reset button

I hinted about it in my last post.. Work stress has been insane and it was brought to a head on Thursday evening. We had scheduled a "planning session" with key citizens on one of my work projects and they had other plans. They invited the local TV news and went on the attack. If the TV camera had not been there I would have walked out of the meeting. The allegations were mostly against other co-workers that weren't present; people I admire and respect. I had a gut instinct earlier in the week that they were scheming something and my gut was right. We endured it, and laughed about parts of it later while we decompressed at one of the few late-night restaurant/bars. I had decided on Wednesday, that I was going to hit the "reset button" this weekend.. Time to leave work at work and focus on family, friends, and self on nights and weekends rather than checking email after hours. Apparently my pets feel the same way! I made the mistake of leaving my work cell phone on the kitchen counter last night; the cat batted it off the counter for the dog to destroy..

Today I ran the "Run the Reagan" half marathon. This is my favorite local half marathon and I've run it many times. I haven't trained as much as I should have, so I decided to treat this as an EASY long run to wipe away the insane stress of the week rather than as a race. Minimal soreness hours lager (can easily walk up/down stairs with no pain) and have another medal to add to the collection! Best part was getting a hug from my daughter-from-another-mother who was running the 5K; I saw her a mile from the end when the later starting 5K merged with the slower half marathoners near the finish. We stopped and hugged, not caring how it affected our times. It was also great seeing her mother, brother and other friends after the race.

I came home with the plans of taking a shower, eating lunch and taking a nap. All things that contribute to "hitting the reset button". After I showered, I was putting on comfy jeans when I heard the text tone that always makes my heart skip a beat. Did I hear right? I've assigned different/special text tones to my favorite peeps. Obviously we have a psychic connection because every time I either decide to forget about him or have a strong urge to talk to him, he re-connects :). And boy did he reconnect today.. Most of our chats during the past few months have been short, but today we texted throughout the afternoon and into the night. I thought my boyfriend and I were going to go out tonight since we made plans last night, but he didn't answer my phone call and has not replied to my texts and it's after 10 pm. I am disappointed. Oh well, at least I've had a smile on my face all day from texting with Mr. Sexy! Reset button has truly been hit!

the vow

Regaining control. I've been under a LOT of work stress the past few months. Have worked long hours, sacrificed time with family/friends/fitness/sleep, with very little reward. Don't get me wrong, my managers are very pleased and offer praise. I've put in many hours and feel good about my accomplishments. But I am a government employee and there are some citizens that are on a vendetta. No matter what good I do, a few will continue to berate me and my fellow co-workers. I recently took a stand in an email and said that one person's bullying tactics wouldn't work on me. I let the chaos of a few direct my energy. I awoke at 3:30 a.m. this morning (and many others), insanely stressed, and couldn't go back to sleep. I wallowed in the stress for an hour or so and then forced my mind to focus on something zen-like.

My daughter climbed into my bed at some point during the night so I first focused on her sweetness. I then looked at Facebook and observed the new photo-shoots of my favorite pro-athlete/friend as he begins training camp. I reflected upon our last conversation a few days ago. I make a conscious decision to make him my rock in this chaos of my current life. He is so far removed and pulled me through many challenges last year. He is the pentacle, but others will make up the foundation, which include the amazing guy that I'm currently dating, my daughter, Angela, Carter, Terri, and my other close friends/co-workers.

I have an App on my iPhone for zen motivational quotes. The quote for today was "Each problem has hidden in it an opportunity so powerful that it literally dwarfs the problem. The greatest success stories were created by people who reconginized a problem and turn it into an opportunity." (Joseph Sugarman). This can be interpretted in so many different ways. But I chose today to turn this problem into an opportunity to redirect my energy to the people that are supportive, rather than caustic.

I saw the movie "The Vow" with a close friend today. I connected emotionally on so many different levels. The theme was impact. The instant attraction/connection they had brought one person to the forefront of my mind. The mother's "choice" to stay with her husband that had an affair reminded me of a very painful part of my life. The music by The Cure at the end brought back a spectrum of memories that the prior ones had already hit on. The entire movie brought back memories from different time frames of my life; all that have shaped me into who I am today. Some were painful, some were ecstatic, but all were reaffirming about what truly matters.

I typically focus my blog posts on running-related topics, so I'll close with this. Groundhog day 12 runstreak complete :)

Groundhog Day take 2

Last year I attempted a Groundhog Day runstreak. I needed a kickstart, a motivator, during the winter months when my running motivation naturally wanes. Brrrrr... baby it's COLD OUTSIDE! The goal was to run at least one mile a day. I made it through 2/27/11. Several of those runs were done in drudgery on the hamster wheel because I was too wimpy to venture out into the cold.

