Bumpdate: 38 Weeks

38 weeks...wow, I saw this week as a far off goal. I always felt like there was plenty of time to get stuff taken care of and organized. No need to rush and stress about putting the nursery together. It will all get taken care of in time for the babies arrival. Right?

10 Days of Compression and Christmas Eve!

Hello all and Merry Christmas Eve! It's the day before Christmas and I'm at work, per usual. It's pretty empty here, lots of people with their families getting ready for the big day tomorrow. It doesn't bother me too much to be here today since I will be getting out a bit earlier today than normal, thank you to the CEO!

The extra time at home will give me a couple of hours to do some food prep for tomorrow mornings festivities. My sister and I usually take care of breakfast and pastries for Christmas morning, while my parents take care of dinner. On the menu this year is homemade cinnamon rolls (with and without pecans), two different quiches, fruit salad and mimosas. Well, no mimosas for my sister and I. :(  It will be a nice day where we get together early (7:30am, GASP!) have pastries and coffee and wake up a bit. Then we open presents and have breakfast. We then spend the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and putting together a puzzle, have an early dinner and play board games into the night. It really is a fun day and the last one we'll have with just us, next year we will have kiddos in the mix which will change the dynamic of this day going forward.

Today is also the final day of my 10 Days of Compression! Let's have a quick recap of the previous entries!

Momentum Monday and Days of Compression

T'was the Monday before Christmas and the house is a mess. The presents are all wrapped and under the tree, thank goodness! I'm so glad that I don't have to brave the stores for any last minute gifts and I am saying a prayer of peace and sanity for all those of you that will be braving the crowds today and tomorrow. I've got two more days of work until the holiday and then I'm off until after the New Year, WOOHOO!!! I am spending the time off after the holiday to be available just in case my sister goes into labor, she is due January 2nd! SO EXCITING!!!!
 
This year is going to be one of great change for the whole family and I can't wait to see every new moment that comes along. It all just makes me nervous about how I'm going to handle everything with all these new challenges. So when I saw today's Momentum Monday quote, I knew I had to use it.

Day 5 of Compression and "The Jam" Thursday

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope you all are having a great week so far, only one more day until the weekend! Woo hoo! But news flash! It is only 6 more days until Christmas!!!

ACK!!!

I still have two more presents to buy and stocking stuffers! Oye!! When will I find the time? Maybe tomorrow. I hope tomorrow.

Today is Day 5 of my 10 Days of Compression and I am featuring one of the first pairs of Pro Compression marathon socks I ever owned. The Marathon Pink!

Bumpdate: 34 Weeks and Day 4 of Compression!

As the weeks creep by, or rather FLY by with the holidays upon us, I am increasingly aware that there will be a new person in my life. A little addition to our family. Family. Not a couple anymore, but a family. Gives me pause every now and then thinking about that.

Then I remember that there will be many sleepless nights and diaper changes and feedings and crying (both baby and mommy!). Stress and sleep deprivation and anxiety and frustration and confusion will abound I am sure for many months (if not years) to come.

At the same time though I think about all the little highlights that I will watch and be apart of, walking, talking, playing with other children, learning, asking questions, growing and becoming a person like you and me. It's amazing to sit back and think about it all. Marvel at the cycle of life and all the unexplained nuiances that happen. It's just crazy.

Today is my 34 week bumpdate and my weekly picture.

10 Days of Compression: Day 3

To follow along with my post yesterday, I am sharing Day 3 of my 10 Days of Compression!

Today is the holiday luncheon at work and I was feeling in the Christmas festive mood. Today's pair of compression socks is Marathon Red!

Momentum Monday: Under (com)pression

It's Monday and 9 days until Christmas. I can't believe I just typed that, 9 days away from Christmas! Single digits people, SINGLE DIGITS!! Where has the time gone? I blame Thanksgiving being a week later this year for the sudden arrival of Christmas. We have had our tree up for over a week now, but it's still not decorated. It's got lights on it, but no decorations. Sad sight indeed. I need to remedy that today.

