Yesterday was day 306. I tried running to and from work. My original plan was to run 6-7 in the morning to work, and 3 home. But as I started on my elongated route, my calves felt tight, and knowing I was doing two runs, I didn’t want to risk pushing too hard on the first. So I turned back and headed towards a slightly more direct route to work.
I knew I should pick up bananas on my way in, and this route at least sent me by a store so I could. As I headed that way, I spent some time brainstorming how I was going to get the bananas to my shop. Running with them cradled in my arm seemed uncomfortable and like a good way to potentially drop them, but my pack was full… fortunately, I did find a solution when I got to the store.
So after 4.7 miles to work, I went in, emptied the safe, and ran to and from the bank adding another .4 miles to the day.
From there, I went to get cleaned up and changed into work clothes. I used shower wipes for my body, dry shampoo for my hair, and face wash. Overall, I was pretty happy with how clean I ended up feeling. My only complaint was that I hated the dry shampoo. I’ve tried it a few times and it doesn’t feel good or like it does anything positive for me. But I know I need something to clean my scalp after sweating on a run or the acne wouldn’t be pleasant. But I consider it a win how well it went and I’m hoping to keep it up!
Before my run home, I got another work out in at work. We had a big delivery of papergoods and toppings, so I spent about 40 minutes running up stairs carrying boxes of varying sizes and weights. When I planned to run to and from work- I forgot this delivery was coming, but I’m still glad I did it and I appreciated the extra work out I got from the delivery.
When it came time to run home, it was lightly snowing and my legs felt heavy, but I made it the 3 miles home! And at not as slow a pace as it felt I might add.
I got home from multiple beautiful runs, overall feeling good and proud of myself. I’m hoping to keep running to and from work and also to increase the distance on some of the runs to train for the Biltmore Backyard to Vineyard.
I did it! Yesterday I pulled the trigger and registered for the Biltmore Backyard to Vineyard Challenge! I’ve been thinking about it since I found out about it in March and I didn’t know if I could do it this coming year but I knew I wanted to do it someday. Well…. Sometimes it’s best to just pull the trigger and trust that it will all be okay. Well, trust and train that is.
The course for the half last year was so beautiful, I can’t wait to do it again, and they advertise that the full lets you see parts of the property that very few people are allowed to see. I’m anticipating a beautiful race. And if I train properly… hopefully not too painful.
Obviously one of the things to train for when running a half and full back to back is multiple long runs in a row. Right now I think I could pretty comfortably do 10 and 10 back to back. But I have to get to 13.1 and 26.2. I’m thinking about trying to run to and from work more. Running to and from work lets me get more sleep because I’m not getting my run plus a shower in before getting to work. Unfortunately I don’t have a place to shower at work so it involves using shower wipes and not feeling totally clean for the work day. Sometimes I just run home from work, but that has other complications. The planning and making sure I bring little enough stuff that I can fit it in a pack to run home. Boston winters also add a challenge – having the warm layers getting to work but then getting them home without wearing them running home. So that’s just one of the many things I’m considering.
I’m trying to make sure to fill my race calendar in a way that I’ll get to race often, but not so much that I wind up sick from overdoing it like this past fall. I’m thinking around 1 a month for now through April if I add something in for February, so I’m looking for what’s most exciting but also what might be a good trip to meet friends somewhere so still exploring options before signing up for anything.
Races I’m signed up for:
Kiawah Island Half in SC December 13
Dolphin Challenge of the Big Beach Marathon Weekend in AL January 25/26
Considering adding in the Saints and Sinners Half in NV February 15th
Anyone who runs can tell you, it isn’t just about the physical health aspect, it’s the mental health too. If not even more the mental health once you really get going.
I love my family. But with a lot of time together, I also need not only my space, but endorphins to help me get through. I’m an introvert. My family consists of mostly extroverts. Plus everyone knows, your family instilled your buttons so they always push them!
I made it about 46 hours before I really started to struggle this Thanksgiving weekend. Then Friday night, I was really feeling frustrated. So today, day 300 and Saturday morning, I went out for a run with the goal of letting my run heal me and give me the endorphins to make it through to tomorrow morning when I head home.
As I headed out, I didn’t have a plan for time or distance. I just wanted to go. My uncle had told me thst the “trail” or bike path went about 25 miles in one direction and 15 in the other so I could probably get 80 and to just not get hit by a car.