This year is different. My treadmill is dead so I'm forced to run outside (except while on biz trips that require hotel stays). It's also different because I met a pro athlete last summer and he continues to inspire me. Every time my mind comes up with an excuse to not exercise, the other half of my brain chimes in claiming that if I had pursued my childhood dreams of becoming a pro-athlete, instead of a rocket scientist, that I would get my lazy butt out of bed and go for a run. But the reality is.. my profession is as a scientist, not an athlete, and I'm a mom too, so I won't belittle the one-milers when that's all I have the time for.

Happy Groundhog's Day! General Lee, the groundhog in my town, says spring is just around the corner :)

someone who is busier than you is running right now

Life is insanely busy right now and I'm failing at finding the perfect balance between work, parenting, exercising, house keeping, sleeping, and spending time with friends. And guess which activity got pushed to the back burner this week.. Yep.. running.. logged a whopping 9.19 miles in 3 runs (and swam 1000 meters). Didn't meet my weekly goal, but eh.. there's always next week! Think I'll tattoo the saying in this picture on my hand as a reminder ;-) 

inspiring by example whether you realize it or not

I'm happy to say that my first "long run" of 2012 marathon training didn't involve episodes of Law & Order! Thanks so much to my Daily Mile Secret Santa for the cool gift! LOVE IT! I haven't had a decent long run in over a month. Either the long run was horrible or I wimped out or was too busy. But finally made the commitment to "JUST DO IT!" today. I set myself up for a win.. I strapped on my heart rate monitor and set my goal of LSD (long slow distance). I kept my heart rate in the 70-80% range and it was EASY! Slow.. but EASY.. until the end when I couldn't handle going so slow any more and picked up the pace for a happy finish!

You never know who you may inspire by just being you.. There were several mountain bikers on the trail today. On my last lap, a lone rider slowed as we passed and said, "you must be running 20 miles today" (we had passed each other at least once or twice already). I replied, "nah.. only 11". And he said, "my god.. I can't even imagine running that far.." and at the same time I was thinking that 11 miles is less than half the distance of my longest runs. Lesson learned is that what seems easy to you may be impressive to others.

So get out there and inspire someone today!

parking lots are much more fun with grocery carts

Although I swore no "resolutions" for 2012.. I did resolve to try something new this year.. and thought about a few goals in order to make 2012 better than prior years. I registered for a few triathlons for 2012 for fun new adventures. My big goal is a half IM in October. And since I've never tried a tri, a lot of people suggested that I start with a sprint so I registered for a sprint triathlon in May, and an olympic distance triathlon in August so I will be better prepared for the half IM.

I thought about a goal of "streaking" in 2012.. but couldn't decide if it should be simply to exercise each day or run each day or are both insane because my body will probably perform better if I take occassional rest days? I started the year with the "A" goal of running every day, but that ended yesterday due to an insanely busy work/personal crisis day. However, I realized early into the day that I wouldn't have time to run until maybe midnight so I shifted to the "B" goal and made a point to walk/jog the 11 flights of stairs (each way) at work throughout the day. I think I covered the distance 4 times, so that's certainly better than not doing anything.

I ran my planned 5 miles on my favorite trail today and then added a "fun, unplanned, naked (without a gps watch) run" tonight as I ran while pushing my teenaged daughter in the grocery cart, and then chased her (while videotaping) as the cart rolled down the sloped parking lot. She said several people were staring at us like we were crazy teenagers, and we both laughed. I told her that her life would be so much more boring if I were an obese/sedentary mom and she thanked me for being a fit/fun mom instead. Life is great! Live like you're a kid when you can because it is so much more fun!

taking a step backward in order to leap forward

2011 was AMAZING! Much better than the prior few years.. I made many new friends in 2011 and two of those significantly positively improved my life. I've had many more ups than downs.. I ran farther and faster, lost weight, explored new adventures and have been happier than I have been in years. But with all ups, come downs.. I'm not going to dwell on the downs though. For the first year in forever, I'm not going to make a specific New Year's resolution such as lose weight, run 1000 miles, etc. I'm simply striving to make 2012 more adventurous/fun than 2011. I'm bored with marathon training so I did something crazy and registered for a few triathlons in 2012. This will be a first for me. At least now, cross training will feel more like it has purpose in my life!

I'm going to take a step back.. by replacing some of my runs with swimming and cycling instead. It's going to be hard, mentally, because running has always been a huge part of my life, but I'm fairly certain that this will result in a leap forward for progression and new challenges and therefore, new thrills. The most important lesson I learned in 2011 was to strive for what you desire and be open to new possibilities because they may just turn out to be a highlight in your life.

My hope for you is that you embrace life's adventures, live life to the fullest, and choose to be happy each and every day!

silly boys.. make life so much more fun!

