Plan Adjustment

Today’s update is really late because well life happens and it was a pretty busy day for me.  So this will be short and sweet and pretty much directly to the point.  Yesterday I hit the gym and wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. Well, I felt crappy going in because I felt like a total slob and detoxing and all.  But I got on the treadmill and ran.  I warmed up with a run and just took it easy for a few minutes, before well, starting to fly honestly.  I felt great. What?  Yup, I really felt good.  I knocked out 2 miles and then headed into class.  Class was another fun one. 7 rounds of 7 each of 7 different exercises.  Sweat session for sure.  Then afterwards I needed to run more.  I got on the treadmill and just felt so good that I kept going for another 3 miles.  Leaving me with a total of 5 miles run and class.  It was exactly what I needed. My body, my mind, my soul needed that run.  Someday are just like that.  It was good. 

 

 And just for the hell of it, this was one of yesterday’s Instagram posts.  I basically am just posting them here as documentation of my life.

Anyway, back to last night.  I came home, ate, and then ate some more, and then ate some more.  I was hungry. It was okay.  I did end up eating 4, yup 4 Greek yogurt cups.  They are only 80 calories a piece, so that is like 320 calories of yogurt but there are so many worse things than that and I just love them so much!  It’s all good.  I set out all my workout clothes for this morning and got everything ready to go.  The truth is, my marathon training plan has now shifted.  On Tuesdays they no longer require a 6.5 mile run, we are now down to 4.5 miles.  I just have this week left and then next week I start the taper.  What??? Yup, next week I move into taper which is less and less miles.  Crazy right?  So I knew I only needed to run 4.5 miles today.  I woke up at 5:30.  I got up. I turned on the coffee machine. I let the girls outside and it was dark. Like black as night and cold.  I was like, hmm, it’s almost September and my reasons for not running at night are getting less and less valid.  And boy did I just want to sleep.  So I made the executive decision that I was going back to bed.

I can run 4.5 miles at night. Hell I just ran 5 miles last night so I got this.  I crawled back into bed and snuggled with my dogs for another 2 hours.  And it was perfect.  I have to admit that the lack of sleep on previous Tuesdays really was affecting me all day long and then on Wednesdays too.  So I was like screw it, let’s sleep. BUT, I did formulate a new plan.

The new plan was this.  I would just wear my workout clothes to work because I have the chillest coolest office around and no one cares if I show up in full on workout clothes and then at lunchtime I would head over to the Snap Fitness that apparently I can go to with my membership card that is here close to my work.  The one I go to regularly is close to my house and it takes me 20 minutes to get there from work.  The one by work is like 5 minutes away.  I have never been to this location but I knew it was there.  Anyway, I decided that I could just take my lunch hour and run.  Yes, I’d be stinky and sweaty when I was done but oh well. I’ll dry.  Plus my work is again so chill.  I am typically the only one here anyway.  So long as I don’t do it all the time it would be fine.

So the plan was set in motion.  And I waiting until lunch time and did in fact drive to the gym.  I can tell you that I felt much more awake today and peppy.  Not actually getting up at 5:30 AM will do that.  Again, I only “needed” to run 4.5 miles per the plan.  But I was just like, we will see how I feel.  So I got on the treadmill and started it up.  This was a different treadmill than I was used to so it took me a few minutes to get it adjusted correctly.  This killed my pace for the first mile. It was a 10:40 something mile.  I was like whatever.  But then I was feeling really good so I upped the speed right away to a 6.2 and ran for a while.  Then I took it to a 6.3 and then a 6.4 where I ran up to a solid 4 miles.  And I was like, I SO got this. I was feeling AMAZING.  I went to 6.5 and I ran another 2 miles at 6.5 miles per hour.  I do not typically run this fast on a treadmill.  Treadmills are miserable typically.  But for whatever reason I was so full of energy and enthusiasm today that it just happened.  I ended up doing 6 miles in 57:29 and that included my 10:40 first mile.  So realistically I ran at a much faster pace than the 9:34 it clocked me at. But this was spectacular and I will take it. 615 calories burned.

 I felt totally redeemed for not having run in the morning.  Previous mornings I only ran 6.5 miles anyway so I was only doing ½ a mile less than I normally did.  All was still good.  But the good news is I felt so much better physically while doing it and I felt so much better this afternoon as a result of the run.  I did not feel sleepy and drained as waking up early makes me feel.  Yeah, yeah!  So this is all pretty much fabulous. I will take it all.  So I get to go to the gym again tonight and do different stuff. I will probably still do a warm up run before class to get my heart rate up there. I still feel fabulous and its almost 4 PM.  Honestly I feel better than I normally do at 4 PM on most days so I think the afternoon run was quite invigorating honestly.  So I will warm up with a mile run or so and then take the 30 minute abs/core class which I have previously mentioned how much I dislike. Good times.  And then I will do something. Probably some strength training. Something anyway.  I don’t know. 

I am on the final stretch of my marathon training and right now that is just getting my full attention.  Which is okay.  If the other stuff slides a little until after Maui, so be it.  This is where my heart  is fully at right now and it needs to be.  Speaking of that.  I posted this this afternoon. And I am just going to copy what I posted from Instagram because it says it all.

This right here is one of my favorite posts ever and I am going to tell you why.

I’ve talked a lot about how secretly it has always been my desire to run a marathon. But given my life history and the reality that I didn’t run my first race until about 2 years ago, it was a dream I kept buried deep. For years I ran on the treadmill and did NOT consider myself a runner. But that didn’t stop me from wishing that someday I could accomplish such an epic feat. In fact, for years I cut out running ads as motivation from various fitness magazines. In time, I assumed they were lost for the ages. This weekend I happened to open a long lost drawer and stumbled across a folder full of some of these torn magazine pages. And there it was. 26.2 miles of heart. I actually remember this ad vividly. I would read it and wonder if I’d ever be brave enough to run a real marathon.

I knew I kept this crazy dream in my heart for a long time. And sure enough, the bottom of one of those pages provided a date. April 2008. That’s well over 7 years ago my friends. For a minimum of 7 years but realistically longer, I have had this dream. I never ever spoke this dream out loud. I have no idea why. Fear. I am sure it was fear of failure. That is a very long time to carry around something that clearly means a whole lot to you.

And in exactly 24 days it’s going to happen. I am not even sure I’ve fully come to terms with the lasting ramifications of realizing a dream that I’ve carried around with me for so long. I can’t even put into words why it’s this important to me, other than it just is. Clearly. 7 plus years of wishing for it. And now it’s FINALLY going to happen. I can’t express at all how fulfilled crossing that finish line will make me. I have tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Imagine the day? Accomplishing this goal is a BIG deal.
I don’t even have the words to tell you what this will all mean. Because here is the real visible proof that 7 years ago I was hoping for this day. I now know that it simply was always meant to be. That destiny was someday going to lead me to both that start and finish line. I AM a REAL runner. End of Story.

Seriously, in all honesty I’ve  been cutting out marathon quotes for longer than 7 years.  Pretty much from when I started this whole journey like 11 years ago.  But to have some visual real tangible proof from 7 years ago is so crazy and cool.  This is pretty much what it all means to me.  This is why this is so important and my real everything.  It really touches my soul in a way that nothing else has.  And I am going to cry. Cry so much honestly.  Happy tears of joy.  This is the biggest lifelong dream.  And I can’t wait!