I made it about 4 miles in one direction and decided 10 would be a good total for the day, when all of the sudden the path ended. So I turned around and headed back the other way figuring I’d get an extra mile in going the other way and turn again to hit my 10.
The sun was so bright it made everything glitter and sparkle. The pictures just don’t do it justice. It lightened my heart and made everything feel better.
Some days a good long run or even a good short run just fixes things. Almost feels like it fixes your life. Gives back sanity where it felt lost.
I went out with the goal of absorbing the beauty around me and getting my sanity back, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to do so.
Austin 3M Downhill to Downtown was our next half. So we flew to Texas in January, looking forward to the warmer weather! Unfortunately for us, Sunday January 20, 2019 was a cold day for Texas. It was mid 30s, and we didn’t bring extra layers. Ooops!
When we arrived we were a little disappointed – they advertise as having the best swag bag, but it was all office supplies by 3M. I was able to use most of them at work, but still, not the exciting swag I look forward to at races.
The course was net downhill, so it led to good times for both of us. Marli PR’d with a 1:45. It was my second fastest half ever, around 2:05. My fastest was in RI before we started this challenge and I got a 2:00:24. I can’t wait to get under 2 hours! But that was a couple injuries ago so it will take some time. Back to Texas…
We noticed quite a few things we weren’t quite used to when we were there. For example, in New England, we see a lot of No Meat Athletes, but in Texas they have the Beef Loving Texans! We were also a bit surprised by the person offering free massages between miles 2 and 3! While we love accepting those after the race, mid race was a bit of a new concept. I was even more surprised to see someone stopping to take them up on it!
I didn’t love the first 3 miles. It was all concrete, highway, commercial and construction. But later in the race we got to run through some residential with some Cacti in the yards and through the city a bit for some better scenery. We also were a bit surprised by some of the food offered to us as we ran by. I’m used to seeing donuts mid ultra, but not mid half! And bacon at mile 8 with mimosas at mile 10 were new as well. I regretted not taking the mimosa later on! Overall it was a good race, but not one I would be eager to do again unless for the specific goal of a PR. But I feel like I could also find a closer race with better views and still be net downhill.
North Carolina
We then took another month off before venturing out to North Carolina where our brother lives for our 5th state – The Biltmore Half in Asheville, March 16, 2019. And because our brother lives there with our nieces, our parents spend the winters there and we knew we would have a great cheering squad!
I flew in Friday night, got to explore the expo with my mom, sister, and my two oldest nieces, and learned about the next challenge I wanted to complete there! They have multiple races in the Biltmore that Saturday and Sunday. There’s a half Saturday, a half Sunday, and a full Sunday. So any runners can sign up for any race individually, the Backyard to Backyard (both halfs), or the Backyard to Vineyard (the half and the full). And running the full is the only way to see parts of the Biltmore property – so it is now on my bucket list to do the Backyard to Vineyard. I haven’t decided if it will be next year or after, but it is a goal!
The expo was lovely, though I think Marli and I were both jealous of the full shirts…. and I had not run yet that day. So before dinner, I went to get my run in. If you want to read about that run, you can check back to that run with my nieces here.
The morning of the race I wasn’t feeling great. We had just been visiting in NC and trail running a couple weeks before so my shins, calves and knees were grumpy, plus my stomach wasn’t feeling great. I just knew I needed to run through to finish. Fortunately it was a beautiful course and I had that lovely distraction! My sister had recently told me that since most of our races wouldn’t be trail races, that I probably wouldn’t enjoy them. Well Biltmore wasn’t a trail race but had all the scenery of it! I loved it! I can’t wait to go back and run more there.
While waiting in the bathroom line that morning, I chatted with a few people who had run before. They told me how great the course was with the exception of one big hill around halfway. When I went back and reported to Marli about it, we tried to mentally prepare ourselves. We really need to start looking at maps in advance.
Knowing that I wasn’t feeling well starting, my mom and sister were concerned. I had been using Road ID to send my mom all my races, but it had glitched a couple times. Apparently this race it glitched and stopped updating after mile 3. Marli and mom were concerned that I had dropped. Marli was especially concerned because that big hill we’d heard about wasn’t real. So she thought I had psyched myself out and given up. But that all made them that much more excited when they saw me cross the finish line! And since then we’ve been using Garmin Livetrack and it’s been working so much more consistently *knock on wood*. I had really gotten lucky and happened to be running at about the same pace as another young woman, and we chatted on and off during the race. In addition to the trees, water and flowers surrounding us, that was a helpful distraction as well.