Along with the pressures and expectations of the quickly coming holiday, there are the changes that my body is going through for the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I am officially 34 weeks today, meaning there is only 6 more weeks until the baby is anticipated to arrive and that is just crazy talk, I tell ya! Along with the consistent movement of the pumpkin and new types of discomfort, I am now starting to experience swelling.

Oh yay.

As if I don't already feel uncomfortable in my own skin, my body has now decided to start retaining water with the main collection area being my legs, ankles and feet. Typical right? Most women that I have talked to have complained of  swollen ankles and feet through the latter part of their pregnancy. Mine becomes especially prominent due to the fact that I stand at work, so my feet and ankles definitely take a beating. So how do I combat this issue?

Compression socks!

Not just any compressions socks, but Pro Compression. I have been using these socks for over a year now for my running and recovery and they are the only compression socks that I will wear. I've tried Zensah and CEP and neither of those brands provide the same type of support and comfort as I've received from Pro Compression. Starting yesterday I've started to wear my compression socks on a more regular basis to help bring down the swelling in my legs, ankles and feet and increase the circulation that is needed for those parts.

So my Momentum Monday today is to do a lead up to Christmas with 10 Days of Compression!

Race Recap: Rock and Roll Seattle Half Marathon

A year ago I watched my friend Danielle complete her first half marathon at the Seattle Rock and Roll race. I was so inspired and motivated by what I saw around me that day, that I went to the registration tent that same day and signed up for the next years race. Never having run a distance longer than 5k, I knew that I had a lot of training ahead of me, but I was excited for the challenge.
 
Fast forward a year, I've completed a half marathon already and I ran plenty of double digit training runs to feel comfortable with the distance of 13.1 miles. And it was time to run the race I had signed up for so long ago.
 
It began with the expo on Friday, it was quite impressive and the bib pickup process was quite easy!

Race Recap: Fall City Days 10K

I signed up for this race less than a month before the race date, it was definitely a knee jerk registration. The reason? I needed a 10K time to submit for corral placement for the Disneyland Half Marathon and since times have to be submitted no later than July 1st, I needed to get on that and fast! So I saw this community race that was pretty affordable and thought I would give it a go!

I went to packet pick up the day before and got my bib and timing chip. Then did my pre-race ritual of pinning my bib onto my outfit and getting it all laid out the night before.

 

Compression socks, anyone?

So if you have been reading my blog for a while you will know how much I LOVE my compression socks! Pro Compression is my brand of choice for sure! I have used other brands and I just don't get the same overall support that I get with Pro Compression. The colors and holiday designs are really fun additions to any runners wardrobe!
 
Today they released their Sock of the Month colors and with the Spring and Summer coming, these colors really POP! Pro Compression encourages people to share the information on their deals, and these were just too good not to pass along.
 

Race Recap: BMO Vancouver 8K

It thrills me to be writing this recap.  I wanted to run the BMO Half Marathon in Vancouver and almost signed up for it half a dozen times, but something always kept me from doing it. Then my back issue happened and I realized that I was really glad I hadn't spent the money because I knew I would not have been able to run that course.

However my good friend Danielle was running the half, so I decided to go up with her and cheer her on at the finish. Then she tempted me with entering the 8k...oh running peer pressure, how ruthless you can be. My doctor said I could run 5 miles and with this 8k just looking at me on the page saying "you know you wanna run me", I gave in and registered.  What can I say?  I'm weak for bling.

"The Jam" Thursday & May Sock of the Month!

Hello Thursday!!!  I'm pretty stoked because today is my Friday for this week!  Woohoo!!  I get two three day weekends in a row!  To my defense, I had two weeks of 50+ hours and five days a week, I was torched.  So I'm really glad I have this time off this weekend to decompress and get some cleaning done in the house!  I am also going on a little adventure up north with a friend on Saturday, but I'll talk more about that on Tuesday when I post my race recap. ;)

So today's "jam" is a fun song that I've been hearing on my Songza lists lately and always turn it up when it comes on.  Just a fun, catchy song that always seems to get my booty bumping and my legs pumping.  So today I present:

Race Recap: St. Pat's Day Dash

I wasn't going to race this past weekend.  I wasn't going to get involved in any runs in the area around here, and there were quite a few being talked about.  Though as the week went on and friends were tweeting and Facebooking about the races they were going to run during St. Patty's weekend, the more I started to rethink my decision.

