90 days - Beyond the Free Runs

 

Today is kind of an important day for me. It's significant in more ways than one. The main one being it's been exactly 3 months since I've been back. A whole 90 days. When you think about 90 days, it really doesn't seem like much time. I mean, how much can your life really change in 3 months, right? Well, not long ago i learned that EVERYTHING can change. Change isn't always a bad thing, though. This time around it's been pretty spectacular. 
3 months ago, giving up would've been too easy. To lose focus and wander off lost into a black hole... well that's just not my style. I tend to look for the most difficult methods and go that route. Don't ask me why because it usually comes back to bite me in the butt a lot. Except this time. This time I look back and think of where i was one August morning. How broken, lost and helpless I felt. Like everything i worked for was in vain and the life i once knew was a lie. How maybe it was all just some fantasy i  had created in my mind...
Today I look back on the last 3 months and see how much has changed. All the things I've accomplished and I don't just mean the half marathon. You know the story, how running saved my life. I don't need to go into it again, but there is more to my life than my wonderful Free Runs. Sure they make me happy, but so do other things. Maybe I don't always talk about them, but I do and have had some spectacular days. I've got a pretty busy schedule these days. Aside from the workouts and training, I have my family and friends. Those who love and encourage me to push harder and keep moving forward. Anything from beach trips, road trips, Starbucks dates, wine nights, painting classes, baking sessions, sports events, hiking, birthdays, wedding planning, sushi, smoothies, shopping, dancing, dressing up because we can, dancing in the rain, movie nights, DC tours, adventures and shenanigans. The list goes on and continues as life takes it's course. 
We had to put our dog(my puppy) down this past weekend and it was definitely one of my harder moments as I've never had to put any of my pets down before. It's a bit of an adjustment and we're also in the process of selling our home. There are just so many changes going on that sometimes i feel it's the most consistent/constant thing in my life. change...
I can't express my gratitude enough for the people that fought to keep a place in my life and heart. I know we all have our own problems to deal with and sometimes we forget about the little people, but i'm so very appreciative of those who didn't let me out of their sight. Knowing that I am loved and can make a positive difference in someone's day/life, is knowing that i have succeeded in this life. My work here is not done, though. I have plenty more adventures ahead of me and more lives to bring light to  :)


For now, though... i'll leave you with this:

Incubus of Viral Plague

Clearly, running in the cold while sick is the best way to get better. My body is a basket full of lies and deceit! Let me tell you! By Sunday evening i was feeling pretty good. Maybe it was the work i put in at the gym or maybe i was just actually better?! Sure i was still a little congested, but nothing major. I was fine. Practically good as new. So what do i do? I wake up bright and early to start on my morning runs outside again. What better way than in 39 degree weather? At least i had on long sleeves. I am slowly making progress, i promise.Went ahead and ran a few miles then headed home to get ready for work. Oh man it felt AMAZING!! i missed my morning runs. I had taken up afternoon/evening runs(depending on the time i got home) for the last several months. I've always preferred morning runs, but waking up early was suddenly not as easy as i remembered it to be. This past Monday i was determined to start again and no one gets in my way when i make a decision to do something. So there i was feeling amazing and accomplished. Showered and headed to work. 

After work i met a friend out at Redskins Park for a Ladies Night event to include dinner and DRILLS!! That's right, we got to run some drills like the guys do at practice. Except we did it indoors. Even got to kick a few field goals. SUPER FUN. Met some players and alumni while we were at it too. So there went workout #2 of the day, but it was too much fun I could hardly consider that a workout. Same with running. I love it so much, it doesn't feel like a workout sometimes. sometimes! lol so after training at Redskins park, I decided swimming would be exactly what i needed to do. Went to the gym with one of the besties and did about 30 laps. Not bad. I was definitely pleased and pretty exhausted. I was mainly excited that i wouldn't be up until 2am from endorphins. This happens a lot with evening workouts. Instead i was practically falling asleep when relaxing in the hot tub. We decided to head out and call it a night. Which

brings me to Tuesday morning. Bright and early outside for another run. This time just under 5 miles. Now, temperature wise it was warmer than the day before, but if you were actually out there you would know it was MUCH colder and way windier! But hey, no pain no gain right? So there i go finishing my morning run. Got home to get ready for work when it all hit me. I do mean ALL... after just a couple hours of being at the office my throat was scratchy, eyes burning, couldn't stop sneezing and coughing. I could barely keep my head up because of the throbbing. I could feel the fever coming and my body was just shutting down. Hour by hour... i was coming to an end. Wasn't long before i was told to work from home the next day. I wasn't allowed back in the office. You know it's bad when your coworkers don't even want you there!