Our nieces wanted to be flat as well!
Kansas
Two weeks after Asheville, we were scheduled to go to the Wicked Half in Kansas, March 30, 2019. While we did make it there…. not everything went as planned. And by not everything went as planned, I mean I had a really rough week!
First some background on the Kansas plan. I first saw this race advertised a number of years ago, and thought – if I ever do a race in Kansas – this is the one! So when Marli first suggested to me that we run a half in every state, I was able to tell her right away – I have Kansas picked out! It’s a Wizard of Oz themed race that advertised as everyone dressing up and being a high energy race. We were really excited!
Tuesday before the the race, I went out for my mile run, and as I was distracted trying to readjust my keys at 0.05, I tripped. I hit my knee. HARD. And scraped my hands a little, but not much. I got up, and went to continue on with my run. I was limping and crying. I limped and cried to 0.20, stopped, paused my watch, gave myself a minute to feel sorry for myself, and said “I am not ending my streak over this, I can do one mile, just one mile.” and I started again. I kept crying as the pain wouldn’t lessen until about half a mile, then I finally was able to just keep going without crying though still in a lot of pain.
I got home and took off my tights to see a small but deep cut in my knee. I cleaned it out, and basically couldn’t bend my knee. So I decided ibuprofen would be a good plan. I knew I needed to eat something so I had a babybel cheese and took the ibuprofen. For future reference – this is not enough food to take an ibuprofen on. I showered, got ready, limped to work, and my stomach started hurting. From one ibuprofen, my stomach had me doubled over in agony from Tuesday to Friday, while limping because it didn’t do anything for my knee!
Friday night we flew out to Kansas, my stomach was finally just feeling better and my knee…. well my knee suffered through my one mile days that week and was going to deal with a half on Saturday. Unhealthy as it may be, I can’t claim I gave it much of a choice. I was terrified I was going to eat something acidic and upset my stomach again as it was still healing, and I was still limping.
Similar to Texas, the weather in Kansas wasn’t quite what we expected. It was low 30s. At the start it was drizzling. Possibly due to weather, but way fewer people were dressed up than we expected. The race was a 5K loop, then it headed out to an out and back for the remainder. And forget what you know about Kansas – it had rolling hills!
The first 3 miles, I tried as hard as I could to get to a good place. But I was cold, wet, in pain, and just miserable. My left knee hurt so badly, I kept adjusting my arm warmers to not cover my hands to my hands being cold would bother me enough to make my knee not hurt as badly. Around mile 3.5 I really regretted not bringing my headphones. The race was pretty spread out, so I decided that if I put my phone in my chest pocket on low, then hopefully it wouldn’t bother anyone else. I wanted to stick with the theme so first I searched Spotify for Wizard of Oz Soundtrack. Unfortunately for me, they only had the full score – at least not without me putting work in – not something I was up for 3.5 miles into a half! So I decided to listen to Wicked. Still fit the theme!
Wicked didn’t fully distract me but definitely helped! Then around mile 5 or 6, these giant fluffy snowflakes started to fall! That saved me. It was not only beautiful and a distraction, but it made me think of the part in the movie when they’re asleep in the poppy’s and the big fluffy snowflakes fall to wake them. It felt like just what I needed and for the first time, I was happy! I picked up the pace and enjoyed myself through that snow! I had such a big smile on my face that I could tell the other runners thought I was crazy! And they all commented that they thought I was crazy for my choice of wardrobe. I was wearing a tank top with arm warmers. They couldn’t believe my shoulders were bare in this weather.
The fluffy snow stayed with us til about mile 9 and I felt like I was flying for those miles! Then between miles 9 and 10, the snow left us, and it took all my energy and happiness with it. I crashed, hard. Not only was my left knee hurting from my fall earlier in the week, but my right knee was hurting from road slant. And I still had over 3 miles to go. I went back to the trick of exposing my hands to the cold to make my knees stop hurting but unfortunately this time it just made everything hurt and nothing let up. So I did the only thing I could – I pushed through and just aiming to get to the finish because that was the only way this would be over. It definitely wasn’t the race I was hoping for, but I also had so many negative circumstances coming at once.