Then I got a Twitter message.

An invitation to run with the co-founders of a local website, Gametiime.  It is a new site that is designed to be your "go-to" search engine for races.  Right now they are testing their beta site and the listings are only for Washington state races (sorry rest of the nation).  But I have seen and tested their beta site and all I have to say is THANK YOU! I can not wait for this site to be released because it has so many great features and the ease of use is fantastic.

So to have the ability to run with these guys and pick their brains a bit was too good to pass up.  So I signed up, the Thursday before the race.  I never sign up for a race this late, but I did and I'm not sorry about it.

I kinda wanted to run this race to be honest.  I had a great outfit planned for it already if I did decide to run, so I was glad when I finally caved, because I got to wear all this great gear!

 

Race Recap: Princess Half Marathon

Many months ago I started a long journey with a goal in mind and an ultimate destination of this race.  Right here and right now is the culmination of all the hard work, time spent and sacrifices that I made to train.  It all comes down to this point, these series of moments, this final delivery of the prize I've been fighting so hard for.  This is it.  It's go time.

The 2:30am wake up call is an ungodly way to wake up, but the race started in three hours and there was so much still to do.  The room was already buzzing with everyone up and about getting dressed and ready to catch the first buses.  I've seen pictures and heard hellish stories about the lines to get on the buses to get to the race and if you didn't have a car to drive yourself there, the bus was your only form of transport.  The buses started transporting at 3am, so it was important to get on the first couple of buses to ensure you made it to the start on time!

I've got my take on Cinderella running outfit on and I'm ready to head to the buses!

Friday and March 1st!

Wow, it is March 1st.  Wasn't it just New Year's Eve like a few weeks ago?  The time is going so quickly it is seriously blowing my mind!

Yesterday was my first run since the Princess 1/2 marathon on Sunday and it was a mixed bag.  I participated in the St. Pat's Dash Training Run hosted by Brooks.  The training run is around Greenlake and ends at Super Jock n Jill, where there were snacks and hydration provided by Nuun (my fave!) and they raffled off great prizes! They hold this event during the three Thursdays prior to the St. Pat's Dash and if you attend all three runs you get a special custom shirt from Brooks.  Pretty snazzy!

So yesterday had been cold and rainy, so I had a feeling we would be running in the rain as well.  No biggie, it happens.  Well luckily the rain held off, but it was quite dark when we headed out at 6:30 for the quick 3 mile run. 

Now last year my friends and I ran these training runs and we barely made it back in time for the raffle, which they start about 40 minutes after the run began.  We would get in around 45-47 minutes, so needless to say, we were bringing up the rear.  Well this run was no exception, we were still bringing up the rear (most runners around here are so fast, I feel quite inadequate when it comes to speed!) but this time it was different.  The raffle hadn't started yet, we had run pretty hard (read: I was dying!), and the clock at the store read 7:05.  Wait, what?  Did I just make that run in 35 minutes?  A distance just short of a 5K in 35 minutes?!?! 

BOOYAH!!!

I felt good, oh so good about the run and my time!  Especially coming off the heels of a half marathon this past weekend.  I didn't think I would bounce back this quickly and to best my time from last year by almost 12 minutes!  That's a HUGE step and big show of progress in just this past year.  It was so encouraging and I'm still smiling about it today.  I may not have won anything from the raffle, but I got the best reward ever, proof that my training is doing me well and that I can and will improve!

Coming from that high last night, I opened my email this morning and saw my favorite beginning of the month email!  Pro Compression just released their SOM (sock of the month) and just in time for St. Patrick's Day!  See below the awesomely cute socks they are offering for a really great deal of 40% off!!  If you know me well, you will know I <heart> Pro Compression socks, I never go on a long run without them.  I will confess, I have 7 pairs of marathon socks and one pair of calf sleeves, that is how much I love them!

