Thought for a Thursday: Gratitude

Thought for your Thursday: What if we chose to only be ourselves? To run how we run? To finish in the time we are capable of? Sometimes, I get so caught up in the running-blog world, that I forget I’m not those girls. I haven’t been running as long as them. I haven’t run the amount of mileage they have run. I don’t have super long legs that are injury-free like them. And so, because I forget that, I sometimes am disappointed in my finish time, or the fact that I might not be able to push myself to 8 min/miles at the race this weekend.
But if I choose my joy, then I’ll realize that 8:30 min/miles are a MILESTONE for me. Last year, I couldn’t run that fast.
But today, I can.
Be happy in your own milestones. Because as you keep running, you’re pace will get faster, the mileage will add up, and you WILL cross that finish line.
Be you.
Chose your joy.
_____
Choose joy. Find strong.

Thought for a Thursday: Gratitude

A thought for your Thursday:   It's simple today.  Whatever you do, do it in joy.
You will be changed.

Thought for a Thursday: Gratitude

More credit to the endorphins.

A thought for your Thursday:  What if we incorporated more joy into our life? What would happen if we actually chose to be joyful?

Let's see what happens today. 

Motivating Monday: Overcoming Doubts

As per every Sunday lately, I did my long run yesterday. And I think I’m going to do a little adjustment to last week’s long run.

Here’s the thing. I’ve been taking a break this week from running. Last week,  I was nine weeks into my training, and I was tired. The last couple of weeks had been busy at work, I had a lot going on in the evenings, and my body was just in need of dire rest. So, I slept in some last week, did more yoga than usual, and skipped over my morning runs. I just needed a break.

So I was a little nervous yesterday heading out on my nine miler. Now logically, I know that one week off will not set me back at all or cause me to lose any fitness, in fact, rest often brings me back stronger. But subconsciously, my mind was feeding me a bunch of crap about how there was no way I was going to be able to run nine miles. Especially since last week’s run was still sitting in the forefront of my brain, plaguing me with disappointment. And then once I headed out, my hip joint decided to flare up a bit.

Sometimes I just get tired of running with pain.
Most times I get tired of my brain telling me I can’t.
Often times I fight both of those battles every. single. time. I head out to run.

Thought for a Thursday [I like alliteration]: Gratefulness

This just struck me today. Perhaps this gal (Yup, her again. Mainly because I love her writing style, she's an awesome runner, and she has this crazy positive outlook on life that I can't help but want to adopt!) is rubbing off on me. I think my quest also has a huge factor in my starting-to-be-more-positive-about-everything lifestyle. I credit the endorphins too.

Anyway, just a thought for your Thursday evening: When you wake up tomorrow, be grateful. See how your day changes.

Motivating Monday: It's time to start

Well another weekend and another long run have passed.

Truthfully, I was bummed out all day yesterday because of my run.

It was another beautiful morning. The weather was perfect. I had gotten plenty of sleep and fueled up well. I was ready and excited to head out to run.

To stay on pace with my training, I scheduled 8 miles. Really, I wanted to push myself to about 9 because I have been feeling really good lately with my runs. Well, I headed out and started my running app on my phone that signals GPS and keep track of my mileage. Even though it was blue sky yesterday, it just seemed like the satellite and my phone were not connecting. The app kept freezing and essentially told me I was on an 11 minute pace. (Anyone want to send me a Garmin watch to test? I’d be happy too!)

I totally felt like I was running around 8-9 minutes per mile.

But after 1 hour and 22 minutes, I just stopped. I had been running frustrated the whole time not knowing my mileage or pace, but I totally felt like I ran close to 10 miles. So that excited me. I figured I had a good run under my soles.