No turning back AKA #thestruggleisreal

Hi All and happy March!

I like to post every once in a while about  struggles that come up just so no one thinks it's rainbows and unicorns all the time in my world :) This $#!+ is hard sometimes.

I had a 10k to run this morning after staying up until after midnight to finish a project and luckily I got dressed BEFORE checking the weather. As soon as I opened the back door to let the dogs out - what a surprise it's barely above freezing and raining - JUST LIKE IT HAS BEEN ALL FREAKING WINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think about going back to bed but that "I'm already dressed" thing comes in very handy here.

I had some extra time since It was pouring rain (still) so I sat in my car until THE VERY LAST minute that I could and still make the start of this race. I was half a mile from the start, already soaked and my stupid brain was trying to talk me out of it the WHOLE WAY.  I even turned around at one point to head back to the car.

These are the times when decisions matter.

When I saw Deena Kastor (2004 Bronze medalist in Athens for the women's marathon) speak at our Track Club social this year, she talked about the importance of taking every single decision seriously and that has resonated with me ever since. They might not seem like important decisions at that time, but they all matter and it adds up.

Thank you for the inspiration Deena!

I decided to run to the start which was the only way to stay warm. The first 3 miles were easy and the second three miles were ALL hills - stupid brain was at it again - wanting to walk the hills. I was arguing back at my brain "You've got this. You are a hill master.  Lean forward. Shorten your stride. Arms up. Chest up. Breathe deep." That helped but what REALLY worked was pretending the ponytail posse was behind me and I had to lead them up that hill because that's what I do. So, ponytails, thank you so much for being with me on my run even though you weren't and I had NOBODY to share snack time with. Airplane arms were also done. All by myself.

There was a small miracle at mile 4. As I rounded the corner, there stood my trainer who was taking her kids to Sunday School.  Just totally random. She looked gorgeous and I was soaking wet but I have to say I was super proud to look like crap and be running in the rain. She is SUCH a huge part of my success. I could have hugged her if I wasn't so gross and muddy and sweaty :)

It was a GREAT race and  I'm really glad I did it. Even more so, I fought those demons and made a whole string of good decisions which led to a whole day of feeling accomplished...and fast :)

Oh and then I ate half a Krispy Kreme and gave the rest to a squirrel.

Have a great week everyone! Here's to good decision making!