The training wheels are off!

Ok, I started the week streaking and feeling torn between all the different goals I had for myself and my running this year. Of course, it is pretty clear by now that I bite off more than I can chew, but it seems that I am starting to learn how to back down and make smart choices to reach my goals. I originally decided around the beginning of December that I would try to run outside at least once a week in the winter. I usually switch over to spinning and aerobics classes in the winter, so the fact that I streaked for 43 days in the middle of the snowiest winter Philadelphia has ever seen, I am going to chalk that up as a win. I may do another streak at the end of the year, but I have some time to figure that out.

I thought I was ready to take the training wheels off, and maybe I wasn't completely ready, but I just have to suck it up and get up and running. I took THREE whole rest days in a row when I stopped my streak, which was a little bit too much rest if I'm being honest. When I was streaking, I didn't think, "hmm, it's pretty cold...maybe I won't run today." When I was streaking, I just layered up and headed out the door. There was no real question about whether or not I would run, it was just a matter of how far. It's time for me to get back on my half training schedule! My first big goal for this year is to run 3 half marathons in 90 days to meet the Half Fanatics requirements for the Neptune level membership!

I will recap my streak by sharing just a few of my favorite pictures from my streak instagram project!

Spring Fever

Today's run was beautiful. I had one of those runs today that I look down at my watch and suddenly realize I've been running for an hour. I love getting lost in a run, and these days I really can get lost in a run. I got the Garmin Forerunner 410 for Christmas, and I love not having to map and memorize a route before I head out the door.

I haven been anxiously awaiting spring, and I was so happy to see the signs of spring all around. There is a slight chill in the air, the sun is shining, the birds are beginning to sing, the buds are popping up, and the fever is catching. Spring fever is running fever for me. I am so happy to be running outside because I am reminded of how much I love running. Sometimes when I am stuck on the dreadmill or fighting the biting cold or wet ground that comes with winter running, I forget how truly amazing it is.

Never in my life would I have pictured myself becoming a running junkie. I have also posted in the past that my family and friends never thought I would either, but I am so glad that running has transformed my life. Let me tell you, if you want to really learn something about yourself, then step outside, and go for a run. At first, you might be slow, maybe even out of breath and in pain. And some of us ::cough, cough:: ::me::  maybe couldn't even run a quarter of a mile before we stopped to walk when we first took up running, but I am now at the point where I can jump in to a half marathon training schedule two weeks late, and look down at my watch to suddenly realize that I have been running for an hour, and it is time to steer back home.

So, what have I learned so far in my journey as a runner? Nature is beautiful. Water tastes amazing. Pain is in fact temporary. Spandex is strangely my friend and not my enemy. A trash bag works just as well as any windbreaker jacket. It doesn't matter what other people think. I am strong. I am happy. I am determined. A pair of running shoes can make me feel way better about myself than a pair of heels. Moments should be cherished. And it's true that reaching your goals is often an issue of mind over matter.

Lee Ann Womack may hope that you dance, but I don't.

I hope you run.