Lessons Learned

It's been a while since I've had a chance to write a blog. So, as I sit here brainstorming about which event over the last week and a half is "blog-worthy", I find myself feeling a little ADD, hopping from one thing to the next, unable to decide what to share. It's exhausting ;)  As a solution, I have decided to tell a few short stories...

Let me just preface these by saying that my marathon training is getting to be a big, huge pain in my butt and suck the small amount of social life time I had, completely out of existence to be very challenging. Motivation has been a daily struggle!

Story #1

Because of my recent decrease in motivation, I have been making an extra effort to find running buddies whenever possible. It's a great way to keep me accountable for sticking to my planned runs. Last Monday, I decided to try and find a friend to run with for Tuesday's run. I sent a text to my friend Julie, but she couldn't make it. So, I made a desperate Facebook plea. No luck. 

Tuesday morning, I concluded that I would still pack my running clothes, and hopefully I'd be able to muster enough energy to hit the 6 mile loop at Stony before grabbing the kids from daycare. But I really wasn't feeling it. And then, at 8:00 AM Julie text and said her plans had changed and she'd be there to meet me! Which meant I HAD to go. Which was fantastic because I could have easily stood myself up for that running date, but I would never stand up a friend!

After work, as I changed into my clothes for the chilly run, I made the horrible realization that I'd forgotten to pack a sports bra. EEEeeeek. Had I not been meeting anyone, that would have been a definite indicator that this run wasn't meant to be. But, as I said, I don't stand up friends for run dates. So...what I learned was that BUFFS actually have one more purpose than the 268 listed on their tags. Yup. On that Tuesday, this girl sacrificed her ear BUFF to use as a sports bra. Which meant, I was left to use a decorative scarf as an ear buff. It. Wasn't. Pretty. 

But the run was pretty awesome and flew by. 

Lessons: 1.) Friends make running more fun. 2.) BUFFS are possibly the most amazing and useful accessory in the entire world. 

Story #2

Friday night, my husband and I had a small wedding celebration/reception to attend. I was excited because lately I feel like the most thrilling things I do involve stories about having to wear BUFFS as sports bras! HA! I was pretty excited to get dressed up in something other than spandex running tights for the night. 

And of course, I was bound and determined that I wasn't going to allow the 17 mile run I had scheduled the next morning to ruin my fun. Which for me, meant I would drink wine. Not A LOT, but enough. 

I bet you're wondering how that went for me?  

Well, when I woke up at 3:00 AM and had a headache, I definitely freaked out. I went downstairs, chugged a glass of water, and crawled back in bed cursing myself for being a terrible decision maker.

When the alarm went off at 6:45, I still had a lingering headache. After I ate my bagel, I took some IbuProfen, filled up my Camelback with lifesaving hydration, and determined that I was going to crush these 17 miles...mind over matter, right!?

Once again, I had scheduled this run with a running buddy. Actually, it was our first run together, which was just one more reason I needed to not mess it up! It's not easy to find fun chicks who run 17 miles at 8:00 AM on Saturday mornings when the windchill is 7 degrees and the ground is covered with snow. 

Long story short, we finished our run (17.5 miles for me, 20 miles for Heather!) with ease, even though our hydration bottles/Camelback froze and made it nearly impossible to access the lifesaving hydration!

Lesson: Sometimes it's okay to have fermented grapes for dinner. The night before a 17 mile run is not the best time to do that.


Story #3

The day after my 17.5 mile run, I had to do an 8 mile pace run. Unfortunately for me, my body thought it had just run a marathon and was putting on the full guilt trip. Sore knees, aching foot, total exhaustion, full body wobble. The. Worst.

So, as anyone would do, I put this run off alllllll day, until finally, it came to the point where I had to do it, or not do it.

If you know me at all, you know that I would beat myself up for skipping it, so I went into it with the attitude of "I'll run at pace for as long as I can...and then I'll slow down if I need to."

Once I hit the 5 mile mark, I was mentally prepared to finish the whole run at pace. Telling myself I only had a 5K left, got me through the mental block of it being a long run. But, at mile 5.2, my legs literally started to have a mind of their own. They weren't simply moving how they were supposed to, and I had to consciously THINK about making them move how they should. It was the longest and most physically challenging 3 miles that I think I have ever run. But mentally, it was a huge victory for me.

Lesson: It really is true, when your legs won't run anymore, run with your heart...or your mind...or something like that.


Sparkle.Pounce.Keep on learning, and growing.

-Kendra