The winner of the Original Worm giveaway is Paige C. Congrats! Please email me at saralovingontherun{at}gmail{dot}com with your information and we will get the worm on it’s way to you!
One thing that I really try to do on this little piece of internet is to be open. Sure, I don’t share every single detail of my personal life for good reason, but I try to share the good and the bad and the struggles I’ve dealt with. We all have them, and they make us who we are!
If you are relatively new to the blog here are a few open and honest posts I’ve written in the past:
An Update on My Disordered Confession
Wednesday morning I woke up when my husband got out of bed to get a drink. We had been up later than usual trying to fix some blog issues and I felt exhausted. Even though I’d been sleeping for 6 hours I felt like I hadn’t even closed my eyes. I checked my phone and I had 15 minutes until my alarm went off at 4:30 AM. I hate when I wake up right before my alarm goes off.
I had another 6 easy planned for this week since it’s a bit of a step back after last week and before next week’s increase. Then I did something I normally would never have done, I set my alarm for 6:30 AM. Two more glorious hours of sleep.
It got me thinking about what I used to do versus what I do now…
I used to never ever take a rest day.
I mean, I really never took a rest day. I ran 7 days a week, one day after the next. I thought that to be a serious runner this is what you needed to do.
It works for some people (my husband) but for me it leads to injury and obsessive behavior. Now, if I can feel my body needs something I try to learn to listen to it. It doesn’t mean I’m perfect at it but if it means an extra rest day in the heart of marathon training then I will do it.
I used to eat to be thin only.
Nutrition and weight are tricky topics in the running world. Of course, your weight does impact your running and it is something to watch for but you can also put yourself in a lot of danger. I used to eat as little as I could get by with. I wound up injured. Go figure!
Now I eat to fuel my running. I usually gain a few lbs during the heart of marathon training, and that’s okay. I don’t eat all the junk I want, but I do eat good foods for my body that can help fuel my running performance and make me feel good.
I used to let running get the best of me.
When I say used to I’d say that I have just now begun to get to the point where I am getting past this. I used to let hard runs stress me out. I used to let it become the focus of my entire week. Now, I try to live day by day and run by run.
Case a point: my tempo run on Thursday.
I went in just telling myself to do what I could, I didn’t beat myself up because I did on the treadmill, I simply got in there and got it done. I’ll go into more detail on Sunday!
I used to never invest in the future.
In your early twenties you are all about the here and now. I’ve always been careful in how I spent my money but still never really thought about the future.
Now, as I approach 30 my focus turns to our future. I have more than just me or even my husband and me to think about. We have a future family, a future life and years and years to go from here. My husband and I have made a huge push towards savings over the past few months and are going strong. We are officially on a monthly budget and it’s been really helping!
I guess that means I’ve officially reached adult hood right?
I guess the point of this is, we live and we learn! We grow up. Don’t be ashamed of your mistakes, thing you used to do, you learn from them! We will always make them and we will always continue to grow. Focus on the future and what’s ahead of you!
What is one thing you’ve changed in your life?
I used to just think about being skinny too and didn’t care really about the quality of what I was eating. Now all I care about is quality and ironically I’m skinnier now but I eat what I want, when I want, but mostly within the realm of whole foods (not perfect of course!). It was so freeing to let go of the “just want to be skinny” stuff that consumed me in college. I too want to invest in my future now. Definitely need to work on the savings part! Man, life is expensive.
I have been following your blog for months! Found it through Meals and Miles. This post really resonated with me. I’m training for my first full marathon. While I have lost 65 pounds through Weight Watchers and still track all my food to the T, I’m finding it hard as the miles build up to keep up with the demanding nutrition. It was so much easier doing WW when running half marathons. The full is a different beast. I’m going into week 10 of training following Hal Higdon’s program. Despite what WW points are allocated that week, I know my food choices impact my training. I’m doing the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on Nov 7th. Great blog! You will do great in Chi town.
I definitely save more, but I wish I had started years earlier!