Save 40% Off Shamrock Compression Socks & All Calf Sleeves

What could be better for your St. Patrick's Day race than a great deal on our Limited Edition Shamrock Compression Socks and all Calf Sleeves? Best of all, you'll save 40% and get free shipping when you enter Coupon Code SOM3 at checkout! Yes, you are welcome to share this offer with friends, training partners and other enthusiasts!

With these great features, our "Marathon" full-length, graduated compression products are an amazing value: - Promotes blood flow for speedy recovery - Foot-bed compression - Built-in "Stabilizer Zone" for optimal support - Advanced materials for moisture control  - Made in USA - mmHg rating 22-26 If this isn't the coolest sock ever, we'd like to see it! Save 40% and get FREE shipping!

Limited Time Offer Coupon code SOM3 is valid for purchases of our Marathon Shamrock socks and all Calf Sleeves in the store. Don't wait, inventory is limited, and this offer expires March 18, 2013. Orders received before March 6th will ship by the 9th, in plenty of time for your St. Patrick's Day event!

 __________________________________________________


Even if you don't get any of these socks, take a look at their website, they may have a color or style that catches your eye and suits your fancy. 

Hope your Friday is great and that you have wonderful plans for this weekend.  As for me, I'm back to training and it is 6 miles on the schedule for me.  I may have just finished my first half marathon, but that doesn't mean I need to rest completely, I don't want to lose the mileage I've worked so hard to build up.  So a nice and easy 6 miles for Saturday it is for me.  Hahahaha...I'm laughing at the "nice and easy 6 miles" comment, whew...that made me laugh.  To think back when one mile was a battle, now I can do a "nice and easy 6 miles".  HA!  Have a great weekend.

"The Jam" Thursday - What is blowing up my iPod

It's Thursday and I couldn't be more excited.  Tomorrow starts my three day weekend and I see sleeping in on my schedule.  ::happy dance::  I've been getting crap for sleep lately and it's driving me to drink...more coffee that is.  :) 

Today is "The Jam" Thursday where I share beats that get my legs pumping and my booty bumping.  Today's "jam" is on the airwaves now and would be considered a "club beat", but I don't care, those are usually the ones I like to listen to when I need a distraction during a run.  This is a collaboration between two artists that are big in their own right and just as controversial.   I'm going to fly my girly flag here with this admission, but I've been a fan of hers since before she made it big and I still, to this day, buy all her albums.  Don't hate, you do it too.  (Or you burn her music from your friends who do buy it and keep the discs hidden and listen in secret.)

Today's "jam" is:

 

Scream and Shout by will.i.am and Britney Spears

 

It's a repetitious song I know, most club songs are, but it kinda gets stuck in your head then before you know it this song is playing in your head as you wake up in the morning.  Damn ear worms.  It's fun and good on your run or in the car.  Throw this on your music rotation, you can thank me later.

 

 

Also, today I have a deal to share with you from my favorite compression company, Pro Compression!  I am seriously addicted to their marathon socks!  I wear them when I do my long runs and then wear another pair later for recovery!  I also wear them when I travel to help combat swelling in my legs during flights and long car rides.  They are FANTASTIC!  They have just released their Sock of the Month deal and provided a discount code and I wanted to share it all with you!

 

 

FROM PRO COMPRESSION: For February's Sock of the Month, we gave our designers a selection of awesome yarn colors and let them go to work! We think you'll agree our Sock of the Month will absolutely brighten your winter workouts.

Best of all, you'll save 40% and get free shipping when you enter Coupon Code SOM213 at checkout.

 

So take a look and have some fun with these cute new socks from Pro Compression and if you haven't taken the leap into compression socks you should definitely try!  

End of Week 9 Half Marathon training

I promise I will keep up on my training recaps, this is for last week's training, so I'm on the right track, right?  Right!  Now let's get on with it.

