Fun weekend already swooshed by! This weekend we celebrated St. Patrick's Day yesterday and on Friday night Jeremy and I went to St. Louis to stay the night and have an (early) birthday dinner for me. We went to one of my favorite places, Oyster Bar! Delicious! Yesterday, I did the annual St. Patrick's Day run in downtown St. Louis with my friend Sam. While it was weirdly hot and humid for March 17th, we both finished in under 45 minutes, 44 to be exact!! We were rather proud of ourselves. Then after cleaning up and bedazzling ourselves in all things green we headed out for the parade and a day of cocktailing with friends. It was a really fun day, all in all, even though we did get a little wet when the storms rolled in late afternoon and we started going bar to bar. Today was a nice breakfast in Soulard with the husband and then a movie day at home.
Even though there was lots of fun had this weekend I also have been thinking over the past week or so about the path I am on. It does get really trying at times, and there are days I really have to stay committed but I want so bad to see it through. I am also starting a new book tonight that goes along with my nutritionists suggesting to be easier on myself. The book is called "The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion". Again notice the word mindful, guess that is a theme for me this year. Anyway, it had great reviews on Amazon so I decided to check it out. It can only help me some, because I know I am hard on myself.
So, now it's onto the week ahead. I have some new responsibilities at work, so I have a feeling it could be a week of learning (and later in the week celebrating my birthday). So here is to another fabulous Spring week.
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
First Long Run!
I did it! I ran 6.5 miles today and my knee held up and hasn't had many twinges since!! Now, I am not going to lie, during the run today I had thoughts about stopping, not because of any knee pain but because of how winded I was getting. However, about mile 4 my real runner's high kicked in and I felt I could keep going and going and I did. All the way until 6.5 miles were dunzo. I was so elated. I haven't run that far since maybe last May if that! So needless to say that gave me some inspiration to keep going and motivation to keep getting better and stronger.
I have a Skype session scheduled tomorrow with my nutritionist that I am looking forward too. Not only just to get a little "tune up" in but also because this weekend we are planning to head to Bloomington and last time going there was a bit of a challenge for me. I am trying to look back on the last trip and remember thoughts I had and use these as motivation to keep from going there again. I know I am strong enough and can be in tune enough with myself, I just have to really put that to practice and I am really going to try. I am pretty excited for the trip overall though, as I always have fun up there. Not to mention good eats and cocktails!
Well, now that Leap Day is winding down, heading to the store as the Dunham household is about outta any food but pasta and some baked beans! Hope everyone had a good Leap Day! Here's to March and real Spring around the corner.
I have a Skype session scheduled tomorrow with my nutritionist that I am looking forward too. Not only just to get a little "tune up" in but also because this weekend we are planning to head to Bloomington and last time going there was a bit of a challenge for me. I am trying to look back on the last trip and remember thoughts I had and use these as motivation to keep from going there again. I know I am strong enough and can be in tune enough with myself, I just have to really put that to practice and I am really going to try. I am pretty excited for the trip overall though, as I always have fun up there. Not to mention good eats and cocktails!
Well, now that Leap Day is winding down, heading to the store as the Dunham household is about outta any food but pasta and some baked beans! Hope everyone had a good Leap Day! Here's to March and real Spring around the corner.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Training around the Corner
Here it is Friday again and I am very thankful!! Phew, made it! I have been waiting for Friday since Monday. However, what is on my mind today isn't just the fun weekend ahead, but also the next eight weeks. On Monday I will start training for the Champaign Half Marathon in April. April 29th to be exact. This will be my 7th (I think ) half marathon. This will be my first long race since my knee injury. I am both excited and a little intimidated.
Because I am a wee bit OCD and organized , I always have a training plan for these races that I stick to. It makes me feel more in control, shocking I know. But it also helps keep me honest and looking back as I train keeps me motivated during those weeks where I think what the heck have I gotten myself into. So this year is no different, I am scouring the Internet looking up different plans and paces, trying to decide what is right for me. When I visited the Runner's World website and looked at one of the plans there was also a link to some nutrition articles. I decided to click on one. Glad I did.