I come home to a very angry cousin. He's been staying with us for a while. Go figure ...he spent quite a few years as a nurse and let's just say i got chewed out pretty bad that evening. Something about I shouldn't have been working out when I wasn't fully recovered from whatever I had over the weekend and on top of that overdoing it. So he's had me on strict orders. Absolutely no working out until I'm better along with a few home remedies. I haven't been allowed out of the house, but I do feel sooo much better now. He said by Friday I should be ok to workout again and go back to my routine. Well, here I am all excited to go running tomorrow morning when he hits me with "nope. you're not ready. I'm glad you're 90% better, but i can tell you still have a sore throat so absolutely no running outside." I feel completely useless right now. That's prob why i'm able to post in the blog... because i haven't been able to do anything else!! :(

The pics are of the past shenanigans this week. I wouldn't recommend anyone put their bodies through this torture when they're sick. Definitely be smarter than me and give your body time to recover properly. Don't be stupid and stubborn like i am. I just feel so lost if i can't run! Well, until my next shenanigans... *sigh*

Nearly Naked Mile - PR'd

Nearly Naked Mile - Reston Town Center

Towards the end of last week I started coming down with a some kind of cold/flu. I hate hate hate being sick! Mainly because I know it means i have to put my workouts/runs on hold. Well this girl can be a bit stubborn at times and decide she wasn't going to stop. I had signed up for the Nearly Naked Mile race in Reston and figured, hey what's a mile?! I ran a half marathon for goodness sake. A mile is nothing! I'll just run it super fast and head straight home back to bed with my medicine after it's done. Well Nearly Naked Mile implies nearly naked attire. That's right. A lot of skin to bare and with me being sick it was a tough call. Major crossroad in my life. I decided to go with a t-shirt and a tutu. I know what you're thinking: Man! She's so good at this taking care of herself bit. Well let me tell you it was FREEZING cold that day. I did arrive fully layered up though with snowboard pants, a hoodie and scarf, but come time to run... the layers had to come off. By then i was so pumped and warmed up, I forgot i was sick. I decided, hey let's just sprint this thing as see what kind of time i can get! Well, I did just that and i actually PR'd. I was soooo excited, but about 15 seconds to the finish line my body was begging me to stop. Honestly, i could hear it crying from everything i was putting it through. I wanted to just come to a complete stop. I felt like i was really dying. Not because i was tired/out of breath, but because i was in pain, feeling horrible, weak, eyes burning... you get the idea, but how many people do you know that actually STOP before crossing the finish line? No. That's when you have to push yourself even more. Figured it would all be over sooner and I'd prob get a pretty good time. Well i definitely got the pretty good time. My fastest mile recorded at 8:55. Sure it's not the fastest, but it is my fastest and you know what?... i was running with the flu so don't even hate because who knows what time i would've got had i been healthy! Needless to say i nearly collapsed by the time i finished. Super nauseous. I could feel the fever coming. I raced to get my winter gear and begged to go home. I couldn't even stay for the after party or mini ceremony :(  

I am excited to share that one of the runners on my team. A friend and sister of one of my best friends actually placed #1 for fastest in our age group finishing her mile at 7:22. Now THAT is incredible!! We'll be doing more races together and i'll likely do my first FULL marathon with her next year. So despite torturing my body with all that, I was happy that i went, earned my flannel shorts, cup and PR'd. Sure, i spent the remainder of the day in bed watching movies, but TOTALLY worth and who cares... i love watching movies anyway. Here's a little snap shot of that race. Enjoy!

Instagram: Sunshine_Memoirs

Run or Dye

It's been a very eventful the last several days. With guests and Halloween adventures! I was happy to have a few days off work for most of it. Thursday morning i was able to get a run in during DAYLIGHT hours! oh man... it was glorious! see pic on the left for proof. There really is nothing quite like it. Even more rewarding that I was among the vibrant trees. Color was literally pouring out of the leaves. I had a coworker from our Ukrainian office come over and stay for a few days. So we did the whole DC thing. Got to play tour guide and show her the beautiful sights our Nation's Capital has to offer. All that jazz. So even though I only got one daytime run in, I was able to walk around DC all day Thursday through Saturday. I mean the point is to keep moving, right? I also learned this past weekend that i have a serious obsession with tress in the fall! haha

RUN OR DYE

The BFFs and I at Run or Dye in DC

I mentioned in my last post about the Run or Dye 5k race that was coming up with the BFFs. Well we did it and it was A LOT of fun. We had to run through a few tunnels with people throwing powder dye at us. Sounds fun, right? too bad it was hard to breathe and see while running through these mists of color and the occasional person throwing a whole handful into your face. Zoila, was not so lucky running through the yellow tunnel. No. It seemed they had it out for her. The left half of her face was covered in yellow by the time she made it all the way through. I'm not gonna lie, i had to stop for a bit because i was laughing so much. The occasional child would scream out "YELLOW FACE!" and one spectator coming in while we were leaving made a passing comment of "wow! some people really got hit hard!" hahahaha i'm probably laughing a little too much about it for her liking. Sorry Z, but it was effin hilarious! So all in all it was a good run. It was great to do it as a team. To start together and even finish holding hands through the finish line. AWW we're so cute aren't we! haha This weekend is the Reston Nearly Naked Mile race to run. I'm thinking a tutu, some body paint and a fuzz bra... that should do it! What can i say? i love running :)