The volunteers were amazing, and they had so much food post race and a space for us to all get warm. They even had people dressed up as characters that we could pose for pictures with. Marli and I had food, changed into warmer, dry clothes, and then we went two doors down to the Wizard of Oz museum. We spent a couple hours there, grabbed the shuttle back to our hotel, and took some time in the hot tub. From there we went to get some Mexican food, but it was still early, so after the Mexican food, we took a nap then went out for pizza. Some days you need first dinner and second dinner.
odMarli wore all blac k with a green buff as the witch, and I wore all blue as Dory, and even carried Toto in my hydration pack!The Medals were insanely huge at this race! For comparison – the bib was normal sized.
My knee kept me limping for about two weeks before I gave in and went to see my doctor to be safe. Fortunately, though the x-rays gave a scare at first – apparently there’s a random particle floating around my knee – it turns out everything is fine and lucky by the time the follow up appointments came around, it was finally starting to feel better!
My sister and I have the goal of running a half in every state. While I have never written a race report, I would like to start aiming to do that for future races. For now, I’ll do a summary of the races I’ve run towards the half in every state goal.
We planned to start in Derby, Vermont with the Dandy Run May 19, 2018, however Marli and I both ended up injured and unable to run on race day. So while Marli stayed home, I still went and volunteered at the aid station at mile 11. It was my first time volunteering at any race and such a great experience!
For our second attempt at our first race towards a half in every state, we decided to sign up for the Bay of Fundy International Half Marathon June 24, 2018. That is such a gorgeous race and I would recommend it to anyone! Some hills but not bad, (and I live in the greater Boston area- we have basically no hills!) beautiful views of the bay and wild roses, daisies, and lupines all around! Not to mention getting to run between the USA and Canada. I grew up near the Canadian border, close enough that we sometimes went to Canada for dinner, but never crossed the border on foot! For this race – I got to do it twice! We crossed once the day before to get authorized to do it for the race, and then again during the race. Marli and I planned for this to count as our Maine race- but we also didn’t really look at the course map in advance. The race was 98% in Canada and less than 2% in the USA. We both noticed our watches hit 13 miles on the bridge crossing into the USA. While I loved that race and would 100% do it again – neither of us felt that we could count that as our Maine race with only about 0.1 mile of the race being in Maine. So we just counted that race towards Canada and looked forward to our next race – Tennessee!
We had to get a pic upon arrival!After the race, we used the cold water to ice!Our mom joined us on the road trip for the race, we all had a lovely girls weekend!
The medal was incredibly unique!
Saturday September 8th was the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, put on by Vacation Races! We had such a great experience with Vacation Races at this race that Marli decided she wanted to run every race they put on. The first 10 miles were absolutely gorgeous, it was winding through mountain roads. Unfortunately those mountain roads had a pretty strong road slant which is my knee’s greatest weakness. I was hurting pretty badly by mile 4 and limping by mile 7. The last 3 miles were torture for me because even though we lost the slant, the damage had already been done for my knee, and it was more running through town to less of the scenery that I loved to distract me. The next day we went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC with family, and I limped the whole day. Took a few days before my knee was willing to be friendly again.
Flat us!Post race picMy knee hurt so badly that I gave in to an ice bath post race!
The Newport Half in Rhode Island was our next race, just one month later, Sunday October 7th. Newport was a rough race for me. I was exhausted; I’d been pulling doubles at work for weeks and ended up having to go close at work after the race. My knee was still not thrilled with me from Tennessee and started acting up around mile 6, with me limping again my mile 8. While most people love that course, maybe it was that I wasn’t feeling well, or maybe it was that my heart lives in the trails, but I didn’t love it. There were a few sections by the ocean that made my heart happy, and there were some guys on the big hill at mile 5 playing Eye of the Tiger on repeat (Marli and I are very different paces so the fact that we both heard it lets us know it was on repeat) that entertained me, but overall, this was not a race I enjoyed. And at the finish I got so dizzy. I had to sit down to make my head stop spinning! It’s happened a few times for me at the end of longer runs and I just try to consume a little of everything. I have yet to figure out exactly what is the fixer of that for me. But it just made for an unpleasant experience for me. I was supposed to drive us home but instead, I asked Marli to and I slept the whole way back.
