In love

I had completely forgotten how much I love running. It has been such a pain this year that I thought I was done with it for good. But then everything just suddenly clicked and, like Forest Gump, I. Was. Run-ning. It's weird and beautiful when that happens. It's like a hurdle you just have to get over and then once you do, running is fun again!

I've been running 4 miles every day. I haven't had to use my inhaler at all which is quite a feat for me. I don't think I've run without an inhaler in, well, ever. Not ever in my entire life. In fact, I remember one time in high school I was running the track for our strength and conditioning training during cheer practice, and I had such a bad asthma attack I threw up all over the track in front of the entire Varsity Football team. I wanted to die. And I figured that my asthma would always hold me back and cause me massive embarrassment. That has been true many times over in my life. I think it was this latest move from Heber to Tucson that did it for me. I'm not allergic to anything here, and my asthma is highly allergy induced. That's my theory anyway.

Saturday I ran 7 miles and it was my best run yet. It just felt good. Every last mile felt good. I wasn't really ready to stop at the end, and that rarely happens to me. I've been able to keep my shin splints under control and I feel like this is becoming a little more natural again. I'm not super fast yet. I know I'm at a 10 minute mile. I'm completely okay with that.

I feel like my rapid weight gain is finally under control and I'm not eating everything in sight. My pants are fitting me again. I don't have constant muffin top. I'm still heavier than I'd like to be, but I'm happy with where I am now. The weather here is beautiful. Every day there is a cool breeze and I just sit on the patio and watch my boys run around the backyard for about an hour after I come home from running. Life is good. And my motivation is running high!

Bryce Canyon, Revisited

Anyone catch the reference in the title? Hint: it's a movie title.

Anyone (besides Jenna) see that movie in all its homoerotic glory? No? Okay then, moving on.

I have signed up to do the Bryce Canyon half marathon again. We'll see if it happens this year. I mean, I'm planning on it, but my body doesn't seem as capable this year as it was last year. I feel like I'm one bad hill run away from another round of stress fractures, and it's making me a little frustrated. But it's pointless to dwell on things beyond my control, so let's talk about what I've been up to.

Today I ran 4 miles. It's hard in Tucson to find any routes that aren't FULL of very steep hills the entire way. I found a running trail I actually really like, but it makes me really nervous to run it by myself because the last time I ran it, I was not alone. No it wasn't the snakes and lizards that bothered me, but the bobcat. I won't be doing that trail again until I've got some pepper spray I can take along with me.

So I've found a route that's exactly four miles and it's right next to the house. It's what I've been running more often than not. Sometimes I run it just fine, and other times I walk at least a mile of it (I've noticed it has everything to do with heat). Today I was able to run the entire thing, but I did need to stop and stretch my calves a couple times. I also forgot a water bottle so the last mile and a half were pretty brutal. But it made me happy that I didn't have to walk at all. I'll choose to focus on that.

The thing that has me the most down is my shin pain. It's not stress fractures, but it's pretty bad shin splints. I don't mind them, and I don't care about running through the pain. I'm just so nervous I'm going to re injure myself because of what happened last year. That was a pretty big blow. That fear keeps me from really pushing myself. In a way that's good, but in a lot of ways it is keeping me from reaching my running goals.

The Bryce race is in July, so I've got the next two months to train and I'm sure I'll get there. Wish me luck!

*I have no idea how long I took, so I have no stats. But now that I'm back to blogging, I'll start taking note of distance and time. Also, I've gained about 12 pounds since the musical I was in ended, so maybe I'll even track my weight and measurements like I did last year. We'll see...........

New Year, New Race, New Blog Post

I haven't written anything on either of my blogs for a very long time. Truth be told, I'm just not interested. Don't get me wrong, I like reading other people's blogs, but writing my own is simply not interesting to me. At all. In fact, I kind of abhor it.

I did however have a conversation the other day with my girlfriend that lives overseas and she brought up some very good points about the blog being a great way to keep others apprised of your goings on that they wouldn't otherwise be privy to. And she's right. I vowed I would muster up some form of motivation to post something. While the family blog is still sitting, lonely and abandoned, this one is receiving a little love and attention (although I think the family blog might get some attention again soon).

The thing I love about this blog is that it is a great tracker. I like going back and reading my entries about my training last year so I can see how I've grown and what I was and wasn't capable of. Now that I've reached a point in my training that is frustrating and disappointing, I figured I would start documenting again so when I'm still frustrated in a few weeks I can look on here and see how far I've (hopefully) come.

So here it goes: running season number two - who's with me?!?!?!?!