Working Hard

I've been reflecting since I started back up teaching how much running has really become more integrated into my life lately. I used to tell my students about every single run since I was so excited about it, but now that's settled down. My kids still sometimes see me going to or from a run and ask me about it, which is fun. Today, one of my girls asked me why I ran.

We all get this question at some point, but it was interesting getting it from a student. I tried to just explain that I did it because it was fun and I liked to be healthy. Then she asked me if my legs hurt :).

Even though running is feeling integrated, last week was a hard one for being active. I found myself really struggling with getting back into the swing of things because I was so tired, and I ended up skipping my Tuesday run. Another wrench thrown into things was that I unexpectedly ended up getting 3 shots at the doctor's on Friday: flu, Tetanus, and pneumonia. Ugh! Tetanus was supposed to hurt the most so they put it on my right side (since I'm left handed). Of course, for me, the Tetanus was fine! The other two shots, on the other hand, killed, and I woke up the next day sore from my chest to my fingers on my left side. I also just didn't feel good.

Despite that, Ed and I had planned a run, and gosh darn it, we were going. However, not far into it, I started to feel sucky. Originally I was hoping to do something long, but I quickly told Ed that that wasn't going to happen. I decided that I could make 15 minutes, so that's what I did. After we hit the turn around sat on a bench and I laid down. I'm pretty sure those shots (my guess was the flu) left me feeling sub par. the jostling of the running was also really hurting my sore arm.

After about 10 minutes of resting, we started walking back. We ran a few times, but I really wasn't feeling it. After what felt like a painfully long time, we finally made it back to the car. I got home, and crawled into bed :).

I took Sunday off, which meant that I only ran 9 miles last week :(. Really not great, but I'm committed to having a better week this week.

It started out great with my Weight Watchers meeting, where I lost 1.2 lbs. Unfortunately, with the holidays, I gained 2 lbs, so I'm still working on combating that. The good news is I'm .2 lbs from my lowest pre-holiday weight. With my hard work this week, I'm hopeful to be rid of the "cookie" lbs and moving forward towards my goal. I'm only about 8 lbs from the weight that (I think) I was at at Dick Collins back in 2007 and at my first marathon in 2006.

I love feeling healthy :)