Week 7 - 8.5 miles

So, I guess this post is the actual end of Week 7.  I woke up with my nephews at about 6:45 am. This gave me time to get them ready and get my yoga practice in for the morning.  I think it might have been the first time they had seen yoga.  It was really easy to try and rationalize why I didn't have time. But it only takes 20 minutes and I knew my body would thank me for it later.  Then I dropped my nephews off at my mom's house, stopped at Sheetz for a small bottled water, and set off for Sand Run Trail.  As a side note, I only bought the bottled water because I don't have a bottle small enough to carry while run/walking. I don't like buying plastic and usually carry around my large reusable water bottle which is not good for carrying.  This means I need to purchase a small reusable water bottle for runs.

I got to the trail at 8 am. One wouldn't think that this is much later than 7:30 am. Well, what a difference a half hour makes!  I had to wait for a spot to park, it was warmer, and the trail was very crowded.  Also, my trusty friend Allison who is typically at the trail before me was not there.  There was one morning where she completely forgot to get up. So, trying to stay positive, I just told myself that I would do the best that I could. That I would still be able to do it even if she wasn't able to join me.  I think I even kept repeating. But I decided to give her a few minutes before I started out on my own.  And she arrived a couple of minutes after that.

She was admittedly a bit cranky today due to a lack of sleep. And I was just happy to have my friend run/walk with me. We did our warm-up, stretches, and I took a bathroom break before we got started. Okay, if you really want to know how much of a dork I am, here goes. . .  I want to know if the ammonia smell in the port-o-potties is from all the "waste" or from their cleaning supplies.  It is sooooo strong.  It is hard to believe that that is normal compost smell.  Anyways, I need to finish my blog before I go searching about that topic.

Armed with our water and electrolyte gel chew thingys, we were off. I was pretty energetic and pumped to be setting out on our 8 mile adventure.  I think I went a little fast and hard that first mile. I certainly wasn't able to maintain that chipper pace.  It also seemed like people were not as friendly at 8 am in the morning or something.  I think the first 5 or 6 people that I said good morning to ignored me and had no response at all.  Some people may wave or nod, if talking isn't able to be done while running. But even the ones that weren't wearing head phones. I don't like that feeling when I feel invisible. But I was pretty determined to greet everyone on the trail. Because I seemed so eager and chipper, Allison deemed me the trail prom queen.  The only time in my life that will ever be uttered! It was hysterical. Have I ever mentioned how hard it is run while laughing? It is very difficult!

It seemed that first 2 miles were pretty smooth. Still tough on the hills, but smooth otherwise. The section of Sand Run is pretty hilly.  I hear that the actual Akron Roadrunner is pretty flat for the Half-Marathon. I liked hearing that info! We passed the 2.5 mile marker, and Allison asked me if I remembered when we thought that was exciting. I do. It was fun to be able to push past what we thought was possible!

Very grateful for the sunshine today even if it made it a little more challenging.  We made it to the end of mile 3. The trail we have been using is only 6 miles round trip. So we decided to run the last half mile two times to make up for our 2 extra miles today. It seemed safest to stay on the end of the trail, so we couldn't back out of the higher miles being closer to the beginning of the trail. Doing it this way made for even more hills though. We hadn't really planned on that part. It reinforced our positive thinking/talk though.  Continuing to use phrases such as; "I'm gliding", "I love the way I feel when I am done", "Every step gives me benefits", "Endorphins help me relax", etc. It does help. Also, imagining the people ahead of us pulling us forward helps.

One of the funniest things that happened today, as we were running along the trail we came around a bend.  On the other side was a young girl running towards us while singing.  I have no idea what she was singing. But she was singing, out of tune and enjoying every second of it.  And you know what, she stopped singing just to say hello back to us! It was awesome. I think she cheered us up for a good half-mile.  She also inspired us to have our own trail karaoke.  Yes, it may have been Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA", but it was upbeat, we knew the words, and it was funny as well as fun. I think we definitely got our share of funny looks, but we didn't care. We had just finished 5 miles and had 3 more to go.

