or lack thereof). Running Wild had a Halloween themed run Tuesday evening that I hoped to attend (again, overly optimistic) and I was going to go as “Botox Gone Bad.” Clever, yes?

Tuesday I planned to go back to work. I was going to stay for half of the day and see how it went. Tuesday morning I had a really bad headache and when I got to work I couldn’t really focus on anything. I was just staring at my computer screens, but not really processing anything. It was an odd feeling and definitely not normal for me. I don’t usually have trouble focusing.

I texted Daniel and told him that my head was hurting and he suggested that I go to the ER and that they would likely do a CT scan on my brain to make sure that I didn’t have a subdural hematoma (blood in the brain (I had to ask what it was)). Cue anxiety.

The good news is that my brain is fine (aside from whatever case of crazy-head we were already dealing with), but they doctors diagnosed me with a mild concussion. I guess when you fall and hit your face/head on the concrete, it happens. To recover from a concussion you A) get plenty of rest, B) don’t think too hard and C) ease back into your normal, daily activities (i.e., running and working).

I’m just hanging out with the dog. Not running. Not using my brain.

The body is a funny thing. As soon as one area heals, other injuries start to surface. At least that’s what seemed to be the case with my teeth. I know that I mentioned soreness in my teeth earlier, but Wednesday and Thursday I began having extreme sensitivity. I couldn’t even drink lukewarm water without it causing me pain and cold and hot liquids were completely intolerable. This was a major bummer because I was relying on smoothies and frozen yogurt as dietary staples.

I was supposed to see the dentist Monday (after I get my stitches out), but since the pain seemed to be worsening, I called Thursday and thankfully they were able to work me in. The diagnosis there was fractured enamel on my front teeth and also some shifting of the teeth due to the impact of the hit. Apparently my front teeth could possibly die at some point in the near or distant future and at that point, I will need a root canal. Perfect.

Let’s talk about some happier things shall we?

Contrary to how the first part of this post may seem, I am really trying my best to keep a positive attitude. Life goes on all around us, regardless of how we choose to see it. We can choose how to interpret our environment. These interpretations are based on our attitudes. Like the saying goes: Change your attitude, change your life.

I’m not saying that life is all rainbows and sunshine, but it’s not all doom and despair, woe is me, either. I still feel extremely grateful that it wasn’t worse. All of these things will heal and I will be back running in no time.

Speaking of running! My coach assures me that in one down week (with some light cross training), I will not lose any of the long-term adaptations (VO2 max, lactate threshold, aerobic threshold, etc.) that I have been working so hard to build. There will be a slight decrease in short-term adaptations (mitochondrial content throughout the muscle fibers, enzymatic capacity, APT production (i.e., all the stuff that makes my head hurt because I am not supposed to be thinking)). However, even the short-term levels should be back to 100% within 3 to 4 days of regular training. Woo hoo!

After a few days off completely, I decided to try out the elliptical. The elliptical is much easier on the joints than running and thankfully, my knee didn’t hurt at all on the elliptical. Your body also stays somewhat stationary on the elliptical (no bouncing up and down (i.e., sloshing the brain)) and there is a much lower risk of falling. I am very thankful to have some form of activity to help keep me from going completely stir crazy.

One thing I know for sure is that when I am able to run again (hopefully by Monday … fingers crossed), I am truly going to appreciate every step. Sometimes taking a little break (forced or not) is good! It can give you a new perspective and outlook.

Speaking of this new outlook, I had 3 different people say “bless your heart” to me yesterday! If you’ve seen Steel Magnolias, you know that “bless your heart” is pretty much the worst thing you could ever possibly say about a person. Ha! I know that “bless your heart” isn’t really an automatic insult. It could very well mean “That is a terrible thing that happened and I’m genuinely sorry.” Thanks to this new perspective, I am going to choose to believe the latter.

What’s going on this weekend? Anyone racing? Tell me about it. I need to live vicariously through your miles!

Hello friends! Happy Monday!

I have some extra time on my hands today (funny how that happens when you aren’t able to run :)), so I’m seizing the opportunity for an updated current things post. I really enjoy writing these.

Current book: Daniel has gotten me into John Grisham recently. I don’t read (or watch) anything violent, so I always do a quick overview of the plot before I start a book to make sure it isn’t anything crazy. We both started with The Firm. Daniel also just finished Gray Mountain and I just finished The Partner. We are about to switch and read the other ones now. We like to discuss the books as we go!

Daniel is also reading The Insanity of God: A Story of Faith Resurrected by Nik Ripken and I am also still working on Present over Perfect. It’s a great book, but it’s harder to read quickly. I can blaze my way through fiction much faster non-fiction.

Current music: I am obsessed (I think there’s a separate category for that, but it’s going here anyway) with The Garth Channel on Sirius XM. It is a mix of Garth Brooks songs as well as songs from other artists who inspired and influenced him and it’s amazing.

Current guilty pleasure: I am about to cuddle up on the couch next to this goober and enjoy all the puppy snuggles.

Current drink: I try not to make diet sodas a daily habit, but for some reason when I am sick (or in this care I guess injured is more appropriate), I really crave Sprite. I am currently sipping on a Sprite Zero w/ a Lemon Lime Nuun tablet added in. Lots of lemony-limey goodness.

