If marathons were easy, then everyone would run them.

It's been an interesting week. I had a terrible mid-week run, and I told my friend Mark that I was ready to give up on NYC marathon training. I got lost in my new 'hood in the 'burbs, and I had a very long and slow uphill climb to face in order to find my way back home. It was a rough "run" that ended in a dead Garmin, a long walk home, frustration and one very, very late arrival to work. No good.

I tried my hardest to brush it off, but unlike T. Swift, I can't just shake it off. I went for an early morning Saturday run with my friend and running partner, Mara, in a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to right myself before attending the Church of Sunday Long Run. And if anyone thinks I am being flippant with that phrase, well, let me tell you, I had a real come-to-Jesus kind of run on Sunday as I battled the sun and hills at Valley Forge National Historic Park.

I was grateful to have company for the first 10 miles of my run today, but I still had some obstacles along the way. First, my Garmin took forever locate any freaking satellites. Then, about two miles in, I realized it had decided to be a stupidly expensive stopwatch instead of a GPS watch. Not cool, Forerunner. It is a good thing I was running a 5 mile loop with kind people, so I knew how far I had gone despite my watch. And a long run feels much shorter when you have someone to run most of it with you, so I really am beyond grateful that I had company today.

I am at the point in my training where I basically gave up last year, so this is the turning point. I will finish training this time, but the further I get in the training, the more I remember why I don't like marathons. I think I will be sticking to half marathons from now on. I have found a few things that are getting me through training this time, so I am going to do a short shout-out list to wrap up this little update.

Internal dialogue: I have found that just telling myself to calm down goes a long way. Yes, I talk to myself. At least MOST of the time I don't talk to myself out loud, right?

My coworkers: Thanks to Terry, Erin, and Mark for listening to all my crazy theories, and telling my when I'm full of it and to suck it up and get running. And sorry to my newest coworker who was left outside the store waiting for me when I got lost on my run the other morning! Oops!

My friends: Yes, coworkers, you are included here too. And to all my other friends as well who have listened to me talk about running every. single. time. I see you.-- Guess I should start blogging more frequently.

My family: Thanks to my sister Grace, for always being excited about my runs even when I am not. To my brother Joe, for all the crazy competitiveness that is him. My sister-in-law Katie, for balancing him out and reminding me that he is some non-human competitive machine and that the rest of us are normal. To my sister-in-law Anna, who is getting ready to run the KC 30K Series AND her first half marathon this fall! AND a big thank you to my husband, Matthew, who has made me dinners and breakfasts and bares the brunt of my ridiculousness.

AND

My running partners: Thanks to Sheila, BJ, Nancy, Jill, Erin, Mark, Mara, Jim, and Kristen! Each of you have run with me at some point during my training so far, and whether it has been a few miles or many, once or once a week, I am deeply appreciative and moved to be able to be a part of such a great community of runners. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I would likely not have made it this far with out you.

So here's to a strong second half of training and hopefully an enjoyable race experience this fall.

Racing Recap: Valley Forge Revolutionary Run

After running two half marathons this spring, I was a bit thrown off guard running the Rev Run today at Valley Forge National Historic Park. I have been having some trouble over the past week or so with shinsplints. I have pretty much figured out that these are due to tight calf muscles, so I have been spending time with my lovely foam roller. (Yes, "lovely" was sarcastic.) Heading out for this race was tricky for me from the beginning, so I am just going to break this review down into Pros, Cons, and Racing Edition Runner's Rambles.

PROS

I got to run a race in a National Park "with" one of my friends, Mark, and his awesome wife and super adorable son cheered us on. My boss Terry did his run in the park today running in the opposite direction, so I got a little bit of on-course cheering as well. I almost stopped to stretch and walk a little more than really necessary, but seeing Terry coming toward me made me keep running. Thanks, Terry! The Fast Tracks running club had a high-energy and peppy water stop at the half way mark. There was also quite a spread at the post-race tent. And lastly, at this particular time, it was nice to just have a five miler.

CONS

Did you see what I did there with the quotation marks in the first line of the second paragraph? Mark is way faster than me.... So I need to get myself in gear and really start training and working on speed if I am going to keep up with Mark at the NYC Marathon this fall. This course was seriously hilly. Why don't I learn to check these things before I sign up for THREE hilly races in one season? It was only five miles, so I was thrown off due to getting to mile four before I realized I was almost done instead of just starting, so at that point, I realized that I should have just pushed harder. We'll come back to this point in Rambles! And the post-race was packed with stuff, but hard to navigate to find anything. I kept SEEING people with bagels, but it took me nearly ten minutes to FIND the bagels. There were lots of people, and everything was packed into some fairly small tents. 

RACING EDITION RUNNER'S RAMBLES

One of my co-workers always asks me the same question every time I start whining... I whine a lot, which I think everyone has figured out by now. "Are you feeling discomfort or pain?" You see, discomfort is not the same as pain. My brother would say that pain is a good thing. Joe is one of those "No pain, no gain!" kind of people. I would say that's from being in the military, but he has been that way since we were kids. I am not that kind of person, thus the whining. 

But discomfort, that's a different story, and I didn't realize that until I was running today. And unfortunately, I didn't figure that out until mile four. You see, an oyster creates a pearl because a foreign object creates discomfort, and it begins coating the object with a substance that creates the beautiful pearl. Pain though, pain is the body's signal that something is wrong. Pain is not good, but discomfort can be. It can push us to make pearls out of problems. Did I really need to stop three times to stretch today? Eh, probably not, but better safe than sorry for now. But now I know that I need to pay closer attention to my body to figure out if it is in pain or just uncomfortable. It's time for this runner to start creating some pearls!

Being active doesn't always mean working out!

I know that I haven't posted in over a week, but I have had so much going on in both my personal and professional life right now that it has been hard to find time for anything. I was so happy to finally have a weekend that I could spend relaxing with my fiance, and we decided that we weren't setting an alarm to make it to spin class today. If we had been up in time, we would have gone, but we got up around the time it was starting. We didn't go to the gym, but living an active lifestyle doesn't always mean hitting the gym or pavement each day.

We spent a lovely afternoon at Valley Forge National Historic Park. I love going to museums and historic sites. I especially love presidential libraries even though I have only been to two so far. The thing about museums, historic sites, and state parks is that you really can get some good exercise! At Valley Forge there is an 8 mile walking/biking path that connects the whole park together. We didn't go the entire distance today, but we are excited to go back and bike the whole thing very soon!

Another great thing about going to a state or national park is lunch! Just because you are taking the kids out for the day, or you are out on a date, doesn't mean you have to grab happy meals or eat an over-portioned meal at a sit-down restaurant! We packed a picnic lunch that was healthy. Plus, I just love picnics! Those who know me well probably wouldn't peg me for a picnic kind of girl, but I love packing up my lunch and hitting a trail.

It was fun to see the artifacts, preserved buildings, and monuments at Valley Forge, but at the same time, it was good for our bodies! Next time you are looking for something to do with friends, kids, significant others, or the whole family, check out the state and national parks in your area! These places are usually free of charge! Some states charge parking fees, but even that would be less expensive than paying for movie tickets for everyone. Most parks and historic sites have websites detailing all the necessary information to make your day planning easier. Having a degree in education, and working in the education field, I find it just as important to work your brain as it is to work your body. Why not do both at once? You might be surprised just how much fun you and your family have!