Mmmbop

It's funny how just a day (and some cheesy pop music) can change your perspective. I was feeling lousy and lazy on Friday but I woke up early on Saturday and felt pretty energetic. After I ate a "breakfast" of rice, beans and spinach I went through an old box of cds recently discovered in my storage unit and found...

Before I was in love with Justin Beiber's music for running...there was Hanson! I had totally forgotten about this embarrassing phase of my life. I put the cd into my computer, transferred it to itunes and was soon on my way to a solid 14 mile run through Arlington.  Middle of Nowhere definitely got me through more than a few miles! It was weird how much of the lyrics I remembered.

Today I actually did a 30 minute tempo run for the first time in what seems like forever. I also made it to my first Bikram yoga class post stress-fracture so I'm feeling more like myself. Recovering from an injury sucks and after I read through my last few posts it occurred to me it is a lot more stressful (ha ha) than I realized. I was able to do most of the postures in yoga thankfully. And, as I watched the thermostat toggle between 108 and 110 degrees I was surprised by how the heat didn't phase me at all -- must be all of those awful middle-of-the-day runs in the summer heat.

And finally, I have determined that nutrition is my biggest problem (shocker, right?!) so I'm going to focus on fixing that this week (and until the marathon/ultramarathon is over). The things I'm going to eliminate immediately often lead to even worse eating habits: fried foods, excessive cheese, pizza, cheeseburgers, coke/dr.pepper/diet coke and ranch dressing. I spent a lot of time at the grocery today trying to balance foods I will actually eat with purchasing foods that are good for me. For example:

I can still get my ranch dressing craving through a healthier food and avoid the french fries that must be dipped in the ranch. I think I did pretty well -- I even bought normal breakfast foods I plan on force feeding myself before runs. I should note that most of the foods I bought are healthier than these pretzels! But they are just soooo yummy I thought they were a good compromise.

PS: John is in the middle of the busy budget season at work and also has a bad cold so I'm trying to make up for his lack of posting. He better monitor my food habits in return for this giant sacrifice.

I am not really motivated by pressure or competition. Fortunately for me at work, my bosses know this and try to motivate me in other ways. They tell me when I did a good job, let me be pretty independent, set my own schedule and try to give me projects that I really want.

When it comes to running though, I just have to wait until my body wants to run again. Then, once I finally feel that way again, I will be able to log long miles and be really happy doing it. I really wanted to run when I hurt my foot and sadly for the past few weeks haven't wanted to do much of anything. Some of it is the heat, and some of it is just finally settling into a life in DC again and wanting to enjoy it -- without feeling like running is getting in the way.

My lack of motivation is starting to stress me out (which I wish would motivate me to get off my couch!) as I'm bumping up against training milestones I need to hit. It's like I can't get back to the point where I was a few months ago when running really made me happy. It sort of feels like a chore right now. But, it does make me feel good that the two readers of this blog agree that I should take a little break :)

So, I decided today, after me personally driving at over 40 hours the past two weeks that I'd give myself one more couch night and one more day off today. Then tomorrow, no more laziness. I even made myself a grocery list and meal menu for next week. The cure to running feeling like a chore probably isn't being lazy -- it probably is starting to eat healthy so I'm less tired and getting back into good shape. And, doing yoga again. I just need to get back into a running routine where I make it a priority. I know all the right things to do -- it is just so hard to do them.

Blah blah blah. In reasons why I am exhausted, I drove from DC to South Carolina, all over North Carolina and then back this week. I've also been eating southern food for two weeks straight. I tried to pace myself but being back in the south made me realize how much I missed it...and the amazing food. Life is just simpler down there.

Here's some delicious Carolina BBQ, fried okra + ranch dressing (my favorite!), green beans, and hush puppies:

And here's the Charlotte office view I got to experience on Thursday while waiting to interview a nearby housing authority. North Carolina is beautiful, but it's still got nothing on the great state of Alabama.

In an effort to try and motivate myself I also began researching more ultramarathons. For the life of me I cannot find a 50 miler in the spring which would be my preferred time. I found the Chicago Lakefront 50k which looks pretty good but doesn't have a 50 miler option in the spring. I'm going to keep searching and hopefully will find something!

Running Shoes

After I got to work on Monday morning in DC I was instructed that I needed to be in Spartanburg, South Carolina for an 11 am meeting on Tuesday. Did you know that Spartanburg is home to the corporate headquarters of Denny's? I found this out on a walk around downtown this morning.