Two weeks later, we jumped into the Baystate Half in Massachusetts on October 21, 2018. Given my race two weeks prior, I planned on bringing headphones – something I rarely do, less than five runs a year – and just going easy. Goals being to finish and get the state, not to worry about time, but to hopefully have an enjoyable race. Luckily for me, that worked! I had an enjoyable race overall. My knee didn’t start bothering me til mile 8, bothered a bit more around mile 10, and finally had me limping around mile 12. I also wound up chatting with another young woman from about mile 8 to 12 so that helped distract me. And interestingly enough, I was within a minute of my time from RI so that made me feel even better about not racing. Unfortunately for my sister, she was not feeling well during the race and we had opposite experiences between the two races. Marli loved Newport and was miserable at Baystate, I enjoyed Baystate and had been miserable at Newport. Just goes to show how much any given day can be a completely different experience depending on how you feel.
Between the length of this post and the fact that I need to do some work, that’s it for part 1. More to come from the other races soon. We’re up to 12 races so 9 more past races to go, and then I’ll try to stay on top of it as they happen!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Some runs don’t give me much to say about them, but sometimes they still give some amazing pictures and memories. Day 205 was one of those days. My calves hurt, I was tired, but I pushed out 3 miles. Then today for 206, I gave myself a 1 mile rest day. I’m just grateful for the beautiful views I got to enjoy yesterday.
I love how the path can look like a tunnel to run through!
Day 201, I finally eased up and gave myself a “rest” day of 1 mile. My legs were still so sore from stadiums and I knew I had a 10 mile race for day 202. That afternoon, T had been kind enough to pick up my bib for me for the next day, I got a little scared when I saw the picture she sent me of the shirt.
Neither of us had looked into the race enough to know what we were in for. But we signed up! So we were doing it! And that night D signed up to join us.
Day 202 was a rough run for all of us. A 10 mile run of hills – though fortunately the shirt made us scared enough that we were a little relieved and I think there were fewer hills than we would have guessed. T’s IT band was killing her, and she stopped to walk around mile 7. D hadn’t been doing a ton of running, but her cycling commute/cross-training definitely benefitted her. The road slant hurt my knees and the hills made my calves scream. Fortunately I loosened up a little from the previous soreness of days before about 3-5 miles into the run.
While overall it was a rough day and a rough run, we all still enjoyed ourselves and were happy we did it! It was also a gorgeous race and I would love to do it again… just have to get my calves to chill out from those hills first.
Days 203 and 204 were 3 and 2.85 mile days for me. I’ve been tired and with tight calves, I’m trying not to over do it. I have been enjoying trying to look and see what is significant and important to me about each and every run. That’s been really enjoyable. And one thing that I love is that every day there are different, beautiful things to see, even if it’s the same route that I’ve been running. The clouds and lighting change, the foliage changes, and it all makes for gorgeous views that I could never get tired of.
I did it! I made it to day 200! Something about that number just makes it feel like a huge accomplishment. Day 100, I thought I was going to have to quit, and I think that took away some of the feelings of accomplishment. But today, today I was sore, I got out of bed and could barely move my legs. But I knew I was going to keep going.
Because of the stadiums yesterday, I woke up and felt like I couldn’t move. I agreed to run with a friend and knew I could make it a mile or two, but wasn’t sure about the four or five we’d agreed on. The more I moved, the looser I got.
We met up, and I said we would start with a two mile loop – fortunately, she responded that that may be all she could do – that’s how I felt too! We ended up doing a total of 3.5, much better than we anticipated, and got to talk and have good company the whole way.
My legs have gotten progressively more sore as the day has gone on and I know tomorrow will be more sore but that can be a 1 mile day before my 10 mile day on Saturday for a race in NH.
Definitely an assortment of very different days/runs than I’m used to! Looking forward to getting back to routine soon.
Day 195 – all sorts of changes from my typical routine. Ran an out and back, stayed on a busy street, listened to music – something I do maybe a handful of times a year. Overall not an exciting run day for me, but I did get out there for 5.25 miles before driving a few hours to meet up with my parents that afternoon into the next day.
Day 196 – the hotel we stayed at didn’t seem to have any especially enjoyable places to run, so I decided to sleep in and run when I got home – supposed to be in the afternoon. We ended up staying longer than expected and I didn’t get home until about 4:45. My cat immediately asked for attention. I chose to take some time to pet her with the idea that when she gets bored and it gets cooler out, I could go for my run, maybe around 7 or 8. However that plan failed because at 5 my calendar notification went off that I needed to be at a babysitting job in an hour. Whoops! Totally forgot, plus I felt bad because my cat was begging for attention. I decided I would run to and from babysitting – just over a mile each way. It let me get my run in, but I also got to stay in sweaty running clothes for a few more hours than planned. I prefer my runs right before a shower or swim!