Just a fair warning: if you mix Nuun with a carbonated beverage, you need to do it over the sink. The combination is a bit “combustible” (I’m sure this isn’t scientifically the correct term, but the point is that it basically makes a little bit of a mess) and you’re going to have some fizz to deal with initially. It’s totally worth it though.

Current food: The food situation is a bit tricky currently. My teeth are still very sore and I am basically sticking with a mushy diet for the time being. I just ate a mashed banana on toast.

Any hard-core Gilmore Girls fans will appreciate this.

LORELAI: Mom, I think somebody already ate that.
EMILY: That is a mashed banana on toast.
LORELAI: OK.
EMILY: I used to make this for you all the time when you were a little girl.
LORELAI: You did?
EMILY: Yes, whenever you got sick I made this.
LORELAI: Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?

I first got the idea for mashed banana on toast from this show years ago. They actually made it sound horrible, but it sounded good to me. Bananas, good. Beef Bread, good. ICYMI: That was a Friend’s reference (I’m on a roll today). Long story short, my mom and I started doing the banana toast thing and it’s actually pretty good (in my opinion). I actually added applesauce to my concoction today. Gotta let that toast get good and mushy before I can actually chew it (#fatlipproblems)!

P. S. Who is excited about “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life?!” One more month!

Current obsession: The Instant Pot is pretty much the best thing ever! It is a multi-cooker, capable of completely taking the place of a pressure cooker, a slow cooker, a rice cooker, a sauté/browning pan, and a steamer. It cooks meals really fast (using less energy) and preserves the nutrients.

Y’all know that I am not a chef, but this thing is amazing. Here are a few things I have “cooked” in it (all cooked for less than 10 minutes!):

Baked apples (SO GOOD).

Quinoa (for dayzzz).

Daniel has used it more than I have. He’s cooked oatmeal, couscous (per my request, he doesn’t eat that voluntarily), steamed broccoli, bell peppers and lots of grilled chicken.

Current craving: Hot chocolate. Mmm.

Current need: A warm fire! It is nice and cool outside, so I have the porch and all of the windows open. It is chilly inside and of course, I am freezing, but I am determined to enjoy the beautiful weather! The struggle is real.

Current indulgence: I have a hard time with this category every time. I have let the word indulge acquire a negative connotation in my brain. When I think of indulge, I automatically think of lack of self-control or lack of self-discipline, which would be a weakness. I am really trying to shift my perception of this. Indulgence does not mean over-indulgence.

I’ve been taking time in the evenings to slow down (i.e., SIT DOWN) for a few minutes and enjoy the sunset. This might not seem like a big deal, but it has really been a nice change of pace. As I sit, I am immediately reminded of Psalm 46:10: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Current bane of my existence: Politics.

Current procrastination: I need to go through my closet and put some summer stuff away and get some winter things out of storage, but I’m not really feeling that today. I’ll blame it on my “injuries” instead of my laziness (which is a pretty legit excuse in my opinion).

Current confession: I spent a fair amount of time yesterday watching YouTube videos about how to curl your hair using a flat iron and practicing it. Again, I’ve got too much time on my hands.

So glamorous. LOL!

Current quote: Ernest Hemingway: “We are all broken, that’s how the light gets in.”

Current excitement: I just discovered the Garmin Face-It app and I have been experimenting with different watch home screens. It makes me smile!

You know … that time that I ran 26.2 miles, but couldn’t walk one. more. step.

Current mood: Some combination of sleepy, content and grateful.

Tell me something that you are currently loving!

Hello, hello and happy (almost) weekend! I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

I’ve had mostly easy runs this week, so there isn’t really much to report on the running front. I did do a workout Thursday … the dreaded 3 X 2 mile repeat workout. This was the workout last month that kind of did me in. Looking back now, it was actually a blessing in disguise because it started the wheels turning on the whole the burnout discussion and now, just one month later, I am feeling SO MUCH BETTER.

When I saw this workout pop up on the schedule again, I didn’t dread it at all. I was excited to get out there and conquer it! I did the workout outside (woo hoo!) and was able to hit the paces, so I feel really good about this one. Below is a side by side comparison of the workout from this week and from the last time that I did it (August 17th). It went so much better this time!

This week: 1 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles w/ 400 rec. (6:33, 6:21, 6:17, 6:21, 6:15, 6:09), 1.5 mi. CD
Last time: 2 mi. WU, 3 X 2 miles w/ 400 rec. (6:33, 6:16, 6:33, 6:46, 6:59, 7:00), 2.0 mi. CD

Now that we’ve got the running stuff out of the way, it’s time for an updated “current” things post. Let’s go!

Current book: Thanks to my friend Jill’s recommendation I ordered Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.

Present Over Perfect is described as “a hand reaching out, pulling you free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more, all while maintaining an exhausting image of perfection” and also as guiding you “away from frantic pushing and proving, and toward your essential self, the one you were created to be before you began proving and earning for your worth.”

Jill recommended this book to me after my Burnout post and I am so excited to start reading it. It sounds, for lack of a better word, perfect.

Current music: My favorite song right now is hands down “Chain Breaker” by Zach Williams. I’ve been listening to this on repeat for a week or two (that’s what I do w/ music … listen to the song over and over and over again until I can’t take it anymore and then I move on to the next obsession).