What a Beautiful Day

Years ago I would have imagined a birthday to be made better by going somewhere fancy, being at a large gathering of people, or getting lots of nice gifts. It's amazing how we change over the years. Today was my birthday. The day consisted of baking cookies, cleaning up around the house, playing with the kids, helping cook with the hubby, going for a jog (more info on that further down), doing laundry, and checking many messages from loved ones although not directly talking with many of them. We didn't go anywhere at all, no gifts were exchanged, and no one else even came over and I have to say it was a great day! There weren't really even any melt-downs by any of us. :) 

As for my jog.... When I set out I had decided I was going to set a new jogging distance record for myself. I was going to try for 5.1 miles today. My previous record was set last weekend when I ran 4.1 miles straight through. Along my route I went down a very long, steep hill. Of course when you go down a hill, at some point, you must go back up. I knew that. In order to get my 5.1 miles jogged in, I was going to have to run back up that hill and I wasn't sure if I could manage it. I did! I just kept looking ahead and putting one foot in front of the other. I didn't go very fast, but I sure went! I was actually surprised that I wasn't MORE winded than I was by the top of it. The small hills that used to seem like a big deal to me months ago are nothing to me anymore. I'm trying to be sure I include hills in my training, so that I'm not surprised by them at the half-marathon. After I conquered that large hill today, I had a fairly level 1.5 miles back home. If I ran this whole way I would actually have been able to stop running before getting back to the house and walk about 0.10 of a mile to cool down and still have in my 5.1 miles. On the last mile home I realized I wasn't really out of breath, or hurting, or anything. So as I approached the house, I kept going. I had decided I was going to run more to try to have 1 solid hour of running in. I got to about 5.45 miles and decided to turn back toward the house and a little later at 5.55 miles jogged I just stopped running. In a way I felt like Forest Gump. I wasn't out of breath, wasn't hurting, wasn't dizzy, or anything. Nothing was wrong. I just stopped and walked the rest of the way home to finish out at 5.72 miles. When I started walking I wasn't even winded at all or relieved much to be walking instead of jogging. I am somewhat upset with myself that I decided to stop running today. I know I easily could have went 6.1 miles or more. I'm wishing I would have pushed myself to see what I was truly capable of on my 28th birthday. I know I've got to be proud of what I've accomplished so far, though. If anyone would have told me I would have run over 5 1/2 miles on my 28th birthday months or years ago I would have thought they were losing their mind. Today truly solidified me realizing that I can indeed run the entire half-marathon. As long as I don't have any injuries, side pains, etc. there will be nothing to stop me from completing that race all ran. I may not set any time records by running it all and likely won't take any places for medals, but by darn I'm going to run it!

Luckily it doesn't happen until after my runs, but I've been getting headaches after all of my long trips. I'm not sure what the deal is. I drink water before I go and water after I go, but still seem to get a headache a couple of hours later each day I go for a long run

Speaking of water. I have to share that I believe part of my weight loss can be contributed to ONLY drinking water these days. I am proud of myself.... Trevor and I went fishing yesterday and stopped by McDonald's on the way home. Usually I would have gotten a large sweet tea with my order. However, I still had water left from the fishing trip, so I only ordered a double cheeseburger (I know... enough calories in those things to make a whole meal) and regular fries (would have been a large in the past). It's these small changes in life that I've made that I know will help me continue my weight loss and fitness journey. I encourage anyone else trying to lose weight to cut out the soda, tea, alcohol, or whatever else you're drinking and just drink water. Zero calories and you can have as much as you want. It's really good for your body too and can help flush out the bad things you put into your body.

This week will be a busy one. I've got a paper due for my Master's class, and have to have two presentations ready to go for Friday's Teacher-In'Service in which I'm teaching other teachers. Not to mention a staff meeting Monday, 8th hour duty Tuesday, and church Wednesday evening. Through this all, I'm going to try to log some more miles. I'm looking forward to next Saturday so much, though. My SIL, Kelly, and I are going to sign up for the half-marathon and hopefully do some shopping. I'm hoping to buy some more running clothes (in smaller sizes that actually fit) and also finally buy the running shoes I earned for my miles last year. Can't wait!

One last thing about this week.... So Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which is the kickoff of the lenten season. I understand that lent is not just about giving something up that you should also do something good for yourself and/or others. We'll I've decided that I've already started doing many good things for this year with all of my goals I have (reading to my kids, exercising, Master's classes), so I am going to just focus on giving something up. I'm going to make it a challenge on myself. I'm giving up one of my favorite things.... CHOCOLATE! It will be tough, but I can do it! I'm hoping that will help with some of my weight loss that has recently subsided as well. Need to break through this plateau I've been on for awhile.

Ok... that was a lot for this week. Better get back to writing my paper. :)