Taking time to fill your tank

I started off writing this yesterday for my post today, but as I sit in the emergency room with my five year old son who has trigger induced asthma, the focus of my post has changed. 

On Saturday, it was 22 degrees when I set out on my run this morning🥶! It was so cold, by the end of my run, I had frost on my mask and hat😱! But.... every time my body said "Why?", my mind said "Because you wanted this!" It's amazing what happens once you change your mindset! I started to think about how proud I was of my students this week, how THANKFUL I am for this two week break, and how simply glorious the world is as it wakes up in the morning! Don't get me wrong, I got in the car, laughed, and said "Runners are crazy!" followed by "I can't wait to do it again!"🏃🏾‍♀️🥶🤦🏾‍♀️

It's amazing how as mom's, we have to carve out time for ourselves just to have a moment to think, breathe, gather our thoughts, or just be. Once we enter the door after a run, our time, pace, and distance doesn't matter. You are bombarded with "Mommy, can I have a snack?" "Mommy, can I wear a Elsa dress?" "Mommy, she's near me!". Or you have mounds of laundry, rooms to clean, or at this time of year, a room full of presents to wrap. Although being a mom is an amazing job, "mom's" often get lost in the shuffle of taking care of everything and everyone else. We innately put everyone's needs before our own. This is why running has become so important to me. It's different from a yoga class, spinning, or a ballet class where you're surrounded by other people, it's just you and the road. It's YOUR TIME to concentrate on you, your goals, your life, your wants, your needs, your mistakes, or if you're really lucky.... nothing. Even though I've only started running outside this past April, running has become my saving grace. Being a mom, who has a full-time job and a husband who frequently travels means "life" gets put before my "wants" most of the time, but I've found that if I go for a run before my first class, on my lunch break, or between classes I am able to free my mind and put something back in the "me" tank! 

We all run for different reasons whether it be a long term/short term goal, a race, weight loss, weight gain, commardory, community, or simply to run the crazies away! Whatever it is make sure you take the time to "fill your tank"!

As the sun rises

Woke up thinking it was going to be a horrible run, but it turned out great! Pacing was good, weather was😱🥶😭 but I felt better than last week thanks to my new pants from the hubby💛! 

My goal this stretch/race is to push my anaerobic threshold to 15 miles so 13.1 is "easy". I felt good at 10, so I decided to stick with the plan and run for 90 minutes instead of running for miles. I think I will try this for the next couple of long runs to see how it feels.

Running has become therapeutic. In a world where people snap off at the mouth, where they don't truly have anything to look forward to each day, and find solace in things that truly won't bring them authentic joy, I relish in these miles when it's just me and the road. As soon as this run is over, I will go back to being "Mommy, MOMmy, MOMMY, so for now I will appreciate this moment to myself. A moment to collect my thoughts, a moment to laugh at myself, and a moment to dream about all of the things that I still want.

You learn a lot about yourself, and what you will and will accept from others when the sun is coming up. You also get to see a world that most people miss as they're sleeping away in their beds.  Don't get me wrong, a nice warm bed sounds cozy, but I'd rather be out running, and watching the world conquer the new day.

To Trot or NOT🏃🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️

All week I kept hearing "Well, all of the real runners do a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving!" I heard it from fellow runners, I saw it on social media, I even saw an article about it in one of my parenting magazines! Guess what......if you ran around the block with your kids, on a treadmill, peacefully though your neighborhood before the craziness of holiday festivities, or even if you ran a Turkey Trot, you're a RUNNER! Warren was in Switzerland for Thanksgiving, so even if I wanted to run a turkey trot, it wasn't happening. Don't ever let someone tell you that in order for you to check this box  off called "runner", you have to perform X, Y, and Z. You know your journey. Be proud of every mile you run whether the world sees it or not! Happy Thanksgiving🏃🏾‍♀️🦃🍁!

NO ONE WARNED ME🥶

Saturday, November 23, 2019

I have never had a defeatist attitude, but I don't think I can do this. Not because the run was hard or because I'm out of shape......it's TOO COOOOLD😳😱🥶😳🥶!!!!! I kept looking around like where is this cold air coming from🤔😱!

Recap:

-from the start I had technical difficulties. My hat wouldn't stay on so I put the hood of my sweatshirt on. Well that made the hat and my earphones slide off🤦🏾‍♀️

-I couldn't feel my fingers even though I had gloves on. I knew for sure that my fingers were frost bitten! 

-I couldn't get warm! I was like HOOOOOOW am I running so fast/moving my body but still FREEZING..... Oxymoron! 

-My goal was to stay "slow" today. Easy and steady between 7:45-7:59. I couldn't; I was avg. 8:04 because I was so COLD!

-The moment I Tried to kick it up to under 8:00, I thought I would pull a hamstring! So I'm thinking "If it's like this NOW.......How in the HECK will I be able to do this all winter.....I won't! 

-How am I going to race if my legs are saying "Naw girl not today!!!!"

NYC Half Marathon Lottery

My first running outside/racing season has truly been a dream! From winning my age division in my first 5K, to winning MASTER'S in the first race over 10 miles, to breaking sub 20 in my last 5k of the season. I couldn't have imagined a better way to start off this sport if I tried. I decided to further test my luck by entering the lottery for the NYC Half Marathon! I mainly did it because I wanted to run with my friends and because I wanted to dab my toe into running a "major" race.

The night before the drawing, I had the anticipation of a five year old before Christmas, and I would know, I have one;) I woke up that morning.... nothing! I went for my run...... nothing! I went to work.... nothing! My friend who had been selected last year, told me to check my bank account.... nothing. Five minutes later, I refreshed.......I GOT IN!!!!!!!

I couldn't stop grinning ear to ear, I ran and told all of my coworkers, I called my mom, my husband, and my close friend who's been there every step of the way. This is really happening!!!!!!

Then it hit me...I have to little ones, a full time job, and a husband who's traveling more than he's home. This won't be the easy breezy training of summer break. This will be runs between classes, long runs "when" my husband is home, this will be hard. BUT......it will be SO WORTH IT!!!!!!!