I clicked on an article titled "Running on Empty". The article is written by a male runner who talks about his experience training for his first marathon and the disordered eating patterns he developed in the process. The article goes on to talk about issues with disordered eating and runners. Let me tell you, I saw myself and my behaviors in there. In the article the writer states that manipulating one's food and body offers a sense of control and perfection. WHOA yup, that's me. Control and perfection have always been part of who I am, part of my personality. I like to think it has to do with my birth order. But I digress, I read this article with eyes wide, absorbing it all. It discussed that runners often lose weight and think that is why their times improve, rather than other factors such as training and sleep habits. This was me. As was the example of the runner who would do his long runs and never properly refuel and pretty much make himself sick . I wasn't near as bad as the man mentioned in the article, but I often only ate a measly Quaker Oats 100 calorie granola bar for breakfast after a 10 mile run. Then only a Clif bar and apple for lunch. Yes, really I did that. I know, it's not good. I consider myself blessed I didn't get hurt sooner than I did over training and treating myself this way. Guess my knee injury was God's way of telling me JEN treat yourself RIGHT!!
So, after reading the article with motivating statements in it telling the readers that healthy eating isn't less eating and so forth I feel ready to tackle this half marathon training. I am struggling right now with the food thing, I have been honest about that here in the past few posts. But I am still eating, trying not to let myself restrict, trying not to fuss and trying respect my body. Trying to understand my body is changing, adjusting to being treated better, finally. With the training will come more changes, as I will be running more and there will be spikes in hunger levels. But I will try my best and give it my all to listen to my body and what it wants. Give it what it needs, especially after long runs. Which is definitely not just a 100 calorie granola bar! I am going to keep thinking the healthy eating is not less eating and try to nourish my body.
I have done enough half marathons to know that I will hit my wall at 7 1/2 miles wondering why I decided to do this. What was I thinking? But this year I will try to push past that point by thinking that I am really doing this for the healthier Jen. For the Jen that back in July could not run 1 mile pain free. I am doing this to prove to myself that I am strong and I will overcome these issues I have with food and body image. I am going to cross that finish line proud, no matter what time is on the clock, because I treated my body right. I will know I did my best and I have come so far and will continue to do so.
Cheers everyone! Happy Friday!
Because I am a wee bit OCD and organized , I always have a training plan for these races that I stick to. It makes me feel more in control, shocking I know. But it also helps keep me honest and looking back as I train keeps me motivated during those weeks where I think what the heck have I gotten myself into. So this year is no different, I am scouring the Internet looking up different plans and paces, trying to decide what is right for me. When I visited the Runner's World website and looked at one of the plans there was also a link to some nutrition articles. I decided to click on one. Glad I did.
I clicked on an article titled "Running on Empty". The article is written by a male runner who talks about his experience training for his first marathon and the disordered eating patterns he developed in the process. The article goes on to talk about issues with disordered eating and runners. Let me tell you, I saw myself and my behaviors in there. In the article the writer states that manipulating one's food and body offers a sense of control and perfection. WHOA yup, that's me. Control and perfection have always been part of who I am, part of my personality. I like to think it has to do with my birth order. But I digress, I read this article with eyes wide, absorbing it all. It discussed that runners often lose weight and think that is why their times improve, rather than other factors such as training and sleep habits. This was me. As was the example of the runner who would do his long runs and never properly refuel and pretty much make himself sick . I wasn't near as bad as the man mentioned in the article, but I often only ate a measly Quaker Oats 100 calorie granola bar for breakfast after a 10 mile run. Then only a Clif bar and apple for lunch. Yes, really I did that. I know, it's not good. I consider myself blessed I didn't get hurt sooner than I did over training and treating myself this way. Guess my knee injury was God's way of telling me JEN treat yourself RIGHT!!
So, after reading the article with motivating statements in it telling the readers that healthy eating isn't less eating and so forth I feel ready to tackle this half marathon training. I am struggling right now with the food thing, I have been honest about that here in the past few posts. But I am still eating, trying not to let myself restrict, trying not to fuss and trying respect my body. Trying to understand my body is changing, adjusting to being treated better, finally. With the training will come more changes, as I will be running more and there will be spikes in hunger levels. But I will try my best and give it my all to listen to my body and what it wants. Give it what it needs, especially after long runs. Which is definitely not just a 100 calorie granola bar! I am going to keep thinking the healthy eating is not less eating and try to nourish my body.
I have done enough half marathons to know that I will hit my wall at 7 1/2 miles wondering why I decided to do this. What was I thinking? But this year I will try to push past that point by thinking that I am really doing this for the healthier Jen. For the Jen that back in July could not run 1 mile pain free. I am doing this to prove to myself that I am strong and I will overcome these issues I have with food and body image. I am going to cross that finish line proud, no matter what time is on the clock, because I treated my body right. I will know I did my best and I have come so far and will continue to do so.
Cheers everyone! Happy Friday!
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wanting to fly south....but heading north for the weekend!
