This week felt really good! I got in three short runs, and the weather could NOT have been more beautiful. Runs were at Autumn Hall (a beautiful neighborhood off Eastwood), the Loop at the beach, and then the UNCW campus (which was fun—my alma mater!). The second of my three weekday runs was the only one I did by myself, but it happened to be the most gorgeous day. It actually reached 75 degrees and sunny! I'll take a January like this any time! I ended up running at the beach, and there were so many people out. It felt like summer. :)
New this week is that I feel like I've figured out a good schedule for me. Sure, I've basically been following the "2-3 short runs during the week" between long runs on Saturdays, but I now have more of a routine with my short runs. I like to do them on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. This gives me a break the day after and the day before long runs, which is good. That just leaves Wednesdays, on which I have been doing Insanity (as well as on Mondays after a short run—yikes?). But this week on Wednesday I took a complete rest day. It is so easy to get swept up in the excitement and addiction of running when you're new to training, but I am seeing all over the place how important rest days are. For example: "Rest means no running." "Better two quality days and two of total rest than four days of mediocrity resulting from lingering fatigue." "Take recovery days equally as serious as your running days." So that's what I did on Wednesday—no working out, period. I ended up hanging out with a good friend I haven't had one-on-one time with in a while, and it was awesome! We grabbed a little sushi for dinner (shout out to some edamame and that sweet-potato tempura roll she let me try at Nikki's, in between my staple Spicy Crab Avocado rolls) and then frozen yogurt for dessert (shout out to some sugar-free vanilla frozen yogurt topped with pineapple at Fuzzy Peach, yum!). Needless to say, the rest day was greatly—maybe too greatly—enjoyed. :) I mean, after all, it IS biblical...
Well, we are running 8 miles on Saturday... I am nervous and excited all at the same time. :) It is still so crazy to me how this training works. Yes, I ran 7 miles last Saturday, but that's farther than I've ever run before, and I was definitely struggling at the end. My three short runs throughout the course of this week were 3 miles, 3.8, and then 5 (which I felt great during, but still). So now on Saturday I'm supposed to just be able to go out there and magically run 8? It doesn't quite add up or make sense to me... but I'm trusting that this is how it's all supposed to work. :P If I can push this one out and make it all the way through (and I guess what I mean by that is no walking), it will be another new record another week in a row—part of the challenge and what makes this whole thing so addicting!
With the 8 miles coming up this weekend, so begins the longer of our "long runs." We are starting to run with GU gels (and/or the jelly beans) and water belts. I have mine all ready to go, but it will be the first time I've ever run with them before, so it's probably going to be a little bit of a distraction—which may be a good thing. :) I'm interested to see how weird it's going to feel (or not). Another good distraction will be the change-up in our environment. We're still starting at the Starbucks in Landfall and running down to the Loop, but this time we're just running down the right side, taking a right, then running all the way down to the Coast Guard Station at the south end of Wrightsville Beach, and following the same route back. I love running all the way around the Loop, but I'm also looking forward to a change in scenery.
Something else I started thinking about this past week was this excited-sounding little chirp in my head..."Half before Thirty!" "Half before Thirty!" I love that I am going to run a half marathon before I turn 30—not that it was ever a goal before... but now that I'm doing it, I can say that I have. Which is a totally silly thought. What's really in numbers like that? I'll tell you what: comparison and pride. I had started thinking about it and realized that I could create a whole "30 Before 30" bucket list (a.k.a. 30 "cool" things I could do to "close out" my 20's). It's certainly not bad to have dreams and goals—I have plenty. But I started thinking a little deeper, and the only question that came into my mind on this particular topic was, Why? Couldn't you just live every day like it's your bucket list and not feel like you have to do something before a certain time? Just be doing it! I want to practice the art of being grateful for the moment and for what I do have... not just what I want to be able to say I've done. The end result can be satisfying, but the process is transforming. Kind of the same concept I began to develop in a previous post ("Setback and an A-Ha Moment"). I'd rather learn a whole lot along the way and be sick on the day of the half, than train without paying attention at all and have a great half. Running is teaching me the patience I never knew I didn't have... and giving me such an appreciation for the process along any journey. Sure, I will be able to that running a half marathon is one thing I did before I turned 30. But does that make it any less of an accomplishment if I had waited a couple years? If I had done it a couple years earlier?
If "rest" is a discipline, so is gratitude and appreciation. I'm grateful every day I get to go out and run without health issues. I'm grateful for such a beautiful place in which to live that provides so many beautiful locations in which to run. I'm grateful for friends and for goals, both of which push me and challenge me to be better. But I can't not be grateful for the journey... I'm so grateful for the journey...
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