As I get closer and closer to my Grand Canyon run (April 23!) , several things of note have taken place recently:*My training runs have gotten longer and longer, which means, I've had to rearrange my day a LOT to accommodate for time on the trails. This also means that I have relatively NO social life right now. My day consists of: running, studying, working, eating, and sleeping. It's a little sad saying "no" to raging weekends, but at the same time, eh...
*I am constantly hungry. And I am CRANKY when I'm hungry. So, when I'm hungry, I really am serious...I NEED food NOW, or else...!
*I desperately need a good night's sleep, EVERY night. Not that I need MORE sleep. I've always needed 8-9 hrs anyway. It's just that now I can't recover from a late night AND get a good run in the morning. (Sadly, this means that I won't be celebrating St. Patrick's Day the way I did LAST year.)
*I take recovery EXTREMELY seriously. My training runs need to be high quality right now, so the way I treated my body last month, by skipping flexibility work and doubling up on strength work, is a definite no-no. What I do for my body AFTER training is JUST as crucial as how I treat it DURING. This new regimen has consisted of: Recoverite (by Hammer Nutrition) immediately after a run to replenish and repair, a really lengthy session of flexibility work that involves some static AND active flexibility training, 3 days a week of epsom salt soaks to release toxins and alleviate muscle soreness, and when I'm lucky, a good 'ol massage! I'd like to add some yoga in this mix, but good lord...when?????
*I talk to myself... A LOT, when I'm training. I don't have the perfect run every day and in fact, at least once a week, I need to really dig down deep and motivate myself with positive self-talk and a little reminder of WHY I'm doing this. Sometimes I really like the hard times, because when it's easy...it's almost too easy. It's autopilot and I don't think I appreciate what I'm doing when it's easy. When it's HARD, however, it's a pretty cool lesson in NOT taking my abilities for granted. I've learned, during these hard days, that I CAN push through. I already know that for every difficult mile, there will be two that are awesome. I also know that the feeling I get AFTER I'm done is incomparable to anything else in my life...that feeling of accomplishment. Of the pride in knowing I'm freakin' TOUGH enough to conquer these crazy mountain trails and take myself to places most people only see in photographs! THAT is enough to motivate me in tough times. I LOVE this ability and I am so incredibly GRATEFUL to have it!
I feel that I need to tell the world how in awe I am of you most of the time. I can probably only name a couple of other people that are capable of packing in as much as you do into one day on a consistent basis. If you're not zipping in one direction it's probably because you're zooming in another! I also know how much you enjoy and take advantage of your down-time too. But what is so cool to me is that all of this stems from your passion for life. You stand in your truth of what is important to having balance in your life. You constantly remind me that the concept of balance is dynamic and doesn’t always move at the same pace or in the same direction. What I have learned from you is that you must take care to give time and attention and nurturing to all the aspects that are a part of keeping that balance. Knowing you, watching you, sharing time with you and reading your blog helps me to think of my own life from a new perspective. You inspire me to strive to always be my best self. And if some days I struggle to be my best self, I can at least choose through my actions today to honor the hard work of all those days past that my best self already put in. Thank you for all that you do and choose to share of yourself!
ReplyDeleteI love how you see the positive when you experience a hard workout. Great message.
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