Perfect Run

Saturday, April 12th is a day that I will remember for a long time.  It was a perfect run.   Completing this run, would have been my longest run to date (at the time).  I was definitely worried about completing this run since my run the weekend before was a bust.  The night before I had a difficult time sleeping.  I was definitely nervous (even though I was really trying not to be!) and kept waking up in the middle of the night, tossing and turning.

I picked my friend up and we headed to Eagle Creek to complete our long run.  When we got there we first drove around and planned the route we would run.  After that, we parked and began to warm up.

Before we began our run, I told my friend that I was not even going to worry about my pace.  I just wanted to complete eight miles.  She agreed since eight miles would be the longest distance she had ever tried running.  We prayed before starting and then off we went.  As soon as we got around the first bend, we were greeted with this beautiful view:

During our run, we encountered many other runners, bicyclists, and walkers.  I did my best to greet all of them.  We also had several people say encouraging things to us.  I loved it!

All during the run, I felt pretty good.  I did have to go to the restroom during mile 4 and luckily, there was a restroom there for me to use.  I stopped my GPS during that time because I did not want it going while I was in the restroom.  However, my friend stopped for the restroom two times, and I kept my GPS going during those times.

I followed a lot of advice from friends.  I took a small water bottle with me during my run.  I ate a little bit more food for breakfast in the morning than I did the week before.  I turned the voice off on my RunKeeper app so that I could not hear my pace and distance and get discouraged.  I only heard my intervals.  I bought some energy beans and started taking them as needed around mile four.

As our run continued, I could tell I was getting tired.  I really slowed down during the last mile.  You know what helped?  Having someone right there with me.  That is what I noticed about this perfect run.  I had a friend that I could encourage and that encouraged me.  I know that is a huge reason why I was able to keep going even after being so tired.

When we were finished with the run, I was shocked!  Our pace was awesome!  Here is the overview of our run:

Here were the splits:

Mile 4 is where I turned off the app while taking a restroom break.

I still am thinking about this perfect run.  All of my other runs since this one have not even compared to it.  Am I ever going to have another amazing run like this?  I certainly hope so!  

Things have been VERY busy between school and training for the Mini.  I am officially less than a week out from the Mini-Marathon.  I have other posts that are swirling around in my head and I am hoping I can get them written soon.  Thanks for the encouraging words and prayers in between the posts!  You guys rock!

Elephant in the Room

****Note: The title of this post was confirmed this morning when I got an e-mail from a friend/co-worker about a dream she had about me last night.  In the dream our school was surrounded with elephants and I was sprayed by one of them.  I was soaked and not happy at all about it.  Hilarious!

Okay, it is time to talk about the elephant in the room.

No, I am not talking about Ellie.  She is more of a horse than an elephant anyway.

I am talking about the thought that some of you may have thought, and I know I have been thinking about for awhile now.  Allison, if you are training for the Mini and running / working out more, then why aren't you losing weight?  Great question!  I mean, you would think if one is working out on a regular basis that weight should be coming off.  I would lose some weight one week just to gain it back another week.  Losing and gaining the same pounds over and over.

Then I saw something that stopped me in my tracks.  This picture has haunted me since seeing it:

That is the problem.  I have been feeding disease for far too long.  I have struggled with eating right for many years.  I decided a change was in order.  

I need something manageable and something that I can maintain for the rest of my life.  I have been seeing and hearing about people that are "eating clean."  I looked into it and thought that seemed like it would work for me.  Last week I tried eating cleaner.  I did not eat clean for every meal simply because I refuse to be wasteful with food I had already purchased.  

I have noticed some positive changes since eating cleaner.  I do not seem to be craving sweets as much (and I definitely have a sweet tooth)!  I also seem to have more energy.  The recipes I have used so far have tasted great!  

While I am not planning on weighing in every week I will be weighing in for the next couple of weeks to make sure I am losing and not gaining while trying to eat cleaner.  I weighed in this morning and after eating cleaner for only 1 week, I have lost 14 pounds!  That is exactly the momentum I need to keep pushing towards my goal of being a healthier, happier me.  

I realized it has been awhile since I have added a picture of myself.  When I first started the blog I was adding monthly pictures, and I am going to try to do that again.  This is to help me see some of the physical changes (hopefully!) in my body.  This month you are in for a special treat.  I had the world's cutest three year old at this month's photo shoot and she had some creative poses for me to try.  I tried every single one she wanted me to do, and I am going to add them here now.  Enjoy!  

