Peepish

I have been feeling pretty peepish these days.
 
What is peepish you say?
 
Well watch the first part of this. It may illustrate "peepish" for you.
 

 
So clearly I have felt like I am expanding. You know how it goes. It gets colds. You get cuddly. I just get cuddly by packing on warmth with my own layers rather than sweaters!
 
After our Utah Thanksgiving and three days of skiing (more on this later!) I felt pretty good about well I did on the slopes. The few days of activity doing something I love really got me motivated to get to running.
 
I've been pretty good in getting to the gym after work and putting on down some miles each night. It is amazing how quickly any glimmer of being in shape can disappear if you don't keep up your routine. Luckily, I am getting my legs under me, and each run feels better and better! Hopefully with more skiing around the corner I will keep motivated and will defeat that microwaved peep feeling!

This is What Studying Looks Like

Or not....

I am scheduled to take my PHR Exam tomorrow morning and my confidence is certainly a little shaky at this moment. I took the day off from work to get some final studying in, and after 6 or so hours of studying I am in a need of a quick little break.

Bullet points seem like the only way I can think right now ( thanks to my copious amounts of reading notes) so here are some bullets of thoughts.

- Music dictates so much of my mood and thoughts. A little country like this afternoon and I am day dreaming of Idaho and how much longer till I can live somewhere that feels more like home. Hopefully passing this test will open the doors for me to new jobs, and in somewhere were I don't feel so disjointed all the time.

- It is hard to not get disappointed by people, and I undoubtedly know I do my fair share of disappointing people. There are just some things that hurt. A emotional slap across your face when a friend treats you a certain way...ya know what I mean? I always try to hope that things can be mended and I try to keep in mind that relations, of all kinds, are riddled with let downs, a need for hard work and commitment to each other.

  - Some funny ( and true) thoughts on why one is not married here.

In all seriousness... This is something I like from Tracy's article:

"The bottom line is that marriage is just a long-term opportunity to practice loving someone even when they don't deserve it. Because most of the time, your messy, farting, macaroni-and-cheese eating man will not be doing what you want him to. But as you give him love anyway -- because you have made up your mind to transform yourself into a person who is practicing being kind, deep, virtuous, truthful, giving, and most of all, accepting of your own dear self -- you will find that you will experience the very thing you wanted all along:

Love."

- I am seeing some long time family friends who are in DC visiting and I am excited to be surrounded by familiar people the night before I take this beast of a test! Wish me luck! I'm back to the books and the pages and pages of bulleted notes.

Running Roadblock and Back On Track

I had finally gotten the courage to run outside and I can say that I actually enjoyed it! I was not nearly as self conscious or overwhelmed by the natural landscape as I thought I was going to be. I did notice that I was running faster and was also getting some major cramps really early on in my runs. I worked on pacing myself, warming up and stopping to stretch as needed. After a few of these runs I started feeling my right hip the next day. It was the pinchy, uncomfortable, achy, not so great feeling. Unfortunately I think I had aggravated an old dance injury from freshman year. I have been pretty lucky that I have never had any major issues with the injury and at the time we were able to treat the injury with a non-surgical option.Granted everything I read about the injury back then and even now says that you will have an increased chance of arthritis and then since there is a lot of scar tissue that forms there are times that there will be discomfort.

Discouraged from the pain, I took a break from running. I figured no point in aggravating something that hasn't given my problems for years. After a week or so of zero running, I finally noticed that I wasn't having  pain anymore. I did do some reading and there are other people out there with my injury and they all had some advice on how to continue running safely. The key point being that if it hurts- stop. So listening to that I have moved my running back inside for the time being and really slowed down my pace. I have done three runs now under those conditions and I have had zero pain which is great! My idea of running in an actual 5k my be thwarted if running outside is causing some of the pain, but I will take this compromise so I can at least keep challenging myself in the gym. At some point I am sure I will need to reevaluate if it is time to possibly have the surgery and clean up the hip joint, but luckily for now I am feeling 100% better and my runs are still continuing to improve.

Image found via Diana S Pinterest

#running

So I am no where near being able to classify myself as a "runner" but I yet again beat my last "best" run again tonight. Granted I am still frustrated beyond belief that I have not shed a single teensy weensy pound but I set out to run 5K and that is what I am trying to focus on. Hopefully somewhere along the line the pounds will start to go somewhere besides my hips. But we are making progress! That 5K finish line is getting closer and closer which is fantastic! AND this is the week where Erin and can check off that we completed 8 solid weeks of butt kicking Jazzercise. Annnnddd we have made a pact to pick it up again with a brief hiatus (as in we will be back in business in June--NO EXCUSES!)

I think I may be in need of some new shoes. It has been awhile since I replaced my shoes and I am starting to get to the point where running in worn out shoes will be bad news bears for this girls back, hips and old lady rejected dancer body. Put that on the list of "things I am saving for".

So I was thinking about really got my butt in gear with this "let's get in shape!" thing. Granted I knew I had let the Cheetos and cupcakes take an unhealthy place in my life and I was ready to get back to the body I enjoyed. But really did it was seeing Rachel over at Running Backwards in High Heels. Not only does she have on of those lives that I read about and think "wow... you are an awesome mom", but she posted the photo that really motivated me to take this all on. She posted this. I mean look at that skinny minnie! She is gorgeous! So I run. And run. and run. and jazzercise. And think twice about that pink of Cabernet blackberry sorbet I have in the freezer. And hopefully....someday....I will be a skinnie minnie. Someday.

Running Progress

Today was the first day I finally felt like I made some progress with my new running regime. It wasn't anything to brag or write home about I am sure from a true runners perspective but it was the longest stretch I have run without stopping to walk which felt great! I am hoping this is the start of a break through where I can really start to increase my time and distance.

I will say on the discouraging side. I have not lost a single pound! Not one! Which seems almost impossible since all my clothes have started to look better and fit a little loser, but really not a single pound! What gives!!?!? I know you are not supposed to depend on the scale but it is hard to ignore it and keep a positive attitude about all my focus on getting fit. Between Jazzercise, running and counting calories you would think some pounds should be coming off right?

As of yesterday there were 25 days until my 25th birthday, (eep! I'm old). But I am going to take these next 24 days to really push myself so I can celebrate my quarter of a century feeling really great about my body and self.

Well off to the park to do some GMAT studying in the perfect spring weather!

Happy Saturday!