Number 18

Just as quickly as the weekend comes, it is gone. A few days post IUD I can safely say that Friday I was really truly feeling the effects more than I realized. Funny how we try and convince ourselves we are fine, when in reality we are hurting. At least I was smart enough by midafternoon to listen to my body and decide AGAINST going to the gym. So yes, I did not exercise Thursday or Friday and I am okay with that. I was exhausted and my body needed the recuperation, especially considering I ran a half marathon on Saturday morning. In the end, it was the smartest decision for me.

What this means is that on Friday night I again ate to much food. I mean, both Thursday and Friday night were not crazy crazy but they were not great. It’s really funny how on days when I exercise and could eat more food without feeling guilty I don’t. I am much more able to keep myself in check. Then on days when I don’t exercise it’s a double whammy and suddenly I eat more as well. I am going to chalk all this up to the trauma my body underwent and let it go. Especially considering Saturday morning we woke up, got in the car, and ran a half marathon.

They are getting slightly harder. Or else I care a lot less and therefore they just seem harder. To be honest my body was not 100% recuperated and I felt pretty crampy, and around mile 2 or 3 I knew it was going to be a long process but I endured. It didn’t feel awful awful so I kept going. I ran solidly for 8 or 9 miles and then I just got tired. I was already feeling extra exhausted and woke up with zero energy or motivation at all so the fact that I lasted 8 or 9 miles was pretty impressive to me. I spent the last 4-5 miles alternating between run/walk stretches. To be honest the course was boring, it was a smaller race and there was zero excitement to keep me going.  In other words, it was no Rock N Roll race and therefore the outcome is perfectly acceptable to me.

What is fairly amazing is that this was my 18^th half marathon of the year. That’s a lot and I often forget to give myself credit for doing the shit that I do. 13.1 miles seems fairly common place to me now, but it’s still a hell of a hard distance actually, and I would do well to remember that. I finished the race, there was not really any fun post-race activities, had a bite to eat, drank a bottle of water, and we headed home. We stopped at the grocery store for the fixings for Turkey Burgers, which were amazing. I spent a perfect afternoon lounging outside, playing with my dogs, watching some TV and just hanging out with my husband.

Then, after a few hours of inactivity you start to get rummy or bored. I was getting antsy to do something so I called my mom to see what was going on. She has been dating someone from an online dating site, don’t even know which one she met him on, and he was over. Anyhow, she said that in 15 minutes they were going to dinner and a movie with my sister Erin and her husband. I’m like, really, you didn’t invite me? She said, of course come. So in 15 minutes I got ready and headed to my mom’s house. So my sister and brother in law, me and Chris and my mom and her “boyfriend” that I have never met before all went to dinner and then a movie.

You know what; it was a really nice time. I didn’t mind the guy, although bizarre to see my mom be affectionate with another man it has been almost 11 years since my dad passed, so I guess its okay. I’m a grown woman and can understand my mom’s need for companionship. He seemed to do pretty good with us in our vocal, liberal setting.  We went to an appetizer place, but it was happy hour so we got tons of weird but good appetizer dishes. It would not have been my choice of food but I didn’t complain or pick it, I just rolled with it. I drank 2 sangrias and ate the food and just lived with it. There was no way at all to track my food, just had to live with the idea that I could eat some, not indulge or gorge on it and be confident knowing that I ran a half marathon earlier and burned 2,000 calories in the process.

We were going to see Guardians of the Galaxy but when we got to the theater it was pretty much sold out so we ended up seeing the other movie that was playing at the same time, which was Let’s Be Cops. It was a stupid comedy but I did laugh. Fairly low brow humor but enjoyable none the less, especially after having 2 alcoholic beverages on a slightly empty stomach. It was all good. I came home and I was just exhausted. I did not take a nap in the afternoon like my husband and by the time 10 PM rolled around I was feeling the effects of an entire day of activity.

Yesterday I woke up in a daze, still completely exhausted and not wanting to do anything. Chris had to work, so I knew I had the day to myself which is nice on occasion to. I put on my workout clothes because I knew that I wanted to get in a good workout since I did miss last Thursday and Friday. My stomach was finally feeling a little better so after a little while I was ready to go. I decided that ultimately I just wanted to go to the gym and do what I wanted to do, so I didn’t make plans with anyone. I drove to the gym and decided that I wanted to run to wake and warm myself up.  I have to admit that over the past couple months I had become a terrible running slacker. Sure I’d run half’s on the weekends etc., but I wouldn’t run a single step in between and ultimately this wasn’t that good for me. I need to run more. The last week or so I’ve been upping my running game and honestly it’s been making me work that much harder when I lift.

Shockingly my legs were not sore at all from the half. I guess this is probably because I gave them a two day rest prior to the run. Nothing hurt, no tired. So I just decided to run. I was only going to run for maybe 20 minutes, but I felt pretty good, so I just kept running. It really did the trick in waking me up and getting my excited to work out so I just kept going. I did 4 miles in 40 minutes and felt amazing. I then went over and hit the weights. Lots of different exercises, nothing really in isolation or specific. Just overall a good solid workout. Headphones in, world tuned out, sweat pouring. I didn’t have to answer to anyone, had nowhere I had to be, etc. It was pretty perfect.

I walked out of the gym 2 hours later, having burned 1110 calories, but more importantly feeling amazing. And accomplished. And glad that I had just done that. I ran a few errands around town, special light bulbs, a few food items, etc., and then I stopped by my mom’s house for a few hours and just chatted with her. Eventually I went home, played with the dogs and then Chris came home. He made an awesome dinner for us. Boneless Pork Tenderloins, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and bread. It was amazingly good.

I feel pretty good about how the entire weekend went all things considered. I had a few bad days of eating, but I had some highlights as well. Today I feel really refreshed and energized and ready to go. I’m excited to hit the gym tonight again and kill it. Classes tonight and I am just READY. Yup I feel good right now at 11 AM, but we will see when 5 PM rolls around.

But for right now, today, I am feeling pretty good and happy and on track. Whatever happened yesterday is in the past and today I am confident and strong and ready to keep moving forward towards my goals.