At a Difficult Crossroads... Also, brighter note- Christmas Cards!!

First things first... One of my favorite things about Christmas- Christmas Cards!!! I would LOVE to send out a Christmas card to you lovely bloggers out there, so if you are cool with emailing me your mailing address, I'll send you one! I know, a little random, especially with me being fairly new to the blogging world, but I am a Hallmark fanatic (I blame it on the fact I worked there for two years... I will not touch a card that isn't Hallmark unfortunately) and love to send out Christmas cards to friends and family. A lot of you have been a big inspiration to me through your blogs, and I think snail mail is a more personal way to say thanks and send warm greetings. My email is on here, and if you can't find it, leave a comment with your email or something and I'll send it to you. I look forward to sending out some of my cute cards! :-)

Moving on...

I had an awesome post planned today about the benefits of organic eating and other diet goodies, but that will have to wait... I had a doctor's appointment today for a basic physical- You know that whole "Check with your doctor before taking on any fitness routine" shpill? Well, I actually listened. Shocker, yes.

I digress...

I talked to the doctor about the fact that am on a weight loss journey to lose a total of 100 pounds (I've lost 50, and have 50 to go- Woo Hoo!!), but I also have a half marathon in March that I'm dying to run. Basically he told me:

1) I can't lose weight and run a half marathon at the same time and expect to be successful at both. For losing weight, you are restricting your calories while doing exercises focused on overall fat loss and muscle toning. For running high mileage, you up your caloric intake in order to sustain yourself for the rigors of running the higher mileage.

2) If I start upping my mileage (I'm at 3 miles 3x a week, with a 6 mile long run on Saturdays) any more than 10% a week while I am still carrying this extra 50 pounds I want to lose, I'm at a very high risk for a stress fracture. He put it like this in the end: "I'm going to give you two options. You can take it slow, lose the weight, and then slowly build your running and forget about the medals and short time frames (see post about me loving bling) and do it safely. OR you can take the risk and go ahead and train and run, and if you end up with a stress fracture or hurt ankle, I'm putting you in a boot for 6-8 weeks. Your choice."

........ Wow doc, alright.... When you put it like that, I guess it makes a little more sense. No one likes being in a boot. And I have read posts on here from runners that have dealt with this exact scenario and end up frustrated and disappointed.

The doctor is officially recommending that I focus on losing the weight first, and THEN look at running higher mileage and racing. He said, "Why don't you do this: from here until your 25th birthday (which is August 5th, 2012 by the way), focus on losing the rest of the weight. Then make your 25th birthday the starting point for all your specific fitness goals. You want to do a marathon? Train for it. Ultra? Train for it. But until then, put your energy into losing the weight. That way it is off by 25, and you won't have to worry about it for the rest of your life."

So why then, if he made it so dadgum (yes, I said dadgum... from the South, remember?) clear to me, am I still struggling with this? My boyfriend, friends, and DOCTOR are telling me to take it much slower and lose the weight first, and yet I don't want to let go of the half marathon in March. Anyone have any insight on this? Thoughts? Have you dealt with anything like this before?

I would love to hear from voices of experience on this. I love running and can still do the 10K (which two of my best friends are actually doing the 10K) and other 5Ks and small races throughout the year, but he thinks anything more as far as mileage would be detrimental in such a short period of time. Would love some input. Thanks guys!

Random side note: I have been freezing at work for the past two weeks because the heater has not been working right in the office. This morning, I decided to be prepared today and was proud of myself for thinking ahead, and I wore a long sleeve shirt as well as a big thick sweater on top. I get to work.... They fixed the heater.

Have a great rest of the week!!

Another sidenote: Stop by RuntotheFinish and check out her Glam Headbands giveaway!

Nothing like a little cardiac in the morning!

So... Your Friday Funny for today... Hey, maybe we'll make this a regular thing! But I digress...