It's Okay to Not Be Okay

I am crazy.  Like, seriously, crazy.  Please remember to pray for my family and friends as they have to deal with my neurotic self.  I always promise honesty and honesty is what I will give.  I am NOT writing this post for an outpouring of support.  I am writing this post to show the struggle is real.  Here are just a few things I have experienced this last week.

I was pretty pumped after running 6+ miles on Monday.  Then something changed.  Do not ask me what because I am not sure, but I had several sleepless nights this week.  Any time I would think about the Mini-Marathon I had a pit in my stomach.  I started poring over it almost obsessively, fretting about my running pace.  It was causing me not to sleep.  The bottom line?  I was sick to my stomach because of a fear of failure.  My definition of failing was being picked up by the bus during the Mini.

By Thursday, I had had it.  I did what I should have done after the first sleepless night.  I turned to the Lord.  I began reading His word and any time I felt myself getting anxious, I turned it over to Him.  I had to do that multiple times.  I am still doing that even now.  Some of the verses that I will continue to meditate on are:

I went to our last Run for God class on Thursday evening.  Before class I confessed to a dear friend of mine what I had been struggling with.  There may have been some tears shed as well.  I confessed to her then that I knew my thoughts were out of control.  She looked right at me and said, "This is supposed to be fun, and it does not sound like you are having fun right now."  Bingo.  This is supposed to be fun.  Sleepless nights and fear of failure do not equal fun.

We had our study and one of the verses that night was my all-time favorite verse:

Bible study reminded me that I am doing this in order to draw closer to God.  I cannot do this in my own strength.  I have to trust Him in all things.  I have been traveling down this path for over a year now, and I believe that God has been along for the ride.  It is time to make Him the driver.

After bible study we had a training run.  I did share my struggle with two of the awesome ladies from our Run for God group as we warmed up walking.  Both of them were very encouraging and reassuring and made me feel great right before the run.

One thing I decided to do was run naked.  What!?!?!?!?!!??  Okay, not really naked but I wanted to run without music and without GPS tracking my pace.  I just needed to unplug.  I needed to quit obsessing over my pace and timing and just focus on my surroundings.  I used my cell phone's timer to help with my intervals but that was it.  I think I ran over 3 miles that night with a decent pace.  I cannot tell you for sure because I don't know.  What I do know is that I spent that time praying and praising God and it felt great.  It was exactly what I needed.

Which brings us to today...the plan today was to do eight miles.  It was a gorgeous day for running!  I headed to a park in Plainfield with a running buddy.  I decided again not to listen to music but just to listen to my run/walk intervals.  I started off feeling great.  I was moving and knew my pace was amazing.  Then it happened.  I had to go to the bathroom.  I was forced to take to the woods (and pray no one saw me)! After that, it was crash and burn.  I could never really hit my stride again after that.  I ended up walking more than running and definitely walked the last mile.  One thing that also got to me was that at certain intervals I would hear the voice update of my pace slowing down and it was driving me crazy.  I ended up taking my headphones off and just walked the rest of  the way back to my car.  I was done.  You know what, though? I still focused on the Lord.  I still praised Him throughout it and know that I am learning more about myself and my faith through all of this. The pep talk from my running buddy after today's run also helped me stay focused and not get discouraged.

Things I learned about today's run:
*Drink less before heading out!
*Hydrate more throughout the run
*Figure out how to get my running app to not tell me my pace when updating mileage
*Do not start so fast.
*Some runs stink!  Brush it off and move on.

And here is the overview of my run today:

Here are my splits for today (and you can tell where I walked!):

Even as I have been writing this post, I have been struggling.  Trust me.  It has taken me longer to write this post than any other post I have done in the past.  And it is here where I admit some things and let some things go.

I may not be able to finish the Mini-Marathon.  There is a chance that I could get picked up by the bus, and that is okay!  Admitting that now to you is very freeing for me.  Because the bottom line is that this has been a journey for me - one that will continue well after the Mini has come and gone.  I will continue to train and continue to fight because I do REALLY want to complete this race.  However, the lessons I have learned and how it has helped draw me closer to the Lord means so much more.  I am determined to work hard but at the same time have fun with this.  Admitting that I might fail allows me to continue on this journey and to fully rely on God.  It allows me to stop trying to control things and doing things in my own strength (which is actually very weak). I know that I absolutely cannot do this or anything without Him.  He is where I draw my strength and courage.  I commit this race to Him and whatever the outcome of it, I know that I will learn so much from this experience.