Last week I was reeling off the good vibes from my 7 mile run the Saturday before, so I came into this past week of training with a renewed sense of accomplishment and appreciation.  My training schedule for this week was pretty standard:

Tuesday:  30 minute run/walk
Thursday:  30 minute run/walk
Saturday:  8 mile long run (again, my longest distance)

The wet and rainy weather really moved into the Seattle area this past week and it made its presence noticed.  The Tuesday I was set for a run, the rain was so significant that most roadways and sidewalks were overrun with huge puddles and "land lakes" that it was just not safe to be out on the streets until the drains were cleared up and the water had gone down.

Wednesday was looking more promising and surprisingly dry in the morning, so I jumped on the chance to take a noon time run.  I suited up and went out for a good 30 minute run.  I was happy to be out of the office and let my legs stretch a bit.  I was reveling in the fact that I was now able to cover longer distances in the same amount of time I had previously, it was such a great feeling...until my shins started screaming at me!!

It was so painful to the point that I HAD to walk, running just wasn't an option and walking was a bit of a chore.  I was so disappointed.  I really wanted to have a good run and was poised to do so.  Stupid shins!  So I finished out my run and got it done in the prescribed amount of time, showered and got back to work.  I felt good about getting my run done and all before the rain started up again.  WOOHOO!

Thursday I was meeting up with my friend Danielle to do a track workout.  This would be my first time doing this type of running workout, so I had no idea what to expect.  The intervals she had us running at were ones that she had learned from a speed work class she had taken a few months ago.  Man did it ever push the boundaries of my lungs and legs!  Whew!!!  It was a 3 mile workout, but boy did I ever earn the sweat I was covered in!  We did series of sprints and faster running sections and then another series of sprints and more faster running sections.  It wasn't until the second set of sprints that my legs really started to stretch out.  I had a bigger lung capacity and my strides were long and quick.  It was fun actually.  But boy did I feel it the next day, phew!

Saturday I got together with friend Danielle again for a long run.  I had 8 miles planned and she had 6 miles, so I was going to drive over to her place, run two miles on my own and then do a 6 mile loop together because I knew I would need the encouragement of another runner during my last couple of miles.  Only, I woke up not feeling well AT ALL!  My tummy was upset and I was feeling SUPER sluggish, almost like I was coming down with something.  I contemplated calling in on the run and doing it on Sunday, but I was meeting with someone and I'd eaten almost half of my pre-long run breakfast, so I decided to just do 6 miles and make up the other two later. 

When we set out on the run, it wasn't so bad, well other than it was really breezy, cold and starting to rain.  Yay...or something.  So we mostly ran to keep warm.  The miles started going by pretty quickly and before I knew it, we were half way through the 6 miles and I was feeling great!  My body had fought off whatever yuckiness I had going on in the morning and was really taking to my run.  At that point I made the decision that I was going to continue on with the extra two miles after Danielle had finished with her six.  So I began fueling accordingly during the rest of the run so that I had plenty of energy to make it through the last few miles.

When it was time to finish the last two miles the rain really started coming down, but I didn't stop, I didn't turn back, I kept going.  Kept the legs churning and getting that mileage.  It was tough, my legs were toast and my body was just done with the run.  My form was slipping and I was getting really cold from being soaked.  I finally finished and felt this amazing feeling of "badass-ness", I had kicked those 8 miles and I was still standing.  A bit water logged, but still standing!

And of course, just as I was finishing, the damn sun came out and it stopped raining.  Figures.

Sported my new baby blue argyle pro compression socks.  So stylin'!  Loving my baby blues!

It was an amazing feeling getting through those 8 miles.  I had never run that far before in my life and I was amazed I was able to do it.  The body is quite an amazing thing.  The rest of the day I took great care on hydrating and fueling myself accordingly so that I didn't have issues like I had the weekend before with my 7 mile run.

Now my sights are set on a different goal this week, my raceversary is on Sunday with the Jingle Bell 5K in Seattle.  I'm so excited to be running this again (and this time I'll be chipped for timing!) and see how I do compared to my first time last year.  Considering that was the first race I had ever ran and I had trained for only 7 weeks beforehand, I hope it's a better showing this time! :)  Good thing my schedule calls for only 3 miles this weekend because I'm going to make every single one of those miles count with extra exertion!  OH!  Did I mention that I was going to debut a new Team Sparkle skirt?  I'm so excited to add some extra sparkle to a fun race!