I knew I was supposed to be visiting the Carolinas this week but our travel hadn't been approved so over the weekend I wasn't sure if I actually would be going. So, from 10 am to 12:30 Monday I booked all of our travel throughout the Carolinas, picked up a rental car at DCA (there were no flight options whatsoever!), and went home to pack. After throwing a bunch of stuff in my suitcase, I swung by and picked up a co-worker and started the 8 hour drive to Spartanburg. We got in around 9 pm, I worked until midnight and went to bed.

Since I didn't have to be anywhere until 11 today I got up around 8 and put on my running clothes. Then I went to dig out my shoes and sadly, they weren't in my bag. I immediately texted the person in charge of our travel that I had forgotten my shoes. He quickly apologized for making me pack so fast and I appreciated someone apologizing for my constant forgetfulness. However, in 3 years of traveling though I've never forgotten my running gear! :(

I''m not sure if I should try and buy some new shoes while I am here. I just bought two new pairs before my stress fracture so I don't really need any. And, I've been feeling really run down and not motivated so maybe a little break (after all that stress fracture time off?) will do me good. I usually am all about shopping but buying a third pair of running shoes, when I really need a few more suits, just seems wasteful. I tried to run my 13 miles on Sunday and it didn't go so well. I did 5, felt lazy and quit, walked another 4 and just called it a day. I was so much more motivated before my stress fracture. Maybe I will do a weekly mile summary this week of miles driven rather than run?

Texas

I spent the past week in Texas with two co-workers. We visited nine housing authorities across the state and I'm extremely tired today as a result. But somehow I'm going to drag myself out the door back to the airport and attempt to track my lost luggage down. I also need to get out and get a 13 mile run in this afternoon. After spending the past week in 100+ weather, the 80 degree weather in DC feels amazing. The cooler weather means I can pretty much head out for a run anytime the urge strikes. Hopefully it will soon. But I have a feeling my couch is going to win for most of today.

One day this week I went for a 5 mile run at noon and it was 102 degrees outside. Then my co-worker and I walked 3 miles from the restaurant to downtown to do a little exploring. After that, I got a little heat sick and took it easy the rest of the week. Here's me with a rose a restaurant gave me and my heat stroke look:

While in Houston I was able to catch up with one of my BFFs for dinner. Megan won another jury trial that day (in traffic court, but still! very exciting!!) so we had some delicious greek food to celebrate and then stopped by the new house she just bought with her husband.

One of the places we went in Texas was Galveston. It was hit by a hurricane a few years ago and you can definitely still see a lot of the destruction there (although not in the picture below). The Texas coastline is quite different from the areas of the gulf I grew up going to...

Unfortunately, I'm on the road again next week (to North Carolina) so my running will suffer a little. But, hopefully this is it with the travel for a while.

I know, I know, I've abandoned my dear readers! Sorry about that. :( Life has been quite busy lately as I am settling into the new project I'm working on in DC, actually running most days of the week and attempting to see my friends as much as possible -- all while being tired from those activities. I think I'm getting old. And, my iphone was broken so I wasn't able to compose blog posts while waiting for the bus.

John has also been very busy with his job and I saw him for lunch yesterday so I'll give a quick update for both of us. It is good to know that not much has changed between the two of us -- I had a hamburger and fries and he had a healthy omelette with some wanna-be hashbrowns (aka home fries). We both seem to be doing pretty well on our training schedules although he's following a much more demanding one than I am.

Last weekend I got a good 10 mile run in early on Sunday morning (well early for me -- 8:30 am). It was the first time I had carried coconut water in my water bottle and it actually went really well for me. I've got to get 12 in this evening and plan on trying that out again. I'm ready for it to be a little cooler out so I feel less pressure to wake up in the morning and run but am headed to Texas tomorrow for the week and know it is only going to get worse. Although I'm mainly going to be in DC the next few months, my new project does want me out in the field a little bit. It should be an exhausting week of travel but it will be fun to get to know some of my new co-workers better and I'm hoping to squeeze in a few visits with my family down there.

In huge life news, my younger brother Patrick, got engaged to one of my best friends, Katie! Seeing as how my iphone was broken the past two weeks I haven't been taking many pictures so I thought I'd share this cute one I took of Patrick while we were in NJ a few weeks ago, and my parents' evil cat, Scout reading the paper. I'll update the blog with pictures of the newly engaged couple when I actually get to see them sometime in the next few weeks! Congratulations, Patty and KT!!