The first winter storm of the season has hit the area, and I am NOT a fan at all. This kind of weather makes me want to fly south like the birds real bad!! But despite the less than stellar weather, today was a pretty good day. I did a 5 mile run this morning without any knee pain (which thrills me!), had another yummy green smoothie, and then this afternoon had another great workout with Susie my trainer. We talked about some goals I want to meet (one being to increase my muscle tone!) and she makes my goals seem so doable while still being realistic with food and life! This approach is exactly what I need right now. Also, after meeting with my nutritionist last night I also feel I am back on a positive path with the intuitive eating process, I just have to be patient which she reinforced quite a few times. So, it's been an up and down kind of week but ending on an up note and I have a fun weekend ahead to look forward to!
This weekend my husband, my dog Lucy and I are heading up to see my in-laws for the weekend. (Our other pup,Emilio, will be having a staycation with my folks!) I love going up to visit them. We always have so much fun and it's just nice to get away once in awhile, even if it is only 2 hours. But, as fun as these weekends are , they have often been a source of stress for me with my disordered eating. Anyone who knows my father in law KNOWS that man loves to eat and loves to make sure all those he entertains have MORE than enough to eat. Well, I am all for this believe me because he makes and buys some of the best goodies around (Avanti's ranch dressing and bread..OMG!). But, because of my (disordered) relationship with food, in the past I would pretty much eat little to NOTHING all day because I knew we would be having lots of yummy food and I wanted to have room for it all and knew I would probably eat a little more than usual. Well, as one can imagine this would backfire, I would be STARVING when I got there and snack, snack, snack all evening making myself feel miserable. Then the next day the thoughts would start, that I was disgusting, out of control, I wasn't going to do that again...and the cycle continued. If I could I would run around the neighborhood for a bit to destress but if I couldn't do that I fussed. Not always out loud but to myself, a lot. Now, looking back on the experiences I have had with this (and through reading my book) I realize that I need to eat more balanced throughout the day to AVOID being ravenous when I arrive. I also know (and have been told) I need to take a deep breath and relax around the food, and eat what I really want and pay attention to how my body feels, my satisfaction level and my fullness. I need to remember on of the intuitive eating motto's of "If you don't love it don't eat it and if you love it, savor it."
So because I am all into branching out and changing I have a few goals for the weekend. To listen to my body and eat what I want (and love!) and enjoy it. To have cocktails (Mama Dunham margaritas are absolutely AMAZING!) and enjoy the company and conversation. To not wig out because I can't run in the morning after a night of a (little) overindulgence, and do yoga instead, or nothing at all and know I will be fine! This weekend I will eat, drink and be merry (for real!) with my fun, fabulous family!
This weekend my husband, my dog Lucy and I are heading up to see my in-laws for the weekend. (Our other pup,Emilio, will be having a staycation with my folks!) I love going up to visit them. We always have so much fun and it's just nice to get away once in awhile, even if it is only 2 hours. But, as fun as these weekends are , they have often been a source of stress for me with my disordered eating. Anyone who knows my father in law KNOWS that man loves to eat and loves to make sure all those he entertains have MORE than enough to eat. Well, I am all for this believe me because he makes and buys some of the best goodies around (Avanti's ranch dressing and bread..OMG!). But, because of my (disordered) relationship with food, in the past I would pretty much eat little to NOTHING all day because I knew we would be having lots of yummy food and I wanted to have room for it all and knew I would probably eat a little more than usual. Well, as one can imagine this would backfire, I would be STARVING when I got there and snack, snack, snack all evening making myself feel miserable. Then the next day the thoughts would start, that I was disgusting, out of control, I wasn't going to do that again...and the cycle continued. If I could I would run around the neighborhood for a bit to destress but if I couldn't do that I fussed. Not always out loud but to myself, a lot. Now, looking back on the experiences I have had with this (and through reading my book) I realize that I need to eat more balanced throughout the day to AVOID being ravenous when I arrive. I also know (and have been told) I need to take a deep breath and relax around the food, and eat what I really want and pay attention to how my body feels, my satisfaction level and my fullness. I need to remember on of the intuitive eating motto's of "If you don't love it don't eat it and if you love it, savor it."
So because I am all into branching out and changing I have a few goals for the weekend. To listen to my body and eat what I want (and love!) and enjoy it. To have cocktails (Mama Dunham margaritas are absolutely AMAZING!) and enjoy the company and conversation. To not wig out because I can't run in the morning after a night of a (little) overindulgence, and do yoga instead, or nothing at all and know I will be fine! This weekend I will eat, drink and be merry (for real!) with my fun, fabulous family!
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