“Celebrate what you accomplish, but raise the bar each time you succeed”- Mia Hamm
I think sometimes it’s easy to be so futuristic and goal oriented that we forget to acknowledge how far we’ve come…well at least I know I do!
The pattern of riding out highs and lows in my running journey has continued in the last two weeks. I catch myself feeling so good and so proud after a “good” run, which for me usually means over 2 miles without a rest and a run that doesn’t “hurt” my body lol-these runs are few and far between but I love them when they happen! I also catch myself feeling so angry and annoyed when I have a “bad run”, which for me is a run that I had to mentally try extra hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and it usually is accompanied by a knee pain or ankle pain or some sort of discomfort that just adds to my frustration.
Yesterday, on Memorial Day, my boyfriend and I headed out for a run at my cabin. He often is the reason for my reflection of my runs because he’s watched me transform over the last year. This is why I picked the quote for this weeks blog that I did, sometimes I get so caught up in trying to do better than I did the last week, or expecting every run to be a “good” run, that I forget to think about where I started. This journey has been enroute for over a year, and at the beginning I couldn’t even run one single mile without stopping!!! Now, I’m to the point where running one mile doesn’t satisfy me enough. Like what?! Holy cow, I’ve worked hard to be here, and sometimes I just need to be here instead of trying to run an extra mile.
I think for me it’s the same with my running as it’s been with my weight loss journey. I can have days where I consume a majority of fresh produce all day and am satisfied with a single dove dark chocolate candy, then other days I have to force a few carrots down to make me feel better about the 3 pieces of chocolate cake, bowl of ice cream, pieces of pizza, and 7 truffles I ate throughout the day. Both of those types of days leave me feeling the same way my “good” and “bad” running days do. I feel great about staying on track when I do, and I get very frustrated, irritated, and annoyed when I consume things not in moderation that I know aren’t good fuel for my body. But with the weight loss experience, too, I’ve been trying to remember where I came from. That over a year ago I was 6 feet tall at 225 pounds…not a good BMI. And now, I’ve officially hit my goal weight of 170 pounds!!!! I’ve worked so hard to be here that again, I feel like sometimes I need to remind myself to just be here, instead of looking towards the next goal to hit.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk lol, sorry that got a little vulnerable and a bit of a tangent, but I’m hoping someone else needed to hear it! Take a minute to give yourself a pat on the back for how far you’ve come, you deserve it. Enjoy the work you’ve put in to be where you are.
Okay, now go get back to work 😉
Last week was a lot of “good” runs. Monday I did 4 miles with no stops, the first time I’ve hit that mileage without stopping since the beginning of my training when I hit five! This was exciting for me! Pretty sure I walked into my house after that run thinking “damn, this whole half marathon thing is gonna be a piece of cake” HAHAHAHA. Yea, now take a guess at how long that mentality lasted….you got it-not long at all!!
Tuesday was a special day with my fam, we headed to St.Peter to take a few graduation photos together since the likelihood of having a traditional commencement ceremony is pretty small. Although I felt sad about how things have changed, I really enjoyed the time with my family at a place I call home. Ooo and the third street dinner we had sitting in the truck in the parking lot was pretty good too hehe.
Thursday I did a little 2 miler, and was quickly re acquainted with the reality that running is STILL HARD. And 13.1 miles will never be easy for me lol, so I settled for 2!
Saturday I was up north in Walker at my boyfriends cabin, and yes, we ran at the cabin, I know, I can’t believe it either lolol. Go us!! We ran down a road neither of us have been on before and did a solid 3.5 together! There’s something about running a new path that makes it go by faster FOR SURE. It was a great change of scenery for me compared to the same 12 intersections in Sleepy Eye that I’ve been crossing during the pandemic lol.
‘Tis the season for one of my favorite things ever: sunset pontoon/boat rides ☺️
**fun fact about our run in Walker…we had to stop at 2.22 miles because both of us had to go to the bathroom so dang bad!! Good thing there’s lots of trees up north hahaha, made for a good road side stop lolol**
Monday was another 2 miler, that seems to be my comfy distance while also making me feel accomplished enough to say I “exercised” lol.
Wednesday was another goodie!! Did 4 miles again-this time with 2 or 3 stops (I can’t exactly remember and I didn’t write it in my planner lolol whoops), came home again feeling like I could for sure do a half by the end of July. Sometimes it scares me how blindly confident I feel after a good run hahaha.
Then came the long weekend! I worked until 6:00 every night the last week, so running in the evenings has become more challenging to time out with eating dinner and when the sun is down. I was in charge of getting cabin groceries after work both Thursday and Friday, so by the time I was home and could run it was either 9:30 and dark or I was too full from dinner-I’ve gotta figure out a way to plan them out better but I haven’t gotten there yet!! So nothing until Saturday morning before the cabin. Did a quick 2 just so I felt better than I do when I do nothing!
The weekend ended up to have better weather than expected, so that was a nice surprise! Lots of jet ski time and getting the cabin cleaned up for summer! Yay!!!
As I mentioned earlier, my boyfriend and I did a 2 miler on Memorial Day to cap off our weekend. The first mile was painful….probably from eating too many Doritos and drinking too much alcohol all weekend….mile 2 was heading back to the cabin and became an angry mile. I was annoyed and frustrated with how I was feeling, and it was very humid so the air was hot and thick-not a good combo. So mile 2 didn’t consist of much visiting until we passed what felt like our 40 year old selves running on the other side of the road lolol, no joke they looked just like us but older, yikes!!
Here’s to a short work week, and the final week of my virtual 4 week core program, you know who you are-let’s kill it!! make it a good one peeps!! 🙂
I almost forgot!!!!!!!!!!!! READER FRIENDS!!!! BACHELOR NATION FRIENDS!!!!! I read this book legit in 2 days!! It was so good and gave cute insight to what it’s like behind the scenes on The Bachelor and Bachelorette…would high let recommend (well only if your a bachelor fan of course)!!! Message me if you want me to share my book with you!!
Josie's Journey 