Long Time, No Post

Wow, it's been two years since I've posted. Where does the time go?

So - hi! I'm still here, and I'm actually running again, but more to follow on that in a bit. First, a few random life updates:

 

* S is almost three (how did this happen?!?). He is thriving and we're all pretty sure he's a genius.

* I finished my degree! While this took me WAY longer than I'd planned, I finished last October and Cody surprised me with a trip to Orlando to attend the commencement ceremony. It really made it feel real - and the Florida weather in February was delightful.

* It turns out the problems I was having with my back were not entirely pregnancy related. I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis last November. So the down side is that I have an auto-immune disorder, but the bright side is that now that I know what is causing my issues, I can address it before there is permanent joint damage.

* I'm down a total of 60 pounds from my highest (not counting while I was pregnant). It's been slow going, at about 30 pounds a year. Sigh. I wish it was faster, but slow and steady seems to serve me well in a lot of areas, so that's the way we're going.

*Cody and I are trying for another baby. While I would prefer to be down at goal weight, I'm not gettin' any younger, so my plan is to keep going with weight loss until I'm pregnant and then focus on fitness and nutrition after that. It is my sincerest hope that I will be one of those crazy pregnant ladies you see running by the side of the road, but we'll have to see how my joints hold up.

Speaking of which - on to running:

My efforts to return to running were pretty sporadic and I had trouble getting back in the groove. I was really struggling with depression and my wonderful husband reminded me how much happier I am when I'm running. He suggested I pick a race and train for it. I decided to pick a 10k because I felt like if I could run 6 miles without stopping I would definitely feel like a runner again, so I picked a couch to 10k program and stuck to it.

It was amazing to see the progress of going from barely being able to run for five minutes to doing six miles was nothing short of miraculous. The 10k was Christmas of 2017. I've since kept up running, doing  3-4 miles a few days a week, with one 5-6 miler thrown in on the weekends.

Definitely my child.

I am starting to work on speed and adding in some strength training to try and protect my joints a bit better for pregnancy (and in life as well, obviously).  




I'm hoping that now that I'm done with school I can get back to blogging more often. Talk to you soon!