I ran on cruise-control along my favorite trail this morning, but it just wasn't the same.. My mind was cycling through the disappointments of the work week instead of focusing on the tranquility and joy that this trail typically evokes. I was stuck in a mental and emotional black hole until..

backtrack: On most Saturday mornings, there is a group of 6 or more young men that run in a pack (or two) on the Yellow River Park trail. I assume they are high school (possibly college) cross country runners since they disappeared during cross country season and I've occassionally overheard their conversations about their running successes. One day I'm going to work up the nerve and talk to one or more of them as they stretch in the parking lot..

Anyway.. so I'm used to seeing this pack of varying young lean bodies running in the opposite direction as me on many Saturday mornings. Most of the time they are considerate gentleman. More times than not the "leader" will say, "Excuse us" as they approach/pass. This morning I noticed that they were exceptionally louder than usual; I could hear them long before I saw them. Since they are fast, I was grateful for the advanced warning of their approach on the single-track parts of the trail. As we spotted each other approaching for the 3rd time this morning, the black guy that was 2nd in line chasing the faster white guy yelled, "STOP HIM! HE STOLE MY WALLET!" I laughed SO HARD at the reverse stereotypical image as they throttled past me.. If I didn't know better, I would have believed that he and the other white guys behind him were truly chasing a guy that stole the dude's wallet! This took me out of my mental/emotional black hole and brought me back to the joy that this trail always leaves me with! These "kids"/young men were smiling and joking as they trained. Which is the way life should be.. Live more, laugh more, let the worries float away and RUN FOR FUN!

yikes!

Scary.. right? I probably had the same terrorized expression on my face after yesterday's trail run when I did the math and found out that I will have to run 7.66 miles per day, every day for the rest of December, to meet my goal of 1,000 miles in 2011. And considering how little I've run this month, that most likely would have 2012 starting off with an injury. It's still possible that I can hit 1,000 miles, since I'm taking a few days of stay-cation, but how important is this number, really? I've already exceeded my 2010 accomplishments.. I've ran more miles, ran more days, ran my fastest marathon ever, found a nearby trail that I LOVE, had more FUN, met a few exceptional athletes that have enriched my life, and lost 20 pounds! I'm HAPPY!

2012 new challenge? fastest pace on this route this year!

I've known for months, if not longer, that I need a new challenge for 2012.. An ultra? a triathlon? an adventure race? On Friday I received an email about the Beach to Battleship triathlon. It will be on my mom's birthday in October 2012; if she were still alive it would be her 70th. I've spent a lot of time in Wilmington and know the area well; I consider it my home-away-from-home. So my mind starts churning.. Now the bigger question is whether to attempt the full Ironman distance or the half? I put the question out on Daily Mile and received support as well as input that training for a 70.3 is a little more challenging than for a marathon, but training for the Ironman is a huge time and energy commitment. I looked at registration fees and time results from last years race at this same location. The half is much more affordable $185 vs $390, and based on finish times, it looks like the half would take me longer to finish than a marathon, and it would be a first, which both equal a new challenge.. so I'm leaning towards that.

I mentioned it to the guy that I'm dating and he's so excited about it! He's a cyclist and wants to help me train for the cycling portion, which is my weakest link. Friday night we talked about going to Stone Mountain this morning and me running 5 miles while he cycles and then me hopping on a bike and riding with him as far as I feel like. But that didn't work out.. We talked early this morning and he said he was going elsewhere to ride with his friend that he hasn't ridden with in a long time. My main focus now is training for my March marathon, so it didn't bother me too much because I felt the need to run ~10 miles today. I have plenty of time to kill before seriously starting to train for an October 2012 triathlon.

I had planned to run an easy 10 miles this morning. But as I was getting ready to leave to go to Stone Mountain to run, I received a text from a friend inviting us to go see a movie at 2 p.m. Which meant I must run harder than "easy" in order to do both. Since I was such a running slacker this week, and felt great this morning, I started a little harder than easy and then began to push the pace on the second 5-mile loop. I ran the entire way, with the exception of stopping to talk with Ron (aka @losttrailrunner) and his daughter, Laura. He asked about my shoes, saying they looked like the kind that triathlete's wear and that further put the bug in my brain to try a tri next year. For probably the first time ever, I passed a male runner! Of course several males passed me, but I was thrilled to pass at least one! I was shocked at my overall pace (10:58 min/mi for 9.75 miles) which is much faster than I've run on this route all year! And it was an even bigger shock because I honestly didn't feel like I was pushing extremely hard. Loving the progress!

I've met some of my goals for 2011 already.. achieved a marathon PR; lost weight; run more miles than last year.. but still have 88.64 miles more to go to achieve my big goal of 1,000 miles. I know it's achievable, barring major injury or illness, since I ran more than that many miles for 4 of the past 11 months. But it also means no slacking.. maybe this big goal will keep the mojo flowing :)