This Never Happens

You guys... it's freezing in Houston!  This never happens. 

It was literally below freezing (with a feels like temperature of 11!) this morning and I was scheduled for a long run.  I really, really considered pushing it to Sunday when it was supposed to be at least forty degrees, but I had already spent Friday night sober in preparation for today's run, so I had to run.  Nobody's trying to spend the whole weekend without wine.


Running when it feels like eleven degrees can be described, at best,  as shocking.  More accurately, it should be described as....ummm...leaky.  Why don't more people talk about the leakage?!?!  Seriously, a hot body and freezing temperatures do not make for a pretty runner. 

See?  Not a pretty runner.

The run itself was pretty good.  I was happy with my pace and nothing hurt (other than my lungs and fingers - those were frozen).  It's been weird, this training cycle I've found that my weekday short runs have been rather brutal, but my weekend long runs have been really encouraging.  The good news is my next race is a weekend long run.  Hopefully a warmer run too.

Seven and Sayonara '16

This week's run had me up to seven miles.  There's not a lot to report on the run.  I would say it was good in that it was uneventful.  Uneventful, when running, is always good.  I had a decent pace and it didn't hurt (well, it mostly didn't hurt).  It was nice to hit over half of the way on the training program and feel confident and comfortable. 

Don't I look confident and comfortable? 

This is how I choose to celebrate my long runs these days.  A beer and a foot massage.  I would say both were well deserved.

I also celebrated the end of 2016 similarly. 

Normally, this is the time I would take to reflect on my year of running and evaluate what I had and hadn't achieved, to see how far I had come and how far I had left to go.  Normally, this is a time of reflection.  Well, there's not much to look back on.  I've been consistently running only for a number of weeks now.  This year it feels like there is no looking back.  All eyes focused on 2017.

Six! And When You Know Better, You Do Better

Check it out!  Six whole miles.  My longest run in at least 18 months. 

Turns out it is impossible to selfie the number six.  Also, I forgot to filter these photos.  Can we all just pretend I look better after six miles?

Remember back when I used to run six miles all of the time with no problem?  I do too.  I actually remember saying out loud, "I think six miles is a perfect daily run.  It's easy enough to do every day and just hard enough to feel like a workout." HA HA HA!!  Those were the days. 

These days, six miles is not so easy and I'm glad I'm not doing it every day.  Six miles, these days, is very hard.  Here is what got me through: I knew I could do it.  And knowing I could do it meant I could actually do it.  I didn't matter what I thought about the run because I knew I would finish.  That's been the nice thing about this training (yes, training - more on that later!) cycle.  I've been here, I've done it.  Sure, it feels like a lifetime ago and I'm trying to do it with a whole new body and a whole new life, but I have done it.  I know I can do it.  And so I am doing it.

 

And, just in case you think the above pictures are the absolute worst post-run pictures a person could take, nope.  This was attempt no. 1:

Stop.  Just stop.

Ho Ho Ho!

I ho-ho-hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

How Are You Feeling?

Hey guys.

I just thought I would check in to see how you are feeling.  I know I've been struggling a little in the last week.  It's been really hard seeing what we've turned into and all of the anger and hate that seems to be spreading across this country.  I also thought I would share my experience from the other day.

As you know, whenever I'm feeling the feelings, I lace up and hit the trails.  Needless to say, I've been feeling lots of feelings lately.  So, the other day I set out for a little run-therapy.  As I started the run I went to put my car keys in my pocket and something told me not to.  Instead, I held my keys in my fist as I ran.  I held them the way we women are taught to carry our keys when we are alone in a parking lot.  You know, just in case someone jumps out at us. I had never carried my keys like that on a run.  Yes, I always try to be aware of my surroundings, but I found myself constantly glancing behind me, you know, just in case.  This was something new to me.  I had to ask myself what had changed. Why was I running scared?

The answer?  The country has changed.  Or more specifically, my understanding of the country has changed.  As a woman I no longer feel safe or protected.  And, I'm just a white woman.  I know that I am in less danger than most.  I don't know if I would have been brave enough to step out on the trail if I were a woman of color or a woman in a hijab.  To those ladies, my heart goes out to you. 

 

As I'm thinking about this and wondering if all my runs will be like this and considering how that makes me feel about running these days, I come upon an older Hispanic man who has stopped to adjust his knee brace.  Just then, he flashes me a huge smile an throws me a big thumbs up sign. 

 

Oh Universe.  You really are amazing!  You always provide exactly what we need when we need it.  The SIGNS ARE ALWAYS THERE.  We just have to keep looking for them.

 

What's the lesson?  I suppose considering this blog's name, I need to find the lesson here.  I think the lesson isn't just that good is out there.  That's not enough.  I can't say that everything is all good because good exists.  No.  There are still some very scary things going on and very scary people out there.  But, and here is the lesson I stumbled upon about half a mile after the thumbs up:  Our eyes have to be open to what's going on out there, but so must our hearts.

Send Me A Sign (Pictorial 8)

I don't know about you all, but lately I've been feeling a little discouraged about things.  The negativity that seems be surrounding and coming from all angles has become depressing and overwhelming.  And right when I was starting to get really in the dumps about it, I went outside and looked for a sign.  And lo and behold a sign was given.

 

Here are a few more signs for any of you who need a reminder that things are good (really good!) and that love is all around.  You just have to look for it.

 

 

Be Bold!  This is one of my favorites.

 

 

**All pictures taken on the long run (well, some not so long and some not so run-ny).

 

 

Adding Injury to Insult

As if it isn't bad enough to have to squeeze into your running shorts after having a baby, failing to lose the baby weight, and taking over a year and a half off from serious running.  As if that isn't insult enough, you have to add to that some seriously painful thigh chafing?!?  Come on universe, have a little pity on a girl.  

Talk about adding injury to insult.  

That's the saying, right?