where did that come from?

Seriously! I wanna know! I decided mid-workday to sneak in a few miles before yoga tonight, and by the time I started at 5:15, I was down to only 30 minutes of available run time. Fun fact: I was halfway through my first mile before I realized I did–in fact–only have 30 minutes; up until then I thought I had 45 minutes and that yoga started at 6:15, not 6 pm. However, 30 minutes is better than no minutes, and I simply repeated that to myself over and over again.

I headed out and somewhere toward the end of the first mile, I turned onto Girard Ave and ran into a sucker of a head wind. First mile: 8:25. Not too shabby for a warm-up and feeling crappy. Not only was I out of breath and feeling sluggish (a.k.a PMS), I was fighting the wind for more than a mile. Imagine my surprise when my watch beeped and mile 2 clocked in at 8:04! I knew I was putting in more effort into the wind, but didn’t anticipate getting much faster.

I ran the length of Girard, and after the wind grew stronger as I rounded Parkdale Elementary and turned onto Buffalo Rd toward the circle, it died down. At the circle, my watch beeped again: 7:43. No way. Now it was on. I’d had negative splits each mile, and my OCD-self just had to keep the trend going. I pushed up Main Street, trying to fight for each second but starting to really tire. Once I turned right onto Olean and then Oakwood, I was at 3.5 miles but wanted that 4th. I ended up doing that ‘turnaround thing’ a runner does when she’s basically where she wants to finish but still has a little more distance to go, so I continued down Oakwood, then ducked left on King, then turned around and ran back up Oakwood…and then back again. I was so tired and when my watch finally beeped, I started walking and could barely contain my heaving chest. Mile 4: 7:35.

Muscle memory, guys. That, and some real mind-over-matter. Honestly, it’s all the training I did last summer. I may not have felt like I had it today (and on many recent runs), but clearly my legs did. And before my marathon training, I never would have pushed myself to that much discomfort so easily. This run definitely buoyed my spirits, re-ignited a desire for speed and gave me a little more confidence in my fitness level (even if the Lloyd’s taco truck in my tummy says otherwise). It also–just as any good workout session does–renewed my desire to keep less-healthy food choices to a minimum.

And, lest I bore you with more details of my run, check out my new shades! I’d actually been thinking of buying a pair of these Goodr sunglasses for awhile now, and it turns out I won them in the Winter Warrior Challenge! I wasn’t able to attend our party at the end of March (SUCH a bummer), and Debbie just gave them to me this week. I’m in love, and they are totally making me re-think my decision to get prescription sunglasses for running. If these aren’t ‘me,’ I don’t know what is!

life update – a list

The blog has been a bit quiet for awhile. TOO quiet. A lot has happened since my last post, and perhaps the best way to bring everyone up to speed is a simple list.

I quit my job. (I figured I’d start with the biggie.) There are A LOT of what I’ll call ‘peripheral’ reasons for leaving my position, but perhaps the biggest is simply TIME. I went into the job interview hoping the position was part-time, and decided to give full-time a try anyway, seeing as there would be no commute. Unfortunately, it was too much (again, for a variety of reasons), and these last eight months or so have been incredibly stressful for Andrew and me. I still have four weeks until I’m finished, but at least the stress of making the decision and telling my boss is over.
I went to Boston for the marathon! I didn’t run, but after watching the race and being only EIGHT minutes away from qualifying (once I turn 35 next month), it’s definitely on my bucket list. More on this later.
Speaking of running, training hasn’t been going so well. I’m running a half at the end of May (Buffalo, on my birthday!), and I just haven’t gotten into it. I know I can do the distance, and I won’t be setting any land-speed records, but I would have liked to have been a bit more diligent. I suppose I do have four weeks to turn it around…
Continuing with the running theme, Andrew and I made our annual trip to Carmel, IN, for Easter and I ended up running on the marathon course! Unbeknownst to me, the Carmel Marathon, Half, 8k and 5k were happening that Saturday, just as I set out on my run to the Monon Trail. If only I’d known…
I miss reading. I see MANY books in my future this summer.
Spring has barely sprung around these parts. We’ve had a few (emphasis on few) nice days so far, but it was legitimately SNOWING this morning. We’ve all started referring to this season as ‘never-ending winter,’ and we are SO READY for higher temps.
I meal-prepped this afternoon for the first time in like four weeks. Seriously. Between Andrew’s work trips, other travel and simple busy-ness, we’ve been eating out and subsisting on leftovers throughout the week for awhile now. (We hit a new low last night: week-old Pizza Hut pizza.) I missed cooking so much, I didn’t even mind the dishes.
I also miss blogging. I see more blog posts in my future, too.
I’ve been eating WAY TOO MUCH sugar. There, I said it. Now I should do something about it.
We have A TON to do around our house and the yard this year. We didn’t plan a vacation this summer (because of my job), and while we are lamenting the lack of a European trip right about now, I think we’re both ready to get our hands dirty outside. First up: finishing up the fence project. Our patio is surrounded by white cedar privacy fencing, and we’ll finish the rest of the yard with black wrought iron fencing, both for the aesthetic and ease of installation. Andrew’s already been outside, putting down new dirt and having the lawn rolled in preparation for summer.

2nd Annual Turk-EA Trot

This morning, a crowd of about forty gathered at the East Aurora Cooperative Market to run the 2nd Annual Turk-EA Trot. Last year, we had seven runners. This year, we had more than 25! I was giddy with excitement! Continue reading “2nd Annual Turk-EA Trot” →