Not Pinterested

It may be obvious by my lack of posting, I’m sort of at a crossroads with the half marathon training.  School and sports started for the boys which threw off my training schedule.  And it was still pretty hot and humid, not a very fun time to run.  Of course the past few days have been really nice when it comes to weather, but has that inspired me to lace up my shoes and hit the road?  No.   I’m back to battling with the voices, particularly the ones who tell me than I’m not a real runner and that this is all a waste of time.  I’ve looked at some running blogs and the Pinterest Health and Fitness section for inspiration, but everything makes feel worse rather than better.  I don’t look like any of those people that I see.  (Granted, a lot of those Pinterest posts don’t look like real people either.) 

It is going to take a lot of “Just One More’s” to get my abs and arms to look like this, so I like to head over to the Humor section and pin lots of snarky e-cards about working out.  

I’ve felt this way for a while but have hesitated writing about it because I know how whiney it sounds.  The part of me who was so drawn to Louis Zamperini’s story in Unbroken says “Quit complaining and get on with it.  Zamperini would have considered himself lucky to have the problems you have!”  Or “You’re trying to run a race in a tutu, not rebuild houses in Haiti.”

But I still feel like a bit of a fraud.  Running was supposed to be the magic cure for body issues and weight and it hasn’t been.  Just like Weight Watchers wasn’t, and Marianne Williamson’s “A Course In Weight Loss” wasn’t.  Oddly enough, the only thing that ever really magically worked on body image and weight was pregnancy.  I was so nauseous during both my pregnancies that I couldn’t tolerate emotional eating, and for once (twice, actually) my size didn’t really bother me.  

If someone else complained this much to me about preparing for this race I would exasperatedly tell them just to give it up.  But I can't.  Because even though I'm averaging about one run a week, it still feels pretty good.  In January I would run once a week and it would take me two or three days to physically recover.  Not anymore.  Even though I've lost very little weight, my body has somehow adapted to running.

And, as anyone who has asked me about my training will tell you, the official runDisney training program for the Princess Half Marathon on February 23, 2014 starts on October 1.  I still think I can do this.  So I'm at a crossroads, and I'm going to chose the path that leads to awesome!

Kid President Pep Talk

You've probably seen the Kid President Pep Talk several times, but to me it never gets old.  The Princess Half Marathon is going to be my Space Jam!