Well hello there! Hope your week is going well. It’s been a little bit crazy around here but overall it is moving right along. There isn’t much to complain about!
I thought I’d catch you all up to some of the good and the bad of the week since the last time I checked in.
Good
After our long treadmill runs on Saturday we needed a date night badly. With Wes’ schedule right now he only gets one day a week off. Since he has to be into the hospital by 6:45 AM on Sunday it is usually a pretty early Saturday night. However, we wanted to make the most of it.
We tried a new Mexican restarauant in town and it was delicious. I am pretty sure I could eat Mexican food every single day.
Good
Sunday is probably one of my favorite days to run. It is always hard to get myself to get it done just because I am usually tired from Saturday and it is the end of the week, but I always am so happy when I get out there.
Just a little over 8 miles, beautiful sunshine, shorts in January and nice and easy pace. It was just a wonderful and relaxing run.
Bad
Monday morning’s run could not have been more of the opposite. I got up at my normal 4:20 AM wake up time and stumbled out the door for my 8 miles. It was long, I was tired, my body felt like led and I had heartburn like mad.
You win some, you lose some. I wasn’t upset about it just was one of those runs you are happy to have behind you.
On a positive note, they were calling for rain that day but instead it ended up just being overcast. I was prepared and ready to run in the rain so it was a nice surprise not to have to deal with that.
Good
To save money, I always pack my lunch. I am always in a rush in the morning so I also end up packing my breakfast as well.
I think I am going to need a new lunchbox soon though. Breakfast, lunch and two snacks can barely fit anymore! It makes me happy though because I have finally gotten to the point in my life where I am eating the right things at the right times. Sure, some days are better than others but it makes me happy.
Bad
After my bad run on Monday, the rest of the morning didn’t get much better unfortunately.
I left my desk keys at home in my jacket I wore Friday, which delayed me getting started about half an hour. Then the coffee machine wouldn’t make coffee. That is pretty much a death wish on Monday morning!
However, it always puts things into perspective when I found out that my counterparts at work in NY were expecting 12-24 inches of snow. I really don’t miss that one bit.
Good
I posted this on Instgram about a week ago, and thought it was time to share it on here as well.
I was going through some old pictures in my phone and I came across the picture on the left. If you have been a long time reader, it was a picture taken after my 10K PR when we were living in Erie.
I was happy in the picture at the time because I had just ran a fast race for me, but it was short lived because of all the other things going on in my life. I was restricting, running too many miles and just at an overall bad point in my life. I was also about a month out from my stress fracture diagnosis.
The picture on the right, was one of the pictures taken at my marathon in December. It was another big PR for me but the biggest thing that is noticable is I was in a much better place. I had trained smart, no longer restricting, and I had conquored a lot of the demons that were haunting me previously. Sure, I did gain weight between the two but I was fine with that. I was stronger than I had ever been, and looking at it now it was a big turning point. I had done it the RIGHT way.
An outsider looking in might not notice much of a difference, but to me it was a big realization of just how far I have come.
Good
I got an email notification from the Chicago Marathon on Monday evening going through the details of how to enter for this year. While I am not positive which fall marathon I am going to be signing up for, it made me feel awesome to know that I now officially can receive guaranteed entry based on my marathon time.
Definetly turned my Monday around!
Good
I apologize for not announcing the winners in Sunday’s post. I didn’t have them all yet, but here are the winner’s of the Thera-Gesic giveaway!
Congrats everyone! Thera-Gesic will be contacting you directly if they haven’t already!
What has been one good and one bad thing about your week?
You look so healthy, confident, and strong in your Kiawah picture. Glad you have come so far. I have too..so I understand. It’s amazing what our bodies can do when we treat them right. I have a 3:53 first marathon PR and I’m loosely following your training plan for a May marathon 🙂 thanks!
Thank you SO SO Much Liz!
I can completely relate to you on having a husband who works 6 days a week. It’s no fun, but also makes those moments you have together that much sweeter xo
Very true! Glad to hear someone else knows how it feels 🙂 It’s just not enough time for him to recover either!
I too love Mexican food and could eat it more! My husband doesn’t like it as much though so we only eat it every few months. The chips and salsa are the best though, so yummy. Sorry about the crummy run the other day and the crazy Monday, I had a crap day yesterday and you know it’s bad when mile repeats are the best part of your day, but sometimes that’s life. I loved reading about your kiawah training and racing and you were so successful, but that’s how it is when you really take care of yourself running. This sport is very hard on our bodies, a lot harder than people realize and that we realize sometimes.
Oh yes, it is very taxing on the body! Taking care of yourself is so important. Thankfully my hubby loves Mexican as much as I do so we probably eat it TOO much 🙂
I got that e-mail from the Chicago Marathon too and got so excited!!! I can’t believe it’s already almost time to sign up again but I seriously cannot wait to run it again! 😀
I know!! It’s hard to believe that this weekend it will be February already!
Thanks for sharing the info on Chicago! I’m really hoping to get in the lottery for NYC for fall, but Chicago is probably my second choice. I hope if I don’t get in to NY I can still have guaranteed entry. That would be awesome. I can totally relate to the good and bad stuff, sounds totally like a week I would have 🙂 Love the comparison shots too. Great example to show you can be healthy and strong and FASTER when training and fueling the right way!
I have always wanted to run NYC but it has just gotten so pricey! One day though it is on the bucket list!
The Good: Juno gave me two snow days this week! I’ve been taking advantage of it by catching up on studying and relaxing.
The Bad: Because of the snowdays, an exam on Tuesday was rescheduled to Friday. I just wanted to get it over with.
Oh no! I always hated exams after the weekend!
I time qualify for Chicago too. I think I’m running it again because last year I ran it and came in at 3:36, just barely missing qualifying for Boston. I’ve got it this year! It does make me feel awesome to time qualify for something though!
You’ve got this!! It’s a great course to PR on!
That’s awesome you have guaranteed entry! Definitely good this week was having a nice, easy paced outdoor run without any snow in my way. The bad would be that work has been pretty stressful, but I have a trip coming up soon, so that’s not even too horrible!
A trip always makes things better! Sometimes slow, easy and snowy runs can be so relaxing!
I love how you show your side by side pictures and how much healthier and stronger you are at your marathon. I know you mentioned your weight gain, but you are still so thin and fit and look so very healthy! Others could learn a lot from you, Sara! Keep up the excellent work!!
Thank SO much Susan! 🙂
What a great email to go over the improvements, changes and growth you’ve experienced. This is all wonderful.
I have a question, can you let me know which model of Garmin you have? I’m looking to purchase one and I like yours.
Thank you!
Thank you Allison! I now have the Garmin 220!
Strong is the new sexy!! Good for you!!!