I'm telling you and reminding myself

Its all fun and games until the next day comes...

   Mr. Coconuts and I went out last night with friends (that's not him up there btw - its a friend of mine) and didn't go to bed until 4am this morning.  Really?  That's just stupid.  It included an open bar (which I know caused all the problems), some terrible meatballs,  a lot of dancing to "I'm sexy and I know it", a group of us going into (breaking into?) a friend's house at 2am (hey they left their front door open), and late night Taco Bell run.  Did you guys know Taco Bell stayed open even later last night?  Good thing because there was a line at 3am.  Ok, enough of that.  Bad choices last night for sure - but it was a lot of fun.  The kind of fun you only need to have once a year.  I'm good with that.

This my new running top from lululemon.  Makes running in the cold much nicer.   See the built in hand warmers?

I ran again this evening around 5pm.  I'd finished making dinner and it just needed time to simmer on the stove.  I made a wonderful vegetable soup using the leftover Christmas ham bone.  But more on that later.  What I really want to tell any of you who are just starting to run and think that its horrible, that this part really does end.  If you stick with it, and go easy on yourself, don't beat yourself up or think the negative thoughts "this hurts" "I can't go any further" "I want to stop" "I'm too heavy to do this" "My <leg, butt, knee, ankle, foot, lungs, ribs, nose, whatever> hurts" or even "I can't go for 20 more minutes."

I was thinking and feeling all those things tonight.  And when I really needed to stop, I did.  I don't want a negative emotion or thought tied to my running.  But the key is that I stopped for no more than 60-120 seconds.  When I had a running coach last year - that's what really stuck with me and made me turn the corner.  The coach said, you need to enjoy running.  With time and consistency, the miles will come.  And he was right.  I know that this place where it really hurts a lot and I just don't want to go any further is only temporary.  I remember being able to run for 8 miles and feel like I could just keep going.  My lungs didn't hurt, my legs weren't fatigued.  

When I do feel negative, and my legs hurt, and my lungs hurt, and I feel weak, I give myself some slack.  I remember that this is only temporary and I stop.  But I make sure to only rest 30 seconds or 60 seconds (his advice).  And then I go again.  Going easy on myself means I don't have those negative thoughts in my head.  Instead, I enjoy the run, I'm kind to myself, and I find the voice in my head being positive and strong.  Not negative and degrading telling me what a failure I must be.  It allows me to appreciate all that oxygen getting pushed into all those cells in my body that is making me healthier.  Sometimes I visualize tiny little champagne bubbles of oxygen coursing through my veins and getting to the parts of me that have been asleep and not touched by fresh new oxygen in a while.  That's weird huh?  I purposefully visualize positive things and instead of thinking about how far I still have to go, I acknowledge how far I've gone already.  It really does make me feel better!

And again, I know this place, where I want to give up - now I know its only temporary.  And it motivates me to keep going to get to that place where I could feel like I could run forever.  My legs could carry me just fine.  I always thought that running always felt negative and really hard.  I'm here to tell you it doesn't.  Its SO powerful and makes me feel so POWERFUL.  I can't wait to run for a long time, and sweat a good  sweat, get those endorphins flowing and torch some calories!

If you feel suck-y right now about exercise or even running.  Just remember, that this is only temporary.  As long as you stick to a plan and are consistent - it actually gets easier and even empowering!

And below is the dinner I made.  My gosh it was awesome and healthy!  I used the ham bone from the Christmas ham, added 2 cans of drained (less sodium that way) Canneli beans, kale, small diced potatoes, carrots, celery onion, a little white wine, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.  A few tiny bits of the ham fell off the bone - but it wasn't a ton in there to make it really bad for you - just enough to make it savory!  Its amazing how something so simple can taste SO great.   We, of course, sang "Boom Boom Pow" while we ate our black eyed peas that I made on the side.   I'm hoping it gives us double good luck this year....