My week- October 24-30

Where to begin this week? Well, I'll start with my week's running. I got in 23 miles this week. Nothing huge, but it was a good week. My runstreak is currently at 705 days, and I'm over 100 miles for the month.

 I did run a virtual race this week. I ran the 131 Events Halloween Brew Ha Ha on Saturday. The weather was great, and I had originally thought of running a longer run and counting the first 5K for the race. I decided instead to run a strong 5K and see how it went. I finished in just over 30 minutes, but my last mile was a 9:14 so I'm super happy!!

This brings me to my other two thoughts for the week. First is running pace. Be it because I've been in the running scene for so long, or just the fact that I'm older, my view on pace has changed over the last year or so. I used to feel that if I wasn't running under 10 minutes a mile, I wasn't really running. Runners are supposed to be fast...but let's be real, "fast" is a relative term! Lately my pace for training runs has ranged between 10:45 and 12:05. In the past this would have really bothered me, but as I've gotten older I realized some things. The most important thing is I'm out there running! So many people will never get out there and try. Just being out there is a win! Also, yesterday showed me that I can still run pretty fast, heck most every race I run I'm sub-10 min per mile, I'm REALLY happy with that. It makes me think of all the podcasts I've listened to that tell you to slow down to race faster, or the 80/20 rule, and that I may have been running a lot of my training too fast, honestly. Also, let's be real I'm not getting younger, lol. My PR days may be way fewer than when I was in my 20s, but the passion for the sport is still there and even if I just get slower and slower I will always enjoy being part of the running community. So with all that in mind, I've been able to let the preoccupation with pace go...at least for the most part :) 

The other thing is that I've made a definite decision on is one my my 2017 goals. I will be doing the Run For God devotional. I had a couple experiences that led me to this. First, I was checking Facebook and found the story of why Run For God was founded. The story hit home with me. The founder was approached by a friend who was concerned that running had become an idol rather than just something done for health and recreation. That got me thinking about my own relationship with the sport. Then just yesterday there was a local race I chose not to enter, when the results were posted on line I saw I would have placed in my age group. I was so upset! Why didn't I enter that race? Why did I let an award slip through my fingers? Why would I not sign up for a race even if money is tight or I have other obligations, or....   I stopped myself right there. That type of thinking is NOT the direction I want my running to take. I realized right then that I need to refocus myself and I think the Run For God devotional will be perfect.

With that I'm off to do the family thing, and the cleaning house thing, and the running thing. Happy running!!

Letting go

Have you ever been in a race where you started out feeling strong, passed someone then had them pass you later in the race, and all you could do is watch them slowly pull farther and farther ahead? Well that's kind of how I feel this month is going, but I'm actually ok with it. Let me explain...

I've been on Instagram for a couple of years. What was originally supposed to be a crafting account for me slowly morphed into a running account. It was so motivating to see others running races, reaching goals, and challenging themselves that once my account took the turn toward fitness I never looked back. As I got more and more involved with the running community the hashtag "challengeville" kept popping up so I checked it out. Challengeville is an amazingly supportive group of runners headed up by @oldguyrunning who hosts monthly milage challenges. Over the last 4 months I have conquered the Tinman (93.3 miles in a month) twice and the Bigfoot (150 miles in a month) twice. Heading into October I thought, "I'm feeling good AND I've got a half marathon and some virtuals coming up...I've got Bigfoot for sure!"

Well, here we are mid October and Bigfoot is slowly pulling away and I'm having trouble catching up :( Now I'm not giving up! I will still do my best to try and catch him. But while I'm in the midst of fighting off a second (SECOND) cold already this season it's helped to put some things in perspective.

First, goals are important, but not the MOST important thing. When it comes to life you need to prioritize, and while a running goal may seem like the most important thing, it really isn't. Family needs to come first. People aren't in your life forever, kids aren't little forever, people can't be replaced, and pushing to a goal and ignoring them just isn't right. The road will be waiting for you when you have the time.

Health is also paramount. If you don't take care of yourself you can't run at optimum levels. This is what I am personally dealing with now. I so want to run a virtual race today, but I know I'm teetering on the edge of getting sick and I have to work today. So is it worth it to me to push and run 6.2, then go work 9 hours to end up feeling so miserable that I can only muster 1 or 2 miles a day for the next week? In a word, no. I'd rather cut back a bit, run tomorrow on my day off then be able to rest like I need to to kick this bug before it takes me over.

Finally, as important as goals are, is the world going to end if you don't reach it? My type A personality wants to scream, "YES!!!!", but my logical brain says, "No!" I think a lot of my stress comes from feeling I ALWAYS have to reach a goal if I set it. But when I step back and really think about it, if you reach EVERY goal, EVERY challenge, are you really setting your sights too low? Also, as weird as some may think this sounds, at some point you need to learn how to deal with not reaching a goal. Realizing it's not failure. It's not that you didn't work hard enough. Realizing that life happens and sometimes things just don't work out. Maybe stepping back and reevaluating the goal you set and readjusting. And knowing deep down that you did your best, and you will come away wiser and stronger from the experience.

I will continue to chase Bigfoot this month. I will do my best to catch him, but even if I don't I won't let myself get down about it for too long. I'll  just let him think he's finally shaken me and sneak up and get him another month ;) With that I'm out the door for an easy run then some rest before work. Hope you all have a great weekend!

JaDee

Been too long

Wow! It's been a long time since I've been here. So much has happened and I've grown in many ways. So as I try to get back into blogging, I'd like to use this post to play catch up, and share some thoughts in general. That said, here we go!

Where to start, where to start... well, guess it makes sense to start with my running. 2016 has been a wonderful year so far. I've run many virtual and live races, taken part in some challenges, ran my first (and 2nd and 3rd and 4th!) live half marathon since reclaiming my life, and in doing that qualified for Half Fanatics!! I placed in one of the races I entered, earned lots of bling, and am currently on runstreak day 687. Running has truly been a blessing, and I look forward to sharing more.

My thoughts on blogging... When I started this blog, the optimist in me had grand visions of becoming this huge, popular, high volume blogger. I think in my mind I want to be this grand motivator with a huge following and all that stuff. Silly? Maybe, but goals are good. After giving it some thought, however, I've come to realize that I really want to have a place to chronicle my journey. (I know I've said this before, I'm just trying to get it through to ME, lol) I'm not a trainer. I'm not a dietitian. I'm not an expert. Im just a regular girl with a family and a full time job that loves running and trying to find ways to better herself. So this will be a place to write out all those thoughts that probably bore my non-running friends and family but they are kind enough to listen to. If I get some readership, some regular readers, some comments, that's AWESOME! But when it comes down to it, this is my blog, my page, my thoughts, for my fun and expression, and I welcome you all to read and follow me and share in my journey.

Ok, weight loss....I'm STUCK! LOL :/ One of my hopes in revitalizing my blog is to hopefully get my butt back in gear with my nutrition and cross training to jump start some changes in my body. I guess when it comes down to it, I'm not worried about weight loss as much as fat loss. I hope this will give me some accountability and I'm hoping that chatting about it more will keep me doing more.

Well, that's all I can think of for right now. I mean, there's other stuff rattling around my head, but I think it's stuff for other posts. I'm really just hoping to have fun with writing again and share snippets of my daily life to hopefully spark, or fan the flames of even just one person's motivation to reach their goals. With that, I'm off for the evening. Live happy and run lots <3

     JaDee