End of Week 8 Half Marathon training

A week late in the recap, so I apologize, but it did have some significance!

The previous week was my 8th week of half marathon training.  Wow...I've been at it for two months, it's freaky to think that.  Anyway.  My training looked like this:

Tuesday:  30 minute run/walk
Thursday: 30 minute run/walk
Saturday: 7 mile long run (aack! My longest distance yet!)

So this week of training happened to fall on the same week as Thanksgiving.  Awesome, I could still train and feel good about indulging in my Thanksgiving faves!  Um, yeah...about that.  That didn't happen.  My runs on Tuesday and Thursday, didn't happen at. all. 

Tuesday I was covering for another person at work at the same time of doing my insane amount of work, so I couldn't get out for a lunch time run and it was way too dark to run after work.  I refuse to run in the dark by myself, too many lady bloggers have posted some scary situations they've been involved in or their friend had been involved in. Now that it's dark earlier, I run at lunch or if I don't have a group to run with after work, I don't run.  Period.  Safety is way too important and more important than my training.

Thursday I had the day off with the hubs and instead of going for a short run, we decided to take my parents dog for a 5 mile walk to help get her yeh-yeh's out before all the company came over.  We took the walk at a nice pace and came back nice and sweaty...and hungry!  Oh and for the dog, yeah, didn't work.  She was still a bucket of energy, even immediately after coming back from the walk, she was running laps in the house!  Crazy!

Saturday I was determined to not let the past week deter me from hitting a new mileage distance and getting closer to that 13.1 miles.  Saturday's distance was 7 miles.  I had never run 7 miles and running a new distance is always a daunting feeling, there are always doubts.  Regardless, I geared up, strapped on my hydration belt with water in one bottle and Nuun Tri-berry in the other and brought a new fuel (to me) to try during the run, Watermelon flavored Sports Beans.  (I'm experimenting with different fuels to see which works the best for me during the longer runs.)

The sun actually came out so I was wearing a short sleeved shirt, my Brooks vest, capris and Adreneline shoes, and also rocking these lovely compression socks from Pro Compression.

The argyle is just so fun!!!  LOVE IT!

So I set out for 7 miles nearby my place.  Now I kinda stacked the deck against myself because my area is pretty hilly, but I wanted to be in an area that had lots of traffic and I knew fairly well.  So I trucked along and ran into issues the first half of the way.  My shins were SUPER STIFF!  Oh goodness.  I had to stop a few times during my first two miles to stretch them out.  Because of this, I was trying a new change to my stride and lifting my knees a bit more so I can land more mid-foot.  It felt pretty good actually!  It really worked my quads (more on that later) and the mid-foot strike was much easier.  I also found that my gait got a bit longer and I was running faster without much more effort.  I know that because when I started running like that and looked down at my Garmin, it was clocking me at 9:30/mile!!!  Holy cow!  I've NEVER been that fast, so I reigned it in and slowed it down.  I never would have been able to run that fast for 7 miles, I know that much about me.

So I got half way through my run and took my fuel.  The beans were alright, a bit tough to chew and didn't really get the surge I was hoping for from them.  Maybe a different flavor pack will yield different results?  By this time I sent a pic to Twitter and Facebook about how I was feeling good more than half way through my run!

I even managed a smile!

So I trucked along jamming to music and finishing up my run.  I'm not going to lie, that last mile and a half was brutal.  I was ready to be done and I couldn't wait to get home.  My quads were BURNING at this point from the new stride adjustment, my hips were stiffer than a plank of oak and my knees/calves/shins were protesting HARDCORE!  But I pushed on, I didn't stop and here's the proof.

I did it!  7 miles!  WOOHOO!!  I can't believe I did it and other than the soreness I was feeling, I felt good about it!  But I knew I needed to do something when I got home that I was NOT looking forward to, but would help me recover much more effectively.

