Running Slower BUT Happier ;)

Hello there Sparkers!

It has been forever since I have graced these parts, I have been so very bad about keeping up with my Sparkpage in general. I mean, my pics in my intro page are from 2012! Just sad...I thought about changing them today and putting some updated ones on there for display but then I realized that I do not have any bad @ss triathlon pics since that time. My whole intro page is really not who I am anymore. BUT...that is NOT necessarily a bad thing!

SO, where am I? Well, currently I am training for yet another marathon which will take place in October in Baltimore. I am doing a beginner marathon training schedule from coolrunning.com. I like it because the mid week runs are not as long and the long runs build up to 26 miles. This *seems* like a better approach for me since after mile 20 is where the sh!t show happens for me so if I can mentally get over that hurdle, I think that I will overall do much better preparing for the longer distance. SO, I have been plugging along with my training for about 3 weeks now, my long run last week was 12 miles. 12 miles which I have probably run in a pinch oh so many times since I started this running thang, 12 miles which *should* have been a piece of cake...but it wasn't. It was hot and I slugged through it and then the following day when I had a 4 mile run scheduled, I did it and did not even bother to take my Garmin watch to track my pace...WHY?

Folks, I am getting slower. YUP, true story! I was NOT happy about this when I first started to notice especially at the 5K distance but it's a fact! I have had ongoing issues with my left leg, mainly IT band stuff for the most part and my racing really has not been priority at all for me. I seriously now exercise and run only for the aspect of staying in shape and feeling good about myself for getting it done. I don't feel that I am in as good of shape as I could be but that's kinda okay too, at least I have not put on tons of weight or anything. I kinda don't really care about my pace. And I want to feel bad about it but I just don't. Even this marathon upcoming, do you know what I am actually looking forward to? Going away with my love for another long weekend in another state and making memories that would last *hopefully* a lifetime.

SO, let's talk about things for which I do have an interest...next week I am going away on vacation with my kids and my mom - which should be an absolute blast to Punta Cana! I am really looking forward to this and because I have figured out a thing or two about training for marathons and because I no longer drive myself absolutely crazy about these things when I travel, I switched my training weeks to over compensate for this. THEN when I come back from vacation, I go back to work for one week and THEN I go on yet another tropic vacation with my love to Mexico. It will be our first long vacation, we have only done long weekends together.

About my love...being IN love (wow...super cheesy moment) makes me happy but I have a sneaking suspicion that it *may* be leading to this slow running thing I have going on right now. I am so much more interested in enjoying life's moments, spending time with my kids and him and it takes away from my focus on training. I have always been so very disciplined and in many ways I still am - hello I did say that I was training for a marathon right now - but now when I get home from work I am not interested in settling in for bed at a ridiculously early hour to get up to run. My enjoyment comes from the times that I am spending when I have free moments. For someone who is so structured, this love thing really, really threw me for a loop! I *seem* to want to spend time with my love A LOT. We have an amazing time together, recently we went to a wedding together and someone took pictures of us together and I am NOT a picture person at all, when I looked at the pictures of us, I noticed that I looked so HAPPY! I mean I feel it when I look at him but when you see it you know. Anyhow now I am gushing and oversharing...

SO, about that...I have a *feeling* that that is also one of the reasons that I probably have refrained from blogging too. I feel like my blog posts should be more about the pictures on the front page of my intro but those experiences have changed. I want to share my current stuff but I also feel like I lived a different life than when I first was on Sparkpeople so it makes me hesitant to share where I am now...

Healthy living is still important to me, I have not given up! I have goals like other Sparkers out here to improve my eating, strength train and get in the best shape possible, especially as I get older...

Anyhow, there's the update, I'll check in soon ;)


Me and My Love


And all of a sudden I do selfies...who is this person!