So, my muscle man and I were hanging out at my apartment. He was laying on the floor transferring songs from my laptop to his MP3 player for his workouts because I have better music than he does because he needed to freshen up his playlist. I was doing God knows what, all I remember is I was on the couch. We got into a discussion about what music we like to listen to while we exercise. I told him that for weights, I usually like rock of some sort, something fast with a good guitar line usually. And as he brings on a fast-paced hip hop song, I say "Yeah, I listen to that kind of music while I do cardiac." And then went back to whatever I was doing. He stops, looks at me, and says, "What was that honey?" I look at him bewildered... "What?? Why are you looking at me like that?" And I'm sitting there thinking he's crazy or deaf or something. When he sees I'm obviously not getting it, he fills me in oh-so-flippantly... "So you go into cardiac when you run? I think you're running too hard." I sit clueless on the couch for about 5 more seconds while he revels in his cleverness, and finally my light bulb comes on. Yes, apparently I cardiac every morning. Most people go with coffee to get up and go in the mornings... I say nothing beats a couple of paddles and an electric shock to the heart apparently. Yes, muscle man enjoyed this so much he updated his facebook status with it. I realllllly appreciated that one.

Ok, I lied... I enjoy my coffee as much as the next person...

Mmmmm..... Pumpkin Spice....

........

Moving on...

I have decided (or I'm 95% sure I've decided) to run a half marathon on March 4th. I did not plan to do a half marathon so soon after being injured, especially considering it will be my first distance longer than a 5K, but the "Fors" seem to outweigh the "Againsts".

For:

• I have a close friend running it, which makes it easier
• I do EVERYTHING better under pressure
• When I didn't have a race coming up, I felt like I had less direction, and therefore less motivation to push myself. I love to run, but my competitive nature comes out just like with any other sport, even if it's only against myself and my own PR's
• I still have 16 weeks to train, and my long run tomorrow is 4 miles... That's about right, right?!?
• I will admit it: I am a runner that loves bling. I am not ashamed. And for those of you that don't know, Runner's World has proclaimed that not only is the Little Rock Marathon a Boston Qualifier (obviously I'm not worried about that... pfft) BUT it is famed for having the largest medal of any marathon event in the world. And this year is the 10th anniversary, so how big do you think that sucker is gonna be?!? I'm not missing out on that, even if I have to be carried crawl walk across the finish line.

Against:

• I am coming back from an injury that took me out for 8 weeks, and muscle man as well as my mother (yes, I'm 24 so my mother's opinion still counts for something) think I should hold off
• I am very hard on myself in all aspects, so certain people I'm close to are afraid that even if I say I'm not keeping a time goal, in my head I will be and I will beat myself up mentally if I don't make that, even though it is my first half marathon.
• I'm not exactly taking the *slow* approach when it comes to running my first half. Most people said to give it a year or two to work up to it, but I don't think it would be me if I didn't start out with a bang (Metaphorically speaking God, please no banged up knee or any other kind of bang... Wait.... What??? Enough stream of consciousness........) My uncle John Morelock is an ultra runner, still running at 70, and his motto and his goodbye when speaking to anyone is "Run gently out there" as in take it easy, enjoy it for what it is, and take your time. He has tried to express this to me numerous times through our running talks.

So, I pose a few questions...

Have you ever had a slip of the tongue that people have caught onto and poked fun at you for?

What do you think about the half marathon decision? Any insight about it?

Thanks everyone, and remember to enjoy the weather, enjoy the fact that we're able to run, and enjoy the weekend! Adios for now!

PS- Don't forget to check out this awesome girl's Gymboss interval timer giveaway!!

Gluten-Free Attempt... And Gearing Up for Winter Running!

So...

I am on day 2 of my gluten-free diet (for those that didn't know, I possibly have celiac... Woohoo! Not...), and things have gone pretty well. Below is a picture of my typical breakfast- Rudi's gluten-free bread with almond butter, and fruit. It just so happened that someone in the office brought in an Edible Arrangement, so that explains the lovely array of fruit. Today was a comice pear instead of that nice, colorful collection.