ICE BATH!!  Brrr....it was freaking COLD!  But I submerged my legs and hips to help out with the stiffness and hopefully reduce the inflammation.  And it did!  The ice bath along with another pair of compression socks for recovery, I felt good the rest of the day!  Until I committed the rookie mistake of higher mileage long runs.  I didn't fuel properly afterward.

During my ice bath I was drinking a protein shake with Bluebonnet protein powder, milk and a banana blended in my blender.  It was SO tasty and I felt like it was a good way to get high quality protein into my body immediately.  Then I had an appointment right after I got home, so I showered, got ready, grabbed a carb heavy snack and headed to my appointment.  Well after that I ran some errands and one thing after another, I realized I was extremely sluggish, light headed and SUPER grumpy.  At that moment I'd realized that all I'd had to eat all day was my pre-run bagel, the post-run protein shake and a hand full of peanut butter filled pretzels and no water...and it was almost 5 in the evening.  ::hitting hand on forehead::  At this point I was at Costco and got myself a big water and a slice of pizza.  I sat in my car and inhaled that thing.  A minute or two after I was done I felt infinitely better and my mood was lighter.

Lesson learned!  You need to eat something substantial not too long after a long high mileage run.  Especially if your body has never run that distance before because it is using up energy stores that you have never used before.  This creates a huge deficit that needs to be filled with good quality carbs and protein.  I'm now more cognizant of making sure I eat and drink water routinely through the day after these longer runs.

So a disappointing and invigorating week all together!  I'm glad that I got my long run in and that it was a success, well completion of the run is a success in my book!

The game has changed

Have you ever had an "ah-ha" moment?  One where the answer is so blatantly staring you in the face that it essentially thumps you over the head?  No lightbulb, just a good smack upside the head. 

I had one yesterday and it was a doozie!

I was having one of those days, not just a Monday where you are playing catch-up from the weekend, it was a day of hellish proportions.  More work than I could possibly do in the span of a normal work day, pressure and deadlines looming overhead, and more problems than I've had to deal with before.  It was so crazy busy that lunch was spent in front of my computer and consisted of a protein bar, banana and V-8.

I left work feeling stressed, strung out and anxious.  I was in a witchy mood and had a nasty attitude.  I needed to decompress and fast!  Normally I would go home and pour myself a glass of wine and relax, while ranting and raving about my day to friends.

This time it was different, this time the last thing I wanted to do was drink a glass of wine and relax on the couch.  I've been sitting all day and I couldn't even stand sitting in my car during the rush hour traffic to get home.  I needed to move, I needed to break out of this funk...I needed to run.  Now to fill you in on some background, I take lunch time runs especially during the winter when there is daylight and it helps me to decompress from the stress during the day.  I would feel refreshed and much less stressed the rest of the day.  I wanted to take one during my lunch on Monday, but with the pile of work I had, that just wasn't an option.

So when I got home, I could not get my running clothes on fast enough.  I paused for a couple of minutes to give my hubby a hug and kiss, but then I was throwing my running shoes on and walking out the door.  (Sorry I didn't take a picture, I was decked out in purple, black and white, I looked pretty badass actually.)  I couldn't wait to get moving and I got down the street and started running.  The breathing fell into place, the pace was good and I was pushing it, turning all that stress into my running energy.  And I was flying!  I attacked the hills and pushed myself to go farther than I thought I was going to.

I finished the run and felt a million times better.  I left all that bad stuff and stress out on the road and was spent when I got home.  I took a nice hot shower and put on my pro compression socks to help my calves recover from my cathartic run.

This day was a game changer for me.  I have officially crossed a bridge.  Or turned a corner, or whatever you call it.  My body no longer wants to engage in my old habits to decompress, it wants to sort out my stress and stomp it by running it out.  Release any anxiety and lose myself in the footsteps on the road.  I couldn't be happier with this revelation and know that this is a much healthier way to deal with issues and stress in life.  I was more relaxed the rest of the evening and I woke up feeling better and in a good mood (regardless of the lack of sleep I'd gotten last night).  I'm thrilled with this turn of events and really can't wait to spend more time on the road.  This is a happy hour I could definitely get used to! :)