Days 197 and 198 were pretty much the same for me. I did a slow 3 miles each day with lead filled legs. Some runs just don’t want to be remembered….
Day 199 – today. Yesterday a friend, D, reached out and asked me to join her at November Project for Stadiums this morning. Besides the fact that stadiums sounded horribly unpleasant on a good day… I had a double yesterday so I knew I wouldn’t be getting much sleep. Still…. I agreed. Why do I do these things?
I got up around 5 so my slow moving body would be able to be there on time. I drove to an area I knew I could park in, ran a mile to the stadium, and … attempted the stadium “run”. We hiked the stairs and due to my crippling fear of heights, I was pretty slow on the down part as well. In addition to that, I must not have had enough electrolytes in me, because while the legs shaking I got after about 6 sets each time I got near the top is pretty normal for stadiums, the dizziness, nausea, and full body shakiness that started around the 10th set is not normal. I have had this happen a handful of times for me at the end of long runs but nothing this short. I managed to do 13.5 before it was too consistent and I knew I had to stop. I was able to rest enough waiting for D to finish that I did actually manage to jog back to my car.
Shockingly enough – I’m not as sore as expected yet. However I did get a super weird sharp pain in my upper thigh a few times this afternoon. The odd things running and different work outs do to you!
Tomorrow is day 200, I can’t wait! I got a text from D asking if I wanted to run stairs tomorrow. After letting her know that I had no clue if she was kidding or serious, I said I wasn’t up for jumping into multiple stairs days in a row without building up first, but I would be up for meeting up for a run. So tomorrow will be another early day (not great after closing shifts), but should also be a fun day with a beautiful run by the river!
After yesterday morning, I had every intention of going to bed early last night… til I wound up skyping with a friend til 2 hours past my bedtime…. How do these things happen?
This morning I got up, knew I couldn’t put off my alarm again or I wouldn’t be able to run before my PT appointment, and made my 1 mile. It was all I had time for today and I kind of ran it in a fog.
Just a slow, steady mile, on a route I know well. Zoned out, taking my decompression morning time.
If I miss my shot to run in the morning, I always know I can do it later in the day. But there is something about that morning run. Something peaceful and meditative about the routine. I get up, put my contacts in, brush my teeth, get ready and head out the door for however many miles I’m up for before heading home, icing, showering and being fully ready for my day.
If I only have time for 1 mile in the morning but know I’ll have more time later, I’d rather make it a two run day just to have that decompression time before I get going. Then if I decide I want to, I can get more miles in later.
The other reason I like running in the morning is that I don’t have to worry about when/what I eat. I’ve learned I can do a mile on just about anything other than a totally full stomach, but for anything other than that I want to stick to bananas, granola bars, pb sandwiches or crackers, and a select few other options.
I am by no means a morning person. I learned a long time ago that if I let my body live on it’s natural cycle, I would go to bed between 4 and 6 am and wake up between noon and 2pm. But that doesn’t fit with my job or meeting up with friends or anything else in my life. So I have worked hard to try to train my body to get up at 6am, and that means training my body to try to go to bed between 9 and 10 pm. If I let myself, I will stay up too late every night. It’s natural to me. I have an alarm set every night for 9pm to remind me – time for bed. Some nights I’m out or working or there’s a special occasion to make it worth staying out. Most nights I have to make the call on if I want to listen to it or not. If I choose no – 9 times out of 10…. time gets away from me, making the next morning/day more of a struggle then it needed to be. But I’ve learned, as an adult, trying to enforce a bedtime for myself is the healthiest thing for me.
All the changes I have made to my life and habits to help me run in the morning, every morning, have been slow. But they’ve been worth it. And as had as it is to change/develop habits, I look forward to adjusting and adding more healthy habits to my routines. Some of them to help running, some to help my every day life. For example I want to add yoga into to my routines to help me stretch more, get more flexible, and be a better, less injury prone runner. I want to meal prep more to have healthier food readily available when I’m hungry and busy, either coming home starving or not wanting to spend money at work on food. Those are two goals I’m working on and go through phases with for now. It took a couple years before the 9ish bedtime stuck (for the most part). I know I’ll get there.
Raina's Run Streak 