So anyway... Did great until a pumpkin roll magically appeared in my refrigerator (which I may or may not have bought in the bakery at Kroger... *cough*), and I ate some of it. I pretended like the nutrition label didn't exist long enough to indulge in this lovely little ball of fall festiveness. I swear I'll be better today... It helps that the pumpkin roll is gone. Heh.

...

And NO, I did not eat it all on my own! Muscle man may have had a bite or two... :-)

Moving forward...

I've started buying my much-needed supply of winter running clothes! Just bought a new long sleeve performance shirt from Run Pretty Far. If you haven't seen her line, I would suggest checking it out. I did after reading about it from RunToTheFinish, and I loved her collections! Performance tees, good price, good quality, and super cute designs. Ladies, I would suggest checking them out! Ok, men, you can to, but if you wear one of those cute little designs, by God I want a picture. Stat.

My awesome new shirt! I'm really looking forward to having this for my morning runs.

I also have put a running jacket on hold at my local running store. If you live near Little Rock or ever visit, 1) make sure to look me up for a run! and 2) you have to check out this store. They just started carrying Moving Comfort, and I fell in love with this jacket:

Now the only thing I'm missing is a good headband to cover my poor ears in the cold. Yes, I love running in the cold. But yes, I am also a giant pansy when it comes to the cold. You would be too if you started turning into an icicle at 45 degrees. Just sayin.

So that is my slightlybriefslightlyboring update. Enjoy the weather!

Fun Friday!

My uncle is an ultramarathoner, and I have a lot of respect for him. He lives in Washington so most of our communication is via email, and he sent me this lovely snippet once when we were talking about racing (and training hard) versus running slow and smart. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Running or Racing—a comparative analysis

Runners…	Racers…
stop to look at the trees as they pass by.	ricochet off trees as they zoom across the landscape.
worry about their flashlight batteries lasting.	get to the finish line before dark.
enjoy the aid stations	sometimes pass through before the aid stations are set up.
take naps in tents at aid stations.	take naps as they wait at the finish line.
watch flowers opening in the morning sun.	pass through in the predawn darkness.
worry about cut-off times.	worry about course or age-group records.
write next-of-kin information on their wrist bands	write split times on their wrist bands
wonder if there will be any beer at the aid stations.	wonder what kind of electrolyte replacement drinks will be at the aid stations
get a hamburger as they pass through towns	slap down one more bit of tofu enriched yoghurt, whey, and scampi granola
talk to local farmers as they pass by	scare chickens, cows, and small children
are relieved to hear someone approaching from behind	feel the pressure of someone approaching from behind
seldom get lost as they follow those hundreds of sets of footprints	worry about course markings (color, context, intent, malcontent, bent…)
admire the view as they amble on across the landscape	are vaguely aware of something off to the right—or was it left?
know the names of the “sweep” at 17 different events in 8 counties and 3 states.	drop if more than 17 minutes behind predicted time for the day.
say “Thank you.  Yes, I do believe I’ll have another brownie” just before being pushed out of the aid station.	smile and say “Thank you” over her shoulder as she heads for home.
have been seen grabbing trees, cactus, and other runners to keep from careening off the course on a switchback.	make it look so easy, seldom stirring up dust or even disturbing the llamas.
have out-of-body experiences as the day goes by and the finish line recedes in the afternoon sun.	have been heard to wonder admiringly about how the rest of us cope with being out there so long.
sometimes curse day of race registration.	follow a plan conceived months ago.
have long involved conversations with others as they pass or get passed.	surface long enough for a smile and an often monosyllabic response.
have teddy bears, dragons, and other karma caretakers of the foray jangling from their fannypacks, Camel Baks,…	have a hand-bottle.
have been seen in cotton t-shirts.	have all that super-neato logo stuff.
slay inner dragons on good days.	slay inner dragons on good days.
compete in their time, in their style, on their terms…	compete in their time, in their style, on their terms…
Sweet?	Sweet?
Sweet!	Sweet!