It can be like when I tell my students about the GOOD OLD DAYS when if you wanted to send a message to a friend during class you had to do it like with ACTUAL PEN AND PAPER and then fold it up and somehow LITERALLY send it across the room before your teacher noticed. OMG the HORROR.
And now? This is what I deal with. DAILY.
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| But we need them for safety! says every parent in America |
So first of all, I did the Whole30 from December 28-January 28. Starting before New Year's Eve/Day was a special kind of torture normally reserved for inmates at Guantanamo, but it definitely taught me a LOT about my food habits and how I eat. For instance, I realized I am addicted to ALL nut butters, and not just peanut butter! I'm an equal-opportunity nut-butter addict. But another thing I realized is just how GOOD I feel when I eat cleanly. And I was eating entirely too many "junk" carbs--stupid crackers, stupid cheerios, stupid things that aren't even good but I'm hungry now so gimme a handful. That kind of stuff. I mean, it's NOT even good. Why am I eating it?
All in all, when it was over, I hit 139.5 pounds for the first time since seriously 7th grade. I got MUCH leaner and you could definitely tell, especially in my middle. I have before and after pictures but I'm not going to post them here because, ew, people, do you remember what I do for a living? That's the last thing I need my students and their smartphones to see. But it's safe to say it was a BIG difference. Now, my challenge is to continue to eat cleanly (but HELLO SUGAR! Oh how I've missed you) and still be able to fuel my long runs and workouts. I am trying to stay as dairy/legume free as I can and limit the sugar to GOOD sugar (like, make sure it's tasty enough to actually be worth it). I need to be good about incorporating good, quality carbs. Not the handfuls of generic wheat thins nonsense. So I recently got this:
And I will give it a good review and let you know what I think!
So over the past 5 weeks or so, I’ve been stuck in this whole Polar Vortex Nonsense that Mother Nature has decided to throw at the East/Midwest clearly since I said OUT LOUD that I was going to do the Athens Marathon on 4/13. Thanks a lot, Mother Nature. So needless to say, training has been a bit tough. It’s been me, alone, in my basement for WAYYYY more miles than I’d like. I still have my crew of girls but the ice has made things difficult. We’re not afraid of cold or snow, but we are hesitant to mess with this ice as I had a running friend slip a few weeks ago and tear her patella tendon. 12 weeks on her back, friends. I can’t mess with that. And poor Ana is injured, too, which really blows. At least she’s not missing great running weather, but I feel for her since I’ve been there and I know how frustrating it is!
Coach Emily has been great about sending me tough treadmill workouts and I do always follow the 1% rule even though the girls at Salty Running have said it’s not necessary. I dunno, I still feel like it works for me, so I’m going with it for now. This weekend I have 14 on tap with some speedwork thrown in, and it will be...on the treadmill. So if you have any good podcast suggestions or Pandora stations, please please PLEASE SEND THEM TO ME AGGGGGHHHH 14milesonatreadmill. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
At the end of the day, everything I am doing: what I’m putting into my body, what I’m doing on the treadmill, trainer, road, and pool...I’m trying to remember that it will help me get this goal. It’s within reach now, and missing it by a minute has, if anything, made me even more determined than I was before. So follow along if you want to see how this all ends.
Besides, everyone loves a good underdog story, right?
