rest

I’m coming up on Spring Break next week (how did we get here so fast?!), and in honor of that time off, I’m also taking some time off from my normal workout routine, too.

(This scares me immensely.)

The truth is, I’ve felt some nasty shin splints coming on for about a week now, and the walk to class yesterday was particularly uncomfortable. Every joint–from my hips to my ankles–winced in pain. Then and there, I decided perhaps my legs could use a little TLC, too.

And the timing couldn’t be better; between my break and associated upcoming travel, and the CAR TROUBLE we experienced last night, it’s a good time to not have the added guilt of not being able to get to the gym.

(Car trouble in a nutshell: HUGE blessing that God got Katie and me back to town from school before the car decided to shudder and click on a bunch of lights. Car is currently in the shop and I don’t know that we’re optimistic for a quick and easy fix. Pray we’re wrong!)

Anyway.

Starting today, I’m taking a REST. At least from running. I might throw some swimming and long walks in, but pounding the pavement is OUT. My joints need the break, and my mind and body need some rest. It will be extremely liberating to not workout and NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT, but it also means I’ll need to be even more disciplined about what I’m eating. That’s what I’m scared about.

I’m one rotation and one class away from a much-needed break, and despite having all my travel plans thrown up in the air with this car situation, I’m at peace knowing God will take care of it. He’ll take care of the car, He’ll take care of our plans, and He’ll definitely take care of my body over the next week.

My hope and prayer is for a guilt-free, restful and rejuvenating break, and that I’ll be ready to jump back into the regular routine afterward. (Gosh, that sounds idyllic. Are those things even possible??)

open water

I joined some of the masters swim team members at Sunset Bay this morning for my first open water swim!

While I’ve been swimming my whole life, I didn’t really know what to expect when I wasn’t in a pool. It’s much the same, but you can’t see much and it’s way harder. And there are waves. And it’s impossible to swim straight. So, exactly the same, right!?

Regardless, I had the most fun swimming that I’ve had EVER. Seriously, if it wasn’t a 40 minute drive, I’d be there every morning. Or almost every morning.

It was pretty chilly to start–our coach was in a wet suit–but once our legs were numb, we were fine. By the end, the water felt just perfect. We only did about a mile, and I could have done at least double that. Can’t wait to do it again!

half marathon, overdue

Um, so I just found this draft when I was here perusing the blog. (I don’t really have time to ‘peruse’ the bog these days; we’re actually sitting here in class learning HOW to blog and since I’m the only one in class with an existing account, I figured I could space-out for a few minutes.)

ANYWAY… So apparently I loaded photos from the half-marathon I ran in May with Emily, but failed to actually WRITE the blog and publish it. HUGE FAIL. (And many apologies to dear Emily, who was probably anticipating seeing these photos!)

Since there’s no time like the present, here goes:

Capital City Half-Marathon, Columbus, Ohio

We’re so old and boring; we iced our knees and watched HGTV the night before!

There might have been some nail-painting in there, too.

We both did really well. Obviously, I have no idea now what our times were, but I remember the weather being decent and having a good run despite minimal training. This was Emily’s first half, and she finished with a smile from ear-to-ear.

After spending a couple hours recovering in bed with snacks, ice and more HGTV, we dolled-up and headed out to explore High Street.

After ending our night with Jeni’s ice cream (of course), we did brunch at Tasi the next morning.

Along the way home, I might have stopped in Erie, Pa., for Krispy Kreme donuts…

And the following pictures are here because on that weekend, Emily transported some new coffee tables for us from Ohio…nothing new to see, really, but the photos are nice and the room was clean when I took the pictures.