I Don't Travel Light : Always Pack Snacks

In keeping up with my promise, I have said to blog more about tips and tricks for eating healthy and on the go, here is mine for the week.

Pack a snack.

I know it sounds trivial and simple, but you have no idea how much it has helped me stay on track on those tough days. And now that I am working on being back on track and Paleo to the core, packing a snack is most important for me.

It is so simple, it really takes less than a minute. I have fruit and veggies and I toss them in zip lock bags and they are ready to go with me where ever I am off to.

Some of my go to faves are really baby carrots. I can never go wrong with those. I also like chopped up peppers, and my new favorite is cherry tomatoes. Those are almost as good as grapes but have less sugar.
Fruit I usually just buy what is cheap and in season. Currently it has been watermelon, cherries, and blueberries. It varies from week to week but I try to stay away from higher sugary fruits like bananas when I need to get to racing weight.

One last thing,  I never ever leave the house without this either:

Water!

I drink about 100 ounces of water a day. Other than coffee it is pretty much the only thing I drink. I make sure I stay hydrated all day long and it really does help keep hunger away.

What do you do to stay on track when running around?

If I Never Run Again

I started to think about this a lot lately.
No worries, the torn calf is healing and I should be running in a few weeks. But I thought it would be interesting to think about for myself, what if?

What if I never was able to run again? How would I be?

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love running. Anyone who sees my race photos cannot mistake how happy I genuinely look when I am running 26.2 miles. So then, what would happen if something bad happened and I was not able to physically run every again?

I think that a few things would happen.

First I would go through a dark phase. It would be hard for me to come to terms with not running. It might take a long time to even comprehend the fact that running was no longer going to be a part of my life. I would get depressed just thinking about it.

Then I would probably get angry and bitter for a long time. I would look at my race photos and medals and want to throw them all away and forget the times I ran.

Next I would probably do what I do when things change. I would create a distraction with something else. I might try to focus on other exercises and activities. I might pretend to love them more than running and work hard to make myself believe I did not miss it every day.

Then I would come to accept it. I would have no other option than to eventually. In the end, I know I will not die without running. I know it is just an activity, and many many people never get fortunate enough to run.

But for me it is so much more than a simple activity. For me it has become such a large part of who I am and how it makes me feel. I did not realize it until it was taken away from me 6 weeks ago.

I took my daughter to the track the other day because it is across the street from a playground she likes and I watched her run a little bit and she was having so much fun. And it was bitter sweet because I am still in the boot and cannot run. And it hit me. A wave of sadness and a deep longing swept over me as I watched many runners there doing their speed work. It was not too long ago I was there doing my speed work. I wondered how long it would be before I got out there again.

Being at that track, it just made me miss running all the more. Made me wish I could hit fast forward on the time and bring myself into the days when I will be running again. Once you fall deeply in love with something, it is painful to be apart from it for even a day or 2. It hurts me to not be running right now, and every day it gets harder and harder to be away from it.

All I can do is wait and be patient, and pray the day I get to run again comes soon. I made up my mind at the track that I would do whatever it takes to run again, even if it means I have to do more PT, or cross training, whatever. Even if I have to run slow for awhile until I heal. I will run again. There is a small part of me that would die if I never got to run again. And I am not sure my heart would fully heal.

My Marathon Training Revised Plan

Enough is enough.

I cannot promise I am done whining. I cannot promise I will not say a million times I miss running. I will not promise that I will have a positive attitude each and every single day from here on out.

But from here on out, I am making myself a promise.

I will not give up. I will not quit. And I will force myself to do what I do best, set a goal, make a plan, and stick to it.

For me it is the only way towards success.




So I sat down on Sunday evening and made a plan. Luckily, I have the Run Less Run Faster book, and loved it the first time I read it and reviewed it here.


They have a good cross training program in it, so I will follow that for the next few days and incorporate my own routines into the plan. But it was nice to have that as a guide.

I plugged it into my planner and it felt sort of freeing being able to write down a concrete plan.

I still cannot run for probably 3 more weeks, however, I refuse to sit back and do what I have been doing lately. I am done just going to the gym when I can and not working on something concrete. I will have my plan in hand now and everyday I will have something I know I need to work on.

I will still be going to physical therapy and following the doctor's orders. I will enjoy that game ready ice too! haha (by the way yes it works amazing)

I know that my calf will heal. I know that I will run again. I need to just focus on the things I can do and work on making myself better that way. I miss running in my heart, but I have to come to the conlcusion that right now it may not be there for me.

So right now, today I am beginning my fall marathon training program, just like everyone else. I will be blogging about all the ups and downs of it, I will blog more period. A friend gave me a good idea to start talking more about nutrition and blogging more recipes and ideas etc. so I promise that will start up again this week too.

No matter what happens in the next few months, with life, work, running, not running, everything I have faith in one thing, that I will be able to overcome it.

I am still the girl who lost 120 pounds after her daughter was born. I am still here fighting for her and making sure I am around to watch her grow up and be a successful woman.

I look at this magazine article everyday since it is mounted on my wall, and I remember how good success feels. I will have it again, and I will not give up or give in and take the easy path.