Running on Empty

When I started running in January of 2011 I had no clue what I was doing.  I pretty much hopped on a treadmill and started running hoping I would eventually be able to run a 5k.  I didn't do any research, I had no clue what the couch to 5k program was, and I most certainly paid little attention to any resources on how best to train.

Fast forward two and a half years and I have accomplished so much more than that.  I have completed more 5ks than I can count, a handful of 10ks, some special distances/races, 8 half marathons, and a full marathon.  Now I wonder if it was too much, too quickly.  I lost the run love after my marathon in December - it was a humbling experience that left me questioning my abilities as a runner.  Instead of being tough and training harder I didn't run for several months.

While I have run a half marathon already this year, I didn't train well and my heart wasn't in it.  I only have two more races planned this year: Color Me Rad with my daughter and another half marathon in September.  My focus this year is supposed to be on building my endurance to complete the Dopey Challenge in January.  To this end, I have told myself I will run slower and allow walk breaks - the problem is that I feel like I am losing fitness, or maybe just not regaining as quickly as I would like.

That means that running even 3 miles feels incredibly hard right now, my hearts not in it and neither is my head.  I am looking forward to being able to say I completed Dopey, but there are days when I sincerely doubt my abilities... if 3 miles feels hard how on earth will I run 48.6 over 4 days with little to no sleep?

It's almost August?!?

I feel like I should just discontinue this blog - I am terrible about keeping it up to date.  It's not even a matter of not having the time, its more so that when I sit down to blog my mind goes 1000 different directions.  I feel like a fraud sometimes and it makes me want to hide behind the internet.  More on that later.

It's insane that the summer is almost over - Natalie goes back to school August 14!  Between now and then we have a trip planned to Michigan for a family gathering and we are also hoping to make it to Kings Island in Cincinnati before Labor Day and to Northern Michigan before the end of September if possible.  We also have a wedding in October and then of course the BIG trip to Disney in January!  It doesn't sound like much on paper but I am overwhelmed just trying to imagine how we are going to adjust to Natalie in 1st grade, Daniel in preschool, my training schedule, and Tommy working part time from home! 

This summer has been rather uneventful.  We have made a couple trips down to Alabama but outside of that we haven't done much.  Our first trip to Alabama was to celebrate my 30th birthday - my sister bought tickets to the New Kids on the Block Package Tour in Nashville on my birthday.  It was an amazing concert and I wish that I had money to go to the concert again here in Indiana - if only I could win the lottery!  It was fun reliving my childhood! 

Then just last week we drove down for a week while Tommy was in California.  Originally I was supposed to fly down alone for my sister's graduation but with his trip to California we had no one to watch the kids so we made it a road trip!  It was a proud moment for me to see my sister graduate.  She's been trying to accomplish this goal for so long - I know it means alot to her to finally have that diploma in her hands!  And, not a week later she found out she will have a new job starting mid-August!  Congrats sis! 

One more exciting thing that has happened this summer is that we have booked our dining for the trip in January and we were able to get everything that we were hoping for with just a couple small (15 minutes or so) adjustments in time.  And, a week after getting out dining we called and scheduled Natalie's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique makeover and Daniel's knight makeover.  We are doing it our last day - first thing in the morning.  We will be able to get into the park before it opens, which should allow for some good pictures.  Then we have dinner scheduled at the new castle restaurant - Be Our Guest that evening

To sum it up, this summer I have: 

...done some running, although not enough.  

...done some dieting, although not successful. 

...created a cleaning schedule, but I haven't stuck with it. 

...planned and obsessed over our Disney trip, but I still feel lost!

That's all for now.  I plan another entry this week, but you know my track record, so no promises!