I can't believe I'm 2/3 of the way done with marathon training. It's been a long 5 months in some respects but in others it has flown by. I've started a new job, little brother has graduated, my niece and nephews are growing like weeds and I've lost a fairly significant amount of weight and hired a coach in the process.
I've learned so much about what I am capable of, how to properly feed my body what it needs in order for me to be the most successful and how much will power I didn't realize I had. I always said when I'd see someone be able to resist the piece of cake "boy, I wish I could do that. It's just sooo good!". Well, I'm that person now. I'm able to turn things down that I know aren't the best options. For goodness sakes, I ran 12 miles this morning! Who would have really thought 19 weeks ago that I was a) really going to follow through with this, and b) I would actually be running 90% of each weeks long run instead of my walk/run method I used before. Let me tell you, it's easier to run when you're 41 pounds lighter than you used to be. I attribute my increased pace per mile to a combination of obviously being more physically fit at this point and also to the weight loss. I have always had a lower resting heart rate but I was wearing my heart rate monitor before I left for the gym the other day and I happened to be wearing it and noticed my resting heart rate was in the high 40's. Pretty darn good.
I had a good week of work and saw some truly incredible things happen this week. I obviously cannot share what all happened but lets just say I have always believed in miracles and I saw a few this week. I work with some incredibly talented people and I'm so proud of what we/I do. I go back to night shift this week and I have 3 more weeks of orientation and then I'm on my own. Yikes. I'm scared, which I should be, but I definitely feel more confident than I did when I started. My preceptor, Emily, is amazing and a wonderful resource. She's so smart and I'm so glad we've gotten to work so closely together. I'm a better nurse because she taught me to be.
I had a great day yesterday driving to Marion (for the first time since I've graduated) and seeing friends for Kylynne's baby shower! I'm so excited for baby Brek/Breck when he arrives! I'm hoping he makes his arrival on my birthday - that's my guess! I went to Marysville to spend some time with Jody and her extended side of the family. I got so many complements on how well I was doing from people I hardly see but are still family. I had a nice time and made good food choices while I was there. I was driving through the teeny town of Milford Center when I was on my way to Marion and I randomly see my grandmother and great aunt pull into the town's single gas station and I whip around and pull up beside them. They were lost and I got to give hugs and point them in the right direction. It was the strangest thing but everything works out for a reason.
This week and next I'm running two half marathons and after today's 2 hour and 32 minute 12 miler I am confident that I can finish my half's in less than 3 hours by a long shot. Next week's is a virtual race and the week after is the Little Miami 10k/Half marathon that goes out and back (my favorite) on a paved, shaded bike path that I've never run before so that should be good to change up the scenery a bit. That will definitely PR me because my previous two half's I walked most of it and finished around 3 hours and 30 minutes for both. I set 3 hours as my goal for being more prepared. Today's run was great - I did not have stomach troubles for the first time (I had a few extra carbs the past 2 days and got up and had a small glass of water with my Slam and out the door I went. I tried the Honey Stinger chocolate waffles that I broke into small pieces after an hour and every 30 minutes after that with some water and I did great). I ran up a hill past someone and powerwalked the last really big hill close to the house on the way home and passed someone power walking too. Carrie knows how it's a big deal when I pass people! I ran about 90% of the distance and I'm happy with that. I'm really more concerned about keeping my desired average race pace of 12:30-13:00 min/mile. I finished at 12:42 today and it's the best I've done in a few weeks on my longer runs. Even better because it was my very longest run!
I weighed in this morning but it was stupidly after my run so I know it was probably more due to dehydration than anything but I did get eeeeeeven closer to Onederland today. SO close in fact that I'm not keeping my hopes up and will wait a few days to recheck if what I saw was true. I lost a total of 14.4 pounds from July 1st to the 31st incorporating my meal plan and weight training to my running thanks to my amazing coach Sara. I'm so glad we found each other and I love the support I get from her and the other girls who are all apart of the team (hey Shelby!). I have to modify and throw a few things around in my training schedule to make sure I'm in a good place for all my runs and with my work schedule. I do the best of everything I can to get the most out of each weeks workouts and never go less than 100%. I'm feeling stronger, losing inches (my before and current pictures are insane - I won't share those here because I'm not one to put that out there but the day I feel confident enough to wear a bikini to the pool - I'll show you guys). It's reassuring that I'm not doing all this for nothing. It's reassuring that the one day a week cheat meal is worth it (and every bite of that cheat meal is so much better than it ever was before). I'm proud of how far I've come and I know these are baby steps towards the final product I'm working for. I'm forever a work in progress.
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