I think we have become regulars. There were quite a few people who are starting to look familiar. This is pretty cool. I never really thought I would become a regular on a running trail!  At mile 6, Allison's knees started bothering her, so we slowed our pace and increased our walking stints.  She toughed it out and we ran/walked through mile 7.  Near the beginning of mile 8, she decided she needed to give her knees a break. So we walked the rest of our route.  Jeff Galloway emphasizes that it is more important to stay together than to run faster during long runs.  So, I stuck with Allison to the end of our walk. And we did our cool down walk, then stretches.

I iced my knees. I also made sure I moved my legs around today while I was driving to and from Canton. Took some arnica and Ibuprofen.  My muscles are somewhat sore, but not anything that is going to keep me from doing my daily life.

I don't know if I can convey how grateful I am to be healthy enough to be able to do my training. Grateful to have had all of the support, all of the experiences that have helped me get to this point, grateful to have the physical ability to run/walk, grateful that my yoga practice helps me mentally and physically be able to do everything in my day, grateful for the trails, grateful for Allison, grateful for all my training cheerleaders-Tony, Jana, Shana, Cassie, Julie, Scott and Michelle. Grateful. Namaste.

Boycotting all things healthy!

I knew it might be a few days til I could post. So I wrote on Monday, Feb 1st at home the following:

I don't think I ever got out of my negative thinking funk! I skipped yoga class on Tuesday because I was boycotting anything that resembled healthy. And yoga is in the very healthy category. So, no yoga for me!

Thankfully, I was able to ask my friends and mentors for help. I was able to be honest about my boycott. Most importantly I was willing to do things differently. Wednesday night I recommitted to taking care of myself. Thursday was a pretty easy day. I was just grateful to not be feeling so disgusted with myself.

Friday was tougher. Work was stressful. I was eating dinner later than normal, and on top of that my head kept telling me that food was going to fix how I felt. But I had already committed to meeting my friends for dinner. I was able to talk about my day, laugh and connect with people.

Saturday was a wonderful soul food day! A few weeks ago when I was really excited about yoga, I had asked a friend if she would be willing to photograph me doing yoga poses. She is Lynn Keller Photography located in Akron, OH. and she is an excellent photographer!

After my health/yoga boycott, I was slightly dreading the photo shoot. But I had committed, and so I went. I wasn't sure how it was going to go. I brought my yoga blocks, straps, mat and a couple of books with yoga poses for reference.

As Lynn and I were preparing for the photo shoot, a cute little VW bug pulled up to her house. Little did I know, Lynn had invited one of my yoga class instructors to the photo shoot. I immediately felt self-conscious and worried about not being good enough at yoga. I realized that I was comparing myself to Nancy who has been practicing yoga for about 30 years. So, I decided to be open to whatever this may bring.

Nancy and Lynn both are very open, warm and caring people. Not mention their twisted and quick sense of humor, so we laughed a lot! So this photo shoot turned into my very own private yoga session. It was absolutely amazing! Nancy did a warm up with me right in the studio. She helped me with correct alignment and explaining the benefits of each pose. And she showed me appropriate modifications when poses were painful.

The afternoon just gave me a renewed sense of yoga appreciation. It reminded me how rewarding and fulfilling practicing yoga is. I feel so empowered after doing my yoga practice. It feels great to be able to do something I never thought I could. It feels great to do poses that are challenging. It feels great when a pose that was difficult becomes slightly easier. It feels great to be able to stop and connect with the universe. It really does feel like I am nourishing my soul when I am practicing yoga!

Nancy asked me if I had a favorite pose. I'm not sure about a favorite, but I do know that I am still shocked every time I do Plank pose. I mean I can't do a push-up but I can do Cataranga-Plank pose. After thinking a second, I do have to say that I usually love corpse pose. Because it means that I can relax after a challenging class!

Ending the boycott. Namaste.