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!

Morning Workout and Patience

Guess what? I ran! ...well, I walk/jogged this morning. I used my newly-rediscovered resolve to get my butt out of bed at 4:30 this morning (even though I was up briefly at 1:00 and again at 3:00). It felt amazing! I kept things pretty low key and did:

*0-5 min: warm up walk
*5-26 min: 1 minute walk/1 minute jog
*26-30: cool down walk

My back and knees felt good the whole way and I was moderately winded by the end of the jog interval - so I figured this would be a good starting point. I plan to try this same thing for a week, then increase the interval length to 90 seconds and see how that feels.

My workout put me in a good mood for the rest of the morning. I can't wait to start increasing the jogging intervals and eventually get back to full-on running. I'm going to try to remember to be patient with the process and remember that, after a year and a half with no running at all and about two years since any real distance running, it's going to take time. Also, I'm carrying around a lot more mass than the last time I ran, so my paces are going to be slower - and that's okay. I need to be gentle on my knees and back and not risk injury by pushing too hard. **Maybe putting this in writing will help me remember when I feel the need for speed 😉. We can only hope.

I am hoping to break out the jogging stroller this summer and make some tracks. I would really love it if running could become something that we do together - whether I'm pushing him in a stroller, or he's riding his bike next to me, and maybe someday running with me. If he decides running isn't his "jam" (or whatever the cool kids say when he gets to that age), that's cool. But I would love to provide an example of healthy activities for him.

Has anyone else come back from a long period of no running? What was your experience?

Inevitable Success

"If success was inevitable, would you still put it off?" This is one of my favorite quotes right now. It reminds me that success often boils down to whether or not you truly believe you will accomplish your goal.

When I discovered running in high school, it made me realize that if I was stubborn enough, I could do anything. It didn't matter how long it took, but if I could get stubborn and hang in there, I would finish the task at hand and feel amazing. Once I discovered this, it gave me a huge boost of confidence in the rest of my life because I knew I could do anything I set my mind to.


When I was 17, after six years of training, I got my black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The two hour test was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. At one point, I was told to hit a punching bag for as long as I could. I made up my mind that I wasn't going to stop until they told me to. Forty five minutes later, I'd worn all the skin off my knuckles (I still have faint scars), but I'd done what I set out to do. To this day, this is one of my proudest accomplishments (after childbirth and running a marathon).

In the past, when my weight had crept back up to scary levels, I always knew in the back of my mind that once I buckled down, I would be able to lose it again. Seeing this quote made me realize that this confidence has faded in past months. Suddenly, I don't have the bone-deep knowledge that no matter how difficult the task, I will persevere and succeed. I think when I stopped running this assurance slowly faded. I find myself thinking things like, "What's the point? You're not going to follow through anyway."

Unspeakable joy contained in a tiny person.

You know what? I want it back. I think even more than wanting to lose weight and have more energy, I want to be able to go for a run. I've missed running since about mid-way through my pregnancy, but life being busy and sleep being elusive, I haven't been able to find the time - so I stopped trying. And when I stopped trying, I think I stopped believing I could. I got so wrapped up in the unspeakable joy of our tiny human and the overwhelming stress of money issues and lack of sleep that I forgot about this piece of myself.

I've decided to believe again, to remember that I can do hard things, and to prove to myself that I can still out-stubborn obstacles. I owe it to myself and my family to be the best version of myself I can be.